Orioles Sign Will Ohman
The Orioles signed lefty reliever Will Ohman, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The 32-year-old tallied only 22.6 pro innings last year for the Dodgers due to a shoulder injury, and they declined his $2.2MM option after the season. Ohman didn't sign with the Dodgers until March 30th, so he didn't have much of a Spring Training.
Ohman can be very tough on lefties – he held them to a .200/.257/.314 line in 114 plate appearances in 2008. The Blue Jays and Royals also showed interest in Ohman this winter, reported Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
Athletics Release Willy Taveras
The Athletics released outfielder Willy Taveras, tweets MLB.com's Jane Lee. Taveras had been designated for assignment on February 1st immediately after being acquired from the Reds along with Adam Rosales. Taveras passed through Oakland as GM Billy Beane's way of facilitating the Rosales acquisition.
The A's ultimately acquired Jake Fox and Rosales. The financial cost is the $4MM owed to Taveras, less $400K if he signs elsewhere as a free agent and less the $1MM the Cubs sent with Aaron Miles. If Taveras signs somewhere the A's will have paid $2.6MM to get Fox and Rosales, while also giving up Jeff Gray, Ronny Morla, and Matt Spencer.
Indians Sign Jamey Wright
The Indians signed reliever Jamey Wright to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince. Wright, 35, posted a 4.33 ERA, 6.8 K/9, and 5.0 BB/9 in 79 innings for the Royals last year, earning $1.4MM. Among those with 50+ innings, Wright's 59.1% groundball rate ranked 11th in baseball. Only one remaining free agent was better: Mike MacDougal at 62.1%.
Other Indians non-roster invitees this year include Mike Gosling, Jason Grilli, Saul Rivera, Brian Buscher, Mark Grudzielanek, Luis Rodriguez, Shelley Duncan, and Austin Kearns. Mike Redmond is the team's only big league signing.
Mets Re-Engaged On Chris Snyder; No Deal
The Mets recently re-engaged the Diamondbacks in trade talks for catcher Chris Snyder, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. However, Sherman says there will be no deal because the Mets wanted the D'Backs to assume almost all of the $4.75MM Snyder will earn in 2010.
Snyder is also owed $5.75MM in 2011 and a $750K buyout on a 2012 club option. He'll turn 29 in a few days and is coming off September back surgery. On January 20th, the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro did a piece examing the pros and cons of trading Snyder from the D'Backs' point of view.
Sherman takes the re-engagement on Snyder as a sign that the Mets would like to improve upon their current catching options – Omir Santos, Josh Thole, and Henry Blanco. Sherman recommends the Mets go after free agent Rod Barajas.
Sherman also advises the Mets allocate some of the money earmarked for Joel Pineiro and Bengie Molina toward free agents such as Russell Branyan, Kiko Calero, Felipe Lopez, and Jarrod Washburn. MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone would like to see at least some of those players pursued.
Will Jays’ Pitching Depth Lead To Trade?
The Blue Jays are overflowing with pitchers, five of whom are out of options. In a recent article, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian named Brian Tallet, Dustin McGowan, Shawn Camp, Merkin Valdez, and Sean Henn as pitchers who would need to clear waivers before being sent to the minors.
Which Jays' hurlers are locks for the Opening Day roster? In the bullpen, Jason Frasor, Scott Downs, and Kevin Gregg will take three of the seven spots. Camp and Jesse Carlson seem like good bets as well, perhaps leaving a battle for two bullpen spots.
Regarding the five rotation jobs, Ricky Romero, Shaun Marcum, Brandon Morrow, and Marc Rzepczynski are my frontrunners. Having been retained on a $2MM contract, Tallet would appear to have a good shot at some role on the 12-man staff.
The Jays will probably buy some time by starting a few pitchers on the DL. This situation will become clearer during Spring Training, but GM Alex Anthopoulos almost needs to make a couple of trades. The highest-paid Blue Jays pitchers seem most likely to go: Downs ($4MM), Frasor ($2.65MM), and Tallet ($2MM). Camp and Accardo will also earn more than a million.
Odds & Ends: Brewers, Cubs, Looper, Baer, Wigginton
Links for Monday…
- MLB.com's Adam McCalvy posts an unofficial list of Brewers' players who are out of options. Joe Inglett and George Kottaras appear to be the players most on the bubble.
- In a mailbag, MLB.com's Carrie Muskat says that the Cubs are still looking for righthanded relief help.
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince explains that Grady Sizemore's 2012 club option becomes a player option if traded. He also notes that the Indians are not in on Felipe Lopez.
- Braden Looper will not settle for a low base salary or a minor league deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- The Biz of Baseball now has Opening Day and year-end payroll data by team.
- Giants president Larry Baer mentioned MLBTR in a recent KNBR interview with Ralph Barbieri and Tom Tolbert.
- Roch Kubatko of MASN believes it's possible the Orioles will trade Ty Wigginton. Wiggy has $3.5MM coming in 2010.
- Benjamin Kabak of River Ave. Blues ponders the benefits of the Yankees bringing Gary Sheffield back on a minor league deal.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs would like the Mariners to spend a few million on Jarrod Washburn, provided he'd be willing to pitch out of the bullpen when Erik Bedard is ready.
- ESPN's Tim Kurkjian explains why the Reds should sign Johnny Damon.
Yankees Sign Randy Winn
The Yankees officially signed outfielder Randy Winn to a one-year, $1.1MM deal today. He can earn another $900K in incentives. Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the agreement on January 27th, with SI's Jon Heyman tweeting the contract value. The Winn signing definitively closed the door on Johnny Damon, tweets Sherman.
Winn, 35, slipped to .262/.318/.353 in 597 plate appearances for the Giants last year (including a brutal 125 PAs against lefties). His corner outfield defense still rates well; that was probably the draw for Yankees GM Brian Cashman.
Yankees Sign Marcus Thames
The Yankees signed Marcus Thames, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that it's a minor league deal worth $900K if he makes the team. Thames originally came up through the Yankees' system but was traded to the Rangers in '03 for Ruben Sierra.
Thames, 33 in March, hit .252/.323/.453 in 294 plate appearances for the Tigers last year, logging 125 innings in left field. He also has experience in right field and at first base in his career. He's a right-handed hitter with a .263/.326/.541 line against southpaws over the last three years.
Thames became a free agent in November, as the Tigers were not going to tender him a contract at a salary higher than 2009's $2.275MM.
Did Boras Fail Damon, Washburn, & Lopez?
Last offseason, the Scott Boras Corporation brokered approximately $341MM worth of free agent deals. It was a strong showing, with three of the four big-money contracts already looking regrettable (Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez, and Oliver Perez).
This time around, Boras will not reach even half of last year's total. That fact doesn't necessarily reflect on Boras' abilities as an agent, and he did find favorable contracts for Matt Holliday, Mike Gonzalez, Adrian Beltre, Ivan Rodriguez, and Alex Cora in a down market. But we must ask: did Boras clients Johnny Damon, Jarrod Washburn, and Felipe Lopez get screwed?
ESPN's Buster Olney suggested that in November, the Yankees discussed internally the idea of approaching Bobby Abreu's two-year, $19MM extension with Damon. Boras always aims high in November contract discussions, but the superagent read the market poorly this time. It appears that, more than once, Damon turned down his best offseason offers from his preferred team. Most likely, Damon will ultimately accept an offer inferior to the contracts signed by Mike Cameron, Marlon Byrd, Hideki Matsui, and Coco Crisp.
In early January, the Twins reportedly offered Washburn a one-year, $5MM deal. Though the Twins are on the lefty's short list, he turned it down. Maybe the Twins or Mariners will still sign him at a lower price. Perhaps Washburn would've enjoyed playing for the Brewers in his home state, but they signed a similar pitcher in Doug Davis for $5.25MM on January 10th. According to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, Washburn might even be considering retirement at this point.
Since Damon, Washburn, and Lopez remain unsigned, we can't label Boras a failure with these three clients quite yet. However, they'll likely illustrate cases where Boras' long-standing strategies of ridiculous initial demands and signing late cost his clients millions.
The Unsigned All-Star Team
Here on February 8th, over 90 free agents remain unsigned. It's time to determine the best available at each position.
Starting lineup:
- Catcher: Rod Barajas
- First base: Russell Branyan
- Second base: Felipe Lopez
- Shortstop: Nomar Garciaparra
- Third base: Joe Crede
- Left field: Johnny Damon
- Center field: Endy Chavez
- Right field: Jermaine Dye
- Designated hitter: Carlos Delgado
Rotation:
Bullpen:
- Closer: Kiko Calero
- Right-handed relief: Chan Ho Park
- Left-handed relief: Will Ohman
Honorable mentions: Jose Molina, Hank Blalock, Mike Jacobs, Jonny Gomes, Gary Sheffield, Rocco Baldelli, Todd Wellemeyer, Mike MacDougal, Russ Springer, Joe Beimel