Indians Sign Carl Pavano
2:21pm: Crasnick says the Indians signed Pavano to a one-year deal. He gets $1.5MM guaranteed plus another $5.3MM in possible incentives, according to Troy Renck. Anthony Castrovince says Michael Aubrey was designated for assignment to make room.
12:40pm: MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says Pavano "has also been weighing a possible return to the Marlins," but the Indians are the "clear frontrunner."
12:30pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says the Indians "have emerged as a strong candidate" to sign Pavano. He may seek a contract similar to Hampton’s.
11:03am: According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Indians are in serious discussions with free agent starter Carl Pavano. Pavano will visit Cleveland soon and a deal could be wrapped up quickly. We’ll have to see if Pavano can come close to the $2MM guaranteed Mike Hampton received from the Astros.
Yankees Sign Jason Johnson, DFA Duncan
According to Sam Borden, the Yankees signed pitcher Jason Johnson to a minor league deal. He will compete for the fifth starter job. Johnson, 35, is known for his ability to get groundballs.
Also, the accompanying move to the Mark Teixeira signing: Shelley Duncan was designated for assignment.
Brewers Not In On Lowe, Mulder
A couple of Brewers rumors were denied by GM Doug Melvin today.
First up, Ken Rosenthal’s suggestion that the Brewers "are interested in Derek Lowe, but only at a modest price." Melvin said, "We’re not in on him." Next, Nick Cafardo’s rumor that the Brewers are "big on" Mark Mulder. Melvin: "I really haven’t contacted his guy."
MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy says the Brewers are not particularly interested in Oliver Perez or Jon Garland, but could re-sign Ben Sheets.
Odds and Ends: Saito, Teixeira, LaRoche
More Tuesday links…
- Over at RotoAuthority, David Chase examines more of the optimistic Spring Training reports of ’08. Particularly interesting: did pitchers follow up on their intention to use a new pitch?
- The Marlins’ Scott Proctor signing is official. Also, Chan Ho Park with the Phillies.
- Carl Pohlad’s three sons will take over for their father.
- McCovey Chronicles trade idea: Randy Winn for Xavier Nady.
- Add Randy Choate to the minor league deals for the Rays.
- Economist J.C. Bradbury says "the economic downturn cannot explain the magnitude of Pat Burrell‘s discount." He believes teams are exaggerating the recession effect.
- Keith Law says the risk in giving Milton Bradley a three-year deal "seems excessive" but notes that Bradley is an excellent hitter and above-average defender.
- Patrick Newman learned that Takashi Saito received almost ten offers last month, including proposals from the Cardinals and Red Sox. Newman also has new reports of various minor league-level Japanese players who want to join MLB organizations.
- Tony Massarotti has all kinds of questions about Boston’s failure to sign Mark Teixeira. Craig Calcaterra offers analysis on the team’s Boras relationship. Check out stuff from today’s Yankees press conference here and here.
- Sox Machine on how Jim Thome staying healthy messed up Ken Williams’ plans.
- Dejan Kovacevic says Adam LaRoche would like to stay in Pittsburgh past ’09, but the team is not considering an extension.
Mariners’ Priorities
Larry Stone talked to Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik, who listed the team’s needs:
"I’d love to have an outfield bat, and I’d love to have another infielder. And everyone is looking for pitching."
Stone also learned that the Ms have an offer out to one free agent and Zduriencik is very optimistic he will be signed.
Stone says Adam Dunn "has a strong preference to remain in the NL," and there’s no indication the Mariners are interested in Manny Ramirez. Ken Griffey Jr. seems to be a backburner issue. Stone says we should "tuck away" Gabe Kapler as a possibility.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Swisher, Nady, Kapler, Zaun
The latest from Ken Rosenthal.
- A recent Ned Colletti-Scott Boras conversation about Manny Ramirez didn’t result in progress. Boras still has his sights on at least $100MM over four years. Rosenthal adds that Manny is "cool to the idea of playing in San Francisco."
- Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady are drawing "significant interest." Rosenthal speculates that the Giants, Braves, or Pirates would make sense.
- The door is not closed with the Yankees and Andy Pettitte. Pettitte recently rejected the Yanks’ one-year, $10MM offer.
- Some Mets people prefer Oliver Perez to Derek Lowe. The Braves have yet to speak to Boras about Lowe, while the Brewers and Phillies have financial concerns about fitting him in.
- Trevor Hoffman has a West Coast preference (the Dodgers or maybe a Padres reconciliation) but interest with the Brewers is mutual. Other relievers on the Dodgers’ radar: Juan Cruz, Guillermo Mota, and Dennys Reyes.
- Brian Fuentes‘ agent had serious talks with the Yankees, but no offer was made. Fuentes would’ve been Mariano Rivera‘s set-up man and perhaps taken over upon his retirement.
- Rosenthal notes that MLB kicked in a small part of the $10MM owed to Sidney Ponson from their luxury tax pool, which is not uncommon.
- If they can afford it, the Rays would like to sign Gabe Kapler.
- The Orioles, Red Sox, and A’s are interested in Gregg Zaun.
- Perhaps because of the cool market for his services, Orlando Cabrera is willing to play second base. The Yankees did not have interest.
- That Gavin Floyd for Brian Roberts rumor "seemingly arose from internal discussions among Orioles officials."
Padres Backed Away From Cubs-Peavy Deal?
A note we missed from last night’s Gordon Edes story:
The Cubs and Padres appeared close to a deal for Jake Peavy in Las Vegas, but the Padres backed away, leaving the Cubs convinced that someone over Kevin Towers’ head pulled the plug.
You may recall that during the Winter Meetings Towers told reporters that Cubs GM Jim Hendry pulled out of the deal.
Sergio Mitre Gets 50 Game Suspension
A second pitcher will receive a 50 game PED suspension, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. New Yankee signing Sergio Mitre had a trace amount of andro in his system. It was another "thought to be legal" supplement purchased at GNC. Mitre will serve the suspension while rehabbing from elbow surgery in the first few months of the season.
A question for the readers. In the past, MLBTR has mostly been a PED-free zone. However, with all the emails pouring in, it’s often harder to ignore a story than it is to post a few lines about it. Plus, I know suspensions sometimes have roster-building implications. Should we do brief posts on breaking steroid news, or try to continue to ignore the stories?
Cafardo’s Latest: Quota, Saito, Mulder
The column is from Sunday, but we missed a lot of good stuff from Nick Cafardo’s latest.
- Finally an answer! Cafardo learned that teams can sign as many as nine Type A or B free agents this year. So to all those who emailed: yes, the Yankees can technically sign Manny Ramirez. I tried to decipher the quota section of the Basic Agreement in October, but didn’t come up with nine.
- At some point this winter, the Red Sox made an offer to Takashi Saito.
- Cafardo says Boston does not have interest in Michael Young.
- The Brewers and A’s "are big on" Mark Mulder. The Red Sox will also watch him throw this month.
- Luis Gonzalez is likely to sign somewhere as a fourth outfielder.
Odds and Ends: Burrell, Bradley, Abreu
Links for Tuesday…
- RotoAuthority asks for your #1 fantasy baseball bust for 2009.
- Keith Law calls the Pat Burrell signing a "major bargain," panning the Raul Ibanez contract by comparison. River Ave. Blues says the recent Burrell and Milton Bradley deals prove that Brian Cashman was wise not to offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu.
- Will the Rays have enough money to re-sign Rocco Baldelli now? Buster Olney still thinks he will land with Boston.
- Gordon Edes says Jim Hendry had a stealth dinner with Bradley during the November GM Meetings. Edes adds that the Cubs believe Derek Lowe is too expensive.
- Cool story about a guy trying to get an autograph on each card in the 1983 Fleer baseball card set.
- Baseball America’s Jim Callis has the updated ’09 draft order. Callis also weighs in on the broken free agent compensation system, which is up for discussion after the 2011 season.