Cafardo’s Latest: Varitek, Sheets, Glavine
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has a new article up in this Sunday’s paper:
- Mariners advisers have suggested bringing in Jason Varitek to improve the Seattle pitching staff.
- "Arbitration-strapped" Philadelphia may have interest in Ben Sheets as he becomes a bigger bargain by the day.
- Cafardo details the Kevin Youkilis contract extension, to the dollar.
- Kris Benson will work out for the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rangers, and Cubs next Saturday.
- Tom Glavine would entertain an offer from Washington.
- If Atlanta takes on Andruw Jones, they would only have to take on $400K of the $21MM plus the Dodgers are paying him.
Odds & Ends: Brewers, Votto, Manny, Montero
A handful of Odds and Ends from around the bigs:
- The Brewers declined to offer a contract to any of the former players that attended their tryout camp last Tuesday in Phoenix, says Tom Haudricourt. Among the auditioning were Mark Bellhorn, Randall Simon, and Robert Fick.
- Mariners new GM Jack Zduriencik may find his patience will pay off as bargains begin to emerge in the free agent market, says Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune.
- Bill Madden of the NY Daily News breaks down the Manny Ramirez market, team by team, including notes on the Dodgers, Mets, Giants, Angels, Yankees, Nats, and Tigers. He notes that if the Yankees failed to land Mark Teixeira, they "were ready to go at least two years and an option for Manny." Madden expects to hear the word "collusion" any day now.
- According to Tom Krasovic, the Padres have a chance at drafting Stephen Strasburg, a San Diego native, in the 2009 draft if the Mariners and Nationals pass on the pitcher.
- Nick Piecoro of azcentral.com says the Diamondbacks are not budging on their price for Miguel Montero: "a legit impact player, like a solid starting pitcher or an everyday bat." The Red Sox remain interested, but Piecoro writes,
"It’s possible the Red Sox are using Montero as leverage to drive down [Jason] Varitek’s cost or get the Rangers to cave on their asking price for Jarred Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden."
- "No chance," says GM Walt Jocketty that Joey Votto will be traded, according to John Fay of the Cincinatti Enquirer.
Varitek Met With Henry, Hopes To Return
11:37pm: More on Varitek from NESN’s Heidi Watney. She says Varitek’s meeting with Henry was to "clear the air" rather than negotiate. The Red Sox had not been returning Scott Boras’ phone calls, but now they’ll reopen negotiations. Watney notes that Varitek was not aware when he turned down arbitration that any signing team would have to give up a draft pick. Tek does not blame Boras for this.
9:07am: Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe reports that Jason Varitek thought last night’s meeting with Red Sox owner John Henry "went OK." Varitek confirmed he wants to play for the Red Sox this year in a text message.
Varitek, who requested the meeting, did not comment when asked if the Red Sox were interested in bringing him back.
Buster Olney asked multiple executives whether they’d sign Varitek at any price given that they’d have to give up an early draft pick for doing so. Everyone asked said no, they’d rather have the pick. Olney reminds us that some executives could think differently, but his informal poll shows that Varitek doesn’t have much leverage with the Red Sox.
Red Sox Owner John Henry To Meet With Varitek
According to WEEI’s Alex Speier, Red Sox owner John Henry said in a Comcast Sportsnet interview that he is meeting Jason Varitek tonight one-on-one. Tony Massarotti confirmed with Varitek that a meeting will take place. You have to think a meeting without Scott Boras might speed up talks.
Odds and Ends: Putz, Mitsui, Varitek
Links for Friday…
- Jacob Jackson proposes a new, simpler free agent compensation system.
- Jon Paul Morosi says the Mariners wanted Fernando Perez from the Rays in the failed talks that would’ve brought J.J. Putz to Detroit. The Rays were unwilling to do this in part because B.J. Upton will be unavailable to start the season.
- Koji Mitsui again failed to garner a bid from an MLB team.
- Aaron Gleeman discusses the Twins’ decision not to use certain advanced statistics.
- Tony Massarotti and Curt Schilling talk about the Jason Varitek situation.
- Former GM Woody Woodward is back with the Mariners, as a scout. The Pirates added former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie as a senior advisor to Neal Huntington.
- The Nationals have done little in the Japanese market, and they were never involved on Koji Uehara.
Odds And Ends: Garland, Selig, Arbitration
Links for Thursday night:
- Nick Piecoro thinks the D’Backs could use Jon Garland to provide some solid innings, but their chances of acquiring him are much lower now that he’s rejected their offer.
- Yahoo’s Tim Brown passes along a bizarre Scott Boras quote: "Baseball markets are like breakfast." More specifically, Boras called this market "an Aunt Jemima market."
- Bud Selig talked economics with MLB owners and admitted that baseball’s not "recession proof."
- Ryan Howard leads an impressive class of players who filed for arbitration.
- Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi hasn’t gone to an arbitration hearing yet, and MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian doesn’t expect that streak to end soon.
- Rob Neyer likes the depth in the Boston rotation, but he thinks the Mets still need another arm and maybe two.
Kotsay Signing Official, Aardsma Designated
7:38pm: The AP has the details: Kotsay makes a base salary of $1.5MM, but he gets $200K if he makes 300 plate appearances and an additional $200K for every 50 times up after that, up to 500 plate appearances. He could make up to $1MM on top of his base salary.
3:59pm: According to Art Martone of the Providence Journal, the Red Sox announced the Mark Kotsay signing today. He gets a one-year deal. The Sox also designated reliever David Aardsma for assignment.
Red Sox To Sign Kevin Youkilis For Four Years
7:09pm: According to Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald the contract’s worth at least $41.25MM. Youkilis gets a $1MM signing bonus, $6MM in 2009, $9MM in 2010 and $12MM in 2011 and 2012. After four years, the Red Sox have the option of buying Youkilis out for $1.25MM or paying him about $14MM to play another season.
5:25pm: Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe adds an important detail; the deal includes a club option for a fifth year at $13MM. It’s still unclear whether it includes any buyouts.
3:06pm: According to ESPN’s Peter Gammons, the Red Sox and Kevin Youkilis agreed to a four-year deal worth more than $40MM. There’s also a fifth year option. The deal buys out two arbitration years and two free agent years. The Boston Globe’s Amalie Benjamin says the deal is close but not likely to be finished today.
Youkilis, 30 in March, hit .312/.390/.569 in 621 plate appearances in ’08 while playing above-average defense at first base. He finished third in the AL MVP vote. Youkilis’ teammate Dustin Pedroia received $34MM for the same slice of his career ($40.5MM in total).
Indians, Red Sox Complete Byrd Trade
Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Red Sox have sent outfielder Mickey Hall to the Indians to complete the trade that sent Paul Byrd to the Red Sox last season.
The news comes the day after we heard that Byrd will sit out the first half of the 2009 season.
Hall, who turns 24 in May, hit .232/.333/.456 in 82 AA games last year in the Boston organization.
Odds and Ends: Smoltz, Cordero, Colon, Byrd
Links for Thursday…
- John Smoltz told Dan Patrick that the Yankees and Dodgers also courted him.
- KNBR had interviews with Scott Boras and Ned Colletti yesterday.
- The Dodgers are "only monitoring" Kris Benson and Chad Cordero.
- The Phillies have "kept tabs" on Cordero and Eric Milton.
- Baseball America ranked the Rangers’ farm system as the best in baseball.
- Andy MacPhail says the Orioles don’t necessarily have to add a first baseman.
- South Side Sox and Sox Machine on the Bartolo Colon signing.
- Jon Paul Morosi says Jason Isringhausen is a "natural fit" for the Tigers.
- The Red Sox will only get a supplemental pick for Paul Byrd if he signs before the June draft.
- Barry Bloom gathers responses from baseball execs on the salary cap issue.
- Eddie Bajek made a breakthrough in his attempt to crack the Elias code.
- Richard Justice has an interesting story involving new Astro Russ Ortiz.
- Rickey Henderson says he’s still available to play. Asked about the WBC, he responded, ""What is [the WBC], wrestling?"
- Transcript of an interview with Red Sox owner John Henry.