Stark On Greinke, Manny, Dunn, Swisher
The latest from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…
- The Cubs’ ownership situation is not close to the finish line, which is one reason the team won’t be acquiring Jake Peavy anytime soon.
- One source of Stark’s suggested Zack Greinke nearly left his current agent John Courtright of SFX for Scott Boras, a whisper I’d heard as well. But now Greinke is happy with his contract and agent.
- Free agents such as Manny Ramirez and Ivan Rodriguez could reasonably wait until March to sign. Not a bad thing for this website!
- Adam Dunn would like Manny to sign earlier, as he’s waiting to see what the Dodgers (his preferred team) do. The Nationals have been Dunn’s most aggressive suitor, the Orioles have mild interest, and the Braves have backed off.
- Stark questions the idea of talks for Manny heating up lately, since the Mets, Yankees, and Angels are out and the Giants are only conditionally interested.
- When Alex Rodriguez was a free agent last winter, Joe Torre advised the Dodgers against signing him.
- The Phillies would like to move Geoff Jenkins for a right-handed hitting outfielder, but Jenkins is paid too much. Jay Payton and Emil Brown are not on the Phillies’ radar; they still like Nomar Garciaparra.
- The Yankees are apparently "softening to the idea of trading Nick Swisher," with the Braves the top suitor.
Odds and Ends: Sherrill, Kubel, Teahen
Links for Wednesday…
- T.R. Sullivan examines the Rangers’ interest level in 25 free agents.
- An article about Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus.
- Rany Jazayerli suggests the Jeremy Bonderman contract might have been a model for Zack Greinke‘s deal.
- George Sherrill‘s arbitration hearing is set for February 19th. The Orioles are at $2.2MM while Sherrill requested $3.4MM, putting the midpoint at $2.8MM.
- Jack Marshall discusses the ethics of Scott Boras.
- Barry Bloom looks at the remaining free agent starting pitchers and possible suitors.
- Dave Cameron questions the Twins’ recent Jason Kubel contract.
- Sam Mellinger talks about the Mark Teahen second base experiment.
- Will Clark is set to join the Giants’ front office.
Royals Ink Villarreal To Minor League Deal
According to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, the Royals have signed right-hander Oscar Villarreal to a minor league contract.
The deal is worth $400K and includes an invitation to spring training. Villarreal, 27, posted a 5.02 ERA in 37 2/3 innings for the Astros last season. He can request his release if he’s not on the Royals’ 25-man roster by May 15 or June 1.
Odds and Ends: Lohse, Reyes, Greinke, Howard
Links for Tuesday…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- Rangers president Nolan Ryan called the Winter Meetings "a big waste of money and time."
- Nationals GM Jim Bowden implied that a Tom Glavine signing is unlikely.
- Kyle Lohse feels the pain of all the unsigned free agents; he didn’t sign until March 14th last year. Lohse said he "put a lot of pressure on all parties" to get his four-year, $41MM extension done on September 29th. Given that it wasn’t on the open market, Scott Boras did well for Lohse.
- The Dodgers prefer Dennys Reyes over Luis Ayala, says Ken Gurnick.
- Joe Posnanski loves the Zack Greinke signing. Sam Mellinger says the Royals and fans are no longer allowed to complain about baseball’s financial structure.
- Maury Brown leans slightly toward Ryan Howard winning his arbitration case. I think the Phillies will prevail.
- Brandon Lyon turned down more lucrative offers for a chance to close in Detroit. ESPN’s Keith Law likes the Tigers’ signing, in part due to Jim Leyland’s track record with relievers.
- The Marlins seem to prefer the trade market, if they are to add a catcher.
- Joe Nathan knows his $47MM extension signed in March of ’08 is looking pretty good right now.
Rosenthal On Manny, Garcia, Greinke
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new column…
- Rosenthal speculates that the Giants may not be the right fit for Manny Ramirez, given a challenging ballpark and questionable supporting cast of hitters. Rosenthal suggests a contract that might work for Manny and the Dodgers: two years with a third-year player option, with no-trade protection covering only the first two years.
- Many remaining free agents – Adam Dunn for example – may prefer a one-year deal because it will increase their options and allow them to re-enter the market after the season.
- The White Sox found the price for Freddy Garcia to be too high ($1.5MM plus $6.5MM in incentives). Rosenthal deems Oliver Perez a bad fit for the Sox in part because he’s a flyball pitcher. Also there’s the whole Scott Boras thing.
- Among the right-handed hitters the Phillies are mulling, Rosenthal feels that Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia make the most sense.
- The Angels may go to Spring Training with their current club.
- Zack Greinke received "very minor" no-trade protection in the first two years of his new deal, with seemingly no protection when his salary shoots up to $13.5MM in 2011.
Royals Sign Zack Greinke To Extension
4:00pm: The AP has the yearly salaries.
1:49pm: Danny Knobler says Greinke’s deal is worth $38MM.
12:04pm: According to Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City, the Royals signed starter Zack Greinke to a four-year extension. The deal buys out two arbitration years (2009-10) and two free agent years (2011-12). Here’s the press release from the Royals. This will probably end up being Dayton Moore’s most important move of the offseason. Craig Brown offers instant commentary and a guess at the terms.
Odds and Ends: Arb, Royals, Compensation
Links for Tuesday…
- Chat today, 3pm CST (one hour later than usual).
- 16 starters were chosen within the first seven rounds of 2008 fantasy drafts. How many were worth it?
- Confused about all this arbitration stuff? Read this.
- Fred Claire notes that teams continue to sign pitchers to long-term deals.
- Just for the fun of it, Joe Posnanski envisions a Royals alternate reality where they drafted perfectly in 1999.
- Mike Axisa attempts to fix the free agent compensation system.
- Rinku and Dinesh hang with Barry Bonds.
- Ken Davidoff suggests the Mets sign Ben Sheets, Jon Garland, and Ty Wigginton.
- We’ve been doing many entries lately so be sure to check Page Two and Page Three for more.
Royals Avoid Arb With Jimmy Gobble
Left-handed reliever Jimmy Gobble has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Royals, according to the Kansas City Star’s Sam Mellinger.
Gobble, 27, posted a 8.81 ERA in 31 2/3 innings last season, but those numbers don’t tell the whole story. After spending six weeks on the disabled list to finally resolve a chronic back problem, he pitched eight straight scoreless appearances through the month of September and ended the season on a high note.
Gobble may as well be the poster child for lefty specialists who can’t handle right-handed hitters. If used correctly, though, he can be a fine reliever. Left-handed batters managed just a .200 batting average against him during the 2008 season, but righties batted at a .382 clip with eight doubles and four homers in 68 at-bats.
Odds and Ends: Lowry, Kawakami, Lowe, Young
Links for Wednesday…
- Rany Jazayerli has withdrawn his support for Royals GM Dayton Moore.
- Chris Haft says that if Noah Lowry has a nice spring, perhaps the Giants should trade him rather than Jonathan Sanchez.
- Keith Law says Kenshin Kawakami should provide bulk innings for the Braves, while the risk with Derek Lowe is his age.
- La Velle E. Neal III doesn’t get the sense the Twins are interested in Michael Young.
- Jeff Wilson looks at the likely free agent options for the Rangers.
- Peter Abraham suggests the Yankees don’t have sufficient rotation depth without Andy Pettitte or a similar veteran addition.
- It was bound to happen sooner or later…a blog dedicated entirely to Scott Boras.
- The Reds are looking for power off the bench…Mark Sheldon has suggestions.
- A look at the Twins’ non-roster invitees.
- Geoff Baker says the Mariners screwed up with Jarrod Washburn.
Royals Add Five To Spring Training Invite List
Dick Kaegel of MLB.com lists five players who have been invited to the Kansas City Royals’ Spring Training Major League camp.
The five, all minor leaguers, are Derrick Robinson (he won the Royals’ baserunner of the year award), outfielder Jose Duarte, and catchers Cody Clark, Jeff Howell and John Suomi, taken in the Rule 5 Draft from the Phillies’ organization.