Thursday Pre-Arbitration Signings
7:41pm: The Miami Herald has a list of eight players who agreed to terms with the A’s for 2009. Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, Dallas Braden, Dana Eveland, Gio Gonzalez, Sean Gallagher, Henry Rodriguez and Landon Powell all agreed to one-year contracts.
12:27pm: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Brewers have inked Tony Gwynn Jr., Manny Parra, Hernan Iribarren and Chase Wright to one-year contracts.
11:48am: The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett has a few more from the Angels. Howie Kendrick, Dustin Moseley, Kevin Jepsen and Matt Brown have been signed to ’09 contracts.
9:53am: MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports that the Diamondbacks have agreed to one-year contracts with Yusmeiro Petit, Leo Rosales and Kyler Newby. They’ll each make around $400K this year.
9:50am: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Cubs have now settled with all 20 of their pre-arbitration players. Sean Marshall, Mike Fontenot and Micah Hoffpauir are some of the bigger names on the list.
9:49am: Jose De Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros have renewed Hunter Pence‘s contract. He’ll earn $450K in ’09.
9:41am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a few more pre-arbitration signings. 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum was inked for $650K, Angels pitcher Joe Saunders settled for $475K, Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol for $575K and Cubs infielder Ryan Theriot for $500K.
These are all guys without enough MLB service time to be eligible for salary arbitration.
Dodgers Sign Doug Mientkiewicz
6:35pm: Jackson reports that Mientkiewicz passed his physical and signed the contract.
10:41am: According to Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News, the Dodgers have agreed to terms with Doug Mientkiewicz on a minor league contract.
Mientkiewicz will join spring training camp once he passes a physical. He’s no Manny Ramirez, but, as Jackson writes, he "might have a good chance of making the club to fill that role that Nomar Garciaparra filled last year." Mientkiewicz, 34, hit .277/.374/.379 last season with two home runs and 30 RBI in 285 at-bats for the Pirates.
Odds And Ends: Alvarez, Cameron, Nats
A few links for Thusrday night…
- Pedro Alvarez, who was drafted by the Red Sox in 2005, remembers thinking about signing with Boston in an article by Alex Speier on WEEI.com.
- Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal heard from Theo Epstein and Terry Francona about building a winning team. Epstein said the Sox have a history of making room for young talent, but Francona added that there’s never room for all the youngsters.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Mike Cameron was preparing himself to be traded this offseason and considers it "a blessing" to be in Milwaukee.
- Ironically, Mark DeRosa, who was actually traded, didn’t see it coming at all according to this article by Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- ESPN.com’s Buster Olney spoke with a number of baseball people who say "baseball’s internal code of conduct is strengthening." Players who act out aren’t getting away with it as often.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post reports that Nationals president Stan Kasten didn’t comment directly on whether we should expect any more dismissals within the organization soon.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News heard from Giants president Larry Baer that the team doesn’t consider the Edgar Renteria and Jeremy Affeldt signings mistakes.
- And bad news out of Colorado: The Rocky Mountain News will publish its final edition Friday.
Albert Pujols: A Lifetime Cardinal?
According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Cardinals plan on doing all they can to retain Albert Pujols for the rest of his career.
"If there’s a way to keep Albert a lifetime Cardinal, that makes a lot of sense for everyone," GM John Mozeliak told Heyman. "He’s very much an iconic player there, and if he wants to stay, we’re going to try to find a way to make that happen."
MLBTR has covered the topic at length this offseason. Pujols has two years and a team option remaining on his current deal, so the Cardinals don’t have to get serious for quite some time. "We’ve had casual mentions, but nothing in depth," said team owner Bill DeWitt.
Pujols, 29, has a career line of .334/.425/.624 and 319 home runs over eight major league seasons.
Odds and Ends: Bordick, Sheets, Bowden
Here are your Thursday links…
- Former MLB shortstop Mike Bordick has been hired by the Blue Jays as a minor league infield instructor.
- Richard Durett of the Dallas Morning News has the transcript of a radio interview with Rangers owner Tom Hicks. It sounds like his club will make another run at Ben Sheets once he’s back to full health.
- The Orioles and Cardinals might share players this spring, according to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun. "My gut is there would be nothing wrong with it,” said St. Louis manager Tony La Russa. "We’re in different leagues." UPDATE: That idea was shot down pretty quickly.
- Mark DeRosa told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com that he left the Cubs on good terms. There were rumors of a feud between he and manager Lou Piniella.
- Contrary to some reports, the Nationals have absolutely not contacted Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava about possibly replacing Jim Bowden.
- Check out Tim’s interview with "The Yankees: Minors to Majors," a blog.
Chad Cordero To Audition Again
As reported by Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, free agent Chad Cordero will hold another workout for interested teams on Friday.
The Rangers will be in attendance. You can bet the Twins will also be there. The Marlins, Royals and Brewers are also likely to send scouts. Cordero, who will turn 27 in March, missed most of the 2008 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He racked up 113 saves for the Nationals between 2005 and 2007.
Twins, Cruz End Contract Talks
According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Twins have ended their pursuit of right-handed reliever Juan Cruz.
Cruz rejected the Twins’ contract offer before talks ever evolved into the sign-and-trade stages, and it doesn’t sounds like the club plans on making another run at him. Cruz, 30, posted a 2.61 ERA in 51 2/3 innings last season.
Neal suggests that the Twins might now focus their attention on free agent Chad Cordero, who threw for several teams on Wednesday.
Dodgers Make New Offer To Manny Ramirez
WEDNESDAY, 11:45pm: I was just thinking, this contract offer is not unlike A.J. Burnett‘s opt-out clause. The Dodgers would have Manny on a one-year, $25MM deal, plus an option that cannot possibly work in their favor.
7:29pm: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports makes a good observation:
Boras did not immediately accept the offer, but a source said he delivered the offer to his client – a sign of progress because the first two offers were dismissed immediately by Boras.
7:18pm: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times says the player option came at Boras’ request.
7:05pm: Jackson reports that the Dodgers have offered Manny a two-year, $45MM contract.
From what I understand, though, there WON’T be a deal tonight, Jackson writes. The offer is a two-year, $45 million contract, with salaries of $25 million the first year and $20 million the second, but the second year is a PLAYER option so Manny can walk away if he believes he can get more on the open market next winter. If he is injured during the first season, the second year becomes guaranteed. Boras and Co. have taken it under advisement, and the club is expecting a response early tomorrow.
6:12pm: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News chimes in:
Gurnick wrote earlier today that they are meeting, and I have been able to semi-confirm that, as well as semi-confirm the fact that said meeting is taking place at Dodger Stadium. What I can tell you, from my own observations, is that people are behaving strangely, or at least at odds with their normal behavior. This could be it, folks. Stay tuned. It might be a long evening.
5:38pm: Gurnick has made an update to his most recent story.
Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt and GM Ned Colletti did, in fact, meet with agent Scott Boras during the team’s first spring game Wednesday. Gurnick calls it "the most serious attempt to date to sign" Ramirez.
4:37pm: MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick notes that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti was absent from the team’s first exhibition game. Might be Manny-related; might not.
9:08am: ESPN’s Buster Olney believes Manny Ramirez remains unsigned because of his behavior in Boston:
The primary reason for [the lack of interest in Manny], unquestionably, is the sport-wide perception that he did not honor his contract in Boston, and went to extraordinary depths to get himself out of that contract. These are not the on-background musings of a couple of rogue scouts, or the chortlings of conspiracy-theorist sports writers. This is the cemented belief of many executives with many teams, reinforced by Ramirez’s sudden transformation into a high-energy player as soon as he moved from the Red Sox to the Dodgers.
In my opinion, the primary interest for the limited Manny interest is his asking price. At a time when solid corner outfielders are signing for $10MM per year tops, Manny wants more than twice that salary and at least three years guaranteed. I think if Ramirez and Boras were willing to take a reasonable two-year, $30MM deal, there’d be five more teams in on him.
White Sox Sign 22
10:28pm: Quentin gets $550K, while Floyd and John Danks get $520K according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
11:42am: The AP reports today that the White Sox signed 22 players, including Carlos Quentin and Gavin Floyd. Par for the course with prearb players, and we don’t always mention these signings on MLBTR. I am curious, though, to see if the Sox threw Quentin and Floyd a few extra hundred thousand bucks over the minimum as teams sometimes do.
Lefties May Be Lowering Contract Expectations
FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the agents for left-handers Joe Beimel and Will Ohman are prepared to offer more flexibility in contract negotiations with clubs.
"I would suggest any team holding back on some last-minute interest step forward and express it," Beimel’s agent, Jeff Sroba said Wednesday. "Not that anything is imminent, but we are offering flexibility." Beimel, who turns 32 in April, has drawn interest primarily from the Dodgers this offseason. He went 5-1 with a 2.02 ERA for Los Angeles last season.
Ohman, 31, has deals on the table from the Pirates, Marlins and Padres, but is reportedly hoping the Phillies, Dodgers or Mets will come calling. He finished 4-1 with a 3.68 ERA last year for the Braves. "We’re offering flexibility, too," said Ohman’s agent, Page Odle. "We’re hoping one of the playoff teams will want that shutdown lefty."
Dennys Reyes is another left-handed reliever without a job. He went 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA for the Twins last season.