NL Central Notes: Brewers, Betemit, Wood, Young
Some tidbits from the NL Central….
- Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, GM Doug Melvin and agent Scott Boras (who represents Prince Fielder) had a meeting late last night that Melvin tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was unplanned and more of a check-in session. "Scott just said he wanted to give us an update," Melvin said. "You never really close the door on anything because you don't know what's going to happen. You can't really read anything into it."
- Haudricourt doesn't think the meeting is a sign that the Brewers could re-sign Fielder, believing that "Boras basically was giving them a chance to jump in and make an offer that he could shop around to other clubs….More likely, [the team] gave an indication of what they might be willing to do if Fielder decided he wanted to seriously entertain the possibility of staying in Milwaukee."
- Boras also represents Francisco Rodriguez, and Haudricourt reports the Brewers "got the feeling" in speaking to the agent that Rodriguez will reject the club's arbitration offer today.
- The Pirates are no longer pursuing Wilson Betemit, reports Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link). Biertempfel reported yesterday that the Bucs were close to deals with both Betemit and Nate McLouth, and the club agreed to terms on McLouth's contract today.
- Kerry Wood wants to return to the Cubs but wants a raise, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Wood has said he will either pitch for Chicago next season or retire, and last winter signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Cubs that was well below what other teams offered him.
- The Reds have spoken to the un-retired Dmitri Young, reports John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). Young, 38, has lost 70 pounds and is looking to make a comeback in either the Major Leagues or Japan. Young played in Cincinnati from 1998-2001.
- The Astros are looking at Marlins assistant GM Dan Jennings as a candidate for their open general manager's job, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). Jennings' name has been connected to several GM openings in recent years but the Marlins have turned down at least four clubs' requests for interviews. Jennings is under contract to Miami for four more years.
Padres Rumors: K-Rod, Payroll, Rule 5, Zumaya
It's late on the East coast but it's not even 11:30pm in San Diego, so here's some Padres rumors for the Friars fans who are still awake:
- The Padres have spoken with Francisco Rodriguez about replacing Heath Bell, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (on Twitter). Then again, Davidoff notes that they've spoken to "pretty much all the available closers."
- Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Padres have about $20MM to spend.
- From that same piece, Center writes that GM Josh Byrnes will be active on Wednesday and also that he hopes to have all seven arbitration-eligible Padres signed by the Dec. 12 non-tender deadline.
- The Padres are unlikely to release anyone from their full 40-man roster to create an opening for Thursday's Rule 5 Draft, writes Center.
- Center also adds that the Padres will be one of several teams to watch Joel Zumaya throw next week.
Closer Rumors: Madson, K-Rod, League, Street, Soria
The Blue Jays, Twins, and Marlins added closers in recent days, and it's not clear whether the remaining teams with ninth inning openings are willing to spend big. The latest on several closers…
- There is "no interest" from Madson or Rodriguez in accepting arbitration, tweets Peter Gammons of MLB Network. However, one agent believes that if the Red Sox trade for Andrew Bailey, which is a "real possibility," Madson and K-Rod could be in trouble, tweets ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
- The Angels are interested in trading for Seattle's Brandon League, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Angels have also expressed interest in free agents Todd Coffey and Jason Isringhausen, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times, but they probably won't move on a reliever until C.J. Wilson decides what to do.
- There's lots of buzz that Ryan Madson and Francisco Rodriguez could accept arbitration with the Phillies and Brewers, respectively, tweets ESPN's Jayson Stark. I still think Scott Boras will advise both to decline tomorrow night.
- The Rockies are willing to eat all of Huston Street's $8MM salary for prospects, tweets Stark. He says the Padres are a possibility. Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link) hears the Rockies would take on some "but not all" of Street's salary.
- Stark confirms yesterday's rumor that the Royals will listen on Joakim Soria, but they want a front-line starter in return.
Mets Have Contacted Francisco Rodriguez
After being apart for just half a season, the Mets have reached out to Francisco Rodriguez about a reunion, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (Twitter link).
K-Rod signed a three-year, $37.5MM deal with the Mets almost three years ago to the day (Dec. 9, 2008). He rewarded them with 168 innings of 3.05 ERA ball to go along with 83 saves and a 10.0 K/9 before he was dealt to the Brewers this past summer. He was even better in Milwaukee, striking out 33 in 29 innings and posting a sparkling 1.86 ERA while setting up for John Axford.
Rodriguez has said that he's seeking a three-year deal and a closing job this offseason, and is arguably the top reliever on the market now that Jonathan Papelbon and Heath Bell have signed.
Olney On Rodriguez, Ibanez, Lee, Yankees
Last night’s arbitration decisions included some particularly interesting cases, and ESPN.com’s Buster Olney offers insight into a few of them:
- At times “winks and nods” are involved when it comes to Type B free agents. The free agents have been known to agree in advance to decline arbitration offers, since doing so doesn’t hurt their free agent value.
- However, GM Doug Melvin says the Brewers did not ask agent Scott Boras to decline the team’s offer to Francisco Rodriguez. "We felt that with us trading some players the last few years that this was a chance to recover with some high picks,” Melvin told Olney. The GM explained that he’s not expecting to obtain many compensation picks in the next couple of years.
- As Olney points out, Rodriguez faces a similar decision to the one another Boras client, Rafael Soriano, faced last offseason: “take more money to be a setup man, or less to be a closer.”
- Olney notes that Raul Ibanez’s agents have a good relationship with the Phillies and suggests it’s likely Ibanez has agreed to turn down the team’s offer.
- There's no understanding that Derrek Lee will reject the Pirates' offer, according to Olney (on Twitter).
- Olney suggests gentlemen's agreements are likely in place with Aaron Harang, Jose Molina and David DeJesus and that the three players will decline arbitration(Twitter link).
- The Yankees are quietly confident that Phil Hughes will start Spring Training in improved physical condition and have a bounce-back season in 2012. They will continue to discuss available starting pitchers, even after agreeing to terms with Freddy Garcia.
Heyman On Ortiz, Rodriguez, Nathan
Now that this year's arbitration offers are officially in, the free agent market has become that much easier to read. Jon Heyman of SI.com examines some of last night’s decisions and provides more notes from around the league (all Twitter links):
- One agent predicts David Ortiz could get $16MM if he accepts Boston’s offer of arbitration. Heyman suggests a two-year deal in the $25-28MM range could also work for both sides.
- Though the Brewers took on some risk by offering Francisco Rodriguez arbitration, the right-hander seeks a multiyear deal and a closing job, so he’ll decline Milwaukee’s offer. The Brewers already have John Axford in place, so for Rodriguez to close games he’ll have to move on.
- The Twins offered Joe Nathan a two-year deal that would have guaranteed him a bit less than the $14.75MM contract he signed in Texas. However, one AL executive told Heyman that Nathan "wanted to go to Texas."
National League Free Agent Arbitration Offers
10 National League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make today, and we'll update them in this post in advance of the 11pm central time deadline. For a fantastic customizable chart with all 57 Type A/B free agents and their teams' decisions in real-time, click here.
Updated team decisions:
- The Giants won't offer arbitration to Pat Burrell (B) or Cody Ross (B) according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Carlos Beltran (A) contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
- The Dodgers declined to offer Hiroki Kuroda (B) arbitration, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter). Rod Barajas (B) already signed with the Pirates.
- The Pirates offered arbitration to Derrek Lee (B) while declining to offer Ryan Ludwick (B) and Chris Snyder (B) arbitration. Ryan Doumit (B) already signed with the Twins.
- The Phillies did not offer Roy Oswalt (A) or Brad Lidge (B) arbitration, according to the AP (via ESPN). The team announced that it offered arbitration to Raul Ibanez (B), Ryan Madson (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick), and Jimmy Rollins (A), according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com (via Twitter).
- The Cubs offered arbitration to Carlos Pena (B) and Aramis Ramirez (B) but not to Kerry Wood (B), according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).
- The Cardinals offered Edwin Jackson (B) and Albert Pujols (A) arbitration, but declined to make offers to Rafael Furcal (B) and Arthur Rhodes (B), according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). That leaves Octavio Dotel (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary).
- The Mets offered Jose Reyes (A) arbitration, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (on Twitter).
- The Padres will offer arbitration to Heath Bell (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) and Aaron Harang (B), tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com.
- The Brewers offered Prince Fielder (A) and Francisco Rodriguez (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) arbitration. They declined to offer Yuniesky Betancourt (B) arbitration. Takashi Saito (A), contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
- The Braves did not offer arbitration to Alex Gonzalez (B), according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Teams with automatic decisions only:
- Reds: Francisco Cordero (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary), Ramon Hernandez (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary)
- Astros: Clint Barmes (B, already signed with Pirates)
- Rockies: Mark Ellis (B, already signed with Dodgers)
Modified Procedure For Type A Free Agents
Matt Capps, Francisco Cordero, Octavio Dotel, Ramon Hernandez and Darren Oliver were all Type A free agents under the Elias Rankings system, but they will now be treated as Type B free agents, the MLBPA announced. Teams won't have to surrender draft picks to sign them, but the players' former teams obtain a supplementary first round pick whether or not they offer arbitration tomorrow.
Meanwhile, clubs won't have to surrender a draft pick to sign one of the following six players: Heath Bell, Michael Cuddyer, Kelly Johnson, Ryan Madson, Josh Willingham and Francisco Rodriguez. Teams that lose these players after offering arbitration will obtain first round picks in the slot before the signing team plus a supplementary draft pick for a total of two selections.
Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, C.J. Wilson, David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, Roy Oswalt, Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins were also Type A free agents this offseason. They will cost one draft pick to sign. Their teams will obtain two total picks if they decline offers of arbitration to sign elsewhere, as expected. Takashi Saito and Carlos Beltran, two other Type As, cannot be offered arbitration. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the changes.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Dodgers, Cubs, Athletics
Teams will be adding minor leaguers to their 40-man rosters today in anticipation of next month's Rule 5 Draft. In order to create roster space, some teams will outright players off of the 40-man. Here are the latest outright assignments from around MLB…
- The Dodgers outrighted John Ely and Carlos Monasterios to Triple-A, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
- The Cubs announced Esmailin Caridad, Lou Montanez and Kyle Smit have been outrighted off their 40-man roster. The Cubs currently have six open spots remaining on their 40-man roster.
- The A's announced that they outrighted right-hander Evan Scribner and outfielder Cedric Hunter to Triple-A.
- The Rockies outrighted infielder Andrew Brown off of their roster, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter).
- The Twins announced that they outrighted right-hander David Bromberg off the 40-man roster.
- The Pirates announced that they outrighted Matt Pagnozzi to Triple-A.
- The Tigers announced that they outrighted Cale Iorg to Triple-A. The infielder split the 2011 season between Detroit's top two affiliates.
- The Angels outrighted right-handers Francisco Rodriguez and Loek Van Mil to Triple-A yesterday, according to MLB.com's transactions page. Rodriguez, 28, has appeared in 53 games for the Angels since 2010, posting a 4.43 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 61 innings. Van Mil, a 7'1" native of the Netherlands, posted a 2.04 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 66 1/3 innings at Double-A in 2011. The Angels acquired him from the Twins for Brian Fuentes in 2010.
Heyman On Rollins, Yankees, Nolasco, Jurrjens
As usual, Jon Heyman is tweeting up a storm. His latest from Day 2 of the GM Meetings…
- The Brewers have added Jimmy Rollins to their list of potential shortstops. They're also eyeing Jose Reyes, Rafael Furcal, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Clint Barmes.
- The Yankees believe the prices on C.J. Wilson and Edwin Jackson are way too high thus far, and plan to wait them out. Wilson's agent Bob Garber requested a meeting with the Yankees in New York, during a discussion with GM Brian Cashman yesterday.
- The Marlins are telling teams Ricky Nolasco is not available now. Heyman wonders if they would change if they sign a free agent pitcher.
- One GM interested in Braves righty Jair Jurrjens does not believe he will be traded. The Braves seek an impact bat in return.
- Interest is picking up in Francisco Rodriguez, the third-best available reliever currently in Heyman's opinion.