Reds To Sign Dontrelle Willis
The Reds have agreed to sign Dontrelle Willis to a minor league deal, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. Still just 28, Willis has gone from rookie phenom to ace to trade chip to bust to reclamation project in his eight-year MLB career. The Reds are presumably willing to overlook the control problems Willis has had in recent years because of the promise he showed when he first appeared in the majors in the early 2000s.
The lefty pitched to a 5.62 ERA in 65 2/3 innings with the Tigers and Diamondbacks last year, walking more batters (56) than he struck out (47). In fact, Willis has walked more batters than he has struck out every season since the Marlins traded him to Detroit in December of 2007.
The Tigers designated Willis for assignment last year before trading him to Arizona. After a brief stint with the D'Backs, Willis signed with the Giants, but did not appear in a big league game for San Francisco.
Joey Votto Wins NL MVP Award
Reds first baseman Joey Votto won the National League MVP award today, according to the BBWAA. Albert Pujols, Carlos Gonzalez, Adrian Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, Roy Halladay, Aubrey Huff, Jayson Werth, Martin Prado, and Ryan Howard round out the top ten.
Heyman On Weeks, Matsui, Pujols
SI's Jon Heyman is gathering all kinds of information at the GM Meetings; here's the latest…
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin will talk to second baseman Rickie Weeks today about a possible extension, tweets Heyman. The arbitration eligible Weeks is one year away from free agency.
- Heyman tweets that the White Sox are talking to free agent designated hitter Hideki Matsui, who would fit as one of two lefty bats they hope to acquire. The Sox have already had preliminary discussions with Adam Dunn's agent. Heyman says the Cubs have not appeared to be big suitors for Dunn so far.
- Regarding Albert Pujols, Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt does not want to repeat Alex Rodriguez's ten-year, $275MM contract. In fact, he believes the Yankees would retract A-Rod's deal if they could. Heyman floated an eight-year, $240MM deal to DeWitt, who questioned the $30MM salary.
- Expensive closers Jonathan Papelbon and Francisco Cordero are on the trade market, with the Red Sox and Reds willing to kick in money. Still, Heyman sees the Red Sox retaining Papelbon, whose trade market is weak.
- Heyman could see something around three years and $57MM for Derek Jeter.
- Heyman believes the Orioles are looking at Paul Konerko and/or Adrian Beltre for their corner infield openings.
At Least Four Teams After Brandon Webb
The Dodgers, Pirates, Twins, and Rangers are interested in free agent righty Brandon Webb, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. He adds that we should not rule out the Nationals, Reds, and Cardinals.
MLBTR speculated on the Cards recently, though they just tied up decent money in Jake Westbrook. The Reds have an advantage in their proximity to Webb's Kentucky home. On Monday, Webb's agent Jonathan Maurer provided MLBTR with a detailed look at Webb's late season throwing sessions. Maurer said Webb is "ready to start 30 plus times in 2011" after shoulder surgery knocked him out for 2009 and '10.
Odds & Ends: Westbrook, De La Rosa, Papelbon
Links on a busy Tuesday as the first day of the GM Meetings wraps up…
- Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer says (via Twitter) the Indians "kicked the tires" on Jake Westbrook, but never formally offered him a contract before he re-signed with the Cardinals.
- FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal tweets that the market for Jorge de la Rosa won't take shape until Cliff Lee signs. He's a fallback option for several teams.
- Former Orioles reliever Dennis Sarfate is in talks to join the Hiroshima Carp according to MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that the Giants are currently in on just two players: Aubrey Huff and Juan Uribe.
- Bob Brookover of The Philadelphia Inquirer says that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro offered a lot of "no comments" when asked about the team's interest in retaining Chad Durbin.
- SI.com's Jon Heyman says (via Twitter) the trade market for Jonathan Papelbon is "very weak," but the Red Sox are willing to pay part of what will surely be a sizable 2011 salary.
- SI.com's Jon Heyman hears that the Yankees will bid at least three years to keep Derek Jeter (Twitter link). Owner Hal Steinbrenner added that "things are going well."
- Chad Jennings of The Journal News has a quote from Yanks GM Brian Cashman: “I’ve got a small player move that I’m working on that might get done at some point this week … But it’s small.”
- Meanwhile, ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Yanks are still waiting to hear whether Mariano Rivera wants a one or two-year deal.
- Troy Renck of The Denver Post tweets that the Athletics are not moving Conor Jackson, though he remains a non-tender candidate.
- Twins GM Bill Smith said it's "not at all" a question when asked if the team would tender Matt Capps a contract, according to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
- John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer says that Reds GM Walt Jocketty has talked to Arthur Rhodes' agent and plans to do the same with Miguel Cairo's, but he has yet to talk to any other free agents.
- SI.com's Tom Verducci lists players available on the "secondary market" that could have a big impact, starting with Jack Cust.
- Roy Halladay's Cy Young Award netted him $250K in bonus money, tweets Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The bonus was negotiated into his original contract with Toronto.
- In the wake of Justin Upton being made available, FanGraphs' Dave Cameron examines his trade value.
Reds Prioritizing Leadoff Hitter, Bench Help
The Reds won their division for the first time since 1995 this season, and did so thanks to an offense that led the NL in runs (790), batting average (.272), slugging percentage (.436), and OPS (.774). They did all that despite a collection of leadoff hitters that reached base just 30.6% of the time, third worst in baseball. Unsurprisingly, GM Walt Jocketty told MLB.com's Marl Sheldon that finding someone to bat atop the lineup is one of their offseason priorities.
"We've been talking to clubs and looking for a potential leadoff hitter, and maybe someone to improve our bench," said Jocketty. "There's not a great deal to do, but we're talking a lot. Generally, we talk to clubs before we come down and follow up here with discussions. We, hopefully, finish what we start [here] at the Winter Meetings. I don't know if we'll find a [leadoff hitter] or not."
Brandon Phillips settled in as the team's leadoff hitter in late June but didn't improve the situation; he hit just .247/.302/.387 from that point on. Ideally the team would employ his power lower in the lineup anyway. Orlando Cabrera also spent time hitting leadoff, but he produced just a .225/.268/.297 batting line from the top spot. Last week, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes predicted the Reds would fill their leadoff need by signing free agent Scott Podsednik.
The team just re-signed catcher Ramon Hernandez to a one-year, $3MM contract, a deal that is looking good in the wake of John Buck's near-agreement with Florida. Earlier tonight we learned that Jocketty will get in touch will Miguel Cairo, who hit .290/.353/.410 in a reserve role last season. That won't solve Cincinnati's need for a table-setter, but should help shore up the bench.
Sosnick On Nolasco & Bruce
Agent Matt Sosnick has two clients in their arbitration years, but right now extension talks for Ricky Nolasco of the Marlins and Jay Bruce of the Reds aren't far beyond the infancy stages. Here's what Sosnick told Clark Spencer of The Miami Herald regarding a possible deal for Nolasco…
"I would say certainly nothing's going to happen soon," said the agent. "But I would be surprised if something didn't end up happening. We have had some conversations and I think we've made some progress."
Nolasco earned $3.8MM in his second (of four as a Super Two) year of arbitration, but back in September we heard that "a significant gulf" existed between the two sides during negotiations. More recently the club indicated that signing Dan Uggla long-term was their first priority, but after today's trade Nolasco presumably moved up on the list. The 27-year-old righty (28 next month) pitched to a 4.51 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 157 2/3 innings this season.
As for Bruce, here's what MLB.com's Mark Sheldon passes along…
Bruce is due a significant raise as he enters his first year of arbitration (also a Super Two), and he's expressed interest a long-term deal in the past. Perhaps Nick Markakis' six-year, $66MM deal can be used as framework. Bruce had a monster season at age 23, hitting .281/.353/.493 with 25 homers.
Reds Re-Sign Ramon Hernandez
The Reds have re-signed catcher Ramon Hernandez to a one-year contract according to the team's official Twitter feed. FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that the deal is worth $3MM (Twitter link).
Hernandez, 34, hit .297/.364/.428 with 18 doubles and seven homers in 352 plate appearances this season, though he was usurped by Ryan Hanigan as the team's everyday catcher. Hernandez failed to appear in the 120 games needed for his $3.25MM option to vest, getting into just 97 contests.
Luke Adams broke down Hernandez's free agent stock last month.
Reds Claimed Hisanori Takahashi
10:16am: Even though the Reds claimed Takahashi, he cannot play for the Mets before May 15th if he signs with New York, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter). In other words, don't expect him to return to the Mets.
8:07am: The Reds claimed Hisanori Takahashi on unconditional release waivers last week, according to transactions summaries at CBS Sports and Yahoo Sports. A source confirmed to MLBTR that the Reds claimed the left-hander. Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports that the Reds claimed Takahashi to obtain an exclusive five-day negotiating window with him.
Takahashi was set to hit free agency, but the Reds' move won't prevent him from hitting the open market. Players claimed on unconditional release waivers have five days to reject the claim and elect free agency and Takahashi elected free agency, according to Rubin.
It's unclear whether the move will help the Mets, who were negotiating an extension with Takahashi earlier in the month. Because the Mets didn’t sign Takahashi in time, it appeared that he would not be able to pitch before May 15th if he re-signed in New York. Takahashi's last club was the Reds, which could allow the Mets to re-sign him.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Cox, Crawford, DeJesus
Two years ago today the Athletics acquired Matt Holliday from the Rockies in exchange for Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street, and Greg Smith. Holliday hit .286/.378/.454 in exactly 400 plate appearances with Oakland before being dealt to the Cardinals for a package led by Brett Wallace at the 2009 trade deadline.
Street has battled injuries but has been solid when on the mound for Colorado, pitching to a 3.30 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 109 innings. Smith has appeared in just eight games for the Rox (all starts), putting up a 6.23 ERA. The real get was CarGo, who will certainly be in the MVP mix after a .336/.376/.598 season with 34 doubles, 34 homers, 26 stolen bases, and a batting title.
The hot stove league will certainly bring us more blockbuster trades, but for now you'll have to settle for this long collection of links, the best the blogosphere had to offer this week…
- SPANdemonium interviews Twins prospect Niko Goodrum.
- M.C. Antil reflects on Bobby Cox's time as a GM and manager (part one, part two).
- We Should Be GMs lists the longest tenured player on all 30 teams.
- Sabernomics dispels some hot stove myths.
- U.S.S. Mariner lays out their plan for Seattle's offseason.
- FanSpeak does the same, just for the Baltimore Orioles.
- Meanwhile, Prospect Insider comes up with some trade ideas for the Mariners.
- Baseball Time In Arlington examines the idea of the Rangers signing Carl Crawford.
- Meet The Mess looks at some potential free agent targets for the Mets.
- Royals Review wonders who the "real get" in the David DeJesus trade is.
- At Home Plate thinks the DeJesus deal shows that Kansas City wants to win.
- Drunk Jays Fans chimes in on Zack Greinke and the Blue Jays as only they can.
- The Process Report explains why trading B.J. Upton now makes sense for the Rays.
- Ivy Report believes the Cubs need to strike fast and trade for Adrian Gonzalez.
- SD Sports Net lists some outfielders that could help the Padres next year.
- Athletics Nation provides a scouting report on Hisashi Iwakuma with some help from PitchFX.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness looks at Tsuyoshi Nishioka as a second base option for the Dodgers.
- Red Sox Beacon muses about Boston picking up David Ortiz's option.
- Wahoo Blues looks at some backup plans for the Indians in case Carlos Santana has a setback from his knee injury.
- Examiner wonders if a Prince Fielder for Edwin Jackson trade makes sense.
- Analyze This looks at Jorge de la Rosa as a dark horse free agent.
- Yankeeist examines some designated hitter options for the Yankees.
- Baseball Analytics breaks down Ryan Howard's fall from grace.
- Redleg Nation wants to discuss how valuable Jay Bruce is.
- True Grich rants about the Angels and their offseason.
- Crashburn Alley reflects on Jamie Moyer's playing career.
- Mets Gazette provided part one of their top 50 free agents list with predictions. Here's Tim Dierkes' list for comparison.
- Fantasy Rundown compiles links for all of the various prospect lists out there.
- Last, but certainly not least, Pine Tar And Pocket Protectors provides your 2011 Montreal Expos roster.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.