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Phillies Sign So Taguchi

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The Phillies added some outfield depth today, signing So Taguchi to a one-year deal for around $1MM with an option for ’09.  There had been a rumor that the Cubs were eyeing Taguchi.

The Phillies’ outfield will consist of Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, Geoff Jenkins, Jayson Werth, and Taguchi.  They’ve also got Chris Snelling as an option if he can stay healthy.

Phillies Sign Chad Durbin

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UPDATE, 12-21-07 at 9:34am: Well, Durbin only got $900K.  It’s hard to complain about any signing at that price; this could definitely be a profitable move for the Phils.  The bigger concern is that this move ends their starting pitching search and leaves little behind Hamels and Myers.  An injury to either, and the Phillies seem done.

FROM 12-19-07 at 6:18pm:

According to Dejan Kovacevic, starter Chad Durbin has reached an agreement with the Phillies.  The Bucs missed out on another targeted free agent.

Durbin, a 30 year-old journeyman, posted a 4.72 ERA in 127 innings for the Tigers.  His numbers were below-average across the board; I’m not sure how much he’ll help the Phillies’ starting pitching woes.  They’re looking at a rotation of Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Kyle Kendrick, Jamie Moyer, and Durbin (no one’s counting on Adam Eaton).  Beyond the front two that rotation is going to be pretty bad. 

The Mark Prior Derby

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Let’s do a recap on the Mark Prior Derby, which is getting more confusing each day.  Jerry Crasnick has added some good info this afternoon.  Prior wants a one-year deal and hopes to be on a big league mound before the end of May.

  • Yankees – They’ll probably pass, per Hank Steinbrenner.
  • Red Sox – Named only by Jayson Stark.
  • White Sox – Named only by Stark.
  • Mariners – Named by Stark, denied by Jim Street.
  • Mets – Named by Stark, Crasnick, Ken Rosenthal, Ed Price
  • Cardinals – Named by Stark, Crasnick, Rosenthal, Matthew Leach
  • Padres – Named by many, made an offer according to Crasnick. Prior went to USC but would have to take less money to play in San Diego
  • Astros – Named by many, made an offer according to Alyson Footer
  • Giants – Named only by Stark
  • Reds – Named by Stark, Crasnick. Prior previously played under Dusty Baker
  • Nationals – Named by Stark, Crasnick, Bill Ladson
  • Rangers – Named by Crasnick but not Stark, aggressively pursuing according to Rosenthal
  • Marlins – Named only by Crasnick
  • Indians – Named only by Crasnick

One more and we’re at half of all baseball teams linked at some point.  The Phillies and Pirates are not interested, and it’s probably safe to count the Cubs out.

Phillies Out On Lohse

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George King has a few quotes from Phillies’ assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. today.  Basically, the Phils wouldn’t go past three years on Kyle Lohse, and have dropped out of the bidding for the Scott Boras client.

King indicates that this might put the Mets in the lead for Lohse, perhaps the best of a mediocre group of free agent starters.  Ken Davidoff, however, wrote yesterday that the Mets "did not seem particularly interested" in Lohse at the current price.  Tim Brown wrote on Monday that both the Phils and Mets had four-year offers out to Lohse.

Geoff Jenkins Signs With Phillies

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According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Phillies have signed outfielder Geoff Jenkins to a two-year, $13MM deal.  There’s an option for 2010 that could bring the total to $20MM.  We knew the Padres were in on him; Crasnick says the Rangers were also bidding.

Jenkins’ job will be to hit righties.  He hit .262/.326/.482 against them in ’07, and was better than that in ’06.  He’s frighteningly bad against southpaws, so Jayson Werth will platoon with him.  Jenkins can also play left field when Pat Burrell is ailing or DHing.

A $6.5MM platoon outfielder who doesn’t really mash the pitchers he’s supposed to match?  It’s an uninspired signing.  This takes the Phillies out of the running for Mike Cameron, by the way.

Stark’s Latest: Prior, Lofton, Otsuka

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark dishes some good rumorage in his latest column.

  • Stark dug around to find all the Mark Prior suitors and came up with this list: Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, Mets, Cardinals, Padres, Astros, Giants, Reds, Nationals (11 teams).  Let’s compare notes.  MLBTR readers have seen the Yankees, Mets, Cards, Padres, Astros, Reds, and Nats linked to Prior already.  So Stark has added the Red Sox, White Sox, Mariners, and Giants.  The idea of the Mariners runs contrary to this MLB.com article.  Stark did not name the Rangers, who are said to be aggressively pursuing Prior.  Prior is dead set on a one-year deal and would take a big league mound in May in the best case.
  • The Phils are focused on Geoff Jenkins and Mike Cameron, offering two year deals to each.  They might just take the first one to accept.  Stark says Kenny Lofton could be an option if both decline.  Lofton batted a career-best .335 for the Phils in ’05.
  • Stark rattles off a laundry list of pitchers the Phillies are interested in: Akinori Otsuka, Byung-Hyun Kim, Roberto Hernandez, Kris Benson, John Parrish, Sidney Ponson, Chad Durbin, Kyle Lohse, and Jeremy Affeldt.  Given Stark’s 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, I imagine he has a connection or two.  Most of those are new names besides Benson, Lohse, Ponson, and Affeldt.
  • A source of Stark picks the Yankees as the favorite for Johan, but it should be noted that they’re having internal debates about pulling Phil Hughes off the table.
  • For all the crazy Cubs fans we’ve got here: Stark says they’ve talked to the Orioles about both Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard, but couldn’t pull off a deal for both.  They favor Roberts even though they need Bedard much more.

Phillies, Mets Made Offers To Lohse?

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UPDATE, 12-19-07 at 11:14am: Todd Zolecki says there’s nothing to the report that the Phils made a four-year offer to Lohse.  So, Zolecki and Davidoff do not agree with Tim Brown.

UPDATE, 12-19-07 at 9:24am: Ken Davidoff wrote this morning that the Mets "do not seem particularly interested" in Lohse, Carlos Silva, or Livan Hernandez at the current prices.

FROM 12-17-07 at 1:58pm:

Yahoo’s Tim Brown indicates that the Mets and Phillies both have offers out to free agent starter Kyle Lohse, though it’s not the lead of his story (hat tip to MetsBlog).

There hasn’t been a ton of buzz around Lohse yet.  It seems that other aspects of the pitching market may have to settle first.  Lohse could be a Plan B for the Mariners.  He could be an option for St. Louis as well.  It’s been said that Scott Boras, Lohse’s agent, may try to get five years for him.  As Jerry Crasnick says, Boras is "willing to wait for teams to get desperate."  You can check out Boras’ spin on Lohse here.

About Nine Teams Watch Benson

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UPDATE, 12-19-07 at 11:07am: The Braves were in attendance, according to a source of mine. 

UPDATE, 12-19-07 at 8:42am: The Giants were in attendance, so we know eight of the nine teams that watched Benson.  Is it normal for each team to send three scouts, by the way?  It’s been said that 25 of them watched.

UPDATE, 12-18-07 at 1:39pm: The Yankees, Mets, Astros, and Phillies definitely attended.  I also received an email about a radio report indicating the Cards were there. That’s seven of the nine.

FROM 12-18-07 at 10:40am:

According to Todd Zolecki, about nine teams watched free agent Kris Benson throw 60 pitches yesterday.  The Phillies and Nationals were definitely present.

Feel free to guess at the other seven teams.  The Astros were probably there, and some of the Yankees, Cardinals, Royals, Marlins, Rockies, and Dodgers were probably on hand as well.

Benson had surgery in March to repair a partially torn rotator cuff.  Before that he’d usually been good for 180 nearly league average innings.

Padres Rumors: Nady, Barrett, Jenkins, Prior

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Padres rumor guru Tom Krasovic has a new article up at the San Diego Union-Tribune.

  • The Padres are open to trading 24 year-old catcher Nick Hundley.  Hundley did not crack Baseball America’s Padres top ten prospects for ’08 after hitting .247/.324/.475 at Double A.  Kevin Towers would’ve sent him to the Astros for Luke Scott, and still could send him to Pittsburgh for Xavier Nady.
  • Krasovic says that if the Padres are to deal Michael Barrett for a few prospects, it’s likely to happen soon.  The Pirates are said to be interested so maybe a deal involving Nady and some prospects could go down.
  • The Padres’ offer to Geoff Jenkins will likely to be inferior to that of the Phillies.  So Jenkins would have to be sold on the city.  He’s from California and went to USC, notes MLBTR reader Nathaniel S.
  • The Friars expressed interest in another USC alum, Mark Prior (as have 11 other teams).  The New York Daily News reiterated the Mets’ and Yankees’ interest in him this morning.

Phillies Interested In Cameron, Benson

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark wrote recently that the Phillies have expressed interest in center fielder Mike Cameron, now that the Padres are out of the mix.  Pat Gillick, who had Cameron back in Seattle, may have warmed to the idea of a two-year contract.  Back on December 6th Todd Zolecki said the Phils didn’t even want to go that far.  Stark says the White Sox and Rangers are other contenders for Cameron.

Also, both the Phillies and Padres remain on the trail of Geoff Jenkins, according to Zolecki.  His choices have been narrowed down to those two clubs since Friday.

The Phils will be among many teams watching Kris Benson throw tomorrow.  Benson is a popular bargain option; we’ve known that the Yankees, Cardinals, Royals, and Marlins may be watching on Monday as well.  Nick Cafardo says ten teams will observe Benson, adding the Rockies and Dodgers as new ones.  We’re still three short! 

The Phils also could give a minor-league deal to Sidney Ponson.  I’ll let you add your own punchline there. 

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