Michael Young Agrees To Play Third
According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, Michael Young has agreed to play third base for the Rangers this year. Young has also taken back his request for a trade.
This creates room for Rangers shortstop prospect Elvis Andrus.
Red Sox Sign Takashi Saito
TUESDAY, 12:30pm: Dylan Hernandez says Saito’s deal could be worth as much as $15MM over two years, although he is guaranteed just $1.5MM.
SATURDAY, 2:23pm: It appears the Dodgers weren’t ready to offer the contract terms needed to bring Takashi Saito back. As Tony Jackson reports: "[the Dodgers] weren’t about to give him anything close to this much money."
8:41am: Ken Rosenthal reports that the Red Sox have signed Takashi Saito to a one-year contract with a club option for 2010. The deal’s worth between $1.5 and $2.5MM in 2009, but Saito could earn up to $7MM if he pitches well, according to Rosenthal’s sources.
Saito passed his physical yesterday.
Pedro Not A Fit For Marlins
2:35pm: Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel also shoots down the rumor, stating that it looks like given their lack of interest in Carl Pavano, the Marlins don’t want to give a rotation spot to a pitcher attempting to rebound.
Rodriguez says that Ricky Nolasco, Josh Johnson, and Chris Volstad are locks for the rotation, with Andrew Miller and Anibal Sanchez as the favorites for the other two spots. Ryan Tucker, Sean West, Frankie De La Cruz and Aaron Thompson are in the mix as well.
11:21am: Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald shoots down the rumor that Pedro Martinez is a possible fit for the Marlins. Spencer heard from multiple sources that "nothing is afoot on that front." The Marlins either have a lack of interest or a lack of money.
Spencer did hear that Pedro’s interested in playing for the Marlins. One source even said they were his "first choice." However, no discussions have taken place between the Marlins and Martinez recently and none are planned.
Cafardo’s Latest: Manny, Dunn, Fielder
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has lots of rumors in his latest article:
- Apparently the Giants were willing to offer Manny Ramirez a four year deal in the form of a one year deal with three option years. No more details are known, except that the Giants remain interested in Manny.
- Brad Ausmus has had ongoing talks with the Padres and Dodgers, according to Cafardo’s sources. The Red Sox aren’t interested.
- The Angels, Giants and Mets are possible suitors for Xavier Nady.
- Cafardo’s heard other clubs talking about the Red Sox and Rockies restarting the Todd Helton for Mike Lowell trade talk, but hasn’t heard anything similar from the Red Sox.
- At least one of Cafardo’s sources thinks Prince Fielder would make a lot of sense in Boston. Clay Buchholz could be a starting point if these talks were to start.
- Ben Sheets is becoming a bargain, so the Braves or Rangers could jump in and sign him affordably.
- Cafardo calls Atlanta an "emerging" destination for Adam Dunn.
Odds And Ends: Padres, Manny, Braves
Links for Sunday…
- John Moores will remain majority owner of the Padres for three or four years even if he agrees to sell the team to Jeff Moorad, according to Tom Krasovic. Major league executives say Padres CEO Sandy Alderson is likely to leave if Moorad takes over.
- In a recent poll, Giants fans were divided on the idea of signing Manny Ramirez.
- The Pirates haven’t offered Doug Mientkiewicz a contract.
- Thomas Stinson looks at an offseason of "mediocrity" for the Braves.
- Bobby Cox likes the looks of Kenshin Kawakami.
- Larry LaRue asks who’s on first for the Mariners this year.
- Joe Posnanski sees Adam Dunn and Willie Bloomquist as opposites in a way.
- Michael Silverman compares the pre-Bronx careers of Mark Teixeira and Jason Giambi.
Mets Confident About Rotation
Newsday’s Ken Davidoff writes that "the Mets remain confident that they’ll eventually land one of their top two choices" for their rotation: Derek Lowe or Oliver Perez.
The Brewers aren’t interested in Lowe and Davidoff heard from one Phillies official who doesn’t expect him to sign with Philadelphia. The Braves remain a legitimate suitor for Lowe, but if he signs with Atlanta, the Mets could simply bring back Perez. After all, as Davidoff says, "if there’s any competition for Perez, it’s in hiding."
Brewers Rumors: Sheets, Cameron, Swisher
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the latest from Brewers GM Doug Melvin on the team’s plans:
- We already knew Melvin doesn’t anticipate signing a free agent starter.
- Derek Lowe isn’t an option for the Brewers, who haven’t even talked to Scott Boras.
- The Brewers will monitor the trade market and consider dealing for a starter.
- The team could make an exception for Ben Sheets. Melvin said he’d have to consider signing the pitcher if he wanted to return to Milwaukee.
- Before signing Trevor Hoffman, the Brewers were looking into Juan Cruz, a Type A free agent, but didn’t like the idea of giving up a first rounder, especially now that they’ll only get a second round pick for losing C.C. Sabathia.
- The Yankees still have interest in Mike Cameron and floated the idea of a Nick Swisher for Cameron swap.
- Melvin likes Cameron’s defense though, so he’s "not motivated to move him."
- After they’re done with their six arbitration cases, the Brewers payroll will approach $80MM.
D’Backs Rotation Plans
According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the D’Backs plan on going after many free agent starters in hopes that one of them will sign at an affordable rate. Arizona appears to have $4-5MM to spend on an arm.
The club has traditionally avoided incentive-based deals because they bring financial uncertainty, but Piecoro sees "indications the team might be willing to relax its policy." Piecoro names Ben Sheets, Pedro Martinez and Jason Jennings as possible fits for the club, but those pitchers are considered health risks, so incentive-based deals could work for them.
To Sheets’s credit, he did make 31 starts last year, so he’s likely to get much stronger offers than the other two.
Odds And Ends: Johnson, Bloomquist, Smoltz
Links for Saturday:
- We knew Dan Johnson was heading to Japan, but now it’s official. He’ll play for the Yokohama BayStars and earn $1.5MM in 2009.
- Rob Neyer writes that the Willie Bloomquist signing caps an offseason that’s cost the Royals a lot and left them with very little top talent.
- Losing John Smoltz hasn’t been easy for the Braves.
- MLB.com’s Tom Singer takes a look at some of the remaining free agent pitchers.
- Buster Olney creates a team of the remaining free agents and it doesn’t look bad. He also has a fun idea for teams who want to sign a Type A free agent without losing their top pick.
- Jim Johnson seems likely to start the season in the bullpen for Baltimore.
- Peter Schmuck writes that at a low enough price it would make sense for the O’s to gamble on some pitchers to fill out the rotation.
- Larry LaRue wonders whether the Mariners will hold onto Jamie Burke; Burke does too.
Pirates Rumors: Pearce, Swisher, Nady
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette turned up a few more Pirates rumors:
- Though the Pirates would like to sign a right-handed power-hitting outfielder, GM Neal Huntington says Steve Pearce is a "viable option."
- It doesn’t look like the talks between the Yankees and Pirates about Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher are going to amount to anything.
- The Pirates would like to add a major league starter, but they are more likely to strengthen pitching in the upper levels of the minor leagues.