Astros Pulled Offer To Wolf
Many people have felt that Randy Wolf grossly misread the market this offseason, by rejecting a three-year, $28.5MM offer from the Astros early on. According to Ken Rosenthal, however, Wolf didn’t even have time to reject that offer before Houston pulled it off the table, citing the economy as a reason:
"Wolf told me Saturday night that he was close to re-signing with the Astros in late November when the team abruptly pulled its offer, citing a changing economic climate.
Astros general manager Ed Wade confirmed Wolf’s account, saying the team was ‘fully engaged in negotiations and had to stop. It had nothing to do with a lack of interest on our part or Randy’s part.’"
Rosenthal reiterates that the Dodgers are currently the leading suitor for Wolf’s services, but they’re still talking with Jon Garland and Braden Looper as well. The Mets could be another fit, but are focused on Oliver Perez.
Wolf may have to settle for a one-year deal, and if he does, it will almost certainly be at a lower rate than the $9.5MM the Astros initially offered. Rosenthal points out that would mean the downturn in the economy could cost Wolf upwards of $20MM. That could be ok for Wolf, though, who explicitly states that signing for him isn’t about who offers the most money – his goal is to pitch in October.
Odds And Ends: Rogers, Dodgers, Pettitte, Sheets
A few links for Saturday night…
- Kenny Rogers may be leaning toward retirement.
- Sarah D. Morris shares her thoughts on the Dodgers’ offseason thus far.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman comments on the Yankees’ interest in Andy Pettitte and Ben Sheets.
Gammons On Pitching: Wolf, Garland, Looper
In a blog post that leads off with a discussion of the effect of the WBC on pitching, Peter Gammons offers up a quick update on a few back-end starting pitchers.
According to Gammons, Randy Wolf, Jon Garland, and Braden Looper are all receiving similar offers at this point: roughly $5 million per year, plus options and incentives.
Gammons also mentions that Wolf in particular was not close to a deal with any particular team as of Friday, perhaps adding his two cents to the recently debunked rumor that the pitcher was close to signing with the Dodgers.
Padres, Nats Interested In Ohman
According to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick the Nationals and Padres are among the teams interested in Will Ohman. Both teams are "bottom fishing," and are considered secondary options for the lefty reliever.
Ohman hoped for a deal similar to the ones signed by Jeremy Affeldt ($8MM, two years) and Damaso Marte ($12MM, three years). He’s generated lots of interest and has a new contract offer from an unnamed team.
Crasnick mentions the Dodgers and Mets as potential suitors for Ohman, and the D’Backs, Orioles, Rangers, Indians, Rays and Braves have all reportedly had interest in him.
Dodgers Intensify Talks With Wolf, Garland, Looper
3:30pm: A bunch of reporters played telephone with Rosenthal’s "inside track" report on Wolf, saying the Dodgers were close to a deal. You can see that Stark rejected that notion below, and Tony Jackson agrees that they are not close.
12:50pm: According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Dodgers have intensified their talks with free agent starters Randy Wolf, Jon Garland, and Braden Looper. Stark says that rather than favoring Wolf, the Dodgers have equal interest in all three and hope to sign one within a few days. He adds that the Dodgers haven’t spoken to Wolf’s agent Arn Tellem in several days.
Stark says the Dodgers continue to pursue Dennys Reyes, Luis Ayala, and Russ Springer, and plan to take care of their pitching staff before addressing Manny Ramirez.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pirates, Rays, Pettitte, Cubs, Dodgers, Gomes, Mauer, Cruz
On this date 28 years ago, the Red Sox traded Fred Lynn to the California Angels for Frank Tanana and Joe Rudi. After six seasons that included an MVP and six all-star appearances, the Red Sox were forced to trade Lynn when the front office failed to mail a new contract to Lynn by the mandated deadline. Without the new contract, Boston was faced with the possibility that Lynn would be declared a free agent (Carlton Fisk was declared a free agent for the same reason). The player’s association dropped their case when Lynn agreed to a contract extension with the Angels. With many of this year’s free agent class still waiting for contracts to be mailed, let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Bucco Blog sees an Adam LaRoche-Jonathan Sanchez trade as a "win-win deal."
- DRays Bay would like to see the Tigers take either Troy Percival or Dan Wheeler off the Rays’ hands.
- Mets Geek makes a case for the Mets signing Andy Pettitte.
- Goat Riders of the Apocalypse are not worried that the Cubs have traded away yet another former top prospect.
- Center Field isn’t buying that Jason Varitek didn’t know about the draft pick compensation as a result of his refusing arbitration.
- Her Rays isn’t taking the loss of Rocco Baldelli well at all.
- Dodger Thoughts doesn’t understand why the Dodgers keep spending money on veteran, offensively-challenged backup catchers that will never play.
- Anaheim Angels all the way says the Reds replaced "90% of Adam Dunn" with Jonny Gomes and a very favorable contract. On Baseball and the Reds is not sure Gomes’ offense will offset his horrible defense and sees him as a decent platoon option.
- UmpBump grades the Rays offseason favorably.
- El Lefty Malo laments the contract of Dave Roberts and feels he is the type of player that would be forced to retire if he were a free agent this off-season.
- Twins Geek speculates on what it would take to sign Joe Mauer to a long-term deal.
- Bullpen Call sees only the Mets and Yankees as options for Juan Cruz.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.
Dodgers Are Lead Suitors For Wolf
According to Ken Rosenthal, major league sources say the Dodgers have the "inside track" on signing Randy Wolf. Such a deal would likely be for one or two years.
The Dodgers are talking with Jon Garland and Braden Looper as well as Wolf.
The Mets, who consider Wolf an alternative to Oliver Perez, are still talking with Ben Sheets and Pedro Martinez as well as Garland and Perez.
A’s, Twins, Dodgers Eyeing Russ Springer
According to Ken Rosenthal, the A’s, Twins, and Dodgers are pursuing Russ Springer. Rosenthal adds that the Twins prefer Springer to Eric Gagne. The Twins’ interest in Springer was first reported by Seth Stohs, while Buster Olney mentioned the A’s a few days ago. Ken Gurnick had the Springer-Dodgers connection back in December.
Heyman On Manny, Varitek, Madson, Swisher
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up…
- Heyman says half the teams in baseball may still have a big deal left in them, with roughly 100 free agents remaining.
- Manny Ramirez continues to wait patiently; Heyman guesses the Dodgers go to three years for him. They’d be bidding against themselves, unless Manny has an offer we don’t know about.
- When John Henry asked Jason Varitek why he didn’t accept their offer of arbitration, Varitek responded that he didn’t believe it would’ve guaranteed him a spot on the team.
- Heyman finds it odd that first-year arb closers are getting more money than starters.
- Scott Boras was in favor of Ryan Madson taking the Phillies’ three-year, $12MM offer based on Madson’s personal/familial circumstances.
- The Yankees are finding more interest in Nick Swisher than Xavier Nady.
- Heyman has the Ricketts family as the favorite to buy the Cubs.
- Heyman suggests Bobby Abreu‘s defense gets a bad rap. The plus/minus system, however, says the right fielder is among the worst in the game.
- The Nationals and Marlins share the Rays’ policy of not negotiating once arbitration figures are submitted. The Nats are apparently willing to bend and may keep talking with Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham (each about a million bucks apart).
Dodgers To Sign Brad Ausmus
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers reached an agreement with catcher Brad Ausmus on a one-year, $1MM deal. The Padres will have to keep looking for a veteran backstop.
Ausmus, 40 in April, hit .218/.303/.296 in 250 plate appearances for the Astros last year while throwing out 17.4% of attempted thieves. His value will lie in intangibles.