Olney’s Latest: Cabrera, Cardinals, Hamilton
In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney says he hasn't spoken to a single talent evaluator who believes Miguel Cabrera will be able to play third base regularly. The Tigers have already announced that Cabrera will move back to his old position to accommodate Prince Fielder. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors…
- The Cardinals did speak to teams about Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook at the winter meetings. Both players have full no-trade clauses, and Olney says that Lohse has no intention of moving. St. Louis is reportedly close to a deal with Roy Oswalt, which would give them six starters for five spots.
- Josh Hamilton and his representatives have "visions" of the huge free agent contracts landed by Fielder and Albert Pujols while the Rangers will aim for a much more conservative deal. Hamilton has said that he'll talk about an extension up until Spring Training. He's scheduled to become a free agent after 2012.
Edwin Jackson Rumors: Thursday
The Red Sox have offered Edwin Jackson a contract and the Orioles would consider offering a four year deal. The market for Jackson — arguably the top free agent remaining — seems to be picking up. Here are the most recent rumors from around MLB:
- The Red Sox are believed to be one of a few teams with which Jackson would accept a one-year deal, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets.
- The Cardinals checked in on Jackson, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The right-hander, who finished the 2011 season in St. Louis, has a multiyear offer from an unknown team that's not the Red Sox or Cardinals.
Latest On Roy Oswalt
10:35pm: The Cardinals made a bid approaching $5MM on Oswalt weeks ago but that deal is not likely to happen, tweets Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Strauss predicts that the Rangers will win the bidding on Oswalt with $2-3MM more and other perks.
9:36pm: Some executives believe that the Rangers are the favorites to land Oswalt, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Other interested clubs include the Cardinals, Red Sox, Nationals, Indians, and Brewers.
Even after acquiring Gio Gonzalez, Rosenthal writes that the Nats value Oswalt's veteran presence and makeup. The Indians are in the mix as they face the possible loss of the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona. Milwaukee would only sign Oswalt at the right price.
The big question with the 34-year-old is whether he'll continue playing if neither the Cardinals nor Rangers want him. One friend of the pitcher says that he again mentioned retirement as an option, though two sources close to Oswalt insist that he will pitch in 2012 and perhaps even sign a two-year deal. Sources also say that the right-hander turned down a strong offer from the Tigers.
4:35pm: There's mutual interest between the Rangers and Oswalt, but for him to be a fit, it'd have to be on Texas' terms, Heyman tweets.
1:33pm: The Red Sox made Oswalt an offer, but are unsure of his interest level, since he has yet to accept, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.
8:13am: Now that Prince Fielder has agreed to terms with the Tigers, Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt are the top unsigned free agents. It wouldn’t surprise many if Oswalt, who now seeks a one-year deal, signs in Boston, but two general managers think he wants to join the Rangers and another says he’d like to sign in St. Louis, tweets Peter Gammons of MLB Network.
Oswalt would like to join Mike Maddux and Nolan Ryan with the Rangers, Gammons reports. However, both of last year’s World Series teams enter the 2012 season will rotations that appear to be full.
Though Oswalt had two back-related stints on the disabled list in 2011, he finished the season with six strong September starts and a season ERA of 3.69 with 6.0 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9. The 34-year-old Bob Garber client made 23 starts and completed 139 innings this past season, posting a 3.69 ERA with 6.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 45.1% ground ball rate overall. His average fastball velocity dropped to 91.4 mph, however. Oswalt was a Type A free agent, but the Phillies declined to offer him arbitration and he won't cost a draft pick.
Motte, Cardinals Avoid Arbitration
The Cardinals avoided arbitration with Jason Motte, agreeing to a one-year deal, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Motte, an ACES client, will earn a base salary of $1.95MM in 2012 and could earn $75K more in incentives.
As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, that's the midpoint between the Cardinals' $1.5MM submission and Motte's request of $2.4MM. The Cardinals have now signed all of their arbitration eligible players.
Quick Hits: Cespedes, Pierzynski, Molina, Selig
A few news items to wrap up a busy Monday…
- The Cubs, Marlins and Tigers are the three teams most actively targeting Yoenis Cespedes, reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Last week, Cespedes said the Cubs were his most ardent suitor, with the Marlins, Tigers, Orioles, White Sox and Indians also showing "more interest" in him.
- White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski tells MLB.com's Scott Merkin that he plans to continue playing after 2012. Pierzynski, 35, has spent the last seven years with the Sox and is a free agent after this season.
- Yadier Molina's future with the Cardinals is debated in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch roundtable.
- Bud Selig's two-year contract extension was officially finalized and announced today, Major League Baseball announced. Selig will remain commissioner through the 2014 season. The extension was approved by a unanimous 30-0 vote amongst team owners.
- Derrek Lee could retire if he doesn't find "a perfect situation," tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Yesterday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post said Lee could be in for a Jermaine Dye-esque "forced retirement" since no team would be willing to meet his desired price.
- The Rays reportedly have interest in Edgar Renteria for a bench spot, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
- The Astros will consider uniform changes and even possibly a name change for 2013, new club owner Jim Crane announced at a press conference today (passed on by Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle).
- Indians catcher Lou Marson could see a lot of playing time against left-handed pitching, writes MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. Regular catcher Carlos Santana could play at first base on the days the strong-armed Marson (who threw out 33.3% of baserunners last year) is behind the plate. The right-handed hitting Marson has a .285/.367/.395 career line against southpaws and would add balance to an Indians lineup that is very heavy on left-handed bats.
Quick Hits: Motte, Cespedes, Garcia, Angels
On this date last year, the White Sox selected Philip Humber off of waivers from the Athletics. The right-hander posted a 3.75 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 163 innings in 2011 and projects to start for Chicago in 2012. We didn't see anyone claimed on waivers today, but we do have these links…
- A multiyear deal between the Cardinals and Jason Motte is ‘in play,’ though nothing is close, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Motte filed for $2.4MM in arbitration, with the Cardinals countering at $1.5MM, as our Arbitration Tracker shows.
- Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes hit his first home run since joining the Dominican Winter League and you can view a clip of it here (hat tip: Keith Law).
- Another Cuban, left-hander Onelkis Garcia, will be eligible for the 2012 amateur draft, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. MLB made Garcia eligible to MLB teams as last year's draft approached, before making him ineligible at the last minute. Scouts tell Badler the 22-year-old projects as a reliever and could be selected in the third round this June.
- Angels GM Jerry Dipoto explained to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times that at one point during the Winter Meetings, the Angels had people negotiating with representatives for C.J. Wilson, LaTroy Hawkins and Albert Pujols in three different places.
- Indians president Mark Shapiro, who is depicted in the Moneyball movie, told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com that he enjoyed the film for what it was. "I appreciate why most people would like it,” Shapiro said. “But I felt like it was an oversimplified kind of view, which is kind of what you have to do when you take a lot of history and condense it into an hour and a half."
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Tuesday
Dozens of arbitration eligible players have agreed to deals with their respective teams today and we've been tracking all of the developments right here. Several teams, including the Rays, Nationals, Marlins, White Sox, Blue Jays, Braves, and perhaps Astros, are known for committing to going to hearings if they get to the point of filing. Keep track of all the madness with MLBTR's arbitration tracker, which shows settlement amounts, filing figures, and midpoints. Today's players to avoid arbitration on deals worth less than $4MM:
- The Cardinals avoided arbitration with pitcher Kyle McClellan, tweets B.J. Rains of FOX Sports Midwest. Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (on Twitter) that the one-year deal is worth $2.5MM with incentives based on starts. MLBTR projected a $2.7MM for the Steve Comte client.
- MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith reports (on Twitter) that the Padres and Chase Headley agreed to a one-year deal worth $3.475MM, avoiding arbitration. Earlier this evening, the Padres announced that they avoided arbitration with Luke Gregerson, Edinson Volquez, Carlos Quentin and Will Venable. They also avoided arbitration with lefty reliever Joe Thatcher on a deal worth $700K, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. CAA announced catcher John Baker has signed for $750K. Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune first reported that the Padres reached agreements with Hundley, Chase Headley, and Tim Stauffer. Hundley will earn $2MM in 2012, MLB.com's Corey Brock tweets. Dan Hayes of the North County Times tweets the salaries for Volquez ($2.2375MM), Venable ($1.475MM), Gregerson ($1.55MM)
- The Rangers avoided arbitration with Matt Harrison, tweets Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. The ACES client gets $2.95MM on a one-year deal. MLBTR had projected a $2.9MM salary.
- The Cubs announced that they have avoided arbitration with Jeff Baker ($1.375MM), Blake DeWitt ($1.1MM), Ian Stewart ($2.237MM) Chris Volstad ($2.655MM), and Randy Wells ($2.705MM). MLB.com's Carrie Muskat tweeted the salary figures.
NL Central Notes: Pujols, Beltran, Cubs, Aoki
The Reds signed a catcher today and the Pirates avoided arbitration with a pair of pitchers. Here are some more notes from the NL Central…
- Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said this weekend that his team must stay within certain financial limitations to put a competitive team on the field year after year, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The Cardinals would have liked to retain Albert Pujols, but keeping him wasn’t necessarily realistic. “It's how much can I afford to pay one player and put together a team that's going to be competitive? That's the whole jigsaw puzzle that all teams have,” DeWitt said.
- Carlos Beltran said the Indians, Rays and Giants were among the finalists for his services this offseason, MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports. Beltran said another team offered a three-year deal worth less money, B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com tweets.
- Cubs director of scouting and player development Jason McLeod said he's looking forward to meeting with his scouts this week to find ways of drafting more effectively under the new collective bargaining agreement, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
- Tom Haudricourt on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets that there's an expectation that the Brewers will sign outfielder Norichika Aoki. They have until 4pm CDT tomorrow to sign Aoki, or else he’ll be returned to the Yakult Swallows and the Brewers will get their $2.5MM posting fee back.
Mozeliak On Pujols, Molina, Oswalt, Fielder, Edmonds
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak spoke to fans and media at the team's 16th annual Winter Warm-Up today, touching on a wide range of topics. MLB.com's Matthew Leach was there, and provided us with a rundown of all the news. Let's recap…
- Mozeliak called the Albert Pujols negotiations "exhausting (and) frustrating," but said it is time to move on. "[It] just creates new opportunities for us," he added.
- "In terms of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, I really can’t get into those types of details," said Mozeliak when asked about a potential contract extension for Yadier Molina, who can become a free agent after the season. "But I assure we’re going to try to find a way to make it work. I know that he also wants to try to be here as well, so usually when you have that type of understanding and mutual agreement, you usually can get something resolved.”
- "I haven’t heard anything about it and I probably won’t until they see that I’m healthy and out there rolling," said Adam Wainwright when asked about a potential contract extension, according to Leach. "But of course I want to finish my career here, everybody knows that. Everybody that plays here wants to finish their career here."
- When asked about the possibility of signing Roy Oswalt, Mozeliak replied that he likes "the idea of an insurance policy" for the rotation. "There’s no doubt that he would be a nice addition, but I just don’t know how practical it is at this time," he added.
- Unsurprisingly, Mozeliak made it very clear that the Cardinals will not be signing Prince Fielder. He said any further additions would likely involve a pitcher and not a hitter.
- Mozeliak and manager Mike Matheny have spoken about bringing Jim Edmonds back to the organization in some non-playing capacity. “As far as what the role looks like or how we define it, we haven’t done that yet,” said the GM.
NL Central Notes: Madson, Wood, Miller
The Reds signed Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman for $30.25MM on this date in 2010. The 23-year-old has a 3.27 ERA with 12.8 K/9 and 6.5 BB/9 through 63 1/3 innings in parts of two seasons with Cincinnati. He figures to join lefties Bill Bray and Sean Marshall in the Reds' revamped bullpen this year…
- The Reds’ one-year, $8.5MM contract with Ryan Madson is “perhaps the deal of the offseason so far,” ESPN.com’s Keith Law writes. Law says the Phillies seem like losers and that their four-year, $50MM deal with Jonathan Papelbon “looks absolutely comical.”
- The Cubs, who appear to be nearing a deal with Kerry Wood, reached out to the right-hander last night and stepped up their offer, David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com tweets. The Tigers and Phillies are fallback options for Wood, Kaplan notes.
- Cardinals pitching prospect Shelby Miller told Casey Stern and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio that he's looking to pitch well in Spring Training and make it difficult for the team to keep him off of the MLB roster.