Nats, Mets, Yanks Interested In Prior
UPDATE, 12-15-07 at 12:47pm: The Phillies are one team that does not have interest in Prior.
UPDATE, 12-15-07 at 8:48am: Ed Price adds that the Yankees and Mets have both shown preliminary interest in Prior. Apparently he is throwing on flat ground and could be ready by May. Translation: he may return by the second half. Price believes roughly a dozen clubs are interested in Prior.
FROM 12-14-07 at 11:53pm:
The Nationals are looking in the bargain bin for a veteran starting pitcher. Two options they’re considering are Mark Prior and Jason Jennings, according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. The Nats first touched base with Jennings’ agent around November 6th. Prior is a new name for them though.
Jennings has the Royals, Rangers, Rockies, and Mets on his trail as well. As for Prior, the Astros, Reds, Rangers, Phillies, and Padres may be the most interested clubs.
Nationals Sign Mackowiak, Harris
According to a press release from the Nationals, they’ve signed Rob Mackowiak and Willie Harris to one-year deals. The idea is to bolster the bench.
Today’s Non-tenders: Towers, Prior, Everett, Durbin
Tim’s out for the night, so we’ve got a fresh post started for the non-tenders. MLB.com has a running list as well.
These guys are the officials as of now:
- As expected, the Marlins non-tendered catcher Miguel Olivo. Johnny Estrada was another casualty; these two make up the market for starting catchers.
- The Blue Jays non-tendered Josh Towers, a surprising move. Some NL team could offer him two years and get league average work out of him.
- Mark Prior has been non-tendered. Honestly if I were the Cubs, I would’ve tossed the $3.5MM his way just to see.
- Aaron Miles is now a free agent.
- The A’s cut Kiko Calero loose.
- The Padres have non-tendered four: Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, and pitchers Jack Cassell and Ryan Ketchner. RotoWorld speculates that the latter two, not arbitration eligible, could be offered minor league deals.
- The Royals cut the cord on Emil Brown. He turns 33 soon; he hit an ugly .257/.300/.347 in 2007. Brown earned $3.45MM in ’07.
- The Tigers non-tendered Chad Durbin, toss him into the free agent pool. Guess those trade talks with the Bucs didn’t work out.
- The Twins have let go Jason Tyner.
- The Nats have cut bait with Nook Logan and LHP Michael O’Connor.
- The Dodgers wave goodbye to Mark Hendrickson.
- The White Sox have non-tendered Andy Gonzalez and LHP Heath Phillips. Joe Crede sticks with the Pale Hose for now.
- Adam Everett has lost his job with the Astros. It’d be kind of funny if the Orioles signed him.
- Per RotoWorld, the Angels have non-tendered Dallas McPherson. He’s full of potential, but he’s never come through. He’s only 27, though, so he could still catch on somewhere. Unless, RotoWorld notes, he has an agreement in place with the Angels.
- The Braves have non-tendered Willie Harris, though he had already been DFA’d.
–Joe and Tim
Odds And Ends: Nats, Dodgers, Cardinals
Couple of small signings and rumors on non-tender night:
- The Nats have agreed with John Patterson, Ryan Wagner, and Luis Ayala to one-year deals. Wagner is coming off labrum surgery, and is expected to compete for a spot in the bullpen in Spring Training. Ayala tossed 42 decent innings after coming back from Tommy John surgery in June. After showing flashes of his potential in 2005, Patterson has hardly worked out over the past two years, but will get another shot this spring.
- The Dodgers have signed 11 players to minor league deals with invitations to Spring Training: RHP Tanyon Sturtze, RHP Mike Koplove, RHP Brian Falkenborg, RHP Rick
Asadoorian, RHP Fernando Desgue, RHP Greg Jones, LHP Brian Shackelford,
OF John-Ford Griffin, 1B John Lindsey, IF Angel Chavez and C Danny
Ardoin. The addition of Sturtze, coupled with the presence of Scott Proctor, gives Joe Torre two of his favorite abuse cases over the past few years. - The Cardinals have signed former Athletic Ron Flores to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. He throws left-handed, hence will probably get a shot for the next three or four years, even if his performance is spotty. C Mark Johnson, RHP Hugo Castellanos and 3B Rico Washington have also been signed and extended an invite.
–Joe
Rosenthal’s Latest: Santana, Cabrera, Kuroda, Edmonds, Rolen
Ken Rosenthal checks in with the latest hot stove buzz around baseball.
- Johan Santana is Boston’s only target – they’re not after Dan Haren or any other starter. The talks keep slugging along. For what it’s worth, Curt Schilling expects the Red Sox to get him.
- 36 year-old first baseman Alex Cabrera is a sleeper power threat among free agents. The former Rockie, Cub, and Diamondback has been mashing in Japan since 2001. The Nationals don’t have any room for him but want him anyway. Rosenthal says A.L. clubs are looking at him as a DH candidate, also. Cabrera hit .295/.377/.512 with 27 HR in 441 ABs in Japan in 2007.
- Hiroki Kuroda has not reached an agreement with any team, according to Rosenthal.
- The Padres are still considering Jim Edmonds as a center field candidate.
- Here’s a new one: the Indians expressed interest in Scott Rolen. The talks have cooled however.
- Rosenthal says the Astros don’t think they will get Miguel Tejada. Instead they’ve moved on to…Ron Mahay and Jeremy Affeldt.
Odds and Ends: Inge, Greene, Pavano
A few tidbits this morning as we wait to hear more on Fukudome…
- The Tigers and Pirates have had talks about Brandon Inge. Not sure how he fits in with that club, but OK.
- Yesterday Barry Svrluga wrote of a failed Padres-Nats trade worth noting. The Nats would’ve sent Jon Rauch or Chad Cordero plus Felipe Lopez to the Padres for Khalil Greene. The talks fizzled; it never sounded like something the Padres would be interested in. They usually grow their own relievers. Tom Krasovic over at the San Diego Union-Tribune elaborates a little more on Jim Bowden’s love for Greene.
- Carl Pavano, the American Idle, is deciding whether to take a minor league contract with the Yanks. Peter Abraham says the Yankees are offering this to make sure they can collect on insurance.
- Xavier Nady will be tendered a contract, officially putting the rumors to rest.
- The Brewers inked Eric Munson to be their possible backup catcher.
Nationals Sign Lo Duca
UPDATE, 12-10-07 at 10:11pm: The Nationals paid a fairly hefty $5MM for Lo Duca. This is for a backstop who hit .272/.311/.378 while throwing out a below-average 23.4% of basestealers in 2007. He’d better call a good game.
FROM 12-10-07 at 1:59pm:
According to Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post, the Nationals have signed Paul Lo Duca to a one-year deal. He apparently wanted $5MM; I imagine he got a bit less than that. Four days ago Joel Sherman said the Blue Jays were putting the "finishing touches" on a one-year, $3MM deal with Lo Duca.
My reaction: eh. I’m not sure what Lo Duca adds to the 2008 Nationals that they couldn’t get elsewhere for less money. I guess they could hope he has a big first half and then try to flip him for a prospect. Mets fans: is Lo Duca good at naturing young pitchers? That could be one decent reason to sign him.
Kearns Unlikely To Be Dealt
It’s hard not to like the Nationals. They have a savvy manager and something of a patchwork team. They’re trying to build a club from the ground up without spending big on free agents. They’re also not scared off by supposed attitude issues, acquiring players like Dmitri Young, Lastings Milledge, and Elijah Dukes.
Given the Nats’ desire to give Wily Mo Pena a full-time job, the team is left with four outfielders for three spots. You might think this would make Austin Kearns available. The 27 year-old hit .266/.355/.411 this year and hasn’t shown much power at RFK. He makes $5MM in ’08, $9MM in ’09, and has a $10MM club option for ’10 with a $1MM buyout.
However, Kearns is unlikely to be traded according to both Jim Bowden and Manny Acta. They’re happy to have four outfielders and hope to get ABs for all. It would be surprising if everyone stayed healthy all year, anyway. With his salary escalating in ’09, it makes sense to wait on Kearns. Plus, he might have better power numbers in the new park.
Nats Extend Wily Mo Pena, Sign Aaron Boone
UPDATE, 12-8-07 at 12:21pm: The Boston Herald’s Rob Bradford says Wily Mo could’ve gotten more guaranteed money if he’d stuck with his previous agent, Josh Zeide.
FROM 12-6-07 at 11:20am:
The Nats made a couple of moves today.
- The rumored extension to Wily Mo Pena is done. He gets $2MM in ’08, plus a mutual option for ’09. The club can exercise it for $5MM, and if they decline Pena can take it for $2MM.
- Aaron Boone signed a one-year, $1MM deal with incentives. Boone, who turns 35 in March, hit a respectable .286/.388/.423 in part-time duty with the Marlins this year.
- The Nats re-signed Ryan Langerhans to a minor-league deal.
Nats Talk Extension With Wily Mo Pena
UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 11:02pm: According to Nats GM Jim Bowden, they’ve talked with Pena about an extension but no agreement has been reached.
FROM 12-5-07 at 8:35pm:
ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reports that the Nationals have signed Wily Mo Pena to a two-year extension worth $7MM. He’ll get $2MM in ’08 and $5MM in ’09. The deal buys out one year of free agency.
Is Wily Mo worth it? Hard to say, as his development has stalled a bit after spending a few years as Boston’s extra outfielder.