Dodgers Watch Kris Benson Throw
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, Dodgers assistant GM Logan White watched free agent starter Kris Benson long-toss today. Benson will work out for other clubs soon. Benson had rotator cuff surgery in March of 2007, and was not able to pitch effectively for the Phillies in ’08.
Cliff Lee Open To Extension
Anthony Castrovince talked to Cliff Lee‘s agent, Darek Braunecker (remember him?). Braunecker says his client is open to discussing a contract extension if the Indians are.
Lee is signed affordably at $5.75MM in ’09 with a $9MM club option for ’10. Lee will be free agent-eligible at age 32; what kind of extension would be reasonable?
Dodgers Sign Yhency Brazoban, Others
According to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times, the Dodgers signed Yhency Brazoban and 14 others to minor league deals today.
Milton Bradley Signs With Cubs
THURSDAY: The Cubs’ three-year, $30MM deal with Bradley was finalized today.
TUESDAY: Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times says the deal could be announced Thursday. He adds:
His new contract is believed to contain language that protects the team on the back end of the deal if Bradley misses significant playing time on the front end.
MONDAY, 3:10pm: According to ESPN Radio’s Bruce Levine, the Cubs signed Milton Bradley to a three-year, $30MM contract "with some options in the deal." Ken Rosenthal has a similar story, noting that the two sides have to "work through language issues."
Bradley, 31 in April, had a monster .321/.436/.563 line this year for the Rangers, but he spent only 165 innings in the field. This is the first multiyear deal of his career. If he stays healthy, the switch-hitter will give the Cubs balance in the middle of their order.
The Rangers will get a supplemental pick for their loss.
Chat With Matthew Cerrone Of SNY
Yesterday I chatted with Matthew Cerrone of SNY. Check it out.
Derek Lowe Rumors: Thursday
1:15pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Mets and Lowe remain far apart in negotiations. Heyman sees the Angels, Phillies, and Brewers as other suitors aside from the Braves.
11:40pm: Mark Bowman notes that the Braves’ meeting with Lowe was arranged before they lost Smoltz, but their interest has increased this week. Chipper Jones already made a pitch to Lowe.
10:45pm: Gordon Edes of Yahoo says the Braves have "zeroed in on Lowe" and have significant interest. An Edes source adds that the Red Sox topped Atlanta’s offer for Smoltz by "a couple million."
9:41am: Interesting line from Mike Puma of the New York Post: "Some believe the Nationals could be a suitor for Lowe."
8:45am: According to Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe, Derek Lowe is scheduled to meet with the Braves today in Atlanta. The apparent loss of John Smoltz to Boston stings, but Lowe would be a huge addition.
I am with J.C. Bradbury on the Smoltz thing. While it will feel wrong to see him in any other uniform, $5.5MM guaranteed would’ve been risky for the Braves.
Odds and Ends: Pavano, Giambi, Manny, Tigers
Links for Thursday…
- RotoAuthority looks at possible injury risk young starters for 2009, by way of the Verducci Effect.
- Anthony Castrovince says the Indians looked at Mark Mulder, Kris Benson, Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon before signing Carl Pavano. The Tribe’s rotation appears set. The article also outlines Pavano’s incentives, which kick in at 18 starts.
- A reminder: for the past month or so we’ve had a Top Stories section in the righthand sidebar. If you’re looking to find the biggest hot stove news of the past few days quickly, look there first.
- I did a Q&A with 3:10 To Joba.
- Ben Shpigel tries to quantify how slow this offseason has been.
- Susan Slusser has a few details on Jason Giambi‘s contract. Jon Heyman confirms Slusser’s earlier comment that the A’s are considering Orlando Cabrera.
- Bill Plaschke says the Dodgers are "playing the Manny Ramirez game perfectly." McCovey Chronicles liveblogs that game from the Giants’ side.
- Jason Beck looks at the dwindling closer options for the Tigers.
Brewers Agree To Terms With Trevor Hoffman
11:40am: Haudricourt now says Hoffman’s deal does not have a 2010 option.
10:24am: Tom Haudricourt says Hoffman gets $6MM in ’09 with $1.5MM in incentives, plus the 2010 club option.
9:42am: ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Brewers have agreed to terms with Hoffman on a one-year deal with an option.
9:20am: Bloom and McCalvy say the Brewers faxed a term sheet to Hoffman’s agent.
8:36am: MLB.com’s Barry Bloom and Adam McCalvy heard from a source that the Brewers are nearing a deal with Trevor Hoffman. The AP says the same. The deal would be for one year with an option for 2010 and is "pretty close" to happening according to the source.
Players Affected By Arbitration Decisions
ESPN’s Buster Olney looks at several free agents who currently reside in "compensation-pick purgatory": Orlando Cabrera, Juan Cruz, Jason Varitek, and Ben Sheets. The cost to sign one of these four includes the loss of a draft pick, causing many teams to avoid them. You can add Orlando Hudson and perhaps Oliver Perez to Olney’s list. Darren Oliver (or his agent) saw this situation coming and chose to accept arbitration. Tony Massarotti says the Red Sox would’ve been more inclined to sign Derek Lowe if they’d also signed Mark Teixeira, but now they don’t want to give up their first-round pick for Lowe.
There are Type As and Bs who would’ve made more money accepting their team’s arbitration offers; Olney names Paul Byrd and Jon Garland. Peter Gammons mentioned Cabrera and Varitek yesterday. Mark Grudzielanek might be another case, though most assume he had a prior arrangement with the Royals to decline. Agents such as Bo McKinnis (Byrd), Craig Landis (Garland), Dan Lozano (Cabrera), and Scott Boras (Varitek) have some explaining to do.
Remember our "Surprisingly Not Offered Arbitration" list from December 2nd? Here it is again:
Bobby Abreu
Joe Beimel
Pat Burrell
Adam Dunn
Braden Looper
Jamie Moyer
Randy Wolf
Kerry Wood
Aside from Wood and maybe Wolf, we can see now that most GMs made these decisions with excellent foresight.
Mets Meet With Boras
THURSDAY, 8:55am: MetsBlog sums up the reports about the team’s Boras meeting. Ken Davidoff says the Mets are confident they’ll sign Lowe or Perez.
WEDNESDAY, 7:41pm Anthony DiComo has sources that say the Mets spoke with Boras about all of his free agent clients. That list includes Perez and Ramirez, although DiComo says Manny remains a long shot.
4:23pm MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone has some info on the Mets’ recent meeting with Scott Boras. He believes the discussions focused on Derek Lowe (not Oliver Perez or Manny Ramirez) and ended on a positive note, though Boras will probably take more time.
Cerrone agrees with Joel Sherman that a three-year, $42MM deal with a fourth-year vesting option for Lowe is feasible.