Archives for November 2010

Tigers Close To Deal With Victor Martinez

By Tim Dierkes | November 22, 2010 at 9:19am CDT

The Tigers are close to a deal with catcher Victor Martinez on a four-year, $50MM contract, reports Ignacio Serrano of El Nacional (link in Spanish). Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports confirm the report, saying a final decision is expected Friday or Saturday. Serrano says Martinez accepted the Tigers' offer, and there will be a deal barring an unforeseen event.

According to Serrano, Martinez turned down a four-year, $48MM offer from the Orioles and a three-year, $48MM offer from the White Sox. That White Sox offer would have been tough to reject, so we'll see if someone confirms it.

Though the Red Sox hoped to re-sign Martinez, they can take solace in receiving the best available draft pick as part of their compensation. The Tigers must surrender their #19 draft pick next year to the Red Sox, unless Detroit also signs Jayson Werth later.

Martinez fulfills the Tigers' need for a middle of the order bat, and as a switch-hitter he can provide protection from the left side. If the Tigers stick with their plan of using Alex Avila often at catcher, Martinez could see most of his time as a designated hitter and backup first baseman.

21 Teams Facing Tomorrow’s Arbitration Deadline

By Tim Dierkes | November 22, 2010 at 8:01am CDT

21 of baseball's 30 teams must make at least one decision prior to tomorrow's deadline for offering arbitration to free agents. The Rays lead with nine eligible Type A or B free agents, six of which are relievers. We'll have predictions and polls later today, but here's a team-by-team look.

Rays: Grant Balfour (A), Carl Crawford (A), Rafael Soriano (A), Dan Wheeler (A), Joaquin Benoit (B), Randy Choate (B), Brad Hawpe (B), Carlos Pena (B), Chad Qualls (B). Benoit has already signed with the Tigers, so he's a lock for an offer. I think Hawpe, Pena, and Qualls are the three who will not get offers, though I'm on the fence on Wheeler.
Twins: Matt Guerrier (A), Carl Pavano (A), Jesse Crain (B), Brian Fuentes (B), Orlando Hudson (B), Jon Rauch (B). I think Fuentes is the only one of the six not to get an offer, but it is possible the Twins don't want to risk having some of the other players under contract for 2011.
Yankees: Derek Jeter (A), Andy Pettitte (A), Mariano Rivera (A), Lance Berkman (B), Javier Vazquez (B), Kerry Wood (B). Jeter is the interesting case here. In Joel Sherman's November 10th article, he wrote that of a dozen executives polled there was a split but the majority thought Jeter would be offered arbitration.
Blue Jays: Scott Downs (A), Jason Frasor (A), John Buck (B), Kevin Gregg (B), Miguel Olivo (B). I can see all five getting offers, though Frasor may not if the Jays consider him accepting to be a negative outcome. Between offers made last year and the trade for Olivo, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has been aggressive in courting draft picks.
Padres: Miguel Tejada (A), Kevin Correia (B), David Eckstein (B), Jon Garland (B), Yorvit Torrealba (B). We don't have a history to look at with Jed Hoyer, but I can see Garland and Torrealba getting offers.
Rangers: Frank Francisco (A), Vladimir Guerrero (A), Cliff Lee (A), Bengie Molina (A). I'm leaning toward only Lee getting an offer, though a case can be made for Francisco.
Red Sox: Adrian Beltre (A), Victor Martinez (A), Felipe Lopez (B), Jason Varitek (B). It'd be risky to offer arbitration to Varitek, while Beltre and Martinez are locks for offers. Lopez was seemingly acquired entirely for a chance at a supplemental pick, though some doubt he'd turn down an arbitration offer and sign a big league deal elsewhere.
White Sox: Paul Konerko (A), A.J. Pierzynski (A), Manny Ramirez (A), J.J. Putz (B). Putz is a good bet for an offer; Manny has no chance. Konerko and Pierzynski are borderline cases – the Sox would probably like both players back, but perhaps not at the salaries they could earn by accepting arbitration. Kenny Williams did offer arbitration to a highly paid free agent he did not want after the '08 season with Orlando Cabrera, and after turning down the offer Cabrera didn't sign until March due to the draft pick cost.
Tigers: Magglio Ordonez (A), Johnny Damon (B), Gerald Laird (B). These three Scott Boras clients are unlikely to receive offers.
Diamondbacks: Aaron Heilman (B), Adam LaRoche (B). Heilman at $3MM or so wouldn't be the end of the world, but Kevin Towers has many needs to fill and might have other plans for his bullpen. I can also see LaRoche going either way.
Dodgers: Rod Barajas (B), Scott Podsednik (B). Ned Colletti has not offered arbitration to his free agents in recent years, but the team seems happy with both players and they're operating off small salaries.
Giants: Aubrey Huff (B), Juan Uribe (B). The Giants will attempt to retain both players, and there's no reason not to offer arbitration.
Phillies: Jayson Werth (A), Chad Durbin (B). Werth's a lock and Durbin seems likely. The Phillies want to retain Durbin, but the only thing that gives me pause is that they did not offer arbitration to Jamie Moyer after the '08 season.
Reds: Arthur Rhodes (A), Orlando Cabrera (B). Rhodes should get an offer but the Reds may prefer not to be tied to Cabrera at this point.
Rockies: Jorge de la Rosa (A), Octavio Dotel (B). De La Rosa will get an offer, but Dotel probably will not.
Angels: Hideki Matsui (B). I don't expect an offer.
Braves: Derrek Lee (A). I don't expect an offer.
Brewers: Trevor Hoffman (B). No chance of an offer.
Mets: Pedro Feliciano (B). An offer makes sense for the lefty.
Nationals: Adam Dunn (A). He seems a lock for an offer, though Josh Byrnes and the Diamondbacks chose not to make one to him after the '08 season.
Orioles: Kevin Millwood (B), Koji Uehara (B). Millwood won't get an offer. Uehara is eligible to be offered arbitration, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun tells me. However, I don't think the Orioles will choose to do so.

Iwakuma’s Agent Tweets His Side

By Tim Dierkes | November 22, 2010 at 7:52am CDT

Talks between the Athletics and Hisashi Iwakuma broke off on Saturday, and his agent Don Nomura has taken to Twitter to explain why.

Nomura says the A's offered a four-year, $15.25MM deal, for an average of $3.8125MM per year. The team was using Kei Igawa (five years, $20MM) and Colby Lewis (two years, $5MM) as comparables, while Nomura countered with Hiroki Kuroda (three years, $35.3MM) and Daisuke Matsuzaka (six years, $52MM). The A's pointed to their $19.1MM posting fee, but Nomura wanted to keep the pitcher's contract separate (presumably since Iwakuma wouldn't see any of the posting fee money). Nomura remains open to a deal since the sides have until December 8th, though he suggests the A's are now "hunting two free agent pitchers." He finished by noting that the team's offer to Adrian Beltre "was just a PR" move.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle broke the story yesterday; her blog post was updated with similar information prior to Nomura's barrage of tweets. Her source pegs the posting fee at $18MM. In either case, Iwakuma would have cost the A's over $8MM a year. In my opinion, that commitment was already plenty risky.

Odds & Ends: Mets, Collins, Minaya, Pirates, Rays

By Steve Adams | November 21, 2010 at 10:49pm CDT

Some links on a Sunday evening:

SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets that Chip Hale will be on Terry Collins' coaching staff after losing out on the Mets' managerial job. Meanwhile, Andy Martino of The New York Daily News tweets that both Mookie Wilson and Dave Wallace will "definitely be considered" for the coaching staff as well.
ESPN's Adam Rubin offers up ten tidbits about new Mets' manager Terry Collins.
Omar Minaya is in no hurry to accept one of the many offers he's received, writes ESPN's Enrique Rojas. The former Mets GM says he's received offers for various positions from several teams, including some to be an assistant general manager.
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tells us that the Pirates are set to hire four coaches for Clint Hurdle's new staff: Ray Searage as the pitching coach, Gregg Ritche as the hitting coach, Jeff Bannister as the third base coach, and Nick Leyva as the bench coach.
Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times feels that the Rays will hang onto B.J. Upton this offseason and likely won't trade a pitcher (candidates include James Shields, Matt Garza, Jeff Niemann, or Wade Davis) until July, unless the offers get "crazy good" once Cliff Lee signs. He does believe, though, that Jason Bartlett will be traded by Spring Training.
Bartlett's availability will likely have a negative impact on the market for Marco Scutaro, writes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer looks at Ruben Amaro's five best and five worst moves, and says the jury is still out on the Philly GM.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Miguel Olivo

By Mike Axisa | November 21, 2010 at 9:47pm CDT

The Blue Jays pulled off a nice little move when they acquired Miguel Olivo from the Rockies 17 days ago, essentially swapping a player to be named later or cash for a supplemental first round draft pick. Toronto declined Olivo's $2.5MM option, so add the $500K buyout to the bounty for the draft pick, but more importantly it made Olivo a free agent. Let's review the backstop's stock…

The Good

Olivo is a proven power threat, hitting no fewer than a dozen homers every year since 2006 and averaging 16 per season during that span. Brian McCann is the only other backstop with double digit homers in each of those years (min. 60% of games behind the plate).
He's adept at stopping the running game, throwing out 124 of 343 attempted basestealers (36.2%) over the last five seasons.
Despite the rigors of catching, Olivo has been on the disabled list just once in his career; he missed 15 days when he had kidney stones removed during the summer of 2004. Other than various day-to-day ailments associated with the position, he's been perfectly healthy.
He's just a Type-B free agent, so it won't cost a draft pick to sign him.

The Bad

Olivo will turn 33 next July, an age when catchers can start to turn into pumpkins.
Power is the only thing to like about his offensive game. He doesn't hit for average (.246 career) or draw walks (just 108 unintentional walks in over 3,000 career plate appearances), resulting in paltry on-base percentages (.283 career).
As good as he is at throwing out base runners, Olivo has led the league in passed balls in four of the last five seasons.

The Verdict

As usual, the number of teams looking for a catcher this winter far exceeds the number of quality catchers available. The Red Sox, Tigers, White Sox, Rangers, Mariners, Dodgers, Padres, and others could all be in the market for a new backstop, so Olivo should have his pick of offers. He's not likely to match John Buck's three-year, $18MM contract given his age, but Olivo's one of the best free agent catchers and the open market should yield a two-year contract.

Week In Review: 11/14/10 – 11/21/10

By Mike Axisa | November 21, 2010 at 8:43pm CDT

The hot stove jumped into another gear this past week, with several trades and free agent signings going down. Let's recap…

Last Sunday we heard that the Braves' pursuit of a hitter could pick up during the week, and sure enough they soon traded Omar Infante and Mike Dunn to the Marlins for slugger Dan Uggla. Florida intends to focus on pitching now, and they have interest in Javier Vazquez (it's mutual). The Nationals could make Vazquez an offer this week, however.
The first two significant free agents came off the board, as the Marlins signed John Buck (three years, $18MM) and the Tigers signed Joaquin Benoit (three years, $16.5MM).
Two starting pitchers re-signed with their old clubs. The Dodgers brought back Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year, $12MM contract while the Cardinals re-upped Jake Westbrook for two years and $16.5MM with a third year option.
Miscellaneous trades: The Blue Jays traded a pair of prospects for Rajai Davis, the Rockies and Astros swapped Clint Barmes and Felipe Paulino. and the Yankees flipped Juan Miranda to the Diamondbacks for prospect Scottie Allen.
The D'Backs were featured prominently this week, and not just because they signed Geoff Blum to a two-year, $2.7MM contract or have interest in J.J. Putz. GM Kevin Towers said he'd listen to offers for Justin Upton, but he's asking for a ton in return. Upton has four teams on his no-trade list.
Gavin Floyd is reportedly on the market and the Rockies have shown interest. They also have interest in Kevin Kouzmanoff, Jorge Cantu, Jose Lopez, Ty Wigginton, and Kevin Millwood. Colorado released Manny Corpas and has drawn the line at three years with Jorge de la Rosa,
Derek Jeter wants a four-year deal from the Yankees, but they offered three years and $45MM. The Yanks also have interest in Pedro Feliciano and J.C. Romero, as well as Bill Hall. New York is expected to sign Dominican righty Rafael DePaula.
Infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines, and the Red Sox, Twins, and Orioles will submit bids. The O's also have interest in J.J. Hardy and Jason Bartlett.
The Rangers met with Cliff Lee this past week, though Nolan Ryan expects to be outbid. Texas did sign free agent (but former sixth overall pick) Barret Loux for $312K.
Brewers GM Doug Melvin told reporters that he's not shopping Prince Fielder while Scott Boras said that Manny Ramirez is seeking a one-year, incentive-laden contract to DH somewhere. Vladimir Guerrero is seeking a multiyear deal. Both the White Sox and Tigers met with Adam Dunn and his agent, and several teams have interest in Josh Willingham.
The Orioles and 11 other teams have interest in Adrian Beltre, but the Athletics offered him five years and $64MM. The Red Sox will not go more than four years, however.
The A's, meanwhile, broke off talks with Hisashi Iwakuma because of his contract demands.
The Mets have a new manager, giving the job to Terry Collins. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire received a two-year contract extension. Drayton McLane announced his decision to put the Astros up for sale.
The Phillies re-signed Jose Contreras to a two-year deal worth $5.5MM with a option for a third year, and they also have interest in Hisanori Takahashi. The Reds claimed Takahashi but were unable to work out a deal before he became a free agent.
Yorvit Torrealba cut ties with the Padres and three clubs have interest in Miguel Olivo. The Reds re-signed Ramon Hernandez (one-year, $3MM).
The Red Sox claimed Taylor Buchholz off waivers and are willing to trade Marco Scutaro.
The Pirates designated three for assignment: Zach Duke, Andy LaRoche, and Delwyn Young.
The Indians re-signed Anthony Reyes, but the big news in Cleveland is that Shin-Soo Choo will likely be exempt from mandatory military service back home in South Korea.
Several players are trying to make comebacks, including Bartolo Colon, slugger Wily Mo Pena, and former Athletic Eric Chavez.
"Six or eight" teams have shown interest in Carl Pavano while five have done the same with Jeff Francis and four with Brandon Webb.
The Dodgers selected outfielder Anthony Jackson from the Rockies to complete September's Octavio Dotel trade.

MLBTR Originals: 11/14/10 – 11/21/10

By Mike Axisa | November 21, 2010 at 6:54pm CDT

The hot stove finally started to heat up this week, no doubt thanks to the GM Meetings. Here's a look at MLBTR's original content from the last seven days…

Ben Nicholson-Smith was on location at the GM Meetings in Orlando, and he spoke to Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, Rays GM Andrew Friedman, Padres GM Jed Hoyer, and Pirates GM Neal Huntington. He also provided some general rumors and got quotes from Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski after they signed Joaquin Benoit.
When he got back, Ben explained why small market teams time their free agent bids carefully.
Tim Dierkes pointed out the great start the ACES Agency is off to this winter.
Among the free agents whose stock we examined: Grant Balfour of the Rays, Scott Downs of the Blue Jays, Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks, and Victor Martinez of the Red Sox. We also looked at non-tender candidates Joel Zumaya of the Tigers and Tony Gwynn Jr. of the Padres.
This week's polls included questions about Scott Downs' next contract and whether or not the Diamondbacks would trade Justin Upton.
My amateur signing bonus series concluded with the Blue Jays and Nationals.
Steve Adams listed the players that received bonuses based on regular season awards.
I rounded up the best from the blogosphere in this week's Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
Tim's chat transcript can be found here.
If you're new to the site, make sure you check out our team and transactions-only feeds, team Facebook pages, and then visit the MLBTR forums. Here's a handy guide on all the different ways you can use the site.

Mets Hire Terry Collins

By Steve Adams | November 21, 2010 at 5:58pm CDT

5:58pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets that Collins is getting a two-year deal.

4:30pm: The Mets have hired Terry Collins as their next manager, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Collins, 61, has a wealth of experience as a minor league and major league manager as well as managing experience from Japan. He managed the Astros from 1994-1996, as well as the Angels from 1997-1999, but resigned with 29 games left in the season. He spent the 2010 season as the Mets' minor league field coordinator.

Other candidates for the job included Bob Melvin and Chip Hale, but Rosenthal first tweeted that Melvin was out of the running, and SI's Jon Heyman followed that up shortly after with a tweet saying that Hale was out of the running as well. Fanhouse's Ed Price tweets that Melvin is unlikely to remain with the club in a different role.

Diamondbacks Interested In J.J. Putz

By Mike Axisa | November 21, 2010 at 5:21pm CDT

The Diamondbacks had one of the worst bullpens in baseball history last season (league-worst 5.74 ERA), something new GM Kevin Towers will undoubtedly try to correct this offseason. Part of the solution could be free agent reliever J.J. Putz, whom the D'Backs have interest in according to Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune.

Putz, 34 in February, was fantastic with the White Sox this year. He struck out 65 and walked just 13 unintentionally in 54 innings, pitching to a 2.83 ERA and holding opponents to a .204/.261/.313 batting line against. He did spend 16 days on the disabled list with knee tendinitis, a year after having bone spurs removed from his elbow. It's not long ago that Putz was one of the game's elite closers, a role he could easily fill in Arizona.

As Gonzales notes, Putz resides in nearby Peoria, something that will surely be attractive to the righty. The D'Backs also plan to pursue another former White Sox and Arizona resident, Paul Konerko. Putz earned $3MM in 2010 and is a Type-B free agent.

Oakland Breaks Off Talks With Iwakuma

By Steve Adams | November 21, 2010 at 4:58pm CDT

4:58pm: Slusser writes that the figure Iwakuma was said to be seeking was including the posting fee. She also notes that Iwakuma wasn't looking for the same number of years as Zito, just the same annual salary. Oakland, on the other hand, was thinking somewhere along the lines of a $3MM-$5MM salary.

The A's are also looking for a power hitter, and one thought was that signing Iwakuma could have made Oakland a more appealing destination for Hideki Matsui.

Slusser says she recently spoke with a scout who saw Iwakuma pitch in Japan, and described the 29-year-old as "Nothing special. Just a guy." With Iwakuma presumably out of the picture, Slusser says a healthy Outman would be the frontrunner for the fifth starter job. The 26-year-old lefty was having a strong season in 2009 before he underwent Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2010.

3:38pm: The Athletics have broken off talks with Hisashi Iwakuma, according to this series of tweets from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

While the A's will have until December 7 to make a decision on Iwakuma, Slusser's sources have told her that Iwakuma was seeking something similar to Barry Zito's seven-year, $126MM contract with the Giants to sign in Oakland, which the A's are obviously unwilling to do. Iwakuma is preparing to announce his return to the Rakuten Golden Eagles at an upcoming fan fest.

If Iwakuma's demands don't come down, the A's will be down one fifth starter option, having traded Vin Mazzaro to Kansas City in exchange for David DeJesus. Slusser says the A's will then approach the season with Josh Outman, Tyson Ross, and Bobby Cramer as fifth starter candidates, barring a free agent signing of course.

It's not unthinkable that the A's would venture to free agency to find a suitable replacement; they clearly have the money to spend on pitching should they see fit. Oakland bid around $17MM to win the rights to negotiate with Iwakuma, but that amount will be returned if no deal is reached.

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