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Kuroda Seeking $12-$13MM Deal

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With his landscape reportedly "wide open," Hiroki Kuroda is seeking a $12-$13MM salary, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney, who feels that the goal is attainable because Kuroda isn't seeking a long-term deal.

Kuroda, who will be 37 on Opening Day, enjoyed arguably his best Major League season in 2011, posting career bests in ERA (3.07) and innings pitched (202). His 7.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 were consistent with his marks in 2010. Advanced metrics like FIP (3.78) and SIERA (3.66) will suggest that he took a step back from his 2010 numbers, and it's worth noting that he post a career-low 43.2% groundball rate and a career high 22% line drive rate.

Kuroda signed a one-year deal with a $12MM base last year for his fourth season in the Majors (all with the Dodgers). His Dodgers tenure was effectively ended when Los Angeles inked Chris Capuano to a two-year deal last week. The Rockies and Red Sox are known to have interest in Kuroda.

Brewers’ GM To Meet With Reyes’ Agents

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Brewers general manager Doug Melvin will meet with the agents for Jose Reyes this coming week at the Winter Meetings, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (via Twitter).

Reyes' main suitor this offseason has been the suddenly free-spending Marlins, who have a reported offer of six years and perhaps as much as $90MM on the table to lure Reyes to Miami. Recently, it's been said that Reyes may be down to only the Marlins and the Mets, but he figures to be a popular topic of discussion throughout the Winter Meetings.

Reyes captured his first batting title in his age-28 season by hitting .337/.384/.493. He stole 39 bases and led the league with 16 triples despite hitting the disabled list two different times with hamstring injuries.

Quick Hits: Lincecum, Bailey, Marlins, Dodgers

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Sunday afternoon linkage..

  • The Giants are seeking middle ground with Tim Lincecum in their contract talks, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.  The club's first offer was for four years but the right-hander would like eight years in a long-term deal.  Lincecum is also comfortable with a one or two-year deal. 
  • The Mets would love to trade for Athletics closer Andrew Bailey but are more likely to sign one or two relievers from a list that includes Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Brad Lidge, and Matt Capps, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post.
  • The Marlins are in the mix for most of this winter's top free agents but haven't landed a big-name free agent since signing Carlos Delgado after the 2004 season.  Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel caught up with Delgado's agent, David Sloane, to recap how that came to happen.  The slugger was pursued by the Mets, Orioles, Rangers, and Mariners during the Winter Meetings but didn't hear from the Fish until ten days after they concluded.
  • The Dodgers' payroll will be below $90MM, the lowest in years, thanks in part to the backloaded deal they gave to pitcher Chris Capuano, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.

Three Teams Made Three-Year Offers To Buehrle

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Three teams have made three-year offers to Mark Buehrle in the monetary range that he is seeking, a source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter).  None of the teams have put forward the no-trade clause that the veteran is seeking, but two of clubs, both from the National League, are close to including that in their offers, Cowley reports (Twitter links). 

The White Sox are not one of the three teams, but Buehrle will talk to Ken Williams & Co. before he puts his name on the dotted line, Cowley tweets.

A deal could happen quickly, unless more clubs ramp up their pursuit at the Winter Meetings, Cowley tweets.  Cowley (via Twitter) notes that he was told that there is one club lurking that could come in and swoop Buehrle up, though it could just be a bluff.  On Thursday we heard that Buehrle is drawing interest from 14 teams.

AL East Notes: Lucchino, Youkilis, Orioles

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Yesterday, we learned that the landscape for free agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda is now "wide open".  The Red Sox have long been interested in the right-hander and was involved in trade talks to acquire him over the summer before Kuroda decided that he would rather finish the season with the Dodgers.  The Yankees are also expected to be in the mix for the hurler.  Here's more news out of the American League East..

  • The Orioles will announce more front office hires today, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter).
  • Red Sox CEO/president Larry Lucchino said he would not attend the Winter Meetings, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  This could be a sign that Lucchino is willing to back off or that he is showing full confidence in his new management team of GM Ben Cherington and skipper Bobby Valentine.
  • Cafardo also writes that Boston could use Jed Lowrie and Josh Reddick as trade bait and wonders if the club would part with Kevin Youkilis in a bigger deal.
  • More from Cafardo, as he writes that Red Sox VP of player personnel Allard Baird is likely to come up in connection with the Astros' GM job.  Baird was in the mix for Baltimore's GM vacancy but ultimately opted not to interview for the position.
  • There has been little connection between the Orioles and any starters on the free-agent market which could mean that a trade is their best option, writes Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.  The O's could also use a middle infielder and a DH but both are considered to be back burner issues.
  • New Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich says he'd like to hire some new amateur scouts by the end of the year, writes Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com.  Rajsich will look to adding a scout in central Florida and add a scout for the New England area to replace Keith Connolly, who recently left the organization.

Winter Meetings Notes: Giants, Beltran, Astros

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With the Winter Meetings just around the corner, here's the latest on what we can expect to take place..

  • An executive told Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter) last night that this weekend was much busier than most pre-meeting weekends with lots of teams bargain hunting.
  • The Giants aren't expected to be big spenders, writes Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News.  The club won't seek the offseason's elite free agents or make an aggressive push to re-sign Carlos Beltran, but they will look to fill-in some gaps at reasonable prices.  Baggarly writes that they are after a right-handed hitting middle infielder such as Alex Gonzalez or Jerry Hairston Jr. and an outfielder such as Josh Willingham or Coco Crisp.
  • In a piece for ESPN.com (Insider req'd), Jim Bowden runs down the situations facing the "new" GMs at the Winter Meetings.  In total, there are six GMs who have just signed on with their respective clubs as GM and one interim GM in the Astros' David Gottfried.
  • An agent with prominent clientele told ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Insider req'd) on Thursday that he's gotten less phone calls in recent days as clubs are simply waiting to get things done face-to-face at the Winter Meetings.  Last year, the meetings provided tons of surprises including the Zack Greinke trade and Jayson Werth's seven-year, $126MM contract deal with the Nationals.

Darvish May Be Posted After Winter Meetings

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10:56pm: Darvish's father told Japanese news service Sponichi that his son's decision regarding posting may not come till mid- or late January, according to Rosenthal, which could substantially limit the number of bidders because many Major League teams – chiefly the small- and mid-market clubs – have their budgets set by then.

8:20pm: Darvish and Hokkaido haven't yet agreed on a posting fee, a scout tells Rosenthal.

“The player, I am told, is very quirky with a huge ego. Apparently, he will feel disrespected if the post is less than Matsuzaka’s was with Boston," the scout said.

A different scout who covers Japanese players tells Rosenthal that Hokkaido wants Darvish to depart so that it can collect the posting fee. The scout adds that the team was planning to post Darvish last year and "had to scramble" to work Darvish's $4.2MM salary into its budget.

1:50pm: Yu Darvish will likely be posted by the Nippon-Ham Fighters after next week's Winter Meetings, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. There are still some issues to be worked out, but Darvish's divorce is not a factor, Rosenthal adds.

While Darvish ranked behind only C.J. Wilson among starting pitchers on MLBTR's list of the top 50 free agents, there was no guarantee he would in fact be available this winter. Yahoo's Jeff Passan wrote last month that executives of some clubs were beginning to doubt whether the Japanese right-hander would be posted, and Darvish's father said a few days later that the odds were "about 50-50."

If Darvish is posted, bidding for his services figures to be very competitive. When MLBTR's Tim Dierkes polled agents in October, they predicted an average posting fee of $45MM and a total commitment of over $100MM to obtain the 25-year-old. The Yankees, Blue Jays, Nationals, and Rangers are among the many teams expected to have interest, and according to Rosenthal, new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine "loves" Darvish, having managed against him in Japan.

Six Teams Pursuing Luis Ayala

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There are six teams in on free agent reliever Luis Ayala, tweets Jim Bowden of ESPN XM radio, including the Mets, Yankees, Rays, Blue Jays, Angels and Red Sox.

Ayala was an excellent value signing for the Yankees in 2011 after inking a minor league contract in February. The right-hander, who did not appear in the Majors in 2010, posted a 2.09 ERA in 56 innings last season and could land a Major League contract this trip through free agency.

Of the clubs listed here, the Mets, Jays and Rays, in particular, have several openings in their respective bullpens, while Ayala could simply provide depth for a team like the Yankees or Red Sox.

AL East Notes: Chong, Blue Jays, Yankees

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A few notes to share from around the AL East, where the soon-to-be officially retired Pedro Martinez spent the prime of his career with the Red Sox.

Pedro Martinez To Announce Retirement

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Right-hander Pedro Martinez, who last pitched in the Majors in 2009, said he will soon officially announce his retirement, according to Cash Kruth of MLB.com.

Martinez had apparently remained open to a return to the bigs since appearing in nine regular-season and two postseason games with the Phillies in '09, but nothing materialized, and now at age 40 and two full years removed from big league action, it's hard to imagine him catching on anywhere.

A three-time Cy Young Award winner and arguably the best pitcher of the offense-heavy 1990s and early aughts, Martinez has already cemented his legacy as one of the top hurlers in MLB history and projects as a lock for the Hall of Fame.

Martinez will hang 'em up with a record of 219-100 and a 2.93 ERA in 18 seasons with the Dodgers, Expos, Red Sox, Mets and Phillies. The advanced metrics are equally flattering as the traditional stats: 154 ERA+, 2.91 FIP, 89.4 WAR. Pedro's 291 ERA+ in 2000 is the highest single-season adjusted ERA in the modern era.

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