Several Teams Interested In Pedro
SUNDAY, 1:50pm: Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com writes that the Pirates won’t be signing Pedro unless his asking price comes down. They’ve shown interest, contacting his agent, but are unwilling to meet the $5MM-$8MM asking price.
Pittsburgh’s $51MM payroll gives them a bit of flexibility, and signing a veteran starter was one of their offseason priorities. However, Langosch writes that they’re very pleased with the depth of their starting pitching this Spring. Seems like they don’t consider adding Pedro a necessity.
SATURDAY, 8:07pm: The Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers writes that Pedro "insists he could have signed a contract long ago but wasn’t ready to commit." He cites a commitment to the World Baseball Classic as the reason he has waited to sign. (Scroll down to Miller’s first note after the main story.)
Pedro added the following: "The major leagues have, unfortunately, become more of a business than something to be proud of."
1:15pm:SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports that several teams have interest in free agent Pedro Martinez.
The Dodgers have already made it known that they’re "curious," and now the Indians, Pirates and Mets have joined the fun. Pedro is still seeking between $5MM and $8MM on a one-year deal, but will probably have to settle for an incentive-laden package with a low base salary. According to his agent, Fern Cuza, Martinez "feels better than his first year with the Mets."
Odds And Ends: Pedro, Crosby, Nationals
A few links for Saturday…
- Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post reports that Omar Minaya says the Mets won’t sign Pedro Martinez. Buster Olney was on this one earlier in the week, but that was before the Mets had to shut Tim Redding down because of weakness in his pitching shoulder.
- According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle Bobby Crosby played third and first yesterday in a Spring Training game. He had never played first before and had to borrow a glove. Playing well at many positions couldn’t hurt his trade value.
- We missed this one earlier in the week: Bill Shaikin of the LA Times asked Angels GM Tony Reagins if he has interest in Barry Bonds and heard he has "none."
- Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports that acting GM Mike Rizzo signed Julian Tavarez to the Nats because he wants depth and doesn’t want his players feeling too comfortable about their jobs.
Odds & Ends: Pedro, Boras, Bonds, Fielding
Links for Friday…
- Which players have the biggest differences in fantasy draft position, comparing Yahoo and ESPN?
- Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not find it likely that the Rangers will release Frank Catalanotto and eat the $6MM owed to him.
- Gil LeBreton of the Star-Telegram suggests Rangers GM Jon Daniels will have some tough trade decisions to make as the team inches closer to contention.
- Amy Martinez of the Seattle Times examines the economic impact of Ken Griffey Jr.
- Jose Reyes says Pedro Martinez would like to pitch for the Mets, talking to MLB.com’s Marty Noble.
- Amusing article about Scott Boras by Matt Taibbi in Men’s Journal.
- The Twins again made it clear they’ll pass on Barry Bonds. Three other teams have also publicly rejected his agent’s advances.
- Fielding Bible guru John Dewan says defense is worth roughly half as much as offense.
- Hat tip to Baseball Think Factory’s excellent Baseball Newsstand for several of today’s links.
- Sorry about the three double-posts on the site. I am still waiting for TypePad to fix the issue.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Braves, Lohse, Pedro, Bay
On this date 72 years ago, Lou Gehrig signed a one-year deal for $38K and a $750 signing bonus. This contract came on the heels of a season in which Gehrig hit .354-49-152 with a strikeout to walk ratio of 130-to-46 and a 190 OPS+. The following season, Gehrig would hit .351-37-159 (177 OPS+) in what would turn out to be his last full healthy season. With only a few weeks left until the ’09 regular season begins, let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- The Launching Pad gives us a list of mid-season trade targets for the Braves, with Brian Giles at the top.
- Jorge Says No! lists Kyle Lohse as one of the Hot Stove’s big winners.
- Feeling Dodger Blue takes a look at the fifth starter options for the Dodgers and sees Pedro Martinez as the best available option.
- Fire Brand of the American League says Jason Bay is no Manny Ramirez, but he is a suitable replacement.
- UmpBump takes a look back at the off-season moves of the Cubs and the Dodgers.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Pedro, Wood, Pudge, Gonzalez
Ken Rosenthal weighs in on a few of the recent hot topics…
- Like we heard earlier, Rosenthal says the Dodgers would only be willing to add Pedro Martinez to the mix if he is willing to “pitch for pay” and accept an incentive-laden contract. Rosenthal adds that Martinez’ agents reached out to the Dodgers and that the Dodgers contacted Pedro’s personal trainer but deny that any serious conservations have occurred.
- Rosenthal feels that the Dodgers have a better shot of landing a starter if they trade Delwyn Young who is out of minor league options.
- Rosenthal says Brandon Wood has given up hope that the Angels will trade Chone Figgins to clear a spot for Wood on the roster. Wood does have a minor league option remaining. Rosenthal says the Angels would need to find another leadoff hitter if they let Figgins walk at the end of the season as a free agent.
- Rosenthal adds that the Marlins are “warming to the idea” of signing Ivan Rodriguez, but that playing time remains an issue as Pudge wants to play five days a week.
- According to Rosenthal, Luis Gonzalez is willing to resign with the D-Backs, but it may only happen if Eric Byrnes continues to have problems with his hamstring.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Rosenthal On Pedro, Wood, Pudge, Gonzalez
Ken Rosenthal weighs in on a few of the recent hot topics…
- Like we heard earlier, Rosenthal says the Dodgers would only be willing to add Pedro Martinez to the mix if he is willing to "pitch for pay" and accept an incentive-laden contract. Rosenthal adds that Martinez’ agents reached out to the Dodgers and that the Dodgers contacted Pedro’s personal trainer but deny that any serious conservations have occurred.
- Rosenthal feels that the Dodgers have a better shot of landing a starter if they trade Delwyn Young who is out of minor league options.
- Rosenthal says Brandon Wood has given up hope that the Angels will trade Chone Figgins to clear a spot for Wood on the roster. Wood does have a minor league option remaining. Rosenthal says the Angels would need to find another leadoff hitter if they let Figgins walk at the end of the season as a free agent.
- Rosenthal adds that the Marlins are "warming to the idea" of signing Ivan Rodriguez, but that playing time remains an issue as Pudge wants to play five days a week.
- According to Rosenthal, Luis Gonzalez is willing to resign with the D-Backs, but it may only happen if Eric Byrnes continues to have problems with his hamstring.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Dodgers Curious About Pedro Martinez
1:59pm: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News says there hasn’t been contract between the Dodgers and Pedro’s agent for months. He says the Dodgers still are not considering signing him. It’d only happen with a base salary near the league minimum.
Like Colletti, manager Joe Torre at least seemed open to the idea in his comments to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.
8:58am: Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times advocates the Dodgers signing Pedro Martinez, and GM Ned Colletti admitted, "He’s somebody we’re curious about." The question is whether Pedro will drop his asking price enough to make a return to L.A. feasible. Plaschke also talked to former Dodgers GM Fred Claire, who admitted "it was a bad trade" when he traded Martinez to the Expos for Delino DeShields in November of 1993.
The Pirates explored the idea of signing Pedro back in January, but found the price prohibitive at the time according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Pedro, A’s, Padres
Links for Wednesday…
- Orioles president Andy MacPhail doesn’t seem interested, but Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun quizzed various players on the team about the possibility of signing Pedro Martinez.
- MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone says Pedro was hitting 92 yesterday and his fastball had the old-school tail on it.
- The AP reports that MLB is investigating the ages of 42 Dominican prospects.
- RotoAuthority names 20 undervalued hitters for 2009 fantasy drafts.
- Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo spoke highly of Stephen Strasburg, talking to Ben Goessling of the Washington Times.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney learned that the A’s are open-minded to Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and/or Vin Mazzaro cracking the Opening Day rotation. Jerry Crasnick has more on Oakland’s next Big Three.
- Olney also says the Padres will be "scouring the earth for pitching" over the next few weeks. This jives with Tom Krasovic’s recent article.
Olney: Mets Will Not Sign Pedro
According to ESPN 1050 Radio (via MetsBlog), Buster Olney is reporting that the Mets have decided to fill the fifth spot in the rotation with an in-house candidate and will not pursue Pedro Martinez.
Buster Olney is reporting that there is "no chance" that Pedro Martinez will become a Met. Olney says the Mets will stay with what they have at the fifth spot and will not entertain the thought of bringing Pedro back.
According to MetsBlog, the Mets are clearly cutting costs as evidenced by the release of Duaner Sanchez and there was little chance they were going to offer $5MM to Pedro. They add that for the same reasons, they don’t see the Mets signing Ivan Rodriguez. MetsBlog would prefer Livan Hernandez as the fifth starter.
Earlier today we learned from Ken Rosenthal that Pedro is seeking a similar deal to John Smoltz. Other than the Mets, Rosenthal listed the Dodgers, Marlins and Indians as potential suitors.
Jon Heyman said that Pedro was possibly interested in reuniting with the Dodgers, but that the Dodgers have yet to show any interest.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
Rosenthal On Pedro, A-Rod, Beimel, Ohman
Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
- One executive tells Rosenthal Pedro Martinez seeks a contract similar to the one John Smoltz received (a $5.5MM base plus $5.5MM incentives). Rosenthal’s speculative candidates for Pedro include the Dodgers, Marlins, Indians, and Mets. He says the A’s, Orioles, Nationals, and Brewers are out.
- Rosenthal does not expect a major acquisition by the Yankees to cover for Alex Rodriguez. He adds that the Yanks will not collect insurance on A-Rod’s salary.
- In addition to Orlando Cabrera, Manny Ramirez has a clause in his contract prohibiting his team from offering arbitration if he’s a Type A free agent after the season. Orlando Hudson and Bobby Abreu do not have such clauses.
- Two GMs told Rosenthal Joe Beimel wants a one-year, $2.5MM deal, but the pitcher’s agent Joe Sroba says they have’t gotten that specific. Sroba says new teams are in the mix for Beimel and he’s waiting for one to be "aggressive and sincere in their pursuit."
- The White Sox and Dodgers are two teams in on free agent lefty Will Ohman.