Pirates Ask Wilson, Sanchez To Take Pay Cuts
Both Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and John Perrotto of PiratesReport.com are reporting that the Pirates asked Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez to take sizable pay cuts when they presented them with contract extension offers yesterday. Wilson, who is making $7.25MM this year, was offered a two year deal plus a club option. Financial terms aren't known, but the offer reportedly includes a significant pay cut. Perrotto says the club has already privately decided to buy out Wilson's $8.4MM option for 2010 for $600k.
Sanchez, who is only 252 plate appearances away from having his $8MM option for 2010 vest, was offered a two year deal worth around $10MM. The extension reportedly seeks forfeiture of that 2010 option as well. Kovacevic says that he feels the team is "most interested in securing Wilson and trading Sanchez."
The Pirates have given both players a small window of opportunity to accept the deals, as they want to have as much time as possible to work out trades should the players reject the offers, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
"This is something that needs to be resolved quickly, one way or the other," general manager Neal Huntington said Friday. "If there isn't common ground, I think we'll know pretty quickly. We can't let it linger and inhibit the trade process."
"Instead of trading and wondering what could've been, we decided to step forward and see if there's something that could be done to keep them here," Huntington said.
"If a perfect world, we bring them both back under contracts that are favorable to them and favorable to us. But if we get one, then we get one. If we can't either, we can't get either."
Biertempfel echoes what FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi wrote yesterday, that the team might be making lowball offers that Wilson and Sanchez have no choice but to reject just to they can come back and say they tried to extend them before making a trade. The team was heavily criticized when they traded Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan in separate deals earlier this year.
Odds & Ends: Lugo, Holliday, Red Sox, Draft
Some spare links on a busy Saturday morning …
- Adam Rubin of The NY Daily News says an AL official indicated that the recently DFA'd Julio Lugo has been working out at the Mets complex in the Dominican Republic, and expects the team to sign the shortstop once he clears waivers and is released.
- Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports says Matt Holliday won't say if he wants to be traded or remain an Athletic, but he does have a preference.
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein says he doesn't think his team has one glaring weakness, but at same time thinks there are opportunities to get better, according to Adam Kilgore of The Boston Globe.
- Considering some of the contracts we've seen players receive in the last few months, the union might concede "financially harnessing the signing system for both draftees and international players" in the next CBA so their players get what they want, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.
- The Padres are calling up top prospect Mat Latos to start Sunday, reports Corey Brock of MLB.com. They are looking to find more playing time for their young players.
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. wrote about the increasingly competitive market for representing Cuban amateurs.
Diamondbacks Rumors: Byrnes, Lugo, Davis
Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic says a team source indicated that the Diamondbacks could revisit the idea of an Eric Byrnes–Julio Lugo swap now that Lugo's been designated for assignment. Byrnes is currently on the disabled list with a broken hand. The two teams had discussions about such a swap in the offseason, but the talks went nowhere.
Meanwhile, lefthander Doug Davis says he senses "they might come after me for an extension" according to Piecoro. Davis said they're not ready to starting talking terms, but GM Josh Byrnes confirms the talks. Davis' agent Steve Canter decined to talk about specifics according to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, but he did say Davis is "player of interest to the organization."
Davis' name has popped up in trade rumors the past few weeks.
Sano Passes Age Investigation
SI.com's Melissa Segura is reporting that prized Dominican shortstop Miguel Angel Sano has passed Major League Baseball's age investigation. It seems like every team in the league has been connected to Sano at some point, but the Pirates and Orioles appear to be the frontrunners for his services.
The Dominican shortstop formerly known as Damian Arredondo used a false identity and failed the age investigation earlier this week, having his six-figure agreement with the Yankees voided.
Angels Waiting To Talk With Their Free Agents
The Angels are going to hold off on negotiating with their seven potential free agents until after the season, according to Bill Shaikin of The LA Times. The Angels will have a 15 day window to talk exclusively with their players after the World Series, but after that all teams can bid for their services.
"It's unlikely we'd do anything during this time period," General Manager Tony Reagins said Friday. "We don't want it to be a distraction. We want to focus on trying to win."
The team had discussed an extension with ace John Lackey earlier this season, but no agreement was reached. Third baseman Chone Figgins and outfielders Vladimir Guerrero and Bobby Abreu highlight the rest of the Angels' potential free agent class, which includes utility man Robb Quinlan and pitchers Kelvim Escobar and Darren Oliver.
Discussion: Suitors For Lugo
Not long after he was designated for assignment this morning, we learned that the Cubs, Cardinals and Mets have expressed interest in former Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo. Whether a club acquires Lugo through trade or by signing him after he's released, Boston will be on the hook for just about every cent left on his contract.
With teams always on the look for capable middle infielders, Lugo figures to draw a ton of interest in the coming days. Where do you think he ends up? The Mets were interested when Lugo was a free agent a few years back and the Cards could use a shortstop, but maybe a mystery team like the Twins swoops in. (Disclaimer: The Twins blurb is pure speculation on my part)
What do you guys think?
Odds & Ends: Holliday, Kearns, Pirates, Padres
A few more Friday night links…
- AOL Fanhouse's Jeff Fletcher tweets that the Braves are "not involved with the A's on Matt Holliday."
- Bill Ladson of MLB.com mentions that there doesn't seem to be any takers for Austin Kearns, who has gotten just 17 plate appearances in the team's last 22 games.
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington says that the contract extension talks with Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez need "to be resolved quickly, one way or the other," according to Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tibune-Review.
- Andy Marks of The Star Banner notes that the Padres aren't close to signing fourth rounder Keyvius Sampson, who was a borderline first round talent in last month's amateur draft.
- ESPN's Keith Law wrote about some players we'll see on Thursday's Cape Cod League All Star Game. The Cape is the nation's premier amateur summer league, and features some of the very best players available in next year's draft.
Halladay Could Demand A Trade After The Season If Traded
Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reminds us of a rarely used rule that could possibly come into play if Roy Halladay is moved before this year's trade deadline. If a player signed a multi-year extension before October 2006 and is traded during the life of the contract, the player can then demand a trade during the offseason. If the team falls to trade the player by March 15th, he becomes a free agent. Halladay signed a three year, $40MM extension in March of '06.
Javier Vazquez is the only player to take advantage of this rule in recent years, when he demanded a trade out of Arizona following the 2005 season. Since he already has a no trade clause it's unlikely Halladay will end up with a team he doesn't want to play for, but he could use this rule as leverage to get a contract extension after the season. That last part is just speculation on my part, though.
Odds & Ends: Pirates, Sano, White Sox, Blue Jays
Here's some links to check out as you celebrate the return of a full slate of baseball games…
- Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com says something doesn't add up about the Pirates reported interest in signing Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez to contract extensions. He wonders if the team will make low-ball offers that the players have no choice but to reject just so they can say "The players refused our offers and left us with no choice but to trade them away and improve our organization's future."
- Twins vice president of player personnel Mike Radcliff is in the Dominican Republic to take a look at Miguel Angel Sano, according to Charley Walters of The Pioneer Press.
- Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune notes that when asked about the team's interest in acquiring Roy Halladay, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said ""I don't think were going to give up half the organization for one player."
- Dave Cameron at FanGraphs has reached the top ten in his series of post about the 50 MLB players with the most trade value.
- The Blue Jays have signed their fourth round pick according to Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun.
Rangers Release Orlando Hernandez
The Rangers have released righthander Orlando Hernandez according to T.R Sullivan of MLB.com. Yesterday we learned that Hernandez was likely to opt for free agency once his out clause kicked in on Monday, but the Rangers beat him to it.
El Duque had pitched effectively in 11 innings of relief with Triple-A Oklahoma City, but he didn't show enough velocity or command for Texas to think he was big league ready.