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Berkman Names Interested Teams

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Add the Cardinals, Pirates, and Blue Jays to the list of teams known to have at least kicked the tires on free agent Lance Berkman.  The first baseman/outfielder named those suitors in a conversation with Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle recently.  Berkman had already referenced the Athletics, Cubs, and Rockies in a November 23rd Ken Rosenthal article.  Berkman said at the time that eight teams had checked in.  The Astros don't have a spot for him, and the Rangers won't unless Vladimir Guerrero departs.

Berkman told Rosenthal he won't rule out a full-time DH job like the one the A's have open, but he'd prefer to return to the National League as a first baseman/outfielder.  Berkman plans to re-establish himself in 2011, blaming his power decline on his injured knee.

Berkman, who struggles against lefties, doesn't seem to be the ideal match for the Pirates.  Back in September, GM Neal Huntington talked about adding a right-handed first base bat who beats up on southpaws.  On the other hand, the Pirates aren't necessarily committed to Garrett Jones and that plan.  The Cardinals would be one club that could only offer an outfield corner for Berkman.  The Blue Jays have a crowded outfield but could use Berkman at first base or DH depending on where they like Adam Lind.

Odds & Ends: Rasmus, Gilbert, Nishioka, Hoffman

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MLBTR wishes all of its American readers a very happy Thanksgiving.  For those readers not from the USA…uh, happy Thursday!  Onto some news items:

  • "Three contending clubs" have a "persisting interest" in Colby Rasmus, tweets Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Strauss noted in a follow-up tweet that these are teams with a "new interest," so presumably that eliminates past suitors like the Braves, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks and White Sox.  The Rasmus rumor mill seemed to have petered out, with the most recent report stating that there was a 99% chance that Rasmus would still be in St. Louis next season.
  • Dennis Gilbert will not try to buy the Houston Astros, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com.  Gilbert led a group bidding for the Rangers earlier this year and has been rumored to be a potential future ownership candidate for the Dodgers.
  • The Twins are "very much in on" Tsuyoshi Nishioka, tweets Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman.  We heard last week that Minnesota had an interest in the Japanese infielder.
  • When Kevin Towers was general manager of the Padres, he planned to eventually bring Trevor Hoffman back to San Diego so the future Hall-of-Fame closer could retire as a Padre, tweets Fanhouse.com's Tom Krasovic.  Though Towers has moved on to Arizona, Krasovic says there's a chance Hoffman could still return to San Diego now that Sandy Alderson and Paul DePodesta are no longer with the organization.
  • Bill James talks to CBSSports.com's Evan Brunell about a variety of topics, including the new Mets front office, the Justin Upton trade rumors and what the Royals should do with Zack Greinke.
  • Joe Pawlikowski of the River Ave Blues blog wishes the Derek Jeter negotiations moved as smoothly as Mike Mussina's contract talks with the Yankees after the 2006 season.

Cardinals, Giants, Padres Interested In Tejada

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The Cardinals, Giants and Padres are expressing varying degrees of interest in Miguel Tejada, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes (link in Spanish). Some teams see Tejada as a shortstop and others see him as a third baseman, according to Rojas' source.

The 36-year-old played 58 games at short for the Padres after they acquired him from Baltimore, where he was playing third base. The Giants are focused on finding a shortstop and the Cardinals could use middle infield help.

Tejada could have earned a raise from his 2010 salary of $6MM had the Padres offered arbitration. The Padres did not offer arbitration, so teams will not have to surrender a pick to sign Tejada, a Type A free agent.

The six-time All-Star batted .269/.312/.381 with 15 homers between Baltimore and San Diego last year. He appeared in over 150 games for the 11th time in 12 seasons.

Cardinals Sign Raul Valdes

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The Cardinals signed lefty reliever Raul Valdes to a minor league deal, tweets Baseball America's Matt Eddy.  Valdes, 33 next month, made his Major League debut with the Mets this year.  He posted a 4.91 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 33.7% groundball rate in 58 2/3 innings.

Valdes struggled against lefties, who hit .330/.366/.625 against him in 94 plate appearances this year with four home runs.  On the other hand, he struck out 27 and walked only three against southpaws.    

Cardinals, Padres Interested In Bartlett

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The Cardinals and Padres are among the teams showing some interest in Jason Bartlett, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Nationals, Giants and Orioles also reportedly have interest in the Rays shortstop. 

As Morosi notes, we should soon learn which team won the bidding for Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Once the Rays know which teams missed out on Nishioka, they’ll be better-positioned to consider offers for Bartlett. 

The 31-year-old earned $4MM in 2010 and will likely earn over $5MM through arbitration in 2011, his final season before hitting free agency. After a 2009 season in which he hit .320/.389/.490, Bartlett slumped to .254/.324/.350 in 2010. His career line (.281/.345/.385) suggests he's capable of bouncing back in 2011.

Cardinals Remove Four From 40-Man Roster

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The Cardinals have removed Adam Ottavino, Nick Stavinoha, Daryl Jones, and Steve Hill from their 40-man roster according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach. All four players will now be exposed in next month's Rule 5 Draft. 

Jones, 23, hit .244/.335/.361 in 518 Double-A plate appearances this year. Ottavino, 25 on Monday, made five appearances with St. Louis this year (three starts), posting a 8.46 ERA with 12 strikeouts and nine walks in 22.1 innings. Hill, 25, received just three plate appearances with the Cardinals this year, hitting a home run for his first career hit. The backstop is a .289/.341/.510 hitter in the minors. They were ranked the 4th, 11th, and 24th best prospects in the team's farm system according to Baseball America's 2010 Prospect Handbook, respectively.

Stavinoha, 28, has received 278 plate appearances with the Cards over the last three seasons, hitting .234/.256/.325 with 54 strikeouts and just seven unintentional walks. He is a .301/.345/.469 hitter in almost 1,400 Triple-A plate appearances and has experience playing both outfield corners as well as first base. 

Latin Links: Tejada, Uribe, Feliz, Cuban Players

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Links from Spanish-language news sources…

  • Sources close to Miguel Tejada and Juan Uribe said the infielders will wait and see what kind of contract Derek Jeter signs before committing to anything on their own, according to ESPN Deportes' Enrique Rojas. Neither player is aspiring to Jeter-like money, Rojas writes, but they think Jeter will "establish the market value of veteran shortstops" and give their own respective values a boost. The Cardinals are supposedly interested in both players.
  • Neftali Feliz told Jose Caceres of Hoy he's heard rumors about the Rangers planning to move him to the rotation, but on the team's end, "Nobody has said anything to me." SI's Jon Heyman tweeted earlier today that the team would consider the move if they can't sign Cliff Lee.
  • Victor Mesa, a former Cuban National Team manager and one of the all-time greats of Cuban baseball, told the official government newspaper Trabajadores that the time has finally come for those in power to allow Cuban players to sign with foreign teams, conveys Diario de Cuba. "I think there could be incorporation [into foreign teams], so that they could spend eight years playing in our National Series and [sign] with our involvement, not independently," Mesa said. The most recent prominent player to flee the country is a speedy teenaged outfielder in the mold of Mesa himself: 17-year-old centerfielder Yasiel Balaguer, who arrived in Nicaragua a few days ago.

Heyman On Weeks, Matsui, Pujols

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SI's Jon Heyman is gathering all kinds of information at the GM Meetings; here's the latest…

  • Brewers GM Doug Melvin will talk to second baseman Rickie Weeks today about a possible extension, tweets Heyman.  The arbitration eligible Weeks is one year away from free agency.
  • Heyman tweets that the White Sox are talking to free agent designated hitter Hideki Matsui, who would fit as one of two lefty bats they hope to acquire.  The Sox have already had preliminary discussions with Adam Dunn's agent.  Heyman says the Cubs have not appeared to be big suitors for Dunn so far.
  • Regarding Albert Pujols, Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt does not want to repeat Alex Rodriguez's ten-year, $275MM contract.  In fact, he believes the Yankees would retract A-Rod's deal if they could.  Heyman floated an eight-year, $240MM deal to DeWitt, who questioned the $30MM salary.
  • Expensive closers Jonathan Papelbon and Francisco Cordero are on the trade market, with the Red Sox and Reds willing to kick in money.  Still, Heyman sees the Red Sox retaining Papelbon, whose trade market is weak.
  • Heyman could see something around three years and $57MM for Derek Jeter.
  • Heyman believes the Orioles are looking at Paul Konerko and/or Adrian Beltre for their corner infield openings.

At Least Four Teams After Brandon Webb

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The Dodgers, Pirates, Twins, and Rangers are interested in free agent righty Brandon Webb, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.  He adds that we should not rule out the Nationals, Reds, and Cardinals.

MLBTR speculated on the Cards recently, though they just tied up decent money in Jake Westbrook.  The Reds have an advantage in their proximity to Webb's Kentucky home.  On Monday, Webb's agent Jonathan Maurer provided MLBTR with a detailed look at Webb's late season throwing sessions.  Maurer said Webb is "ready to start 30 plus times in 2011" after shoulder surgery knocked him out for 2009 and '10.

Marlins Notes: Uggla, Pavano, Prado

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The Marlins wasted no time trading Dan Uggla this offseason, sending him to Atlanta for Omar Infante and Mike Dunn on Tuesday. The move came less than a week after the team broke off extension talks with their All Star second baseman due to a gap in negotiations.

Let's round up the latest Marlins' news in the wake of the trade…

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