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Archives for November 2011

David Ortiz Seeks Three-Year Deal

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Free agent designated hitter David Ortiz seeks a three-year deal, reports Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.  An industry source tells Silverman Ortiz is drawing "serious interest" from more than one team and has an offer in hand.  He and the Red Sox maintain mutual interest about a new deal, and Ortiz intends to allow them to match any offer.

One wrinkle for Ortiz is that signing him comes with the tax of the loss of a draft pick, assuming he turns down Boston's arbitration offer.  If Ortiz is serious about getting multiple years, he'll have to turn down that arbitration offer on December 7th.  The Blue Jays, a somewhat reasonable match for Big Papi, probably aren't keen on giving the Red Sox their #17 pick in next year's draft.  Last week, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports wrote that the arbitration offer is one reason the Red Sox are "more likely than not" to retain Ortiz.  

Morosi On Fielder, Randy Wells, Guthrie

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A "tense three-week period that will shape [baseball's] landscape for the following year" begins today, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  His latest:

  • Agent Scott Boras has pared down Prince Fielder's sales pitch binder but still has 70 pages worth, he tells Morosi.  Morosi says Fielder's suitors are believed to be the Cubs, Nationals, Rangers, and Mariners.
  • The Cubs are open to moving Randy Wells, indicates Morosi as he lists available starting pitchers.  Wells, 29, is under team control through 2014.  MLBTR projects him to earn $2.2MM in 2012.  
  • The Angels and Orioles discussed the possibility of a Jeremy Guthrie trade in recent days.  Guthrie, 33 in April, projects to earn $8.3MM in 2012 before hitting free agency.
  • Japanese players including righty Hisashi Iwakuma, lefties Tsuyoshi Wada and Wei-Yin Chen, and second baseman Kensuke Tanaka can begotiate with MLB teams after free agency in Japan begins Thursday.  The Yakult Swallows intend to post outfielder Norichika Aoki after the Winter Meetings, adds Morosi.

Rays Sign Jose Molina

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The Rays officially announced the signing of catcher Jose Molina today to a one-year deal with a club option.  The $1.8MM deal pays $1.5MM for Molina's 2012 salary and includes a club option at the same price for '13 with a $300K buyout.  Molina jumps to the top of the Rays' depth chart, as yesterday they traded catcher John Jaso to the Mariners for reliever Josh Lueke and a player to be named later or cash considerations.     

With the Rays, the 36-year-old Molina appears to have a shot at topping his season-bests of 297 plate appearances and 737 innings caught, both set in 2008 with the Yankees.  Molina is known for his defense (especially in framing pitches), but in 2011 he had one of his best offensive years in a limited 191 plate appearance sample.  Molina is "one of the best defensive catchers in baseball over the past decade," in the words of Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. The Blue Jays will receive a supplemental draft pick for their loss.  Molina is represented by ACES.

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports broke the story on November 17th, with Jon Heyman, Ken Rosenthal, and Jayson Stark adding details today.

Phillies Called Billy Wagner After Season

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The Phillies had an outside-the-box idea before signing Jonathan Papelbon this winter.  The team called closer Billy Wagner after the season in hopes of coaxing him out of retirement, writes Mark Hale of the New York Post.  Wagner told Hale, "It was after the regular season…just to see if I was even contemplating coming back or had an itch or anything.  I just told them, 'No, I do not have an itch.'"

Wagner, 40, went out on top with a 37-save season with the Braves in 2010.  He closed for the Phillies from 2004-05, after which he joined the Mets on a free agent deal.  Wagner is currently coaching junior varsity baseball and has no intention of coming out of retirement.

Tigers Inquire On Mark Buehrle

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The Tigers' rotation hasn't been considered a major concern, with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, and Rick Porcello under team control through at least 2014 and top prospect Jacob Turner waiting in the wings.  However, they're one of the many clubs inquiring on free agent lefty Mark Buehrle, reports Lynn Henning of the Detroit News.

The Tigers are familiar with Buehrle, since he made 34 career starts against them as a member of the White Sox.  In Henning's opinion, signing him would allow the Tigers to use  young pitching as trade bait.  The number of reported Buehrle suitors reaches 14 if you include the Tigers, though the White Sox and Cardinals were part of that Jim Bowden tweet and those clubs are not considered likely.

Elsewhere on the free agent front, Henning says the Tigers have been following Yoenis Cespedes for years.  Tigers vice president and director of amateur scouting David Chadd admits Cespdes is a "five-tool player."  In a more speculative sense, Henning thinks Kelly Johnson and Octavio Dotel may be Tigers targets.  The Tigers are known to have spoken with Aramis Ramirez's agent this month.

Astros Dismiss Ed Wade, Tal Smith

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11:33pm: The Astros have confirmed in a press release that they are letting General Manager Ed Wade and President of Baseball Operations Tal Smith go.  The release goes on to say that Assistant GM Dave Gottfried will serve as interim GM until a new GM is hired.  However, Gottfried is not a candidate for the permanent position.  The search for a new GM "begins immediately".

11:21pm: Tal Smith said he was told by team president George Postolos he and GM Ed Wade are being dismissed, tweets Mark Berman of FOX 26.

8:41pm: The Astros, coming off the worst season in franchise history, are expected to announce major changes Monday, including the dismissal of GM Ed Wade, major league sources tell Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Furthermore, Tal Smith, the team’s president of baseball operations, is also expected to leave his current position, possibly by retiring. 

The fate of manager Brad Mills, who is under contract through 2012 with an option for ’13, is uncertain. Mills could be part of the initial housecleaning, or his future could be decided later by the team's next GM.

Last Sunday it was reported that Astros owner Jim Crane was prepared to make a swift decision on the futures of Wade and Smith.  Now, Crane and new team president George Postolos plan one-on-one meetings with all of the team’s top executives starting Monday, sources tell Rosenthal and Morosi.

Wade has served as Houston's GM for just over four years and is under contract through 2012.  Smith, meanwhile, has been with the Astros a total of 35 years, the last 17 as club president.  In total, he's spent 54 years in baseball.

There has been a great deal of speculation surrounding Wade's job security in recent weeks.  Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com wrote that if Wade were to be fired, the club could have an ambitious wish list including  Rangers executives A.J. Preller and Thad Levine and Rays executives Andrew Friedman and Gerry Hunsicker.  Hunsicker previously served as Houston's GM from 1996-2004.

As we've heard before, Friedman is happy with his job in Tampa Bay and unlikely to leave, despite being a Houston native, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.  Knobler also tweets that friends of Crane say the owner is a fan of the Rangers organization.

Central Notes: Pena, Twins, Quade, Rodriguez

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Some items out of the AL and NL Central to round out the evening..

  • Cubs first baseman Carlos Pena is unlikely to accept the club's arbitration offer, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.   Heyman writes that the Type B free agent should be able to land a multi-year deal after hitting .225/.357/.462 with 28 homers in 2011.
  • Twins insiders believe that the new collective bargaining agreement will make it easier for them to sign the No. 2 pick in next June’s draft, writes Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune.  The slot bonus for that pick has been set at $6.2MM.
  • More from Christensen as he writes that before hiring Gene Glynn as their Triple-A skipper, the Twins spoke to recently dismissed Cubs manager Mike Quade, who was a top minor-league manager before landing the Cubs' job.  Quade wasn’t interested, as he’ll still be drawing a paycheck from the Cubs for 2012.
  • Wandy Rodriguez represents an appealing option for several teams looking to improve their starting pitching, writes Stephen Goff of Examiner.  Earlier today, Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe wrote that the Astros are getting more and more inquiries about the availability of the 32-year-old and the Red Sox are among the interested clubs.
  • MLB.com's Mark Sheldon (video link) doesn't see the Reds moving Yonder Alonso for anything less than a top-end starter.  Sheldon goes on to say that he thinks the Reds should hang on to the 24-year-old slugger.

Quick Hits: Jaso, Orioles, Byrnes, Rivera

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Sunday evening linkage..

  • Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner takes a look at the newest member of the Mariners, John Jaso.  The M's traded pitcher Josh Lueke to the Rays for Jaso earlier this evening, and Cameron likes the move for Seattle.
  • The Orioles have hired Gary Rajsich of the Blue Jays to be the club's new amateur scouting director, an industry source told Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.  Rajsich, 57, has been with the Blue Jays since 2009 but spent most of his scouting career with Boston, where he worked with O's GM Dan Duquette.
  • Don Norcross of the San Diego Union-Tribune spent some time with Josh Byrnes and found that the recently-appointed Padres GM is extremely optimistic about the club's future.  When speaking to Norcross in his Petco Park office, Byrnes had one of his computer screens locked to MLBTradeRumors.
  • Yankees skipper Joe Girardi says that he isn't so sure that this will be Mariano Rivera's final season, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.  The closer will celebrate his 42nd birthday on Tuesday.
  • Bud Selig, the same commissioner who canceled the World Series in 1994 in order to crush the union, deserves props for seeing the error of his ways and dramatically changing them, writes Ken Davidoff of Newsday.  However, Davidoff isn't a fan of the limits on amateur spending and doesn't see the point of HGH testing.
  • On the other hand, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald argues that the newly-implemented HGH testing is a striking example of how far the sport has come in recognizing its issues with performance-enhancing drugs.  
  • Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer likes that MLB will be adding an additional wild card team in each league.  The new system, he writes, puts an emphasis on winning the division, which only brings integrity to the 162-game season.

Minor Moves: Marrugo, Rohlinger, Sutil, Maldonado

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We'll keep track of today's minor moves right here.  News of these moves are courtesy of Matt Eddy of Baseball America unless indicated otherwise..

  • The Orioles signed 17-year-old Colombian right-hander Yeizer Marrugo to a deal with a $120K bonus, according to Ernesto Armenteros D. of El Universal (Spanish link) and passed along by Eddy.  In the El Universal story, O's scout Jorge Franco says that Marrugo's fastball topped out at 91 mph when they recently scouted him and the youngster has the talent to make it to the majors in five years.
  • The Phillies acquired right-hander Adam Worthington from the Diamondbacks as player to be named for left-hander Mike Zagurski.  The Phillies sent Zagurski to Arizona in a September trade.
  • Cubs outfielder Lou Montanez elected free agency after recently being outrighted off of the club's 40-man roster.
  • The Reds re-signed right-hander Chad Reineke after the pitcher elected free agency in October.  Reineke had a 3.84 ERA in 25 games (22 starts) with Triple-A Louisville in 2011.
  • The Rockies released shortstop Ryan Rohlinger.  Rohlinger hit .247/.353/.409 in 103 Triple-A games for Colorado and the Giants.
  • The Royals signed a pair of left-handers in Marlon Arias and Tommy Hottovy.  Arias spent seven years in the Dodgers system, but hasn't pitched domestically since becoming a free agent following the 2009 season.
  • The Marlins signed right-hander Robert Ray, who appeared in a handful of Major League games for the Blue Jays in 2009 and 2010.  They also re-signed catcher Luke Montz.
  • The Dodgers signed shorstop Luis Cruz.
  • The Diamondbacks signed shortstop Wladimir Sutil to a minor league deal, according to El Universal (Spanish link).  Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic confirmed the signing to MLBTR.
  • The Nationals have re-signed catcher Carlos Maldonado, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com (via Twitter).  The move was first reported by El Universal (Spanish link).  Maldonado, 32, hit .234/.361/.342 in 38 games with Triple-A Syracuse this season and spent four games on the Nats' varsity squad in 2011.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/2011/11/minor-league-transactions-nov-15-21/

Week In Review: 11/20/11 – 11/26/11

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It's time to take a look back at the week that was with MLBTR's Week In Review..

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