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Odds And Ends: Varitek, Markakis, Johnson

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Links for Thursday night…

  • Curt Schilling thinks the Red Sox need Jason Varitek.
  • Buster Olney writes that some executives think Type A free agents like Varitek, Orlando Cabrera and Juan Cruz should sign soon instead of waiting until the season starts.
  • Ken Rosenthal proposes a ’Juan Cruz rule’ so that players like Cruz aren’t the ones hurt by the compensation system.
  • Andy MacPhail provides some of the reasons he wanted to lock up Nick Markakis. He has plenty of good ones to choose from.
  • Chico Harlan of the Washington Post spoke with Nick Johnson, who "expressed no particular desire" to play in his home state of California.
  • Kobe Bryant jokingly suggested that he could play left for the Dodgers instead of Manny Ramirez.

Heyman On Manny, Varitek, Madson, Swisher

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up…

  • Heyman says half the teams in baseball may still have a big deal left in them, with roughly 100 free agents remaining.
  • Manny Ramirez continues to wait patiently; Heyman guesses the Dodgers go to three years for him.  They’d be bidding against themselves, unless Manny has an offer we don’t know about.
  • When John Henry asked Jason Varitek why he didn’t accept their offer of arbitration, Varitek responded that he didn’t believe it would’ve guaranteed him a spot on the team.
  • Heyman finds it odd that first-year arb closers are getting more money than starters.
  • Scott Boras was in favor of Ryan Madson taking the Phillies’ three-year, $12MM offer based on Madson’s personal/familial circumstances.
  • The Yankees are finding more interest in Nick Swisher than Xavier Nady.
  • Heyman has the Ricketts family as the favorite to buy the Cubs.
  • Heyman suggests Bobby Abreu’s defense gets a bad rap.  The plus/minus system, however, says the right fielder is among the worst in the game.
  • The Nationals and Marlins share the Rays’ policy of not negotiating once arbitration figures are submitted.  The Nats are apparently willing to bend and may keep talking with Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham (each about a million bucks apart).

Varitek Negotiations Dragging

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According to Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox have a proposal on the table for Jason Varitek.  However, the two sides have not made recent progress on a deal.  Varitek "has not given up hope of securing a two-year deal," according to Massarotti’s source.

More realistically, I am guessing Tek can accept around $4MM on a one-year deal.  If he’s really stubborn he can wait until after the June draft, but it’d take a desperate team to give him more than a few million for a half-season.

Papelbon Not Anxious For Long-Term Deal

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As reported by Art Martone of the Providence Journal, Jonathan Papelbon said during a radio appearance Wednesay night that he enjoys "rolling the dice" from year to year and is not yet concerned about negotiating a multi-year extension.

"You have to weigh so many different things [in negotiating a long-term contract], and it’s so hard to put it in perspective," Papeblon said.  If he can keep up his current rate of production, he’ll continue pulling in big checks in the offseason.  The Red Sox shelled out $6.25MM Tuesday to avoid an arbitration hearing.

Odds and Ends: Prospects, Alfonzo, Zimmerman

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Links for Wednesday…

  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak subjected himself to all kinds of questions from fans today in an online chat.  It sounds like he might do a little spring tinkering.
  • It seems that the Angels will go with internal options for the fifth starter job.
  • The Rangers, Rays, and A’s are atop Keith Law’s farm system rankings, with the Tigers, Nationals, and Astros bringing up the rear.
  • Orioles infielder Oscar Salazar is likely on the chopping block to make room for Gregg Zaun.
  • Kyodo News reports that Edgardo Alfonzo will try out for the Yomiuri Giants.
  • Dave Sheinin says Kevin Youkilis is a good comp for Ryan Zimmerman.  The midpoint between Zimmerman’s and the Nationals’ arbitration submissions would be a $3.325MM.
  • I sincerely appreciate all the submissions for the Saturday evening writer gig.  I’m happy to welcome D.J. Blatter aboard as our newest blogger.

Rosenthal On Sheets, Cruz, Cabrera, Reyes

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The latest from Ken Rosenthal…

  • Rosenthal recommends the Yankees sign Ben Sheets and Juan Cruz, partially because they’d pay less of a cost in draft picks than any other team.  One exec predicted Sheets would require a $6-8MM base with the potential to earn at least $14MM, and possibly a "lucrative club option."  Despite Rosenthal’s recommendation, the Yanks remain focused on Andy Pettitte (who is not weighing an offer from the Astros).
  • Industry sources tell Rosenthal that the Red Sox have kept their payroll flexible in case mid and low-revenue teams need to dump contracts.
  • The A’s probably cannot afford both Nick Johnson and Orlando Cabrera, so they’ll wait to see what happens with Cabrera before pursuing the trade with Washington.
  • Prince Fielder filed for $8MM against the Brewers’ $6MM; Rosenthal indicates the team feared he’d file higher.
  • One chatter mentioned yesterday that Cory Sullivan and Jeremy Reed are the exact same player; one GM said the same to Rosenthal.
  • Dennys Reyes has backed off his demand for Jeremy Affeldt money (two years, $8MM).  Affeldt seemed like a bargain at the time.
  • Expected to be in attendance at Kris Benson’s upcoming throwing session: the Dodgers, Rangers, Padres, Rockies, and D’Backs.  Looks like an NL West affair.

Dewon Day Clears Waivers

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According to Bill Chastain of MLB.com, right-hander Dewon Day cleared waivers earlier today and was outrighted by Tampa Bay to Triple-A Durham.

Day, 28, spent the 2008 season in the White Sox organization, posting a 6.61 ERA in 13 starts in Double-A Birmingham and a 4.56 ERA in 21 relief appearances in Triple-A Charlotte.

He was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox in October and then by the Rays on Friday. He has an invitation to Major League Camp in Spring Training.

Multi-Year Deal Remains a Possibility for Papelbon

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According to Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe, both the Red Sox and Jonathan Papelbon remain interested in pursuing a multi-year contract extension for the All-Star closer.

Although the parties agreed to a one-year, $6.25MM deal earlier today, Red Sox assistant GM Jed Hoyer said of the chances of a long-term deal, "I would say, certainly, those discussions are open and we may pick them up going forward. I think both sides felt like in the interest of time and not exchanging numbers, the best thing to do was to agree on a one-year number today. But we are certainly open to exploring those ideas, and I think their side is, too."

Mariners Acquire David Aardsma

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According to Ryan Divish, the Mariners acquired reliever David Aardsma from the Red Sox for minor league lefty Fabian Williamson.  Aardsma had been designated for assignment on Thursday.

Aardsma, 27, posted a 5.55 ERA in 48.6 innings for the Red Sox last year.  Control was a problem, but he did rack up Ks.  Aardsma’s average fastball velocity was 94.5 mph.

Eight More Avoid Arbitration

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has seven more players who avoided arbitration today: Jeremy Accardo ($900K), Heath Bell ($1.225MM), Ryan Church ($2.8MM), Gerald Laird ($2.8MM), Javier Lopez ($1.35MM), Bobby Seay ($1.3MM), and Joel Zumaya ($735K).  I think next year we’ll put all of these in one constantly-updated post.

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says Angel Pagan signed for $575K.

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