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Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Beltre, Morrow

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Some Saturday afternoon links..

  • The Dodgers should have offered salary arbitration to Randy Wolf and Orlando Hudsonto allow themselves the opportunity to receive draft picks, writes Jon Weisman of the Los Angeles Times.  Weisman argues that the worst case scenario of being stuck with one or both players at a slightly inflated price for one season wouldn't have been so bad.  It's hard to dispute this point as we have yet to see the Dodgers do much of anything this winter.
  • Not only are the Athletics talking to free agent Adrian Beltre, they may be the only serious bidder at the moment, according to an item on ESPN's MLB rumor page.  The piece also notes that if Beltre's asking price - believed to be north of $10MM per season – drops into Oakland's price range, the Giants, Cardinals, and Tigers could get in the mix.
  • Seattle's poor decisions stunted the development of Brandon Morrow, writes Ryan Divish of The News Tribune.  While he never had the same ceiling as Tim Lincecum, who was drafted five spots later in the 2006 draft, things could have worked out differently for Morrow if he were given adequate time to develop in the minors. 
  • Shi Davidi of the Associated Presspraises new Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and his plan to rebuild the franchise.  Davidi writes that Anthopoulos has the support of ownership in a way that J.P. Ricciardi never did.
  • A few free agents left on the market might want to consider lowering their asking price, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.  Adam LaRoche seeking $30MM over three years might be the most wishful of the bunch.

Gammons On Bay, Holliday, Gonzalez, Cabrera

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Yesterday, Peter Gammons appeared in-studio on WEEI with Dale & Holley to talk about the state of the offseason in Boston.  Here are some notes from his hour-long chat…

  • It's unlikely that the BoSox will be able to bring back Jason Bay, as they already made him the best offer that he has received.
  • Gammons quips that Bay would "rather play in Beirut than Queens" and adds that he should have taken Boston's offer of $60MM over four years back in July.
  • As for the Mets, if they are unable to land Bay, Gammons doesn't see them adding anybody else of a similar caliber.  With their unwillingness to go over the luxury tax threshold, they are more likely to pocket the money to make a mid-season deal.
  • Gammons calls Scott Boras "brilliant," but questions his wisdom in turning down the five-year $82.5MM offer the Red Sox made Matt Holliday.  That could be the best offer he has seen so far.
  • While we have heard rumors of an Adrian Gonzalez-to-Boston swap for months, the two sides have yet to exchange names.  Gammons says it would be virtually impossible for the Padres to deal him before July.
  • Miguel Cabrera could become available if the Tigers stumble out of the gate.  If he is available, Boston would be interested, despite concerns about him off-the-field.
  • Gammons expects Josh Beckett to be the second most-coveted free agent on the market next winter, behind Cliff Lee.  Naturally, a healthy season would go a long way towards boosting his value.
  • After reading the post here on MLBTradeRumors about Frank Wren saying that the Braves were going to get a major bat, he was surprised to later find out that the slugger was Troy Glaus.  Trading Javier Vazquez and Rafael Soriano was about saving $16MM, not about the players they received.

Odds & Ends: Nationals, Podsednik, Duchscherer

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Links for Monday…

  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the Nationals still have money left to sign Matt Capps, assuming he wants to go there. Morosi expects Capps to decide on his next team this week.
  • In a separate tweet, Morosi notes that the Tigers are only interested in Scott Podsednik if it's a one-year deal. Detroit has no interest in Rick Ankiel.
  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports that Justin Duchscherer has received contract offers from three unnamed teams, and he expects to decide on his 2010 home within a week.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Royals are interested in free agent outfielder Brian Anderson on a minor league deal.
  • Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle sees Rajai Davis and Ryan Sweeney retaining starting jobs in the wake of the impending Coco Crisp signing.  Slusser suggests a possible reduced role or trade for Scott Hairston.  FanGraphs' Dave Cameron doesn't understand the move, noting that Davis and Sweeney are similar to Crisp.  Crisp's physical will take place tomorrow, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. 
  • Matthew Carruth of Lookout Landing explains that Mariners fans fully understand the dangers of Milton Bradley.  The Seattle Times' Geoff Baker reflects on Carlos Silva's time with the club.
  • Patrick Newman joins FanGraphs with a look at Japanese baseball imports and exports for 2010.  Speaking of which, new Met Ryota Igarashi would like to be Francisco Rodriguez's set-up man.

Padres Acquire Dusty Ryan

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The Padres acquired catcher Dusty Ryan from the Tigers for a player to be named later or cash considerations, tweets AOL FanHouse's Ed Price.  Tigers minor league pitcher Scott Drucker broke the news first on Twitter.  Ryan had been designated for assignment on December 10th in a move corresponding to the Curtis Granderson trade.

Ryan, 25, hit .257/.359/.455 in 235 Triple A plate appearances this year.  Heading into the season, Baseball America spoke of Ryan's "prodigious raw power" and "plus-plus arm," but considered his receiving skills a work in progress.

Odds & Ends: Gonzalez, Bradley, Hamels

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Let's have a look at some miscellaneous Sunday links….

  • The Tigers purchased the contract of catcher Andy Bouchie from the Long Beach Armada. Bouchie, 24, was a seventh round pick by the Brewers after his junior season at Oral Roberts University, but was released due to catching depth in the Milwaukee system. He hit .290 with 7 home runs and 45 RBI in 59 games in the Golden Baseball League this year.
  • Jon Paul Morosi explains why the Padres should wait until July 31 to trade Adrian Gonzalez.
  • Larry Stone offers some optimism for Seattle fans with concerns about newly-acquired Milton Bradley in a nice article, reminding us that Bradley has had non-problematic stops over the course of his career. Stone quotes Eddie Guardado, Bud Black, and Ken Macha, all of whom support Bradley.
  • Scott Lauber writes that amidst the Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee pandemonium, it's easy to forget about Cole Hamels, but the Phillies haven't. They still see Hamels as a top-of-the-rotation arm and are confident in his ability to rebound from a forgettable 2009.
  • ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes that Oakland's potential deal with Coco Crisp reflects the value the A's place on defense.
  • In his usual lengthy Sunday column, the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo focuses primarily on the Red Sox' moves, past, present, and future. He provides at least one interesting hot stove note though: Mark DeRosa's asking price has come down, and Cafardo wonders if the Mets could sign the infielder and play him at first base.
  • Cafardo also mentions that, while plenty of teams are interested in Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees hope to match any final offer the right-hander receives.
  • Newsday's Ken Davidoff can't see any other teams taking a chance on Mike Lowell unless he exhibits good health in Spring Training.
  • In a separate article, Davidoff examines the next move for Johnny Damon. Davidoff lists the Braves, Rays, Cubs, and Mets as possible destinations, but concedes there are roadblocks in each case.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports looks at the remaining names on the closing market, concluding that there are too many arms and not enough teams in need of a closer.
  • Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun says there's nothing wrong with any of the Orioles' recent signings, but that they aren't the big splashes fans may have hoped to see.

Capps To Select Finalists Soon

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SATURDAY, 7:13pm: Capps confirmed to ESPN Radio Chicago today that he has had preliminary discussions with the Cubs about joining the club.

THURSDAY, 6:26pm: The Washington Nationals are one of Capps' finalists, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Of all the interested teams, Washington should provide one of the clearest paths to a closing role for Capps.

4:51pm: The Pirates non-tendered reliever Matt Capps Saturday night, and roughly half the teams in baseball have inquired.  Pirates GM Neal Huntington explained the non-tender decision in an MLB.com chat today:

Despite wanting to retain Matt and making an aggressive offer that we believed would be at or near his free-agent value prior to the tender deadline, we felt that the risk of an arbitration award at a substantially higher amount was not a good business decision for us…Obviously, we would have preferred to get something of value in trade for Matt, but given his track record beginning in the second half of 2008, his trade value was limited throughout the summer and again this offseason.

Capps may be able to find a two-year deal.  While he'd like to close, his agent Paul Kinzer told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he'd accept a set-up role with a contender.  The following teams have been linked to Capps: the D'Backs, Cubs, Orioles, Rangers, Rockies, Marlins, Nationals, Mets, Tigers, and Yankees (we're still about six teams short, five if you count the Pirates).  Kinzer told Rosenthal Capps "plans to select five or six finalists by the weekend, then make his decision."

Odds & Ends: Treanor, Barton, Damon, Kelly Johnson

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More links as the weekend draws closer…

Minor League Signings: Dumatrait, Stokes, Hacker

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MLBTR has learned of three minor league signings:

  • The Tigers signed 28-year-old lefty Phil Dumatrait, formerly of the Pirates.  Dumatrait missed most of the year with a shoulder injury and was recently non-tendered when an agreement could not be reached on his minor league salary. 
  • First baseman Jason Stokes, 28 in January, also signed with the Tigers.  He missed time in recent years due to back problems, but is healthy now. 
  • Righty Eric Hacker, 27 in March, signed with the Giants.  This year at various Double and Triple A stops he compiled a 4.45 ERA, 6.2 K/9, and 3.5 BB/9 in 147.6 innings.  The Pirates acquired Hacker in May after the Yankees designated him for assignment.

White Sox Claim Freddy Dolsi

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The White Sox have claimed former Tigers reliever Freddy Dolsi off of waivers, tweets Scott Merkin of MLB.com.  Merkin adds that the trade of Jon Link to the Dodgers has allowed the club to add Dolsi to the 40-man roster.

In the last two seasons with the Tigers, Dolsi has posted a 3.55 ERA over 58.1 innings of work.  In that period of time his fastball was clocked at an average of 94.8 miles per hour.

White Sox Acquire Juan Pierre

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FRIDAY, 12:57pm: The Dodgers will obtain Ely and Link to complete the deal, tweets MLB.com's Scott Merkin.

TUESDAY, 11:44am: The Dodgers will choose two pitchers from a list of arms that could contribute in the majors next year, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. The teams will complete the trade on or before January 7th, 2010, according to a Dodgers press release.

11:31am: The Dodgers have officially announced the deal, according to Hernandez. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports hears that John Ely and Jon Link are heading to the Dodgers. The Tigers and Pirates also had interest in Pierre, according to Morosi.

10:43am: The White Sox will pay $3MM of Pierre's salary in 2010 and $5MM of it in 2011, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney. That means the Dodgers will pay the remaining $10.5MM.

10:28am: Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times says the Dodgers will acquire two players to be named later.

9:52am: The White Sox acquired Juan Pierre from the Dodgers for two minor league pitchers, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown (and confirmed by Ken Rosenthal). The Dodgers will take on roughly half of Pierre's salary. The outfielder has $18.5MM remaining on his deal ($10MM next year and $8.5MM in 2011), so the Dodgers are taking on about $9MM.

Pierre, 32, hit .308/.365/.392 in 425 plate appearances for the Dodgers last year. He stole 30 bases and played well in the outfield, according to UZR (though we don't want to draw sweeping conclusions from 750 innings of work).

The White Sox had shown interest in Scott Podsednik and Brett Gardner, but they appear set with their new addition. If Pierre performs close to last year's levels, the White Sox will have themselves a bargain (depending on the pitchers they give up).

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