Multiple Teams Eyeing Kelvim Escobar
TUESDAY, 2:49pm: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that Escobar received a positive medical report today, and could either pitch winter league ball or just audition for suitors. Crasnick names the Rays, Mariners, Brewers, and Orioles as potential suitors, in addition to the New York teams.
MONDAY, 4:29pm: The Yankees and Mets checked in on free agent pitcher Kelvim Escobar, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman says Escobar might pitch in the Venezuelan winter league to prove his health. Escobar had labrum surgery in August of 2008. Yanks GM Brian Cashman told reporters his priorities are "pitching, pitching, pitching, and then left field."
Earlier today, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald tweeted that the Red Sox met with Escobar's agent Peter Greenberg, who also represents Rafael Soriano.
Braves Designate Ryan Church For Assignment
The Braves designated outfielder Ryan Church for assignment, tweets Bill Shanks. The move was done to make room for Rafael Soriano, who accepted arbitration last night. Church had been considered a non-tender candidate anyway after hitting .273/.338/.384 in 399 plate appearances for the Braves and Mets in 2009. He earned $2.8MM in '09 and would've been due a raise through arbitration.
Olney On Rafael Soriano, Crisp, Harden
Rumor nuggets from ESPN's Buster Olney, in his morning blog post…
- Olney writes of indications that Rafael Soriano will request a trade from the Braves, as GM Frank Wren suggested before the player accepted arbitration. J.C. Bradbury credits Soriano's agent Peter Greenberg for finding a way around draft pick compensation. MLB.com's Mark Bowman does not think it will be difficult to trade Soriano, though Joel Sherman tweets that the Yankees are not interested.
- Olney has about six teams seriously interested in center fielder Coco Crisp, with a $3-4MM price range being bandied about.
- The Red Sox "do not have serious interest in Rich Harden," Olney reports.
Orioles Day One Recap
The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec takes a look back at Baltimore's first day of the Winter Meetings:
- The O's targeted pitching heavily, inquiring on Kevin Millwood and attaining the medical record for former Baltimore ace Erik Bedard. The O's would want Texas to eat some of Millwood's $12MM salary. They won't go after Bedard (or any other pitcher) if they're not 100% for Opening Day.
- Andy MacPhail will meet with Bedard's agent in the next couple of days.
- The Orioles were interested in Rafael Soriano prior to his decision to accept arbitration from the Braves.
- Kevin Gregg is an option for relief help, but Baltimore sees him as a 7th or 8th inning guy, not a closer.
- Felix Pie has drawn a lot of inquiries, but MacPhail points out that none of Pie, Nolan Reimold, and Adam Jones have played a full, healthy season yet, and the depth is probably a good thing for the Orioles when taking that into consideration.
- Lots of young O's pitching has come up, including Zach Britton and David Hernandez.
- MacPhail met with Joe Urbon, agent for Mark Hendrickson. Zrebiec says it's only a matter of time before a deal is done.
- There hasn't been much in the way of talks for Dan Uggla recently.
- Baltimore won't be bidders for John Lackey, but they like Hank Blalock, Nick Johnson, and Carlos Delgado as options for first base. Luke Scott is not a full-time first base option. Pedro Feliz is their primary third base target.
- Baltimore isn't in on talks for Edwin Jackson or Matt Lindstrom, but they did meet with the agent for Aroldis Chapman.
- Baltimore may sign another catcher, but it's not a priority.
Betancourt, Soriano, Pavano Accept Arbitration
The deadline for free agents to accept arbitration has come and gone, so let's recap them all here for one easy reference point:
Type-A Free Agents
- Jason Bay declined arbitration from the Red Sox.
- Rafael Betancourt accepted arbitration from the Rockies.
- Chone Figgins declined arbitration from the Angels and is on the verge of signing with the Mariners.
- Mike Gonzalez declined arbitration from the Braves.
- Matt Holliday declined arbitration from the Cardinals.
- John Lackey declined arbitration from the Angels.
- Marco Scutaro declined arbitration from the Blue Jays and signed with the Red Sox.
- Rafael Soriano accepted arbitration from the Braves.
- Jose Valverde declined arbitration from the Astros.
- Billy Wagner declined arbitration from the Red Sox and signed with the Braves.
Type-B Free Agents
- Rod Barajas declined arbitration from the Blue Jays.
- Adrian Beltre declined arbitration from the Mariners.
- Marlon Byrd declined arbitration from the Rangers.
- Mark DeRosa declined arbitration from the Cardinals.
- Justin Duchscherer declined arbitration from the Athletics.
- Brandon Lyon declined arbitration from the Tigers.
- Jason Marquis declined arbitration from the Mets.
- Carl Pavano was the lone Type B to accept arbitration.
- Joel Pineiro declined arbitration from the Cardinals.
- Fernando Rodney declined arbitration from the Tigers.
- Ivan Rodriguez declined arbitration from the Rangers, and quickly after signed a two-year deal with Washington.
- Brian Shouse declined arbitration from the Rays.
- Gregg Zaun declined arbitration from the Rays and signed with the Brewers.
Rafael Soriano Accepts Arbitration
Rafael Soriano accepted arbitration, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Braves, who recently signed Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito, will have lots of relatively expensive relievers under contract now. Imagine if Mike Gonzalez accepts, too.
As ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick points out, the Braves need Soriano's permission to trade him before June 15th. Apparently Soriano prefers the security of a one-year deal to the uncertainty of a market that would have been dulled by his Type A status.
Rafael Soriano May Accept Arbitration
6:56pm: Braves GM Frank Wren told MLB.com's Mark Bowman he'd expect Soriano to request a trade if he accepts arbitration. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports expects this decision to go down to the buzzer.
12:40pm: MLB.com's Mark Bowman says Soriano's agent Peter Greenberg will make the rounds today, talking to as many teams as possible before making the arbitration decision.
11:29am: Heyman notes that Soriano has attracted interest from the Yankees, Orioles, and Astros. The Yankees would give up their #32 pick, the Orioles #37, or the Astros #43.
9:54am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes that if he accepts arbitration, Soriano cannot be traded before June 1st without his permission. I imagine he'd approve a deal in order to get a better role, though. Can Soriano find a two-year deal on the open market, given his health history and the draft pick cost?
MONDAY, 8:56am: David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Mark Bowman of MLB.com are throwing out slightly lower estimates of $6.5-7.5MM for Soriano if he accepts arbitration. Both seem to believe Soriano should or will turn down arbitration. But keep it mind that it is certainly in the Braves' best interest for stories to pop up explaining why Soriano should test the open market.
SUNDAY, 9:09pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets that Soriano is "now leaning toward accepting arbitration." That would make for a pretty pricey end-game trio in Atlanta, and suggests that maybe there isn't as much interest in his services as expected.
SATURDAY, 5:30pm: After it was reported earlier this week that Braves reliever Rafael Soriano would look for employment elsewhere, his agent tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com that his client is giving serious consideration to accepting arbitration.
This would leave Atlanta with a rather pricey bullpen as they recently inked both Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito to a combined guaranteed $10.2MM in 2010. Earlier this week, a high-ranking executive told Buster Olney that Soriano could net roughly $8MM in arbitration. Furthermore, this would likely mean that the soon-to-be 30-year-old would have to accept a role as a set-up man rather than close for Atlanta.
Soriano's agent Peter Greenberg told Crasnick that Soriano would take the decision "down to the wire." One has to think that the Braves will be less than pleased if the Type A free agent chooses to accept arbitration at this stage. Did Atlanta jump the gun by signing Wagner and Saito? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments section.
Orioles Rumors: Soriano, Bedard, Jackson, Lindstrom
Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun has the latest Orioles buzz from the Meetings, found here and here.
- Should Rafael Soriano decline the Braves' offer of arbitration, the Orioles are "particularly interested." He'd cost their #39 pick in the June draft (though the pick will be pushed back further).
- The Orioles are reviewing medical records on Erik Bedard as well as other free agents with injury issues. MacPhail downplayed the reviewing as standard preliminary procedure rather than serious talks.
- We can rule the O's out for Edwin Jackson and Matt Lindstrom, while nothing is cooking currently on John Lackey or Dan Uggla.
Twitter Rumors: Mets, Astros, Ross, Garko
A fresh bash of Twitter rumors, with the earlier post so bloated…
- The Mets will meet with the agents for Randy Wolf, Joel Pineiro, Jason Marquis, and John Lackey, says SI's Jon Heyman.
- Ed Wade ranks the Astros priorities as closer, offense, eighth-inning reliever, and bench, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick notes that the Astros will meet with Rafael Soriano's agent today.
- Crasnick says the Marlins are getting trade inquiries on arbitration-eligible outfielder Cody Ross. The Fish are expected to retain Ross, however.
- Giants GM Brian Sabean told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that Ryan Garko is on the bubble in terms of being non-tendered. Reliever Brandon Medders will be tendered a contract. You can check out our other non-tender candidates here.
- Miguel Angel Sano has been determined by MLB to be 16-18, and GM Bill Smith doesn't seem to care where he falls in that range.
Brian Bruney Braves Rumor
George A. King III of the New York Post talked to an official from a team interested in Yankees reliever Brian Bruney, and was told, "We asked about him but hear he is going to the Braves." The Braves would seem an odd match for Bruney, who is arbitration-eligible and due a raise on last year's $1.25MM salary. The Braves already signed Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito and might be saddled with Rafael Soriano if he accepts arbitration. Honestly, I'm not buying this rumor.