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Pirates Talking To Octavio Dotel

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5:42pm: The Pirates have not offered Dotel a contract in the vicinity of $3MM, a source involved in the talks tells Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  While there have been talks between the parties, there has been nothing "to that extent."

1:46pm: The Pittsburgh Pirates have made Octavio Dotel an offer to be their closer, according to Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports. Calcaterra writes that the offer is worth about $3MM, plus incentives for games finished.

Dotel has posted solid numbers over the past two seasons in a setup role for the White Sox, but has not been asked to close since 2007, when he saved 11 games for the Royals. Over his career, Dotel has recorded 83 saves in various stints as the closer in Houston, Oakland, and Kansas City.

If Dotel were to accept the Pirates' ninth-inning job, it would be another blow to a closing market that has an excess of free agents and not enough teams in need. While the Pirates were never expected to splurge on Jose Valverde or Fernando Rodney, a Dotel signing could close another door on fringe closing candidates such as Mike MacDougal and Kevin Gregg.

Athletics Sign Coco Crisp

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The Athletics signed center fielder Coco Crisp to a one-year, $5.25MM deal today.  He has a 2011 club option for $5.75MM with a $500K buyout.  MLBTR first reported the agreement early Sunday, while Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle added the financial details today.  Crisp had been talking to the Padres as well.

Crisp, 30, tallied only 215 plate appearances with the Royals this year due to shoulder injuries.  He had surgery on both shoulders during the summer and plans to be ready for Spring Training.

Given his salary, Crisp figures to be penciled in as the starting center fielder in Oakland.  Scott Hairston, Rajai Davis, and Ryan Sweeney would battle for playing time in the other two spots, unless someone is traded. 

Angels Reach Agreement With Fernando Rodney

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2:57pm: The Angels have agreed to terms with Fernando Rodney, according to ESPNDeportes.com's Enrique Rojas (Jayson Stark of ESPN.com provides an english version of the story). Rodney will sign a two-year deal worth $11MM, pending a physical.

WEDNESDAY, 11:58am: ESPN.com's Jayson Stark hears that Rodney won't end up in Philadelphia. Instead, the Phillies will look for bargains in the new year. Stark mentions Danys Baez as a possibility for the Phils.

7:00pm: ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Phillies are interested in Rodney as well, at two years and $12MM. Nice little offer.

TUESDAY, 1:07pm:The Angels are in serious discussions with free agent reliever Fernando Rodney, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark.  The Angels are a nice match for Rodney, as the number of teams with closing opportunities is dwindling.  The Angels are already on the hook for $9MM for Brian Fuentes next year, but if they bump him to a setup role they can prevent his 2011 option from vesting.

Rodney, 33 in March, posted a 4.40 ERA, 7.3 K/9, and 4.9 BB/9 in 75.6 innings.  Not very impressive numbers, but he can at least boast of saving 37 games in 38 tries.  Rodney operates with a mid-90s fastball and a mid-80s changeup.  Since he's a Type B free agent who turned down arbitration, the Tigers will gain a supplemental draft pick if he signs elsewhere.

Twins Looking To Upgrade Infield, Rotation

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The Minnesota Twins are interested in bolstering their infield and their starting rotation, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. For now, they seem to be adopting a wait-and-see approach, in hopes that the asking prices for some free agents will drop. Here are the highlights from Morosi's update:

  • According to a source, Jarrod Washburn, Jon Garland, Doug Davis, and Brett Myers are among the Twins' pitching targets.
  • Garland, who is hoping to sign a multi-year deal, may be out of the Twins' price range.
  • The Twins are interested in Mark DeRosa and Adrian Beltre, but may not be able to afford them either. Their more realistic infield options include Miguel Tejada and Juan Uribe.
  • The Indians could move Jhonny Peralta, but the Twins "haven't actively pursued a trade" for him yet.

Braves Rumors: Lowe, Vazquez, Glaus

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Only a couple teams were interested in trading for Derek Lowe, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman. The clubs wanted the Braves to eat about half of the $45MM the right-hander will earn over the course of the next three years, so the Braves dealt Javier Vazquez instead. Here are the rest of Bowman's rumors:

  • The Yankees were apparently the only team willing to trade for a pitcher making $10MM or more.
  • There are no hard feelings between Lowe and Braves GM Frank Wren.
  • The Braves don't consider Melky Cabrera the centerpiece of the Vazquez deal and they have yet to determine his role on next year's team.
  • Bowman agrees with Jerry Crasnick, saying that the Troy Glaus agreement won't be finalized for at least a few days.

Blue Jays Acquire Brandon Morrow

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The Blue Jays acquired pitcher Brandon Morrow from the Mariners for reliever Brandon League and minor league outfielder Johermyn Chavez today.  The agreement was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports on Monday, while MLB.com's Jordan Bastian added the Chavez detail yesterday.

Morrow, 25, has a 3.96 ERA, 9.3 K/9, and 5.7 BB/9 in his 197.6-inning big league career.  The hard-throwing righty was drafted fifth overall by the Mariners in '06.  He made the team's Opening Day roster in '07 as a reliever, and stayed in that role to open the '08 season due to the Erik Bedard acquisition.  He dealt with a shoulder injury that year.  In August of '08 he transitioned to starting.  Elbow issues surfaced in the spring of '09, but once healthy Morrow was back in the 'pen.  He was sidelined by biceps tendinitis shortly thereafter, and it was back to starting in June.  Morrow has a pretty serious injury history in his big league career; it's difficult to determine if the frequent role-switching was the cause or the effect.  He is not yet arbitration-eligible and is under team control through 2013.  Chavez, who turns 21 next month, hit .283/.346/.474 last year in A ball.

League, 27 in March, has a 4.09 ERA, 6.9 K/9, and 3.2 BB/9 in 202.3 career relief innings.  League also throws in the mid-90s, and has a strong career groundball rate of 62%.  He's had an up-and-down career, oddly posting his best peripherals in '09 (3.6 K/BB) alongside a 4.58 ERA.  League had a shoulder injury that cost him most of '07.  He's under team control through 2012.

The Blue Jays come out ahead on this one.  Morrow is an obvious health risk, but he still has frontline starter potential.  It's a gamble worth taking at the cost of a reliever and a prospect.  Perhaps the Mariners believe it's all downhill from here for Morrow.

Odds & Ends: Delgado, Johnson, Igawa

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Some links as Hanley Ramirez celebrates his 26th birthday…

  • The Mets may have reduced interest in Carlos Delgado, according to Marty Noble of MLB.com. The slugger won't start playing baseball in Puerto Rico until mid-January; no reason was given for the delay.
  • The Yankees have about $4MM to spend on a left fielder, according to the New York Daily News.
  • Nick Johnson's deal with the Yankees is official, according to MLB.com's Brian Hoch.
  • David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution points out (via Twitter) that Troy Glaus will be the Braves' 11th opening day first baseman in 12 seasons if he signs in Atlanta, as expected.
  • Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News says (via Twitter) that the Cubs were willing to take on Kei Igawa's salary (two years, $8MM) before the Yanks acquired Javier Vazquez.
  • Brandon Morrow tells Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he hopes to start in Toronto.
  • Dustin Parkes of Drunk Jays Fans says there's no point thinking of Roy Hallladay as a saint, even if he did buy ad space in the Toronto Sun.
  • An unnamed source tells Bill Shaikin of the LA Times that the Dodgers broke even last year. Check out Shaikin's interview with team president Dennis Mannion.
  • The Phillies have been in touch with former Nats reliever Mike MacDougal, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. MacDougal's agent says "a good number" of teams are interested, which is what we heard earlier in the week.

Royals Sign Brian Anderson

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The Royals signed outfielder Brian Anderson to a one-year, Major League deal worth $700K.  He can earn another $100K in incentives.  MLB.com's Scott Merkin broke the news yesterday, while Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports added contract details.  Anderson was acquired by the Red Sox from the White Sox for Mark Kotsay and cash on July 28th, and non-tendered on December 12th.

Anderson, 28 in March, has a career line of .227/.290/.370 in 883 plate appearances, mostly with the White Sox.  He's mainly played center field in his career, and the Royals probably represented his best opportunity for big league playing time.  The Royals will have the chance to retain Anderson beyond 2010 as an arbitration-eligible player.

Merkin notes that the Cubs, Nationals, and Reds had also expressed interest in Anderson.

Pirates Sign Jack Taschner

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The Pirates have signed Jack Taschner to a minor league deal, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. The lefty will earn $835K if he makes the Pirates' opening day roster and could earn up to $465K more in incentives based on appearances.

Taschner allowed 38 hits and 20 walks in 29.1 innings for the Phillies last year, striking out 19. The former Giant mixes a 90 mph fastball with a slider and a change-up. Taschner is left-handed, but lefties have a .293/.366/.408 line against him in his career.

Olney On Mets, Chapman, Duchscherer

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ESPN.com's Buster Olney says the Mets would still like to sign Jason Bay, but are considering alternatives in case the left fielder's demands don't match their budget. Instead of signing Bay, the Mets could spread their resources and sign a number of the many available free agents. The Mets could obtain lots with the $15-22MM they have available, so Olney envisions some possible solutions. Here are a couple more hot stove notes:

  • Aroldis Chapman should sign for more than the $15.67MM that Stephen Strasburg obtained, even though scouts aren't uniformly impressed with the Cuban lefty and wonder if he might end up as a reliever. Chapman is on the open market, while Strasburg could only negotiate with one team. Other clubs tell Olney that the Yankees didn't have much of a presence at Chapman's workout last week.
  • Olney hears that the A's could bring Justin Duchscherer back. The right-hander may sign soon.

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