Mariners Avoid Arb With Bedard, Heilman
4:16pm: Ryan Divish says the Ms reached an agreement with Heilman.
1:26pm: According to Larry LaRue, the Mariners avoided arbitration with pitcher Erik Bedard by signing him for ’09 at $7.75MM plus $650K in incentives. LaRue believes they’re close to a deal with Aaron Heilman.
Rosenthal On Roberts, Hudson, Counsell
Let’s take a look at the latest from Ken Rosenthal.
- The Orioles have their ears open Brian Roberts, whose trade value has diminished as he nears free agency. The White Sox can’t afford him, the Braves are reluctant to give up talent, and the Cubs didn’t discuss him in the Felix Pie talks. The Roberts market may improve once Orlando Hudson signs.
- Rosenthal’s source says the Michael Young–Jermaine Dye discussions did take place. If you read Dave van Dyck’s article, Ken Williams never specifically denied talks with the Rangers.
- Rosenthal believes that if the Cubs make another big move, it’ll be a Jake Peavy trade. They’re not in on Hudson.
- The Dodgers have roughly $50MM in payroll flexibility right now.
- The Giants may be looking at Manny Ramirez, but they’ve also looked in trades for hitters – "presumably" Prince Fielder or Corey Hart included. Those talks with the Brewers didn’t go far. The Giants may be willing to move Jonathan Sanchez, but the Jorge Cantu talks have stalled.
- So far the Dodgers and Russell Martin have only talked about a one-year deal.
- The Mariners are Brewers are eyeing Craig Counsell.
- The Ms "likely are willing" to trade Aaron Heilman.
Nationals Still Targeting Strasburg
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.