Cardinals Rumors: Hudson, Schumaker, Ryan
In a blog update for the Daily News, Tony Jackson reports that, according to the second baseman himself, "several other teams" had multi-year offers out to Orlando Hudson. Who were those teams?
According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals may have been one of them. Strauss has a quote from Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak: “We checked it out because we obviously are looking at ways to fill the position, and somewhat to gauge where the market was going."
As for what the Cardinals plan to do with second base in the near future, Strauss writes:
The Cardinals continue to audition Skip Schumaker at the position with Brendan Ryan and Joe Thurston representing his primary competition.
“I’m comfortable with what we have in camp,” Mozeliak said. “Ultimately, if we have to address it, we have another five or six weeks to do so.”
I understand the Cardinals’ perspective here, but I still wonder if Mozeliak isn’t even thinking about calling the agent of Mark Grudzielanek.
Hudson Passes Physical, Manny Talks Heat Up
Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News reports that Orlando Hudson passed his physical, making his one-year deal official. He also notes that Hudson’s base salary is $3MM, with a $380,000 signing bonus and incentives which max out at $4.62MM.
Jackson also has some tantalizing quotes from Dodgers GM Ned Colletti about the Manny Ramirez negotiations. Colletti said that he has had more conversations with Scott Boras "in the past seven days than in the past few months. The conversations are more frequent and longer."
Jackson writes, "it sure sounds like they are getting closer to a deal — not that ‘closer’ means ‘close.’"
Dodgers, Orlando Hudson Agree To Terms
9:36pm: ESPN’s Keith Law calls Hudson’s contract "easily one of the biggest bargains of the offseason." He does say that the Dodgers will miss the draft pick they lost and closes by saying, "the big question here is where the Mets were in all of this."
1:49pm: According to MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick, Hudson gets $3.4MM guaranteed with another $4.6MM in incentives. Nice bargain for the Dodgers, though the draft pick loss hurts. ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the Royals were offering a $4.6MM base salary, so it looks like they were willing to stretch the payroll for Hudson.
1:36pm: Sirius XM’s MLB Home Plate is reporting Orlando Hudson has agreed in principle with the Dodgers, pending a physical.
The Diamondbacks lose their second baseman to a division rival, but also receive L.A.’s #17 pick in the June draft plus a supplemental pick.
Orlando Hudson Rumors: Thursday
Yesterday we learned from MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has ongoing talks for free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson. Today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Dodgers appear to be the front-runner for Hudson. Signing him wouldn’t affect their chances of locking up Manny Ramirez. MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick says Colletti has also not ruled out relief help from guys like Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, or Jason Isringhausen.
Even as divisional rivals the D’Backs may be rooting for the Dodgers to sign Hudson, since they’d receive L.A.’s #17 pick in the June draft as part of the compensation. Rosenthal says the Royals and other unknown clubs remain in the mix for him, with the White Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, and Mets seemingly not seriously involved. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star discusses the Royals angle in a column today.
Indians Might Be All Set
According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Indians don’t plan on pursuing any more free agents, even in a sign-and-trade scenario.
With their 25-man payroll pushing $80 million, it would be hard for the Indians to take on any payroll, writes Hoynes.
The Indians expressed mild interest in Juan Cruz and Orlando Hudson early in the offseason, but that was before they dolled out a two-year, $20.5MM million contract to Kerry Wood and chose to take on Mark DeRosa‘s $5.5MM ’09 salary.
Orlando Hudson Rumors: Wednesday
MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick spoke to Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who said talks are ongoing with Orlando Hudson‘s agent. Colletti has the flexibility to sign both Hudson and Manny Ramirez. He also said he doesn’t lack confidence in Blake DeWitt despite the Hudson pursuit. Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News learned the same.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote yesterday that Hudson likes the Royals, but they probably do not have the payroll flexibility to sign him.
Odds and Ends: Pirates, Royals, Gagne
Links for Wednesday…
- Joe Torre plans to retire as a manager after the 2010 season, learned MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick.
- Braves blog Talking Chop talked to ESPN’s Keith Law about the farm system.
- Baseball America’s Jim Callis spoke to one assistant GM who believes teams will cut back in the international market, partially because they can do so without a major backlash from fans. Callis also has the ’09 draft order at that link.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball looks at the $69MM+ teams spent on first-round draft picks last year.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates have anywhere from $41.75-$75.15MM tied up in Nate McLouth, Paul Maholm, and Ryan Doumit, all of whom were signed this winter. In a blog post, Kovacevic notes how the McLouth talks did a 180 when Frank Coonelly stepped in.
- Alex Speier of WEEI talked to Red Sox execs John Henry and Larry Lucchino about the salary cap idea as well as the team’s offseason.
- Aubrey Huff, a free agent after the season, isn’t worried about the future according to Roch Kubatko of MASN.
- Chris Forsberg of the Boston Globe relays quotes from Jonathan Papelbon about the long-term deal that did not materialize this winter.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star discusses the idea of releasing Mark Teahen and John Buck to sign Orlando Hudson, which some Royals fans are pushing for.
- Pitcher Kevin Correia turned down better deals to sign with his hometown Padres, according to MLB.com’s Corey Brock.
- Newly signed Brewers reliever Eric Gagne hopes to atone for his 2008 season, says Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Roberts, Orioles Narrowing Gap On Extension?
WEDNESDAY, 7:59am: Schmuck takes a stab at the numbers on a possible Roberts extension:
The Orioles – according to Baltimore Sun reporting – were holding close to a three-year offer worth $30MM until the past few weeks. Though no definite number came out of the Roberts camp, the word on the street was he was looking for closer to $40MM over that term and would look more kindly on a four-year offer. No one would be surprised if the final deal ends up being four years for about $44MM, which would be about the same average annual salary the Orioles gave Nick Markakis.
Markakis, however, is guaranteed almost $15MM per year for his first three free agent seasons.
WEDNESDAY, 10:51am: Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun talked to Orioles president Andy MacPhail, who said he’s "narrowing the gap" with Brian Roberts‘ agent on a possible extension. Spencer Fordin’s source doesn’t believe Roberts’ extension has been held up because of Orlando Hudson‘s free agency. MacPhail said similar things to Roch Kubatko of MASN. Roberts does not want to talk about the topic until Thursday. Perhaps this spring, we’ll be spared the constant Roberts trade rumors.
Orlando Hudson Likes The Royals
FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reports that free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson "is interested in the Royals."
Tim covered this for MLBTR earlier today, but Rosenthal has made a few updates.
Hudson has ties with two members of Kansas City’s coaching staff and wouldn’t mind a reunion. Of course, that doesn’t mean a deal will get done. The Royals would have to move some cash around to fit him in their budget and this market might not allow it. Hudson is thought to be seeking between $4MM and $5MM.
As Rosenthal notes, the signing would also "cost the Royals a second-round draft pick due to the team’s finish in the bottom half of the overall standings last season."
Orlando Hudson Rumors: Tuesday
We learned from Ken Rosenthal earlier today that the Dodgers remain interested in free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson. Rosenthal also said that the Royals like Hudson but don’t have the financial flexibility to fit him in.
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has more on Hudson, learning that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has "had a conversation or two" with the player’s agent since Adam Dunn signed. Colletti also implied that the Dodgers could afford Hudson and Manny Ramirez, if they choose to pursue both. Heyman adds that the White Sox are not a player for Hudson.