Odds And Ends: Alvarez, Cameron, Nats
A few links for Thusrday night…
- Pedro Alvarez, who was drafted by the Red Sox in 2005, remembers thinking about signing with Boston in an article by Alex Speier on WEEI.com.
- Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal heard from Theo Epstein and Terry Francona about building a winning team. Epstein said the Sox have a history of making room for young talent, but Francona added that there’s never room for all the youngsters.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Mike Cameron was preparing himself to be traded this offseason and considers it "a blessing" to be in Milwaukee.
- Ironically, Mark DeRosa, who was actually traded, didn’t see it coming at all according to this article by Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- ESPN.com’s Buster Olney spoke with a number of baseball people who say "baseball’s internal code of conduct is strengthening." Players who act out aren’t getting away with it as often.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post reports that Nationals president Stan Kasten didn’t comment directly on whether we should expect any more dismissals within the organization soon.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News heard from Giants president Larry Baer that the team doesn’t consider the Edgar Renteria and Jeremy Affeldt signings mistakes.
- And bad news out of Colorado: The Rocky Mountain News will publish its final edition Friday.
Dodgers Make New Offer To Manny Ramirez
WEDNESDAY, 11:45pm: I was just thinking, this contract offer is not unlike A.J. Burnett‘s opt-out clause. The Dodgers would have Manny on a one-year, $25MM deal, plus an option that cannot possibly work in their favor.
7:29pm: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports makes a good observation:
Boras did not immediately accept the offer, but a source said he delivered the offer to his client – a sign of progress because the first two offers were dismissed immediately by Boras.
7:18pm: Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times says the player option came at Boras’ request.
7:05pm: Jackson reports that the Dodgers have offered Manny a two-year, $45MM contract.
From what I understand, though, there WON’T be a deal tonight, Jackson writes. The offer is a two-year, $45 million contract, with salaries of $25 million the first year and $20 million the second, but the second year is a PLAYER option so Manny can walk away if he believes he can get more on the open market next winter. If he is injured during the first season, the second year becomes guaranteed. Boras and Co. have taken it under advisement, and the club is expecting a response early tomorrow.
6:12pm: Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News chimes in:
Gurnick wrote earlier today that they are meeting, and I have been able to semi-confirm that, as well as semi-confirm the fact that said meeting is taking place at Dodger Stadium. What I can tell you, from my own observations, is that people are behaving strangely, or at least at odds with their normal behavior. This could be it, folks. Stay tuned. It might be a long evening.
5:38pm: Gurnick has made an update to his most recent story.
Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt and GM Ned Colletti did, in fact, meet with agent Scott Boras during the team’s first spring game Wednesday. Gurnick calls it "the most serious attempt to date to sign" Ramirez.
4:37pm: MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick notes that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti was absent from the team’s first exhibition game. Might be Manny-related; might not.
9:08am: ESPN’s Buster Olney believes Manny Ramirez remains unsigned because of his behavior in Boston:
The primary reason for [the lack of interest in Manny], unquestionably, is the sport-wide perception that he did not honor his contract in Boston, and went to extraordinary depths to get himself out of that contract. These are not the on-background musings of a couple of rogue scouts, or the chortlings of conspiracy-theorist sports writers. This is the cemented belief of many executives with many teams, reinforced by Ramirez’s sudden transformation into a high-energy player as soon as he moved from the Red Sox to the Dodgers.
In my opinion, the primary interest for the limited Manny interest is his asking price. At a time when solid corner outfielders are signing for $10MM per year tops, Manny wants more than twice that salary and at least three years guaranteed. I think if Ramirez and Boras were willing to take a reasonable two-year, $30MM deal, there’d be five more teams in on him.
Offseason In Review: San Francisco Giants
The offseason is not quite over, but things are obviously winding down. Let’s kick off a new series called Offseason In Review. We’ll go team-by-team through March. First up is the San Francisco Giants; take a look at what we had to say on September 1st.
Additions: Randy Johnson (one year, $8MM), Edgar Renteria (two years, $18.5MM), Bob Howry (one year, $2.75MM), Jeremy Affeldt (two years, $8MM), Ramon Ortiz, Rich Aurilia, Juan Uribe, Brandon Medders, Francis Beltran, Luis Perdomo, Josh Phelps, Justin Miller
Subtractions: Jose Castillo (August), Omar Vizquel, Ray Durham (July), Kevin Correia, Tyler Walker, Brad Hennessey, Vinnie Chulk, Erick Threets
In September I figured the Giants had $12-13MM to spend, but they spent more than $20MM in guaranteed ’09 salaries. The fans have to appreciate that.
The Giants’ biggest need was offense, especially in the infield. The no-risk moves to bring in Aurilia and Phelps could help a bit. But the big addition, Renteria, wasn’t money well-spent. The Giants signed him on December 4th, and it’s fair to say that no one was predicting Orlando Hudson would sign for 20.5% of the guaranteed money Renteria did. Brian Sabean is not alone, but he did not read the market well here. It’s true that the best free agent hitters were outfielders and the Giants are flush with those, but you can’t argue that the offense hasn’t improved much over the winter.
The Giants spent $13.75MM for ’09 on Johnson, Affeldt, and Howry, and I liked all three additions. Despite the presence of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, the Giants’ pitching needed help. If Johnson stays healthy and Jonathan Sanchez replicates his first-half performance, they’ll have one of the best rotations in the league.
Bottom line: thumbs up on the pitching additions, but that Renteria money would’ve been better spent on a bat or two.
Odds & Ends: Arbitration, Bay, Manny
Links for Tuesday…
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball has all the info and analysis about this year’s salary arbitration class you could possibly need.
- The updated June draft order from Baseball America.
- Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe discusses Jason Bay‘s future.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney provides analysis of the Manny Ramirez situation in this video.
- More Hardball looks at the best minor league contracts of the offseason.
- RotoAuthority discusses the possible fantasy impact of those from Baseball America’s top 100 list who have a 2009 ETA.
Giants, Twins To Take A Chance On Marte?
The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes believes the Giants and Twins "are the two teams that would probably have interest in Andy Marte."
Marte, a 25 year-old third baseman, was designated for assignment on Thursday. The Indians now have nine days to either trade, release or outright him. As Hoynes notes, both the Giants and Twins are seeking a third baseman and Marte, "young and inexpensive, would fit nicely into their payrolls."
The Giants or Twins could claim him on waivers, take a look at him in camp, and release him at the end of spring training because he’s out of options, adds Hoynes.
Twins, Crede Reach Impasse
According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins and Joe Crede/Scott Boras have reached an impasse in contract talks. Crede’s been rumored to want a $7MM base salary; I’m guessing the Twins are probably thinking he deserves about half that. Twins players support the idea of a Brian Buscher/Brendan Harris platoon.
Yesterday Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News said the Giants aren’t confident about signing Crede but they do maintain interest.
Multiyear Talks For Lincecum?
7:24pm: MLB.com’s Chris Haft also spoke to Lincecum’s agent, Rick Thurman. Despite being at Giants’ camp Thurman has no immediate talks scheduled with the team. Thurman spoke about the possible length of a multiyear deal anyway:
Thurman explained that in Lincecum’s case, he and the Giants might negotiate by forecasting his performance and corresponding salary levels for the next five seasons, which would take him into his free-agency eligibility.
1:57pm: According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, Tim Lincecum‘s agent is at the Giants’ camp and has already had preliminary discussions about a long-term deal for his client. Lincecum is likely to be a Super Two player, meaning he’ll be arbitration-eligible four times instead of the standard three. Cole Hamels‘ deal could be a model, in my opinion.
Giants Maintain Interest In Joe Crede
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the Giants are still keeping an eye on free agent third baseman Joe Crede.
Special assistant Ron Schueler, who attended Crede’s workout last week, said the free-agent third baseman looked pretty agile while taking ground balls and his back appeared to hold up fine in the cage, writes Baggarly. Schueler noted that Crede appeared stronger in the upper body.
The Twins also remain interested in Crede, but talks haven’t progressed too far with that club either. At last check, the 30-year-old Scott Boras client was still seeking $7MM guaranteed, plus around $4MM in incentives. That kind of asking price obviously isn’t going to entice too many teams.
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Tuesday
3:07pm: A little bit of info from Colletti, by way of Tony Jackson:
Specifically, I asked him if the club has made any offers beyond the two we already know about…He said no more offers had been made. Dylan Hernandez from the Times then asked, "Has there been a counteroffer?’" and Ned said, "Sort of.” He wouldn’t comment beyond that, but it’s clear he was talking about a proposal that was so far out of the Dodgers’ range as to be unrealistic.
On the Giants side, Henry Schulman makes a clarification:
At the end of this post, I write the Giants "are waiting to see what happens," but I am told that they, too, are continuing a dialog with agent Scott Boras on Manny — on the good ‘ol telephone.
9:34am: SI.com’s Jon Heyman talked to Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who said:
"We continue to talk. I wouldn’t say we’ve made progress. Hopefully, the conversations will lead to progress."
8:13am: A rumor made the rounds last night that Giants president Larry Baer was to meet with Scott Boras and/or Manny Ramirez in San Francisco. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle checked into it, and it was bogus. They did not meet.
The truth is less exciting:
So calm down, folks. Nothing has changed. The Dodgers and Boras continue to talk, often, while the Giants are waiting to see what happens.
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Monday
8:03pm: As reported by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp did a bit of campaigning today for Manny:
"I compare him to Kobe Bryant," said Kemp. "He makes everybody around him better. Manny’s the Kobe Bryant of baseball. Of course we want him back and of course we need him. He’s a freak."
2:08pm: Everyone’s getting a bit tired of the Manny Ramirez stuff these days, but we do have an amusing link from yesterday courtesy of MLB.com’s Chris Haft. Haft spoke to Giants reliever Billy Sadler, who spent the offseason working out with Manny. Ramirez apparently picked up Sadler’s tab at Athlete’s Performance in Florida. Sadler had this to say about Manny’s future:
"It was funny. He came in a couple of times and said, ‘Billy, I’m going to be a Giant!’"