NL West Rumors: Lincecum, Rockies, Dodgers
The latest out of the NL West…
- Signing Tim Lincecum to a multiyear deal is at the top of the Giants' agenda, reports SI's Jon Heyman. The Giants are aiming for at least a four-year deal, which would buy out two years of free agency. Though Matt Cain is a year closer to free agency, Heyman says the focus is more on Lincecum. Heyman believes Lincecum's agents at Beverly Hills Sports Council could file as high as $25MM in arbitration this winter, in my opinion a risky move if the Giants come in around $20MM. For more on Lincecum's historic arbitration case, click here.
- The Rockies will not dabble financially in marginal players, explained GM Dan O'Dowd to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. They do have interest in Paul Maholm, Jeff Francis, and J.C. Romero, though, according to Renck, after bigger free agent targets such as Grady Sizemore and Roy Oswalt.
- The Dodgers will lower their payroll in 2012, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. The team's opening day payroll was about $120MM in 2011. So far this offseason they've added $6.5MM in 2012 salaries for Mark Ellis and Juan Rivera. Here's my offseason outlook for the club.
- Unlike Ellis' deal, Aaron Hill's new contract with the Diamondbacks is not backloaded. He'll earn $5.5MM in each of the '12 and '13 seasons, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Piecoro has an updated look at Arizona's payroll, and concludes that they'd need to non-tender Joe Saunders to be able to afford one of the better free agent pitchers on the market. MLBTR readers are split remarkably evenly as to whether Saunders will be tendered a contract on December 12th.
D’Backs Sell Kam Mickolio To Hiroshima Carp
The Diamondbacks announced that they have sold Kam Mickolio to the Hiroshima Carp of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball League. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reported last week that Mickolio was on his way to Japan.
The 27-year-old right-hander has a 4.83 ERA along with a 33K/17BB ratio in 31 2/3 MLB innings over the course of four seasons. Mickolio has also been involved in memorable trades for Erik Bedard and Mark Reynolds.
D’Backs Rumors: Saunders, Kuroda, Buehrle
The Diamondbacks continued their aggressive offseason approach over the weekend, agreeing to terms with Aaron Hill on a two-year deal. The club will now search for pitching; here are the details:
- You can add Roy Oswalt to the list of veteran starters that the Diamondbacks have at least some level of interest in, Piecoro tweets.
- Joe Saunders, a non-tender candidate with a projected 2012 salary of $8.7MM, told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he hopes to return next year. Saunders, who prides himself on his ability to log innings and pitch deep into games, has averaged 200 innings per season since 2008.
- The D'Backs appear to have interest in free agents Hiroki Kuroda and Mark Buehrle, according to Piecoro (on Twitter). Kuroda's name has come up as a possible fit for Arizona, but this is the first time we've seen the D'Backs connected to Buehrle
- The D'Backs announced earlier today that they sold Kameron Mickolio to the Hiroshima Carp.
Diamondbacks Nearing Deal With Hill
The Diamondbacks should have a deal with Aaron Hill completed in the next 72 hours, tweets Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio. SI.com's Jon Heyman adds (via Twitter) that the deal would be worth $5MM-$6MM.
This post was originally published on November 13, 2011.
NL West Notes: Hudson, Soon-Shiong, Rockies, Hill
The Diamondbacks have been one of baseball’s busiest teams so far this offseason. GM Kevin Towers and manager Kirk Gibson agreed to extensions and John McDonald, Henry Blanco and Willie Bloomquist have all re-signed with the defending NL West Champions. Here’s the latest from the division…
- If the Rockies are indeed interested in Padres second baseman Orlando Hudson, Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune doubts the Padres would be willing to pick up any of Hudson's salary in a trade. Hudson will earn $5.5MM in 2012, with an $8MM option for 2013 that can be bought out for $2MM. Center also discusses several other Padres topics in his weekly chat with fans, such as the possibility of moving in the fences at Petco Park.
- Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong told Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles that he has been approached by at least one of the groups trying to buy the Dodgers. Soon-Shiong is considered to be the richest man in Los Angeles and bought a 4.5% share of the L.A. Lakers last year.
- The Rockies aren't going to revisit their pursuit of Michael Young, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Colorado and Texas were very close to a deal involving Young last winter in the wake of Young's trade request, but Young settled things with Rangers management and now there is "no motivation for [the] Rangers to move him."
- Also from Renck, he doesn't think the Rockies will look to move Matt Belisle this winter, though Matt Lindstrom could be available.
- As part of a reader mailbag, MLB.com's Chris Haft was surprised that the Giants needed to include Ryan Verdugo along with Jonathan Sanchez in the deal that brought Melky Cabrera to San Francisco. That said, Haft writes "it's conceivable that the Giants might have obtained the most that Sanchez and Verdugo would bring."
- The Rockies “love” Jamey Carroll, but wouldn’t be interested in signing him to a multiyear deal, according to Renck (Twitter links). The former Rockies infielder is nearing a multiyear deal with Twins.
- The Rockies aren’t likely to sign Michael Cuddyer, but they continue pursuing Martin Prado, Renck reports.
- The Diamondbacks have a multiyear offer on the table to Aaron Hill and it expires Monday, according to Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona.com (on Twitter). If Hill signs, the Diamondbacks will turn their attention to starting pitching.
- Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests the Giants should re-sign Carlos Beltran to a two or three-year deal.
MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post
NL West Notes: D’Backs, Barmes, Darvish, Dodgers
The Diamondbacks finalized a new deal with Willie Bloomquist today and the move has had an impact for at least two NL West teams. Here are the details.
- The Giants offered Bloomquist a two-year deal worth more than $3.8MM before he re-signed in Arizona, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter). San Francisco’s offer was worth $4.6MM over two years, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown. The D’Backs remain interested in Aaron Hill.
- The Giants are looking for a shortstop as a fallback for Brandon Crawford, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (on Twitter). Baggarly notes that some Giants coaches are big fans of free agent Clint Barmes.
- Brad Lefton of the New York Times explains the origins of the posting system MLB teams use to bid on Japanese players. Within the piece, Lefton reports that the Diamondbacks scouted Yu Darvish this past season.
- Not surprisingly, the Dodgers won't be able to bid on free agents such as Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols until the team is sold, according to ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- The Rockies will consider pursuing Roy Oswalt, according to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding.
D’Backs Remain Interested In Aaron Hill
The Diamondbacks have already signed two infielders, but they remain interested in free agent second baseman Aaron Hill, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The presence of utility players John McDonald and Willie Bloomquist won’t prevent GM Kevin Towers from adding Hill and adjusting the roster accordingly.
If Arizona re-signs Hill and Stephen Drew’s fractured ankle heals by Opening Day, Bloomquist could become the team’s fourth outfielder. If Hill signs elsewhere, Ryan Roberts would likely play second and the Diamondbacks would pursue a third baseman, according to Rosenthal.
The Diamondbacks may pursue starting pitching and Hiroki Kuroda is a likely target, according to Rosenthal. It’s hard to get a read on Kuroda’s 2012 plans, but he has drawn interest from Japanese teams and MLB teams. For more on the Diamondbacks, check out Tim Dierkes’ offseason outlook.
D’Backs, Bloomquist Reach Two-Year Agreement
The Diamondbacks reached a two-year agreement worth $3.8MM with utility man Willie Bloomquist, reports Scott Miller of CBSSports.com. Peter Gammons was first to report the deal on Twitter. Bloomquist had reached free agency by declining his side of a mutual option on November 1st.
A deal between the D'Backs and Bloomquist's agent Scott Boras seemed unlikely a few days ago, when Boras and GM Kevin Towers debated who owed who a phone call. Boras explained to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic on Saturday, "It sounds to me like what happened is, they got upset when Willie opted out. They got emotional and they went out and signed a guy who hit .169."
Boras was taking a shot at John McDonald, another utility infielder who the D'Backs re-signed to a two-year deal earlier this month. Towers has been generous with such role player multiyear contracts, as Geoff Blum was inked to a two-year deal a year ago. The Diamondbacks are well-covered in case Stephen Drew is still recovering from July ankle surgery when the season begins. They're also covered if they are not able to sign Aaron Hill, leaving an opening for a second base platoon.
Bloomquist, 33, hit .266/.317/.340 in 381 plate appearances this year, playing mostly shortstop and left field. The Giants had also made an offer to him this month.
NL West Notes: Bloomquist, Giants, Dodgers
The Rockies are interested in Kevin Millwood, Rich Harden and Bruce Chen and the Diamondbacks have signed Chris Jakubauskas. Here are some more news items from the NL West as the offseason continues…
- The Diamondbacks and Willie Bloomquist had a miscommunication over the weekend, but the club hasn’t given up on re-signing the utility player, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter). The sides had dialogue Sunday and Monday, according to Piecoro.
- The Giants are a possibility for Bloomquist, according to Yahoo’s Tim Brown (on Twitter).
- Former MLB commissioner Peter Ueberroth said he’s not currently interested in buying the Dodgers, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times. Ueberroth has led bids for the Dodgers and Angels in the past.
Diamondbacks Sign Chris Jakubauskas
The Diamondbacks signed right-hander Chris Jakubauskas to a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned. Earlier today, the 32-year-old himself hinted at the agreement on his Twitter account.
In 72 1/3 innings this past season, Jakubauskas posted a 5.72 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 43% ground ball rate for the Orioles. He has a career ERA of 5.58 with 5.4 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 43.9% ground ball rate in parts of three seasons for the Orioles, Pirates and Mariners. Baltimore outrighted Jakubauskas off of its 40-man roster in October and he elected free agency.