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Odds & Ends: Mauer, Turnbow, Loaiza

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Links for Monday…

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if the convergence of Joe Mauer, Ron Shapiro, and Bill Smith in St. Paul Wednesday for a Rick Reilly program will accelerate extension talks.
  • The Rockies "remain firmly in the mix" for free agent reliever Derrick Turnbow, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.  Turnbow could make a choice by Wednesday.
  • In his latest MLB.com mailbag, Jordan Bastian notes that Blue Jays starter Dustin McGowan is out of options.
  • MLBTR's resident translator, Nick Collias, passes along this Esteban Loaiza interview with Hector Linares from the Mexican newspaper Excelsior.  Loaiza says he's doing everything possible to make it back to the big leagues, and has received a few calls from teams.  He last pitched for the White Sox in June of '08.
  • Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News explains why the Phillies' Cliff Lee trade was the right move.  He says fans don't understand, and the Phils needed the prospects. 
  • Aaron Gleeman wouldn't mind seeing Delmon Young benched and Jim Thome added by the Twins to platoon at DH.
  • RotoAuthority assesses David Wright's fantasy prospects for 2010.
  • Baseball America's Ben Badler says MLB voided the seven-figure contract Dominican third baseman Duanel Jones had with San Francisco.  ESPN's Jorge Arangure says (via Twitter) the move was prompted by Jones failing a drug test administered by the Giants.
  • Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie told MASN's Steve Melewski that his $120K pay cut from 2008 to 2009 did not affect his '09 performance.

Phillies, Ruiz Agree To Multi-Year Deal

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7:33pm: The deal is worth $8.85MM over three seasons, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.  The contract includes a fourth-year club option of $5MM with a five-year buyout as well as performance incentives for games started.

5:22pm: The Phillies and catcher Carlos Ruiz have agreed to terms on a three-year, $9MM deal, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.  Ruiz, who turns 31-years-old on Friday, had his best offensive campaign to date in 2009, hitting .255/.355/.425 with a career-high 9 HRs in 107 games.  The deal covers all of Ruiz's remaining arbitration years.

With Chooch set to sign, the Phillies have avoided arbitration with their three eligible players.  Earlier in the week, the club agreed to a three-year, $24MM extension with pitcher Joe Blanton.  Shane Victorino was next up, inking a three-year, $22MM pact.

Can Phillies Afford To Re-Sign Jayson Werth?

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Phillies GM Ruben Amaro told reporters today that the club may not be able to retain Jayson Werth as they already have $130MM committed to just 14 players for 2011, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  His comments came after the press conference to announce the re-signing of Shane Victorino and were unsolicited by the media in attendance.

Amaro wondered aloud if the contracts given to Jason Bay and Matt Holliday would affect Werth's asking price.  Recently, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com wrote that he isn't sure if the Phils could retain Werth for Bay-type money.  Werth had his strongest offensive showing to date in 2009, hitting .268/.373./.506 with a career high 36 homers.

While his .879 OPS in '09 doesn't quite match Bay's walk year OPS of .921, Werth's solid defensive play (6.1 UZR/150) certainly trumps Bay's notoriously weak fielding (-11.2 UZR/150).

Stark On Holliday, Lee, Phillies, Rockies, Cubs

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ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says the Baseball Writers' Association of America needs to establish an award for relief pitchers. He also provides plenty of rumblings from around the league; here they are:

  • Stark hears that the only offers Matt Holliday had in-hand when the Cardinals signed him were one-year deals worth $18MM or so.
  • The Phillies offered Cliff Lee a three-year extension worth $60MM or so before trading for Roy Halladay. It's unclear whether Lee and agent Darek Braunecker formally turned the offer down, but others believe Lee will seek a longer-term deal once he hits the open market after this season.
  • The Phillies are "plenty interested" in Pedro Martinez on a half-season deal similar to the one he signed last year, but one NL club hears that Pedro is looking for a full-season job at "market" dollars.
  • The Phillies have backed off on John Smoltz, who wants to start, but they are interested in Jose Contreras.
  • The Rockies talked actively to the Marlins about Dan Uggla. Now, the Rockies are more intent on free agent options including Miguel Tejada, Orlando Cabrera and Orlando Hudson.
  • They'd also like to bring Jason Giambi back.
  • Scouts who have seen Carlos Delgado play first base in Puerto Rico say the slugger should look for a DH job, since his fielding is suspect.
  • Stark has the impression that the Cubs have set aside their interest in Ben Sheets as they pursue a bench bat and a setup man.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Felix, Phillies, Reds

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Seven years ago today, Ivan Rodriguez signed a one-year deal with the Marlins worth $10MM, ending a 12-year stint with the Texas Rangers. Pudge hit .297/.369/.474 with 16 homers in his lone season with Florida, leading the franchise to its second World Championship. He signed a little earlier this offseason, landing a two-year deal with the Nationals in early December.

Here's a look at what fans around the web are saying….

  • Lookout Landing re-lives five of Felix Hernandez's career-defining starts in honor of his new deal.
  • TAUNTR thinks the Phillies did well by locking up Joe Blanton and Shane Victorino, even if they didn't receive tremendous discounts.
  • Blue Sox Baseball previews the Reds' starting rotation heading into 2010.
  • Goat Riders of the Apocalypse looks at what's left for the Cubs this offseason.
  • TYU wonders why the Yankees used the top pick in the Rule 5 Draft on Jamie Hoffmann instead of John Raynor.
  • Capitol Avenue Club projects the Braves' depth chart.
  • The Ghost of Moonlight Graham examines the rotations in the NL East.
  • TurnTwo has some suggestions for how the Mariners could use the last $10MM left in their budget.
  • Dodgers Rumors considers the Vicente Padilla signing a big win for Los Angeles.
  • AdamAdkins.net reacts harshly to the Bengie Molina deal.
  • River Ave. Blues wonders how the Yanks might be able to extract some value from Kei Igawa.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Phillies Sign Victorino To Three-Year Deal

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The Phillies have officially signed Shane Victorino to a three-year, $22MM deal.  The contract, which buys out Victorino's two remaining arbitration years and one free agent year, will keep Victorino in Philly through 2012. Craig Calcaterra of Circling The Bases first reported the agreement. 

Victorino earned $3.125MM in 2009, when he hit .292/.358/.445 with 10 HRs.  In the field, the Flyin' Hawaiian posted a slightly below average UZR/150 of -4.2.  Calcaterra writes that if Joe Blanton's deal is any indication, Victorino's contract will likely be backloaded. 

With Victorino back in the fold, catcher Carlos Ruiz is the only remaining arbitration-eligible Phillie.  However, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com writes that GM Ruben Amaro expressed optimism that a multi-year deal could be reached with him as well.  Assistant GM Scott Proefrock believes that the team will come to an agreement on a one-year or multi-year deal with Ruiz within the week.

Odds & Ends: Gagne, Stairs, Dotel

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Thursday night linkage..

  • Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Radio talked to M's GM Jack Zduriencik, who declined to disclose how much money the club had left to spend this offseason.  One baseball source told Drayer that the M's likely have "a little left, but not much."
  • Scott Lauber of The News Journal tweets that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro was less than impressed after watching Eric Gagne throw yesterday, saying "He was okay."  We first heard about Gagne's comeback back in December, when the 34-year-old said he would be open to pitching in the minors.
  • Matt Stairs, who is still hoping to land a job at the age of 41, has dropped 31 pounds in order to get himself in game shape, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.  In 129 plate appearances last season, Stairs posted .194/.357/.379 with 5 HRs.
  • Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette spoke to recently signed Octavio Dotel who told him that the Pirates were the only team to offer him the role of closer.  Dotel says that he's not worried about being rusty after not closing since 2007.

Phillies Sign Joe Blanton To Extension

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The Phillies signed Joe Blanton to a three-year, $24MM extension, according to a team press release.  The deal buys out Blanton's last arbitration year and two free agent seasons.  AOL FanHouse's Ed Price tweets the details: $7MM in '10 and $8.5MM in '11 and '12.  Another $500K can be earned with innings incentives.  The price is reasonable, given the recent contracts signed by Jason Marquis and Joel Pineiro.

Blanton, 29, has seen an uptick in his strikeout rate since joining the Phillies in July of '08.  Last year he posted a 7.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, and 4.05 ERA in 195.3 innings. 

Olney On Lee, Pineiro, Orioles

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A look at the latest blog post from ESPN's Buster Olney…

  • Olney believes the Phillies could have and should have kept Cliff Lee.  He points out that they could've traded Joe Blanton and taken draft picks for Lee after the season, resulting in a similar prospect package to the one they received from the Mariners.  It's not the exact same, partly since Blanton could yet net draft picks for the Phils, but I agree with Olney's point.  The Phillies' decision to move Lee in tandem with the Roy Halladay trade just seems weird.
  • Consequences of the Angels' Joel Pineiro deal: the Mets could sign Jon Garland or Ben Sheets, and the Dodgers could bring Vicente Padilla back.  Newsday's Ken Davidoff gets the sense the Mets "have prioritized Sheets over Garland." 
  • Olney says the Orioles "are very comfortable letting the field of free-agent corner guys come to them, at their price."  On a related note, O's second baseman Brian Roberts said to MASN's Roch Kubatko that he'd love to have Miguel Tejada back in Baltimore.

Gagne To Work Out For Teams

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THURSDAY, 8:23am: Via Twitter, Yahoo's Tim Brown adds the Rockies, Dodgers, and Blue Jays as other clubs that will watch Gagne throw.

WEDNESDAY, 2:43pm: ESPN's Jayson Stark talked to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., who downplayed the Gagne tryout: "We don't have any expectations, at all."

8:19am: After being released by the Brewers in March of last year, Eric Gagne hooked on with a Can-Am League team as a starter.  He tallied 102.6 mediocre innings, and now hopes to find his way back to the bigs.

Today David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News passes along a segment from Montreal radio station CKAC in which Gagne indicated he has a throwing session scheduled with the Phillies today.  The 34-year-old hasn't done much since his 33.3-inning stint with Texas in '07.

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