Mariners Rumors

Nationals Still Targeting Strasburg

By Tim Dierkes | January 19, 2009 at 11:41am CDT

In a Saturday article, Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune explained how the Padres would like to bring righty Stephen Strasburg home with the #3 pick in the June draft. He wonders if the Padres could flash enough cash for Scott Boras to "steer Strasburg past the Nationals and Mariners."

Not to worry, Nationals fans. Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post says Strasburg remains atop the Nats’ list by a wide margin. Barring a major injury, the Nationals will draft Strasburg. As it usually is with Boras and most early draft picks, signability is a concern. However, Sheinin says the Nationals’ relationship with Boras improved with the Mark Teixeira negotiations.

Mariners Avoid Arb With Felix Hernandez

By Tim Dierkes | January 19, 2009 at 9:46am CDT

According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Mariners avoided arbitration with pitcher Felix Hernandez by signing him for $3.8MM for ’09. Chien-Ming Wang received $4MM in his first arb year, though he is a Super Two player so he goes to arbitration four times rather than three. Cole Hamels, also a Super Two, will receive $4.35MM for his first arb year in his newly-signed deal.

When the 2011 season comes to a close and Hernandez can file for free agency, he’ll be just 25 years old.

Cafardo’s Latest: Varitek, Sheets, Glavine

By Nat Boyle | January 18, 2009 at 12:12pm CDT

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has a new article up in this Sunday’s paper:

Mariners advisers have suggested bringing in Jason Varitek to improve the Seattle pitching staff.
"Arbitration-strapped" Philadelphia may have interest in Ben Sheets as he becomes a bigger bargain by the day.
Cafardo details the Kevin Youkilis contract extension, to the dollar.
Kris Benson will work out for the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rangers, and Cubs next Saturday.
Tom Glavine would entertain an offer from Washington.
If Atlanta takes on Andruw Jones, they would only have to take on $400K of the $21MM plus the Dodgers are paying him.

Odds & Ends: Brewers, Votto, Manny, Montero

By Nat Boyle | January 18, 2009 at 11:47am CDT

A handful of Odds and Ends from around the bigs:

The Brewers declined to offer a contract to any of the former players that attended their tryout camp last Tuesday in Phoenix, says Tom Haudricourt. Among the auditioning were Mark Bellhorn, Randall Simon, and Robert Fick.
Mariners new GM Jack Zduriencik may find his patience will pay off as bargains begin to emerge in the free agent market, says Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune.
Bill Madden of the NY Daily News breaks down the Manny Ramirez market, team by team, including notes on the Dodgers, Mets, Giants, Angels, Yankees, Nats, and Tigers. He notes that if the Yankees failed to land Mark Teixeira, they "were ready to go at least two years and an option for Manny." Madden expects to hear the word "collusion" any day now.
According to Tom Krasovic, the Padres have a chance at drafting Stephen Strasburg, a San Diego native, in the 2009 draft if the Mariners and Nationals pass on the pitcher.
Nick Piecoro of azcentral.com says the Diamondbacks are not budging on their price for Miguel Montero: "a legit impact player, like a solid starting pitcher or an everyday bat." The Red Sox remain interested, but Piecoro writes,

"It’s possible the Red Sox are using Montero as leverage to drive down [Jason] Varitek’s cost or get the Rangers to cave on their asking price for Jarred Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden."
"No chance," says GM Walt Jocketty that Joey Votto will be traded, according to John Fay of the Cincinatti Enquirer.

Odds and Ends: Putz, Mitsui, Varitek

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 9:45am CDT

Links for Friday…

Jacob Jackson proposes a new, simpler free agent compensation system.
Jon Paul Morosi says the Mariners wanted Fernando Perez from the Rays in the failed talks that would’ve brought J.J. Putz to Detroit. The Rays were unwilling to do this in part because B.J. Upton will be unavailable to start the season.
Koji Mitsui again failed to garner a bid from an MLB team.
Aaron Gleeman discusses the Twins’ decision not to use certain advanced statistics.
Tony Massarotti and Curt Schilling talk about the Jason Varitek situation.
Former GM Woody Woodward is back with the Mariners, as a scout. The Pirates added former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie as a senior advisor to Neal Huntington.
The Nationals have done little in the Japanese market, and they were never involved on Koji Uehara.

Griffey Talking To Four Teams

By Tim Dierkes | January 15, 2009 at 3:02pm CDT

John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer talked to Ken Griffey Jr.’s agent, Brian Goldberg. They’re talking to four teams, two in each league. The Mariners are one; the Reds and Rays are not. Nick Cafardo suggested the Nationals back on December 7th.

Fay believes Griffey could be signed for $3-4MM on a one-year deal. His knee is said to be healthy now following offseason surgery.

Mariners Non-Roster Invitees

By | January 14, 2009 at 7:23pm CDT

Here’s a list of the 17 players that the Mariners have extended non-roster spring training invites to this offseason, courtesy of MLB.com’s Jim Street:

RHP Denny Stark, C Jamie Burke, OF Freddy Guzman, C Adam Moore, RHP Eric Hull, RHP Chris Jakubauskas, LHP Chris Seddon, OF Prentice Redman, C Luis Oliveros, INF Callix Crabbe, INF Oswaldo Navarro, RHP Shawn Kelley, INF Chris Woodward, RHP Luis Munoz, RHP Tracy Thorpe, INF Chris Shelton and RHP Sean White.

Stark went 6-3 with a 3.86 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A last season. Burke has worked as the team’s backup catcher for the past two seasons, but wasn’t offered a big league contract at the end of ’08.

Odds and Ends: Lowry, Kawakami, Lowe, Young

By Tim Dierkes | January 14, 2009 at 11:38am CDT

Links for Wednesday…

Rany Jazayerli has withdrawn his support for Royals GM Dayton Moore.
Chris Haft says that if Noah Lowry has a nice spring, perhaps the Giants should trade him rather than Jonathan Sanchez.
Keith Law says Kenshin Kawakami should provide bulk innings for the Braves, while the risk with Derek Lowe is his age.
La Velle E. Neal III doesn’t get the sense the Twins are interested in Michael Young.
Jeff Wilson looks at the likely free agent options for the Rangers.
Peter Abraham suggests the Yankees don’t have sufficient rotation depth without Andy Pettitte or a similar veteran addition.
It was bound to happen sooner or later…a blog dedicated entirely to Scott Boras.
The Reds are looking for power off the bench…Mark Sheldon has suggestions.
A look at the Twins’ non-roster invitees.
Geoff Baker says the Mariners screwed up with Jarrod Washburn.

Odds And Ends: Padres, Manny, Braves

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 11, 2009 at 10:21am CDT

Links for Sunday…

John Moores will remain majority owner of the Padres for three or four years even if he agrees to sell the team to Jeff Moorad, according to Tom Krasovic. Major league executives say Padres CEO Sandy Alderson is likely to leave if Moorad takes over.
In a recent poll, Giants fans were divided on the idea of signing Manny Ramirez.
The Pirates haven’t offered Doug Mientkiewicz a contract.
Thomas Stinson looks at an offseason of "mediocrity" for the Braves.
Bobby Cox likes the looks of Kenshin Kawakami.
Larry LaRue asks who’s on first for the Mariners this year.
Joe Posnanski sees Adam Dunn and Willie Bloomquist as opposites in a way.
Michael Silverman compares the pre-Bronx careers of Mark Teixeira and Jason Giambi.

Odds And Ends: Johnson, Bloomquist, Smoltz

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 10, 2009 at 12:16pm CDT

Links for Saturday:

We knew Dan Johnson was heading to Japan, but now it’s official. He’ll play for the Yokohama BayStars and earn $1.5MM in 2009.
Rob Neyer writes that the Willie Bloomquist signing caps an offseason that’s cost the Royals a lot and left them with very little top talent.
Losing John Smoltz hasn’t been easy for the Braves.
MLB.com’s Tom Singer takes a look at some of the remaining free agent pitchers.
Buster Olney creates a team of the remaining free agents and it doesn’t look bad. He also has a fun idea for teams who want to sign a Type A free agent without losing their top pick.
Jim Johnson seems likely to start the season in the bullpen for Baltimore.
Peter Schmuck writes that at a low enough price it would make sense for the O’s to gamble on some pitchers to fill out the rotation.
Larry LaRue wonders whether the Mariners will hold onto Jamie Burke; Burke does too.

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