Derek Jeter Rumors: Friday
Not only are the Yankees close to signing Mariano Rivera to a two-year deal, negotiations with Derek Jeter seemed to take a step forward yesterday. The Yankees increased their offer to Jeter and agent Casey Close lowered his asking price. Here are the latest updates on Jeter and the Yankees:
- "Significant progress" has been made between Jeter and the club over the last two days, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.
- The Yankees are still waiting to hear Jeter's response to their most recent proposal, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- The Yankees are hesitant to add a guaranteed fourth year, though they are willing to offer Jeter more than $15MM per season, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. If the Yankees do add a fourth year, it would likely be an option triggered by performance.
Olney On Crawford, Berkman, Konerko
The Angels are seen as the favorites to sign Carl Crawford and we know the Red Sox met with him and his representatives, but it looks like at least one more American League team has strong interest in the left fielder. ESPN.com's Buster Olney has the details:
- The Yankees are very much engaged in conversations with Crawford, though it's unclear whether they have the flexibility to spend on him and Cliff Lee (Twitter links). The Yankees plan to set up a meeting with Crawford, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).
- The A's are targeting Lance Berkman enthusiastically, but they haven't started talking salary with him (Twitter link).
- The White Sox still appear to be the favorites to sign Paul Konerko, Olney writes. The Orioles and Cubs appear to be in on the first baseman, but the Diamondbacks may no longer be bidding for him.
- Olney says the Nationals missed out on a chance to extend Adam Dunn or recoup more value for him.
- Olney boldly predicts that the Yankees will reach an agreement with Derek Jeter today.
Interesting Non-Tenders
By our unofficial count, 50 players were non-tendered yesterday. You can sort the decisions by team in our non-tender tracker. Those that reached our playing time requirements have been added to the 2011 free agents list, which is robust at the moment. Let's take a look at some of the more interesting non-tenders.
- Bobby Jenks, RP. There are plenty of good right-handed relievers available, but if you take Mariano Rivera and Rafael Soriano off the board, Jenks might be the best closer. Jenks throws hard and posted huge strikeout and groundball rates this year, so he should find multiple years and at least $5MM per.
- Russell Martin, C. Martin was once one of the game's best catchers, but his performance waned and he's recovering from a hip fracture. There aren't a ton of starting catching gigs available, however. The Yankees nearly acquired Martin on Thursday for Francisco Cervelli, tweets Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times.
- Jack Cust, LF/RF/DH. Cust doesn't impress defensively, but not too many free agents can match a .395 OBP.
- Edwin Encarnacion, 3B. Another defensively-challenged player, Encarnacion hit 21 home runs in 367 plate appearances this year. Someone will give him a shot in a weak market for third basemen.
- Andrew Miller, SP. The former first-round pick is a project at this point, with his velocity down and walks up.
- Joel Peralta, RP. He's not a hard-thrower but it's difficult to argue with a 2.02 ERA, 9.0 K/9, and 1.7 BB/9. He is an extreme flyball pitcher though.
- Jose Veras, RP. Veras has control issues, but he did rack up strikeouts this year and averaged 94.4 mph on his fastball.
- Fourth outfielder types: Matt Diaz, Ryan Church, Tony Gwynn, Lastings Milledge, and Scott Hairston.
- Former setup types: Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, and George Sherrill.
- Interesting pitchers coming back from shoulder surgery: J.P. Howell, John Maine, Chien-Ming Wang.
American League Non-Tenders
This post will list all the American League players non-tendered today, but the best place to track all 200+ arbitration eligible players is our new non-tender tracker.
- Blue Jays: Fred Lewis, Jeremy Accardo
- Red Sox: Hideki Okajima, Andrew Miller, Taylor Buchholz
- Mariners: Ryan Rowland-Smith
- Rays: Lance Cormier, Willy Aybar, Dioner Navarro, J.P. Howell
- Royals: Josh Fields
- Rangers: Dustin Nippert
- Angels: Kevin Frandsen
- Athletics: Jack Cust, Travis Buck, Edwin Encarnacion
- Yankees: Alfredo Aceves, Dustin Moseley
- Orioles: Matt Albers
- White Sox: Bobby Jenks, Erick Threets
- Tigers: Zach Miner
Minor Deals: Gotay, Rays, Duckworth, Carlyle
A number of former big leaguers agreed to minor league deals today. Here are the details:
- The Marlins signed Ruben Gotay, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). The 27-year-old hasn't appeared in the majors since 2008, but he led the Pacific Coast League in walks and posted an .845 OPS last year.
- The Rays announced that they signed five players, including righty Cory Wade and lefty R.J. Swindle, to minor league deals. Wade, 27, spent last year in the minors, but he pitched for the Dodgers in 2008-09. He has a 3.18 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 99 big league innings. Swindle is another 27-year-old who spent the 2010 season in the minors. He posted a 2.45 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 55 innings for the Rays' Triple-A affiliate. Like Wade, Swindle could prove useful for the 2011 Rays, who are building a bullpen on a budget.
- The Reds signed outfielder David Cook, according to Eddy (on Twitter). The 29-year-old has a .258/.369/.468 line in eight minor league seasons.
- The Red Sox signed right-hander Brandon Duckworth, according to Eddy (on Twitter). The 34-year-old spent the 2010 season pitching for the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate, where he posted a 3.32 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. He has a 5.28 ERA in parts of eight big league seasons.
- The Yankees signed right-hander Buddy Carlyle to a minor league deal, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Carlyle, 32, spent the 2010 season in Japan after posting a 5.61 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in parts of six big league seasons.
- The D'Backs signed David Winfree, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The 25-year-old has a .273/.319/.448 line in his eight-year minor league career.
Derek Jeter Rumors: Thursday
3:09pm: The Yankees have increased their offer to Jeter by an unknown amount, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
2:28pm: The Yankees informed Close today they're willing to improve upon their three-year, $45MM offer to Jeter, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark. Jeter's side lowered their request, adds SI's Jon Heyman on Twitter.
8:03am: Derek Jeter and his agent Casey Close reached out to the Yankees to set up Tuesday's meeting in Tampa, report Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. Hal Steinbrenner, Randy Levine, and Brian Cashman attended for the Yankees.
Money and years were not discussed, say Feinsand and Madden. Instead, the meeting concluded with the Yankees' brass asking Close for ideas on how to bridge the large gap. The tenor of the meeting was cordial, reports Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times. Close did not get back to them on Wednesday.
The Yankees were emboldened by Troy Tulowitzki's new deal, in he has a $15.7MM average salary over the next ten seasons and Cashman and company offered Jeter $15MM per year. Of course, the new part of Tulowitzki's contract is $134MM over seven years from 2014-20, which comes to $19.1MM per year. To include Tulowitzki's low 2011 and '12 salaries in an average would be disingenuous, since those weren't potential free agent seasons for him. At any rate, MLB is pleased that the Yankees have not gone overboard on their Jeter offer, report Feinsand and Madden.
Yankees Re-Sign Sergio Mitre
The Yankees have re-signed Sergio Mitre to a one-year, $900K deal, reports Jerry Crasnick of ESPN (via Twitter). The right-hander could earn up to $200K more through incentives. Mitre was entering his third year of arbitration eligibility.
Mitre appeared in 27 games for the Yanks in 2010, registering a 3.33 ERA with 4.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. While the 29-year-old didn't start many games for the Bombers last season, he does have 64 career starts to his credit, giving the Yankees an option as a spot starter.
Rangers To Make Lee An Official Offer
4:23pm: The Rangers met with Lee in Arkansas yesterday, GM Jon Daniels confirmed to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Daniels declined to say whether the team has made Lee a formal offer.
10:39am: The Yankees haven’t made Lee an offer, a source tells Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com. In fact, agent Darek Braunecker isn’t looking for proposals just yet.
“He really doesn't want any offers until next week,” Matthews’ source said. “He wants to be the ringmaster at the winter meetings. I don't expect anything to get done until after that."
8:50am: The Rangers are on the verge of making Cliff Lee an official offer, according to George A. King III of the New York Post. A source tells King that the Rangers are prepared to offer a five-year deal and believe the Yankees have already offered a five or six-year deal. Though Lee’s agent wouldn’t confirm specifics, he did acknowledge that talks are progressing.
"We are starting to move stuff along," Darek Braunecker told the Post.
If the Rangers lose Lee to the Yankees, they will likely consider trading for Zack Greinke. The Royals like Rangers prospects Martin Perez and Tanner Scheppers, according to King.
Though Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported that Greinke would not necessarily mind pitching in the Bronx, the Yankees aren’t so sure. They don’t believe that the right-hander wants to pitch for them, according to King.
Heyman On Greinke, Pettitte, Astros, Guerrero
An acquaintance of Zack Greinke's told Jon Heyman of SI.com that the 2009 Cy Young Award winner is "ready" to leave Kansas City. Yahoo's Jeff Passan reported that Greinke's priority is winning, but that doesn't mean we'll see him in Yankee pinstripes. The pitcher's friends say New York would not be a good fit. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:
- People close to Andy Pettitte tell Heyman the lefty would prefer to remain a Yankee.
- Just about everyone expects Cliff Lee to sign with the Yankees or Rangers, but Heyman says a couple clubs are "laying in the weeds." The Astros are one team with quiet interest.
- As much as the Rangers want Vladimir Guerrero back, they seem reluctant to give him a multiyear deal.
- The Dodgers will try to sign Russell Martin by tomorrow's non-tender deadline.
Optimism Between Jeter, Yankees
WEDNESDAY, 10:59am: It appears that the Yankees told Jeter they'll raise their opening $45MM bid to the $50MM range, according to Heyman (on Twitter).
TUESDAY, 10:28pm: The Yankees and Derek Jeter are becoming optimistic about reaching a new deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). The sides are having conversations designed to kickstart an agreement, Heyman reports.
Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News reported earlier tonight that agent Casey Close recently reached out to the Yankees to move negotiations forward. Both sides are in Tampa, where they met today, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Just last week, the sides appeared to be tens of millions of dollars apart and GM Brian Cashman encouraged Jeter to test the open market. It seems likely that the shortstop will return to the Bronx, but that hasn't stopped Beckett from imagining what Jeter would look like in all 29 other uniforms.