Giants Seek Left-Handed Bat
WEDNESDAY, 11:08am: Schulman adds Cust to the list of bats on the Giants' radar.
TUESDAY, 2:16pm: So far this winter the Giants have spent $15.25MM on Mark DeRosa and Juan Uribe. After a conference call with GM Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News and Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle offer insight on the Giants' plans for the rest of the offseason.
- Uribe could play third base regularly, which would push DeRosa to left field. Uribe will not compete with Edgar Renteria for the shortstop job.
- The Giants seek a left-handed hitter. It would be either an outfielder or first baseman, as Travis Ishikawa is not under consideration to start at first.
- Sabean said no deals are imminent. At various points this winter the Giants have been linked to Johnny Damon, Scott Podsednik, and Adam LaRoche. I should point out that other potentially available left-handed bats include Russell Branyan, Lyle Overbay, Luke Scott, David DeJesus, Jack Cust, Mike Jacobs, Rick Ankiel, and Aubrey Huff.
- Schulman says the Giants are unlikely to spend much on a fifth starter or catcher.
GM Trade Histories: AL East
Brendan Bianowicz has more updates to the GM Trade History series. Today he covers the AL East. Check out the Excel spreadsheets below to see trades, free agent signings, and notable draft picks for each GM.
Rangers Considering DH Targets
MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan has the latest on the Rangers' pursuit of a free agent designated hitter. He suggests the Rangers are very interested in Vladimir Guerrero and Jermaine Dye, and consider Xavier Nady an intriguing name. Gary Sheffield and Jim Thome are also in the mix.
There are issues with Vlad and Dye. With Vlad, it's a matter of agreeing on the financials. Maybe Guerrero expects big money, but I imagine reality will set in a month from now. DH jobs are few and far between. Dye, on the other hand, isn't quite ready to stop playing defense.
Padres Free Agent Targets
As you might expect, new Padres GM Jed Hoyer is searching for bargains on the free agent market. MLB.com's Corey Brock names names.
The Padres' first goal is to add a veteran catcher to back up Nick Hundley. Mike Redmond and Ramon Castro are on the radar, Brad Ausmus less so. Castro has shown pretty good power for a catcher, with a .415 career SLG.
Outfield targets include Jerry Hairston Jr., Randy Winn, and Reed Johnson. Hairston, of course, can handle the infield as well. These players figure to land contracts of $2MM or less, in my opinion.
What’s Next For The Cardinals?
The Cardinals committed $120MM over seven years to Matt Holliday yesterday; he'll be paid $17MM in each year of the deal (with $2MM deferred annually). Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the contract "leaves the club with little financial space to address the No. 5 starter, the opening at third base and the wish to add a reliever."
Miguel Tejada and Felipe Lopez are known third base targets for the Cardinals, but Goold says either player would be difficult to fit into the budget based on current demands. Goold's colleague Joe Strauss says Tejada and Lopez are probably out "unless their market collapses." Goold expects David Freese to get a crack at the hot corner, with internal candidates filling the fifth starter role as well. The CHONE projection system has Freese hitting .269/.335/.442 in 2010, which wouldn't be any worse than Tejada and Lopez's projections.
The Cards could add an affordable left-handed bench bat via free agency, and Goold says Ryan Church is one name on the radar. As for the bullpen, Goold speculates on Octavio Dotel and notes that a Russ Springer reunion has been discussed. The Cardinals' offseason financial flexibility will hinge on the arbitration cases of Ryan Ludwick and Skip Schumaker. Goold wouldn't be surprised to see March bargains or midseason additions if the Cardinals stay quiet over the next few months.
Braves Sign Troy Glaus
5:45pm: ESPN's Buster Olney specifies the dollar values within Glaus' incentive clauses (via Twitter).
2:24pm: The Braves officially signed Troy Glaus to a one-year today. He'll get a $1.75MM base, a $250K bonus at 100 games, and another possible $2MM in incentives. Glaus will play first base for Atlanta. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement on December 23rd, while David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweeted the value.
The 33-year-old Glaus was limited to 135 plate appearances this year due to the effects of January shoulder surgery. He's played only 38.6 innings of first base in his career, all of them coming in the last two seasons. When he's right, Glaus is a threat to slug around .500 and hit 30 home runs.
By itself, I like the Glaus signing. I did not like the Braves trading Javier Vazquez to free up cash for Glaus and a potential outfield acquisition, however.
Three Teams Eyeing Melvin Mora
Yesterday, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun learned from Melvin Mora's agent that the third baseman has two NL clubs and one AL team as suitors, none in the Eastern divisions. MLB.com's Joe Frisaro may have solved this riddle, as he tweets that the Rockies, Mets, and Angels have talked to Mora. The Mets don't fit given the non-eastern criteria, however.
Mora's agent, Eric Goldschmidt, says his client is looking for a team that will contend and "maybe give him 300-something at-bats." Mora, 38 in February, hit .260/.321/.358 in 496 plate appearances this year for the Orioles while playing 1,050 innings at third base.
Randy Johnson To Announce Retirement
4:04pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the conference call has been moved up to tonight, and that The Big Unit will indeed announce his retirement.
2:47pm: According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter), it appears that Randy Johnson will announce his retirement tomorrow morning. A bunch of other reporters are talking about tomorrow's poorly-timed conference call as well.
Johnson would finish with five Cy Young awards, 303 wins, 4,875 strikeouts, and a 3.29 ERA in 4,135.3 career innings. Baseball-Reference puts his career earnings at $175.55MM.
Odds & Ends: Phillies, Iannetta, Braves
Links for Tuesday…
- Phillies' GM Ruben Amaro said a lefty reliever and another starter are still on his wish list, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
- Troy Renck of The Denver Post provides the details of Chris Iannetta's contract extension. The backstop can void the $5MM club option for 2013 if he is traded anytime before then.
- Braves' GM Frank Wren said he's looking for just "one more small piece" to fill out his club's offensive needs, tweets MLB.com's Mark Bowman. Bowman notes that the Braves need a primary pinch hitter.
- Adrian Beltre will take his physical on Thursday, tweeted Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports.
- Joel Sherman of The New York Post provides some thoughts on the Mets' deal with Jason Bay. He notes that the team's scouts "contend Bay is a better defender than (Matt) Holliday," despite what the metrics and people outside the organization say.
- The Giants designated defensively-skilled shortstop Brian Bocock for assignment to make room for Juan Uribe, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- ESPN's Keith Law sees "very little downside" for the Red Sox with the Adrian Beltre deal. He notes that Boston's defense should be terrific this year. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says Beltre is "in the conversation of the best defensive third baseman of all time." WEEI's Rob Bradford says the Red Sox considered signing Beltre after the '04 season, and even discussed trying him at shortstop. Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe says Beltre is, at the least, an upgrade over Casey Kotchman.
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday feels the Mets could raise payroll in 2011, so they won't be limited because of Jason Bay's contract. By the way, Bradford has the transcript from Bay's press conference today.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball notes that the ten-day arbitration-filing period begins today. MLB.com's Doug Miller highlights the biggest eligible names.
- ESPN's Buster Olney suggests the Giants and Mets have been the slowest to adapt to advanced stats. He also notes that the proliferation of better defensive metrics could greatly benefit Carl Crawford as a free agent next offseason.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart talked to Astros GM Ed Wade, who said the trade market isn't great because of all the remaining free agents. Also, Wade is focused on one-year deals for arbitration-eligible players such as Michael Bourn, Wandy Rodriguez, and Hunter Pence.
- With Matt Holliday inching toward a large contact with the Cardinals, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at other $100MM deals given to outfielders.
- MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone has a summary of Peter Gammons' appearance on WFAN this morning.
- R.J. Anderson of DRays Bay interviewed Dan Feinstein, the Rays' Director of Baseball Operations.
Kelly Shoppach Signs Two-Year Deal
3:20pm: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times says Shoppach is guaranteed $5.55MM – $2.25MM in '10, $3MM in '11, and a $3.2MM club option with a $300K buyout for '12 (the option year has incentives).
10:30am: Rays catcher Kelly Shoppach signed a two-year, $5.5MM deal to avoid arbitration, writes ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Crasnick says the deal also includes a club option on Shoppach's first free agent season, 2012. Shoppach was acquired by the Rays with cash from the Indians on December 1st; the Rays ended up sending pitcher Mitch Talbot to Cleveland.
For what it's worth, Shoppach's top Baseball-Reference comparable is Colorado's Chris Iannetta. Iannetta will earn $6.1MM for his last two arb years, writes Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Other comparisons: Chris Snyder earns $7.75MM over his last two arbitration years and Ryan Doumit gets $8.65MM. It's a reasonable price for the Rays, but they lose the advantage of going year-to-year with Shoppach.