Giants Offer Three-Year Deal To Lincecum
The Giants offered a three-year, $37MM deal to Tim Lincecum, reports John Shea and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Specifically it'd pay $9.5MM in '10, $12.5MM in '11, and $15MM in '12, buying out three of Lincecum's four arbitration years. Shea says Lincecum's agent Rick Thurman "countered with a proposal north of $40 million." Plus, Thurman wants the first-year salary within a multiyear deal to be close to the $13MM figure they submitted. You have to imagine he'd at least want to top Ryan Howard's first-year arbitration figure of $10MM.
Giants assistant GM Bobby Evans told Shea talks are ongoing, though the sides have not spoken in 72 hours. Shea says "such a lapse in negotiations isn't unusual." If no deal is reached prior, a hearing will be held tomorrow where Lincecum's 2010 salary will be decided at $8MM or $13MM by a three-person panel.
As you know, there's no comparable for Lincecum whether we're talking about his first arbitration year or a multiyear deal. Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander are not Super Two players and signed extensions after their first arbitration years. But both received about $20-23MM for their first three arbitration years.
Odds & Ends: McClung, Aurilia, Lincecum, Brewers
Links for Wednesday…
- According to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, Seth McClung's deal with the Marlins would be worth $800K if he makes the team, not $600K as originally reported (link goes to Twitter).
- MLB.com's Tom Singer wrote about the hazards of signing pitchers to five-year deals.
- Baggarly tweets that even though he isn't retired, Rich Aurilia has a broadcasting deal in place that is contingent on him not finding a job on the field.
- Tim Lincecum and the Giants are still no closer to a deal, reports Andrew Baggarly of The San Jose Mercury News. Their arbitration hearing is now less than two days away.
- MLB.com's Adam McCalvy takes a look back at the Brewers' arbitration history. The team is scheduled to go to a hearing with Corey Hart tomorrow, which would be their first in 12 years.
- Mariners' GM Jack Zduriencik did not rule out the possibility of adding a catcher, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com (via Twitter).
- RotoAuthority analyzes the Blue Jays' closer situation from a fantasy baseball angle.
- SI's Jon Heyman names his free agent winners and losers. It's a well-done piece; my only gripe is Jason Marquis being in the loser bracket after signing a two-year, $15MM deal.
- ESPN's Buster Olney reports that before signing with the Padres, catcher Yorvit Torrealba "offered himself to the Mets for $1.4MM." The Mets "indicated they had no money to spend."
- Aaron Schafer of Viva El Birdos grades the Cardinals' offseason moves and non-moves.
Giants Sign Todd Wellemeyer
The Giants signed Todd Wellemeyer to a minor league deal, reports Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the deal will be worth at least $1MM if he makes the team, plus performance bonuses. The Giants had been named as the favorite by Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post on Friday.
Wellemeyer, 31, had a decent 2008 season for the Cardinals despite middling peripheral stats. A big innings jump in '08 may have contributed to an elbow injury last year. Wellemeyer's numbers worsened across the board in his '09 walk year, leading to a 5.89 ERA in 122.3 innings. Still, there's nothing to lose for the Giants by signing him to a minor league deal. The Rockies, Mets, Phillies, and D'Backs were also linked to Wellemeyer this winter.
Odds & Ends: Lincecum, Jackson, Blalock, Bedard
Some Tuesday night links…
- Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports tweets that neither Tim Lincecum nor the Giants have budged in their negotiations, and his arbitration hearing is set for Friday.
- MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reports (via Twitter) that the Diamondbacks and Edwin Jackson still haven't made any progress towards an agreement. Their arbitration hearing is now just eight days away.
- In addition to having interest in Russell Branyan and Jermaine Dye, the Indians are also talking to Hank Blalock, reports Rosenthal. He adds that the Blue Jays are also in on Branyan.
- In a pair of tweets, Rosenthal passes along the incentives in Erik Bedard's contract. They lefty could bring in $500K each for 14, 17, 20, 23, and 26 starts, plus $600K for every 25 innings after 75.
- Meanwhile, Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com report that Damon hasn't moved off his demand of a two-year deal. Good luck with that, Johnny.
- Morosi and Rosenthal also report that the Rangers and Mets appear to be "hamstrung by complications at the ownership level," meaning they're approaching their payroll limits.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that Astros' GM Ed Wade said the team has some interest in bringing Willy Taveras back on a minor league deal. Oakland released Taveras today.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (via Peter Schmuck) spoke to Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, who indicated that the team has not had recent talks with the agents for Jarrod Washburn or Chien-Ming Wang. The O's were linked to both pitchers earlier today.
- MLB.com's Corey Brock says (via Twitter) that it's "highly unlikely" that the Padres will sign Japanese lefty Hisanori Takahashi. Several teams reportedly offered the southpaw a minor league contract.
Four Clubs Offer Minor League Deal To Takahashi
9:01pm: The Pirates have emerged as a destination for Takahashi, according to a report from Sanspo passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. The report also notes that the Dodgers are targeting other pitchers and the Mets were "moving towards an MLB contract," but couldn't agree on money.
Meanwhile, Takahashi was set to throw for teams today in Arizona, according to an article from Sponichi passed along by Newman.
2:32pm: Japaneseballplayers.com reports that Takahashi has turned down the Mets' offer as well. NPB Tracker tweets that Takahashi prefers to play on the West coast.
SUNDAY, 11:01pm: Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reports that Takahashi has turned down the Orioles' offer of a minor league deal, but that doesn't mean the two sides can't work something out down the road.
SATURDAY, 4:53pm: Takahashi is being considered by the Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, Giants, Pirates, and Padres tweets Jon Heyman of SI. Heyman also writes that Takahashi will pick his team soon.
Meanwhile, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports (via Twitter) that the Giants are assuming that Takahashi will sign elsewhere.
FRIDAY, 7:19pm: NPB Tracker passes along a report (via Twitter) from the Japanese publication Sponichi Annex saying that the Giants and Dodgers are in the lead for Takahashi's services, however Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle tweets that the the Giants are still waiting to hear back about their minor league offer.
THURSDAY, 2:38pm: Free agent lefty Hisanori Takahashi has minor league offers from the Red Sox, Giants, Padres, and Dodgers, according to a Sports Hochi report passed along on Twitter by NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman.
Last week, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick wrote that Takahashi seeks a big league deal and has drawn interest from the Orioles, Dodgers, Mets, Red Sox, and Giants. Takahashi, 35 in April, profiles as a flyball/command pitcher who can fill a swingman role.
Cafardo’s Latest: Beckett, Red Sox, Twins, Lowry
The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo has plenty of rumors from around the league for us this morning, so let's round them all up…
- The Red Sox are likely to use Roy Halladay's three-year, $60MM deal "minus $6 million-$8 million" as a guideline for a potential Josh Beckett extension rather than John Lackey's five-year, $82.5MM deal. The reason being that they have some concern about the long-term health of his shoulder.
- If another team comes offering Beckett big money after the season, the Sox will move on just as they did with Jason Bay. They could then look into free agents like Cliff Lee, who they pursued at the trade deadline, or even Ben Sheets and Brandon Webb if they bounce back from injury problems of their own.
- With all of their additions this offseason, the Twins' payroll will jump from $65M to about $96M as they move into Target Field this year. GM Bill Smith said it will be up to manager Ron Gardenhire to determine how they use Jim Thome, and that they did their homework on Orlando Hudson's left wrist, which has given him trouble the last few seasons.
- Minnesota's payroll will be larger than the Dodgers' this year.
- The Red Sox watched Noah Lowry's recent workout, but "don't appear interested in signing him."
- Dodgers' third base coach Larry Bowa said he knows that Manny Ramirez still wants to play another three or four years.
- Two big league executives feel that the Giants and Tim Lincecum will settle on a contract before an arbitration hearing.
- One reason the Cubs signed Kevin Millar was to loosen up the clubhouse after the Milton Bradley fiasco last season.
- Drayton McLane is reportedly seeking $700MM to part with the Astros, but it's tough to see someone coming up with that when the Rangers sold for approximately $575MM.
Odds & Ends: Orioles, Beckett, Brewers, Giants
Saturday night linkage..
- The Orioles are in search of a lefty reliever, writes The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec. The guy the O's really want is Will Ohman, as they extended him a minor league contract offer in late January. Japanese lefty Hisanori Takahashi and Joe Beimel are also options for the club.
- Joe McDonald and Daniel Barbarisi of The Providence Journal take a look at the big decision Boston will face – whether or not to re-sign Josh Beckett. If the BoSox choose not to retain the 29-year-old, they'll have to recognize that his replacement likely won't be found in free agency.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel praises GM Doug Melvin for stocking up on hurlers this offseason. Free agent pickups Randy Wolf and Doug Davis were brought aboard to help support Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan, Manny Parra, and Yovani Gallardo.
- Giants managing general partner Bill Neukom is not sure that the Giants' payroll will reach $100MM as has been originally reported, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco's payroll was $82.6MM to start the 2009 season.
Odds & Ends: Kielty, Ruiz, Gillick, Santos
Saturday morning links…
- Arangure (via Twitter) writes that the A's have agreed to terms with Michael Feliz, a right-hander from the Dominican Republic. The deal, which is still pending a physical and an age investigation, will provide Feliz with an $800K bonus. The Dominican Prospect League website says that the 6'4, 200-pound hurler is 16-years-old.
- Tim tweets that Bobby Kielty is converting to pitching, and that his slider is actually pretty good. The 33-year-old last played in the big leagues back in 2007, when he was still an outfielder of course.
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure tweets that the Blue Jays, Rockies, and Rangers are the teams most interested in Cuban first baseman Jose Julio Ruiz. Ruiz was recently cleared to sign by the Office of Foreign Asset Control.
- Pat Gillick has returned to the Phillies as a senior advisor to president Dave Montgomery, reports Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun. Gillick was the team's GM from 2006-2008.
- ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to several talent evaluators, none of whom think Omir Santos is equipped to be a number one catcher. If the season started today, Santos would likely be behind the plate for the Mets.
Mets, Rockies, Giants Interested In Wellemeyer
2:36pm: Troy Renck of The Denver Post says that the Giants are the favorite to land Wellemeyer, followed by the Rockies.
2:01pm: Todd Wellemeyer told the Team 1380 in St. Louis that he could sign with the Mets, Rockies or Giants. Tim McKernan of the Team tweets that Wellemeyer hasn't talked to the Cardinals and doesn't expect to return to St. Louis (Hat Tip: Bart Hubbuch).
MLBTR reported earlier this week that the Phillies and D'Backs expressed interest in Wellemeyer, along with the Rockies. The 31-year-old pitched to a 5.89 ERA in 122.1 innings last year, with sub-par rate stats: 5.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.
Odds & Ends: Jays, V-Mart, Jeter, Gonzalez
Links for Friday…
- Tim Dillard, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week, cleared waivers, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Twitter).
- Don't expect the Twins to add much to their 2010 payroll. GM Bill Smith tells Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the team is nearing the "upper extremes" of what it can spend (Twitter link).
- The Blue Jays are no longer in on Carlos Delgado, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says the Twins had one of the best offseasons in baseball.
- Alex Anthopoulos doesn't expect to trade any of his relievers before the season starts, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. However, the Jays GM points out that things can change.
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier compares Victor Martinez to similar catchers to hit free agency in recent years. Speier writes that after this season V-Mart could be in line for a four-year $40MM deal like the ones Ivan Rodriguez and Jason Varitek signed. Some consider Martinez a first baseman going forward, which would make him a "completely different animal" in the eyes of interested teams.
- Those small market Twins will open the season with a payroll of about $96MM, writes Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
- Derek Jeter hits free agency after the season and Hank Steinbrenner says we can "pretty much assume" what will happen at that point given Jeter's place in Yankee history (link from the Philadelphia Daily News).
- Padres GM Jed Hoyer tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald that he hasn't ruled out signing Adrian Gonzalez long-term. That seems unlikely given the offers Gonzalez could demand as a free agent.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that Adam Kennedy will be the Nats' everday second baseman, which likely leaves Cristian Guzman at short.
- Now the Nats will look for a veteran starter, tweets Ladson.
- Jesus Guzman cleared waivers and will receive an invitation to Giants Spring Training, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Giants designated the infielder for assignment in late January.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star tweets that Jarrod Washburn may be too expensive for the Royals.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes that some within the Dodgers organization called Orlando Hudson "Slow-Dog" because they were surprised he wasn't faster. Some Dodgers officials believe Hudson's defensive reputation is better than it should be.