Odds & Ends: Yankees, Beltre, Carroll
Merry Christmas everyone! It's time to see what news has been left for us under the tree. I hope there's a vortex football in there for me as well…
- Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports took a look at the offseason thus far in the National League. For his portion on the Cubs, Ringolsby writes that they got the better end of the Milton Bradley-for-Carlos Silva swap.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball counted up the money spent by every team in baseball from 1999-2009, using the end of year salary totals. Over this stretch, the Yankees have spent 44% more than the number two top spender, the Red Sox.
- Sam Borden of the LoHud Yankees Blog takes a look at the remaining free agents who could fill the Yankees' vacancy in left field. Three names that jump out to him: Jonny Gomes, Xavier Nady, and Reed Johnson. Although Gomes had a strong '09 offensively (.879 OPS), his career defensive metrics leave much to be desired. Nady, of course, is only an attractive option if healthy.
- The A's are talking with free agent Adrian Beltre, according to the headline of a post by Mychael Urban of Comcast SportsNet. We first heard that Oakland was interested a week ago, but "only in an Oakland economy size financial package." Urban's piece says that Beltre is reportedly seeking $10-15MM per season.
- Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes that Jamey Carroll's contract with the Dodgers does not include the "Ramirez Provision", which is a clause that mandates a donation to the team's charity. While owner Frank McCourt said that the clause would be standard for all contracts after Manny Ramirez signed his new deal, a grievance filed by the player's union may have caused the Dodgers to ease up on the requirement.
- The Chiba Lotte Mariners will be sending a representative to California to negotiate with/for Dodgers pitcher Eric Stults, according to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker who passes along the report from Spinochi. The Japanese club has been interested in Stults for a couple of months and have already been rebuffed by the Dodgers once already.
Discussion: Johnny Damon and Jason Bay
While its difficult to criticize negotations from the outside, two major free agents appear to have negotiated their way out of ideal situations this year.
In 2009, Johnny Damon closed out his four-year, $52MM contract in style, hitting .282/.365/.489 with 24 HRs. This offseason it was clear that Damon wanted to re-up with the Yankees, but of course, at the right price. Early in the offseason, reports suggested that Boras was seeking a three-year contract at roughly the same rate ($13MM/year) as his last deal.
After the Bombers signed Nick Johnson to take his place, word got out that Damon would have settled for $20MM over two years. While the Yanks' proposal of $14MM still wasn't quite close enough, it is possible that the two sides could have reached an accord. The Giants could be a suitor, as they were in on the Johnson chase, but it's doubtful that they would want to put him in the outfield.
Meanwhile, after rejecting a four-year, $60MM offer from Boston in July, Jason Bay appears to be having some trouble finding a new home.
The signing of Mike Cameron likely means that the Red Sox will be moving on, leaving the Mets as the top suitor. While some suggest that Omar Minaya & Co. will be willing to fork over the five-year pact that agent Joe Urbon has been asking for, it has been said that he does not want to play in Queens.
Regardless of what kind of contract each player fetches, it is difficult to imagine either player getting the money they wanted from their respective teams.
Gammons On Bay, Holliday, Gonzalez, Cabrera
Yesterday, Peter Gammons appeared in-studio on WEEI with Dale & Holley to talk about the state of the offseason in Boston. Here are some notes from his hour-long chat…
- It's unlikely that the BoSox will be able to bring back Jason Bay, as they already made him the best offer that he has received.
- Gammons quips that Bay would "rather play in Beirut than Queens" and adds that he should have taken Boston's offer of $60MM over four years back in July.
- As for the Mets, if they are unable to land Bay, Gammons doesn't see them adding anybody else of a similar caliber. With their unwillingness to go over the luxury tax threshold, they are more likely to pocket the money to make a mid-season deal.
- Gammons calls Scott Boras "brilliant," but questions his wisdom in turning down the five-year $82.5MM offer the Red Sox made Matt Holliday. That could be the best offer he has seen so far.
- While we have heard rumors of an Adrian Gonzalez-to-Boston swap for months, the two sides have yet to exchange names. Gammons says it would be virtually impossible for the Padres to deal him before July.
- Miguel Cabrera could become available if the Tigers stumble out of the gate. If he is available, Boston would be interested, despite concerns about him off-the-field.
- Gammons expects Josh Beckett to be the second most-coveted free agent on the market next winter, behind Cliff Lee. Naturally, a healthy season would go a long way towards boosting his value.
- After reading the post here on MLBTradeRumors about Frank Wren saying that the Braves were going to get a major bat, he was surprised to later find out that the slugger was Troy Glaus. Trading Javier Vazquez and Rafael Soriano was about saving $16MM, not about the players they received.
Jason Bay Rumors: Thursday
6:32pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post is critical of how the Mets have handled negotiations with Bay. He said "the Mets are losing their dignity" by spending so much of their offseason time and energy in pursuit of a player "who clearly has major concerns" about coming to New York. Sherman suggests that the Mets should set a 24-hour deadline for Bay to accept their contract offer, and if he doesn't, the club should look at other left field options. Sherman thinks that a player like Jack Cust would be a wiser, lower-cost signing who could provide similar power numbers.
12:00pm: The Jason Bay to Boston rumors aren't exactly gaining momentum. An ESPNBoston.com article classifies the chances of a Bay return as a "long shot," while SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets that the Red Sox would probably only consider Bay for less ("maybe much less") than the Mets' best offer. Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston adds (via Twitter) that Mike Cameron's agent hasn't heard anything about the Sox pursuing another left fielder.
8:36am: In yesterday's round of Jason Bay rumblings, we heard that there could potentially be a renewed mutual interest between Bay and the Boston Red Sox. Today, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe hears that the pairing would not be inconceivable, but that there are a couple of roadblocks: The Red Sox would have to extend their budget, after committing $15.5MM to Mike Cameron, and a potential contract would probably need to be heavily backloaded.
ESPN.com's Buster Olney agrees with that assessment, since a source tells him that the Red Sox have less than $5MM left in spending money. He writes that signing Bay would mean the Sox either blowing up their budget or having to move a contract or two.
As for the Mets' four-year offer that's still on the table, Olney says that the Mets are feeling more and more like Bay doesn't want to play for them, and are making alternative plans. Newsday's Ken Davidoff thinks it wouldn't be the end of the world if the Mets refused to increase their offer to Bay and he ended up elsewhere.
Jason Bay Rumors: Wednesday
10:48pm: The Red Sox might also be looking into extending an offer to free agent Matt Holliday, reports Mike Silverman of the Boston Herald. However, Silverman notes that signing Bay, let alone the more expensive Holliday, would be difficult.
7:31pm: The Mets have not heard from Bay's agent, Joe Urbon, in the last couple of days, a team official tells Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News. The same official says not to expect the club to ink Bay or Bengie Molina before Christmas.
In other Mets news, Carlos Delgado's delay in returning to baseball via the Puerto Rican winter league is apparently a result of issues related to the hip surgery he had last summer.
6:48pm: Boston has had internal discussions about extending their organizational budget to potentially allow for another offer to be made to Jason Bay, a team source tells Rob Bradford of WEEI. The discussed proposal would be in the vicinity of the four-year, $60MM deal originally pitched to the slugger.
It was widely thought that the signings of John Lackey and outfielder Mike Cameron spelled the end of Bay's tenure with the Red Sox as the club is now teetering on the edge of the $170MM luxury tax threshold.
Odds & Ends: Rangers, Lackey, Yankees
Another round of Wednesday links:
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that Justin Duchscherer is leaning towards an NL team, although he is not sure which one.
- Now that free agent Matt Capps appears to be leaning towards the Nationals, the Rockies are looking into other hurlers on the open market. A major league source tells Thomas Harding of MLB.com that the club is negotiating with free agent Tim Redding. The Rockies flirted with signing him last winter before he signed with the Mets, where he posted a 5.10 ERA in 30 games, including 17 starts.
- The group selected to purchase the Rangers could be in financial trouble, says Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports.
- Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com thinks that Mark DeRosa could become more valuable to suitors after Matt Holliday and Jason Bay sign, with few other big bats available.
- The Javier Vazquez trade can't be properly evaluated until the Braves spend all of the $8MM they saved in the deal, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Still, Rosenthal points out that the Braves should be concerned about the health histories of their free agent signings so far.
- Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe relays some details of John Lackey's contract with Boston, including an interesting conditional option: If an old elbow injury forces Lackey to miss significant time over the course of his contract, he'd have to play for the league minimum in 2015.
- Mark Carig of the Star-Ledger passes on this quote from Yankees GM Brian Cashman, regarding the team's outfield opening: "It won't be a big name situation. I can promise you that."
- Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik says that the two recent trades involving the Mariners and Blue Jays were "complete, separate entities," according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.
Odds & Ends: Vazquez, A’s, Orioles, Marlins
A few links…
- ESPN's Keith Law rated David Ortiz signing with Boston as the best free agent pickup of the decade. Darren Dreifort's deal with the Dodgers was the worst, and he called the Erik Bedard trade the biggest of the decade. That last one is certainly debatable; I prefer the Bartolo Colon for Grady Sizemore (plus others) deal.
- Interestingly, Yankees' GM Brian Cashman noted today that the club tried to acquire Javier Vazquez from Arizona after 2005 and the White Sox after 2008, “but we just didn’t match up," reports Chad Jennings of The Journal News.
- Bruce Jenkins of The SF Chronicle says that the A's are winning the battle of the Bay Area this offseason. Of course, the regular season is the battle you really want to win.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports that Orioles' president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said "My guess is I wouldn't think we'll be doing anything anytime soon, which is not to be interpreted as not doing anything between now and Sarasota." The O's finalized the Garrett Atkins deal today.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro writes about the Marlins' first base situation, noting that there's certainly no shortage of in-house options.
- Bill Ladson of MLB.com tweets that the Nationals continue to show interest in righty John Smoltz, "but they are not willing to break the bank to get him."
- Coco Crisp's physical with the A's was delayed because of travel issues, so the announcement of his signing will have to wait says Susan Slusser of The SF Chronicle.
- Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball takes a look at the growth of player salaries over the last decade.
- Here's some news on a different kind of contract negotiation: According to the AP (via ESPN) MLB and the umpires hope to have a new agreement in place tomorrow, which will allow for greater flexibility with postseason assignments.
Jason Bay Rumors: Tuesday
9:45am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post says (via Twitter) that Bay, Johnny Damon and Matt Holliday remain too expensive for the Yankees.
8:49am: There were indications that Jason Bay and his representatives were active yesterday, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. The Mets, who are bidding against themselves at the moment, are hesitant to expand their four year offer unless they know which other teams are interested.
The Red Sox never budged from a four-year offer because of concerns about Bay's shoulder and knee, Silverman says. They're not frontrunners to re-sign the left fielder now, but it's too early to rule the Red Sox and Yankees out completely.
Yesterday, we heard that the Mets' offer to Bengie Molina may hinge on their negotiations with Bay, so Bay's decision will influence more than just the outfield market.
Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Giants, Nationals
Lots to get to as we round out another Hot Stove Monday…
- Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has the backstory on Mike Lowell, his thumb injury and the trade that wasn't. Lowell expects to be ready for baseball activities by the first week of spring training, but has no idea if that will be with Boston or another team.
- MLB.com's Chris Haft answers mail from Giants' fans. He says, among other things, that the Giants are reluctant to trade Jonathan Sanchez straight-up for Dan Uggla-as well they should be.
- Washington Post Nationals beat reporter Chico Harlan weighs in on the Jason Marquis signing, noting that Marquis has more career victories than the other starters on the Washington 40-man roster combined.
- AOL Fanhouse's Ed Price says that "All we hear out of the Mets camp is that they don't want to be bidding against themselves. Well, the fact of the matter is, the Mets might just have to bid against themselves." This is hard to understand, considering that Jason Bay and Bengie Molina certainly aren't likely to sit out the season rather than accept offers from the Mets.
- Lyle Spencer of MLB.com speculates about what it would take for the Angels to acquire Derek Lowe.
Mike Lowell’s Future In Boston
5:04pm: Ken Rosenthal adds to the discussion, making the prediction that Lowell will never play another game for the Red Sox. He says Boston simply does not want Lowell to be their third baseman next year, citing the team's interest in Mark Teixeira last offseason, its moves to acquire Victor Martinez and Casey Kotchman, and its willingness to pay $9MM of Lowell's salary in a trade as evidence.
Rosenthal calls the situation "Julio Lugo all over again," with the notable exception that Lowell has, for the most part, been a very productive player for Boston, unlike Lugo. Still, the veteran infielder is owed $12MM and seemingly doesn't fit into Boston's plans anymore. And if you ask Rosenthal, the end result will be the same as it was with Lugo — a trade of Mike Lowell with the Sox picking up most of the tab.
1:38pm: John Tomase of the Boston Herald looks at what's next for Mike Lowell, now that the trade with Texas has been called off. Tomase notes the extreme respect that the Red Sox have for Lowell's heart and desire last season, playing through injuries to start 105 games and post a respectable .811 OPS.
Boston's biggest concern now is whether or not Lowell will be able to remain healthy and whether or not he will have the mobility to play defense. Lowell had been a consistently strong defender for Boston until last season, when his UZR/150 plummeted from a strong 15.6 in 2008 to an ugly -14.4.
Lowell could still be had at a fairly inexpensive price, as the Red Sox have already shown willingness to eat $9MM of the $12MM owed to him in 2010. The question, however, is whether or not the upside of his bat is worth the risk of his health. Lowell's torn thumb ligament has been described as "non-essential" by one baseball source, but it's only the latest on the list of issues that have shelved the Boston third baseman.
Does it make sense for Boston to hang onto Lowell and hope for the best in 2010, or should they still be actively shopping him? Given that the free agent market has numerous options at both corner infield spots, are there any teams that would make sense for the 36-year-old?