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Pads Feel It’ll Be Easier To Deal Bartlett Than Hudson

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Earlier this week we heard that the Padres hope to trade either Jason Bartlett or Orlando Hudson this offseason, and today Dan Hayes of The North County Times heard from a source that the team believes it will be easier to trade Bartlett because of his contract (Twitter links). The Padres think they'd have to eat part of Hudson's deal to get actual prospects back.

The double play combo are the only players San Diego has under contract next season. Bartlett, 32, will earn $5.5MM in 2012 after hitting .245/.308/.307 in 2011. Like many of his teammates, he hit better away from Petco Park: .265/.323/.330 with 16 doubles. Bartlett's $5.5MM option for 2013 will vest with 423 plate appearances next season, otherwise he will be owed a $1.5MM buyout.

Hudson, 34 next month, hit the disabled list twice due to hamstring strains this past season. He hit .246/.329/.352 with seven homers and 19 steals when healthy, and is owed $7MM in 2012. As our Free Agent Tracker shows, middle infielders like Jamey Carroll, Mark Ellis, and Aaron Hill have signed multi-year contracts this winter, all worth between $3.25MM and $5.5MM per season. Clint Barmes is poised to join them as well.

Darvish’s Father: “At This Point It’s About 50-50″

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There have been some seeds of doubt planted as to whether or not Yu Darvish will be posted this winter, and Darvish's father briefly commented on the situation recently. Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passed along the quote…

“Yu and I are talking about having a family meeting once the Nippon Series is over," said Farsa Darvish. “At this point it’s about 50-50.”

Darvish provided commentary for Game Six of the Nippon Series, but discussion about the posting process was strictly prohibited. Newman mentions that the series will end tomorrow, so a decision on the right-hander's future will be made sooner rather than later. The thin free agent pitching market works in Darvish's favor, and is why most expect him to be made available to MLB clubs this winter.

Pirates Close To Deal With Clint Barmes

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8:03pm: Heyman tweets that it will be a two-year contract worth $10.5MM. The two sides are just putting the finishing touches on the deal.

2:36pm: The deal is expected to be worth roughly $11MM over two years once completed, Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets.

1:02pm: The Pirates and Barmes are close to a deal according to Heyman (on Twitter).

12:35pm: The Pirates appear to be in the lead for Clint Barmes, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Giants and Brewers have also been involved, and the free agent shortstop is likely to get a two-year contract.

Barmes, 33 in March, hit just .244/.312/.386 with a dozen homers for the Astros last season, but his primary value comes from his defensive skills. The various advanced metrics have rated his glovework at short as well above-average in recent years. The Pirates are in the market for a new shortstop after declining Ronny Cedeno's $3MM option for next season.

Tim Dierkes looked at Barmes' free agent stock last month, saying that Omar Infante's two-year, $8MM extension with the Marlins could serve as a decent comparable. Jamey Carroll's two-year, $6.75MM deal with the Twins reinforces the comparison.

New CBA Notes: Minimum Salary, Super Twos, HGH

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Baseball's owners and players have agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that should be announced early next week.  This afternoon, we learned that teams won't have to sacrifice picks to sign top free agent relievers this offseason and the Elias rankings system will be no more starting next winter. We'll keep track the rest of the day's CBA news right here…

  • The AP (via The Star Ledger) reports that the minimum salary will rise from $414K this year to $480K next year, and then to $500K in later years.
  • Within the same article, the AP also reports that the Super Two cutoff will be increased to 22% of players with 2-3 years of service time. The previous cutoff had been 17%. An additional five or six players will be arbitration-eligible each year due to the change.
  • The new CBA will include blood testing for human growth hormone, two people in baseball briefed on the matter told Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times.  It appears that players who test positive will be served with a 50-game suspension, the same as the first-time penalty for a positive steroid test.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney hears from a source that the rule forbidding teams in the same division from meeting in the LDS round of the playoffs will be eliminated (Twitter link).

AL West Notes: Rangers, Lachemann, Mariners

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Four years ago today, the Angels traded Orlando Cabrera to the White Sox for Jon Garland. The right-hander pitched to a 4.90 ERA during his lone season in Anaheim before joining the Diamondbacks as a free agent. The Halos selected Eastern Illinois left-hander Tyler Kehrer with the supplemental first round pick they received as compensation for Garland's departure. Here's the latest from the AL East…

  • In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney says the Rangers appear to be working on a similar track to last offseason. They'd like to re-sign C.J. Wilson just like they would have liked to re-sign Cliff Lee, but they have a salary threshold they do not want to cross. If Wilson leaves, they will look to improve their teams in other ways, a la Adrian Beltre.
  • The Angels have hired Marcel Lachemann as a special assistant to new GM Jerry Dipoto, reports Jack Etkin of Inside The Rockies. Lachemann had served as a specialist assist to Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd for the last ten years.
  • The Mariners had interest in Ryan Doumit before he signed with the Twins, but Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times says they have bigger fish to fry and "can't afford to spend too much money for part-time production."

East Notes: Ortiz, Braves, Soler, Sizemore, Yankees

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The Red Sox traded Coco Crisp to the Royals for Ramon Ramirez three years ago today, and four years prior to that the Nationals traded Maicer Izturis and Juan Rivera to the Angels for Jose Guillen. Here's the latest from baseball's two East divisions…

  • Infielder Matt Antonelli will undergo a physical on Monday to finalize his major league deal with the Orioles, tweets Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.
  • Orioles GM Dan Duquette didn't sound terribly interested in signing a high-priced DH such as David Ortiz during an interview on WEEI (audio link, 9:00 mark).
  • If Liberty Media decided to sell the Braves, Mark Cuban wouldn't pursue the franchise, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  A recent AJC poll showed 95% of readers would like Cuban to buy the team but the eccentric owner told O'Brien that he would prefer to buy a team that is in need of a lot of help.  Liberty Media has the right to sell the team after the current CBA expires on December 11th, but there's no evidence that a sale is imminent.
  • The Marlins have already scouted Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. The 19-year-old has been working out for teams in the Dominican Republic, and yesterday we heard that the Rangers have scouted him as well.
  • The Indians and Grady Sizemore are in "serious discussions" about a reunion, but the Phillies had interest in the outfielder according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Current GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and former GM Pat Gillick visited Sizemore in Arizona on the first day of free agency.
  • “The free agent guys haven’t made me any offers,” said Yankees GM Brian Cashman to Dan Martin of The New York Post. “The free agent [market] is moving at a glacial speed. And the category I’m shopping in, I don’t believe guys are jumping off the board this week. The players I’m interested in won’t be coming off the board anytime soon."

Teams Signing Type A Relievers Won’t Forfeit Picks

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Under the new CBA, teams that sign the remaining Type A relievers will not be forced to surrender draft picks, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).  The teams that sign those relievers and certain other Type A free agents will not forfeit draft picks but the teams that lose those players will still receive compensatory picks (from Twitter).

This means teams can sign Ryan Madson, Francisco Rodriguez, Heath Bell, and other top relievers this offseason without penalty.  The measure is not retroactive, however, meaning that the Phillies will still surrender their first-round pick for signing Jonathan Papelbon.  For a full list of this offseason's free agents, including their Type A/B designation, check out MLBTR's free agent tracker.

Furthermore, the new CBA will do away with the Elias rankings altogether starting next season, Rosenthal tweets.  Under the new system, the top free agents will be subject to compensation if teams make them qualifying offers north of $12MM.

Minor Moves: Jim Miller, Jeff Fiorentino

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We'll keep track of today's minor moves here, with the latest up top…

  • The Athletics have signed Jim Miller to a minor league contract, reports Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. The 29-year-old righty reliever was outrighted by the Rockies last month after pitching to a 5.25 ERA in 72 innings at Triple-A. He appeared in six games for Colorado as well.
  • Within the same link, Slusser reports that the Athletics have also signed outfielder Jeff Fiorentino to a minor league pact. Fiorentino, 28, spent last season in the Orioles' and Braves' minor league systems, hitting .255/.350/.405 in 360 plate appearances. He played in Japan in 2010, and got into two games for the 2008 Athletics.

Free $400 Fantasy Football Contest (Sponsored Post)

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Looking to show off your fantasy football genius this week?  Try DraftStreet, where you can put together a new fantasy team each week and compete against other users for real money.

Right now DraftStreet has an NFL freeroll for MLB Trade Rumors readers, meaning you can take a shot at a chunk of the $400 prize pool for free, with no strings attached.  Here's how it works.

The NFL freeroll begins Sunday at 1:00pm eastern time, so you have until then to create your team.  You're given a $100K salary cap, and each player is assigned a price by DraftStreet.  Your roster will cover these positions: 2 QBs, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 2 FLEX, and 1 Defense.  You get points based on how your team performs through Monday night's game.  The teams with the most points get the prize money.  Below is a screenshot of a sample roster: 

Draftstreet

If you're interested, sign up and create a roster prior to Sunday's games (1:00pm eastern time).  It's quick, easy, fun, and the MLBTR league gives you a free chance to win some of the $400 prize pool.  If you enjoy the competition you can try other leagues (college football, for example) for free and earn credits, or deposit real money.

Indians “In Serious Discussions” With Grady Sizemore

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11:49am: "We will continue to work through details with the Indians over the weekend," said Urbon to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). "During that time we will have no further comment.''

SATURDAY, 8:50am: Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer says the one-year deal would include a low base salary and incentives that could push the total value to $9MM, the same amount as the option the Indians declined after the season. Hoynes also mentions that the two sides discussed a deal like this before the option decision was made.

FRIDAY, 8:52pm: "The Indians came at us with an aggressive offer,'' Sizemore's agent Joe Urbon tells ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. "Grady has always maintained that he would be interested in returning to Cleveland. We've exchanged proposals, but there's nothing more I can say at this point.''  Crasnick's ESPN colleague Buster Olney hears from a source that the deal "will be done" between the two sides (Twitter link).

8:11pm: Urbon confirmed to Rosenthal (Twitter link) that the negotiations with the Indians are taking place.  "Our efforts right now are to see if we can make that happen," Urbon said.

6:34pm: The Indians and Grady Sizemore are having "serious discussions" about a one-year contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).  One of Rosenthal's sources says a deal is "very likely," while another source is only slightly less optimistic, pegging the chances of an agreement at "70-30."

Several teams have shown interest in Sizemore this winter but a source tells Rosenthal that Sizemore is "pulling back" from talks with other clubs in order to pursue this new deal with Cleveland.  Things could be finalized between the two sides by this weekend.

As Rosenthal noted in a follow-up tweet, the Tribe's medical personnel knows Sizemore best and with just a one-year contract, he could pursue a bigger deal next offseason.  There isn't much risk involved for the Indians — a healthy and in-form Sizemore helps the team contend in the AL Central or, if Cleveland falls out of the pennant race, Sizemore would be a sought-after commodity at the trade deadline even as a rental player.

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