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Cubs To Sign Corey Koskie

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According to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times the Cubs agreed to sign Corey Koskie to a minor league deal. He’ll compete for a backup job with the Cubs this spring. Koskie, who has agreed to play for Canada in the WBC, has missed large chunks of time because of concussions.

The update comes from Wittenmyer’s Twitter account. Remember to follow MLBTR on Twitter, too.

In a press release, the Cubs say the deal is pending a physical. Koskie will report to Cubs camp after the WBC.

Thursday Pre-Arbitration Signings

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7:41pm: The Miami Herald has a list of eight players who agreed to terms with the A’s for 2009. Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, Dallas Braden, Dana Eveland, Gio Gonzalez, Sean Gallagher, Henry Rodriguez and Landon Powell all agreed to one-year contracts.

12:27pm: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Brewers have inked Tony Gwynn Jr., Manny Parra, Hernan Iribarren and Chase Wright to one-year contracts.

11:48am: The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett has a few more from the Angels.  Howie Kendrick, Dustin Moseley, Kevin Jepsen and Matt Brown have been signed to ’09 contracts.

9:53am: MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports that the Diamondbacks have agreed to one-year contracts with Yusmeiro Petit, Leo Rosales and Kyler Newby.  They’ll each make around $400K this year.

9:50am: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Cubs have now settled with all 20 of their pre-arbitration players.  Sean Marshall, Mike Fontenot and Micah Hoffpauir are some of the bigger names on the list.

9:49am: Jose De Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros have renewed Hunter Pence’s contract.  He’ll earn $450K in ’09.

9:41am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a few more pre-arbitration signings.  2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum was inked for $650K, Angels pitcher Joe Saunders settled for $475K, Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol for $575K and Cubs infielder Ryan Theriot for $500K.

These are all guys without enough MLB service time to be eligible for salary arbitration.

Cubs Sign 20

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According to a press release, the Cubs signed all 20 of their zero to three years service time players.  That includes Carlos Marmol, Geovany Soto, and Ryan Theriot.  Before players reach arbitration, the team basically gets to decide their salaries.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Griffey, Anderson, McLouth, Mets, Cubs

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On this date 46 years ago, Willie Mays signed a new contract for $100K, becoming the highest paid player in baseball. Mays hit .304-49-141 with a 165 OPS+ at the age of 31. He was also the runner-up for the NL MVP, his sixth top-5 finish. He would go on to finish in the top-5 three more times. Forty-six years later, Mays may have helped influence Ken Griffey Jr.’s decision to sign with his original franchise. With most players already in their respective camps, several big names are still looking for an empty locker. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • MLBDepthCharts.com is a new site that projects the rosters and starting lineups of every team.
  • MLB Notebook compares Ken Griffey Jr. and Garret Anderson and suggests that the Braves should be happy that Griffey is back in Seattle with Anderson still available.
  • Pirate Revolution says the Pirates accomplished little with Nate McLouth’s extension noting that he likely won’t be worth the $9.4MM option in 2012, which was the one free agency season the Bucs bought out.
  • Jorge Says No! takes a look at what has been a strange market for left-handed relievers.
  • Hot Stove New York puts together a list of the top 20 free agent signings this off-season.
  • UmpBump breaks down the offseason of the Mets.
  • Goat Riders of the Apocalypse projects the opening day roster for the Cubs.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.

Mariners Showed Interest In Fukudome?

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According to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune:

A major-league source said teams approached the Cubs about trading for Kosuke Fukudome, although only in trades where GM Jim Hendry would have had to take back bad contracts. The Mariners, shopping pitchers Jarrod Washburn and Erik Bedard and catcher Kenji Johjima, are believed to have been among them.

It seems that these conversations were in the offseason and are not active.  Fukudome has $38MM coming for 2009-11.  Johjima will receive $24MM over the same time period, while the pitchers are signed only for ’09.

Giants Sign Rich Aurilia

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8:03pm: Henry Schulman says the deal is done.  Aurilia will earn $1MM if he makes the team.

11:54am: According to Ken Rosenthal, "Rich Aurilia will return to the Giants on a minor-league contract.  Aurilia, 37, chose the Giants over the Cubs and Phillies.  His deal is expected to be finalized on Monday."  Henry Schulman learned that the Blue Jays were also in on Aurilia, and the Astros made a Major League offer early in the winter.

Aurilia hit .283/.332/.413 in 440 plate appearances last year, but he does handle lefties well for the most part.  Though their deals are not guaranteed, the Giants having both Aurilia and Juan Uribe in camp may be another sign that they’re backing off on Joe Crede.  At the least, Crede would have to come down from his $7MMish demand for the Giants to sign him.

Cafardo’s Latest: Manny, Sheets, Glavine

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The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo shares some notes on Manny Ramirez and around the league. Let’s have a look, bullet-point style:

  • He cites an AL Exec who says, "I’ll be honest, I never thought Ramirez would walk away from… one year, $25 million. That’s better than the $20 million option he had torn up… If he has another great year, he gets another $25 million for one year? Or maybe a team then decides, ’OK, this guy has behaved himself for a while, continues to produce at a high level now, let’s commit for another two years to him.’ Unless a team like the Yankees comes in at the last minute and gets it done, I just don’t see where he’s going to make more than $25 million." Cafardo adds that "Brian Cashman insists it won’t happen."
  • A quote from Rich Hill on his being traded to the Orioles: "[Cubs general manager] Jim Hendry really took care of me. He wanted to create an opportunity for me that he told me probably didn’t exist in Chicago, so I’m grateful. I know Baltimore tried to deal for me last year and it didn’t work out, but this time they made it work." Hill also adds that he’s over his back injury and will rediscover his control.
  • Ben Sheets not signing anywhere until June hurts the Brewers two-fold: they may have to foot the bill for the surgery and won’t receive a first round draft pick for losing a Type-A free agent. Sheets has a torn flexor tendon, as revealed by an exam with the Texas Rangers. On the other hand, MLBTR has noted that in June, after his surgery, he won’t cost a draft pick to sign.
  • Andruw Jones on playing in Boston: "It’s too cold there. There’s too much stuff going on."
  • Bobby Abreu may have to settle for a one or two year deal at $3MM. Cafardo lists the Angels, Mets, Braves, Dodgers, and Mariners.
  • Expect an incentive-laden deal for one year between Tom Glavine and the Braves. As MLBTR has noted, their latest offer was between $1-2MM with no incentives.
  • Mark Mulder could be a useful back end starter and he’s almost ready to put himself on display to teams.
  • Shea Hillenbrand is 32 and receiving no interest. Cafardo wonders if he’s "being punished for past transgressions?"
  • Cubs, White Sox, and Dodgers are lined up for Orlando Hudson; however, the transfer of ownership may have temporarily tied the hands of Jim Hendry to do anything until Tom Ricketts takes over.
  • The A’s are continuously interested in Orlando Cabrera, Adam Dunn, and Abreu.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Manny, Braves Howard, Mets, Nomar, Sheets

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On this date 51 years ago, the Red Sox signed Ted Williams to a one-year deal for $135K – making him the highest paid player in Major League history. This contract came on the heels of a season in which Williams hit .388-38-87 with a .526 OBP and 233 OPS+. And all of that was at age 38. With one week to go before pitchers and catchers report, several players in the twilight of their career are still looking for contracts of their own. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • River Ave. Blues says a one-year deal for Manny Ramirez in L.A. would open the door to Manny being Manny in pinstripes next year.
  • Feeling Dodger Blue takes a look at options for the Dodgers other than Manny.
  • Braves Blast sees Bobby Abreu as a better fit for the Braves than Adam Dunn and a better option than trading for Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher.
  • The Phrontiersman argues for trading Ryan Howard.
  • UmpBump continues their "Hot Offseason Action" series, this time looking at the Red Sox, their offseason moves and how the roster might look on opening day.
  • Mets Geek breaks down the Mets offseason.
  • The ’Ropolitans say the Mets’ bullpen still needs work and wonders why they don’t go after one of the remaining big-name relievers on the market.
  • Detroit Tigers Thoughts notes that if Orlando Hudson wants to sign a one-year deal after the June draft, he is more likely to lose his type-A free agent status next season if he signs with an NL club this season.
  • Goat Riders of the Apocalypse feels that Nomar Garciaparra would make a nice backup shortstop for the Cubs.
  • More Hardball puts together an All-Star squad of players still available on the free agent market.
  • MLB Notebook takes a look at which teams might be interested in signing Ben Sheets for the second half.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.

Rosenthal On Peavy, Ohman, Looper

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Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

  • Jeff Moorad’s acquistion of the Padres does not affect the likelihood of a Jake Peavy trade, according to Rosenthal’s source.  There have been no recent conversations with the Cubs about Peavy.
  • The Phillies had been confident of signing Ty Wigginton before the Orioles offered two years.  The Phils are still mulling Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia, with the Giants also in on Aurilia.  The Phillies are out on Will Ohman.
  • Braden Looper is receiving interest from Baltimore, but he prefers the NL.  The Brewers are not optimistic about signing Looper despite a recent conversation with one of his agents (Tom Haudricourt believes the Brewers are "laying in the weeds" for when the right pitcher comes along).  Looper is Plan B behind Randy Wolf for the Dodgers, and not a candidate to return to the Cardinals (who are apparently out of money).  One other team known to have interest in Looper is the Pirates.

Athletics Acquire Michael Wuertz

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1:05pm: Bruce Miles notes that Wuertz is out of options, and the Cubs saved over $2MM with their recent roster-cleaning.  Meanwhile, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle talked to an NL advance scout for his opinion on Wuertz.

12:32pm: According to a press release from the Cubs, they’ve sent Wuertz to the A’s for minor leaguers Richie Robnett and Justin Sellers.  Given all the additions to Oakland’s farm system, neither player ranked in their Baseball America top 30 list this year.

In BA’s 2008 Handbook, Robnett, a 25 year-old outfielder, ranked 15th among A’s prospects.  He was said to have "huge raw power," but that hasn’t come through in his minor league numbers.

Sellers, a 23 year-old infielder, ranked 14th in the ’08 Handbook.  He was described as "a solid-average defender who’ll hit at the bottom of a lineup."

12:18pm: According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio:

The Cubs continue to get inquiries regarding Michael Wuertz. I expect the team to trade him today or tomorrow, with Oakland the team most likely to send young players back to the Cubs.

Wuertz, 30, posted a 3.63 ERA in 44.6 innings for the Cubs this year with a 6.04 K/9.  He’s signed at $1.1MM for ’09 and will eligible for free agency after the 2011 season.

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