Okajima Fails Physical, Will Not Join Yankees
10:22pm: It was Okajima's left shoulder that raised a red flag for Yankees doctors, tweets David Waldstein of the New York Times.
10:38am: Left-hander Hideki Okajima has failed his physical with the Yankees, reports Waldstein (Twitter link). This means the minor league contract Okajima and the Yankees agreed upon last December is now voided.
Okajima, 36, spent most of last season in the minors after the Red Sox designated him for assignment in May. Okajima struggled the last two years after posting a sterling 2.72 ERA, an 8.3 K/9 rate and a 2.89 K/BB ratio in 198 games for Boston between 2007-09.
AL East: Yankees, Red Sox, Wakefield, Orioles
Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) points out that with Tim Wakefield and Javier Vazquez retired, the active strikeout leader is now C.C. Sabathia with 2,017. Here's a look at a few items out of the American League East..
- It would not be shocking to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) to see Wakefield get a call in June or July if the Red Sox are hit with injuries.
- Scouts like the power arm of Diego Moreno, but there are a lot of questions about his maturity, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com.
- Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter) had the early reads on the Yankees' imports from the Pirates. Moreno can reach 98 mph on the gun but has command issues while Exicardo Cayones can hit but doesn't have much in the way of power.
- Before deciding to call it a career, Tim Wakefield had offers from four clubs, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Agent Barry Meister says that one of the four offers was a guaranteed big league deal.
- Wakefield didn't consider any of those offers for long, tweets Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. Upon hearing of the offers, the pitcher asked his agent, "Do they play for Boston?"
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun ranked the Orioles' offseason acquisitons by potential impact. At the top of the list is 26-year-old left-hander Wei-Yin Chen.
Quick Hits: Uehara, Burnett, Diamondbacks, Tigers
Friday Night Links..
- While one source told Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram that a trade of Koji Uehara could free up enough money for the Rangers to sign free agent Roy Oswalt, another source said that any money saved would be pocketed rather than be used on Oswalt or Mike Gonzalez.
- The other team involved in the A.J. Burnett talks was the Phillies, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com. However, the club would've had to clear Joe Blanton's to make the deal work.
- The Diamondbacks will be on the lookout for catching depth through Spring Training, Olney tweets.
- In his blog for the Detroit Free Press, Jamie Samuelsen writes that the Tigers should stay in-house when it comes to their fifth starter position rather than scour the open market for an affordable arm. The highly-touted Jacob Turner is among the candidates for the backend of the rotation.
Jason Varitek Leaning Towards Retirement
On the heels of Tim Wakefield's retirement, another key member of the Red Sox organization might be close to calling it a career. At Wakefield's press conference earlier today, a friend of Jason Varitek said that the catcher is leaning towards retirement, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).
This morning, Varitek's agent Scott Boras maintained that his client hasn't made any decisions yet about playing in 2012. The veteran has received interest from other clubs, but like Wakefield, it is believed that Varitek will decide between the Red Sox and retirement.
BoSox GM Ben Cherington said that he is leaving the ball in Varitek's court and the catcher is welcome to come to camp without a guaranteed roster spot, tweets Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal.
Yankees Close To Signing Clay Rapada
The Yankees are close to signing lefty reliever Clay Rapada to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training reports MLB.com's Zack Meisel. The Meister Sports Management client was released by the Orioles a few days ago.
Rapada, 30, posted a 6.06 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 16 1/3 innings for the Orioles last year. He had pitched 52 2/3 MLB innings over the course of five seasons for the Tigers, Rangers, Cubs and Orioles and is not yet arbitration eligible. The Yankees are likely trying to replenish some left-handed relief depth after Hideki Okajima failed his physical.
This post was originally published on Feb. 18th.
Yanks Plan To Add Two Bats; Targeting Chavez, Ibanez
4:46pm: Heyman says the Yankees won't "finalize" things with Ibanez and Chavez until after Burnett has passed his physical and the league has approved the trade (Twitter link).
8:00am: The Yankees are "intent" on acquiring two hitters and "remain focused" on Eric Chavez and Raul Ibanez, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. The team's attention will turn to adding hitting depth once the rumored A.J. Burnett trade with the Pirates is finalized.
New York has long been known to be targeting one left-handed hitter as a part-time DH and bench bat, but moving Burnett would free up the payroll space for the Yankees to add even more depth. Ibanez would be limited to DH, pinch-hitting and only very occasional outfield appearances, but in Chavez, the Yankees would also have an infield option capable of spelling Alex Rodriguez at third base. The Bombers were already in serious talks with Ibanez as of last week.
Quick Hits: Kazmir, McCann, Padres, Athletics
Here are some notes from around the majors as we head into Friday evening…
- ESPN's Jayson Stark looks back at the offseason, surveying 20 baseball personnel people about which teams made the best and worst moves of the winter. A sample: the Phillies' deal with Jonathan Papelbon was judged to be the offseason's worst free agent signing.
- About 10 scouts attended Scott Kazmir's workout session today, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter links). The southpaw threw between 86-89 mph, with his top pitch reportedly hitting 91 mph by one scout's measurements.
- The Mets aren't interested in Kazmir "at this time," a source tells Newsday's David Lennon. According to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, the Mets didn't send a scout to see Kazmir throw, though on Wednesday a "high ranking person" with the Mets said they would have someone in attendance (both Twitter links).
- The Braves haven't begun extension talks with catcher Brian McCann, reports David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2012 is McCann's last season under contract, though Atlanta holds a $12MM option on him for 2013 that looks like a strong bet to be exercised. O'Brien thinks the Braves could wait until next winter to begin negotiations.
- Padres owner Jeff Moorad and GM Josh Byrnes are both very pleased with the club's offseason, reports Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
- The Athletics seem focused on acquiring young talent this offseason, but Casey Tefertiller of Baseball America notes that some of these prospects are being blocked by Oakland's veteran signings.
Rangers, Athletics Getting Closer To Uehara Deal
4:05pm: A deal between the A's and Rangers is unlikely today, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link), since the Rangers are talking to another team. More progress could be made over the weekend.
2:48pm: Several clubs, including the A's, are talking to the Rangers about Uehara, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.
12:57pm: The Rangers and Athletics are "getting close" to a trade involving reliever Koji Uehara, reports Joe Stiglich of the San Jose Mercury News (via Twitter). The A's are known to be looking for relief help, with Uehara and free agent Mike Gonzalez the two names most frequently connected to the club. Texas has also been connected to Gonzalez and in fact have been trying to create payroll space for that signing by dealing Uehara.
Uehara has a partial no-trade clause in his contract and has already blocked one deal this winter that would've sent him to Toronto. It's unknown if the A's are one of the other five teams on Uehara's no-trade list.
The two AL West rivals last completed a trade with each other in January 2011, a swap that sent Guillermo Moscoso to Oakland. The Rangers were one of several teams who talked to the A's about Andrew Bailey before Bailey was eventually dealt to the Red Sox earlier this winter.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Carter, Cespedes, Ethier
On this date in 2003, the Braves and Greg Maddux agreed to a one-year deal worth $14.75MM. It was the largest one-year contract in baseball history at the time, surpassing David Cone's one-year, $12MM deal with the Yankees in 2000. Here is the latest from around the baseball corner of the web…
- I-70 Baseball posted one of Gary Carter's last recorded interviews.
- District on Deck wrote about Carter's passing.
- Motor City Bengals interviewed Tigers prospect Jay Voss.
- Athletics Farm looked at how the Yoenis Cespedes signing impacts the A's roster.
- Through The Fence Baseball explains why A's GM Billy Beane signed Cespedes.
- Beaneball ran through all the Cespedes permutations.
- Full Spectrum Baseball broke down the A's crowded roster.
- Swingin' A's graded the Athletics offseason.
- Hardball Chat thinks missing out on Cespedes could be a positive for the Marlins.
- Blogging from the Bleachers wrote about the Theo Epstein compensation issue.
- Wahoo's on First says Asdrubal Cabrera's one-year deal is a steal for the Indians.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness says Andre Ethier has a lot riding on this season.
- Red Sox Beacon believes the Red Sox improved through subtraction this winter.
- Twins Baseball Clubhouse examined the Twins bullpen (part one, part two).
- Call to the Pen says the Phillies shouldn't have signed Jonathan Papelbon.
- Crashburn Alley wrote about the Phillies' top storylines in 2012.
- Redbird Rants thinks the Cardinals may have too many ifs.
- House of the Bluebird took an in-depth look at Adam Lind.
- Shutdown Inning looked at the careers of recent Home Run Derby winners.
- We Are Baseball GMs tried to predict where the remaining free agents will sign.
- Seedlings to Stars says there's no such thing as a first base prospect.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
Rangers Notes: Uehara, Oswalt, Organization
Here's the latest from the Lone Star State….
- The Rangers may be looking to sign Roy Oswalt with the money they'll save by dealing Koji Uehara, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. We heard earlier today that Texas is talking to several teams about Uehara, with the Athletics possibly being in the lead, and the Rangers could instead be planning to sign Mike Gonzalez once Uehara's salary has been moved. Wilson says the Rangers want prospects for Uehara, but could also look for a middle infielder from Oakland, with the A's preferring to deal Adam Rosales rather than Eric Sogard.
- Besides rejecting a trade to the Blue Jays, Uehara has also used his limited no-trade clause to block another potential deal, Wilson reports.
- Oswalt's chances of becoming a Ranger are still "slim," tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
- Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas looks at the major trades, strategies and management hirings in recent Rangers history that has helped the team become one of the top franchises in baseball.