Shawn Hill Wins Arb Case
According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, Nationals pitcher Shawn Hill has won his arbitration case, and will be paid $775,000 in 2009.
The Nationals had offered $500,000.
Left on Washington’s list of arbitration-eligible players to settle with are Ryan Zimmerman, Scott Olsen, and Josh Willingham.
The Corner Outfield-DH Market
There are still many jobless players who could contribute as a corner outfielder or a DH, so it’s a good time to take stock of the market. Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu are the big names, but Garret Anderson, Andruw Jones, Luis Gonzalez, Jim Edmonds and Ken Griffey Jr. want jobs and Jermaine Dye, Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher could be available through trades.
Here’s a look at the teams who have reportedly had interest in this type of player, starting in the AL:
- White Sox: They thought about Abreu and Dye’s been involved in rumors all offseason, much to the frustration of Kenny Williams. Dye will earn $11.5MM in 2009.
- Angels: They aren’t interested in Dye, but they could be interested in Abreu or Dunn at the right price. Don’t look for them to make a play for Manny though; GM Tony Reagins said it won’t happen. Garret Anderson won’t be back.
- Mariners: The Ms could sign Griffey, but they prefer Abreu and Anderson.
- Braves: They are the top suitor for Swisher and they have some interest in bringing back Jones. Atlanta has about $5-9MM to spend, so they could change plans and pursue Dunn or Abreu if they’re willing to accept a deal worth under $10MM. Don’t rule out a Nady trade, either.
- Nationals: The Nats have offered Dunn a contract, which he’s been sitting on for a while. They’re also monitoring the Manny market.
- Mets: Abreu and Ramirez won’t sign with the Mets this offseason. If Griffey’s willing to sign at a major discount, he could sign with the Mets, but indications are he wants $5-6MM.
- Dodgers: The Dodgers have targeted Manny Ramirez all offseason, and he’s rejected two contract offers from them. The first was for $45MM over two years with a club option; the second was for $25MM over one year. Dunn appears to like the Dodgers, and Abreu’s an option, too.
- Giants: The Giants are also courting Manny, but some have said they just want to prevent the Dodgers from getting a deal. Abreu could also fit in San Francisco.
- Reds: Yet another team that could pursue Abreu, the Reds spoke with Luis Gonzalez’s agent ealier in the winter. Adam Dunn won’t return to Cincinnati this offseason.
Shawn Hill First To Arbitration
According to the Associated Press, via ESPN.com, the Nationals’ Shawn Hill became the first player in the major leagues to go to a salary arbitration hearing this year.
He asked a panel Friday for $775K while the club offered him $500K. A decision will be made on one of the two figures sometime this weekend. Hill, 27, was 1-5 with a 5.83 ERA in 12 starts last season. He hit the disabled list on June 25 with a sore right elbow and finally underwent surgery to repair the issue on September 5.
Odds and Ends: Hudson, Twins, Sisco, Dunn
Links for Friday…
- Tim Hudson wants the Braves to pick up his 2010 option for $12MM, though he has the right to void it if they do.
- Indians GM Mark Shapiro has no regrets about signing Kerry Wood for $20.5MM in early December.
- Twins CEO Jim Pohlad says the team is not done, in talking to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He believes signing Joe Crede makes sense, but his baseball people have the final decision.
- Michael Fleming of Variety says Brad Pitt continues to "circle" the Moneyball movie, in which he could play Billy Beane.
- Athletics Nation takes a good look at free agent lefty Andy Sisco.
- Austin Kearns commented on his friend Adam Dunn, in talking with Chico Harlan of the Washington Post.
- An amusing "25 facts about 25 random Yankees" from Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.
- The Rays signed pitcher Winston Abreu to a minor league deal; he spent last year in Japan.
- RotoAuthority ranks the shortstops for fantasy baseball.
- Deals for Jason Varitek, Brad Wilkerson, and Ken Takahashi were finalized today. Jeff Bailey was shuffled to Triple A to make room for Varitek, says Dan Barbarisi.
Stark On Andruw, Swisher, Hudson, Pedro
The latest from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…
- Stark looks at all the factors influencing this year’s slow-moving free agent market, talking to all sorts of anonymous execs. It’s a good read.
- Among all the teams, the Phillies have added the most to their payroll this winter ($30MM+). Only ten teams raised payroll this year. The Phils are still looking at the same cast of righthanded bench bats, and are also looking to sign a reliever for one year. Names of interest: Joe Borowski, Rudy Seanez, Will Ohman, Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, and Randy Flores. Stark notes that Flores is out until June due to shoulder surgery.
- Andruw Jones is looking for a team that will give him playing time. One of Stark’s sources says Braves manager Bobby Cox is "lobbying harder for Jones than the rest of the baseball operation."
- The Braves are the top suitor for Nick Swisher, but their suggestion that the Yankees eat some of Swisher’s contract was shot down.
- Stark has heard that Angels owner Arte Moreno is ticked at Scott Boras and Mark Teixeira for the way they handled negotiations.
- Stark received conflicting answers on whether the Elias formulas "can be changed without a special negotiation." It figures that the players union would push to eliminate the Jason Varitek/Juan Cruz/Orlando Cabrera situations we saw this winter. The D’Backs may have interest in re-signing Cruz, but don’t look for a Cabrera-White Sox reunion.
- The Yankees and Mets have not pursued Orlando Hudson, despite Hudson’s statements of their interest. Stark sees a one-year deal with the Nationals or Dodgers in his future.
- One assistant GM doesn’t think the WBC will be a good gauge for Pedro Martinez‘s abilities, since he’ll be doing short stints.
- Stark has details on Eddie Guardado‘s contract, which has interesting provisions if he is to be traded.
Nats Ink Odalis Perez To Minor League Deal
Bill Ladson of MLB.com reports that left-hander Odalis Perez has agreed to return to the Nationals on a minor league contract. It’s surprising to see that he didn’t do better, but maybe Perez did what he had to to remain in Washington.
Perez, 31, finished with a 7-12 record last season, but he made 14 quality starts and wound up with a 4.34 ERA. It was his lowest earned run average since 2004. Manager Manny Acta had this to say about Perez at the end of last season:
"He has given us a lot of quality starts and the innings that we were hoping he would give us out of Spring Training. We think he could have easily won double-digits, almost 15 wins, with any type of help."
Jays, Kevin Millar Close To Deal
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, first baseman Kevin Millar is "almost certain" to sign a minor league deal with the Blue Jays today or tomorrow. The Mets, Yankees, Nationals, and Rangers had also been in on Millar. Rich Aurilia has been recommended for the Mets by several writers, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post learned they’ve yet to make contact with his agent.
Millar, 37, hit .234/.323/.394 in 610 plate appearances last year.
Manny Ramirez Rumors: Tuesday
11:33pm: According to MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick, Scott Boras said he expects to resume contract talks for Ramirez with the Dodgers on Wednesday. The Manny rumors were fractured into various posts today at MLBTR – here’s the one about the Mets not being involved, and here’s the one about Ramirez rejecting the Dodgers’ one-year, $25MM offer.
We also have an article from David Waldstein of the New York Times, where Yankees GM Brian Cashman says:
"People expect us to get in on Manny, but it’s not going to happen. We’re in the nonroster invitee mode. He’s a great player, but when you look at our payroll, we’re tapped."
9:39pm: Bobby Evans, Giants VP of Player Personnel, appeared Tuesday night on XM Radio’s Home Plate show. Manny was obviously a hot topic. Check out some of the quotes from the interview:
"Manny is amongst a number of different options out there, he’s clearly the most renowned player and probably future hall of famer, so you can’t deny interest if there’s an opportunity to bring him to the Giants."
"We’re going to monitor the market of him, it doesn’t seem to be going down, although he did turn down this offer, it was a 1 year offer verse a 2 year offer that was for more money. Again ultimately I don’t know which way it will go, but we’re going to stay engaged and see what happens."
8:48pm: Chris Haft of MLB.com makes a case for the Giants signing Manny. Unlike the Nationals, who made their stance known almost immediately, Giants officials refused to comment Tuesday after news broke that the Dodgers’ offer was rejected.
7:35pm: Nationals GM Jim Bowden reaffirmed Tuesday evening that his club is not in the hunt for Manny Ramirez. Bill Ladson filed the report for MLB.com.
"We are not pursuing Manny Ramirez," Bowden said. As Ladson points out, "the Nationals are overloaded with right-handed-hitting outfielders, plus he’s 36 years old. The Nationals have often said that they are looking for players for the long term."
The Nats have focused on landing Adam Dunn and reportedly offered him a contract some time ago. He should come at a cheaper price than Manny and Washington can feel more comfortable offering the 29-year-old Dunn a mutli-year contract.
Nats Ink Valentin To Minor League Deal
According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, the Nationals have signed catcher Javier Valentin to a minor league contract.
Valentin, 33, hit .256/.326/.411 with four home runs and 18 RBI in 129 at-bats for the Reds last season. He’ll be given a shot to win the backup catching job over Wil Nieves this spring. Nieves, 31, batted .261/.309/.341 with one dinger and 20 RBI in 176 at-bats during the ’08 season.
Dodgers Rumors: Manny, Dunn, Hudson, Wolf
3:11pm: Dylan Hernandez and Bill Shaikin asked Dodgers owner Frank McCourt about the Manny situation:
"We very much want this player back and we’re trying to hard to do that, which is why we came up with something that we thought was creative that gave him a lot of money, well-deserved money, in a very, very challenging economy, but also gave him flexibility. I don’t see the long-term contract happening in this particular baseball market that we’re in."
More McCourt quotes from MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick:
"The other thing is, the agent [Scott Boras] is challenging to work with and we’ve tried hard. We’ve made three efforts and we still have not received a specific number from the agent, and I don’t know what to tell you. At some point, you have to move on and start to get ready to win a championship."
SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Dodgers and Manny are "nowhere near a deal."
11:55am: Dodgers GM Ned Colletti says the team remains interested in Ramirez despite the newly rejected offer, according to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says "the Giants still maintain interest in Ramirez on a two-year deal max."
ESPN’s Jayson Stark has info on their progressing pursuit of Wolf:
It’s believed the Dodgers are offering a one-year deal with an option that could be similar to the contract free-agent starter Jon Garland just signed with Arizona.
11:39am: ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Dodgers are considering their Manny alternatives, including going after Hudson and Dunn.
8:38am: Manny Ramirez has rejected another offer from the Dodgers, this time for one year and $25MM. This offer seemed like something that could work for both sides – Manny gets a salary increase and a chance to re-enter the market quickly, the Dodgers minimize their risk and keep that free agency carrot in front of him. Manny and Scott Boras did not agree.
Ken Rosenthal suggests the Giants and perhaps the Nationals as Manny’s remaining suitors if the Dodgers drop out. There is no indication that those teams will top the Dodgers’ offers. What is Boras’ master plan here?
Rosenthal says the Dodgers are "intrigued by the possibility" of signing Randy Wolf, Orlando Hudson, and Adam Dunn instead of Ramirez. He says Wolf "should be theirs by the end of the week." It should be noted that the Dodgers would lose their #17 pick if they sign Hudson or Orlando Cabrera prior to the June draft.