Ruiz, Anderson Drawing Interest, Could Sign Soon
- Eduardo Salcedo, an 18-year-old infielder, could be cleared to sign with MLB teams sometime this week. If everything goes through, the D’Backs and Braves will be among the teams interested in signing him. The bidding could reach $2MM for the shortstop-third baseman.
- The Pirates agreed to sign 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Willy Garcia for $280K.
- The D’Backs signed 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Socrates Abrito for $190K.
Johnny Damon Rumors: Wednesday
11:06pm: Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune hears from a team source who says he can imagine Damon signing with the White Sox. "I think we have a good shot to get him now," the source said.
Another person discounted the importance of Damon's recent golf outing with Pierzynski and Harrelson.
6:26pm: Joe Cowley talks to Pierzynski about the Damon negotiations, and Cowley quotes an unnamed member of the White Sox who says "I would be surprised if [Damon] didn't sign with us.''
4:13pm: Rosenthal tweets that the present-day value of Chicago's offer to Damon is in the $4.5MM range, considering deferrals. He's hearing that Damon doesn't want to go to the Tigers. As for Damon's wife's preferences, the player texted to SI's Jon Heyman that "It's up to me. She's going wherever I go." Cowley tweets that the Sox "are going from long shots to frontrunners in the Damon sweepstakes the last few hours."
12:02pm: Rosenthal wrote yesterday that "some with the White Sox are confident that a deal with Damon could happen, and believe it might even be close." Similarly, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes today that "the White Sox front office is feeling like they may have 'significantly' closed the gap between themselves and Detroit for the free agent's services." However, Cowley has one source that still considers the Tigers the frontrunner. Also, Scot Gregor of The Daily Herald believes the Braves are still in the mix.
8:50am: Yesterday we heard from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that free agent Johnny Damon played golf Monday with White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and broadcaster Hawk Harrelson. The Sox remain firm on their initial offer, one that could be slightly above $4MM according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. SI's Jon Heyman tweeted this morning that White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf recently got involved in the Damon talks. Gonzales notes that the White Sox-Scott Boras relationship appears to be thawing, given the Damon talks, the Andruw Jones signing, and the Sox drafting a Boras client in the 16th round of last year's draft.
Meanwhile, Lynn Henning of the Detroit News says the Tigers and Damon "appear to be moving, at less than full speed, toward a deal." It seems that one of these two clubs will sign Damon, but it's difficult to peg a frontrunner.
Johnny Damon Rumors: Friday
5:35pm: While the activity on Damon has heated up in the past week, it doesn't appear as though he will sign with a team until next week, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com.
2:12pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com says via Twitter that it looks like the Damon sweepstakes will come down to the White Sox and Tigers. He says the Braves don't appear to have the money to bid.
2:00pm: Don't hold your breath for a Damon signing. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that nothing is imminent with the Tigers.
9:44am: The White Sox "threw [a] bone" at Johnny Damon, but weren't seriously involved, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). That matches up with yesterday's reports from Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times and MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
Rosenthal and others reported yesterday that the Tigers are prepared to offer Damon $14MM over two years. That makes them the favorite to acquire the outfielder, though we haven't completely ruled out the Braves.
Heyman On Damon, Braves, Wang, Dye
Jon Heyman of SI.com explains that expectations for Johnny Damon were unrealistically high at the beginning of the offseason. Here's Heyman's latest on Damon and others:
- Tigers manager Jim Leyland is said to want Damon badly.
- Heyman hears that the Braves might have $6MM to spend.
- Chien-Ming Wang's agent says his client is still a week or so away from deciding where he'll sign. Competitors still expect the righty to sign an incentive-laden deal with the Nationals.
- We've heard that the Indians are considering Jermaine Dye; Heyman says he could play some first base in Cleveland.
Johnny Damon Rumors: Thursday
9:29pm: MLB.com's Scott Merkin concurs, adding that he believes the White Sox have about $4MM to offer Damon.
5:50pm: According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago's interest in Johnny Damon is more about "due diligence" than anything else, and if the price tag is around $7MM per season, that is beyond their budget.
4:48pm: Heyman tweets that the Tigers may have offered slightly more than $14MM.
4:21pm: ESPN.com's Buster Olney tweets that executives expect Damon to sign with the Tigers.
4:15pm: Braves president John Schuerholz tells Jim Bowden that GM Frank Wren is "engaged" in talks with Damon and Scott Boras (Twitter link).
3:56pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets that the Tigers have one and two-year offers on the table to Damon. The Braves and White Sox are also involved.
3:05pm: Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and Jim Bowden tweet that the White Sox and Tigers are bidding on Damon.
2:48pm: Tigers owner Mike Ilitch has authorized a two-year $14MM offer, sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. It's hard to imagine Damon turning this kind of offer down.
Damon is also considering a one-year $7MM offer from the Tigers and a one-year offer from the Braves. Atlanta won't likely offer two years, since they have outfield prospects Jason Heyward and Jordan Schafer.
2:02pm: Damon is nearing a decision and could agree to a deal this week, reports ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. Damon's best available offer comes from the Tigers. Insiders guess they're offering a one-year deal worth $7MM or so, but the sides haven't ruled out a two-year deal.
The Braves and Rays are still involved and a source tells Stark that the White Sox have interest. The Braves and Rays are talking one-year deals and neither club has offered as much as the Tigers.
1:21pm: The Tigers appear willing to top the Braves' offer to Johnny Damon, tweets Newsday's Ken Davidoff. Davidoff suggests that the Tigers could offer Damon $4.5MM, which would top Atlanta's offer of about $4MM.
Yesterday, we heard that the Braves offered Damon a deal worth less than $4MM. The deal includes deferred money, according to multiple reports. Earlier in the week, FOX Sports reported that Damon was still looking for a multi-year deal.
Glavine To Retire, Takes Job With Braves
Tom Glavine is expected to retire and take a job as a special assistant to Braves president John Schuerholz, writes MLB.com's Mark Bowman. The future-Hall of Famer will help his former team with baseball and business projects and contribute to radio and TV broadcasts.
Glavine will retire with a pair of Cy Young Awards and a 3.54 ERA in over 4400 innings of work. The ten-time All Star and 1995 World Series champion won a total of 305 games, thanks in part to five 20-win seasons. Glavine didn't pitch in the majors last year, so he will likely enter the Hall of Fame in the same class as longtime rotation-mate Greg Maddux.
The Braves signed Glavine to an incentive-laden deal last year, one that would have paid the lefty $1MM for making the team. The Braves released Glavine instead and the pitcher contemplated a grievance before taking the rest of the year off in spite of interest from other clubs.
“Nothing Is Closed” For Smoltz
10:47am: Smoltz is seeking at least $3MM, reports David Waldstein of the New York Times. Waldstein feels that the Mets' near-agreement with Hisanori Takahashi takes them out of the running for Smoltz.
9:58am: Free agent pitcher John Smoltz was noncommittal in his talk with Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In reference to his next team, Smoltz replied, "Nothing is closed for me." He has nothing in the works and hasn't decided whether he'll wait until midseason to sign.
Understandably, Schultz gives extra play to the possibility of a Braves reunion. It'd be a nice way to go out, and Smoltz remains in contact with Braves manager Bobby Cox. Still, as far as opportunities go, the Braves appear set with their rotation and the back end of the bullpen.
Ten teams have expressed interest in Smoltz at various points this winter, according to reports: the Nationals, Mets, Phillies, Yankees, Cardinals, Dodgers, Mariners, Astros, Rangers, and Orioles.
Johnny Damon Rumors: Wednesday
6:42pm: MLB.com's Mark Bowman hears from a source that even with deferred money, the Braves offer to Damon totals less than $4MM (link goes to Twitter).
4:04pm: Tyler Kepner of the New York Times tweets that he's hearing the Braves' offer to Damon is $2MM now plus another $2MM deferred.
11:22am: Yesterday, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported that Johnny Damon had not moved off his demand for a two-year deal. They suggested the Tigers were the most interested club, a notion SI's Jon Heyman agreed with this morning. Rosenthal and Morosi wrote that the Braves were taking a more passive approach than the Tigers.
However, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports today that the Braves' interest in Damon has increased, to the point of making an offer in the $5MM range. MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports that the offer includes some deferred money. O'Brien says the Braves recently made a one-year offer and had Chipper Jones contact Damon. Additionally, Damon texted O'Brien and described the Braves as "definitely a team that is on top of the list."
Odds & Ends: Lincecum, Jackson, Blalock, Bedard
Some Tuesday night links…
- Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports tweets that neither Tim Lincecum nor the Giants have budged in their negotiations, and his arbitration hearing is set for Friday.
- MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reports (via Twitter) that the Diamondbacks and Edwin Jackson still haven't made any progress towards an agreement. Their arbitration hearing is now just eight days away.
- In addition to having interest in Russell Branyan and Jermaine Dye, the Indians are also talking to Hank Blalock, reports Rosenthal. He adds that the Blue Jays are also in on Branyan.
- In a pair of tweets, Rosenthal passes along the incentives in Erik Bedard's contract. They lefty could bring in $500K each for 14, 17, 20, 23, and 26 starts, plus $600K for every 25 innings after 75.
- Meanwhile, Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com report that Damon hasn't moved off his demand of a two-year deal. Good luck with that, Johnny.
- Morosi and Rosenthal also report that the Rangers and Mets appear to be "hamstrung by complications at the ownership level," meaning they're approaching their payroll limits.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that Astros' GM Ed Wade said the team has some interest in bringing Willy Taveras back on a minor league deal. Oakland released Taveras today.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (via Peter Schmuck) spoke to Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, who indicated that the team has not had recent talks with the agents for Jarrod Washburn or Chien-Ming Wang. The O's were linked to both pitchers earlier today.
- MLB.com's Corey Brock says (via Twitter) that it's "highly unlikely" that the Padres will sign Japanese lefty Hisanori Takahashi. Several teams reportedly offered the southpaw a minor league contract.
Odds & Ends: Startup, Rays, Reds, Dye, Mauer
A few links for Monday night…
- Morosi reports (via Twitter) that the Orioles have signed lefty reliever Will Startup to a minor league contract. The 25-year-old missed all of 2008 and most of 2009 with injuries, though prior to that he had a 2.56 ERA and held lefties to a .206 batting average in 175.2 career minor league innings. He spend last season in the Padres' system.
- Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times passes along some quotes Rays' vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman made during his appearance on 620-AM this evening. He basically said the team is keeping an eye on the market, though it's difficult to say if they'll be able to act on anything given their current financial situation.
- After losing out on Erik Bedard, the Orioles are still looking to add an arm according to Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com (via Twitter).
- MLB.com's Mark Sheldon lists the Reds' players who are out of options. Wladimir Balentien appears to be the biggest question mark.
- Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets that the Braves are not interested in Jermaine Dye, but they could still make another addition if Johnny Damon's (or another free agent's) price falls.
- Unsurprisingly, Twins' CEO Jim Pohlad declined to talk about contract negotiations with Joe Mauer, though he did say that they try to stay away from deferred compensation.
- In a mailbag, MLB.com's Matthew Leach says the Cardinals are likely done spending until Spring Training.