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Ben Sheets

Six Teams Considering Chien-Ming Wang

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THURSDAY, 7:45pm: Nero says that Wang is reconsidering his plan not to return from shoulder surgery until a couple months into the season, writes Jayson Stark of ESPN.  Nero says that "four or five teams" are pursuing Wang more aggressively than expected and therefore, his client could sign before Spring Training if he receives the right offer.

Stark mentions the Mets, Dodgers, and Cardinals as potential destinations for the 29-year-old hurler.

MONDAY, 5:32pm: Ken Rosenthal catches up with Chien-Ming Wang's agent, Alan Nero, who reports that a half-dozen teams are currently reviewing Wang's medical records.

Wang is training with an eye on throwing off a mound within a week or two, Nero added.

“We’re anticipating a major-league offer with a substantial guarantee and substantial upside,” Nero said.

The way that works out, timing-wise, Wang should be throwing off a mound right as the teams licking their wounds from losing out on Ben Sheets are ready to take notice.

The two are hardly similar pitchers, however. While Sheets gets more fly balls than ground balls and has a healthy strikeout rate, Wang is quite dependent on his infield defense.

So for those who miss out on Sheets, better check to see if Luis Castillo or Michael Young is playing for your team before going after Wang. If so, you might want to save your money.

Odds & Ends: Street, Nelson, Prospects, Mets

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Links for Wednesday…

Athletics Sign Ben Sheets

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The A's signed Ben Sheets to a one-year deal worth $10MM plus performance bonuses today. The injury-prone righty took his physical and everything checked out fine. That's no surprise, since Sheets looked impressive last week when he auditioned for interested clubs.

It's a lot of money to guarantee a pitcher who hasn't taken the hill since 2008, but Sheets has considerably more upside than most. He pitched 198.1 innings for the Brewers in 2008, allowing 181 hits and 47 walks, striking out 158 for a 3.09 ERA. 

Consider that most players are signing team-friendly deals at this point in the offseason and Sheets' contract looks pretty good. Consider that Rich Harden, who actually started 26 games last year, signed for $7.5MM this winter and the deal looks even better for Sheets and agent Casey Close.

CSNBayArea's Mychael Urban tweeted that the A's made Sheets a "competitive" offer and noted that the A's had scheduled a press conference. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports reported that the A's signed Sheets and Jon Heyman of SI.com added details, including the value of the deal.

Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Twins, Mariners Are Atop Washburn’s “Wish List”

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With the likes of Ben Sheets and Jon Garland now signed, FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi provided an update on Jarrod Washburn, one of the few high-profile arms left on the rapidly-dwindling free agent pitching market.  Morosi quotes one source who said that Washburn only wants to play in “a limited number of places,” and another source who says he "would be surprised" if the lefty went anywhere besides Minnesota or Seattle. 

The Twins have made one attempt to sign Washburn: an offer worth roughly $5MM that was rejected earlier this month.  Given Minnesota's signing of Carl Pavano to serve as the veteran anchor of their rotation, Washburn would've been a luxury that the Twins may feel that they can live without. 

As for the Mariners, we've heard some whispers that they might be interested in bringing Washburn back to the city where he pitched from 2006 to last year's trade deadline.  The M's have already spent a lot of money this offseason, but Washburn might be enticed to return to a familiar situation for a contract akin to the one he turned down from Minnesota.  Then again, Washburn is a Scott Boras client, so a bargain could be hard to come by.

Another source tells Morosi that six teams "have inquired" about Washburn.  Aside from Minnesota and Seattle, we've heard Washburn linked to such suitors as Milwaukee (who are probably out of the running after signing Randy Wolf and Doug Davis), Kansas City and the Mets.  Morosi also points out that the Cubs could join the Washburn sweepstakes in the wake of missing out on Sheets.

Odds & Ends: Hudson, Turnbow, Delgado, Nady

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Links for Tuesday…

  • Orlando Hudson is "making progress on signing with a team," tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson, however Hudson declined to name the team. In separate tweet, Ladson says a source told him that the Nationals top Hudson's wish list.
  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that the Diamondbacks and Rockies are pursuing Derrick Turnbow, who could sign soon.
  • MLBTR's resident translator Nick Collias passes along this report from Esteban Rivera of the Puerto Rican newspaper Primera Hora, in which Carlos Delgado says that the Mets, Orioles, and Royals "have seen him [play] on the island." Omar Minaya said there is still a mutual interest in bringing Delgado back to New York, tweets ESPN's Jorge Arangure
  • The final offer Scott Boras presented the Yankees with for Xavier Nady was worth $5MM, tweets Joel Sherman of The New York Post. He adds that the Yanks would have considered him at the price he signed for today, and that they'll only do a minor league deal for Rocco Baldelli (via Twitter).
  • Now that Ben Sheets has signed with the A's, Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com tweets that the Mets' next target appears to be John Smoltz. A source tells him they haven't aggressively pursued Jon Garland. 
  • MLB.com's Brian McTaggart mentions that the Astros and Wandy Rodriguez are set to go an arbitration hearing on February 17th. Wandy filed for $7MM, the team $5MM.
  • Meanwhile, Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle breaks down the Astros' offseason in a video.
  • Rick Ankiel said that the Nationals, Marlins, and Yankees were in it until the end, reports Doug Tucker of The Brownsville Herald.
  • Cody Ross' arbitration hearing has been scheduled for February 15th, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. Ross is seeking a $4.45MM salary in 2010, but the Marlins are countering with $4.2MM.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney wrote about baseball's internal discussions on how to fix the draft, including some notes about what was discussed at the recent general managers meeting (sub. req'd).
  • In a mailbag, MLB.com's Kelly Thesier says the Twins payroll appears to be right around $90MM, and they don't seem willing to spend much more than that.    
  • Meanwhile, Lyle Spencer of MLB.com writes in his mailbag that the Angels "appear to have stretched the salary budget to its limit," so don't expect any more major moves.
  • Ken Davidoff of Newsday lists what he thinks are the best run organizations in baseball (sub. req'd). There's 15 of them, however ten are from the AL while just five come from the NL. 
  • John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer looks at the list of remaining free agents, and sees only one fit for the Reds: Orlando Cabrera. He's probably too expensive for them at this point, however. 
  • MLB.com's Marty Noble says in a mailbag that he doesn't believe the Mets' current roster and the Opening Day roster will be the same, but he's not sure where the club can turn to improve.

Cubs Rumors: Calero, Nady, Priorities

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Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports provide the latest Cubs rumblings…

  • Morosi reported Wednesday that the Cubs were "engaged in negotiations" with free agent reliever Kiko Calero.  However, he now says their interest has waned.  A right-handed setup man is still a primary item on the Cubs' shopping list.
  • Previous reports have connected the Cubs to outfielders Xavier Nady, Jonny Gomes, Rocco Baldelli, and Reed Johnson.  The FOX writers say Nady is the Cubs' top choice unless Dye's contract demands come down.
  • The Cubs seek rotation insurance, but the FOX writers confirm ESPN's Jayson Stark Saturday suggestion that Ben Sheets is unlikely.  Perhaps Mark Mulder, linked to the Cubs Tuesday by Morosi, is more feasible.
  • Though the Cubs have looked into Adam Kennedy and Orlando Hudson, adding a second baseman is not a high priority.

Mets Rumors: Catcher, Smoltz, Sheets, Delgado

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Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News has the latest on the Mets.

  • The Mets are said to be 50-50 on whether to use internal catching options or sign Yorvit Torrealba or Rod Barajas.  The current favorite to start is Omir Santos, projected to hit .247/.296/.359 by CHONE.
  • The Mets are "very likely to add one more starting pitcher," writes Rubin.  John Smoltz, Ben Sheets, and Jon Garland are the names under discussion.  The Smoltz talks are described as "active dialogue."  We learned earlier today that the A's appear to be a top competitor for Sheets, while SI's Jon Heyman believes the Rangers and Mariners are also in the mix.  Heyman tweets that the Mets "don't appear to be the frontrunner for Sheets at the moment."
  • Rubin considers a Carlos Delgado re-signing to be "not overly likely" due to concerns about Delgado playing first base.  Instead, the Mets could bring Fernando Tatis back.

Olney On Damon, Thome, Ortiz

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ESPN.com's Buster Olney wonders if the new Rangers ownership will make a splash and go after Ben Sheets, a known favorite of Nolan Ryan. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:

  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman says the Yankees have not set any deadlines on their negotiations with Johnny Damon. Jon Heyman of SI.com reported yesterday that Damon had to make a decision within days, but that's not the case, according to the GM.
  • Olney doesn't think it makes sense for the White Sox to give Jim Thome a roster spot.
  • The Red Sox will look to replace David Ortiz if he struggles in the first half. They'll pursue a catcher and move Victor Martinez to DH if Big Papi starts this season as poorly as he started last season.

Cafardo On Sheets, Lowell, Pineiro

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Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wonders why more teams don't take advantage of arbitration hearings. Clubs do have a history of winning cases against their players in recent years. Here are Cafardo's latest rumors:

  • A Red Sox source tells Cafardo that it's unlikely the team signs Ben Sheets. Not a surprise, given Boston's rotation depth.
  • One scout is certain Ron Mahay will be on a major league roster by the time Spring Training starts. 
  • An NL scout considers Miguel Batista a "very serviceable piece."
  • Since Miguel Cabrera was in rehab for alcoholism this offseason, teams weren't eager to trade prospects for the first baseman and pay his $20MM salary.
  • As we heard last week, the Twins are interested in signing Jim Thome. 
  • The Red Sox and Angels considered swapping Mike Lowell for Gary Matthews Jr. before concerns about Lowell's thumb emerged. 
  • An AL GM considers Joel Pineiro "another middle-rotation guy." 

Stark On Holliday, Lee, Phillies, Rockies, Cubs

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ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says the Baseball Writers' Association of America needs to establish an award for relief pitchers. He also provides plenty of rumblings from around the league; here they are:

  • Stark hears that the only offers Matt Holliday had in-hand when the Cardinals signed him were one-year deals worth $18MM or so.
  • The Phillies offered Cliff Lee a three-year extension worth $60MM or so before trading for Roy Halladay. It's unclear whether Lee and agent Darek Braunecker formally turned the offer down, but others believe Lee will seek a longer-term deal once he hits the open market after this season.
  • The Phillies are "plenty interested" in Pedro Martinez on a half-season deal similar to the one he signed last year, but one NL club hears that Pedro is looking for a full-season job at "market" dollars.
  • The Phillies have backed off on John Smoltz, who wants to start, but they are interested in Jose Contreras.
  • The Rockies talked actively to the Marlins about Dan Uggla. Now, the Rockies are more intent on free agent options including Miguel Tejada, Orlando Cabrera and Orlando Hudson.
  • They'd also like to bring Jason Giambi back.
  • Scouts who have seen Carlos Delgado play first base in Puerto Rico say the slugger should look for a DH job, since his fielding is suspect.
  • Stark has the impression that the Cubs have set aside their interest in Ben Sheets as they pursue a bench bat and a setup man.
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