Mets Sign Mike Jacobs
The Mets signed first baseman Mike Jacobs to a minor league deal. The contract pays $900K if he's in the Majors and has another $1.15MM in incentives. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick first reported the near-agreement last night, with SI's Jon Heyman tweeting contract details today.
Jacobs, 29, hit just .228/.297/.401 with 19 homers in 478 plate appearances for the Royals last season, which led to the team declining to tender him a contract. He's the lefty power threat the Mets currently lack, though his .313 career OBP and poor defense are big negatives. He also struggles immensely against southpaws.
Jacobs broke in with the Mets back in 2005, though he was included in the Carlos Delgado trade after that season.
Five Teams Eyeing Endy Chavez
Five teams are eyeing free agent outfielder Endy Chavez, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports: the Mets, Mariners, Blue Jays, Astros, and Royals. Chavez had surgery for a torn ACL in July, and Morosi says he could be ready in April or May.
Chavez, 32, doesn't offer much offensively. His calling card is his defense, which has historically been strong at all three outfield positions. The question is whether his defense will still be an asset post-knee surgery.
Odds & Ends: Lincecum, Jackson, Blalock, Bedard
Some Tuesday night links…
- Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports tweets that neither Tim Lincecum nor the Giants have budged in their negotiations, and his arbitration hearing is set for Friday.
- MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reports (via Twitter) that the Diamondbacks and Edwin Jackson still haven't made any progress towards an agreement. Their arbitration hearing is now just eight days away.
- In addition to having interest in Russell Branyan and Jermaine Dye, the Indians are also talking to Hank Blalock, reports Rosenthal. He adds that the Blue Jays are also in on Branyan.
- In a pair of tweets, Rosenthal passes along the incentives in Erik Bedard's contract. They lefty could bring in $500K each for 14, 17, 20, 23, and 26 starts, plus $600K for every 25 innings after 75.
- Meanwhile, Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com report that Damon hasn't moved off his demand of a two-year deal. Good luck with that, Johnny.
- Morosi and Rosenthal also report that the Rangers and Mets appear to be "hamstrung by complications at the ownership level," meaning they're approaching their payroll limits.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that Astros' GM Ed Wade said the team has some interest in bringing Willy Taveras back on a minor league deal. Oakland released Taveras today.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (via Peter Schmuck) spoke to Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, who indicated that the team has not had recent talks with the agents for Jarrod Washburn or Chien-Ming Wang. The O's were linked to both pitchers earlier today.
- MLB.com's Corey Brock says (via Twitter) that it's "highly unlikely" that the Padres will sign Japanese lefty Hisanori Takahashi. Several teams reportedly offered the southpaw a minor league contract.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Tuesday
We'll keep track of any players that avoid arbitration throughout the day here…
- The Mets and Angel Pagan have agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.45MM, reports Adam Rubin of The New York Daily News. Pagan filed for $1.8MM, the team $1.275MM.
Wang Has Offers, Could Sign Soon
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
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.
Mets Claim Jason Pridie
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
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
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
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.