Orioles-Rays Swap ‘Not Happening’
5:13pm: The Orioles are moving on to other targets, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (on Twitter). Those alternatives include trade candidates Brendan Ryan, J.J. Hardy and free agent Orlando Cabrera.
4:48pm: Reimold is off the table, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). He isn't going to Tampa and he's probably staying put.
4:13pm: The trade is "not happening," a source tells ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (on Twitter).
3:37pm: There will be no deal today, according to Ghiroli (on Twitter). The sides are close, but a trade now seems less likely than it did earlier.
2:38pm: No deal is imminent and the names vary, tweets MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. The Rays want Reimold and Alfredo Simon for Bartlett, tweets Connolly.
1:26pm: The Rays are talking with the Orioles about Bartlett, and it's for more than Reimold, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.
11:49am: A possible deal sending Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett to the Orioles for outfielder/first baseman Nolan Reimold is heating up, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. He has one source who expects the trade to happen today.
The Rays are one of few teams with a shortstop surplus, and Bartlett may earn over $5MM in his last year before free agency. Reimold had a strong rookie season for Baltimore in '09 but had a lost 2010.
Matt Garza Rumors: Tuesday
The Rays have lots of pitching depth and a number of holes to address, so the Matt Garza rumors were inevitable. Here's the latest on the Rays righty:
- Garza is a fallback plan for the Rangers in case they can't sign Cliff Lee or trade for Zack Greinke, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. Price reports that the Rays are motivated to move Garza.
- The Brewers have talked to the Rays about Garza, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (on Twitter).
Rays, Mariners Eyeing Mark Hendrickson
The Rays and Mariners are interested in lefty reliever Mark Hendrickson, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Hendrickson's former team, the Orioles, is also keeping tabs on him. The O's declined a $1.2MM option on him last month.
Hendrickson, a 6'9" southpaw, turned 36 in June. This year he posted a 5.26 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 42.9% groundball rate in 75.3 innings. Hendrickson's FanGraphs splits show he's been plenty effective against left-handed batters over the past few years.
At Least Seven Teams Checked In On Rich Harden
The Yankees, Twins, Rays, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Mariners, and Rockies have checked in on free agent righty Rich Harden, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi says some teams like Harden as a starter, others as a reliever.
The oft-injured Harden received a $7.5MM guarantee from the Rangers last year, but had a lost season. He posted a 5.58 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 6.1 BB/9, 1.8 HR/9, and 34.5% groundball rate in 92 innings, battling a strained glute and shoulder tendinitis. These days he's a fastball/changeup pitcher with a 90.5 mph average heater.
Rays Rumors: Howell, Johnson, Bartlett
The latest on the Rays, who are looking to re-build their bullpen and acquire a hitter or two:
- The Rays have progressed toward a deal with J.P. Howell, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter). The team non-tendered the lefty last week.
- The Rays avoided arbitration with Dan Johnson and agreed on a 2011 salary of about $1MM, according to Topkin (Twitter links).
- The Rays and O's were discussing a trade that would have sent Jason Bartlett to Baltimore for a package similar to the one the Orioles sent to Arizona for Mark Reynolds, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown (Twitter link).
- Cardinals GM Joh Mozeliak told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he's not looking to acquire middle infielders, so a Barlett trade seems highly unlikely.
- Rays President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Topkin that he wouldn't be surprised if he ends up making a trade or two this week (Twitter link).
Stark On Crawford, Beltre, Lee, Greinke, Bartlett
In his latest piece for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark discusses the ripple effect that Jayson Werth's $126MM deal will have on the remaining free agents. One AL official opines that it raises Carl Crawford's price in a "big, big way": "He's looking at maybe eight years, $180 million now, maybe 10 years, $190 million." Here are the rest of Stark's hot stove notes:
- Crawford is the clear top target for the Angels, but in the past they've tried to avoid going as high as eight years for any player, let alone ten.
- Despite getting Werth's contract done already, Scott Boras often drags out negotiations for his top clients. Stark polled a dozen people across baseball on when Adrian Beltre would sign, and many predicted it wouldn't happen until Christmas or later.
- Neither the Yankees or Rangers have made a formal offer to Cliff Lee yet, but many of those baseball people polled by Stark expect a deal to get done within the next week.
- There's good news and bad news for the Royals and Zack Greinke's trade value: with many free agent arms coming off the board already, Greinke has become more valuable in a pitching-thin market. However, according to one AL source, "Greinke has been trying to convince the Royals that it's not a great idea if he's there next year," which reduces Kansas City's leverage.
- The Diamondbacks haven't totally ruled out trading Justin Upton, though it appears unlikely. Kevin Towers tells Stark "it's going to take somebody a little on the crazy side" to get anything done.
- There's a sense that Jason Bartlett is the player most likely to be traded this week. However, Stark has trouble finding a team in need of a shortstop that matches up well with the Rays, who would like a late-inning reliever in return.
- With Werth off the market, the Phillies will look to replace him with a complementary player rather than a big name. Stark lists Scott Hairston, Jeff Francoeur, and Matt Diaz as a few possible targets. Philadelphia has also been trying to find a taker for Raul Ibanez, but would likely have to eat a good chunk of salary to do so.
Cubs, Other Teams Also Pursuing Adrian Gonzalez
The Red Sox aren't the only team in the hunt for Adrian Gonzalez. "Multiple teams besides [the] Red Sox," including the Cubs, are interested in the Padres slugger, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. This isn't the first time we've heard about Chicago's interest in Gonzalez, and the Cubs' search for a big-hitting first baseman may have intensified now that Adam Dunn has signed with the crosstown rival White Sox.
Two big obstacles stand in the way of a Cubs/Padres deal: the Cubs' ability to provide the blue-chip prospects that San Diego desires in any Gonzalez trade, and whether the Cubs can afford the long-term extension that Gonzalez wants after 2011. One obviously impacts the other, since it would be foolish for the Cubs to move several prospects for just one season of Gonzalez. With the Carlos Silva and Kosuke Fukudome contracts coming off the books after this year, Chicago has about $63MM committed to their 2012 payroll.
Besides the Cubs, Rosenthal lists the Angels, Blue Jays, Orioles, Nationals, Rangers and Rays as having a "possible interest" in a Gonzalez trade. All of the teams could potentially afford a Gonzalez extension except Tampa Bay, and all of the clubs have intriguing minor league prospects to interest the Padres (though it might be hard for L.A. to acquire Gonzalez without giving up star prospect Mike Trout). Dan Hayes of the North County Times tweets that it's the Cubs and Red Sox, however, who are the "main focus" of San Diego's trade talks.
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.
Jason Bartlett Rumors: Tuesday
10:55pm: The Giants are not in on Bartlett, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (on Twitter).
10:00pm: The Giants and Cardinals both added infielders today, but haven't completely ruled out acquiring Bartlett, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Bartlett, a long shot for the Giants, would be insurance in case Pablo Sandoval's struggles continue.
8:59pm: The Giants are one of several clubs engaging the Rays in trade talks about Bartlett even after reaching a deal with Miguel Tejada, according to Scott Miller of CBS Sports.
5:00pm: The Giants are "wide open" on their options at short, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). They've considered Bartlett, Miguel Tejada, Orlando Cabrera and Marco Scutaro. Meanwhile, an Orioles source tells Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that the Rays and O's aren't moving closer to a deal involving Bartlett.
TUESDAY, 3:45pm: The Giants have become one of the most serious suitors for Bartlett, according to Rosenthal and Morosi.
MONDAY, 5:40pm: The Rays are moving closer to trading Jason Bartlett, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The reporters’ sources say the Dodgers’ deal with Juan Uribe accelerated trade talks. The Cardinals, Padres, Giants, Orioles and Pirates have all expressed interest in Bartlett, who is arbitration eligible for the third and final time this offseason.
The Rays appear to be looking for bullpen help in any trade involving Bartlett. If they do trade the 31-year-old, they’ll likely replace him with Reid Brignac, who played 50 games at short in 2010 and posted a higher OPS than Bartlett (.692 vs. .675).
Bartlett slumped to .254/.324/.350 in 2010 after an All-Star season in 2009, but his career line (.281/.345/.385) suggests he's capable of more offense. He earned $4MM in 2010 and will likely earn over $5MM through arbitration in 2011.