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Perrotto’s Latest: Position Battles, Roberts, Pudge

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John Perrotto’s Every Given Sunday column is up over at Baseball Prospectus. This week, he takes a look at some of the position battles teams will face entering Spring Training. And, as always, there’s some interesting items in his Rumors & Rumblings section. Let’s take a look:

  • Some of the more interesting position battles mentioned: 1B/DH/RF in Oakland (Daric Barton, Jack Cust, Jason Giambi, Aaron Cunningham, and Travis Buck all in the mix), Tampa’s closer if Troy Percival gets hurt or falters (Dan Wheeler, J.P. Howell, Grant Balfour), and the White Sox rotation behind John Danks, Mark Buerhle, and Gavin Floyd (Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Bartolo Colon, Jeff Marquez).
  • Brian Roberts still wants a four-year deal before Spring Training starts up, or he’ll cut off negotiations. Does Roberts make more sense as a cornerstone in Baltimore or as a trade chip?
  • Perrotto feels Tom Glavine will inevitably re-sign with the Braves.
  • The White Sox have minor interest in signing Ivan Rodriguez as a backup for A.J. Pierzynski. I’m sure Pudge would prefer a starting gig, but at this point, it’s tough to be picky.
  • We’ve heard a lot about the Orioles having interest in Rich Hill lately, but Perrotto reminds us that the Mariners are interested in the 28-year-old lefty as well.

Odds and Ends: Mets Payroll, Reds, Rangers

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Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone. Some Odds & Ends:

Cafardo’s Latest: Players Out Of Options

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Lots of stuff in Nick Cafardo’s column in the Boston Globe to go over.

With around 100 free agents vying for less than 20 remaining roster spots, things become more interesting with 227 players on big-league rosters who are out of options. If a player is out of options and is not rostered, he has to either be traded or designated for assignment. If designated, that player has to clear waivers. This could affect remaining free agent signings. Cafardo makes note of a few who are out of options and may wind up as trade fodder or designated for assignment before the season begins:

Red Sox: George Kottaras
Yankees: Melky Cabrera
Cubs: Chad Gaudin, Rich Hill (possibly heading to Baltimore?)
Brewers: Tony Gwynn Jr.
Indians: Anthony Reyes, Andy Marte
Twins: Boof Bonser, Philip Humber
Rays: Jeff Niemann
Orioles: David Pauley

  • With Jason Varitek re-signed, the Red Sox will either have to trade catcher Kottaras or designate him for assignment.
  • Cafardo notes Niemann is a former No. 1 pick and the righthander should garner some attention.
  • Bonser or Humber could be traded to land a reliever. Cafardo also mentions Delmon Young as a possible trading chip.

A few more bullets from Cafardo’s notebook:

  • Scott Boras thinks the World Baseball Classic will showcase Ivan Rodriguez and generate "even more" interest for the 14-time All-Star catcher.
  • Cafardo mentioned Manny Ramirez to Omar Minaya and Minaya laughed it off saying, "We’ll look into adding some offense, but only if it makes sense."
  • All quiet on the Jake Peavy front.
  • Cafardo calls Randy Johnson’s $8MM deal from the Giants as "a stroke of genius" by his agents.
  • In case you missed it, Bobby Kielty signed a minor-league deal with the Mets last week.

Looper A Fit For Baltimore?

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3:35pm: Roch Kubatko chimes in on the Looper rumors: "[W]hile I still expect Braden Looper to sign elsewhere, the Orioles retain serious interest in him."

1:18pm: Peter Schmuck at the Baltimore Sun has a guess at the Orioles’ likely 25-man roster for Opening Day 2009. Most of the names are hard to argue, but one jumps out as an interesting pick. Schmuck thinks the Orioles stand a chance at signing free agent starting pitcher Braden Looper.

Says Schmuck, "I think the likelihood of Braden Looper signing here is maybe 40 percent, but that’s probably more likely than Rich Hill coming over and solving his command problems."

While recent reports have made a Rich Hill-to-Baltimore deal sound more likely than 40 percent, Schmuck is comparing a Looper signing to the combined probability of not only acquiring Hill, but also having him pitch effectively.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Mariners, Young, Shouse

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Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports compiles a number of rumors from around the majors:

  • The Mariners need to free up money, but to do so, they’d likely have to trade one of Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn or Miguel Batista. All three will be free agents after the season, but moving one of them would be "extremely difficult."
  • The Mariners and Yankees considered a Hideki Matsui-Washburn swap, but Matsui’s contract ($13MM) pays him more than Washburn’s ($10.35MM) so they didn’t find a match.
  • The Twins are looking to move Delmon Young.
  • They showed interest in Washburn last year, but only some of Rosenthal’s sources believe he and Delmon Young could be the foundation for a larger deal.
  • Rosenthal has a source who says the Yankees are not currently pursuing Juan Cruz. Yesterday, we had a discussion about the rules regarding free agent quotas.
  • The Yanks like their bullpen, but they could try to add an arm if they trade Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher.
  • The Rays are making a strong run at Brian Shouse.
  • The Orioles would not likely have to give up much more than a low-level prospect to deal for Rich Hill.

O’s, Cubs Talking Deal For Rich Hill

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FRIDAY: A small update from Roch Kubatko: nothing is imminent with the Orioles and Hill.  He says not to expect an announcement before next week, if the two teams are to hammer out a deal.

THURSDAY: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles are looking to acquire Cubs lefty Rich Hill.  Hill is out of options, limiting his value.  Zrebiec notes that Hill could benefit from a reunion with Rick Kranitz, his former Triple A pitching coach. 

An industry source told Zrebiec that it’s a "strong possibility" that Hill will end up with the Orioles.  Apparently the Cubs would receive a player to be named later in return, the value of whom would hinge on Hill’s success in Baltimore.  The Mariners have also shown interest, but the O’s are believed to be in the lead at this point.  Hill, 28, walked 18 in 19.2 innings last year before his demotion to the minors.  He had a nice run for the Cubs in 2006-07.

Where’s Rich Hill Headed?

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ESPN Radio’s Bruce Levine wrote yesterday that the Cubs are weighing offers for lefty Rich Hill, who is out of options.  Hill, 29 in March, is clearly a change of scenery guy.  He did fine big league work in 2006-07, but lost his feel for pitching in 2008.  Teams hoping for a Cliff Lee-type renaissance are sure to inquire.

I don’t have the scoop on those teams, but it’s safe to say that Hill needs a smaller market and a team that can tolerate his peaks and valleys without demoting him.  My guess at the six candidates to acquire Hill: the Royals, Mariners, Padres, Pirates, Marlins, and Orioles.

Cubs Acquire Aaron Heilman For Cedeno, Olson

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11:39am: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says the Mariners acquired Cedeno and Garrett Olson from the Cubs for Heilman.  Essentially, the Cubs moved two out of options players in Cedeno and Felix Pie to get Heilman, who they’ve coveted for a while.  The Mariners did well here, adding a back-rotation candidate in Olson and competition for Yuniesky Betancourt in Cedeno.  They released Randy Messenger to make room for the pair.

Bruce Miles says Heilman will be given a chance to start for the Cubs.

10:55am: Ken Rosenthal confirms the deal, saying the Cubs are on the verge of landing Heilman for Cedeno and a minor league pitcher.  The deal is expected to be announced today.

10:25am: According to ESPN Radio’s Bruce Levine, the Cubs are close to acquiring pitcher Aaron Heilman from the Mariners.  The Ms want shortstop Ronny Cedeno and pitching in return.  Heilman was dealt to Seattle in the J.J. Putz trade earlier this winter.  Earlier this month, Ken Rosenthal mentioned that the Mariners were likely willing to trade Heilman, "who they did not consider a key component of the Putz trade."

Heilman, 30, is set to earn $1.625MM in ’09.  He’ll be eligible for free agency after the 2010 season.

Levine also mentioned that three teams are interested in out-of-options Cubs hurler Rich Hill.

Cubs Rumors: Wolf, Bako, Hill, Pie

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A few Cubs notes from Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald…

  • Randy Wolf "remains a possibility" for the Cubs.  Wolf should generate decent interest if he’s willing to sign for one year.  He probably expected more after making 33 starts for the second time in his career.  A Jake Peavy deal appears unlikely by Opening Day, says Gordon Wittenmyer.
  • The Cubs are unlikely to re-sign Henry Blanco, but Paul Bako remains on the radar.  So far it’s Koyie Hill for the Cubs’ backup catcher job.
  • Out of options: Rich Hill, Felix Pie, and Ronny Cedeno.  Hill and Pie are good candidates to be dealt before Opening Day.  Angel Guzman is also out of options, but he has a shot at cracking the team’s bullpen.

Cubs Rumors: Dempster, Peavy, Sabathia, Hill

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6:05pm: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs are willing to offer Dempster a four-year contract.  This helps their chances, though Dempster’s agent said today "there’s very little possibility he’s going to sign soon with the Cubs."

9:36am: Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times has fresh Cubs rumors this morning.

  • De Luca’s sources describe the Cubs’ interest in Jake Peavy as "limited."  Instead, the Cubs have "deep interest" in C.C. Sabathia.  De Luca also wonders if the Cubs will entertain A.J. Burnett.  Dave van Dyck suggested Derek Lowe could fit.  The Cubs’ payroll room will depend on free agents Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood, plus their ability to move Jason Marquis.
  • Rich Hill’s lost 2008 season killed his trade value.  He’ll be out of options next spring.
  • De Luca’s sources say the Cubs continue to pursue Brian Roberts and Raul Ibanez.  Ibanez would play right field for the Cubs, even though he allowed 18 more bases than the average left fielder this year.
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