Interesting Non-Tenders
By our unofficial count, 50 players were non-tendered yesterday. You can sort the decisions by team in our non-tender tracker. Those that reached our playing time requirements have been added to the 2011 free agents list, which is robust at the moment. Let's take a look at some of the more interesting non-tenders.
- Bobby Jenks, RP. There are plenty of good right-handed relievers available, but if you take Mariano Rivera and Rafael Soriano off the board, Jenks might be the best closer. Jenks throws hard and posted huge strikeout and groundball rates this year, so he should find multiple years and at least $5MM per.
- Russell Martin, C. Martin was once one of the game's best catchers, but his performance waned and he's recovering from a hip fracture. There aren't a ton of starting catching gigs available, however. The Yankees nearly acquired Martin on Thursday for Francisco Cervelli, tweets Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times.
- Jack Cust, LF/RF/DH. Cust doesn't impress defensively, but not too many free agents can match a .395 OBP.
- Edwin Encarnacion, 3B. Another defensively-challenged player, Encarnacion hit 21 home runs in 367 plate appearances this year. Someone will give him a shot in a weak market for third basemen.
- Andrew Miller, SP. The former first-round pick is a project at this point, with his velocity down and walks up.
- Joel Peralta, RP. He's not a hard-thrower but it's difficult to argue with a 2.02 ERA, 9.0 K/9, and 1.7 BB/9. He is an extreme flyball pitcher though.
- Jose Veras, RP. Veras has control issues, but he did rack up strikeouts this year and averaged 94.4 mph on his fastball.
- Fourth outfielder types: Matt Diaz, Ryan Church, Tony Gwynn, Lastings Milledge, and Scott Hairston.
- Former setup types: Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, and George Sherrill.
- Interesting pitchers coming back from shoulder surgery: J.P. Howell, John Maine, Chien-Ming Wang.
American League Non-Tenders
This post will list all the American League players non-tendered today, but the best place to track all 200+ arbitration eligible players is our new non-tender tracker.
- Blue Jays: Fred Lewis, Jeremy Accardo
- Red Sox: Hideki Okajima, Andrew Miller, Taylor Buchholz
- Mariners: Ryan Rowland-Smith
- Rays: Lance Cormier, Willy Aybar, Dioner Navarro, J.P. Howell
- Royals: Josh Fields
- Rangers: Dustin Nippert
- Angels: Kevin Frandsen
- Athletics: Jack Cust, Travis Buck, Edwin Encarnacion
- Yankees: Alfredo Aceves, Dustin Moseley
- Orioles: Matt Albers
- White Sox: Bobby Jenks, Erick Threets
- Tigers: Zach Miner
Minor Deals: Gotay, Rays, Duckworth, Carlyle
A number of former big leaguers agreed to minor league deals today. Here are the details:
- The Marlins signed Ruben Gotay, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). The 27-year-old hasn't appeared in the majors since 2008, but he led the Pacific Coast League in walks and posted an .845 OPS last year.
- The Rays announced that they signed five players, including righty Cory Wade and lefty R.J. Swindle, to minor league deals. Wade, 27, spent last year in the minors, but he pitched for the Dodgers in 2008-09. He has a 3.18 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 99 big league innings. Swindle is another 27-year-old who spent the 2010 season in the minors. He posted a 2.45 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 55 innings for the Rays' Triple-A affiliate. Like Wade, Swindle could prove useful for the 2011 Rays, who are building a bullpen on a budget.
- The Reds signed outfielder David Cook, according to Eddy (on Twitter). The 29-year-old has a .258/.369/.468 line in eight minor league seasons.
- The Red Sox signed right-hander Brandon Duckworth, according to Eddy (on Twitter). The 34-year-old spent the 2010 season pitching for the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate, where he posted a 3.32 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. He has a 5.28 ERA in parts of eight big league seasons.
- The Yankees signed right-hander Buddy Carlyle to a minor league deal, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Carlyle, 32, spent the 2010 season in Japan after posting a 5.61 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in parts of six big league seasons.
- The D'Backs signed David Winfree, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The 25-year-old has a .273/.319/.448 line in his eight-year minor league career.
Derek Jeter Rumors: Thursday
3:09pm: The Yankees have increased their offer to Jeter by an unknown amount, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
2:28pm: The Yankees informed Close today they're willing to improve upon their three-year, $45MM offer to Jeter, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark. Jeter's side lowered their request, adds SI's Jon Heyman on Twitter.
8:03am: Derek Jeter and his agent Casey Close reached out to the Yankees to set up Tuesday's meeting in Tampa, report Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. Hal Steinbrenner, Randy Levine, and Brian Cashman attended for the Yankees.
Money and years were not discussed, say Feinsand and Madden. Instead, the meeting concluded with the Yankees' brass asking Close for ideas on how to bridge the large gap. The tenor of the meeting was cordial, reports Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times. Close did not get back to them on Wednesday.
The Yankees were emboldened by Troy Tulowitzki's new deal, in he has a $15.7MM average salary over the next ten seasons and Cashman and company offered Jeter $15MM per year. Of course, the new part of Tulowitzki's contract is $134MM over seven years from 2014-20, which comes to $19.1MM per year. To include Tulowitzki's low 2011 and '12 salaries in an average would be disingenuous, since those weren't potential free agent seasons for him. At any rate, MLB is pleased that the Yankees have not gone overboard on their Jeter offer, report Feinsand and Madden.
Yankees Re-Sign Sergio Mitre
The Yankees have re-signed Sergio Mitre to a one-year, $900K deal, reports Jerry Crasnick of ESPN (via Twitter). The right-hander could earn up to $200K more through incentives. Mitre was entering his third year of arbitration eligibility.
Mitre appeared in 27 games for the Yanks in 2010, registering a 3.33 ERA with 4.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. While the 29-year-old didn't start many games for the Bombers last season, he does have 64 career starts to his credit, giving the Yankees an option as a spot starter.
Rangers To Make Lee An Official Offer
4:23pm: The Rangers met with Lee in Arkansas yesterday, GM Jon Daniels confirmed to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Daniels declined to say whether the team has made Lee a formal offer.
10:39am: The Yankees haven’t made Lee an offer, a source tells Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com. In fact, agent Darek Braunecker isn’t looking for proposals just yet.
“He really doesn't want any offers until next week,” Matthews’ source said. “He wants to be the ringmaster at the winter meetings. I don't expect anything to get done until after that."
8:50am: The Rangers are on the verge of making Cliff Lee an official offer, according to George A. King III of the New York Post. A source tells King that the Rangers are prepared to offer a five-year deal and believe the Yankees have already offered a five or six-year deal. Though Lee’s agent wouldn’t confirm specifics, he did acknowledge that talks are progressing.
"We are starting to move stuff along," Darek Braunecker told the Post.
If the Rangers lose Lee to the Yankees, they will likely consider trading for Zack Greinke. The Royals like Rangers prospects Martin Perez and Tanner Scheppers, according to King.
Though Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported that Greinke would not necessarily mind pitching in the Bronx, the Yankees aren’t so sure. They don’t believe that the right-hander wants to pitch for them, according to King.
Heyman On Greinke, Pettitte, Astros, Guerrero
An acquaintance of Zack Greinke's told Jon Heyman of SI.com that the 2009 Cy Young Award winner is "ready" to leave Kansas City. Yahoo's Jeff Passan reported that Greinke's priority is winning, but that doesn't mean we'll see him in Yankee pinstripes. The pitcher's friends say New York would not be a good fit. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:
- People close to Andy Pettitte tell Heyman the lefty would prefer to remain a Yankee.
- Just about everyone expects Cliff Lee to sign with the Yankees or Rangers, but Heyman says a couple clubs are "laying in the weeds." The Astros are one team with quiet interest.
- As much as the Rangers want Vladimir Guerrero back, they seem reluctant to give him a multiyear deal.
- The Dodgers will try to sign Russell Martin by tomorrow's non-tender deadline.
Optimism Between Jeter, Yankees
WEDNESDAY, 10:59am: It appears that the Yankees told Jeter they'll raise their opening $45MM bid to the $50MM range, according to Heyman (on Twitter).
TUESDAY, 10:28pm: The Yankees and Derek Jeter are becoming optimistic about reaching a new deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). The sides are having conversations designed to kickstart an agreement, Heyman reports.
Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News reported earlier tonight that agent Casey Close recently reached out to the Yankees to move negotiations forward. Both sides are in Tampa, where they met today, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Just last week, the sides appeared to be tens of millions of dollars apart and GM Brian Cashman encouraged Jeter to test the open market. It seems likely that the shortstop will return to the Bronx, but that hasn't stopped Beckett from imagining what Jeter would look like in all 29 other uniforms.
Odds & Ends: Jeter, Berkman, A’s, Upton, Webb
Exactly ten years ago, the Orix Blue Wave lost a 27-year-old outfielder to the Seattle Mariners. A decade later, Ichiro Suzuki has ten Gold Gloves and 2244 big league hits to his name. Here are today's links…
- Derek Jeter is meeting with agent Casey Close, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (on Twitter). They met with the Yankees in Tampa today, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- An executive interested in Lance Berkman expects that it would take a one-year deal worth $7MM to sign the switch-hitter, according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan.
- Passan reports that the A’s continue to talk with right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, though talks appeared to sour earlier in the month.
- The Nationals are still discussing potential deals with Carl Pavano, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (on Twitter).
- D'Backs GM Kevin Towers told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert that he'll know by the end of next week's winter meetings whether it makes sense to trade Justin Upton.
- A.J. Pierzynski said on The Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 that he's talking to the White Sox and some other teams about potential deals (via ESPNChicago). The White Sox are open to bringing the catcher back, though they didn't offer him arbitration last week.
- Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball looks back at some record salary arbitration cases from over the years. For instance, Tim Lincecum's demand for a $13MM salary last year was the most any first-time eligible pitcher has ever asked for.
- The Rangers have signed a European player for the first time in franchise history. They agreed to a minor league deal with 18-year-old Dutch middle infielder Nick Urbanus, according to the Newberg Report.
- The agent for Brandon Webb told Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the former Cy Young Award winner would have interest in pitching for the Pirates. About six teams are interested in Webb, including Pittsburgh.
Greinke May Consider Large Market Teams
The Yankees and Royals have continued to discuss a Zack Greinke trade and the right-hander is more open to pitching in a major market than it seems, according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. Greinke can block trades to the Yankees and other large market teams, but a source close to the former Cy Young Award winner says winning matters more than anything.
Greinke’s partial no-trade clause would give him leverage if the Royals approached him about a deal, but he would not necessarily turn down the chance to pitch for a winning team in a large market. The Royals are still asking for a Mark Teixeira-like haul for their ace, though they're willing to move him. GM Dayton Moore is looking for “at least one major league-ready player and multiple high-level prospects,” Passan writes.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported last month that Greinke can block trades to half the teams in baseball between now and the 2011 trade deadline. Between next August 1st and the end of the 2012 season, when his contract expires, Greinke loses his no-trade protection. The 27-year-old will earn $13.5MM in both 2011 and 2012.