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Odds & Ends: Sheffield, Matsui, Darvish

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Kicking off a fresh Odds & Ends post for Day 3 of the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis…

Angels Release Rudy Seanez

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According to a press release, the Angels have released right-hander Rudy Seanez.

Signed to a minor league contract in mid-May, the 40-year-old reliever allowed four earned runs on eight hits during nine innings of relief for Triple-A Salt Lake.  Seanez posted a 3.53 ERA in 43.3 innings for the Phillies in '08, but also walked 5.2 batters per nine innings.  He'll look for a minor league contract elsewhere.

Angels Sign Rudy Seanez

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MONDAY, 11:08am: Ken Davidoff of Newsday wrote on Saturday that the Angels signed Seanez to a minor league deal.

THURSDAY, 3:18pm: According to Bill Shakin of the L.A. Times, Angels manager Mike Scioscia confirmed his club's interest in Seanez this afternoon, but admitted that a deal might not be finalized for a few weeks.  

"Rudy's arm looks great," said Scioscia, just before adding that the 40-year-old is "going to need some time…  It's not like you're going to see him here in a week or two."  Look for him in early June.

7:41am: According to Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times, the Angels are close to signing journeyman reliever Rudy Seanez to a minor league deal.  Seanez, 40, posted a 3.53 ERA in 43.3 innings for the Phillies last year despite walking 5.2 per nine innings.  The Angels' bullpen needs all the help it can get.

Back on March 23rd, Diamond Leung had an interesting blog post about Seanez.  Check it out.

Rudy Seanez Pondering Future

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Diamond Leung is no longer writing for the Riverside Press-Enterprise, but he's blogging about baseball at Diamond Notes.  Today he has an update regarding free agent reliever Rudy Seanez.

Seanez, 40, is still considering playing in 2009.  He turned down an offer to return to the Phillies, and has interest from the Padres and others.  Fun fact, Seanez owns a Cold Stone Creamery with his family.  Delicious yet pricey.

Seanez has already pitched for the Padres in roughly 14 different stints.  Last year with the Phils he had some control problems but still managed a 3.53 ERA in 43.3 innings.

Stark On Andruw, Swisher, Hudson, Pedro

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The latest from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…

  • Stark looks at all the factors influencing this year’s slow-moving free agent market, talking to all sorts of anonymous execs.  It’s a good read.
  • Among all the teams, the Phillies have added the most to their payroll this winter ($30MM+).  Only ten teams raised payroll this year.  The Phils are still looking at the same cast of righthanded bench bats, and are also looking to sign a reliever for one year.  Names of interest: Joe Borowski, Rudy Seanez, Will Ohman, Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, and Randy Flores.  Stark notes that Flores is out until June due to shoulder surgery.
  • Andruw Jones is looking for a team that will give him playing time.  One of Stark’s sources says Braves manager Bobby Cox is "lobbying harder for Jones than the rest of the baseball operation."
  • The Braves are the top suitor for Nick Swisher, but their suggestion that the Yankees eat some of Swisher’s contract was shot down.
  • Stark has heard that Angels owner Arte Moreno is ticked at Scott Boras and Mark Teixeira for the way they handled negotiations.
  • Stark received conflicting answers on whether the Elias formulas "can be changed without a special negotiation."  It figures that the players union would push to eliminate the Jason Varitek/Juan Cruz/Orlando Cabrera situations we saw this winter.  The D’Backs may have interest in re-signing Cruz, but don’t look for a Cabrera-White Sox reunion.
  • The Yankees and Mets have not pursued Orlando Hudson, despite Hudson’s statements of their interest.  Stark sees a one-year deal with the Nationals or Dodgers in his future. 
  • One assistant GM doesn’t think the WBC will be a good gauge for Pedro Martinez’s abilities, since he’ll be doing short stints.
  • Stark has details on Eddie Guardado’s contract, which has interesting provisions if he is to be traded.

Phillies Decline To Offer Arbitration To Burrell, Moyer

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According to Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies declined to offer arbitration to Type A free agents Pat Burrell and Jamie Moyer.  The decisions are somewhat surprising; MLB.com had a story this morning saying arb offers were likely for both.  Paul Hagen adds that Type B free agent Rudy Seanez also did not receive an offer.

Sluggers Burrell and Adam Dunn were both denied today, as the Phillies and D’Backs didn’t feel two draft picks were worth the risk.  The Phils are still working to re-sign Moyer.

Phillies Sign Rudy Seanez

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12:20pm: Scott Lauber quotes Phils GM Pat Gillick as having no interest in southpaw relievers Mike Stanton and Steve Kline.  Also, it’s likely Wes Helms or Tim Lahey will be let go to make room when Brad Lidge comes off the DL this weekend.

8:55am: According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, the Phillies have signed reliever Rudy Seanez.  The 39 year-old had been released by the Dodgers last week.

The Phils mark Seanez’s 12th organization.  He can be homer-prone, but he wasn’t terrible last year in posting a 3.79 ERA and 8.64 K/9 with the Dodgers in 76 innings.  On the other hand, he was not typically used in high leverage situations.

The Phils are also looking for a lefty reliever, but they aren’t looking to acquire recently designated Steve Kline "at this time" according to Ruben Amaro Jr.

Dodgers Release Rudy Seanez

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THURSDAY: Seanez might not retire if he finds the right fit.  A few clubs have already contacted his agent.

WEDNESDAY: According to Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News, the Dodgers released reliever Rudy Seanez last night.  The move should save the Dodgers about $400K and could open up a bullpen spot unless the Dodgers begin with an 11-man staff.

Jackson believes the 39 year-old Seanez will now retire.  If so, he leaves on a high note – he posted a 3.79 ERA and 8.6 K/9 in 76 innings last year.  Seanez played in 11 different organizations in his career.

Odds and Ends: Aybar, Wang, Selig

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How about some late morning odds and ends?  You don’t really have a choice, do you.

  • The Rays have talked to the Braves about acquiring Willy Aybar, according to Marc Lancaster.  Aybar has had some off the field problems.  But he turns 25 in March and could still be a useful player.

  • Reader Yu Hsing Chen checks in from Taiwan with news that Chien-Ming Wang might be heading to an arbitration hearing with the Yankees.  MLBTR had 228 visits from Taiwan yesterday – welcome!  Taiwan is our fifth biggest traffic source, behind the U.S., Canada, UK, and Japan.

  • According to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, the Dodgers have spoken to free agents Mark Sweeney and Rudy Seanez about bringing them back, but the discussions have stalled.

  • Bud Selig’s contract extended through 2012.  Thoughts?

Red Sox Interested In Klesko?

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A reader passed along a trade rumor heard this morning on WEEI in Boston from Sean MacAdams.  Here’s the report:

The Red Sox would send reliever Rudy Seanez to the Padres for first baseman Ryan Klesko.

Some background seems appropriate.  Seanez is a 37 year-old right-handed reliever signed to a one-year, $1.9MM deal by the Red Sox this winter.  The club has a $2.1MM option for ’07 that can be bought out for $200,000.  Seanez also will earn incentives this year for his number of appearances. 


Last year with the Padres was easily the best season of his career; he was worth more than three wins and had the third best strikeout rate in the game among pitchers with 60 innings.  He’s toiled for eight different teams and a return to San Diego would mark his third stint with the Pads.  Seanez has seen all of his peripherals decline in his 33 innings this year, and he’s projected by Baseball Prospectus to be out of the game by ’08.  He spent time on the DL last year with shoulder discomfort.

I’m sure you’re familiar with 35 year-old slugger Ryan Klesko.  He was once a feared six-win player in the early part of the decade with San Diego.  The left-hander was acquired by the Padres in a blockbuster deal in 1999 along with Bret Boone in exchange for Quilvio Veras, Wally Joyner, and Reggie Sanders.  Klesko has a no-trade clause as a 10 and 5 player as part of his complicated, reworked contract; he makes $8MM in the final year of the deal.  Kevin Towers has already said he will not exercise the ’07 option.

Klesko hopes to return to the Padres around August 1st after having shoulder surgery on his A/C joint in April.  He hasn’t topped 500 ABs since 2002, but remains adept at drawing walks and may owe last year’s career-low slugging percentage to his painful shoulder and a pinched nerve in his neck.  Klesko would certainly clear waivers, so the Padres have until August 31st to deal him.  He’s willing to waive his no-trade rights if he’s not getting playing time with the Padres and he’s being sent to a contender.  That’s probably the main wrinkle in this possible deal – Klesko would only be a bench player in Boston.  In addition, Kevin Towers’s main concern right now is finding a third baseman.   

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