Heyman On Adrian Gonzalez, Peavy, Sabathia
The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…
- Heyman believes the Padres could bring in a haul for Adrian Gonzalez beyond what the Rangers received for Mark Teixeira. However, when asked if he's considering trading his slugging first baseman, Padres GM Kevin Towers responded, "Not at this point in time."
- The Cubs don't seem anxious to make a deal for Jake Peavy, and the Dodgers have the same-division hurdle. The Brewers might not have the pitching (or inclination) to get it done. Towers will continue to try to find a team Peavy likes while also matching the package offered by the White Sox: Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, and two minor league pitchers.
- Heyman says the Angels bid about $140MM for C.C. Sabathia last winter, making the Yankees' $161MM winning bid appear more appropriate.
Odds & Ends: Braves, Peavy, Mets, Sabathia
Links for Tuesday…
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports that Mike MacDougal left the Nationals' Triple A club via an out clause, but could remain with the organization if they decide to promote him to the Majors.
- Dave O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution speculates on some outfield options for the Braves.
- According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Chris Duffy accepted the Brewers' assignment to Triple A. Duffy was designated for assignment on May 22nd.
- For some reason, Scott Boras weighed in on the Padres' attempt to trade Jake Peavy (talking to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune). Boras suggested it might be a breach of contract, but Peavy's agent Barry Axelrod isn't as offended. Barry Rozner of the Daily Herald has more from Axelrod, who said, "the entire process was unfair."
- Howard Megdal of SNY campaigns for the Mets to acquire a passable shortstop, while retaining Ramon Castro and Brian Schneider as catchers.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo looks at the middle infielders in the upcoming draft. And MLB.com's Lisa Winston has a column on Grant Green.
- Talking to Jack Curry of the New York Times, C.C. Sabathia wondered about his six-year old son's possible high school future in New Jersey. Sabathia can choose to opt out of his contract after the 2011 season. Is this anything? The kid will be going to high school in eight years or so, so the contract will be up regardless. More telling might be Sabathia's comments to Jayson Stark earlier this month.
Stark On Pitchers, Vlad, Sabathia, Crawford
More from Jayson Stark's Rumblings and Grumblings column today…
- Stark rattles off a bunch of starting pitchers teams are "tracking" in advance of the trade deadline: Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Aaron Harang, Erik Bedard, Kevin Millwood, Mark Buehrle, Doug Davis, Chris Young, Andy Pettitte, Bronson Arroyo, Jonathan Sanchez, Andy Sonnanstine, Jeff Niemann, Jason Marquis, Vicente Padilla, Jeff Suppan, and Russ Ortiz. Not all of these guys are actually available, so check out the article for more analysis.
- Teams are "backpedaling away" from Vladimir Guerrero as a free agent option after the season. One scout sees Vlad as a DH right now.
- C.C. Sabathia downplayed the importance of the out clause in his contract, talking to Stark. Sabathia said it was "just something my agent came up with, and I just went with it." Stark is skeptical though; he thinks the clause was specific to New York.
- Stark talked to a baseball man familiar with the Rays' thinking who sees "zero chance" they don't exercise Carl Crawford's $10.125MM option for 2010. The Rays have a three-year outlook on the budget.
- With Jason Isringhausen ready within a few weeks, the Rays may have a surplus in the bullpen. Stark doesn't expect Dan Wheeler or J.P. Howell to be moved, but teams are tracking them.
- Stark sees Jorge Cantu as a trade candidate after the season. He figures to make $5-6MM through arbitration.
Odds And Ends: Yankees, Pedro, Mets
Links for Saturday morning…
- Some Yankees fans are frustrated by the first month C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira spent in pinstripes, but Torii Hunter would be happy to add them to the Angels, according to Matt Gagne's article in the New York Daily News.
- Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun writes that the Orioles continue to deny interest in Pedro Martinez.
- MLB.com's Marty Noble reports that Omar Minaya now says the Mets have an "edge".
- Noble adds that Oliver Perez could conceivably be asked to accept a minor league assignment if he pitches poorly today.
- ESPN.com's Peter Gammons discusses teams' recent appreciation for a strong defense.
- Gammons spoke with on GM who suggested we're in a golden era of second basemen in which players like Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler, Chase Utley, Robinson Cano and Aaron Hill hit well at a "defensive" position.
- ESPN.com's Tim Kurkjian asks why the Rangers have always been offense-first.
- Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reports that the Blue Jays are scouting high school pitcher Shelby Miller.
Free Agent Quota: 8 Type A/Bs
12:30pm: In an email, Bloom told me it is a combination of eight Type A and Bs (not eight of each) and whether or not the team offered arbitration has nothing to do with the quota.
11:37am: Bloom says that a unilateral exception was granted this offseason allowing any team to sign as many as eight Type A or B free agents. A total of 216 free agents filed, an exceptionally high number. Another note: Bloom learned from Manfred that while draft pick compensation would be eliminated if the player waits until after the June draft to sign, it has yet to occur.
10:44am: Brian Cashman told Peter Abraham the Yankees could sign up to eight Type A free agents if they wanted to. Cashman’s exact quote shows less certainty:
"I’m not sure of the exact number, but it’s one we won’t worry about either way."
10:05am: One reader asks a question I can’t answer: if the quota is three Type A/Bs, how were the Giants able to sign Jeremy Affeldt (B), Bob Howry (A), Randy Johnson (B), Edgar Renteria (A), and Juan Uribe (B)? Does it only apply to Type A/Bs who were offered arbitration? Is the quota three of each type?
7:45am: Just wanted to add the info from a January 6th Nick Cafardo article, where he stated that this year’s quota is nine Type A or B free agents. Everyone I’d spoken previously to believed the Yankees have not approached any quota. I know the CBA allows for more Type A/Bs to be signed if you lose them, and the Yankees lost Bobby Abreu and Mike Mussina. We attempted to tackle this in October and came away confused.
Still, Bloom talked to MLB’s executive VP of labor relations Rob Manfred for his article and it seems highly unlikely that Manfred would be wrong. – Tim Dierkes
1:28am: Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com is reporting that the New York Yankees cannot sign any more Type A or Type B free agents this offseason.
According to the Basic Agreement, and confirmed by a top Major League Baseball official, once the Yankees signed C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, they had signed their quota of Type A or Type B free agents under the collectively bargained rules established by management and the Players Association, Bloom wrote.
All three were Type A free agents who played for other teams last season aside from the Yankees. The Yankees could re-sign their own Type A or Type B free agents without it affecting the quota.
Under the rules, "if there are from 39 to 62 [Type A and B] players [during a given offseason], no team can sign more than three."
Re-signing Type A pitchers Andy Pettitte and Damaso Marte did not affect the Yankees’ limit.
Offseason speculation has put the Yankees on the peripheral of interest for outfielder Manny Ramirez and pitcher Ben Sheets. This finding curbs those chances.
Return to Yankees “Doubtful” For Pettitte
FRIDAY: Kat O’Brien of Newsday: "The source said nothing had been finalized on Pettitte but that the Yankees were leaning toward no."
THURSDAY: After spending more than $400MM on C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and, of course, Mark Teixeira over the last few weeks, Andy Pettitte’s return to the Yankees is now "doubtful," a team official tells Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Pettitte has not yet responded to the Yankees’ original offer of a one-year, $10MM offer for 2009. The 36-year-old-lefty had a 4.54 ERA in 204 innings for the team in 2008.
Yankees Sign Mark Teixeira
3:58pm: Joel Sherman says the Red Sox were at eight years, $168MM, so the Yankees outbid them by $12MM.
3:38pm: The contract does not include an opt-out clause, according to Danny Knobler. Knobler agrees with Olney that the Red Sox fell about $10MM short. He says the Sox are not inclined to react by "stepping up their pursuit of Derek Lowe or any other top starting pitcher."
2:55pm: Olney now agrees it’s an eight-year, $180MM deal ($22.5MM per year). Bill Madden says Teixeira told the Yankees he preferred them all along, after the Angels and Red Sox backed off. Ha. Joel Sherman says the Yankees made this decision with the 2010 season in mind, given the weak free agent market. He says they’ll now attempt to trade one of Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Xavier Nady, and Nick Swisher.
2:26pm: Buster Olney says the Yankees have reached an agreement with Teixeira on an eight-year deal worth more than $170MM.
Aside from the Red Sox, the Brewers and Blue Jays also lose here. Each team’s draft pick from the Yanks is pushed back one round – the Brewers get a second-rounder from them for C.C. Sabathia, the Jays get their third-round pick for A.J. Burnett.
2:17pm: According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees are on the verge of signing Mark Teixeira to an eight-year, $180MM deal with a full no-trade clause.
Murray Chass: Furcal, Sabathia, Lowe, Teixeira
Murray Chass has a nice Sunday post covering some of the biggest names in the game. Let’s take a look:
- Chass summarizes the Rafael Furcal fiasco nicely, and explains the potential legal hazards that refusing to work with the Wasserman group could lead to.
- Brian Cashman has said that his refusal to trade for Johan Santana last year was because the Yankees knew C.C. Sabathia was going to be a free agent this year. Chass looks at their numbers side-by-side and points explains how by not trading for Santana, the Yankees risked missing out on both aces.
- The Mets are very interested in Derek Lowe, but not his pricetag. Boras wants similar money to Barry Zito – about $18MM per season – for the 35-year-old Lowe. The Mets also like Oliver Perez, but he’s another Boras client with a big price tag. The Mets don’t want to add another big contract.
- Is there really a team with a $200MM+ offer on the table for Mark Teixeira? Chass isn’t so sure. It seems that Boras always has a "mystery team" in on the negotiations, but his client never seems to sign there… Don’t count the Red Sox out just yet.
Odds and Ends: Redding, Turnbow, Looper
Links for Saturday…
- RotoAuthority looks at projections for Chris Davis. 35 home runs next year?
- Bill Madden suggests Paul Kinzer screwed up in both the Rafael Furcal and Francisco Rodriguez negotiations.
- More details on Dan Johnson – the Rays are selling him to a Japanese team for $100,000-500,000.
- Tim Redding‘s agent says "the Mets are very much in the mix" for the righty.
- Juan C. Rodriguez confirms the Marlins’ interest in Derrick Turnbow, but says they aren’t going after Ray King.
- The Rockies could pursue Braden Looper.
- The Orioles have expressed interest in Phillies catcher Chris Coste.
- New National Josh Willingham likes the Marlins’ young talent.
- New Phillie Raul Ibanez likes the chances that the Mariners will have a better offense in 2009.
- The AP has details on the perks in the C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett deals.
- Ken Davidoff looks at the impact Mark Teixeira‘s decision will have on six teams. Amazing how one deal will shape so many teams’ plans.
- Buster Olney writes that many players are going to make much less than expected in 2009, including Manny Ramirez. In that same blog post, Olney notes that his colleague Jerry Crasnick says the Angels’ signing of Juan Rivera takes them out of the market for Manny.
- The D’Backs’ discussions for Tony Clark are progressing.
Odds and Ends: Wilson, Bautista, Hairston
Linkage for Friday…
- The AP explains how C.C. Sabathia will be paid $9.5MM before throwing a pitch for the Yankees.
- The D’Backs signed lefty Travis Blackley.
- Dan Johnson is headed to Japan.
- The Cardinals signed Japanese pitcher Katsuhiko Maekawa to a minor league deal. Patrick Newman has details.
- Interesting discussion involving Raul Ibanez‘s defense.
- I did a Q&A with SportingGurus.com.
- Ken Rosenthal guesses destinations for 11 remaining free agents in this slideshow.
- MLB is undergoing a hiring/salary freeze and taking away 20% of vacation time for ’09.
- Dejan Kovacevic had a lengthy chat with Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson, who wishes the team would get more players to become competitive. In his article Kovacevic also notes that the Pirates have had talks about bringing back pitcher Denny Bautista, who was non-tendered a week ago.
- Are the Mariners trying to open up a spot for Jerry Hairston Jr.? They’re looking to add a plus-plus defensive second baseman; not sure if he qualifies.
- Aubrey Huff tops the list of fantasy baseball’s biggest draft position gainers.
- Royals pitcher Kyle Davies is working a construction job this offseason.
- The Orioles settled with Sidney Ponson regarding their grievance.