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Angels In The Market For A Closer

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8:21am: The Angels have inquired on A's closer Andrew Bailey, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  He clarifies that the interest was early and has not intensified.

7:41am: The Angels are "definitely" in the market for a closer, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman. Los Angeles would apparently like a veteran presence to help Jordan Walden along. Heyman feels that Ryan Madson makes the most sense for Los Angeles to pursue.

Walden, 23, doesn't seem to need too much help. The flamethrowing rookie posted a 2.98 ERA in 60 1/3 innings this season while striking out 10.0 per nine innings and recording 32 saves for the second place Halos. His fastball averaged 97.5mph, while strong FIP (2.79) and SIERA (3.01) marks back up his success.

The Angels are also in on Aramis Ramirez and have an offer out to C.J. Wilson. Late last night, we heard GM Jerry Dipoto has budget limitations that will limit his spending to $15-$20MM, barring any moves to free up some more payroll.

Quick Hits: Lincecum, Bailey, Marlins, Dodgers

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Sunday afternoon linkage..

  • The Giants are seeking middle ground with Tim Lincecum in their contract talks, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.  The club's first offer was for four years but the right-hander would like eight years in a long-term deal.  Lincecum is also comfortable with a one or two-year deal. 
  • The Mets would love to trade for Athletics closer Andrew Bailey but are more likely to sign one or two relievers from a list that includes Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Brad Lidge, and Matt Capps, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post.
  • The Marlins are in the mix for most of this winter's top free agents but haven't landed a big-name free agent since signing Carlos Delgado after the 2004 season.  Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel caught up with Delgado's agent, David Sloane, to recap how that came to happen.  The slugger was pursued by the Mets, Orioles, Rangers, and Mariners during the Winter Meetings but didn't hear from the Fish until ten days after they concluded.
  • The Dodgers' payroll will be below $90MM, the lowest in years, thanks in part to the backloaded deal they gave to pitcher Chris Capuano, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.

Quick Hits: Nakajima, Wilson, Pena, Mariners, A’s

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Some late night links from around the league…

Padres Interested In Andrew Bailey

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The Padres are interested in acquiring Athletics closer Andrew Bailey to replace Heath Bell, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). It remains likely that the A's will trade Bailey, Olney writes.

The Rangers, Mets, Blue Jays, Mariners and Reds are also interested in Bailey, one of Billy Beane's main offseason trade chips. The 27-year-old right-hander posted a 3.24 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 41 2/3 innings in 2011 after recovering a forearm strain that sidelined him early in the season. MLBTR projects a $3.5MM salary for Bailey in 2012. 

Luke Gregerson, Ernesto Frieri and Josh Spence are projected to return to a Padres bullpen that also included Bell, Mike Adams and Chad Qualls six months ago. San Diego obtains two compensatory draft picks for losing Bell, who agreed to a three-year, $27MM deal with the Marlins yesterday.

AL West Notes: Iannetta, Kawasaki, Chavez, Rangers

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Here's the latest from the AL West…

  • The Angels are considering a contract extension for the newly-acquired Chris Iannetta, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link).  Iannetta is signed through 2012 and the Halos have a $5MM club option for 2013 that Iannetta can now void due to being traded before the start of the 2013 season.
  • Also from Renck, the Rockies tried to acquire Angels right-hander John Hellweg in the Iannetta trade.  Hellweg, 23, has a 3.83 ERA, an 11.4 K/9 rate and 7.6 BB/9 in four minor league seasons.  He spent last season pitching for the Halos' Class A+ affiliate.
  • Japanese shortstop Munenori Kawasaki wants to play in the Major Leagues, but only for the Mariners, reports MLB.com's Matt Weber.  Kawasaki, 30, is a free agent so he can sign without a posting fee and he said he's willing to sign a minor league deal and play a different position if necessary.
  • MLB.com's Greg Johns has more details on Kawasaki, who has a career .294 average but just hit .267/.310/.327 last season with Fukuoka.  Johns says the Mariners have scouted Kawasaki in Japan so he is "at least on the Mariners' radar."
  • The Athletics aren't one of the teams interested in Eric Chavez, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link).  "He wouldn't be a fit for them and vice versa," Slusser writes.
  • In a mailbag piece, MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan looks at the obstacles preventing the Rangers from making a move for Prince Fielder and Matt Garza.  Sullivan also notes that it's only a matter of time before Ron Washington gets another contract extension from the club.
  • The Mariners' deep minor league system seems to give them an advantage under the new collective bargaining agreement, writes Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.

Minor Moves: Nunez, Palmer, Moss, Mock

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The latest minor moves from around MLB…

  • The Rays signed righty Jhonny Nunez to a minor league deal, tweets Baseball America's Matt Eddy.
  • The Padres signed right-hander Matt Palmer to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock (Twitter link).
  • The Brewers signed outfielder Miguel Velazquez to a minor league deal, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (all links go to Twitter).
  • The A’s signed outfielder Brandon Moss to a minor league deal, according to Goldstein.
  • The Padres signed left-hander Alex Hinshaw to a minor league deal, according to Goldstein.
  • The Blue Jays signed former Nationals prospect Garrett Mock to a minor league deal, according to Goldstein.
  • The Royals announced that they signed right-hander Zach Miner, infielders Jamie Romak, Eric Duncan, Sharlon Schoop and Tony Abreu and left-handers Marlon Arias and Tommy Hottovy to minor league contracts. Miner, Abreu and Hottovy have big league experience, though only Hottovy appeared in the Major Leagues this past season. Duncan, once a highly-regarded prospect, posted a .849 OPS at Double-A as a utility player in 2011. Romak posted an .803 OPS for the Royals in 2011 and even pitched on two occasions.

Mets Interested In Rauch, Lidge, Bailey

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Mets GM Sandy Alderson is searching for a closer, but that’s by no means his team's lone offseason need. Here’s the latest, as the Mets work to build their first playoff team since 2006…

  • Free agent relievers Jon Rauch and Brad Lidge are “strong” on the Mets’ radar, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post (on Twitter).
  • The Mets inquired on Andrew Bailey, but they don’t seem to be willing to meet Oakland’s asking price, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). The Rangers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Mariners and Reds are also interested in the former AL Rookie of the Year. 
  • Though previous Mets administrations liked Orlando Hudson and he’s now “very available,” the Mets aren’t currently interested, according to Sherman (Twitter link). The Padres owe Hudson $5.5MM in 2012 and the team has an $8MM option for 2013 ($2MM buyout).

Rangers Pursuing Andrew Bailey

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The Rangers signed Joe Nathan last week, but they're still exploring ways of adding relief help, since they aim to enter the 2012 season with the strongest bullpen possible. They're one of the teams trying to trade for A's closer Andrew Bailey, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. ESPN.com's Buster Olney notes that the Red Sox are also pursuing Bailey (Twitter link).

The 27-year-old right-hander posted a 3.24 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 41 2/3 innings in 2011 after recovering a forearm strain that sidelined him early in the season. MLBTR projects a $3.5MM salary for Bailey in 2012. One of Rosenthal's sources promised that the Rangers will add another reliever to join Nathan, Mike Adams and Koji Uehara at the back end of the bullpen. The Red Sox, who lost Jonathan Papelbon to the Phillies, also have interest in adding to the back end of their bullpen this offseason.

The Blue Jays, Mariners and Reds are also interested in Bailey, who appears to be available. The Rangers had interest in him leading up to last summer's trade deadline. 

13 Teams Eligible For First Competitive Balance Lottery

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The new collective bargaining agreement calls for a competitive balance draft pick lottery beginning in 2013, and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo has details.  13 teams will be eligible for the first lottery based on their market size and revenue: the Diamondbacks, Orioles, Indians, Royals, Athletics, Pirates, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers, and Cardinals.  The lottery gives each of these teams the chance to win one of six extra picks in the 2013 draft, which will come after the compensation picks for free agents.  The odds of winning a pick will be based on each team's winning percentage in the previous season.

There will be another group of six picks after the draft's second round.  The teams in the mix for these will be the ones that did not win a pick in the first lottery, as well as any other team that receives revenue sharing.

Mayo says lottery picks can be traded, but only once by a team and only during the regular season.  The picks cannot be sold for cash.

A third lottery will be held for picks forfeited by teams that exceeded their bonus pools.  Teams that did not exceed their pools will be eligible, with odds based on a formula of revenue and winning percentage.  Got all that?  There will be a quiz tomorrow.

Rosenthal On Votto, Alonso, Rangers, Soriano

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The Reds’ owners continue engaging in friendly debate with one another about Joey Votto’s future with the team, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Here are the details on the Reds’ first base situation and more of Rosenthal’s notes from around MLB…

  • Cincinnati CEO Bob Castellini doesn’t want to trade Votto and appears to believe an extension is possible. However, some Reds owners believe the team should explore trades for the 2010 NL MVP. Votto is under contract through 2013.
  • Rival GMs consider Yonder Alonso a one-dimensional player, not someone who could be a centerpiece in a trade for a starting pitcher like James Shields or Gio Gonzalez.
  • The Rangers are considering assistant GM Thad Levine and former Astros GM Tim Purpura for their open farm director position, according to Rosenthal. 
  • Teams are “kicking the tires” on Alfonso Soriano and the Cubs are willing to pick up a substantial chunk of the $54MM remaining on the 35-year-old left fielder's contract. He posted a .244/.289/.469 line with 26 home runs last season and is under contract through 2014.
  • Teams are calling the Rangers about right-hander Koji Uehara, but Texas may hold on to him, since they’re short on left-handed relief and Uehara is effective against left-handed hitters.
  • The A’s won’t attempt to re-sign Josh Willingham, but they’re interested in re-signing another one of their free agent outfielders: Coco Crisp.
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