Odds & Ends: Kendall, Uggla, Reds, Pedro
You want links? Well we got 'em…
- Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse says that Jason Kendall was looking for $5MM to return to Milwaukee for another year. Yeah, good luck with that. No wonder why the Brewers went with Gregg Zaun.
- Dan Uggla doesn't have any control over whether the Marlins trade him or not, but if they do, he hopes it happens sooner rather than later, according to Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post.
- When asked about the hot stove, Reds' manager Dusty Baker said "there's not much of anything going on," reports MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
- Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald says that Pedro Martinez wants to pitch a full season in 2010, instead of going on the Roger Clemens plan (pitching in the second half only) again.
- Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic says that the D-Backs' perfect world Winter Meetings scenario "involves them acquiring a cost-effective starting pitcher in a trade and then using their remaining payroll flexibility to upgrade other areas of the club."
- According to WEEI.com's Alex Speier, Padres' GM Jed Hoyer said that given his (and new assistant Jason McLeod's) experience with the Red Sox, they have a “level of comfort” in any potential trade with them, moreso than with any other team.
- Re-signing Andy Pettitte is the Yankees' top priority, says George A. King III of The NY Post.
- MLB.com's Carrie Muskat says as many as three teams are interested in Milton Bradley, and Cubs' GM Jim Hendry will spend next week trying to find the best match.
- Former Blue Jays' GM J.P. Ricciardi said that Roy Halladay wants to be traded, according to The Canadian Press. Ricciardi added that a "lot of these decisions are out of the general manager's hands as far as what ownership perceives as fan reaction and what the perception of the club (is) and the direction that they are going. I think any time you have a player of this magnitude, that's really an ownership call."
- In addition to Justin Miller, the Dodgers also signed Prentice Redman to a minor league contract, according to Dylan Hernandez of The LA Times.
- MLB.com's Steve Gilbert has the news of three players the Diamondbacks inked to minor league contracts: T.J. Beam, Drew Macias, and Carlos Corporan. All three received invites to Spring Training.
- ESPN's Jayson Stark wrote about the five biggest plotlines going into the Winter Meetings next week, while Scott Miller of CBSSports.com has some pre-Winter Meetings chatter of his own.
- Got a problem with how FanGraphs puts a dollar amount on a player's performance? If so, Dave Cameron clarifies some things.
Brewers Make Offer To Craig Counsell
3:46pm: The Brewers made an initial contract proposal to Counsell today, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
9:48am: The Brewers plan to present an offer to utility infielder Craig Counsell, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The interest is mutual, but ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted back on November 16th that at least a dozen teams are eyeing Counsell and a multi-year deal is possible.
Counsell, 39, hit .285/.357/.408 in 459 plate appearances this year while playing second base, shortstop, and third base and earning $1MM. If Alex Cora gets $2MM, Counsell's agent Barry Meister should seek at least that much.
Gregg Zaun Agrees To Deal With Brewers
1:33pm: ESPN's Buster Olney has the contract details: a $1.9MM base in 2010, and a $2.25MM club option for '11 with a $250K buyout.
1:18pm: Zaun is close to a deal with the Brewers, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Yahoo's Tim Brown tweets that the deal is signed, and worth $2.15MM guaranteed (with a 2011 option). The free agent market didn't offer much, but Zaun was one of the better catchers out there. The Rays will receive a supplemental draft pick for their loss.
10:03am: Free agent catcher Gregg Zaun spoke to Don Landry and Gord Stellick of The Fan 590 this morning, and revealed that he'll sign with a team "possibly by the end of the day." Zaun confirmed that he'll be signing with the Brewers, Rockies, Rays, or Mariners.
My guess is the Mariners. How about you?
Odds & Ends: Oeltjen, Hensley, Gload, Halladay
Links for Friday, as team execs and media folk pack their bags for Monday's Winter Meetings in Indianapolis…
- The Brewers signed Trent Oeltjen to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Oeltjen, 27 in February, hit .303/.362/.500 in his third Triple A tour, playing the outfield corners.
- Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash spells out why his team won't be acquiring Roy Halladay, talking to McCalvy.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro tweets six minor league free agents signed by the Marlins, including Jesse Foppert, Vinny Rottino, and Hector Luna.
- The Pirates expressed "mild interest" in free agent pitcher Clay Hensley, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Hensley, 30, spent the year at Triple A in the Astros and Marlins organizations, posting a 3.56 ERA in 124 innings.
- Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post feels there's "still a good chance [Ross] Gload returns [to the Marlins] with a two-year deal."
- Darren Dreifort's five-year, $55MM deal tops Jeff Passan's list of the ten worst contracts of the 2000s for Yahoo.
- Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues explains why the Yankees probably won't sign Rafael Soriano.
- In his Winter Meetings preview for AOL FanHouse, Ed Price says there was some discussion about a Tigers-Diamondbacks trade involving Edwin Jackson and Max Scherzer.
- ESPN's Buster Olney talked to rival executives who say the Tigers have not aggressively shopped Curtis Granderson.
- Olney doesn't think the Mariners will pay up for Jason Bay. He believes the Red Sox are "controlling the market" for Bay and Matt Holliday.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals are "increasingly weighing spreading what it would cost to retain Holliday over several players." Bernie Miklasz of the P-D feels the Cards are "enacting their exit strategy from the Holliday sweepstakes." I would not be surprised to see the Cardinals make their best offer soon - let's say $110MM over six years – and entirely move on if Scott Boras rejects it.
- SI's Jon Heyman tweets that Nick Johnson is "drawing interest from the Giants, maybe Braves, and a half-dozen more."
- MLB.com's Corey Brock talked to former Padres GM Kevin Towers, who will meet with the Mets, Yankees, Mariners, and Red Sox at the Winter Meetings.
- ESPN's Keith Law isn't impressed with the Phillies' Placido Polanco signing. My initial impression upon hearing about the signing is that no other team would've valued Polanco that highly.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro tweets that other teams have been more aggressive on Jamey Carroll than the Marlins. Other Carroll suitors include the Rockies, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, A's, Rangers, Pirates, Reds and Indians.
Nationals Notes: Hardy, Needs
The latest on the Nationals, courtesy of Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post…
- The Nats discussed a deal for shortstop J.J. Hardy, before he was traded to the Twins. However, with Ian Desmond and Cristian Guzman the projected starters, upgrading in the middle infield is not the top priority.
- Manager Jim Riggleman says starting pitching comes first, with Sheinin suggesting trades are preferred over free agent signings. You can see our list of starting pitcher trade candidates here.
- The Nationals also seek a catcher, more than just a backup type according to Riggleman.
Brewers, Rockies, Rays Interested In Zaun
The Brewers, Rockies, and Rays are showing the most interest in free agent catcher Gregg Zaun, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Zaun still has an arbitration offer from the Rays, on which he must decide by Monday. However, Zaun has said he expects to sign with a team by week's end. As the FOX writers note, he'd get the most playing time with the Brewers. Earlier this offseason it seemed that they planned to spend all of their money on starting pitching, but maybe they'll peel off a few million for Zaun.
Rosenthal and Morosi wrote yesterday that the Mariners were pursuing Zaun, but they don't mention the team in tonight's update.
Odds & Ends: McLeod, Yankees, Wagner, Lyon
Let's check out some Wednesday evening links….
- Red Sox scouting director Jason McLeod is leaving Boston to become the Padres' assistant GM under Jed Hoyer, according to Peter Gammons of ESPN (via Twitter). This news prompted a slew of baseball writers across Twitter to praise the move, including Keith Law, Amalie Benjamin, Ian Browne, and Kevin Goldstein.
- Joe Girardi discusses the Yankees' 2010 roster in an article by MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. Girardi's quotes aren't overly juicy, but he mentions that he likes having some flexibility at DH to periodically give players like Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, and Derek Jeter a rest.
- Carrie Muskat of MLB.com talks to Cubs GM Jim Hendry about the offseason and the upcoming winter meetings. Hendry opines that "it'll be a good offseason of trades" and that plenty will be made throughout the winter.
- David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution passes on some quotes from Billy Wagner, following the lefty's signing with the Braves.
- ESPN.com's Keith Law thinks Wagner's price was too high for Atlanta. Law also shares his opinions on some of the more notable arbitration decisions from around the majors.
- In a piece for River Ave. Blues, MLBTR's Mike Axisa warns the Yankees against signing Brandon Lyon, arguing that he's a "fringe reliever" in the AL East. We heard yesterday that the Yanks are interested.
- Speaking of Lyon, Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reports (via Twitter) that the Phillies are also interested in the right-hander.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel thinks that the Brewers are one of the teams Randy Wolf described as aggressively pursuing him in an earlier story.
- John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle provides an interesting read about where revenue-sharing checks end up.
Heyman On Pudge, Wolf, Crede
The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…
- The Giants, Mets, and Royals have interest in free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez, assuming he doesn't accept the Rangers' arbitration offer. Heyman says the Royals were trying to sign Brian Schneider before the Phillies signed him.
- Heyman names the Mets, Brewers, and Phillies as three clubs "believed to have some interest" in free agent lefty Randy Wolf. First we've read this winter of a possible Wolf-Phillies reunion.
- "At least the Orioles and Astros" are interested in free agent third baseman Joe Crede.
Brewers Do Not Offer Arb To Any Free Agents
The Brewers chose not to offer arbitration to any of their free agents, tweets Tom Hauricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The Brewers had five Type Bs in Braden Looper, David Weathers, Felipe Lopez, Jason Kendall, and Mike Cameron. A case could've been made for Lopez, but GM Doug Melvin said earlier that they didn't have a spot for him.
Odds & Ends: Kuo, DeRosa, Dye, Blue Jays
With all the arbitration decisions flying around today, we haven't had time for an Odds & Ends until now.
- Diamond Leung tweeted last night that the Yankees "signed Taiwanese 18-year-old infielder Fu-Lin Kuo to six-figure bonus." Taiwan Baseball says Kuo received about $150K.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has the Cardinals, Phillies, Mets, and Giants as suitors for Mark DeRosa. ESPN's Buster Olney heard that a few teams are concerned with DeRosa's range at third base.
- Fungoes shows us "when the hot stove is the hottest," graphically. Looks about right to me…peaks in December, stays hot in January.
- A.J. Burnett talked to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News about Roy Halladay potentially being traded.
- Juan Castro will take his physical Thursday according to Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer; if he passes, his one-year deal with the Phillies will be official.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick wrote about potential fits for Jermaine Dye, noting that the Yankees have discussed him internally. Crasnick says geography will not be a major factor for Dye.
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian tweeted comments from Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos regarding their search for a catcher. Anthopoulos is eyeing some potential non-tenders. Dioner Navarro and John Buck come to mind, with Kelly Shoppach going to the Rays.
- The market for Miguel Tejada should be decent now that he certainly will not cost a draft pick. SI's Jon Heyman tweets that the Cardinals, Phillies, Giants, Rangers, and Astros are interested. Rangers?
- MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reports that the Brewers officially announced their minor league deal with John Halama today.
- Nick Green's agent Tom O'Connell tells Ken Davidoff of Newsday his client is drawing "significant interest" on Major League contracts.