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Bobby Jenks

Contract Details: Bruce, Lee, Jenks, Pirates, Gomez

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Here are some recent updates on contracts from around the majors:

Red Sox Sign Bobby Jenks

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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

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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

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Some links after another busy day in baseball..

“Heavy Action” On Bobby Jenks

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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

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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

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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

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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

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The typical Winter Meetings barrage of links…

Orioles Notes: Tillman, Hernandez, Reynolds, Uehara

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The Orioles missed out on Victor Martinez and Adam Dunn, but they're still in the hunt for Paul Konerko.  Here's a look at some of their other offseason targets…

  • Chris Tillman's name has been mentioned in connection with the Mark Reynolds trade rumors, tweets Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman.  Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic thinks the D'Backs "seem to like" David Hernandez more, but Hernandez would be just one piece of what's likely to be a pitcher-centric package (Twitter links).   
  • The O's are one of three teams known to be exploring a Reynolds deal, but they're the ones with "the heaviest interest" in the third baseman according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.  The Blue Jays and Padres, in fact, "strongly deny" that they're even pursuing Reynolds.
  • "Some progress has been made" between the Orioles and Koji Uehara, reports Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.  The club has been keeping in touch with Uehara's agent and Zrebiec says team officials "feel pretty good" about their ability to re-sign the reliever.
  • Zrebiec also notes that Baltimore has been in discussions about a number of free agent relievers and have contacted the representatives of Grant Balfour, Jesse Crain, Scott Downs, Brian Fuentes, Matt Guerrier and Kerry Wood.  The O's "have at least one offer out" to one of these pitchers, Zrebiec says.
  • Baltimore has contacted Bobby Jenks' agent, reports Zrebiec in another piece.
  • From that same article, Zrebiec writes "the next person I speak to in the organization who feels the O’s have a shot at Konerko would be the first."  The Orioles' interest in Konerko is "largely overblown" and most insiders feel Konerko will re-sign with the White Sox.
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