Mets Rumors

Wang Has Offers, Could Sign Soon

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 9, 2010 at 5:04pm CDT

5:04pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports that the Nationals are "aggressively pursuing" Wang, and that they are one of the finalists for his services. Ladson adds that it's unknown if they've made him an offer, though.

4:02pm: Chien-Ming Wang has received offers from two clubs and could sign soon, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Mets and Dodgers are not among the teams to offer Wang a contract. Rosenthal hears that the 29-year-old Wang would like to play for Joe Torre again, but Torre's Dodgers are lagging behind in their pursuit of the right-hander. As for the Mets, they're even further behind than the Dodgers.

The Orioles have discussed Wang and the Cardinals, Nationals and Phillies have all been connected to him this offseason. Rosenthal says the Blue Jays were in on Erik Bedard and wonders if they could pursue Wang, too.

Wang, who is recovering from arthroscopic shoulder surgery, will likely make a decision within a week or ten days.

Orioles Have Some Interest In Jarrod Washburn

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 9, 2010 at 3:49pm CDT

The Orioles have some interest in Jarrod Washburn, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. However, Morosi's source says that Scott Boras would have to lower his client's price "pretty far" for the Orioles to become serious bidders for Washburn.

We've been hearing for a while that Washburn would prefer to pitch for the Twins or Mariners. Playing in the AL East would be a difficult way for the lefty to re-establish his value.

The Orioles are unlikely to add Todd Wellemeyer, Braden Looper or John Smoltz, according to Morosi's source. Two clubs who are looking for bargain starters: the pitching-deep Blue Jays and the Mets.

Mets Claim Jason Pridie

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 9, 2010 at 2:11pm CDT

The Mets claimed Jason Pridie off waivers from the Twins, according to a team press release. The move opens up room on the 40-man roster for recent acquisition Orlando Hudson. Pridie, 26, has appeared in 11 major league games, all for the Twins.

Last year Pridie hit .265/.295/.382 in 546 plate appearances in his second full season at Triple A. The Twins obtained him in the 2007 trade that sent Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett to the Rays for Brendan Harris and Delmon Young. Minnesota added potential outfield depth today, signing Jacque Jones.

Mets Re-Engaged On Chris Snyder; No Deal

By Tim Dierkes | February 9, 2010 at 9:53am CDT

The Mets recently re-engaged the Diamondbacks in trade talks for catcher Chris Snyder, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. However, Sherman says there will be no deal because the Mets wanted the D'Backs to assume almost all of the $4.75MM Snyder will earn in 2010.

Snyder is also owed $5.75MM in 2011 and a $750K buyout on a 2012 club option. He'll turn 29 in a few days and is coming off September back surgery. On January 20th, the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro did a piece examing the pros and cons of trading Snyder from the D'Backs' point of view.

Sherman takes the re-engagement on Snyder as a sign that the Mets would like to improve upon their current catching options – Omir Santos, Josh Thole, and Henry Blanco. Sherman recommends the Mets go after free agent Rod Barajas.

Sherman also advises the Mets allocate some of the money earmarked for Joel Pineiro and Bengie Molina toward free agents such as Russell Branyan, Kiko Calero, Felipe Lopez, and Jarrod Washburn. MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone would like to see at least some of those players pursued.

Odds & Ends: Hudson, Red Sox, Bedard, Mets

By Mike Axisa | February 7, 2010 at 8:19pm CDT

A Super batch of links..

In a piece for Fangraphs, Dave Cameron writes that the Twins are in the mix for the best offseason in baseball. Earlier this week, Minnesota agreed to a one-year deal with Orlando Hudson for just $5MM and appear to be close to locking up Joe Mauer.
Even former Met Darryl Strawberry offered up a critique of the Mets' quiet offseason, writes Newsday's David Lennon. Strawberry said that the offseason "could have been better," when asked about it. Lennon's piece looks at some offseason targets that never became a reality for New York.
Following up on yesterday's news that Bobby Kielty is converting to a pitcher, MLBTR heard from Kielty himself via email. Kielty says his ultimate goal is to be a right-handed bat off the bench and eat up some relief innings if necessary. He threw some bullpens for the Mets last season and has thrown for Oakland as well. Kielty says he reads MLBTR every day. Thanks for the support, Bobby!
Peter Abraham has the full list of players who will be with the Red Sox in training camp this year.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reports that Erik Bedard seriously considered an offer from the Orioles similar to the deal he signed to return to Seattle.
Joel Sherman of The New York Post spoke one agent about the Mets, who said "How can you have that payroll and still not have a starting catcher or first baseman, a second baseman you hate and no legitimate starters after Johan?”
Paul Lo Duca is unlikely to accept a minor league assignment if he doesn't make the Rockies, reports Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post. Colorado signed Lo Duca to a minor league deal in January.
Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that Pirates' GM Neal Huntington admitted that there are "a lot of rumblings" that prospect Jose Tabata might actually be in his mid-20's. Tabata's listed age is 21, and ESPN's Keith Law ranked him as the 57th best prospect in baseball last month. The Pirates originally acquired Tabata from the Yankees in 2008 as part of the Xavier Nady–Damaso Marte trade.

Cafardo’s Latest: Beckett, Red Sox, Twins, Lowry

By Mike Axisa | February 7, 2010 at 9:49am CDT

The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo has plenty of rumors from around the league for us this morning, so let's round them all up…

The Red Sox are likely to use Roy Halladay's three-year, $60MM deal "minus $6 million-$8 million" as a guideline for a potential Josh Beckett extension rather than John Lackey's five-year, $82.5MM deal. The reason being that they have some concern about the long-term health of his shoulder.
If another team comes offering Beckett big money after the season, the Sox will move on just as they did with Jason Bay. They could then look into free agents like Cliff Lee, who they pursued at the trade deadline, or even Ben Sheets and Brandon Webb if they bounce back from injury problems of their own.
With all of their additions this offseason, the Twins' payroll will jump from $65M to about $96M as they move into Target Field this year. GM Bill Smith said it will be up to manager Ron Gardenhire to determine how they use Jim Thome, and that they did their homework on Orlando Hudson's left wrist, which has given him trouble the last few seasons.
Minnesota's payroll will be larger than the Dodgers' this year.
The Red Sox watched Noah Lowry's recent workout, but "don't appear interested in signing him."
Dodgers' third base coach Larry Bowa said he knows that Manny Ramirez still wants to play another three or four years.
Two big league executives feel that the Giants and Tim Lincecum will settle on a contract before an arbitration hearing.
One reason the Cubs signed Kevin Millar was to loosen up the clubhouse after the Milton Bradley fiasco last season.
Drayton McLane is reportedly seeking $700MM to part with the Astros, but it's tough to see someone coming up with that when the Rangers sold for approximately $575MM.

Odds & Ends: Kielty, Ruiz, Gillick, Santos

By Mike Axisa | February 6, 2010 at 1:45pm CDT

Saturday morning links…

Arangure (via Twitter) writes that the A's have agreed to terms with Michael Feliz, a right-hander from the Dominican Republic. The deal, which is still pending a physical and an age investigation, will provide Feliz with an $800K bonus. The Dominican Prospect League website says that the 6'4, 200-pound hurler is 16-years-old.
Tim tweets that Bobby Kielty is converting to pitching, and that his slider is actually pretty good. The 33-year-old last played in the big leagues back in 2007, when he was still an outfielder of course.
ESPN's Jorge Arangure tweets that the Blue Jays, Rockies, and Rangers are the teams most interested in Cuban first baseman Jose Julio Ruiz. Ruiz was recently cleared to sign by the Office of Foreign Asset Control.
Pat Gillick has returned to the Phillies as a senior advisor to president Dave Montgomery, reports Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun. Gillick was the team's GM from 2006-2008.
ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to several talent evaluators, none of whom think Omir Santos is equipped to be a number one catcher. If the season started today, Santos would likely be behind the plate for the Mets.

Odds & Ends: Jackson, Norman, Dye, Lester, Manny

By Mike Axisa | February 5, 2010 at 9:13pm CDT

Some links for Friday night…

MLB.com's Steve Gilbert tweets that the Diamondbacks and Edwin Jackson have made no progress towards reaching an agreement to avoid arbitration. A hearing is set for February 17th.
Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette passes along a report from the independent St. Paul Saints that says that the Pirates have signed 25-year-old outfielder Anthony Norman to a minor league deal.
Several executives told Morosi that they expect Jermaine Dye to sign with an AL club, though no one's sure which one.
WEEI.com's Alex Speier says that Jon Lester's contract is one of the biggest bargains in baseball when you look at the deals Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander just received. Lester signed a five-year deal last March that guaranteed him at least $30MM.
Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times wonders if 2010 could be the final year of Manny Ramirez's career. If so, he has a chance to be just the eighth player in history to retire with a career OPS over 1.000.
ESPN's Keith Law says that the Orlando Hudson signing is a major upgrade for the Twins, likely enough to make them preseason favorites in the AL Central.
Meanwhile, Law thinks it's too risky for the Diamondbacks to give Mark Reynolds a multi-year contract right now. The two-sides have been discussing such a deal recently.
Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com says the Mets are more likely to sign a pitcher rather than another catcher this month.
Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle has some quotes from Travis Buck regarding his standing with the A's following all of their outfield additions, and adds that the team has found some interest in Dana Eveland and Gregorio Petit, both of whom were recently designated for assignment.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Baldelli, Gregg, Blockbusters

By Mike Axisa | February 5, 2010 at 3:05pm CDT

On this date way back in 1935, the Yankees released an aging slugger by the name of Babe Ruth just one day before his 40th birthday so he could sign with the Boston Braves. The Sultan of Swat hit .288/.448/.537 with 22 homers in his final season in New York, easily his worst full season with the team. He went on to hit just .181/.359/.431 with six homers in 28 games for the Braves before retiring in May. Ruth ended his career as a .342/.474/.690 hitter with a then-record 714 homers.

Here's some links from around the web…

TYU wants to see the Yankees invite Rocco Baldelli to Spring Training as a non-roster player.
The Tao of Stieb tries to make sense of the Kevin Gregg addition for the Blue Jays.
Red Legged, Blue Blooded Boilermaker reviews Cincinnati's offseason and projects their 25-man roster.
Fantasy Baseball Junkie examines how players perform after being involved in a blockbuster trade, with a fantasy spin.
More Hardball built a 25-man roster out of players still available on the free agent market.
Camden Crazies looks at how Miguel Tejada may handle the transition to third base.
Flushing University says that the Mets have failed to address their biggest needs this offseason.
MLB News and Rumors compiled prospect lists from all of the different outlets.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Mets, Rockies, Giants Interested In Wellemeyer

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 5, 2010 at 2:36pm CDT

2:36pm: Troy Renck of The Denver Post says that the Giants are the favorite to land Wellemeyer, followed by the Rockies.

2:01pm: Todd Wellemeyer told the Team 1380 in St. Louis that he could sign with the Mets, Rockies or Giants. Tim McKernan of the Team tweets that Wellemeyer hasn't talked to the Cardinals and doesn't expect to return to St. Louis (Hat Tip: Bart Hubbuch).

MLBTR reported earlier this week that the Phillies and D'Backs expressed interest in Wellemeyer, along with the Rockies. The 31-year-old pitched to a 5.89 ERA in 122.1 innings last year, with sub-par rate stats: 5.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.

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