Odds and Ends: Bonds, Boras, Snell
Links for Thursday…
- MLBTR had over 3,500 posts in 2008. Thanks for reading! In ’08 we added a Facebook page, a mobile site, and weekly chats while also redesigning the main site. It was my first year working full-time on MLBTR.
- Barry Bonds had hip surgery with the intent of playing in 2009, according to John Shea.
- The Rays re-signed catcher Michel Hernandez to a minor league deal.
- Darren Rovell interviewed Scott Boras.
- Ian Snell agrees with Jack Wilson – the Pirates need more players.
- A discussion of power/speed players over at RotoAuthority.
- The River Avenue Blues writers break down the Johnny Damon contract in a post on Peter Abraham’s blog. They argue that he’s been worth 13MM per year so far.
- Mike Berardino expects the Marlins to remain quiet for now, but predicts that they’ll find a bargain or two before Spring Training.
- The Toronto Star looks ahead towards a potentially tough year for Toronto sports fans, no thanks to the Blue Jays.
- The recent merger of Aaron Miles and the Cubs isn’t well-received at FanGraphs.
Odds and Ends: Miles, Bako, Sheets
A couple of links for you bar-hopping kids with Blackberries. Happy New Year’s Eve. Be safe out there…
- Aaron Miles said the Cardinals jumped in on the last day, but by then it was too late. He was somewhat miffed by being non-tendered twice during his Cardinals career.
- According to the Chicago Tribune, Paul Bako is expected to sign with the Cubs for around $500,000. He’ll be a nice, cheap backup to Geovany Soto.
- Indians GM Mark Shapiro told Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that Mark DeRosa is the "perfect fit" for the Tribe.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic wants the Diamondbacks to go after Ben Sheets. "Right now."
- San Francisco Chronicle beat writer Henry Schulman is preaching patience to the Giants’ fan base.
Cubs To Target Brian Roberts Yet Again?
Ready for more Brian Roberts-to-the-Cubs rumors? Here’s a little speculation via Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun:
Schmuck surmises that the Cubs might try to recover some of the offensive production that they lost in Mark DeRosa‘s departure by once again going after Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts. The Cubs just signed Aaron Miles, who is a fine utility infielder and occasional pinch-hitter, but he’d be an offensive and defensive liability as an everyday starter.
Cubs Sign Aaron Miles
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs signed infielder Aaron Miles to a two-year deal worth $4.9MM. The deal was first reported by ESPN Radio’s Bruce Levine. Speculation is that the move could allow the Cubs to trade Mark DeRosa.
Miles, 32, hit .317/.355/.398 in 408 plate appearances for the Cardinals this year while playing all around the diamond. Miles was one of the top free agent bargains of 2008 at $1.6MM.
Odds and Ends: Boras, Wigginton, Burrell
Tuesday linkage…
- Changed my mind on the chat…we will not be holding it at 2pm today. The time/day of the chat is TBD.
- Here’s a list of the largest contracts in baseball history. You can see why Scott Boras would want Teixeira to reach $190MM.
- Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times notes that aside from Felipe Lopez, all of Boras’ free agent clients are unsigned.
- Peter Abraham explains the Yankees’ large luxury tax.
- The Reds have yet to open talks with Aaron Miles, Ty Wigginton, and Pat Burrell. Talks are ongoing with Jerry Hairston Jr. and Willy Taveras, though Walt Jocketty is not making much progress with Rocco Baldelli.
Orioles Interested In Hendrickson, Miles
Peter Schmuck talks about two of many free agents on the Orioles’ radar, pitcher Mark Hendrickson and infielder Aaron Miles. Jeff Zrebiec named Hendrickson as an Orioles’ target back on December 6th; check out that article for many other names of interest. Baltimore could be a great opportunity for Hendrickson, as their rotation is wide open. Schmuck reminds us that the Orioles also have interest in starters Braden Looper, Tim Redding, and Kenshin Kawakami. Roch Kubatko says the O’s are not interested in Ben Sheets.
This is the first I’ve heard of the O’s being interested in Miles; the Reds are another suitor for the non-tendered infielder.
Reds Interested In Taveras, Wigginton, Miles
Reds GM Walk Jocketty told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon that he’s interested in three players who became free agents after being non-tendered by their former clubs: Willy Taveras, Ty Wigginton and Aaron Miles.
Jocketty said Taveras could play in center field, Wigginton’s a backup in case they don’t get their first choice of outfielders and Miles could work if the Reds don’t re-sign Jerry Hairston.
Wigginton played in the outfield 30 times for the Astros this year, but John Fay heard from Jocketty that a Wigginton deal could move Edwin Encarnacion to left field.
Non-Tendered Players
2:01am: MLB.com has the official list.
10:05pm: Here is a list of players who were non-tendered today, and therefore became free agents.
- Aquilino Lopez
- Joey Gathright, John Bale
- Jamie Burke
- Joe Nelson
- Aaron Miles, Randy Flores, Tyler Johnson
- Norris Hopper, Gary Majewski, Matt Belisle
- Doug Mathis
- Daniel Cabrera, Lance Cormier
- Denny Bautista
- Ty Wigginton, Reggie Abercrombie
- Jonny Gomes
- Willy Taveras
- Takashi Saito, Scott Proctor, Yhency Brazoban, Angel Berroa
- Clay Hensley and Charlie Haeger
- Chris Britton and Justin Christian
- Tim Redding
- Chris Capuano
- Kevin Cash
- Chuck James
- Chris Burke, Robby Hammock, Wil Ledezma, Jeff Salazar
Today’s Non-tenders: Towers, Prior, Everett, Durbin
Tim’s out for the night, so we’ve got a fresh post started for the non-tenders. MLB.com has a running list as well.
These guys are the officials as of now:
- As expected, the Marlins non-tendered catcher Miguel Olivo. Johnny Estrada was another casualty; these two make up the market for starting catchers.
- The Blue Jays non-tendered Josh Towers, a surprising move. Some NL team could offer him two years and get league average work out of him.
- Mark Prior has been non-tendered. Honestly if I were the Cubs, I would’ve tossed the $3.5MM his way just to see.
- Aaron Miles is now a free agent.
- The A’s cut Kiko Calero loose.
- The Padres have non-tendered four: Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, and pitchers Jack Cassell and Ryan Ketchner. RotoWorld speculates that the latter two, not arbitration eligible, could be offered minor league deals.
- The Royals cut the cord on Emil Brown. He turns 33 soon; he hit an ugly .257/.300/.347 in 2007. Brown earned $3.45MM in ’07.
- The Tigers non-tendered Chad Durbin, toss him into the free agent pool. Guess those trade talks with the Bucs didn’t work out.
- The Twins have let go Jason Tyner.
- The Nats have cut bait with Nook Logan and LHP Michael O’Connor.
- The Dodgers wave goodbye to Mark Hendrickson.
- The White Sox have non-tendered Andy Gonzalez and LHP Heath Phillips. Joe Crede sticks with the Pale Hose for now.
- Adam Everett has lost his job with the Astros. It’d be kind of funny if the Orioles signed him.
- Per RotoWorld, the Angels have non-tendered Dallas McPherson. He’s full of potential, but he’s never come through. He’s only 27, though, so he could still catch on somewhere. Unless, RotoWorld notes, he has an agreement in place with the Angels.
- The Braves have non-tendered Willie Harris, though he had already been DFA’d.
–Joe and Tim