D’Backs Rumors: Easley, Loretta, Vazquez
5:54pm: The D’Backs offered Vazquez a one-year deal with a club option for 2010, according to his agent. Vazquez has a better offer from another club, and awaits a counteroffer from Arizona. He wants a multiyear deal.
10:20am: Jack Magruder of the East Valley Tribune says the D’Backs offered a one-year contract to Vazquez, but he seeks a multiyear deal.
10:08am: According to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, the Diamondbacks have talked to the representatives for free agent infielders Damion Easley and Mark Loretta recently. They’ve already offered a contract to Ramon Vazquez; Easley or Loretta could form a platoon with him.
Easley hit .297/.366/.459 against lefties the past three seasons, while Loretta batted .300/.383/.424. Easley earned $950K last year. Loretta accepted the Astros’ arbitration offer but lost his case and was paid $2.75MM.
Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says Arizona’s conservative offseason agenda could leave them little margin for error in 2009.
Odds and Ends: Halladay, Lopez, Glavine
Links for Monday…
- The Cardinals still don’t have a deal with Trever Miller.
- Is a multiyear deal coming soon for Jamie Moyer? Ken Mandel’s source says it’s been delayed only because of scheduling conflicts.
- The D’Backs released infielder Jamie D’Antona, who is headed to Japan.
- J.P. Ricciardi says trading Roy Halladay hasn’t even crossed his mind. Dan Graziano wrote last Wednesday that some continued to insist the Jays would explore trading their ace.
- River Ave. Blues considers Ben Sheets a better investment than A.J. Burnett for the Yankees.
- Jim Allen profiled the five Japanese players who plan to come over to MLB. He’s not high on Junichi Tazawa, Ken Takahashi, or Ryoji Aikawa.
- I never mentioned this, but the Braves released Rodrigo Lopez earlier this month (thanks to Jeff at Cot’s for the link).
- Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune talked to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen about various hot stove issues.
- Murray Chass talked to Tom Glavine about his future. Chass’ blog is an oddity – a veteran journalist writing and researching newspaper-style articles for his personal site.
- Joel Sherman believes the Angels are the Yankees’ biggest threat for C.C. Sabathia. Ken Davidoff agrees.
- In another article, Davidoff summarizes the situations of the ten big-name players.
- Ken Rosenthal talked to an agent who says the market is moving slowly right now.
- Viva El Birdos assesses the trade value of Ryan Ludwick.
- South Side Sox offers more thoughts on Dayan Viciedo.
Odds And Ends: Lowell, Vazquez, Tazawa
Links for Saturday…
- Ken Rosenthal comes up with a few possible suitors for Mike Lowell if the Red Sox sign Mark Teixeira. He lists the Dodgers, White Sox, Tigers and Brewers as possible fits.
- Nick Piecoro likes Ramon Vazquez as a fit for the D-Backs.
- Highly coveted Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa pitched a complete game shutout in Osaka, walking no one and striking out 10.
- John Van Benschoten will move on from the Pirates and try to sign with another team.
- Luke Hudson will also leave his old club, moving on from the Royals instead of accepting an assignment to AAA.
- Bobby Crosby is out of the loop amid the rumors swirling about Rafael Furcal.
- Mike Scarr takes a look at the market for middle infielders.
D’Backs Offer Contract To Ramon Vazquez
According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks offered a contract to free agent infielder Ramon Vazquez. Piecoro says the D’Backs would probably use Vazquez in a platoon at second base. Vazquez, 32, hit .290/.365/.430 in 347 plate appearances for the Rangers this year, but struggled mightily against lefties. He earned $810K.
Odds and Ends: Weathers, Montero, Springer
Links for Friday…
- MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince says the Indians signed Andy Cannizaro and Damaso Espino to minor league deals.
- MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon says the Reds are still talking to David Weathers‘ agent, despite the reliever’s comment about flipping the page.
- RotoAuthority looks at Blue Jays outfielder Travis Snider, from a fantasy baseball point of view.
- Mum’s the word from C.C. Sabathia and his agents.
- Rany Jazayerli likes the Royals’ acquisition of Coco Crisp and respects Dayton Moore’s bullpen-building skills.
- Click here to download an mp3 of me chatting with Greg Schaum of KCSP 610 about the Royals last night.
- Nick Piecoro says the Diamondbacks haven’t been able to find a match on a trade for Miguel Montero, despite discussions with the Red Sox and other teams.
- The Cardinals spoke to Russ Springer‘s agent recently, but he’s drawing interest from several clubs.
- The Phillies won’t make a move in response to the Chase Utley injury, but one blog believes Jerry Hairston Jr. now makes more sense.
- John Van Benschoten, the 8th overall pick in the 2001 draft, chose minor league free agency over re-signing with the Pirates.
- Sidney Ponson‘s grievance against the Orioles will finally be heard next month.
Odds and Ends: Tazawa, Boras, Cuban
Links for Tuesday…
- Scouts from the Tigers and Indians visited Junichi Tazawa yesterday.
- This week’s chat has been pushed to Wednesday at 2pm CST.
- I chatted with The Baseball Opinion on November 10th.
- Patrick Newman compares Kenshin Kawakami and Hiroki Kuroda.
- Jesse Spector talks to D’Backs GM Josh Byrnes.
- Ken Davidoff explains the semantics games often played by agents, GMs, and journalists.
- Peter Abraham makes free agent predictions.
- Chat with Scott Boras at USA Today on Wednesday at 10am CST. You can submit questions in advance.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman says Mark Cuban’s bid for the Cubs wasn’t high enough, anyway.
Josh Byrnes – GM Trade History
Josh Byrnes of the Diamondbacks is the latest entry in our GM Trade History series. Download the Excel spreadsheet of his moves here. Thanks to Brendan Bianowicz for putting this together.
D’Backs Listening On Snyder
We know D’Backs catcher Miguel Montero has been a popular name in recent trade talks, but ESPN’s Buster Olney says they could choose to deal the more expensive backstop:
Rival executives, by the way, perceive that the Diamondbacks will definitely listen to offers for Chris Snyder, who is highly respected by advance scouts but is marching steadily through arbitration and is becoming expensive.
Snyder, 28 in February, hit .237/.348/.452 in 404 plate appearances this year. He earned $1.85MM in ’08, and is under team control through 2010.
Randy Johnson Unlikely To Re-Sign With D’Backs
THURSDAY: Cafardo has an update – Johnson offered to take a 50% pay cut, but the two sides still could not reach an agreement. Based on a statement from his agency, he seems ready to move on. The D’Backs apparently made a lame offer in the $2-3MM range, while Johnson would’ve taken $8MM.
WEDNESDAY: The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo says there’s a big meeting in Arizona tonight, and the D’Backs may determine whether they can re-sign Randy Johnson. A week ago, Jack Magruder of the East Valley Tribune said the D’Backs have about $3-5MM budgeted for Johnson but he may seek about $10MM.
Montero Drawing Interest
According to Jack Magruder of the East Valley Tribune, D’Backs catcher Miguel Montero is a popular name in trade discussions. He may be traded to address the team’s second base vacancy. Mark Loretta and Adam Kennedy, who are in the $4MM or less range, were deemed too expensive.
Montero, 25, hit .255/.330/.435 in 207 plate appearances this year. He’s under team control through 2012. Magruder suggests the Red Sox, Tigers, Reds, Astros, and Brewers as possible matches. Some of those clubs do have decent second base prospects.
Magruder adds that the D’Backs have received inquiries on Eric Byrnes, but don’t see a contract swap that’d make sense.