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Zduriencik On Mariners Offseason

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Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik says the Mariners are looking to acquire starting pitching depth, relief help, a backup shortstop and offense this offseason. Here are more of Zduriencik's updates on the Mariners from an afternoon conference call with reporters:

  • Zduriencik declined to comment on negotiations with specific free agents, including Prince Fielder (the Mariners are interested). The GM said the Mariners may turn to the free agent market for offense if they can match up with available players in terms of years and dollars.
  • "We will explore several options, even trades," he said. "But there aren't any promises on these things. You don't know where you're going to end up at."
  • The Mariners are looking forward to bounce-back years from Franklin Gutierrez and others who struggled with injuries in 2011.
  • Zduriencik will explore ways of adding starting pitching, but feels that arms such as Taijuan Walker, James Paxton and Danny Hultzen give the Mariners pitching that may contribute soon.
  • "When you look at some arms that are pretty close and you look at some arms we have in the Major Leagues, we have some pretty strong assets here," he said.
  • The Mariners will again be a young team in 2012, but the front office will likely add some veterans to complement the existing group.
  • Zduriencik expects restrictions on spending in Latin America to have more of an effect after this year. He likes the options on the international free agent market, but isn't promising to sign any of them.
  • "There are some nice pieces out there," he said. "But they're not going to come inexpensively."

Mariners Interested In Prince Fielder

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The Mariners are interested in Prince Fielder and will explore a potential deal with the slugging free agent first baseman. GM Jack Zduriencik, who drafted Fielder as the Brewers’ scouting director, told MLB.com’s Greg Johns that the Mariners may be able to afford a major expenditure such as the 27-year-old Scott Boras client.

"There's no question we could use a big bat in the middle of our lineup, but where is your limitation and threshold?,” Zduriencik asked. “We'll go down that road and experiment and see where it ends up, but until things get more definitive, we'll just have to wait and see."

Zduriencik cautioned that the Mariners will have to take the pace of the market into account, as well as Fielder’s asking price. Should the market for Fielder drag, it may become difficult for Seattle to allocate resources to other areas of need. The Nationals, Cubs and Brewers are also known to be interested in Fielder.

Morosi On Fielder, Randy Wells, Guthrie

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A "tense three-week period that will shape [baseball's] landscape for the following year" begins today, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  His latest:

  • Agent Scott Boras has pared down Prince Fielder's sales pitch binder but still has 70 pages worth, he tells Morosi.  Morosi says Fielder's suitors are believed to be the Cubs, Nationals, Rangers, and Mariners.
  • The Cubs are open to moving Randy Wells, indicates Morosi as he lists available starting pitchers.  Wells, 29, is under team control through 2014.  MLBTR projects him to earn $2.2MM in 2012.  
  • The Angels and Orioles discussed the possibility of a Jeremy Guthrie trade in recent days.  Guthrie, 33 in April, projects to earn $8.3MM in 2012 before hitting free agency.
  • Japanese players including righty Hisashi Iwakuma, lefties Tsuyoshi Wada and Wei-Yin Chen, and second baseman Kensuke Tanaka can begotiate with MLB teams after free agency in Japan begins Thursday.  The Yakult Swallows intend to post outfielder Norichika Aoki after the Winter Meetings, adds Morosi.

Quick Hits: Jaso, Orioles, Byrnes, Rivera

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Sunday evening linkage..

  • Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner takes a look at the newest member of the Mariners, John Jaso.  The M's traded pitcher Josh Lueke to the Rays for Jaso earlier this evening, and Cameron likes the move for Seattle.
  • The Orioles have hired Gary Rajsich of the Blue Jays to be the club's new amateur scouting director, an industry source told Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.  Rajsich, 57, has been with the Blue Jays since 2009 but spent most of his scouting career with Boston, where he worked with O's GM Dan Duquette.
  • Don Norcross of the San Diego Union-Tribune spent some time with Josh Byrnes and found that the recently-appointed Padres GM is extremely optimistic about the club's future.  When speaking to Norcross in his Petco Park office, Byrnes had one of his computer screens locked to MLBTradeRumors.
  • Yankees skipper Joe Girardi says that he isn't so sure that this will be Mariano Rivera's final season, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.  The closer will celebrate his 42nd birthday on Tuesday.
  • Bud Selig, the same commissioner who canceled the World Series in 1994 in order to crush the union, deserves props for seeing the error of his ways and dramatically changing them, writes Ken Davidoff of Newsday.  However, Davidoff isn't a fan of the limits on amateur spending and doesn't see the point of HGH testing.
  • On the other hand, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald argues that the newly-implemented HGH testing is a striking example of how far the sport has come in recognizing its issues with performance-enhancing drugs.  
  • Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer likes that MLB will be adding an additional wild card team in each league.  The new system, he writes, puts an emphasis on winning the division, which only brings integrity to the 162-game season.

Mariners Acquire John Jaso From Rays

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The Mariners have acquired catcher John Jaso from the Rays in exchange for right-handed pitcher Josh Lueke and a player to be named later or cash considerations, according to a team press release.

“[Jaso] gives us a left-handed hitting catcher with some big league time who is still young,” Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said in the release.  “His left-handed bat will be a nice compliment to our right-handed hitting group. He’s a tough kid with postseason experience and should be a nice fit with us.”

Last season marked Jaso's first full campaign in the Major Leagues and the 28-year-old hit .224/.298/.354 with five homers in 273 plate appearances.  Jaso took over the Rays' catching job in 2010 as a rookie and hit .263/.378/.372 on the year.

Lueke, who turns 27 on December 5th, made 25 appearances for the Mariners last season and posted a 6.06 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9.  In 42 career Triple-A games, Lueke owns an ERA of 2.56 with 8.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9.

The right-hander was part of the 2010 trade that sent Cliff Lee to the Rangers.  After the trade, it was revealed that Lueke had trouble with the law in 2008 and the M's were not aware of this when they made the deal.

Minor Moves: Eric Fryer, Mariners

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Here are today's minor moves…

Minor Moves: Braves, Loewen, Garrison

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The latest minor moves from around MLB via Matt Eddy of Baseball America…

  • The Braves have signed 14 players to minor league contracts according to a press release, including righty reliever Adam Russell, utility man Drew Sutton, lefty reliever Dusty Hughes, and infielder Josh Wilson. The full list can be found here.
  • The Mets signed outfielder Adam Loewen, according to Eddy. Loewen, the fourth overall selection in the 2002 draft, successfully completed the transition from left-handed pitcher to outfielder in 2011. He posted a .306/.377/.508 line with 46 doubles at Triple-A before appearing in 14 games with the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays removed the Surrey, British Columbia native from their roster after the regular season, but maintained some interest in him.
  • The Mariners signed left-hander Steve Garrison, according to Eddy. Garrison, 25, appeared in one game for the Yankees this past season and posted a 5.58 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 as a starter in the minors.
  • The Red Sox signed right-hander Will Inman and left-hander Justin Thomas for bullpen depth, according to Eddy.
  • The Twins re-signed left-hander Phil Dumatrait, according to Eddy.

Latest On Andrew Bailey

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4:43pm: The Mariners have inquired on Bailey, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).  Olney suggests the A's will definitely move the reliever this offseason.

12:48pm: The A's are very willing to trade Bailey, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.  He notes that the Phillies had interest before they signed Jonathan Papelbon.

11:19am: A Reds source agrees that Alonso is way too much for Bailey, writes MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.  Sheldon notes that starting pitching is a more pressing need for the Reds than a closer.

9:00am: The Reds are talking about a possible deal for Athletics closer Andrew Bailey, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  The A's are interested in Yonder Alonso, tweets Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM and ESPN.com.  The Reds have a need at the back end of their bullpen, with Francisco Cordero entertaining offers as a free agent.  The Blue Jays are also known to have Bailey on the radar.

Bailey, 27, posted a 3.24 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.6 HR/9, and 37.1% groundball rate in 41 2/3 innings this year.  He missed time with an oblique injury in 2010, and also had elbow surgery in September of that year.  Effects of the procedure caused him to miss most of the first two months of the 2011 campaign.

Bailey is under team control through 2014, and we project him for a reasonable $3.5MM in 2012 as he'll be arbitration eligible for the first time. 

Quick Hits: Mills, Madson, Twins, Danks, Prado

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On a day when the Blue Jays adopted a familiar-looking "new" logo, here are some news items to carry us into the weekend….

  • If the Astros fire Brad Mills, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports believes Mills could reunite with Terry Francona as the latter's bench coach for a future managing vacancy.  Morosi also lists Rangers executives A.J. Preller and Thad Levine and Rays executives Andrew Friedman and Gerry Hunsicker as wish list candidates for Jim Crane if he removes Ed Wade as Houston's general manager.  It would be the second stint as Astros' GM for Hunsicker, who ran the team from 1996-2004.
  • Ryan Madson could be one of several free agents to lose his Type A status under the rules of the new collective bargaining agreement, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.  Such an adjustment would help Madson, as clubs with unprotected first-round draft picks currently have to give up that pick in order to sign the closer.
  • Twins GM Terry Ryan tells Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that Denard Span and Ben Revere won't be traded this winter.  Minnesota could lose both Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel to free agency this offseason.
  • The White Sox didn't add Jordan Danks to their 40-man roster, and Jim Margalus of the South Side Sox speculates that this could be a hint that Chicago is preparing to part ways with John Danks.  The elder Danks brother has drawn strong interest on the trade market.
  • The Braves "seem to undervalue [Martin Prado's] skills," writes Fangraphs' Jason Roberts, who thinks Atlanta may not get proper market value in exchange for the utilityman in a deal. 
  • Right-hander Darrell Rasner has signed a new contract with the Rakuten Golden Eagles, reports NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman.  Matt Sosnick, Rasner's agent, tells Newman the contract is worth $1.5MM plus performance bonuses.  Rasner last appeared in the majors as a Yankee in 2008 and has pitched for Rakuten ever since.
  • The Blue Jays, Cardinals, Mariners, Red Sox and Twins are all listed as possible suitors for Kelly Shoppach by ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).
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