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Sherman’s Latest: Dickey, Wright, Hunter, Upton

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Here's the latest from Joel Sherman of The New York Post…

  • The Mets are making progress, albeit slowly, in contract talks with David Wright and R.A. Dickey. The impression is that there is still a substantial gap in talks with Dickey, and they've been gauging his trade value during the GM Meetings. They are not doing the same with Wright, however.
  • The Yankees would not do a two-year deal worth $20MM or so for Torii Hunter since they want to get under the luxury tax threshold next year. They are fixated on one-year contracts this offseason and could fill their right field hole with a low-cost platoon.
  • "The Yankees are not on him," said a source about Justin Upton, in part because they're unsure if he's a good fit for New York (Twitter link). The Rangers and Rays are strongest early players for Upton, and Sherman gets the sense that the D'Backs want to act quickly (Twitter links).
  • The Diamondbacks want high-end, MLB ready players in return for Upton and would love to get Jurickson Profar or (more likely) Elvis Andrus from the Rangers. They don't love Mike Olt, however (Twitter links). GM Kevin Towers likes Yankees prospect Mason Williams, but he is several years away from the show and unlikely to be enough to headline a trade package (all Twitter links).
  • Next year's crop of free agent starting pitchers is weak, which could benefit Zack Greinke since teams won't be able to find a stopgap and reassess next year. Josh Johnson and Tim Lincecum highlight next winter's pitching crop, and both come with question marks.
  • The Mariners, who have young pitching, are said to be talking to the Royals and Twins, who have young hitting. Seattle would love to pry Wil Myers, Aaron Hicks, and/or Ben Revere loose.
  • Jason Bay didn't produce with the Mets, but he lived up to his billing as a hard worker and good teammate. Sherman expects the outfielder to take a low-salary, change of scenery deal (Twitter link).
  • Mets officials think Scott Hairston will get a two-year deal worth between $8-10MM this winter.

Zduriencik On Pitching, Trades, Safeco

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The Mariners successfully prevented their opponents from scoring in 2012 — just two American League clubs allowed fewer runs. However, no AL team had more trouble generating offense than Seattle, which finished last in the league in scoring. Will the Mariners swap arms for bats, or will moving the fences in at Safeco Field be enough? GM Jack Zduriencik checked in with MLBTR at the 2012 GM Meetings at Indian Wells, California. Here are some highlights…

  • The Mariners have lots of young pitching, and they’re not going to rule out the possibility of trading it to strengthen other areas of the team. “You have to keep your options open,” Zduriencik said. “At this stage people are feeling each other out, people are lining their ducks up in a row. All 30 clubs are doing this and everybody has their Christmas list if you will.”
  • Zduriencik will consider trades and free agency as the Mariners search for offense. “You never know what’s going to be out there,” the GM said.
  • Early on in the offseason, there’s “an awareness” from free agents that the Mariners will be moving the fences in at Safeco Field in 2013. “It certainly becomes a conversation piece and hopefully it helps us.”

Mariners Notes: Offense, Hernandez, Maurer

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Here's the latest from Seattle…

  • The Mariners are again looking to add offense this winter, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). He says free agent hitters are showing a greater willingness to sign with the team now that the Safeco Field fences are moving in.
  • "Think I'll carry around a recording: 'I am not trading Felix Hernandez'," joked GM Jack Zduriencik to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). This doesn't figure to be the last time we hear that this offseason.
  • Rosenthal says the Mariners view right-hander Brandon Maurer in the same light as top prospects Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker, and James Paxton (Twitter links). The 22-year-old pitched to a 3.20 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 137 2/3 innings in Double-A this year.

Mariners Claim Scott Cousins

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The Mariners claimed outfielder Scott Cousins off of waivers from the Blue Jays, his agency, Sosnick Cobbe Sports, announced on Twitter. The Mariners, who have confirmed the move, now have 37 players on their 40-man roster.

The Blue Jays claimed Cousins last month before designating him for assignment. The 27-year-old hit .163/.200/.267 in 92 plate appearances for the Marlins this past season.

Mariners Re-Sign Oliver Perez

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9:26pm: Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter) that Perez received $1.5MM with another $600K in performance bonuses.

9:04pm: The Mariners have re-signed Oliver Perez to a one-year contract, the team announced. Financial terms are unknown at this point. Perez is represented by Scott Boras.

“We are happy to have reached a mutual agreement with Oliver,” said GM Jack Zduriencik in a statement. "He did a very nice job in helping solidify our bullpen after his call up last summer. As a veteran left-hander, and one that had adjusted very nicely to his new role, we are looking forward to his contributions as we go into the 2013 campaign.”

Perez, 31, reinvented himself as a reliever with Seattle this year after not pitching in the big leagues since 2010. He posted a 2.12 ERA in 29 2/3 innings with 7.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 while actually faring much better against righties (.204/.279/.296) than lefties (.281/.328/.351). Perez regained some velocity in relief and average 93.7 mph with his fastball in 2012.

Quick Hits: Berkman, Myers, Mariners, Rays, Rockies

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Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow says that he will be in contact with Lance Berkman this winter, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.  “Lance can still produce at the Major League level,” said Luhnow. “He’s a guy a lot of clubs are going to be interested in. We’ll have a conversation with him and see where it goes.”  It seemed as though Berkman was leaning towards retirement but late last week the veteran said that he would keep his options open and listen to any offer that comes his way.  With the Astros shifting to the American League, the 36-year-old could be a solid fit as a DH.  Here's more from around baseball..

  • As he gets set to hit the open market, right-hander Brett Myers says that he would be open to either working as a starter or reliever, writes Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com.  “I’ve got the mentality, I want to pitch,” Myers said. “Whichever way a team wants me to go I’ll do. I think I’ve proven I can start. I’ve proven I can do both. Hindsight is 20/20. Some teams might like me in the bullpen. Some might like me as a starter. It’s up to the team.”  The White Sox were evaluating Myers as a potential starter before they declined his $10MM option for 2013.
  • Mariners GM Jack Mariners GM Zduriencik says that he expects to have more money available than the $85MM the team opened 2012 with, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times tweets.  The M's agreed to a two-year contract extension with right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma earlier tonight that includes an option for 2015.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if the Rays might look to trade Jeremy Hellickson rather than the more expensive James Shields.  While Hellickson is still quite affordable and won't be eligible for arbitration until 2014, he is a Scott Boras client and not likely to sign a club-friendly extension anytime soon.
  • The Rockies won't decide on their managerial situation this weekend and are set to interview Matt Williams on Monday, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

Mariners, Iwakuma Agree To Extension

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11:30pm: Iwakuma's deal is worth at least $14MM over two years, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  The right-hander will get $6.5MM in 2013, $6.5MM in 2014, and a $1MM buyout if his $7MM option for 2015 is declined.

10:13pm: The Mariners announced that they have agreed to a new deal with right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma that will extend him through 2014 with an option for 2015.  Iwakuma is a client of the Wasserman Media Group.

Seattle had exclusive negoatiating rights with the pitcher through tomorrow night.  If General Manager Jack Zduriencik did not reach agreement with Iwakuma by the deadline then the hurler would not have been able to pitch until May 15th.

The M's inked Iwakuma to a one-year, $1.5MM deal last year and did well in his debut MLB season.  The 31-year-old 3.16 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 16 starts and 14 relief appearances.

Mariners Links: Woodward, Iwakuma, Payroll

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Here's the latest from Seattle….

  • Chris Woodward has retired from playing and has been hired as the Mariners' minor league infield coordinator, according to a team press release. Woodward was a 54th-round raft pick of the Blue Jays in 1994 but managed to play 12 seasons in the majors with the Jays, Mets, Braves, Red Sox and Mariners, usually as a backup infielder.  The 36-year-old played with the Mariners in 2009-10 and spent last year at the Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.
  • A clause in Hisashi Iwakuma's contract gives the M's exclusive rights to the right-hander through Saturday, reports MLB.com's Greg Johns, whereas other free agents are available to other teams at 11 PM CST on Thursday.  The extra day of exclusivity comes at a price, however, as if the M's re-sign Iwakuma after their extended negotiating period, Iwakuma wouldn't be able to pitch until May 15.
  • Also from Johns' mailbag piece, he notes that the M's will look to increase payroll from last year's $83MM total and that the club could look to sign a veteran catcher on a minor league deal to add some depth given that Jesus Montero will primarily be a DH next year.
  • Larry Stone of the Seattle Times disagrees with Tim Dierkes' prediction that none of the top 50 free agents will sign with the Mariners this winter, arguing that the M's will have enough available payroll space to sign at least one notable free agent.

West Links: Haren, Greinke, Hunter, Scutaro, Affeldt

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The Angels traded Ervin Santana to the Royals earlier today, the first of what figures to be many moves out of Anaheim this offseason. Here's the latest on baseball's two West divisions…

  • The Angels are still working to trade Dan Haren and expect to move him by Friday, reports ESPN's Jim Bowden (Twitter links). Haren will bring a much bigger return that what they received for Santana, adds Bowden.
  • Angels GM Jerry Dipoto acknowledged that "in all likelihood we weren't going to exercise (Santana's) option … We got piece we didn't have," reports Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter).
  • Re-signing Zack Greinke is a "huge priority" for the Angels, says Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. Part of the club's motivation to move Santana (and Haren) was to free up money for Greinke.
  • The Angels are showing no inclination of making Torii Hunter a $13.3MM qualifying offer by this Friday's deadline, reports USA Today's Bob Nightengale (on Twitter). The Halos will not receive draft pick compensation if Hunter signs elsewhere in that case.
  • Marco Scutaro told Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com that his first choice this offseason is to re-sign with the Giants (Twitter link). When asked what kind of contract he was seeking, the infielder joked "15 years, three thousand million dollars."
  • "There's a market established," said Jeremy Affeldt to Baggarly in reference to Brandon League's new contract (Twitter link). The veteran southpaw said he will cherish his time with the Giants if he doesn't re-sign with them.
  • Oliver Perez pitched to a 2.12 ERA in 29 2/3 relief innings for the Mariners this year, and he told MLB.com's Josh Liebeskind that he enjoyed his new role and would like to remain in the bullpen going forward. Perez will be a free agent this offseason.
  • The Dodgers will hire Bob Engle as their Latin America scouting director, reports Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun (on Twitter). Engle left the Mariners this month and had previously worked with the Blue Jays as well. He's responsible for signing Roy Halladay and Felix Hernandez as amateurs, among others.

Sherman on Mets, Phillies, Cabrera, Olivo, Shoppach

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Even in the middle of the World Series, baseball people continue to talk about embattled Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  News on Cabrera and other notes from today’s column..

  • Sherman spoke with a group of baseball executives about where Cabrera will sign and the Mets and Phillies both came up regularly.  The Mets could look to Cabrera as corner outfield insurance against Jason Bay and Lucas Duda if he is affordable.  Such a move would make even more sense if they are unable to retain Scott Hairston.
  • The majority of the execs see Cabrera winding up with a one-year deal in the $2-$5MM range to audition himself.  One exec could see him getting $10-$12MM while another said he could possibly get one year at $8-10MM.
  • The Mets are unlikely to obtain catcher Kelly Shoppach and they are instead eyeing free agent Miguel Olivo.  When the Mets were combing the trade market for catchers this summer, the Mets had Olivo as a secondary candidate to the Rockies’ Ramon Hernandez before ultimately trading for Shoppach. The Mariners announced on Wednesday that they would not pick up Olivo’s $3MM option for 2013.
  • Yankees officials never saw Cabrera as a negative influence on Robinson Cano the way that people outside of the organization did, but he doesn’t look to be a great fit regardless.  The Yankees might not be able to offer the certainty of playing time that Cabrera will need to rebuild his value.
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