Padres Sign Emil Brown
According to MLB.com’s Corey Brock, the Padres signed outfielder Emil Brown to a minor league deal. He may have a hard time squeezing into the Padres’ outfield picture though. Brown, 34, hit .244/.297/.386 in 438 plate appearances for the A’s last year while playing the outfield corners.
Will Ohman Has Three Offers
TUESDAY: MLB.com’s Corey Brock talked to a Padres source who considers an Ohman signing a long shot. We learned earlier today that the same goes for the Phillies.
MONDAY: According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick:
Will Ohman, one of the top relievers left on baseball’s free agent market, has major league offers in hand from the Pirates, Marlins and Padres, but plans to continue discussions with three contending teams before making a decision on his destination for 2009, his agent said Monday. The Phillies, Mets and Dodgers have all stayed in touch with Ohman, but their interest has yet to progress beyond the talking stage.
Crasnick doesn’t believe the Pirates, Marlins, or Padres would be willing to go past $1MM on a one-year deal. Joe Beimel and Dennys Reyes also remain unsigned.
Odds and Ends: Maddux, Beltre, Cordero
Links for Monday…
- RotoAuthority discusses possible lineup position changes for star players.
- Baseball America has the latest minor league transactions.
- Greg Maddux has joined the Padres as a Spring Training instructor, says MLB.com’s Corey Brock.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News learned that Adrian Beltre enjoys hitting in AT&T Park and would be excited to play for the Giants. Baggarly wonders if the Giants could attempt to acquire Beltre this summer. The third baseman and Scott Boras client will be a free agent after the season.
- Shawn Estes, currently in camp with the Dodgers, will retire if he can’t make a Major League roster according to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.
- A Mets official told Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News that the team is unlikely to sign free agent reliever Chad Cordero.
- Jake Peavy talked more about the failed attempts to trade him during the winter (Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune reporting).
- The Mariners added catcher Jason Phillips on a minor league deal, according to Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune.
Padres Not Looking For Pitching Help
Padres GM Kevin Towers told Corey Brock of MLB.com Saturday that his team is not actively talking to any free agent pitchers.
The Padres are comfortable with Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Cha Seung Baek at the front end of the rotation and are hopeful that the final two spots will be adequately filled by Kevin Correia, Josh Geer, Wade LeBlanc, Chad Reineke or Mark Prior.
Towers assured Brock that he will keep an eye out for any pitchers that might be good fits, but we wouldn’t expect anything major.
Peavy Glad To Be A Padre
MLB.com’s Corey Brock passes along comments Jake Peavy made on XX Sports Radio in San Diego. Peavy said he’s "dang glad" to be a Padre after an offseason of trade talks. Peavy said he understands that business decisions led to a "crazy winter."
Brock adds that GM Kevin Towers "has not had active discussions with any team regarding Peavy" since the Winter Meetings.
Blue Jays Acquire Matt Bush
According to Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres traded Matt Bush to the Blue Jays for a player to be named later. Baseball America has more on Bush, the #1 pick in ’04. He missed all of ’08 with Tommy John surgery.
Padres Invite 20 To Spring Training
MLB.com’s Corey Brock has compiled a list of the Padres’ non-roster spring training invitees:
Right-handers Kevin Correia, Chris Britton, Greg Burke, Matt Buschmann, Gabe DeHoyos, Will Inman, Mat Latos, Edwin Moreno, Oneli Perez and Mark Prior; left-handers Arturo Lopez and Nick Schmidt; catchers Eliezer Alfonzo, Mitch Canham and Colt Morton; infielders Peter Ciofrone, Chris Burke and Kyle Blanks, and outfielders Chad Huffman and Cedric Hunter.
Padres GM Kevin Towers has said that Correia and Britton have a good chance of making the squad. Burke’s versatility might also get him a nod.
Odds and Ends: Wigginton, Prior, Andruw
Links for Monday…
- Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun says the Orioles are "bringing Ty Wigginton back for further examination this week."
- Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune snagged this Mark Prior quote: "If Kurt Warner can disappear for five years, I can disappear for three."
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs points out that a Jermaine Dye career path is Andruw Jones‘ best case scenario.
- Baseball America has a run-down of all the minor league transactions between January 31 and February 6.
- Athletics Nation wonders if the A’s could bring Mark Mulder in to fill a lefty reliever role.
- I did a Q&A with We Should Be GMs.
Padres Add Cliff Floyd, DFA Matt Bush
8:47pm: According to MLB.com’s Corey Brock, the Padres designated right-hander Matt Bush for assignment to make room for Floyd. Bush was drafted first overall in the 2004 draft as a shortstop, but never made it past the Single-A level at that position.
6:16pm: Paul DePodesta, a member of the Padres’ front office, took to his own personal blog for a little insight on the Floyd signing:
We’ve been talking for a number of weeks internally about the need to add a left-handed bat into the mix, as our bench was looking awfully right-handed. In an ideal world, we wanted to find a guy who could provide three primary skills: 1) the ability to do damage against RHP as either a pinch hitter, DH or occasional starter, 2) the ability to play somewhere other than 1B if need be, and 3) the ability to act as a leader for our younger players. We found a match in Cliff.
8:06am: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Padres have agreed to terms with outfielder Cliff Floyd on a one-year deal. ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the deal guarantees him less than $1MM. Floyd, 36, hit .268/.349/.455 in 284 plate appearances for the Rays last year; he suffered a slightly torn labrum in the World Series. He earned $2.75MM and had an ’09 option for the same amount declined in November. Rosenthal says Luis Gonzalez was the Padres’ second choice.
A few days ago, Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune suggested the Padres had Floyd and Livan Hernandez on the radar.
Rosenthal On Peavy, Ohman, Looper
Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Jeff Moorad’s acquistion of the Padres does not affect the likelihood of a Jake Peavy trade, according to Rosenthal’s source. There have been no recent conversations with the Cubs about Peavy.
- The Phillies had been confident of signing Ty Wigginton before the Orioles offered two years. The Phils are still mulling Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia, with the Giants also in on Aurilia. The Phillies are out on Will Ohman.
- Braden Looper is receiving interest from Baltimore, but he prefers the NL. The Brewers are not optimistic about signing Looper despite a recent conversation with one of his agents (Tom Haudricourt believes the Brewers are "laying in the weeds" for when the right pitcher comes along). Looper is Plan B behind Randy Wolf for the Dodgers, and not a candidate to return to the Cardinals (who are apparently out of money). One other team known to have interest in Looper is the Pirates.