Rangers Had Interest In Jenks As A Starter
The Red Sox were far from the only club to express interest in Bobby Jenks after the White Sox non-tendered him. The Rangers were one of the interested teams, and they had an unconventional idea for the right-hander to consider. Jenks told Scott Merkin of MLB.com that Texas was interested in signing him as a starter.
Jenks has never started a big league game, but he was drafted as a starter and has since discussed the idea of re-joining the rotation. However, he turned down the Rangers’ overtures to sign in Boston.
Though he sounds excited to join the Red Sox, Jenks admits that they were not his “first hope.” He had wanted to continue his White Sox career, but the team moved on and signed Jesse Crain. Jenks didn’t mind getting non-tendered, since that was a business decision, but he did not like Chicago’s decision to offer his former number (45) to Adam Dunn.
Jenks says the White Sox offered him a two-year deal worth $10MM, or $2MM less than what the Red Sox signed him for. However, a White Sox official told Merkin that the team didn’t make a formal offer.
Contract Details: Bruce, Lee, Jenks, Pirates, Gomez
Here are some recent updates on contracts from around the majors:
- Jay Bruce gets $25.25MM for his four arbitration years and $12-12.5MM each for a pair of free agent seasons, reports MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
- Cliff Lee can earn $50K for winning a Gold Glove or a Silver Slugger and his new deal also includes bonuses for winning the Cy Young Award, making the All-Star team and winning playoff MVP awards, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
- Jonathan Papelbon is Boston's closer, but Bobby Jenks' new deal with the Red Sox includes up to $1MM in incentives for finishing games, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com.
- The Pirates cannot offer Scott Olsen or Kevin Correia arbitration if they rank as Type A free agents when their contracts expire, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch, who has all the details you'd want to know about the contracts for those two pitchers and Josh Fields.
- As MLB.com's Adam McCalvy explains, Carlos Gomez can earn up to $100K in incentives depending on how many plate appearances he picks up next year. The Brewers' decision to trade Lorenzo Cain likely helped Gomez.
Red Sox Sign Bobby Jenks
The Red Sox deepened the back end of their bullpen, adding reliever Bobby Jenks on a two-year, $12MM deal. Jenks passed his physical recently.
The White Sox non-tendered Jenks earlier in the month after a season in which he posted a career-high 4.44 ERA with otherwise strong numbers. His 58.3% ground ball rate placed him tenth among relievers with at least 50 innings of work, and he posted a 10.4 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 52 2/3 innings. He picked up 27 saves, his lowest total since becoming the team's full-time closer in 2006. Jenks' 173 lifetime saves still would have resulted in a 2011 salary over $7MM, causing the non-tender from Chicago.
The Red Sox are familiar with Jenks' representatives at Legacy Sports after working out this deal and the one that brought Carl Crawford to Boston. The Red Sox have signed many relievers this winter: Dan Wheeler, Matt Albers, Andrew Miller, Randy Williams, Rich Hill, Jason Bergmann and Lenny DiNardo.
ESPN's Buster Olney and SI's Jon Heyman reported on this story as it developed.
Odds & Ends: Rauch, Rays, Jenks, Rockies, Rangers
On this date in 1997, the Red Sox traded Tony Armas Jr. and Carl Pavano to the Expos for reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez. A case can be made that Pedro's 1999 and 2000 seasons were the two best pitching seasons in baseball history, in which he held batters to a .186/.231/.274 batting line with 597 strikeouts in 430.1 innings.
It's highly unlikely that we'll see a pitcher of Pedro's caliber traded anytime soon, but that Zack Greinke kid is pretty good in his own right. Here are today's links…
- Two days ago we heard that the Rockies had interest in David Aardsma, Grant Balfour, and Todd Coffey, and now Troy Renck of The Denver post throws Jon Rauch's name into the mix.
- Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times has some quotes from Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg, who called the size of free agent contracts being handed out this winter "discouraging." He also commented (briefly) on the team's 2011 payroll.
- Bobby Jenks will take his physical on Monday, tweets Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe. It was originally scheduled for today but was pushed back, and it's necessary to finalize his contract with the Red Sox.
- Renck also has the goods (Twitter links) on two recent Rockies signings. Ty Wigginton took less money to sign in Colorado, earning $3.5MM in 2011, $4MM in '12, and a club option for $4MM in '13 ($500k buyout). Meanwhile, pitcher Eric Stults has an out in his $435k minor league deal that will allow him to sign with the Hiroshima Carp if he does not make the big league roster.
- Richard Durrett of ESPN.com applauds the Rangers' efforts to bolster their starting depth.
- Dan Wheeler is happy to be a member of Boston's improved bullpen, writes MLB.com's Ian Browne.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that Seth McClung's deal with the Rangers will pay him $700K if he makes the team. There are another $700K available in bonuses tied to the number of starts he makes.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report (via Twitter) indicating that Hideki Matsui's contract with the A's has a limited no-trade clause preventing trades to the Mariners, Orioles, Twins, Blue Jays, Indians, and Royals.
- Mariano Rivera told Erik Boland of Newsday that he plans to give long-time teammate Andy Pettitte a call to try to convince the lefty to come back for another season.
- Finding a left-handed bat off the bench is one of the last remaining items on the Marlins offseason agenda, but MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says they might already have that guy on their roster. Catcher John Baker, who is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, said he would be up for the job until he's cleared to catch again.
- Former Mets GM Omar Minaya told Ian Begley of ESPN New York that he plans to sit down with new GM Sandy Alderson after the holidays to discuss a potential new role with the team. Minaya said he has several offers on the table, including interest from the Diamondbacks.
- Hey iPhone users, do you have the MLBTR app yet? Jason Bartlett does, and that's how he found out his trade to the Padres was in the works.
Odds & Ends: Hall, Wood, Jenks, Angels
Some links after another busy day in baseball..
- Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times wonders what the Dodgers will do now that Bill Hall is off of the market.
- The one-year, $1.5MM guarantee that Kerry Wood received from the Cubs isn't close to the bids he received from the Yankees and Red Sox, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated. In fact, the Yankees would have bid $10MM over two seasons if the right-hander was interested.
- Bobby Jenks will give Boston's bullpen a much needed shot in the arm, writes MLB.com's Mike Bauman.
- Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports wonders if the Angels plan on being frugal this winter.
“Heavy Action” On Bobby Jenks
THURSDAY, 10:34am: Jenks is looking for "closer money," according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link). Heyman suggests that means Jenks is looking for at least $8MM.
WEDNESDAY, 9:07pm: It's a good time to be a free agent reliever, and one of the biggest on the market (both literally and figuratively) is former White Sox closer Bobby Jenks. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that there is "heavy action" on the right-hander, with both the Rays and Yankees showing interest. Jenks is not close to a decision, however.
Jenks, 30 in March, was non-tendered a few weeks ago after earning $7.5MM in 2010. Although his 4.44 ERA this season was the worst of his career, he struck out 10.4 batters per nine innings while walking just 2.9 unintentionally. Jenks also had a 58.3% ground ball rate, tenth best among relievers with at 50 IP, and his trademark velocity even crept up late in the season.
Rafael Soriano is the best reliever on the market, but Jenks represents a reasonably priced alternative for teams looking to add a proven closer. The Rays are looking to replace Soriano while the Yankees have some money to spend after losing out in Cliff Lee. They would use Jenks in a setup role, of course.
Red Sox On Verge Of Deal With Bobby Jenks
The Red Sox are on the verge of a deal with Bobby Jenks, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Jenks, who is looking for "closer money," appears to be drawing lots of interest.
The White Sox non-tendered the reliever earlier in the month after a season in which Jenks posted a career-high 4.44 ERA with otherwise strong numbers. His 58.3% ground ball rate placed him tenth among relievers with at least 50 innings of work and he posted 10.4 K/9 with 3.1 BB/9 in 52 2/3 innings. He picked up 27 saves, his lowest total since becoming the team's full-time closer in 2006.
Heyman reported earlier this afternoon that the Red Sox are open to trading Jonathan Papelbon, though his trade value is low, since he's likely to earn $11MM or so through arbitration (Twitter link).
Latest On The Rockies’ Search For A Reliever
The Rockies have been looking to strengthen their bullpen basically all offseason, but they haven't done much in that regard beyond trading for Felipe Paulino. They did make an offer to Matt Guerrier before he agreed to sign with the Dodgers, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post (Twitter link), but their search for relief help won't stop there.
In a series of tweets, Renck says the Rockies maintain interest in Jesse Crain, but like many clubs they prefer not to go three years on a reliever. He adds that they also like Bobby Jenks and former Rockie Brian Fuentes, but they might be out of their price range. Finally, Renck says it would not be surprising to see them pursue Jon Rauch, though Chad Qualls, Hideki Okajima, and Mike MacDougal are interesting options as well.
The back end of Colorado's bullpen is pretty well set with Huston Street, Rafael Betancourt, and Matt Belisle, but there's no such thing as too much depth. Street missed time with a shoulder issue and battled an oblique problem late in the season, and I'm sure the team would like to ease off Belisle, who led MLB with 92 relief innings in 2010.
Rockies Interested In Cantu, Harden, Bullpen Help
We've heard that Ty Wigginton is the Rockies' top target for a right-handed bat, but the club has other targets for that role, as well as interest in several other players, according to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Let's go over some of them:
- Jorge Cantu is one alternative to Wigginton, despite a miserable second half to the 2010 season. GM Dan O'Dowd acknowledged that they'd prefer someone who can play in the outfield, but that's not critical.
- The Rockies have soured on Josh Willingham due to Washington's asking price and concerns over the 31-year-old's knee. They've also called about Jeff Francoeur, believing he could handle first base.
- Colorado would have interest in Rich Harden in a bullpen role, if the righty would be willing to make the switch from starting pitching. There's also the question of whether or not the injury-prone Harden could hold up physically. Renck says the Rox have tried to acquire Harden numerous times in the past, but to no avail.
- Colorado is also looking at Kevin Gregg, Bobby Jenks, Brian Fuentes, Jesse Crain, and Pedro Feliciano, though the first three prefer to close, which won't happen in Denver.
- The Rockies also haven't closed the door on Joe Beimel, who tells Renck he'd love to come back to Colorado.
Odds & Ends: Nishioka, Uggla, Soriano, Wigginton
The typical Winter Meetings barrage of links…
- There's trade interest in newly-blocked third baseman Josh Bell, Orioles manager Buck Showalter told Yahoo's Steve Henson, though Bell can play first (Twitter link).
- Tsuyoshi Nishioka's agents are meeting with the Twins today, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. He says the Japanese infielder seeks a three-year deal.
- Dan Uggla and the Braves have talked a bit about an extension, tweets Heyman.
- The Angels have deflected trade talks about other closers because they're focused on Rafael Soriano, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
- Ty Wigginton is the Rockies' top target for a right-handed bench bat, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and they're meeting with his agent today.
- MLB.com's Scott Merkin talked to free agent reliever Bobby Jenks, who would like to return to the White Sox if possible. Manager Ozzie Guillen told Merkin that if Jenks does return, he would not be guaranteed the closer job (Twitter link).
- Reds manager Dusty Baker told reporters, "Joey Votto told me he wants to stay. He just wasn't ready to say he wants to stay the rest of life."