Odds & Ends: Wieters, Padres, Peavy, Price
LInks for Thursday…
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post says the Nationals will honor a handshake agreement Dmitri Young made with Jim Bowden, and put the first baseman back on the 40-man roster.
- Catcher Matt Wieters has been told by the Orioles that he'll be optioned to Triple A on Monday, according to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun. Will the Orioles wait until late May to try to avoid Super Two status?
- Reds assistant GM Bob Miller talked to fans in an MLB.com Q&A.
- Check out an entertaining chat transcript with Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times over at Halos Heaven.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star interviewed Zack Greinke.
- Rangers owner Tom Hicks told Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News that the team has not reduced its budget for 2010. The Rangers have yet to set next year's budget, but it's known that some big salaries will be coming off the books. Meanwhile, MLB.com's Barry Bloom notes that Hicks intends to sell a minority share of the team.
- Rays exec Andrew Friedman said the team's demotion of David Price was entirely for baseball reasons, talking to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. R.J. Anderson of DRays Bay supports the decision. Bart Given agrees.
- Tom Haudricourt and Adam McCalvy write about Brewers GM Doug Melvin's irritation with the bogus Jake Peavy rumor.
- Purely speculative, but Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wonders if Dontrelle Willis could get his career back on track with the Marlins.
- Rockies infielder Jeff Baker, unaffected by the trade rumors, homered twice yesterday.
- John Moores says the Padres sale to Jeff Moorad is "awfully close," talking to MLB.com's Barry Bloom. As you know, Sandy Alderson will step down as CEO when the deal closes (possibly today).
- Padres pitcher Shawn Hill had offers from six teams, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock.
- The Red Sox signed reliever Rocky Cherry to a minor league deal.
- MLB.com's Alyson Footer says reliever Danny Graves asked for and received his release from the Astros.
Stark On Greinke, Manny, Dunn, Swisher
The latest from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…
- The Cubs’ ownership situation is not close to the finish line, which is one reason the team won’t be acquiring Jake Peavy anytime soon.
- One source of Stark’s suggested Zack Greinke nearly left his current agent John Courtright of SFX for Scott Boras, a whisper I’d heard as well. But now Greinke is happy with his contract and agent.
- Free agents such as Manny Ramirez and Ivan Rodriguez could reasonably wait until March to sign. Not a bad thing for this website!
- Adam Dunn would like Manny to sign earlier, as he’s waiting to see what the Dodgers (his preferred team) do. The Nationals have been Dunn’s most aggressive suitor, the Orioles have mild interest, and the Braves have backed off.
- Stark questions the idea of talks for Manny heating up lately, since the Mets, Yankees, and Angels are out and the Giants are only conditionally interested.
- When Alex Rodriguez was a free agent last winter, Joe Torre advised the Dodgers against signing him.
- The Phillies would like to move Geoff Jenkins for a right-handed hitting outfielder, but Jenkins is paid too much. Jay Payton and Emil Brown are not on the Phillies’ radar; they still like Nomar Garciaparra.
- The Yankees are apparently "softening to the idea of trading Nick Swisher," with the Braves the top suitor.
Odds and Ends: Sherrill, Kubel, Teahen
Links for Wednesday…
- T.R. Sullivan examines the Rangers’ interest level in 25 free agents.
- An article about Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus.
- Rany Jazayerli suggests the Jeremy Bonderman contract might have been a model for Zack Greinke‘s deal.
- George Sherrill‘s arbitration hearing is set for February 19th. The Orioles are at $2.2MM while Sherrill requested $3.4MM, putting the midpoint at $2.8MM.
- Jack Marshall discusses the ethics of Scott Boras.
- Barry Bloom looks at the remaining free agent starting pitchers and possible suitors.
- Dave Cameron questions the Twins’ recent Jason Kubel contract.
- Sam Mellinger talks about the Mark Teahen second base experiment.
- Will Clark is set to join the Giants’ front office.
Odds and Ends: Lohse, Reyes, Greinke, Howard
Links for Tuesday…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- Rangers president Nolan Ryan called the Winter Meetings "a big waste of money and time."
- Nationals GM Jim Bowden implied that a Tom Glavine signing is unlikely.
- Kyle Lohse feels the pain of all the unsigned free agents; he didn’t sign until March 14th last year. Lohse said he "put a lot of pressure on all parties" to get his four-year, $41MM extension done on September 29th. Given that it wasn’t on the open market, Scott Boras did well for Lohse.
- The Dodgers prefer Dennys Reyes over Luis Ayala, says Ken Gurnick.
- Joe Posnanski loves the Zack Greinke signing. Sam Mellinger says the Royals and fans are no longer allowed to complain about baseball’s financial structure.
- Maury Brown leans slightly toward Ryan Howard winning his arbitration case. I think the Phillies will prevail.
- Brandon Lyon turned down more lucrative offers for a chance to close in Detroit. ESPN’s Keith Law likes the Tigers’ signing, in part due to Jim Leyland’s track record with relievers.
- The Marlins seem to prefer the trade market, if they are to add a catcher.
- Joe Nathan knows his $47MM extension signed in March of ’08 is looking pretty good right now.
Rosenthal On Manny, Garcia, Greinke
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new column…
- Rosenthal speculates that the Giants may not be the right fit for Manny Ramirez, given a challenging ballpark and questionable supporting cast of hitters. Rosenthal suggests a contract that might work for Manny and the Dodgers: two years with a third-year player option, with no-trade protection covering only the first two years.
- Many remaining free agents – Adam Dunn for example – may prefer a one-year deal because it will increase their options and allow them to re-enter the market after the season.
- The White Sox found the price for Freddy Garcia to be too high ($1.5MM plus $6.5MM in incentives). Rosenthal deems Oliver Perez a bad fit for the Sox in part because he’s a flyball pitcher. Also there’s the whole Scott Boras thing.
- Among the right-handed hitters the Phillies are mulling, Rosenthal feels that Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia make the most sense.
- The Angels may go to Spring Training with their current club.
- Zack Greinke received "very minor" no-trade protection in the first two years of his new deal, with seemingly no protection when his salary shoots up to $13.5MM in 2011.
Royals Sign Zack Greinke To Extension
4:00pm: The AP has the yearly salaries.
1:49pm: Danny Knobler says Greinke’s deal is worth $38MM.
12:04pm: According to Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City, the Royals signed starter Zack Greinke to a four-year extension. The deal buys out two arbitration years (2009-10) and two free agent years (2011-12). Here’s the press release from the Royals. This will probably end up being Dayton Moore’s most important move of the offseason. Craig Brown offers instant commentary and a guess at the terms.
Royals Avoid Arb With John Buck, Joel Peralta
According to Sam Mellinger, the Royals avoided arbitration with John Buck and Joel Peralta ($640K) by signing both for 2009. The cases of Brian Bannister, Zack Greinke, Mike Jacobs, and Mark Teahen remain unresolved. Dayton Moore has yet to go to a hearing as Royals GM.
Heyman’s Latest: Perez, Greinke, Dye, Garland
The latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman, non-Teixeira department…
- Heyman describes the Mets’ chance of signing Oliver Perez as "remote for now." He names other "potential suitors" – the Brewers, Dodgers, Reds, and perhaps Mariners.
- Apparently some Yankees people wouldn’t mind if Andy Pettitte passed on their $10MM offer, as they’d be able to pursue Ben Sheets or Derek Lowe.
- The Red Sox "looked into" trading for Zack Greinke but didn’t like the price.
- Heyman says the Reds, Braves, and Rays are still showing interest in Jermaine Dye.
- He says the Dodgers, White Sox, and Mets "could be possibilities" for Jon Garland. A return to Chicago?
Royals Moving Closer To Signing Reliever
According to Bob Dutton, Dayton Moore admitted the Royals are moving closer to signing a reliever. Dutton believes their preference is Kyle Farnsworth.
Also, Moore shot down rumors involving Zack Greinke, David DeJesus, Mark Teahen, and Jermaine Dye.
Francoeur-Greinke Rumor Shot Down
3:05pm: As expected, Dayton Moore shot this down.
1:38pm: ESPN’s Steve Phillips says there’s nothing to this rumor.
9:01am: From: Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe:
According to one National League executive, the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves have had serious discussions about a trade that would send outfielder Jeff Francouer to the Royals for pitcher Zack Greinke. The same source said he believed the teams were close to executing the deal, but that Atlanta was holding up any and all trade discussions until the Braves had a resolution of their pursuit of right-hander A.J. Burnett.
I’d be surprised to see this happen without the Braves adding significant pitching to their offer for Greinke. But in general I am skeptical that anything like this is close, even given the Burnett contingency. We probably would’ve heard some rumbling from Dave O’Brien, Mark Bowman, Bob Dutton, or Dick Kaegel.