Russell Martin Rumors: Saturday
Yesterday we learned that Russell Martin is deciding between three AL East teams: the Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays. Before that we heard about interest from a mystery team. Here are today's rumors, with the newest at the top…
- The Yankees made Martin a one-year offer according to Mark Feinsand of The New York Daily News. Martin would remain under team control as an arbitration-eligible player in 2012.
Russell Martin Rumors: Friday
Yesterday, we learned that free agent catcher Russell Martin has offers from the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays. He also has a multiyear offer from a mystery team, but Boston may be the favorite to sign the former Dodger. Here are today's rumors:
Russell Martin Rumors: Thursday
We learned yesterday that free agent catcher Russell Martin has multiple offers in hand. The latest:
- Martin is weighing offers from the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and a mystery team, according to Marc Carig of the Star Ledger (on Twitter). The mystery team has proposed a multiyear deal.
- Matt Colleran, Martin's agent, told Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald that he has multiple offers and that the Red Sox view Martin strictly as a catcher (Twitter link).
- The Red Sox are considered the frontrunner for Martin, reports ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- Boston has an offer out to Martin, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). The Yankees and Blue Jays are still involved.
- The Yankees and Red Sox are going very hard after Martin, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown.
Russell Martin Rumors: Wednesday
Recently non-tendered catcher Russell Martin is drawing plenty of interest on the open market; here's the latest. He's recovering from a hip fracture, but teams have already examined his medical records.
- Martin has multiple offers, according to Hernandez (on Twitter).
- A return to LA seems unlikely, since the Dodgers are nearing a deal with Dioner Navarro, but Martin has at least one offer from another team, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter).
- Boston's interest depends on Martin's willingness to play other positions than catcher, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (on Twitter).
- The Red Sox remain in play on Martin but haven't made a decision, tweets Edes.
- The Dodgers' final offer to Martin was $4.2MM plus $1.5-1.7MM in incentives based on games played, reports Yahoo's Steve Henson. Henson says letting Martin go was a gut-wrenching decision for GM Ned Colletti. Will he match the amount he turned down from the Dodgers?
- Teams are now making offers to Martin's agent Matt Colleran, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney, and the Yankees and Red Sox are in the center of the mix. Gordon Edes' source says the Red Sox are making a strong push.
Mets, Rockies Talking To Ronny Paulino
4:41pm: The Mets are talking to Paulino about a one-year deal worth $1.3MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
3:51pm: The Rockies, who have been linked to a number of free agent catchers, are exchanging offers with Paulino, according to Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
11:13am: The Mets are in on a group of right-handed hitting catchers such as Paulino, Gerald Laird, Miguel Olivo, Russell Martin, and Dioner Navarro, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. They prefer a one-year deal.
10:11am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets are still talking to a lot of catcher possibilities, Paulino included (Twitter link).
8:45am: The Mets are closing in on catcher Ronny Paulino, reports ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. New manager Terry Collins has described Josh Thole as a "number one catcher," so presumably Paulino will serve as his backup.
Paulino, recently non-tendered by the Marlins, hit .259/.311/.354 in 316 plate appearances this year while catching 740 1/3 innings. He was hit with a 50-game PED suspension in August.
Russell Martin Suitors
5:50pm: The Yankees and Red Sox are in on Martin and the Mets and Blue Jays are less interested, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
4:34pm: The Dodgers have not been in contact with Martin's agent since Thursday, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter).
3:29pm: ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that Martin will be a catcher next year. The Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Mets all examined his medical information in the last day (Twitter links).
3:09pm: The Mets consider Martin too expensive and too much of an injury risk, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
MONDAY, 1:31pm: The Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Mets are also thought to be interested in Martin, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.
FRIDAY, 9:16am: The Yankees, who tried to trade for Russell Martin this week, are one of six teams interested in the 27-year-old free agent, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times reports that the Yankees nearly sent Francisco Cervelli to the Dodgers for Martin (Twitter links). In fact, the Yankees and Dodgers even exchanged medical records on Wednesday.
The Dodgers are nearing a deal with Rod Barajas, but they still have interest in re-signing Martin. Agent Matt Colleran says the Dodgers view his client differently than most teams do.
“They want to continue discussions with the idea that Russ could come back and catch, play second base and third and a little bit out of outfield to see if he likes something like that in the event he ever wants to transition from behind the plate,” Colleran said.
It wouldn't be surprising to see the Royals, Rangers, Mariners, Mets or Brewers look to upgrade behind the plate. ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that Martin, who is from Montreal, wants to play on the East Coast (Twitter link).
Rockies Interested In Bengie Molina
The Rockies have expressed interest in free agent catcher Bengie Molina, tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post. Colorado also has interest in Russell Martin though Renck says that landing the former Dodger is something of a longshot (via Twitter).
Molina's offensive numbers took a dive in 2010 when he hit .249/.297/.326 in 118 games for the Giants and Rangers. The catcher was Type A free agent, but the Rangers did not offer him arbitration.
After announcing in May that he would be retiring after the 2010 season, Molina has slowly softened his stance. The 36-year-old said that he was still considering retirement in October before finally deciding in November that he wanted to play one more year.
Red Sox Notes: Bell, Beltre, Martin, Wakefield
The increase in Adrian Gonzalez trade chatter is the biggest news out of Fenway Park today. Here's a bit of extra news about those rumors plus some other Boston notes…
- Josh Byrnes tells WEEI.com's Alex Speier that the familiarity between the Red Sox and Padres front offices may actually be a hindrance in making a deal happen.
- Heath Bell's name has been mentioned in some of the Padres/Red Sox trade talks, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Top Boston prospects Casey Kelly and Anthony Rizzo are two of the names discussed in a potential package to San Diego, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- Olney also tweets that if Adrian Beltre's first preference is really to return to Boston, then admitting so probably cost him some leverage with the Athletics.
- Boston is Gonzalez's preferred trade destination, tweets Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman, possibly due to the fact that the Sox are contenders and they can afford "to give him [a Mark] Teixeira deal."
- Are the Red Sox one of the teams interested in Russell Martin? Heyman tweets that Boston has "always liked" the former Dodger catcher. With Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek behind the plate, Heyman speculates that Martin could fill a utility role for Boston.
- Tim Wakefield talked to the Boston Globe's Peter Abraham about how 2011 will "probably" be his last season and how he's now more comfortable about losing his rotation spot.
- If the Red Sox had been successful in signing Mariano Rivera away from the Yankees, Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com reports that the Sox would've non-tendered Jonathan Papelbon before last night's deadline. Given the Bell-from-San Diego rumor noted earlier, you wonder if a Papelbon move is yet to come for the Red Sox this winter.
Rockies Interested In Martin, Francoeur, Wigginton
The Rockies are looking for versatile right-handed hitters and have been in contact with the agents of Russell Martin, Jeff Francoeur and Ty Wigginton, reports FOXSports.com's Tracy Ringolsby. Martin is already drawing significant interest since being non-tendered by the Dodgers yesterday, though only Colorado could re-unite him with manager Jim Tracy. With the Rockies set on Chris Iannetta as their regular catcher, Martin might want to sign for a team that gives him a clearer path to a starting job behind the plate. If he isn't set on catching, however, Martin would find plenty of at-bats in Colorado spelling Ian Stewart and Todd Helton at third and first, respectively, against left-handed pitching.
The Phillies and Royals have also shown some interest in Francoeur, but Ringolsby notes that the Rockies would have Francoeur play some first base as Helton's backup. Francoeur has played only in the outfield in his career and is the least-versatile option of the three players. If he were to struggle playing first, the Rockies could find themselves still in the market for a reliable backup corner infielder once the season began.
Wigginton has been linked to the Rockies already and could fit right in as a right-handed bench bat. The Orioles are the only other club known to have an interest in Wigginton this winter, but it seems like he'd have more opportunities for playing time in Colorado.
Interesting Non-Tenders
By our unofficial count, 50 players were non-tendered yesterday. You can sort the decisions by team in our non-tender tracker. Those that reached our playing time requirements have been added to the 2011 free agents list, which is robust at the moment. Let's take a look at some of the more interesting non-tenders.
- Bobby Jenks, RP. There are plenty of good right-handed relievers available, but if you take Mariano Rivera and Rafael Soriano off the board, Jenks might be the best closer. Jenks throws hard and posted huge strikeout and groundball rates this year, so he should find multiple years and at least $5MM per.
- Russell Martin, C. Martin was once one of the game's best catchers, but his performance waned and he's recovering from a hip fracture. There aren't a ton of starting catching gigs available, however. The Yankees nearly acquired Martin on Thursday for Francisco Cervelli, tweets Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times.
- Jack Cust, LF/RF/DH. Cust doesn't impress defensively, but not too many free agents can match a .395 OBP.
- Edwin Encarnacion, 3B. Another defensively-challenged player, Encarnacion hit 21 home runs in 367 plate appearances this year. Someone will give him a shot in a weak market for third basemen.
- Andrew Miller, SP. The former first-round pick is a project at this point, with his velocity down and walks up.
- Joel Peralta, RP. He's not a hard-thrower but it's difficult to argue with a 2.02 ERA, 9.0 K/9, and 1.7 BB/9. He is an extreme flyball pitcher though.
- Jose Veras, RP. Veras has control issues, but he did rack up strikeouts this year and averaged 94.4 mph on his fastball.
- Fourth outfielder types: Matt Diaz, Ryan Church, Tony Gwynn, Lastings Milledge, and Scott Hairston.
- Former setup types: Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, and George Sherrill.
- Interesting pitchers coming back from shoulder surgery: J.P. Howell, John Maine, Chien-Ming Wang.