Cold Market For David Ortiz
3:37pm: The Red Sox offered Ortiz a two-year deal worth $18MM, tweets Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston, but he seeks $7MM more. He's undecided on whether to accept arbitration tomorrow.
2:46pm: The draft pick cost associated with signing free agent designated hitter David Ortiz killed his market, tweets Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. The Blue Jays and Mariners are seen as unlikely, so Big Papi might have to reconsider Boston's reported two-year offer or else accept arbitration tomorrow night.
Red Sox Re-Sign Andrew Miller
The Red Sox re-signed lefty Andrew Miller, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Miller had been arbitration eligible. He received a non-guaranteed Major League deal worth $1.04MM, tweets WEEI's Alex Speier.
Miller, 26, posted a 5.54 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 5.7 BB/9, 1.11 HR/9, and 45.4% groundball rate in 65 innings for the Red Sox this year, faring a little better in 65 2/3 Triple-A frames. The big southpaw might have been a non-tender candidate had he made it to the December 12th deadline unsigned. Miller is represented by Frontline.
Red Sox, A’s To Discuss Bailey Tuesday
4:00am: A team source tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that the Red Sox will make an attempt on Bailey (Twitter link).
12:41am: The Red Sox have yet to be aggressive on the Andrew Bailey front, but will meet with Oakland to discuss the former AL Rookie of the Year tomorrow, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.
Bailey, 27, is a logical target for the BoSox who lost Jonathan Papelbon to free agency very early this offseason. The Red Sox haven't hidden their interest in acquiring a closer. One report stated that it was their second priority behind David Ortiz, and they've been linked to Ryan Madson multiple times. It also appears that top setup man Daniel Bard is comfortable transitioning to the rotation should new GM Ben Cherington acquire a closer.
Bailey, who posted a 3.24 ERA and 8.9 K/9 with 24 saves in 41 2/3 innings this season, has also drawn interest from the Padres, Angels, and Rangers.
C.J. Wilson Rumors: Monday
The latest on free agent lefty C.J. Wilson…
- The Angels talked with Wilson's agent late into Monday night, tweets Scott Miller of CBS Sports. The Angels and Marlins remain in the thick of the Wilson sweepstakes, according to Jon Paul Morosi. Wilson's agent met with the Angels on Monday and will speak with the Marlins on Tuesday. The Marlins "are as aggressive as anyone" (Twitter links here).
- The Rangers are set to make their first offer of the offseason to Wilson on Tuesday, writes ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
- The Angels are making a "serious push" for Wilson, tweets Morosi.
- According to Morosi (via Twitter), the Red Sox are still involved in the Wilson sweepstakes. Morosi's fellow FOX scribe Ken Rosenthal adds in a separate tweet that the Cubs have spoken with Garber in an attempt to gauge the market for the southpaw.
- Wilson has a six-year offer in hand from a team other than the Rangers, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Rangers, Angels, Marlins, Nationals, and a mystery team are currently in the mix, and it's known that the Nationals did not offer six years. Wilson hopes to sign this week, but won't sign with a team just because it offered six years. Agent Bob Garber will meet with the Rangers tonight or Tuesday morning. Yesterday, it was reported that Wilson had offers from four teams.
- Wilson and Roy Oswalt are represented by Garber, who said, "I have the two best clients out there. C.J. is comfortable with the process and confident with how things have been going. Roy basically said, 'Take care of C.J. I'll wait in the wings. Once C.J. and [Mark] Buehrle have signed, my market will open up."
Darren Oliver Likely To Return To Rangers
Darren Oliver "appears to be headed back" to the Rangers, tweets Jon Heyman of the MLB Network. Heyman says the Red Sox are also in the mix for the left-hander, but "Dallas is home."
Earlier tonight, MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wrote that the Rangers were in search of left-handed relief, and general manager Jon Daniels' preference was to fill that role with Oliver. The 40-year-old Oliver has spent the last two seasons with Texas, posting a combined 2.40 ERA in 112 2/3 innings with a strong 8.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
Red Sox “Confident” About Re-Signing Ortiz
The Red Sox seem "pretty confident" they'll be able to re-sign David Ortiz to a two-year deal, assuming he doesn't accept arbitration, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Here are a few more Red Sox updates from Ben Cherington's first Winter Meetings as Boston's GM:
- While Boston was thought to have interest in free agents like C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt, Cherington said today that he doesn't anticipate the Red Sox pursuing high-end starting pitching options, as WEEI's Alex Speier writes.
- Cherington also said today that Daniel Bard had indicated a preference for his 2012 role, though it seems he and Bard may not have been on the same page. In a text message to the Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson, Bard said he stated a willingness to move to the rotation rather than a preference to do so: "I guess making it clear that I would be willing to start may have made it seem like a preference, but I just want to make it clear that I feel like I could thrive in either role."
- It doesn't appear that the Orioles will be signing longtime Red Sox backstop Jason Varitek. According to John Tomase of the Boston Herald, O's skipper Buck Showalter addressed the topic in Dallas: "Right now, it’s not a fit for us."
AL East Rumors: Lowrie, Upton, Maddon, Orioles
The latest buzz out of the AL East…
- A few teams are asking the Red Sox about infielder Jed Lowrie, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The Braves are not in the picture for Lowrie, notes Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.
- The Rays are telling teams they will talk about center fielder B.J. Upton, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney, but they have to be overwhelmed to move him. Upton has one year remaning before free agency.
- Rays manager Joe Maddon told reporters he's very confident of getting a contract extension, and he's had talks with the team.
- The Orioles are receiving plenty of interest in righty Jim Johnson, reports MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli, but they don't seem intent on moving him. The Orioles are undecided on whether to use Johnson as a starter or reliever next year, manager Buck Showalter told reporters today.
Rays Making Serious Run At Josh Willingham
3:04pm: The Rays are making a serious run at Willingham, tweets Crasnick. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports adds that while the Rays are not close on Willingham, they're one of three to four finalists.
2:21pm: Nine teams have called on free agent outfielder Josh Willingham, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, including the Twins, Red Sox, Indians, and Reds. The Pirates have also been linked to him. Willingham is something of a backup plan for the Red Sox and Twins, suggests Crasnick, as those teams are trying to re-sign David Ortiz and Michael Cuddyer, respectively. ESPN 1500's Phil Mackey tweets that nothing is currently brewing with the Twins and Willingham. The Indians' interest has been mild, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. The Reds' interest in Willingham is "simmering on the back burner, if that," GM Walt Jocketty told reporters including MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
Willingham, 32, hit a career-best 29 home runs for the Athletics in 2011. A right-handed hitter, Willingham compiled a .246/.332/.477 batting line in 563 plate appearances. He tallied 829 1/3 innings in left field, and also has experience in right field in 2009. First base and designated hitter could be options as well. Willingham's agent Matt Sosnick guessed in October that his client would sign a three-year deal.
Heyman On Royals, Cuddyer, Andruw, Astros
Congratulations to national baseball writer Jon Heyman, who has a new job with CBSSports.com starting Monday. As usual, Heyman is tweeting up a storm; here's his latest from the Winter Meetings (all links go to Twitter):
- The Royals are talking trades for starters and are in on Oakland's Gio Gonzalez.
- Everyone wants bullpen help but few want it more than the Padres, Brewers, and Red Sox.
- The Phillies haven't completely ruled out Michael Cuddyer, but the Twins are still trying to bring him back as well. The Giants and Red Sox are other logical destinations, in Heyman's estimation.
- The Yankees would love to bring back Andruw Jones for his right-handed pop and strong clubhouse presence.
- Former Reds executive Scott Nethery is in the mix for the Astros GM opening. Andrew Friedman is still their top choice, Bill Geivett and Jeff Luhnow are also in the mix.
- The Astros will also eat most of Carlos Lee's contract to facilitate a trade. They still expect a good return for Wandy Rodriguez and something decent for Brett Myers in any trade.
- Heyman also said this morning that the Angels are looking for a closer and the Pirates are talking to Derrek Lee.
More East Links: Red Sox, Hamels, Reyes, Nix
Another batch of links surrounding the Eastern divisions, less than 12 hours after the Marlins and Jose Reyes agreed to terms on a six-year, $106MM contract:
- The Red Sox may only be able to take on a very limited amount of payroll for a number of reasons, and Alex Speier of WEEI.com has the rundown.
- The Phillies have not had any extension talks with Cole Hamels, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Still, CBS Sports' Danny Knobler says there's a strong expectation on both sides that a deal will eventually get done.
- In his "10 Degrees" column for Yahoo! Sports, Jeff Passan calls the former small-market Marlins' outbidding of the Mets for Reyes "bizarro baseball," opines that Reyes at his best is better offensively than Carl Crawford, and runs down a number of other big name free agents and hot stove issues.
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News breaks down Laynce Nix's two-year deal with the Phillies, but has difficulty finding the logic behind the signing.
- Jimmy Rollins is the Phillies' top priority at the Winter Meetings, writes Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Other than that, however, Brookover finds it unlikely that the Phils will make a big splash this week.
- In his latest blog, MLB.com's Bill Chastain says he doesn't think the Rays will be in on Manny Ramirez, he expects B.J. Upton to stay put, and he a "big part of him" still believes Johnny Damon could return to Tampa despite reported interest from the Orioles.
- New Orioles special assistant Lee Thomas told reporters, including Steve Melewski of MASNSports, that other teams "missed the boat" on GM Dan Duquette.