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NL Central Notes: Saito, Fielder, Pujols

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The Astros announced last night that GM Ed Wade and longtime executive Tal Smith have been dismissed. Here are some notes from the NL Central…

  • The Brewers announced Johnny Narron will replace Dale Sveum as their hitting coach. Narron, who's the older brother of Brewers bench coach Jerry Narron, had previously worked with the Rangers and developed a strong relationship with Josh Hamilton. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reaction from GM Doug Melvin, manager Ron Roenicke and Narron. 
  • Jon Heyman of SI.com says the Brewers need relievers (assuming Francisco Rodriguez turns down arbitration). 
  • The Brewers have maintained dialogue with the agent for free agent reliever Takashi Saito, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
  • Baseball executives tell Yahoo’s Jeff Passan that they have trouble identifying a team other than the Cardinals that’s a realistic potential destination for Albert Pujols. The Marlins bid on Pujols, but they aren’t seen as a realistic suitor.
  • Generally speaking, Passan’s sources say they prefer overweight players to aging ones. This could play in Prince Fielder’s favor, since he’s just 27.

Olney On Rodriguez, Ibanez, Lee, Yankees

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Last night’s arbitration decisions included some particularly interesting cases, and ESPN.com’s Buster Olney offers insight into a few of them:

  • At times “winks and nods” are involved when it comes to Type B free agents. The free agents have been known to agree in advance to decline arbitration offers, since doing so doesn’t hurt their free agent value. 
  • However, GM Doug Melvin says the Brewers did not ask agent Scott Boras to decline the team’s offer to Francisco Rodriguez. "We felt that with us trading some players the last few years that this was a chance to recover with some high picks,” Melvin told Olney. The GM explained that he’s not expecting to obtain many compensation picks in the next couple of years.
  • As Olney points out, Rodriguez faces a similar decision to the one another Boras client, Rafael Soriano, faced last offseason: “take more money to be a setup man, or less to be a closer.”
  • Olney notes that Raul Ibanez’s agents have a good relationship with the Phillies and suggests it’s likely Ibanez has agreed to turn down the team’s offer.
  • There's no understanding that Derrek Lee will reject the Pirates' offer, according to Olney (on Twitter).
  • Olney suggests gentlemen's agreements are likely in place with Aaron Harang, Jose Molina and David DeJesus and that the three players will decline arbitration(Twitter link).
  • The Yankees are quietly confident that Phil Hughes will start Spring Training in improved physical condition and have a bounce-back season in 2012. They will continue to discuss available starting pitchers, even after agreeing to terms with Freddy Garcia.

Heyman On Ortiz, Rodriguez, Nathan

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Now that this year's arbitration offers are officially in, the free agent market has become that much easier to read. Jon Heyman of SI.com examines some of last night’s decisions and provides more notes from around the league (all Twitter links): 

  • One agent predicts David Ortiz could get $16MM if he accepts Boston’s offer of arbitration. Heyman suggests a two-year deal in the $25-28MM range could also work for both sides.
  • Though the Brewers took on some risk by offering Francisco Rodriguez arbitration, the right-hander seeks a multiyear deal and a closing job, so he’ll decline Milwaukee’s offer. The Brewers already have John Axford in place, so for Rodriguez to close games he’ll have to move on.
  • The Twins offered Joe Nathan a two-year deal that would have guaranteed him a bit less than the $14.75MM contract he signed in Texas. However, one AL executive told Heyman that Nathan "wanted to go to Texas."

National League Free Agent Arbitration Offers

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10 National League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make today, and we'll update them in this post in advance of the 11pm central time deadline.  For a fantastic customizable chart with all 57 Type A/B free agents and their teams' decisions in real-time, click here.  

Updated team decisions:

Teams with automatic decisions only:

Dodgers, Giants, Brewers Interested In Jerry Hairston

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The free agent market has been very kind to infielders so far, and now it sounds like Jerry Hairston Jr. is poised to cash in. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Dodgers, Giants, and Brewers all have interest in the utility man, and Milwaukee has already offered him a one-year deal.

Hairston, 35, hit .270/.344/.383 in 376 plate appearances for the Nationals and Brewers last season, and he was Milwaukee's regular third baseman in the playoffs. He has significant experience at every position on the field other than pitcher, catcher, and first base, and has shown enough offensive ability to play everyday for periods of time. The Giants and Brewers need middle infield help, and the Dodgers could use him all over the field.

Mark Ellis ($8.75MM), Clint Barmes ($10.5MM), Aaron Hill ($11MM), Willie Bloomquist ($3.8MM), and Jamey Carroll ($6.75MM) have all signed two-year deals this offseason, essentially setting for the market for Hairston. He's coming off three straight one-year deals worth $2MM+.

Ryan Braun Wins NL MVP

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Ryan Braun won the 2011 NL MVP, according to the Baseball Writers Association of America. The 28-year-old becomes the third Brewer to be named MVP, joining Rollie Fingers and Robin Yount. Braun hit 33 homers, stole 33 bases, drove in 111 runs and posted a .332/.397/.597 line for a league-leading .994 OPS in 2011. 

Braun obtained 20 of a possible 32 first-place votes to win the award over Matt Kemp, teammate Prince Fielder and Justin Upton. Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Lance Berkman, Troy Tulowitzki, Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard rounded out the top ten.

Heyman On Brewers, Rangers, Wilson

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Albert Pujols will sign a nine-year deal for $220MM, Prince Fielder will sign an eight-year deal for $195MM and Jose Reyes will sign a six-year deal for $120MM, according to Jon Heyman's free agent predictions at SI.com. Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors…

  • Some Brewers people were a little surprised that both the Red Sox and Cubs had strong interest in Dale Sveum, according to Heyman. Sveum, Milwaukee’s former hitting coach, interviewed with the Red Sox before accepting the Cubs’ offer to manage the team for the next three years.
  • Rangers people are saying they aren’t expecting to sign any players to nine-figure deals this offseason, according to Heyman. In other words, Rangers fans probably won't be welcoming Fielder or Pujols to Texas in the near future.
  • One offseason focus for the Rangers is an extension for Josh Hamilton, Heyman writes. They signed the outfielder to a two-year deal less than a year ago, but he’s up for free agency after the 2012 campaign.
  • The Mets, Dodgers and Braves are among six teams that have shown interest in free agent infielder Jack Wilson, according to Heyman (on Twitter). Wilson, 33, hit .243/.274/.285 for the Mariners and Braves in 2011, appearing at second, short and third.

Pirates Close To Deal With Clint Barmes

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8:03pm: Heyman tweets that it will be a two-year contract worth $10.5MM. The two sides are just putting the finishing touches on the deal.

2:36pm: The deal is expected to be worth roughly $11MM over two years once completed, Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets.

1:02pm: The Pirates and Barmes are close to a deal according to Heyman (on Twitter).

12:35pm: The Pirates appear to be in the lead for Clint Barmes, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Giants and Brewers have also been involved, and the free agent shortstop is likely to get a two-year contract.

Barmes, 33 in March, hit just .244/.312/.386 with a dozen homers for the Astros last season, but his primary value comes from his defensive skills. The various advanced metrics have rated his glovework at short as well above-average in recent years. The Pirates are in the market for a new shortstop after declining Ronny Cedeno's $3MM option for next season.

Tim Dierkes looked at Barmes' free agent stock last month, saying that Omar Infante's two-year, $8MM extension with the Marlins could serve as a decent comparable. Jamey Carroll's two-year, $6.75MM deal with the Twins reinforces the comparison.

Added To 40-Man Roster: Giants, Dodgers, Pirates

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Today is the deadline for teams to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from next month's Rule 5 draft. Here's more on which players need to be protected and here are the details on which players have had their contracts selected to the 40-man roster:

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NL Central Notes: Furcal, Hanrahan, Astros, Brewers

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I hesitated at first to include the Astros in these NL Central notes. Thankfully, I've got a year to remap the standings on my mind's sports page. On with the linkage …

  • The Pirates are looking at shortstop Rafael Furcal and other options at the position, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com, although not the premium types like Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins. It'll be interesting to see how the Bucs handle shortstop after declining Ronny Cedeno's $3MM 2012 option last month.
  • Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan would be receptive to working out an extension with the team, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, who reports that there have been no talks but that neither side has ruled it out, either. It's not a regular occurence in Pittsburgh, where Neal Huntington has dished out just one multiyear contract to a reliever, Matt Capps for 2008-09, since taking over in 2007, according to Langosch. Hanrahan is under team control for two more years and is due a sharp raise through arbitration on his $1.4MM 2011 salary coming off a 40-save campaign. The 30-year-old right-hander should earn $4MM in 2012 through arbitration.
  • New Astros owner Jim Crane said it was made clear to him before agreeing to purchase the Astros that the team would be moved to the AL, according to Astros senior director of social media Alyson Footer. Crane also cautioned not to expect the Astros to be big players in free agency this year, as they will instead focus on building the farm, and said payroll will "be in line with" incoming revenue (all Twitter links).
  • Brewers GM Doug Melvin said he's interested in extending starters Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, as was reported yesterday, but that the sides haven't had talks yet and aren't in a rush to do so, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
  • Melvin also hasn't ruled out bringing Craig Counsell aboard as the Brewers' hitting coach, tweets McCalvy. Counsell, however, hasn't ruled out remaining in the game as a player.
  • Cardinals CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. said the Redbirds are "going to make every effort" to re-sign first baseman Albert Pujols, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. We heard earlier today and yesterday that the Cards and Pujols' agent have resumed talks.
  • New Cubs manager Dale Sveum may bring in Robin Yount as one of his coaches, writes Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun Times.
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