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Jason Bay Rumors: Tuesday

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9:45am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post says (via Twitter) that Bay, Johnny Damon and Matt Holliday remain too expensive for the Yankees.

8:49am: There were indications that Jason Bay and his representatives were active yesterday, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. The Mets, who are bidding against themselves at the moment, are hesitant to expand their four year offer unless they know which other teams are interested.

The Red Sox never budged from a four-year offer because of concerns about Bay's shoulder and knee, Silverman says. They're not frontrunners to re-sign the left fielder now, but it's too early to rule the Red Sox and Yankees out completely.

Yesterday, we heard that the Mets' offer to Bengie Molina may hinge on their negotiations with Bay, so Bay's decision will influence more than just the outfield market.

Yankees Sign Mike Rivera

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The Yankees signed catcher Mike Rivera to a minor league contract, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Rivera had been non-tendered by the Brewers on the December 12th deadline.

Rivera, 33, hit .228/.326/.342 in 132 plate appearances this year as Jason Kendall's backup, missing time with an ankle sprain.  He caught 271 innings.  If the Yankees give big league playing time to Rivera and are happy with his performance, they can retain him in future seasons as an arbitration-eligible player.

Yankees Aiming To Add Starter Soon

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Yankees GM Brian Cashman will "almost certainly add a starter by New Year's," reports Mike Puma of the New York Post.  Puma notes that the Yanks inquired on the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano, but did not like the asking price.  Zambrano has a full no-trade clause and is well-paid – $53.75MM over the next three years.  On the other hand, ESPN's Bruce Levine has a Cubs source that refuted the idea that the Yankees even inquired.

A few other names to consider from our trade market post: Derek Lowe, Aaron Harang, and Gil Meche (we're unsure on the availability of Meche).  Another interesting name could be Jeremy Bonderman, given his $12.5MM salary for 2010.  Note that the Yankees have not been connected to these four in trade rumors; we're just speculating.  And there is the small question of whether the team has $10MM+ in payroll space for a veteran starter.

Puma finds a free agent addition more likely for the Yankees; his speculative targets are Jason Marquis, Joel Pineiro, and Ben Sheets.  However, Ken Davidoff of Newsday talked to "a person in the Yankees' loop" who said Sheets is "not even on the board" currently.  Pineiro's contract demands remain steep, and you have to wonder whether a low-strikeout National League lifer like Marquis offers anything over Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin.  The rest of the free agent market is not terribly appealing.

Bottom line: Puma expects Cashman to add a starter in the next eleven days, but we have no idea who that will be.

Odds & Ends: Fehr, Indians, Swisher

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Sunday night links…

  • Former MLBPA head Donald Fehr talked to Daniel Barbarisi of The Providence Journal.  Amongst other things, Fehr says that with the current agreement expiring in 2011, he hopes the owners remember the brutal work stoppage of 1994.
  • Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (via Twitter) says that we can expect to find out what Rays player will be shipped to the Indians as part of the Kelly Shoppach deal.  The Cleveland press release announcing the trade a few weeks ago had said that the "player to be named later" would be revealed today, December 20th.
  • While some Yankees fans have talked about the possibility of trading Nick Swisher, Chad Jennings of The Journal News defends the eccentric outfielder, citing his 29 HRs and .371 OBP.  Dealing Swisher probably made sense when the club still might have re-signed Johnny Damon.  At this point, unless the Yanks plan on signing Matt Holliday, can anyone think of a good reason why they should move Swisher?

Odds & Ends: Gonzalez, Bradley, Hamels

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Let's have a look at some miscellaneous Sunday links….

  • The Tigers purchased the contract of catcher Andy Bouchie from the Long Beach Armada. Bouchie, 24, was a seventh round pick by the Brewers after his junior season at Oral Roberts University, but was released due to catching depth in the Milwaukee system. He hit .290 with 7 home runs and 45 RBI in 59 games in the Golden Baseball League this year.
  • Jon Paul Morosi explains why the Padres should wait until July 31 to trade Adrian Gonzalez.
  • Larry Stone offers some optimism for Seattle fans with concerns about newly-acquired Milton Bradley in a nice article, reminding us that Bradley has had non-problematic stops over the course of his career. Stone quotes Eddie Guardado, Bud Black, and Ken Macha, all of whom support Bradley.
  • Scott Lauber writes that amidst the Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee pandemonium, it's easy to forget about Cole Hamels, but the Phillies haven't. They still see Hamels as a top-of-the-rotation arm and are confident in his ability to rebound from a forgettable 2009.
  • ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes that Oakland's potential deal with Coco Crisp reflects the value the A's place on defense.
  • In his usual lengthy Sunday column, the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo focuses primarily on the Red Sox' moves, past, present, and future. He provides at least one interesting hot stove note though: Mark DeRosa's asking price has come down, and Cafardo wonders if the Mets could sign the infielder and play him at first base.
  • Cafardo also mentions that, while plenty of teams are interested in Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees hope to match any final offer the right-hander receives.
  • Newsday's Ken Davidoff can't see any other teams taking a chance on Mike Lowell unless he exhibits good health in Spring Training.
  • In a separate article, Davidoff examines the next move for Johnny Damon. Davidoff lists the Braves, Rays, Cubs, and Mets as possible destinations, but concedes there are roadblocks in each case.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports looks at the remaining names on the closing market, concluding that there are too many arms and not enough teams in need of a closer.
  • Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun says there's nothing wrong with any of the Orioles' recent signings, but that they aren't the big splashes fans may have hoped to see.

Cubs Rumors: Byrd, Capps, Bradley

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After finally trading Milton Bradley, the Cubs are in position to move forward and address the rest of their offseason priorities. Let's round up some Cubs-related links….

  • Jon Heyman tweets that before the Cubs traded Bradley, their choices for center fielders were Marlon Byrd, Rick Ankiel, Melky Cabrera, and Scott Podsednik.
  • A center fielder and a setup man are two of the Cubs' most pressing needs, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. There is mutual interest between Marlon Byrd and the Cubs, and the team could also be one of two finalists for Matt Capps (the other being the Nationals).
  • Wittenmyer also points out that, of the $9MM coming to Chicago in the Bradley-Carlos Silva swap, $5.5MM will be applied this season, giving the team a little more flexibility for 2010 salaries.
  • Erik Manning of Fangraphs wonders if moving Bradley is actually addition by subtraction for the Cubs.
  • Yesterday we heard via a FOX Sports report that the Cubs might look into acquiring Brett Gardner or Melky Cabrera from the Yankees. LoHud.com's Chad Jennings examines the Yankees' perspective of such a move, arguing that the world champions' center field depth is a necessity, rather than a luxury.

Odds & Ends: Bedard, Phillies, Yankees

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Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but these links are so delightful…

  • Don't count on Erik Bedard signing anytime soon, says Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.  Until teams get a better handle on when he will be healthy enough to pitch again, you won't see money being thrown his way.  When he does sign, Baker expects his deal to be heavily loaded with incentives – even more so than the contract given to Rich Harden by the Rangers.
  • With Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero recovering from elbow surgeries, the Phillies are turning their attention to the bullpen, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.  While common sense dictates that GM Ruben Amaro would sign two relievers to fill the void, he says that the team might just ink one and let their younger pitchers take the remaining jobs.  Zolecki floats the names of three potential free agent targets: Bob Howry, Miguel Batista, and Kiko Calero, adding that the club has liked Howry and Batista in the past.
  • The Cubs are in need of a center fielder after the trade of Milton Bradley, but they are not leaning towards any particular candidate, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  According to sources, Marlon Byrd and Scott Podsednik are the strongest options on the open market.  However, the duo writes that GM Jim Hendry may also look into striking a deal with the Yankees for Brett Gardner or Melky Cabrera if they become available.
  • Speaking of Bradley, Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports says that the Mariners will come to regret dealing for the troubled outfielder. 

Capps To Select Finalists Soon

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SATURDAY, 7:13pm: Capps confirmed to ESPN Radio Chicago today that he has had preliminary discussions with the Cubs about joining the club.

THURSDAY, 6:26pm: The Washington Nationals are one of Capps' finalists, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Of all the interested teams, Washington should provide one of the clearest paths to a closing role for Capps.

4:51pm: The Pirates non-tendered reliever Matt Capps Saturday night, and roughly half the teams in baseball have inquired.  Pirates GM Neal Huntington explained the non-tender decision in an MLB.com chat today:

Despite wanting to retain Matt and making an aggressive offer that we believed would be at or near his free-agent value prior to the tender deadline, we felt that the risk of an arbitration award at a substantially higher amount was not a good business decision for us…Obviously, we would have preferred to get something of value in trade for Matt, but given his track record beginning in the second half of 2008, his trade value was limited throughout the summer and again this offseason.

Capps may be able to find a two-year deal.  While he'd like to close, his agent Paul Kinzer told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he'd accept a set-up role with a contender.  The following teams have been linked to Capps: the D'Backs, Cubs, Orioles, Rangers, Rockies, Marlins, Nationals, Mets, Tigers, and Yankees (we're still about six teams short, five if you count the Pirates).  Kinzer told Rosenthal Capps "plans to select five or six finalists by the weekend, then make his decision."

Olney’s Latest: Bradley, Damon, Yankees, Harang

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In today’s blog post at ESPN, Buster Olney writes that the presence of Ken Griffey Jr. should help Milton Bradley and the clubhouse culture in Seattle, however this might be the final straw for Bradley because he’s running out of second chances.

Let’s round up the rest of Olney’s rumors…

  • One GM said the Bradley deal “means that one more chair just got taken away,” referring to another corner outfielder being taken off the market.
  • Olney says that Johnny Damon might be a perfect fit for the Cardinals, who continue to talk with Matt Holliday. 
  • Meanwhile, there was some concern in the Yankees’ organization that if Damon took a paycut to return, he would have come into the season very unhappy.
  • The rumored Aaron Harang to the Dodgers deal was never a good match, because LA doesn’t have much to spend and the Reds are trying to shed payroll.

Yankees Rumors: DeRosa, Damon, Matsui

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Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News hears that Scott Boras and Johnny Damon talked with the Yankees yesterday and would have considered a two-year deal.  The New York Times' Tyler Kepner says he would've taken $20MM, while Newsday's Ken Davidoff says the Yanks' best offer was $14MM (both links via Twitter).  Now it appears that Damon's tenure with the Bombers is over. Damon will have other suitors, but leaving the Yankees behind won't be easy.

"I know there are some teams interested," Damon told Feinsand. "But the Yankees are the best organization I've been a part of so far in my career."

One source suggests to Feinsand that Damon could land in San Francisco. Nick Johnson was a rumored Giants target until it became apparent that the Yanks were nearing a deal with him. Johnson will make less than Matsui next year, but Feinsand says the Yanks' decision to let Matsui walk has more to do with the DH's knees than his salary demands.

The Yankees' next moves?  Starting pitching and a look at Mark DeRosa, according to ESPN's Buster Olney and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  For now, the Yankees are unwilling to meet DeRosa's $18-21MM asking price over three years (understandably).  Rosenthal says the Giants, Cardinals, and possibly Braves are other suitors.

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