Yankees Notes: Feliciano, Wood, Pettitte
The Yankees met with Cliff Lee's agent today. Here are the rest of the updates on the team's quest for pitching:
- The Yankees will meet with Pedro Feliciano's representatives this week, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff. The Rockies have also expressed interest in the lefty, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link).
- The Yankees are interested in re-signing Kerry Wood, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (Twitter link). GM Brian Cashman says he isn't interested in paying Wood "closer money."
- When Cashman checked in with Andy Pettitte recently, he heard that the lefty was still leaning toward retirement, according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger (on Twitter).
Stark On Soriano, Quentin, Phillies, Astros
As ESPN.com's Jayson Stark points out in this week's Rumblings & Grumblings, there's not much starting pitching available after Cliff Lee and Carl Pavano. Stark examines alternatives for pitching-starved teams and provides some rumors along the way. Here they are:
- Though it appeared to some baseball people as though the Angels were trying to sign Rafael Soriano before the Winter Meetings, it now appears that their search for relief pitching is secondary to their pursuit of Carl Crawford.
- Stark sees indications that the Angels are showing "very little" interest in Jayson Werth so far this offseason.
- The White Sox still say they're not shopping Carlos Quentin, but rival teams say Chicago will listen to offers.
- The Phillies don't plan on pursuing a trade for Quentin, according to Stark.
- Arthur Rhodes appears to be one of Philadelphia's top left-handed relief targets, followed by Pedro Feliciano. Neither reliever would cost the Phillies a draft pick, which is their preference.
- The Astros have quietly been shopping for an affordable outfielder who bats from the left side.
National League Free Agent Arbitration Decisions
12 National League free agents were offered arbitration on November 23rd. Four of those – Jorge de la Rosa, Jon Garland, Yorvit Torrealba, and Juan Uribe – have new contract agreements. Another three – Kevin Correia, Octavio Dotel, and Trevor Hoffman – have already decided to decline. The remaining five NL free agents offered arbitration will have their decisions noted here and in our tracker.
- Jayson Werth (A) will decline the Phillies' offer.
- Adam LaRoche (B) appears to have declined arbitration from the Diamondbacks. Aaron Heilman (B) will decline arbitration, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Heilman is drawing interest in his preferred role as a starter, his agent Mark Rodgers explained to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic yesterday.
- Adam Dunn (A) will decline arbitration from the Nationals, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
- Pedro Feliciano (B) has declined arbitration from the Mets, tweets Ken Davidoff of Newsday.
Pedro Feliciano Considering Accepting Arbitration
Melvin Roman, the agent for lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano, says his client is "seriously considering" accepting the Mets' offer of arbitration according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (Twitter link). Players have until Tuesday to either accept or decline arbitration.
Feliciano, 34, is a Type-B free agent. He earned $2.9MM in 2010 and would likely see his salary climb north of $3.5MM through the arbitration process. The Yankees are one team known to have interest in Feliciano, but as a highly durable left-handed reliever with a good track record, the suitors are likely lining up behind-the-scenes.
I broke down Feliciano's free agent stock just two days ago.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Pedro Feliciano
Quality left-handed relievers are always a hot commodity (perhaps even over-valued) on the free agent market, and one of the best available this winter is former Fukuoka SoftBank Hawk Pedro Feliciano. Let's review his stock…
The Good
- Feliciano's an absolute workhorse, leading the league in appearances in each of the last three seasons. He's also appeared in more games each successive year, topping out at 92 this year.
- As you'd expect, he's been excellent against left-handed batters, holding them to a .212/.271/.310 batting line with 9.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 over the last three years.
- Although he was offered arbitration, Feliciano is just a Type-B free agent, so it will not cost a draft pick to sign him.
The Bad
- Feliciano will turn 35 next summer, so all of those appearances could catch up to him in the not-too-distant future.
- He's strictly a lefty specialist; right-handers have tagged him for a .325/.420/.474 batting line over the last three seasons with nearly as many walks (50) as strikeouts (55).
- Feliciano has historically been homer prone. He allowed seven long balls in both 2008 and 2009 (1.1 HR/9) before surrendering just one in 2010 (0.1 HR/9).
- Feliciano wanted a multiyear contract extension from the Mets in 2009, so chances are he's still seeking a deal that will guarantee him more than one year.
The Verdict
Feliciano is one of those free agents that you could see fitting with all 30 teams. He's been one of the best lefty relievers in baseball over the last few years, but he doesn't offer much flexibility and is no spring chicken. Feliciano represents a nice alternative to teams scared by the asking price of Scott Downs or Brian Fuentes, so he should have his pick from several offers.
National League Free Agent Arbitration Offers
11 National League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make, and we'll group them in this post. For a fantastic customizable chart with all 65 Type A/B free agents and their decisions in real-time, click here.
- The Padres offered Jon Garland (B), Yorvit Torrealba (B) and Kevin Correia (B) arbitration, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock (on Twitter). They did not offer Miguel Tejada (A) and David Eckstein (B) arbitration.
- The Reds declined to offer Orlando Cabrera (B) or Arthur Rhodes (A) arbitration, according to the team (on Twitter).
- The Dodgers declined to offer arbitration to Scott Podsednik (B), Rod Barajas (B) and Vicente Padilla (B), according to the team (on Twitter).
- The Giants offered Juan Uribe (B) arbitration, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter).
- In a surprising move, the Brewers decided to offer Trevor Hoffman (B) arbitration, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reports that Hoffman has agreed to turn the offer down (Twitter link).
- The Diamondbacks announced that they offered arbitration to Adam LaRoche (B) and Aaron Heilman (B).
- The Rockies will offer arbitration to Jorge de la Rosa (A) and Octavio Dotel (B), according to Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post.
- The Braves will not offer arbitration to first baseman Derrek Lee (A), according to GM Frank Wren via David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Twitter.
- The Nationals offered arbitration to first baseman Adam Dunn (A), reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- The Mets will offer arbitration to lefty Pedro Feliciano (B), tweets Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.
- Yesterday, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki learned that the Phillies will offer arbitration to Jayson Werth (A) but not Chad Durbin (B).
Yankees Interested In Pedro Feliciano
The Yankees expressed interest in lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano, tweets Ken Davidoff of Newsday. The rubber-armed 34-year-old figures to be popular this winter, with the Phillies, Angels, Mets, and others also seeking left-handed relief. The question for the Yankees, notes Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues, is whether they're willing to commit multiple years and a $3MM+ salary to Feliciano or a similar veteran given the money they already owe to Damaso Marte and Boone Logan.
Feliciano led the National League in appearances in each of the last three seasons. His detractors will suggest he's been overworked; his agents at MDR Sports Management will say it's proof of his durability. One Feliciano trait that cannot be argued: he's very tough on lefties.
Olney’s Latest: Gonzalez, Lee, Crawford, Jeter
Two days ago we learned that Padres GM Jed Hoyer is willing to listen to trade offers for Adrian Gonzalez (and Heath Bell), unsurprising since the first baseman is reportedly seeking close to $22MM annually when he becomes a free agent next offseason. In today's blog post (Insider req'd), ESPN's Buster Olney lists a few reasons why the Pads are more likely to wait until the trade deadline to move their franchise player…
- Ticket sales. After surprising success in 2010, the team doesn't want to lose the trust of the fans by dealing their best player before the season.
- The Padres have a chance to compete in 2011 with Gonzalez in the middle of their lineup, but without him it'll be close to impossible.
- Other clubs wanting to acquire Gonzalez might be more desperate during the summer, which could result in a better package for San Diego.
- Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe points out that Hoyer and assistant GM Jason McLeod worked for the Red Sox before joining the Padres, so they have strong first-hand knowledge of Boston's prospects.
Here are the rest of Olney's rumors…
- Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, and Jayson Werth will dominate the headlines when free agency begins at 12:01am ET Sunday morning, but Olney lists ten more interesting free agents, led by Joaquin Benoit, Pedro Feliciano, and Orlando Hudson.
- The Yankees could place their first bid on Lee very soon, perhaps within 72 hours. Anthony McCarron of The New York Daily News hears something similar.
- Crawford is in a unique situation because he's an elite player that could have six or more teams bidding for his services. Usually players of that caliber only have three or so teams after them.
- The Yankees operate with the knowledge that no matter how popular the individual player is, the team and its fan base will move on. This of course refers to Derek Jeter.
Mets Notes: Ryan, Hahn, Takahashi, Feliciano
For the first time in six years, the Mets are looking for a new GM. ESPN's Adam Rubin has the latest.
- The field of GM candidates has about 32 names. Five to seven will be interviewed in person (twice), with a resolution hoped for by month's end. Terry Ryan and Rick Hahn are on the list, reports MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone. SI's Jon Heyman expects the Mets to consider Josh Byrnes, Sandy Alderson, Gerry Hunsicker, and John Hart as well to head their baseball operations.
- In the meantime, interim GM John Ricco will begin discussions with free agents Hisanori Takahashi and Pedro Feliciano and also talk about a Jose Reyes extension. Takahashi can declare free agency on October 31st, so there's slightly increased urgency. We discussed his situation here.
- COO Jeff Wilpon told reporters Omar Minaya never asked ownership to eat the contracts of Oliver Perez or Luis Castillo. Wilpon also said he "can't imagine" trading David Wright, but he'd listen if the new GM proposed something.
Odds & Ends: Darvish, Feliciano, D’Backs, Blue Jays
As the Padres face a big uphill battle in San Francisco this weekend, we look at some news items….
- Yu Darvish's likely posting fee could be around $25MM and the right-hander might look for a five-year deal from an MLB club, suggest sources of Matt Cerrone of Metsblog.com. The Mets, Yankees, Rangers and Braves are listed as four of the eight teams who have shown an interest in Darvish, and we know the Rays have watched him pitch as well.
- Pedro Feliciano's struggles against right-handed hitters will prevent the reliever from earning a big contract this winter, writes David Brown of Yahoo Sports. The fact that Feliciano is a Type A free agent will also hurt his cause, since teams will shy away from losing a draft pick to sign a limited relief pitcher.
- Rafael Soriano, Cody Ross, David DeJesus and Francisco Rodriguez are among several free agents or trade candidates that Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic thinks the D'Backs might consider acquiring.
- Bob Gebhard, the Diamondbacks' vice-president and special assistant to the GM, will survive the expected front office changes in Arizona this winter, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
- Nightengale also tweets that Tim Wallach is "picking up plenty of steam" in regards to the Toronto manager's job. The Rockies have granted hitting coach Don Baylor permission to interview for that same position, reports Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.
- The Everett Daily Herald's Kirby Arnold lists several Mariners who might not be with the team next season, including Jose Lopez, David Aardsma and Casey Kotchman.
- Dodgers assistant GM Logan White told Baseball America's Jim Callis that he hasn't been fired by L.A., and is "working for the team until…told otherwise" (both Twitter links). Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus tweeted about "rumors starting to swirl" that White and the Dodgers were parting ways earlier in the day. White was one of several candidates interviewed for the Arizona general manager's job that eventually went to Kevin Towers.
- The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore lists five possible replacements for Adam Dunn if the Nationals don't re-sign the slugger.
- In a chat with fans on Thursday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News predicted that the Rangers would announce contract extensions for manager Ron Washington and GM Jon Daniels within a week of Texas' final playoff game.
- Trevor Hoffman hasn't decided if he will play next year yet, but if he does, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy predicts Hoffman will look for "a situation in which he at least has a chance to be the closer."