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Odds & Ends: Vazquez, Nationals, Yankees, Werth

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Links for Sunday…

Red Sox Interested In Matt Guerrier

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The Red Sox have shown interest in Matt Guerrier, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The reliever is a free agent for the first time this winter, after earning $3.15MM in 2010, his final year of arbitration eligibility.

Guerrier, who has spent his entire big league career in Minnesota, was not offered arbitration by the Twins this week. As a Type A free agent, the right-hander may have had trouble securing a deal with another team if he turned down arbitration. With no arb offer though, the 32-year-old is free to sign with any club without costing them a draft pick.

MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith examined Guerrier's free agent stock earlier this week, concluding that the righty may not receive multiyear offers due to some mediocre peripheral numbers and a deep free agent class. However, as a workhorse that has made at least 73 appearances in each of the last four seasons, Guerrier should draw plenty of interest on a short-term deal. For their part, the Red Sox are looking to improve a bullpen that ranked 12th in the AL in ERA (4.24) in 2010.

Cafardo On Gonzalez, V-Mart, Rangers, Nishioka

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Let's take a look at the latest from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe….

  • Cafardo suggests the money the Red Sox could have spent on Victor Martinez may be used to make a bigger splash. He speculates that splash could involve trading for Adrian Gonzalez and signing him to an extension, but ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Insider-only link) still expects the Padres to begin the 2011 season with Gonzalez on their roster.
  • One National League GM on Boston deciding not to match the Tigers' offer for Martinez: "He really rakes lefthanded pitching. That was the strange thing about the Red Sox for me — that in a division where there are so many good lefthanded pitchers, Martinez hit them at a .400 clip [in 2010]. Big, big loss for the Red Sox."
  • One option the Rangers are discussing internally, in the event they can't sign Cliff Lee, is moving Neftali Feliz to the rotation and signing a closer such as Rafael Soriano.
  • Olney reported earlier this week that rival executives view the Rangers as the team with the best shot at acquiring Zack Greinke. Cafardo hears the same thing, noting that Engel Beltre is "often mentioned as trade bait."
  • As we heard when the Twins won the bidding for Tsuyoshi Nishioka, the Red Sox were also involved. According to Cafardo, Boston's bid was about $2.3MM, and their interest in the Japanese shortstop was "marginal." With Jed Lowrie and Jose Iglesias already in the organization, Nishioka didn't make a ton of sense for the club.
  • Cafardo expects the Padres, Red Sox, or Indians to hire Josh Byrnes in the near future.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Konerko, Jeter, Lee, Beltre

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On this date back in 1974, Catfish Hunter met with Oakland A's owner Charles Finley and Peter Seitz of the American Arbitration Association in New York after the team failed to make a $50,000 payment into a long-term annuity fund. The right-hander claimed that his contract had been violated, and Seitz eventually ruled in his favor. Hunter became the first big name free agent in baseball history, later signing a five-year, $3.5MM contract with the Yankees that made him the highest-paid player in baseball history.

Here's a helping of links that go well with Thanksgiving leftovers…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Stark On Tigers, Angels, Werth, Rangers

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Teams have money to spend this offseason and ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark explains which clubs will spend more than others and what they’re going to devote their resources to. Here are the details:

  • The Tigers, who announced the Victor Martinez signing today, are still “prowling” for a right-handed corner outfielder. Scott Boras clients Jayson Werth and Magglio Ordonez could be options for Detroit. 
  • One AL executive predicts that the Angels will “spend their butts off."
  • Teams will be surprised if Carl Crawford doesn’t end up with the Angels, who could add Adrian Beltre, too.
  • The Red Sox appear to be the favorites to sign Werth.
  • Other clubs expect the Rangers to pursue Crawford or Zack Greinke if they can’t sign Cliff Lee.
  • The Orioles, Nationals, A’s, Brewers and Pirates are also looking to spend this offseason.

Red Sox Interested In Rod Barajas

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With Victor Martinez and John Buck off the market, the Red Sox are turning their attention to "a number of catching contingencies" including free agent Rod Barajas, reports FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi.  Barajas would presumably share time with, or be a veteran backup for, Jarrod Saltalamacchia in Boston.

Barajas hit .240/.284/.447 in 339 plate appearances with the Mets and Dodgers in 2010, including a .939 OPS with Los Angeles after he was claimed on waivers in late August.  The 35-year-old gained some AL East experience playing in Toronto in 2008-09 and is known for a strong throwing arm behind the plate.  Barajas has thrown out 32% of baserunners trying to steal on him over his 12-year career, though as Morosi pointed out, that percentage dipped to 15% last season. 

Boston tried to acquire Barajas from the Mets in July to fill in for their many injured catchers.  Barajas' solid power numbers should earn him a bigger contract than the $500K guaranteed deal he signed with New York last February, though he would still be a relatively cheap pickup for the Sox.

Reaction To The Victor Martinez Signing

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Victor Martinez's four-year, $50MM contract with the Tigers was finalized today.  Now that the offseason's first major free agent has left the market, there is no shortage of commentary about how this move impacts Martinez's former club in Boston.  A sampling…

  • "The Tigers are paying Martinez with the expectation that he’ll be able to replicate the career of [Jorge] Posada," writes The Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson, while the Red Sox saw Martinez as another Mike Lieberthal.
  • CSNNE.com's Sean McAdam points out that if Boston had to lose Martinez, Detroit was the best possible team to lose him to since the Tigers have the highest unprotected pick (19th overall) in the 2011 amateur draft.  WEEI.com's Alex Speier, however, points out that Boston's compensatory pick will fall into the second round if the Tigers sign a higher-ranked free agent than Martinez — namely, Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth.
  • In a separate story from Speier, multiple Red Sox sources say they doubt Martinez will remain a viable catcher for more than two seasons. As Speier points out, handing lots of responsibility to Jarrod Saltalamacchia is risky, but signing Martinez long-term would have been risky, too.  Speier says "the decision bore striking parallels" to when Johnny Damon signed with New York after the 2005 season.
  • Writing for WEEI.com, former Boston utilityman Lou Merloni thinks the Red Sox made a mistake by not re-signing Martinez.
  • Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe thinks Theo Epstein may be putting too much emphasis on stockpiling draft picks.

MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post

Odds & Ends: Bigbie, Jeter, Hoffman, Tigers

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Five years ago today, the Red Sox acquired Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett in the blockbuster trade that sent Hanley Ramirez to Florida. As I explained a year ago, that deal worked out pretty well for both clubs. Here are today's links…

  • Seven American League teams watched Larry Bigbie work out recently, MLBTR has learned. The teams have interest in the 33-year-old as a corner outfielder/DH.
  • Jon Heyman of SI.com weighs in on the Derek Jeter contract talks and says the Yankees can't take the chance that Jeter walks out on them, even if it costs them an extra year or a few more million.
  • ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick compares the GM-manager relationships for Chicago's two teams.
  • Some baseball people people are convinced that Trevor Hoffman will return to San Diego, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. The expectation among GMs is that the Padres will trade Heath Bell by next year’s trade deadline.
  • The Tigers are still seen as serious bidders for outfielders, according to Olney.

Minor Deals: Parraz, Mattheus, Boggs

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We'll keep track of the latest minor deals right here:

  • The Red Sox claimed outfielder Jordan Parraz off of waivers from the Royals, the teams announced. The 26-year-old has yet to appear in the majors, but he posted solid numbers at Triple-A last year. In his second stint at Omaha, he batted .266/.350/.410 with 27 doubles.
  • The Royals also outrighted right-handers Gaby Hernandez and Victor Marte to Omaha.
  • The Nationals announced on Twitter that they outrighted right-hander Ryan Mattheus to Triple-A.
  • The Brewers signed Brandon Boggs, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (on Twitter). The 27-year-old outfielder hasn't played much in the past two seasons, but he posted a .733 OPS in 334 plate appearances for the 2008 Rangers.
  • The Mariners and Astros also made minor deals today.

American League Free Agent Arbitration Offers

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10 American League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make, and we'll group them in this post.  For a fantastic customizable chart with all 65 Type A/B free agents and their decisions in real-time, click here.

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