Tim Dierkes | MLB Trade Rumors

David Ortiz Seeks Three-Year Deal

By Tim Dierkes | November 28, 2011 at 11:44am CDT

Free agent designated hitter David Ortiz seeks a three-year deal, reports Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. An industry source tells Silverman Ortiz is drawing "serious interest" from more than one team and has an offer in hand. He and the Red Sox maintain mutual interest about a new deal, and Ortiz intends to allow them to match any offer.

One wrinkle for Ortiz is that signing him comes with the tax of the loss of a draft pick, assuming he turns down Boston's arbitration offer. If Ortiz is serious about getting multiple years, he'll have to turn down that arbitration offer on December 7th. The Blue Jays, a somewhat reasonable match for Big Papi, probably aren't keen on giving the Red Sox their #17 pick in next year's draft. Last week, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports wrote that the arbitration offer is one reason the Red Sox are "more likely than not" to retain Ortiz.

Morosi On Fielder, Randy Wells, Guthrie

By Tim Dierkes | November 28, 2011 at 11:41am CDT

A "tense three-week period that will shape [baseball's] landscape for the following year" begins today, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. His latest:

Agent Scott Boras has pared down Prince Fielder's sales pitch binder but still has 70 pages worth, he tells Morosi. Morosi says Fielder's suitors are believed to be the Cubs, Nationals, Rangers, and Mariners.
The Cubs are open to moving Randy Wells, indicates Morosi as he lists available starting pitchers. Wells, 29, is under team control through 2014. MLBTR projects him to earn $2.2MM in 2012.
The Angels and Orioles discussed the possibility of a Jeremy Guthrie trade in recent days. Guthrie, 33 in April, projects to earn $8.3MM in 2012 before hitting free agency.
Japanese players including righty Hisashi Iwakuma, lefties Tsuyoshi Wada and Wei-Yin Chen, and second baseman Kensuke Tanaka can begotiate with MLB teams after free agency in Japan begins Thursday. The Yakult Swallows intend to post outfielder Norichika Aoki after the Winter Meetings, adds Morosi.

Rays Sign Jose Molina

By Tim Dierkes | November 28, 2011 at 11:13am CDT

The Rays officially announced the signing of catcher Jose Molina today to a one-year deal with a club option. The $1.8MM deal pays $1.5MM for Molina's 2012 salary and includes a club option at the same price for '13 with a $300K buyout. Molina jumps to the top of the Rays' depth chart, as yesterday they traded catcher John Jaso to the Mariners for reliever Josh Lueke and a player to be named later or cash considerations.

With the Rays, the 36-year-old Molina appears to have a shot at topping his season-bests of 297 plate appearances and 737 innings caught, both set in 2008 with the Yankees. Molina is known for his defense (especially in framing pitches), but in 2011 he had one of his best offensive years in a limited 191 plate appearance sample. Molina is "one of the best defensive catchers in baseball over the past decade," in the words of Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. The Blue Jays will receive a supplemental draft pick for their loss. Molina is represented by ACES.

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports broke the story on November 17th, with Jon Heyman, Ken Rosenthal, and Jayson Stark adding details today.

Phillies Called Billy Wagner After Season

By Tim Dierkes | November 28, 2011 at 9:10am CDT

The Phillies had an outside-the-box idea before signing Jonathan Papelbon this winter. The team called closer Billy Wagner after the season in hopes of coaxing him out of retirement, writes Mark Hale of the New York Post. Wagner told Hale, "It was after the regular season…just to see if I was even contemplating coming back or had an itch or anything. I just told them, 'No, I do not have an itch.'"

Wagner, 40, went out on top with a 37-save season with the Braves in 2010. He closed for the Phillies from 2004-05, after which he joined the Mets on a free agent deal. Wagner is currently coaching junior varsity baseball and has no intention of coming out of retirement.

Tigers Inquire On Mark Buehrle

By Tim Dierkes | November 28, 2011 at 8:04am CDT

The Tigers' rotation hasn't been considered a major concern, with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, and Rick Porcello under team control through at least 2014 and top prospect Jacob Turner waiting in the wings. However, they're one of the many clubs inquiring on free agent lefty Mark Buehrle, reports Lynn Henning of the Detroit News.

The Tigers are familiar with Buehrle, since he made 34 career starts against them as a member of the White Sox. In Henning's opinion, signing him would allow the Tigers to use young pitching as trade bait. The number of reported Buehrle suitors reaches 14 if you include the Tigers, though the White Sox and Cardinals were part of that Jim Bowden tweet and those clubs are not considered likely.

Elsewhere on the free agent front, Henning says the Tigers have been following Yoenis Cespedes for years. Tigers vice president and director of amateur scouting David Chadd admits Cespdes is a "five-tool player." In a more speculative sense, Henning thinks Kelly Johnson and Octavio Dotel may be Tigers targets. The Tigers are known to have spoken with Aramis Ramirez's agent this month.

American League Free Agent Arbitration Offers

By Tim Dierkes | November 23, 2011 at 11:04pm CDT

10 American League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make, and we'll update them in this post throughout the day in advance of the 11pm central time deadline. For a fantastic customizable chart with all 57 Type A/B free agents and their teams' decisions in real-time, click here.

Updated team decisions:

The Blue Jays offered arbitration to Frank Francisco (B), Kelly Johnson (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick), Jose Molina (B) and Jon Rauch (B), according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (on Twitter). They declined to offer Shawn Camp (B) arbitration.
The Red Sox announced that they offered David Ortiz (A) and Dan Wheeler (B) arbitration. They declined to offer Jason Varitek (B) arbitration. Jonathan Papelbon (A) already signed with the Phillies.
The Yankees offered Freddy Garcia (B) arbitration according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (on Twitter).
The Royals offered Bruce Chen (B) arbitration, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
The White Sox announced they've offered arbitration to Mark Buehrle (B) and not Juan Pierre (B).
The Athletics announced David DeJesus (B) and Josh Willingham (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) were offered arbitration.
The Rangers announced C.J. Wilson (A) will be offered arbitration. Modified Type B free agent Darren Oliver does not require an offer.
The Orioles announced they will not offer arbitration to Vladimir Guerrero (B).
Twins GM Terry Ryan said today on a conference call that he will offer arbitration to Michael Cuddyer (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) and Jason Kubel (B), and noted that no arbitration offer is necessary for modified Type B free agent Matt Capps.

Teams with decisions still due:

Tigers: Wilson Betemit (B), Magglio Ordonez (B)

National League Free Agent Arbitration Offers

By Tim Dierkes | November 23, 2011 at 10:48pm CDT

10 National League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make today, and we'll update them in this post in advance of the 11pm central time deadline. For a fantastic customizable chart with all 57 Type A/B free agents and their teams' decisions in real-time, click here.

Updated team decisions:

The Giants won't offer arbitration to Pat Burrell (B) or Cody Ross (B) according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Carlos Beltran (A) contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
The Dodgers declined to offer Hiroki Kuroda (B) arbitration, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter). Rod Barajas (B) already signed with the Pirates.
The Pirates offered arbitration to Derrek Lee (B) while declining to offer Ryan Ludwick (B) and Chris Snyder (B) arbitration. Ryan Doumit (B) already signed with the Twins.
The Phillies did not offer Roy Oswalt (A) or Brad Lidge (B) arbitration, according to the AP (via ESPN). The team announced that it offered arbitration to Raul Ibanez (B), Ryan Madson (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick), and Jimmy Rollins (A), according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com (via Twitter).
The Cubs offered arbitration to Carlos Pena (B) and Aramis Ramirez (B) but not to Kerry Wood (B), according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).
The Cardinals offered Edwin Jackson (B) and Albert Pujols (A) arbitration, but declined to make offers to Rafael Furcal (B) and Arthur Rhodes (B), according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). That leaves Octavio Dotel (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary).
The Mets offered Jose Reyes (A) arbitration, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (on Twitter).
The Padres will offer arbitration to Heath Bell (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) and Aaron Harang (B), tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com.
The Brewers offered Prince Fielder (A) and Francisco Rodriguez (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) arbitration. They declined to offer Yuniesky Betancourt (B) arbitration. Takashi Saito (A), contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
The Braves did not offer arbitration to Alex Gonzalez (B), according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Teams with automatic decisions only:

Reds: Francisco Cordero (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary), Ramon Hernandez (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary)
Astros: Clint Barmes (B, already signed with Pirates)
Rockies: Mark Ellis (B, already signed with Dodgers)

CBA Reactions

By Tim Dierkes | November 23, 2011 at 2:15pm CDT

Yesterday, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith broke down ten key aspects of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. More reactions to the changes…

Pirates president Frank Coonelly commented to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "Is this everything the Pittsburgh Pirates hoped it would be? No. But we don't subscribe to the notion it was aimed at us." Even so, the Pirates' large draft expenditures of the last several years will be curbed in years to come.
The Nationals helped create the new landscape with draft spending limits, writes Ben Goessling of MASNSports.com.
Many free agents became more attractive to the Red Sox with the new CBA, writes Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, as they are loathe to surrender draft picks.
Franchise values are reduced by the draft spending limits, agent Scott Boras tells Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
Bubba Starling's name came up multiple times during bargaining sessions, writes Yahoo's Jeff Passan, as the union was concerned teams will no longer be able to buy players out of other sports. The Royals lured Starling away from football for $7.5MM this year.
One GM sees "massive problems" created by the new CBA, telling Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, "Competitive balance is going to get progressively worse."
There was some shock among GMs at the $2.9MM cap on international signings, writes ESPN's Buster Olney.
Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says MLB reduced the chances that small-market teams will be able to build long-term winners because it made winning "a lot more about Major League payroll size than anything else."
Though Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com gives players and owners credit for completing the CBA peacefully, he believes the new regulations surrounding the draft and international amateurs are a minus.

Free Agent Arbitration Offer Tracker

By Tim Dierkes | November 23, 2011 at 12:46pm CDT

Today's free agent arbitration offer decisions encompass 20 teams and 57 players. To help you monitor who's received an arbitration offer and who hasn't, check out our free agent arbitration offer tracker throughout the day. You can filter by team, free agent type, and whether the player was offered. The deadline is 11pm central time.

Please note that in the tracker I have marked Matt Capps, Francisco Cordero, Octavio Dotel, Ramon Hernandez, and Darren Oliver as having received arbitration offers even though they technically will not. As part of the new CBA, MLB and the players association agreed that these five players will change from Type A to B and the clubs will not have to offer arbitration to receive compensation. For the purposes of the tracker, I consider that an automatic arbitration offer, since compensation will still happen.

Matt Klentak Named Angels Assistant GM

By Tim Dierkes | November 23, 2011 at 12:08pm CDT

The Angels announced Matt Klentak was hired as an assistant GM, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. ESPN's Keith Law first reported the likely move. Klentak served as director of baseball operations for the Orioles since 2008. Klentak was named one of our top 20 GM candidates in August, and you can read Ben Nicholson-Smith's interview with him here. The Halos hired the first person on our list, Jerry Dipoto, as their new GM in October.

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