Multiple Teams Interested In Noah Lowry
1:45pm: Aside from the Pirates and Rockies, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says the Dodgers, Padres, A's, Mariners, and Reds are interested in Lowry.
10:56am: The Pirates are interested in free agent lefty Noah Lowry, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As Kovacevic notes, the former Giant had forearm surgery in March of 2008, which the pitcher's agent later claimed was a misdiagnosis. In May of '09 Lowry had surgery to remove a rib to help with thoracic outlet syndrome. Earlier this month, Lowry's agent said his client is finally "completely healthy." Yesterday, Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post noted the Rockies' interest in Lowry.
The first four spots in the Pirates' rotation appear set, with Paul Maholm, Zach Duke, Ross Ohlendorf, and Charlie Morton. Lowry could compete for the fifth starter job; the Bucs would have three lefties in the rotation if he won it. Lowry's best season came in 2005, when he made 33 starts with a 3.78 ERA. That campaign netted him a four-year, $9.25MM extension.
Dodgers Make No Arb Offers To Free Agents
The Dodgers aren't offering arbitration to any of their free agents, team spokesman Josh Rawitch told Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. They've got Type As with Orlando Hudson and Randy Wolf, and Type Bs with Guillermo Mota, Jon Garland, Ronnie Belliard, Vicente Padilla, and Will Ohman.
Wolf in particular seemed a lock to receive an offer. It's difficult to understand why the Dodgers chose not to; Jon Weisman of Dodgers Thoughts is depressed. Oddly enough, Wolf has avoided an arb offer for two years running despite being worthy both times. Surely he's not complaining; he's now more attractive to other teams. Ditto for Hudson.
Odds & Ends: Matsui, Cardinals, Arb Offers
Links for Monday…
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wonders if Bobby Crosby could be a match for the Rangers as a utility infielder.
- MLB.com's Mychael Urban has an update on free agent lefty Mark Mulder.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball analyzes Tim Lincecum's possible 2010 salary, and predicts the pitcher might submit $16.8MM against the Giants' $8MM figure.
- ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that Hideki Matsui's marketability is not a factor for the Yankees.
- Alex Speier of WEEI examines the chances of Roy Halladay remaining a workhorse over the next several seasons.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch doesn't see geography as a big factor for Matt Holliday. Meanwhile, Bernie Miklasz of the P-D doesn't understand Albert Pujols' reasoning as to why he needs to wait to discuss an extension.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart asks readers to predict the Astros' arbitration decisions for free agents. Jose Valverde and LaTroy Hawkins are tough calls in that it makes sense but we're not sure if the Astros will. We'll have predictions on all Type A/B free agents later today.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel explains why he feels only Felipe Lopez will get an arbitration offer from the Brewers.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Marlins are leaning against offering arbitration to Type B free agents Kiko Calero and Nick Johnson. Calero might be worth it.
- Jon Weisman of Dodgers Thoughts says the Dodgers' arbitration decisions won't necessarily be influenced by the McCourts' divorce.
- Staying with this theme, FanGraphs' Dave Cameron looks at the factors that should influence a team's arbitration-offer decision.
- Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports look at the market for Miguel Tejada.
- Morosi suggests ten teams that should talk to the Tigers about Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Edwin Jackson.
- Jacob Jackson of Athletics Nation has a detailed offseason plan for the A's.
- Righty Miguel Batista told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he has a few contenders interested in his services.
- Notes from NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman: the Orioles are eyeing pitcher Hisanori Takahashi, and Hideki Okajima would like a contract extension (he's under team control through 2012 as an arbitration-eligible player).
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the fates of Jeff Karstens, Robinzon Diaz, and Justin Thomas will be decided today.
- Elmer Dessens doesn't have a contract with the Mets quite yet, writes Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News.
Odds & Ends: Ramirez, Halladay, Tigers
Some links for Sunday….
- Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports (via Twitter) that the Marlins are not talking about trading Hanley Ramirez. No surprise here, but it's nice to have it confirmed. Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel rejects the idea as well, and also notes that the Marlins' payroll will "increase slightly to $40 million." The Marlins were at $36.8MM to open the 2009 season.
- Chad Jennings of the Journal News looks back at a year of Yankees trades.
- Tyler Hissey of Around the Majors looks ahead to an alluring crop of 2011 free agents. Some of them will sign extensions before next offseason, but we'll still see an impressive group hit the market.
- Hissey looks at the decisions that await the Rays this offseason and says this is not the time for the team to trade B.J. Upton.
- Are we heading for an AL East bidding war over Roy Halladay? Anthony McCarron and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News examine the possibilities.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports takes a detailed look at potential trade partners for the Tigers.
- In his latest mailbag, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes fields Indians-related questions, including one asking which first basemen the team could pursue.
- Offering Orlando Hudson arbitration is a win-win scenario for the Dodgers, according to Jon Weisman's Los Angeles Times blog.
- MLB.com's Tom Singer writes about how it affects free agency when clubs lock up their young players with long-term extensions.
Odds & Ends: Scutaro, Astros, Messenger, Selig
A few more Saturday evening links….
- Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston doubts that the Blue Jays will offer Marco Scutaro arbitration, now that they've signed Alex Gonzalez. Jeff Blair wrote Thursday that the Jays will offer arbitration, and it would be a surprise if they turned down the chance to obtain picks for the Type A free agent.
- The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice poses a challenge to his readers, asking how they'd build the 2010 Astros, given the team's payroll restrictions.
- Japan's Hanshin Tigers are interested in a former Seattle teammate of Kenji Johjima, reliever Randy Messenger, according to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker.
- More from Newman: He hears that Dodgers' Triple-A right-hander Giancarlo Alvarado has signed a multi-year deal with a Japanese team.
- Phil Wood of MASN Sports is looking forward to the end of Bud Selig's tenure as MLB commissioner.
- Steve Slowinski of DRays Bay examines the deal that brought J.P. Howell to Tampa Bay in 2006.
Los Angeles Rumors: Halladay, Matthews, Pierre
Mike DiGiovanna and Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times pass on a few interesting notes related to the Dodgers and Angels. Here are the highlights:
- If the Angels were to make a run at Roy Halladay, it would cost them at least one big-league arm from the Joe Saunders/Jered Weaver/Ervin Santana group, which could help offset Halladay's 2010 salary.
- Angels' owner Arte Moreno has said in the past that he's willing to bump the club's payroll a little for a potential franchise player. This could give the team some financial maneuverability if they tried to trade for Halladay or sign a free agent like Jason Bay.
- The Dodgers don't want to give up any major league pitching to acquire Halladay, making them an unlikely trading partner for the Jays.
- Both the Dodgers and Angels have a handful of salaries coming off their books, but will owe plenty of players raises through arbitration, restricting their ability to make much impact in free agency.
- The Angels will look into dealing Gary Matthews Jr., but would probably have to eat too much of his salary to make a trade worthwhile.
- The Dodgers have their own outfielder with an oversized contract: Juan Pierre. The team might try to trade Pierre for an equally overpriced back-of-the-rotation pitcher.
- If the Angels were to retain one of their big free agents (John Lackey, Chone Figgins), they could attempt to backload the contract, helping themselves out financially in the short term.
Scutaro Prefers The Dodgers And Red Sox
1:13pm: In a slight correction to his article, Bastian says that the Mariners and Rangers have contacted the 34-year-old, but not necessarily about playing third base (via Twitter).
11:32am: Free agent Marco Scutaro is said to prefer the Dodgers and Red Sox because they give him the best chance to make the postseason, according to a report by Augusto Cardenas of Diaro Panorama, which was passed along by MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times has a quote from Scutaro on the situation:
"Boston is interested, like the Dodgers, Seattle and Texas,'' Scutaro said. "They have just called to say they have interest, but they haven't made an offer yet.
"The Dodgers want me to play second base, shortstop in Boston, and there are other teams who have called to play third. Although not close the doors, I would rather be between short and second.''
Bastian adds that Scutaro hasn't ruled out a return to Toronto, though the Jays will offer the Type-A free agent arbitration so they can receive two draft picks if he heads elsewhere. Baker mentions that the Mariners and Texas have contacted Scutaro about playing third, which makes you wonder what would happen with Michael Young.
Phillies, Juan Castro Agree To Terms
1:40pm: MLB.com's Todd Zolecki learned from Castro's agent Oscar Suarez that he's closing in on a deal with the Phillies. As Suarez put it: "Who doesn't like Juan Castro?" Scott Lauber of The News Journal says only a physical remains, and David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News says an agreement has been reached on a one-year deal with a club option.
1:11pm: Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer believes the Phillies are the frontrunner to sign Castro, though no deal is imminent.
11:50am: Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com report that both the Dodgers and Phillies are pursuing utility infielder Juan Castro. The Phillies are looking at him as a replacement for Eric Bruntlett (who isn't likely to return), while Dodgers are trying to retain him after he hit .277/.311/.339 in 121 plate appearances for them last year.
The 37-year-old Castro signed a minor league deal with LA last season, though he spent basically the entire season in the big leagues. He made $700K while playing three infield spots and left field in 2009.
Angels Resume Pursuit Of Roy Halladay
The Angels have gotten back into the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, according to Mike DiGiovanna of The LA Times. We know the Halos were hard after the former Cy Young Award winner at the trade deadline, but Giovanna says the talks broke down when the Halos refused to include Erick Aybar in the deal. They eventually moved on and acquired Scott Kazmir.
With J.P. Ricciardi out of the picture, DiGiovanna notes that new GM Alex Anthopoulos may be willing to do a deal without Aybar. We've already heard that Anthopoulos may consider granting a team a window to negotiate a contract extension with Halladay before a trade, as long as it improves the return. The Angels might lose incumbent ace John Lackey to free agency, and a deal for Doc is expected to cost them one of their better young pitchers – Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, or Ervin Santana.
DiGiovanna also reiterates what we heard last night, that it's a "long shot" that the Dodgers will trade for Halladay.
Dodgers “Long Shot” To Land Halladay
Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Dodgers are a "long shot" to land Roy Halladay, while Los Angeles GM Ned Colletti indicated an unwillingness to add Chad Billingsley into any Halladay deal.
It doesn't take much of a leap to think the former is a result of the latter.
Colletti refused to discuss Halladay specifically, but said of his desire to improve the pitching staff, "We would like to improve our pitching, especially starting pitching. I don't believe we can subtract from it in order to improve it."
The Dodgers have plenty of prospects for a potential Halladay deal, but adding Billingsley, an established arm, would give them a leg up on other teams who would have the financial flexibility to sign Halladay long-term.
Hernandez also writes that Colletti has been in contact with Brad Ausmus, but hasn't had discussions about Brandon Phillips or Dan Uggla.