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Red Sox Ownership On Scutaro, Payroll, Valentine

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The Red Sox ownership group spoke to the media at the team's Spring Training complex this morning, with chairman Tom Werner saying this season "is going to be a new chapter." Here's a recap of their media session, with all source links going to Twitter…

  • When asked if he and his partners would consider selling the Red Sox, ownerJohn Henry said, "It's a valid question … people involved in RedSox partnership, we've made enough money," tweets Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com.
  • Henry didn't sound thrilled about the compensation his team received from the Cubs for Theo Epstein, says Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Henry did say that's how tough negotiations go, calling it a "basic misunderstanding" according to Tim Britton of The Providence Journal.
  • Team president Larry Lucchino said the Marco Scutaro trade was "a little bit of both," meaning a baseball move and a financial move. They believe they can get similar production from other players. (Heyman)
  • Henry said the luxury tax will be a "bigger issue every year moving forward" and the team has to be "more careful" spending money, according to Heyman and Britton. He noted that other clubs are catching up economically.
  • Lucchino said payroll would be upwards of $190MM according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier, adding that the team will have money to make moves within the season.
  • "So far, he's done everything we could have hoped," said Werner when asked about new manager Bobby Valentine, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com.
  • Henry backed off his comments about not wanting Carl Crawford from earlier this offseason according to McAdam, saying: "I should have never made those comments."

AL East Links: Soler, Orioles, Dice-K, Jeter, A-Rod

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Red Sox ownership already spoke to the media this morning, so now let's check in the on the rest of the AL East…

  • Orioles GM Dan Duquette wouldn't comment on the team's interest in Jorge Soler, telling Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com that tipping his hand wouldn't benefit the team. The O's watched the 19-year-old outfielder work out earlier this month.
  • The Orioles lead all clubs with ten out of options players, and manager Buck Showalter told MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli that he estimates they'll have to make "2-4 moves" before the end of camp (Twitter link).
  • Daisuke Matsuzaka told WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that he still wants to pitch until he's 40. The right-hander is in the final year of his contract with the Red Sox, and is expected back from Tommy John surgery at midseason.
  • “If I didn’t think that I was capable of playing the game at a high level I would go home," said Yankees captain Derek Jeter to reporters yesterday, including George King of The New York Post. "If I wasn’t enjoying myself or enjoying the competition I would go home. Right now I am an enjoying myself. I can’t comment on what would force me to retire because I have a lot of confidence and if that starts to waver I would do it."
  • Joel Sherman of The New York Post wrote about Alex Rodriguez, wondering what kind of contract the Yankees third baseman would have received had he been a free agent his offseason.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Beane, Braun, Burnett, Minor

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On this date in 1966, the Braves signed Tom Seaver out of the University of Southern California. The contract was later voided because the Trojans had already played two games, but Seaver also lost his college eligibility since he'd signed a pro contract. After threatening legal action, Seaver's rights were entered into a special lottery among teams willing to meet the terms of his contract with the Braves. The Mets won the lottery and signed him, officially starting his Hall of Fame career.

Spring Training is now fully underway, so let's round up the latest from the blogosphere…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.

Quick Hits: Oswalt, Wilson, Dotel, International Draft

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Here's the latest from around the league on a historic day, as Ryan Braun became the first player to successfully appeal a banned substance-related supension…

  • "It’s strictly a money thing," said Lance Berkman to reporters (including Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com) when asked about Roy Oswalt (Twitter links). "The Cardinals [offer] … wasn’t enough to lure him out of Mississippi … I think he feels like that he can get the same money in half a season as he could in a full season and he’s probably right."
  • "He's under control this year and next year, and we're in the monitoring stage for obvious reasons," said Giants GM Brian Sabean to Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle when asked about the future of Brian Wilson. "We're still in the wait-and-see period." Wilson can become a free agent after 2013.
    Octavio Dotel will become the first player in MLB history to play for 13 teams when he appears in his first game with the Tigers, as Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press writes. Matt Stairs, Mike Morgan and Ron Villone currently share the record with Dotel, who hopes to retire a Tiger.
  • Commissioner Bud Selig spoke about an international draft in this piece by Josh Leventhal of Baseball America. "We'll watch the situation carefully and make the right decision," said Selig. "I can't say [when a draft would be put in place]. We want to see how [the process] works out."
  • ESPN's Keith Law published his first list of the top 50 prospects in this year's draft (Insider req'd). High school outfielder Byron Buxton topped list, following by high school righty Lucas Giolito and Stanford righty Mark Appel.

NL East Links: Hamels, Ross, Marlins, Bay

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Four years ago today, the Nationals signed Odalis Perez to a minor league contract. He pitched to a 4.34 ERA in 159 2/3 innings for them that season, then didn't show up to Spring Training the next year. Three years ago today, the two sides came full circle and Washington released him. Here's the latest from Perez's old division, the NL East…

  • Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels ruled out the possibility of signing in his hometown of San Diego, asking Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com "why would I want to go where fans only support you from the third inning through the sixth?'' (Twitter link). Hamels will hit free agency after the season if the Phillies don’t sign him to an extension.
  • Cody Ross told Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that the Marlins’ decision not to give him a raise as a pre-arbitration eligible player bothered him and increased his willingness to go to an arbitration hearing against his former club.
  • Brian Costa of The Wall Street Journal took a look at Jason Bay's contract and what the future could hold for the outfielder and the Mets. Bay is owed $16MM in 2012 and 2013, then a $17MM vesting option for 2014 comes into play.
  • Here's the latest news regarding a contract extension for Ryan Zimmerman. The Nationals have approximately 36 hours to get their franchise player signed long-term before his self-imposed deadline. Zimmerman can't become a free agent until after 2013.

West Links: Isringhausen, Giants, D’Backs, Dodgers

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Earlier today we learned that the Padres are still talking about a contract extension with Cameron Maybin and will receive a low-level minor leaguer from the Cubs in exchange for former GM Jed Hoyer. Here's the latest from baseball's two West divisions…

  • Jason Isringhausen's contract with the Angels includes a base salary between $700K and $1MM with incentives, reports Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter).
  • The Giants are not interested in Roy Oswalt, reports Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). The right-hander will look to sign at midseason, but would likely want to play closer to his Mississippi home.
  • The Diamondbacks offered Hiroki Kuroda a one-year deal worth $13MM this offseason, Tom Krasovic of West Coast Bias tweeted earlier this month. That's $3MM more than he took from the Yankees
  • Joe Torre and Rick Caruso have withdrawn their joint bid to purchase the Dodgers, reports Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times. Caruso could re-enter the bidding if team owner Frank McCourt agrees to include the Dodger Stadium parking lots in the sale.
  • "There were a lot of nights when I woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning staring at the ceiling," said Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com when talking about the Michael Pineda–Jesus Montero trade negotiations. "In the end, it was pretty simple: [The Yankees] needed a pitcher, and we needed a hitter. I hated to give up a guy like Pineda."

Ryan Braun Wins Appeal, Will Not Be Suspended

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Ryan Braun has won the appeal of his failed banned substance test and will not be suspended for the first 50 games of the season, reports Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel. The union officially announced the win, saying both parties agreed to the announcement despite what is usually a confidential process. MLB has issued a statement saying it "vehemently disagrees" with the decision.

"It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation," said Braun in a statement passed along by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. "We were able to get through this because I am innocent … This is not just about one person, but about all current and future players, and thankfully the process worked."

Haudricourt says the appeal went Braun's way not because of the test result, but because of a technicality with the testing process. CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman and The New York Post's Joel Sherman report that part of Braun's argument was that the sample was not shipped in a timely fashion and that the chain of custody was broken for two days, meaning the sample was left unprotected (Twitter links). Independent arbitrator Shyam Das ruled in favor of the technicality, giving Braun the win by a 2-1 margin.

The reigning NL MVP is the first player to have a suspension successfully overtuned through the appeals process.

Padres To Receive Low-Level Prospect For Hoyer

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The Theo Epstein compensation case drew most of the attention this offseason, but the Padres and Cubs still have to work something out for Jed Hoyer. Scott Miller of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter) that San Diego will received a low-level minor leaguer from Chicago for their former GM, probably late in Spring Training but before Opening Day. 

The clubs have agreed to select the PTBNL from a pre-determined list of 12 or so players, according to Miller (on Twitter). The Red Sox received 26-year-old righty reliever Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later from the Cubs as compensation for Epstein and a player to be named two days ago. There's not much precedent for compensation involving front office employees, but the cases of Epstein and Andy MacPhail provide the Cubs and Padres with two such examples.

Quick Hits: Playoffs, Offseason Grades, Closers

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Here are some miscellaneous links as Wednesday turns into Thursday…

  • The expectation within baseball is that the ten-team playoff format will happen this season, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (on Twitter). The deadline for the new system to be implemented is March 1st.
  • ESPN's Jim Bowden graded the offseason for each American League and National League team (Insider req'd). The Marlins, Angels, and Yankees each received an A.
  • USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote about the tremendous turnover rate at the closer position. Only four current closers – Mariano Rivera, Brian Wilson, Joakim Soria, and Carlos Marmol – have held the job for longer than two full years.

NL East Links: Marlins, Bourn, Rizzo, Kazmir, Mets

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Ten years ago today, the Expos claimed Endy Chavez off waivers from the Mets after the Mets claimed him off waivers from the Tigers and the Tigers claimed him off waivers from the Royals. All of that happened in less than eight weeks, and later in his career Chavez suited up for three different NL East teams in the span of 10 months. Here's the latest from his old division…

  • The Marlins intend to "renew" the contracts of their pre-arbitration-eligible players at the league minimum ($480K) according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. That may prompt the union to file a grievance, contending that the team did not operate in good faith.
  • Michael Bourn told MLB.com's Mark Bowman that he hasn't had any contract extension talks with the Braves. The speedy center fielder is a prime extension candidate, and can become a free agent after this season.
  • Nationals GM Mike Rizzo spoke to MLB.com's Bill Ladson about a number of topics, including the Gio Gonzalez trade and the team's ongoing pursuit of a center fielder.
  • "We'll see [Scott] Kazmir for the first time [on Friday]," said Mets GM Sandy Alderson (on Twitter). "We have an open mind but a spot on the ML staff right away is not realistic." Kazmir threw for scouts last week and is said to be considering the team that originally drafted him.
  • Brian Costa of The Wall Street Journal reports that the Mets have firm commitments from seven potential investors, but want to line up three more and close all ten deals (worth a total of $200MM) at once (Twitter links).
  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com says the smart money is on the Phillies and Cole Hamels working out a new contract to keep the left-hander in Philadelphia beyond this season.
  • The Phillies announced that Marti Wolever has been promoted from director of scouting to Assistant General Manager, Amateur Scouting.

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