White Sox-Bobby Abreu Rumor
Yesterday ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick wrote that the White Sox "floated the possibility of a one-year $8MM contract" for Bobby Abreu this week, and that flotation caused talks to stall. One obstacle in the Sox signing Abreu is Jermaine Dye and the $11.5MM he has coming. It makes little sense for a team to give up prospects for Dye when they could just sign Abreu or Adam Dunn for a similar amount.
Today Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times confirmed that no official offer was made to Abreu, and heard from a Sox source who called the rumor "BS" and suggested Abreu’s agent Peter Greenberg "is trying to drum up interest for his player."
White Sox Make Offer To Bobby Abreu?
2:33pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says the White Sox "floated the possibility" of one year and $8MM to Abreu’s agent Peter Greenberg, and then talks stalled. The Sox haven’t made progress in trading Dye, which would be necessary to sign Abreu.
Sox GM Ken Williams on Abreu, with another odd blog-related barb for good measure:
"He is a great player and can help any club. But I just have stopped responding to every blogger’s post."
2:09pm: The Daily Herald’s Scot Gregor talked to a White Sox source who "dismissed the rumor."
9:25am: According to Roger Rubin of the New York Daily News, the White Sox offered a one-year, $8MM deal to free agent outfielder Bobby Abreu. If the Sox are able to sign Abreu, you’d have to think Jermaine Dye or Jim Thome would be traded.
Abreu has also been linked recently to the Braves, Mariners, Dodgers, and Giants.
Odds and Ends: Hearings, Anderson, Selig
Links for Monday…
- MLB.com’s Tom Singer looks at the effects of arbitration hearings on players. He found that most players don’t experience a post-hearing performance decline, but they do change teams at the first opportunity.
- MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer says the Angels and Ervin Santana are $725K apart with a hearing scheduled for later this month and "no progress" according to GM Tony Reagins.
- The Tigers are hopeful about bridging the $950K gap with Justin Verlander.
- Athletics Nation’s conversation with MLB.com’s Mychael Urban, Part 2.
- Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald wouldn’t be surprised to see the White Sox trade Brian Anderson.
- Murray Chass reflects on the Homestead camp for unsigned players heading into the 1995 season.
- Commissioner Bud Selig earned $18.35MM in the last fiscal year, according to Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal.
- The latest minor league transactions from Baseball America, including the Nationals’ signing of Alex Cintron and the Rockies’ addition of Scott Munter.
- Even with a new stadium, the Marlins will continue to prefer going year-to-year with most players.
Guillen Offers Updates at SoxFest
8:30pm: Gonzales has another story up on the Tribune’s site with regard to Guillen and the Chicago White Sox.
Guillen said catcher A.J. Pierzynski will remain the No. 2 hitter in the lineup, according to Gonzales. Guillen also said Pierzynski will remain the primary catcher, which curbs suggestions that the Sox will go after free agent Ivan Rodriguez.
Guillen also reiterated what pitching coach Don Cooper has stated: Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Danks and Bartolo Colon (if healthy) will man the first four rotation spots.
Indications are that prized left-hander Aaron Poreda has an excellent shot at making the Opening Day roster, even if he doesn’t beat out Clayton Richard or Jeff Marquez for the fifth starter’s spot, Gonzales writes.
Guillen told Gonzales that he expects Wilson Betemit to be capable of playing all four infield positions. That, and outside Jim Thome, the White Sox do not have a true backup first baseman for Paul Konerko.
Scott Merkin of MLB.com was also there. He notes that minor league director Buddy Bell said Beckham has the ability to play any position.
5:30pm: Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune that 2008 No. 1 pick Gordon Beckham will likely need to change positions.
Guillen expects Alexei Ramirez to be the team’s shortstop for the foreseeable future.
Ramirez, 27, hit .290/.317/.475 with 21 home runs and 77 RBI in 136 games in 2008 — his first year in the Major Leagues.
Of those 136 games, Ramirez spent time at second base (121 games) and at shortstop (16).
Perrotto’s Latest: Position Battles, Roberts, Pudge
John Perrotto’s Every Given Sunday column is up over at Baseball Prospectus. This week, he takes a look at some of the position battles teams will face entering Spring Training. And, as always, there’s some interesting items in his Rumors & Rumblings section. Let’s take a look:
- Some of the more interesting position battles mentioned: 1B/DH/RF in Oakland (Daric Barton, Jack Cust, Jason Giambi, Aaron Cunningham, and Travis Buck all in the mix), Tampa’s closer if Troy Percival gets hurt or falters (Dan Wheeler, J.P. Howell, Grant Balfour), and the White Sox rotation behind John Danks, Mark Buerhle, and Gavin Floyd (Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Bartolo Colon, Jeff Marquez).
- Brian Roberts still wants a four-year deal before Spring Training starts up, or he’ll cut off negotiations. Does Roberts make more sense as a cornerstone in Baltimore or as a trade chip?
- Perrotto feels Tom Glavine will inevitably re-sign with the Braves.
- The White Sox have minor interest in signing Ivan Rodriguez as a backup for A.J. Pierzynski. I’m sure Pudge would prefer a starting gig, but at this point, it’s tough to be picky.
- We’ve heard a lot about the Orioles having interest in Rich Hill lately, but Perrotto reminds us that the Mariners are interested in the 28-year-old lefty as well.
White Sox Quiet About Yasser Gomez
White Sox GM Ken Williams was asked about 28-year-old Cuban center fielder Yasser Gomez at SoxFest today. Are the White Sox interested? Williams said, "I don’t think he is a get. It might be counterproductive [for Gomez’s agent Jaime Torres] to deal with just one team." On the other hand, Mark Gonzales says Williams "tried to dance around" a question about Gomez by saying, "We’re looking at a lot of players."
Gomez, a speedy outfielder and career .331 hitter in Cuba, hit .397 over a 66-game span in Cuba’s 2008 national series tournament. In a video earlier this month from Newsday, the Cuban defector expanded on his Major League dreams.
White Sox Done With Free Agent Market
An AP report posted at ESPN.com says the White Sox are not expecting to sign any more free agents.
This means the White Sox will go with one of either Chris Getz, Brent Lillibridge or Jayson Nix at second base in 2009, as 2008 second baseman Alexei Ramirez moves to shortstop.
White Sox Proving Cautious With Spending
White Sox officials told CBSSports.com’s Danny Knobler that owner Jerry Reinsdorf presented a bleak economic picture at the start of the offseason and that the club is "comfortable going young."
GM Ken Williams elaborated on the point: "We have to be cautious, if for no other reason that so we don’t have to play all day games because we can’t afford the electricity. This is such a volatile time, and people are going to look at their discretionary spending."
It sounds like the Southsiders won’t be chasing any of the major free agents that are still on the market. Their biggest move this offseason was the signing of 35-year-old Bartolo Colon.
White Sox Rumors: Garland, Dye
Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald has some White Sox info this evening.
- White Sox GM Ken Williams considered attempting to re-sign Jon Garland, but decided against it due to money as well as the possible emergence of Jeff Marquez. Williams "would rather save that money for a possible in-season addition," says Gregor.
- Gregor has touted the idea of the Sox signing Ivan Rodriguez as a backup catcher. Gregor believes Williams does intend to add a veteran backup of some kind. Mark Gonzales, however, says any backup catcher addition would not seriously cut into A.J. Pierzynski’s playing time.
- Williams "shot down" speculation that Jermaine Dye could be traded, says Gregor. Gonzales adds details – Williams told Dye it was unlikely he’d be traded, but would never be willing to give a player 100% assurance.
Rosenthal On Manny, Garcia, Greinke
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new column…
- Rosenthal speculates that the Giants may not be the right fit for Manny Ramirez, given a challenging ballpark and questionable supporting cast of hitters. Rosenthal suggests a contract that might work for Manny and the Dodgers: two years with a third-year player option, with no-trade protection covering only the first two years.
- Many remaining free agents – Adam Dunn for example – may prefer a one-year deal because it will increase their options and allow them to re-enter the market after the season.
- The White Sox found the price for Freddy Garcia to be too high ($1.5MM plus $6.5MM in incentives). Rosenthal deems Oliver Perez a bad fit for the Sox in part because he’s a flyball pitcher. Also there’s the whole Scott Boras thing.
- Among the right-handed hitters the Phillies are mulling, Rosenthal feels that Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia make the most sense.
- The Angels may go to Spring Training with their current club.
- Zack Greinke received "very minor" no-trade protection in the first two years of his new deal, with seemingly no protection when his salary shoots up to $13.5MM in 2011.