Olney On Crawford, Berkman, Konerko
The Angels are seen as the favorites to sign Carl Crawford and we know the Red Sox met with him and his representatives, but it looks like at least one more American League team has strong interest in the left fielder. ESPN.com's Buster Olney has the details:
- The Yankees are very much engaged in conversations with Crawford, though it's unclear whether they have the flexibility to spend on him and Cliff Lee (Twitter links). The Yankees plan to set up a meeting with Crawford, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).
- The A's are targeting Lance Berkman enthusiastically, but they haven't started talking salary with him (Twitter link).
- The White Sox still appear to be the favorites to sign Paul Konerko, Olney writes. The Orioles and Cubs appear to be in on the first baseman, but the Diamondbacks may no longer be bidding for him.
- Olney says the Nationals missed out on a chance to extend Adam Dunn or recoup more value for him.
- Olney boldly predicts that the Yankees will reach an agreement with Derek Jeter today.
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
White Sox To Re-Sign A.J. Pierzynski
The White Sox have agreed to sign A.J. Pierzynski, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Rosenthal hears that the sides are moving toward a two-year, $8MM deal, but he notes that the catcher's salary is unconfirmed. Jon Heyman of SI.com confirms that Pierzynski will earn $8MM over two years (Twitter link).
Paul Konerko Rumors: Thursday
Yesterday we heard that the Orioles offered Paul Konerko a contract. Today, a few more teams have been linked to the slugging first baseman. Here's the latest, as the White Sox agree to sign another slugger:
- White Sox GM Kenny Williams confirmed to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that the team could re-sign Konerko, even after locking up Adam Dunn (Twitter link).
- The Diamondbacks appear to be out of the Konerko sweepstakes, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
- The White Sox want to keep Konerko, even though they're about to sign Dunn, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter).
- Jon Heyman of SI.com hears that the Cubs are in on Konerko (Twitter link).
- Earlier today the D'Backs appeared to be in the early stages of negotiations with Konerko, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
- Konerko's agent, Craig Landis, told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he expects to speak to the White Sox at next week's Winter Meetings. The D'Backs consider Konerko "out of reach," according to Rosenthal, who notes that the White Sox may be able to afford Konerko and Dunn.
- Keep in mind that Konerko will cost a draft pick since he turned down an offer of arbitration from the White Sox.
Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies Seem Serious About Werth
The Red Sox, Tigers and Phillies are seen as the most serious suitors for Jayson Werth, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Red Sox met with Werth and agent Scott Boras yesterday, according to ESPNBoston.com. However, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports that the sides did not discuss contract terms yesterday. Instead, Werth, GM Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona got to know each other.
The Rangers haven't ruled out pursuing Werth, but the White Sox are not pursuing him, Morosi reports.
White Sox Non-Tender Bobby Jenks
The White Sox non-tendered reliever Bobby Jenks, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Lefty Erick Threets, who was not arbitration eligible, was also cut loose.
Jenks, 30 in March, will probably be the day's most glamorous addition to the free agent list. The 6'4", 275 pound righty posted his best strikeout rate since his rookie year, but the Sox unsurprisingly did not deem him worthy of a raise upon this year's $7.5MM salary. Unless they add a free agent, they can turn to Matt Thornton or Chris Sale in the ninth inning.
Jenks burst on to the scene with the 2005 World Championship club and ended up with 173 saves in his White Sox career. All those saves would have made his arbitration reward excessive for the Sox, but now Jenks' agents at Legacy Sports can seek a multiyear deal on the open market.
Threets, a hard-throwing 29-year-old, tossed 12 1/3 innings for the Sox this year without allowing an earned run. He had an excellent ERA at Triple-A as well, though his strikeout rates were low at both stops. He did have a strong 55.6% groundball rate in his brief Major League stint.
White Sox Exercise Option On Alexei Ramirez
THURSDAY, 1:04pm: The White Sox exercised their $2.75MM club option on Ramirez rather than go to arbitration, tweets MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
WEDNESDAY, 10:51am: Alexei Ramirez opted out of his $1.1MM salary for 2011 and will go to arbitration with the White Sox unless the team exercises a $2.5MM option within a week, according to Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune. The shortstop had until today to decline a set $1.1MM salary for next year. The White Sox now have a week to choose between their $2.5MM option and taking the 2010 Silver Slugger winner to arbitration. MLB.com's Scott Merkin reports that the White Sox have until December 15th to decide between arbitration and a $2.75MM option (Twitter link).
Ramirez batted .282/.313/.431 with 18 homers, 29 doubles and 13 steals in 626 plate appearances last year. In three big league seasons, all with the White Sox, the Cuba native has a .283/.321/.430 batting line. Ramirez, 29, would be “very willing to discuss” a multiyear extension, agent Jaime Torres told van Dyck.
Royals Won’t Trade Greinke Within Division
The Royals won't trade Zack Greinke within their division, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. The Twins might have been a nice match, and the White Sox often check in on big names, but it appears those two teams as well as the Indians and Tigers will have to look elsewhere if they want to import an ace.
On Tuesday, Yahoo's Jeff Passan talked to a source that feels Greinke will not rule out any winning team. The 27-year-old righty can submit a list of 15 teams to which he cannot be traded without his consent.
Stark On Soriano, Quentin, Phillies, Astros
As ESPN.com's Jayson Stark points out in this week's Rumblings & Grumblings, there's not much starting pitching available after Cliff Lee and Carl Pavano. Stark examines alternatives for pitching-starved teams and provides some rumors along the way. Here they are:
- Though it appeared to some baseball people as though the Angels were trying to sign Rafael Soriano before the Winter Meetings, it now appears that their search for relief pitching is secondary to their pursuit of Carl Crawford.
- Stark sees indications that the Angels are showing "very little" interest in Jayson Werth so far this offseason.
- The White Sox still say they're not shopping Carlos Quentin, but rival teams say Chicago will listen to offers.
- The Phillies don't plan on pursuing a trade for Quentin, according to Stark.
- Arthur Rhodes appears to be one of Philadelphia's top left-handed relief targets, followed by Pedro Feliciano. Neither reliever would cost the Phillies a draft pick, which is their preference.
- The Astros have quietly been shopping for an affordable outfielder who bats from the left side.
D’Backs To Sign Wily Mo Pena
The Diamondbacks will sign Wily Mo Pena to a minor league deal with an invitation to major league Spring Training, MLBTR has learned. The outfielder drew interest from multiple major league teams, including the Tigers, White Sox and Orioles. He also drew interest from clubs in Japan before signing in Arizona, where he expects to compete for the starting left field job.
Pena's deal is worth $675K, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com, who notes that the Astros also had interest.
The slugger hit 26 home runs and posted an .843 OPS as a 22-year-old on the 2004 Reds. He followed that up with 19 homers in 2005, but his impressive power hasn’t translated into big league homers since. He did post a .324/.390/.556 line with nine home runs in 159 plate appearances in the Padres minor league system this year, so the 28-year-old still has a potent bat.