Rangers Likely To Let Byrd Walk
According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, the possibility of free-agent outfielder Marlon Byrd returning to the Rangers is "growing dim."
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and Byrd's agent, Sam Levinson, spoke during the GM meetings in Chicago. But negotiations still haven't moved in a positive direction.
"We've had a decent amount of conversation," Daniels told MLB.com. "I expect them to test the market. Based on what they're looking for…we're not in a position to do that right now. We expect them to talk to other clubs and see what's out there. We're going to be looking at alternatives."
Byrd, 32, hit .283/.329/.479 this past season with 20 homers and 89 RBI in 599 plate appearances. He also played an excellent corner outfield. Tim discussed his free agent credentials in depth about three weeks ago.
Marlins Showing Some Interest In Carroll
7:03pm: Gonzalez has filed a blog post on the topic with quotes and more. As he notes, the Marlins will probably step up their efforts to sign Carroll if they're able to trade second baseman Dan Uggla. Most clubs are looking at Carroll as a utilityman; might the lure of more playing time draw him to South Florida?
5:21pm: According to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (via Twitter), the Marlins have some amount of interest in free-agent infielder Jamey Carroll.
Gonzalez spoke Wednesday with Carroll's agent, Jonathan Maurer, who said the Marlins are pursuing the 35-year-old infielder, but not as aggressively as some other teams. According to Maurer, 10 other clubs have expressed interest in Carroll, who hit .276/.355/.340 in 2009 and played solid defense at three different spots on the Cleveland infield.
So far we've seen the Phillies, Nationals, Dodgers and A's linked to Carroll in some way this offseason.
Jason Schmidt To Retire?
MLB.com's Ken Gurnick confirmed Wednesday that Jason Schmidt is likely to retire.
Schmidt filed for free agency last week, but it may have simply been a formality. "Leaving my options open," he said. "At this moment, no, I'm not thinking about pitching anymore. Down the road, I'm not sure. Initially, I'd say no way. I'm not planning on playing at this moment. In my mind, I retired when I left in August."
The 36-year-old right-hander made just 10 starts during his three-year tenure with the Dodgers, finishing 3-6 with a 6.02 ERA. He has pitched 13 major league seasons, and, if truly done, will end his career with a 130-96 record, 3.96 ERA and 1,758 strikeouts.
Nine Brewers To Hit Open Market
Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com on Wednesday that he expects all of his club's potential free agents to reach the open market.
"No," said Melvin.. "I don't think they want to sign, personally. They want to wait until Friday and hope someone picks up the phone and makes them an offer they never thought they would get."
The Brewers, and the rest of baseball's 29 clubs, have until Friday at 12:00am ET to negotiate exclusively with team members who are not under contract for 2010. After that deadline, the hot stove season is truly on and things around here will get even busier.
As McCalvy notes, Milwaukee has nine outgoing free agents: Outfielders Mike Cameron, Frank Catalanotto and Corey Patterson, infielders Craig Counsell and Felipe Lopez, catcher Jason Kendall and pitchers Braden Looper, Claudio Vargas and David Weathers.
The Carlos Gomez acquisition likely means Cameron is gone and the Brewers are ready to give a healthy Rickie Weeks the second base job over Lopez, a Type B free agent who is likely to be offered arbitration but will almost certainly decline. As for the others, we shall see.
Odds & Ends: Mulder, Matsui, Smoltz, Rangers
Some afternoon linkage…
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt tweets that "it would be a huge upset if Mark Mulder doesn't try his comeback attempt in the Brewers' spring camp."
- Meanwhile, Brewers' GM Doug Melvin said the George Kottaras pickup was all about depth, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
- NPB Tracker passes along a report that says the Yankees stand to lose at least $15MM in revenue if Hideki Matsui leaves as a free agent.
- The Tigers aren't one of the teams that have expressed interest in John Smoltz, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck. Yesterday we learned that at least seven teams are interested in the righthander.
- Tom Hicks is trying to put together a group of local businessmen that would allow him to maintain major ownership of the team, says ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett. The deadline to submit a bid for the team is Friday, so if you have a couple hundred million bucks burning a hole in your pocket…
- Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball reports that the Nationals have named Davey Johnson Senior Advisor to GM Mike Rizzo.
- ESPN's Howard Bryant writes about a salary cap, and how baseball doesn't need one.
- Last, but certainly not least, everyone welcome FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal to Twitter!
A’s Unlikely To Pursue Free Agents
Billy Beane indicated that the A's will not pursue free agents with whatever money they have available, and instead will look to the trade market to fill any openings, according to MLB.com's Mychael Urban.
"We're going to look at young players to fill spots, first and foremost," Beane said. "If those players we'd like to acquire aren't obtainable, we'll consider bringing in guys who can hold the positions down. We're going to stay disciplined and try to do everything we can to fill those spots with young players.
"So the next step is to continue to bring guys like Andrew up here. That's our responsibility, and I know the deal. To sign a couple free agents and have three or four press conferences during the winter doesn't get it done. We're going to be disciplined."
Urban says that means the team may let Adam Kennedy and Justin Duchscherer entertain offers on the open market, and that Beane will look for an alternative (i.e. younger and cheaper) option at third base.
The A's traded for Matt Holliday while signing Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, and Nomar Garciaparra last offseason, but only Nomar made it through the entire season with Oakland.
Orioles Rumors: Corner Infielders, Hendrickson
MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez has a bunch of Orioles rumors for us, but unfortunately they're spread out among a half-dozen tweets or so. Here's the goods…
- Andy MacPhail said that they've "made no secret about the fact that we're looking for corner infielders."
- ESPN's Keith Law notes the team has some prospects coming up at first and third base, but MacPhail acknowledged that they probably aren't ready to contribute yet. Gonzalez mentions the team's two most notable prospects, Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder, will likely get some more seasoning in the minors.
- MacPhail also said the team plans to accumulate whatever pitching they can.
- Regarding free agent lefty Mark Hendrickson, "We've talked with his [rep], & I think we both have a pretty good understanding of where we are …"
- When it comes to trading prospects, MacPhail said "I think we'll be judicious about giving up any of those guys we think are a part of our core future… I would think it unlikely … we gave up a young key part of our future and just got something back that would be a short-term answer."
Brewers Claim George Kottaras
Anthony Witrado of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Brewers have claimed catcher George Kottaras off release waivers from the Red Sox. Boston released Kottaras earlier today.
The 26-year-old Kottaras hit .237/.308/.387 in 107 plate appearances in 2009, though he didn't play after July 31st due to a lower back injury. Witrado also has news on some prospects that the Brewers added to their 40-man roster.
Francona Speaks About Red Sox Offseason Topics
Red Sox manager Terry Francona was on WEEI's Dale & Holley earlier today (audio here, transcript courtesy of Alex Speier here), and spoke about a variety of Red Sox offseason topics. Let's round it all up…
- The team is currently interviewing candidates for openings in their coaching staff. Bench coach Brad Mills has since moved on to take over as Astros' skipper.
- Francona hopes the team re-signs Jason Bay, but he acknowledges that he's going to have other options. "You know we’re going to be a major player. We always are."
- He also thinks Bay won't drag out his decision until mid January.
- Francona says he has gone on free agent recruiting trips before, most notably to speak to John Smoltz and Mark Teixeira.
- Whenever GM Theo Epstein talks to him, Francona always tells him to get a pitcher.
- The team has met with John Lackey's agent, and Francona considers him "one of the best." He also notes that you're talking about a lot of years when committing to a player like that.
- Francona acknowledged that Alex Gonzalez stabilized the shortstop position, but "you look at that .310 on-base percentage, for a full year, if that’s what you’re going to go with, you’ve got to recoup that somewhere else."
Francona also spoke about how they mix stats and scouting, and how they "try to look at both and make good decisions."
Rockies Sign Tracy to Three-Year Extension
The Rockies have signed manager Jim Tracy to a three-year contract extension, according to Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies. The news comes on the heels of Tracy's Manager of the Year Award, so it's a pretty good day in the Tracy household.
Ringolsby mentions that Tracy's entire coaching staff has agreed to return for 2010 as well. The Rockies were 18-28 and 14 games out when Tracy took over in late-May, going 74-42 the rest of the way while securing the NL Wild Card.