Dylan Hernandez has three new ones: Xavier Nady ($6.55MM), Jonathan Papelbon ($6.25MM), and Edwin Jackson ($2.2MM plus $200K in incentives). Papelbon tops Bobby Jenks’ first-year arb reliever record of $5.6MM, set yesterday. ESPN’s Jayson Stark has more; he says Papelbon and the Red Sox discussed multiyear deals but couldn’t find a match. It may be revisited.
Edwin Jackson
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Tigers, Braves, Red Sox, Pirates
Today is free agent Orlando Hudson’s 31st birthday and the 29th birthday of Garrett Atkins, the subject of many recent trade rumors.
Also, on this date 10 years ago, Kevin Brown became the first player to sign a contract worth at least $100MM, when he signed a seven-year/$105MM contract with the Dodgers. The deal came when Brown was 34, one season after going 18-7 with a 2.38 ERA. Brown’s first two seasons with the Dodgers (18-9, 3.00 and 13-6, 2.58) were solid, but he would only make 29 starts in years three and four combined. Since then, two pitchers have signed deals for at least six years. Mike Hampton and Barry Zito. That doesn’t bode well for C.C. Sabathia, but it’s a small sample size…With the winter meetings now wrapped up, let’s take a look at what is being said in the Blogosphere…
- Take 75 North feels the Tigers are going to regret acquiring Edwin Jackson and lament the loss of Matt Joyce.
- The Detroit Tigers Weblog does not get the Edwin Jackson/Matt Joyce deal noting that at least Joyce has shown signs of being a very good player.
- When Sid Slid weighs the merits of acquiring Jake Peavy or A.J. Burnett and sees Burnett as the better option.
- Infield Chatter warns the Red Sox about signing Mark Teixeira, feeling Theo Epstein should be more concerned with acquiring a pitcher and noting the Red Sox have Lars Anderson waiting in the minors.
- Pirate Revolution feels the Pirates need to move Adam LaRoche, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson and John Grabow to unblock the paths of younger players.
- DraftInfo has a Q&A with Max Stassi, a high school catcher that is projected to be selected in the first round.
- Fire Brand of the American League takes a look at the impact C.C. Sabathia will have on the AL East.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.
Details On Tigers’ Failed Putz Bid
Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press has the details on the Tigers’ failed bid for J.J. Putz:
One proposal involved the Tigers sending Matt Joyce to Tampa Bay and outfielders Wilkin Ramirez and Casper Wells to Seattle. Putz was the only player the Tigers would have received.
According to Joe Strauss, the Cardinals also pursued Putz (as well as Aaron Heilman).
After the proposal failed, the Tigers shipped Joyce to Tampa Bay for Edwin Jackson. Brian Fuentes may be the Tigers’ best remaining option from a baseball standpoint, but Morosi believes they’d have to move other contracts off the books to afford him. I’m surprised – they’ll spend less than $10MM in ’09 on their new catcher, shortstop, and starter.
Odds and Ends: Giambi, Saberhagen, Chacon
Today’s stray Winter Meetings links as everyone heads home…
- Jason Giambi maintains hopes of returning to the Yankees; he may be willing to take a discount.
- Dave Cameron believes the Rays won the Edwin Jackson–Matt Joyce swap, handily.
- Brett Saberhagen was hired as an agent for Dan Evans’ firm. He’ll focus on pitchers.
- Shawn Chacon’s agent is trying to find his client a job. Troy Renck also notes that the Rockies’ offer to Glendon Rusch is a $750K minor league deal.
- Kevin Kaduk relays his first Winter Meetings experience.
Odds and Ends: Rule 5, Beltre, Schmidt, Bako
Stray links I’ve collected over the past few days…
- John Manuel and Jonathan Mayo get us ready for the Rule 5 draft. Manuel has a second post on it here.
- Sarah Green looks at A.J. Burnett’s possible commutes.
- LEN3 suggests the Twins might be part of Adrian Beltre’s limited no-trade clause.
- K-Rod signing analysis from Dave Cameron, Jesse Spector, and Keith Law. Also check out the usual solid analysis over at Ken Davidoff’s blog.
- Law also takes on the Edwin Jackson, Ramon Hernandez, J.J. Putz, and C.C. Sabathia moves.
- The Red Sox are likely to non-tender Kevin Cash. Josh Bard is one free agent on their radar. Also, Tony Massarotti learned that the Red Sox are strongly opposed to opt-out clauses.
- UmpBump found some C.C. Sabathia rumors we missed on Monday. Also, the Brewers’ offer to C.C. had unique clauses and two club options.
- The Dodgers knew Jason Schmidt had a partial rotator cuff tear when they signed him.
- Rany Jazayerli on recent Royals rumors, reliever and otherwise.
- Bruce Miles says the Cubs have some interest in bringing Paul Bako back.
- Jason Davis, Raul Chavez, and R.A. Dickey became free agents. Davis may be headed to Japan.
- Nick Piecoro says Junior Spivey is looking for a job.
- Much of the money saved from recent White Sox trades was repurposed for Dayan Viciedo.
Edwin Jackson Traded For Matt Joyce
11:06pm: Jon Paul Morosi says the swap has been finalized. The Tigers get Jackson for his three arb years, while the Rays get six years of Joyce. Joyce is a strong defensive right fielder who posted a fine rookie half-season.
9:55pm: Marc Topkin says the final details are being worked out in this trade. Bill Chastain’s Rays source says they don’t have a completed trade. The Rays would add an outfielder and save a few million with the deal.
8:43pm: According to Ed Price, the Tigers are set to acquire Edwin Jackson from the Rays for outfielder Matt Joyce.
Jeremy Hermida Rumors
7:12pm: MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says Mariners catcher Rob Johnson and Rangers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia were discussed in these Hermida talks, but no match was found.
6:31pm: Baker says the Marlins wanted catching prospect Adam Moore from the Ms in a Hermida deal. Baseball America ranks Moore as the Mariners’ sixth best prospect. They say he looks like a future big league starting catcher; he’ll start ’09 at Triple A.
5:31pm: Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald says the Ms and Rangers initiated the Hermida talks, and they didn’t get far.
4:44pm: Geoff Baker says the Marlins offered Hermida to the Mariners and Rangers for catching.
12:34pm: Rays Index found a note from MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan on Monday – the Rays like Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz.
12:26pm: Berardino has an update. He says the Marlins proposed trading Hermida to the Rays for two pitchers, likely among Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis, Jeremy Hellickson, and Mitch Talbot. The Rays rejected the offer and it’s unlikely to be revisited.
Berardino now says the Reds have yet to inquire on Hermida.
12:04pm: Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel discusses Jeremy Hermida trade possibilities in a blog post today (hat tip, Rays Index). He says the Reds have definitely shown interest, and also discusses the Rays. Berardino’s sources believe Micah Owings could be had, but not Johnny Cueto. In the case of the Rays it’d apparently take Andy Sonnanstine rather than Edwin Jackson.
By the way, the Marlins have talked about the possibility of moving Hermida to left field if they keep him. Hermida has been a slightly above-average right fielder according to the plus/minus system.
Delmon Young Rumors
8:22pm: Doesn’t sound like the Rays will acquire Delmon Young, but Aaron Gleeman does believe the Twins will move him.
5:49pm: Renck said below that the Rockies had not spoken to teams about Atkins, though LEN3 says they’ve talked to the Twins about him. Seems that the price is too high for the Twins, anyway.
4:40pm: MLB.com’s Kelly Thesier talked to a source who said it’s highly unlikely the Rays reacquire Young.
3:18pm: Troy Renck says the Rockies have not spoken to teams about Atkins. But it should be noted that Stark has only speculating with the Rockies portion of the below rumor.
10:53am: ESPN’s Jayson Stark is now speaking of "indications Monday night that Tampa Bay was still talking to the Twins about a deal that would bring outfielder Delmon Young back to the Rays." Stark speculates that it could be a three-team deal where the Rays ship out Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson, maybe to Colorado as a means of getting Garrett Atkins to Minnesota. Stark had a source yesterday saying the Rays would "never" take Young back, but that has apparently changed.
Yesterday, there was quite a bit of chatter about the Phillies doing their homework on Young. And keep in mind the Rockies had interest too.
Perrotto’s Latest: Teixeira, Burnett, Wilson
John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus has his Sunday article up. Let’s go through it:
- The Angels may be willing to match the Yankees $140MM offer to CC Sabathia. They won’t offer 10 years to Mark Teixeira. If they can’t land Teixeira, they will consider Pat Burrell for first base.
- A.J. Burnett is looking at the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, Braves, Orioles, and Phillies.
- The Twins want a left-side infielder for Delmon Young, so they can open a spot for Denard Span in the starting lineup.
- The Tigers are pursuing Jack Wilson from the Pirates and Matt Treanor from the Marlins. They are also putting high priority on signing Joe Beimel who’s getting interest from a number of teams.
- The Dodgers will not re-sign Rafael Furcal for health reasons so the Giants, Athletics, and Reds are his most likely destinations.
- The Cubs will need to offer more than Jason Marquis to the Royals for David DeJesus. If they can’t get it done, they’d sign Raul Ibanez over Bobby Abreu.
- The Braves are interested in Javier Vazquez and Jermaine Dye…
- The Reds need to offer more than Homer Bailey to get Dye.
- The Mets are considering Jon Garland, Vazquez, Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine. The Rays want more than Aaron Heilman for either of their starters.
- The Mets could soon become suitors for Manny Ramirez.
- The Brewers could soon become suitors for Francisco Rodriguez.
- The Astros are targeting Paul Bako and David Ross as backup catchers.
- The Rockies are trying to find lefthanders, eyeing Alan Embree, Will Ohman, Brian Shouse, and Glendon Rusch.
Cafardo’s Latest: Lowe, Lowell, Dye, Saltalamacchia
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says when Derek Lowe sat down with his agent, he inquired first about the Boston Red Sox. Says Cafardo,
"This Lowe doesn’t bear much resemblance to the guy who left the Sox after 2004. Back then, his out-of-control personal life seemed to consume him. The Red Sox didn’t want to deal with it and let him become a free agent. Lowe feels leaving was the best thing. ’I think I’m a lot better pitcher now, teammate now, than I was four years ago,’ he said. ’Sometimes you have to learn, and I think getting out of Boston was the best thing for me.’"
Lowe notes the Red Sox fit the mold of what he’s looking for in his next team.
And around the bigs:
- Roy Oswalt is pushing Ben Sheets to consider the Astros.
- Split opinions on interest in Mike Lowell, but either way this shouldn’t affect the Red Sox pursuit of Mark Teixeira. Cafardo lists Dodgers, Angels, Indians, and Twins as possible destinations for Lowell.
- Jermaine Dye is a good fit for Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, and the Mets. The White Sox would want more than Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson in exchange for Dye.
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia looks good in the Dominican League, hitting .435 with 4 homeruns and 2 doubles in 23 ABs.
- Willie Bloomquist could be Alex Cora’s replacement at utility in Boston.
