“Zero” Progress With Hart, Weeks
According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Brewers have not progressed towards agreements in their arbitration cases with Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart.
Assistant GM Gord Ash said they made "zero" progress with the two players.
Hart asked for $3.8MM and was offered $2.7MM while Weeks asked for $2.8MM and was offered $2MM. The club has until February 18th to avoid arbitration.
Brewers Rumors: Hart, Weeks, Gallardo
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the latest on the Brewers…
- Corey Hart hopes to avoid an arbitration hearing; he and the Brewers are $1.1MM apart on his ’09 salary. It’s a decent gap, but many players are fighting over a similar difference. Hart turned down a long-term extension last year but remains open to the idea. Assistant GM Gord Ash recently said, "We’re not on the same page with regard to his value. And that goes back to last year."
- The Brewers face an $800K gap with Rickie Weeks. Weeks also hopes to get a deal done. The Brewers are open to a multiyear deal with Weeks. Doug Melvin has never gone to an arbitration hearing as Brewers GM.
- Owner Mark Attanasio mentioned that the team will revisit all young players in Spring Training and consider extensions. Attanasio mentioned Yovani Gallardo by name. Gallardo, 23 in February, isn’t arb-eligible until after the 2010 season.
Rosenthal On Roberts, Hudson, Counsell
Let’s take a look at the latest from Ken Rosenthal.
- The Orioles have their ears open Brian Roberts, whose trade value has diminished as he nears free agency. The White Sox can’t afford him, the Braves are reluctant to give up talent, and the Cubs didn’t discuss him in the Felix Pie talks. The Roberts market may improve once Orlando Hudson signs.
- Rosenthal’s source says the Michael Young–Jermaine Dye discussions did take place. If you read Dave van Dyck’s article, Ken Williams never specifically denied talks with the Rangers.
- Rosenthal believes that if the Cubs make another big move, it’ll be a Jake Peavy trade. They’re not in on Hudson.
- The Dodgers have roughly $50MM in payroll flexibility right now.
- The Giants may be looking at Manny Ramirez, but they’ve also looked in trades for hitters – "presumably" Prince Fielder or Corey Hart included. Those talks with the Brewers didn’t go far. The Giants may be willing to move Jonathan Sanchez, but the Jorge Cantu talks have stalled.
- So far the Dodgers and Russell Martin have only talked about a one-year deal.
- The Mariners are Brewers are eyeing Craig Counsell.
- The Ms "likely are willing" to trade Aaron Heilman.
Brewers No Longer Interested In Dunn
MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy spoke to Brewers GM Doug Melvin, who indicated the team is no longer interested in free agent slugger Adam Dunn. The possibility was considered when the Brewers were discussing a Mike Cameron trade with the Yankees (Corey Hart would’ve moved to center field). Cameron and Hart are staying put.
Another scenario, which Ken Rosenthal discussed a week ago, is trading Prince Fielder and replacing him with Dunn. McCalvy doesn’t dismiss the idea outright, but notes that the Crew would be treading water in terms of lefthanded bats.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Teixeira, Markakis, Johnson
We have a new column from Ken Rosenthal this evening.
- Mark Teixeira is holding up many areas of the free agent market, as guys like Brian Fuentes and Milton Bradley know the Angels will be interested if Tex signs elsewhere.
- Rosenthal believes the Yankees should continue to be aggressive and make a competitive bid for Teixeira.
- The "poor working conditions and occasionally unruly crowd behavior" make it hard for the A’s to attract free agents. Their move in 2012 should help.
- Rosenthal believes Chase Utley‘s seven year, $85MM deal could provide a framework for a Nick Markakis extension.
- The A’s will wait for free agent bargains now that they’ve lost Rafael Furcal.
- The Red Sox and Mets are the main suitors for Derek Lowe, with the Yankees less likely.
- The Braves have been shopping Kelly Johnson for an outfielder. Attempts to acquire Ryan Ludwick or Corey Hart did not work out.
Braves Interested In Ankiel, Hart, Hermida
11:15pm: Melvin confirmed to Tom Haudricourt that the Braves inquired on Hart. However, Melvin has no plans to trade his right fielder. Also, Melvin rejected Dave O’Brien’s suggestion that the Braves have been connected to Hardy.
9:10pm: Doesn’t sound like the Cardinals would want one of the Braves’ middle infielders for Ankiel. Instead, they want to get a starter back if they trade an outfielder.
6:41pm: Dave O’Brien says Ankiel makes sense for the Braves, because the Cards are more willing to deal him and the price would be more reasonable. The Braves also like Raul Ibanez, but not his probable three-year, $30MM+ price tag.
O’Brien is hearing J.J. Hardy‘s name connected with the Braves, making him suspect Yunel Escobar could be on the move. Keep in mind though that Doug Melvin did not see inclined to move Hardy in his recent comments.
4:28pm: According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, the Braves have Rick Ankiel, Corey Hart, and Jeremy Hermida on the radar (with more interest in the first two). Bowman doesn’t believe the Braves have much interest in Ryan Ludwick.
Odds and Ends: Wilder, Vlad, Jose Reyes
Time to round up some links.
- The White Sox fired scouting director David Wilder and two scouts. Investigators are trying to determine if they skimmed bonuses designated for Latin American prospects.
- I did a Q&A recently. I forgot, at the time, that Albert Pujols is actually younger than Chase Utley.
- Imagine if Vladimir Guerrero had been paired with Barry Bonds.
- Joel Sherman points out that Jose Reyes will be just 28 when his contract is up.
- Roto Professor chats with prospect guy Jonathan Mayo.
- Extension talks with Corey Hart have fizzled.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Braun, Holliday, Kouzmanoff, Greene, Sabean
Let’s take a look at what is being said about some recent rumors, trades and signings in the Blogosphere…
- Right Field Bleachers sees the signing of Ryan Braun and Corey Hart to long-term deals as a "must" for the Brewers.
- Brewers Nation sees the Braun deal as evidence that Prince Fielder will not sign an extension even if the two situations are very different.
- Oleanders and Morning Glories thinks that if Nats’ management was hoping to sign Ryan Zimmerman to a Troy Tulowitzki-type deal, Braun’s deal may have raised the bar.
- Squawking Baseball sees the recent trend in giving long-term deals to young stars and wonders if the absence of top-level free agents in a few years will drive up free agency prices. If that happens, players may stop signing these extensions and the market will correct itself…The point is valid, but these players will still become free agents eventually. The difference is only that they will be free agents in their age 30 season (approximately) instead of their age 28 season. If there is a correction, it will only be minimal and would only last a year or two.
- The Tribe Time Report explains why Matt Holliday would be a perfect fit for the Indians even if it is only for a season and a half.
- Friar Forum does not seem surprised about the notion of the Padres selling off pieces sooner, rather than later. However, they would be surprised to see Kevin Kouzmanoff moved, noting that it is much more likely that the slew of free agents-to-be will be shipped to other clubs.
- The Southpaw would love to see the Jays make a push for Khalil Greene, but their scenario is contingent on the Padres also dealing Kouzmanoff.
- Sorry we missed this before, but in light of Brian Sabean’s recent comments, I felt it was worth noting that Bucs Dugout has been running a series of polls to determine the worst GM in baseball. The finals featured Sabean easily out-distancing his opponent, Ed Wade of the Astros.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Attanasio Wants To Keep Core Together
Brewers’ owner Mark Attanasio promises that Milwaukee will do its best to sign its core of young talent to long-term deals. At the same time, he washes his hands of any blame if Prince Fielder is feeling slighted by the $255,000 raise he got in a contract renewal earlier this year.
Fielder, second baseman Rickie Weeks, left fielder Ryan Braun, and outfielder Corey Hart form the core of Milwaukee’s young team that’s expected to contend in the NL Central for years. "[W]e’re interested in signing all of our younger players to longer-term deals," Attanasio told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel yesterday.
Attanasio blames "the system," which gives pre-arb players no leverage, for Fielder’s relatively modest $670,000 salary this year. The hefty Brewers first baseman became the youngest player in MLB history to clout 50 home runs in a season in 2007.
Fielder Not Happy With Renewal
3:28pm: Fielder gets $670K, to be exact. Doug Melvin was surprised at Prince’s public displeasure.
1:46pm: Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Prince Fielder is not pleased with his contract renewal, executed this morning.
Rumored to be in the $650,000 range, Fielder’s agent, Scott Boras, indicated his client’s displeasure. Ryan Howard’s $900,000 contract for 2007 was cited as the figure the first baseman hoped to fetch for the season. Fielder made $415,000 last season.
According to Haudricourt, the Brewers used a formula they go by for players with zero to three years experience, a formula which they also used to renew the 2008 contracts for Ryan Braun and Corey Hart. While the amount of Hart’s renewal is unknown, Braun’s contract was renewed at $455,000. Haudricourt goes on to conjecture that this morning’s renewal has hurt the Brewers’ chance of negotiating a multi-year deal with Fielder before he is arbitration-eligible next winter.
Haudricourt has predicted that Fielder will pull roughly $10MM if his case goes to arbitration, in light of Howard’s recent arbitration victory.
Upsetting the youngest player to reach 50 HRs seems like an unwise decision on the Brewers’ part. It would be nice to lock up a player of Fielder’s talent long-term, but it seems the Brewers have made that prospect less likely.