White Sox Underestimated Market For Buehrle
On Wednesday, the White Sox offered arbitration to Type B free agent Mark Buehrle, guaranteeing themselves compensation if he signs elsewhere. Interest in the left-hander has skyrocketed this winter, with as many as thirteen teams reportedly in the mix for his services. The White Sox weren't expecting this level of interest for Buehrle as they anticipated five or six teams going after him and a two-year deal being enough to retain him, a source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago-Sun Times.
With this amount of interest in Buehrle and the Nationals visiting the pitcher at his home in St. Louis this week, it would seem that the White Sox will have to act fast and offer a longer deal to retain him. Earlier today, nearly 20% of MLBTR readers voted Buerhle as the next big free agent to sign.
Blue Jays Acquire Luis Valbuena From Indians
The Indians have traded Luis Valbuena to the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations, according to the team's officlal Twitter account. The infielder was designated for assignment on November 18th.
Valbuena spent the majority of 2011 with Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate where he hit .302/.372/.476 with 17 homers in 472 plate appearances. The infielder, who turns 26 on November 30, played 194 games for the Indians' varsity squad in 2009 and 2010 and saw a good deal of time at second base.
Discussion: The Braves’ Pitching Surplus
In the first trade of the offseason, the Braves shed $5MM of payroll when they shipped Derek Lowe to the Indians and agreed to pick up $10MM of his $15MM salary for 2012. It was a deal that gave GM Frank Wren & Co. some much needed breathing room, and one that couldn't have been made without a good deal of pitching depth.
Even without Lowe in the mix, Atlanta still has a rotation headlined by Tim Hudson and Jair Jurrjens. There are plenty of young hurlers available in support, including Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado , Arodys Vizcaino, Brandon Beachy, and Tommy Hanson. While Atlanta would certainly like to avoid rushing their young pitchers into taking on major workloads, they might be better served by turning their pitching wealth into offense in 2012.
Wren claims to be content with his stockpile of arms and even though interest in Jurrjens is high, the GM is reportedly asking for a Zack Greinke-like return for the oft-injured 25-year-old. While the Braves could come away with a solid package for Jurrjens, it's overly optimistic to put the youngster's value on a par with Greinke's.
The Braves are looking to make a few upgrades in their lineup and would like to move on from shortstop Alex Gonzalez if they can. They'd also like to land themselves a young center fielder as insurance if they can't retain Michael Bourn when he hits the open market after next season. Wren would obviously love to keep Jurrjens as part of the starting five, but he can absolutely afford to flip him in order to improve elsewhere.
Orioles Notes: Reynolds, Tillman, Chen, Johnson
Earlier this week we learned that the Orioles are close to a deal with Korean right-hander Chong Tae-Hyon and the pact should become official after he undergoes a physical. Here's more on the O's..
- Mark Reynolds' propensity for striking out didn't faze the Orioles much when they traded for him last winter, writes Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com. The O's acquired the 28-year-old from Arizona for relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio roughly one year ago. Manager Buck Showalter is leaning towards playing Reynolds at first this year with Chris Davis at third base.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com takes a look at Baltimore's rotation and notes the club would be willing to deal Chris Tillman. Tillman, 23, posted a 5.52 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 13 big league starts last year.
- While the Orioles are waiting to see if Yu Darvish will be posted, fellow NPB pitcher Wei-Yin Chen is another name to keep an eye on, writes Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. Earlier this month, Tim Dierkes wrote that the 26-year-old left-hander could be signed for less than $20MM over four years.
- The Orioles' interest in adding relief pitchers could open the door for Jim Johnson to return to the rotation and Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com is all for it. Melewski could see Johnson thriving in a starting role as he has enough quality pitches to make the transition.
Quick Hits: Street, Garza, Red Sox, Sizemore
Some links to check out as we await tonight's 11pm central time arbitration deadline…
- Though teams are interested, there's nothing imminent regarding a trade of Huston Street, tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post. A source also tells Renck that the Rockies have not spoken with the Cubs about Matt Garza.
- The Red Sox won’t reach a decision on their new manager before tomorrow, a team source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
- Indians GM Chris Antonetti doesn't expect Grady Sizemore to play 150-160 games next year, but does think that the center fielder will play the "vast majority of games" in 2012, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer.
CBA Reactions: Marlins, Twins, Amateur Draft
The new collective bargaining agreement includes radical changes to draft pick compensation, the postseason, arbitration, and much more. Here's a look at some reactions to the new CBA..
- With CBA now finalized, the Marlins now have a guideline on what is at stake to sign free agents, tweets Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.
- The Twins will benefit from the new agreement as Matt Capps goes from a Type A to a modified Type B and they can receive compensation for him without offering arbitration, writes Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune. The only downside for the club is that they might have been able to re-sign Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel at lower prices under the old system.
- The new CBA means that the Mets can't exploit their large-market status by going over slot for draft picks and spending a lot on international free agents, writes ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin.
- Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated writes that the new agreement helps put Commissioner Bud Selig's legacy in order but doesn't agree with the new limits imposed on spending on the amateur draft. Agent Scott Boras predictably doesn't agree with the new rules pertaining to the draft and says that GMs have told him that they don't like the changes either.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America (via Twitter) calculates that 20 teams went 16% or more over slot this year, which would have triggered 100% tax and a loss of two first-rounders under this CBA.
- The overwhelming sentiment in baseball is that the CBA will prevent amateur talent from coming into baseball, tweets Jeff Passan of Yahoo.
- More from Passan (via Twitter) as he writes that the new amateur rules will have the greatest effect on successful, low-revenue teams like the Rays, which now have even less room for error than before.
- There's already major concern among some baseball officials about the impact of the changes to the draft and the international signings cap on the player talent pool, Buster Olney of ESPN.com tweets.
- The new CBA makes it tougher for teams to draft two-sport stars like the Angels did with Jake Locker, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. The Angels drafted Locker in the 10th round of the 2009 draft but the quarterback instead graduated from the University of Washington and was drafted eighth overall in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Titans.
Quick Hits: Infielders, Young Jr., Scott, Red Sox
On this day in 2006, the Cubs signed Alfonso Soriano to an eight-year, $136MM deal. In five seasons with Chicago, Soriano has a slash line of .266/.320/.498 and has averaged 129 games per year. Here are some links for Sunday afternoon..
- Mark Townsend of Yahoo! Sports is surprised at what teams are paying for sure-handed middle infielders. Specifically, he says the Twins and Dodgers paid role players like final pieces to the puzzle and are counting on them for too much (referring to Jamey Carroll and Mark Ellis, respectively).
- Eric Young Jr. decided to play in Venezuela this offseason in order to gain more experience playing second base, writes Rafael Rojas Cremonesi for the Denver Post. Young played second base just seven times for the Rockies last season, and is 6-for-20 with three steals in his first six games.
- Luke Scott would be open to negotiating a new deal with the Orioles if he's non-tendered, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Scott is projected to earn $6MM in arbitration.
- Bobby Valentine expects to meet with Red Sox GM Ben Cherington on Monday and could emerge as the favorite for the job if his meeting goes well, a source tells Jeff Passan of Yahoo (via Twitter).
- Astros owner Jim Crane is prepared to make a swift decision on the futures of president Tal Smith and GM Ed Wade, writes Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle.
- There are team executives who are furious with aspects of the new labor agreement, writes ESPN.com's Buster Olney. Some believe that MLB's new draft structure hurts the league's small-market and mid-market clubs. One GM told Olney that the changes don't solve any problems and actually make some worse.
Rockies Interested In Jonny Gomes
With Michael Cuddyer and Josh Willingham looking for three-year contracts, the possibility exists that the Rockies will shift their focus to a more powerful platoon player to pair with Seth Smith. With that in mind, the Rockies have expressed interest in free agent outfielder Jonny Gomes, according to Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post.
The Rockies were in on Grady Sizemore but with the centerfielder on the cusp of a one-year deal with the Indians the club is now exploring other options. Using Gomes with Smith in a platoon would be an affordable solution. Last season, Gomes hit .209/.325/.389 with 14 homers.
Heyman On Rangers, Pujols, Fielder, Nunez
Earlier this week, it was reported that in addition to the Cardinals and Marlins, there's a third team in on Albert Pujols. Yahoo's Tim Brown hypothesized that the mystery suitor could be the Cubs or Rangers. Today on Twitter, Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated discussed the Rangers' possible pursuit of Pujols and more..
- The Rangers are still saying that the odds are remote for them to make a run at Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder this offseason, says Heyman (via Twitter). The club's focus now is to try to lock up Josh Hamilton as the outfielder will hit free agency after 2012.
- Heyman (via Twitter) still won't count Texas out of the chase for Pujols or Fielder. As he points out, last winter's signing of Adrian Beltre came late in the offseason.
- The Braves have long been interested in Yankees shortstop Eduardo Nunez but the Bombers will have to part with much more to land Jair Jurrjens in a trade, Heyman tweets.
Cafardo On Red Sox, Ortiz, Saunders, Oswalt
The Red Sox need a manager with some backbone, background, and one with plenty of experience, writes Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe. Because the team lacked discipline last season, he writes, Boston isn't the place for a young manager at this time. Here's more from Cafardo..
- Orioles GM Dan Duquette met with Fern Cuza, David Ortiz’s agent, at the GM meetings. Duquette and Cuza have been close over the years and worked together on deals for Cuza client Pedro Martinez. Cafardo writes that Ortiz would be an intriguing figure at Camden Yards but in a radio interview over the weekend, Duquette said that he was wary of signing a high-priced DH.
- Whether the Diamondbacks tender Joe Saunders a contract or not, he becomes an interesting possibility for the Red Sox as a back-of-the-rotation starter. MLBTR projects that Saunders is in line for $8.7MM in arbitration this year and readers' opinions were split on whether or not the hurler would be tendered.
- Cubs GM Theo Epstein will listen to offers on Matt Garza and just about anyone on his team in order to replentish his farm system.
- Roy Oswalt’s agent, Bob Garber, spoke to Red Sox GM Ben Cherington last Wednesday. The Sox could use his leadership in the rotation but the veteran's price could be prohibitive.
- One scout who watched Yoenis Cespedes work out last week said that the Cuban outfielder has great power but has concerns that he could be prone to striking out frequently.
- As the Red Sox look for a pitching coach, Dave Wallace is an interesting name to keep in mind. Wallace served as Boston’s pitching coach before John Farrell. Minor league pitching coordinator Bob McClure could also be an option, depending on who the team's next manager is.
- Cafardo opines that the Cubs should give up outfielder Tyler Colvin to the Red Sox to wrap up their Theo Epstein compensation talks.