Cardinals, Giants, Padres Interested In Tejada
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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…
- The Marlins repeatedly increased their contract offer to Uggla, tweets Clark Spencer of The Miami Herald, but he never backed down from five-years, $71MM. The original offer was four years and $48MM.
- Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post says (via Twitter) that the Fish had substantial trade talks with five teams about their second baseman.
- The Cardinals had interest in Uggla but balked at the Marlins' asking price of Colby Rasmus, tweets Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says (via Twitter) that the Blue Jays had the most early interest in Uggla, offering prospects RHP Josh Roenicke, RHP Danny Farquhar, and either SS Ryan Goins or OF Darin Mastroianni.
- MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez tweets that Marlins exec Larry Beinfest said the money that would have gone to Uggla will be spent elsewhere, and not coincidentally Carl Pavano is now an option for them according to Capozzi (Twitter link).
- Meanwhile, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says Florida originally asked Atlanta for Martin Prado in exchange for their second baseman, but later settled on Omar Infante.
Cardinals Re-Sign Jake Westbrook
The Cardinals have re-signed Jake Westbrook to a two-year contract with a mutual option for 2013 worth a guaranteed $16.5MM. The deal includes a full no-trade clause that was given in exchange for a non-guaranteed third year.
Westbrook, 33, joined the Cardinals in a three-team trade that sent Ryan Ludwick to the Padres and prospects to the Indians at the deadline. He pitched to a 3.48 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 75 innings for St. Louis. After missing the 2009 season due to Tommy John surgery, Westbrook's overall season looked very much like the rest of his career: an ERA in the 4.20's and lots of innings (202 2/3 to be exact).
The new deal will pay the right-hander $8MM in 2011 and $8.5MM in 2012. The 2013 option calls for a $8.5MM base salary, though he'll receive a $1MM buyout if the team declines the option. If Westbrook declines the option, he'll receive no buyout.
Ed Price of AOL FanHouse reported the agreement (via Twitter) while FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal and MLB.com's Matthew Leach provided the contract details (Twitter links).
Wainwright’s 2012, 2013 Options Affected By Cy Vote
With today's second place Cy Young finish, Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright took a major step toward seeing his 2012 and 2013 contract options become guaranteed. The options will become locked in if he does not finish the 2011 season on the disabled list, reports MLB.com's Matthew Leach. He'll earn $9MM in '12 and $12MM in '13, plus award bonuses for his Cy Young votes. Thanks to Mike Lutz for pointing this out via Twitter, and to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the details.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak signed Wainwright to a team-friendly extension in March of 2008, during a brief period where double club options were popular. Had Wainwright not signed the deal, he would have been arbitration eligible for the third time this winter and eligible for free agency after '11. Wainwright doesn't appear to have any regrets; in fact, he told Leach and other reporters today he hopes to finish his career in St. Louis.