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Six Teams Interested In Nick Swisher

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FRIDAY: In addition to the Rangers and Mariners, the Orioles, Phillies, Giants, Braves, and Nationals all have some level of interest in Swisher, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Several clubs are willing to offer three years, and Heyman estimates an annual salary in the $11-13MM range.

THURSDAY: The Rangers, Mariners and three other teams have "serious interest" in free agent Nick Swisher, reports Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). Unsurprisingly, Swisher plans to reject the Yankees' qualifying offer and look for a long-term contract on the open market.

Swisher would have earned $13.3MM for 2013 had he accepted the Yankees' one-year qualifying offer, and in rejecting the deal, New York can now earn a compensatory draft pick if Swisher signs elsewhere. The Yankees extended qualifying offers to three of their free agents: Swisher, Rafael Soriano (who will decline) and Hiroki Kuroda.

Swisher has averaged 27 homers and an .836 OPS over the last seven seasons, thus making him in high demand amongst teams looking for power and help at first base or right field. Swisher was reportedly looking for a Jayson Werth-esque seven-year/$126MM contract, a number that might be hard to find unless it were to come from a team that may need to overpay to attract a top free agent hitter. The Mariners could be such a team, though they hope moving in the fences at Safeco Field will help.

The Rangers would likely use Swisher primarily at first base, though they could also have a hole in left field should Josh Hamilton leave in free agency. (ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Red Sox also value Swisher for his versatility.) Swisher's three unknown suitors probably don't include the Yankees, as there is reportedly little chance of Swisher returning to New York.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

Multiple Teams Interested In Michael Bourn

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The free agent crop's best leadoff hitter is also one of this winter's most popular players. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that multiple teams are interested in Michael Bourn, including the Nationals, Phillies, Reds, and Red Sox. The Dodgers are considered a very long shot to sign the speedy outfielder.

Bourn, 29, hit .274/.348/.391 with 42 steals for the Braves this year and offers both elite speed and elite center field defense. The Reds and Nationals are known to be seeking leadoff hitting outfielders while the Red Sox are looking for outfielders in general, presumably corner bats given the presence of Jacoby Ellsbury. The Phillies originally drafted and developed Bourn before sending him to the Astros in the Brad Lidge trade.

Earlier today, Bourn officially rejected the Braves' qualifying offer and will require draft pick compensation to sign. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes ranked him third in his Top 50 Free Agents list, predicting he would sign with Washington.

Quick Hits: Giants, Affeldt, Hart, Tigers, Soriano

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The 4pm CST deadline for players to accept qualifying offers has come and gone and none of the eight players in play opted to return to their respective clubs for a $13.3MM salary in 2013.  That means that Nick Swisher, Hiroki Kuroda, Rafael Soriano, B.J. Upton, Adam LaRoche, Michael Bourn, Josh Hamilton, and Kyle Lohse will net their teams a compensatory pick if they sign elsewhere.  Here's the latest from around baseball..

  • The Giants are confident that they will be re-signing Jeremy Affeldt and the club believes that they will work out a three-year deal, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.  GM Brian Sabean indicated yesterday that he is optimistic about being about to keep Affeldt, Angel Pagan, and Marco Scutaro.
  • Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter) that he has not approached Corey Hart's agent about an extension and doesn't have immediate plans to do so.  A report earlier today suggested that the Brewers and Hart were discussing a deal to keep him beyond 2013.  The first baseman/right fielder is set to earn $10MM next season.
  • The Tigers aren't interested in Soriano and plan to stay in-house to find their closer, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.  Right-hander Bruce Rondon, 21, will get a chance at the job.  

Rosenthal On Hamilton, Hart, Pagan, Indians

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke with agents and rival executives about where Josh Hamilton might land and the Nationals, Phillies, Mariners, and Orioles often came up in conversation.  The Phillies would appear to be a stretch for both financial and baseball reasons, but two industry sources say the club is quietly checking in on him.  It was reported earlier this week that the O's are targeting Hamilton but Rosenthal would be surprised if owner Peter Angelos, who emphasizes that his GMs find him players with a history of good conduct, can be talked into it.  Here's more from Rosenthal..

  • The Brewers are discussing a new deal with first baseman/right fielder Corey Hart.  The 30-year-old is seeking a three-year extension but the Brewers might prefer to give him two more years while increasing his 2013 salary.  Hart is under contract for one more season at $10MM.
  • Giants GM Brian Sabean expressed confidence that the team would re-sign free agents Angel Pagan, Marco Scutaro, and Jeremy Affeldt.  Meanwhile, sources say that other teams are more aggressive than the Giants on Pagan right now.
  • It wouldn't be a surprise to see the Indians trade Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, Chris Perez, and Justin Masterson, all of whom have two or fewer years of control remaining.  However, catcher/first baseman Carlos Santana, signed for four more years, is more likely to stay.

NL East Notes: Johnson, Tino, Phillies, Greinke, Nats

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Here's the latest from around the NL East…

  • The Marlins are less likely to deal Josh Johnson this offseason than they are to deal him in the weeks leading up to the July trade deadline, a source tells Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). 
  • Also on Johnson, there is "not much traction" between the Marlins and Red Sox about a possible trade for the Miami ace, tweets WEEI.com's Rob Bradford.
  • The Marlins have hired Tino Martinez as their hitting coach, reports Adam Rubin of ESPN New York (via Twitter).  The Red Sox were reportedly also considering Martinez as a candidate to become their new hitting coach. 
  • Martinez will be the Marlins' only hitting coach, as Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Beach Sun-Sentinel reports, though some other teams carry two hitting coaches on staff. 
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he'd "rather pay for the player than trade for the player" in order to hold onto the Phils' minor leaguers.  "I'd rather spend money but it's not an unlimited pool to work with," Amaro said.  "We have some flexibility. I guess I would anticipate our payroll being similar to last year."
  • The Phillies aren't planning to trade high-priced talent like Cliff Lee in an attempt to save payroll dollars, Amaro tells Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.  "There's a reason why they're high-priced — it's because they're good. I feel like we have a much better chance of winning with them than without them," Amaro said.
  • Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post wonders if the Nationals and Zack Greinke could be a match this winter, given that the Nats almost acquired Greinke from the Royals two years ago.
  • "What's not to like?" Nats GM Mike Rizzo rhetorically asked about Greinke today, tweets Amanda Comak of the Washington Times.  Rizzo also said there are "five or six really intriguing starters" on the free agent market, tying into Comak's report from earlier today about the Nationals' "open-minded" search for pitching.
  • Also from Comak (Twitter link), Rizzo said the Nationals want to add at least one left-handed reliever.  The team has talked to both Sean Burnett and Mike Gonzalez and they'd like to bring both southpaws back in 2013.  Burnett declined his mutual option last week but said he's like to stay in Washington, while Gonzalez is also open to returning, though up to 10 teams are reportedly interested in him.

Nationals Are “Open-Minded” In Search For Pitching

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Edwin Jackson is a free agent and John Lannan may be non-tendered, so the Nationals will be in the market for a starting pitcher this offseason. GM Mike Rizzo told Amanda Comak of The Washington Times that he isn't seeking one specific kind of starter and will instead be open minded.

"We want to get as qualified and impactful a starting pitcher as we can," said the GM. "We want to get as good of a starting pitcher as we possibly can. He may pitch fifth in our rotation but we don't necessarily want a No. 5-quality starter … I'm much more open-minded with it this year. It doesn't necessarily have to be a veteran, it doesn't have to necessarily need to be a fifth starter type of guy."

As our Free Agent Tracker shows, this winter's crop of free agent pitchers includes everything from an ace (Zack Greinke) to workhorses (Jeremy Guthrie, Ryan Dempster) to reclamation projects (Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker). The Nationals will have both Christian Garcia and Ryan Perry work as starters in camp, giving the team some internal options behind Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, and Ross Detwiler.

Minor Moves: Mock, Burke, Maier, Slowey, Ford

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Here are Wednesday’s minor moves…

  • The Diamondbacks have signed Garrett Mock to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 29-year-old right-hander posted a 3.79 ERA in 61 2/3 relief innings in Triple-A this season.
  • The Mets have signed right-hander Greg Burke to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training, the team announced (on Twitter). Burke, 30, pitched to a 1.53 ERA in 64 2/3 relief innings in Triple-A this year.
  • Indians right-hander Kevin Slowey has elected free agency, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America.  The 28-year-old spent 2012 with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate.
  • The Red Sox have signed Mitch Maier to a minor league deal, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (on Twitter). The 30-year-old outfielder hit .172/.260/.313 in 74 plate appearances for the Royals this year.
  • The Pirates have signed Darren Ford to a minor league pact, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 27-year-old outfielder hit .273/.326/.385 with 26 steals in 329 Triple-A plate appearances this year.
  • The Pirates have signed infielder Jared Goedert to a minor league deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 27-year-old hit .311/.373/.502 with 19 homers in 504 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A this season.
  • The Royals have agreed to re-sign catcher Manny Pina to a minor league contract, reports Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter). Pina, 25, hit .278/.415/.417 in 183 minor league plate appearances this summer. Dutton notes that he will be exposed in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Nationals Notes: Johnson, Pitching, Jackson, LaRoche

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Earlier today, Tim Dierkes profiled the Nationals in the latest installment of the Arbitration Eligibles series.  Here’s more on the Nats..

  • The Nationals have yet to reach agreement on a new deal with manager Davey Johnson for 2013 and beyond, but General Manager Mike Rizzo says he is confident about getting a deal done, tweets Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
  • Johnson told MLB.com’s Bill Ladson that he is also confident that an agreement will be reached and that a deal could be struck as early as Thursday.  “There isn’t really any rush for me,” Johnson said. “I’m not worried about it. I assume everything is going to worked out. I don’t feel like it’s an emergency. I feel like I’m still the manager.“
  • Rizzo said the Nats aren’t far down the road on anything when it comes to the starting pitching market, Amanda Comak of the Washington Times tweets.  Right-hander Edwin Jackson has said that he would like to return to Washington but will also listen to offers from other clubs.
  • Meanwhile, Rizzo was honest when asked about the club’s decision not to extend Jackson a qualifying offer, explaining that he liked some free agent options better and didn’t want to get locked in, Kilgore tweets.
  • The Nationals have been in contact with Adam LaRoche’s agents and continue to talk, tweets Comak.
  • Ladson also notes that the Nationals re-signed catcher Carlos Maldonado to a minor league contract and signed outfielder Ray Kruml to a minor league deal.  Maldonado elected free agency last month.

Red Sox, Rangers Pursuing Adam LaRoche

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The Red Sox and Rangers are pursuing free agent Adam LaRoche, major league sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  The first baseman has garnered enough interest that he is expected to reject the Nationals' one-year, $13.3MM qualifying offer by Friday's deadline.

Morosi writes that the Rangers' interest in the 33-year-old is yet another sign that Texas is preparing for life without Josh Hamilton in 2013 and beyond.  The Red Sox, meanwhile, have been linked to LaRoche for a good while as they look to fill their void at first base.

Arbitration Eligibles: Washington Nationals

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The Nationals are next in our 2013 Arbitration Eligibles series.  Matt Swartz's salary projections are below.

Lannan projects as the team's most expensive arbitration eligible player even without a raise.  It was a rough year for the 28-year-old, who lost his arbitration case in February, lost the team's fifth starter competition to Detwiler in April, requested a trade, and then remained in the organization to post pedestrian Triple-A numbers for most of his season.  A non-tender should cap off his year, which will at least lead to free agency and a fresh start.

Zimmermann is a mainstay atop the Nats' rotation, as the 26-year-old posted his best season with 195 2/3 innings of 2.94 ball in the regular season.  Comparables remain light among those with three to four years of big league service, especially since Zimmermann was a Super Two.  Perhaps a new extension comp will emerge among Max Scherzer, Matt Harrison, and Homer Bailey.  If not, I could picture $45MM over five years (two of them free agent seasons) for Zimmermann.  Detwiler, the team's first overall pick in the 2007 draft, did solid work at the back end of the Nationals' rotation prior to his first arbitration year.

The Nationals have four arbitration eligible relievers in Clippard, Storen, Gorzelanny, and Stammen.  When an elbow injury sidelined Storen in Spring Training, Clippard was initially denied a shot at closing in favor of Henry Rodriguez and Brad Lidge.  A larger committee took hold by late May, after which Clippard took hold of the job.  Storen was activated on July 19th, but Clippard still picked up 17 saves after that point and finished with 32.  The situation helped Clippard financially, as nothing earns bigger bucks for a reliever than saves.  As reliever salaries continue to rise, Clippard is still a good value at under $5MM.  Meanwhile, the abbreviated campaign and small saves total cost Storen some bucks in advance of his first arbitration year.  Gorzelanny and Stammen both had solid years and should also be retained.

Flores seemed like a trade candidate a year ago, but he received decent playing time in 2012 after starting catcher Wilson Ramos went down.  Flores didn't do much with his audition, and now Kurt Suzuki is projected to split time with Ramos in 2013.  A trade or non-tender is in Flores' future; like Lannan, he'll welcome the change of scenery.  Bernadina had a very strong season as a much-needed utility outfielder, and he'll be retained.

The Nationals' patience with Desmond paid off, as the shortstop had a breakthrough age 26 season.  Desmond played well in a sabermetric sense, but also had the surface numbers that pay well in arbitration (batting average, home runs, RBI, steals).  Since 2013 is his first arbitration year, he'll remain affordable at around $3.2MM.  The Nationals had preliminary extension talks with Desmond during the season, which will likely be rekindled soon.  Alexei Ramirez's $32.5MM extension with the White Sox could be a point of reference.

Assuming everyone except Lannan and Flores are retained, the Nationals are looking at an estimated $21.4MM for eight arbitration eligible players.

Matt Swartz's arbitration projections are available exclusively at MLB Trade Rumors.  To read more about his projection model, check out this series of posts.  To see projected arbitration salaries for all players, click here.

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