Russell Martin Suitors
5:50pm: The Yankees and Red Sox are in on Martin and the Mets and Blue Jays are less interested, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
4:34pm: The Dodgers have not been in contact with Martin's agent since Thursday, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter).
3:29pm: ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that Martin will be a catcher next year. The Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Mets all examined his medical information in the last day (Twitter links).
3:09pm: The Mets consider Martin too expensive and too much of an injury risk, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
MONDAY, 1:31pm: The Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Mets are also thought to be interested in Martin, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.
FRIDAY, 9:16am: The Yankees, who tried to trade for Russell Martin this week, are one of six teams interested in the 27-year-old free agent, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times reports that the Yankees nearly sent Francisco Cervelli to the Dodgers for Martin (Twitter links). In fact, the Yankees and Dodgers even exchanged medical records on Wednesday.
The Dodgers are nearing a deal with Rod Barajas, but they still have interest in re-signing Martin. Agent Matt Colleran says the Dodgers view his client differently than most teams do.
“They want to continue discussions with the idea that Russ could come back and catch, play second base and third and a little bit out of outfield to see if he likes something like that in the event he ever wants to transition from behind the plate,” Colleran said.
It wouldn't be surprising to see the Royals, Rangers, Mariners, Mets or Brewers look to upgrade behind the plate. ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that Martin, who is from Montreal, wants to play on the East Coast (Twitter link).
Prince Fielder Rumors: Monday
We heard earlier today that the Brewers are likely to hold onto Prince Fielder, but that won't stop other teams from expressing interest in the former home run champ. Here are the details on Prince, with more updates to come throughout the evening:
- The Brewers are having internal meetings to discuss Fielder, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
- The Brewers approached the Dodgers about their potential interest in Fielder, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown (on Twitter).
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti shot down the Fielder-Loney-Broxton rumor, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears that the Brewers and Dodgers have not spoken at the meetings (Twitter link).
- The Dodgers have zero interest in Fielder, according to Yahoo's Steve Henson (on Twitter).
- The Dodgers are discussing a possible three-player deal that would send Fielder to Los Angeles for James Loney and Jonathan Broxton, according to Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The Dodgers appear willing to listen to offers for Broxton and the Brewers are one of three teams that have inquired on Loney.
Nationals, Cubs, Brewers Inquired On James Loney
12:22pm: A Dodgers source tells Yahoo's Steve Henson Loney will not be traded because he'd be too expensive to replace on the open market (Twitter link). Rosenthal now agrees that Loney will not be traded.
11:39am: The Nationals, Cubs, and Brewers have inquired on Dodgers first baseman James Loney, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Loney is available, says Rosenthal. Rosenthal notes that the Brewers would only want him in the unlikely event of a Prince Fielder trade. The Cubs and Nationals appear to be focused on Carlos Pena, says Rosenthal.
Loney was tendered a contract on December 2nd, so he'll earn $4.5-5MM in 2011 after a disappointing '10 season. The Dodgers' asking price doesn't appear to be reasonable, as MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that they wanted Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann from Washington.
Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Werth, Padilla, D’Backs
A grab bag of overnight links, as we look forward to updates out of Orlando….
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier hears from a source that Adrian Gonzalez has wanted to play for the Red Sox for a "really long time." There is no set deal for an extension in place, but rather an understanding of what it will take, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
- In a separate piece, Speier notes that the Nationals' signing of Jayson Werth significantly increases Boston's chances of receiving a first round pick from the Tigers as compensation for Victor Martinez.
- Though Speier suggests the Red Sox didn't ultimately make a formal offer to Werth, MLB.com's Peter Gammons says Boston's interest affected the Nationals' negotiations.
- In a preview of the winter meetings from the Dodgers' perspective, Dylan Hernandez and Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times explain how Vicente Padilla could still fit into the team's plans.
- Daniel Bard tells Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald that he'd like to see the Red Sox add some veteran bullpen help.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic identifies some potential free agent targets for the Diamondbacks.
NL West Notes: Pierzynski, Reynolds, Rockies
The latest NL West rumors, aside from a certain huge trade…
- The Dodgers were extremely close to signing A.J. Pierzynski before White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf stepped in, tweets Peter Gammons of the MLB Network. The Dodgers have been in the market for a catcher ever since they declined to offer arbitration to Russell Martin.
- Earlier this week we learned that the D'Backs were looking at getting pitcher David Hernandez from the Orioles in a package for Mark Reynolds. This isn't the first time that Arizona has tried to land Hernandez, says Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com (via Twitter). Ghiroli adds that several other teams, including Tampa Bay, are high on the right-hander.
- Troy Renck of The Denver Post (via Twitter) could see the Rockies getting in on outfielder Josh Willingham. We have long heard that Willingham and the Nats would part ways over an impasse in extension talks. Now after the arrival of Jayson Werth, it now seems very likely that Willingham will be moved.
- Meanwhile, the Rockies lost out Lance Berkman because they did not want to give the veteran $8MM and an everyday job wasn't realistic in Coors Field, Renck tweets.
Dodgers Re-Sign Rod Barajas
The Dodgers have re-signed catcher Rod Barajas to a one-year contract, according to a team press release. Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter) reports that the deal is worth $3.25MM. That's some nice work from agent Dan Lozano given that the catcher had to settle for a $500K minor league contract from the Mets last February.
Barajas, 35, excelled in 72 plate appearances after the Dodgers acquired him for the stretch run. He had three hits, including a homer, in his first game as a Dodger and batted .297/.361/.578 overall. He doesn't reach base often, as his career .284 on base percentage shows, but he has some power.
Barajas, who drew interest from the Red Sox earlier in the offseason, is one of many catchers Los Angeles considered, particularly given yesterday's non-tender of Russell Martin, The Dodgers would not have obtained compensation for losing Barajas (a Type B free agent) to another team, since they did not offer arbitration.
Hernandez was the first to report that the Dodgers were close to a deal with Barajas, and also had the information about the contract's length (Twitter links).
MLBTR's Mark Polishuk contributed to this post
Interesting Non-Tenders
By our unofficial count, 50 players were non-tendered yesterday. You can sort the decisions by team in our non-tender tracker. Those that reached our playing time requirements have been added to the 2011 free agents list, which is robust at the moment. Let's take a look at some of the more interesting non-tenders.
- Bobby Jenks, RP. There are plenty of good right-handed relievers available, but if you take Mariano Rivera and Rafael Soriano off the board, Jenks might be the best closer. Jenks throws hard and posted huge strikeout and groundball rates this year, so he should find multiple years and at least $5MM per.
- Russell Martin, C. Martin was once one of the game's best catchers, but his performance waned and he's recovering from a hip fracture. There aren't a ton of starting catching gigs available, however. The Yankees nearly acquired Martin on Thursday for Francisco Cervelli, tweets Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times.
- Jack Cust, LF/RF/DH. Cust doesn't impress defensively, but not too many free agents can match a .395 OBP.
- Edwin Encarnacion, 3B. Another defensively-challenged player, Encarnacion hit 21 home runs in 367 plate appearances this year. Someone will give him a shot in a weak market for third basemen.
- Andrew Miller, SP. The former first-round pick is a project at this point, with his velocity down and walks up.
- Joel Peralta, RP. He's not a hard-thrower but it's difficult to argue with a 2.02 ERA, 9.0 K/9, and 1.7 BB/9. He is an extreme flyball pitcher though.
- Jose Veras, RP. Veras has control issues, but he did rack up strikeouts this year and averaged 94.4 mph on his fastball.
- Fourth outfielder types: Matt Diaz, Ryan Church, Tony Gwynn, Lastings Milledge, and Scott Hairston.
- Former setup types: Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, and George Sherrill.
- Interesting pitchers coming back from shoulder surgery: J.P. Howell, John Maine, Chien-Ming Wang.
National League Non-Tenders
This post will list all the National League players non-tendered today, but the best place to track all 200+ arbitration eligible players is our new non-tender tracker.
- Rockies: Manny Delcarmen
- Mets: Sean Green Chris Carter, John Maine
- Nationals: Joel Peralta, Wil Nieves, Chien-Ming Wang
- Dodgers: Russell Martin, George Sherrill, Trent Oeltjen
- Giants: Chris Ray, Eugenio Velez
- Pirates: Lastings Milledge, Argenis Diaz, Donnie Veal, Brian Burres
- Diamondbacks: Blaine Boyer, Ryan Church, Augie Ojeda, D.J. Carrasco
- Marlins: Jose Veras, Ronny Paulino
- Padres: Tony Gwynn, Scott Hairston, Matt Antonelli, Luis Perdomo
- Brewers: Todd Coffey, Joe Inglett
- Astros: Sammy Gervacio
- Braves: Matt Diaz
Dodgers Non-Tender Russell Martin
The Dodgers non-tendered Russell Martin, making him a free agent, the team announced on Twitter today. Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that they tried hard to trade the catcher first (Twitter link), but Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports that the Dodgers still have some interest in Martin (Twitter links). The last proposal Martin made the Dodgers was for $5MM, plus $1MM in incentives, according to Hernandez.
Dodgers Rumors: Padilla, Varitek, Payroll
The Dodgers are spending aggressively this winter. Here's the latest on the players they are pursuing, the players they were pursuing and how they're doing all this pursuing:
- The team already has Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda and Jon Garland, but they continue to show interest in Vicente Padilla, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
- The Dodgers strongly considered Jason Varitek as a backup catcher before he signed with the Red Sox, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports explains that the Dodgers have been able to be this aggressive in free agency because they've convinced a number of players to accept less money in 2011 and more money later.