Hiroyuki Nakajima Posting Period Is Over
The posting period for 29-year-old Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima is complete, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). MLB and NPB have yet to announce the high bid.
Yesterday we learned that at least one team has placed a bid on Nakajima, though Brewers GM Doug Melvin confirmed that the Brewers will not submit a bit according to Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel (on Twitter). The Seibu Lions are expected to accept the high bid regardless of amount. Nakajima, who was posted on Monday, hit .297/.354/.433 with 16 home runs and 27 doubles in 633 plate appearances for the Lions in 2011. He is represented by Legacy Sports.
Angels, Blue Jays Swap Jeff Mathis For Brad Mills
The Angels have acquired left-hander Brad Mills from the Blue Jays for Jeff Mathis, reports Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that the two sides were on the verge of a deal (all Twitter links).
Mills, 26, was the Jays' fourth round pick in 2007. He's seen time in the big leagues in each of the last three seasons, pitching to a 8.57 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in 48 1/3 innings spread across nine starts and five relief appearances. In 354 innings at the Triple-A level, he's posted a much more respectable 4.32 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
Mathis, 28, is a non-tender candidate, especially after the Halos acquired Chris Iannetta from the Rockies. He's hit a miserable .193/.245/.282 in 771 plate appearances over the last three seasons while throwing out 24.7% of attempted basestealers. Our projections have him earning $1.8MM next season if does survive the non-tender deadline.
Red Sox To Meet With Agent For Wilson And Oswalt
The Red Sox will meet with the agent for C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt at the winter meetings in Dallas next week, reports Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald (on Twitter). Both pitchers are represented by Bob Garber.
Most of the recent reports involving the Red Sox have focused on their now completed managerial search or their still ongoing closer search, but the club is also looking to solidify its starting staff. Clay Buchholz will return from injury to join Josh Beckett and Jon Lester atop the rotation, but both Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lackey are out following Tommy John surgery. Alfredo Aceves figures to be given a chance to start, but Boston still needs to add depth beyond those four.
The Rangers, Nationals, and Marlins are said to be pursuing Wilson, who is looking for something close to a six-year deal worth $120MM. The Rockies had shown the most interest in Oswalt so far this offseason, but they've recently dropped out of the running.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Cubs, Broxton, Garza
Eight years ago today, the Cardinals signed Chris Carpenter to a one-year contract worth $500K for the second straight offseason. The right-hander had missed the entire 2003 season due to shoulder surgery, but St. Louis bet another half-a-million bucks on his recovery. Carpenter rewarded them with a 3.46 ERA in 28 starts in 2004, and has since helped the club to three NL pennants and two World Series titles.
Here is this week's batch of pre-winter meetings links…
- Amazin' Avenue provides a transcript of Mets GM Sandy Alderson's recent conference call with bloggers.
- The Todd Can Poppel Rookie Card Retirement Plan discusses a recent interview with Athletics assistant GM David Forst.
- Giants Nirvana isn't terribly excited about Giants GM Brian Sabean's recent contract extension.
- Bleacher Nation makes a case for and against the Cubs signing Prince Fielder.
- District on Deck thinks Josh Willingham makes more sense for the Nationals than Fielder.
- Baseball Reality Tour doesn't think the Royals improved by adding Jonathan Broxton.
- Motor City Bengals wonders if Mark Buehrle is a good fit for the Tigers.
- The Hardball Times looks at how David DeJesus might impact Alfonso Soriano.
- Pirates Prospects tries to figure out where the Pirates could add an impact player.
- Rum Bunter thinks Matt Adams could have helped the Pirates at first base.
- Bay City Ball says going cheap might be a good thing for the Giants.
- Shutdown Inning comes up with starting pitcher comparables for Neftali Feliz.
- BoSox Injection wonders if the Red Sox should make a push for Matt Garza.
- Splice Today believes Gio Gonzalez is getting overrated on the trade market.
- South Side Sox closes the book on the trade that sent Nick Swisher to the Yankees.
- South Side Showdown thinks the White Sox should be open to trading Matt Thornton.
- Brotherly Glove says the Nationals have a chance to become very good, very fast.
- Warehouse Worthy wonders what the Orioles will do with Luke Scott.
- Call to the Pen analyzed the John Jaso–Josh Lueke trade.
- Wahoo's on First suggests a trade between baseball's two Ohio teams.
- Ol' Ball Game looked at some ways to improve the Indians.
- I-70 Baseball wonders if Jose Oquendo could be the next manager of the Astros.
- Rant Sports Yankees believes the Yankees should explore trading Ivan Nova.
- Rational Sports Fan thinks the new collective bargaining agreement hurts young pitchers.
- Fantasy Rundown compiles all your favorite prospect lists in one place.
- MLB Reports likes the idea of expanded interleague play.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
Quick Hits: Nakajima, Wilson, Pena, Mariners, A’s
Some late night links from around the league…
- According to a report passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker (on Twitter), at least one MLB team has bid on Hiroyuki Nakajima since the posting process started on Monday. The Seibu Lions are expected to accept the highest bid, regardless of amount.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels has spoken to C.J. Wilson's agent as recently as today reports Jeff Wilson of The Fort Worth Star Telegram (on Twitter), and MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan says the two sides are expected to meet again at the winter meetings.
- Before signing with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks for $5MM over two years, Wily Mo Pena had drawn interest from the Indians, Giants, Brewers, and Mariners according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter).
- Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times wonders if the Darren Ford signing clears the way for the Mariners to trade some of the outfielders on their 40-man roster, like Trayvon Robinson, Michael Saunders, or Franklin Gutierrez.
- “We’re very open,” said Athletics assistant GM David Forst to John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle when asked if any of the club's pitchers were untradeable. “If we didn’t have the (pitching) depth, we wouldn’t have this option.” Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey have been popular names, but Forst's statement suggests Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy could be had as well.
Central Links: Danks, Twins, Indians, Royals, Cubs
Here are some links from baseball's two central divisions…
- The White Sox have been shopping left-hander John Danks in advance of the winter meetings, reports Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. He won't come cheap though, with one of Cowley's sources saying: "[ChiSox GM Kenny Williams] asked for everyone on our roster in return."
- Yesterday we heard about the Twins' interest in retaining Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel, and today Joe Mauer told MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger that he's willing to help recruit free agents to Minnesota. "I told [GM Terry Ryan] and everybody here that I'm here to do everything I can to help out," said Mauer. "I want to be part of the solution that gets us back to where we need to get to."
- The Indians are not expected to bid on any Japanese players going through the posting process, reports Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer (on Twitter). That would include Hiroyuki Nakajima (who was posted on Monday) and possibly Yu Darvish.
- ESPN's Buster Olney says (on Twitter) that the Royals are looking to a utilityman, preferably someone that hits left-handed. As our Free Agent Tracker shows, players like Andres Blanco, Craig Counsell, and Willie Harris are available.
- Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune reports that the Cubs have hired Chris Bosio to be their new pitching coach. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein confirmed that the rest of the coaching staff would be announced at the winter meetings next week.
East Links: Guthrie, Jays, Marlins, Braves, Prado
Some links from baseball's two east divisions…
- The Orioles are expected to be more active on the trade market than in free agency, writes MLB.com's Britt Ghiroli. Jeremy Guthrie has been their most actively shopped player, and several teams have expressed interest. Baltimore would almost certainly want pitching in return.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca that he's likely to exhaust all trade options for pitching help before diving into free agency. A second baseman is also on the agenda, and the team would like to add a frontline starting pitcher if possible.
- Earlier today we heard that the Marlins' reluctance to include a no-trade clause is an obstacle as they try to sign Mark Buehrle, but president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest told Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post that he isn't worried about the team's policy hurting their ability to sign premium free agents.
- "I’ve actively shopped players this fall that I haven’t mentioned their names," said Braves GM Frank Wren to Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter links). He was referring to players that are reportedly on the market, but have not actually been discussed with other teams.
- "Martin Prado is a solid player and a part of our team for almost five years. We’re not out looking to trade good players," added Wren according to O'Brien (on Twitter). Prado has been a popular name on the trade rumor circuit this offseason.
Reliever Rumors: Madson, Saito, Qualls, Rays
Jonathan Papelbon and Heath Bell are off the market now, but as our Free Agent Tracker shows, there are still a ton of relievers out there for clubs looking to improve their bullpen. Here's the latest on some free agent relief arms…
- Earlier today we heard that the Red Sox continue to have dialogue with Scott Boras about Ryan Madson, and Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio hears that their stiffest competition is "clearly" coming from the Blue Jays and Angels (Twitter link).
- Six teams have shown interest in Takashi Saito, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Brewers are one of those six teams. Earlier today we heard that Milwaukee wants to bolster its bullpen.
- SI.com's Jon Heyman hears that there is not one, but two mystery teams interested in Chad Qualls (Twitter link).
- DRays Bay examined the possibility of the Rays using an 11-man pitching staff next season, suggesting Rich Harden as a potential free agent target to throw multiple relief innings.
- For all the latest fantasy closer analysis, make sure you check out Closer News.
Rockies Rumors: Oswalt, Millwood, Francis, Tanaka
The Rockies revamped their catching situation by signing Ramon Hernandez and trading Chris Iannetta, but now let's see what else is cooking in Colorado…
- The Rockies are out of the running for Roy Oswalt, reports Troy Renck of The Denver Post. They remain aggressive in their pursuit of a starting pitcher though, and have interest in Kevin Millwood and former Rockie Jeff Francis. The Twins are in on Francis as well.
- Japanese second baseman Kensuke Tanaka will remain in Japan, reports Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports (on Twitter). The Rockies had expressed initial interest in the free agent according to Morosi.
- The Braves want good prospects along with Seth Smith in return for Martin Prado, reports SI.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter), so the two clubs have some work to do if they're going to make a trade.
The Latest On Yoenis Cespedes And Jorge Soler
ESPN's Jerry Crasnick posted a must read feature on a pair of Cuban outfielders today, 26-year-old Yoenis Cespedes and 19-year-old Jorge Soler. You do not need Insider to view the article. Here's a roundup of the pertinent hot stove news…
- Cespedes is moving closer to establishing residency in the Dominican Republic, which will then allow him to apply for free agency through MLB. His agent, Adam Katz of the Wasserman Media Group, declined to pinpoint a timetable for when that might happen.
- "The buzz in baseball circles is that it will take north of $50 million to sign Cespedes," says Crasnick, who notes that estimates have climbed higher in recent weeks.
- A large number of teams have expressed interest in signing Cespedes, and Crasnick says about two-thirds of those teams project him to play center field. The rest expect him to shift to right.
- Some clubs have turned their attention to Soler as Cespedes' price climbs, but Pirates director of Latin American scouting Rene Gayo says Soler is "not in the same class."
- "[Cespedes is] more likely to hit 30 homers than hit .300 and probably compares best to somebody like Cameron Maybin, but with more power if less range and speed," said one executive. "He's stronger and more stocky and may end up on an outfield corner in a few years, but for now he can play center field … For a club like the Yankees or Boston who can afford those investments, he makes some sense.''