Mets To Non-Tender Pelfrey, Acosta, Torres
The Mets plan to non-tender Mike Pelfrey, Manny Acosta and Andres Torres this week, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. Barring an unexpected trade or change in plans, the Mets will decline to offer the players arbitration, and they'll become free agents.
The Mets remain open to re-signing Pelfrey for less than the $5.875MM he earned this past season. However, agent Scott Boras may look to place Pelfrey in a starting role as he continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and the Mets' rotation seems full.
All three players appeared on Tim Dierkes' list of non-tender candidates. Pelfrey projected to earn $5.7MM if tendered a contract; Torres projected to earn $3.2MM; Acosta projected to earn $1.1MM. Be sure to follow Friday's tender decisions using MLBTR's Non-Tender Tracker.
New York Notes: Dickey, Wright, Martin, Ichiro
It's been a busy baseball day in New York, as the Mets made David Wright a nine-figure contract offer while the Yankees moved closer to re-signing Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. Here's the latest out of the Big Apple…
- "Negotiations are progressing, that's all I can really say about it," said R.A. Dickey when asked about contract talks with the Mets during an appearance on ESPN's Mike & Mike (audio link). The knuckleballer admitted to being loyal to the club since they gave him a chance when others passed.
- David Lennon of Newsday says (on Twitter) it appears the Mets want to sign Wright to a new contract before wrapping things up with Dickey.
- Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York hears Russell Martin is seeking a four-year contract worth $9-10MM annually (Twitter link). He doesn't believe the Yankees will go that far.
- Joel Sherman of The New York Post reports (on Twitter) the Yankees are not having serious talks with Ichiro Suzuki at this time.
Quick Hits: Giants, Cardinals, Wright
After a relatively quiet Thanksgiving week, it’s time for MLB teams to resume their offseasons. The Rays completed a historic deal today, signing Evan Longoria to an extension that will keep him in Tampa Bay through at least 2022. Here are some more news items as teams gear up for next week’s Winter Meetings…
- The Giants each obtained $377K for winning the World Series and the Tigers obtained $284K each for winning the AL pennant, according to the Sports Network (via the Miami Herald). Check out the article for the complete details on how the $65MM players' pool was divided between the ten playoff teams.
- Speaking of the Giants, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle hasn’t heard anything to suggest the Giants are in on Michael Bourn or B.J. Upton (Sulia link).
- The Cardinals continue looking for a left-handed reliever, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. GM John Mozeliak said he believes in Marc Rzepczynski but intends to find another lefty reliever. "When he was a one-man band out there he didn’t pitch as well," the GM said. "That’s why we need to find someone.” Mozeliak repeated that he's open to signing a reliever to a multiyear deal.
- The Mets haven’t yet seriously explored trade options involving David Wright, Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal reports (on Twitter). The club could explore potential trades eventually, but for now they remain hopeful of signing the third baseman to an extension.
- Teams are concerned about Dan Haren’s hip, not his back, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (on Twitter). Haren’s bad hip won’t prevent teams from showing interest, according to Olney.
- Jason Grilli and Stephen Drew are among the undervalued free agents remaining on the open market, Jim Bowden writes at ESPN.com.
Mets Acquire Brandon Hicks
The Mets acquired Brandon Hicks from the Athletics for cash considerations, the teams announced. The infielder had been designated for assignment on November 20th.
The A’s claimed Hicks off of waivers from Atlanta in Spring Training and he appeared in 22 games at the MLB level. The 27-year-old right-handed hitter spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he hit 18 home runs and posted a .244/.350/.506 batting line in 383 plate appearances. He played shortstop, second base and first base with the A’s this year.
Mets To Sign Tim Byrdak
The Mets will sign Tim Byrdak to a minor league deal, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. Mike Silva first reported the sides were close to a deal, and the Mets have since confirmed the agreement (Twitter links). Mike Mosa of Only Baseball Players represents Byrdak, who turned 39 last month.
It's unclear whether Byrdak will contribute in 2013. He underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder in September, while also undergoing a minor knee operation. In 30 2/3 innings over the course of 56 appearances this past season, Byrdak posted a 4.40 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9. Those numbers match up with his career 4.30 ERA and his career strikeout (8.7 K/9) and walk (5.4 BB/9) numbers.
East Notes: Yankees, Wright, Mets, Orioles, Hamilton
While the Yankees get a lot of flack for stockpiling veterans, Joel Sherman of the New York Post doesn't believe that having an older team is inherently problematic. Older players can often clog things up for promising young players but in the Yankees' case, veterans are actually helping the club stall for time as they wait for Michael Pineda or Manuel Banuelos to bounce back from arm surgeries. Here's more out of the AL and NL East..
- Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes that the Mets can't overspend on David Wright or R.A. Dickey just to satisfy fans. The Mets are understandably more open to a contract extension for Wright than they are for Dickey and the third baseman's value is much easier to peg. Wright and the Mets can start from the Nationals' deal with Ryan Zimmerman (six-years, $100MM) while there's no easy comparison for a 38-year-old knuckleballer at Dickey's level.
- Orioles Executive Vice President Dan Duquette told Jim Bowden of SiriusXM (via Twitter) that the club should not be expected to go after "high ticket" acquisitions this winter and doesn't see them doing anything as major as the Blue Jays' mega-deal. The O's have been mentioned as a player for Josh Hamilton but ESPN.com's Buster Olney recently cautioned that they're not expected to be overly aggressive in their pursuit of him.
- However, the Baltimore exec wouldn't completely rule out a play for Hamilton or Zack Greinke, Bowden tweets. However, it doesn't seem like they plan on being serious contenders for either free agent given their financial constraints and Duquette's other comments in the interview.
- Also from the SiriusXM interview (transcript provided by Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com), Duquette discussed Friday's deadline to offer arbitration to Mark Reynolds. "If we bring back Mark Reynolds, that will help our ballclub," Duquette said. "If we don't bring back Mark Reynolds, I know we have some people in-house that are very capable of doing that job." On Thanksgiving, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes named Reynolds a non-tender candidate.
Edward Creech contributed to this post.
This Date In Transactions History: Marlins Fire Sale
Two weeks ago, the Marlins agreed to send basically every player making decent money on their roster to the Blue Jays for a package of prospects. The 12-player blockbuster became official a week ago, leaving Miami with just three players scheduled to make $2MM+ in 2013. Ricky Nolasco ($11.5MM) and Yunel Escobar ($5MM) could both still be moved before the end of the winter as well.
This isn't the first time the Marlins have torn things down and rebuilt from scratch, of course. They did it immediately following their 1997 World Series win, then again a few years after bringing home the 2003 World Championship. On this date in 2005, the team officially swung a pair of trades sending three of their highest paid players elsewhere.
Trade #1: Boston Red Sox
Josh Beckett, then just 25, was coming off a 3.38 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 178 2/3 innings for Florida. He earned $2.4MM in 2005 and was due a significant raise in his second trip through arbitration, plus the team was unlikely to re-sign him long-term when he hit free agency after 2007.
Beckett had significant trade value, so the Marlins took advantage by attaching then-31-year-old Mike Lowell to him in talks. If a team wanted Beckett, they had to take Lowell as well. The third baseman slipped to .236/.298/.360 with eight homers in 558 plate appearances that year, but more importantly he was scheduled to earn $18MM total from 2006-2007.
Few teams could meet Florida's demand for a young shortstop, but the Red Sox were one of them. The two sides worked out a seven-player trade that sent Beckett, Lowell, and Guillermo Mota to Boston in exchange for prospects Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Harvey Garcia, and Jesus Delgado. The Marlins saved all $18MM owed to Lowell in addition to second- and third-year arbitration salaries for Beckett and a third-year arbitration salary for Mota. The trade worked out well for both teams as Beckett and Lowell helped the Red Sox to the 2007 World Championship while Ramirez developed into an MVP candidate and Sanchez became a rock solid innings-eater for the Marlins.
Trade #2: New York Mets
During the 2004-2005 offseason, Florida landed the top free agent slugger by signing Carlos Delgado to a four-year, $52MM contract with a fifth-year vesting option. The then-33-year-old hit .301/.399/.582 with 33 homers in the first year of the contract, good enough to earn him a sixth-place finish in the MVP voting. However, like the contracts of Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle, Delgado's deal with the Marlins was heavily backloaded. He earned just $4MM in 2005, then his salary was scheduled to jump to $13.5MM in 2006, $14.5MM in 2007, $16MM in 2008, and potentially $12MM in 2009 if the option vested ($4MM buyout).
Rather than pay him that huge salary over the next three years, the Marlins traded Delgado to the Mets for three minor leaguers: Yusmeiro Petit, Mike Jacobs, and Grant Psomas. The Mets also received $7MM from Florida in the trade, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to the $48MM left on the contract. Delgado hit .265/.349/.505 with 100 homers during his first three years with New York, which was enough for the team to exercise his option even though it didn't vest. Jacobs had three decent years with the Marlins while Petit and Psomas flamed out, but the real get for the club was the $41MM in payroll savings. Combined with the Red Sox swap, the Marlins shed more than $59MM in contract obligations with these two moves seven years ago today.
Sherman On Blue Jays, Royals, Dickey
Though the Blue Jays and Royals have already added to their respective rotations this winter, they might not be done. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Blue Jays are still looking for a top of the rotation starter and the Royals look as if they need one, too. Here are more notes from Sherman…
- Many executives tell Sherman they plan to investigate the trade market for pitching more thoroughly given the expected cost of free agent starters.
- Rival executives suggested to Sherman that the Mets could ask for more in a trade involving R.A. Dickey if they grant the acquiring team a window for discussing an extension.
- For example, the Blue Jays might be more willing to surrender players such as Travis d’Arnaud, J.P. Arencibia, Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Sanchez if they had the chance to talk extension with Dickey. To be clear Sherman isn’t saying the Blue Jays and Mets will necessarily discuss these specific players.
New York Notes: Kuroda, Pettitte, Wright, Dickey
The Yankees' new deal with Hiroki Kuroda is the biggest baseball story out of the Big Apple today, but here are some more items from both the Yankees and the Mets…
- "Everyone [I] talk to seems confident [Andy Pettitte] will return" to pitch in 2013, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Pettitte will surely want a significant raise from his $2.5MM salary in 2012, Sherman warns.
- Also from Sherman, he believes the Yankees will make "bold" one-year contracts akin to their deal with Kuroda, as the team is comfortable signing veterans to short-term deals. The Yankees will also look for less-expensive "Freddy Garcia type" pitchers later in the winter to add depth, though Sherman doesn't mean Garcia specifically. Sherman suggests Dallas Braden as a possible candidate to fit this mold (both links are to Twitter).
- David Wright's chances of signing an extension with the Mets are no better than 50-50, an industry source tells Mike Puma of the New York Post. Wright and his representatives are dissatisfied with the length and guaranteed value of the Mets' offer, as Wright is looking for a contract in the neighborhood of seven years and $125MM. It has been previously reported that the Mets were going to offer Wright a deal worth at least $100MM and that the two sides had exchanged offers.
- Also from Puma, a Mets official is "not sure" if R.A. Dickey wouldn't be traded even if he did sign an extension. Some in the industry believe Dickey could look for some type of no-trade clause in any new contract with the team.
- Mets COO Jeff Wilpon told reporters (including MLB.com's Anthony DiComo) that he is "more optimistic" than he was two months ago about completing extensions for Wright and Dickey. Wilpon said that trading either player would be the Mets' third option, behind signing them long-term and beginning the season with both men still on the roster. "They're both under contract. This is not a free-agent situation. This is not an arbitration situation. They're both under contract. We have all the flexibility in the world with that," Wilpon said.
Minor Moves: Rice, Romak, Twins
The latest minor moves from around MLB…
- The Mets announced that they agreed to sign left-hander Scott Rice to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training. Rice, 31, has a 4.08 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 14 minor league seasons.
- The Mets also signed outfielder Jamie Hoffmann to a minor league contract, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. The 28-year-old spent this past season with the Orioles' Triple-A team.
- The Cardinals agreed to a minor league contract with first baseman/right fielder Jamie Romak, MLBTR has learned. The Cardinals acquired the 27-year-old from the Royals midway through the 2012 season. In 442 total plate appearances in the upper minors, Romak posted a .260/.336/.406 batting line and hit 10 home runs and 21 doubles this past season.
- The Blue Jays signed infielder Jim Negrych to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports (on Twitter).
- The Twins announced that they signed 12 players to minor league contracts that include invitations to MLB Spring Training: right-handers Samuel Deduno, Shairon Martis, Luis Perdomo, Esmerling Vasquez and P.J. Walters; outfielders Brian Dinkleman and Wilkin Ramirez; infielders James Beresford and Deibinson Romero and catcher Eric Fryer. Right-hander Tom Boleska and infielder Jason Christian also signed minor league deals with the Twins.