According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Blue Jays signed catcher Michael Barrett to a minor league deal. Barrett, 32, accepted the Padres’ offer of arbitration in December of ’07. He injured his elbow in April and broke his nose in July, resulting in a second consecutive lost season.
Blue Jays Rumors
Odds And Ends: Otsuka, Orioles, Johnson
I’ll keep this updated as more comes in, but for now these are your Saturday links…
- Patrick Newman found that Akinori Otsuka will work out in front of reps from all MLB teams next month. Apparently Padres GM Kevin Towers is interested if Otsuka’s healthy.
- Roch Kubatko knows there’s pitching talent coming from the minors, but he doesn’t love the current Orioles rotation and expects them to add two more starters.
- The difference between 69 and 72 in 2009 wins isn’t worth much to the Orioles, Peter Schmuck writes.
- The Red Sox move on after missing out on Mark Teixeira.
- Eric Wedge doesn’t seem bothered by the Yankees’ big acquisitions.
- Vernon Wells knows how hard it will be to compete now that former-teammate A.J. Burnett’s in pinstripes along with a couple other big names.
- Keith Law says the Randy Johnson signing moves the Giants "toward 2009 respectability, if not outright contention."
- Vlae Kershner doesn’t like the possibility of Garret Anderson on the A’s.
- Bleed Cubbie Blue argues that Adam Dunn’s patience-power combination would work well for the Cubs. Last week Dunn said he thinks so too.
- Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi revealed his favorite meal and dream date in a Q&A with the Sporting News.
Mench Completes Deal With Japanese Team
MLBTR reported this was going to happen, and now it has. Kevin Mench will be playing for the Hanshin Tigers in 2009.
The deal is for one year and is worth $1.8MM. Mench, 30, played in the outfield for the Blue Jays last season. He hit .243/.321/.357 in 131 plate appearances for Toronto.
Ricciardi: “We’re Done”
So much for J.P. Ricciardi’s recent name-drop of Orlando Hudson and Jason Giambi. He told MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian today: "We’re done. We won’t be spending any money." J.P. is going to let the kids play in 2009.
One minor option for the Blue Jays is Michael Barrett, who they’d like to sign to a minor league deal.
Yankees Sign Mark Teixeira
3:58pm: Joel Sherman says the Red Sox were at eight years, $168MM, so the Yankees outbid them by $12MM.
3:38pm: The contract does not include an opt-out clause, according to Danny Knobler. Knobler agrees with Olney that the Red Sox fell about $10MM short. He says the Sox are not inclined to react by "stepping up their pursuit of Derek Lowe or any other top starting pitcher."
2:55pm: Olney now agrees it’s an eight-year, $180MM deal ($22.5MM per year). Bill Madden says Teixeira told the Yankees he preferred them all along, after the Angels and Red Sox backed off. Ha. Joel Sherman says the Yankees made this decision with the 2010 season in mind, given the weak free agent market. He says they’ll now attempt to trade one of Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Xavier Nady, and Nick Swisher.
2:26pm: Buster Olney says the Yankees have reached an agreement with Teixeira on an eight-year deal worth more than $170MM.
Aside from the Red Sox, the Brewers and Blue Jays also lose here. Each team’s draft pick from the Yanks is pushed back one round – the Brewers get a second-rounder from them for C.C. Sabathia, the Jays get their third-round pick for A.J. Burnett.
2:17pm: According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees are on the verge of signing Mark Teixeira to an eight-year, $180MM deal with a full no-trade clause.
Ricciardi Mentions Giambi, Hudson
Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi tossed out a few names in a conversation with Nick Cafardo:
"Orlando Hudson is out there. Jason Giambi is out there. We’ll have to see who’s out there still when the music stops and see who we might be able to get."
MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian says the Blue Jays have a payroll of around $84MM for 2009, meaning they’d have to trade someone before signing a significant free agent.
Jays Listening On Wells
Jon Heyman has heard that the Blue Jays "have fielded a few trade inquiries" about Vernon Wells, though they are not shopping him. Wells has six years and over $100MM remaining on his contract.
Because of the Jays’ financial constraints, they could consider trading Wells or closer B.J. Ryan for the right package. Trading the center fielder would likely take a lot of creativity on the part of Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi given the amount the club owes Wells.
Daniel Cabrera Suitors
According to John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus, the Pirates top the list of suitors for Daniel Cabrera. He says the Brewers, Padres, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Nationals are also interested.
We learned yesterday that the Blue Jays are interested but haven’t made an offer yet. Cabrera’s agent has heard from about half the teams in baseball, and one even offered a multiyear deal.
No Trade Market For Jack Wilson
According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates might not be able to trade shortstop Jack Wilson this offseason. Even if the Dodgers miss out on Rafael Furcal, their Plan B is Orlando Cabrera. The A’s, Royals, and Blue Jays have not expressed interest in Wilson. Kovacevic says the Blue Jays are definitely not interested. You may recall that J.P. Ricciardi went out of his way to deny interest in Wilson in July of last year.
Odds and Ends: Cabrera, Tejada, Teixeira
A few random notes from around the MLBiverse…
- The Cardinals signed infielder Joe Thurston and catcher Justin Knoedler to minor league deals with spring training invites. Thurston appeared in four games for the Red Sox in ’08, while Knoedler last appeared in the majors with the Giants in ’06.
- Jordan Bastian says the Blue Jays are not one of the teams that have offered a contract to Daniel Cabrera. The Jays are interested, but want to see Cabrera pitch in the Dominican Winter League before making an offer…Cabrera’s agent says eleven teams have shown interest and Cabrera has received two contract offers.
- Jon Heyman is reporting that the FBI is still investigating Miguel Tejada, which will hinder any attempts to trade the shortstop…We previously heard that the Astros were trying hard to move Tejada but had yet to find any suitors.
- Mike Bauman believes the Red Sox offer to Mark Teixeira could be a direct reaction to the recent signings of C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett by the Yankees. Bauman says the Red Sox "cannot sit idly by and watch the Yanks make dramatic, if incredibly expensive, improvements."
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.
