Giants Did Not Bid On Nakajima
6:32pm: GM Brian Sabean confirmed the Giants did not submit a bid for Nakajima, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (on Twitter).
9:52am: The report of the Giants submitting a bid on Nakajima is not accurate, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.
9:21am: The Giants appear to have submitted a bid for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, tweet Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The posting period ended a few days ago, and we learned previously that the Seibu Lions are expected to accept the high bid regardless of the amount. Nakajima hit .297/.354/.433 with 16 home runs and 27 doubles in 633 plate appearances for the Lions in 2011 and is represented by Legacy Sports.
The Giants have a void at shortstop, having used Brandon Crawford, Miguel Tejada, Mike Fontenot, and Orlando Cabrera at the position in 2011.
Giants Notes: Beltran, Ross, Hairston Jr.
Bruce Bochy spoke to reporters this afternoon, including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio, and Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Here's what the skipper had to say, along with the rest of the latest Giants notes:
- The Giants are happy with their roster as it stands right now, which is not to say that they're not talking about bringing in other players (Twitter link).
- San Francisco has talked to Carlos Beltran and other hitters, but the club has limited budgetary flexibility to attempt to sign them (Twitter link).
- Baggarly hears that Cody Ross doesn't have interest in returning to San Francisco on a one-year deal. If Ross can't find a multiyear offer, he'd like to move to a hitter-friendly location (Twitter link).
- The Giants are no longer pursuing Jerry Hairston Jr., tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
NL West Rumors: Ludwick, Gillick, Padres, Rockies
The latest on various NL West clubs…
- Heath Bell told MLB.com's Corey Brock he never heard from new Padres GM Josh Byrnes. Bell noted that he passed on offers of a little more money to take a three-year, $27MM deal from the Marlins.
- The Padres' goal is to fix the eighth and ninth innings this offseason, manager Bud Black told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio.
- The Dodgers are closing in on a minor league deal with reliever Alberto Castillo, tweets MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez. The 36-year-old spent most of the year at Triple-A, posting a 1.91 ERA and 8.1 K/9 in 42 1/3 innings there.
- The Giants are believed to have scheduled a meeting today with Ryan Ludwick's agent Dan Horwits, reports MLB.com's Chris Haft. Ludwick, 33, hit .237/.310/.363 with 13 home runs in 553 plate appearances for the Padres and Pirates this year.
- Phillies senior advisor and former GM Pat Gillick would consider a position as the Dodgers' new president of baseball operations, he told Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.
- The Padres are getting hits on Chase Headley, Jason Bartlett, and Orlando Hudson, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, who expects one of them to be dealt by spring training. Hudson, who is owed $7.5MM through 2012, would be a pure salary dump, tweets Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports.
- The Rockies are lukewarm at best on Hudson, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, who wonders if the Giants' Jeff Keppinger could be a fit. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says the Giants are looking to get creative on the trade front for outfield and infield help.
- Non-tender candidate Joe Saunders told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert he'd like to return to the Diamondbacks, but the decision is up to the team. About a week ago, ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted that Saunders has a very good chance of returning to the D'Backs on a two-year deal.
Four Teams Checked In On Mark DeRosa
MONDAY: The Giants have expressed interest in re-signing DeRosa, tweets ESPN's Jayson Stark.
FRIDAY: Mark DeRosa doesn't expect any team to guarantee him an everyday job, but he does want the chance to prove that his left wrist is healthy. The free agent utility player told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that the Nationals, Rangers, Indians and Pirates have all spoken with his surgeon and that the Giants have some interest in re-signing him despite his recent injury.
“I definitely understand the concerns," DeRosa told Rosenthal. "If it wasn’t for my wrist getting banged up two years ago, I wouldn’t be in this position.”
DeRosa played in just 47 games in 2011 because of a strained left wrist. The versatile 36-year-old was productive in 2009, posting a .250/.319/.433 line and appearing at five different positions for the Indians and Cardinals. However, he has struggled to stay on the field since signing a two-year deal with the Giants two Decembers ago. When he did play for the Giants, DeRosa posted a forgettable .235/.313/.279 line.
DeRosa, who would like to be closer to his Atlanta home, may have to sign a minor league deal and play his way onto a roster next spring.
Quick Hits: Lincecum, Bailey, Marlins, Dodgers
Sunday afternoon linkage..
- The Giants are seeking middle ground with Tim Lincecum in their contract talks, tweets Jon Heyman of SI. The club's first offer was for four years but the right-hander would like eight years in a long-term deal. Lincecum is also comfortable with a one or two-year deal.
- The Mets would love to trade for Athletics closer Andrew Bailey but are more likely to sign one or two relievers from a list that includes Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Brad Lidge, and Matt Capps, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post.
- The Marlins are in the mix for most of this winter's top free agents but haven't landed a big-name free agent since signing Carlos Delgado after the 2004 season. Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel caught up with Delgado's agent, David Sloane, to recap how that came to happen. The slugger was pursued by the Mets, Orioles, Rangers, and Mariners during the Winter Meetings but didn't hear from the Fish until ten days after they concluded.
- The Dodgers' payroll will be below $90MM, the lowest in years, thanks in part to the backloaded deal they gave to pitcher Chris Capuano, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.
Winter Meetings Notes: Giants, Beltran, Astros
With the Winter Meetings just around the corner, here's the latest on what we can expect to take place..
- An executive told Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter) last night that this weekend was much busier than most pre-meeting weekends with lots of teams bargain hunting.
- The Giants aren't expected to be big spenders, writes Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News. The club won't seek the offseason's elite free agents or make an aggressive push to re-sign Carlos Beltran, but they will look to fill-in some gaps at reasonable prices. Baggarly writes that they are after a right-handed hitting middle infielder such as Alex Gonzalez or Jerry Hairston Jr. and an outfielder such as Josh Willingham or Coco Crisp.
- In a piece for ESPN.com (Insider req'd), Jim Bowden runs down the situations facing the "new" GMs at the Winter Meetings. In total, there are six GMs who have just signed on with their respective clubs as GM and one interim GM in the Astros' David Gottfried.
- An agent with prominent clientele told ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Insider req'd) on Thursday that he's gotten less phone calls in recent days as clubs are simply waiting to get things done face-to-face at the Winter Meetings. Last year, the meetings provided tons of surprises including the Zack Greinke trade and Jayson Werth's seven-year, $126MM contract deal with the Nationals.
Quick Hits: Nakajima, Wilson, Pena, Mariners, A’s
Some late night links from around the league…
- According to a report passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker (on Twitter), at least one MLB team has bid on Hiroyuki Nakajima since the posting process started on Monday. The Seibu Lions are expected to accept the highest bid, regardless of amount.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels has spoken to C.J. Wilson's agent as recently as today reports Jeff Wilson of The Fort Worth Star Telegram (on Twitter), and MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan says the two sides are expected to meet again at the winter meetings.
- Before signing with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks for $5MM over two years, Wily Mo Pena had drawn interest from the Indians, Giants, Brewers, and Mariners according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter).
- Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times wonders if the Darren Ford signing clears the way for the Mariners to trade some of the outfielders on their 40-man roster, like Trayvon Robinson, Michael Saunders, or Franklin Gutierrez.
- “We’re very open,” said Athletics assistant GM David Forst to John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle when asked if any of the club's pitchers were untradeable. “If we didn’t have the (pitching) depth, we wouldn’t have this option.” Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey have been popular names, but Forst's statement suggests Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy could be had as well.
NL West Links: Sandoval, Cuban, Kuroda, Hernandez
With Heath Bell now on his way to Miami, the Padres are more likely to look to the trade market than free agency for late-game help, tweets MLB.com's Corey Brock. Some more from the NL West here….
- Ryan Morgan, Pablo Sandoval's agent, told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that he has had "very broad discussions" with Giants VP Bobby Evans about Sandoval's 2012 contract and that Sandoval is open to a multiyear contract. Sandoval is going through the arbitration process for the first time this winter and Baggarly thinks the two sides could revisit the idea of an extension if Sandoval shows up in great shape to Spring Training.
- Mark Cuban is interested in bidding to become the new Dodgers' owner, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Cuban will receive a "bid book" that contains the team's financial information, though having a bid book doesn't necessarily mean Cuban will indeed make a bid to buy the team.
- The Dodgers have already much of their free money this winter and are still short two starting pitchers, reports Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times. Both Dilbeck and Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) don't think the Dodgers will have enough to re-sign Hiroki Kuroda.
- Also from Knobler (via Twitter), the Rockies turned down the Braves' offer of Martin Prado in exchange for outfielder Seth Smith and prospect Nolan Arenado. Given that Arenado is one of Colorado's top prospects, this was a total pie-in-the-sky offer from the Braves.
- Newly-signed Rockies catcher Ramon Hernandez appeared on the Venezuelan sports radio show Los Cronistas today (Twitter link, in Spanish) and said he isn't sure if he'll be physically able to keep playing beyond his current contract. Hernandez will be 37 by the time his two-year deal with Colorado expires. Thanks to Nick Collias of our sister site Rumores de Beisbol for the translation.
- Justin Upton holds the top spot on Keith Law's list of the top 50 players who are 25 years old and under (ESPN Insider subscription required).
Jose Reyes Market May Be Down To Just Marlins, Mets
The Marlins and Mets may be the last two contenders remaining in the Jose Reyes sweepstakes, and the Marlins "hopes are high" that they will land the free agent shortstop, reports CBSSports.com's Scott Miller (passed on by his CBS colleague Matt Snyder). Another baseball source tells Miller, "everyone seems to think Reyes is the right fit for the Marlins."
The Braves, Giants and Phillies are out of the bidding, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman, with the Brewers and Tigers seen as "iffy" or very unlikely candidates by Heyman and CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler. So, unless a fringe suitor like the Red Sox get involved, it may be down to just the two NL East rivals.
Miami has offered Reyes a six-year deal worth somewhere between $70MM and $90MM, and Heyman tweets the Marlins could "bump it a bit" and then set a deadline since the offer has been on the table for a while. Even with the apparently thin market for Reyes, this kind of hardball tactic could backfire on the Fish since it could allow the Mets or another team to jump into the bidding at a lower price. The Marlins have openly targeted many top free agents this winter but this high profile only increases the pressure on the club to actually sign at least one or two of these big names.
The Mets are apparently willing to offer a five-year, $80MM contract. GM Sandy Alderson told reporters today (including MLB.com's Anthony DiComo) that he wasn't aware of any teams besides Miami in the hunt for Reyes and that he was planning to meet with Reyes' agents before or during the Winter Meetings. That lack of a sixth year in the offer could ultimately hurt the Mets, even though their offer would give Reyes a larger average annual value than the Marlins' deal, presuming Miami's offer is six years/$90MM. Maybe a sixth year on a vesting option could bring Reyes back to New York.
Brewers, Cardinals, Giants In Talks With Alex Gonzalez
5:18pm: The Brewers and Cardinals are also interested in Gonzalez, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.
4:48pm: The Giants are negotiating with free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez, reports Fernando Gonzalez of ESPN Deportes (passed along via Jim Bowden's Twitter account). The Giants had been rumored as candidates to sign such bigger-name free agent shortstops as Jose Reyes or Jimmy Rollins, but with relatively little payroll space to go around, the other school of thought was that prospect Brandon Crawford could get the starting shortstop job.
Like Crawford, Gonzalez brings strong defense (a career UZR/150 of 6.3, though it dipped to -0.4 last season) and not much of a bat (a .241/.270/.372 line for Atlanta last season). San Francisco could use Gonzalez and Crawford in a righty-lefty platoon next season, plus Gonzalez could be a valuble mentor to the 24-year-old.
The Braves didn't offer arbitration to Gonzalez (a Type B free agent), so Atlanta wouldn't receive a compensation pick if Gonzalez signed elsewhere. The Braves hadn't ruled out re-signing Gonzalez themselves to act as a veteran bridge to their own shortstop prospect, Tyler Pastornicky.