Latest On Mariners, Jason Bay
4:03pm: A Bay-Mariners deal is close, but nothing is final yet, tweets Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.
1:54pm: While the Mariners are definitely in on Bay, a deal is "not done by any means," according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Bay is still talking to a number of teams, says Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
12:49pm: The Mariners are pretty close to signing free agent outfielder Jason Bay, according to ESPN's Brock and Salk show. Bay, who attended college at Gonzaga in Spokane, Washington, agreed to part ways with the Mets last month with an eye on a fresh start.
Diamondbacks Sign Eric Hinske
2:16pm: Hinske's deal with Arizona will be worth a little more than $1MM, sources tell Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports believes the deal to be worth $1.075MM.
12:50pm: The Diamondbacks signed first baseman/outfielder Eric Hinske to a one-year contract, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The 35-year-old struggled with the Braves this year, posting a .197/.272/.311 line in 147 plate appearances. He's represented by MVP Sports Group.
Hinske, the 2002 AL Rookie of the Year winner, has served as a solid bench bat at times and owns a .236/.315/.407 line over the last three seasons, facing mostly right-handed pitching.
Red Sox, Angels Interested In Lohse
The Red Sox and Angels are among the suitors for free agent righty Kyle Lohse, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The 34-year-old turned down a qualifying offer from the Cardinals, signing him will cost a draft pick.
Mets Extend David Wright
The Mets and David Wright have officially finalized the largest contract in franchise history. The Mets have extended Wright for seven years and $122MM in new money, which can be considered an eight-year, $138MM deal if the value of Wright's previously-exercised 2013 club option is included. In that sense, Wright passes Johan Santana's $137.5MM deal from February 2008. Wright is represented by ACES.
Wright, 30 in December, frequently stated his desire to remain with the Mets for his entire career. The Mets drafted him 38th overall in 2001, as a supplemental pick for the loss of free agent Mike Hampton. Wright has a .301/.381/.506 career line with 204 home runs in 5,453 plate appearances, totaling 47 wins above replacement. With six All-Star Game appearances and six seasons worthy of at least one MVP vote, Wright is the face of the franchise. He already holds franchise records in most offensive categories. This is Wright's second extension with the Mets, as he signed a six-year, $55MM contract in August 2006.
Longtime shortstop Jose Reyes left the Mets as a free agent after last season, increasing pressure from the fans for Mets ownership and GM Sandy Alderson to lock up Wright. Remaining on the agenda: a new contract with 38-year-old knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who won the 2012 NL Cy Young award and will not negotiate during his contract season. Currently, Wright and starting pitcher Jonathon Niese are the only Mets under contract beyond 2013.
WFAN's Ed Coleman first reported the agreement, with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports confirming that it was official. Photo courtesy of U.S. Presswire.
Rays Close To Deal For Yunel Escobar
The Rays are close to a deal with the Marlins for shortstop Yunel Escobar, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. Knobler says middle infield prospect Derek Dietrich will go to Miami.
Escobar, a 30-year-old Cuban, hit .253/.300/.344 in 608 plate appearances for the Blue Jays this year. In September, he was suspended for three games by the Blue Jays after displaying an "unacceptable message" on his eye black. He was shipped to the Marlins as part of the November blockbuster, and the Rays appear to be buying low as they often do. Escobar is owed $5MM in 2013 and has $5MM club options for each of the following seasons, on a deal signed in June of 2011. His ability to play an acceptable shortstop generally makes him worth a couple of wins. The Rays had a need at the position, and the Marlins prefer to use Adeiny Hechavarria, acquired from Toronto in the same blockbuster deal.
Dietrich, 23, hit .279/.338/.457 in 563 plate appearances across High-A and Double-A this year, playing shortstop and second base. The Rays drafted him in the second round in 2010. Baseball America sees him as a second or third baseman long-term, and given above-average power, suggested prior to the season he had a chance at becoming an above-average big league regular.
Rockies Closing In On Acquiring Wilton Lopez
9:11pm: The Rockies are closing in on acquiring Lopez, tweets Renck. Colorado would look to send two young pitchers to Houston.
9:05pm: The Rockies continue seeking relief help and have talked with the Astros about Wilton Lopez, tweets Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Questions exist regarding Lopez's health, as the 29-year-old very nearly joined the Phillies last month before they called it off. Lopez, who is arbitration eligible for the first time in 2013, posted a 2.17 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 1.1 BB/9, 0.54 HR/9, and 55% groundball rate in 66 1/3 innings this year.
The Rockies have been in active trade discussions for pitching at the Winter Meetings, tweeted Renck. The Rockies appear to want the best of both worlds in their relief hunt: a late-inning guy capable of throwing multiple innings.
Marlins Shopping Escobar; Nolasco Wants Out
Tuesday, 1:42am: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that the Cubs and Yankees have also checked in on Escobar. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle also recently confirmed that the A's are in ongoing discussions with the Marlins about Escobar.
Monday, 9:05pm: A's GM Billy Beane met with Marlins officials today, hears MLB.com's Jane Lee. However, Lee does not know if the meeting involved Escobar.
6:23pm: The Rays are pursuing Escobar and the A's could be in play, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
5:58pm: The Marlins are "actively shopping" shortstop Yunel Escobar, tweets MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. The Marlins are in trade talks with at least two teams, tweets Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Escobar, acquired in last month's blockbuster trade/salary dump with the Blue Jays respresents one of the Marlins' bigger contracts at $5MM. The Marlins also acquired shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria in the trade, so Escobar has been penciled in as the team's third baseman.
The Marlins' highest-paid player, pitcher Ricky Nolasco, would prefer a trade, agent Matt Sosnick told ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Neither Nolasco nor Sosnick has directly requested a trade, however, tweets Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Nolasco, 30 in December, posted a 4.48 ERA, 5.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9, and 46.6% groundball rate in 191 innings this year. He'll earn $11.5MM in 2013.
R.A. Dickey Rumors: Monday
A reigning Cy Young winner is on the trade block, and we've got all of today's updates on R.A. Dickey right here, with the newest items added to the top throughout the day:
- The Diamondbacks met with the Mets on Dickey, but talks didn't get far, tweets Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Martino hears the Mets' asking price is very high. He also notes that there's not much happening between the Mets and Blue Jays.
Earlier updates:
- The Dodgers have talked to the Mets about Dickey, reports MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. Gurnick notes that Dickey could be a fallback for Zack Greinke, or maybe the team will just sign both to have three Cy Young winners on the staff. The question is whether the Dodgers have the right players to pull off a deal.
- Talks for Dickey between the Mets and Red Sox were "very preliminary," a Major League source tells WEEI's Alex Speier, and a deal is extremely unlikely.
- There has been strong interest in Dickey today, tweets Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, but he's heard the Mets did not ask the Red Sox for specific players.
- The Mets met with eight teams today about Dickey, according to Adam Rubin and Joe McDonald of ESPN. The Red Sox were one of those teams, and the Mets wanted Xander Bogaerts andJackie Bradley Jr. in return. We heard earlier that the Sox didn't have interest in Dickey, so perhaps the Mets' exorbitant asking price is playing a part in that lack of interest.
- GM Sandy Alderson acknowledged that he's had "preliminary talks" with multiple teams about Dickey and other players, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. According to Alderson, there have been more conversations about Dickey than Niese, though that could change (Twitter link).
- Fair or not, Dickey's age and repertoire is making teams reluctant to give up significant talent for him, tweets Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Of course, as Martino adds in a second tweet, it just takes one club to step up and change that. Still, for now, Jonathon Niese is viewed as the more appealing Mets arm, according to Martino.
- Although the Mets are "more than willing" to discuss Dickey, the Red Sox haven't shown any interest, says Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com, noting that the Mets could do better than Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Twitterlinks).
- The Mets have gotten "serious" about trading ace knuckleballer Dickey as soon as this week, tweets ESPN's Jayson Stark after hearing from a source. Stark says the Rangers and Royals are seen as the most logical fits.
- Earlier today, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News tweeted that he believes the Mets "genuinely don't know right now if they'll sign or trade" the NL Cy Young winner. The 38-year-old can become a free agent after the 2013 season.
Latest From The NL Central
A few NL Central free agent targets were identified today, as the Brewers and Cubs are in on Jason Grilli among other relievers, the Pirates have expressed interest in John Lannan, and the Cardinals are in the mix for Scott Hairston. More from the division…
- The Cardinals met with Marco Scutaro's agent tonight, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. Scutaro is represented by Barry Praver.
Earlier updates:
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington told reporters including Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "In our minds, we’ve already made our big move with Russ." The Bucs signed Russell Martin for $17MM last week, but still have some work to do. Biertempfel notes that the Pirates have shown interest in five recently non-tendered pitchers: Manny Parra, Lannan, Tom Gorzelanny, Jair Jurrjens, and Mike Pelfrey.
- There have been no substantive talks between the Cardinals and Adam Wainwright about an extension, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals, of course, still remain interested in doing an extension with the 31-year-old before his contract season officially begins.
- Most of the quality lefty relievers are likely to be signed by week's end, suggested Cardinals GM John Mozeliak (B.J. Rains of FOX Sports Midwest reporting).
- The Cardinals and infielder Skip Schumaker are open to a trade, reports Rains, but of course it'd have to make sense for the team.
- The pressure of last summer's contract extension talks affected the performance of Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, agent Paul Kinzer told Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com. The 22-year-old can rest easy now that he's under contract through at least 2019.
- The Cubs remain popular with free agents, president Theo Epstein told reporters including Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. The team is looking to get creative at third base and will continue to monitor the available starting pitchers (and presumably relievers). Epstein suggested the Cubs have interest in some recently non-tendered players.
D’Backs Notes: Starting Pitching, Backup Catcher
Whatever is going on with Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton today at the Winter Meetings, it's being kept fairly under-wraps. You can check out our Upton post here, but let's get to other D'Backs chatter from the day.
- The Diamondbacks remain interested in free agent starter Brandon McCarthy, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. GM Kevin Towers said the team seeks "at least a solid number two" starter. He elaborated, "To me, it seems like some of the second-tier guys are kind of starting to be viewed as first-tier-type guys and being paid like first-tier guys, and I don't think we're willing to go there. That's why we're not talking to a lot of free agents in the way of pitching." (MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reporting).
- Towers seeks a right-handed-hitting backup catcher known more for defense, though the line of communication is open with Henry Blanco, writes Piecoro.
- Upton wasn't the player most inquired about during Towers' eight or nine meetings with other teams today, writes Gilbert.