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New York Notes: Izzy, Crawford, Perez, Montero

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One year ago today, the Mets signed Kiko Calero, who was coming off of a season in which he posted a 1.95 ERA with 10.4 K/9 for the Marlins. Calero never pitched for the Mets and the team released him in May. Here are today's New York notes…

  • Jason Isringhausen will retire if he doesn't make the Mets' roster this spring, the veteran reliever tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  • Carl Crawford didn't think the Yankees had much interest in him this winter, and Brian Cashman confirmed as much to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.  Crawford "didn't mesh with what we had here and my need for starting pitching" and while Cashman is a Crawford fan, "I've got someone I'm excited about in Brett Gardner, who's $142MM less."  (both Twitter links)
  • With Chris Capuano and Chris Young in line to win rotation spots, it all but confirms that the Mets will release Oliver Perez, says ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin.
  • Jesus Montero appears to have an excellent chance of winning the Yankees' backup catcher job, since Francisco Cervelli will miss at least four weeks with a broken foot. Yankees GM Brian Cashman says he has no interest in delaying Montero's arbitration clock by holding him back for the first few months of the season (Twitter link).
  • Before the injury, Chad Jennings of the Journal News reports that the Yankees seem legitimately impressed by Montero's improvement behind the plate. It appeared early on that the Yankees would send Montero to the minors to play every day, but as ESPN.com's Buster Olney explains, Montero has become a better, more dedicated catcher and remains a force at the plate.
  • Francisco Rodriguez told Newsday's David Lennon that he wants to do "double" this year in order to regain the confidence of Mets fans after a trying 2010 season. Rodriguez repeated that he isn't worried about the 2012 option that vests at $17.5MM if he finishes 55 games this season.
  • Johnny Damon told Peter Botte of the New York Daily News that he was never close to returning to the Yankees, since he isn't ready to be a part-time player and the Yankees have a DH and three outfielders. In a few years, however, Damon says he'll be ready for a part-time role.

MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post

Mets Notes: Wilpon, Perez, Rodriguez, Finances

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The latest on the Mets, including updates on two pitchers who haven't lived up to their contracts…

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says he finds it "increasingly difficult to believe that [Fred Wilpon] will remain viable as owner [of the Mets]." He believes Wilpon should sell the team and move on, for the good of all involved.
  • Andy Martino of the New York Daily News hears that the Mets are close to giving up on Oliver Perez and could release him if he doesn't pitch well against the Cardinals today. Manager Terry Collins says Perez will have another chance to prove himself after today, however. The left-hander earns $12MM this year in the final year of his contract.
  • Agent Paul Kinzer told David Lennon of Newsday that Francisco Rodriguez's 2012 option, which becomes guaranteed if he finishes 55 games this year, will be a "point of interest" that he'll watch closely. Kinzer says he hopes the Mets play to win instead of worrying about the $17.5MM option.
  • The owners of the Mets, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, face more than a $1 billion lawsuit, but that's not all. They are expected to face additional allegations from a court-appointed trustee, according to Matthew Futterman and Michael Rothfeld of the Wall St. Journal.

2012 Options Notes: Wainwright, K-Rod, Sabathia

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Some rumblings about 2012 options from around the league…

  • The Cardinals could still pick up the 2012 ($9MM) and 2013 ($12MM) options they hold on Adam Wainwright even though he's having Tommy John surgery, writes Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A pitcher of Wainwright's caliber is a bargain at that price, even if he doesn't get back to being himself until midway through the 2012 season. The options will not vest now that the right-hander will spend the season on the disabled list.
  • When asked about the possibility of the options not being picked up and becoming a free agent, Wainwright simply told Strauss "I think I'd end up doing all right."
  • SI.com's Jon Heyman says (on Twitter) there's a zero percent chance the Mets will allow Francisco Rodriguez to finish the 55 games needed to vest his $17.5MM option. The player's union figures to be vigilant, especially if K-Rod is healthy.
  • Rival GMs told Heyman (on Twitter) that the chances of Yankees ace CC Sabathia opting out of his contract after the season are "100 percent." Sabathia was non-committal when asked about the clause two weeks ago.

2012 Vesting Options

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Vesting options are always worth keeping track of during the season, especially since they can often have consequences that are less than desirable. Last year Magglio Ordonez ($15MM), Kerry Wood ($11MM), and Brian Fuentes ($9MM) all had big money options that did not vest, though Darren Oliver ($3.25MM) and Trever Miller ($2MM) had some smaller ones that did. 

Here is a list of 2012 vesting options to keep an eye on this summer…

  • Bobby Abreu, Angels: $9MM option vests with 433 plate appearances. Abreu hasn't come to the plate fewer than 589 times in a season since 1997, his rookie year.
  • Adam Wainwright, Cardinals: His $9MM option for 2012 and $12MM option for 2013 will lock in as long as he does not finish 2011 on the disabled list. His second place finish in the 2010 Cy Young voting was step one of the vesting process.
  • Aramis Ramirez, Cubs: $16MM option vests if he is named MVP of either the regular season or League Championship Series, or if he is traded at some point in 2011.
  • Rafael Furcal, Dodgers: $12MM option vests with 600 plate appearances. Furcal has come to the plate 600+ times just once in the last three seasons (2009) due to injuries.
  • Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM option vests with 190 innings pitched. Garland hasn't thrown fewer than 191 1/3 innings since becoming a full-time starter in 2002.
  • Francisco Rodriguez, Mets: $17.5MM option vests with 55 games finished and if doctors declare him healthy at the end of the season.
  • Koji Uehara, Orioles: $4MM option vests with either 55 appearances or 25 games finished. Uehara hasn't reached either milestone in his first two big league seasons, though he came close in 2010: 43 appearances and 22 games finished.
  • Arthur Rhodes, Rangers: $4MM option vests with 62 appearances and if he's not on the disabled list at the end of the season.
  • Joakim Soria, Royals: $6MM option vests with 55 appearances, which he's done in three of his four big league seasons. The chances of it coming into play are microscopic, but Soria has a $6.5MM option for 2012 that could vest with 334 1/3 innings pitched (400 IP in 2010 & 2011). That was obviously put into his contract in case the team ever moved him into the rotation.
  • Dan Wheeler, Red Sox: $3MM option vests with 65 games; increases to $3.25MM with 70 games.  Wheeler reached 64 games in 2010, but had at least 69 in each of the previous five seasons.

Mark Buehrle is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2011 season and although he doesn't have a traditional option in his contract, he gets an extra year at $15MM tacked onto his current deal if he's traded at some point this season. 

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Mets Notes: Reyes, Alderson, Perez, Castillo

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Here are a few Mets items of note, as the Wilpons' lawsuit drama continues to unfold …

  • The Mets plan to let Jose Reyes play out the entire 2011 season to see if he can stay healthy before deciding whether they should re-sign him, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com. Reyes, 28 in June, is an All-Star caliber shortstop when healthy (career line of .286/.335/.434), but he played in just 36 games in 2009 and was limited to 133 games last season due to a variety of injuries. The Mets picked up Reyes' $11MM option for 2011 earlier this offseason.
  • GM Sandy Alderson is maintaining that the Mets' baseball operations have not been hamstrung by the Wilpons' murky financial standing, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post, but the true test of that will be in the following months, when the team navigates the draft and the non-waiver trade deadline in July. Sherman wonders, will the Mets spend big on the 13th pick and in the international free-agent pool? If they're in contention, will they have the financial flexibility to add a pricey player? If they're out of contention, will they try to offload the big contracts of Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez?
  • With the Mets mired in a cycle of bad publicity due to the Madoff scandal, Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez (particularly the latter) might be released in hopes of appeasing an angry fan base, writes Steve Popper of the Bergen Record. Alderson told Popper that new manager Terry Collins won't tolerate the "conduct that has existed in the past," and that the Mets and their players have a "responsibility to the fans."

Mets Notes: Collins, Wright, Davis, Bay, K-Rod

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The Mets formally introduced Terry Collins as their new manager today. Here's the latest on Collins and the team he'll take over (all links go to Twitter):

Heyman On Cliff Lee, Mets, Penny

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SI's Jon Heyman dishes the latest on the hot stove…

  • Heyman provides reasons why he sees the Yankees as the favorite to sign Cliff Lee: their revenue, rotation question marks, and lack of a backup plan chief among them.  He also talked to Lee's agent Darek Braunecker about the story about Lee's wife being harassed by Yankees fans at a game.  Braunecker said, "That story was blown out of proportion.  It's not like she's hypersensitive. She's been with him in Philadelphia and all over, been with him from the get-go. It really was that one time, just a couple clowns…probably intoxicated. I don't know if that will have any bearing on (the decision)."
  • Heyman predicts destinations for 15 of the top free agents; nothing crazy.
  • Padres GM Jed Hoyer draws praise for being upfront about not being able to sign Adrian Gonzalez.
  • New Mets GM Sandy Alderson will be paid close to $3MM, while Paul DePodesta will get close to $1MM.  With J.P. Ricciardi, Wayne Krivsky, and Omar Minaya also on the ledger, Heyman figures this is baseball's most expensive front office.
  • Heyman feels that the Mets "would likely avoid" allowing Francisco Rodriguez to finish 55 games in 2011, which would trigger his $17.5MM option for '12.  He also notes that the Mets "will wait to see Jose Reyes play a large chunk of this coming season before getting serious about a long-term deal."  That approach might work, but from Reyes' point of view if he's having a great year and is months away from free agency he might as well go to the open market.
  • It's a little early for "best shape of his life" reports, but that's the word on free agent righty Brad Penny.  The 32-year-old was limited to nine starts this year due to a lat muscle injury.

Odds & Ends: K-Rod, Gibbons, Ricciardi, Uehara

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Links for Halloween Sunday, as we prepare to take in our last October baseball game of 2010….

  • SI.com's Jon Heyman says (via Twitter) the early feeling is that Francisco Rodriguez will be back with the Mets this year. There has been speculation that they would try to trade the closer following his late-season arrest, but that would have proven difficult with his contract. 
  • John Gibbons has informed the Mets that he's not a candidate for their managerial opening, tweets Bob Klapisch of The Bergen Record. The former Blue Jays' manager is happy with his role as Kansas City's bench coach.
  • The Mets are still trying to lure J.P. Ricciardi to their new front office, reports ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin.
  • Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com notes that it doesn't appear as if the Orioles have made much of an attempt to keep Koji Uehara. Uehara finished 2010 as the team's closer, but he is scheduled to be a free agent in the not-too-distant future.
  • Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun recaps the Orioles' coaching situation, and tells us that if Don Wakamatsu doesn't land a managerial job, he'll likely be Buck Showalter's bench coach. Showalter would like the coaching staff to be finalized by mid-week.
  • Dave Eiland, who was fired as the Yankees' pitching coach last week, told Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger that a reported falling out between he and Joe Girardi was "totally, absolutely false," and "ridiculous."
  • How potential free agents have been performing, and continue to perform, in the postseason will have an impact on the Giants' offseason decisions, Brian Sabean tells Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, and Pat Burrell are a few Giants who are facing possible free agency.
  • Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer reminds Phillies fans that if Jayson Werth signs elsewhere, it wouldn't be the first time the club has lost a star outfielder to free agency. As Brookover notes, things turned out pretty well for the Phils in 2007, when Aaron Rowand signed with the Giants after having a career year in Philadelphia.
  • In a piece for the Detroit Free Press, Josh Huebner explains why signing Carl Crawford should be the Tigers' number one priority this winter.
  • Derek Jeter will likely still be playing shortstop in New York in 2011, but as Bill Madden of the New York Daily News writes, the Yankees view Eduardo Nunez as Jeter's eventual successor.

Mets, K-Rod Resolve Grievance

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The Mets and Francisco Rodriguez resolved the closer's grievance with the team, according to statements from the Mets and the Players Association. Rodriguez decided not to challenge the Mets’ decision to withhold his 2010 salary after he injured himself in a non-baseball-related incident this August. He says he looks forward to remaining with the Mets and apologized to the team’s owners, players and fans.

The Mets agreed not to attempt to convert Rodriguez’s contract to a non-guaranteed deal and will remove him from the disqualified list. The team lost its closer to a season-ending thumb ligament operation, but ultimately saved $3.1MM.

Odds & Ends: Ross, Hale, Daniels, Mets, Coaches

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Some links to check out as Cody Ross attempts to follow up yesterday's two-home run performance and the Phillies look to even the score…

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