Nats Will Not Pursue Orlando Hudson
According to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, the Nationals have dropped out of the running for free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson.
General manager Jim Bowden declined to give a reason why Hudson will not be a member of the team, writes Ladson.
The Nationals must feel comfortable with what they have in Ronnie Belliard, Anderson Hernandez, Alberto Gonzalez and Willie Harris. Belliard and Hernandez would seem to be the front-runners for the starting second base job. Belli hit .287/.372/.473 with 11 homers and 46 RBI in 96 games last season, and Hernandez batted .333 with 17 RBI in 28 games after coming over from the Mets in late August.
Nationals Sign Adam Dunn
THURSDAY: Dunn’s two-year, $20MM deal is official according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post has quotes from Dunn from the press conference.
WEDNESDAY: According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, the Nationals agreed to a preliminary two-year deal with Adam Dunn. MLB.com’s Bill Ladson confirms it, adding that a news conference is expected Thursday. According to SI.com’s Tom Verducci, it’s a two-year, $20MM deal.
Nationals GM Jim Bowden drafted Dunn when he helmed the Reds back in 1998. It seems likely that Dunn will play first base for the Nationals. The 29 year-old hit .236/.386/.513 with 40 home runs in 651 plate appearances for the Reds and Diamondbacks in ’08.
With Dunn and Abreu off the market, the Braves’ only option for an outfield addition is probably to make a trade. Also, if you’re curious, WEEI’s Alex Speier explains why the Red Sox were not in on Dunn and Abreu.
Odds and Ends: Dunn, Byrd, Epstein
Links for Thursday…
- RotoAuthority ranks the outfielders for fantasy baseball.
- All kinds of interesting comments from former Phillies GM Pat Gillick, including his thoughts on Pat Burrell and Milton Bradley.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch weighs in on the Cardinals’ second base situation.
- ESPN’s Keith Law evaluates the Nationals’ Adam Dunn signing. He considers it "$20 million for a few meaningless wins over the next two years."
- Evan Brunell of Fire Brand of the American League interviewed free agent hurler Paul Byrd.
- Rob Bradford of WEEI has quotes from Theo Epstein about trading young players.
- Shoutout to our readers in the United Kingdom, who account for 11,000 of MLBTR’s pageviews this month.
Heyman On Manny, Pudge, Cabrera, Howard
The latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman…
- Heyman says "most in the know seem to still believe [Dodgers owner Frank] McCourt will bend on Manny Ramirez and go to three years."
- The Nationals’ offer to Adam Dunn was on the table for weeks until he realized no team was going to beat or approach it. There were rumors months ago that Dunn sought a $100MM deal heading into free agency.
- The Astros and Marlins are looking at Ivan Rodriguez. There’s even an El Nuevo Dia report suggesting the Astros offered $2.5MM+ to Pudge, but that seems out of their price range to me. In today’s mailbag, MLB.com’s Alyson Footer opines that the Astros wouldn’t go to $3MM for a catcher.
- The A’s "want to spend no more than $5MM, and probably closer to $3MM" for Orlando Cabrera. He should take that if it’s offered.
- The Angels had been eyeing Joe Crede but may be done after signing Bobby Abreu. The Giants and Twins remain the likeliest suitors for Crede.
- The Phillies hoped to lock up Ryan Howard beyond his arbitration years, and Ruben Amaro Jr. disputed the notion that he is after Teixeira money.
Nationals Have Six Players For Four Spots
As Chico Harlan of the Washington Post explains, the Nationals now have six players for four spots following the Adam Dunn signing. Harlan says the Nats prefer Dunn in left field if Nick Johnson is healthy, leaving Josh Willingham‘s role in question. Here’s a look at the six players:
- Adam Dunn: Agreed to play first base or left field. Two-year, $20MM deal to become official today.
- Nick Johnson: Has never played anywhere but first base. Wants to play every day, but spent most of 2007-08 on the DL for leg and wrist injuries. He’s fine with a trade. Set to earn $5.5MM in ’09 in last year before free agency. OBP machine.
- Josh Willingham: Acquired along with Scott Olsen in November. Missed 50 games in ’08 with back issues. 2009 is his first arb year; he submitted $3.6MM vs. $2.55MM from the Nats. Free agent-eligible after 2011 season. Has mainly played LF in big league career (68 innings at catcher, 3 at first base).
- Austin Kearns: Friend of Dunn from Cincinnati days. Owed $9MM for ’09 (includes $1MM buyout for ’10). Has experience as CF and RF. Dealt with elbow, foot injuries in ’08.
- Lastings Milledge: Experience at all three OF positions. Turns 24 in April. Under team control through 2012. Didn’t hit much outside of August. Manny Acta committed to him as the center fielder.
- Elijah Dukes: Experience at all three OF positions. Turns 25 in June. Under team control through 2013. .972 OPS after All-Star break in 29 games (dealt with calf/knee injuries). Paid back child support; will not face prison time.
Two more, not mentioned by Harlan as those considered potential everyday players:
- Willie Harris: Signed two-year, $3MM extension in December. Has played all three OF positions and 2B in his career, plus a small amount of SS and 3B. FanGraphs valued his ’08 defense so highly that they calculated him to be worth $14.6MM overall.
- Wily Mo Pena: Exercised $2MM player option in October after Nationals declined $5MM club option. Shoulder surgery in July. Recently turned 27; had .472 career SLG prior to ’08.
The Nats also have Corey Patterson in camp on a minor league deal. Seems like he chose the wrong team.
Johnson Wants To Play, Would Accept A Trade
According to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, Nick Johnson will not accept a bench role with the Nationals, who will "most likely look to trade" him. Johnson said he "would rather play every day" than accept a role as a reserve. Now that the Nats added Adam Dunn, Johnson doesn’t fit as a starter so he said if the Nationals choose to trade him "that’s fine."
Ladson writes that the A’s, who have had interest in Johnson, aren’t near a deal with the Nats. Oakland doesn’t have a clear spot for him either, though.
Glavine, Braves Have ‘Positive’ Meeting
8:36pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman heard from Glavine, who also described the meeting as "positive." He said he wants to sign with the Braves and sounds hopeful that he will. Frank Wren said he had a "good meeting" with Glavine.
Since Glavine’s willing to accept a contract with deferred money, Bowman suggests this deal could work: $2MM guaranteed with up to $4MM in deferred incentives over the next five years.
7:38pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears that the Braves met with Tom Glavine today and offered him a deal that could be worth up to $3MM. Rosenthal’s sources confirm Jerry Crasnick’s earlier report: the deal would guarantee Glavine $1MM, pay him another million for making the team out of Spring Training and pay him the final million if he’s on the Braves’ roster for 60 days.
Glavine’s agent, Gregg Clifton described the meeting as "amicable and positive" and said the two sides are still exchanging ideas. The Nationals are an option for Glavine if he doesn’t reach an agreement with Atlanta.
The Braves have $6-8MM left to spend, but they’d also like to add an outfielder. Rosenthal describes Nick Swisher, who makes $5.3MM this year, as the Braves’ most likely option. If Atlanta expects the Yankees to pick up any of Swisher’s salary, they’d likely have to part with "higher quality prospects."
Rosenthal adds that Glavine could wait until March, when he turns 43, to sign. If injuries occur in Spring Training more teams could need starters.
Durham Turns Down Offer From Nationals
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, free agent second baseman Ray Durham turned down a minor league offer from the Nationals potentially worth $850K plus incentives. Durham would require more than that, and is 50-50 on retirement. The offer from Washington was Durham’s first of the offseason.
A note from Crasnick regarding the Cardinals:
The Cardinals, who expressed interest in Durham earlier this winter, released second baseman Adam Kennedy on Monday. But early indications are that St. Louis plans to fill the void from within. If general manager John Mozeliak does pursue a free agent, Orlando Hudson would probably rank ahead of Durham on the priority list.
Durham, 37, authored a strong .380 OBP in 426 plate appearances last year.
Nats Avoid Arb With Scott Olsen
7:08pm: The Washington Post’s Chico Harlan gathered a quote from Olsen just moments after he OK’d the deal:
"Well obviously I was happy. I think where we settled at was a very fair number in terms of if you look at where everybody else sort of slotted in. I’ve never been through the arbitration process before, so it came down to two days before we were gonna go to trial. I don’t think a whole lot of people ever do want to go to the hearing, especially player-wise, because the team wins 60-percent of the time."
5:44pm: According to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com, the Nationals have agreed to terms with left-hander Scott Olsen on a one-year, $2.8MM contract.
Olsen, acquired from the Marlins back in November, requested $3.5MM when arbitration figures were due. The Nats countered with a $2.5MM bid. Olsen, 25, went 8-11 with a 4.20 ERA last season and was one of just 18 National League pitchers to eclipse the 200-inning plateau.
The Nationals still have hearings pending with Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham.
Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Red Sox Non-Roster Invitees
Some Odds and Ends around the league:
- In a good piece by Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, Nats GM Jim Bowden says Stephen Strasburg is "as good a pitcher as we’ve seen in the draft in 10 or 15 years." He could be in the rotation as soon as September. Amusingly, Strasburg’s mother described Scott Boras, who is advising the phenom, as a "Rottweiler."
- WEEI’s Alex Speier lists the Red Sox 19 non-roster invitees. 13 of them have Major League experience. Brad Wilkerson is also expected to be present.
- David Lennon of Newsday.com reports that Omar Minaya has achieved his offseason goals. "The reality is that we’ve pretty much filled all our priorities," Minaya said. "I’m set to go with this team."
- Phil Rogers touches on the absence of interest in Frank Thomas who is not working out while he’s out of camp. Rogers notes the Players Association needs to organize a spring training camp for out-of-work players. He suggests the White Sox abandoned Tucson complex.