C.J. Wilson Rumors: Tuesday
C.J. Wilson visited the Marlins in Miami yesterday and appears to have a visit with another team scheduled this week. Here's the latest on the free agent left-hander:
- Wilson asked the Angels for $100MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter links).
- Though agent Bob Garber requested a meeting with the Yankees, the sides haven't scheduled a visit at this point, according to Heyman.
- 16.44% of MLBTR readers expect Wilson to be the next big name free agent to sign. He appears to be looking to complete a deal by next week.
Agent: Angels One Of 4-5 Teams With Serious Interest In Aramis
The Angels are one of five or five teams with "serious interest" in free agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez, agent Paul Kinzer told Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. DiGiovanna notes that earlier this month Angels GM Jerry Dipoto described his interest level in Ramirez as "lower, but I never close the door on anyone."
Ramirez is open to playing on the West Coast, Kinzer told DiGiovanna. With full no-trade rights this summer, Ramirez was not so flexible. DiGiovanna believes Ramirez could make a decision on his new team at next week's Winter Meetings. On November 14th, Kinzer told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports Ramirez seeks a four-year deal or three years with an option.
The Angels are interested in relievers Matt Capps, Heath Bell, Francisco Cordero, Octavio Dotel, and Scott Linebrink, adds DiGiovanna. They're also very interested in starter C.J. Wilson, who's touring the country meeting with suitors.
Rockies Considering Ramon Hernandez; Angels Like Iannetta
The Rockies are exploring signing catcher Ramon Hernandez and the Angels like Chris Iannetta, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. However, a Rosenthal source describes the discussion between the two teams involving Iannetta as "just conversation (that) never got real far." Iannetta, 28, has more value to the Rockies than any other team, because he can void his 2013 club option if traded.
The Reds' Ryan Hanigan is also on Jerry Dipoto's wish list for the Angels, as Rosenthal told us six days ago. Meanwhile the Rockies are not considered close to signing Hernandez, who had the good fortune of being reclassified as a Type B free agent. The Rockies are the first team to be linked to Hernandez this winter.
Morosi On Fielder, Randy Wells, Guthrie
A "tense three-week period that will shape [baseball's] landscape for the following year" begins today, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. His latest:
- Agent Scott Boras has pared down Prince Fielder's sales pitch binder but still has 70 pages worth, he tells Morosi. Morosi says Fielder's suitors are believed to be the Cubs, Nationals, Rangers, and Mariners.
- The Cubs are open to moving Randy Wells, indicates Morosi as he lists available starting pitchers. Wells, 29, is under team control through 2014. MLBTR projects him to earn $2.2MM in 2012.
- The Angels and Orioles discussed the possibility of a Jeremy Guthrie trade in recent days. Guthrie, 33 in April, projects to earn $8.3MM in 2012 before hitting free agency.
- Japanese players including righty Hisashi Iwakuma, lefties Tsuyoshi Wada and Wei-Yin Chen, and second baseman Kensuke Tanaka can begotiate with MLB teams after free agency in Japan begins Thursday. The Yakult Swallows intend to post outfielder Norichika Aoki after the Winter Meetings, adds Morosi.
Matt Klentak Named Angels Assistant GM
The Angels announced Matt Klentak was hired as an assistant GM, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. ESPN's Keith Law first reported the likely move. Klentak served as director of baseball operations for the Orioles since 2008. Klentak was named one of our top 20 GM candidates in August, and you can read Ben Nicholson-Smith's interview with him here. The Halos hired the first person on our list, Jerry Dipoto, as their new GM in October.
Angels Eyeing Hanigan In Search For Catcher
The Angels have been interested in a number of free agent pitchers this offseason, both starters and relievers, and now they're looking for an entire new battery. ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the Halos have intensified their search for a catcher, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says they have their eye on Ryan Hanigan of the Reds (Twitter links).
Jeff Mathis, Bobby Wilson, and Hank Conger are on the team's 40-man roster, but Mathis is a non-tender candidate and Wilson is a .206/.268/.344 career hitter in 116 big league games. Conger is one of the team's top prospects, but he might not be ready to catch everyday after hitting just .204/.284/.345 in limited time with the Angels over the last two seasons. Hanigan, 31, has hit .275/.371/.368 in 287 games with Cincinnati over the last five years. Rosenthal says the Reds could re-sign Ramon Hernandez if they move Hanigan.
As our Free Agent Tracker shows, backstops like Kelly Shoppach, Ivan Rodriguez, former Angel Jose Molina, and Hernandez are available on the open market. Hernandez will be treated as a Type-B free agent thanks to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, so it will not cost a draft pick to sign him.
Angels Have Interest In Cespedes, Linebrink, Madson
Angels GM Jerry Dipoto isn’t shying away from the free agent market in his first offseason on the job. Here’s the latest on the Angels from Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times:
- Dipoto and manager Mike Scioscia will meet with free agent left-hander C.J. Wilson tonight. Another GM will meet with Wilson in L.A. this weekend and the 31-year-old starter will meet with multiple teams on the East Coast next week, according to DiGiovanna.
- Angels international scouting director Mark Russo watched Yoenis Cespedes work out in the Dominican Republic last week, according to DiGiovanna. However, 60-70 other scouts were also in attendance to evaluate the Cuban center fielder. It appears that Cespedes will cost more than $35MM.
- The Angels are believed to be interested in free agent relievers Scott Linebrink and Ryan Madson, according to DiGiovanna. They also appeared to have interest in Joe Nathan, who just agreed to terms with the Rangers. This is the first time we've heard of the Angels' interest in Linebrink and Madson.
- Relievers Francisco Cordero, Heath Bell, Octavio Dotel and Matt Capps also interest the Angels, as do starters Mark Buehrle, Roy Oswalt and Hiroki Kuroda.
AL West Notes: Rangers, Lachemann, Mariners
Four years ago today, the Angels traded Orlando Cabrera to the White Sox for Jon Garland. The right-hander pitched to a 4.90 ERA during his lone season in Anaheim before joining the Diamondbacks as a free agent. The Halos selected Eastern Illinois left-hander Tyler Kehrer with the supplemental first round pick they received as compensation for Garland's departure. Here's the latest from the AL East…
- In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney says the Rangers appear to be working on a similar track to last offseason. They'd like to re-sign C.J. Wilson just like they would have liked to re-sign Cliff Lee, but they have a salary threshold they do not want to cross. If Wilson leaves, they will look to improve their teams in other ways, a la Adrian Beltre.
- The Angels have hired Marcel Lachemann as a special assistant to new GM Jerry Dipoto, reports Jack Etkin of Inside The Rockies. Lachemann had served as a specialist assist to Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd for the last ten years.
- The Mariners had interest in Ryan Doumit before he signed with the Twins, but Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times says they have bigger fish to fry and "can't afford to spend too much money for part-time production."
Added To 40-Man Roster: Giants, Dodgers, Pirates
Today is the deadline for teams to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from next month's Rule 5 draft. Here's more on which players need to be protected and here are the details on which players have had their contracts selected to the 40-man roster:
- The Giants added Hector Correa, Charlie Culberson, Tyler Graham, Roger Kieschnick, Dan Otero and Angel Villalona to their 40-man roster, reports Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (Twitter links). Baggarly suspects Villalona's inclusion may be a "procedural move," since Villalona still needs a new visa to play in the United States.
- The Dodgers have added Michael Antonini, Alex Castellanos, Stephen Fife, Josh Wall and Chris Withrow to their 40-man roster, according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times (Twitter link).
- The Pirates have announced the additions of Matt Hague, Starling Marte, Jordy Mercer, Rudy Owens, Duke Welker and Justin Wilson to their 40-man roster. Pittsburgh's 40-man roster is now full.
- The Mariners added Chih-Hsien Chang, Francisco Martinez and Carlos Triunfel to the 40-man roster, reports Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Radio Seattle (via Twitter).
- The Angels added Johnny Hellweg, Fabio Martinez, Ariel Pena and Jean Segura to their 40-man roster, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.
- The Red Sox announced that Drake Britton, Che-Hsuan Lin and Will Middlebrooks were added to the club's 40-man roster.
- The Rangers added pitchers Jacob Brigham, Roman Mendez, Justin Miller, Martin Perez, Neil Ramirez and Matt West to their 40-man roster, reports Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest (via Twitter).
- The Indians announced that Scott Barnes, Juan Diaz and Danny Salazar were added to the team's 40-man roster. The Tribe's roster now has a full complement of 40 players.
- The Cubs announced that Jeff Beliveau, Junior Lake, Matt Szczur and Josh Vitters have been added to the club's 40-man roster.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Dodgers, Cubs, Athletics
Teams will be adding minor leaguers to their 40-man rosters today in anticipation of next month's Rule 5 Draft. In order to create roster space, some teams will outright players off of the 40-man. Here are the latest outright assignments from around MLB…
- The Dodgers outrighted John Ely and Carlos Monasterios to Triple-A, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
- The Cubs announced Esmailin Caridad, Lou Montanez and Kyle Smit have been outrighted off their 40-man roster. The Cubs currently have six open spots remaining on their 40-man roster.
- The A's announced that they outrighted right-hander Evan Scribner and outfielder Cedric Hunter to Triple-A.
- The Rockies outrighted infielder Andrew Brown off of their roster, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter).
- The Twins announced that they outrighted right-hander David Bromberg off the 40-man roster.
- The Pirates announced that they outrighted Matt Pagnozzi to Triple-A.
- The Tigers announced that they outrighted Cale Iorg to Triple-A. The infielder split the 2011 season between Detroit's top two affiliates.
- The Angels outrighted right-handers Francisco Rodriguez and Loek Van Mil to Triple-A yesterday, according to MLB.com's transactions page. Rodriguez, 28, has appeared in 53 games for the Angels since 2010, posting a 4.43 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 61 innings. Van Mil, a 7'1" native of the Netherlands, posted a 2.04 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 66 1/3 innings at Double-A in 2011. The Angels acquired him from the Twins for Brian Fuentes in 2010.