Odds & Ends: Vazquez, A’s, Orioles, Marlins
A few links…
- ESPN's Keith Law rated David Ortiz signing with Boston as the best free agent pickup of the decade. Darren Dreifort's deal with the Dodgers was the worst, and he called the Erik Bedard trade the biggest of the decade. That last one is certainly debatable; I prefer the Bartolo Colon for Grady Sizemore (plus others) deal.
- Interestingly, Yankees' GM Brian Cashman noted today that the club tried to acquire Javier Vazquez from Arizona after 2005 and the White Sox after 2008, “but we just didn’t match up," reports Chad Jennings of The Journal News.
- Bruce Jenkins of The SF Chronicle says that the A's are winning the battle of the Bay Area this offseason. Of course, the regular season is the battle you really want to win.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports that Orioles' president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said "My guess is I wouldn't think we'll be doing anything anytime soon, which is not to be interpreted as not doing anything between now and Sarasota." The O's finalized the Garrett Atkins deal today.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro writes about the Marlins' first base situation, noting that there's certainly no shortage of in-house options.
- Bill Ladson of MLB.com tweets that the Nationals continue to show interest in righty John Smoltz, "but they are not willing to break the bank to get him."
- Coco Crisp's physical with the A's was delayed because of travel issues, so the announcement of his signing will have to wait says Susan Slusser of The SF Chronicle.
- Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball takes a look at the growth of player salaries over the last decade.
- Here's some news on a different kind of contract negotiation: According to the AP (via ESPN) MLB and the umpires hope to have a new agreement in place tomorrow, which will allow for greater flexibility with postseason assignments.
Odds & Ends: Gomes, Duchscherer, Chapman
Some links for your Tuesday…
- John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer says we shouldn't expect Jonny Gomes to sign any time soon.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Giants are looking to add a catcher and a starter, along with a big bat. Matt Holliday and Jason Bay don't seem likely to sign in San Francisco.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the Yankees checked in on Carlos Zambrano and Aaron Harang before acquiring Javier Vazquez.
- The Mariners signed Mike Koplove to a minor league deal, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The righty hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007.
- Stephen Strasburg signed a multi-year deal with Topps, according to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post.
- Harlan writes that the Nationals were hoping to sign Jon Garland, before turning to Jason Marquis.
- The Yankees were the only team to pay the luxury tax this season. Their $226MM payroll cost them nearly $26MM in luxury tax, according to the AP (via the Star Ledger).
- Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News tweets that the Yanks' trade of Melky Cabrera does not mean the club is likely to bring Johnny Damon back.
- The Marlins are not in the mix for Matt Capps, according to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Marlins, coming off a year in which their $38MM payroll was the lowest in the game, don't have much to spend on relievers.
- Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post says outfielder Carlos Gonzalez should be the next Rockie to receive an extension. Saunders says there's no need to lock the 24-year-old up this offseason (Gonzalez won't likely be arbitration-eligible until after 2011).
- Marty Noble of MLB.com doesn't see indications that the Mets are all that interested in Joel Pineiro.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates have yet to make Justin Duchscherer an offer. The righty is now deciding which offer to accept, so we can safely say he won't be signing with the Pirates.
- Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com expects Aroldis Chapman to sign where the money is (via Twitter).
Marlins Sign Danny Richar
The Marlins signed infielder Danny Richar to a minor league deal, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Richar elected free agency after being outrighted by the Reds back in November. The 26-year-old hit .290/.330/.438 in 181 Triple A plate appearances this year. The second baseman had labrum surgery in July. He came to the Reds from the White Sox in July of '08 with Nick Masset in the Ken Griffey Jr. trade.
Marlins Rumors: Chapman, Capps, Walker
Barry Jackson has a couple of Marlins-related notes in his latest piece for the Miami Herald. Here are the highlights:
- Jackson hears that the Marlins have made a five-year offer worth about $13MM to Aroldis Chapman. Chapman will certainly receive higher offers from other clubs, but it's worth a shot for the Marlins, in case the Cuban defector prefers South Florida.
- Replacing departed relievers Matt Lindstrom, Kiko Calero, and Brendan Donnelly is a priority for Florida.
- Among their bullpen targets: Matt Capps, Tyler Walker, and Jose Veras.
Capps To Select Finalists Soon
SATURDAY, 7:13pm: Capps confirmed to ESPN Radio Chicago today that he has had preliminary discussions with the Cubs about joining the club.
THURSDAY, 6:26pm: The Washington Nationals are one of Capps' finalists, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Of all the interested teams, Washington should provide one of the clearest paths to a closing role for Capps.
4:51pm: The Pirates non-tendered reliever Matt Capps Saturday night, and roughly half the teams in baseball have inquired. Pirates GM Neal Huntington explained the non-tender decision in an MLB.com chat today:
Despite wanting to retain Matt and making an aggressive offer that we believed would be at or near his free-agent value prior to the tender deadline, we felt that the risk of an arbitration award at a substantially higher amount was not a good business decision for us…Obviously, we would have preferred to get something of value in trade for Matt, but given his track record beginning in the second half of 2008, his trade value was limited throughout the summer and again this offseason.
Capps may be able to find a two-year deal. While he'd like to close, his agent Paul Kinzer told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he'd accept a set-up role with a contender. The following teams have been linked to Capps: the D'Backs, Cubs, Orioles, Rangers, Rockies, Marlins, Nationals, Mets, Tigers, and Yankees (we're still about six teams short, five if you count the Pirates). Kinzer told Rosenthal Capps "plans to select five or six finalists by the weekend, then make his decision."
Names Discussed In Giants-Uggla Talks
2:13pm: A source tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com that a deal sending Uggla to the Giants is "not going down."
Crasnick writes that the first obstacle would be financial. The Giants will have to give Tim Lincecum a major raise in arbitration and are already hamstrung by the contracts of Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand. Uggla is expected to make more than $7MM in 2010.
Sabean & Co. are also hesitant to part with Jonathan Sanchez, as his departure would leave the club with only three proven starters.
10:43am: Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald informs us of names discussed in the Marlins' discussions with the Giants for Dan Uggla:
Giants players who were discussed include right-hander Jonathan Sanchez; lefty Clayton Tanner, and a midlevel pitching prospect.
It's unclear from Jackson's blurb who proposed what or if all three pitchers would be a possible return for Uggla. I believe that Sanchez alone would be more than enough for the Marlins – he has three years of team control compared to Uggla's two. Plus, Uggla's projected salary in his final arbitration year (2011) could be pretty steep. I'd be surprised to see Giants GM Brian Sabean move Sanchez for Uggla.
If you're wondering about Tanner, he's a 22-year-old lefty who repeated High A ball for the Giants this year and posted a 3.17 ERA, 7.8 K/9, and 2.7 BB/9 in 139.3 innings. His Baseball America Handbook blurb before this season spoke of shoulder issues but a dependable curveball, predicting he'd spend '09 in Double A. Tanner made Kevin Goldstein's Giants Top 11 for Baseball Prospectus heading into the '08 season, with this synopsis: "Tanner projects as a back-end starter, with a backup plan involving a future as a grounder-inducing reliever."
Odds & Ends: Orioles, Dodgers, Beltre, Pujols
Let's round up some Thursday evening links….
- The Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly hears from Orioles officials that the team isn't serious about Matt Holliday or Adrian Gonzalez. This probably means that, despite their flurry of recent activity, Baltimore is done spending for now.
- Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts takes a look at the Dodgers' salary obligations for 2010.
- Todd Zolecki of MLB.com follows up on the Roy Halladay–Cliff Lee blockbuster by breaking down Halladay's extension and relaying Lee's reaction to the trade.
- While the Cardinals wait on Holliday, Mark DeRosa is exploring his other options, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Yahoo's Tim Brown adds a surprising team to a list of otherwise predictable suitors for Adrian Beltre: the Oakland Athletics. ESPN.com's Buster Olney follows up on this point, noting that the A's do have interest, but not at $10MM a year.
- The Marlins still could retain Dan Uggla, according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. However, the team hasn't been in contact with his agent since the Winter Meetings, so a trade looks more likely. We heard some details earlier today about discussions the Marlins and Giants have had regarding Uggla.
- Albert Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano, tells Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the Cardinals' negotiations with Holliday won't affect a possible Pujols extension: "Albert respects Matt and would love to have him as a teammate and hopes he gets his money, but Matt’s situation must be seen as independent of Albert’s."
- A source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that Adam Dunn "is not going anywhere for now."
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff thinks that Johnny Damon's run in New York is about to come to an end.
- Jeff Wilson of the Dallas Morning News says that if the Mike Lowell trade falls through because of Lowell's health, the Rangers have other targets, including Vladimir Guerrero, Jermaine Dye, and Jim Thome. Morosi says we should know about the Lowell deal "one way or the other" by the end of the weekend.
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington answers fans' questions about his team's future in an MLB.com mailbag.
Josh Johnson Recap
Back in November, speaking to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, Josh Johnson's agent Matt Sosnick ruled out the chance of the Marlins signing his client long-term this winter:
"Based on our conversations, there's no chance of doing a long-term deal with the Marlins. We made it clear that it was going to be this year or it wasn't going to happen. It was now or never. And the Marlins agreed."
One issue at the time was the Marlins' unwillingness to add a fourth year, according to Sosnick. About a week later Marlins GM Michael Hill said publicly that Johnson would still open the 2010 season with his team.
A ray of hope surfaced on December 1st, when ESPN's Jayson Stark learned that the Marlins were still optimistic about signing Johnson (but they still didn't guarantee that fourth year). Later that day Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports suggested Johnson would accept a four-year, $42MM deal ($4MM more than Zack Greinke's deal). However, Sosnick said a few weeks later that Johnson would not sign a deal that did not "far exceed" Greinke's.
MLB.com's Joe Frisaro talked to Sosnick today. The agent sounded a bit more optimistic:
"We're doing everything we can to try to bridge the gap, and get a deal done. And we're wanting to do something that will keep J.J. in Florida for the long term."
Failing a long-term deal, the Marlins still need to hammer out a 2010 salary for Johnson as he enters his second arbitration year. Sticking with Greinke, he earned only $3.75MM in what would've been his second arb year. Cole Hamels will get $6.65MM. Scott Kazmir earned $6MM. Joe Blanton, who's been going year-to-year, earned $5.475MM. It will be interesting to see where Johnson lands; as a young ace in his second arb year he's in the same boat as Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez.
Ricky Nolasco Agrees To Deal
ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that arbitration-eligible starter Ricky Nolasco agreed to a one-year, $3.8MM deal with the Marlins for 2010. That means Nolasco gets a $1.4MM raise (58%) for his second arbitration year. By comparison, Joe Blanton received a 48% raise in his second arb year (going from $3.7MM to $5.475MM). Nolasco's deal could be a comparable used by Zach Duke's agent Mark Pieper, as Duke is also entering his second arb year.
Scott Baker is named as Nolasco's top comparable on Baseball-Reference. Baker signed a long-term deal, but he'll get $5MM in what would've been his second arb year. Same for Gavin Floyd. So in Nolasco's case he had a down year (at least in terms of a basic stat like ERA) and it cost him a million or so.
Chapman Works Out In Front Of 15 Teams
WEDNESDAY, 9:03pm: That workout session must've really turned some heads. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus tweets that "an insider" predicted Chapman's eventual contract may be worth as much as $30MM.
WEDNESDAY, 3:18pm: Arangure Jr.'s latest blog post is a must-read; it contains learnings from the Chapman throwing session yesterday. Among them: Chapman is in good shape, he's made some mechanical adjustments, and he doesn't come off as someone with makeup issues. Chapman is now up for bidding.
TUESDAY, 1:38pm: Cuban lefty Aroldis Chapman worked out in front of about 15 teams in Houston today, according to Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com. The Astros and Pirates were there, along with the Angels, Marlins, Pirates, Orioles, Yankees, Red Sox, Nationals and others.
The Dodgers weren't there because they don't have the money, according to Arangure Jr.'s Twitter. We shouldn't expect the Pirates to sign Chapman, either. They're not serious players for him according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The teams saw the 21-year-old throw for five minutes two different times. Chapman's fastball topped out at 96 mph and he also threw his slider and change-up. Arangure Jr. expects several teams to meet with him today.
Another note, again from Arangure Jr.: Chapman's previous agency, API, is suing the pitcher's current agency, the Hendricks brothers. The lawsuit alleges that the Hendricks brothers interfered with API.