According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Bobby Crosby met with A’s manager Bob Geren and GM Billy Beane on Friday, and the player was told he’ll be learning multiple positions for 2009. MLB.com’s Barry Bloom adds that Crosby reiterated his desire to be traded at this meeting. All 29 teams declined a chance to take on Crosby and his $5.25MM salary when he was placed on waivers, so the A’s would have to eat salary somehow.
Athletics Rumors
A’s, Sisco Agree To Minor League Deal
According to the Denver Post’s Troy Renck, the A’s have agreed to terms with left-handed reliever Andrew Sisco on a minor league contract.
The deal is worth $550K. Sisco, 26, last pitched in the majors in 2007. He has a 5.18 career ERA in over 147 major league innings. The A’s had their sights set on Dennys Reyes, before he signed with the Cardinals, and Joe Beimel, who remains a free agent. Sisco was obviously the cheaper option in the end.
Odds & Ends: Gload, Pierre, Beimel
Links for Friday…
- The Dodgers designated Justin Orenduff for assignment to make room for Manny Ramirez, according to Tony Jackson.
- The A's contracts with Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra are official.
- WEEI's Alex Speier talked to Marlins prospect Mike Stanton and manager Fredi Gonzalez about the near-acquisition of Manny last summer.
- In another column, Speier looks at the players the Red Sox and Yankees have battled for in recent years.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a bunch of relievers are vying for one bullpen spot for the Cardinals, now that they've signed Dennys Reyes.
- Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star suggests there's a chance the Royals release first baseman Ross Gload and eat the $1.9MM owed to him in 2009. Rany Jazayerli talks about Gload as well as the chances of the Royals competing this year.
- Tom Tango says Juan Pierre would have to defer his contract for 50 years to be worth acquiring.
- Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies says the Rox offered Joe Beimel more than $1MM but so far he's passed. Beimel's home run prevention trend might be challenged at Coors Field. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says the A's are in on Beimel but "have not yet have substantive talks" with his agent.
- Check out a Giants Spring Training preview from the guys behind El Lefty Malo and McCovey Chronicles.
Cardinals Exploring Lefty Relief Options
THURSDAY: Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about the Cardinals’ pursuit of a lefty reliever:
Internal support exists for pursuing Beimel, but [GM John] Mozeliak recently denied making contact with Beimel’s agent, Joe Sroba.
Speaking of Beimel, Pirates president Frank Coonelly commented on him during an MLB.com chat yesterday:
He is someone who we have considered this offseason and have had discussions with his representative. To date, Joe has not been receptive to the type of contract we have discussed.
WEDNESDAY: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Cardinals are "exploring the remaining lefties on the free agent market." So far this offseason they’ve imported Trever Miller, Royce Ring, Charlie Manning, and Ian Ostlund. Perhaps they’re attracted to the possibility of a bargain, with three solid southpaws remaining on the market.
Rosenthal notes that Dennys Reyes’ agent Casey Close is telling teams his client is close to a decision. Furthermore, he won’t be signing with Oakland. The A’s could move on to Joe Beimel. Rosenthal adds that the Cardinals are interested in Reyes as well as Will Ohman.
Odds & Ends: Marte, Wilkerson, Bowden
Links for Wednesday as we enter the short post-Manny phase of the offseason…
- RotoAuthority has 18 undrafted players to watch for mixed leagues.
- WEEI’s Rob Bradford talked to Bill Lajoie, who was behind Boston’s acquisition of Andy Marte while Theo Epstein was on hiatus. Lajoie admitted he acquired Marte with the intent of flipping him.
- SI.com’s Melissa Segura writes about fraud involving Dominican prospects.
- Nothing cooking yet with the Red Sox and Jason Bay, says Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe.
- Jorge Says No! says shortstops Bobby Crosby and Khalil Greene are at the crossroads of their careers.
- WEEI’s Alex Speier notes that Boston outfielders Jeff Bailey and Brad Wilkerson have opt-out clauses if they’re not in the bigs by certain dates.
- Fire Jim Bowden has the ten best moves of their namesake GM.
- Nick Piecoro wonders if Randy Johnson took a subtle jab at Chris Snyder.
- Updated June draft order at Baseball America.
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday looks at each team’s 2012 commitments.
Cubs Bobby Crosby Rumor
According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Shortstop Bobby Crosby becomes the A’s backup middle infielder with the Orlando Cabrera acquisition, but there could be some interest in him before the spring is over – including from the Cubs, according to one source. One of Chicago’s top scouts was watching Tuesday’s game and is known to have been a fan of Crosby in the past.
The biggest hurdle for a Crosby trade, of course, is the $5.25MM owed to him in 2009. I spoke to a source familiar with the Cubs’ thinking, and he said there’s "nothing to it." He said the Cubs scout was watching the A’s as part of general coverage of all teams.
Nomar Garciaparra, A’s Agree To Terms
2:37pm: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says Nomar agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the A’s.
8:22am: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Nomar Garciaparra has decided to play in 2009 and is on the verge of a one-year deal with the A’s. He’ll spend time backing up the infield corners and DHing.
A’s GM Billy Beane has been active this winter, adding Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, Russ Springer, and Mike Wuertz. Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests owner Lew Wolff "wanted to accelerate the timetable for winning."
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle talked to incumbent shortstop Bobby Crosby, who would like to be traded. Slusser says the Blue Jays aren’t "convinced that Crosby is an upgrade over Marco Scutaro." Presumably, the A’s would have to eat salary or take back a bad contract to move Crosby (or simply release him).
A’s Sign Orlando Cabrera
According to Yahoo’s Tim Brown, the A’s signed shortstop Orlando Cabrera to a one-year, $4MM deal. Since Cabrera was a Type A free agent offered arbitration, the White Sox will receive Oakland’s second-round pick this June as well as a supplemental pick. The move leaves Bobby Crosby ($5.5MM) as a pricey backup infielder. ESPN’s Buster Olney adds that the A’s "have had substantial talks with Nomar Garciaparra in the last 48 hours." They also remain in talks for Dennys Reyes.
The A’s have been flirting with Cabrera for a while now, and I didn’t think they’d go as high as $4MM (which is still a bargain in general). Perhaps recent reported interest by the Blue Jays forced them to make a move.
Now seems like a good time to bust out some quotes from John Dewan’s awesome new Fielding Bible Volume II. Here’s his opinion on Cabrera’s defense:
"Cabrera is a fundamentally sound shortstop who plays with a lot of energy and does everything well. He has above-average range and makes a lot of sliding plays, but he also led all shortstops in 2008 in defensive misplays (56)."
Garciaparra Pondering Retirement?
12:56pm: Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has confirmed that his club is no longer interested in Garciaparra (courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s David Murphy):
"I would not view him as someone who will be with us," Amaro said. Murphy doesn’t expect the Phillies to add any more free agents before the start of the regular season.
9:47am: According to FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal, free agent infielder Nomar Garciaparra is deciding between retirement and a one-year contract with the A’s.
The Phillies have apparently moved on. The A’s are also currently working on deals for shortstop Orlando Cabrera and left-hander Dennys Reyes, and Rosenthal heard from a source that the club could "increase their pursuits" of those two players "due to their uncertainty over Garciaparra."
Garciaparra, 35, hit .264/.326/.466 with eight homers and 28 RBI in 163 at-bats last season. It sounds like he needs to make a career decision fairly soon.
Thursday Pre-Arbitration Signings
7:41pm: The Miami Herald has a list of eight players who agreed to terms with the A’s for 2009. Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, Dallas Braden, Dana Eveland, Gio Gonzalez, Sean Gallagher, Henry Rodriguez and Landon Powell all agreed to one-year contracts.
12:27pm: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Brewers have inked Tony Gwynn Jr., Manny Parra, Hernan Iribarren and Chase Wright to one-year contracts.
11:48am: The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett has a few more from the Angels. Howie Kendrick, Dustin Moseley, Kevin Jepsen and Matt Brown have been signed to ’09 contracts.
9:53am: MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports that the Diamondbacks have agreed to one-year contracts with Yusmeiro Petit, Leo Rosales and Kyler Newby. They’ll each make around $400K this year.
9:50am: According to a press release, via the Miami Herald, the Cubs have now settled with all 20 of their pre-arbitration players. Sean Marshall, Mike Fontenot and Micah Hoffpauir are some of the bigger names on the list.
9:49am: Jose De Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros have renewed Hunter Pence’s contract. He’ll earn $450K in ’09.
9:41am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a few more pre-arbitration signings. 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum was inked for $650K, Angels pitcher Joe Saunders settled for $475K, Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol for $575K and Cubs infielder Ryan Theriot for $500K.
These are all guys without enough MLB service time to be eligible for salary arbitration.
