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Phillies Sign Cory Sullivan

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The Phillies signed Cory Sullivan to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. The outfielder will be in the Phillies' minor league camp.

Sullivan appeared in 57 games for the Astros in 2010 after Houston signed him last winter. The 31-year-old played all three outfield positions last year, though most of his big league experience comes as a center fielder. Sullivan has never done much at the plate and he struggled more than usual in 2010, hitting just .188/.257/.234 in 71 plate appearances before the Astros cut him loose in June.

Domonic Brown, Ben Francisco, Ross Gload, Raul Ibanez, John Mayberry, Shane Victorino, Brandon Moss and Delwyn Young will also be competing for playing time in the outfield this spring.

NL Central Notes: Cardinals, Ohlendorf, Marcum

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On this date in 1916, the Cubs purchased future Hall of Famer Three Finger Brown from the Chicago Whales. The right-hander's career was over 12 appearances later, but he retired with a 2.06 ERA (139 ERA+) and 239 wins. Here's the latest on some of the Cubs' division rivals…

  • The Phillies have watched former Reds reliever Jon Coutlangus throw recently, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The lefty logged 41 innings for the 2007 Reds and has a 3.94 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 189 2/3 minor league innings.
  • Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch points out that few players have put St. Louis on their no-trade lists in recent years.
  • Fernando Gonzalez isn't the only Dominican prospect the Cardinals signed. Goold reports that the Cardinals have agreed to sign 17-year-old outfielder Jorge Araujo. Vice president of player procurement Jeff Luhnow says the left-handed hitter is "toolsy."
  • Paul Swydan of FanGraphs asks whether Ross Ohlendorf used advanced stats to beat the Pirates in arbitraiton and concludes that it wasn't necessarily to Ohlendorf's advantage to use anything more complicated than ERA, WHIP and K/BB. The right-hander beat the Pirates in arbitration yesterday after winning one game in 2010.
  • The incentives in Shaun Marcum's deal were part of the reason the Brewers were able to avoid arbitration with him. MLB.com's Adam McCalvy has the details on Marcum's incentives, which provide the former Blue Jay with a $200K bonus if he reaches the 200-inning plateau.

Cafardo’s Latest: Pettitte, Millwood, Blanton

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Even now that Andy Pettitte has announced his retirement, it seems the debate over whether he'll pitch again won't die. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe talked to one scout who, following Pettitte's press conference, was still unconvinced the left-hander is done for good.

"I get the feeling his career isn’t over. For one, he can still pitch at a high level. Secondly, he didn’t retire with any conviction. The stuff about going back and forth on whether or not to pitch leads me to believe he’ll decide to pitch again."

Whether or not the scout is on to something, the Yankees are looking elsewhere for starting pitching. Cafardo has a couple notes on their search among this week's hot stove updates….

  • We heard yesterday that the Indians were "making progress" with Kevin Millwood, who is talking to multiple clubs. Cafardo names the Yankees, Mets, and Tribe as teams still in on the right-hander, with salary as the primary hang-up. Given Scott Boras' success so far this offseason, it would actually be somewhat surprising if he and Millwood don't eventually get what they're asking for.
  • The Yanks will "see what they have" with pitchers like Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, and Sergio Mitre before they consider trading for someone like Joe Blanton.
  • The Red Sox are eyeing former Yankee Alfredo Aceves as a potential injury rehab project.
  • According to Cafardo, it would be the "shock of the century" if Adrian Gonzalez and the Red Sox don't come to terms on a contract extension by the end of Spring Training.

Phillies Considering Gary Matthews Jr.

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The Phillies are considering signing Gary Matthews Jr. to a minor league deal, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. The 36-year-old would only cost the major league minimum, as the Angels and Mets are responsible for most of his $12MM salary.

The Angels traded Matthews to the Mets before the 2010 season and he struggled in New York, hitting just .190/.266/.241 in 65 plate appearances, so the Mets released him. The Reds signed him as a free agent and assigned him to Triple-A, where he hit .317/.361/.495 in 108 plate appearances.

Matthews' father is a former Phillies outfielder who is now one of the Phillies' broadcasters.

Heyman On Lee, Cabrera, Wells, Pujols, Hamilton

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Owner Chuck Greenberg and the Rangers were slower to offer Cliff Lee a competitive deal than other interested clubs, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. Lee's camp wanted to keep the Rangers involved in the bidding, though they started with a 'lowball' offer before offering $100MM and, eventually, even more. The Rangers justified their lower offers by pointing out that Texas has no state income tax, but Lee asked around and determined that he wouldn't save that much, since he lives in Arkansas.

Talks between Lee and the Phillies broke off twice before the sides reached an agreement. If the Phillies hadn't completed the deal, the Yankees would have been seen as the favorites to sign the lefty, according to Heyman. Here are the rest of his rumors:

  • One GM says Orlando Cabrera isn't being reasonable. "I don't think he gets the position he's in," the GM said, alluding to the lack of job openings remaining for the shortstop.
  • The Rangers didn't show serious interest in Vernon Wells, according to Heyman.
  • Executives around the game believe that Albert Pujols will sign an extension with the Cardinals. If the sides don't reach a deal by Spring Training, Pujols will be a free agent after the season, in which case the Cubs may be "best positioned" to pursue him, in the opinion of one executive.
  • The Angels are still interested in signing or trading for a leadoff hitter. Scott Podsednik is out there, and could be a fit in L.A.
  • One executive believes the Rangers will lose to Josh Hamilton if the sides go to an arbitration hearing. Heyman hears that the Rangers won't bring up Hamilton's history of substance abuse in a hearing. Keep track of all the remaining arbitration cases using our Arb Tracker.

Phillies “Probably Not” Re-Signing Chad Durbin

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Chad Durbin's time in Philadelphia may have come to a close, based on comments made by Ruben Amaro Jr. to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.  "I would say that we're probably not going to re-sign [Durbin]," Amaro said, and he also noted the club may be done with its winter shopping altogether.

Durbin and the Phillies exchanged offers a few weeks ago, but Durbin is looking for both a raise and a two-year contract.  Philadelphia already passed on offering Durbin arbitration back in November since they didn't want to risk paying him much more than the $2.125MM he earned last season, so it's probably no surprise the two sides are at an impasse.  As Zolecki notes, the Phillies' crowded rotation means that Kyle Kendrick could take over Durbin's right-handed relief spot.

In three years with Philadelphia, Durbin has a 3.62 ERA, a 7.5 K/9 rate, and a team-leading 194 games pitched.  We heard earlier this winter that Durbin had drawn some interest from teams looking at him as a starter, though Durbin's last start came in 2007.

Amaro said the Phillies aren't looking for middle relief or a right-handed hitter at this point, and don't have any outstanding offers to free agents.  The GM said the team may re-examine their needs during Spring Training, but for now, Philadelphia looks to have finished its offseason moves.

"Right now, like I've said before, I think we're pretty comfortable with where we are coming into spring," Amaro said.  "We have some decisions to make. But I think that we're — I never like to say we're pretty well set — but I think we kind of have to go with what we've got and start to make assessments as to what we may need as we go through the spring."

Grilli Appears Likely To Sign With Phillies

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Right-hander Jason Grilli announced on his Twitter account that he's "FIRED UP about the City of Brotherly Love," possibly indicating that he's agreed to sign with the Phillies. We heard that the team was interested in signing him just yesterday.

Grilli, 34, last pitched in the big leagues in 2009. He posted a 5.32 ERA in 45 2/3 innings with the Rockies and Rangers. He struck out an impressive 9.7 K/9, but walked 5.3 BB/9. He agreed to a minor league pact with the Indians last year, but he missed the entire season with a quad injury. The fourth overall pick in the 1997 draft, Grilli has worked exclusively in relief since 2005. 

Quick Hits: Weeks, Dodgers, Cuddyer, Mets

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On this day 20 years ago, the Atlanta Braves signed Falcons cornerback Deion Sanders as a free agent. Though he struggled in his first year as a Brave, 'Prime Time' was a key contributor for the National League champs in 1992; he hit .304/.346/.495 with 26 stolen bases in 325 regular season plate appearances and added eight hits and five steals in four World Series games. Sanders ended up leaving both Atlanta franchises in 1994, but not before he racked up 75 stolen bases and ten touchdowns for the Braves and Falcons respectively. Here are Sunday's links:

Quick Hits: Farnsworth, Durbin, Izzy, Duchscherer

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Here are a few items of note for Jan. 29, 53 years to the day after Stan Musial became the National League's highest-paid player with the one-year, $100K contract he signed with the Cardinals …

  • The Rays will pay Kyle Farnsworth $2.6MM in salary in 2011, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. If Farnsworth's option for 2012 is picked up, he will earn $3.3MM that year. If it's declined, the buyout is $650K. The deal also includes up to $300K in incentives for games finished.
  • The Phillies have not re-signed free-agent reliever Chad Durbin because he is seeking a two-year deal at a higher annual salary than the club is comfortable giving him, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Philly is also intent on preserving the roster spot for the sake of grooming younger relievers, according to Stark.
  • The Reds will decide whether to sign free-agent reliever Jason Isringhausen after watching him throw a bullpen session on Monday in Arizona, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Isringhausen signed a minor-league deal with the Reds last July but did not appear in any games for them. He last appeared in the big leagues with the Rays in June 2009, a stint that ended when he suffered an arm injury that required Tommy John surgery.
  • The Orioles remain fairly interested in free-agent pitcher Justin Duchscherer after receiving positive feedback on the right-hander's Friday bullpen session, blogs Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.

Phillies Interested In Signing Jason Grilli

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The Phillies are interested in signing free-agent reliever Jason Grilli to a minor-league deal, writes Paul Hagen of Philly.com.

Grilli, a right-hander, last pitched for the Rangers in 2009. He signed a minor-league deal with the Indians prior to last season before suffering a knee injury that cost him all of the 2010 campaign.

Grilli's best season in the Majors (3.00 ERA) came in 2008, when he split time with the Tigers and Rockies. For his career, he has a 4.74 ERA over 356 2/3 innings.

Grilli, 34, is a former first-round pick of the Giants and has pitched for five teams.

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