AL East Notes: Scott, Chavez, Pettitte, Rays
Last season, the AL East produced two 95-win teams and two more who won at least 85 games. However, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the division has seen recent success off the field as well as on it. Three AL East teams – the Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Rays – rank among the top five in Sherman's list of baseball's best offseasons. Here are a few other division-related items:
- Luke Scott would be "all for" signing a contract to keep him in Baltimore long-term, he tells the Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly. As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, Scott is one of two remaining arbitration cases for the Orioles, along with Jeremy Guthrie.
- Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (Twitter link) thinks it makes a lot of sense for the Jays to sign Eric Chavez to a minor league deal, though he acknowledges that the third baseman has other offers and the final say.
- Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News believes Andy Pettitte will pitch for the Yankees again, "sooner rather than later."
- Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times runs through a few moves the Rays could make in the coming weeks, but says the team is "pretty much set" for Spring Training.
Heyman On Pettitte, Millwood, Molina, Wandy
Yankees people seem a bit more optimistic about the potential return of Andy Pettitte, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. They’ll consider alternatives such as Kevin Millwood, but only after hearing from Pettitte. Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors:
- The Indians and Royals remain possibilities for Millwood.
- One rival executive doesn’t think the Bartolo Colon signing means much for the Yankees. "There is no real risk. But there is no real reward, either," the executive said.
- Bengie Molina might consider returning for “special opportunities,” Heyman writes.
- The Rangers and GM Jon Daniels have started discussing a contract extension and Rangers people expect a new deal for Daniels, whose current contract expires after the 2011 season.
- One competing executive believes the Astros overpaid for Wandy Rodriguez. I don’t mind this deal for the Astros, since solid left-handed starters aren’t cheap or easy to find and Rodriguez was about to hit free agency.
Yankees Notes: Jeter, Colon, Pettitte, Girardi
The latest on the Yankees, who signed Bartolo Colon to a minor league deal yesterday…
- GM Brian Cashman told John Harper of the New York Daily News that he talked to Derek Jeter's agent, Casey Close, to clarify comments he made earlier in the week about a potential move to the outfield for the captain.
- As Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out, both the Yankees and the Rangers pursued Cliff Lee aggressively, then "gambled on a former Cy Young winner who has been devastated by shoulder injuries in recent years." But Colon is a back-of-the-rotation arm, not a true alternative to Lee. Brandon Webb, the Rangers' new addition, is no sure thing either.
- The Yankees are upbeat about the chances that Andy Pettitte returns for another season, according to Sherman. They're still considering free agents like Justin Duchscherer and Jeremy Bonderman, though.
- The Yankees believe history is a 'pull' for Pettitte, Sherman writes. He can progress through Yankees records and add to his Hall of Fame case if he plays more.
- Manager Joe Girardi showed the kind of sway he has with the Yankees when he voted in favor of adding Rafael Soriano, according to Sherman.
Yankees To Offer Pettitte $12MM
5:09pm: Marc Carig of The Star Ledger hears from Yankees GM Brian Cashman that nothing has changed regarding Pettitte (Twitter link). He hasn't told the team if he will or will not pitch next season yet.
4:44pm: The Yankees' offer to Andy Pettitte is or will be for $12MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter links). That won't necessarily be enough to lure the free agent left-hander away from retirement, but some of Heyman's sources expect him to play. "Why would he be working out if he's not playing?" one asked.
Pettitte signed with the Yankees two years ago today, then re-upped with the club in December of 2009. He has never waited later than January 26th to sign a free agent contract, but doesn't appear to be in a hurry this offseason.
Heyman On Fielder, Papelbon, Rays, Giants
Prince Fielder is looking to join the $200MM club and the Red Sox considered trading Jonathan Papelbon to the A's or White Sox, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. Here are the details and the rest of Heyman's rumors:
- Fielder is looking for at least eight years and $200MM or so when he hits free agency after the season, according to Heyman. Not surprisingly, the Brewers don't like the idea of committing that much to their first baseman.
- The Red Sox talked to the A's and White Sox about Jonathan Papelbon. Boston appeared willing to offer Rafael Soriano a one-year deal and make him their closer. If the sides had agreed to a deal, the Red Sox would have sent Papelbon elsewhere, likely to Oakland or Chicago
- The Rays, who are moving toward a deal with Johnny Damon, have also considered Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Russell Branyan and Nick Johnson.
- The Yankees hope to hear from Andy Pettitte soon, but the lefty is still mulling retirement.
- The Giants appear to be nearing a one-year deal with Andres Torres. As our Arb Tracker shows, Torres filed at $2.6MM and the Giants countered with $1.8MM.
- Heyman says there's "scuttlebutt" that the Rangers could look to lock Josh Hamilton up on a multiyear deal.
- Heyman talked to executives about Joey Votto's new deal and arrived at the conclusion I reached after talking to insiders earlier in the week: the Reds didn't appear to gain much from their deal with the reigning NL MVP.
- Heyman points out that Jose Bautista's representatives will have to convince arbitrators to overlook the string of pedestrian seasons that led up to Bautista's mammoth 2010 campaign. For more on Bautista's case, click here.
Yankees Notes: Cashman, Pettitte, Damon
Brian Cashman's admission that he wasn't in favor of the Rafael Soriano signing has generated almost as much buzz as the signing itself. Here's the latest on that controversy and some other Yankee-related items…
- The Soriano negotiations were handled by Hal Steinbrenner and Randy Levine, reports MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. In spite of this split of opinion over the reliever, Levine still called Cashman "the best general manager in the game."
- Cashman's decision to go public with his disagreements "were a sign of larger disputes within the Yankee front office," says CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler. Sources in the Yankee organization tell Knobler that ownership wasn't pleased with recent Cashman acquisitions like Randy Winn, Javier Vazquez and Nick Johnson.
- Cashman deserves respect for sticking to his principles, writes ESPNNewYork.com's Wallace Matthews, but the general manager was wrong in his belief that signing Soriano wasn't worthwhile.
- New York's negotiations with Andruw Jones are being led by Cashman and his baseball operations team, tweets ESPN.com's Buster Olney, so the Soriano signing could just be an "isolated case" of ownership getting involved.
- In another Bryan Hoch piece, Joe Girardi revealed that Andy Pettitte is training to "get into baseball shape" in case the southpaw decides to pitch in 2011. Cashman said the decision is solely up to Pettitte and the club won't try to woo him into a return.
- Johnny Damon is still drawing some interest from the Yankees, in part because the team thinks Damon could help getting A.J. Burnett back in form, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated. Heyman notes that the Yankees can't offer Damon the playing time that he could find with the Angels and Rays.
AL East Links: Pettitte, Cashman, Chavez, Red Sox
The latest on the AL East, as teams turn their attention to arbitration eligible players and possible bargains on the free agent market…
- A Yankees source told Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com that the team's optimism about Andy Pettitte's potential return has diminished in the past week. The team has been in touch with Pettitte, but they aren't counting on him to return.
- Despite the suggestion that the Yankees' deal with Rafael Soriano was ownership-driven, the Yankees have "full confidence" in GM Brian Cashman, a senior Yankees executive told Matthews. We heard over the weekend that Cashman has full backing from the Steinbrenner family.
- Blue Jays manager John Farrell confirmed to MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm that the Blue Jays are interested in Eric Chavez. Farrell says he heard good things about the third baseman, who worked out for the Blue Jays recently.
- Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe suggests we'll see a flurry of signings today, since teams would prefer not to exchange figures with their arbitration eligible players. Jonathan Papelbon and Jacoby Ellsbury are Boston's unsigned arbitration eligible players.
Cafardo’s Latest: Bonderman, Pettitte, Pavano, Bautista
Despite their impressive offseason, the Red Sox will still need some luck at a couple positions, says Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cafardo leads this week's column by discussing the production the Red Sox hope to receive behind the plate and from their left-handed relievers. Here are the rest of the items of interest from the piece:
- Jeremy Bonderman is still looking to land a spot at the back of a rotation, and is drawing "minor interest" from the Rangers and Cardinals. The Yankees, whose interest in Bonderman we heard about earlier this month, have also been in touch with the right-hander's representation.
- Someone "close to" Andy Pettitte told Cafardo that he would be shocked if we've seen the last of the left-hander in the bigs. The longtime Yankee won't start the 2011 season with the club, but hasn't officially announced any plans to retire.
- There has been a "strange silence" surrounding Carl Pavano's situation over the last week, but Cafardo suggests that since Pavano definitely wants to remain a Twin, there's no urgency to act quickly.
- According to Cafardo, Jose Bautista would prefer to play right field rather than third base for the Blue Jays this season. Where Bautista ends up on the field may hinge on whether the Jays add another bat.
Andy Pettitte Will Not Start 2011 Season
8:28 PM: Cashman tells Tyler Kepner of the New York Times that "he just used a poor choice of words" in describing Pettitte's situation. (Twitter link) Cashman says he meant to say that Pettitte has "chosen not to pitch" rather than "chosen not to start," though this doesn't necessarily mean that Pettitte has officially retired. In another Kepner tweet, Cashman says he hasn't spoken to Pettitte about a Clemens-esque midseason return.
8:13 PM: Andy Pettitte has informed the Yankees that if he does return for the 2011 season, he won't be ready by Opening Day, reports Stefan Bondy and Nathaniel Vinton of the New York Daily News. Brian Cashman said Pettitte told him to "don't count on me" but the GM noted that if Pettitte wanted to pitch later in the season, the door would be open for a return.
"I don't think he's determined if he's officially finished or not, but he's chosen at this stage at least not to start in 2011," Cashman said. "If that ever changes he'll call us. We're not going to hound him or bother him."
ESPN's Buster Olney pointed out last month that Pettitte would already be behind on his offseason preparations if he chose to return, so it's possible that Pettitte may still come back and is building in extra time to get ready for his 17th Major League season.
Pettitte could take a page from his friend Roger Clemens' book — the Rocket didn't begin his 2006 and 2007 seasons, with the Astros and Yankees respectively, until June of those years. Clemens was able to secure $22MM from Houston and a pro-rated $4.7MM per month deal from New York, and while Pettitte wouldn't get that kind of money from the Yankees, he could command more than the rumored $12-$13MM if the Yankees found themselves desperate for pitching by May.
New York Notes: Andruw Jones, Buchholz, Pettitte
The MLBTR team sends its condolences to the friends and family of Ryne Duren, the hard-throwing right-hander who passed away today at age 81. Duren pitched for seven teams over his 10 seasons in the majors, but is best remembered as a Yankee for his role in helping the Bronx Bombers win the 1958 World Series. Duren posted a 2.02 ERA and a 10.3 K/9 rate that season, also leading the league with 20 saves.
Some Yankee and Met-related items…
- The Yankees have "started talks" with Andruw Jones, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, though "nothing's close" between the two sides. Heyman mentioned the Bombers were "considering" Jones a few days ago.
- The newly-signed Taylor Buchholz can double his $600K base salary from the Mets if he makes the 25-man roster and reaches various games played incentives, reports Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
- Also from Rubin (Twitter link), if the Mets do add another starting pitcher, they don't want to pay more than the $1.5MM (plus another $1.5MM in incentives) they paid to sign Chris Capuano.
- ESPNNewYork.com's Wallace Matthews speculates that Andy Pettitte may be holding off on a return to the Yankees due to his pending testimony this summer at Roger Clemens' federal perjury trial.
- The Yankees haven't begun negotiating with their three arbitration-eligible players (Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Boone Logan) yet, reports Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees blog.
- There is "no deal imminent" for Jeremy Bonderman, tweets FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi. The Yankees and Tigers were both connected to the right-hander earlier this week.