Orioles Target Derrek Lee
The Orioles are targeting Derrek Lee, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The team renewed discussions with the free agent first baseman a week ago and are open to a deal in the one-year, $8MM range, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. Rosenthal reports that the team is more comfortable signing Lee for one year than committing to Adam LaRoche for three.
The Orioles will have some competition for LaRoche, who appeals to the Nationals, and Lee. The Padres offered Lee a one-year deal worth more than $8MM before agreeing to terms with Brad Hawpe, according to Rosenthal. San Diego would have been a good fit for Lee, who is interested in playing for a contender and returning to the West Coast.
The Angels are “cool” on Lee, according to Rosenthal. They tried to acquire him after Kendry Morales went down last summer and could pair him with Morales at first/DH.
Lee is a potential bargain for 2011. He's coming off thumb surgery and had a down year by his standards, but finished the 2010 season strong with the Braves and hit 35 homers as recently as 2009.
Olney On Beltre, Adam LaRoche, Derrek Lee
The latest from ESPN's Buster Olney…
- Olney ranks the rotations, with the Phillies, Giants, and Athletics taking the top three spots. It seems odd to see the Cardinals in an eighth-place tie, but there are a lot of good ones. How does your top ten look?
- The Athletics would talk to free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre again if the player is willing. Beltre reportedly ignored Oakland's five-year, $64MM offer, which isn't much lower than the offer the Angels pulled yesterday. Beltre appears to crave $85-90MM over five years, or a sixth year.
- The Orioles have been talking to Adam LaRoche's agents about a three-year deal in the $21MM range, though it was said yesterday they're at an impasse. LaRoche had a near-miss on a multiyear deal with the Giants last offseason, though that offer came with undesirable options attached. Olney says the Orioles are in the one-year, $8MM range with Derrek Lee, which should be close to enough. Failing those options, Olney suggests a platoon involving Troy Glaus and Russell Branyan or Jason Giambi.
O’s Renew Discussions With Derrek Lee
Talks between Adam LaRoche and the Orioles have not progressed and the team has renewed discussions with Derrek Lee, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.
As recently as yesterday, the Orioles appeared to be focused on LaRoche, who seeks a three-year deal, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. Lee won't be cheap, either. Like LaRoche, he has drawn interest from the Nationals and Padres and, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, he seeks a deal worth $8-10MM.
Zrebiec points out that the O’s could pursue a designated hitter and move Luke Scott or Nolan Reimold to first base. However, the club may prefer to add a more experienced defender, such as LaRoche or Lee.
Regardless of who ends up playing first for the O's, their infield will look considerably different in 2011. Mark Reynolds and J.J. Hardy are pencilled in as regulars and Brendan Harris is a new competitor for a backup infield job.
Odds & Ends: Pavano, Greinke, Soria, Pettitte
Two years ago today, the Yankees officially signed C.C. Sabathia to the largest-ever contract for a pitcher. Sabathia's $161MM record figures to hold for a while, though a couple of monster seasons by Francisco Liriano, Cole Hamels, Zack Greinke, and Matt Cain could put it in jeopardy in the 2012-13 offseason if those pitchers do not sign extensions. Today's links:
- The Brewers are officially out on Carl Pavano now that they've acquired Zack Greinke, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Pavano appears to be down to the Twins and Nationals, unless the Pirates jump in.
- Greinke told Anthony Witrado of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel he removed the Brewers from his no-trade list once they acquired Shaun Marcum and retained Prince Fielder.
- Greinke fired his agents at SFX after the Winter Meetings because he felt they were responsible for his not being traded, tweets Yahoo's Jeff Passan. Passan adds that SFX facilitated a deal with the Nationals, but the pitcher rejected it. SI's Jon Heyman tweets that the Royals sought Jesus Montero and Eduardo Nunez from the Yankees, but they weren't convinced New York was right for Greinke. The Royals also wanted Manuel Banuelos or Dellin Betances, tweets Joel Sherman.
- MLB.com's Peter Gammons analyzes the Brewers' and Royals' situations.
- Though the Royals are getting calls on closer Joakim Soria, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that they have no plans to move him.
- Andy Pettitte is still leaning toward retirement, Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Jack Curry of the YES Network. If that doesn't change, Curry tweets that the Yankees intend to fill the rotation from within and have low interest in Freddy Garcia/Kevin Millwood types. ESPN's Wallace Matthews has more comments from Cashman.
- Free agent first baseman Derrek Lee seeks $8-10MM, tweets Rosenthal. That'd fall in the range of Lance Berkman and Carlos Pena, he notes. Rosenthal says the Padres probably can't afford Lee at that price but it's not necessarily too high for the Nationals.
Orioles Notes: LaRoche, Lee, Blanton, Thames
Let's check out some Orioles news courtesy of The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec..
- The O's are clearly focused on getting a deal done with Adam LaRoche, so much so that they've now put Derrek Lee on the backburner. On Thursday it was reported that the two sides aren't yet close to a deal and LaRoche is seeking a three-year committment.
- While one might think that Joe Blanton would be a fit for the Orioles, the club is not in on the pitcher at this point. Baltimore isn't all that high on the right-hander and they don't think he's a great fit for the American League East. However, the club is still after a veteran pitcher.
- Baltimore would also like to bolster their bench and one name to keep an eye on is free agent Marcus Thames. The O's have spoken to Thames' agent but nothing is serious at this point as the club is working to figure out their plans for first base and the DH spot. Last month Japan's Softbank Hawks were working to sign the 33-year-old.
Nationals Actively Pursuing Derrek Lee
The Nationals are "actively" pursuing free agent first baseman Derrek Lee, a baseball source told MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Another source told the Nationals beat writer Lee is the team's top first base target. Ladson adds that talks "don't appear to be serious" between the Nats and Adam LaRoche.
Washington "may consider" Casey Kotchman if they fail to sign Lee, writes Ladson. Lee was linked to six teams on Saturday, but the Padres and Diamondbacks are probably out. The Orioles may be the Nationals' main competition.
Heyman On Padres, Fuentes, Blanton, Greinke
The offseason has been full of surprises and, as Jon Heyman of SI.com points out, we know a relatively small amount about the top remaining free agents. It appears that the A’s, Angels and Rangers have some interest in Adrian Beltre, but that's about all we know about him and it's more than we know about Rafael Soriano. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:
- The Padres are not likely to pursue Derrek Lee now that they've agreed to sign Orlando Hudson and seem close to acquiring Jason Bartlett (Twitter link). Jorge Cantu, Brad Hawpe and Troy Glaus are on the team's list of potential first basemen.
- Lee appears to be the Nationals' top target, according to MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli (Twitter link).
- Brian Fuentes has drawn interest from the Orioles and others. The Red Sox and Rockies have been linked to the left-hander, but Boston is not currently focused on him, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
- It's only a matter of time before the Phillies deal Joe Blanton, Heyman says.
- One GM told Heyman that the Royals are "asking for a lot more" than Travis Snider and Kyle Drabek for Zack Greinke. The Blue Jays don't intend to offer that pair up regardless.
- Felix Hernandez has the ten biggest markets on his no-trade list, apparently to give him maximum leverage, according to Heyman (on Twitter).
Nats, O’s, Padres Pursuing Lee & LaRoche
The Nationals, Orioles and Padres are pursuing both Derrek Lee and Adam LaRoche, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Padres have less money to spend than the Nationals and Orioles, so they seem less likely to sign one of the first basemen.
LaRoche may command a multiyear deal, but Lee is telling teams he’s open to a one-year contract, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. Heyman also reports (on Twitter) that the Nationals are very much in on Lee. Six teams reportedly have interest in the longtime Cub.
The Diamondbacks, however, are likely “out” on Lee after agreeing to terms with Xavier Nady, according to Rosenthal and Morosi.
Odds & Ends: Lee, Zambrano, Werth, Mets, Uehara
Baseball lost one of its all-time greats tonight; Bob Feller passed away at 92. Rapid Robert won 266 games in his career, every single one of them with the Cleveland Indians. He probably would have cleared the 300 win plateau if he hadn't served in World War II from ages 23-25. Our condolences go out to the Hall of Famer's family…
- Baseball America's Matt Eddy posted this week's edition of minor league transactions. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports adds (via Twitter) that the Twins have signed infielder Mike Hollimon to a minor league deal. He missed all of 2010 recovering from shoulder surgery.
- SI.com's Jon Heyman says (via Twitter) that Derrek Lee is telling teams he'd consider a one-year deal. At least six teams are interested in the free agent first baseman.
- Carlos Zambrano has not yet given the Cubs his consent to trade him, reports MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. The right-hander has a full no-trade clause.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson looks at the impact the Jayson Werth signing will have on 2010 first overall pick (and right fielder) Bryce Harper. The Nationals plan to play Werth in center at least part of the time going forward.
- ESPN New York's Adam Rubin provides the contract details for D.J. Carrasco, Ronny Paulino, and Boof Bonser, while Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun does the same for Koji Uehara.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke to Phillies' general partner, president, and CEO David Montgomery about a variety of topics, including the Lee signing.
- Agent Scott Boras said Werth has a full no-trade clause, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (Twitter link).
- Not surprisingly, Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik has no interest in trading Felix Hernandez, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).
- Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond has heard the trade rumors, but wants to stay in Washington, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- Josh Hamilton told Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com that he hasn't thought much about a contract extension.
- MLB's minimum salary will rise to $414K next year, according to the AP (on ESPN.com).
- The A's acquired Jose Rivero, a 20-year-old outfielder selected by the D'Backs in this year's Rule 5 draft, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter).
National News: Lee, LaRoche, Pavano, Webb
Let's round up the latest from the nation's capital, courtesy of MLB.com's Bill Ladson…
- The Nats have expressed interest in free agent first baseman Derrek Lee, echoing a report from yesterday.
- All of their eggs are not in one basket however, Ladson says the team also maintains interest in Adam LaRoche. It appeared that a deal between the two sides was a go last week, but obviously nothing came from it.
- "We will explore both options, so it expands our pool a little bit more," said GM Mike Rizzo, referring to short and long-term first base options, not Lee and LaRoche. "I don't ever want to feel rushed to do a deal. I think when you feel rushed to do a deal, you make a deal that you may not have wanted to do. So we are going to look at our options. We feel there are still good options out there, and we will see where they take us."
- The Nats are still in on Carl Pavano and expect talks to get serious this week. Two days ago we learned that Washington wasn't thrilled with the idea of offering the right-hander a multiyear deal.
- Brandon Webb "remains excited" about the Nationals, and the two sides talked during the winter meetings.