Mets Offer Five Years To Bay, Will Pursue Holliday
According to SI's Jon Heyman, the Mets "tweaked their offer to Jason Bay," offering five guaranteed years as an alternative. This five-year contract is at a "slightly lower" salary than the $16.25MM featured in their four-year, $65MM offer. Heyman says the Mets are willing to go to five years and $75MM for Bay, which would be a $15MM salary.
Heyman says the Mets focused on Bay in hopes of signing him more quickly than Matt Holliday. However, GM Omar Minaya will now jump in on Holliday and may talk to Scott Boras today. If the Mets have their sights set on one of the two big-name sluggers, competition could come from the Angels for Bay and the Cardinals for Holliday.
ESPN's Buster Olney feels differently – he says the Mets are currently at four years for Bay but could go to five eventually, and are monitoring the Holliday talks but not actively involved.
Heyman adds that the Mets' talks for Bengie Molina are at a standstill, due to Molina's demand for a three-year deal in the $20MM range. Hopefully the Mets are not that desperate. Heyman believes the Mets might do two years and $10MM for the 35-year-old. With all the lousy catchers getting two guaranteed years, Molina certainly has a case.
Red Sox, John Lackey Reach Agreement
10:28pm: Ian Browne confirms that the Red Sox have an 11:30am ET press conference scheduled tomorrow to announce the Cameron signing and a second press conference at 1:30pm ET to announce the Lackey signing.
5:10pm: Mike Silverman of the Boston Herald says "no finality" on Lackey's deal tonight but the Red Sox have two press conferences scheduled for tomorrow presumably to announce the deals for Lackey and Mike Cameron.
4:52pm: The two sides are in the final stages of the agreement, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. They're working out the language of the contract, which will protect the Red Sox against a pre-existing medical condition.
2:48pm: Scratch that. Olney now says it's for $82.5MM over five years, just like the A.J. Burnett deal. There are no extras or incentives involved.
TUESDAY, 2:15pm: ESPN.com's Buster Olney says the deal's worth $87.5MM.
MONDAY, 2:55pm: Heyman says the Red Sox and Lackey are in agreement in a five-year, $85MM deal.
1:41pm: Yahoo's Tim Brown has an Angels source who believes they're still in the running for Lackey and the pitcher has not accepted a Boston offer. Still, SI's Jon Heyman heard a five-year, approximately $85MM figure for a Boston deal.
1:03pm: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick has a source saying an agreement is "not likely" by the end of the day.
11:52am: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says Lackey had a physical today with the Red Sox, which is "an indication that he is close to an agreement with the team." Rosenthal expects the deal to be in the range of A.J. Burnett's five-year, $82.5MM contract, yet the FOX reporter is unsure the Sox would guarantee five years. If the Red Sox complete a deal with Lackey, the Angels would get Boston's #29 draft pick and the Blue Jays would be bumped to #67 or worse for Marco Scutaro.
Rosenthal also notes that the Red Sox are trying to sign Josh Beckett to an extension. Beckett, 30 in May, is up for free agency after the 2010 season.
10:47am: AOL FanHouse's Ed Price heard from a source that John Lackey will take a physical with the Red Sox. Price says he is "working to confirm" the rumor, but he found it Twitter-worthy.
Multiple Teams Eyeing Matt Capps
6:46pm: Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic doesn't think the Diamondbacks will give Capps the two-year deal he is seeking.
2:30pm: The Mets are interested, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Kinzer tells Crasnick that 16 teams have inquired on Capps and four of them see him as a closer. The Cards aren't interested, but the Pirates still are.
TUESDAY, 10:40am: Kovacevic hears that the Yankees are interested. Agent Paul Kinzer told Kovacevic that the interest in his client is "enormous."
MONDAY, 3:42pm: ESPN's Bruce Levine adds the Nationals, and notes that Capps would like a multiyear deal.
2:33pm: Kovacevic adds the Rangers, Rockies, Marlins, and Cardinals to the list of known suitors.
12:20pm: Kinzer's estimated number of suitors for Capps has risen to nine or ten, and he confirmed to Roch Kubatko of MASN that the Orioles expressed interest. Kinzer noted that the opportunity to close "will be a major factor" in Capps' decision.
10:37am: The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro talked to Matt Capps' agent Paul Kinzer, who said the recently non-tendered reliever has already drawn interest from seven or eight teams. Piecoro says the Diamondbacks are one, and we learned yesterday from Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune that the Cubs and Capps have mutual interest. Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote today that Kinzer told the Pirates they were planning on submitting an arbitration figure around $3.4MM for Capps' 2010 salary. The free agent market is a different beast, but that amount could still be a jumping-off point for discussions.
The Cubs and D'Backs both have closers for 2010 in Chad Qualls and Carlos Marmol, but Capps could be slotted in for eighth-inning duty with incentives for games finished. Other possible suitors? The Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, Angels, Mets, Phillies, and Cardinals would make sense.
Phils, Ms, Blue Jays Agree On Halladay-Cliff Lee Blockbuster
12:45am: Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider has had this info for quite a while today – the Phillies will get Aumont, Gillies, and righty Juan Ramirez from Seattle.
11:33pm: Rosenthal reports that the Phillies get $6MM from the Jays. Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and probably Travis D'Arnaud are headed to Toronto, Rosenthal says. Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies and a third player are apparently headed to Philadelphia.
10:12pm: Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun (via Twitter) has Toronto getting Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis D'Arnaud; Philly getting Roy Halladay and Phillippe Aumont; and the Mariners getting Cliff Lee, plus another piece (or, pieces).
9:46pm: One Mariner prospect headed to Philly would be 21-year-old outfielder Tyson Gillies, writes Stark in his latest update.
9:25pm: As the deal stands now, M's prospects would only be going to Philadelphia, not Toronto, sources tell Todd Zolecki of MLB.com (via Twitter).
Angels, Hideki Matsui Reach Agreement
7:15pm: The contract is worth "about" $6.5MM, tweets Feinsand.
6:32pm: It's a one-year deal, tweets Jon Heyman.
6:20pm: Meanwhile, both Ken Davidoff of Newsday (via Twitter) and Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (via Twitter) tried to get a confirmation out of Matsui's agent, but he wouldn't Tell-em anything.
6:12pm: Tyler Kepner of the New York Times has received confirmation that the two sides have reached an agreement (via Twitter).
1:21pm: The Angels are in serious discussions with Hideki Matsui for a DH role, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark. Stark's colleague Buster Olney tweeted that he's heard Matsui's one-year deal with the Angels is for about $6.5MM. Olney clarified to me via email that the Angels and Matsui are "on the verge" of an agreement.
Matsui, 35, hit .274/.367/.509 in 526 plate appearances for the Yankees this year, spending no time in the field. He earned $13MM in the last year of a deal signed in November of '05.
Stark notes that a Matsui signing would mark the end of Vladimir Guerrero's Angels career. The Halos ended up paying $77MM for six years of Vlad.
Astros Re-Sign Jason Michaels
5:09pm: A "slight update" from Alyson Footer (via Twitter) – the deal includes a club option for 2011.
4:39pm: The Astros re-signed outfielder Jason Michaels to a one-year deal worth $800K, tweets Alyson Footer. Michaels, 34 in May, hit .237/.322/.430 in 152 plate appearances while playing all three outfield positions. He gets a $50K raise over last year.
Brewers To Re-Sign Claudio Vargas
Claudio Vargas will be returning to the Brewers, GM Doug Melvin told MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. We learned from McCalvy last week that the Brewers view Vargas as a reliever. In 30.3 relief innings for Milwaukee this year Vargas posted a 1.78 ERA, 5.9 K/9, and 3.3 BB/9.
Odds & Ends: Glaus, Carroll, Capps, Fossum
Links to kick off the work week….
- Free agent Troy Glaus prefers a full-time infield corner job over a DH role, and has made his medical records available to all 30 teams reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has Randy Wolf's contract details, courtesy of the AP.
- ESPN's Keith Law provides his take on recent non-tenders Capps, Wang, Ryan Langerhans, Gabe Gross, and Kelly Johnson.
- Jamey Carroll is deciding between multiple two-year offers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. He notes that the Angels, Dodgers, and A's have shown interest. Perhaps today's Craig Counsell signing will lead to a deal for Carroll.
- Chien-Ming Wang might not sign for months, his agent Alan Nero told ESPN's Buster Olney. Speaking to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cards pitching coach Dave Duncan said Wang would interest him.
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington explained to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday that Kovacevic's December 8th report of a non-tender threat caused Matt Capps to lose all trade value. As if the possibility couldn't have crossed the minds of Capps' suitors otherwise. But note that Huntington took issue with the leak itself rather than Kovacevic printing it.
- The Blue Jays announced on their official Twitter page that they've agreed to terms with Jose Bautista ($2.4MM) and Dustin McGowan ($500K). McGowan gets a raise of about $80K after missing all of '09 with a shoulder injury. Bautista will receive no raise. Perhaps the Jays had told him that they'd only tender him if he took the same salary.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff explains that "the whole notion of an 'offer' is overblown," mainly a publicity move.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times wrote about the emergence of Twitter in baseball coverage, and I contributed a few thoughts.
- The Hanshin Tigers inked lefty Casey Fossum to a one-year deal worth $600K, reports Kyodo News. Fossum, 32 in January, pitched at Triple A for three organizations this year, compiling a 3.55 ERA in 129.3 innings.
- NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman reports that pitcher Colby Lewis will return to MLB after a couple of very effective years starting in Japan.
Pirates, Cards, Astros Interested In Kelly Johnson
Earlier today we learned that the Diamondbacks have interest in free agent second baseman Kelly Johnson, and now we're able to add three more clubs to the list of suitors. MLBTR learned from an industry source that the Pirates, Cardinals, and Astros have interest in Johnson.
It seems possible that Johnson might have to settle for a super-utility job, in that clubs are hoping he'll bounce back both offensively and defensively. He's still a decent gamble for a few million, and if he signs a one-year deal he'll be arbitration-eligible after the 2010 season.
D’Backs Rumors: Kelly Johnson, Randy Winn
The latest on the D'Backs from Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic…
- The D'Backs are interested in free agent second baseman Kelly Johnson. Piecoro says signing Johnson could prompt the team to trade Augie Ojeda, who recently agreed to a $850K contract.
- Piecoro is "hearing Randy Winn's name as a possibility" for Arizona. The 35-year-old hit just .262/.318/.353 for the Giants this year, but continued to excel defensively at the outfield corners. In November, Winn's agent Craig Landis said his client is looking for an everyday job.
- Piecoro says the D'Backs are likely to sell righty Tony Barnette's rights to the Yakult Swallows.
- Piecoro writes of indications the D'Backs are not interested in Chien-Ming Wang, as they'd prefer not to bring in another health risk.