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Cafardo On Napoli, Lohse, Upton, Bourn, Soriano

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It has been six weeks since the Red Sox and Mike Napoli agreed to terms on a three-year, $39MM contract. The holdup in finalizing the deal is concern with one of Napoli's hips and the team's desire to write protective language into the contract. Recently, we learned the Red Sox are continuing negotiations with Napoli, but would like to shorten the deal to just one year and have been in contact with the Nationals about Mike Morse. A major league source told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe this about Napoli's hip, "It’s one of those things where it could go anytime or five years from now. Nobody really knows, which is why the Red Sox want strong language after putting $40 million on the table for him.” Cafardo believes it's starting to make sense for the Red Sox to trade for Justin Morneau or to make Daniel Nava a first baseman/left fielder. More from Cafardo:

  • That Kyle Lohse is still available at this late date is somewhat of a stunner to Cafardo. Lohse's market has been stunted with him being tied to draft pick compensation and that no one seems willing to go beyond two years, although several teams needs starting pitching and his stuff translates to both leagues. 
  • Draft pick compensation has also shrunk the market for Michael Bourn. Another factor, according to a NL GM, has been the Twins trading both Denard Span and Ben Revere and the Braves signing B.J. Upton.
  • Cafardo thought it was strange for Justin Upton to reject his trade to Seattle since it's one of the nicest cities in the country and the fences at Safeco Field have been moved in.
  • Cubs President Theo Epstein has come to realize Alfonso Soriano is an excellent clubhouse presence because of his willingness to help younger players. With that and his excellent 2012 season, Epstein wants a player of note in any deal where the Cubs eat a majority of the $36MM left on Soriano's contract.
  • Discussions to include Garrett Jones in the Joel Hanrahan trade never progressed very far because "the Pirates really valued Jones highly," a major league source told Cafardo.   
  • One NL GM told Cafardo Roy Oswalt may still want to pitch, but on his terms and perhaps for only a half a season. Many teams have given up trying to persuade the 35-year-old to pitch, feeling the vibe is that he just doesn’t want it bad enough. Cafardo also notes Oswalt suffered a forearm strain at the end of his time with the Rangers last season. 
  • Bobby Valentine has turned down some opportunities to serve as an advisor for teams. Valentine has instead decided to focus on expanding his restaurant business, growing his film company, and working for NBC Sports since being fired as manager of the Red Sox.

Cubs Sign Brent Lillibridge, Darnell McDonald

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The Cubs signed infielder Brent Lillibridge and outfielder Darnell McDonald to minor league contracts, the team announced.

Lillibridge, a CAA Sports client, appeared in 102 games for the White Sox, Red Sox and Indians in 2012. The 29-year-old posted a .195/.250/.274 batting line in 209 total plate appearances while appearing at every position except pitcher and catcher.

McDonald, a 34-year-old client of McNamara Baseball Group, played for the Yankees and Red Sox in 2012. He appeared in 42 total games, posting a .205/.297/.352 batting line in 103 plate appearances and playing all three outfield positions.

Cubs, Luis Valbuena Avoid Arbitration

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The Cubs avoided arbitration with infielder Luis Valbuena, Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald reports (on Twitter). The Elite Sports Group client will earn $930K in 2013, according to Miles.

Valbuena hit .219/.310/.340 in 303 plate appearances with Chicago this past season while playing second base and third base. The 27-year-old was first time arbitration eligible as a super two player this winter and had been projected to earn $900K by MLBTR's Matt Swartz. As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, the Cubs have three remaining arbitration eligible players: Matt Garza, James Russell and  Jeff Samardzija.

Tigers, Cubs, Orioles Discussed Three-Way Deal

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The Tigers and Cubs are discussing a potential three-way trade that would send Rick Porcello to Chicago with the Orioles as the third party, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.  The Tigers want Baltimore involved because they want shortstop J.J. Hardy and they don't feel that the Cubs have the necessary components to make it a two-team trade.

For the O's to part ways with Hardy in a deal, the Cubs would have to send pitching to the Orioles.  However, Kubatko thinks that the O's will have to be overwhelmed by an offer in order to part with Hardy.  Dan Duquette & Co. are happy with the left side of their infield and they don't intend on moving Manny Machado to shortstop this year.

The Orioles are also one of the teams that are interested in Porcello and it's logical to think that they could just hammer out a two-team swap with the Tigers instead.  The Padres, Mariners, and Pirates have also expressed interest in the right-hander recently.  The 24-year-old posted a 4.59 ERA with 5.5 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 53.2% ground ball rate last season and is under team control through 2015.

Rosenthal On Padres, Orioles, Rockies, Phillies

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The Orioles showed serious interest in Justin Upton before talks with the Diamondbacks sputtered, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported last night. Here are some more of Rosenthal’s notes from around MLB…

  • Rosenthal hears from one executive who expects the Padres to make another significant move. However, the Padres like their group of young starting pitchers and aren’t inclined to make a strong play for one of the remaining free agent starters. San Diego could still trade for a pitcher such as Rick Porcello, Luke Hochevar or Aaron Harang.
  • Talks about a deal involving Upton and Chase Headley didn’t progress, Rosenthal reports.
  • The Orioles continue seeking starting pitching and Joe Saunders remains a target. The Orioles also checked in on Porcello, according to Rosenthal.
  • Though the Orioles spoke with Lance Berkman before he signed with the Rangers, they weren’t interested in spending big for the switch-hitting DH.
  • Jeff Karstens, Derek Lowe, Aaron Cook and Jair Jurrjens are among the possibilities the Rockies are considering. The Rockies wouldn’t offer all of those pitchers Major League deals, however.
  • Rosenthal suggests free agent reliever Rafael Soriano could be a longshot for the Rockies. Colorado would have to surrender its second round draft pick to sign the Scott Boras client.
  • The Phillies continue seeking a right-handed hitting outfielder, Rosenthal reports. They’re still considering free agent Scott Hairston and trade candidates Alfonso Soriano and Vernon Wells. It’s possible the Phillies will go with platoons in both corner outfield positions.

Cubs Sign Zach Putnam

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The Cubs signed free agent right-hander Zach Putnam to a minor league contract, according to the transactions page at CBSSports.com. The Cubs had claimed Putnam off of waivers from Colorado in early November, but non-tendered him later in the month.

The 25-year-old appeared in two games for the Rockies in 2012. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted a 4.15 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 60 2/3 innings.

Cafardo On Cubs, Ellsbury, Morneau, Dodgers

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When Theo Epstein took over the Cubs a year ago, he took the long range view and opted for an all-out gutting and rebuilding.  This winter, however, he surprised some when he entered the bidding for Anibal Sanchez and signed Edwin Jackson to a lucrative four-year deal.  Does that mean that the Cubs are better than he anticipated?  “We’re certainly farther along than we were last year at this time,” said Epstein, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. “When we got here, we identified one core player [Starlin Castro] and now we can look around and see Anthony Rizzo, Darwin Barney, Jeff Samardzija , and others. We do have more positional prospects than pitchers, so we felt Jackson will be with us for many years to come.”  Here's more from Cafardo..

  • If Matt Garza can show teams that his elbow is in solid shape during spring training then the Cubs will consider offers for the right-hander.  It's hard to read the Cubs' intentions though since they are building for the future while also signing veteran pitchers.
  • Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury is a hard sell to some teams because he is in his walk year and has struggled with injury, but there are other clubs out there looking to make a splash who may feel that one year of a motivated Ellsbury would be tempting. 
  • The Twins' Justin Morneau is in the final year of his contract at $14MM and Cafardo wonders if they would deal him if they got a nice group of young players.  Teams like the Red Sox, Orioles, and Rays (even with James Loney) could be interested in first base help.
  • Dodgers pitchers Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang are both available thanks to the club's offseason pickups and the expected return of Ted Lilly.  Capuano should draw more interest since he is a lefty and coming off a decent season.
  • The White Sox say they want to hang on to Gavin Floyd, but younger pitchers have made him expendable.  It has been speculated that the White Sox won't look to move Floyd until John Danks is healthy.
  • Andrew Bailey is slated to be the Red Sox set-up man in support of Joel Hanrahan, but Cafardo wonders aloud if they might be willing to deal him to address another need?   Bailey didn't help his trade value after he returned from thumb surgery last year, but at least teams know he’s healthy.
  • Cafardo gets the feeling that Justin Upton will be gone just as soon as D'Backs GM Kevin Towers  hears the right mix of players.  Of course, there has also been a great deal of talk surrounding Jason Kubel.

Cubs Sign Dontrelle Willis

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The Cubs have signed Dontrelle Willis according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). The left-hander officially gets an invitation to minor league Spring Training, but could get a look in big league camp if he's throwing well. The 2003 NL Rookie of the Year is a Sosnick/Cobbe client.

Willis, 31 later this month, retired from baseball back in July. He allowed eight runs in 6 1/3 innings with the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate early last season before calling it quits. Willis last appeared in the big leagues with the Reds in 2011, when he pitched to a 5.00 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 75 2/3 innings across 13 starts.

Willis started his professional career with the Cubs, who drafted him in the eighth round of the 2000 draft. Chicago traded him to the Marlins as part of the package for Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca two years later.

NL Central Notes: Cubs, Bourn, Reds, Rolen

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The Cubs had interest in both Edwin Jackson and Anibal Sanchez this winter, but General Manager Jed Hoyer said that signing both was never in the cards, tweets Jordan Bernfield of WGN Radio.  Hoyer and Sveum met with Jackson in California while Theo Epstein and owner Tom Ricketts met with Sanchez in Florida.  Here’s more on the Cubs and other items out of the NL Central..

Quick Hits: Vazquez, Red Sox, Padres, Astros, Cubs

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The Red Sox will scout right-hander Javier Vazquez in Puerto Rico on Friday, according to Victor Ramos of Solo Beisbol (on Twitter, Spanish link).  An industry source confirmed the news to Rob Bradford of WEEI, who notes that Vazquez has been throwing a fastball in the 92-93 mph range in recent workouts.  Vazquez said earlier this week that he would consider a return to MLB and would like to play for a contender.  Here's more from around baseball..

  • Speaking of the Red Sox, Andrew Bailey says that he's happy to have Joel Hanrahan on board, even though it means that he won't be closing, Bradford writes.  Meanwhile, Bailey believes that he's poised for a strong year thanks to his offseason training.
  • Padres General Manager Josh Byrnes indicated today that the team likely won't pick up a starting pitcher in free agency, writes MLB.com's Corey Brock.  The Padres signed Jason Marquis to a one-year deal last month, adding him to an already lengthy list of rotation candidates.
  • General Manager Jeff Luhnow says the Astros aren't likely to add any additional key players between now and spring training, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.  Houston's biggest pickups this winter were the signings of slugger Carlos Pena and relief pitcher Jose Veras.
  • The Cubs expect free agent Nate Schierholtz to be a regular in right field, writes Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.  Chicago inked Schierholtz to a one-year, $2.25MM deal with $500K in performance bonuses.
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