Phillies Close On Barajas
Excitement…the Phillies are close to signing 31 year-old catcher Rod Barajas. Rodrigo can’t get on base to save his life, but he’s shown above average power for his position in the past (though not last year).
Barajas was middle-of-the-pack at throwing out attempted thieves this year (33%). Last year he was seventh in baseball at 34%. He should be a worthy adversary for Jose Reyes.
Barajas backed out of a verbal agreement with the Blue Jays earlier this winter after switching back to Dan Lozano as his agent.
Phillies Sign Jayson Werth
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies have signed Jayson Werth to a contract, pending a physical. The outfielder turns 28 in May; he was nontendered by the Dodgers.
Werth played in the Baltimore and Toronto systems before a trade to L.A. He plays all three outfield positions. He was actually a catcher with Baltimore and considered a backup at times in L.A. Perhaps the Phillies would pursue the idea once again.
He’s had plenty of injury problems: a strain in ’03, an oblique strain, two cracked ribs, and a torn elbow ligament in ’04, a broken wrist from an A.J. Burnett heater in ’05, a sore knee that same year, wrist surgery that winter, and a second wrist surgery last August. Whew.
Werth got Major League offers from the Cards and Padres as well this winter. He’ll join Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand, Jeff Conine, and Shane Victorino in the Phillie outfield if healthy. The signing might add some flexibility for a trade.
Phillies Trade For Freddy Garcia
Ken Rosenthal reports that the Phillies have acquired starter Freddy Garcia for pitchers Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez. Apparently the Sox wanted Gio back.
Now Pat Gillick has the surplus of starters, with Brett Myers, Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, Jon Lieber, Adam Eaton, and Garcia all under contract. Speculation is that Liebs will be dealt for an outfielder.
MLB.com reported today that the Phils are looking at various deals with the Brewers, possibly involving outfielders or bullpen help.
Early Evening Rumors
Rosenthal has dollar amounts for the Greg Maddux deal: the Padres will pay him $10M in 2007, with a player option for 2008. The option starts at $6M, but if Maddux reaches various plateaus, the option could increase in value to another $10M.
The Arlington Daily-Herald speculates that a Kevin Mench for Jon Lieber deal could be evened out by the Brewers sending along Jose Capellan. Capellan hasn’t lived up to his potential yet, but he’s still young enough that he could develop into a top-tier setup man. I’d be very surprised (not to mention disappointed) if Doug Melvin made that deal without getting something else of value in return.
According to Rotoworld, the Mets have offered Julio Lugo $36 million over four years, but Steve Phillips believes the Red Sox will sign him. Theo Epstein was quoted earlier today saying that Dustin Pedroia could be his opening day shortstop, but it’s hard to believe the Red Sox won’t find some way to upgrade at least one of their middle infield spots.
By Jeff Sackmann, Brew Crew Ball
White Sox To Reacquire Rowand?
The White Sox surely don’t regret using Aaron Rowand to help them obtain Jim Thome last winter. But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t like to have their scrappy CF back in the fold.
According to Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald:
"According to multiple reports out of Philadelphia, Phillies GM Pat Gillick would be willing to deal Rowand and a pitcher – either reliever Ryan Madson or starter Gavin Floyd – to the White Sox in exchange for starting pitcher Freddy Garcia."
Ultimately I think the White Sox would win such a deal. The Phils would then have the surplus of starters instead of Chicago.
Phils Deal With JoBo Nixed
The Phillies were about to seal a multiyear deal with Joe Borowski, but they are reconsidering after giving him a physical. That Borowski may have been pitching with some shoulder issues does not surprise me; he always seemed to have a "tough it out" mentality with the Cubs.
Borowski will be 36 next season. A rotator cuff surfaced in his right shoulder way back in the summer of 2004, but Dr. Lewis Yocum suggested rehab at that time. A three-year, $12MM deal or something similar could be bad news.
Lots of signings
Adam Eaton is going to the Phillies for $24M over three years. It’s an interesting harbinger of the contracts to come–that isn’t far out of line of all the $21/3 contracts that have been signed in the last couple of years. Eaton is a bit of an injury risk, I suppose, but there’s nothing else keeping his value down. Aside from the obvious cases–Barry Zito, Andy Pettitte, and Jason Schmidt–the only pitchers on the market who may get bigger deals that Eaton are Gil Meche and Ted Lilly. It would be fascinating if the market for pitching remained as people predicted, while the market for hitters exploded.
David Dellucci signed a similarly sane deal to go to Cleveland: he’s getting $11.5M over three years. Given Casey Blake‘s versatility, Eric Wedge can play the hot hand with a number of players, including Dellucci, Blake, Jason Michaels, Shin-Soo Choo, and Ryan Garko.
It looks like it’ll be Gregg Zaun, and not Rod Barajas, who serves as the Blue Jays catcher next year. Apparently the Barajas talks hit a snag, and Zaun stepped right back in. That means Barajas may be headed to one of Zaun’s earlier targets: San Francisco, or a backup job in New York or Boston.
Speaking of catchers, I’m sure you’re all relieved to know that Chad Moeller found a job for 2007. He got a major-league deal to join the Cincinnati Reds, which is Wayne Krivsky’s way of saying, "Jason LaRue, you suck!" Interesting how Brewers backup catchers stick around in the division: if Gary Bennett stays with the Cardinals, two of the worst backup catchers in baseball will be former Brewers in the NL Central.
By Jeff Sackmann
Carlos Lee Sweepstakes
The Houston Chronicle provides the latest update on the chase for Carlos Lee. It suggests that Tim Purpura could ultimately decide to give El Caballo an Aramis Ramirez-type contract–5 years, $73 million. Right now, the deal the Astros have offered Lee is believed to be 5 years for $60 million.
The Chron has a source saying that an AL team (gotta be the Orioles) has floated a $70M/5 deal. It sounds like the Phillies haven’t made an offer; maybe Pat Gillick will realize that signing Lee just to replace Pat Burrell would be a bizarre waste of time. As it is, it seems like the Astros are banking on getting some kind of hometown discount, while the Orioles are hoping that Carlos wants to play for a mediocre team for the remainder of his productive career.
Then again, it’s always possible that the Cubs will sweep in and sign Lee and Julio Lugo this weekend. Once you spend $200M, what’s another $70M?
UPDATE: Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles are willing to go six years, for between $80 and $90 million. Carlos loves his cattle ranch, but the gap between the O’s and the ‘Stros seems to be widening.
By Jeff Sackmann
Phils Sign Wes Helms
Yet another third baseman is off the market, as the Phillies acted quickly today to sign Wes Helms to a two-year deal with a club option for the third. Ken Rosenthal scooped another one. Helms is guaranteed $5.5MM for 2007-08.
Helms will be 31 next season. He was a full-timer for the Brewers in ’03, hitting .261/.330/.450 in 476 ABs. He’s faced a disproportionate amount of lefties in his career, as he hits them significantly better.
Helms probably can’t hit as well as the average NL 3B (.826 OPS). Defensively, he’s got a strong arm but his footwork doesn’t impress.
Phils Make Offer To Soriano?
According to Jim Street of MLB.com, the Phillies have made a five-year, $73MM offer to Alfonso Soriano. Unfortunately, Street was quoting a Philadelphia Daily News article from today that I could not find. Not sure what to make of it right now.
Here is a link to the Phillies section of that newspaper. I’ve emailed Street in hopes of clarification.
Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that Sori will do better than that.