Red Sox Considering Carlos Beltran
10:49pm: The Mets and Red Sox met to discuss Beltran tonight, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
6:14pm: The Red Sox-Beltran rumor was not grounded in fact, a team source told ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes (Twitter link).
12:20pm: The Red Sox are "at least talking internally" about a Carlos Beltran trade with the Mets, reports ESPN's Adam Rubin. There is no potential deal at this point. The Sox consider Beltran a secondary option if other outfield alternatives fall apart, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Beltran is set to earn $18.5MM in 2011, the last year of his seven-year deal, and he cannot be offered arbitration when the season ends.
The Red Sox have also been linked to Magglio Ordonez, Josh Willingham, and Matt Diaz in recent rumors.
Mets Showing Interest In Chad Qualls
The Mets are showing interest in Chad Qualls, according to Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 32-year-old right-hander posted a 7.32 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 59 innings for the D'Backs and Rays last year.
The Type B free agent declined the Rays' offer of arbitration, so Tampa Bay will get a supplementary first round pick if Qualls signs a major league deal elsewhere. The Mets have been busy today; they're closing in on a deal with D.J. Carrasco and talking with Ronny Paulino.
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.
Mets Closing In On Two-Year Deal With Carrasco
4:45pm: The Mets and Carrasco are closing in on a deal, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.
3:44pm: The Mets are discussing a two-year deal with Carrasco, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse (on Twitter).
2:37pm: The Mets are having "fruitful" negotiations with reliever D.J. Carrasco, reports ESPN's Adam Rubin. Carrasco, who was non-tendered by the Diamondbacks this month, has six to eight suitors. He posted a 3.68 ERA, 7.5 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 0.57 HR/9, and 47.5% groundball rate in 78 1/3 innings this year.
Mets, Rockies Talking To Ronny Paulino
4:41pm: The Mets are talking to Paulino about a one-year deal worth $1.3MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
3:51pm: The Rockies, who have been linked to a number of free agent catchers, are exchanging offers with Paulino, according to Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
11:13am: The Mets are in on a group of right-handed hitting catchers such as Paulino, Gerald Laird, Miguel Olivo, Russell Martin, and Dioner Navarro, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. They prefer a one-year deal.
10:11am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets are still talking to a lot of catcher possibilities, Paulino included (Twitter link).
8:45am: The Mets are closing in on catcher Ronny Paulino, reports ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. New manager Terry Collins has described Josh Thole as a "number one catcher," so presumably Paulino will serve as his backup.
Paulino, recently non-tendered by the Marlins, hit .259/.311/.354 in 316 plate appearances this year while catching 740 1/3 innings. He was hit with a 50-game PED suspension in August.
Minor Deals: Adams, Ryan, Bass, Santos
We've seen our share of major moves since yesterday, but the minor deals keep streaming in, too. Here they are:
- The Mets signed Russ Adams and Dusty Ryan to minor league contracts, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. The Blue Jays made Adams their first round pick in 2002, but he disappointed in parts of five seasons in Toronto, batting .247/.313/.372. The Blue Jays drafted Adams as a shortstop, but he has big league experience at second base and in left field. Ryan, 26, batted .199/.333/.349 for the Padres' Triple-A affiliate in 2010. He had cameos with the Tigers in 2008 and 2009.
- Oddly enough, the Tigers signed a former Mets backstop today. MLB.com's Jason Beck reports that Detroit added Omir Santos on a minor league deal (Twitter link). The 29-year-old last appeared in the majors on the 2009 Mets.
- The Phillies signed right-hander Brian Bass, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (on Twitter). The 28-year-old has a 5.16 ERA with 5.1 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 183 major league innings.
Indians, Tigers, Mets, Others Interested In Lewis
The Indians, Tigers and Mets are among the seven or eight teams showing interest in Fred Lewis, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). The Blue Jays non-tendered Lewis after acquiring Rajai Davis, making him a free agent.
Lewis, 30 this week, hit .262/.332/.414 in 480 plate appearances for the Blue Jays, who acquired him from the Giants early in the season. Though he mostly played left field, Lewis did play some center and right in 2010. He contributed 31 doubles and 17 steals, mostly as Toronto's leadoff hitter.
Mets Notes: Carrasco, Beltran, Francis, Young
A few Mets notes…
- The Mets are one of six to eight teams with some interest in D.J. Carrasco, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse (on Twitter).
- The Mets are more serious about Young than Francis, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post (on Twitter).
- The Mets will listen on David Wright, Jose Reyes and Beltran, an official of a rival team tells ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (on Twitter). However, a team official tells Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork that it's highly unlikely that the Mets move one of those three players (Twitter link).
- "There is definitely big interest out there" for Carlos Beltran, tweets Newsday's David Lennon. Lennon feels that a healthy Beltran could fetch a nice haul in July.
- The Mets met with Jeff Francis' agents at Frontline, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. As you know, the Mets are also looking at Chris Young. But SI's Jon Heyman tweets that they appear to find Brandon Webb too risky.
- Keep Jerry Hairston Jr. in mind as a possibility for the Mets, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Russell Martin Suitors
5:50pm: The Yankees and Red Sox are in on Martin and the Mets and Blue Jays are less interested, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
4:34pm: The Dodgers have not been in contact with Martin's agent since Thursday, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter).
3:29pm: ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that Martin will be a catcher next year. The Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Mets all examined his medical information in the last day (Twitter links).
3:09pm: The Mets consider Martin too expensive and too much of an injury risk, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
MONDAY, 1:31pm: The Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Mets are also thought to be interested in Martin, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.
FRIDAY, 9:16am: The Yankees, who tried to trade for Russell Martin this week, are one of six teams interested in the 27-year-old free agent, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times reports that the Yankees nearly sent Francisco Cervelli to the Dodgers for Martin (Twitter links). In fact, the Yankees and Dodgers even exchanged medical records on Wednesday.
The Dodgers are nearing a deal with Rod Barajas, but they still have interest in re-signing Martin. Agent Matt Colleran says the Dodgers view his client differently than most teams do.
“They want to continue discussions with the idea that Russ could come back and catch, play second base and third and a little bit out of outfield to see if he likes something like that in the event he ever wants to transition from behind the plate,” Colleran said.
It wouldn't be surprising to see the Royals, Rangers, Mariners, Mets or Brewers look to upgrade behind the plate. ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that Martin, who is from Montreal, wants to play on the East Coast (Twitter link).
Brandon Webb Rumors: Monday
Given the guarantees required to sign Cliff Lee or Carl Pavano, Brandon Webb must appeal to many teams even after missing almost all of the last two seasons. The latest on the sinkerballer:
- The Cubs, Nationals, and Rangers remain in the mix for Webb, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. The righty's surgeon issued a positive report for 2011, according to Crasnick (Twitter link). The Mets appear to think Webb is too risky, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.
- The Pirates' pursuit of Webb appears to have gone cold, writes Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Kovacevic says the Bucs have not been in touch with him since November 22nd.