Aroldis Chapman

Odds & Ends: Colletti, Chapman, Duchscherer

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | December 7, 2009 at 11:56pm CDT

Odds & Ends: Reed Johnson, Laynce Nix, Counsell

By Tim Dierkes | December 7, 2009 at 5:30pm CDT

Links for Monday, the first day of the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis…

The Padres have been linked to Reed Johnson, writes Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Reds are trying to re-sign Laynce Nix, according to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
The Brewers hope to have a decision one way or another on Craig Counsell by week's end, says Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Also, the Brewers learned that reliever Mark DiFelice needs shoulder surgery, creating a stronger bullpen need (MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reporting).
The Marlins would listen on arbitration-eligible starter Anibal Sanchez, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
Chad Jennings of the LoHud Journal notes that Yanks GM Brian Cashman hitched a ride to Indianapolis with the Levinson brothers, so of course Jason Marquis came up.
Yahoo's Tim Brown has some petty sniping from Scott Boras' camp toward Whitey Herzog for his comments about Matt Holliday.
Victor Martinez's agent Alan Nero talked to WEEI's Alex Speier about the prospect of his client reaching free agency.
The Orioles will meet with the Hendricks brothers about Aroldis Chapman before the Winter Meetings end, according to MASN's Roch Kubatko. ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. is hearing Chapman might not get much more than $20MM. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times tweets that the Yankees have interest at $15MM or less.
Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun learned that Orioles outfielder Felix Pie is drawing strong trade interest.
Chien-Ming Wang will be ready by May 1st, his agent told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. It'd still be surprising to see Wang tendered a contract on Saturday.
Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post talked to John Smoltz's agent Keith Grunewald about his client's interest in the Nationals.
Nationals manager Jim Riggleman suggested to WEEI's Alex Speier that the team would have to be overwhelmed to move Josh Willingham.
ESPN's Keith Law explains why the Meetings are in Indy and suggests improvements to avoid the cold weather and other issues.
The Cardinals expect Mark DeRosa to decline their arbitration offer today, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. DeRosa's agent will meet with Yankees GM Brian Cashman this week, tweets Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland assured John Tomase of the Boston Herald that his team is not having a fire sale.

Heyman On Lowell, Tejada, White Sox

By Tim Dierkes | November 30, 2009 at 3:47pm CDT

The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…

The Phillies had a "brief talk" with the Red Sox about Mike Lowell, but Heyman finds a free agent signing more likely.
A competing agent believes Fern Cuza might be able to get a three-year deal for Miguel Tejada, which seems unlikely to me. Heyman says Tejada is drawing interest from the Cardinals, Astros, Giants, Phillies, and Rangers. The Rangers keep getting linked to starting infielders, but they're really only looking for a backup.
Heyman notes that the White Sox signing Andruw Jones represents a rare Kenny Williams-Scott Boras matchup. He says Boras tried to sell the Sox on bringing back Joe Crede, prior to their Mark Teahen acquisition.
Kendry Morales apparently advised Aroldis Chapman to switch from API to the Hendricks brothers.

The Latest On Aroldis Chapman

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | November 26, 2009 at 1:24pm CDT

Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com explains that Aroldis Chapman will focus exclusively on baseball, now that he has dropped his former agency, API. The interviews and public appearances are over for now.

"He's preparing to fulfill his dream of pitching in the major leagues," agent Rodney Fernandez said.

Fernandez, who works for the Hendricks Brothers, says Chapman has a reserved nature and prefers not to be in the public eye. One MLB executive doubts that questions about Chapman's character will limit his value, but says the prospect shouldn't expect to get paid like an established player.

"The $40-$50 million being floated by the other agent was silly," the exec said. "The way the player was being paraded about was also a negative. This guy is a prospect … not a veteran major league player."

Chapman's former agent, Edwin Mejia, may try to recover some of the expenses he incurred while housing and feeding Chapman (the lefty has apparently gained muscle now that he's eating more beef). It's possible that the agent will file a grievance with the MLBPA, but he wouldn't be likely to win such a case.

Red Sox Express Interest In Scutaro, Escobar, And More

By Tim Dierkes | November 24, 2009 at 11:51pm CDT

Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says the Red Sox have kicked the tires on many free agents already, with Marco Scutaro and Kelvim Escobar the newest names. Others include Rafael Soriano, Matt Holliday, Rick Ankiel, Adrian Beltre, John Lackey, Aroldis Chapman, Billy Wagner, Mike Gonzalez, Alex Gonzalez, and, of course, Jason Bay. Silverman cautions that not all names connected to the Red Sox have "enduring news value."

Scutaro certainly makes sense for Boston; he's the best available shortstop, considering both the free agent and trade market. We ranked Scutaro the eighth-best free agent overall, perhaps a reflection of a weaker market this year. It'd be nice to see Scutaro sign with the Red Sox, as we'd get at least one of our 50 predictions right.

Aside from committing a multiyear contract to Scutaro, the Sox might have to surrender their #29 pick in the June 2010 draft to the Blue Jays. Looking at the Elias numbers, it is possible that the Jays get screwed out of a first-rounder again, as they did losing A.J. Burnett last year (of course, the Jays failed to sign James Paxton anyway). If the Red Sox sign Scutaro and any of Soriano, Gonzalez, Holliday, or Lackey, the Braves, Cardinals, or Angels would get Boston's #29 pick instead and the Jays would get their second-rounder (assuming arbitration is offered to those players).

As Silverman notes, Escobar would fit right in with the John Smoltz/Brad Penny signings of last year. Those two bombed, but here's the question – what kind of success rate should the Red Sox expect from these one-year pitcher gambles? It is OK if one out of five works out?

Passan On Arguelles, Bedard, Jackson

By Mark Polishuk | November 24, 2009 at 9:14pm CDT

Jeff Passan covers a few items in this piece for Yahoo Sports, headlined by 19-year-old Cuban pitcher Noel Arguelles. The young left-hander impressed a number of agents and representatives from various teams at a workout last month in the Dominican Republic, and the four teams most interested in signing Arguelles are the Athletics, Mariners, Rays, and (who but?) the Yankees. Passan predicted that Argulles' deal will be worth somewhere around $8.2MM to $10MM, which match the contracts given to Jose Iglesias and Dayan Viciedo last year by the Red Sox and White Sox, respectively.

In other news from Passan's column…

Passan says the Yankees are much more interested in Aroldis Chapman than they are in Arguelles, and that Chapman's recent agent switch to Randy and Alan Hendricks may help New York. Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens are/were both represented by the Hendricks brothers.
The Royals are "going hard" to sign Erik Bedard to a short-term contract. Passan thinks Bedard will sign with someone for an "incentive-loaded one-year deal" in an effort to prove that he's healthy and worthy of a more lucrative longer-term deal for 2011.
Detroit seem to be becoming more determined in their quest to trade pitcher Edwin Jackson. An unnamed executive is quoted as saying, "It’s like they want to give him away, and I don’t really understand why."

Gammons’ Latest: Yankees, Tigers, Chapman

By Mike Axisa | November 24, 2009 at 11:36am CDT

ESPN's Peter Gammons touched on a bunch of hot stove topics in his latest blog post, so let's round everything up…

Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain will come to Spring Training as starters, but the Yankees haven't ruled out a run at John Lackey, Ben Sheets, or another starter. The feeling inside the organization is that the payroll will be scaled back a bit.
One Tigers source emphatically told Gammons "there will be no fire sale. [Owner] Mike Ilitch wouldn't allow it."
At least one GM says that switching agents raises some character questions about Aroldis Chapman.
Conor Jackson's stint in winter ball convinced the team he's healthy, and he'll be in their first base/left field mix next year. Jackson made our list of non-tender candidates.

Odds & Ends: Chapman, Cubs, Holliday, Damon

By Mike Axisa | November 21, 2009 at 4:36pm CDT

Links for Saturday afternoon …

Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News spoke with a baseball executive who believes the Yankees will wind up with Aroldis Chapman. "My bet is that it'll come down to the Yankees and Red Sox, like it always does…" said the executive. "And I think the Yankees will get him. They can give him a big-league contract over five years for $20 million and they don't even feel that."
The NY Post's Bart Hubbuch reports that the rumored three-way deal involving Milton Bradley, Kevin Millwood and Luis Castillo "isn't happening because the Rangers aren't interested in giving up Millwood so easily." He also mentions that the Mets aren't expected to make any majors moves until the Winter Meetings in two weeks.
Paul Sullivan at The Chicago Tribune rounds up some Cubs' rumors all in one convenient spot, just like our Cubs archive.
Meanwhile, Phil Rogers of The Chicago Tribune posted his projections on where some notable free agents will land. He sees Matt Holliday signing with Boston, while both Jason Bay and John Lackey land with the Angels.
Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post Dispatch notes that the market for Holliday is diminished because officials from the Angels and Giants said they "would not be vying" for his services.
The Yankees' biggest focus right now is finding a "common ground" with Johnny Damon, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff. Hideki Matsui seems to be less of a priority.
Larry LaRue of The News Tribune says that the Josh Johnson situation in Florida represents the worst-case scenario for the Mariners and Felix Hernandez.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report that says Yusei Kikuchi has inked his first pro contract with the Seibu Lions. Kikuchi will not be eligible for international free agency for at least nine years, though Seibu could make him available through the posting process before that.

Aroldis Chapman Drops API

By Mike Axisa | November 21, 2009 at 11:46am CDT

11:46pm: Here's the link to Arangure's story at ESPN, which contains quotes from API and Chapman.

11:11pm: Aroldis Chapman has dropped Athletes Premier International as his agents, according to ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. The move was first reported by Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald, who also said that Chapman is now represented by the Hendricks Brothers. Randy Hendricks, who already represents one Cuban defector in Kendry Morales, confirmed the switch to Arangure.

The timing of a switch seems a bit odd, because Chapman has just finished up meeting with several clubs, including the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets. Presumably API was present and involved during those meetings, though I can't say that with any certainty.

Gammons & Edes On Boston’s Offseason

By Mike Axisa | November 20, 2009 at 7:41pm CDT

In a piece for ESPN Boston, Peter Gammons and Gordon Edes answered five key questions about the Red Sox and the upcoming offseason. There's not many hard rumors in the piece, but there's plenty of discussion topics, so let us know what you think…

Both Gammons and Edes believe the Sox will retain Jason Bay (Gammons guesses the contract will be in the four year, $64MM range), and neither is sure who will compete with them for his services.
The Red Sox "can easily" keep shortstop Alex Gonzalez at a reduced rate even though they declined his option earlier this month. Gammons feels the team needs depth and mentions Marco Scutaro, while Edes doesn't think it would be wise to make a long-term commitment that would block prospect Jose Iglesias.
When it comes to blockbuster trades, Gammons thinks the only way the team pulls one off is if they a) get frustrated during contract extension negotiations with Josh Beckett, or b) can get Adrian Gonzalez or Felix Hernandez.
Edes says it wouldn't be a Red Sox offseason if they didn't explore a big trade, but he thinks it's a longshot that they'll acquire Gonzalez. He says another run at Roy Halladay is more likely.
Gammons notes the Sox would like to add a righthanded batter than could play center and right, and they've long been intrigued by Cody Ross. He mentions that the Marlins tried to get Manny Delcarmen in July.
Both writers believe they will make a run at Rich Harden, and Gammons thinks they'll go after Ben Sheets as well.
And finally, Gammons says the team believes they will not be the high bidder for Aroldis Chapman, but they made a strong case for Boston as the place he'd want to be.

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