Odds & Ends: Rays, Reds, Pettitte, Robertson
Here are some links for the day…
- Rays GM Andrew Friedman told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that he "doesn't expect" to go outside of the organization for bullpen help (Twitter link). The Rays already added Virgil Vasquez today.
- Reds GM Walt Jocketty told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon that the team could make a midseason deal or two.
- Andy Pettitte hinted to the YES Network's Jack Curry that this may be his last season. The lefty says he wants to spend more time with his family.
- Nate Robertson tells Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald that he's glad to be back in Florida, especially since he's surrounded by a number of former Tigers.
- Jayson Werth says he isn't thinking about his upcoming contract year, but Phillies hitting coach Milt Thompson told Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer that it can become a distraction for lots of players.
- Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle says Buster Posey will likely start the year in the minors, partly because the Giants wouldn't mind slowing down the catcher's service time clock.
- Johnny Damon tells the Associated Press that he has been impressed with the Tigers this spring.
- Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts tells Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times that the team's front office has been a "pleasant surprise" so far.
Calling Up Buster Posey
There's a good chance Buster Posey goes to Triple A Fresno soon – at least for now. But the 23-year-old catcher is one of the best prospects in the game, so the Giants figure to call on him at some point, even if he doesn't make the team. That would be determined, in part, by Posey's play in the minors, but performance wouldn't be the only consideration for the Giants.
If they keep Posey, who has 33 days of major league service time, in Fresno until May 20th or later, he can pick up a maximum of 136 days of service time this year. That would keep his service time total under the 172 threshold days players need for a full season. This means the Giants can call on Posey in late May and be confident that he won't have 172 days after the season. That would postpone his free agency until after the 2016 season. Bottom line: the Giants can delay Posey's free agency by a year if they call him up in late May.
If the Giants are happy with Bengie Molina's production at the end of May, they could keep Posey in the minors for another month and prevent him from becoming a Super Two player. If the Giants call on Posey at the beginning of July, he won't have 130 days of service time at the end of the season. Bottom line: the Giants can save themselves money in arbitration if they call Posey up at the beginning of July.
This isn't to say that the Giants will make roster any decisions based on Posey's service time clock, but the options above figure to be a consideration for the team, as they would be for most clubs in this situation.
Giants Talking To Calero, Could Add A Catcher
The Giants are definitely interested in reliever Kiko Calero, according to Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com. Giants vice president of baseball operations Bobby Evans confirmed that the club has been talking to Calero's agent, Diego Benz. Even still, Evans seems to think Calero will get a better offer from another club.
There has been little reported interest in the 35-year-old this offseason, despite his strong 2009 year. Calero allowed 36 hits and 30 walks in 60 innings, striking out 69 for a 1.95 ERA, but we haven't heard of interested teams other than the Cubs and Giants.
Brian Sabean is prepared to hand the starting catcher's job to Buster Posey, but Urban says the GM sounds open to adding another backstop (we know they inquired on Yorvit Torrealba). Signing a fifth starter is not a priority for the Giants.
Overnight Links: Red Sox, Jays, Posey, Past Deals
Some overnight links for your viewing pleasure as we start to get into the real late hours of the night:
- USA Today's Bob Nightengale says good morning with a series of tweets; Nightengale says he continues to hear Edwin Jackson's name floated about, and that "most executives" feel he'll be traded soon. He also wouldn't be surprised to see Adrian Beltre fall into Boston's lap if he declines arbitration. Not sure where he envisions Mike Lowell in that scenario.
- Jeff Zrebiec lists ten trade targets for the Orioles, though he admits that some are highly unlikely. In a separate piece, Peter Schmuck opines that it's not a waste of money if the O's spend money on free agents this offseason to add a few wins and show future free agents that Baltimore is trending in the right direction.
- Alex Speier of WEEI.com explains why it would be unlike the Red Sox sacrifice a high draft pick for a free agent reliever such as Mike Gonzalez or Rafael Soriano. As you know, Boston currently owes their first-round #29 pick to the Blue Jays for signing Marco Scutaro.
- Anything can happen at the Winter Meetings, writes Peter Schmuck, who reminds us of the 1990 deal between the Blue Jays and Padres that sent Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez to San Diego for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. That trade started off as a minor discussion.
- The Boston Herald has ten things to keep in mind at this year's Winter Meetings.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at how the economy will affect this year's Winter Meetings, and poses five key questions to keep in mind this time around.
- Gordon Wittenmyer looks at why the Cubs are optimistic that they can move Milton Bradley this offseason.
- Count Tim Wakefield and Daniel Bard among those in the Jason Bay camp for the Red Sox, says Michael Silverman. While Matt Holliday may be a more complete player, Wakefield and Bard would prefer their friend and proven AL East commodity. Good read, if for no other reason than Wakefield's quote at the end on how closely he follows the offseason: "…We’ll be sitting in the dugout in spring training in Fort Myers and I’ll look across and be, ‘How the hell did he get over there?’ ”
- John Tomase touches on the Red Sox needs this offseason. Tomase hits most of the names we've already heard, and throws Mark DeRosa and Jamey Carroll into the mix as well.
- Quick! Who do you see spending the most money on the draft in 2010? Bet you didn't guess the Blue Jays (unless of course you took into consideration the large hint I provided in the title of this post). Reports are that the Jays will have a ridiculous $16MM to spend on the draft in 2010. The Jays have eight picks in the first three rounds (nine if Rod Barajas signs elsewhere), and plan to take full advantage of it.
- El Lefty Malo takes a look at the possibility that the Giants sign Jason Kendall as their starting catcher because of the belief that Buster Posey isn't ready. Apparently, it's not a thought that sits well.
- MLB.com looks back at some of the best trades and free agent signings by each club in the National League and American League since the era of Divisional play began. They've also got a more generic list of the best moves of the past 40 seasons.
- Per Kyodo News, several teams have expressed interest in So Taguchi, according to his agent Alan Nero. Several teams? Can't say I expected that one.
Giants Notes: Rodriguez, Uggla, Bumgarner
Let's take a look at some Giants tidbits courtesy of Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News…
- We heard earlier today that the Giants are one of a handful of teams interested in Ivan Rodriguez. It has also been reported that the club is interested in Yorvit Torrealba and Brad Ausmus as they look to ease Buster Posey into the role of catcher. However, Baggarly says Miguel Olivo, Rod Barajas, and Jason Kendall are more likely targets.
- Although Florida's Dan Uggla is highly coveted by GM Brian Sabean, he is unwilling to sacrifice valuable commodities such as left-hander Madison Bumgarner to get him.
- Just as the club wants to wait before giving Posey the reins as starting catcher, they would like to have Bumgarner start the year in Triple-A. In order to do this, they need to find a fifth starter. If they cannot retain Brad Penny, they'll have to look out-of-house.
Giants’ Talk: Catchers, Rotation, Howry
Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News and John Shea of The SF Chronicle have some notes on the Giants' for us…
- GM Brian Sabean said "nobody thinks [Buster Posey] is ready to catch 100-plus games in the big leagues," however they haven't made any "money offers" to any free agent catchers. He acknowledged that a multi-year deal for a backstop "wouldn't be wise."
- As for why they didn't offer Type-A free agent Bengie Molina arbitration, Sabean said the team didn't "need another arbitration case," and that they "have multiple needs and we want to spread the money throughout the roster."
- Sabean indicated that the team isn't comfortable paying Brad Penny or Juan Uribe what they want, and neither is likely to return. Both players declined one year deals last week.
- Shea says that if Penny leaves, the team probably won't move Jonathan Sanchez in a trade, while Baggarly says there is "less resistance to the idea of Madison Bumgarner beginning the season in the rotation."
- The team has informed reliever Bob Howry that they would like to bring him back, but they have not yet talked about money.
- The Giants will not forfeit a draft pick to sign a player, which rules out the Type-A's. They hold the 24th overall pick in next year's draft. However, Sabean said that Type-A's who weren't offered arbitration were "more sensible targets."
Blue Jays Interested In Torrealba
We learned last week that Yorvit Torrealba was being pursued by his former club, the Rockies, as well as unnamed teams in the National League West and in the American League. Yesterday, the NL West team was confirmed to be San Francisco, and today Newsday's Ken Davidoff (via Twitter) revealed the American League team to be the Toronto Blue Jays.
MLB.com's Jordan Bastian tweets that the Jays have made "multiple" inquiries about the catcher and are preparing to make an offer. Torrealba turned down a two-year/$4.5MM offer from Colorado earlier this month. Since the Giants are interested in Torrealba largely as a stop-gap starting option or as a backup depending on the progress of top prospect Buster Posey , Torrealba might be more interested in Toronto's offer with the promise of regular playing time.
Torrealba became the Rockies' everyday catcher in the second half of last season and in the NLDS after posting a .324/.373/.394 line in 160 plate appearances after the All-Star break. With Rod Barajas a free-agent, Toronto has a need at catcher with prospect J.P. Arencibia's progress stalled after a disappointing 2009 minor league campaign. It's unlikely that the Jays' contract offer would greatly exceed Colorado's given the red flags of Torrealba's career .706 OPS and the fact that he only threw out 14 percent of base-stealers last season.
Giants Interested In Yorvit Torrealba
MONDAY, 3:40pm: MLB.com's Chris Haft talked to Torrealba's agent Melvin Roman, who confirmed the Giants' interest in his client.
SUNDAY, 9:08pm: After turning down a two-year, $4.5MM offer to remain with the Rockies, Yorvit Torrealba is expected to receive an offer from another NL West club, writes Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Although Renck isn't 100% certain, he believes that the Giants are the team interested in the 31-year-old catcher as they might be looking for someone to keep the seat warm for Buster Posey.
Renck also reports that the Rockies have "expressed preliminary interest" in Brian Schneider in the event that they do not retain Torrealba. In 59 games last season, the veteran catcher recorded an OPS of .627, his lowest since his rookie campaign.
As for Torrealba, does anyone see an NL West club other than the Giants or Rockies being a match?
Giants Rumors: Posey, Molina, Uggla, Johnson
Recently re-signed GM Brian Sabean has his work cut out for him this offseason. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle brings us the latest on the Giants offseason:
- Giants brass are discussing whether or not they feel Buster Posey will be ready to play in the majors at the start of the 2010. Even if they decide he's not, Bengie Molina isn't likely to be back in San Francisco. As we've heard elsewhere, the Mets are interested in the 35-year-old catcher.
- Sabean said that as of Thursday, the club wasn't close to a deal for Florida's Dan Uggla. However, Schulman notes that Sabean pointed out Freddy Sanchez's ability to play third base, which leaves open the possibility of acquiring someone to play second base.
- Sabean also said that he is looking at "second-tier" free agents who want to play at AT&T Park. One player to keep an eye on is Nick Johnson, who is beloved by manager Bruce Bochy. In 133 games with the Nationals and Marlins last season, the 30-year-old posted .291/.426/.405 with 8 HRs – his lowest total in any 100+ game season.
Giants Rumors: Molina, Pudge, Bay, Holliday
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the Giants are open to bringing Bengie Molina back, but prepared in case the catcher signs elsewhere. Here are the details:
- The Giants won't likely offer Molina much more than the $6MM he made this year.
- Molina wants a two-year deal, so Baggarly says the 35-year-old is unlikely to re-sign with the Giants.
- The Mets could have interest, and Baggarly says an unnamed AL team expects to get involved, too.
- Baggarly expects the Giants to offer Molina arbitration, but would be surprised to see the team extend similar offers to Bob Howry, Randy Johnson or Randy Winn.
- The Giants have tried to acquire Ivan Rodriguez before, so they could bring him in to mentor Buster Posey and provide the club with insurance in case the top prospect struggles.
- The Giants believe Matt Holliday's defense regressed a shocking amount last year.
- Jason Bay seems like a better fit for the Giants.