Astros Claim Mickey Storey
The Astros claimed righty Mickey Storey off waivers from the Yankees, according to the team. The Yanks had claimed Storey off waivers from Houston on November 20th, but designated him for assignment five days ago. Now, Storey is back with Houston.
Storey, 26, posted a 3.86 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.59 HR/9, and 37.5% groundball rate in 30 1/3 relief innings this year, his rookie season. He was successful at Triple-A as well.
Youkilis Has One-Year, $12MM Offer From Yanks
Yesterday it was reported that Kevin Youkilis is weighing offers from multiple teams, with the Indians in particular in hot pursuit. Here's a look at today's Youkilis rumors, with the latest coming on top…
- The Mariners are among the teams interested in Youkilis, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
- The Yankees' offer to Youkilis is for one-year and $12MM, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (on Twitter). He has two-year offers from others in the $16-18MM range, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- In case you missed it overnight, talks between Youk and the White Sox never progressed to an advanced stage despite both sides being clear on what the other wanted.
Overnight Links: Burnett, Phillies, Giants, Rays
It's the middle of the night, but news rarely stops coming in over the course of baseball's Winter Meetings. Here are some links from around the baseball world for those who are still awake…
- One of the reasons that Sean Burnett's two-year, $8MM deal with the Angels was so affordable was because he had surgery to remove a bone spur this offseason, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. For comparison, Jeremy Affeldt signed for three years and $18MM.
- Danny Knobler of CBS Sports writes that the Phillies have a list of five center field targets that includes Michael Bourn, Josh Hamilton, Dexter Fowler, Curtis Granderson and Ben Revere. This is the first they've been linked to Revere, who Knobler says the Twins will move for young pitching despite already having traded Denard Span.
- Scott Boras told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle that he's spoken to Giants team president Larry Baer about established closers like Rafael Soriano and Jose Valverde (Twitter link). There doesn't seem to be a match there in my opinion, given Sergio Romo's excellence and reports that the Giants are at their payroll threshold.
- The Rays have hired former Astros scouting director Bobby Heck as as special assignment scout, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
AL East Notes: Rays, Yankees
The Orioles' re-signing of left fielder Nate McLouth sums up the Winter Meetings Day 3 action coming out of the AL East. The latest around the division:
- The Rays pursued right fielder Nate Schierholtz to the end and finished a close second, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Schierholtz ultimately signed a one-year, $2.25MM deal with the Cubs.
- "There's a few potential outcomes that are really exciting to us and we're going to work toward trying to make them materialize," Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times earlier today.
- The Yankees never made offers to Jeff Keppinger and Eric Chavez, tweets Jack Curry of YES Network.
- Scott Boras questioned the Yankees' choice to reduce payroll, according to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. Responded president Randy Levine, "Scott’s a great agent, but he’s an agent. Last I looked, he had zero experience running a professional sports team. I think the Yankees have done pretty well following our own course. My advice to Scott is stick to your day job representing players."
Latest On Nate Schierholtz
5:52pm: The Braves have interest in Schierholtz, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
1:00pm: The Orioles made an offer to Schierholtz that was turned down this morning, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. The O's eventually inked Nate McLouth.
9:27am: Having generated plenty of interest since hitting the free agent market last week, Nate Schierholtz is making "good progress" toward a new deal, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney. Olney adds that the Yankees are the early favorites to land the 28-year-old (Twitter links).
Schierholtz was traded by the Giants to the Phillies in the deadline deal that sent Hunter Pence to San Francisco. For the season, the outfielder hit .257/.321/.407 in 269 plate appearances. Despite a potential arbitration cost of around $1.6MM, according to MLBTR's projections, the Phillies elected not to tender Schierholtz a contract for 2013.
Yankees, Indians Met With Mark Reynolds’ Agent
The Yankees met with the agent for free agent corner infielder Mark Reynolds today, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. Hoch says Reynolds is aiming for a salary similar to the $7.5MM he made in 2012. The Indians also met with Reynolds' agent, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
As we learned yesterday, Reynolds appears to be pretty popular in free agency. The Yankees are not a perfect fit, as Reynolds is better-regarded as a first baseman.
Mariners, Phillies, Rangers Interested In Ibanez
The Yankees missed out on a couple of their free agent targets today when Jeff Keppinger and Eric Chavez agreed to deals with the White Sox and Diamondbacks respectively. Now, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that the Yanks could lose out on another free agent, as postseason hero Raul Ibanez is drawing interest from the Mariners, Phillies, and Rangers.
We heard back in November that there was mutual interest in a reunion between the Yankees and Ibanez. However, a report earlier today suggested that the Mariners were pushing hard for the veteran, with New York not moving as aggressively. Ibanez has history in Seattle and Philadelphia, as well as New York.
The Yanks have talked to Ibanez's agent in Nashville, GM Brian Cashman confirmed last night.
Quick Hits: Rockies, Bonifacio, Oliver, Ibanez
The Winter Meetings rumors continue to fly in, so let's round up another batch of them….
- The Rockies have told reps for free agents that they're attempting to acquire a pitcher via trade, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Colorado would also like to bring back Jeff Francis on a minor league deal, tweets Renck.
- Although he indicated last night that Emilio Bonifacio could be available, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets today that the Blue Jays don't want to move him, "at least not yet."
- Darren Oliver remains undecided about whether he'll play in 2013, and hasn't requested a trade, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Blue Jays have exercised their '13 team option on the left-hander.
- The Astros are planning to take two players in tomorrow's Rule 5 draft, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
- The Mariners remain in play for virtually every available hitter, tweets Knobler. Among their targets is Raul Ibanez, who the M's are "pushing" for, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Ibanez would prefer to rejoin the Yankees, but New York hasn't been as aggressive as Seattle, tweets Sherman.
- According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), the Yankees bid higher than the White Sox for Jeff Keppinger, but the utility infielder chose Chicago.
- In addition to Keppinger, the White Sox plan to bring in another infielder and a catcher, assuming A.J. Pierzynski leaves, tweets MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
Youkilis Has Multiple Offers; Indians In Pursuit
2:33pm: The Indians are "stepping up their intensity" in pursuit of Youkilis, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).
11:14am: Speier clarifies that Youkilis has multiple multiyear offers on the table, though he'd still be open to one-year deals, particularly from teams with championship aspirations.
10:46am: Agent Joe Bick has a number of follow-up meetings lined up with teams interested in Youkilis, who could make a decision today, tweets Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
10:07am: With a number of teams searching for help at third base, Kevin Youkilis has generated plenty of interest at the Winter Meetings and has multiple contract offers on the table, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
Reports from Nashville have suggested that both the Indians and Yankees have met with Youkilis' agent this week. However, according to Speier, the Yanks may not be interested in paying the market rate for Youkilis, even on a one-year deal. The former Red Sox is open to both one-year and multiyear offers, says Speier.
Afternoon Rumors: Hairston, Royals, Yanks, M’s
Jeff Keppinger, Eric Chavez, Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, and Wil Nieves have all reached contract agreements this afternon in Nashville. Which moves might be coming next? Let's round up a few of the latest rumors from the Winter Meetings….
- The Mets are reluctant to commit to a two-year deal for Scott Hairston, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal adds that the Mets could net a catcher in a trade involving R.A. Dickey or other players. Given the context, I assume he means an outfielder, though the Mets are seeking a backstop as well.
- Like the Brewers, the Royals may not be able to afford an arm like Anibal Sanchez or Kyle Lohse unless the team clears some salary, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. Kansas City has remained in touch with both pitchers though.
- The Yankees have been exchanging trade proposals with other teams for a variety of players, including Curtis Granderson, tweets ESPN.com's Buster Olney, who cautions that that's "standard procedure."
- Seattle's payroll is expected to rise above $90MM, so the Mariners could afford to add one big-money player, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Josh Hamilton would be a tight fit though, Heyman adds.
- Although the Angels are interested in Brandon McCarthy, they've yet to speak to his people in Nashville, says ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter).