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Odds & Ends: Mets, Royals, Dodgers, Lowe

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Agent: Johnson Likely To Be Traded After Season

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Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post spoke with Matt Sosnick, the agent for Josh Johnson, who believes Johnson will be on a new club before the start of the '11 season.

"My hope is that he signs a long-term deal and stays in Florida,' Sosnick said. "But I would say it's much more likely that we'll do a one-year deal this year and he's playing for somebody else in 2011.'

Sosnick also made it clear that Johnson is seeking a deal that "far exceeds" the deal that Zack Greinke's four-year, $38MM contract signed last winter. Sosnick notes that Johnson's '09 season was better than the season Greinke had prior to signing his contract.

Earlier this month we learned that Johnson would accept a four-year, $42MM extension, but the Marlins are only offering three years and $23MM. Marlins GM Michael Hill was emphatic that Johnson would not be traded this off-season.

Royals To Sign Philip Humber

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The Royals reached a minor league deal with Philip Humber, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Humber, who turns 27 next week, was part of the deal that sent Johan Santana to New York. He only has 29.2 major league innings to his name and last year's minor league numbers were uninspired (5.34 ERA in 119.2 innings).

Royals Rumors: Kendall, Myers, Crisp

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SATURDAY, 9:35am: Bob Dutton of The KC Star says Kendall will earn $2.25MM in 2010 and $3.75MM in 2011, with another $250K in incentives. It's the same two year, $6MM deal Pudge Rodriguez received. 

FRIDAY, 6:54pm: Royals GM Dayton Moore said on a conference call that the reported terms ($4MM) for Jason Kendall's deal are about right. The team expects him to mentor young pitchers and catching prospect Wil Myers, Moore said.

Kendall, who insists he feels like he's in his early twenties, says he wants to win in Kansas City. But it wasn't his only choice.

"There were other offers, but I'm a Kansas City Royal now," he said. " Dayton and the Royals called me the first day [of free agency]."

When asked about free agent Coco Crisp, Moore said the Royals "remain open" to all of the team's free agents, including the center fielder.

Royals Sign Jason Kendall

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6:24 PM: The Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton tweets that the deal is worth roughly the same as the two-year/$6MM contract Ivan Rodriguez signed with Washington earlier this week.

4:59 PM: The Royals signed catcher Jason Kendall to a two-year contract, according to a press release from the team.  Kendall, 35, hit .241/.331/.305 in 526 plate appearances for the Brewers this year, catching 1,162 innings.  Ivan Rodriguez and Brian Schneider also received two-year deals so far this winter.

The Royals entered the offseason intending to reboot their catching situation.  They've declined an option on Miguel Olivo and signed Kendall, and may non-tender John Buck tomorrow.

Odds & Ends: Boyer, Chapman, Non-Tenders, Cubs

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Links for Friday…

  • The D'Backs agreed to a one-year deal with arbitration-eligible righty Blaine Boyer, tweets MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.
  • ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. analyzes Aroldis Chapman's upcoming bullpen session – does it represent a loss of leverage?  Arangure Jr. notes that Chapman received one offer so far – $15.5MM – from the Red Sox back when he was represented by Edwin Mejia.
  • SI's Jon Heyman names his winners and losers of the Winter Meetings. 
  • Royals GM Dayton Moore expects a bigger non-tender group than years past, writes Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
  • Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald expects the Cubs to tender contracts to Mike Fontenot, Koyie Hill, Sean Marshall, Jeff Baker, and Angel Guzman, but not lefty Neal Cotts.  Cotts is coming back from Tommy John surgery, and the Cubs could re-sign him to a minor league deal.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post criticizes the New York Times for letting his good friend Jack Curry go.
  • MLB.com's Carrie Muskat says the Cubs acquired righty Arismendy Mota from the Nationals for cash considerations.  Mota was taken by the Nats from the White Sox with the first pick of the Triple A phase of the Rule 5 draft yesterday.
  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick believes that while the free agent dollars are flowing now, "the euphoria will fade after the New Year."
  • The Nationals officially announced their two-year deal for Ivan Rodriguez today.

Royals Sign Bruce Chen, Vance Wilson, Four Others

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According to a press release from the Royals, they've signed six players to minor league deals: pitchers Bruce Chen, Adam Bostick, Devon Lowery, and Francisco Rosario, as well as first baseman Ernesto Mejia and catcher Vance Wilson.

Chen, 32, posted a 5.78 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 3.6 BB/9 in 62.3 innings for the Royals this year.  Wilson, 37 in March, hit .270/.342/.461 in 229 Double A plate appearances this year.  He seems all the way back from Tommy John surgery and might warrant another look as an MLB backup.

White Sox Interested In Brett Gardner

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Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times hears from a scout familiar with the situation that the White Sox covet Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner. The Yankees, who just acquired Curtis Granderson, have extra outfielders so the White Sox and Royals have inquired on Gardner.

The White Sox had Scott Podsednik around last year, but Cowley says they haven't offered him the two-year deal he wants. The Royals and Tigers are also unwilling to give Podsednik a second year at this point.

Stark On Halladay, Bradley, Lackey, Gonzalez

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The Blue Jays are still demanding nearly as much for Roy Halladay as they were this summer, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. The Angels, Phillies and Yankees appear to be "the only realistic destinations" for Halladay at this point. The Angels would apparently want Halladay to sign an extension if they traded for him, but the Jays don't appear to be close to dealing their ace away. Here are the rest of Stark's rumors:

  • One GM would be shocked if the Angels don't sign Jason Bay or John Lackey. The Angels haven't shown any indications that they're ready to offer Lackey A.J. Burnett money ($82.5MM).
  • The Yankees are focused on adding a free agent starter and determining whether Johnny Damon will return.
  • If the Cubs and Rays can figure out the money, Milton Bradley could still end up in Tampa Bay.
  • The Red Sox will have a hole at first or third if and when the Mike Lowell deal goes through, but you can count out Adrian Gonzalez. Stark says the Padres just have no motivation to move the hometown slugger.
  • The Red Sox are "clearly infatuated with" Adrian Beltre.
  • Dan Uggla, Francisco Cordero, Luis Castillo, Lyle Overbay, Kerry Wood, Kyle Farnsworth, Gary Matthews Jr., Juan Pierre, Jose Guillen and Eric Byrnes were all being shopped this week.
  • Stark notes that the market for starting pitchers hasn't been bad so far, pointing to Randy Wolf and Andy Pettitte as examples.

Mets To Offer Two Years To Bengie Molina?

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5:56pm: The Mets confirmed that they made Molina and Jason Bay offers, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.

THURSDAY, 6:34am: Adam Rubin of The NY Daily News says the Mets do in fact plan to make Molina an offer before leaving Indianapolis later today, however they don't expect to reach an agreement by then.

WEDNESDAY, 7:12pm: The Mets haven't made Molina an offer yet, but expect to propose a contract by tomorrow afternoon, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.

11:17am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests the Mets will make their initial offer to Molina this afternoon.

9:38am: Newsday's David Lennon has heard Bengie Molina is the Mets' first choice at catcher, and "if he accepts a two-year deal, in the $12-million range, he figures to be a Met very shortly."  Still, Lennon's "Mets closing on Molina" headline seems strong.  Lennon says that if Molina insists on three years, the Mets could sign Yorvit Torrealba for one – even though Torrealba could get two years elsewhere.  The Rockies, Giants, and Royals are also in on Torrealba, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.  The Rockies are willing to give Miguel Olivo two years if they can't get Torrealba.

Molina was left out in the cold once before, in the 2005-06 offseason.  He cashed in with the Giants the following winter, and should probably jump on this Mets offer.

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