McLouth Feels Agreement Is Possible
Pirates outfielder Nate McLouth, who has an arbitration hearing scheduled for Tuesday, has a feeling that the chances of reaching an agreement have increased since he last spoke to MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch.
The two sides have a $1.05MM gap – McLouth submitted $3.8MM, while the Pirates submitted $2.75MM for his first arb year salary. Langosch notes that the Bucs haven’t had a hearing since Jack Wilson‘s in ’04.
Phillies Must Deal With Adam Eaton
Scott Lauber of The News Journal spoke to Phillies pitcher Adam Eaton, who is "without question, the elephant in the clubhouse." Eaton is owed $9MM, and the Phillies don’t see him as a contender for a rotation spot given his 6.10 ERA with the team.
Eaton says he’s not going to accept another assignment to the minors. The Phillies may have to release him and eat his salary.
Odds and Ends: Dunn, Schumaker, Abreu
Links for Friday…
- The Blue Jays signed pitcher Dirk Hayhurst to a minor league deal; they’d released him to make room for Matt Bush.
- Alex Speier of WEEI has quotes from John Smoltz about his departure from Atlanta. Smoltz leaving the Braves was the biggest surprise of the offseason for me.
- ESPN’s Jayson Stark surveyed 15 baseball sages for all kinds of opinions on the best and worst of the offseason (which is not officially over yet).
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post has more from the Adam Dunn press conference.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sees Skip Schumaker as the Cardinals outfielder most vulnerable to a trade.
- ESPN’s Keith Law weighs in on the Bobby Abreu signing.
- Kevin Goldstein’s Top 100 Prospects list is up over at Baseball Prospectus.
- Scott Moore cleared waivers; he’ll remain in the Orioles organization.
- My definition of a fantasy baseball sleeper, over at RotoAuthority.
- Shoutout: MLBTR had over 9,800 pageviews from Puerto Rico this month.
Mets Sign Ramon Martinez
According to Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog, the Mets signed infielder Ramon Martinez to a minor league deal. Martinez, 36, spent most of ’08 in Triple A for the Mets and Dodgers.
Andy Oliver Wins Lawsuit
According to the AP, Oklahoma State lefty Andy Oliver won his lawsuit against the NCAA. As a result, college baseball players are now allowed to hire advisers to be in direct contact with MLB teams. The NCAA will "seek review by a higher court," however.
Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball and Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues weigh in on the lawsuit.
Jeff Zrebiec Talks To Andy MacPhail
Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun talked to Orioles president Andy MacPhail recently. A few hot stove highlights:
- MacPhail doesn’t feel misled by Mark Teixeira and Scott Boras, but notes that there was never any engagement from them after the Orioles made their offer.
- The Orioles’ philosophy is to "grow the arms and buy the bats." With Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta in the system, it seems to be going according to plan.
- MacPhail says owner Peter Angelos is not meddling, in fact "there is nothing further from the truth."
- Of course, MacPhail would like to sign Brian Roberts to an extension while maintaining financial flexibility.
Spring Training Cliches
With Spring Training right around the corner, it’s time for RotoAuthority’s annual Spring Training Cliches list. Who’s in the best shape of his life? Who took up yoga? Who had laser eye surgery? This list chronicles all the optimism for 2009.
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Thursday
9:26pm: MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick suggests that the "signings this week of Bobby Abreu and Adam Dunn will be the trigger to bring the Dodgers and Ramirez toward a middle ground."
Gurnick also shares this quote from Giants president Larry Baer, implying that his club is sitting idle on the Manny front: "Nothing’s really changed from our perspective."
4:40pm: Ken Rosenthal offers thoughts on the Dodgers and Manny, as well as Hudson.
3:50pm: Not sure if this qualifies as news, but Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times learned that Ramirez cancelled a promotional appearance because he could sign a contract at any time.
8:48am: Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times has the latest on Manny Ramirez today. Talks continue with the Dodgers, but there’s nothing new to report.
Some had speculated that Bobby Abreu and Adam Dunn were the Dodgers’ backup plan, but Ned Colletti and Scott Boras are both claiming the signings don’t affect the Manny negotiations.
How many teams are in on Ramirez? From Shaikin’s article:
Boras said the other day that he was negotiating with "several" teams for Ramirez. We asked him whether "several" could be defined as "more than two." He chuckled. "Two or more," he said.
Shaikin adds that Orlando Hudson "called the Dodgers, not the other way around." Signing Hudson would mean shuffling around Blake DeWitt and/or Casey Blake. Ken Davidoff of Newsday notes that the Dodgers have pretty much run out of ways to "reallocate their Manny resources."
Mariners Make Progress In Griffey Talks?
9:03pm: As reported by The Sporting News, Junior is playing down talk of him heading to the Mariners:
"We don’t know what we’re doing next year with respect to Seattle. It’s all rumors," Griffey said Thursday after finishing a round at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in California.
5:25pm: Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times believes the Mariners will sign Griffey early next week:
My guess is, he shows up here on Monday, passes his physical, then hits the field on Tuesday. But he is coming. Make no mistake about that.
3:10pm: From SI.com’s Jon Heyman:
Griffey’s agent, Brian Goldberg, agreed that discussions were becoming "more specific” in recent days but suggested nothing’s close to being set yet.
1:27pm: Larry Stone of the Seattle Times weighs in:
The return of Griffey appears to be imminent. Baseball sources confirmed that talks between the club and Griffey have heated up in recent days. The parties appear to be on course for a one-year contract that could be announced next week, provided Griffey passes a physical examination.
10:05am: MLB.com’s Jim Street says the Mariners and Griffey are "nearing agreement on a one-year contract."
9:08am: According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Mariners have "stepped up the pace in negotiations" for Ken Griffey Jr. Crasnick says it’s unclear whether the progress led to a formal offer.
Bobby Abreu received a base salary in the $5MM range yesterday; what would be appropriate for Junior?
Brewers Sign Braden Looper, DFA Rottino
THURSDAY, 6:18pm: Tom Haudricourt writes that the Brewers have designated Vinny Rottino for assignment to make room for Looper on the 40-man roster. Rottino, a 28-year-old catcher, was stuck behind Jason Kendall, Mike Rivera and Angel Salome on the organizational depth chart.
5:16pm: Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that the deal is now official.
Looper’s 2010 option is worth $6MM and comes with a $750K buyout. That buyout increases to $1MM if he starts 30 games or 180 innings this season.
WEDNESDAY, 2:53pm: According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Brewers’ signing of Braden Looper will be announced tomorrow (assuming he passes his physical). Looper will earn $4.75MM in ’09 and has a mutual option for ’10.
Looper fills a need for the Brewers: someone who can eat innings following the departues of C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets. The Brewers’ rotation will include Yovani Gallardo, Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush, Looper, and Manny Parra. Seth McClung, Chase Wright, and Chris Capuano add additional depth.