Brewers, Cardinals, Giants In Talks With Alex Gonzalez
5:18pm: The Brewers and Cardinals are also interested in Gonzalez, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.
4:48pm: The Giants are negotiating with free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez, reports Fernando Gonzalez of ESPN Deportes (passed along via Jim Bowden's Twitter account). The Giants had been rumored as candidates to sign such bigger-name free agent shortstops as Jose Reyes or Jimmy Rollins, but with relatively little payroll space to go around, the other school of thought was that prospect Brandon Crawford could get the starting shortstop job.
Like Crawford, Gonzalez brings strong defense (a career UZR/150 of 6.3, though it dipped to -0.4 last season) and not much of a bat (a .241/.270/.372 line for Atlanta last season). San Francisco could use Gonzalez and Crawford in a righty-lefty platoon next season, plus Gonzalez could be a valuble mentor to the 24-year-old.
The Braves didn't offer arbitration to Gonzalez (a Type B free agent), so Atlanta wouldn't receive a compensation pick if Gonzalez signed elsewhere. The Braves hadn't ruled out re-signing Gonzalez themselves to act as a veteran bridge to their own shortstop prospect, Tyler Pastornicky.
Brewers Could Offer Fielder Six Years, $120MM
The Brewers have indicated during negotiations with Prince Fielder that they would be willing to offer the free agent slugger a six-year deal worth $120MM, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (via Twitter). This would be a notable increase over Milwaukee's "last formal offer" of five years and $100MM to Fielder.
It's almost been a foregone conclusion that Fielder would leave the Brewers this winter but Olney notes (Twitter link) "it's a fluid situation, and Milwaukee is probably in play" unless another team makes an offer in the neighborhood of $170-$200MM. With the Mariners, Nationals, Cubs and possibly the Rangers all interested in Fielder, it's likely one of those clubs (or, Scott Boras' erstwhile "mystery team") will come forward with a contract that tops the Brewers' best offer.
Here are a few more notes about the Brew Crew…
- The Brewers will bid on Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, according to a Sanspo report (translated by NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman). The Seibu Lions announced two weeks ago that Nakajima would be posted, and he is predicted to attract attention from several teams looking for shortstop help.
- MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, however, reports the Brewers aren't likely to go after Nakajima due to the team's lack of in-depth scouting in Japan. Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin tells McCalvy that he expects a relatively quiet Winter Meetings for the team, and that the Brewers' priorities are finding a shortstop and bullpen help.
- Melvin was named the Major League executive of the year by Baseball America. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the details.
Minor Moves: Nunez, Palmer, Moss, Mock
The latest minor moves from around MLB…
- The Rays signed righty Jhonny Nunez to a minor league deal, tweets Baseball America's Matt Eddy.
- The Padres signed right-hander Matt Palmer to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock (Twitter link).
- The Brewers signed outfielder Miguel Velazquez to a minor league deal, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (all links go to Twitter).
- The A’s signed outfielder Brandon Moss to a minor league deal, according to Goldstein.
- The Padres signed left-hander Alex Hinshaw to a minor league deal, according to Goldstein.
- The Blue Jays signed former Nationals prospect Garrett Mock to a minor league deal, according to Goldstein.
- The Royals announced that they signed right-hander Zach Miner, infielders Jamie Romak, Eric Duncan, Sharlon Schoop and Tony Abreu and left-handers Marlon Arias and Tommy Hottovy to minor league contracts. Miner, Abreu and Hottovy have big league experience, though only Hottovy appeared in the Major Leagues this past season. Duncan, once a highly-regarded prospect, posted a .849 OPS at Double-A as a utility player in 2011. Romak posted an .803 OPS for the Royals in 2011 and even pitched on two occasions.
13 Teams Eligible For First Competitive Balance Lottery
The new collective bargaining agreement calls for a competitive balance draft pick lottery beginning in 2013, and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo has details. 13 teams will be eligible for the first lottery based on their market size and revenue: the Diamondbacks, Orioles, Indians, Royals, Athletics, Pirates, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers, and Cardinals. The lottery gives each of these teams the chance to win one of six extra picks in the 2013 draft, which will come after the compensation picks for free agents. The odds of winning a pick will be based on each team's winning percentage in the previous season.
There will be another group of six picks after the draft's second round. The teams in the mix for these will be the ones that did not win a pick in the first lottery, as well as any other team that receives revenue sharing.
Mayo says lottery picks can be traded, but only once by a team and only during the regular season. The picks cannot be sold for cash.
A third lottery will be held for picks forfeited by teams that exceeded their bonus pools. Teams that did not exceed their pools will be eligible, with odds based on a formula of revenue and winning percentage. Got all that? There will be a quiz tomorrow.
NL Central Notes: Saito, Fielder, Pujols
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
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
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
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:
- The Giants won't offer arbitration to Pat Burrell (B) or Cody Ross (B) according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Carlos Beltran (A) contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
- The Dodgers declined to offer Hiroki Kuroda (B) arbitration, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter). Rod Barajas (B) already signed with the Pirates.
- The Pirates offered arbitration to Derrek Lee (B) while declining to offer Ryan Ludwick (B) and Chris Snyder (B) arbitration. Ryan Doumit (B) already signed with the Twins.
- The Phillies did not offer Roy Oswalt (A) or Brad Lidge (B) arbitration, according to the AP (via ESPN). The team announced that it offered arbitration to Raul Ibanez (B), Ryan Madson (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick), and Jimmy Rollins (A), according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com (via Twitter).
- The Cubs offered arbitration to Carlos Pena (B) and Aramis Ramirez (B) but not to Kerry Wood (B), according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).
- The Cardinals offered Edwin Jackson (B) and Albert Pujols (A) arbitration, but declined to make offers to Rafael Furcal (B) and Arthur Rhodes (B), according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). That leaves Octavio Dotel (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary).
- The Mets offered Jose Reyes (A) arbitration, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (on Twitter).
- The Padres will offer arbitration to Heath Bell (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) and Aaron Harang (B), tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com.
- The Brewers offered Prince Fielder (A) and Francisco Rodriguez (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) arbitration. They declined to offer Yuniesky Betancourt (B) arbitration. Takashi Saito (A), contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
- The Braves did not offer arbitration to Alex Gonzalez (B), according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Teams with automatic decisions only:
- Reds: Francisco Cordero (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary), Ramon Hernandez (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary)
- Astros: Clint Barmes (B, already signed with Pirates)
- Rockies: Mark Ellis (B, already signed with Dodgers)
Dodgers, Giants, Brewers Interested In Jerry Hairston
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
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.