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Odds & Ends: Mora, Edmonds, Nelson

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Saturday linkage…

  • With Orlando Cabrera "leaning towards" accepting an offer from Cincinnati, Troy Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies are "a finalist" in the hunt for Melvin Mora.  Renck reports that Colorado, Texas and Seattle are the most interested parties.
  • Jim Edmonds tells MLB.com's Adam McCalvy that Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told Edmonds on Wednesday that "he didn't see a fit" for the outfielder in St. Louis.  Edmonds signed with Milwaukee a day later.
  • Righty Joe Nelson is attracting interest from the Dodgers, Nationals, and Red Sox, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  The journeyman reliever broke through with the Marlins in 2008, posting a 2.00 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 54 innings.  His 2009 with the Rays was less than spectacular, but the 35-year-old points to his performance outside May, as he had a 2.38 ERA in the 10 games prior and a 1.40 ERA in 20 games after.
  • Jonny Gomes and the Reds are close to agreeing to a deal, according to ESPN.  Yesterday, GM Walt Jocketty confirmed that the club offered a minor league deal to the 29-year-old outfielder.  Gomes proved to be one of the best minor league signings of 2009, hitting .267/.338/.541 with 20 HRs in 98 games.
  • The Padres have set an arbitration date with outfielder Scott Hairston, though they hope to reach an agreement beforehand, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com (via Twitter).  Brock writes that the two sides could come to terms next week.
  • ESPN's Jorge Arangure (via Twitter) gets the feeling that Cuban prospect Jose Julio Ruiz may sign this week or shortly thereafter.  Ruiz – who has reportedly garnered interest from the Red Sox and Tigers – was "unblocked" by the Office of Foreign Asset Control yesterday, allowing him to sign with a major league club.

Odds & Ends: Hart, Yankees, Baldelli, Ruiz

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A few Friday night links…

Infield Market Hinging On Hudson?

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FRIDAY, 8:32pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports that Hudson is looking for $9MM, but the Nationals are only willing to pay him a third of that. GM Mike Rizzo has spoken to Hudson recently, however they talked about how he would fit with the team, rather than dollars and years.

THURSDAY, 3:15pm: Chico Harlan of the Washington Post hears that the Nationals are waiting on Hudson's decision.

10:32am: Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports suggested yesterday three teams are in on free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson.  Today, Rosenthal says six teams are "showing varying degrees of interest."

The Nationals are one of those clubs, though MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that Hudson's price is still too high and they're considering either going internal or signing Adam Kennedy or Orlando Cabrera.

Rosenthal indicates Hudson is the "linchpin" of the free agent infield market, with the fates of Kennedy, Cabrera, Felipe Lopez, and Melvin Mora tied to Hudson.  Regarding Mora, a Rosenthal tweet has the Rangers, Rockies, Mariners, and Reds in the mix.

Rosenthal's list of teams that are or could be looking for infield help includes the Nats, Twins, Reds, Tigers, Rockies, Mariners, Rays, and Cardinals.  Morosi likes Kennedy as a match for Detroit.

Mariners Sign Eric Byrnes

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The Mariners have signed outfielder Eric Byrnes to a one-year deal, according to a team press release.

Arizona released the 33-year-old earlier this month after he hit just .218/.271/.382 in 482 plate appearances during the first two seasons of the three-year, $30MM extension he signed prior to the 2008 season. The Diamondbacks are still on the hook for Byrnes' $11MM salary in 2010, less whatever the Mariners are paying him (likely the league minimum).

To make room for Byrnes on the roster, Seattle designated first baseman Tommy Everidge for assignment, reports Ryan Divish of The Tacoma News Tribune (via Twitter). They had just claimed Everidge off waivers from the Athletics two weeks ago.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Mets, Damon, Burrell, Lopez

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On this date two years ago, the Mets and Twins agreed to a five player deal sending two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana to New York. The Mets and Santana had a 72-hour window to finalize a contract extension, and the two sides eventually agreed to a six-year, $137.5MM contract to make the trade official. Santana has given the Mets over 400 innings of 2.78 ERA ball, while just one of the four players the Twins received in the deal is still with the organization.

Here's some links from around the baseball blogosphere…

  • Blogging Mets isn't sure where the Mets can turn for pitching help now that Jon Garland and Ben Sheets are off the market.
  • The Baseball Opinion wonders if the Sheets and Justin Duchscherer signings were calculated moves by Billy Beane made with the intention of flipping both at the trade deadline.
  • Royals Authority takes a look a Kansas City's crowded outfield.
  • Camden Crazies goes through some different roster permutations for the Orioles.
  • The Sports Banter comes up with some possible destinations for Johnny Damon.
  • Meanwhile, U.S.S. Mariner thinks Damon would be a cost effective way to upgrade Seattle's roster.
  • Rays Index takes the latest Rays' rumors as a sign that they're still trying to trade Pat Burrell.
  • Pro Ball NW gives us five reasons why the Mariners should trade Jose Lopez.
  • TAUNTR chimes in on some of the latest hot stove news.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Mets To Re-Sign Fernando Tatis

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THURSDAY, 6:30pm: The Mets and Fernando Tatis have reached agreement on a one-year deal, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. 

Terms of the agreement are currently unknown, but Puma writes that the 35-year-old will earn less than the $1.7MM he made last season.  However, a baseball source indicates that with incentives, Tatis could approach that figure.

3:00pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com says (via Twitter) that the Mets will sign Tatis. This means Carlos Delgado will have to look for a job elsewhere.

WEDNESDAY, 6:46pm: Adam Rubin of The New York Daily News says a deal should be wrapped up "shortly." 

6:06pm: The Mets are deep into negotiations with Fernando Tatis, reports Mike Puma of The New York Post. A deal could be reached within a matter of days.

GM Omar Minaya contacted Tatis' agent today, and indicated that he wants an answer soon. Tatis earned $1.7MM in 2009, and Puma says he wants a comparable contract for 2010. A deal would seem to eliminate the possibility of a Carlos Delgado return. Puma mentions the Rockies and Mariners as other clubs that have expressed interest in the free agent. 

The 35-year-old Tatis hit .282/.339/.438 with just eight homers in 379 plate appearances last year, though he did see time at six positions. He will be forever remembered as the first (and only) player in Major League history to hit two grand slams in one inning, off the same pitcher no less.

Odds & Ends: Mariners, Giants, Wakefield

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A wrap-up of some items on this busy Tuesday evening…

  • Larry Stone of the Seattle Times looks at some of the free agents left on the market and wonders if the Mariners will be enticed to make one more move this winter.  Neither Stone nor MLB.com's Jim Street think an Erik Bedard return is likely. 
  • Chris Haft of MLB.com covers a number of Giants-related topics in a mailbag, including how outfielder Fred Lewis "appears to have fallen out of favor with the organization" and "probably needs a change of scenery."
  • Tim Wakefield tells CSNNE.com's Art Martone that he intends "on being one of the five starters" in the Boston rotation next season.
  • SI.com's Jon Heyman reports that the Chuck Greenberg/Nolan Ryan-led ownership group paid a cool $570MM for the Rangers.
  • Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was told by Brewers GM Doug Melvin that he is "working on one other thing….It would be a minor-league deal."  Haudricourt speculates that Milwaukee is looking for a left-handed reserve outfielder and former Brewer Gabe Gross could be an option.
  • The Dodgers are another team looking for a lefty backup outfielder, tweets MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
  • MLB.com's Mark Bowman says that a recent Chipper Jones comment about Atlanta possibly bringing back Javier Vazquez after 2010 is "wishful thinking" on the part of the Braves superstar.  Bowman discusses a few other topics in the mailbag piece, including the wisdom of the Braves buying out the arbitration years of Jair Jurrjens and/or Tommy Hanson.
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter) says that Robb Quinlan was a reserve option for the Twins if they hadn't signed Jim Thome.  The right-handed Quinlan might have fit into the Minnesota bench a bit better than Thome, but if you had to pick between the two, I think most people would give Thome the nod.

Twins, Mariners Are Atop Washburn’s “Wish List”

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With the likes of Ben Sheets and Jon Garland now signed, FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi provided an update on Jarrod Washburn, one of the few high-profile arms left on the rapidly-dwindling free agent pitching market.  Morosi quotes one source who said that Washburn only wants to play in “a limited number of places,” and another source who says he "would be surprised" if the lefty went anywhere besides Minnesota or Seattle. 

The Twins have made one attempt to sign Washburn: an offer worth roughly $5MM that was rejected earlier this month.  Given Minnesota's signing of Carl Pavano to serve as the veteran anchor of their rotation, Washburn would've been a luxury that the Twins may feel that they can live without. 

As for the Mariners, we've heard some whispers that they might be interested in bringing Washburn back to the city where he pitched from 2006 to last year's trade deadline.  The M's have already spent a lot of money this offseason, but Washburn might be enticed to return to a familiar situation for a contract akin to the one he turned down from Minnesota.  Then again, Washburn is a Scott Boras client, so a bargain could be hard to come by.

Another source tells Morosi that six teams "have inquired" about Washburn.  Aside from Minnesota and Seattle, we've heard Washburn linked to such suitors as Milwaukee (who are probably out of the running after signing Randy Wolf and Doug Davis), Kansas City and the Mets.  Morosi also points out that the Cubs could join the Washburn sweepstakes in the wake of missing out on Sheets.

Mets Rumors: Catcher, Smoltz, Sheets, Delgado

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Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News has the latest on the Mets.

  • The Mets are said to be 50-50 on whether to use internal catching options or sign Yorvit Torrealba or Rod Barajas.  The current favorite to start is Omir Santos, projected to hit .247/.296/.359 by CHONE.
  • The Mets are "very likely to add one more starting pitcher," writes Rubin.  John Smoltz, Ben Sheets, and Jon Garland are the names under discussion.  The Smoltz talks are described as "active dialogue."  We learned earlier today that the A's appear to be a top competitor for Sheets, while SI's Jon Heyman believes the Rangers and Mariners are also in the mix.  Heyman tweets that the Mets "don't appear to be the frontrunner for Sheets at the moment."
  • Rubin considers a Carlos Delgado re-signing to be "not overly likely" due to concerns about Delgado playing first base.  Instead, the Mets could bring Fernando Tatis back.

Odds & Ends: Tigers, Rangers, Lee, Matthews

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Saturday linkage…

  • White Sox GM Ken Williams said that the club proposed a long-term deal to Bobby Jenks before signing him to a one-year contract, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter).
  • Tigers' GM Dave Dombrowski admitted that they were "probably too liberal in giving long-term contracts to players," tweets MLB.com's Jason Beck. However, Dombrowski did say they want to sign Justin Verlander, presumably long-term (via Beck's Twitter).
  • MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan tweets that there's a strong chance the sale of the Rangers could be completed today.
  • At his introductory press conference, Cliff Lee said he was hoping to be wowed by Seattle and the Mariners, and if he is, he would be open to re-signing there according to Larry Stone of The Seattle Times. When asked about his next contract, Lee joked "I want a 10-year deal for about 200 billion. Nah, I don't know."  
  • Tom Gage of The Detroit News writes that the Tigers have five lefty relievers on their roster, so don't be surprised if one of them gets traded. Bobby Seay might be the most vulnerable of the five (despite being the most established) because he'll make $2.475MM in 2010 and lefties hit him better than righties last year.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to several people in the game about the Mets picking up Gary Matthews Jr., and the general thought is that he "can't hit for average, can't hit for power, his defense ranks statistically among the worst outfielders in the majors, and, to top it off, rival scouts have been reporting that in recent years he has been a clubhouse negative."
  • Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald has some quotes from Red Sox principal owner John Henry about the team's offseason.
  • Free agent reliever Oscar Villarreal will throw for teams next Friday, tweets Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. He last pitched in the majors back in 2008 with the Astros.
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