Links for Tuesday…
- 2011 free agent Brandon Webb threw for the first time since his August shoulder surgery today and told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert that he feels good.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says (via Twitter) that he's not under the impression that the Reds are in on Johnny Damon.
- The Cubs haven't spoken with Ryan Theriot's representatives recently and expect to go to an arbitration hearing with the infielder, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
- Jim Reeves of ESPNDallas.com explains how Rangers GM Jon Daniels now reports to Nolan Ryan. Within the piece, Daniels says the Rangers obtained virtually every player they targeted this offseason.
- Carlos Delgado's agent tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that his client's conditioning is progressing well (Twitter link).
- Morosi tweets that the Brewers signed Chase Wright to a minor league deal.
- Corey Hart's arbitration hearing is scheduled for Thursday, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. If the hearing does occur, Hart will either be paid $4.8MM or $4.15MM in 2010. It'll be Doug Melvin's first hearing as Brewers GM.
- Johnny Damon is a big fan of Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings, agent Scott Boras told John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. Boras says Damon received "four or five offers right away" after it became clear the Yankees wouldn't re-sign him.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman explained to George King of the New York Post that he groups Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Joe Girardi together in terms of not negotiating extensions.
- WEEI's Rob Bradford explains why Josh Beckett's shoulder will be a critical factor in whether the Red Sox re-sign the righty.
- Comparing 2008 to 2009, FanGraphs' Matthew Carruth lists the pitchers with the biggest gains and losses on their fastballs.
- The Brewers agreed to sign Dominican righties Eduard Reyes, Carlos Sosa, and Elvis Mora, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
- McCalvy points us to this entertaining interview the blog Right Field Bleachers did with Marlins reliever Seth McClung.
- The blog Monozygotic compiled a list of non-roster Spring Training invitees for all 30 teams.
Kenny Williams…Damon please
Williams won’t sign Damon… the White Sox are one of the clubs that do NOT deal with Boras at all…
You are right, but and this is a big but if Kenny can get him on the cheap you have to figure he would consider it.
Dont forget doing so would mean Kenny would be forced to release Kotsay, tacking on 1.5 million to whatever he would be paying Damon.
I rather release Jones and his 500k salary, is there any reason why he would not be able to do that?
Jones is a much better hitter and fielder then Kotsay, plus has defensive flexibility that would allow him to cover Center during the course of the season.
Really, since Kenny has already signed Jones and Kotsay plus acquired Pierre, Rios and Teahen (who are now all on multi-year deals), its rather unlikely another OF or DH type is added. If he signs someone, I would think it would be someone who has the ability to provide positive production with the bat and cover 3rd with Nix ending up the roster victim. Only one FA really fits that though, Joe Crede. (although Nomar might in a stretch and Blalock could if he is healthy enough where he could play 3rd – all indications are he isnt though.)
“four or five offers right away” says Boras?
I don’t understand that. He’s the freakin’ agent for the guy. Why wouldn’t he know precisely how many offers he received for his client? Is he that negligent, or is he just making up numbers off the cuff that sound good?
If you asked me how many offers I had, I’d darn sure know exactly how many. And I’d expect my agent to know as well.
My idea is at least one of them were “iffy” offers. Not sure how you can receive an “iffy” offer for a guy like Damon, but agreed, 4 or 5 does sound a bit odd here.
I wouldn’t doubt it if Damon ends of getting an offer for 7MM/1 year from Detriot. Boras is just that good. How can guys like Manny and Bay (not Boras) get so much money when there is only one team that can sign them.
Braves will jump in for 3.5. Rays, O’s and others for 2.5, but Detriot is the only team right now with 5-7 mil freed up for a guy like Damon.
Not saying it’ll happen, but it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing Damon has done.
DET might do that, but they’d probably try to get a team option at a pretty decent discount. Maybe 1/6+1/6 option in case Johnny repeats his 09. It seems unlikely that he’ll be that good, but even if he is his skills are such (no arm for CF or RF, little power for DH or 1B) that the $10m paydays are gone.
I agree twinsvet, when I read this post thats the first thing that I thought of aswell.
No suprise, hes just blowing smoke.
I wonder how many kids Boras has…
“Roughly less than 5, but probably more than 3.”
Why are some going on and on in the media about the Yankees not negotiating with Jeter, Rivera, Girardi. That has always been what the Yankees do, they wait until the offseason and take care of the players they want back.
The only guy that got away a few years back was Pettitte going to Houston with Clemens after the 2003 season.
The media really need hobbies to take up their time when regurgitating these lame stories.
“Johnny Damon is a big fan of Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings, agent Scott Boras told John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. Boras says Damon received “four or five offers right away” after it became clear the Yankees wouldn’t re-sign him.”
What it doesn’t say is how much those 4 or 5 offers were for, I guarantee you none topped more than 2 years – 14 million dollars.
This is what Damon and Boras is reduced to when they thought he was hot stuff in the market and could command more than Bobby Abreu.
Yeah that is working out real well. Cashman was right not to be held hostage by these two. Instead he got on with making additions for the new season and told Damon and Boras where to go with their outlandish demands.
All Boras is left to do is polish the knob of the Tigers owner for a new contract for Damon, he’s practically smooched every other body part of the man, with his grandiose claims about Damon making Detroit a winner.
If Damon really had that many offers, why would he be kissing Mike Illitches butt like that. I wouldn’t mind Damon being a Tiger, but it seems like they are waiting until spring training to pick him up. Braves have already said they are only willing to spend about 2.5m, which anything close to that is a steal for Damon
The whole Damon saga has really taken a turn toward pathetic, hasn’t it?
How long is Boras going to keep lying to people, making it seems like Damon is getting offers? Come on, Boras, you’re making Damon look like a fool.
I’m pretty sure Damon can do that by himself.
Truly. I couldn’t believe how socially awkward he looked at his Yankees press conference and beyond.
he did that already, didn’t he?
“Johnny Damon is a big fan of Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings, agent Scott Boras told John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press.”
Just laughable. Boras going to the press in Detroit, trying to appeal to the fans on something completely irrelevant to baseball. And don’t get me wrong I’m a huge Wings fan, but I could care less whether Damon likes Stevie Y and the Wings or not. Just because he likes them doesn’t mean he should play here in Detroit.
And the part about 4 or 5 offers is just him trying to pump Damon up. It isn’t working Boras, everyone can tell you guys are desperate. Those 4 or 5 teams probably made 1 year deals for 2 or 3 million… Boras just fails to mention that.
No way the Tigers go after Damon, at least for more than $3 million on a one year deal. They are not going to contend this year anyway, they should be giving the at-bats to people like Jackson, Thomas etc who might help in the future and need the experience. Tigers have been burned badly on contracts with Willis and Mags, they’re not going spend on Damon…
I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re not going to contend. But it sure would be a shock if they made a >$3m offer to Damon. Wouldn’t that mean they basically traded Granderson for Damon?
They started the offseason looking like they were trying to dump some payroll while still fielding a respectable team; it would seem like a late-off-season shift to suddenly spend big dollars on a stop-gap OF – especially when they let one go who was so talented.
I don’t think the Granderson trade was ever about dumping payroll this season. It was about having flexibility in 2011 and 2012, when Granderson’s salary was escalating and a ton of other $$ is coming off the Tigers’ books. Plus, Edwin Jackson is a Boras client and up for free agency after 2011, and would have made a killing in arbitration this year and next. So they traded those two guys for a boatload of cheap talent who don’t hit arbitration for a while. That’s not to say they were conceding in 2010, and I think Dombrowski always secretly intended to add a closer and another hitter to the mix. I bet Damon’s up next, for better or for worse.
If you want to look at it as a one-year thing, signing Damon would be like trading Granderson for Austin Jackson AND Damon. Not bad. As long as they can get him for $5M on a one-year deal, I think they should do it. They have absolutely no left-handed hitting in that lineup now, and could use a proven leadoff hitter. Not that I don’t miss Granderson already…
I’m just still bewildered by the Granderson move. Remember in December when Dombrowski was in frantic “There is no fire-sale taking place!” mode?
With Willis/Magglio/Bonderman/etc coming off the books in 2011-12, as you say, I don’t see why they’d have a problem retaining Granderson and Jackson. Those are the kinds of guys you build an OF and rotation around. Replacing them with Scherzer (kid has mad upside, but still not MLB-proven) and Damon just doesn’t seem to make much sense.
I’m just not convinced Dombrowski has a very clear plan. Are they contenders or are they retooling? In either circumstance, I don’t see why you get rid of a Granderson or Jackson. They’re still (relatively) cheap compared to their talent.
Good points, and as a Granderson AND Edwin Jackson fan I was initially disappointed. But I really don’t think Dumbo ever did intend to have a fire sale — and I still don’t think trading Granderson/Jackson amounts to that. It’s more about minimizing future decisions.
Talent aside — and obviously Granderson and Edwin Jackson have a lot of value — let’s look at the money.
Even if they do sign Damon to a $5M, 1 year deal, they’ve saved quite a bit there because Edwin Jackson will get about $6M in arbitration this year and the combined cost of Scherzer, et al, is about half that — that money went to Verlander, I assume. Personally, I think Damon + Austin Jackson + Max Scherzer + Phil Coke on a purely statistical/depth level will be more valuable to the Tigers this season than Granderson + Jackson would have been, and it would be a steal when you also factor in that adding Damon will make it more likely that Ordonez’s $15M option won’t vest because there’s more of a logjam for OF ABs. You also have to factor in that signing Damon to a $5M contract and then trading him to a contender at the deadline would reduce that $5M to only about $3M, and also possibly bring back a solid prospect.
Assuming Damon gets a one-year deal, they’ve freed up $8.5M in 2011 and $10M in 2012 on Granderson (less the cost of Austin Jackson, who makes the minimum), plus they’ll save the cost of whatever Edwin Jackson would have made in 2011 (less the cost of Phil Coke, Daniel Schlereth and Max Scherzer, none of whom are arbitration-eligible), and Jackson could get around $8-$9M in 2011. I highly doubt Dombrowski would have signed him to a long-term deal with Verlander and Porcello already in the mix and two top-tier starting prospects on the way. And now Scherzer is theirs for a while.
So that’s maybe $15M they’ve saved in 2011 with the trade. Add that to the combined $65M coming off the books after this season (Bonderman/Robertson/Willis/Ordonez/Inge/Laird/Seay/Everett) and Dombrowski now has, assuming payroll stays the same (which it has consistently the past three years), $80M to play with this coming offseason.
Their most pressing needs will be at SS, LF, and DH/1B. $80M can put you right in the mix for any of the huge FAs or trade candidates out there: Jose Reyes, Carl Crawford, Jason Werth, Adrian Gonzalez, Adam Dunn, etc. You take your chances on younger players elsewhere — Raburn, Sizemore, Avila, Jackson — and maybe re-sign Inge/Everett to cheap contracts and basically your lineup can rival the Twins/White Sox again. And you have a solid 1-2-3 in your rotation, and a stocked bullpen (no need to replace Seay). This would not have been as sustainable with Granderson and Jackson on the team.
On a completely emotional level, after the way last season ended, it also makes sense to me. If the Tigers don’t win the division in 2010, I can always blame that on the trade. If they win, I will be happy anyway.
Maybe Boras can get Damon an incentive laden contract with Detroit…. say like 20 steals, he gets his own Dominos pizza franchise….. Boras is a good agent (FOR his A list clients) but the others..(see Damon, Blalock, etc) they all get screwed and twist in the wind.
“Dominos pizza…which no longer tastes like cardboard with ketchup on it!”
I believe Borass has cut his throat with so many teams, that a good majority of them won’t even deal with his clients. I know the Angels and White Sox dont deal with him. A lot of his players are going to have to take minor league deals (if at all) this year.
I agree. He got Holliday his big contract, but most of his “lesser” clients were pretty much left to fend for themselves and given poor instruction on which deals to accept. If I were a good but not great player in the realm of Damon, I’d find a smaller firm that would actually value my business and contract rather than just tell me to shoot down every offer until the one with every little thing you want comes around.
Its funny that the experts said at the beginning of FA for the players to SIGN QUICK.. because of the economy, and money won’t be there… Guys like Dye and that idiot LaRoche turning down 17 mil from the Giants? Same with Washburn turning down the Twins offer.. I know Washburn is a Borass client.
There is a reason the Yankees didn’t go after Holliday and Bay. YES even the Yankees are worried about money. What no one is saying on here is the Yankees have to cough up for Jeter next year and he is going to want to get his 25-30 mil per season, and Mo Rivera..he is up too, not to mention Pettite and Vasquez. I laugh at the so called yankee fans who say they are going to get Mauer, Pujols and every other big name free agent. You don’t think for a minute 5 years ago the Yankees would have snapped up either Bay or Holliday..or both… Truth is no one is buying those 2500.00 seats behind the plate…
I for one as a Yankee fan hopes Mauer stays right in Minnesota for the game itself, the Yankees have catching prospects galore, that is one area Cashman is not messing around when Posada is finished catching.
Jeter and Rivera coming up are not big issues because their contracts are already huge and so even when resigned the Yankees will be around the same ballpark with their salaries.
Pettitte for all anyone knows may retire after the season.
The only guy you mentioned is Vazquez that is a questionable contract status. The Yankees may resign him depending on how he pitches this coming season and if Pettitte retires or go after a Cliff Lee.
The only two guys on the market I see interesting the Yankees in next season’s free agent crop is Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford. That is all contingent on what Pettitte and Vazquez does come the end of the 2010 season.
It’s Little Ceasars! Which actually does taste like cardboard
Meh, 5 dollar large pizza is hard to beat, and it’s still pretty good imo.
The MLPA (I think) doesn’t allow incentives like that in contracts, basically Plate Apearances, Games Played, time spend on DL, Games Started, things like that is what you get incentives for. Stolen Bases, Home Runs, Shuts Outs, Wins, ect weigh too heavily to be put in as incentives. If you knew that you need 5 more homers to get another .5mm then you would be swinging for the fences every time up.
Would be nice if Boras would hurry up and get Damon signed so these idiotic stories about Damon’s love of this and that and the other could disappear.
The only thing a team that signs him cares about is what will he do on the field, that is it.
In all honesty Damon is a good player on offense, ain’t worth jack squat on defense though. Teams are weary of him because of that combination.
Removed from Yankee Stadium
removed from hitting in between Jeter, Tex and Arod
Going to a pitchers park be it Detroit, Atlanta or wherever else his 24 HR (17 at Yankee Stadium) becomes fly outs and a total of about 15 HR max over the whole season elsewhere. Some of those fly balls may become doubles but many will be outs that were Homeruns last season in Yankee Stadium.
No hitter took greater advantage of New Yankee Stadium than Damon
Combine that with his dreadful arm and defense (-4.2 runs below average arm, -3.7 runs below average range, -9.2 UZR) not hard to see why teams would be weary.
His offensive contribution unless he is a DH is just not good enough to accept that kind of defense day in and day out.
The Yankees could because their offense was dominant.
1st in baseball in Hits, Runs, HR’s, RBI’s, Walks, OBP, SLG, OPS, that can easily mask a bad defensive outfielder, most teams however cannot hit like that and need guys on both sides of the ball contributing.
I saw Damon dropping fly balls, bouncing throws to the cutoff man even when Jeter was standing a quarter of the way in the outfield to catch his throws. In bigger parks teams will test him on 1st to 3rd every time the opportunity comes up even with big plodding slow runners on base and him being in left field.
Disagree that Damon’s offense isn’t good enough to carry his defense. If Adam Dunn’s offense is good enough to carry his -20’s UZR then Damon’s offense is good enough as well. His game is different than that of a slugger, even before he took advantage of new Yankee Stadium he had value. He’s not going to be a bad player all of the sudden just because you’re sick of hearing about him. Doesn’t work that way.
Completely agree.
Adam Dunn is a 40 HR, 100 RBI candidate dude, they aren’t even in the same ballpark of player production. Adam Dunn is 6 years younger as well.
Note I never said Damon would be a bad player, what I stated is his value was at its greatest in Yankee Stadium.
Put him in another teams offense, in a park that plays big, with lesser hitters around him and he isn’t putting up 35 HR and 100+ RBI’s like Adam Dunn would.
Please tell me what is Damon’s value in another lineup. Remove Damon from the Yankee lineup and insert him into a weaker offense and pitchers park and I would bet on his numbers declining. He would put up something around
.285 AVG, 13-15 HR, 65-70 RBI, now combine that production with his declining defense and terrible arm at the age of 36 and tell me what a team is really getting. Is that a difference making player.
He is not even in the same boat of Adam Dunn’s impact. That was the point I was making with absorbing his defense, Damon is not a slugger unlike Adam Dunn.
Adam Dunn can hit you a 3 run homerun in any park in the majors be it Safeco Field, Turner Field or any park that plays big, not just hit homeruns primarily in Yankee Stadium ala Damon.
Damon is a complimentary player on a good team and a decent veteran on an average team. If he was more than that teams would have snapped him up by now. When you consider Mike Cameron got a 2 year deal and many other outfielders have been signed, why is Damon still on the market. You had better believe teams are looking at his defense and offensive splits.
Damon’s splits were remarakably different at home and away
Home – .279 AVG, .382 OBP, .533 SLG, .915 OPS (272 at bats)
Away – .284 AVG, .349 OBP, .446 SLG, .795 OPS (278 at bats)
Are those splits coincidental I ask.
That is why teams want to sign Damon at as low a price as possible because they will then get good value for him then. No team is trying to overpay for him that is why he isn’t back on the Yankees.
Boras and Damon are a JOKE. Now he loves everything from Detroit, oh really?
“Carlos Delgado’s agent tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that his client’s conditioning is progressing well.” ………………………………..
Yeah, Delgado actually managed to run one mile on the treadmill in UNDER 13 minutes……………. Now that is what I call speed and progress.
He also managed to make 5 consecutive trips without stopping from his booth back up to the sausage buffet line…………………… In another true test of endurance, he successfully consumed 37 blueberry pancakes at IHOP’s “All-you-can-eat-flapjacks-for-only=5$” special.
Andrew Jones is represented by Boras
Breaking News!
Boras expands list of Damon’s favorite hockey players:
Capitals – Alex Ovechkin
Penguins – Sidney Crosby
Bruins – Zdeno Chara
Flyers – Chris Pronger
Blackhawks – Patrick Kane
Rangers – Henrik Lundqvist
Sharks – Joe Thornton
Stars – Mike Modano
Thrashers – Kari Lehtonen
Damon expects offers from nine mystery teams (WAS, PIT, BOS, PHI, CHC, NYM, OAK, TEX, and ATL) momentarily.
Edit: Sorry Braves fans, Lehtonen was just traded to the Stars. Based on Damon’s hockey bromances, looks like Texas has the edge now.
I think the Yanks should make a move for Beimel. I wanted them to get McDougal before he signed… can never have enough depth in the bullpen, especially when the Yanks have a recent history of overworking relievers in the regular season to have them burn out come playoff time.
If Damon’s price gets down to the 1-year, $3 million range I wouldn’t mind seeing the Cubs get involved. Byrd/Damon and Fukudome/Nady would be descent platoons whenever one wasn’t filling in for an injured Soriano. It would keep Fuld and Colvin away from the team as well. If they fell out of contention Damon could be used as trade bait or they could take the draft pick for him after the season. For only $3 million or so that’s some descent value.
“It would keep Fuld and Colvin away from the team as well.”
Yay!!! I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
But seriously, Damon would fit well if his price drops low enough (and Hendry gets over the obsession which points towards him being adamant about again overpaying for another average-at-best reliever.)
Oh goody, it looks like the Cubs want to go to arbitration and upset the troll that lives at short. I can see this ending positively 🙁
Per Tim’s list, the Tigers employ seven Boras clients on their 40 man roster, five on the 25 man roster. Laird, Miner, Ordonez, Scherzer and Seay are on the likely 25 man….Jeff Larish and Andy Oliver are on the 40 man.
So if Damon signs, Boras client Larish has a much diminished opportunity. Larish is a left handed contact hitter with modest power, his best positions are first base (no vacancy) and left field. Larish is a minimum wage Damon, not as good a hitter clearly. It’s not in Jeff Larish’ interest for his agent to be begging the Tigers to sign Damon.
As pointed out by someone, Scherzer replaces another Boras client, Jackson. Jackson has 2 years left til FA and because of his agent he’s not even worth talking to about an extension. Jeff Weaver, another ex-Tiger Boras client, turned down an extension with the Dodgers after a good year there and is now unemployed. Scherzer will, if he pitches well, be cycled out of Detroit when he gets two years from FA too. But the Tigers get him for the next few years. Maybe Andy Oliver can take his spot in the rotation when he has to go.
Seay is the senior and highest paid of a glut of lefty relievers. It makes sense to trade one: Seay is the logical candidate.
Laird figures to be deemphasized in favor of Alex Avila.
Ordonez can thank Mike Ilitch for letting his option vest. To be fair to Boras, Ordonez is one of his best-served clients.
One year, $5M. Damon won’t get more elsewhere.
“One year, $5M. Damon won’t get more elsewhere.”
Any team that signs him would be smart to pay him that since the market simply isn’t there for him to command more from a team. Maybe they get a season like what the Angels got from Abreu and get more than maximum value in return from Damon’s acquisition.
Nothing can tell me that his poor defense hasn’t hurt him in the market. If he was an above average, even average defensive player he would have been picked up long ago by some team to play in their outfield at a 8 million dollar price at worst.
Teams are shifting their focus to pitching and defense literally in the post steroid era of 50 HR hitters that seemed the norm a few years ago.
Now teams want to save runs as opposed to playing Home Run Derby.
Troll a lil rough but point taken…..I can’t see him making out that much better in arb,not sure if i was him that id be that confident,he is a nice roll player who has done an admirable job but he could find himself playing somewhere else if he gets what he wants or gripes about not getting what he think he deserves.And not to many out there would consider him as highly as the cubs have he could end up a back up utility guy somewhere else not a starter….the cubs like Blancos defense and have castro in the waiting, theriots offense isn’t that much better that hendry may opt for blancos de for a year till they feel castro is ready.If this gets ugly he may go on the trading block.
Overall i do like theriot but this made be a mistake on his part.