Phillies Rumors: Will Ohman, Dennys Reyes
Cameron Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer has the latest on the Phillies’ pursuit of a reliever.
Will Ohman‘s agent Page Odle spoke of a "real good positive conversation" with the Phillies over the past week, but GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said the dollars would have to be "extremely modest." Odle said Ohman is open to a one-year deal with a contender. The Mets are the other main suitor, but they are also in bargain mode.
Smith spoke to Dennys Reyes, who said his agent has been talking to the Dodgers and A’s. But Reyes did talk to the Phillies back in December. He is also focused on signing with a contender.
The Phils do have in-house options, plus Amaro suggested he could find a righthanded reliever with the ability to retire lefties.
Minor League Transactions From BA
Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the minor league transactions for January 31st through February 6th. A few I hadn’t seen yet: the Tigers signed Ruddy Lugo and the Rangers inked Bryan Corey.
Durham Turns Down Offer From Nationals
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, free agent second baseman Ray Durham turned down a minor league offer from the Nationals potentially worth $850K plus incentives. Durham would require more than that, and is 50-50 on retirement. The offer from Washington was Durham’s first of the offseason.
A note from Crasnick regarding the Cardinals:
The Cardinals, who expressed interest in Durham earlier this winter, released second baseman Adam Kennedy on Monday. But early indications are that St. Louis plans to fill the void from within. If general manager John Mozeliak does pursue a free agent, Orlando Hudson would probably rank ahead of Durham on the priority list.
Durham, 37, authored a strong .380 OBP in 426 plate appearances last year.
Giants Sign Rich Aurilia
8:03pm: Henry Schulman says the deal is done. Aurilia will earn $1MM if he makes the team.
11:54am: According to Ken Rosenthal, "Rich Aurilia will return to the Giants on a minor-league contract. Aurilia, 37, chose the Giants over the Cubs and Phillies. His deal is expected to be finalized on Monday." Henry Schulman learned that the Blue Jays were also in on Aurilia, and the Astros made a Major League offer early in the winter.
Aurilia hit .283/.332/.413 in 440 plate appearances last year, but he does handle lefties well for the most part. Though their deals are not guaranteed, the Giants having both Aurilia and Juan Uribe in camp may be another sign that they’re backing off on Joe Crede. At the least, Crede would have to come down from his $7MMish demand for the Giants to sign him.
Athletics Sign Edgar Gonzalez
According to the AP, the Athletics signed pitcher Edgar Gonzalez to a minor league deal today. Gonzalez, 26 in a few weeks, posted a 6.00 ERA in 48 innings for Arizona last year. A strained elbow ended his season in July. On the plus side, he’s flashed superb control in many recent stints.
Ken Griffey Jr. Rumors: Monday
C. Trent Rosecrans of 1530 Homer spoke to Ken Griffey Jr.‘s agent Brian Goldberg today. Goldberg expects Griffey to have a deal this time next week. He added that two teams are more serious than the others.
The Rays contacted Goldberg early in the offseason, but were upfront that they preferred to sign a younger player. The Pat Burrell signing took them out of the running.
A-Rod Admits To Steroid Use, Apologizes
Alex Rodriguez spoke to ESPN’s Peter Gammons, admitting to steroid use during 2001-03 only while with the Rangers.
Odds and Ends: Wigginton, Prior, Andruw
Links for Monday…
- Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun says the Orioles are "bringing Ty Wigginton back for further examination this week."
- Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune snagged this Mark Prior quote: "If Kurt Warner can disappear for five years, I can disappear for three."
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs points out that a Jermaine Dye career path is Andruw Jones‘ best case scenario.
- Baseball America has a run-down of all the minor league transactions between January 31 and February 6.
- Athletics Nation wonders if the A’s could bring Mark Mulder in to fill a lefty reliever role.
- I did a Q&A with We Should Be GMs.
Chass On Griffey, Burrell, Orlando Cabrera
The latest from Murray Chass, who seems to be doing just fine without being employed by a newspaper…
- MLB "negotiated a new line of credit for $125MM, from which clubs can borrow." I’d like to learn more about the topic – which teams are borrowing, if any?
- Ken Griffey Jr.‘s agent Brian Goldberg does not think the economy is a factor in his client remaining unsigned. Goldberg said, "Junior’s salary expectations have been modest from the beginning. He’s realistic." Perhaps Griffey is not seeking $5-6MM after all? Goldberg says he continues to talk to the same four teams about Griffey.
- Scott Boras says Pat Burrell "took a bad deal" when he signed for two years and $16MM on January 5th. Boras says Burrell’s contract froze the market for corner outfielders.
- One additional possible explanation for Orlando Cabrera remaining unsigned: a baseball person described him as a "very caustic guy in the locker room." Cabrera’s Type A status is probably the larger issue.
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Monday
Interesting note yesterday from ESPN’s Peter Gammons, related to the Manny Ramirez negotiations:
Scott Boras has put the heat on Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, and there has been no love lost. The L.A. scouting department has been told it will not draft Boras clients come June.
Gammons adds that the Giants "may well be seriously considering constructing a three-year package for Manny."
Ramirez recently spoke with Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, and the slugger described his situation this way:
"We’re in the seventh inning and I’m waiting for my pitch."