Athletics Acquire Michael Wuertz
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.
Orioles Acquire Rich Hill
10:36am: According to a press release from the Cubs, they’ve traded Hill to the Orioles for a player to be named later. A sensible low-risk move for the Orioles, who can afford to let Hill take his lumps at the big league level. The AL East may not be the ideal environment for him, but it’s worth a shot.
Roch Kubatko says Brian Burres was designated for assignment to make room for Hill.
10:16am: We learned yesterday from Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that the Orioles are close to acquiring pitcher Rich Hill from the Cubs for a player to be named later. The deal is not done, but it could be completed early this week. Today Roch Kubatko of MASN adds that the player to be named later the Cubs receive would likely be a "low-level minor leaguer." The Orioles could add Hill and still sign Braden Looper for additional rotation depth.
Orioles Close To Deal With Cubs For Hill
9:41pm: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has more on the Orioles trading for Cubs pitcher Rich Hill.
The deal would be for a player to be named later, Zrebiec writes, and it could be announced as early as Monday.
Hill will be reunited with pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn, who worked with him in the Cubs’ organization, Zrebiec notes.
Hill is out of options, so he’ll have to make the Orioles’ Opening Day roster or they could lose him. … Hill will be given an opportunity to win a spot in the rotation, which currently has three vacancies behind Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara.
6:12pm: Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun believes the Baltimore Orioles will complete a trade for Cubs left-handed pitcher Rich Hill by Tuesday — if the Orioles will do the deal at all.
Schmuck writes that now other organizations are aware that Hill could be made available, additional teams — including the Royals and Mariners — could make an offer.
Orioles general manager Andy MacPhail might be waiting to see if he can sign free agent right-handed pitcher Braden Looper, Schmuck adds.
They might be willing to acquire both pitchers, but there is the small matter of moving players off the 40-man roster to make room, so maybe Andy is just going to take one or the other.
Hill, 29 in March, is 18-17 in 57 starts with a 4.37 ERA during a short four-season career. He spend much of 2008 in Triple-A.
Looper, 34, went 12-14 in 33 starts with a 4.16 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals last season.
Cafardo’s Latest: Players Out Of Options
Lots of stuff in Nick Cafardo’s column in the Boston Globe to go over.
With around 100 free agents vying for less than 20 remaining roster spots, things become more interesting with 227 players on big-league rosters who are out of options. If a player is out of options and is not rostered, he has to either be traded or designated for assignment. If designated, that player has to clear waivers. This could affect remaining free agent signings. Cafardo makes note of a few who are out of options and may wind up as trade fodder or designated for assignment before the season begins:
Red Sox: George Kottaras
Yankees: Melky Cabrera
Cubs: Chad Gaudin, Rich Hill (possibly heading to Baltimore?)
Brewers: Tony Gwynn Jr.
Indians: Anthony Reyes, Andy Marte
Twins: Boof Bonser, Philip Humber
Rays: Jeff Niemann
Orioles: David Pauley
- With Jason Varitek re-signed, the Red Sox will either have to trade catcher Kottaras or designate him for assignment.
- Cafardo notes Niemann is a former No. 1 pick and the righthander should garner some attention.
- Bonser or Humber could be traded to land a reliever. Cafardo also mentions Delmon Young as a possible trading chip.
A few more bullets from Cafardo’s notebook:
- Scott Boras thinks the World Baseball Classic will showcase Ivan Rodriguez and generate "even more" interest for the 14-time All-Star catcher.
- Cafardo mentioned Manny Ramirez to Omar Minaya and Minaya laughed it off saying, "We’ll look into adding some offense, but only if it makes sense."
- All quiet on the Jake Peavy front.
- Cafardo calls Randy Johnson‘s $8MM deal from the Giants as "a stroke of genius" by his agents.
- In case you missed it, Bobby Kielty signed a minor-league deal with the Mets last week.
O’s, Cubs Talking Deal For Rich Hill
FRIDAY: A small update from Roch Kubatko: nothing is imminent with the Orioles and Hill. He says not to expect an announcement before next week, if the two teams are to hammer out a deal.
THURSDAY: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles are looking to acquire Cubs lefty Rich Hill. Hill is out of options, limiting his value. Zrebiec notes that Hill could benefit from a reunion with Rick Kranitz, his former Triple A pitching coach.
An industry source told Zrebiec that it’s a "strong possibility" that Hill will end up with the Orioles. Apparently the Cubs would receive a player to be named later in return, the value of whom would hinge on Hill’s success in Baltimore. The Mariners have also shown interest, but the O’s are believed to be in the lead at this point. Hill, 28, walked 18 in 19.2 innings last year before his demotion to the minors. He had a nice run for the Cubs in 2006-07.
Odds and Ends: Boras, Manny, Heilman
Links for Friday…
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick examines Scott Boras’ work so far this winter, as well as his remaining clients.
- RotoAuthority has first baseman rankings for fantasy leagues.
- Matthew Cerrone suggests the Mets might want to publicly rule out Manny Ramirez.
- Interesting WHIFF profile on Aaron Heilman.
- Patrick Newman introduces us to Norichika Aoki, perhaps the best hitter in Japan. Aoki may end up in MLB, but it probably won’t be anytime soon.
- The Orioles agreed to a split contract with pitcher Brian Burres, says Troy Renck.
Cubs, Bako Agree To Terms
According to a press release, the Cubs agreed to terms with catcher Paul Bako for 2009. Bako, 36, played for the Cubs for 2003-04. According to the AP, Bako gets $725K plus $300K in possible incentives.
Stark On Greinke, Manny, Dunn, Swisher
The latest from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…
- The Cubs’ ownership situation is not close to the finish line, which is one reason the team won’t be acquiring Jake Peavy anytime soon.
- One source of Stark’s suggested Zack Greinke nearly left his current agent John Courtright of SFX for Scott Boras, a whisper I’d heard as well. But now Greinke is happy with his contract and agent.
- Free agents such as Manny Ramirez and Ivan Rodriguez could reasonably wait until March to sign. Not a bad thing for this website!
- Adam Dunn would like Manny to sign earlier, as he’s waiting to see what the Dodgers (his preferred team) do. The Nationals have been Dunn’s most aggressive suitor, the Orioles have mild interest, and the Braves have backed off.
- Stark questions the idea of talks for Manny heating up lately, since the Mets, Yankees, and Angels are out and the Giants are only conditionally interested.
- When Alex Rodriguez was a free agent last winter, Joe Torre advised the Dodgers against signing him.
- The Phillies would like to move Geoff Jenkins for a right-handed hitting outfielder, but Jenkins is paid too much. Jay Payton and Emil Brown are not on the Phillies’ radar; they still like Nomar Garciaparra.
- The Yankees are apparently "softening to the idea of trading Nick Swisher," with the Braves the top suitor.
Odds And Ends: Heilman, Pedro, Twins
A few more links for Wednesday…
- Ryan Howard said a long-term deal with the Phillies would be "beautiful," for what it’s worth.
- The New York Times’ Ben Shpigel comments on the Aaron Heilman deal and its effect on new teammate Jeff Samardzija.
- Marty Noble of MLB.com learned that Mets GM Omar Minaya met with Pedro Martinez in the Dominican Republic today, but did not make an offer (and re-signing him remains a long shot).
- Yahoo’s Tim Brown has the roundup on the Twins’ hot stove happenings.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com takes on the Manny Ramirez-to-Mets conspiracy theorists.
Cubs-Peavy: Nothing Cooking
6:23pm: I just spoke to a source familiar with the Cubs’ thinking. Hopefully I can further douse the flames of the Peavy-Cubs rumors – the Cubs aren’t planning to restart the Peavy talks, and none of their recent trades for pitching were related to Peavy. Keep in mind that the team’s ownership situation is far from resolved. – Tim Dierkes
5:58pm: MLB.com’s Barry Bloom heard from Cubs assistant GM Randy Bush that the Cubs have had "no talks about Jake Peavy since they were well-documented during the Winter Meetings." However, this doesn’t mean that talks won’t restart.
Bush said the Cubs could go into Spring Training without further changes, but sounds open to adding players if they come at the right price.
5:16pm: In an ESPN.com video Buster Olney says, "at some point you can expect the Cubs and Padres will again start talking about a Peavy deal" now that the Cubs have added pitching in trades.
Earlier in the winter, the Padres wanted more young arms than the Cubs could offer. Since then, the Cubs added pitching to the organization in the Mark DeRosa deal and created flexibility by trading for Aaron Heilman.
The Cubs could structure a deal for Peavy around prospect Josh Vitters and young pitching.