Orioles Closing In On Deal With Uehara
The Orioles are closing in on a deal with Koji Uehara, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). They have also offered Kevin Gregg a two-year deal, the Sun reports. Six teams were interested in Uehara as recently as yesterday, so the Orioles have presumably made a competitive multiyear offer if they're near an agreement.
The 35-year-old right-hander posted a 2.86 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 1.0 BB/9 in 44 innings of work last year. He made trips to the disabled list because of elbow and thigh injuries, but few pitchers have a strikeout to walk ratio as impressive as Uehara's.
Kevin Gregg Has Multiple Offers
Kevin Gregg is drawing strong interest on potential multiyear deals and has offers from the Red Sox, Pirates, and Nationals, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). The Red Sox have offers out to a number of relievers other than Gregg, according to Rosenthal. They're known to be interested in Scott Downs, Matt Guerrier and Pedro Feliciano.
Rosenthal reports that the Orioles and Mariners are also in the mix for Gregg, who has also drawn interest from the Rockies. The Blue Jays will obtain a draft pick for losing Gregg, a Type B free agent.
Prince Fielder Rumors: Tuesday
Nothing's cooking with the Brewers on a potential Prince Fielder trade, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. We'll keep you updated here anyway.
- The Brewers fielded calls from the White Sox, Dodgers and Orioles on Prince, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). They know they can't sign the slugger long-term.
- The Orioles have had talks with the Brewers for Fielder, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. He says they're only talks right now, and the O's would want an extension before giving up young pitching for Fielder. Haudricourt says these talks did not go beyond preliminary discussions.
Rays, Mariners Eyeing Mark Hendrickson
The Rays and Mariners are interested in lefty reliever Mark Hendrickson, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Hendrickson's former team, the Orioles, is also keeping tabs on him. The O's declined a $1.2MM option on him last month.
Hendrickson, a 6'9" southpaw, turned 36 in June. This year he posted a 5.26 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 42.9% groundball rate in 75.3 innings. Hendrickson's FanGraphs splits show he's been plenty effective against left-handed batters over the past few years.
Athletics Considering Vlad, Willingham, Derrek Lee
The Athletics are looking for offense with Vladimir Guerrero and Hideki Matsui on their list, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The A's prefer free agents to trades, Morosi notes. Lance Berkman turned down a two-year offer from the A's; Vlad may require at least that long of a deal to sign.
The A's are also in on Josh Willingham and Derrek Lee, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, but the Nationals' asking price for Willingham is said to be absurd. Rosenthal feels that the A's could offer Lee more than the Padres or Diamondbacks.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that A's GM Billy Beane met with Matsui's agent Arn Tellem. Tellem tells her the A's are not the only team in on him. The Orioles are in, but Matsui prefers a contender. She considers Nick Johnson and Lee "among the other potential options." The A's don't find Carlos Beltran a realistic option, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. They don't believe he'd waive his no-trade clause to come to Oakland.
Blue Jays, O’s Interested In Pena, Wigginton
5:30pm: The Blue Jays have checked in on Ty Wigginton, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Orioles maintain interest in the infielder, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
4:24pm: The Orioles still have interest in Pena, though his asking price is currently too high, according to MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli (on Twitter).
2:02pm: The Blue Jays are "in hard" for free agent first baseman Carlos Pena, ESPN's Gordon Edes heard from another club with interest (Twitter link). The Cubs and Nationals are also known to be eyeing the Scott Boras client. Like recently-traded slugger Mark Reynolds, Pena slipped below the Mendoza line this year but isn't far removed from 40 home run power.
Josh Willingham Likely To Be Moved
4:38pm: The Orioles have had internal discussions about Willingham, potentially as a first baseman, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. The O's haven't ruled out bringing Ty Wigginton back.
1:56am: The Nationals added one huge piece to their outfield today, but could subtract another key contributor before Opening Day. MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears that Josh Willingham will "most likely" be traded by the Nationals sometime this offseason. The 31-year-old isn't the only National on the trade block either; earlier today, we heard that the club would listen to offers for everyone on its roster besides Werth and Ryan Zimmerman.
There would be room in the Nationals' outfield for both Willingham, a left fielder, and Werth, who is expected to play right. However, Ladson writes that Washington would like to get something back for Willingham rather than letting him leave via free agency after the 2011 season.
Last month, it appeared Willingham and the Nationals would be unable to work out an extension to keep the outfielder in Washington. GM Mike Rizzo indicated that the team would go year to year on Willingham, with Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post suggesting that a trade was also a possibility.
According to Ladson, the Nats are also eyeing first base options, and Carlos Pena remains their top choice. If they can't lock up Pena, the team might like Adam LaRoche as an alternative.
Orioles Acquire Mark Reynolds
The Orioles acquired slugging third baseman Mark Reynolds and a player to be named later or cash considerations for relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio, announced the team.
Reynolds' stock is at a low point after he hit .198/.320/.433 with 32 home runs and 211 strikeouts this year in 596 plate appearances for Arizona. However, he mashed 44 home runs in '09 despite whiffing 223 times. Reynolds owns the first three spots on the single-season strikeout all-time leaderboard. He was locked up by former D'Backs GM Josh Byrnes in March and is owed $5MM in '11 and $7.5MM in '12 with an $11MM club option for '13.
As a reliever, the 25-year-old Hernandez posted a 3.16 ERA, 10.9 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, and 0.97 HR/9 in 37 innings this year for the Orioles. He's a hard-throwing flyball pitcher who the Diamondbacks view as their seventh/eighth inning guy.
Mickolio, 26, is another hard-throwing right-handed bullpen arm. He came to the Orioles in the February '08 Erik Bedard trade. He's less established than Hernandez, with only 25 Major League innings to his name. Mickolio posted big strikeout numbers in 35 1/3 Triple-A innings this year but also allowed tons of hits, leading to a 6.37 ERA. He's dealt with various arm injuries the past few years.
Kevin Towers and Andy MacPhail last matched up on the Cla Meredith–Oscar Salazar swap from July of '09.
SI's Jon Heyman first reported the trade was close, with ESPN's Buster Olney, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, and the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro adding details.
Odds & Ends: Nishioka, Uggla, Soriano, Wigginton
The typical Winter Meetings barrage of links…
- There's trade interest in newly-blocked third baseman Josh Bell, Orioles manager Buck Showalter told Yahoo's Steve Henson, though Bell can play first (Twitter link).
- Tsuyoshi Nishioka's agents are meeting with the Twins today, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. He says the Japanese infielder seeks a three-year deal.
- Dan Uggla and the Braves have talked a bit about an extension, tweets Heyman.
- The Angels have deflected trade talks about other closers because they're focused on Rafael Soriano, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
- Ty Wigginton is the Rockies' top target for a right-handed bench bat, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and they're meeting with his agent today.
- MLB.com's Scott Merkin talked to free agent reliever Bobby Jenks, who would like to return to the White Sox if possible. Manager Ozzie Guillen told Merkin that if Jenks does return, he would not be guaranteed the closer job (Twitter link).
- Reds manager Dusty Baker told reporters, "Joey Votto told me he wants to stay. He just wasn't ready to say he wants to stay the rest of life."
Six Teams Interested In Koji Uehara
The Orioles, Mariners, Twins, Red Sox, Brewers, and Cardinals are interested in free agent reliever Koji Uehara, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun learned from an unnamed Japanese reporter. Uehara would like to return to the Orioles, but they're unlikely to give him a multiyear deal. If he finds such an offer, he'll sign elsewhere.
Uehara, 36 in April, was dominant out of the Orioles' pen this year in 44 innings but has had an injury-plagued couple of seasons in the U.S.