Odds & Ends: Chapman, Upton, Mets, Gallardo
Some links as Spring Training games get started…
- Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports writes that Aroldis Chapman may be the most well-known of the recent Cuban defectors hoping to make an MLB impact, but that he's hardly the only one.
- The Hendricks brothers, who represent Chapman now, reached a settlement with API, who used to represent the lefty, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com.
- The Justin Upton deal should work for both sides, writes Tyler Hissey of Around the Majors. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic warns that there's some risk involved from Arizona's perspective, and wonders if B.J. Upton's recent struggles factored in his brother's decision to sign an extension now.
- The Mets have called the Padres about Adrian Gonzalez, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter).
- Yovani Gallardo's agent had some talks with the Brewers about a long-term deal last spring, but nothing came of them, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that Joe Crede is hitting, throwing and waiting for a job offer.
- Red Sox Assistant GM Ben Cherington tells Alex Speier of WEEI.com that the club has catchers in the upper minors who are "capable of coming up and playing." From defensive catchers like Dusty Brown and Mark Wagner to the powerful Luis Exposito, the team has potential behind the plate, though it doesn't have certainty for 2011.
- R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs wonders if Eric Hinske will encourage Jason Heyward to sign a long-term deal, like Evan Longoria did a couple springs ago.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star reports that another team offered Noel Arguelles more than the $7MM bonus he will receive from the Royals.
Odds & Ends: Yankees, Cardinals, Delgado
Some more links for the evening…
- Chad Jennings of LoHud.com provides an extensive breakdown of the Yankees' potential outfield options.
- Cardinals GM John Mozeliak says his team will decide in the near future "if we have a bullet to use what would we use it on," according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter).
- Ed Price of AOL FanHouse tweets that the Pirates are the leaders for D.J. Carrasco, who is being pursued by three other teams. In a separate tweet, Price adds that the Mets plan to scout Carlos Delgado this weekend in Puerto Rico.
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that Josh Johnson is definitely not switching agents any time soon. Matt Sosnick represents the big righty.
- Justin Sablich lists the best remaining free agents for the New York Times.
- Chien-Ming Wang is telling friends he's prepared to move on from the Yankees, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Abraham says Wang should be ready to join an MLB rotation in May.
- David Aardsma could come close to tripling his 2009 salary of $419K, according to MLB.com's Jim Street. The reliever is one of five arbitration-eligible Mariners
- MLB.com's Dick Kaegel tweets that Noel Arguelles passed his physical with the Royals, making official the five-year $7MM deal he agreed to earlier in the offseason.
- Larry Larue of the Tacoma News Tribune says Russell Branyan's likely not returning to Seattle now that the Mariners are poised to add Casey Kotchman.
- Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog hears from people connected to the Mets that they are interested in John Smoltz. The NL East is all over Smoltz – the Phils and Nats have interest, too.
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."