Pirates Pursuing Rocco Baldelli
Pirates rumors from the tireless Dejan Kovacevic…
- Kovacevic says the Pirates are in pursuit of free agent outfielder Rocco Baldelli. The Bucs are serious about him, having spoken to his agents several times. The Reds, Phillies, Red Sox, and Yankees are considered other suitors.
- The team’s interest in Ty Wigginton has dropped off.
- Doug Mientkiewicz remains on the radar, but no offer has been made.
- Nothing cooking on the Jack Wilson front; he’s likely to remain the Pirates’ shortstop.
- The Pirates offered slightly more than the $2.6MM Daniel Cabrera signed for with the Nationals. D-Cab wanted to remain in the area. The Pirates may choose not to pursue any other free agent starters.
- We knew extension talks with Nate McLouth had fizzled; turns out nothing is close with Paul Maholm either. Pirates president Frank Coonelly described the disconnect at Ryan Doumit‘s press conference.
Pirates Sign Bootcheck, Bautista
According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
The Pirates today agreed to terms with six players on minor league contracts and an invitation to spring training: relievers Chris Bootcheck, Denny Bautista and Juan Mateo; infielders Garrett Jones and Andy Phillips; and outfielder Jeff Salazar.
I’m curious to see if Bootcheck is still represented by Scott Boras. You may recall that the Pirates non-tendered Bautista earlier this month.
Doumit Signs Three-Year Extension
MONDAY, 1:12pm: Kovacevic says Doumit is guaranteed $11.5MM with a maximum value of about $27MM. His three arb years were bought out for $10.7MM. He has further details at his blog.
SUNDAY, 11:21pm: Dejan Kovacevic says the Doumit contract has a one-time trigger for the option on his two free agency years. Talks with Paul Maholm are in progress, but talks with Nate McLouth broke down.
7:31pm: Crasnick has the financials: it could be worth $20MM over four years or $30MM over five years.
4:42pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick is reporting that the Pirates have reached an agreement on a three-year extension for Ryan Doumit, buying out his arbitration years.
Doumit, 27, hit .318/.357/.501 in 465 plate appearances in 2008. His .858 OPS ranks him alongside catchers such as Joe Mauer and Geovany Soto. Not bad company there.
The terms of the deal haven’t been released yet, but Crasnick says there is a club option for a fourth year as well. The Pirates will announce the deal in a press conference tomorrow.
Crasnick also says the Pirates are still working to sign Nate McLouth to an extension, but those efforts have reached a stalemate for now.
Brewers Not Close To Looper Deal
5:41pm: Brewers GM Doug Melvin confirmed interest in Looper but denied that they’re close to a deal. Melvin would not say whether the Brewers made an offer, but suggested Looper and the Brewers’ other targets want multiyear deals.
10:28am: In the "Etc." section of his Sunday update, Nick Cafardo has some updated information on a few free agents, as well as some potential trades.
- Updating a key part of the back-of-the-rotation market, Cafardo says Braden Looper is "close to signing with the Brewers."
- The Diamondbacks and Red Sox may soon revisit the possibility of an Eric Byrnes trade. Such a deal would likely be made more enticing for the Sox if Miguel Montero were somehow included.
- The Red Sox would really rather not move Clay Buchholz for a catcher, even if that catcher were Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden of the Texas Rangers. However, Daniel Bard may be in play for a potential deal with Texas.
- The Reds, Indians, Pirates and Giants are all in the mix for Ty Wigginton. Back on Dec. 18, we had a Wigginton update in an Odds and Ends post that said the player was not interested in returning to Pittsburgh.
Other topics of note (found on page 5 of Cafardo’s article) include the Tampa Bay Rays’ plan for a DH upgrade, as well as some notes on Derek Lowe and Manny Ramirez.
Alex Walsh can be reached at alexander.walsh@gmail.com.
Nationals Sign Daniel Cabrera
10:26pm: Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports the contract for Daniel Cabrera is a one-year deal worth $2.6 million, about a million less than he’d have been owed after arbitration.
1:24pm: According to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, the Nationals signed Daniel Cabrera to a one-year deal (pending a physical). One of Ladson’s sources says the Nats beat out the Mets and Pirates for him. So far this offseason the Nationals have added Cabrera and Scott Olsen to their rotation.
Cabrera, 28 in May, made 30 starts for the Orioles in 2008 with a 5.25 ERA. His walks remained high, while his strikeout rate was way down and he lost 1.7mph off his average fastball. Cabrera’s season ended in September with an elbow sprain, which did not require surgery.
Odds and Ends: Wilson, Bautista, Hairston
Linkage for Friday…
- The AP explains how C.C. Sabathia will be paid $9.5MM before throwing a pitch for the Yankees.
- The D’Backs signed lefty Travis Blackley.
- Dan Johnson is headed to Japan.
- The Cardinals signed Japanese pitcher Katsuhiko Maekawa to a minor league deal. Patrick Newman has details.
- Interesting discussion involving Raul Ibanez‘s defense.
- I did a Q&A with SportingGurus.com.
- Ken Rosenthal guesses destinations for 11 remaining free agents in this slideshow.
- MLB is undergoing a hiring/salary freeze and taking away 20% of vacation time for ’09.
- Dejan Kovacevic had a lengthy chat with Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson, who wishes the team would get more players to become competitive. In his article Kovacevic also notes that the Pirates have had talks about bringing back pitcher Denny Bautista, who was non-tendered a week ago.
- Are the Mariners trying to open up a spot for Jerry Hairston Jr.? They’re looking to add a plus-plus defensive second baseman; not sure if he qualifies.
- Aubrey Huff tops the list of fantasy baseball’s biggest draft position gainers.
- Royals pitcher Kyle Davies is working a construction job this offseason.
- The Orioles settled with Sidney Ponson regarding their grievance.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Teixeira, Giants, Braves, Bradley, Pirates
On this date 17 years ago, the Blue Jays signed 40-year old future Hall of Famer Dave Winfield to a one-year, $2.3MM contract. The signing was a good one as Winfield helped the Jays to their first title in 1992. That year he hit .290-26-108 with a .377 OBP and 137 OPS+, including what would prove to be the series-winning two-run double in the top of the 11th of game 6 of the World Series. Did I mention he was 40? With this year’s crop of free agents playing euchre as they patiently wait for Mark Teixeira to make up his mind, let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Sully Baseball is not worried about the Red Sox possibly losing out on Mark Teixeira feeling the money may be better spent on pitching.
- The Bottom Line wonders if the Red Sox are better off waiting a year and going after Matt Holliday to replace Jason Bay.
- El Lefty Malo projects the Giants offense for next season and shows that one more big bat would give them a league-average offense.
- Braves Blast laments the Braves inability to land a starting pitcher so far this off-season and wonders what options are left.
- The Launching Pad does not see any of the remaining free agent pitchers as an upgrade for the Braves over what is already on the roster.
- Goat Riders of the Apocalypse is aggravated by the lack of big moves from the Cubs and while they would like Milton Bradley as a Cub, they think it is unlikely.
- Baseball Handyman offers grades for the free agent signings to date, with only the Francisco Rodriguez contract earning an ‘A’.
- The ‘Burgh Blues takes a look at the Pirates inability to find pitchers that can find the strike zone.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.
Odds and Ends: Abreu, Millwood, Wigginton
Links for Thursday…
- Luke Hudson agreed to stay with the Royals on a minor league deal. And because Braves fans keep emailing it…the Braves signed Lance Niekro as a pitcher, as noted in the minor league transactions we linked yesterday. Talking Chop and Henry Schulman have more.
- Along similar lines, here’s a link to Joel Sherman’s December 12th story about the Orlando Hudson and Adam Dunn being the Nationals’ backup plan for Mark Teixeira. That came four days before the Jon Heyman report people keep emailing.
- C.C. Sabathia‘s preferred teams heading into free agency: the Yankees, Brewers, and Angels.
- Dave O’Brien tries to figure out what the Braves should do with all their money.
- John Fay explains why the Reds may attempt to acquire a young shortstop.
- The Orioles may move on to Gregg Zaun now that Matt Treanor is off the board.
- Geoff Baker speculates on a possible Mariners-Brewers trade match, though nothing seems to be cooking currently.
- RotoAuthority looks at the biggest losers, comparing ’09 fantasy baseball mock draft positions to ’08.
- I did a Q&A with Called Safe At Second.
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes about how teams view free agent outfielder Bobby Abreu.
- Kevin Millwood has twelve million reasons to pitch 180 innings in 2009. I never understood that phrase. Why is each dollar a reason?
- Dejan Kovacevic says Ty Wigginton has no wish to return to Pittsburgh.
- Roch Kubatko is hearing the Orioles may have reached a settlement with Sidney Ponson regarding the grievance.
- Pitcher Jon Leicester is the latest to head to Japan.
- Might not read about this on MLBTR, eh? Chico Harlan says the Nationals signed 16 year-old Dominican prospects Bill Pena and Gregory Baez.
Four Teams Pursuing Redding
According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies, Rangers, Mets, and Orioles have been the most aggressive suitors for free agent starter Tim Redding. Redding, 31 in February, posted a 4.95 ERA in 33 starts for the Nationals this year while earning $1MM. They decided to non-tender him.
Other notes from Renck…the Rox have had productive talks with Glendon Rusch, and Ray King has drawn interest from the Phillies, Marlins, and Pirates.
Pirates Close To Extension With Doumit, Not McLouth
According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates are close to signing catcher Ryan Doumit to an extension. Doumit, 28, had a breakout year with a .318/.357/.501 line in 465 plate appearances. He’s arbitration-eligible for the first time.
Kovacevic learned that talks with Nate McLouth‘s agent for an extension are "close to dead," according to his agent. The two sides were never close on the dollars. McLouth is under team control through 2011 anyway.