Indians, Blue Jays Eyeing Marcus Thames
The Indians and Blue Jays have interest in free agent outfielder Marcus Thames, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Thames, 33 in March, hit .252/.323/.453 in 294 plate appearances this year, logging 125 innings in left field. He's also spent time at right field and first base in his career. Thames earned $2.275MM this year, and the Tigers let him go in November.
Thames is better against left-handed pitching. His 2007-09 splits: .263/.326/.541 against lefties, .233/.281/.461 against righties.
Possible Non-Tenders To Watch
Baseball's non-tender deadline is tomorrow at 11pm CST, and MLBTR will of course have full coverage. Arbitration-eligible players, who typically have at least three but fewer than six years of big league service time, are sometimes cut loose to become free agents before reaching six years. That's non-tendering – the player was not tendered a contract by his team. A team can non-tender a player for various reasons, but primarily it's done because the player is injured or the team believes he wouldn't be worth his salary the following year. Most arbitration-eligible players tendered contracts get raises, even after subpar seasons.
David Ortiz, Rick Ankiel, Joel Pineiro, Ryan Franklin, David Eckstein, and Jayson Werth are some of the better-known non-tenders of recent years. A year ago the more interesting names included Ty Wigginton, Joe Nelson, Willy Taveras, Jonny Gomes, and Takashi Saito.
There's talk the free agent market will be flooded with more non-tenders than usual tomorrow, but I'm skeptical. We came up with about 35 candidates, several of whom will be tendered contracts. Here are the more interesting names that stand a chance to be non-tendered:
- Kevin Correia, SP - At this point it appears Correia will either be non-tendered or traded, because the Padres do not want to give him a raise on this year's $1.1MM salary. Correia made 33 starts with a 3.91 ERA, so he'll make decent money on the open market as a mid to back-rotation starter.
- Garrett Atkins, 1B/3B - He has the name value, but his defense and ability to hit away from Coors are in question. This year, he didn't hit at Coors either.
- D.J. Carrasco, RP - Signed by the White Sox to a minor league deal in January of '08, Carrasco led all of baseball this year with 89.3 relief innings. His controllable stats weren't all that different from Brandon Lyon's.
- John Buck, C – Buck doesn't seem much worse than the veteran catchers currently entertaining two-year offers, and he's only 29. He's shown flashes of power at times.
- Jack Cust, DH/OF – Cust is the AL strikeout leader for three years running, but he's also hit at least 25 home runs and drawn at least 90 walks in each of those seasons. He'd fit best in a DH role.
- Ryan Garko, 1B - Garko, 29 in January, has some decent years under his belt but struggled after being traded to the Giants this year. He still handles lefties well.
- Chad Gaudin, SP/RP - Gaudin whiffed a batter per inning before being traded to the Yankees this year, though his control is suspect. He earned $2MM this year.
- Kelly Johnson, 2B – Dealing with a wrist injury, Johnson hit .224/.303/.389 and lost the starting second base job in Atlanta. He's an interesting pickup given his offensive success in the two years prior. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Braves remain undecided on Johnson, with a tender-and-trade not out of the question.
- Dioner Navarro, C – The Rays have Kelly Shoppach now, so they may prefer not to pay Navarro $2MM+. Navarro had a decent year in '08 at .295/.349/.407.
- Brian Tallet, SP/RP – The 32-year-old lefty has control issues but had some respectable years out of Toronto's pen prior to making 25 starts this year. His numbers last year were better than John Grabow's this year.
- Chien-Ming Wang, SP – Wang, 30 in March, had fine years in '06 and '07 as the Yankees' mid-rotation groundball specialist. He had shoulder surgery in July, so the Yankees will non-tender him rather than pay anything close to this year's $5MM salary.
- Jonny Gomes, OF – Like Correia, Gomes would only be non-tendered out of cheapness. He hit .267/.338/.541 in 314 plate appearances for the Reds this year, though he did get to face lefties 35% of the time.
Olney On Damon, Halladay, Molina, Carroll
ESPN's Buster Olney kicks off his latest blog post with a poignant look at his relationship with Peter Gammons. As for the rumors…
- Olney says the Yankees and Johnny Damon appear to be far apart in early contract negotiations. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News believes the Yanks will turn to Hideki Matsui, Mike Cameron, or Mark DeRosa if Damon won't take a two-year offer within two weeks or so. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says Damon seeks three or four years at $13MM annually, while the Yanks are at two years, $19MM (Bobby Abreu's contract).
- Olney heard the Blue Jays' asking price of the Phillies for Roy Halladay "is about the same" as it was in July. That doesn't seem logical, but we are talking about two different GMs here. Olney was able to confirm the reported Halladay demands the Jays made of the Yankees: Jesus Montero, Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes, and more.
- The Mets' initial offer to catcher Bengie Molina contains a vesting option. Olney doesn't speculate, but do you think the Mets were willing to guarantee the first two years?
- The Dodgers, Indians, and A's are among the teams eyeing Jamey Carroll, who seeks a two-year deal. Carroll may look at Craig Counsell's yet-unsigned deal as a precedent.
White Sox, J.J. Putz Agree To Terms
The White Sox reached a one-year, $3MM deal with reliever J.J. Putz, tweets MLB.com's Noah Coslov. AOL FanHouse's Ed Price tweets that Putz can earn another $3MM in incentives for games finished. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets of another $250K in incentives for appearances. A Bobby Jenks trade might be good for Putz's wallet.
Putz was scheduled to throw for teams today; he had also drawn interest from the Cubs, Nationals, Pirates, Tigers, D'Backs, and Phillies. The righty, 33 in February, tallied only 29.3 innings this year for the Mets due to elbow issues. He was dominant for the Mariners in '06 and '07.
On a related note, MLB.com's Scott Merkin reports that Sox reliever D.J. Carrasco could be non-tendered tomorrow. Carrasco, 33 in April, posted a 3.76 ERA, 6.0 K/9, and 2.8 BB/9 in 93.3 innings this year. His peripheral stats weren't much different from Brandon Lyon's.
Red Sox Will Tender Contract To Kotchman
On July 22nd, the Red Sox made a surprising acquisition in first baseman Adam LaRoche. Odder still, they shipped LaRoche to the Braves eleven days later for Casey Kotchman. Perhaps the Sox simply felt two potential seasons of Kotchman had more value than one potential supplemental pick gained if they offered arbitration to LaRoche and he signed elsewhere.
We learned today that the Red Sox will not cut the arbitration-eligible Kotchman loose on Saturday, as WEEI's Alex Speier says they fully intend to tender him a contract. Kotchman probably won't sign for much more than $3MM for 2010. The Sox seem intent on moving Mike Lowell, so Kotchman would be the default starter at first base (with Kevin Youkilis moving to third) unless Adrian Beltre or another corner infielder is acquired.
Speier relays a suggestion from Red Sox GM Theo Epstein that the Red Sox have one non-tender candidate for Saturday. Speier believes it to be outfielder Brian Anderson, who made our list. Other outfielders who, in our estimation, might be non-tendered tomorrow: Jack Cust, Jonny Gomes, Gabe Gross, Ryan Langerhans, Jeremy Reed, and Cory Sullivan.
Rafael Soriano-Jesse Chavez Swap Made Official
The Rays made their deal for Braves reliever Rafael Soriano official today, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. He says the Rays came to terms on a one-year, $7.25MM deal with Soriano, who was acquired from Atlanta for reliever Jesse Chavez. A reminder on how this all played out:
On December 1st, the Braves made arbitration offers to Type A free agent relievers Soriano and Mike Gonzalez, expecting both to decline. The Braves moved quickly to sign Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito in the days following, making it clear that Soriano and Gonzalez would have lesser roles if they returned. Gonzalez, a Scott Boras client, declined arbitration. But after his agent talked to teams all day Monday at the Winter Meetings, Soriano decided the best move was to accept arbitration (otherwise, he would've cost his signing team a draft pick). The Braves held talks with the Orioles, Astros, and Rays at the Meetings, eventually shipping Soriano to Tampa Bay for Chavez. So the Braves hoped to get two draft picks for the loss of Soriano, but instead received five years of Chavez.
And from the Rays' point of view…back in November, a few days before they had to decide between second baseman Akinori Iwamura's $4.85MM option and a $550K buyout, they traded him to the Pirates for Chavez. It was a solid move, Chavez being under team control through 2014. Still, he wasn't a guy to whom they'd hand over the ninth inning. The Rays were expected to add a few bargain free agents to compete for the closer job, with owner Stuart Sternberg saying on December 6th, "There is no $7 million closer showing up." Maybe Sternberg was being literal, as the Rays sent Chavez to the Braves and now have a $7.25 million closer.
Torrealba, Rockies $400K Apart
The Rockies are just $400K apart on a new contract with catcher Yorvit Torrealba, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Torrealba wants to match Ivan Rodriguez's deal (two years, $6MM) while the Rockies are at two years and $5.6MM.
With the Royals apparently focused on Jason Kendall, Torrealba's other options are the Mets and Giants. The Mets have an offer out to Bengie Molina, but Renck notes that Torrealba is "scheduled to travel to New York next week to resolve his pending grievance" with them. He says the Giants like Torrealba on a one-year deal, and also made an inquiry on Detroit's Gerald Laird.
Royals Sign Bruce Chen, Vance Wilson, Four Others
According to a press release from the Royals, they've signed six players to minor league deals: pitchers Bruce Chen, Adam Bostick, Devon Lowery, and Francisco Rosario, as well as first baseman Ernesto Mejia and catcher Vance Wilson.
Chen, 32, posted a 5.78 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 3.6 BB/9 in 62.3 innings for the Royals this year. Wilson, 37 in March, hit .270/.342/.461 in 229 Double A plate appearances this year. He seems all the way back from Tommy John surgery and might warrant another look as an MLB backup.
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Rockies, Iannetta Agree To Three-Year Deal
FRIDAY, 10:08am: Renck says Iannetta's three-year deal is worth $8.3MM, with a $5MM club option for his first free agent year (2013).
THURSDAY, 3:23pm: Renck says Iannetta and the Rockies have agreed on a three-year deal worth more than $8MM. The deal includes an option for Iannetta's first free agent year, 2013. By comparison, Chris Snyder will earn $9.6MM for his arbitration years and Ryan Doumit will get $10.7MM.
1:00pm: The Rockies are close to signing catcher Chris Iannetta to a three-year deal, writes Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. The contract would buy out all three of Iannetta's arbitration years. Renck says the Rockies' initial offer was around $6.8MM. He also notes that the team's budget has room for both Iannetta and Yorvit Torrealba.
Iannetta, 27 in April, slumped slightly to .228/.344/.460 in 350 plate appearances this year (still very good for a catcher). He logged 763.6 innings behind the dish, throwing out 26% of attempted thieves.