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Odds & Ends: Dukes, Astros, Twins, Giants

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Some Saturday afternoon tidbits….

  • Nationals' manager Jim Riggleman spoke about what he thinks Elijah Dukes can do next season, writes Byron Kerr of MASNSports.com.
  • Satchel Price at Beyond The Box Score thinks the Astros have overpaid for the players they've picked up this offseason.
  • Kelly Thesier of MLB.com points out that for all of the talk about the Twins' need for a third baseman, the club is only looking for a "short-term stopgap" given the presence of top prospect Danny Valencia.  Thesier's mailbag piece also shoots downs a couple of Twins-related trade rumors and discusses the club's attempt to re-sign Joe Mauer.  
  • In another MLB.com mailbag, Chris Haft says there hasn't been any talk of the Giants signing Carlos Delgado (though he would fit their need for a left-handed bat) and proposes that Ryan Church would be a better outfield option for San Francisco than Rick Ankiel.
  • Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel spoke to Chris Capuano about the pitcher's attempt to return from (his second) Tommy John surgery.
  • The Reds' budget may limit them to just pinch-hitting options in their search for a hitter, reports MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
  • John Sickels of MinorLeagueBall.com grades the top 20 prospects in the Mets and Indians systems.  The only player on either list to rate an A-grade was Cleveland catcher Carlos Santana.
  • Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com looks at the youngsters who will be fighting to be the Dodgers' No. 5 starter next season.  Jackson points out that these pitchers might be going for the No. 4 spot too if L.A. doesn't sign a veteran starter before Opening Day.

Aroldis Chapman Rumors: Friday

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7:30pm: ESPN's Jorge Arangure says (via Twitter) that if the Yankees don't sign Chapman, he'd be willing to bet that it has more to do with makeup than money. 

5:49pm: Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com tweets that the Reds are in on Chapman, however the Jays remain the favorite. In a second tweet, Rosenthal mentions that Toronto has money to spend after sending Scott Rolen, Alex Rios, and Roy Halladay packing.

4:00pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets that the Blue Jays have a "decent shot" at signing Chapman, now that they appear to have bid over $20MM. He names the Nationals, Marlins, Red Sox, A's and Angels as potential players for the prospect.

12:11pm: As the Aroldis Chapman sweepstakes continue, at least one outlet is reporting that the Blue Jays have made the left-hander a considerable offer. Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald reports that the Jays offered Chapman a $23MM deal (click here for the Miami-based paper's original Spanish story and here for some Drunk Jays Fans analysis).

Ebro reports that the Marlins raised their offer to $16MM, but have now conceded defeat. Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reported yesterday that the Marlins did not expect to sign Chapman. That leaves the Angels, Red Sox and Blue Jays in pursuit of the Cuban prospect.

Nationals Interested In Randy Winn?

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4:12pm: Winn tells MLB.com's Bill Ladson (Twitter link) that he hasn't heard anything about the Nationals' interest.

3:13pm: Randy Winn has a new suitor, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse (via Twitter). The Nationals are interested in the 35-year-old outfielder. Winn hit .262/.318/.353 last year, but has appeal because of his glove (He added more defensive value than all but three outfielders in 2009, despite his age).

The Nationals have Josh Willingham, Nyjer Morgan and Elijah Dukes in the outfield, so adding Winn would probably mean dealing Willingham or reducing Dukes' role. Winn wants to get at bats, tweets ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick, so it doesn't sound like he'll take a bench role unless he has to.

The Royals were connected to Winn, but their interest has presumably waned, now that they're on the cusp of adding Scott Podsednik. Winn could make sense for the Padres, and we've heard him connected to the D'Backs for a while now.

Odds & Ends: Cantu, Lowry, Nationals, Braves

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Some links for Wednesday night…

  • The Marlins have no interest in trading Jorge Cantu to save money, even if they don't trade Dan Uggla before the season, tweets Clark Spencer of The Miami Herald. Yesterday we heard the team may "start taking calls" about Cantu if they can't unload Uggla. 
  • Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times says that the Dodgers are among the 14 teams that have asked for Noah Lowry's medical records according to his agent Damon Lara. We first heard of their interest in the lefty way back in early December.
  • Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said he is still looking for starting pitching and to improve his team's defense, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. 
  • MLB.com's Mark Bowman says that Braves' team president John Schuerholz indicated the team's payroll "won't be diminished at all." Bowman's rough estimate has the team's 2010 payroll at about $87MM after they spent roughly $95MM in 2009.
  • MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reports (via Twitter) that the Brewers have outrighted pitcher Omar Aguilar to Triple-A, however assistant GM Gord Ash said the team has no move in the works to the fill the vacated 40-man roster spot according to Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel (again, via Twitter).
  • In response to a fan on Twitter, C.J. Wilson tweets that the Rangers have never offered him a long-term deal.
  • Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News says there's a chance Juan Uribe could be the Giants' starting third baseman, shifting Mark DeRosa to the outfield. He adds that the team plans to make more moves, however their lack of pitching depth will make it tough to swing a trade. 
  • Alex Speier of WEEI.com examines how the recent moves by the Red Sox impact their payroll with regard to the luxury tax.
  • The Diamondbacks have released minor league righthander Tony Barnette so he can pursue opportunities in Japan, according to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert (via Twitter).

Nationals Sign Matt Capps

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Reliever Matt Capps officially signed a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Nationals today.  He can earn another $425K for games finished.  ESPN's Jerry Crasnick first named the Nats a strong contender for Capps on December 21st.  ESPN's Buster Olney had the Nats closing in on the 23rd, and MLB.com's Bill Ladson had an agreement being reached on the 24th.  ESPN's Bruce Levine added the terms later that day. 

The Cubs and Mets were other late contenders for Capps, but his best shot at closing was in Washington. The Nationals have the option of keeping Capps for 2011 as an arbitration-eligible player.  He was surprisingly non-tendered by the Pirates on December 12th, and many teams expressed interest.  Capps, 26, had an off-year for the Bucs in '09, posting a 5.80 ERA with an abundance of hits and home runs in 54.3 innings.

Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Lowe, Tigers, Halladay, Capps

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Links for Monday…

  • MLB.com's Mark Bowman says the Braves made it known they were willing to eat $9MM of the $45MM owed to Derek Lowe over the next three years, but found no takers.
  • MLB.com's Jason Beck talked to Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, who said nothing has changed in terms of using Scott Sizemore as the second baseman.  Beck points out that if the Tigers wanted a veteran at the position they probably would've offered Placido Polanco arbitration.
  • Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told Murray Chass they he expressed interest in Roy Halladay a couple of times, before the trade deadline and at the Winter Meetings.  It sounds like Halladay's no-trade clause was an obstacle.
  • Chico Harlan of the Washington Post has a Q&A with new Nationals reliever Matt Capps, who agreed to a one-year, $3.5MM deal on Christmas Eve.  MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that Capps' physical is scheduled for Tuesday.
  • Baseball America's Jim Callis gives us a couple of prospect "All-Bust" teams for the 2000s.
  • MLB.com's Todd Zolecki notes that the Phillies have a minor league offer out to Scott Eyre.
  • MLB.com's Mark Sheldon talked to Reds GM Walt Jocketty, who will be looking at minor league deal possibilities.  Sheldon indicated that the Reds' interest in Noah Lowry is now less than minimal.
  • MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan fills us in on the Rangers' offseason plans and potential targets in his mailbag.
  • Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues would like to see the Yankees buy low on Oakland's Travis Buck.  Buck made our list of right field trade candidates back in November.

GM Trade Histories: NL East

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Brendan Bianowicz is back with a bunch of updates to the GM Trade History series.  The Excel spreadsheets linked below cover each GM's trades, free agent signings, and top draft picks via tabs along the bottom.  It's interesting to see each GM's most frequent trade partner – for example, Omar Minaya has matched up with Larry Beinfest and Mark Shapiro most often in his career.

Odds & Ends: Bay, Guardado, Yankees, Marlins

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Let's round up some lingering Tuesday links….

Odds & Ends: Bay, Holliday, Bruney

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Monday night linkage..

  • Daniel Barbarisi of The Providence Journal points out that Boston giving Jason Bay a backloaded contract would do nothing to keep them out of luxury tax territory.  Payroll is calculated by totalling the average yearly earnings of a player, not a player's year-to-year salary.  However, Barbarisi offers up a number of other ways the Red Sox could retain Bay without getting hammered by the luxury tax.
  • Chuck Brownson of The Hardball Times writes that the Cardinals can afford to be patient with Matt Holliday as long as alternatives remain on the open market.  Brownson feels that Mark DeRosa signing with the Giants put a little more pressure on St. Louis.
  • Brian Bruney told Bill Ladson of MLB.com that he wants to close for the Nationals in 2010.  Bruney will have to compete with newly acquired Matt Capps for the role.

Nationals Reach Agreements With Bruntlett, Whitesell

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The Nationals agreed to terms on minor league deals with infielder Eric Bruntlett and first baseman Josh Whitesell, according to a team press release.

Bruntlett, 32 in March, was acquired by the Phillies in November of '07 along with Brad Lidge.  Bruntlett hit .171/.224/.238 in 118 plate appearances this year while playing all around the diamond.  The Phils released Bruntlett in November and replaced him with Juan Castro.

Whitesell, 28 in April, hit .194/.346/.287 in 133 plate appearances for the D'Backs this year as well as .293/.398/.471 at Triple A.  He raked at Triple A in '08, and has at times shown an impressive ability to draw walks.  Whitesell came up through the Expos organization, but was claimed off waivers by the D'Backs in March of '08.  According to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, the D'Backs were unable to sell Whitesell's rights to a Japanese team and non-tendered him at the December 12th deadline.

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