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Odds And Ends: Red Sox, Andruw, Roberts

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Links for Saturday…

  • At the bottom of an interesting article about baseball’s youth movement, Peter Gammons adds that the Red Sox-Marlins Hanley Ramirez discussions "lasted all of 20 seconds" according to a Marlins official.
  • Yahoo’s Tim Brown speculates that the Nationals could have interest in Andruw Jones. I can see the Blue Jays taking him on if they can make it work financially.
  • Roch Kubatko cautions fans from reading too much into discussions about a Brian Roberts–Gavin Floyd trade.
  • Peter Schmuck hasn’t heard much on the Roberts front, but wouldn’t mind seeing the Orioles trade him for Floyd, even if they don’t acquire anyone else in the deal.
  • In another post, Schmuck argues that there’s nothing wrong with the Mark Hendrickson signing.
  • Ryan Dempster has heard good things about Milton Bradley and hopes he joins the Cubs.
  • The Yankees have no need for Manny Ramirez, Erik Bedard or over-the-top position swaps, in Peter Abraham’s opinion.
  • Jeff Moorad- who’s leading the group poised to buy the Padres- was a record-setting agent in his day. Tom Krasovic looks back at Moorad’s earlier career.
  • NPB Tracker compares Japanese teams before and after losing their stars to MLB.

Manny Ramirez Rumors: Friday

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11:00pm: Schulman says the Giants have had conversations with Boras about Manny, but have not extended a formal offer.  Nothing is imminent, and the Giants are considering other options via trade and free agency.

3:33pm: The Chronicle’s Henry Schulman doesn’t have anything new on the KPIX report yet.  But he’s heard that the Dodgers offered Manny $60MM over three years at some point and were turned down.

2:40pm: MLB.com’s Chris Haft splashes some cold water on the KPIX-TV rumor.  His sources say recent reports linking the Giants to Manny are overblown.  The Dodgers may be the only truly interested team currently.  Haft says the Giants are looking to add a corner infield bat instead (they’ve been linked to Edwin Encarnacion and Jorge Cantu in the past, among others).

1:30pm:  SI.com’s Jon Heyman was able to confirm that the Giants entered the bidding for Manny.  He says the Dodgers remain interested, and that "some baseball people" aren’t writing off the Angels despite Tony Reagins’ public statement.  Heyman adds that one or two other AL teams are on the periphery, the Yankees not among them.

6:05am: There’s a rumor making the rounds from Dennis O’Donnell of KPIX-TV of San Francisco.  O’Donnell says the Giants have offered Manny Ramirez a four-year deal.  Reasons to treat the report with skepticism:

  • O’Donnell says it’s a fourth-year club option, so it was inaccurate to call it a four-year offer.
  • We haven’t heard anything about this from the Giants beat writers or national reporters, who have a better track record than television stations.  Henry Schulman covers the Giants for the San Francisco Chronicle, and he says the team "could consider Ramirez under very specific financial conditions."  He was probably not referring to a three or four-year offer.
  • O’Donnell was told by a team spokeman, "It’s not happening."  Scott Boras’ publicist "had no knowledge of any negotiations with the Giants," according to O’Donnell.

Boras And Dodgers: Ready To Talk

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According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, the Dodgers and agent Scott Boras are finally gearing up for Manny Ramirez negotiations.

As was reported yesterday, Boras left a voicemail for Dodgers GM Ned Colletti on Tuesday.  Well, Colletti shot him back a voicemail Wednesday morning and the two are expected to finish their game of phone tag after the New Year’s holiday.  The Dodgers, of course, made a two-year, $45 million offer with an option for a third during the Winter Meetings in November.

Nationals Not Interested In Manny Ramirez

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Bill Ladson of MLB.com has been told by a baseball source that reports of the Nationals’ interest in Manny Ramirez are false.

Ladson notes two fairly obvious reasons why Manny isn’t a good fit in D.C.:

  • The Nationals are overloaded with right-handed hitting outfielders.  They already have righties Josh Willingham, Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, Austin Kearns and Wily Mo Pena under contract for ’08.
  • And the obvious one:  His age.  Ramirez is 36.  The Nats won a league-low 59 games last season and need to build for the long-term before they go signing old, high-priced free agents with big egos.
  • Let’s not forget Jim Bowden’s November 12th quote: We are not pursuing Manny Ramirez."

Dodgers Sign Claudio Vargas

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According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, the Dodgers signed pitcher Claudio Vargas to an incentive-laden, one-year deal.  He’ll earn $400K and has $1.4MM in incentives.

Vargas, 30, spent 2008 in the Mets’ organization.  He pitched 85.3 innings across various levels, dealing with elbow pain at one point.  He’d been released by the Brewers in March.

Boras Contacts Dodgers To Discuss Manny

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10:43pm: A bit more from MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick.  Boras left a voicemail for Colletti, and they’ll probably talk this week.

8:48pm: Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports that Scott Boras has contacted Dodgers GM Ned Colletti regarding the future of his superstar client Manny Ramirez.

The contact was likely motivated by a recent Times piece that quoted Colletti as saying Ramirez was the Dodgers’ "first choice." Boras may be feeling pressure to get a deal done for his client, as recent rumors have connected the Dodgers to Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu. If the Dodgers were to sign one of those free agents, they would likely no longer be interested in Ramirez.

With the list of potential suitors for Manny already shrinking, taking the Dodgers out of the picture would probably force some creative thinking on the part of Scott Boras to get his client signed.

No Andruw Jones Trade In The Works

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TUESDAY, 9:02am: ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Dodgers and Mets "have kept the porch light on" in case some version of a Jones-Castillo swap can be made.  He talked to a source who believes the Mets’ chances of trading Castillo before the season are 50-50.

MONDAY, 8:12pm: MLB.com’s Marty Noble heard from a person familiar with the discussions between the Mets and Dodgers that "nothing is ongoing and nothing is going to happen." The clubs had preliminary discussions about trading Jones for Castillo during the Winter Meetings, but nothing is in the works now.

3:50pm: According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Dodgers and Mets have discussed an Andruw Jones trade.  Jones is still owed $22.1MM, and the Dodgers are "highly motivated" to move him.  Olney says it’s unlikely the Dodgers would have interest in Luis Castillo, however.  If the Mets wouldn’t be sending a bad contract back, I’d imagine they’d want the Dodgers to pay approximately $20MM.  Olney says the Mets would use Jones in right field – Ryan Church’s position this year.

Manny Is Dodgers’ First Choice

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Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times talked to Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who said Manny Ramirez is the team’s first choice.  Colletti hasn’t heard from Manny’s agent Scott Boras since Mark Teixeira signed a week ago.  As reported yesterday, the Dodgers have interest in Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu as backup plans.  Pat Burrell and Garret Anderson are not on the team’s radar.

Shaikin reiterates Marty Noble’s story from yesterday – talks to unload Andruw Jones on the Mets fizzled a while ago.

Dodgers Interested In Dunn, Abreu

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4:28pm: A very Dodgers-centric day here at MLBTR.  MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports that in addition to Dunn, the Dodgers will soon open up talks with Bobby Abreu.  They’d like to move Andruw Jones or Juan Pierre if they sign an outfielder.

Gurnick adds that pitching is Ned Colletti’s priority – the Dodgers are eyeing Jon Garland, Randy Wolf, and relief help.

1:46pm: According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Dodgers contacted Adam Dunn’s agent over the holidays to express interest.  If the Dodgers sign Dunn, Manny Ramirez could be in a really bad place.  Other teams showing interest in Dunn: the Cubs, Nationals, Mariners, and Orioles.  All five teams have surfaced in prior reports, with the Brewers also getting a mention while they were mulling a Mike Cameron trade.

There was a report nine days ago stating that the Cubs are Dunn’s first choice.  Today Stark puts it this way: "The Cubs had believed to be his top choice before the Dodgers entered the mix."

Red Sox Reach Deals With Bard, Penny

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9:59pm: Ian Browne of MLB.com weighs in on Bard. He discusses the catching situation, and in particular, how the Red Sox will use Bard if free-agent Jason Varitek returns to the franchise.

SI.com points out Penny’s Interleague numbers: 7-11 with a 5.08 ERA in 24 appearances against American League opponents. Penny has spent his entire career in the National League.

8:41pm: Rob Bradford of WEEI.com spoke with Brad Penny, who confirmed his deal with the Boston Red Sox.

From Bradford:

“There were a lot of teams involved,” said Penny in a phone conversation. “But I wanted to go somewhere where I knew we had a great chance at winning, and Boston is that place.”

Bradford adds that Penny will be in Boston on Jan. 7 to take his physical and will begin his throwing program next week.

Bradford also updates the status of Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, who has started exercises on his throwing shoulder, which is earlier than in years past. Bradford’s post states that the injury that plagued Beckett at the end of the 2008 season has subsided. The injury centered around the intercostal muscles near the ribs and not the oblique as previously thought.

7:33pm: Free-agent catcher Josh Bard has reached a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox, Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald and Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe are reporting.

The Bard agreement is a nonguaranteed major-league deal worth $1.6MM. According to McAdam, Bard is viewed as a backup, but he could see more time depending upon what Boston decides to do at catcher.

Bard, 31 in March, spent seven games with the Red Sox in 2006 before Boston traded him to the Padres. He hit .202 in 57 games with San Diego in 2008.

McAdam has more on the Brad Penny deal, too. The agreement, a one-year deal with a base salary of $5MM, will be finalized Monday. Incentives and performance bonuses can increase the total deal another $3MM if Penny pitches more than 160 innings, McAdam reports.

Penny, 31 in May, went 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA in 17 starts and two relief appearances in 2008 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The right-hander played 4.5 seasons for the Dodgers. He played with the Florida Marlins from 2000 until he was traded in 2004.

With the addition of Penny, the Boston rotation now consists of Penny, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester.

The move also allows righty Justin Masterson to remain in a setup role for closer Jonathan Papelbon.

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