Quick Hits: Wood, Soriano, Yankees, Moreland, O’s
Some links as Saturday turns into Sunday…
- Before re-signing with the Cubs, Kerry Wood agreed to a deal with another club and was preparing for his physical when the Cubs swooped in according to Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago. Levine hears that the Reds were most interested in Wood before he re-signed with Chicago, but it's unclear if they're the team he had the agreement with.
- As many as eight teams have inquired about Alfonso Soriano, reports Levine. Most of those clubs are American League teams. Levine says Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts reiterated that he'll to eat most of the money owed to Soriano to facilitate a trade.
- Marc Carig of The Star Ledger wonders if the Michael Pineda trade is a sign of things to come for the Yankees, who could opt to trade for pitching in the future rather than sign free agent arms to long-term deals.
- "All I can do is worry about getting healthy and being a part of this team next year," said Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland to FOXSportsSouthwest.com's Anthony Andro when asked about the Prince Fielder rumors (Twitter link).
- “Our minor-league system is in the bottom ten-percent in the industry in terms of signing players at the amateur level and developing them for the big leagues," said Orioles GM Dan Duquette to Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com. "That’s what needs to improve over the next couple of years.”
- The Orioles have signed utility man Peter Fatse away from the independent Newark Bears, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. The 24-year-old spent two seasons in the Brewers' farm system before hitting .279/.348/.418 with five homers in 284 plate appearances for Newark last season.
East Notes: Red Sox, Maddon, Wright, Orioles
We know it's been quite the busy day for New York baseball, but let's see what else is happening in both the AL and NL East…
- The Yankees' big acquisitions of Hiroki Kuroda and Michael Pineda could mean the Red Sox may have to counter by signing Roy Oswalt or getting involved in the Matt Garza trade market, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- The Red Sox were interested in Kuroda but couldn't sign him without finding payroll space via another roster move, reports WEEI.com's Rob Bradford. Bradford also notes the Sox wouldn't have been able to outbid the Yankees for Pineda since the Mariners didn't value any of Boston's prospects as much as they valued Jesus Montero.
- The Red Sox and Yankees were both talking to the Mariners about a Felix Hernandez trade but the M's weren't interested, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
- Joe Maddon's increasingly likely contract extension with the Rays may not be worked out until the manager returns in late January from a European vacation, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).
- Mets third baseman David Wright said "it's going to be a pain" listening to his name come up in trade rumors all summer, during an interview with Cliff Floyd and Mike Ferrin of Sirius XM Radio. ESPN New York's Adam Rubin has a partial transcript of the interview.
- The Orioles have not had "substantive talks" with the Cubs about Alfonso Soriano, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
- Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun looks at some of the Orioles' remaining free agent possibilities.
- Braves GM Frank Wren tells David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link) that he doesn't expect to make a trade before Spring Training. "Every day that goes by it’s probably less likely. It doesn’t mean you stop trying," Wren said.
Yoenis Cespedes Talks Free Agency
Yoenis Cespedes says the six teams with "more interest" in signing him are the Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, Tigers and Indians, tweets Dionisio Soldevila of the Associated Press. The Cuban outfielder, who struck out in each of his three at bats in the Dominican Winter League last night, will likely become a free agent soon. Cespedes said he isn't worried that his performance in the Winter League will reduce his bargaining power, Soldevila tweets.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports hears from people in the know that the Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays, Rangers and Nationals also have some level of interest in Cespedes. Marlins president David Samson recently acknowledged that his team intends to make an aggressive run at Cespedes, who is represented by Adam Katz of Wasserman Media Group.
Orioles Have Interest In Johnny Damon
The Orioles appear to have some interest in Johnny Damon, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Luke Scott's deal with the Rays likely means Damon won't return to Tampa Bay, but the Orioles might have room for the designated hitter.
Damon, 38, is just 277 career hits away from 3,000, so the milestone is within reach. He hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 homers and 29 doubles in 582 plate appearances as the Rays' DH in 2011. Relative to the league as a whole, he hit well (110 OPS+), but DHs averaged a better batting line this past season: .265/.340/.429. It's worth noting Damon has played in at least 140 games every season since 1996.
I examined Damon's free agent stock in November, concluding that another modest one-year deal is likely. This is the first public indication that a team other than the Rays has interest in Damon. A return to the Athletics could also be possible in my opinion. As Heyman pointed out on Twitter yesterday, Damon is 'nomad' spelled backwards, which is appropriate for a player who's about to join his fourth team in as many seasons.
Adam Jones Talks Extension
Orioles center fielder Adam Jones has appeared in more than his share of trade rumors this offseason, but there’s a chance he’ll stay in Baltimore long-term. Jones told WBAL 1090 in Baltimore this week that he’s not ruling out an extension should the Orioles pursue one with him.
“That has not been presented,” he said. “It’s kind of like looking into the future, which is a hard thing to do.”
Jones projects to earn $5.8MM or so in 2012 as a second time arbitration eligible player. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes suggested in August that a four-year extension in the $40MM range could work for the Orioles and the CAA client. Jones, 26, is on track to hit free agency after the 2013 season. He posted a .280/.319/.466 line with 25 homers last year.
AL East Notes: Damon, Maddon, Scott, Kuroda
On this date in 2009, the Red Sox signed John Smoltz to a one-year contract. He struggled through 40 innings in Boston before moving on to St. Louis, where he pitched to considerably better results in seven starts. Here's the latest on the AL East…
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com wonder if Johnny Damon could be a fit for the Orioles in 2012.
- The Rays and Joe Maddon have made progress in extension talks for the skipper, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Maddon’s contract expires after the 2012 season, but both sides have expressed interest in working an extended agreement out before then.
- Luke Scott told reporters that he won’t be ready to play the outfield until May or June, because his shoulder injury is still healing, Topkin tweets. Scott, whose deal with the Rays became official today, will DH right away and may play some first base.
- Scott says the Orioles never made him a firm offer after non-tendering him, Kubatko tweets.
- The Red Sox are still in talks with the agent for Hiroki Kuroda, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.
- Former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein addressed his departure from Boston and other related topics on WEEI this morning and we have the details here.
Orioles Notes: Chen, Roberts, Peterson
Luke Scott hit 84 home runs with the Orioles from 2008-11, but his next homer will come as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. The 33-year-old agreed to terms with the Rays earlier today. Here's the latest on his former team…
- Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen has “a good fastball and very good control and a good breaking ball,” GM Dan Duquette told Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Chen is a polished pitcher with the physical skills to become a frontline starter, Duquette said. The GM is looking to add durable arms to his rotation, since Jeremy Guthrie was the lone Baltimore pitcher to reach the 200-inning threshold in 2011.
- The Orioles remain concerned about Brian Roberts’ health and are looking for a leadoff hitter, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. He suggests Endy Chavez projects as the team’s leadoff hitter at this point.
- The Orioles have been negotiating with former Mets, Brewers and Athletics pitching coach Rick Peterson for more than a week about a pitching role within the organization, Connolly tweets. Duquette remains hopeful that the sides will agree to a deal.
Melvin Mora Intends To Play In 2012
January 11th: Mora has not retired and he intends to play in 2012, agent Eric Goldschmidt told Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
December 29th: Utilityman Melvin Mora has announced his retirement, reports Rafael Rojas Cremonesi of Meridiano Deportes (via Twitter). The 39-year-old Mora was released by the Diamondbacks in June and had hoped to play for the Orioles or another east coast team in 2012, but instead has hung up the cleats after 13 Major League seasons.
Mora signed an amateur contract with the Astros in 1991 and finally reached the Majors in 1999 as a New York Met. He made an immediate impression in his rookie year, posting a 1.143 OPS in 16 plate appearances in the 1999 NLCS as the Mets lost in six games to the Braves.
After being dealt to the Orioles in July 2000 as part of a four-player package for Mike Bordick, Mora became a Baltimore fixture for much of the decade. Mora was a two-time All-Star for the O's, hitting .294/.366/.469 between 2003-08 (including a league-best .419 OBP in 2004) and settling in as the Orioles' third baseman in 2004 after playing all over the diamond in his first four seasons with the team. The O's declined his contract option after the 2009 campaign and Mora went on to play a season each with the Rockies and D'backs.
Mora retires with 1503 hits, 171 homers, and a .277/.350/.431 slash line in 1556 Major League games. According to Baseball Reference, Mora made just under $40.5MM during his career.
Orioles Notes: Johnson, Jones, Scott
The Orioles announced a three-year deal with left-hander Wei-Yin Chen today, but that’s far from the only news to trickle out of Baltimore today. Here’s the latest on the club…
- Now that they’ve signed Chen, the Orioles are going forward with Jim Johnson in the bullpen, MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli tweets. Johnson, 28, posted a 2.67 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 91 innings of relief for Baltimore in 2011 and there's been talk of moving him to the rotation.
- The Orioles haven’t discussed a possible contract extension with Adam Jones, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. Jones projects to earn $5.8MM or so in 2012 as a second time arbitration eligible player
- GM Dan Duquette has had contact with free agent Luke Scott, Ghiroli tweets. However, no deal appears to be brewing between the Orioles and Scott, who got non-tendered in December.
- Kubatko suggests Chen, Jeremy Guthrie and Tommy Hunter will be in next year's rotation and that hopefuls such as Zach Britton and Brian Matusz will have to earn their rotation spots by pitching well in Spring Training.
Orioles Sign Wei-Yin Chen
The Orioles reached an agreement with lefty Wei-Yin Chen on a three-year deal worth less than $12MM, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. The Orioles have since announced the deal, noting that Chen is the first Taiwanese player in team history and the contract includes a club option for 2015.
As a Taiwanese player in Nippon Professional Baseball, Chen had free agency negotiated into his contract with the Chunichi Dragons. Last year in Japan, Chen posted a 2.68 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, and 0.49 HR/9 in 164 2/3 innings. He ranked 19th on Keith Law's top 50 free agents list. Law offered a positive scouting report, concluding that Chen "offers more upside than the typical NPB refugee, both due to age and the chance for the slider to become a consistently plus pitch." Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette described Chen in a statement: "Chen works off of a 92-94 mile per hour fastball and he uses a hard, slurve-like breaking ball as an out-pitch. He has exceptional command and we like the quality of his pitches to help our team."
Duquette has gone the international route to supplement his rotation, having already added an NPB starter in December in Tsuyoshi Wada.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that the Orioles were close to a multiyear deal with Chen.