Tigers Re-Sign Adam Everett
7:05pm: ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that Everett will receive $1.55MM.
4:13pm: The Tigers signed shortstop Adam Everett to a one-year deal, according to the team's Twitter account. The defensively-skilled Everett, 33 in February, had also drawn interest from the Pirates. Everett gets a one-year deal, according to John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press.
As far as starting shortstop candidates still on the free agent market, there's Orlando Cabrera, Miguel Tejada, and perhaps Bobby Crosby and Khalil Greene.
Royals Eyeing Jason Kendall, Rod Barajas
The Royals are considering catchers Jason Kendall and Rod Barajas in addition to Ivan Rodriguez, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. These three, as well as Bengie Molina, Yorvit Torrealba, and Miguel Olivo, are part of a catching musical chairs game that involves the Royals, Giants, Mariners, Rangers, Mets, Nationals, and Rockies to varying degrees and combinations. It's a low-OBP group as usual; what's your preference?
Rafael Soriano May Accept Arbitration
6:56pm: Braves GM Frank Wren told MLB.com's Mark Bowman he'd expect Soriano to request a trade if he accepts arbitration. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports expects this decision to go down to the buzzer.
12:40pm: MLB.com's Mark Bowman says Soriano's agent Peter Greenberg will make the rounds today, talking to as many teams as possible before making the arbitration decision.
11:29am: Heyman notes that Soriano has attracted interest from the Yankees, Orioles, and Astros. The Yankees would give up their #32 pick, the Orioles #37, or the Astros #43.
9:54am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes that if he accepts arbitration, Soriano cannot be traded before June 1st without his permission. I imagine he'd approve a deal in order to get a better role, though. Can Soriano find a two-year deal on the open market, given his health history and the draft pick cost?
MONDAY, 8:56am: David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Mark Bowman of MLB.com are throwing out slightly lower estimates of $6.5-7.5MM for Soriano if he accepts arbitration. Both seem to believe Soriano should or will turn down arbitration. But keep it mind that it is certainly in the Braves' best interest for stories to pop up explaining why Soriano should test the open market.
SUNDAY, 9:09pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets that Soriano is "now leaning toward accepting arbitration." That would make for a pretty pricey end-game trio in Atlanta, and suggests that maybe there isn't as much interest in his services as expected.
SATURDAY, 5:30pm: After it was reported earlier this week that Braves reliever Rafael Soriano would look for employment elsewhere, his agent tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com that his client is giving serious consideration to accepting arbitration.
This would leave Atlanta with a rather pricey bullpen as they recently inked both Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito to a combined guaranteed $10.2MM in 2010. Earlier this week, a high-ranking executive told Buster Olney that Soriano could net roughly $8MM in arbitration. Furthermore, this would likely mean that the soon-to-be 30-year-old would have to accept a role as a set-up man rather than close for Atlanta.
Soriano's agent Peter Greenberg told Crasnick that Soriano would take the decision "down to the wire." One has to think that the Braves will be less than pleased if the Type A free agent chooses to accept arbitration at this stage. Did Atlanta jump the gun by signing Wagner and Saito? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments section.
Orioles Rumors: Soriano, Bedard, Jackson, Lindstrom
Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun has the latest Orioles buzz from the Meetings, found here and here.
- Should Rafael Soriano decline the Braves' offer of arbitration, the Orioles are "particularly interested." He'd cost their #39 pick in the June draft (though the pick will be pushed back further).
- The Orioles are reviewing medical records on Erik Bedard as well as other free agents with injury issues. MacPhail downplayed the reviewing as standard preliminary procedure rather than serious talks.
- We can rule the O's out for Edwin Jackson and Matt Lindstrom, while nothing is cooking currently on John Lackey or Dan Uggla.
Carl Pavano To Accept Arbitration
6:32pm: La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune agrees – he says Pavano will accept arbitration tonight. Rosenthal says it's 99% certain.
11:33am: Rosenthal says Pavano is likely to accept the Twins' arbitration offer.
9:28am: Carl Pavano's agent Tom O'Connell "pressed the Twins on multi-year contract possibilities in their Sunday night meeting," tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown. We'll know by the end of the day whether Pavano will accept the Twins' arbitration offer, on which he was said to be undecided by Ken Rosenthal.
By tallying 199.3 innings and 33 starts between the Indians and Twins, Pavano ended up earning $4.35MM in 2009. Fair or not, after the Yankees debacle, any team giving Pavano multiple years is going to be the subject of some derision. La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the Twins "aren't too fired up" about giving Pavano two years.
Rockies Make Multiyear Offers To Street, Barmes Iannetta
The Rockies have made multiyear offers to arbitration-eligible players Huston Street, Clint Barmes, and Chris Iannetta, according to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. The details:
- The Street negotiations are early, but the Rockies made a three-year offer. That'd buy out one arbitration year and two free agent years.
- Renck believes Barmes was offered "two years, with a club option for free agency." That is, Barmes is already under team control for 2010 and 2011.
- Iannetta's offer would "carry him to at least free agency." Iannetta has three years of team control left. That the Rockies are entertaining a multiyear deal is a vote of confidence despite their pursuit of various veteran free agent backstops. The agents for Iannetta and Barmes have made counteroffers.
- Renck says the Rockies will turn to LaTroy Hawkins (again) if Rafael Betancourt turns down their offer of arbitration tonight. They're backing off on Justin Duchscherer.
- Utility man targets include Fernando Tatis, Bobby Crosby, Jamey Carroll, and Nick Green.
Twitter Rumors: Mets, Astros, Ross, Garko
A fresh bash of Twitter rumors, with the earlier post so bloated…
- The Mets will meet with the agents for Randy Wolf, Joel Pineiro, Jason Marquis, and John Lackey, says SI's Jon Heyman.
- Ed Wade ranks the Astros priorities as closer, offense, eighth-inning reliever, and bench, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick notes that the Astros will meet with Rafael Soriano's agent today.
- Crasnick says the Marlins are getting trade inquiries on arbitration-eligible outfielder Cody Ross. The Fish are expected to retain Ross, however.
- Giants GM Brian Sabean told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that Ryan Garko is on the bubble in terms of being non-tendered. Reliever Brandon Medders will be tendered a contract. You can check out our other non-tender candidates here.
- Miguel Angel Sano has been determined by MLB to be 16-18, and GM Bill Smith doesn't seem to care where he falls in that range.
Mets Pursuing Adam Kennedy
5:41pm: Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic goes further, saying the D'Backs do not have interest in Kennedy.
2:35pm: The D'Backs are "not in hot pursuit of Kennedy at the moment," says MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.
1:34pm: The Mets and Diamondbacks are showing the most interest in free agent infielder Adam Kennedy, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The two clubs view Kennedy as a potential starter at second base. The Mets would of course have to unload Luis Castillo to make room. Three other teams like Kennedy for a super-utility role, says Rosenthal's source (the Red Sox have been mentioned previously).
Kennedy, 34 in January, hit .289/.348/.410 in 586 plate appearances for the A's while playing second and third base this year. He was released in February by the Cardinals with $4MM remaining on his contract. The Rays signed him to a minor league deal and shipped him to Oakland in May.
Odds & Ends: Reed Johnson, Laynce Nix, Counsell
Links for Monday, the first day of the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis…
- The Padres have been linked to Reed Johnson, writes Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
- The Reds are trying to re-sign Laynce Nix, according to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
- The Brewers hope to have a decision one way or another on Craig Counsell by week's end, says Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Also, the Brewers learned that reliever Mark DiFelice needs shoulder surgery, creating a stronger bullpen need (MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reporting).
- The Marlins would listen on arbitration-eligible starter Anibal Sanchez, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
- Chad Jennings of the LoHud Journal notes that Yanks GM Brian Cashman hitched a ride to Indianapolis with the Levinson brothers, so of course Jason Marquis came up.
- Yahoo's Tim Brown has some petty sniping from Scott Boras' camp toward Whitey Herzog for his comments about Matt Holliday.
- Victor Martinez's agent Alan Nero talked to WEEI's Alex Speier about the prospect of his client reaching free agency.
- The Orioles will meet with the Hendricks brothers about Aroldis Chapman before the Winter Meetings end, according to MASN's Roch Kubatko. ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. is hearing Chapman might not get much more than $20MM. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times tweets that the Yankees have interest at $15MM or less.
- Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun learned that Orioles outfielder Felix Pie is drawing strong trade interest.
- Chien-Ming Wang will be ready by May 1st, his agent told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. It'd still be surprising to see Wang tendered a contract on Saturday.
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post talked to John Smoltz's agent Keith Grunewald about his client's interest in the Nationals.
- Nationals manager Jim Riggleman suggested to WEEI's Alex Speier that the team would have to be overwhelmed to move Josh Willingham.
- ESPN's Keith Law explains why the Meetings are in Indy and suggests improvements to avoid the cold weather and other issues.
- The Cardinals expect Mark DeRosa to decline their arbitration offer today, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. DeRosa's agent will meet with Yankees GM Brian Cashman this week, tweets Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger.
- Tigers manager Jim Leyland assured John Tomase of the Boston Herald that his team is not having a fire sale.
Matt Murton Sold To Hanshin Tigers
5:28pm: Murton's rights were sold to the Hanshin Tigers, explains MLB.com's Thomas Harding.
2:32pm: The Rockies released outfielder Matt Murton so he can pursue a career in Japan, according to FOX Sports. Murton, 28, hit .324/.389/.499 in Triple A this year and would've been arbitration-eligible. Murton is a known MLBTR reader; we wish him the best of luck!
The FOX report goes on to suggest that the Rockies might now have to retain arb-eligible outfielder Ryan Spilborghs, but (oddly) they've inquired on Corey Hart in case they do move him.