Scott Boras Holds Court
Agent Scott Boras is holding court at the Winter Meetings; here's the latest.
- Boras has not met with the Indians about a Shin-Soo Choo extension and doesn't expect to at the Winter Meetings. He says the Indians being a "developmental team" might stand in the way.
- Boras says Carlos Beltran plans to be a Met this season. Beltran has full no-trade rights.
- Magglio Ordonez is working out for teams today. The Tigers were set to attend, says MLB.com's Jason Beck. The market for Ordonez is said by Boras to be aggressive, with a multiyear deal expected. More specifically, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that Ordonez wants at least two years at $10MM or more per.
- Adrian Beltre hasn't closed the door on signing with the Athletics.
- Prince Fielder is open to extension talks with the Brewers, but Boras did plenty of qualifying.
Braves, Brewers Still Talking Trade
The Braves and Brewers continue to discuss trades that would send an outfielder to Atlanta for a young pitcher, reports MLB.com's Mark Bowman. However, the Brewers are more inclined to move Carlos Gomez than Lorenzo Cain. The Brewers requested Mike Minor for Cain, and the Braves balked at trading him or their other top young arms.
Overnight Links: Lee, Brewers, Tigers, Varitek, Parra
Here's some late night odds and ends for the night owls who are still up and running, or early birds who are just rising:
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan opines that offering seven years for Cliff Lee is the right thing for his suitors to do.
- Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News opines that it's better for the Rangers to overpay for Lee than it is to let him go to New York.
- Craig Counsell's agent asked the Brewers for more time to consider his options, tweets MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Milwaukee is anxious to hear whether or not the veteran infielder will return.
- McCalvy also tweets that the Brewers will continue to pursue catching options, even with the near-signing of Wil Nieves.
- McCalvy's colleague Jason Beck tweets confirmation from Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski that the club has considered sending Alfredo Figaro to Japan.
- WEEI.com's Rob Bradford writes that the Blue Jays talked with Jason Varitek prior to his re-signing with Boston. A.J. Pierzynski, whom the Red Sox also contacted, is happy for Varitek regarding his return to Boston, saying "He deserves it."
- A market for D'Backs outfielder Gerardo Parra is developing, tweets FOX Sports Arizona's Jack Magruder. Parra could be moved to help balance out a lineup that's heavy in left-handed hitters.
Brewers Close To Signing Wil Nieves
The Brewers are close to signing Wil Nieves to a major league deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Nationals non-tendered the catcher last week, making him a free agent. Milwaukee has been looking for a veteran backstop to pair with Jonathan Lucroy.
Nieves, 33, has spent parts of seven seasons in the majors, posting a .227/.273/.297 line overall. He hit .203/.244/.310 in 172 plate appearances for the Nationals last year and threw out 24% of would-be base stealers, matching his career mark.
Brewers Rumors: Weeks, Capuano, Francis, Webb
The Brewers have had some trade discussions about Prince Fielder, and inquired on Matt Garza. Here are the rest of the details on the Crew:
- The Brewers had "productive" talks with Rickie Weeks' representatives about a potential extension, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Assistant GM Gord Ash says the sides have "reason to continue to talk" to Weeks, who can become a free agent after the 2011 season.
- GM Doug Melvin told Haudricourt that he intends to meet with the agent for Craig Counsell and work a deal out soon. The Brewers have made the veteran infielder more than one proposal.
- The Brewers have another offer out to Chris Capuano and are waiting to hear from him.
- Manager Ron Roenicke says the team would like to pair Jonathan Lucroy with a veteran catcher next year, according to Haudricourt (Twitter link).
- The Brewers seem hesitant to commit to a pitcher coming back from an injury, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
- Melvin says the Brewers haven't called the agent for Jeff Francis, though they've been linked to the left-hander repeatedly. The team scouted Brandon Webb, but their level of interest in the former Cy Young Award winner seems low.
- The Brewers have had discussions with the Braves, but Melvin says he doesn't have any ongoing talks with Atlanta.
Brewers, Phillies In On Delwyn Young
5:50pm: The Marlins are not interested in Young, according to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (on Twitter). Rodriguez notes that the Marlins haven't considered pursuing Joe Crede, either.
2:26pm: The Brewers, Marlins, and Phillies are talking to Delwyn Young, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Young was designated by the Pirates prior to the non-tender deadline and elected free agency.
Young, 28, hit .236/.286/.414 in 207 plate appearances for the Pirates this year, spending time at second base, third base, and right field. He joined the Pirates via a trade with the Dodgers in April of last year.
Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Garcia, Delcarmen, Gomez
Links for Tuesday, exactly five years after the Blue Jays signed A.J. Burnett to a five-year, $55MM deal. Now with the Yankees, Burnett's part of a Yankees rotation that's very much in flux. Here are today's links…
- The Cardinals announced on Twitter that they avoided arbitration with Ryan Theriot, signing the infielder to a one-year deal for 2011. Fanhouse's Steve Phillips says the deal is for $3.3MM.
- A Los Angeles judge ruled that Frank McCourt is not the sole owner of the Dodgers and the ruling is not expected to impact the team's day-to-day operations, according to Bill Shaikin and Carla Hall of the LA Times. If anything, the Dodgers have spent more aggressively than usual this winter.
- The Mets talked to Freddy Garcia's representatives at some point before the meetings, but the right-hander is not the team's top priority, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter).
- Manny Delcarmen, who was non-tendered by the Rockies last week, is drawing interest from two AL East teams (but not the Red Sox) according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (on Twitter).
- Carlos Gomez is available, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter). The Brewers want pitching for Gomez and are reluctant to part with Lorenzo Cain.
- Quiet day for the Reds – GM Walt Jocketty tells MLB.com's Mark Sheldon that he's had "zero" discussions with teams or agents today (Twitter link).
- The Diamondbacks have some interest in Henry Blanco, but the catcher isn't expected to decide on his next team at the meetings, according to Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona (on Twitter).
- Derek Jeter told reporters, including Ben Shpigel of the New York Times, that he was bothered by how public his contract negotiations became.
Matt Garza Rumors: Tuesday
The Rays have lots of pitching depth and a number of holes to address, so the Matt Garza rumors were inevitable. Here's the latest on the Rays righty:
- Garza is a fallback plan for the Rangers in case they can't sign Cliff Lee or trade for Zack Greinke, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. Price reports that the Rays are motivated to move Garza.
- The Brewers have talked to the Rays about Garza, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (on Twitter).
Prince Fielder Rumors: Tuesday
Nothing's cooking with the Brewers on a potential Prince Fielder trade, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. We'll keep you updated here anyway.
- The Brewers fielded calls from the White Sox, Dodgers and Orioles on Prince, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). They know they can't sign the slugger long-term.
- The Orioles have had talks with the Brewers for Fielder, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. He says they're only talks right now, and the O's would want an extension before giving up young pitching for Fielder. Haudricourt says these talks did not go beyond preliminary discussions.
At Least Seven Teams Checked In On Rich Harden
The Yankees, Twins, Rays, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Mariners, and Rockies have checked in on free agent righty Rich Harden, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi says some teams like Harden as a starter, others as a reliever.
The oft-injured Harden received a $7.5MM guarantee from the Rangers last year, but had a lost season. He posted a 5.58 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 6.1 BB/9, 1.8 HR/9, and 34.5% groundball rate in 92 innings, battling a strained glute and shoulder tendinitis. These days he's a fastball/changeup pitcher with a 90.5 mph average heater.