1:36pm: The Rockies are focused on Cuddyer, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Should they lose out on the long-time Twinkie, they'll turn that focus to Willingham.
1:24pm: MLB Network's Jon Heyman adds the Rockies to the list of teams still eyeing Willingham, but doesn't go as far as calling them a "finalist" as Camino did with the Indians and Twins (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Willingham market hinges on Michael Cuddyer, because the Twins view Willingham as their top alternative. Rosenthal also mentions the Rockies as a player for Willingham.
SUNDAY, 11:57am: The Mariners are out of the running for Willingham, tweets Nick Camino of WTAM 1100. The outfielder's choice is down to the Indians and Twins, according to Camino.
SATURDAY, 10:32pm: The Mariners and Indians appear to be the front-runners for free agent outfielder Josh Willingham, reports Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio (on Twitter). MLB.com's Jordan Bastian says (on Twitter) that other teams remain in the mix though, including the Indians. Cleveland has not yet made an offer though. The Rockies, Twins, Rays were also in the mix at one point.
Willingham, 32, hit .246/.332/.477 with a career-high 29 home runs in 2011. The right-handed hitter tallied 829 1/3 innings in left field, and also has experience in right field in 2009. First base and designated hitter could be options as well. Willingham's agent Matt Sosnick guessed in October that his client would sign a three-year deal.
Also Cardinals may be in the mix.
Brewers might need this guy to fill that hole in LF and potentially 1B.
He’s so bad defensively that would be a terrible move, he only has value being a DH at this point.
I’d love to have him fill in at left for us. Should give the M’s a solid power output.
Reds still in the lead for most disappointing team since the Halladay no-hitter.
I’ll second that
They’ve had it rough since then, but since the Halladay no-hitter, the Twins were swept by the Yankees on the road following a 94 win season, and then had a 99 loss season with the highest payroll in team history in ’11, a season in which their two biggest stars became huge question marks.
Sorry to say, but the Reds are a distance second.
Hope the M’s sign him, and then trade Trayvon Robinson to the Braves.
along with catricala and/or Seager for a stud 3B.
He plays piss poor defense and is right handed. Pass on him, Zduriencik. Especially if his agent wants three years. PASS.
Ahh crap! Seattle dont need this guy. Has Z even looked at his numbers in Safeco? He hit even worse than his season batting line.
What could he bring to the M’s? They already have plenty of OF talent in the minors and some of them showed what they could do in the near future.
First, Willingham by no means can play CF. Second, the Rangers still won’t be any better than they are now. The Rangers already hit better than anyone else. They need some pitchers.
Willingham hit 29 HR playing half his games in cavernous Oakland. Admittedly, Safeco is tougher on righties but he could still provide value in the middle of the M’s lineup for the right price.
His walk rate and k rates were the worst of his career in Oakland too, dude was just hacking away and trying to hit bombs.
Well it was his walk year and it was in Oakland. What do you want him to do?
oh i dunno…NOT K 150 times?
This is going to be our big signing while we see some other team get Fielder lol.
Actually, would love Willingham AND Fielder for the M’s but doubt they have the payroll room. Would also mean the trade of either Carp or Smoak.
I think they could if they wanted to they just are unwilling. I wouldn’t trade Smoak i think id either have him split time with Fielder at 1st or DH him.
AA also stated that he wanted another big bat for the Blue Jays. The Jays are by no means set at LF or DH, and Willingham would be pretty scary hitting in the RC. On the other hand, it would mean giving up a first round pick.
Team don’t have to give up a pick for Willingham. That changed under the new CBA.
The indians have to get him. He’s pretty much everything they are looking for, and his glove translates to a LF/1B platoon defensively. Please, go and make the right choice. He is the kind of player that is unsung, but paramount to a teams success.
no, he really isnt. cleveland would be better off with casey kotchman’s outstanding defense at 1B.
I don’t totally disagree. Paramount was a strong word choice. Cleveland’s looking for a LF and a right-handed bat. I have to imagine Santana is going to log about a third to half of his innings at 1B. Kotchman’s defense hasn’t been as good the past two years, but I’d be okay with signing him.
Since when does Willingham play first base? aka as never…DER
M’s already have a Josh Willingham. His name is Casper Wells and he’s eight years younger and a fraction of the price. Hope there isn’t any truth to this.
rofl Casper Wells and Josh Willingham aren’t comparable
.
I think they are… Willingham has better OBP potential but Wells is a better defender, otherwise I think they’re similar.
so other than having different skillsets, they are similar? Casper Wells hasn’t had the service time or production that Josh Willingham has. If you want to argue defense, I can at least see the argument for that, although LF is generally a place you hide a player.
I think they will both hit for similar averages with the same amount of power. That obviously hasn’t been proven yet but I think Casper will put up similar numbers given the chance.
Wells’ major and minor league K% is almost 25%, with sub-10% walk rates. Excluding last season, they aren’t that similar.
Who is hiding in leftfield?
Casper Wells has played 707.2 MLB innings in the outfield: 425.2 in rightfield, 198 in leftfield and 84 in centerfield.
Josh Willingham has played 5,789 MLB innings in the outfield: 5,524.2 in leftfield and 264.1 in rightfield.
Sounds like you’re taking that comment as an attack on an individual. I’m just pointing out that if you’re a sub-par OF, LF is where they will hide you.
Not in a park like Safeco which has the biggest left-center field in baseball.
Wells is similar in value to Willingham. This would be a bad move for the Mariners unless they’re planning on trading one of Wells, Carp, or Smoak.
Don’t do it!
Last season 32-year-old Josh Willingham was valued at 2.1 WAR in 136 games while 26-year-old Casper Wells was valued at 1.5 WAR in 95 games.
Yeah, and that’s with the fact that Wells barely played in the first half with Detroit.
Willingham would be a nice fit as the Orioles DH/1B. But only on a 2 year deal.
That is an interesting thought. If you sign Willingham do you then trade Luke Scott (who does have some value)?
I picked JW to go to the Royals in that free agent guesser. I guessed the Royals would be trading for pitching but only Melky has been moved.
That is an interesting thought. If you sign Willingham do you then trade Luke Scott (who does have some value)?
I picked JW to go to the Royals in that free agent guesser. I guessed the Royals would be trading for pitching but only Melky has been moved.
That’s what we need coming to the Safe, a 32 year-old, right-handed, crappy-fielding “slugger”, with a sub .250 batting average. I hate this offseason.
Willingham might have been a decent add for Seattle the last couple years.
Especially as a good player to hold down the LF position while prospects develop.
No doubt the Nationals wanted quite a lot whenever the obviously offensively challenged Mariners inquired about him.
But even though the M’s are ready to take some steps up now as a organization, this one only looks like a good one on paper. He provides a “Name” and some good past stats to pacify some fans who can’t see past big names and decent past stats.
Looking at the big picture, Willingham is a step back at this point. A Carp/Wells platoon might be good for 29 home runs next year. They were good for a combined 23 home runs in 554 PA last year counting Wells Tiger stats also. And both could be better next year.
Sign with the Twins Willingham! Cuddyer is too expensive and we desperately need another righty in our lineup! Call me crazy but if the Twins sign Willingham, I would also like to see the Twins consider Manny Ramirez as our primary DH if the price is right, and I mean really right.
Willingham is going to get right around what Cuddyer is wanting, 3 yrs/25-30 mil.
That’s the problem, I think Cuddyer wants more than that.
What makes you think that? Because he hasn’t responded to the Twins offer? His wife just had twins, I don’t think signing with a team with 4 months of offseason left is his top priority right now.
I’m just saying that if a team like the bosox or phils offer him more he’ll most likely take it, meaning it’s too much money for the Twins to try and compete.
I would rather see Willingham in a Twins uni than Kubel. Kubel is too injury prone. A Willingham, Span/Revere, Cuddy outfield might put the Twins back into contention, or close to it.
I think signing Cuddy AND Willingham would be a way too expensive, overloaded outfield. I would rather see them invest some money into a starting pitcher. cough cough Edwin Jackson. I do like Willingham over Cuddy though.
The Mariners are out of the running for Willingham… oh no LOL
Seriously, though when was the last time Running and Willingham were used in the same sentence? Sure, Willingham has power, but speed to cover ground in the Outfield? I don’t think so. To me it should have been said the Mariners are out of the “Light” Jog for Willingham, especially with his achilles!
Ok. Personally if the mariners can’t reel in Prince Fielder (WHICH ISN’T ALL UP TO JACK Z….the player actually has to agree to come…) I think the mariners could do good with a pick up of say, Jason Kubel.
Lefty with some pop, could switch around between DH and LF with Carp (Assuming Carp plays as well as he did last year…people are assuming way to much.) Possibly platoon with Casper Wells, to get some more looks at him.
Don’t get me wrong. I would like for the mariners to sign Fielder, BUT for the RIGHT price. If we overpay for him…I can guarantee all the people saying “I don’t care how much you pay for him, just sign him!” Will be eating a huge slice of humble pie!…err lame poorly executed analogies!
Willingham in Coors would be a pretty nice match, though his defense probably won’t play too well in that large outfield.
I’d like to see the Tribe sign him and play him in LF and use Brantley as 4th Of and then have Cle trade Chris and Rafael Perez to the Angels for Morales. It adds two RH bats with pop to Tribe lineup. Sizemore, Asdrubal, Choo, Morales, Hafner, Willingham, Santana, Kipnis and Chisenhall…much improved batting order
… Twinkie?
Longtime nickname for Twins players.
Per Dave Cameron:
“105 of Josh Willingham’s 132 career home runs have been hit to left field. He turns 33 in February. Not a good fit for M’s.”
No thanks.
Wouldnt the Indians be using him as a 1B?
Well Brantley may not be in the Mix in the outfield unless Grady goes down.
The Indians and the Reds have been trying since right before the Winter Meetings started but they got to involved with way too many possible moving pieces in the deal and now it looks like it will not happen so they have turned their focus to Willingham.
The thought is they would move Brantley to 1st where he played some in the Brewers system while the brewers at the time decided to go with Lorenzo Cain in Centerfield in their minor league organization and not Brantely, the Indians are seeing what the Brewers did in Brantley will never be a everyday centerfielder no one every thought it could be true but ut is Brantley has a weeker arm in Center than Grady but he also runs really poor routes in the outfield.
So they get the Yonder Alonso deal done they will go into opening day with Brantely at 1st and they will turn their focus toward Willingham or possibly a trade for another outfielder.
Willingham in CF?
Are you high?
be polite and pass it to the right , Cf good lord , put prince in center field instead i think he might run faster
nooooooooooooo lol Cf is a bad idea lol sign dimitri young for center and you are better off
do you know anything about baseball or did you hit just the google “I’m feeling lucky” button?
Yes, as an M’s fan PLEEEEEEEASE Rangers, put Willingham in CF!!!
I like Willingham over Cuddyer, but unfortunately it seems like the Twins would only sign Willingham if Cuddyer chooses to go elsewhere or he continues taking his time in weighing the Twins’ offer.
Seems like the same story for Fielder. Z may be moving onto plan B: Sign a decent bat in LF, then trade for a stud 3B. Or maybe just sign Aram?
The reason the M’s don’t spend money is that a funding call is evenly distributed over all the different owners by the percent that each one owns (there are over 10 different owners). The other owners are not that rich. Some live rather ordinary lives outside of their stake in the M’s. That’s why they never outspend their own income. Not to mention that the largest minority owner is having massive financial trouble.
Are you still done forever if someone throws 8/$200MM at him? I don’t know what Boras is asking for, but commitment to winning also includes not doing something stupid just to please fans.
I wonder if you realize how dumb that just sounded? Yeah, trade Felix, great plan. Also, we have made some big deals in the past (Chone Figgins, Cliff Lee, ect.) they just didn’t perform to expectations. That’s not the owner’s or GM’s fault.
Ken thrifty jr
I will never stop being a M’s fan and i will still go to games but i agree with this guy the M’s fan base is starting to turn into the Oakland athletic fan base because our owners do nothing but keep losing 100 games season after season bringing no good players in.
Yamauchi doesn’t own the Mariners anymore. Dropping attendance from people like you propagates smaller payrolls. So if your intention is to stop caring about baseball in the northwest, go for it.
An aggressive majority owner would call out minority owners if they were truly holding back the franchise. Buy them out, and if they are not willing to sell, just go to the press and say that you want to put money into the team but can’t as long as minority owners are holding them back. Problem is Yamauchi hasn’t ever been to a game. Lincoln and Armstrong know this. That is why mediocre baseball is allowed. They get to play baseball executives while no one is holding them accountable. Mariners will not get better unless ownership wakes up and fires Lincoln and Armstrong or a new ownership group comes in and lights a fire under there asses. This was a team that used to draw 3.5 million fans. Now we draw 2 million. This is piss pour management. It’s been a decade since the playoffs. Casual fans tune out. Even hardcore fans like myself are intentionally spending less money on the M’s to send a message.
If you want to bet that his walk rate plummeting and k rate going through the roof last year was just an albatross…i bet it wasnt. Willingham isnt very good unless you DH him.
Its possible that Felix will have to be traded i don’t expect our cheap owners to even try to sign him. I actually feel bad for him for staying with this club he only got 80M think what Boston or the Yankees would of given him.
Yamauchi sold all his stocks some time ago. He is no longer in the equation. He is 84 years old living quietly in Kyoto. What do you want him to do at this point?
I heard he sold his stock to his son.
I heard he sold his stock to his son.
The stock was transferred to Nintendo during estate planning. He is still the chairman of Nintendo and largest shareholder. He could do plenty.
if he’s coming to cleveland I would hope he’s playing first, our outfield is pretty stacked. Unless we’re trying to make a trade with one of our outfielders and then putting Wilingham out there
I actually would pay to see that.
I actually would pay to see that.
Nintendo of America (NOA). 100% American owned now.
He had an ops+ of 121. Which is his career average. I wouldn’t be hugely worried.
Then you are one of the very few who think so. It was his first year against AL pitching, the harder league, with absolutely no protection in the A’s lineup, give him a break. True, he lacks some range in the OF, but it’s only about -5 Runs, which isn’t horrible for his production. I don’t see why he couldn’t get you 2-2.5 WAR each of the next 3 seasons, barring injury.
same!
Nintendo of America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Co. Ltd. who’s shares are traded only through the Tokyo and Osaka exchanges.
nietzschesass, you have to get your fact’s right man.
And the largest shareholder of Nintendo Co. Ltd? You guessed it, Yamauchi.
They’ve lost 100+ games twice in the last 29 seasons. Just fyi.
Edited: pardon me, 28 seasons. They lost over 100 29 seasons ago.
A 2-2.5 WAR OF isn’t that hard to find. Paying one for a long term contract isn’t wise.
i dont think it is. The Rays dont want to give up a first round pick