Eight Teams Interested In Carroll
There's no shortage of interest in Jamey Carroll this year. Ed Price of AOL FanHouse reports that the Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, A's, Rangers, Pirates, Reds and Indians all have interest in the 35-year-old utility man. We know the Marlins are interested, too.
Carroll hit .276/.355/.340 with the Indians last year, spending most of his time at second and third, and playing some outfield as well. UZR/150 suggests Carroll has been an above-average defender at second base over the course of the last five years.
Indians Sign Grilli, Buscher, Gosling, Rodriguez
4:09pm: The Indians also signed Brian Buscher, Mike Gosling, and Luis Rodriguez to minor league deals, according to a team press release.
Buscher, 29 in April, has a career line of .266/.343/.356 with the Twins, mainly at third base. Gosling, 29, tossed 25 innings for the Indians last year with a 5.04 ERA. He posted a 4.81 ERA in an additional 67.3 Triple A innings. Rodriguez, 29, had a career-high 251 plate appearances with the Padres this year but hit just .202/.319/.260. He's capable of playing all around the infield.
10:59am: The Indians signed reliever Jason Grilli to a minor league deal, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Grilli will make $800K in the Majors. Grilli first tweeted about the signing on November 23rd, but couldn't reveal the team. The 33-year-old righty posted a 5.32 ERA in 45.6 innings for the Rangers and Rockies this year, whiffing over a batter per inning but battling control and elbow problems. If the Indians are happy with Grilli, they can retain him for 2010 and 2011 as an arbitration-eligible player.
Rays Acquire Kelly Shoppach
7:40pm: Topkin (via Twitter) reports that pitcher Jeff Bennett was designated for assignment to open up a spot for Shoppach on the 40-man roster. Bennett posted a 9.95 ERA in 11 relief appearances with Tampa Bay last season.
1:42pm: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times tweets that the Rays have acquired Shoppach for a player to be named later. The deal has been confirmed by an Indians press release, which notes that the PTBNL must be named by December 20th.
1:33pm: The Rays are closing in on a deal with the Indians for catcher Kelly Shoppach, according to ESPN's Buster Olney. Shoppach was a non-tender candidate for the Tribe after earning $1.95MM and slipping to .214/.335/.399 offensively. If the Rays do acquire Shoppach, you have to wonder if they'll non-tender Dioner Navarro.
Shoppach, 30 in April, would make for an interesting pickup for the Rays given his .261/.348/.517 line from '08.
Indians Will Look Within To Fill Roster
Buster Olney is reporting on his Twitter feed that the Indians' "preference might be giving their internal candidates a chance to play, instead of inking vet FAs to $800K deals."
It is fair to wonder if this will be a league-wide trend, though the Mets' decision to bring in Chris Coste and Alex Cora seems to argue against this.
Cleveland, unlike New York, also has more players at the upper levels of their farm system.
Odds & Ends: Ramirez, Halladay, Tigers
Some links for Sunday….
- Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports (via Twitter) that the Marlins are not talking about trading Hanley Ramirez. No surprise here, but it's nice to have it confirmed. Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel rejects the idea as well, and also notes that the Marlins' payroll will "increase slightly to $40 million." The Marlins were at $36.8MM to open the 2009 season.
- Chad Jennings of the Journal News looks back at a year of Yankees trades.
- Tyler Hissey of Around the Majors looks ahead to an alluring crop of 2011 free agents. Some of them will sign extensions before next offseason, but we'll still see an impressive group hit the market.
- Hissey looks at the decisions that await the Rays this offseason and says this is not the time for the team to trade B.J. Upton.
- Are we heading for an AL East bidding war over Roy Halladay? Anthony McCarron and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News examine the possibilities.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports takes a detailed look at potential trade partners for the Tigers.
- In his latest mailbag, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes fields Indians-related questions, including one asking which first basemen the team could pursue.
- Offering Orlando Hudson arbitration is a win-win scenario for the Dodgers, according to Jon Weisman's Los Angeles Times blog.
- MLB.com's Tom Singer writes about how it affects free agency when clubs lock up their young players with long-term extensions.
Indians Notes: Pavano, Free Agent Options
Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer explains that the Indians would have been hesitant to offer Carl Pavano arbitration if they hadn't traded him to the Twins. After a healthy season, he could command close to $10MM if offered arbitration and the Indians are reluctant to commit that much to the righty, though they may end up bringing him back. Here's more on some free agents the Indians may consider:
- GM Mark Shapiro is looking to add a right-handed hitting first baseman. Hoynes wonders if Robb Quinlan (.651 OPS vs. LHP last year) and Kevin Millar (.723 OPS vs. LHP last year) might fit. Either player would presumably be cheap compared to other options on the market.
- The Indians are looking for an extra infielder. Hoynes suggests Ronnie Belliard, Alex Cora and Craig Counsell could be fits for the Tribe.
Odds & Ends: Indians, Takahashi, Hernandez
Some Sunday night links:
- In his latest mailbag, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the Indians are in the hunt for a first baseman that hits right-handed, in the event that Matt LaPorta isn't healthy by Opening Day.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along the news that the San Francisco Giants are "showing mild interest" in Hisanori Takahashi, via Twitter. Earlier this week, the 34-year-old reliever made it known that he wants to make the jump to MLB.
- Padres closer Heath Bell says that former GM Kevin Towers was never able to spend the way he wanted to and was "kind of a puppet", according to Kevin Tomase of the Boston Herald. Bell also said that he hopes new GM Jed Hoyer has full rein over the club's baseball decisions.
- According to a report from MLB.com's Bill Ladson, the odds of Livan Hernandez returning to the club are "less than 50-50." Over the last three years, the 34-year-old pitcher has recorded an ERA of 5.45 whilst eating 568 innings for five different clubs.
Indians Unlikely To Trade Wood
The Indians are not likely to deal Kerry Wood this winter, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
In order to trade the 32-year-old, Cleveland would have to eat a significant portion of his $10.5MM salary. Even then, Wood's value is not quite as high as it could be with the wide array of relievers available on the open market.
The post suggests that the Indians would be better off holding on to Wood until June or July. If they are not contenders at that point, then they can shop him when he is owed just a fraction of his salary. However, Rosenthal and Morosi caution that teams may balk at Wood's $11MM club option for 2011, which vests if he finishes 55 games this season. The 6'5 righty finished 50 games last season for the Tribe.
Do you agree that the Indians should refrain from dealing Wood for now? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments.
Odds & Ends: DeRosa, Smoltz, Indians
Some news and notes from around the majors….
- It was previously reported that eight teams were interested in veteran utilityman Mark DeRosa. According to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, you can add the Mets, Braves and Twins to the list, as well as DeRosa's most recent team, the Cardinals. With so many interested parties, DeRosa's agent Keith Grunewald believes his client should have no problem getting his desired multi-year contract.
- In that same article, Hernandez notes that the Dodgers talked to Grunewald about both DeRosa and another of the agent's clients, pitcher John Smoltz. The Dodgers were previously cited as one of seven clubs looking at Smoltz, with Los Angeles being one of the teams looking at the veteran right-hander as a starter.
- Speaking of Smoltz, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart (via Twitter) says the Astros aren't interested in the future Hall-of-Famer.
- Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com breaks down what Cleveland might do with the back-end of their 40-man roster and with some of their top minor-league prospects.
- Tracy Ringolsby, in a response to a reader's e-mail, doesn't believe the Rockies will pursue a free-agent infielder given the team's satisfaction with Ian Stewart and Clint Barmes. Ringolsby also thinks that the return of Jeff Francis from injury will preclude Colorado from chasing a free-agent starter.
- Cardinals GM John Mozeliak all but confirmed that Troy Glaus won't be back in St. Louis next season, says MLB.com's Matthew Leach. Leach also notes that Mozeliak was non-committal about Jason LaRue returning as the Cards' backup catcher in 2010.
Odds & Ends: Lackey, Upton, De La Rosa, Wood
Some more links to check out as you celebrate the end of the work week…
- MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez confirms that the Red Sox did indeed meet with John Lackey's agent. This morning we learned that Boston expressed preliminary interest in the free agent hurler.
- ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Rangers asked the Rays about outfielder B.J. Upton as part of their offseason routine, but no talks are ongoing.
- Rockies' GM Dan O'Dowd said that they will only look at a one year deal for the arbitration eligible Jorge De La Rosa, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post.
- ESPN's Keith Law writes that Indians' closer Kerry Wood could be a "nice pickup on the cheap for a team unwilling to go multiple years" on some of the free agent closers. Wood is owed $10.5MM in 2010, with an $11MM club option for 2011 that could vest based on games finished.
- The Pirates intend to be more aggressive in Japan, says MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. Picking up Akinori Iwamura will help put the team on the radar of Japanese players looking to come to the U.S.
- ESPN's Peter Gammons writes about the impact of the economy on the free agent market, among other things.
- Giants' prospect Angel Villalona had his visa revoked by the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Villalona was charged with killing a man in the Dominican back in September.
- Ben Kabak at River Ave. Blues takes a look at each of the Yankees' five arbitration eligible players.