Odds & Ends: Hudson, Wolf, Betancourt, Braves
Links for Wednesday…
- The Reds signed pitcher Jon Adkins to a minor league deal, according to the pitcher's Twitter (hat tip to The Hall Of Very Good). Adkins spent 2009 pitching in Korea.
- The Giants were right not to offer arbitration to Bengie Molina, writes Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles.
- Chris Pummer as well as our own Howard Megdal from The Perpetual Post weigh in on Andruw Jones, who recently signed with the White Sox for $500K.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News discusses the chances of the Giants signing Miguel Tejada, Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, or Hudson.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times says the Mariners are interested in Orlando Hudson, at the right price. The lack of an arbitration offer helps.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs looks at Ned Colletti's claim that the Dodgers' decision not to offer arbitration to Type A free agent Randy Wolf "was made strictly from a baseball perspective."
- No surprise here: Astros GM Ed Wade indicated that a reunion with Wolf is unlikely (MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reporting). Wade also downplayed the reports linking the Astros to Brett Myers and J.J. Putz, saying, "We've made contact with agents for about every player out there as a matter of course. I would not read anymore into it than that."
- ESPN's Buster Olney believes Rafael Betancourt "could be the player whose market is most affected" among the ten Type As offered arbitration.
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday questions the Mets' Billy Wagner trade from August.
- David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wonders if the Braves might now pursue a setup man such as Octavio Dotel or Fernando Rodney.
- Corey Brock and Steve Gilbert have Winter Meetings previews at MLB.com for the Padres and Diamondbacks, respectively.
- Diamond Leung links to stories indicating the Chiba Lotte Marines "are interested in purchasing the contract of Dodgers left-hander Eric Stults." Stults posted a 4.86 ERA in ten starts for the Dodgers last year, making another 13 starts in the minors.
Multiple Teams Interested In Noah Lowry
1:45pm: Aside from the Pirates and Rockies, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says the Dodgers, Padres, A's, Mariners, and Reds are interested in Lowry.
10:56am: The Pirates are interested in free agent lefty Noah Lowry, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As Kovacevic notes, the former Giant had forearm surgery in March of 2008, which the pitcher's agent later claimed was a misdiagnosis. In May of '09 Lowry had surgery to remove a rib to help with thoracic outlet syndrome. Earlier this month, Lowry's agent said his client is finally "completely healthy." Yesterday, Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post noted the Rockies' interest in Lowry.
The first four spots in the Pirates' rotation appear set, with Paul Maholm, Zach Duke, Ross Ohlendorf, and Charlie Morton. Lowry could compete for the fifth starter job; the Bucs would have three lefties in the rotation if he won it. Lowry's best season came in 2005, when he made 33 starts with a 3.78 ERA. That campaign netted him a four-year, $9.25MM extension.
Red Sox Ask Pedroia About Playing Shortstop
3:09pm: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe learned from a team exec that the Red Sox will exhaust their free agent and trade options before turning to Pedroia at shortstop.
10:13am: The Red Sox asked Dustin Pedroia if he'd be able to play shortstop, according to ESPN's Peter Gammons. Pedroia's thoughts:
"They've put it out there and I've told them I'm all for it. I can do it. I can't wait for Tito [Terry Francona] to call me and ask, 'Can you do it?' I can do it. I really want to do it."
Right now it appears that the Red Sox are just considering the switch for Pedroia. As Gammons notes, shifting Pedroia would create flexibility, allowing the Sox to pass on Marco Scutaro and pursue Orlando Hudson or even Brandon Phillips.
As you know, other offseason considerations for the Red Sox include trading Mike Lowell and acquiring a third baseman, signing Jason Bay or Matt Holliday, and a possible Roy Halladay trade. Gammons downplays the idea of Boston acquiring Doc, saying the chances of them trading Clay Buchholz or Casey Kelly are minimal at best.
Reds Expect To Maintain Payroll
MLB.com's Mark Sheldon talked to Reds GM Walt Jocketty, who offered up a few hot stove nuggets.
- Jocketty said the Reds' 2010 payroll will be close to last year's ($73MM). The Reds are already around $72MM committed before arbitration raises to Jared Burton, Jonny Gomes, and Nick Masset.
- The Reds did not talk to Gomes' agents last week. It'd be a surprise to me to see him non-tendered after a .267/.338/.541 campaign.
- Asked if players would be moved to meet payroll, Jocketty replied, "I don't want to talk about that. I'm still working on it."
- The Reds would like to improve their offense and possibly add a fifth starter, but Jocketty does not want to trade young players.
- My take: Jocketty has a tall order ahead of him, improving the team despite a complete lack of payroll space. Committing $3MM to Ramon Hernandez was a questionable start. At this point Jocketty can only create flexibility by trading Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Francisco Cordero, or Arthur Rhodes. ESPN's Buster Olney heard from rival executives that the Reds prefer to trade Harang over Arroyo.
Odds & Ends: Towers, Randy Johnson, Arroyo
Links for Monday…
- Former GM Kevin Towers will attend the Winter Meetings and meet with three or four teams about possible employment, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Towers prefers the American League.
- Randy Johnson is undecided about pitching in 2010, say Rosenthal and Morosi.
- MLB.com's Mark Bowman tells readers in his latest mailbag that he wouldn't be surprised to see the Braves trade Jordan Schafer.
- Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues speculates on what the Yankees would have to give up for Josh Johnson.
- ESPN's Buster Olney compares a potential Joe Mauer extension to Todd Helton's contract, in that it'd make up such a large percentage of the Twins' payroll.
- Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel discovered that a handful of teams have avoided four-year commitments to pitchers in recent years.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos talked to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports about the team's strategy to beef up scouting.
- For someone who hasn't been paying attention to the hot stove, Bronson Arroyo has a reasonable take on the Reds' direction and recent Scott Rolen/Ramon Hernandez commitments (MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reporting).
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick discusses the role of advanced defensive metrics in player acquisitions.
- MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone notes that a very similar report surfaced in three different media outlets within a span of a few hours.
Reds Notes: Jocketty, Nix, Gomes
John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer gathered a few bits of information Saturday from Reds general manager Walt Jocketty:
- The Reds have made an offer to Laynce Nix, who was outrighted off the 40-man roster this week and elected free agency. Jocketty believes he "may take it" but first wants to "see what's out there."
- Jocketty believes the Reds will be able to "get something done" with arbitration-eligible outfielder Jonny Gomes, who hit .267/.338/.541 in 2009 with 20 home runs and 51 RBI. It's not clear if the two sides are talking about a multi-year deal, but that would make some sense.
- Jocketty also had some nice things to say about the prospects that the Reds added to their 40-man roster on Friday, protecting them from December's Rule 5 Draft.
To track the Reds throughout the offseason, check out MLBTR's team archive.
Odds & Ends: Orioles, Brewers, Green, Sellers, Astros, Byrd, Vizquel, A’s
Some more links as the weekend begins…
- Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun notes that the Orioles didn't make any contract offers on the first day of free agency.
- Nick Green doesn't expect to back with the Red Sox, according to Dan Barbarisi of The Providence Journal.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Marlins, Royals, Tigers and Reds are currently baseball's most active sellers.
- The Astros signed minor league free agent Jose Valdez, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (via Twitter).
- The Brewers agreed to sign Santo Aybar, according to ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. The 16-year-old shortstop has to pass an age investigation for the deal to go through.
- Marlon Byrd repeated to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan that he wants to return to the Rangers in 2010. He's looking for a multi-year deal "at the right numbers." The Rangers have interest in re-signing the outfielder.
- Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen knows the White Sox are talking to Omar Vizquel. Guillen didn't confirm anything other than his intention to continue wearing number 13.
- WEEI.com's Rob Bradford breaks down the suitors for Jason Bay, starting with the Red Sox, Angels and Mets.
- John Sickels of Minor League Ball spoke with A's GM Billy Beane, who says his club's currently rebuilding. Check out the entire interview for more on the team's direction.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers are "kicking the tires" on every available pitcher.
Laynce Nix Elects Free Agency
Outfielder Laynce Nix has been outrighted by the Reds and elected free agency, according to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. Nix was considered a non-tender candidate, as the Reds have plenty of outfielders already. In a few weeks they must decide whether to tender Jonny Gomes a contract (seems like a good idea to me).
Nix, 29, received the most playing time of his career since 2004 this year. He hit .239/.291/.476 in 337 plate appearances, knocking 15 home runs and playing left field. Reds manager Dusty Baker shielded him from left-handed pitching most of the year.
Orioles Claim Tatum From Reds
The Orioles claimed catcher Craig Tatum off of waivers from the Cincinnati Reds, according to a team press release. The O's designated lefty Chris Waters for assignment to clear space for Tatum.
The 26-year-old catcher posted a .471 OPS in 77 plate appearances with the Reds this year; a considerable dropoff from his .638 OPS in Triple A. In 2008, Baseball America named Tatum the best defensive catcher in the Reds' organization.
Reds Rumors: Free Agents, Scutaro, Wells
MLB.com's Mark Sheldon has the latest on the Reds' offseason plans:
- GM Walt Jocketty says the team won't be very active on the free agent market.
- The Reds won't set a payroll until next month, but they won't be spending on big-name free agents.
- That probably includes Marco Scutaro, who would fit the team's needs.
- The Reds don't plan on offering free agent pitcher Kip Wells a major league contract.