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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Wood, Sheets, Bradley, Wagner

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On this date two years ago, Mike Lowell re-signed with the Red Sox for three-years, $37.5MM. In this first two years of the deal, Lowell has taken in $25.5MM, and according to his WAR has been worth $19.9MM. In '10, Lowell will be 36 as he enters the final year of his deal. Today is the first day of free agency, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

Giants Unlikely To Pursue Holliday, Bay

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The San Francisco Giants don't expect to pursue free agent outfielders Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Giants GM Brian Sabean tells Schulman that he hasn't been in touch with the agents for Holliday or Bay, and that he doesn't plan to contact them. Sabean indicated that he doesn't want the Giants used to give leverage to a player hoping to pry more money from the Yankees, Red Sox, or other big-market teams. The team is only interested in free agents who have a "genuine interest" in playing for San Francisco.

Sabean suggests to Schulman that the Giants are more likely to look into signing "second-tier" free agents.

Odds & Ends: Pirates, Cubs, Red Sox, Hawkins

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Some more links to read through as we count down the hours until teams can start serious negotiations with all free agents…

  • GM Neal Huntington tells MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch that the Pirates won't be spending big on relievers this year: "Our focus is going to be more on the borderline-type guys that may not get $3-4 million or may not even get a Major League contract," Huntington said.
  • The Cubs probably can't afford Rich Harden or Reed Johnson, according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.
  • Harden and Erik Bedard appear on Jeff Zrebiec's list of ten free agents the O's might target.
  • Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun says the O's need at least one middle-of-the-order bat.
  • The Cubs don't intend to pursue Pedro Martinez this offseason, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
  • David Ortiz tells WEEI.com that the Red Sox can always use more power.
  • The Astros have already offered LaTroy Hawkins a contract, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.
  • Peter Gammons of ESPN.com shows that the low-budget Marlins have had a lot of recent success because they're well-run.
  • Giants GM Brian Sabean hinted that he could approach ownership with creative offers for big-name free agents, according to MLB.com's Chris Haft.

Stark On Bradley, Uggla, Yankees, Braves, Pedro

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ESPN.com's Jayson Stark responds to some of Scott Boras' recent comments before providing some rumors in his latest Rumblings and Grumblings column:

  • The Rays, Rangers and Jays appear to be the three likeliest landing spots for Milton Bradley. The Cubs say they don't want to eat much of the $21MM remaining on Bradley's contract, so a bad contract swap still seems possible.
  • Stark hears that the Marlins were in serious trade talks with the Giants and Rangers about Dan Uggla.
  • There's no indication that the Yankees are in on Jason Bay or Matt Holliday at this point. The Yanks figure to negotiate firmly with Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui.
  • The Braves would like to trade for a cleanup-hitter and are expected to try to extend Javier Vazquez if they can move Derek Lowe and his contract.
  • The Phillies don't appear to have a preference at third base, though they're said to be considering Placido Polanco, Mark DeRosa and Adrian Beltre.
  • At least two executives believe Pedro Martinez fits best as a half-year starter next season.

Tim Lincecum Wins NL Cy Young Award

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Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young award for the second straight season, edging out Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Lincecum, 25, went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA. He struck out a league-leading 261 batters, walking 68 in 225.1 innings. He made his second consecutive All-Star appearance and led the league in complete games and shutouts. According to WAR, Lincecum was the NL's best pitcher.

He'll be arbitration-eligible as a Super Two this offseason and the Giants will likely have to hand out a record-setting contract. Lincecum has said before that he's open to an extension.

Wainwright – who obtained the most first place votes -  and Carpenter each receive $100K bonuses for their finishes in the Cy Young voting, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Discussion: Sabean And The Giants

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Some of the moves we can expect from San Francisco came into focus with Chris Haft's terrific interview with Giants' GM Brian Sabean for MLB.com. Among the tidbits:

  • The Giants are unwilling to offer Bengie Molina more than a one-year contract, though they will offer him arbitration.
  • Brad Penny's current contract demands are "out of reach at this point."
  • Juan Uribe, who hopes to earn something similar to his $4.75MM deal from 2008, won't get close to that from the Giants.
  • Still, this doesn't mean the Giants won't be spending money this winter. Haft writes, "Sabean said that he envisions the Giants filling their personnel needs through free agency rather than trades."

The full piece, including Sabean's take on why he dislikes trades, is worth checking out. And now that you know what Sabean won't do, what do you think he should do?

Odds & Ends: Phillies, Nationals, Mariners

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There's no such thing as an offseason- just different kinds of on-seasons.

Cafardo On Cabrera, Penny, Upton

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In his latest column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe examines the differing opinions on this year's free agent market and passes on some info from around the majors. The highlights:

  • One National League GM on the top players in this year's free agent class: "[Matt Holliday] won’t get what Mark Teixeira got. No chance. [John] Lackey may get A.J. Burnett money, but I’m not even sure anyone would go that high."
  • A separate source tells Cafardo that many teams will wait out the market this winter, potentially resulting in a few bargains for thrifty teams later in the offseason.
  • Cafardo wonders if the Detroit Tigers would entertain trade offers for Miguel Cabrera, who will make $20MM next season. If so, Cafardo thinks the Red Sox would get involved.
  • The Seattle Mariners believe they're very close to contending, which will mean hanging on to Felix Hernandez and pursuing players like Lackey and Jason Bay this offseason.
  • The San Francisco Giants are interested in bringing back Brad Penny.
  • Cafardo says it "isn't far-fetched" that the Rays could deal B.J. Upton. He suggests Upton's availability will depend on Carl Crawford's future with the team, or lack thereof.

Odds & Ends: Lackey, Upton, De La Rosa, Wood

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Some more links to check out as you celebrate the end of the work week…

  • MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez confirms that the Red Sox did indeed meet with John Lackey's agent. This morning we learned that Boston expressed preliminary interest in the free agent hurler.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Rangers asked the Rays about outfielder B.J. Upton as part of their offseason routine, but no talks are ongoing.
  • Rockies' GM Dan O'Dowd said that they will only look at a one year deal for the arbitration eligible Jorge De La Rosa, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post.
  • ESPN's Keith Law writes that Indians' closer Kerry Wood could be a "nice pickup on the cheap for a team unwilling to go multiple years" on some of the free agent closers. Wood is owed $10.5MM in 2010, with an $11MM club option for 2011 that could vest based on games finished.
  • The Pirates intend to be more aggressive in Japan, says MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. Picking up Akinori Iwamura will help put the team on the radar of Japanese players looking to come to the U.S.
  • ESPN's Peter Gammons writes about the impact of the economy on the free agent market, among other things.
  • Giants' prospect Angel Villalona had his visa revoked by the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Villalona was charged with killing a man in the Dominican back in September.
  • Ben Kabak at River Ave. Blues takes a look at each of the Yankees' five arbitration eligible players.

Offseason Outlook: San Francisco Giants

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Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Giants.  Their likely commitments for 2010:

C – Buster Posey – $400K
C – Eli Whiteside – $400K
1B – Travis Ishikawa – $401K
2B – Freddy Sanchez – $6MM
SS – Edgar Renteria – $9MM
3B – Pablo Sandoval – $402K
IF – Kevin Frandsen – $410K
IF – Emmanuel Burriss – $404K
IF/OF – Eugenio Velez – $404K
LF – Fred Lewis – $440K
CF – Aaron Rowand – $12MM
RF – Nate Schierholtz -$401K
OF – Andres Torres – $400K

SP – Tim Lincecum – $650K+
SP – Matt Cain – $4.25MM
SP – Jonathan Sanchez – $455K+
SP – Barry Zito – $18.5MM
SP – Joe Martinez – $400K

Other candidates: Ryan Sadowski, Madison Bumgarner

RP – Jeremy Affeldt – $4MM
RP – Brian Wilson – $480K+
RP – Brandon Medders – $475K+
RP – Merkin Valdez – $401K
RP – Sergio Romo – $402K
RP – Dan Runzler – $400K
RP – Waldis Joaquin – $400K

Non-tender candidates: Ryan Garko

The Giants have about $62MM committed before arbitration raises to Lincecum, Sanchez, Wilson, and Medders.  I'm assuming Garko is non-tendered.  The pitchers' raises won't be cheap – they'll push the Giants up to the $80MM range.  The Giants entered the 2009 season with an $82.6MM payroll, and it's not expected to change drastically.  Nonetheless Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News suggested last month that the Giants have enough money to afford "one free agent starting pitcher and one modestly-priced free agent hitter."

Baggarly makes a good point, that the Giants really don't have the payroll space to dabble in the $15MM+ range of Matt Holliday or Jason Bay.  GM Brian Sabean at least has positional flexibility with possible acquisitions – the infield and outfield corners are all fair game.  Dan Uggla, Johnny Damon, and Mark DeRosa have already been named in various rumors.  The Giants are pretty weak at the corners aside from Sandoval, so importing two bats would be ideal.

With payroll looking tight, it doesn't make sense to bring catcher Bengie Molina back.  Instead, that money should be applied toward a starting pitcher to round out the rotation.  Rumor has it, the Giants hope to re-sign Brad Penny.  If he gets too pricey, there are plenty of similar free agents in the $5-8MM price range.  It appears that the Giants would like to give Bumgarner some Triple A seasoning.

Sabean has had his troubles at the top end of the free agent market, but last offseason he made shrewd minor league signings with Juan Uribe and Medders.  I didn't mind the Affeldt, Randy Johnson and Bob Howry signings either, so maybe the payroll limitations will work in the Giants' favor and give us the best of Sabean.

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