Mariners Seeking Right-Handed Bat, Pitcher
Mariners assistant GM Jeff Kingston outlined the team's targets in weekend talks at Fan Fest. MLB.com has video, and Jon Shields of Pro Ball NW transcribed quotes.
Kingston says the Mariners are in talks for a right-handed bat who can help out at DH and first base, and may land one in the next week. To Shields, the quotes imply that the player would help at DH more than first base. Shields speculates on Ryan Garko and Jermaine Dye as free agent possibilities. I'll add Marcus Thames as another guess. Jonny Gomes hits lefties but doesn't have first base experience.
Kingston didn't provide clues about the pitcher, but he also expects to acquire one in the next week. The Ms will watch Noah Lowry throw tomorrow, and have also been linked to Jarrod Washburn in some reports.
Minor League Transactions: Clark, Hammock, Loux
Baseball America's Matt Eddy has the minor league transactions for the period of January 19-24. A few notables from him, after the Knoedler and Giese bullets:
- The Dodgers signed catcher Justin Knoedler, reports MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
- According to MiLB.com, the A's re-signed pitcher Dan Giese on January 27th. Giese, 33 in May, tossed 22 innings for the big league club last year but learned in June he'd need Tommy John surgery.
- The Braves signed reliever Chris Resop, who spent '09 with the Hanshin Tigers.
- The White Sox added Brady Clark, who once scored 94 runs as a member of the '05 Brewers. It was the Brewers' December '04 Scott Podsednik–Carlos Lee trade with the Sox that gave Clark a starting opportunity in '05.
- The Rockies signed catcher Robby Hammock, who spent last season with Baltimore's Triple A club.
- Pitcher Shane Loux signed with the Astros. The 30-year-old posted a 5.86 ERA, 19 walks, and 19 strikeouts in 58.3 innings for the Angels last year.
Odds & Ends: Carroll, Wang, Hudson, Fielder
Sunday night linkage..
- Despite their budget constraints, Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times expects the Rays to upgrade their roster. Topkin mentions several quality free agents who may have to accept minor league deals such as Jim Edmonds, Rocco Baldelli, and ex-Ray Jonny Gomes as proof that the market is rife with valuable players.
- At the Mariners Fan Fest event, pitcher Mark Lowe told the crowd in attendance that he keeps up on all of the latest transactions with MLBTradeRumors (video from MLB.com, :40 mark). Dave Sims – the television voice of the M's – followed that up with his own mention of MLBTR. Thanks guys!
- Tim brings us the terms of Jamey Carroll's contract with the Dodgers via Twitter. Carroll will earn $1.35MM in 2010 and $2.5MM in 2011. The 35-year-old could also earn up to $525K per year in plate appearance incentives.
- The Dodgers are among the teams that have reviewed Chien-Ming Wang's medical records, according to a tweet from Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. Recently, ESPN's Jayson Stark pegged the Dodgers as a possible destination for the 29-year-old.
- Washington GM Mike Rizzo and Orlando's Hudson's representative haven't talked in a couple of days, according to MLB.com's William Ladson (via Twitter). Furthermore, Rizzo says that if Hudson has brought his price down, it's news to him (also via Twitter).
- In response to a fan asking how much he thinks Prince Fielder will sign for, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy writes that he doesn't think he will sign at all and will instead opt to hit the open market after the 2011 season (via Twitter).
- Jon Weisman of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Dodgers' rumored signing of Reed Johnson likely means that Ronnie Belliard will get the nod over Blake DeWitt at second base. Weisman's reasoning is that the roster, as it stands now, would feature an all right-handed bench without DeWitt's inclusion. Weisman wonders if this overload of righty sluggers means that the Dodgers will pursue another free agent backup outfielder.
Odds & Ends: Hudson, Wang, Brewers, Cabrera
Some links for your Sunday…
- Bryce Harper is not among the top ten on the Pirates' draft rankings currently, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Jason Marquis, Ryan Zimmerman, Nyjer Morgan, and Ivan Rodriguez have all voiced their desire for the Nats to sign Orlando Hudson, tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson. - The Phillies have talked about Chien-Ming Wang, but don't believe he's a fit, according to Scott Lauber of the News Journal.
- Brewers pitching coach Rick Peterson says it's up to Mark Mulder to decide if he wants to pitch for the Brewers, according to this tweet from Haudricourt.
- The Brewers have pulled their latest offer to Corey Hart and are preparing for an arbitration hearing with him, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- Orlando Cabrera wasn't willing to move from shortstop, so he picked the Reds over the Rockies, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown.
- Chien-Ming Wang will end up on one of the coasts, according to this tweet from Jon Heyman of SI.com.
- Melvin Mora is talking extensively with the Rockies and another club, writes Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
- The Dodgers are in the midst of talks with Garret Anderson, writes Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times.
- Tony Jackson of ESPN.com adds Reed Johnson, Gabe Gross and Brian Giles to the list of backup outfielders the team is considering.
- The Indians are talking about bringing Russell Branyan back, according to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. A reunion seems unlikely unless Branyan doesn't see appealing offers elsewhere.
- The Brewers engaged Jason Marquis but backed off since they were convinced he would sign with the Mets, writes Ken Davidoff of Newsday.
Fielder Discusses Contract Situation
It's good to be Prince Fielder. At 25 years old, he's one of the most feared bats in the National League, entering the second year of a two-year, $18MM contract, and according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Anthony Witrado, he's worry-free when it comes to his next contract.
Fielder addressed several reporters today at Brewers On Deck, a day-long fan festival held in Milwaukee. While it's no secret that his agent, Scott Boras, aims for every dollar possible for his clients, Fielder says he's not yet concerned with the situation, and that ultimately, it's not Boras' decision:
"In the end, it's my decision. But as my agent, he's going to make sure that I have the most information possible about what's going to benefit me and my family. That's what it's about first. My family has to be happy, and then I go from there. There's no urgency right now as far as that."
Fielder owns Brewers single-season records in home runs (50 in 2007), walks (110 in 2009), and RBIs (141 in 2009). McCalvy writes that the historical significance of those numbers matters to Fielder. While Boras may be dreaming of the open market with dollar signs in his eyes, if you ask the big man himself, he's happy where he is and would like to stick around:
"I came up here and I love it here. My thing is I want to stay here as long as possible. For now, I'm here for two more years anyway. All that other stuff, hopefully, will work out."
Fielder is under team control through the 2011 season, as he'll be eligible for arbitration one last time after the 2010 season. It's tough to imagine that the Brewers would want to go through that process, as it could be a record-setting case. For comparison, Mark Teixeira received $12.5MM through his final year of arbitration, a 39% raise from the prior year. That type of raise would put Fielder somewhere around $14.5MM for 2011.
There have been no deadlines set on working out an extension to this point. If he were to reach the open market, Fielder would join a group potentially including Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez, and Ryan Howard. Now that's what I call a free agent class!
All-Star Free Agents Remaining
Matt Holliday and Jason Bay have signed, but the free agent market is still littered with former All-Stars. Most of these players won't make another All-Star team, but lots of them can still be useful contributors. Take John Smoltz, for example. He lost his first All-Star Game to Nolan Ryan two decades ago, in 1989. Like many players below, Smoltz is past his prime but could help teams win.
They're not the best players around, or even the best free agents, but here's the complete list of free agents who have been selected to at least one All-Star Game. These 37 players have been chosen for the Midsummer Classic 92 times in total:
- One – Rich Aurilia, Aaron Boone, Paul Byrd, Tony Clark, Joe Crede, Shawn Estes, Cliff Floyd, Geoff Jenkins, Felipe Lopez, Mike MacDougal, Eric Milton, Chan Ho Park, Odalis Perez, Mark Prior
- Two – Hank Blalock, Bartolo Colon, Johnny Damon, Carlos Delgado, Jermaine Dye, Darin Erstad, Brian Giles, Mike Hampton, Livan Hernandez, Orlando Hudson, Jason Isringhausen, Mark Mulder, Dmitri Young
- Three - Garret Anderson, Eric Gagne, Tom Gordon, Jason Schmidt
- Four - Troy Percival
- Five - Mike Sweeney
- Six - Nomar Garciaparra
- Eight - Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz
- Nine - Gary Sheffield
Cafardo On Damon, Ohman, Sheffield, Wang
Scott Boras tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he has seen some "very creative proposals" for Johnny Damon's services. The market for Damon seems limited, but teams like the Blue Jays, Tigers and A's could be fits at some price. Here are the rest of Cafardo's rumors:
- The Blue Jays, Orioles and Royals seem most aggressive in their pursuit of reliever Will Ohman.
- Gary Sheffield is considering two unidentified teams and waiting for offers from them.
- Boras is trying to find interest for Jeff Weaver.
- There's interest in Chien-Ming Wang, but teams aren't offering the two-time 19 game winner much money.
Olney On The Damon Negotiations
When the offseason began, Johnny Damon was not interested in seeing offers for deals that would pay him less than the $13MM he made in 2009, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney. The Yankees offered Damon $14MM over two years ealier in the winter and lowered the offer to $6MM for a single year recently.
Odds & Ends: Indians, Mets, Verlander
As Tommy John's long-lost brother Elton once said, Saturday night's alright for fighting…and also for posting news links.
- The Tribe's quiet offseason is recapped by Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer, who also looks at how busy the other AL Central teams have been in comparison.
- MLB.com's Marty Noble outlines how he would have handled the Mets' offseason if he had been the GM, both if the team's goal was to contend or to rebuild (Noble's preference).
- Steve Kornacki of MLive.com thinks Justin Verlander's reported five-year, $75MM offer from the Tigers "is too sweet a contract for Verlander to pass on," even without the sixth year that the pitcher wants.
- Mark Sheldon of MLB.com passes along some tidbits from Dusty Baker on the Reds Winter Caravan. Baker said that reliever Mike Lincoln (who last started a major league game in 2000) was a contender for the No. 5 spot in the Reds' rotation, and that the club had considered moving top prospect Yonder Alonso to catcher. John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer sums these ideas up as candidates for the "sometimes-managers-say-the-darnedest-things file."
- MLB.com's Bryan Hoch believes the Yankees have finished their roster tinkering before spring training, and talks to Yankees manager Joe Girardi about New York's offseason moves.
- Chuck Greenberg, the incoming general managing partner of the Texas Rangers, is profiled by Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News.
- MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch was all over the Q&A sessions with Pirates management during the team's PirateFest event. Here is her latest transcript of a similar sessions with various Pittsburgh players.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets his guesses about the destinations of some of the free agent infielders left on the market. He sees Orlando Hudson in Washington, Orlando Cabrera in Cincinnati and Felipe Lopez in St. Louis.
- Count the White Sox out of the running for Johnny Damon or Hank Blalock, says Scott Merkin of MLB.com, since both are too costly for the limited space left in the team's budget. When asked about the possibility of Damon in Chicago, Sox GM Kenny Williams rhetorically asked, "Who is his agent?"
Marlins Reach Agreement With Derrick Turnbow
SATURDAY, 10:16pm: Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports that Turnbow's deal is worth $600K if he makes the team, plus an additional $50K in incentives. Damon Lapa, Turnbow's agent, said "there were offers with significantly more money….But Derrick realizes he's at a point in his career where the choice he makes is more important than income potential."
FRIDAY, 10:35am: The Marlins reached an agreement on a minor league deal with reliever Derrick Turnbow, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
Turnbow, 32, hasn't been effective in the Majors since 2005 with the Brewers, a season that prompted Doug Melvin to give him a three-year, $6.5MM extension. Amid a rotator cuff injury, Turnbow logged a total of 30.6 pro innings the last two years. He requested his release from the Rangers' Triple A club in May. The Marlins have resurrected the careers of many relievers, but Turnbow wil be a challenge.
The Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Cardinals were among the other teams interested in Turnbow. Earlier this month, he auditioned for at least 16 clubs.