Pirates Interested In Braden Looper
Let’s gather up assorted pieces of Pirates information from Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from the past few days…
- We already knew about Pedro Martinez; Kovacevic says the Pirates also have an eye on free agent starter Braden Looper. The Dodgers and D’Backs are other teams in the market for the 34 year-old hurler. Team president Frank Coonelly says free agents are "still asking for prices based on yesterday’s market."
- Kovacevic suggests the Pirates may sign another bench player soon, someone other than fan favorite Doug Mientkiewicz.
- GM Neal Huntington ruled out free agents Rich Aurilia, Joe Crede, and Kevin Millar. Still, Coonelly expects the Pirates to sign more players, ones that fans "would fall in love with."
- Huntington says there are no current trade talks for shortstop Jack Wilson.
Brandon Lyon To Sign With Tigers
12:34pm: The AP reports that the deal pays Lyon $4.25MM in guaranteed money, but could be worth up to $500K more.
11:09am: The AP reports the Tigers announced the deal at TigerFest.
SATURDAY, 8:44am: MLB.com’s Jason Beck also hears from an industry source that Lyon’s nearing a one year deal with the Tigers. Beck expects an official announcement this morning at TigerFest.
FRIDAY, 8:30am: Lyon’s agent Barry Meister says, "We continue to work through it. Everything is moving forward." Lyon is at home in Utah currently.
THURSDAY, 9:04pm: Ken Rosenthal heard from a major league source that Lyon’s close to a one year deal worth just under $5MM with the Tigers. The deal includes incentives.
3:47pm: Jon Paul Morosi takes it a step further, saying the Tigers are "nearing an agreement on a multiyear contract" with Lyon. The 29 year-old righty started strong with a 1.64 ERA through May, but posted a 6.51 mark thereafter. He lost the D’Backs’ closer job to Chad Qualls in September.
3:27pm: According to MLB.com’s Jason Beck, Brandon Lyon is down to two teams and may reach an agreement by Friday. Beck says the Tigers are one of the two and appear to be in the lead. According to Ken Rosenthal, the Cardinals are the other contender. I guess that means the Twins are out.
D’Backs Focused On Jon Garland
According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Diamondbacks "seem to be focusing now on free agent hurler Jon Garland." Heyman says the D’Backs originally had their eye on Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling, but now believe they might be able to afford a younger pitcher. The D’Backs struck out on Randy Johnson, Brad Penny, and Randy Wolf already.
Surprising to see no mention of Braden Looper, who was reportedly the next target.
Mets Willing To Go Four Years For Oliver Perez?
According to ESPN Radio’s Andrew Marchand:
The Mets will eventually be willing to go to four years for Oliver Perez. Meanwhile, the Mets have growing interest in Ben Sheets. A source says that the Mets don’t think Sheets’ arm is perfect, but it is not terrible either.
Marchand’s source expects the Mets’ negotiations for Perez to continue to drag. If there’s another club willing to go to four years for Perez, that info has been kept away from the media thus far. Sheets, as you know, met with Rangers brass yesterday. Dan Graziano provides his take on the Mets’ plans over at his blog.
Chipper Wants To Stay With Braves
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman talked with Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, who is entering the final year of his contract. Jones would like a three-year extension, but hasn’t had any talks with the Braves this winter. He’d prefer not to negotiate during the season.
Jones, 37 in April, hit a massive .364/.470/.574 in 534 plate appearances last year. His defense came out above average in the plus/minus system. FanGraphs placed a phenomenal value on Jones’ season: $34.4MM.
Dodgers Intensify Talks With Wolf, Garland, Looper
3:30pm: A bunch of reporters played telephone with Rosenthal’s "inside track" report on Wolf, saying the Dodgers were close to a deal. You can see that Stark rejected that notion below, and Tony Jackson agrees that they are not close.
12:50pm: According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Dodgers have intensified their talks with free agent starters Randy Wolf, Jon Garland, and Braden Looper. Stark says that rather than favoring Wolf, the Dodgers have equal interest in all three and hope to sign one within a few days. He adds that the Dodgers haven’t spoken to Wolf’s agent Arn Tellem in several days.
Stark says the Dodgers continue to pursue Dennys Reyes, Luis Ayala, and Russ Springer, and plan to take care of their pitching staff before addressing Manny Ramirez.
Odds and Ends: Fogg, Jays, Red Sox, White Sox
Links for Friday…
- Corey Brock talked to agent Barry Axelrod about the slow-moving free agent market.
- The D’Backs still have Will Ohman and Joe Beimel on the radar, but Nick Piecoro believes they’d like to add a starter first.
- Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino doesn’t want the team’s dealings with Scott Boras for Mark Teixeira to affect other negotiations.
- Josh Fogg hopes to sign soon; possibilities may include the Rockies, Orioles, and Nationals.
- The Blue Jays are currently in talks with a Japanese pitcher.
- Nolan Ryan comments on the free agent market.
- Ed Wade explains his approach to waivers.
- Tony Massarotti projects an Opening Day payroll around $135MM for the Red Sox. Michael Silverman examines Boston’s options behind the plate.
- South Side Sox have the White Sox around $100MM for their Opening Day payroll.
- RotoAuthority lists the hitters projected to earn at least $10 in fantasy value in 2009.
Chat With Matthew Cerrone
Click below to listen to my chat with SNY’s Matthew Cerrone.
Ben Sheets Visits With Rangers
According to Ken Rosenthal, Ben Sheets and his agent spent yesterday visiting with the Rangers in Arlington. Nolan Ryan, Jon Daniels, Ron Washington, and Mike Maddux were in attendance. Daniels would not comment on whether the Rangers made an offer. The Sheets market has been surprisingly slow this winter, with the Mets dabbling and the Brewers not ruling him out.
The Brewers were hoping to receive a first-round pick as part of the compensation for Sheets, but the Rangers’ #14 pick is protected and the Mets’ first-rounder will stay with the Angels for Francisco Rodriguez. Theoretically the Dodgers could jump in (they have the #17 pick) but they are said to have the "inside track" on signing Randy Wolf and haven’t been linked to Sheets.
Olney On Mulder, Benson, Peavy, David Wells
A few notes from Buster Olney’s latest blog post…
- Free agent starter Mark Mulder is likely to throw for scouts during the first week of February. Olney says he figures to be popular if the audition goes well.
- We already knew the Dodgers, Rangers, Padres, D’Backs, Rockies, Indians, and Cardinals will watch Kris Benson throw this weekend; Olney adds the Brewers and A’s.
- Olney says "there have been no recent conversations between the Padres and Cubs about Jake Peavy," but he believes talks could be restarted quickly given the Cubs’ selection yesterday of the Thomas Ricketts group as the potential new owner.
- David Wells never filed retirement papers and would be open to a minor league deal if one was offered.