Marlins Notes: Kennedy, Reed, Cantu
A couple of Fish-related tidbits from the land of Dwyane Wade and Dexter Morgan tonight….
- Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the Marlins have made finding relief pitching a priority over replacing Ross Gload. Jackson mentioned Adam Kennedy and Jeremy Reed as left-handed hitters "mentioned in informal talks" that Florida might be interested in signing once they take care of their bullpen.
- It looks as if Dan Uggla will still be a Marlin when the 2010 season starts, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Rodriguez thinks that if the Fish can't find a trade partner for Uggla, they may shift gears and "start taking calls" about Jorge Cantu. Cantu's ability to place both first and third base makes him an attractive option to teams looking for help at the corners. Could Baltimore be interested? We know they're still in the market for a corner infielder, and the Orioles and Marlins touched base with each other about an Uggla trade earlier this winter.
Odds & Ends: Mariners, Gomes, Holliday, Bay
Links for Wednesday…
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times sees Adam LaRoche as the best free agent first base option for the Mariners. He likes the idea of acquiring the Orioles' Luke Scott as an alternative.
- John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer talked to Reds assistant GM Bob Miller, who said Jonny Gomes wants to explore the market.
- Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch can't see how Scott Boras will find a suitor for Matt Holliday aside from the Cardinals.
- WEEI's Alex Speier looks back at the circumstances that resulted in Jason Bay being traded by Omar Minaya and Steve Phillips early in his career.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro has a new Marlins mailbag up, in which he explains that Dan Uggla no longer appears to be a fit for the Giants.
Odds & Ends: Uggla, Marlins, Pirates
Let's check out some links on this Sunday evening…
- In his column this morning, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote that there is "no doubt" the Marlins are planning another salary dump with Dan Uggla at the center of it. Cafardo adds that the club, which receives a ton in revenue-sharing and central-fund money, is looking to keep its profit margin high.
- Meanwhile, the Marlins are eager to stay just below $40MM in payroll, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Considering their $36.8MM payroll entering last season and the mass of players owed raises in arbitration, moving Uggla would likely put them where they want to be.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette estimates that the Pirates' offer to Matt Capps was about $500K shy of what he received from the Nationals. With Washington, Capps will earn a base salary of $3.5MM with the chance to make an additional $425K in performance bonuses.
Atlanta Interested In Dan Uggla?
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Braves have "mild" interest in Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla, who they would place in left field. However, landing the 29-year-old might prove to be too costly for Braves GM Frank Wren.
The Palm Beach Post's Joe Capozzi writes that the Marlins would have to be "blown away" by a proposal to surrender Uggla to a division rival. Furthermore, Uggla's stated desire to remain at second base would throw a wrench in Wren's plans. Capozzi stresses that even though the Marlins are willing to open the season with Uggla if they can't find the right deal, they are working hard to move him.
Moving Uggla would leave Florida with a void at his position, assuming they don't receive a second baseman in return. Capozzi says that the recent signing of infielder Danny Richar to a minor-league deal would give Florida depth at the position. He also mentioned Emilio Bonifacio as a candidate, someone who MLB.com's Joe Frisaro believes would be given a shot to be the everyday solution, along with Chris Coghlan.
While the Marlins do have options available to fill the gap, none of those options can come close to producing at the same level as the two-time All-Star.
Marlins Notes: Amezaga, Uggla, Coghlan
MLB.com's Joe Frisaro answered some questions from fans and discussed all things Marlins in his latest inbox piece…
- Though Florida non-tendered Alfredo Amezaga earlier this month, "both sides have mutual interest" in seeing the utilityman back in the teal-and-black. Amezaga played in just 27 games last season due to knee surgery, and was non-tendered since he likely would have earned an arbitration raise from his 2009 salary of $1.3MM. If the Fish are hoping to sign Amezaga at a lower price, however, they'll have to make a better offer than the other 10 teams interested in Amezaga's services.
- If Dan Uggla is traded, Frisaro thinks that it isn't automatic that Chris Coghlan would take over at second base. Frisaro thinks the defensively-superior Emilio Bonifacio would be given a shot at playing second, though he notes that both Bonifacio and Coghlan combined couldn't make up Uggla's power numbers.
- Frisaro shoots down any chance of the Marlins pursuing Erik Bedard, since even on a short-term and discounted contract, he's still out of the club's price range.
- Moreso than finding a starter, Frisaro says that Florida's greater priority is signing an experienced reliever.
Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Giants, Nationals
Lots to get to as we round out another Hot Stove Monday…
- Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has the backstory on Mike Lowell, his thumb injury and the trade that wasn't. Lowell expects to be ready for baseball activities by the first week of spring training, but has no idea if that will be with Boston or another team.
- MLB.com's Chris Haft answers mail from Giants' fans. He says, among other things, that the Giants are reluctant to trade Jonathan Sanchez straight-up for Dan Uggla-as well they should be.
- Washington Post Nationals beat reporter Chico Harlan weighs in on the Jason Marquis signing, noting that Marquis has more career victories than the other starters on the Washington 40-man roster combined.
- AOL Fanhouse's Ed Price says that "All we hear out of the Mets camp is that they don't want to be bidding against themselves. Well, the fact of the matter is, the Mets might just have to bid against themselves." This is hard to understand, considering that Jason Bay and Bengie Molina certainly aren't likely to sit out the season rather than accept offers from the Mets.
- Lyle Spencer of MLB.com speculates about what it would take for the Angels to acquire Derek Lowe.
Names Discussed In Giants-Uggla Talks
2:13pm: A source tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com that a deal sending Uggla to the Giants is "not going down."
Crasnick writes that the first obstacle would be financial. The Giants will have to give Tim Lincecum a major raise in arbitration and are already hamstrung by the contracts of Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand. Uggla is expected to make more than $7MM in 2010.
Sabean & Co. are also hesitant to part with Jonathan Sanchez, as his departure would leave the club with only three proven starters.
10:43am: Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald informs us of names discussed in the Marlins' discussions with the Giants for Dan Uggla:
Giants players who were discussed include right-hander Jonathan Sanchez; lefty Clayton Tanner, and a midlevel pitching prospect.
It's unclear from Jackson's blurb who proposed what or if all three pitchers would be a possible return for Uggla. I believe that Sanchez alone would be more than enough for the Marlins – he has three years of team control compared to Uggla's two. Plus, Uggla's projected salary in his final arbitration year (2011) could be pretty steep. I'd be surprised to see Giants GM Brian Sabean move Sanchez for Uggla.
If you're wondering about Tanner, he's a 22-year-old lefty who repeated High A ball for the Giants this year and posted a 3.17 ERA, 7.8 K/9, and 2.7 BB/9 in 139.3 innings. His Baseball America Handbook blurb before this season spoke of shoulder issues but a dependable curveball, predicting he'd spend '09 in Double A. Tanner made Kevin Goldstein's Giants Top 11 for Baseball Prospectus heading into the '08 season, with this synopsis: "Tanner projects as a back-end starter, with a backup plan involving a future as a grounder-inducing reliever."
Odds & Ends: Orioles, Dodgers, Beltre, Pujols
Let's round up some Thursday evening links….
- The Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly hears from Orioles officials that the team isn't serious about Matt Holliday or Adrian Gonzalez. This probably means that, despite their flurry of recent activity, Baltimore is done spending for now.
- Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts takes a look at the Dodgers' salary obligations for 2010.
- Todd Zolecki of MLB.com follows up on the Roy Halladay–Cliff Lee blockbuster by breaking down Halladay's extension and relaying Lee's reaction to the trade.
- While the Cardinals wait on Holliday, Mark DeRosa is exploring his other options, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Yahoo's Tim Brown adds a surprising team to a list of otherwise predictable suitors for Adrian Beltre: the Oakland Athletics. ESPN.com's Buster Olney follows up on this point, noting that the A's do have interest, but not at $10MM a year.
- The Marlins still could retain Dan Uggla, according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. However, the team hasn't been in contact with his agent since the Winter Meetings, so a trade looks more likely. We heard some details earlier today about discussions the Marlins and Giants have had regarding Uggla.
- Albert Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano, tells Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the Cardinals' negotiations with Holliday won't affect a possible Pujols extension: "Albert respects Matt and would love to have him as a teammate and hopes he gets his money, but Matt’s situation must be seen as independent of Albert’s."
- A source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that Adam Dunn "is not going anywhere for now."
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff thinks that Johnny Damon's run in New York is about to come to an end.
- Jeff Wilson of the Dallas Morning News says that if the Mike Lowell trade falls through because of Lowell's health, the Rangers have other targets, including Vladimir Guerrero, Jermaine Dye, and Jim Thome. Morosi says we should know about the Lowell deal "one way or the other" by the end of the weekend.
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington answers fans' questions about his team's future in an MLB.com mailbag.
Players Tendered Contracts
Midnight ET is the non-tender deadline, so we'll keep track of all the players who are offered and/or agreed to contracts today in this post. Keep coming back throughout the day for updates.
- Washington tendered contracts to Josh Willingham, Jesus Flores, Wil Nieves, Jason Bergmann, and Sean Burnett.
- Zach Duke was tendered an offer by the Pirates.
- The Marlins reached an agreement with Ronny Paulino. The deal will be for one-year, $1.1MM.
- The Royals avoided arbitration by reaching one year deals with Brian Bannister ($2.3MM) Roman Colon ($660K), and Kyle Davies ($1.8MM).
- Dioner Navarro will remain with the Rays on a one-year deal worth $2.1MM.
- The White Sox will offer contracts to Bobby Jenks, John Danks, Carlos Quentin, and Tony Pena.
- Milwaukee will tender offers to six players: Dave Bush, Carlos Villanueva, Todd Coffey, Jody Gerut, Corey Hart, and Carlos Gomez.
- Toronto will tender an offer to Jeremy Accardo.
- Kevin Correia will remain with the Padres for one-year, $3.6MM.
- The Rangers have signed Esteban German to a 2010 contract. He'll earn $600K in the majors and $200K in the minors. They offered contracts to their other arbitration-eligible players including Scott Feldman, Chris Ray, Frank Francisco, C.J. Wilson, Dustin Nippert, Brandon McCarthy, and Josh Hamilton.
- Tampa Bay avoided arbitration with Lance Cormier by inking him to a one-year deal. The contract will pay Cormier $1.2MM.
- The Twins will tender contracts to all 30 unsigned players on their 40-man roster. That means Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, J.J. Hardy, Brendan Harris, Francisco Liriano, Pat Neshek, Delmon Young, and many more figure to be in the Twins' plans in 2010.
- The following eight Cubs will receive offers from the team: Carlos Marmol, Ryan Theriot, Jeff Baker, Angel Guzman, Sean Marshall, Koyie Hill, Tom Gorzelanny, and Mike Fontenot.
- Atlanta tendered offers to relievers Peter Moylan and Boone Logan.
- The Marlins will tender offers to almost all of their arbitration-eligible players – Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu, Ricky Nolasco, Cody Ross, Josh Johnson, Leo Nunez, and Renyel Pinto.
- The Astros will tender offers to all remaining arbitration-eligible players. This means Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, Wandy Rodriguez, Matt Lindstrom, Tim Byrdak, Chris Sampson, Jeff Keppinger, and Humberto Quintero are invited back.
- Matt Albers and Cla Meredith have agreed to terms with the Orioles. Albers' deal is worth $.68MM for one-year. Meanwhile, Meredith will recieve $.85MM in 2010.
- Randy Choate agreed to a one year deal. Terms of the deal are one-year, $700K.
Giants Talks For Uggla Getting Warmer?
Yesterday, asked about the Marlins' Dan Uggla by Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, Giants GM Brian Sabean spoke more generally:
I'll make a blanket statement: We're not in any trade discussions that are close to happening as compared to the free agents.
Things may have changed slightly – Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes that the Giants' talks for Uggla have gotten warmer, though no agreement has been reached on names. He notes that it'd likely be Freddy Sanchez, not Uggla, switching to third base in the event of a deal. MLB.com's Joe Frisaro tweets of a "general feeling" that Uggla will wind up a Giant, but no deals are expected until after tomorrow's deadline.
The non-tender deadline is tomorrow at 11pm CST. The Marlins have been a lock to tender Uggla a contract all along, but the team's baseball operations president Larry Beinfest told Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post that teams will probably want to gauge the non-tender landscape before trade talks pick back up. Garrett Atkins figures to be the main name joining the free agent third baseman class, with Jose Bautista not out of the question.