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Odds & Ends: Hawkins, Uribe, Hill, Hazen

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Here's a few links to end the night…

  • MLB.com's Brian McTaggart tweets that Astros GM Ed Wade said the team "is talking with LaTroy Hawkins, who wanted to see who the manager was going to be first." Hawkins will be a free agent this offseason for the fourth time in as many years.
  • Juan Uribe has informed the Giants that he plans to test the market, according to Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News.
  • MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles outrighted three players off their 40-man roster, including southpaw Rich Hill. Meanwhile, MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince says the Indians outrighted three players as well.
  • Tom Krasovic reports that Red Sox farm director Mike Hazen interviewed for a front office position with the Padres. Hazen has held the position with Boston since 2006, and used to play in San Diego's minor league system.
  • Here's this week's edition of Baseball America's minor league transactions. Lots of new names hitting the free agent pool, including Jack Taschner and Edgar Gonzalez.

Noah Lowry To Become A Free Agent

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According to Henry Schulman of The SF Chronicle, Giants lefthander Noah Lowry will become a free agent today after he is removed from the 40-man roster. Schulman said Lowry's agent was informed of the move today, who added that he is "completely healthy throwing three days a week on his normal offseason program without any restrictions."

Lowry hasn't appeared in a game since August of 2007 due to an arm injury, and Lowry's camp believes the Giants misdiagnosed and mistreated the injury. The 29-year-old was in the final year of his four-year, $9.25MM in 2009, and still has one more year of arbitration eligibility ahead of him.

Giants Re-Sign Freddy Sanchez

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5:31pm: Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the contract is worth $6MM a year, so $12MM total. Sanchez takes a $2.1MM pay cut in 2010, but ends up with more guaranteed money in the long run.

5:17pm: The Giants have re-signed second baseman Freddy Sanchez to a two-year deal, according to CSNBayArea.com. The terms of the contract have not been released.

The 31-year-old Sanchez hit .284/.295/.324 in just 107 plate appearances for the Giants after coming over from the Pirates at the trade deadline, missing time with a strained shoulder and a torn meniscus in his left knee. His $8.1MM option for 2010 did not vest, and the team decided that instead of picking it up or buying Sanchez out for $600K, they're better off renegotiating a new deal.

Odds & Ends: Bay, Damon, Josh Johnson

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More links for Thursday…

  • Jon Heyman of SI.com suggests (via Twitter) that the Red Sox might be willing to offer Jason Bay $60MM over four years. Heyman can see the Giants and, possibly, the Mets bidding more than that for the Canadian left fielder.
  • ESPN.com's Keith Law can imagine some team signing Johnny Damon to a three-year deal this offseason, but cautions that it's riskly to sign a player in decline to a long-term pact.
  • Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald had an interesting line at the end of his article yesterday - the Marlins are "preparing a multi-year offer for Josh Johnson." Earlier in the month, Ken Rosenthal said signing Johnson was the team's top offseason priority.
  • MLB.com's Joe Frisaro presents some of the options the Marlins are considering for their coaching vacancies. The team may hire longtime big leaguer Jamie Quirk.
  • Tyler Hissey of Around the Majors is unimpressed with this year's class of free agent first basemen. Adam LaRoche should be productive next year and the Mariners will likely want to bring Russell Branyan back if he's not too pricey, but there's no Mark Teixeira around this year.
  • Hissey responds to the Josh Johnson chatter, arguing that he's an elite pitcher worth investing in. He suggests a four-year $48MM deal would be fair for both sides. What kind of contract would you offer Johnson?

Odds & Ends: DeRosa, Mateo, Mets, Cubs

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A few links to click through before the Phillies and Yankees do battle in Game 1 of the World Series…

Aroldis Chapman Review

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With all the information swirling around about free agent lefty Aroldis Chapman, I thought a summary would be helpful.  Chapman has been declared a free agent and can sign at any time, though a deal is unlikely before the conclusion of the World Series.  One GM told Yahoo's Tim Brown in July, "I'm sure all 30 teams will be interested to some degree."  Nonetheless, let's look at specific suitors.

  • Red Sox:  They've been a top suitor from the start.  Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus says Chapman was scheduled to throw a bullpen at Fenway today but it was cancelled due to inclement weather.  ESPN's Peter Gammons believes Boston's signing of former Chapman teammate Jose Iglesias may impact the pitcher's decision.
  • Yankees: They've also been a top suitor from the start.  ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. said Chapman met with GM Brian Cashman and other Yanks officials at the October 25th playoff game and "had good conversations."  Several reporters see Chapman as another Yankees-Red Sox battle. 
  • Mariners: Add them to the list – our source says they'd like to meet with Chapman in the next week.
  • Cardinals: A scheduled October 26th meeting was cancelled due to the Tony La Russa announcement.  The meeting is expected to be rescheduled.
  • Orioles: They've maintained interest and are pushing for a meeting soon.  In September, president Andy MacPhail admitted interest to MASN's Roch Kubatko, but added, "If some of the big boys are going to go after him, like the Red Sox did with Dice-K, that's not a risk that I would be willing to take."
  • Mets: They met with Chapman on October 23rd.  The New York Post's Bart Hubbuch said the Mets were out after being told Chapman wants up to $60MM to sign.  I'm not so sure the Mets and Chapman actually discussed dollar figures.
  • Tigers: They've confirmed interest.
  • Angels:  Scouting director Eddie Bane admitted interest in July, but noted that Chapman's breaking pitches are not yet effective in talking to Mark Saxon of the OC Register.  Bane more recently told Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times that he'd need to see Chapman throw against live hitters before investing.  Chapman has mentioned L.A. as a place he'd like to visit.
  • White Sox:  Our source said they've expressed interest.
  • Cubs: Our source said they've expressed interest.
  • Athletics:  Named by Arangure Jr. as one of the teams "paying varying degrees of attention to Chapman."  Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle confirmed Oakland's interest but says they haven't met with him.
  • Giants:  Named by Arangure Jr. as one of the teams "paying varying degrees of attention to Chapman."
  • Dodgers: They aren't likely to be serious suitors, according to one of Arangure Jr.'s sources.
  • Blue Jays:  We named the Jays as an interested club, but GM Alex Anthopoulos told reporters that signing Chapman is "not realistic."
  • Astros: Owner Drayton McLane seemingly considers Chapman too pricey, based on his comments to Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle.

Odds & Ends: La Russa, Indians, Arguelles

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A few links to start your Sunday….

  • Tony La Russa didn't officially say he'll be back in St. Louis in 2010, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. But it sounds like he's leaning towards returning, and that an announcement could be made within a couple days.
  • Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that Bobby Valentine would be the best choice as an "impact" manager for the Tribe. He thinks that Manny Acta is the favorite though.
  • The Plain Dealer's Bud Shaw also gives his two cents on the Indians' managerial hunt, opining that Valentine's "outside-the-box interview strategy figures to backfire."
  • At least four teams are very interested in Cuban lefty Noel Arguelles, according to Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter). In the same tweet, McDaniel mentions that Wagner Mateo still looks headed to the San Francisco Giants.
  • Michael Baron of MetsBlog agrees with MLB.com's Marty Noble when he says the New York Mets have to address their need for a catcher.

Arangure On Perez, Mateo, Sano, Chapman

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ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. has the latest on a number of international prospects:

  • Felix Perez, who was suspended for a year after lying about his age, has been reinstated by MLB. The 24-year-old outfielder is eager to sign with an MLB team, though he won't receive a bonus worth as much as the $3.5MM the Yankees were prepared to hand over when they thought he was 20.
  • Wagner Mateo may be close to signing with the Giants, as Arangure said earlier in the week.
  • Pitcher Noel Arguelles is looking less impressive than he used to.
  • Miguel Angel Sano has a visa, so he's closer to beginning his career in the States.
  • Aroldis Chapman will meet with the Yankees eventually. For now, the Cuban lefty wants to see Yankee Stadium – as a fan.

Odds & Ends: Drew, Molina, Cards, Chapman

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Another round of links before the weekend…

  • WEEI.com's Alex Speier suggests J.D. Drew has been worth slightly more than the $42MM the Red Sox have paid him since 2007 because of his on-base skills and strong defense. Drew's no RBI machine, but GM Theo Epstein likes his hitting approach as-is. Considering the massive deals handed out to Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano and others after 2006, Drew's contract seems reasonable.
  • Jack Moore of FanGraphs expects Bengie Molina to draw interest this offseason and predicts that the catcher will be worth $4MM or more next year.
  • Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch says the Cardinals are in position to bring back their entire bullpen in 2010. The Cards expect Ryan Franklin to close once again next season. 
  • ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. reports (via Twitter) that Aroldis Chapman will meet with the Cardinals Monday before going to Boston Wednesday to meet with the Red Sox.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos tells MLB.com's Jordan Bastian that the Jays are talking to other teams about possible trades.

Mateo To San Francisco?

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ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure reports (via Twitter) that the Giants may be on the verge of signing 16-year-old Dominican prospect Wagner Mateo.   A deal could be finalized  "within [the] next couple of weeks."

Mateo was originally signed by St. Louis in June to a contract with a $3.1MM signing bonus, but the deal was voided by the club in September after medical tests revealed that the young outfielder was suffering from vision problems.  The entire situation is nicely detailed in this piece by Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, noting that Mateo's signing was an impressive victory for the Cardinals' rebuilt Latin American scouting operations.

In a tweet from last June, Arangure said that San Francisco came closest to signing Mateo away from St. Louis' grasp in the first place, but got "cold feet" offering a bonus of $3.5MM.  The Cards and Giants were two of several teams interested in the highly-regarded young outfielder.

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