D’Backs, Conor Jackson May Have Hearing
MONDAY: Yahoo’s Jeff Passan says the D’Backs and Jackson have been discussing a long-term deal for nearly eight months. Though they’re struggling just to agree on his ’09 salary, the D’Backs would like to buy out Jackson’s three arb years and get a club option on his first free agent season.
SUNDAY: According to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, the Diamondbacks are not close to a contract with arbitration-eligible outfielder Conor Jackson.
Jackson requested $3.65MM and the club countered with a $2.45MM figure back when arbitration numbers were due. That gap has been a tough one to close and his hearing is looming. It is currently scheduled for Wednesday, February 18.
Cardinals Finish Arbitration Cases
The Cardinals have reached agreements with their five arbitration-eligible players. Here are the details, courtesy of Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball:
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2009 Cardinals Players in Salary Arbitration
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|||||
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#
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Date
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Player Name
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Service Time
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Position
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Agreement
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|
1
|
1/19/09
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Chris Duncan |
2.144
|
OF
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1/$825K
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|
2
|
1/19/09
|
Todd Wellemeyer |
5.009
|
RP
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1/$4.05M
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|
3
|
1/20/09
|
Brad Thompson
|
3.11
|
RP
|
1/$650K
|
|
4
|
2/12/09
|
‡ Rick Ankiel
|
5.033
|
OF
|
1/$2.825M
|
|
5
|
2/16/09
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‡ Ryan Ludwick |
3.109
|
OF
|
1/$3.7M
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‡ Settlement reached after player exchanged figures with club
Braves Close To Deal With Tom Glavine
9:50pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Braves are close to re-signing Glavine. The lefty could potentially earn $4.5MM; here are the details:
Glavine would receive a $1MM guarantee, $1MM for making the Opening Day roster and two additional bonuses tied to the number of the days he is active, the source said.
6:22pm: According to the Associated Press, via ESPN.com, the Braves are making progress with free agent Tom Glavine.
The club made him a new offer this weekend worth $1MM guaranteed and another $3MM in deferred incentives. Glavine and his agent, Gregg Clifton, are obviously pining for more guaranteed cash.
"We continue to make progress," Clifton told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday. "When you have two sides that want to be together, it shouldn’t be too difficult to reach a resolution."
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Monday
8:03pm: As reported by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp did a bit of campaigning today for Manny:
"I compare him to Kobe Bryant," said Kemp. "He makes everybody around him better. Manny’s the Kobe Bryant of baseball. Of course we want him back and of course we need him. He’s a freak."
2:08pm: Everyone’s getting a bit tired of the Manny Ramirez stuff these days, but we do have an amusing link from yesterday courtesy of MLB.com’s Chris Haft. Haft spoke to Giants reliever Billy Sadler, who spent the offseason working out with Manny. Ramirez apparently picked up Sadler’s tab at Athlete’s Performance in Florida. Sadler had this to say about Manny’s future:
"It was funny. He came in a couple of times and said, ‘Billy, I’m going to be a Giant!’"
Dodgers, Ethier Headed To Arb Hearing?
As MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports, the Dodgers and outfielder Andre Ethier are on the eve of an arbitration hearing. The two sides have less than 24 hours to work out a deal, and it doesn’t look promising.
"There’s no way to handicap it," general manager Ned Colletti said Monday afternoon. "The time is right to do it when both sides can’t agree. We’ve tried to avoid it and we will the next 24 hours. We all love Andre. He was the first player I traded for when I came here."
Ethier asked for $3.75MM and the Dodgers offered $2.65MM back when figures were due. The 26-year-old hit .305/.375/.510 with 20 home runs and 77 RBI last season.
D’Backs Working On Sign-And-Trade Deal?
According to Steve Gilbert of MLB.com, the Diamondbacks could be hammering out a sign-and-trade deal with reliever Juan Cruz.
"I can’t say too much," Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes said Monday. "But of late, they’ve talked to the union, we have talked to the Commissioner’s Office to see if there is a way where they could sign through us and then we would receive in trade what we would deem as enough value."
Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic also has a column on the topic. Ken Rosenthal and La Velle E. Neal III have done a nice job of explaining this complicated situation. As Neal notes, the Twins may be interested in Cruz if they aren’t forced to surrender a high draft pick for his services. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan says the Brewers and Rangers also have interest in Cruz.
Brewers Monitoring Chad Cordero
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Brewers will have a scout on hand for Chad Cordero‘s next throwing session.
"We have interest in him,” said GM Doug Melvin. "This will be his first workout off the mound. We’ll wait until we get the report."
Cordero, 27, missed most of the 2008 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He has a 2.78 career ERA and 128 total saves in six MLB seasons. He’ll throw for several teams on Wednesday in California.
Mariners Sign First-Round Pick
According to MLB.com’s Jim Street, the Mariners have finally inked right-handed reliever Josh Fields. He was the team’s first-round pick in the 2008 first year player draft.
Jim Callis of Baseball America dug up the numbers over the weekend: Fields will receive $1.75 million, splitting the difference between MLB’s $1.5 million recommendation for his draft slot and the $2 million he was seeking.
The 23-year-old passed a physical Saturday and the deal became official with his signature this afternoon. Fields will now join the Mariners’ camp as a non-roster invitee.
Cardinals Avoid Arb With Ryan Ludwick
5:26pm: That was quick. ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark has learned that the deal is worth $3.7MM and carries another $100K in incentives.
5:22pm: Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cardinals have reached agreement with Ryan Ludwick on a one-year deal.
The exact financial terms are not yet available, but Goold believes "that the two sides settled for above the midpoint of the two salaries entered into arbitration." Ludwick filed for $4.25MM and the Cardinals offered $2.8MM back when figures were due.
The Cardinals have now settled with all of their arbitration-eligible players. The club hasn’t required a hearing since 1999.
Isringhausen Could Return To Cards?
MONDAY, 5:12pm: MLB.com’s Matthew Leach spoke to Cardinals officials Monday, and it doesn’t sound like the club wants Izzy back for another season.
"I think the attitude for most of the winter has been for him to find a situation someplace that wasn’t us," manager Tony La Russa said. "And if that doesn’t work, it’s [already] the third day here. Not that it doesn’t ever happen — it does happen sometimes — but you don’t like guys missing the first three days. I don’t know. We talk about him, and it’s a complicated situation."
3:18pm: Strauss spoke to Isringhausen, who is still interested in signing a minor league deal with the Cards if they’ll have him. The Dodgers and Brewers are known to have interest, if that doesn’t work out.
SATURDAY: Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said in a radio interview on the Team 1380 that the Cardinals have spoken with Jason Isringhausen‘s representatives and could still sign him. The Cardinals are keeping their options open and they could strike a deal if Izzy doesn’t yet have a job in a few weeks.
The Isringhausen discussion comes up near the end of the chat.