Brewers Acquire Chase Wright, Ramiro Mendoza
According to a press release, the Brewers acquired pitcher Chase Wright from the Yankees for outfielder/catcher Eric Fryer.
Wright, who turns 26 in a few days, spent most of 2008 with the Yankees’ Double A and Triple A clubs. He posted strong ERAs and strong groundball rates, but low strikeout rates as well. In their 2007 Handbook, Baseball America said Wright had "solid stuff" and "profiles best at the back of a rotation." He was designated for assignment when Andy Pettitte was signed. Fryer, 23, hit .335/.407/.506 in 104 games at Low A.
According to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, the Brewers also added reliever Ramiro Mendoza on a minor league deal. Mendoza’s last useful big league stint was in ’04 with the Red Sox; he racked up a lot of innings for the Yankees in the late 90s/early 2000s.
Rosenthal On Peavy, Ohman, Looper
Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Jeff Moorad’s acquistion of the Padres does not affect the likelihood of a Jake Peavy trade, according to Rosenthal’s source. There have been no recent conversations with the Cubs about Peavy.
- The Phillies had been confident of signing Ty Wigginton before the Orioles offered two years. The Phils are still mulling Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia, with the Giants also in on Aurilia. The Phillies are out on Will Ohman.
- Braden Looper is receiving interest from Baltimore, but he prefers the NL. The Brewers are not optimistic about signing Looper despite a recent conversation with one of his agents (Tom Haudricourt believes the Brewers are "laying in the weeds" for when the right pitcher comes along). Looper is Plan B behind Randy Wolf for the Dodgers, and not a candidate to return to the Cardinals (who are apparently out of money). One other team known to have interest in Looper is the Pirates.
Brewers, Weeks Avoid Arbitration
According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Brewers avoided arbitration with second baseman Rickie Weeks by signing him for 2009. The deal is worth $2.45MM plus a possible $75K in incentives, according to SI.com’s Jon Heyman. Weeks had requested $2.8MM while the Brewers countered at $2MM. He’ll be eligible for free agency after the 2011 season.
Haudricourt notes that the Brewers have one case remaining in Corey Hart ($1.1MM gap). MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy says his hearing is scheduled for the third week of February. Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash on the situation: "We still have a basic disagreement in terms of value."
Brew Crew Done Dealing?
GM Doug Melvin mentioned it back in January and principal owner Mark Attanasio has now confirmed it: The Brewers have reached their payroll limit and aren’t likely to add a major free agent this offseason.
"When I first bought the team, it was like, ‘Are you ever going to get to 40 [million dollars]?‘" said Attanasio, who purchased the team following the 2004 season, when the Brewers spent just shy of $28 million on players. "Now, we’re arguing between 82 and 79... There is the potential that prices will continue to come down and somebody may fall, but we don’t want to count on that, because there’s no way of knowing."
Cafardo’s Latest: Players Out Of Options
Lots of stuff in Nick Cafardo’s column in the Boston Globe to go over.
With around 100 free agents vying for less than 20 remaining roster spots, things become more interesting with 227 players on big-league rosters who are out of options. If a player is out of options and is not rostered, he has to either be traded or designated for assignment. If designated, that player has to clear waivers. This could affect remaining free agent signings. Cafardo makes note of a few who are out of options and may wind up as trade fodder or designated for assignment before the season begins:
Red Sox: George Kottaras
Yankees: Melky Cabrera
Cubs: Chad Gaudin, Rich Hill (possibly heading to Baltimore?)
Brewers: Tony Gwynn Jr.
Indians: Anthony Reyes, Andy Marte
Twins: Boof Bonser, Philip Humber
Rays: Jeff Niemann
Orioles: David Pauley
- With Jason Varitek re-signed, the Red Sox will either have to trade catcher Kottaras or designate him for assignment.
- Cafardo notes Niemann is a former No. 1 pick and the righthander should garner some attention.
- Bonser or Humber could be traded to land a reliever. Cafardo also mentions Delmon Young as a possible trading chip.
A few more bullets from Cafardo’s notebook:
- Scott Boras thinks the World Baseball Classic will showcase Ivan Rodriguez and generate "even more" interest for the 14-time All-Star catcher.
- Cafardo mentioned Manny Ramirez to Omar Minaya and Minaya laughed it off saying, "We’ll look into adding some offense, but only if it makes sense."
- All quiet on the Jake Peavy front.
- Cafardo calls Randy Johnson‘s $8MM deal from the Giants as "a stroke of genius" by his agents.
- In case you missed it, Bobby Kielty signed a minor-league deal with the Mets last week.
“Zero” Progress With Hart, Weeks
According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Brewers have not progressed towards agreements in their arbitration cases with Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart.
Assistant GM Gord Ash said they made "zero" progress with the two players.
Hart asked for $3.8MM and was offered $2.7MM while Weeks asked for $2.8MM and was offered $2MM. The club has until February 18th to avoid arbitration.
Rosenthal On Abreu, Garland, Glavine, Sisco
The latest from Ken Rosenthal…
- The Mariners and Giants are interested in Bobby Abreu, if the price is right. Yesterday Buster Olney suggested that Abreu is willing to take a one-year deal. The A’s and Nationals have other targets, while the Mets, White Sox, and Braves are seen as long shots.
- Rosenthal examines the nuances of Jon Garland‘s December 7th decision to reject arbitration, saying that it wasn’t an obvious mistake at the time.
- Tom Glavine‘s agent Gregg Clifton did not attend yesterday’s meeting with Frank Wren; it was a health update and not a contract negotiation. Rosenthal says Glavine figures to seek a Freddy Garcia-like deal. The Braves need to save money to add an outfielder, with Nick Swisher atop their list. The Yankees’ goal in moving Swisher or Xavier Nady would be to recoup prospects.
- The Brewers are not interested in projects such as Kris Benson, Jason Jennings, Mark Redman, and Victor Zambrano. They’re just lukewarm on Mark Mulder. Benson is drawing interest from the Dodgers, Rangers, and Cardinals; one exec reviewed his audition as "so-so."
- Rosenthal doesn’t seem to buy the idea that Jason Varitek and Scott Boras feared the Red Sox could cut him if he accepted arbitration, noting that Boras client Travis Lee was advised to accept years ago.
- The Braves have reservations about re-signing Andruw Jones, who could be a Spring Training cut.
- The A’s deal for Russ Springer will be worth more than $3MM plus incentives. They’re also eyeing Brian Shouse and Andrew Sisco as possible pen additions. Sisco, recovering from Tommy John, has also auditioned for the Rockies and Giants.
Sheets Wants A Guaranteed Contract
According to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Ben Sheets and the Brewers have not spoken since the Brewers asked whether Sheets would consider an incentive-based contract similar to John Smoltz‘s ($4.5MM in incentives) or Brad Penny‘s ($3MM in incentives). It appears that Sheets was not open to an similar offer, but the Brewers won’t offer a multi-year deal.
GM Doug Melvin maintains the club isn’t likely to sign Sheets, but he hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility.
Brewers Could Be Done Dealing
Adam McCalvy of MLB.com passes along some telling quotes from Brewers GM Doug Melvin. It sounds like the club is done dealing, at least with major free agents.
"We’re pretty far down the road of building our ballclub," Melvin said. "But it’s still going to be competitive, and you can never predict whether you’ll have injuries or whether you’ll make waiver claims... There’s probably players we don’t know of yet that [will be acquired] by waiver claims or trades before the season starts. But as far as going to Spring Training, yeah, I don’t think there’s going to be that much more activity."
Oliver Perez Rumors: Tuesday
4:57pm: Just to hammer the point home, Brewers GM Doug Melvin responded "absolutely not" when asked if he’s in on Perez.
4:02pm: Anthony Rieber’s source says the Mets are "a little bit closer" to signing Perez, but they’re maintaining dialogue with Ben Sheets, Randy Wolf, and Jon Garland. Rieber says the Mets have shown a willingness to go to four years for Perez.
1:34pm: Heyman says the Mets remain the favorite for Perez, even though talks slowed in the last day or two. The Mets’ offer exceeds three years and $30MM.
9:02am: Tom Haudricourt finds the Brewers-Perez connection to be Scott Boras propaganda – the Brewers don’t like his price and don’t want to give up a draft pick.
8:14am: Matthew Cerrone passes along a Jon Heyman MLB Network report of rumblings that the Rangers and Brewers may be in on Oliver Perez. The Mets remain the favorite.
At 27, Perez is the youngest free agent starter this year. However, I imagine a four-year deal would still be a tough sell for the Rangers or Brewers.