Mariners Rumors

Odds & Ends: Hudson, Red Sox, Bedard, Mets

By Mike Axisa | February 7, 2010 at 8:19pm CDT

A Super batch of links..

In a piece for Fangraphs, Dave Cameron writes that the Twins are in the mix for the best offseason in baseball. Earlier this week, Minnesota agreed to a one-year deal with Orlando Hudson for just $5MM and appear to be close to locking up Joe Mauer.
Even former Met Darryl Strawberry offered up a critique of the Mets' quiet offseason, writes Newsday's David Lennon. Strawberry said that the offseason "could have been better," when asked about it. Lennon's piece looks at some offseason targets that never became a reality for New York.
Following up on yesterday's news that Bobby Kielty is converting to a pitcher, MLBTR heard from Kielty himself via email. Kielty says his ultimate goal is to be a right-handed bat off the bench and eat up some relief innings if necessary. He threw some bullpens for the Mets last season and has thrown for Oakland as well. Kielty says he reads MLBTR every day. Thanks for the support, Bobby!
Peter Abraham has the full list of players who will be with the Red Sox in training camp this year.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reports that Erik Bedard seriously considered an offer from the Orioles similar to the deal he signed to return to Seattle.
Joel Sherman of The New York Post spoke one agent about the Mets, who said "How can you have that payroll and still not have a starting catcher or first baseman, a second baseman you hate and no legitimate starters after Johan?”
Paul Lo Duca is unlikely to accept a minor league assignment if he doesn't make the Rockies, reports Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post. Colorado signed Lo Duca to a minor league deal in January.
Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that Pirates' GM Neal Huntington admitted that there are "a lot of rumblings" that prospect Jose Tabata might actually be in his mid-20's. Tabata's listed age is 21, and ESPN's Keith Law ranked him as the 57th best prospect in baseball last month. The Pirates originally acquired Tabata from the Yankees in 2008 as part of the Xavier Nady–Damaso Marte trade.

Cafardo’s Latest: Beckett, Red Sox, Twins, Lowry

By Mike Axisa | February 7, 2010 at 9:49am CDT

The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo has plenty of rumors from around the league for us this morning, so let's round them all up…

The Red Sox are likely to use Roy Halladay's three-year, $60MM deal "minus $6 million-$8 million" as a guideline for a potential Josh Beckett extension rather than John Lackey's five-year, $82.5MM deal. The reason being that they have some concern about the long-term health of his shoulder.
If another team comes offering Beckett big money after the season, the Sox will move on just as they did with Jason Bay. They could then look into free agents like Cliff Lee, who they pursued at the trade deadline, or even Ben Sheets and Brandon Webb if they bounce back from injury problems of their own.
With all of their additions this offseason, the Twins' payroll will jump from $65M to about $96M as they move into Target Field this year. GM Bill Smith said it will be up to manager Ron Gardenhire to determine how they use Jim Thome, and that they did their homework on Orlando Hudson's left wrist, which has given him trouble the last few seasons.
Minnesota's payroll will be larger than the Dodgers' this year.
The Red Sox watched Noah Lowry's recent workout, but "don't appear interested in signing him."
Dodgers' third base coach Larry Bowa said he knows that Manny Ramirez still wants to play another three or four years.
Two big league executives feel that the Giants and Tim Lincecum will settle on a contract before an arbitration hearing.
One reason the Cubs signed Kevin Millar was to loosen up the clubhouse after the Milton Bradley fiasco last season.
Drayton McLane is reportedly seeking $700MM to part with the Astros, but it's tough to see someone coming up with that when the Rangers sold for approximately $575MM.

Mariners Re-Sign Erik Bedard

By Tim Dierkes | February 6, 2010 at 10:55am CDT

The Mariners officially re-signed Erik Bedard today to a one year deal worth $1.5MM guaranteed with a mutual option for 2011 worth $8MM. Incentives based on games and time in the majors could bring the total payout in 2010 close to $8.5MM, and there are similar escalators for 2011 as well. The southpaw started throwing at his Navan, Ontario home last month, and said the Mariners were his "first choice."

Bedard, 31 in March, believes he could be pitching in May after having surgery last August to repair a frayed labrum and inflamed bursa in his throwing shoulder, though a June or July return may be more realistic. He'd previously had a shoulder procedure in September of '08 to remove a cyst. The Mariners were satisfied enough with his physical to go forward with the deal.

Hip and arm injuries have limited Bedard to just 30 starts and 164 innings since initially coming to Seattle in a six-player blockbuster with the Orioles two years ago, however those were high quality innings: 3.24 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 3.87 FIP. Once healthy, he'll slot in behind Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee to form a potent 1-2-3 punch in the Great Northwest.

GM Jack Zduriencik has been a very busy man this winter. In addition to bringing back Bedard, he also imported in Lee, Chone Figgins, Milton Bradley, Eric Byrnes, Brandon League, Ryan Garko, and Casey Kotchman while locking up Hernandez and Franklin Gutierrez to long-term deals. The Orioles, Royals, and Red Sox also had varying degrees of interest in Bedard this offseason.

MLB.com's Jim Street initially reported the agreement, while Marc Brassard of Le Droit confirmed the deal and the terms. Kirby Arnold of The Everett Herald, Larry LaRue of The News Tribune, Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com (Twitter), and Larry Stone of The Seattle Times (Twitter) added details along the way.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

Mariners Designate Yusmeiro Petit For Assignment

By Mike Axisa | February 6, 2010 at 10:47am CDT

The Mariners have designated righty Yusmeiro Petit for assignment according to a team press release. The move opens up a roster spot for the newly re-signed Erik Bedard.

The 25-year-old Petit was claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks back in November, and owns a 5.57 career ERA with a 6.9 K/9 and a 2.9 BB/9 in 229.1 innings. His 1.96 HR/9 is the worst in baseball history among pitchers with at least as 200 innings to their credit.

Odds & Ends: Jackson, Norman, Dye, Lester, Manny

By Mike Axisa | February 5, 2010 at 9:13pm CDT

Some links for Friday night…

MLB.com's Steve Gilbert tweets that the Diamondbacks and Edwin Jackson have made no progress towards reaching an agreement to avoid arbitration. A hearing is set for February 17th.
Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette passes along a report from the independent St. Paul Saints that says that the Pirates have signed 25-year-old outfielder Anthony Norman to a minor league deal.
Several executives told Morosi that they expect Jermaine Dye to sign with an AL club, though no one's sure which one.
WEEI.com's Alex Speier says that Jon Lester's contract is one of the biggest bargains in baseball when you look at the deals Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander just received. Lester signed a five-year deal last March that guaranteed him at least $30MM.
Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times wonders if 2010 could be the final year of Manny Ramirez's career. If so, he has a chance to be just the eighth player in history to retire with a career OPS over 1.000.
ESPN's Keith Law says that the Orlando Hudson signing is a major upgrade for the Twins, likely enough to make them preseason favorites in the AL Central.
Meanwhile, Law thinks it's too risky for the Diamondbacks to give Mark Reynolds a multi-year contract right now. The two-sides have been discussing such a deal recently.
Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com says the Mets are more likely to sign a pitcher rather than another catcher this month.
Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle has some quotes from Travis Buck regarding his standing with the A's following all of their outfield additions, and adds that the team has found some interest in Dana Eveland and Gregorio Petit, both of whom were recently designated for assignment.

Odds & Ends: Nationals, Hudson, Brewers, Guzman

By Zachary Links | February 4, 2010 at 10:35pm CDT

Thursday night linkage..

With Hudson having agreed to a deal with the Twins, Jon Heyman of SI tweets that he anticipates the Nationals considering Adam Kennedy.
Jarrod Washburn is only considering two teams at present – the Twins and the Mariners. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports writes that if he doesn't receive an offer from either club or expand his list, the 35-year-old hurler may retire.
Orlando Hudson would be a great fit for the Twins, writes Rob Neyer of ESPN. Neyer writes that the extra one or two wins that Hudson's addition represents are worth at least $3MM. However, according to Buster Olney, Hudson has been offered a one-year pact worth $5MM.
Despite Travis Buck's reported dissatisfaction with the organization, A's GM Billy Beane is not looking to move the outfielder writes Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.
Spurred by the recent pickups of Joe Inglett and Marco Estrada, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com takes a look back at the Brewers' best waiver wire moves in recent years. One of the best hidden gems was one of GM Doug Melvin's earliest acquisitions, Scott Podsednik.
The Orioles have signed Joel Guzman to a minor league deal, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. The 25-year-old, once one of baseball's top prospects, will not receive an invite to Spring Training. In 108 games with the Nationals' Double-A affiliate last season, Guzman hit .281/.352/.447 with 12 HRs.

Odds & Ends: Everidge, Lincecum, Lewis, Manny

By Tim Dierkes | February 3, 2010 at 9:23pm CDT

Links for Wednesday…

Tommy Everidge cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma according to the Pacific Coast League transactions page. The Mariners designated Everidge for assignment last week to make room on the roster for Eric Byrnes.
Various agents think the Giants and Tim Lincecum will somehow avoid an arbitration hearing regardless of how poorly talks are going, reports MLB.com's Chris Haft.
The Astros signed 18-year-old Nicaraguan first baseman Mesac Laguna yesterday, reports Roger Olivas of El Nuevo Diaro.
Free agent journeyman Nelson Figueroa hopes to return to the Mets but wants to avoid the minors, reports Angel Pinto Vaamonde of the blog BeisbolVenezolano.net. Thanks to Nick Collias for translations on these two bullets.
Colby Lewis heard from 12 or 13 teams before signing with the Rangers, reports ESPN's Tim Kurkjian. The A's and Twins also offered two-year deals.
Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball explains how an arbitration hearing works. Hearings are scheduled through February 21st, with Tim Lincecum's case drawing the most attention.
Manny Ramirez "seriously considered opting out of his contract to return to the American League for a designated-hitter role," reports MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. The idea seems silly now, but in November it wasn't ridiculous to think Manny might've preferred to chase, say, a two-year, $32MM deal elsewhere.
Bill Shanks of Scout.com talked to Braves assistant GM Bruce Manno, who replied "Never say never" when asked about Johnny Damon. Still, Manno likes the club as it stands. And MLB.com's Mark Bowman believes the Braves are not actively pursuing Damon.
Rany Jazayerli examines a "delusional" quote from an anonymous Royals official regarding the team's 2008-09 offseason.
Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says the Blue Jays should have significant payroll flexibility after the 2010 season.
MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince doesn't see Orlando Hudson as a fit for the Indians.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Wednesday

By Tim Dierkes | February 3, 2010 at 2:38pm CDT

With hearings set to begin, expect more arbitration settlements…

The Mariners reached an agreement with first baseman Casey Kotchman, reports MLB.com's Jim Street. Larry Stone of The Seattle Times tweets that he will be paid just over $3.5MM in 2010, which is exactly the midpoint of the two filing figures.

Orlando Hudson Rumors: Tuesday

By Tim Dierkes | February 2, 2010 at 3:00pm CDT

3:00pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson talked to Adam Kennedy, who said the Nationals "basically let us know that they are kind of waiting on Orlando." Hudson earned about $7MM last year after incentives and seemingly isn't ready to accept the inevitable pay cut. He's not coming off an injury this time, but it may be difficult to top last year's $3.38MM guarantee.

9:04am: The Mariners "remain a long shot candidate" to sign free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi admits that some roster maneuvering would be necessary to accomodate Hudson, as the Ms already have Jose Lopez at second and a full slate of position players. I should add that whether Hudson is an upgrade over Lopez overall is an open question.

Morosi names the Nationals, Indians, and Twins as Hudson's other suitors. We learned yesterday that the Twins are serious, while the Rockies are out.

Does Verlander Deserve More Than Felix?

By Tim Dierkes | February 2, 2010 at 12:16pm CDT

The Tigers are "increasingly optimistic" about signing Justin Verlander to a long-term deal, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Felix Hernandez's five-year, $78MM deal is being used for comparison, but Morosi feels Verlander might be aiming to top that with either a larger guarantee or a sixth year. What's more, Morosi feels Verlander is justified in asking for more money than Felix.

Morosi appears to be using the simplistic arbitration hearing-type stats to make his case – wins, All-Star appearances, and even no-hitters. But this is not a hearing decided by three baseball rubes. Consider:

Hernandez is almost three years younger than Verlander.
Hernandez has a better career ERA, ERA+, and FIP.
They're similar (Hernandez being slightly better) in career innings, strikeout rate, walk rate, and home run rate.
Regarding Verlander's seven extra career wins in six fewer starts, look at run support. Verlander has received 5.2 runs scored per start, Felix 4.3.

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