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Selig To Meet With Giants About A’s Relocation

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The Athletics have been stuck in a bit of a holding pattern this offseason due to their stadium situation, but they may be drawing closer to a resolution. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that Bud Selig plans to meet with Giants executives within two weeks in an effort to accelerate a decision about whether the A's will be allowed to relocate to San Jose.

The Giants draw a significant portion of their fan base and corporate sponsorships from counties south of San Francisco, and they are adamantly opposed to relinquishing their territorial rights to the South Bay. A source tells Rosenthal that the Giants must draw at least 3.2MM fans to break even on their $130MM payroll next season after drawing 3.4MM fans this season. They can't afford much of a slip.

If the Giants refuse to yield their territorial rights, Rosenthal says one solution would be for MLB to purchase the Athletics, secure a stadium deal in Oakland, then resell the club. It would be similar to what they did with the Expos in 2002. The A's have agreed to expand the seating capacity (32K) of the proposed Cisco Field design as one condition of the move. Essentially, Selig has to balance the best interest of the Giants with the best interests of the game.

Minor Moves: Jim Miller, Jeff Fiorentino

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We'll keep track of today's minor moves here, with the latest up top…

  • The Athletics have signed Jim Miller to a minor league contract, reports Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. The 29-year-old righty reliever was outrighted by the Rockies last month after pitching to a 5.25 ERA in 72 innings at Triple-A. He appeared in six games for Colorado as well.
  • Within the same link, Slusser reports that the Athletics have also signed outfielder Jeff Fiorentino to a minor league pact. Fiorentino, 28, spent last season in the Orioles' and Braves' minor league systems, hitting .255/.350/.405 in 360 plate appearances. He played in Japan in 2010, and got into two games for the 2008 Athletics.

Added To 40-Man Roster: Giants, Dodgers, Pirates

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Today is the deadline for teams to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from next month's Rule 5 draft. Here's more on which players need to be protected and here are the details on which players have had their contracts selected to the 40-man roster:

Read more

Outrighted To Triple-A: Dodgers, Cubs, Athletics

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Teams will be adding minor leaguers to their 40-man rosters today in anticipation of next month's Rule 5 Draft. In order to create roster space, some teams will outright players off of the 40-man. Here are the latest outright assignments from around MLB…

  • The Dodgers outrighted John Ely and Carlos Monasterios to Triple-A, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
  • The Cubs announced Esmailin Caridad, Lou Montanez and Kyle Smit have been outrighted off their 40-man roster.  The Cubs currently have six open spots remaining on their 40-man roster.
  • The A's announced that they outrighted right-hander Evan Scribner and outfielder Cedric Hunter to Triple-A.
  • The Rockies outrighted infielder Andrew Brown off of their roster, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter).
  • The Twins announced that they outrighted right-hander David Bromberg off the 40-man roster.
  • The Pirates announced that they outrighted Matt Pagnozzi to Triple-A.
  • The Tigers announced that they outrighted Cale Iorg to Triple-A. The infielder split the 2011 season between Detroit's top two affiliates.
  • The Angels outrighted right-handers Francisco Rodriguez and Loek Van Mil to Triple-A yesterday, according to MLB.com's transactions page. Rodriguez, 28, has appeared in 53 games for the Angels since 2010, posting a 4.43 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 61 innings. Van Mil, a 7'1" native of the Netherlands, posted a 2.04 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 66 1/3 innings at Double-A in 2011. The Angels acquired him from the Twins for Brian Fuentes in 2010.

Sherman On Yankees’ Search For Pitching

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A year ago, the Yankees showed their reluctance to bid on non-elite free agent pitchers with substantial asking prices. Unless the current market for pitching changes, GM Brian Cashman may be searching for back-of-the-rotation bargains again. 

“I’d like to do something, but I am not going to do something at the current costs,” Cashman said, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

C.J. Wilson’s agent requested a New York meeting and the Yankees said they’d get back to the free agent left-hander, according to Sherman, Despite the lack of enthusiasm from the team, Wilson tops the Yankees’ list of free agent starters in terms of talent.

The Yankees have “looked into” Matt Garza, but a Cubs official downplayed the likelihood of any deal involving the right-hander, according to Sherman. The Yankees particularly like Gio Gonzalez and the Athletics are open to anything, but GM Billy Beane is asking for an ace return for Gonzalez or Trevor Cahill.

The Yankees like John Danks and the White Sox like many Yankees prospects, particularly Austin Romine. However, Danks is a free agent after 2012 and the Yankees are reluctant to over-spend on a pitcher they’ll have for just one year.

If the Yankees don't make a major acquisition before Spring Training, they could pencil C.C. Sabathia, Ivan Nova, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes into four rotation spots. Free agent Freddy Garcia could return on a one-year deal and prospects Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances may contribute at some point in 2012.

Quick Hits: Sizemore, Ponson, Braves

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Wednesday afternoon linkage as the news continues to fly in from the Milwaukee meetings..

  • A number of teams remain in play for Grady Sizemore including the Giants, Rockies, Cubs, Red Sox, Rangers, Mariners, and Nationals, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
  • The Athletics met with Sidney Ponson's agent today, a source tells Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter).
  • Braves GM Frank Wren and agent Adam Katz are now meeting in Milwaukee, tweets MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith.  Katz is a part of Wasserman Media Group and represents a number of players, including Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.  To view WMG's client list, check out MLBTR's Agency Database.

Minor Moves: Pridie, Budde, Moore

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Today's minor moves…

  • Jason Pridie has signed a minor league deal with the Athletics, according to a tweet from Sosnick Cobbe Sports. The 28-year-old earned his first extended look in the bigs in 2011, hitting .231/.309/.370 in 236 plate appearances with the Mets.
  • The Diamondbacks signed Ryan Budde to a minor league deal, according to the same tweet. Budde, 32, earned 35 Major League plate appearances over the span of four seasons with the Angels from 2007 to 2010. He spent 2011 at the Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.
  • The Astros announced they've signed infielder Scott Moore to a minor league deal.  The 27-year-old hit .295/.380/.444 with nine home runs in 425 Triple-A plate appearances this year, playing mostly first base, second base, and third base for the Iowa Cubs.  The Astros have also signed Brad Snyder, Nick Stavinoha, Travis Buck, Brandon Barnes, Alberto Arias, Jose Valdez, and Xavier Cedeno to minor league deals this offseason.  They've added Brian Bixler and Craig Tatum through waiver claims.

Athletics Notes: Gonzalez, Bailey, Sizemore, Cespedes

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We've seen a good amount of talk surrounding the A's lately and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle gave her take on it all..

  • Even though it's been said that Billy Beane will listen on all of his players this offseason, that is standard operating procedure for the GM and nothing new.  Beane's philosophy is that there is a match for any player, if the price is right.
  • If GM Billy Beane could get a substantial return for them, Slusser could see him trading Gio Gonzalez or Andrew Bailey.  Gonzalez is coveted by many contenders, with the Yankees at the head of the pack.  Bailey's value isn't terribly high after missing the first-half of last season with elbow issues, but the skyrocketing price of closers helps his case.  The two-time All-Star is under team control for three more years.
  • Slusser believes that it would take a Dan Haren-type deal to pry Gonzalez away and doesn't see that happening. 
  • Of the bullpen options that the A's have, Bailey probably would make the most sense if the A’s were to trade a younger piece.  Then again, Slusser notes that Grant Balfour is making more than Bailey and would also draw interest.
  • Even though the A’s have been linked to Grady Sizemore, Slusser hasn't heard any rumblings at all from the team about the center fielder.  The A’s are believed to be focusing on building a team with an eye towards a new stadium and signing Sizemore on a one-year deal doesn't fit with that idea.
  • There also hasn't been any talk from the team of going after Yoenis Cespedes, who on paper is the kind of player that the team might have interest in.  The A’s are not in the mode where they’ll do the kind of spending that it will take to land the 26-year-old, so it's not likely that they'll land him. They have had high level scouts and executives at games and workouts but the pricetag is likely too high for Oakland.  Slusser suggests taking the Sizemore and Cespedes talk with a grain of salt until the team has more clarity on the stadium situation.

Quick Hits: Astros, Sizemore, A’s, Phillies, CBA

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On a day when Jonathan Papelbon switched teams and the Miami Marlins were officially born, the biggest and best news was unquestionably Wilson Ramos' rescue from kidnappers in his native Venezuela.  Here are a few other items as we head into the weekend…

  • The Astros' potential sale to Jim Crane is on the agenda at next week's owners meetings, reports The Associated Press.  Two sources say Crane, Drayton McLane and Major League Baseball have "reached an understanding" on how the Astros could move to the American League in 2013.
  • Crane could be getting as much as an $80MM discount off his original price for the team by agreeing to move the Astros to the AL, tweets Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman.
  • Grady Sizemore is looking for a one-year contract so he can re-establish his value for a longer-term deal next winter, reports Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  Heyman makes the comparison to the one-year deal Adrian Beltre signed with the Red Sox before the 2010 season, which saw Beltre have a big season and earn a multiyear deal with the Rangers last winter.  Sizemore won't match the $10MM Beltre got from Boston, but a $6-7MM deal with incentives seems reasonable.
  • Heyman says the Athletics are interested in Sizemore but are worried about his health and his asking price.
  • With the Phillies reportedly interested in both Sizemore and Jason Kubel, Fangraphs' Eric Seidman argues that Sizemore is the better choice for the Phils.
  • The Phillies want to sign Michael Cuddyer and re-sign Jimmy Rollins but the club finds both players' asking prices to be too high, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
  • Major League Baseball and the Players' Association are expected to "continue to negotiate amicably" about the new collective bargaining agreement over the weekend, reports Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • Also from Rosenthal, he thinks teams take a major risk by hiring managers with little or no Major League managing or coaching experience.
  • The Pirates' offseason moves will be influenced by the number of players on the roster who are out of options, writes MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.

AL West Notes: Fielder, Pujols, Athletics

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Some rival executives view the Rangers as the team most likely to have a dynasty in the next decade, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney. The two-time defending AL pennant winners have an impressive Major League team, talent rising through the minor leagues and a lucrative media deal on the horizon. Here’s the latest on the Rangers plus other updates from the AL West…

  • The Rangers could likely afford Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder, but Olney suggests the record-setting Alex Rodriguez deal may linger in the minds of team officials. Texas signed Rodriguez to a ten-year, $252MM deal in 2000, only to trade him three seasons into the contract.
  • When ESPN.com's Jayson Stark polled MLB executives about likely destinations for Fielder, the Rangers were the most popular choice (though they obtained just 25% of the votes).
  • For more on the Rangers, including why a deal for Pujols or Fielder isn't a great fit, check out my offseason outlook from last week.
  • Commissioner Bud Selig has given Athletics owner Lew Wolff tacit assurances that MLB will eventually allow the A's to move to San Jose, according to Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.
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