D’Backs Claim Bobby Korecky
MLB.com’s Kelly Thesier says the Diamondbacks claimed pitcher Bobby Korecky off waivers from the Twins today, a move that signifies the completion of Minnesota’s Luis Ayala signing.
Korcecky, 29, made his MLB debut in ’08 with 17.6 relief innings for the Twins. He did a nice job out of the pen in Triple A.
Twins, Crede Reach Impasse
According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins and Joe Crede/Scott Boras have reached an impasse in contract talks. Crede’s been rumored to want a $7MM base salary; I’m guessing the Twins are probably thinking he deserves about half that. Twins players support the idea of a Brian Buscher/Brendan Harris platoon.
Yesterday Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News said the Giants aren’t confident about signing Crede but they do maintain interest.
Giants Maintain Interest In Joe Crede
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the Giants are still keeping an eye on free agent third baseman Joe Crede.
Special assistant Ron Schueler, who attended Crede’s workout last week, said the free-agent third baseman looked pretty agile while taking ground balls and his back appeared to hold up fine in the cage, writes Baggarly. Schueler noted that Crede appeared stronger in the upper body.
The Twins also remain interested in Crede, but talks haven’t progressed too far with that club either. At last check, the 30-year-old Scott Boras client was still seeking $7MM guaranteed, plus around $4MM in incentives. That kind of asking price obviously isn’t going to entice too many teams.
D’Backs Working On Sign-And-Trade Deal?
According to Steve Gilbert of MLB.com, the Diamondbacks could be hammering out a sign-and-trade deal with reliever Juan Cruz.
"I can’t say too much," Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes said Monday. "But of late, they’ve talked to the union, we have talked to the Commissioner’s Office to see if there is a way where they could sign through us and then we would receive in trade what we would deem as enough value."
Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic also has a column on the topic. Ken Rosenthal and La Velle E. Neal III have done a nice job of explaining this complicated situation. As Neal notes, the Twins may be interested in Cruz if they aren’t forced to surrender a high draft pick for his services. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan says the Brewers and Rangers also have interest in Cruz.
MLB To Lend A Hand To Type As
MONDAY: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has more on the topic. He says:
Major League Baseball, the players’ union, the Diamondbacks and Cruz’s agents are in discussions to facilitate a sign-and-trade involving Cruz that adheres to the collective-bargaining agreement. Free agents cannot be traded before June 15 without their consent, but the union will permit Cruz and other Type A players to waive that right, according to Rob Manfred, baseball’s executive vice-president of labor relations.
Rosenthal says the D’Backs are not discussing this kind of scenario with Hudson’s agents, and it’s unknown whether Cabrera and the White Sox are talking about it. Rosenthal says there would be a window, perhaps 48 hours, for the team to make a deal. If no deal is made then the player would remain a free agent.
SUNDAY: La Velle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune suggests MLB might allow for a workaround for Type A free agents:
There have been rumblings that Major League Baseball, which is aware that Type A free agents like Juan Cruz and infielders Orlando Hudson and Orlando Cabrera have been hindered by the compensation rules, are willing to make it easier for teams to sign then trade those free agents. For example, Arizona could sign Cruz to a contract that the Twins are willing to take on. The Twins and Diamondbacks would then work out a trade for Cruz. The Twins could land Cruz without losing a draft pick.
No word on what MLB would do to facilitate these sign n’ trades. Perhaps they’d just give their approval.
Neal notes that the Twins have discussed Cruz internally, but wouldn’t be willing to give up their #23 pick in the June draft for him. Also keep in mind that the Twins just brought in reliever Luis Ayala.
Latest On Joe Crede
11:59pm: Neal spoke to Boras, who had this to say regarding the timing of a possible Crede contract:
"I anticipate, the way things are going right now, that you might have a solution on where Joe is going. I can’t say a definite amount of time, but I think it’s a shorter than longer amount of time."
5:41pm: Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News heard that the Giants don’t expect to sign Joe Crede. The club believes he’ll wind up with the Twins instead.
And for those of you scoffing about the low-budget Twins outbidding the Giants for a player, just remember this: The more the Giants spend now, the less wiggle room they’ll have at midseason — when they expect much better values to be had, writes Baggarly.
La Velle E. Neal III wrote Friday that the Twins face a substantial gap in contract talks with Crede. He’s still demanding $7MM guaranteed, plus nearly $4MM in incentives. Keep in mind that he’s a Scott Boras client.
Twins Still Face Gap With Joe Crede
La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on the gap between the Twins and Joe Crede:
The Twins were present today in Arizona as Crede took batting practice. The Twins remain interested in his services, but indications are that Crede wants $7MM guaranteed – up to $11MM with incentives – and the Twins aren’t going there. Indications are that the Twins are willing to craft a deal that reaches $7-8MM with incentives. The incentives would occur right away, like getting $1MM or so for making the Opening Day roster.
It’s true that Crede is the only viable free agent third base option out there. But if these demands are accurate, Scott Boras is just not being reasonable right now.
Twins, Young Agree To ‘Split’ Contract
According to the Associated Press, via Yahoo! Sports, the Twins have agreed to terms on a one-year, $1.152MM split contract with outfielder Delmon Young. I’ll let the AP explain this one:
Young gets a raise from the $700,000 he made last season, but his salary is technically being cut the maximum allowable 20 percent when the final prorated share of his initial $3.7 million signing bonus ($770,000) is factored in.
Since Tampa Bay gave him a $5.8 million, five-year deal after selecting him with the first overall pick in the 2003 amateur draft, the $1,152,000 figure was the least Young could have made in 2009 despite not being eligible for arbitration.
Young hit .290/.336/.405 with 10 dingers and 69 RBI last season, but might struggle to find playing time in a crowded outfield this year. If he’s unable to stay in the majors, his salary gets bumped down to $864K. Young, as most readers will recall, has been at the center of various trade rumors this offseason.
Heyman On Manny, Pudge, Cabrera, Howard
The latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman…
- Heyman says "most in the know seem to still believe [Dodgers owner Frank] McCourt will bend on Manny Ramirez and go to three years."
- The Nationals’ offer to Adam Dunn was on the table for weeks until he realized no team was going to beat or approach it. There were rumors months ago that Dunn sought a $100MM deal heading into free agency.
- The Astros and Marlins are looking at Ivan Rodriguez. There’s even an El Nuevo Dia report suggesting the Astros offered $2.5MM+ to Pudge, but that seems out of their price range to me. In today’s mailbag, MLB.com’s Alyson Footer opines that the Astros wouldn’t go to $3MM for a catcher.
- The A’s "want to spend no more than $5MM, and probably closer to $3MM" for Orlando Cabrera. He should take that if it’s offered.
- The Angels had been eyeing Joe Crede but may be done after signing Bobby Abreu. The Giants and Twins remain the likeliest suitors for Crede.
- The Phillies hoped to lock up Ryan Howard beyond his arbitration years, and Ruben Amaro Jr. disputed the notion that he is after Teixeira money.
Crede Seeking $7MM
Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports Joe Crede is asking for $7MM, rather than the previously reported $5MM. Christensen reports the $7MM figure makes it less likely Crede will land with the Twins who are reluctant to commit even $5MM to a player who was limited to 97 games in 2008 and 47 in 2007. However, as it stands the Twins opening day payroll will be $60.15MM, down from $74MM last year. It’s safe to assume Crede’s agents know that.
The Giants recently made their offer to Crede for one year. Still no reports of an offer from Minnesota.