Odds & Ends: Ortiz, Smoltz, Sandoval, Westmoreland
Some links to browse, as teams continue to make spring cuts….
- Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe writes (via Twitter) that the Red Sox will not pick up David Ortiz's $12.5MM option for 2011 regardless of what he does this season.
- Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas reports that the Rangers have kept in contact with Khalil Greene, even after voiding his contract last month, though assistant GM Thad Levine says "there were no overtures about coming back and playing."
- Murray Chass interviewed John Smoltz about his future, and the result is an interesting read. "I don't know if I’m going to pitch, but I haven't ruled it out," Smoltz said. "I have a lot of options, and I don't want the options to rule me." Smoltz adds that he laughs at all the "rumors and speculation that’s out there." We won't take it personally.
- In his ESPN Insider blog, Buster Olney expands on a couple tweets he made yesterday, about the Twins' closer situation and the possible appeal of Smoltz.
- John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that the Giants haven't entered into any long-term contract negotiations with Pablo Sandoval yet, since he's still a couple years away from being arbitration-eligible.
- Nationals GM Mike Rizzo says that "money has nothing to do with who's going to play and who's not going to play," according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. This stance is relevant not only for Stephen Strasburg's ETA in the majors, but also for determining Ian Desmond's role. Rizzo suggested that Desmond "is in the running to be an everyday guy."
- Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland will undergo brain surgery, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Best of luck to Westmoreland.
Odds & Ends: Ortiz, Brewers, Salcedo, Miller
Links for Saturday…
- David Ortiz said he isn't letting his contract situation get to him, writes ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes. Big Papi will earn $12.5MM this year, and the Red Sox hold an option at the same salary for 2011 with no buyout. Tough to see them picking that one up.
- An interesting point raised by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy: The Brewers essentially traded Hernan Iribarren to the Rangers for Joe Inglett. Milwaukee picked up Inglett in January after he was waived by Texas. Mat Gamel and Inglett are now in the mix for the Brewers' final bench spot.
- Edward Salcedo was officially introduced to Braves reporters this morning, writes Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The 18-year-old Dominican shortstop said that Atlanta was the only organization to show significant interest in him over the past two years.
- Jim Edmonds may be playing his way into a role with the Brewers, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
- Both the Diamondbacks and Mariners had interest in Dana Eveland before he was acquired by the Blue Jays, tweets MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com spoke to a scout who wouldn't be surprised if the Marlins traded lefty Andrew Miller (link goes to Twitter).
- David Murphy is just biding his time on Texas' bench, writes Anthony Andro of The Star-Telegram. Murphy is a .278/.336/.465 career hitter, but he might get too expensive for a bench job as he enters his first arbitration year after 2010.
- Ben Shpigel of The New York Times reports that Yankees' hitting coach Kevin Long was analyzing videotape of Curtis Granderson to help him improve against lefthanders way back in November, a month before the team traded for him.
Red Sox Notes: Ortiz, Victor Martinez
A few Red Sox bullet points today…
- David Ortiz told Dennis & Callahan he'd like to play three or four more years, and wants to finish his career with the Red Sox. In my opinion, for that to happen, Ortiz will need to be willing to go one year at a time and also sign for much less than his $12.5MM 2011 club option.
- Also on Dennis & Callahan, catcher Victor Martinez said he has not discussed an extension with the Red Sox yet.
- In an article for Baseball America, Maury Brown notes that the Red Sox exceeded the luxury tax threshold four times but only paid a total of $13.86MM. Maury's article concerns the luxury tax and revenue sharing in general; check it out.
Red Sox Still In On Ruiz
Earlier this week, the Blue Jays appeared to be taking the lead in the race to sign Cuban first base prospect Jose Julio Ruiz. But don't count out the Red Sox yet, says ESPN's Jorge Arangure, Jr. in a recent blog post.
Arangure cites a "source knowledgeable about the situation" as saying that the Red Sox are still actively pursuing Ruiz as a low-cost preemptive replacement for David Ortiz, and that the interest is mutual. Ruiz is eyeing Boston, the source says, because he believes he would soon have the opportunity to take Ortiz's spot, even if it means playing in the minors in the short term. This seemingly conflicts with Ruiz's agent Jorge Luis Toca's quote earlier this month that "the idea is to find a team where he'll have the best opportunity to rise the quickest," but on the other hand, Ortiz's slow start in 2009 didn't make him look like a huge roadblock. The team holds a $12.5MM club option for Ortiz in 2011, which if declined could make for an easy transition.
The Red Sox are said to be looking at the 25-year-old defector much in the same way that they looked at Ortiz when he was released by the Twins at age 28: a big (Ortiz is 6'4"; Ruiz is 6'3") lefty masher whose stats "augur an eventual breakout season." To wit, Arangure quotes the Latin American scouting director of a National League team as saying, "Ruiz is a David Ortiz-looking dude." Ruiz was also favorably compared to Carlos Delgado when he first defected in June of 2009.
Of course, none of this is to rule out the possibility that the Red Sox trade for Adrian Gonzalez. Arangure quotes "sources close to" the Padres first baseman as saying that while the Red Sox are not actively pursuing him at the moment, Gonzalez considers a trade to Boston "inevitable."
Other links from the threshold between major league baseball and world baseball…
- The Braves signed 21-year-old Nicaraguan shortstop Ivan Marin to a minor league contract on February 10, reports Oscar Gonzalez at La Prensa.
- Cuban pitcher Juan Yasser Serrano held a private tryout for the Rays last Wednesday, according to the Cuban baseball blog Las Avispas.
- Former major leaguer Randall Simon has signed with the Rockford Riverhawks of the independent Northern League, reports baseballdeworld.com. Simon hasn't logged a big league PA since 2004, but he has remained active in Europe, most recently in the Italian Baseball League and for the upstart Dutch national team in last year's World Baseball Classic.
Odds & Ends: Boone, Smoltz, Benson
Links for Tuesday…
- SI's Tom Verducci lists his 13 most interesting non-roster invitees.
- Aaron Boone has officially retired and joined ESPN as an analyst. USA Today's Bob Nightengale first reported in October that Boone was likely to hang up the spikes.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that John Smoltz currently prefers to start, but he'll be more open to relieving if he signs midseason. The Cardinals apparently do not have the funds to re-sign Smoltz.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that Kris Benson is no longer talking to the Nationals, despite the pitcher's assertion yesterday.
- WEEI's Alex Speier tweets that the Red Sox released southpaw Jose Capellan.
- MLB.com's transactions page says Boston also released righty Edwin Moreno, who they signed to a minor league deal a month ago. Augusto Cardenas first tweeted of the move on Thursday, saying that Moreno will play in Mexico instead.
- Speier also has an article about David Ortiz reaching a career crossroads. Speier finds it unlikely that the Sox exercise Ortiz's $12.5MM club option for 2011.
Edes On Lowell, Ortiz, Martinez
Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com chatted with fans today about the Red Sox, and here were a few items of note during the conversation…
- Edes said "there is a consensus expectation" that the Twins and Joe Mauer will come to terms on a long-term deal for the superstar catcher. Edes said that Mauer's negotiations might be holding up Boston's attempt to sign current backstop Victor Martinez to a contract extension, but only in the sense that the Red Sox want to use Mauer's contract to set the market, not out of a hope that they might sign Mauer in the offseason.
- Speaking of Martinez, Edes believes that the Sox will soon begin to negotiate with both the catcher and fellow impending free agent Josh Beckett.
- In response to a fan who asked why the Red Sox don't hang onto Mike Lowell (who has been considered to be as good as traded for months) as insurance in case David Ortiz has another early-season slump, Edes said that Boston thinks Lowell is simply too big of a health risk. If Ortiz does indeed struggle again, Edes believes the club will acquire a new player rather than look within the organization.
Nationals, Dunn Talked Extension Today
SATURDAY, 4:51pm: Dunn could be a fit for a number of American League teams next offseason, including the Red Sox or Rangers, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Boston could seek a replacement for David Ortiz while the Rangers, who are under new ownership, may be drawn to the Texas native.
Despite the fact that most baseball people view him as a DH, the Nats seem comfortable with the 30-year-old at first base. In 66 starts at the position in 2009, Dunn posted a UZR/150 of -25.0.
FRIDAY, 4:49pm: GM Mike Rizzo said the Nats talked with Dunn about an extension this afternoon, according to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post. The Nats and Dunn both say they'd like to reach an agreement, but they hadn't sat down to discuss one before today and the talks are still in their preliminary stages.
3:05pm: The extension talks are at "stage 0," according to this update tweet from Ladson.
1:34pm: The Nationals are discussing an extension with Adam Dunn, tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Dunn, 30, is under contract for $12MM in 2010, but he's set to become a free agent after the season.
You get tons of power, walks and strikeouts with Dunn, but not much defense. He broke his personal streak of hitting exactly 40 homers per year at four in 2009 when he hit 38. His exceptionally poor defense limits his value, so he's likely to fit better on AL teams from here on.
Olney On Damon, Thome, Ortiz
ESPN.com's Buster Olney wonders if the new Rangers ownership will make a splash and go after Ben Sheets, a known favorite of Nolan Ryan. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman says the Yankees have not set any deadlines on their negotiations with Johnny Damon. Jon Heyman of SI.com reported yesterday that Damon had to make a decision within days, but that's not the case, according to the GM.
- Olney doesn't think it makes sense for the White Sox to give Jim Thome a roster spot.
- The Red Sox will look to replace David Ortiz if he struggles in the first half. They'll pursue a catcher and move Victor Martinez to DH if Big Papi starts this season as poorly as he started last season.
Odds & Ends: Royals, Red Sox, Astros
Here are some Duraflame logs for the Hot Stove…
- Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reviews the Kansas City offseason, and let's just say he makes "Old Dogs" look like it got raves from the critics by comparison.
- MLB.com's Ian Browne answers questions about the Red Sox, ranging from where contract talks stand with Josh Beckett (spring training is critical) to whether David Ortiz could be traded (not without his consent).
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports that despite the apparent signing of Brett Myers, the Astros still prefer to develop pitchers themselves.
- MLB.com's Mark Bowman addresses whether the Braves have improved their offense, or if position player moves are still to come, in his latest Inbox column.
Odds & Ends: Vazquez, A’s, Orioles, Marlins
A few links…
- ESPN's Keith Law rated David Ortiz signing with Boston as the best free agent pickup of the decade. Darren Dreifort's deal with the Dodgers was the worst, and he called the Erik Bedard trade the biggest of the decade. That last one is certainly debatable; I prefer the Bartolo Colon for Grady Sizemore (plus others) deal.
- Interestingly, Yankees' GM Brian Cashman noted today that the club tried to acquire Javier Vazquez from Arizona after 2005 and the White Sox after 2008, “but we just didn’t match up," reports Chad Jennings of The Journal News.
- Bruce Jenkins of The SF Chronicle says that the A's are winning the battle of the Bay Area this offseason. Of course, the regular season is the battle you really want to win.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports that Orioles' president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said "My guess is I wouldn't think we'll be doing anything anytime soon, which is not to be interpreted as not doing anything between now and Sarasota." The O's finalized the Garrett Atkins deal today.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro writes about the Marlins' first base situation, noting that there's certainly no shortage of in-house options.
- Bill Ladson of MLB.com tweets that the Nationals continue to show interest in righty John Smoltz, "but they are not willing to break the bank to get him."
- Coco Crisp's physical with the A's was delayed because of travel issues, so the announcement of his signing will have to wait says Susan Slusser of The SF Chronicle.
- Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball takes a look at the growth of player salaries over the last decade.
- Here's some news on a different kind of contract negotiation: According to the AP (via ESPN) MLB and the umpires hope to have a new agreement in place tomorrow, which will allow for greater flexibility with postseason assignments.