Stark On Andruw, Swisher, Hudson, Pedro
The latest from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…
- Stark looks at all the factors influencing this year’s slow-moving free agent market, talking to all sorts of anonymous execs. It’s a good read.
- Among all the teams, the Phillies have added the most to their payroll this winter ($30MM+). Only ten teams raised payroll this year. The Phils are still looking at the same cast of righthanded bench bats, and are also looking to sign a reliever for one year. Names of interest: Joe Borowski, Rudy Seanez, Will Ohman, Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, and Randy Flores. Stark notes that Flores is out until June due to shoulder surgery.
- Andruw Jones is looking for a team that will give him playing time. One of Stark’s sources says Braves manager Bobby Cox is "lobbying harder for Jones than the rest of the baseball operation."
- The Braves are the top suitor for Nick Swisher, but their suggestion that the Yankees eat some of Swisher’s contract was shot down.
- Stark has heard that Angels owner Arte Moreno is ticked at Scott Boras and Mark Teixeira for the way they handled negotiations.
- Stark received conflicting answers on whether the Elias formulas "can be changed without a special negotiation." It figures that the players union would push to eliminate the Jason Varitek/Juan Cruz/Orlando Cabrera situations we saw this winter. The D’Backs may have interest in re-signing Cruz, but don’t look for a Cabrera-White Sox reunion.
- The Yankees and Mets have not pursued Orlando Hudson, despite Hudson’s statements of their interest. Stark sees a one-year deal with the Nationals or Dodgers in his future.
- One assistant GM doesn’t think the WBC will be a good gauge for Pedro Martinez‘s abilities, since he’ll be doing short stints.
- Stark has details on Eddie Guardado‘s contract, which has interesting provisions if he is to be traded.
Mets, Pedro Feliciano Avoid Arbitration
According to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, the Mets avoided arbitration with reliever Pedro Feliciano by signing him at $1.6125MM for ’09 (a touch below the midpoint of their submissions). The signing means the Mets will not have any arbitration hearings this year.
McLouth, Pirates May Head To Hearing
According to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Nate McLouth‘s arbitration hearing is scheduled for February 17th. He says the $1.05MM gap between McLouth and the Pirates on the player’s ’09 salary has "frozen" talks. Biertempfel says the team’s last hearing was in ’04, when Jack Wilson won.
This is McLouth’s first arbitration year; he’s under team control through 2011.
Chat With Matthew Cerrone
On Wednesday I chatted with SNY’s Matthew Cerrone. Check it out.
Derek Jeter’s Next Contract
Derek Jeter is signed through 2010, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post says "Yankee officials already talk privately about dreading" the expiration of his contract. He lists all kinds of complications: Jeter’s position, his salary, his declining offense, and his drive toward 3,000 hits. River Ave. Blues, IATMS, and others took on the issue recently as well.
We can rule out the infield corners for Jeter, with Mark Teixeira signed through 2016 and Alex Rodriguez through 2017. Assuming you’re not comfortable with a 36 year-old Jeter manning shortstop, the options would be second base or the outfield. Robinson Cano‘s contract runs through 2011 with club options for ’12 and ’13. The Yankees have two full seasons to determine Cano’s future in the organization. If he stays, can he play a better center field than Jeter, opening up second base? Is the experiment even worth it? Another inefficient option would be to try Jeter in an outfield corner.
If Jeter wasn’t an icon, the best baseball decision would be to let him go after his contract expires. Since he is, we’ll be debating this for the next two years. By the way, Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins can both be free-agent eligible after the 2011 season, if their teams exercise their 2010 options.
Braves Rumors: Ohman, Outfield, Glavine
Check out the latest blog post from David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A few details:
- Will Ohman is unable to comment on the state of his negotiations, leading O’Brien to write, "it wouldn’t surprise me if [the Braves] sign Ohman soon." There is some debate over whether the Phillies are still in on Ohman, while the Mets may be looking to sign him at a bargain price.
- O’Brien hasn’t had any indications that an outfield acquisition is brewing for the Braves, but he admits that can change quickly. The possible targets are assumed to be Xavier Nady, Nick Swisher, and Bobby Abreu.
- O’Brien believes Tom Glavine will pitch this year, and that the Braves will offer him a Major League contract. Ken Rosenthal examined the situation last night, suggesting that Glavine seeks $2-3MM guaranteed with a chance to earn $6MM or so.
Commenting On MLBTR
TypePad, my blogging service, recently made a change where a maximum of 50 comments per page are shown. If a post exceeds 50 comments you need to hit the Next link to see the next batch. So if it seems like your comment didn’t show up, it may be that you just need to hit Next.
This also seems like a good time to remind everyone of the commenting policy. Until I get something better in place, I’m hoping those who read the comments can help out by dropping us a quick line if any inappropriate comments are made.
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Thursday
9:05pm: Jayson Stark has been told that the Angels will not pursue Ramirez. GM Tony Reagins put it plainly to ESPN.com:
"I can make this very brief and very clear. We are not in on Manny — and will not be."
9:01pm: According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angles Times, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti wrote in an e-mail that he "hasn’t had any conversations today" with Scott Boras. This is fun, isn’t it?
2:33pm: ESPN’s Jayson Stark talked to Rangers GM Jon Daniels, who dismissed the idea of signing Manny.
2:13pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman learned from Ned Colletti that the Dodgers do not have a "drop-dead date" on the Manny negotiations. Heyman says that Joe Torre prefers Bobby Abreu to Adam Dunn, in terms of a backup plan.
8:47am: Your daily dose of Manny Ramirez: Ken Rosenthal says the Dodgers’ one-year, $25MM offer contained some deferred money, but Scott Boras didn’t seem put off by that aspect of the offer. He still rejected it quickly though. Rosenthal says Boras is holding out for more years especially since players such as Rafael Furcal, Derek Lowe, and Raul Ibanez received at least three.
According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti sent out a text message to reporters about his Wednesday talks with Boras:
Colletti wrote that the two sides restated their respective positions — Ramirez has been asking for at least a four-year deal and the Dodgers are interested in something shorter. The sides agreed to maintain communication over the next few days.
Hernandez received a clarification from Boras, who expects Manny to be signed by the time Spring Training games begin (Feb. 25) rather than when camp begins (Feb. 14).
Padres Add Cliff Floyd, DFA Matt Bush
8:47pm: According to MLB.com’s Corey Brock, the Padres designated right-hander Matt Bush for assignment to make room for Floyd. Bush was drafted first overall in the 2004 draft as a shortstop, but never made it past the Single-A level at that position.
6:16pm: Paul DePodesta, a member of the Padres’ front office, took to his own personal blog for a little insight on the Floyd signing:
We’ve been talking for a number of weeks internally about the need to add a left-handed bat into the mix, as our bench was looking awfully right-handed. In an ideal world, we wanted to find a guy who could provide three primary skills: 1) the ability to do damage against RHP as either a pinch hitter, DH or occasional starter, 2) the ability to play somewhere other than 1B if need be, and 3) the ability to act as a leader for our younger players. We found a match in Cliff.
8:06am: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Padres have agreed to terms with outfielder Cliff Floyd on a one-year deal. ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the deal guarantees him less than $1MM. Floyd, 36, hit .268/.349/.455 in 284 plate appearances for the Rays last year; he suffered a slightly torn labrum in the World Series. He earned $2.75MM and had an ’09 option for the same amount declined in November. Rosenthal says Luis Gonzalez was the Padres’ second choice.
A few days ago, Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune suggested the Padres had Floyd and Livan Hernandez on the radar.
Nats Ink Odalis Perez To Minor League Deal
Bill Ladson of MLB.com reports that left-hander Odalis Perez has agreed to return to the Nationals on a minor league contract. It’s surprising to see that he didn’t do better, but maybe Perez did what he had to to remain in Washington.
Perez, 31, finished with a 7-12 record last season, but he made 14 quality starts and wound up with a 4.34 ERA. It was his lowest earned run average since 2004. Manager Manny Acta had this to say about Perez at the end of last season:
"He has given us a lot of quality starts and the innings that we were hoping he would give us out of Spring Training. We think he could have easily won double-digits, almost 15 wins, with any type of help."