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Odds & Ends: Damon, Gonzalez, Germano, Astros

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December 23rd has been a big day for trading highly-regarded young pitchers in recent years. On this date in 2006, the Rangers sent John Danks and Nick Masset to the White Sox in the Brandon McCarthy trade and on this date in 2009, the Blue Jays sent Brandon League to the Mariners for Brandon Morrow. Here are today's links…

  • Baseball Prospectus recommends that you buy the MLBTR iPhone app. Chase Gharrity writes that “there’s very little not to love” about the app and that he’s “extremely excited for what it will become in the future.” You can buy the app right here.
  • The Yankees are interested in Johnny Damon, but Brian Cashman told Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com that there's no "clear role" for him on the 2011 Yankees.
  • The outfielder/DH told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (on Twitter) that other teams have called about everyday jobs.
  • Adrian Gonzalez told Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com that he promised to negotiate potential extensions with the Red Sox instead of holding out for an Albert Pujols-like deal in free agency. "We won't be looking for record-breaking deals," Gonzalez told the Red Sox. "We just want market value." Gonzalez will hit free agency after the season if he doesn't finalize an extension with Boston first, as expected.
  • The Indians announced that they outrighted Justin Germano to Triple-A. The right-hander can elect free agency or accept the assignment.
  • Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle explains that the Astros could be a refreshing team to watch in 2011, even though they haven't signed a major free agent like Cliff Lee or Carl Crawford. 

Yankees Interested In Johnny Damon

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The Yankees are interested in bringing Johnny Damon back to New York and are discussing a potential reunion with him, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff. Davidoff reports that the Yankees are open to bringing the 37-year-old back as a part-time left fielder and DH. Though the sides have had multiple conversations about possible deals, Damon would ideally like more guaranteed playing time.

Damon has been open about his preferences so far this offseason, saying publicly that he likes the idea of playing for the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. The Dodgers have expressed some interest in the Scott Boras client, but the defending World Series Champion Giants don't appear to be a fit.

Jorge Posada will be the Yankees' primary DH in 2011 and Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson will play every day in left and center, the positions Damon played as a Yankee. Both Gardner and Granderson bat left-handed, so the Yankees seem better-suited for an outfielder who bats right-handed.

Damon bats left-handed, but has a career .282/.347/.402 line against southpaws. He hits righties better, but doesn't show a serious platoon split, so the Yankees may feel comfortable playing him in place of Granderson or Gardner against tough left-handers.

Jeff Francis Suitors

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The Mets, Nationals, Pirates, Rangers, and Yankees have varying degrees of interest in free agent lefty Jeff Francis, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.  Crasnick named five interested clubs a month ago: the Pirates, Mariners, Brewers, Astros, and Rockies.  It appears that a few teams dropped out and others jumped in; this is the first we've seen of the Yankees' interest.  MLB.com's Thomas Harding learned from Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd today that the team will continue to monitor Francis.

Francis, 30 in January, posted a 5.00 ERA, 5.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9, and 47% groundball rate in 104 1/3 innings this year for the Rockies.  His peripheral stats suggest Francis' work was more deserving of an ERA around 4.00.  The southpaw missed all of last season after having shoulder surgery in February of '09, and had some lingering issues this year.  The Rockies declined his $7MM club option in November.  He figures to sign a one-year, incentive-laden deal.

Odds & Ends: Garcia, Yankees, Red Sox, Konerko

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Links for Tuesday evening, exactly one year after the Mets signed R.A. Dickey to one of the most successful minor league deals of the 2009-10 offseason. One year later, the Amazins are still looking for arms…

  • The Mets aren't engaging Freddy Garcia in serious discussions, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (Twitter links). We heard earlier today that the Mets are waiting for starters' asking prices to drop, but pitching is the team's priority.
  • Across town, Leonel Vinas signed a minor league deal with the Yankees, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. The 19-year-old right-hander played on a local team sponsored by Hank Steinbrenner called "Hank's Yanks." 
  • The Bronx Bombers also make their share of major deals and, as Ronald Blum of the AP notes (via the Miami Herald) the Yankees were hit with an $18MM luxury tax for their 2010 spending. The Red Sox were the only other team hit with a tax; they owe $1.5MM.
  • As Alex Speier of WEEI.com points out, "the cost of player acquisition for the [Red] Sox is more than meets the eye," because the team pays them salary and pays a luxury tax premium.
  • Boston signed Bobby Jenks, but Red Sox GM Theo Epstein says Jonathan Papelbon is still the team's closer, according to  Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston.com (on Twitter).
  • White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn told MLB.com's Scott Merkin that the team was prepared to pursue other first basemen "aggressively" midway through their negotiations with Paul Konerko. However, the White Sox made one final push for their captain and brought him back on a three-year deal.
  • The Brewers have taken lots of criticism for their failure to put together better pitching in recent years, but Dave Cameron of FanGraphs likes what GM Doug Melvin is doing. Because the free agent market has been player-friendly, Cameron would also "abandon the free-agent market, keep [his] potential free agents, and trade prospects for guys headed towards free agency" were he a GM.

Odds & Ends: Pavano, Greinke, Soria, Pettitte

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Two years ago today, the Yankees officially signed C.C. Sabathia to the largest-ever contract for a pitcher.  Sabathia's $161MM record figures to hold for a while, though a couple of monster seasons by Francisco Liriano, Cole Hamels, Zack Greinke, and Matt Cain could put it in jeopardy in the 2012-13 offseason if those pitchers do not sign extensions.  Today's links:

Yankees, Mets, Others Considering Freddy Garcia

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The Yankees, Mets, and others have asked for medicals on free agent starter Freddy Garcia, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News was first to report the Yankees' request.  The White Sox have also checked in, tweets Feinsand's colleague Andy Martino.  Heyman opines that Garcia is the best free agent starter left after Carl Pavano.

Garcia, 35, posted a 4.64 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.3 HR/9, and 40.7% groundball rate for the White Sox in 157 innings this year.  It was his highest innings total since 2006, though he did miss time with back pain.  He's not close to signing and is believed to be seeking less than Jon Garland's $5MM guarantee, tweets Martino.

As for Heyman's contention?  Garcia's competition includes injury bounceback candidates like Brandon Webb, Jeff Francis, Chris Young, and Brad Penny, as well as innings guys like Kevin Millwood, Rodrigo Lopez, and Dave Bush.

Yankees Sign Luis Vizcaino

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The Yankees have signed right-hander Luis Vizcaino to a minor league contract according to Marc Carig of The Star Ledger (via Twitter). If he makes the team, he'll earn $750K.

Vizcaino, now 36, has not pitched in the majors or minors since being designated for assignment by the Indians back in June of 2009. The former workhorse reliever appeared in fewer than 70 games just once from 2002 through 2007, and he owns a 4.33 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in his career. If we remove intentional walks, that drops all the way down to 3.3 BB/9.

MLB.com's Tom Singer recently listed Vizcaino as one of several players looking to revive his career, noting his effective stint in the Dominican Winter League.

Odds & Ends: Rays, Red Sox, Rockies, Yankees

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Links for Sunday, though it's unlikely that any news will top today's Zack Greinke trade:

  • The Rays have enough money to pursue another low-end bullpen signing or two, writes Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. Topkin quotes executive vice president Andrew Friedman in saying there's no way they could've predicted the relief market would look like this.
  • WEEI.com's Alex Speier says the Red Sox would like to add a left-hander to their bullpen, but will wait to see if someone falls into their lap. Boston is against multiyear deals for relievers, though they did recently make an exception in the case of Bobby Jenks.
  • Rockies' owner Dick Monfort answered some questions for the Denver Post's Troy E. Renck. Topics included Troy Tulowitzki's new contract, extending young stars, and their odds of keeping Carlos Gonzalez long-term.
  • Bill Madden of the New York Daily News opines that the Padres' elite bullpen last season which nearly brought them an NL West title has fueled the rising prices in the relief market. Madden also wonders if the Yankees might make a run at Jon Rauch to replace the departed Kerry Wood.

Greinke Links: Nationals, Yankees, Pavano, Reactions

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It's not often that the Brewers and Royals are the two teams dominating discussion around baseball, but that's exactly what's happening today, after the clubs agreed to a blockbuster deal. Let's check out some reactions and a few more details on the trade that will send Zack Greinke to Milwaukee….

  • According to Yahoo's Tim Brown (via Twitter), the Dodgers were discussing Greinke and even brought a third team into the mix in an attempt to meet Kansas City's needs. Ultimately, they ran out of time.
  • SI.com's Jon Heyman reports that the Royals were close to a deal that would've sent Greinke to Washington, if not for the right-hander's no-trade clause. MLB.com's Bill Ladson confirms that Greinke turned down a potential trade to the Nationals (Twitter links). Heyman adds that Drew Storen and Danny Espinosa likely would've been involved in the hypothetical deal (Twitter link).
  • Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post hears that the Royals coveted Jordan Zimmermann, who the Nats were reluctant to give up.
  • Heyman tweets that Greinke approved the Brewers and not the Nats because he believes Milwaukee is closer to serious contention. He's also apparently fond of the city.
  • According to Heyman (via Twitter), Greinke told the Royals that he wouldn't mind playing for the Yankees, but New York never got close to making a trade for the Kansas City ace.
  • The Brewers had some interest in Carl Pavano, who they presumably won't pursue now. As such, the Twins' leverage with Pavano should improve, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets that the $2MM going to Milwaukee will cover the buyout for Yuniesky Betancourt's 2012 option, if the Brewers choose to buy him out.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports praises Brewers GM Doug Melvin for choosing an established player over prospects. Rosenthal also examines the trade from the Royals' perspective.
  • With Prince Fielder a year from free agency, Melvin saw the team's window for playoff contention closing and moved aggressively to improve the 2011 roster, writes Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.
  • Fangraphs' Marc Hulet breaks down the package acquired by Kansas City, noting that their haul is "certainly quantity over quality." In an Insider-only article, ESPN.com's Keith Law makes a similar point, calling the Royals' return "bulk, and fit, but not impact."
  • Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus and two front office people he spoke to "really like" the move for the Royals (Twitter link).

Odds & Ends: Rauch, Rays, Jenks, Rockies, Rangers

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On this date in 1997, the Red Sox traded Tony Armas Jr. and Carl Pavano to the Expos for reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez. A case can be made that Pedro's 1999 and 2000 seasons were the two best pitching seasons in baseball history, in which he held batters to a .186/.231/.274 batting line with 597 strikeouts in 430.1 innings.

It's highly unlikely that we'll see a pitcher of Pedro's caliber traded anytime soon, but that Zack Greinke kid is pretty good in his own right. Here are today's links…

  • Two days ago we heard that the Rockies had interest in David Aardsma, Grant Balfour, and Todd Coffey, and now Troy Renck of The Denver post throws Jon Rauch's name into the mix.
  • Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times has some quotes from Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg, who called the size of free agent contracts being handed out this winter "discouraging." He also commented (briefly) on the team's 2011 payroll.
  • Bobby Jenks will take his physical on Monday, tweets Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe. It was originally scheduled for today but was pushed back, and it's necessary to finalize his contract with the Red Sox.
  • Renck also has the goods (Twitter links) on two recent Rockies signings.  Ty Wigginton took less money to sign in Colorado, earning $3.5MM in 2011, $4MM in '12, and a club option for $4MM in '13 ($500k buyout).  Meanwhile, pitcher Eric Stults has an out in his $435k minor league deal that will allow him to sign with the Hiroshima Carp if he does not make the big league roster.
  • Richard Durrett of ESPN.com applauds the Rangers' efforts to bolster their starting depth.
  • Dan Wheeler is happy to be a member of Boston's improved bullpen, writes MLB.com's Ian Browne.
  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that Seth McClung's deal with the Rangers will pay him $700K if he makes the team. There are another $700K available in bonuses tied to the number of starts he makes.
  • Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report (via Twitter) indicating that Hideki Matsui's contract with the A's has a limited no-trade clause preventing trades to the Mariners, Orioles, Twins, Blue Jays, Indians, and Royals.
  • Mariano Rivera told Erik Boland of Newsday that he plans to give long-time teammate Andy Pettitte a call to try to convince the lefty to come back for another season.
  • Finding a left-handed bat off the bench is one of the last remaining items on the Marlins offseason agenda, but MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says they might already have that guy on their roster. Catcher John Baker, who is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, said he would be up for the job until he's cleared to catch again.
  • Former Mets GM Omar Minaya told Ian Begley of ESPN New York that he plans to sit down with new GM Sandy Alderson after the holidays to discuss a potential new role with the team. Minaya said he has several offers on the table, including interest from the Diamondbacks.
  • Hey iPhone users, do you have the MLBTR app yet? Jason Bartlett does, and that's how he found out his trade to the Padres was in the works.
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