Rodriguez May Not Challenge Shorter Suspension
With arbitrator Frederic Horowitz reportedly close to ruling on Alex Rodriguez's 211-game suspension, the embattled Rodriguez is weighing his options on how to proceed if his ban is upheld. He may be willing to forego a legal challenge to the suspension if it is substantially reduced, reports Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com.
A source tells Matthews that the magic number could be around 100 games, with a ban at or above that level making a further fight "likely." Presumably, a reduced suspension could result either from Horowitz's ruling or through negotiations with MLB. Sources told the New York Daily News yesterday that 65 games represented the level at which Rodriguez might be willing to back down.
These reports constitute a softening of the public position of Rodriguez's team, which has previously insisted that any suspension would warrant pursuit of relief in federal court. But if Rodriguez can whittle the ban down to a low enough point, the financial balance (and obvious risk of failure in a difficult legal challenge) could shift in favor of dropping his case.
A ruling on Rodriguez's grievance proceeding could come as soon as Friday, according to Matthews. Of course, the ultimate suspension length promises to have a major impact on the Yankees. New York stands to lose Rodriguez from its lineup, while also saving a big chunk of his sizeable salary, over the term of whatever ban is ultimately arrived upon.
Mets “Not That Actively Engaged” In Davis Trade Talks
Though there's been a lot made of Ike Davis' availability on the trade market this offseason, general manager Sandy Alderson tells Anthony DiComo of MLB.com that the Mets are "not that actively engaged in trade discussions involving Ike at this point." Alderson says that he's comfortable heading to camp with both Davis and Lucas Duda in the mix.
Alderson repeated that he has no plans to simply give Davis away: "We're not going to move Ike just to move Ike — or any other player for that matter. This is a trade market, not a yard sale … You can only ask someone to dance so many times before you get the message."
DiComo writes that there is now a probability that Davis and Duda are both still with the Mets when Spring Training opens next month, as Alderson has not been able to land the young, controllable pitcher he's been seeking in exchange for Davis (he's reportedly asked for Tyler Thornburg from the Brewers and Eduardo Rodriguez from the Orioles).
That all has to come as good news to Davis himself, who told Andy Martino of the New York Daily News on Thursday that he wants to stay with the Mets and wants another chance. Davis and Kirk Nieuwenhuis are currently looking for a house to rent near the Mets' Spring Training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla., adds Martino. Davis told Martino that while he feels that his availability has been discussed too much in the media, he doesn't feel disrepsected by it. He also said that he respects Duda, and the two competing for playing time is nothing new: "Look, we have basically been competing for the same job since Double-A. I think Duda is a great ballplayer. I have a lot of respect for him."
Minor Moves: Sands, Mills, Fontenot, Patterson
Here are today's minor moves from around the league…
- Scout.com's Kiley McDaniel reports that Jerry Sands has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Durham by the Rays (Twitter link). The 26-year-old Sands was designated for assignment earlier in the week when the club claimed Pedro Figueroa.
- The Brewers and lefty Brad Mills have agreed to a minor league contract, according to MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo (on Twitter). Mills, 29 in March, posted a 3.87 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 97 2/3 innings for Triple-A Round Rock in the Rangers' organization in 2013. He requested his release midseason to sign with Nippon Professional Baseball's Orix Buffaloes. Mills has a 7.76 ERA in 53 1/3 career big league innings.
- Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports that the Nationals have signed Mike Fontenot to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training (Twitter link). Last year marked the first season since 2006 in which Fontenot didn't appear at the Major League level. He spent the duration of the campaign with the Rays' Triple-A affiliate, batting .264/.335/.379 in 120 games.
- The White Sox have signed infielder/outfielder Eric Patterson to a minor league contract, tweets Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. The 30-year-old began last season with the Atlantic League's York Revolution, batting .275/.342/.527 with 13 homers in 294 plate appearances. That production led to him getting picked up by the Brewers, but he slashed just .204/.291/.235 in 111 plate appearances at Double-A Huntsville. Patterson has not appeared in the Majors since 2011.
Japanese Posting Fee To Be Split Into Four Payments
THURSDAY: The posting fee will actually be split into four payments over 18 months, Major League sources tell Scout.com's Kiley McDaniel. According to McDaniel, the payment schedule breaks down as follows:
- 50 percent of posting fee due within 14 days of the submission of the posted player's contract (for the Rakuten Golden Eagles, that would mean $10MM on Feb. 7).
- 17 percent of the posting fee due within six months of the submission of the posted player's contract ($3.4MM for the Golden Eagles on July 24).
- 17 percent of the posting fee due within 12 months of the submission of the posted player's contract ($3.4MM for the Golden Eagles on Jan. 24, 2015).
- 16 percent of the posting fee due within 18 months of the submission of the posted player's contract ($3.2MM for the Golden Eagles on July 24, 2015).
TUESDAY: Under the new system, the maximum $20MM posting fee for Japanese players calls for teams to pay in two installments, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The NPB club posting their player will get $13MM in year one and $7MM in year two.
The idea behind that wrinkle, Rosenthal tweets, is to give more clubs a realistic opportunity to bid on a top flight talent. That could have an impact on this year's chase for Masahiro Tanaka. There are likely many teams that are believed to have serious interest in Tanaka but are waffling on the potential price tag. With the $20MM posting fee split up over two years, the cost could be a little bit easier to swallow.
Rays To Sign Jayson Nix
The Rays are set to sign infielder Jayson Nix to a minor league deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Nix is represented by Turner Gary Sports.
The 31-year-old Nix has spent the past three seasons in the AL East, playing for the Blue Jays in 2011 and then the Yankees in 2012-13. Over the past two seasons in the Bronx, Nix has totaled 505 plate appearances, batting .239/.307/.340 with seven home runs and 19 stolen bases (in 23 attempts).
Nix offers a great deal of versatility in the field, an asset that surely attracted the Rays in particular. He has experience at second base, shortstop, third base, left field and right field in parts of six Major League seasons split between the Rockies, White Sox, Indians, Jays and Yankees.
Nationals To Sign Jamey Carroll
The Nationals have agreed to terms with Jamey Carroll according to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that it's a minor league contract (also via Twitter) Carroll is represented by Millennium Sports.
Carroll, 40 next month, batted just .211/.267/.251 for the Twins and Royals last season but collected his 1,000th Major League hit along the way. He's just one year removed from a .268/.343/.317 batting line with solid defense at three infield positions for the 2012 Twins. Carroll can help to fill the utility infield role that was formerly filled by Steve Lombardozzi. The Nationals included Lombardozzi in the trade that netted them Doug Fister from the Tigers.
This will be Carroll's second stint in a Nationals jersey. The Indiana native was drafted by the Expos in the 14th round of the 1996 draft and made his big league debut with the Expos in 2002. Carroll was still with the organization when it jumped to Washington, appearing in 113 games for the Nationals in their inaugural season. Carroll has never had power — he has just 13 career homers — but he has a solid defensive reputation at three positions and a patient approach at the plate. He has a 9.7 percent career walk rate and is a career .272/.349/.338 hitter in 4,225 plate appearances.
ESPN's Jerry Crasnick first reported that Carroll was nearing a deal with an unknown team (on Twitter), and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reported that the Nationals and Indians were in the mix (Twitter link).
Jamey Carroll Close To Signing; Nats, Indians In The Mix
11:50am: Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that the market for Carroll is indeed heating up, and the Nationals and Indians are in the mix (Twitter link).
11:17am: Veteran utility infielder Jamey Carroll is finalizing a deal with an unspecified team and expects to complete the deal today or tomorrow, reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). The soon-to-be 40-year-old is represented by Millennium Sports Management.
Carroll struggled in 2013 and was unable to replicate the solid numbers he posted for the Twins in his age-38 season. After slashing .268/.343/.317 in 537 plate appearances and playing solid defense at shortstop, second and third for Minnesota in 2012, he hit just .211/.267/.251 in 249 PAs between Minnesota and Kansas City this season. He did reach a career milestone by collecting his 1,000th base hit.
Tigers Sign Crowe, Carrera, Sanchez
The Tigers announced today that they will invite 16 non-roster players to Major League Spring Training, including outfielders Trevor Crowe and Ezequiel Carrera and right-hander Eduardo Sanchez.
Crowe, 30, was selected 14th overall by the Indians in the 2005 draft. The switch-hitter spent the 2013 season with the Astros organization. A .304/.364/.368 batting line in 60 minor league games earned him a shot with the big league club, but Crowe batted just .218/.287/.291 in 181 Major League plate appearances. Though he has 888 Major League innings in center field, he has a -19.3 UZR/150 mark there for his career to go along with a -3 Defensive Runs Saved total. He does have positive defensive marks at each corner outfield position.
Carrera, 26, is also a product of the Indians organization, though he spent a month with the Phillies last season after being claimed on waivers. Cleveland claimed him back from Philadelphia exactly one month after losing the fleet-footed outfielder. Carrera had three hits in 21 big league plate appearances last season and owns a career .251/.306/.339 batting line in 405 Major League plate appearances. He's also stolen 18 bases in 24 tries. Most of his 2013 campaign was spent in Triple-A Columbus, where he has a career line of .275/.340/.365 with 124 stolen bases in 389 games.
Sanchez, 24, made an impressive Major League debut with the Cardinals in 2011, posting a 1.80 ERA with 10.5 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 30 innings of relief. His high walk rate got the best of him, however, as he's walked 18 batters in just 21 1/3 big league innings since (coming between the Cardinals and Cubs). Sanchez spent most of 2013 in the Cubs organization, and although he posted a solid 3.38 ERA in 40 innings at Triple-A, he also averaged 5.2 walks per nine innings.
Pirates’ Pitching Coach Expects Burnett To Retire
There's still no word from A.J. Burnett on whether he will pitch in 2014 or retire, but Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage is moving forward under the expectation that Burnett will call it a career, he said in an appearance on 93-7 The Fan Morning Show in Pittsburgh this morning:
"I'm on the percentage point where he's not going to come back. I've got to prepare my guys with no A.J. I've got to prepare the pitching with no A.J. So that's the route I'm going. If he does come back — hey, all right! But right now, I'm leaning that way, where he's going to retire."
Burnett's decision on whether or not to retire has taken months longer than initially anticipated, but there's yet to be any indication that he would give consideration to pitching for another team. The 37-year-old has stated on multiple occasions that he will only pitch for the Pirates if he decides to play again in 2014, though his hometown Orioles have expressed interest should he decide to change that thinking. The Pirates already have six starters with Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke, Wandy Rodriguez and Edinson Volquez on board, although Burnett could certainly be worked into the mix.
Searage went on to say that Locke experienced arm fatigue in 2013, leading to his precipitous decline late in the season, and he's hoping Locke can "wipe the slate clean" heading into 2014. He also wants to try not to overload Volquez with tips on how to harness his potential and says he finds it best to "kill them with kindness" when working with such reclamation projects. Searage has had plenty of success in that department, as the Pirates have enjoyed tremendous rebound performances from Burnett, Liriano and Mark Melancon upon arrival in Pittsburgh.
Quick Hits: Volquez, Tanaka, D’Backs
The Major League Baseball Players Association announced that Kevin McGuiness, a lawyer who has spent a decade heading a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., has been hired as COO under new union head Tony Clark. The 61-year-old will fill a post that had been vacant since Gene Orza retired in March 2011. McGuiness will start work with the union next month. Tonight’s look around baseball..
- The Pirates signed starting pitcher Edinson Volquez as a free agent this offseason, but that wasn’t the first time they had pursued him, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. “When San Diego put me on waivers (last year), the Pirates called right away,” says Volquez. “This winter, they called again. I thought, ‘They must really want me, so let’s do it.'” Volquez posted a 5.71 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 with the Padres and Dodgers last year, but the Pirates have had success with down-on-their-luck pitchers like Francisco Liriano in the recent past. “What I hear about the Pirates pitching coaches and the pitching staff is pretty good,” Volquez says. “So, why not take a chance to come here and maybe get better?“
- Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers has made no secret of his desire to make a play for Masahiro Tanaka and he has a strategy in place to make it happen, writes MLB.com’s Steve GIlbert.
- Tanaka flew to the U.S. today and is expected to start meeting with MLB clubs in the coming days, according to a report from Nikkan Sports.
- While some see the Blue Jays’ starting rotation as a weakness, others view it as an opportunity, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Pitching prospects Sean Nolin and Marcus Stroman both say they aim to make the rotation out of spring training. Of course, there will be less seats at the table if Toronto goes out and finds more arms via trade or free agency.
Charlie Wilmoth and Aaron Steen contributed to this post.