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Red Sox Notes: Cherington, Valentine, Lamont

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A few items of note out of Beantown …

  • Some have presumed that Red Sox GM Ben Cherington wanted to hire Dale Sveum as manager — and that ownership quashed it — but a source tells Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald that Cherington has relative autonomy: “I don’t think he would’ve taken the job if that would be an issue,” the source said.
  • As rumored earlier on Sunday, the Red Sox will interview Bobby Valentine for the managerial vacancy on Monday, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com. Valentine hasn't managed since 2002 but is the most experienced among the remaining candidates: Torey Lovullo, Sandy Alomar Jr., and Gene Lamont.
  • Lamont, however, may be the best fit for the job, writes John Tomase of the Boston Herald, as he represents a compromise between ownership, which seems to prefer a candidate with experience, and Cherington, who apparently seeks someone who will be willing to work closely with the player development department.

Phillies Links: Rollins, Ibanez, CBA

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Earlier tonight, the Phillies acquired Ty Wigginton from the Rockies. Here are a batch of links regarding the 2011 NL East champs, as well as an interesting tidbit on the Phils' previous history with Wiggy …

  • Having signed Jonathan Papelbon and traded for Wigginton, the Phillies' primary focus is now filling shortstop, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. The Phils are "in negotiations" with Rollins, Salisbury reports, as well as other free-agent shortstops. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. characterized talks with Rollins as "slow" and said that he doesn't expect to have a shortstop signed by the outset of the Winter Meetings on Dec. 5.
  • The Phils remain in search of an outfielder, according to Salisbury, so it's possible that they could still sign Michael Cuddyer, although it'd probably have to be on team-friendly terms.
  • Finally, Salisbury notes the Phillies have long coveted Wigginton and tried to acquire him in 2010, when he was with the Orioles.
  • Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer suggests that the Phils should re-sign Raul Ibanez, a favorite of both fans and Amaro, for something like one year and $4MM, as he could be useful as a platoonmate with the right-handed-hitting John Mayberry Jr. in left field.
  • Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer examines the various ways the new CBA may affect the Phillies. One interesting possibility put forth by Gelb is that the Phils could become the first NL team in history to go over the luxury tax, which will be frozen at $178MM in 2012 under the new CBA rather than being increased by the usual $8MM anually.

MLBTR Originals: 11/13/11 – 11/19/11

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Here's a look back at the original analysis and reporting churned out by the MLBTR writing team over the past week. We'll begin with the GM Meetings in Milwaukee, where our own Ben Nicholson-Smith was reporting …

 And the rest of our standard original work:

Phillies Acquire Ty Wigginton From Rockies

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The Phillies have acquired utility man Ty Wigginton from the Rockies in exchange for a player to be named or cash, Colorado announced on its official Twitter feed (link).

The teams will split Wigginton's $4MM 2012 salary, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, and the Rox can recoup another player or $100K in cash if the Phils exercise Wigginton's $4MM 2013 option. If the Philly declines Wigginton's 2013 option, the Rockies will pay a portion of the $500K buyout, Renck adds. The player to be named or cash will switch hands within six months, tweets Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.

Wigginton, who turned 34 last month, owns a .265/.325/.443 career line in 10 seasons with the Mets, Pirates, Rays, Astros, Orioles and Rockies, though he's been better against lefties (.274/.353/.461) than righties (.261/.313/.437) by a healthy margin. Wigginton has primarily played third base but has seen action at first base and even logged time at second and in left field.

The Phils had reportedly been pursuing free agent utility man Michael Cuddyer, so it's fair to infer that the acquisition of Wigginton means they're out of the Cuddyer bidding. Cuddyer and Wigginton are roughly comparable players in terms of their positional profiles and age, although Cuddyer, 33 in March, has posted a better offensive line in his career: .272/.343./.451. Wigginton, though, should prove a significantly cheaper addition.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said he regards Wigginton primarily as a corner infielder and occasional outfielder, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter), who adds that Wiggy will be insurance for Placido Polanco and Ryan Howard. The latter suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the Phils' postseason-ending loss to the Cards in the NLCS, so there's some concern over whether he'll be ready on Opening Day.

Wigginton's departure from Colorado should open the door for catcher/first baseman/third baseman Jordan Pacheco, who played well during a late-season cup of coffee in 2011, to fill a similar role in 2012, tweets Renck.

Owners, Players Reach New CBA

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FRIDAY, 2:42pm: The sides will announce the deal Tuesday, according to Rosenthal, who says the delay appears to be logistical (Twitter links).

THURSDAY, 6:58pm: The deal is "really, really close," tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com, who adds that it's not done yet but the announcement is close.

6:35pm: There is a "conceptual agreement" for the new labor deal, hears Jon Heyman of SI.com, but there are still some specific details to finalize, such as a draft tax (Twitter).

6:01pm: The owners and players have settled on a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement which will be officially announced on Monday, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com (Twitter links).

Among the expected changes, according to the Associated Press: The newly sold Astros will join the American League in 2013, and Interleague Play will go on throughout the season to account for the odd number of teams in each league. Five teams will make the postseason from each league, perhaps as soon as in 2012.

We learned yesterday that the old compensation system for free agents should remain in place for this offseason, although some will change immediately, according to Rosenthal.

NL Central Notes: Furcal, Hanrahan, Astros, Brewers

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I hesitated at first to include the Astros in these NL Central notes. Thankfully, I've got a year to remap the standings on my mind's sports page. On with the linkage …

  • The Pirates are looking at shortstop Rafael Furcal and other options at the position, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com, although not the premium types like Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins. It'll be interesting to see how the Bucs handle shortstop after declining Ronny Cedeno's $3MM 2012 option last month.
  • Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan would be receptive to working out an extension with the team, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, who reports that there have been no talks but that neither side has ruled it out, either. It's not a regular occurence in Pittsburgh, where Neal Huntington has dished out just one multiyear contract to a reliever, Matt Capps for 2008-09, since taking over in 2007, according to Langosch. Hanrahan is under team control for two more years and is due a sharp raise through arbitration on his $1.4MM 2011 salary coming off a 40-save campaign. The 30-year-old right-hander should earn $4MM in 2012 through arbitration.
  • New Astros owner Jim Crane said it was made clear to him before agreeing to purchase the Astros that the team would be moved to the AL, according to Astros senior director of social media Alyson Footer. Crane also cautioned not to expect the Astros to be big players in free agency this year, as they will instead focus on building the farm, and said payroll will "be in line with" incoming revenue (all Twitter links).
  • Brewers GM Doug Melvin said he's interested in extending starters Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, as was reported yesterday, but that the sides haven't had talks yet and aren't in a rush to do so, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
  • Melvin also hasn't ruled out bringing Craig Counsell aboard as the Brewers' hitting coach, tweets McCalvy. Counsell, however, hasn't ruled out remaining in the game as a player.
  • Cardinals CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. said the Redbirds are "going to make every effort" to re-sign first baseman Albert Pujols, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. We heard earlier today and yesterday that the Cards and Pujols' agent have resumed talks.
  • New Cubs manager Dale Sveum may bring in Robin Yount as one of his coaches, writes Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun Times.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Maddon, Darvish, Ortiz

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Some interesting items to pass along from around the AL "Beast" …

  • The Red Sox were gauging trade interest in some of their out-of-options pitchers at the GM Meetings this week, a source tells Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Franklin Morales, Andrew Miller, Felix Doubront, Michael Bowden and Scott Atchison are all out of options but aren't locks to make next year's bullpen, according to Speier, so Boston may decide to add or remove some of these players from the 40-man roster based on relative trade interest.
  • The Rays are hopeful of extending the contract of manager Joe Maddon, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com. Maddon is entering the final year of a three-year extension he signed in 2009.
  • The Yankees may shy away from pursuing Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish if he's posted because of the club's history with busts Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa, opines Heyman (Twitter link), although owner Hal Steinbrenner told reporters, such as the New York Post's Joel Sherman and Newsday's Ken Davidoff, that the team will evaluate each player on a case-by-case basis.
  • The Blue Jays are interested in free agent DH David Ortiz, tweets Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
  • Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano said that last month's rumors that he was angling for a contract extension was the result of a joke gone awry, according to Spanish-language Web site DiarioLibre.com. “I’m not thinking about the contract. My lawyer told a journalist as a joke that I was looking for a contract extension, and that’s what got published… I’m not thinking about that. The team has a $14MM option for next year." Thanks to MLBTR's Nick Collias for the translation.

Giants Links: Lincecum, Free Agents, Baer

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A few notes regarding the 2010 World Series champs …

  • Tim Lincecum's agent, Rick Thurman of Beverly Hills Sports Council, said he's not seeking more than a one- or two-year deal for the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, tweets Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, although Thurman added that "there are never any absolutes." 
  • Lincecum is eligible for two more rounds of arbitration — and could see an historic raise if it gets that far — before free agency after 2013. Suffice it to say Lincecum, still only 27, has some bargaining leverage, so it could take something as substantial as an eight-year deal to lock him up, as suggested by Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com.
  • VP of baseball operations Bobby Evans said the Giants could add an outfield bat, but he doesn't envision drastic changes, tweets Morosi. Evans also mentioned Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez are on track to be healthy for Spring Training as they recover from their respective season-ending injuries in 2011.
  • The owners today approved Larry Baer's appointment as Giants CEO, according to Baggarly. Baer replaces for Bill Neukom, who was asked to step down in September. Baggarly expects business as usual under Baer, who has been a long-tenured executive with the organization.

NL East Links: Hamels, Mets, Marlins, Hanley

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A few stray items out of the NL East to share …

  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said he's not looking to trade lefty Cole Hamels, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. That Hamels remains unsigned entering his final year of team control is not indicative of the Phillies' plans for him, according to Amaro: "Cole is homegrown," Amaro said. "He's a guy we would like to keep. We're not up against it right now. We have time to deal with it. Cole is a priority, but we have time to deal with it."
  • The Mets have commitments from investors to buy roughly seven shares of the franchise at $20MM apiece, a source tells Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. That's about $140MM of the $200MM the Mets were hoping to raise, although Rubin reports the Mets will be content with what they've sold so far if no further deals come to fruition.
  • Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria asserts that he is serious about bidding for high-priced free agents like Albert Pujols and Jose Reyes, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com: "All you have to do is look at (new) ballpark and you won't even ask those questions." However, based on their bid for Pujols, Jon Heyman of SI.com continues to hear that Miami is not considered a serious player for the prize of this offseason's free agent class (via Twitter).
  • Also, Loria is confident that shortstop Hanley Ramirez would move to another position if the Marlins were to acquire another shortstop, tweets Rosenthal.

Rays, Jose Molina Nearing One-Year Deal

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The Rays are close to signing catcher Jose Molina to a one-year contract with an option for 2013, Major League sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com.

Molina, 36, is a 12-year veteran who spent the past four-plus seasons in the AL East with the Yankees and Blue Jays as a backup. A defense-first catcher (redundant, I know), Molina is a career .241/.286/.344 hitter, although he posted a .281/.342/.415 line in 2011 with Toronto, albeit in 191 plate appearances.

The Rays went with a catching platoon in 2011, divvying up playing time pretty evenly between Kelly Shoppach and John Jaso. Shoppach, a free agent, will presumably sign elsewhere this offseason, according to Morosi, so Molina could perhaps take his place in that time-share, barring any other moves by Tampa Bay for a catcher.

Molina is a Type B free agent, so the Blue Jays will receive a supplemental first-round pick for losing him.

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