Tigers Inquired On Chase Headley
The Tigers checked with the Padres about Chase Headley, but there's no momentum in trade talks right now, sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Several other teams have reportedly shown interest in Headley this winter including the Cubs and Rockies.
The 27-year-old projects to earn $3MM through arbitration this winter and it will be his second time through the process as a Super Two. The Padres are asking for a lot to part with Headley and the lack of depth in the free agent market for third basemen makes him a hot commodity.
Quick Hits: Felix, Cuddyer, Dotel, Phillies
A round-up of news from around the majors….
- The Mariners will be hard-pressed to contend with AL West superpowers like the Rangers and Angels, but Larry Stone of the Seattle Times argues the club shouldn't think about trading Felix Hernandez. Stone thinks such a deal would cause a "backlash" among M's fans and "there's still plenty of time to consider a Hernandez trade down the road if the Mariners' situation gets more dire."
- Michael Cuddyer was frustrated by the negativity surrounding the Twins last season and isn't sure if the team will be able to contend in the near future, reports Phil Mackey of ESPN 1500 Radio. The Twins have had a three-year, $24-$25MM offer on the table to Cuddyer for the last few days and the Rockies may also be willing to go to three years for the veteran. Mackey speculates the Cardinals could check in on Cuddyer to help fill the void left by Albert Pujols.
- Octavio Dotel tells MLB.com's Jason Beck that his choice of teams came down to the Tigers and the Brewers. Dotel says the Padres were also interested in signing him as a setup man.
- MLB.com's Todd Zolecki has contract details for a number of new Phillies, most notably Jonathan Papelbon.
- Carlos Beltran hasn't gotten much attention this winter, and Fangraphs' Eric Seidman names seven teams who could be a fit for the free agent outfielder.
- Nick Punto is "at or near [the] top" of the Braves' list of backup infield options, reports David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter).
- A rival executive tells FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi (Twitter link) that the Mets won't trade David Wright. "He’s more valuable to them than he would be to any other team," the exec says.
Nationals, Tigers Swap Collin Balester For Ryan Perry
The Nationals have traded right-hander Collin Balester to the Tigers in exchange for another right-hander, Ryan Perry. The Tigers just announced the move via a team press release.
Balester, 25, has posted a 9.8 K/9 rate over the last two seasons but also has given up a lot of hits (8.4 H/9) and walks (4.0 BB) in that span. Balester is yet another right-hander in a Tigers bullpen that also features Jose Valverde, Joaquin Benoit, Al Alburquerque and the newly-signed Octavio Dotel.
Perry, who turns 25 in February, was taken by Detroit with the 21st overall pick of the 2008 draft. After two solid seasons in relief in 2009-10, Perry struggled to a 5.35 ERA in 37 innings last season and only recorded 24 strikeouts against 21 walks.
Tigers Sign Octavio Dotel
The Tigers announced an agreement with reliever Octavio Dotel on a one-year contract, plus a club option for 2013. According to MLB.com's Jason Beck, Dotel will earn $3MM in 2012 and the club option is worth $3.5MM (with a $500K buyout). Dotel is represented by Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Dotel, 38, posted a 3.50 ERA, 10.3 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 1.00 HR/9, and 30.1% groundball rate for the Blue Jays and Cardinals this year. The Cardinals chose a $750K buyout over his $3.5MM club option after the season. Dotel is known for his dominance against right-handed hitters and struggles against left-handed ones. In November as part of the new collective bargaining agreement, Dotel was changed from a Type A free agent to Type B, and it was decided that the Cardinals would not have to offer him arbitration to receive a supplemental draft pick as compensation.
The Tigers now have righties Jose Valverde, Joaquin Benoit, Al Alburquerque, and Dotel at the back end of their bullpen.
Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported the near-agreement on Wednesday night, with Heyman reporting last night that the two sides had agreed to terms.
AL Central Notes: Indians, Rondon, Tigers
A few Thursday updates out of the AL Central:
- Indians GM Chris Antonetti left the Winter Meetings feeling as if he was just a couple text messages from making a deal, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "It could happen very quickly," said Antonetti. "There are some things we could be relatively close on. As we've said a bunch of times, the timing may change and it will take weeks for it to happen."
- Hector Rondon cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Indians' Triple-A affiliate, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
- The Detroit Free Press tweets that GM Dave Dombrowski said the Tigers didn't make an offer to free agent Kelly Johnson, who ultimately accepted arbitration from the Blue Jays.
Bidding For Yu Darvish Ends Wednesday
6:22pm: The Nationals have interest in Darvish, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. GM Mike Rizzo didn't divulge whether the Nats plan to bid, but his refusal to comment suggests to Kilgore that they will.
4:50pm: Now that Darvish has been posted, teams will have until 4:00pm CST on December 14th (four business days) to submit bids, tweets Buster Olney.
12:40pm: The Yankees are unsure about whether they'll bid on Darvish, tweets Buster Olney. He considers their interest lukewarm. I think everyone's playing coy at this stage; we'll see where the bids were when the dust settles. By the way, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said this week he will not be bidding on Darvish, according to Jason Beck.
11:07am: The Dodgers won't be bidding on Darvish, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, but A's assistant GM David Forst wouldn't rule it out in talking to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News hears the Rangers aren't willing to gamble $100MM on Darvish. The Red Sox will discuss Darvish but feel pretty good about the front end of their rotation already, GM Ben Cherington told reporters.
4:56am: Following the announcement last night that the Nippon-Ham Fighters will post ace Yu Darvish, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports write that the Rangers, Blue Jays, and Yankees are all expected to bid on the Japanese righty. ESPN's Buster Olney also tweets that rival executives are expecting both the Rangers and Blue Jays to bid big Darvish, with the Rangers fueled by the expected loss of C.J. Wilson to the Angels or Marlins.
Rosenthal and Morosi write that the Red Sox could be a wild card for a big Darvish bid, as new manager Bobby Valentine, who saw Darvish first-hand many times as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines from 2004-2009, is said to "love" the 25-year old. FOX's duo also note that both Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and Rangers GM Jon Daniels saw Darvish pitch in Japan last season.
The posting period will last four days, and the winning team will have a 30-day exclusive negotation period with Darvish and his representatives Don Nomura and Arn Tellem. If a contract agreement cannot be reached between Darvish and the winning team, that team will be refunded the total of the posting fee.
Tim Dierkes and Luke Adams contributed to this post.
2011 Rule 5 Draft Results
Rule 5 players must stay with their new big league club all year or be offered back to the old team. MLB.com has a full recap of both the Major League and minor league portions of the draft. The results of the Major League phase are listed below:
- Astros take Rhiner Cruz from Mets.
- Twins take Terry Doyle from White Sox.
- Mariners take Lucas Luetge from Brewers.
- Orioles take Ryan Flaherty from Cubs.
- Royals take Cesar Cabral from Red Sox; traded to Yankees for cash.
- Cubs take Lendy Castillo from Phillies.
- Padres
- Pirates take Gustavo Nunez from Tigers.
- Marlins
- Rockies
- Athletics
- Mets
- White Sox
- Reds
- Indians
- Nationals
- Blue Jays
- Dodgers
- Angels
- Giants
- Braves take Robert Fish from Angels.
- Cardinals take Erik Komatsu from Nationals.
- Red Sox take Marwin Gonzalez from Cubs, traded to Astros for Marco Duarte
- Rays
- Diamondbacks take Brett Lorin from Pirates.
- Tigers
- Brewers
- Rangers
- Yankees take Brad Meyers from Nationals.
- Phillies
Tigers Close To Signing Octavio Dotel
10:31pm: All that's left for Dotel and the Tigers to work out is the length of the contract, tweets Rosenthal. A one-year deal with a vesting option seems like the most likely outcome, Rosenthal adds.
8:37pm: The Tigers are close to a deal with Dotel, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.
6:22pm: The Cardinals are the other team Dotel is considering. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that Detroit seems to have the edge, but Dotel remains "enamored" with the Cardinals.
5:35pm: The Tigers have made an "aggressive" offer for Dotel, tweets Morosi.
4:44pm: The Tigers are considered the favorite for Dotel, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, adding that the other finalist is a National League team.
4:20pm: Free agent reliever Octavio Dotel has narrowed his decision to two teams and expects to make a decision soon, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
A’s Unlikely To Trade Gio Gonzalez At Meetings
The latest on Athletics lefty Gio Gonzalez, a 26-year-old who is under team control through 2015…
- Talks between the Phillies and A's on Gonzalez were brief, tweets Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group. Stiglich says the A's didn't like Domonic Brown enough as a centerpiece.
- The Blue Jays are one of 12 teams in on Gonzalez, reports Susan Slusser (Twitter links).
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News hears from multiple sources that the Rangers inquired on Gonzalez, but moved on after the A's asked for Martin Perez, Mike Olt, and Leury Garcia.
- The D'Backs were kicking the tires on Gonzalez but don't expect it to go any further, a source tells Nick Piecoro. Jon Paul Morosi would be shocked if Gonzalez is not traded by Opening Day.
- The A's will not trade Gonzalez at the Winter Meetings, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post, as they're using their Dan Haren haul as parameters and no one has come close yet. Four years ago, A's GM Billy Beane acquired Brett Anderson, Carlos Gonzalez, Chris Carter, Aaron Cunningham, Dana Eveland, and Greg Smith from the Diamondbacks for Haren and Connor Robertson.
- The Phillies are definitely out on Gonzalez now, tweets Danny Knobler. They would have dealt Kyle Kendrick or Joe Blanton had they acquired him.
- The A's seek players with zero or little big league experience for Gonzalez, tweets Danny Knobler.
- The Diamondbacks are pushing hard to acquire Gonzalez, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Danny Knobler tweets that the Tigers inquired but did not like a price tag that included Jacob Turner, while the Phillies don't look like a match. Ken Rosenthal says the Nationals, Tigers, Reds, D'Backs, Phillies, and Marlins are pursuing Gonzalez.
- There is some buzz about A's reliever Craig Breslow being of interest to the Phillies as well, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- The Phillies and Athletics discussed a package deal involving Gonzalez and outfielder Domonic Brown, tweets Jim Bowden of MLB Network and ESPN.com.
Tim Dierkes and Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Tigers Rumors: Wandy, Zumaya, Pitching Targets
The Tigers are attempting to make a strong push for Gio Gonzalez, but that's not the news surrounding the club. Here are a few more Tigers notes from Dallas, courtesy of MLB.com's Jason Beck:
- The Tigers were approached earlier in the offseason about trading for Wandy Rodriguez, but their limited interest quickly faded.
- Detroit won't be one of the teams watching Joel Zumaya throw next week, but they have a standing minor league contract offer (with a Spring Training invitation) for the right-hander if he wants to come back.
- While the Tigers have ruled out pursuing Yu Darvish, they're keeping an eye on other Asian pitchers. GM Dave Dombrowski on the subject: "I don't think we're on the verge of [signing] anybody from the Asian market, but we're aware of some players that are there."
- The Tigers announced that they've signed six players to minor league deals: Quentin Berry, Matt Young, Jerad Head, Audy Ciriaco, Argenis Diaz, and Ramon Garcia.