Orioles Rumors: V-Mart, Garland, Duke, Manny
We know that the Orioles have varying levels of interest in Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Jorge de la Rosa, as well as J.J. Hardy and Jason Bartlett, but here's the latest from Charm City…
- MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli reports that the O's continue to have discussions with Koji Uehara, Ty Wigginton, and Cesar Izturis. The issue with the first two is contract length, and the fate of the last two is tied to what kind of bat the team brings in.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun wonders if Victor Martinez is exactly what the Orioles need. He says that "by all accounts," Peter Angelos, Andy MacPhail, and Buck Showalter are high on V-Mart and he is "one of their top offseason priorities."
- MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko speculates that Jon Garland could again be connected to Baltimore, as he has been for the last two offseasons. He doesn't see either Zach Duke or Manny Ramirez fitting in with the O's.
Justin Upton Rumors: Saturday
Yesterday we learned that at least 15 teams inquired about the availability of Arizona's Justin Upton at the GM Meetings, and that five of those clubs wanted to push talks further along. We also learned that the 23-year-old can block trades to Athletics, Indians, Royals, and Tigers. Here are today's batch of Upton rumors, with more to come throughout the day…
- ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that a lot of people in the game are wondering why the Diamondbacks are so intent on marketing their budding star. They're curious if something's wrong.
- ESPN's Keith Law (Insider req'd) lists four reasons why new GM Kevin Towers might want to deal Upton, noting that he may have concerns about his on-field potential, makeup, and health.
Cardinals Remove Four From 40-Man Roster
The Cardinals have removed Adam Ottavino, Nick Stavinoha, Daryl Jones, and Steve Hill from their 40-man roster according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach. All four players will now be exposed in next month's Rule 5 Draft.
Jones, 23, hit .244/.335/.361 in 518 Double-A plate appearances this year. Ottavino, 25 on Monday, made five appearances with St. Louis this year (three starts), posting a 8.46 ERA with 12 strikeouts and nine walks in 22.1 innings. Hill, 25, received just three plate appearances with the Cardinals this year, hitting a home run for his first career hit. The backstop is a .289/.341/.510 hitter in the minors. They were ranked the 4th, 11th, and 24th best prospects in the team's farm system according to Baseball America's 2010 Prospect Handbook, respectively.
Stavinoha, 28, has received 278 plate appearances with the Cards over the last three seasons, hitting .234/.256/.325 with 54 strikeouts and just seven unintentional walks. He is a .301/.345/.469 hitter in almost 1,400 Triple-A plate appearances and has experience playing both outfield corners as well as first base.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Uggla, Rollins, Giants, Upton
On this date 20 years ago, a 26-year-old Barry Bonds took home his first National League MVP Award thanks to a .301/.406/.565 season with the Pirates. He went on to win the award again in 1992, his final season in Pittsburgh, and then five more times with the Giants. The latter part of Bonds' career was clouded by PED allegations, but he did hit .301/.424/.566 in his final three seasons with the Pirates and .305/.438/.600 with far more unintentional walks (825) than strikeouts (685) from 1990-1998, age 26-34. Barry could have retired at that point and waltzed into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
Here's a look at the best the baseball blogosphere had to offer this week…
- We Should Be GMs celebrates Omar Vizquel, the last remaining active player from the 1980's.
- Capitol Avenue Club wonders what's next for the Braves following the Dan Uggla trade.
- Pittsburgh Lumber Co. contemplates Jorge de la Rosa.
- Meanwhile, Pine Tar And Pocket Protectors pieces together Pittsburgh's 2011 rotation.
- Baseball Analysts looks at Japanese pitchers and the hot stove.
- Crashburn Alley says that right now is a prime opportunity for the Phillies to sign Jimmy Rollins to a contract extension.
- Fenway Faithful Reports thinks that Victor Martinez is destined to sign with the Tigers.
- Splashing Pumpkins breaks down some shortstop options for the Giants.
- Baseball Time In Arlington explains the regression that the Rangers could experience.
- FanSpeak believes the Nationals should go all-in to acquire Justin Upton.
- Boston Sports Pulse provides a blueprint for the Red Sox offseason.
- Phoul Ballz looks at Matt Rizzotti, a Phillies' farmhand that will be eligible for this year's Rule 5 Draft.
- The Sports Banter finds some interesting minor league free agents.
- Cubs Billy Goat Blog lists some minor moves that could have a big impact on the Cubs.
- SPANdemonium muses about why teams have to wait a year before trading drafted players.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Amateur Signing Bonuses Series
Over the last month or so we've looked at the five largest signing bonuses each team has given to amateur prospects. The vast majority of those bonuses were given to drafted players, but there were certainly plenty of international free agents from Latin America and Asia as well. The bonuses included in the series total just under $500.4MM, ranging from the Braves ($9.67MM) to the Rays ($30.75MM) at the extremes. Here's a link back to all 30 clubs…
AL East
Blue Jays ($13.2MM)
Orioles ($20.072MM)
Rays ($30.75MM)
Red Sox ($15.75MM)
Yankees ($13.44MM)
AL Central
Indians ($14.875MM)
Royals ($20.25MM)
Tigers ($18.78MM)
Twins ($15.5MM)
White Sox ($15.306MM)
Angels ($16.63MM)
Athletics ($14.4MM)
Mariners ($16.34MM)
Rangers ($14.195MM)
NL East
Braves ($9.67MM)
Marlins ($13.425MM)
Mets ($13.3MM)
Nationals ($22.325MM)
Phillies ($13.18MM)
NL Central
Astros ($10.345MM-$10.545MM)
Brewers ($13.1MM)
Cardinals ($12.625MM)
Cubs ($16.15MM)
Pirates ($21.85MM)
Reds ($25.82MM)
Diamondbacks ($29.1MM)
Dodgers ($13.7375MM)
Giants ($16.175MM)
Padres ($15.7MM)
Rockies ($14.4MM)
Rockies Interested In Kouzmanoff, Cantu, Wigginton
The Rockies have expressed interest in Athletics' third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post. He adds that Jose Lopez, Jorge Cantu, and Ty Wigginton are also on Colorado's radar in a second tweet, calling the team "quietly aggressive" during the GM Meetings.
Kouzmanoff is a non-tender candidate, even moreso now that the A's have brought in Edwin Encarnacion and are aggressively bidding on Adrian Beltre. Renck adds that he would fill the role of Melvin Mora for Colorado, pushing Ian Stewart at third base and potentially platooning with him. Cantu, Lopez, and Wiggington could all do the same as well. Earlier today we learned that the Rockies also have interest in Alex Gordon.
“Six Or Eight” Teams Have Spoken To Pavano
"Six or eight" teams have had preliminary discussions with Carl Pavano's representatives according to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post. He adds that the Nationals are one such team and have gauged the right-hander's interest during this week's GM Meetings.
Washington has already expressed interest in Jorge de la Rosa and Cliff Lee, potentially Brandon Webb as well, so they're clearly willing to spend money to upgrade their rotation. Pavano is generally considered to be the best free agent starter on the market after Lee, having thrown 420 1/3 innings to the tune of a 4.39 ERA over the last two seasons. The Rockies and Twins figure to be among the suitors. Ben Nicholson-Smith looked at Pavano's free agent stock back in September.
Red Sox Will Go No More Than Four Years For Beltre
The Red Sox have said that retaining Adrian Beltre is one of their top priorities this offseason, but a source tells Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe that they will not offer him more than four years and $52MM. Cafardo adds that they appear to have a similar limit with Victor Martinez.
A dozen teams are reportedly interested in the 31-year-old Beltre, who is far and away the best third baseman on the free agent market. Interest in the soon-to-be 32-year-old Martinez is plentiful as well, with about half-a-dozen clubs expressing interest in his services at one point or another. While four years and $52MM is certainly a competitive offer, it's possible that Beltre could find more than $13MM annually on the open market, especially coming off a .321/.365/.553 season.
Marlins Notes: Uggla, Pavano, Prado
The Marlins wasted no time trading Dan Uggla this offseason, sending him to Atlanta for Omar Infante and Mike Dunn on Tuesday. The move came less than a week after the team broke off extension talks with their All Star second baseman due to a gap in negotiations.
Let's round up the latest Marlins' news in the wake of the trade…
- The Marlins repeatedly increased their contract offer to Uggla, tweets Clark Spencer of The Miami Herald, but he never backed down from five-years, $71MM. The original offer was four years and $48MM.
- Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post says (via Twitter) that the Fish had substantial trade talks with five teams about their second baseman.
- The Cardinals had interest in Uggla but balked at the Marlins' asking price of Colby Rasmus, tweets Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says (via Twitter) that the Blue Jays had the most early interest in Uggla, offering prospects RHP Josh Roenicke, RHP Danny Farquhar, and either SS Ryan Goins or OF Darin Mastroianni.
- MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez tweets that Marlins exec Larry Beinfest said the money that would have gone to Uggla will be spent elsewhere, and not coincidentally Carl Pavano is now an option for them according to Capozzi (Twitter link).
- Meanwhile, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says Florida originally asked Atlanta for Martin Prado in exchange for their second baseman, but later settled on Omar Infante.
Cardinals Re-Sign Jake Westbrook
The Cardinals have re-signed Jake Westbrook to a two-year contract with a mutual option for 2013 worth a guaranteed $16.5MM. The deal includes a full no-trade clause that was given in exchange for a non-guaranteed third year.
Westbrook, 33, joined the Cardinals in a three-team trade that sent Ryan Ludwick to the Padres and prospects to the Indians at the deadline. He pitched to a 3.48 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 75 innings for St. Louis. After missing the 2009 season due to Tommy John surgery, Westbrook's overall season looked very much like the rest of his career: an ERA in the 4.20's and lots of innings (202 2/3 to be exact).
The new deal will pay the right-hander $8MM in 2011 and $8.5MM in 2012. The 2013 option calls for a $8.5MM base salary, though he'll receive a $1MM buyout if the team declines the option. If Westbrook declines the option, he'll receive no buyout.
Ed Price of AOL FanHouse reported the agreement (via Twitter) while FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal and MLB.com's Matthew Leach provided the contract details (Twitter links).