Odds & Ends: Oeltjen, Hensley, Gload, Halladay
Links for Friday, as team execs and media folk pack their bags for Monday's Winter Meetings in Indianapolis…
- The Brewers signed Trent Oeltjen to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Oeltjen, 27 in February, hit .303/.362/.500 in his third Triple A tour, playing the outfield corners.
- Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash spells out why his team won't be acquiring Roy Halladay, talking to McCalvy.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro tweets six minor league free agents signed by the Marlins, including Jesse Foppert, Vinny Rottino, and Hector Luna.
- The Pirates expressed "mild interest" in free agent pitcher Clay Hensley, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Hensley, 30, spent the year at Triple A in the Astros and Marlins organizations, posting a 3.56 ERA in 124 innings.
- Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post feels there's "still a good chance [Ross] Gload returns [to the Marlins] with a two-year deal."
- Darren Dreifort's five-year, $55MM deal tops Jeff Passan's list of the ten worst contracts of the 2000s for Yahoo.
- Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues explains why the Yankees probably won't sign Rafael Soriano.
- In his Winter Meetings preview for AOL FanHouse, Ed Price says there was some discussion about a Tigers-Diamondbacks trade involving Edwin Jackson and Max Scherzer.
- ESPN's Buster Olney talked to rival executives who say the Tigers have not aggressively shopped Curtis Granderson.
- Olney doesn't think the Mariners will pay up for Jason Bay. He believes the Red Sox are "controlling the market" for Bay and Matt Holliday.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals are "increasingly weighing spreading what it would cost to retain Holliday over several players." Bernie Miklasz of the P-D feels the Cards are "enacting their exit strategy from the Holliday sweepstakes." I would not be surprised to see the Cardinals make their best offer soon - let's say $110MM over six years – and entirely move on if Scott Boras rejects it.
- SI's Jon Heyman tweets that Nick Johnson is "drawing interest from the Giants, maybe Braves, and a half-dozen more."
- MLB.com's Corey Brock talked to former Padres GM Kevin Towers, who will meet with the Mets, Yankees, Mariners, and Red Sox at the Winter Meetings.
- ESPN's Keith Law isn't impressed with the Phillies' Placido Polanco signing. My initial impression upon hearing about the signing is that no other team would've valued Polanco that highly.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro tweets that other teams have been more aggressive on Jamey Carroll than the Marlins. Other Carroll suitors include the Rockies, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, A's, Rangers, Pirates, Reds and Indians.
Cubs Rumors: Bradley, Granderson, Castro
The Chicago Cubs are interested in Curtis Granderson, but would prefer to move Milton Bradley before aggressively pursuing Granderson, according to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune.
Earlier today, we heard rumblings that talks of a Bradley-Pat Burrell swap are still alive. If the Cubs were to deal Bradley and acquire Granderson, it would allow them to play Granderson in center field and move Kosuke Fukudome to right (Bradley's position).
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Rogers indicates that the Tigers are seeking multiple major-league-ready players in any trade for Granderson or right-hander Edwin Jackson. The Cubs also seem unwilling to part with top prospect Starlin Castro in order to acquire Granderson, so it remains to be seen if they have the chips to complete a deal.
Rogers expects Bradley and Granderson discussions to heat up during or before next week's winter meetings.
D’Backs Attempting To Trade For A Starter
The Diamondbacks "are more focused on trades than free agents" in their search for a starting pitcher, according to a source of Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The writers suggest the D'Backs will look for a cheap back-end rotation type, speculating on non-tender candidates Dave Bush, Brian Tallet, and Tim Redding. It sounds like the D'Backs don't want to give up a ton in trade, as they're reluctant to meet the asking price for Edwin Jackson and haven't inquired on Pirates starters Paul Maholm and Zach Duke.
Back on November 12th, we named about 30 potentially available starters, including Tallet and Bush.
Odds & Ends: Matsui, Cardinals, Arb Offers
Links for Monday…
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wonders if Bobby Crosby could be a match for the Rangers as a utility infielder.
- MLB.com's Mychael Urban has an update on free agent lefty Mark Mulder.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball analyzes Tim Lincecum's possible 2010 salary, and predicts the pitcher might submit $16.8MM against the Giants' $8MM figure.
- ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that Hideki Matsui's marketability is not a factor for the Yankees.
- Alex Speier of WEEI examines the chances of Roy Halladay remaining a workhorse over the next several seasons.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch doesn't see geography as a big factor for Matt Holliday. Meanwhile, Bernie Miklasz of the P-D doesn't understand Albert Pujols' reasoning as to why he needs to wait to discuss an extension.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart asks readers to predict the Astros' arbitration decisions for free agents. Jose Valverde and LaTroy Hawkins are tough calls in that it makes sense but we're not sure if the Astros will. We'll have predictions on all Type A/B free agents later today.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel explains why he feels only Felipe Lopez will get an arbitration offer from the Brewers.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Marlins are leaning against offering arbitration to Type B free agents Kiko Calero and Nick Johnson. Calero might be worth it.
- Jon Weisman of Dodgers Thoughts says the Dodgers' arbitration decisions won't necessarily be influenced by the McCourts' divorce.
- Staying with this theme, FanGraphs' Dave Cameron looks at the factors that should influence a team's arbitration-offer decision.
- Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports look at the market for Miguel Tejada.
- Morosi suggests ten teams that should talk to the Tigers about Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Edwin Jackson.
- Jacob Jackson of Athletics Nation has a detailed offseason plan for the A's.
- Righty Miguel Batista told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he has a few contenders interested in his services.
- Notes from NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman: the Orioles are eyeing pitcher Hisanori Takahashi, and Hideki Okajima would like a contract extension (he's under team control through 2012 as an arbitration-eligible player).
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the fates of Jeff Karstens, Robinzon Diaz, and Justin Thomas will be decided today.
- Elmer Dessens doesn't have a contract with the Mets quite yet, writes Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News.
Heyman On Tigers’ Edwin Jackson Demands
SI's Jon Heyman tweets a rumor of the Tigers' demands from the Mariners in an Edwin Jackson trade:
"Hearing Tigers sought young pitchers Brandon Morrow and Shawn Kelley for Jackson. Mariners apparently said no."
So the Tigers offered two years of Jackson for four years of Morrow and five of Kelley. Were the Mariners right to turn it down?
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Revenue Sharing, Bullington, Halladay, Mauer
On this date 18 years ago, Eddie Murray signed a two-year, $7.5MM deal with the Mets, the third of six teams he would play for in 21 seasons. In those two years, he would hit 43 home runs and post seasons of 115 and 111 OPS+. A week into this year's free agency, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- The Biz of Baseball looks at revenue sharing in baseball and why baseball no longer releases revenue sharing figures.
- DC Sports Plus evaluates the list of minor league free agent pitchers and who might get shots to stick with a big league club in the Spring.
- Royals Authority looks at what the signing of Bryan Bullington could mean for the Royals and whether he can contribute as a big league relief pitcher.
- River Ave Blues speculates on what the Yankees and Red Sox would have to give up to land Roy Halladay.
- MLB Notebook examines why the Tigers are looking to trade Edwin Jackson.
- UmpBump breaks down the Padres off-season needs and what San Diego needs to bring back should Adrian Gonzalez be traded.
- Jorge Says No! speculates on an extension that could work for both the Twins and Joe Mauer.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.
Odds & Ends: Jackson, Cabrera, Guillen, Bedard
It's a slow night for rumors on the eve of Thanksgiving, but here's a roundup of a handful of interesting evening links:
- FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi tweets that the Tigers have been more aggressive attempting to deal Edwin Jackson than Curtis Granderson. Jackson, for his part, says the trade rumors don't bother him.
- Morosi also reports (via Twitter) that Daniel Cabrera is in search of a 40-man roster spot on some team this winter.
- In the most recent post on the FOX Sports blog by Morosi and Ken Rosenthal, the pair discusses Miguel Cabrera's future. One executive suggests that Cabrera's availability (or lack thereof) will depend on whether or not the Tigers believe his off-field issues at the end of the season were a one-time lapse in judgment.
- Jose Guillen wants to stay in Kansas City and play in the field next year, according to Dick Kaegel of MLB.com. We mentioned Guillen as a possible trade candidate when evaluating the market for right fielders, and he's been the subject of rumors in the past week.
- Following up on a story about the Royals "going hard" after Erik Bedard, Kaegel talks to Kansas City assistant GM J.J. Picollo. Picollo indicates that Bedard's left-handedness is intriguing, but that it's "probably an overstatement" to say the club is in hot pursuit of the 30-year-old.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart passes along news of some minor organizational moves by the Astros.
- One item of note in Kelly Thesier's Twins mailbag on MLB.com: When Minnesota prospect Miguel Angel Sano begins playing in the States, he'll be using the surname Jean, rather than Sano (which is his mother's maiden name).
- Larry Dobrow of CBS Sports looks ahead to the Athletics' offseason and makes some suggestions for the team going forward.
Passan On Arguelles, Bedard, Jackson
Jeff Passan covers a few items in this piece for Yahoo Sports, headlined by 19-year-old Cuban pitcher Noel Arguelles. The young left-hander impressed a number of agents and representatives from various teams at a workout last month in the Dominican Republic, and the four teams most interested in signing Arguelles are the Athletics, Mariners, Rays, and (who but?) the Yankees. Passan predicted that Argulles' deal will be worth somewhere around $8.2MM to $10MM, which match the contracts given to Jose Iglesias and Dayan Viciedo last year by the Red Sox and White Sox, respectively.
In other news from Passan's column…
- Passan says the Yankees are much more interested in Aroldis Chapman than they are in Arguelles, and that Chapman's recent agent switch to Randy and Alan Hendricks may help New York. Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens are/were both represented by the Hendricks brothers.
- The Royals are "going hard" to sign Erik Bedard to a short-term contract. Passan thinks Bedard will sign with someone for an "incentive-loaded one-year deal" in an effort to prove that he's healthy and worthy of a more lucrative longer-term deal for 2011.
- Detroit seem to be becoming more determined in their quest to trade pitcher Edwin Jackson. An unnamed executive is quoted as saying, "It’s like they want to give him away, and I don’t really understand why."
Miguel Cabrera On The Trade Block?
It's no secret that the Tigers are looking to cut down on future payroll, and to do so they've made both Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson available in trades. Lynn Henning of The Detroit News throws another name into the mix: first baseman Miguel Cabrera.
Henning says that nothing "irresistible" has been offered for Cabrera yet, and that GM Dave Dombrowski said "I'm not getting into any names," when asked about his first baseman. The Red Sox are looking to add a big bat, and we've already heard rumblings that they could turn around and move Clay Buchholz if they sign John Lackey.
Cabrera, still just 26, is about to enter year three of his eight year, $152.3MM contract. He's owed $126MM through 2015, so I guess we can rule out the small market clubs as trade partners. MLBTR readers discussed the idea of trading Cabrera earlier this month.
Angels More Interested In Granderson Than Jackson
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim would prefer Curtis Granderson to Edwin Jackson, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com.
The reason is simple: control of the player. Granderson is signed through 2012, with a $13MM club option for 2013. Jackson, meanwhile, can become a free agent after 2011, and with agent Scott Boras' track record, Jackson is likely to hit the open market.
Rosenthal and Morosi write that someone with close knowledge of the Tigers said that the "Angels have depth in three areas of need for Detroit: catcher, shortstop, and minimum-salary pitching."
And Tigers' owner Mike Illitch hardly offered a strong denial that either player could be moved. "I don't know if I want to get into that," he said. "It's something I don't want to talk about. There's so many rumors out there now."
And surely more to come.