Olney On Fielder, Byrd, Suzuki
The Rangers, Reds and Yankees have some of the top infields in baseball, when offense and defense are considered, ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes. Olney suggests the Royals, Blue Jays and Indians have infields that are potentially on the rise. Here are his latest rumors…
- Some rival executives strongly believe that the Nationals will be the eventual landing place for Prince Fielder. Agents say now is the time for Fielder to take advantage of the market and sign a long-term deal, according to Olney. Click here for the latest on Fielder, who was linked to the Nationals again today.
- Olney suggests the Red Sox and Nationals could have interest in Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd, who will earn $6.5MM in 2012, the final year of his contract. The Red Sox could play Byrd in right and the Nationals could use him in center.
- Though trading catcher Kurt Suzuki isn’t a priority for the Athletics, Olney suggests he’ll likely be playing elsewhere by the time next summer’s trade deadline passes (Twitter link).
Prince Fielder Rumors: Thursday
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said yesterday on MLB Network Radio that there's every reason to expect Adam LaRoche to play first base in Washington next year. "We've more or less decided that Adam is going to be our first baseman unless something extraordinary, out of the ordinary happened," Rizzo said. However, reports continue to link the Nationals to free agent first baseman Prince Fielder. Here's the latest on Fielder with the most recent updates up top:
- A Nationals player told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that the club is on on Fielder. "We're in the market. We're still shooting for him," the player said. It's possible the player knows something Rizzo isn't saying publicly, but it's just as possible that the player spoke out of turn about a topic he hasn't been fully briefed on. We can be reasonably sure of one thing — that the unnamed player wasn't LaRoche himself.
Scott Boras Talks Prince Fielder
Agent Scott Boras told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that Prince Fielder hasn’t signed because the process of acquainting MLB owners with the first baseman and his many accomplishments has been time consuming. As always Boras has some memorable quotes, so let's move on to some highlights from his talk with Rosenthal:
- “It takes a bit longer because these are ownership decisions,” Boras said of the negotiations' slow pace. “I’ve got to sit down with owners. There are a lot of them interested in Prince.”
- Boras pointed out that attendance is up in Milwaukee and suggested Fielder can increase the value of a franchise by attracting fans to the ballpark and obtaining an improved local TV deal.
- The agent argued that sluggers like Fielder have “retention value and attraction value” that helps franchises keep their stars and attract new ones. “When you have that guy in the middle of the lineup, it’s, ‘Oh yeah, I want to play with him,’” Boras said. “Jeff Kent won an MVP hitting behind Barry Bonds. Ryan Braun won an MVP hitting in front of Fielder.”
- Boras made it clear that Fielder’s market isn’t limited to teams with vacancies at first base. “Prince is not in any way a normal free agent,” he said. “Owners will move players off their teams that already occupy positions to get him.”
- Fielder has personally met with several owners.
- Boras repeated that Fielder is a viable option for teams that aren’t poised to contend in 2012.
- Fielder’s leadership ability is unparalleled, according to Boras. “The man in the batter’s box and the man in the locker room are two very different people," he said. "The man in the locker room is an ambassador, a very sincere and understanding man. In the batter’s box, he is out there, literally uncaged.”
Rizzo On Center Field, First Base
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo joined Mike Ferrin on MLB Network Radio today; here are a few key comments.
On center field:
We see the 2013 free agent class at center field is much stronger than it is for the 2012 season. With that in mind we know Jayson [Werth] can handle the center field position. It's not a perfect world for us. He's a good defender out there and is ready, willing, and able to take on the responsibility to play center field. We recognize that we need a true gliding, defensive, rangy center fielder out there in a perfect world. As far as the 2012 season we're not going to make a kneejerk reaction and lock ourselves into anything long-term if it doesn't make sense for us.
MLBTR's 2013 free agent list can be seen here. Viable candidates for the Nationals could include Michael Bourn, B.J. Upton, and Shane Victorino, or perhaps Angel Pagan or Grady Sizemore if they have strong 2012 seasons.
On whether Rizzo will monitor the Prince Fielder situation:
Adam LaRoche is under contract for us, we're paying him a lot of money to play first base for us next year. We feel that he's going to have a bounceback season. We just want him to have his career norms: .265, 25, 85-100 RBIs and play great defense. We feel that his shoulder is rehabbed, he's 100%, and talking to him just recently he feels great and he's ready to contribute to us in 2012. As far as, are we going to dabble our toe in that water? Those are decisions that we make early on in the process and we've more or less decided that Adam is going to be our first baseman unless something extraordinary, out of the ordinary happened, that's how we're going to go to Spring Training.
Prince Fielder Rumors: Tuesday
7:45pm: Boras told Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com that there's no chance Fielder would prefer a short-term deal. "Not only is that inaccurate and delusional, but it seems that some people have gotten into their New Year's Eve stash just a little bit early this year," he said. At least six teams appear to be interested in Fielder, Levine writes. "It appears some baseball people are just bored," Boras said. "That's when you hear ideas like that floated."
5:10pm: MLBTR readers expect Prince Fielder to sign a long-term deal, but some general managers think agent Scott Boras could try something else. Several GMs told Peter Gammons of MLB Network that they think Fielder could agree to a three-year deal worth $26MM per season then return to the free agent market as a 30-year-old (Twitter link).
Albert Pujols signed for $25.4MM per season earlier this month, establishing a record for first basemen. Pujols agreed to his ten-year deal during this year's Winter Meetings, where Boras argued that a long-term deal makes sense for Fielder and his suitors.
"People say ‘why don’t you do a three-year deal?,’" Boras told reporters. "That doesn’t fit anybody’s purposes. The length of contract has a lot to do with an understanding from both sides of what franchise players are and what they mean. The branding part, the media rights part — all of those things go into that and while the initial concept is shorter is better, the reality is with these types of players it’s usually not the best dynamic for the franchise."
It's been three weeks since the Winter Meetings took place, so it's possible Boras and Fielder have changed their approach. Based on Boras' comments and the scarcity of power bats available I still expect Fielder to sign a long-term deal. Fielder hasn't found the offer he's looking for so far, but he's the top free agent available and it appears likely that he will get long-term offers to his liking before the winter ends.
Quick Hits: Fielder, Rangers, White Sox, Danks
On this date in 1995, the Orioles acquired David Wells from the Reds for Curtis Goodwin and minor leaguer Trovin Valdez. This marked the second time Boomer was traded that year as he was shipped from the Tigers to Cincinnati at the July deadline. Today's links..
- As Prince Fielder continues to look for his next home, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch takes a good look inside agent Scott Boras' infamous binder to see how he is framing his client. The book on Fielder not only compares him to the best sluggers from today but also puts him side-by-side with some of the best hitters of all-time.
- Richard Justice of MLB.com takes a look back at some of Boras' best deals and tacticts that the agent has used in years past. Justice wonders aloud if the agent will employ "mystery teams" to drive up the bidding.
- Even though the Rangers have a great deal of rotation depth with the expected addition of Yu Darvish, it's not a certainty that they will deal one of their starters, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider req'd). Even after the departure of C.J. Wilson, Olney rates the club's rotation as the sixth-best in baseball.
- The John Danks extension seems to indicate that the White Sox aren't ready to rebuild, but MLB.com's Scott Merkin isn't yet sure of the club's intentions. Merkin says that the futures of Carlos Quentin, Gavin Floyd, and Matt Thornton will be telling.
Prince Fielder Rumors: Saturday
We heard on Friday that the Orioles are in fact interested in Prince Fielder, but not at his current asking price. While O's executive vice president Dan Duquette won't say much about the team's pursuit of the slugger, it might be the other D.C. area team that makes an aggressive offer. Here's the latest on Fielder with the latest news up top..
- While he cautions to "take it for what it's worth", ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes that there is a broad assumption from a lot of baseball execs that Fielder's most attractive offer will come from the Nationals. It's also important to note that GM Mike Rizzo said on Friday that Adam LaRoche will be the club's first baseman in 2012.
Orioles Notes: Fielder, Second Base, Pitching
The week between Christmas and New Year's tends to be fairly quiet, but Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette cautions that there's no such thing as a quiet time in baseball today, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Here's more on what we can expect from the O's in the coming weeks..
- Duquette wouldn't divulge much when asked about Prince Fielder, only saying, "We're monitoring the market. That's a good way to put it." Because the Orioles are interested in Fielder, but not at his asking price, Kubatko writes that they should not be classified as a favorite to land a slugger.
- Kubatko asked Duquette if the club will pursue a second baseman. It doesn't sound as though it's at the top of his list as he cited Matt Antonelli, Robert Andino, and Rule 5 pickup Ryan Flaherty as candidates for the position.
- Duquette says that he will continue to look to bolster the team's pitching staff. Yesterday we heard that the O's are among a handful of teams that are prioritizing pitching.
Prince Fielder Rumors: Friday
Yesterday we heard that Scott Boras is "gunning for" an average annual salary of $25.5MM for free agent Prince Fielder, which would be just above the $25.4MM annual payout Albert Pujols received from the Angels. Fielder also wants a ten-year deal, though a number of clubs are interested in a six-year pact. We'll keep track of any news about the slugger right here today, with the latest up top…
- The Orioles do indeed have interest in Fielder according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter), just not at his current asking price.
AL East Links: Red Sox, Cespedes, Danks, Beltran
The Red Sox were one of the finalists for Gio Gonzalez, but GM Ben Cherington was "not motivated" to deal four prospects for Gonzalez, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. With Gonzalez now on his way to Washington, the Sox will look at other pitching targets like Gavin Floyd, Roy Oswalt, Hiroki Kuroda and Andrew Bailey, all of whom have drawn some interest from Boston this winter.
Here's the latest from the AL East…
- The Red Sox will hire Bob McClure as the club's new pitching coach, reports Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. McClure has spent the last six seasons as the Royals' pitching coach and was hired by Boston last month as a minor league instructor and special assignment scout.
- The Yankees' chances of signing Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes are "slim to none," according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger (Twitter link).
- The Yankees weren't close to a deal for John Danks, a source tells Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York. Brian Cashman and Kenny Williams "haven't spoken in weeks" after some initial contact, but the Yankees weren't interested in meeting Chicago's demands for their left-hander. Danks and the White Sox agreed to a five-year contract extension yesterday, ending the Danks trade rumors for the foreseeable future.
- The Yankees and Red Sox were the only teams that paid a luxury tax penalty for 2011, reports The Associated Press. New York paid a $13.9MM penalty (the team's lowest since 2003) while Boston paid $3.4MM.
- The Rays fell out of the race for Carlos Beltran due to Beltran's concerns about playing on turf and spending too much time as a designated hitter, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The Cardinals, Indians and Blue Jays appear to be the finalists for Beltran, though the Jays could be similarly hampered by the turf and DH issues.
- The Blue Jays are looking for bullpen help in the form of a lefty specialist and a right-handed setup option, reports MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm. Also as part of this mailbag piece, Chisholm answers a reader question about Prince Fielder by noting that the Jays are "extremely unlikely" to pursue the free agent slugger unless his "market completely collapses." The major stumbling block is the Jays' club policy against not giving a player more than five guaranteed years on a contract, while Fielder is looking for a 10-year deal.