Damon, Sheffield Interested In Rays
11:16pm: Johnny Damon told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that he'd like to play for the Rays. Damon said earlier this offseason that he'd like to re-join the Yankees.
4:07pm: Gary Sheffield told Steve Kornacki of MLive.com that he wants to play next year and that the Tampa Bay Rays are his first choice. Sheffield, who has ruled out a return to Detroit, wants to play for a competitive team. He says one team offered him an everyday job last year, but he turned the gig down because of doubts that the club could compete.
Sheffield batted .276/.372/.451 in 312 plate appearances for the 2009 Mets. It seems unlikely that National League teams would be comfortable allowing Sheffield to patrol the outfield on a daily basis, as he's now 42. Sheffield was born in Tampa and would like to play close to home.
Brewers Close To Signing Wil Nieves
The Brewers are close to signing Wil Nieves to a major league deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Nationals non-tendered the catcher last week, making him a free agent. Milwaukee has been looking for a veteran backstop to pair with Jonathan Lucroy.
Nieves, 33, has spent parts of seven seasons in the majors, posting a .227/.273/.297 line overall. He hit .203/.244/.310 in 172 plate appearances for the Nationals last year and threw out 24% of would-be base stealers, matching his career mark.
Red Sox Considering Carlos Beltran
10:49pm: The Mets and Red Sox met to discuss Beltran tonight, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
6:14pm: The Red Sox-Beltran rumor was not grounded in fact, a team source told ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes (Twitter link).
12:20pm: The Red Sox are "at least talking internally" about a Carlos Beltran trade with the Mets, reports ESPN's Adam Rubin. There is no potential deal at this point. The Sox consider Beltran a secondary option if other outfield alternatives fall apart, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Beltran is set to earn $18.5MM in 2011, the last year of his seven-year deal, and he cannot be offered arbitration when the season ends.
The Red Sox have also been linked to Magglio Ordonez, Josh Willingham, and Matt Diaz in recent rumors.
Marlins Determining Interest In Nolasco, Nunez
The Marlins are gauging interest in Ricky Nolasco and Leo Nunez, though they aren't committed to trading either pitcher, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Nolasco is two years away from free agency and was discussing a potential extension with the Marlins earlier this year before talks stalled. Nunez, the team's closer, is just one year away from free agency. He figures to earn $4MM or so in 2011 and Nolasco could earn $6-7MM.
Nunez, 27, posted a 3.46 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 65 innings last year. Nolasco, who turns 28 on Monday, logged 157 2/3 innings and posted a 4.51 ERA with a characteristically impressive 4.45 K/BB ratio.
Snag In White Sox, Konerko Talks?
10:26pm: White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf still wants the deal to happen and will work to resolve things by tomorrow afternoon, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
10:00pm: White Sox GM Kenny Williams told Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune that he’s prepared to move on without Konerko and address other needs. "There's no deadline, but we're going to make the first best deal we can," Williams said. The White Sox had plans to discuss alternatives this evening.
5:25pm: There's still "pretty decent optimism" for a deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Konerko's agent is pushing for more than the White Sox want to commit.
4:14pm: There have been "big changes" in the talks, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter links). The Konerko ship may be sailing, Cowley writes. Even though talks have hit a snag, it does seem that there's a fit here.
4:10pm: Snag or no snag, the Orioles expect Konerko to re-sign with the White Sox, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). The O's will likely be in on Derrek Lee if that's the case.
12:50pm: The White Sox are not the only team to make a multiyear offer to Konerko, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. No deal is expected today.
10:59am: There could be a snag in the Konerko talks, tweets Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, with the player's agent insisting on $15MM per year.
7:11am: We've heard Paul Konerko's name connected to a few teams over the past several days, including the White Sox, Orioles, Rangers, and Diamondbacks. According to this tweet from SI's Jon Heyman, however, the White Sox are "in the driver's seat" for Konerko.
The Rangers will instead be focusing their efforts on signing Cliff Lee, and Heyman quotes a friend of Konerko who says "no way" on the possibility of him going to the Orioles. The Diamondbacks don't have enough money to win the bidding, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
Yesterday, we heard that talks between the White Sox and Konerko were going well, and that he could be in line for a $12.5MM annual salary, possibly over three years. The 34-year-old Konerko enjoyed perhaps the best season of his career, hitting .312/.393/.584 with 39 home runs. He finished fifth in the American League MVP voting.
Yankees, Rangers Finalists For Mark Prior
Cliff Lee isn't the only pitcher the Yankees and Rangers are bidding against each other on. Those two clubs are the finalists for Mark Prior, according to Tom Krasovic of AOLFanHouse (on Twitter). The 30-year-old right-hander has a connection to both clubs; he pitched in the Rangers' minor league system last year and the Yankees selected him 43rd overall in the 1998 draft, but were unable to sign him.
Prior soon became one of the National League's best pitchers after the Cubs drafted him second overall in 2001. He posted a 2.43 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 as a 22-year-old just a year and a half after being drafted. A series of shoulder problems derailed Prior's career, but he has tried to resurrect it with stints in the Padres' and Rangers' systems. He has not pitched in a big league ballgame since 2006.
Rangers Interested In Magglio Ordonez
Why stop at Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre, Paul Konerko or Zack Greinke? The Rangers are interested in just about every star player available and Magglio Ordonez is no exception. Ordonez is an alternative the Rangers are looking at in case talks with Vladimir Guerrero don't progress, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Guerrero, who wants a multiyear deal, is the team's first choice, but only on a one-year deal.
The Red Sox are also interested in Ordonez, who sounded optimistic about re-signing in Detroit not long ago. Before fracturing his right ankle last July, the 36-year-old Scott Boras client batted .303/.378/.474 in 365 plate appearances.
Indians Notes: Colon, Encarnacion, Choo, Punto
The Indians have been quiet this offseason, but GM Chris Antonetti is making progress on potential moves, as MLB.com's Jordan Bastian and others report:
- The Indians have some interest in bringing Bartolo Colon back to Cleveland, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes (on Twitter). The right-hander pitched for the Tribe from 1997-2002 and is back on the radar and attempting a comeback. He last pitched in the majors for the 2009 White Sox. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer disagrees, shooting down the idea on Twitter.
- The Indians' interest in Edwin Encarnacion appears to have cooled, Bastian notes on Twitter.
- The Indians will discuss the possibility of a Shin-Soo Choo extension with agent Scott Boras this offseason. I looked at Choo's case for an extension back in September.
- Antonetti said the club could have interest in adding an infielder. They are interested in Adam Everett, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
- The Tribe met a number of agents today, including the representatives for free agent infielder Nick Punto.
- The Indians are close to signing former Rockies catcher Paul Phillips to a minor league contract.
Mariners Targeting Luis Valbuena
9:00pm: The Mariners have yet to make their pitch to the Indians, according to Hoynes (on Twitter).
8:22pm: The teams are talking about a deal that would send Valbuena to Seattle and reunite him with former Indians manager Eric Wedge, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter).
5:17pm: The Mariners are targeting Indians infielder Luis Valbuena as a second baseman, according to Shannon Drayer of ESPN 710 in Seattle (Twitter link). The 25-year-old appeared in 91 games for the Tribe last year, batting .193/.273/.258 in 310 plate appearances. He hit considerably better in 2009 when he posted a .250/.298/.416 line with 25 doubles.
Rangers, Cubs Talking Multiplayer Trade
8:52pm: The Cubs like Davis, but don't want to part with much in a trade, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link).
6:00pm: The Rangers and Cubs are discussing a trade that would send Chris Davis and Darren O'Day to Chicago, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse (on Twitter).
Davis, 24, has the makings of a slugger, but has struggled to realize his potential. He has 39 homers in 872 big league plate apperances, which projects to 25 or 30 over the course of a full season. Davis has a .248/.300/.459 line in parts of three major league seasons and he strikes out in 32% of his plate appearances.
The Rangers claimed O'Day off of waivers from the Mets in 2009 and saw him develop into a valuable cog in their bullpen. The sidearmer has a 1.99 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 117 2/3 innings for Texas.