Orioles, Three Others Showing “Significant” Interest In Rodney
MONDAY: The Orioles are one of four teams showing "significant" interest in Rodney, Connolly reports. Baltimore's decision not to sign Balfour has "unquestionably" intensified the Rodney market, Connolly's source added. Baltimore likes Rodney's recent AL East success, but there's a sense that he could require a larger deal than the two-year, $15MM agreement with Balfour that crumbled, and that could be beyond the Orioles' comfort limit, says Connolly.
The team has also checked in on Francisco Rodriguez, Connolly adds. One source told him that the O's have reached out to K-Rod very recently, but the sense is that it was more due diligence than genuine interest. Rodriguez wasn't happy with his role in Baltimore's bullpen in 2013, as he rarely worked high leverage innings after being acquired from the Brewers for infield prospect Nick Delmonico.
FRIDAY: With the Grant Balfour decision in limbo, the Orioles are turning their attention to Fernando Rodney, an industry source tells Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). The O's had discussions with and about Rodney earlier this winter but negotiations didn't progress (link).
Rodney is reportedly seeking as much as $10MM per year, which would make him a considerably more expensive option than Balfour. However, with many closing vacancies already filled, Rodney's leverage may not be as great as it was early in the offseason. By that same token, his agents at the MVP Sports group can make the case that Rodney is the best closer left on the market to try to get the Orioles to pay a premium.
Rodney is coming off a strong season in which he pitched to a 3.38 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 in 66 2/3 innings for the Rays. Though he racked up another 37 saves, Rodney's history of command issues resurfaced in 2013 after it looked like he may have overcome that problem a year prior. In his free agent profile of Rodney back on Nov. 1, our own Steve Adams predicted a two-year, $18MM contract for the soon-to-be 37-year-old.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Cafardo On Papelbon, Youkilis, Overbay, Drew
In today's Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo makes the case for Braves pitcher Tom Glavine to earn induction into the Hall of Fame. For his part, Glavine said he would be thrilled to go in with Greg Maddux and Bobby Cox. “Bobby Cox had the biggest influence in my career and probably the second- or third-biggest influence in my life,” Glavine said. “Greg was a dear friend, and just being around him made me better. I learned so much. We talked so much about pitching and situations, and hitters. I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate and influence on my career. To have three of us together like that would be incredible, and Smoltzy next year.” More from today's column..
- One of the reasons the Phillies haven’t been able to find a buyer for Jonathan Papelbon is his drop in velocity. Papelbon, who was regularly 95-96 in his Red Sox days, fell to 91-92 and sometimes less last season. “That was a red flag for me,” said an AL scout. “He didn’t look like the same guy. Whether that was physical or he just didn’t have the adrenaline flowing with a bad team, I don’t know.”
- Kevin Youkilis' one-year deal could be worth up to $5MM and is apparently more than he could have received anywhere in MLB. The Yankees had some interest, but at a lower price. The Indians, Giants, and Rays also had interest at one time. Back problems limited Youkilis to 28 games last season with the Yankees, and he simply couldn’t convince the masses he was healthy.
- Lyle Overbay's market is lukewarm right now and he'll likely be a January tack-on for someone. Cafardo predicts he'll wind up as a backup or a low-cost option for a team such as the Orioles or Indians.
- The Mets and agent Scott Boras have discussed parameters but no firm numbers for Stephen Drew and right now, it looks like GM Sandy Alderson is sticking with Ruben Tejada. There’s always the Yankees, but Drew has never played anywhere but shortstop and Derek Jeter doesn’t appear to be moving to another position. The road, for now, is still leading back to the Red Sox.
- Agent Scott Boras scoffs at the notion that the market for Kendrys Morales has dried up due to the draft pick compensation issue. Cafardo says that at some point a team such as the Orioles may give it up to have a superb hitter in the middle of their order and cautions to never underestimate Boras.
- Mark Mulder is looking for a minor league deal with incentives if he makes the major league club. He's worked out for the Giants, Padres, Diamondbacks, Angels, and Phillies over two sessions and the second session he improved his velocity from 88 to 92 mph. The Red Sox have inquired on Mulder, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2008, but probably won’t pursue him. Back in late November, Giants GM Brian Sabean indicated that he wouldn't be in on Mulder since he's seeking a big league deal.
- Even with the Yankees' declaration that Brett Gardner won’t be traded, they would listen to the right deal.
- It's a big surprise that agent Scott Boras couldn’t get Tigers owner Mike Ilitch to outbid the Rangers for Shin-Soo Choo since they have a need for a leadoff hitter. The Tigers are apparently continuing to commit to Austin Jackson at the top of the order and hope his game smooths out.
- The Rays and Cubs want at least three very good players for David Price and Jeff Samardzija, respectively, whether they're major league-ready or top prospects.
Four Teams Interested In Grant Balfour
Grant Balfour tells Jim Duquette (Twitter link) and Jim Bowden of SiriusXM that he has four teams interested in his services and has "at least" one offer on the table. Balfour had agreed on a two-year, $15MM deal with the O's before concerns over his shoulder led the club to nix the deal.
Recently, Duquette suggested that the Mariners, White Sox, Yankees and Rays could all make sense for the closer with ESPN.com's Jim Bowden confirming that Tampa Bay has interest. Meanwhile, Balfour could file a grievance against the Orioles for breaking the pact.
Balfour, who celebrates his 36th birthday on December 30th, turned in a 2.59 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 on his way to a first career All-Star selection. Balfour doesn't have the near-95-mph fastball average that he boasted in his best season with the Rays in 2008, but his 2013 average of 93.4 mph was still solid. The right-hander hasn't had an ERA higher than 2.59 in his last four seasons.
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Boras Trying To Engage Mets On Morales, Drew
Agent Scott Boras is working to sell the Mets on two notable free agent clients, Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew, tweets Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. Both players are facing uncertain markets at this stage of the offseason with many left scratching their heads over where Morales could land.
For their part, the Mets appear to have little or no interest in Morales and plan to go with Lucas Duda at first base if they move Ike Davis (link). Duda has also seen his name pop up in trade rumors, but not with the same frequency of Davis and their recent preference has been leaning towards rolling with Duda and dealing Davis. It seems unlikely that the cost-conscious Mets would scrap that plan to relegate Duda to the bench so that they can pay significant money for Morales.
Drew would be a strong fit for the Mets, but money is once again an issue after the signings of Curtis Granderson, Bartolo Colon, and Chris Young set the Mets back $87.5MM. Drew, ranked No. 14 on Tim Dierkes' top 50 list at the outset of the offseason, seems destined for a return to the Red Sox, but Boras has a long, impressive track record of finding lucrative deals from improbable suitors for his clients.
Reactions To Shin-Soo Choo Signing
By agreeing to a seven-year, $130MM contract today with Shin-Soo Choo, the Rangers put an exclamation point on an offseason of sizable future salary commitments — for the team and the league as a whole. Along with the contract commitments taken on or made to Alex Rios, Prince Fielder, Martin Perez, Elvis Andrus, and Matt Harrison, Texas has added nearly $400MM in future salary obligations to its books during the 2013 calendar year. And as MLBTR's 2014 Free Agent Tracker shows, league-wide salary expenditure through free agency has now passed the bar set in 2013, when the league spent $1.46 billion on open-market players.
With Choo off the board, the top remaining free agent position players are Stephen Drew and Nelson Cruz. Of course, several other major pitching targets are still free, and figure to command sizeable deals of their own. Here are some of the early reactions from around baseball to Choo's signing:
- As far as discipline goes, Choo, Prince Fielder and Geovany Soto will add real stress to opponent pitch counts, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas News. In 2013, the Rangers ranked ninth in the AL in total pitches seen and that was with the benefit one of extra game.
- In the wake of Choo signing with Texas, Reds GM Walt Jocketty reiterated that Billy Hamilton is his guy, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He’s the guy,” Jocketty said. “We feel confident he can be a good leadoff hitter. He’ll give us great defense. The only question is how often he can get on base. He’ll start working on his bunting again after the first of the year. If he can master that, it will really help him.”
- The Rangers and Boras worked well into Friday night and Saturday morning to put together the deal, writes Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports. Brown adds that Choo's left-handed bat should play particularly well in Texas.
- Bringing Choo into the fold takes care of the final item on the Rangers' to-do list and helps ensure that the three-way race for the American League West will once again be must-see baseball, writes Fangraphs' Paul Swydan.
- Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com looks at possible lineups for the Rangers now that Choo is in the fold.
Jeff Todd contributed to this post.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Price, Davidson, Angels
On this date in 2009, the Yankees were assessed with a luxury tax of $25.69MM for its spending. As it was in every year since the tax was enacted in 2002, the Yankees were the only team penalized. Now in 2013, there are multiple clubs paying the luxury tax, headlined by the Dodgers, and the Yankees are working to stay beneath the $189MM threshold. More from around baseball..
- Rays Colored Glasses wonders if a David Price-Mariners deal could involve a third team.
- Grab Some Bench says the Matt Davidson deal clarifies some roles and muddles others.
- Angels Win breaks down the Halos’ lefties.
- You Gotta Like These Kids has some pros and cons on the Mike Morse deal.
- Blue Jays Plus is feeling hopeful.
- Outside Pitch Sports Network spoke with Negro League Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick.
- If I Were A GM caught up with Patrick Schuster.
- i70 Baseball says Jhonny Peralta will be under pressure in St. Louis.
- Konsume weighs in on three big moves by KC.
- Inside The Zona asks if Kevin Towers is going for broke.
- Replacement Level Red Sox goes to bat for Curt Schilling.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.
Orioles’ Deal With Grant Balfour In Jeopardy
7:53pm: Balfour's issue concerns his right shoulder, Connolly reports (Twitter link). The righty underwent surgery to correct a torn rotator cuff in that shoulder in 2005, Connolly notes, though Balfour hasn't had any subsequent problems. "More I hear, more it looks like Balfour deal could collapse," Connolly tweets, adding that the Orioles have traditionally been very cautious of signing players (particularly pitchers) with medical concerns.
7:18pm: A source tells Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links) that the Balfour deal "may be in jeopardy," though "serious jeopardy" is probably too strong. The Orioles would look at other closer options on the open market if Balfour's physical issue is a deal-breaker.
THURSDAY, 6:16pm: The Orioles/Balfour deal is "in serious jeopardy" and could fall apart altogether, MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko reports. Balfour's physical revealed issues that "need to be resolved," according to a source. More word about this setback could come on Friday.
TUESDAY: The Orioles have agreed to a two-year, $15MM deal with Grant Balfour, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). He'll have $500K deferred in each season. The deal is still pending a physical.
Recent reports indicated that three teams had two-year offers on the table to Balfour, with the Orioles being the most aggressive team and the favorite to land him. Balfour reportedly wanted to pitch for the O's, but was holding out for a three-year deal. There was talk of adding a vesting option to the deal as a compromise, but it appears that a two-year pact was enough to get the job done.
Balfour, who celebrates his 36th birthday on December 30th, turned in a 2.59 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 on his way to a first career All-Star selection. Balfour doesn't have the near-95-mph fastball average that he boasted in his best season with the Rays in 2008, but his 2013 average of 93.4 mph was still solid. The right-hander hasn't had an ERA higher than 2.59 in his last four seasons.
Some may point to Balfour's significant home/road split over the last three seasons as a big reason for his recent success. Oakland's O.co Colliseum is one of the game's most pitcher-friendly environments, and Balfour has a 1.58 ERA in 113 2/3 innings there, compared to a more pedestrian 3.78 ERA in 85 2/3 innings on the road.
The Aussie missed two full seasons thanks to Tommy John surgery and shoulder surgery following a promising debut with the Twins in his age 25-26 seasons. He rediscovered himself in Tampa Bay before heading to the A's in 2011. Balfour was handed the ninth inning in his second season with Oakland, and has racked up 62 saves from 2012-13 for the back-to-back AL West champions.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter) first reported that the two sides were nearing agreement. Additional details courtesy of CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter). Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yankees Designate Brett Marshall For Assignment
The Yankees announced that they have designated Brett Marshall for assignment. The move will make room for the newly-signed Carlos Beltran on the 40-man roster.
Marshall made three big league relief appearances in the bigs last season but spent the lion's share of the year in Triple-A where he posted a 5.13 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 25 starts. Baseball America ranked Marshall as the No. 6 prospect in the Yankees' system after the 2012 season and noted that he boasted the best changeup of any pitcher in the bunch. Unfortunately for the Yanks and Marshall, the right-hander didn't shine in his first season at the Triple-A level.
To keep up with everyone in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR's DFA Tracker.
Cubs Sign Jonathan Sanchez
The Cubs have signed Jonathan Sanchez to a minor league deal, a source tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. The deal includes incentives if the left-hander makes the big league roster.
Sanchez, 31, was cut loose after five atrocious games to open the 2013 season and ended up with the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque. There, he pitched 66 2/3 innings, posting a 5.13 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9. Sanchez has held lefties to a .218/.313/.363 batting line in his big league career and limited them to a .215/.276/.418 line in the minors this season.
Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune previously reported that the Cubs were eyeing Sanchez as a reliever. The veteran is represented by the McNamara Baseball Group, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database.