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East Notes: Blue Jays, Nats, Betancourt, Ruiz

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The Blue Jays discussed a trade for Matt Kemp with the Dodgers at the GM meetings, reports Shi Davidi of SportsNet.ca. Those discussions appear to have gone nowhere, but Davidi says they are indicative of a trend throughout MLB — teams are entertaining ideas of big trades (like the recent Prince Fielder / Ian Kinsler blockbuster) rather than diving into a free agent market that's become increasingly expensive. Here are more notes from around the East divisions.

  • The Nationals are hunting for a starting pitcher, but they don't want to sacrifice their 2014 first-round draft pick (no. 20 overall) in the process, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. That could make Matt Garza or Ricky Nolasco, who did not receive qualifying offers because they were traded in-season, more attractive options than Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana or Hiroki Kuroda.
  • The Marlins have made contact with free agent infielder Yuniesky Betancourt, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. The Marlins are looking for a third baseman, and Betancourt played 59 games there in 2013, a season in which he hit .212/.240/.355. One would think that the Marlins would be interested only on a minor-league deal, though it's worth noting that Betancourt has received near-regular playing time for most of his career despite not posting an on-base percentage above .300 since 2007.
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. acknowledges the risk involved in signing soon-to-be-35-year-old catcher Carlos Ruiz to a three-year deal, CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury writes. "Clearly this is a commitment that will be scrutinized," Amaro says. "Is it a risk to put three years into a catcher at this stage of his career? It can be, yes. But I think every signing is a risk and we hope that he remains productive throughout the three years and perhaps more." Ruiz hit .268/.320/.368 in a weak offensive season in 2013.

Players Added To The 40-Man Roster

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Midnight tonight is the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster in order to protect them from being selected in next month's Rule 5 Draft. There should be no shortage of players being added, and we'll run them down here in this post…

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AL East Rumors: Blue Jays, Johnson, Markakis, Ruiz

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After looking at the Red Sox earlier this evening, let's check out the rest of the American League East..

  • General Manager Alex Anthopoulos says the Blue Jays haven’t had recent talks with Josh Johnson and gets the impression that he has better options elsewhere, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Earlier today it was reported that Johnson is down to three or four teams with the Pirates among the finalists and Tim Dierkes learned that all of those clubs are in the National League.
  • Nick Markakis is among the Orioles in need of a better 2014 campaign, writes Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com. Markakis was plagued with injuries in 2012 and struggled in 2013, even though he played a full season. If he's going to turn things around, 2014 – his walk year – might be the time to do it.
  • Anthopoulos acknowledged that he had dialogue with Carlos Ruiz's agent and "liked the player" in an interview on Sportsnet 590, BN-S tweets. The Phillies re-signed Ruiz to a three-year, $26MM deal earlier this week.
  • Yankees president Randy Levine denied conspiring with MLB to run Alex Rodriguez out of the game or to personally benefit financially if his 211-game suspension is upheld, a source familiar with his testimony told Wallace Matthews and Matt Ehalt of ESPNNewYork.com.
  • Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (video link) looks at Matt Wieters' future with the Orioles.

Pitching Notes: Johnson, Arroyo, Hudson, Colon

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Now that Tim Hudson has signed with the Giants, executives around baseball think the pitching market will begin to open up, Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan tweets.  One GM predicts Josh Johnson will be the next hurler to sign, and there has been no shortage of interest in the right-hander, as agent Matt Sosnick claimed that he'd spoken to nearly every team about his client.  The Rangers and Royals have both been linked to Johnson, and the pitcher himself reached out to the Padres and Giants to express his interest.

Here's the latest about some of the offseason's available starters…

  • One team that doesn't appear to be in the mix for Johnson are the Blue Jays, his most recent club.  The Jays haven't made any progress with Johnson, MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm reports, and there aren't any signs that they're even continuing negotiations.  Johnson was open to returning to Toronto though his contract demands seem to be higher than the Jays are willing to pay.
  • Bronson Arroyo listed the Giants, Twins, Phillies, Angels, Dodgers and "maybe" the Orioles as teams he thinks have called to express their interest in his services, the veteran righty said during an interview with Casey Stern and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.  Arroyo discussed what he's looking for in a team and what his contract expectations are during the interview; MLB.com's Mark Sheldon has a partial transcript and an audio link to the full interview.
  • The Braves offered Hudson a two-year contract earlier this week but it wasn't enough, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.  The Braves' previous offer to Hudson was a one-year deal worth less than $9MM (his annual salary in each of the previous four seasons) which clearly wasn't enough with so many other teams in the mix.  O'Brien says the Braves could add another veteran to replace Hudson.
  • The Athletics were second in the Hudson race behind the Giants, ESPN's Buster Olney reports (Twitter link).  That's a bit of a surprise for the low-payroll A's but Hudson would've made sense on a short-term deal, plus he has long-time ties to the franchise.
  • If the A's had signed Hudson, they would've ended their pursuit of Bartolo Colon, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links).  Hudson would "probably more trustworthy" an option than Colon in the Oakland rotation, though the A's still have interest in re-signing Colon at a "price they deem reasonable."
  • In an interview with Jim Duquette on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, Scott Feldman said his agent had heard from "15 teams or so" but "it's been a slow-developing market so far" (Twitter links).
  • The Twins still haven't made a formal offer to Ricky Nolasco, 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson tweets.  This is no change from the last update about Nolasco and the Twins, though the club is definitely interested in the free agent righty.

Cafardo On Bautista, Sandoval, Ellsbury, Wieters

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The posting system standoff between MLB and Japan's NPB could temporarily benefit the Red Sox if Masahiro Tanaka is kept away from the Yankees, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  The dispute over the posting system could drag on long enough for Tanaka to not make it over to the U.S. in 2014.  The Bombers are going to improve one way or another and upgrade their rotation, but Tanaka is the one potential addition they consider to be an elite pitcher.  Here's more from today's column..

  • The Blue Jays need at least two starting pitchers and dealing Jose Bautista could land them one. “It’s a name we’re hearing through backchannels right now, but wouldn’t be surprised if he’s available,” said an NL general manager.  Red Sox skipper John Farrell is a fan of Bautista from his days in Toronto, but it’s doubtful the Blue Jays would deal within the division, even though Boston has pitching to spare.
  • Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval can be had in a deal, but his weight issues are of concern to clubs.  The Giants have tried everything to get Sandoval to slim down and it's worked at some points, but not last season.  Cafardo notes that Sandoval can also play first base and may have a market at either position.
  • For Jacoby Ellsbury to re-sign with the Red Sox, he would have to be willing to accept a five-year deal that likely would not surpass $100MM.  The Mariners, Rangers, Yankees, Tigers, Giants, and Phillies seem to have some level of interest, but whether they dive into the 6-8 year range at $20MM plus per year remains to be seen.
  • The Orioles likely won’t deal Matt Wieters unless it’s in a blockbuster that would improve their pitching.
  • Even though there’s been talk about an extension, there's growing sentiment that the Padres will trade Chase Headley this offseason to improve in a couple of different areas.  New CEO Mike Dee says that he's willing to spend in order to strengthen the club long-term. 
  • Alfredo Aceves re-hired agent Tom O'Connell to represent him recently, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database.  According to O'Connell, the pitcher called and apologized for firing him in the first place.  There's now a "good possibility" that the pitcher will land with the Mets.

Blue Jays Sign Dan Johnson

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The Blue Jays announced that they've signed first baseman Dan Johnson to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.

Johnson, a client of TWC Sports, saw just five big league plate apperances with the Orioles in 2013 but slashed a healthy .250/.378/.439 between the Yankees' and Orioles' Triple-A affiliates, totaling 21 homers along the way. The 34-year-old is a career .236/.337/.411 hitter with 56 homers at the Major League level, including the dramtic two-out, two-strike, game-tying home run that he hit in the bottom of the ninth inning in the final game of the Rays' 2011 season.

AL East Notes: Drew, Ellsbury, Price, Blue Jays

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Ben Cherington entered last year's offseason under pressure to improve his last-place team, but the Red Sox general manager is blessed with several options this winter, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes.  The Sox have the payroll space to make a splash in free agency, use some of their prospects or excess starting pitchers to make a trade or even "implement a very conservative offseason plan"  since the team's core is already strong.  Here is some more from around the AL East…

East Notes: Mets, Blue Jays, Nationals

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Mets GM Sandy Alderson says it doesn't make sense for his team to sign a player who will cost more than $100MM, Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal reports. That means they likely won't pursue Shin-Soo Choo, even though he would make sense for their roster. "If you want to look at the data and the way we look at data and associate winning teams with payroll concentration, you realize that there are limits to how effective an overall team can be with their payroll concentrated in a small number of players," says Alderson. The Mets already have $138MM tied up in David Wright. Here are more notes from the East divisions.

  • Wright wants the Mets to follow the Red Sox' lead in free agency, Newsday's Marc Carig writes. "It seemed like it worked for Boston last year. If you can get three or four — maybe not those marquee free agents — but three or four guys that are very good, solid, players I think it helps us fill more holes," says Wright, referring, presumably, to Boston's offseason acquisitions of players like Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino, Stephen Drew and Koji Uehara.
  • The Blue Jays plan to turn to the trade market before trying to sign any big free agents, writes Shi Davidi of SportsNet.ca. The Jays appear likely to try to deal for Jeff Samardzija of the Cubs, and they already asked about Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan, who may have become superfluous when Cincinnati signed Brayan Pena. They may have also considered a run at Astros catcher Jason Castro. Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos notes that the Jays are not likely to deal veteran players for prospects. They could, however, trade catcher J.P. Arencibia, or a reliever.
  • The Nationals want to improve their bench and bullpen this offseason, the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore writes. They've already made contact with lefty relievers like Javier Lopez and Boone Logan, and they could look into J.P. Howell and Manny Parra as well. They could also look for a left-handed bat for their bench.

NL East Rumors: Brown, Mets, Aceves, Phillies, Price

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The latest from the NL East..

  • The Phillies are willing to listen on Domonic Brown, but a rumored Brown-for-Jose Bautista swap isn't happening, tweets Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.
  • Jeff Wilpon said the Mets are close to making some sort of transaction earlier today, but GM Sandy Alderson seemed genuinely surprised when that was relayed to him by reporters, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post.
  • The Mets are among the clubs with interest in former Red Sox hurler Alfredo Aceves, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro isn't eager to move young talent, tweets Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  "Everybody is looking for the same thing, and that's young controllable players. There is no reason for us to be moving any of them," the GM said.
  • A trade to land Rays ace David Price would probably call for the Nationals to part with Anthony Rendon, Lucas Giolito, and another prospect or two from the club's top-tier, writes Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider.  Because of the steep price, it's probably not worthwhile.

AL East Notes: Ryan, Arencibia, Napoli, Rays, Yankees

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Mark DeRosa didn't stay unemployed for long.  After the Blue Jays announced his retirement from baseball yesterday, the MLB Network announced that DeRosa will be coming aboard as a studio analyst.  Here's more out of the AL East..

  • There's mutual interest between the Yankees and Brendan Ryan and a deal could happen quickly, sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).  The free agent doesn't offer much in the way of offensive firepower but he does boast a career 11.7 UZR/150 at the shortstop position.
  • Multiple teams have expressed interest in Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia, prompting the Blue Jays to explore the free agent catching market for a possible replacement, sources tell Rosenthal.  The Jays have contacted all of the free agent catchers but have yet to make an offer, one source said.
  • The Red Sox have not come to Mike Napoli with a contract offer since he rejected their one-year, $14.1MM qualifying offer, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  However, the Red Sox want to keep Napoli and the veteran would like to stay.
  • Rays GM Andrew Friedman says that rather than committing to a true closer, he'll be searching out a reliever or two capable of handling late-inning, high-leverage duty, creating the possibility that Jake McGee or Joel Peralta will become the primary ninth-inning option, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.  
  • Friedman added that the Rays are looking externally for a first baseman and a catcher to pair with Jose Lobaton while keeping an eye on their own free agents James Loney and Jose Molina.  They also aren't planning to go for a true DH, instead eyeing a rotation consisting primarily of outfielders David DeJesus, Desmond Jennings, Matt Joyce, and Wil Myers, plus possibly a player off the bench.
  • Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com (via Twitter) would be shocked if the Orioles moved J.J. Hardy.  Earlier today we learned that the O's discussed a deal involving Hardy with the Cardinals to get Shelby Miller, but St. Louis extinguished those talks pretty quickly.
  • General Manager Brian Cashman has no delusions of Robinson Cano taking a hometown discount to stay with the Yankees, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.  “He loves the money, but I think we’ll have a substantial offer,” Cashman said. “Somebody might come in and have a much more substantial offer. It’s just the way it works.”
  • Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) proposes six trades for the Rays' David Price.
  • Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner spoke with reporters, including Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger, about the club's efforts to get under the $189MM tax threshold and the club's interest in Masahiro Tanaka.
  • Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com wonders if the Marlon Byrd signing could hurt the Orioles. Yesterday, the Phillies agreed to sign Byrd to a two-year, $16MM deal.
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