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Mariano Rivera

Yanks Considered Trading Rivera For Wells In ’95

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Former Yankees GM Gene Michael told John Harper of the New York Daily News that he considered dealing Mariano Rivera to the Tigers for David Wells back in 1995. Rivera was still considered a starter then, and he was one of the players the Tigers had interest in. Michael, now a scout, says he held onto Rivera because of his control and mid-nineties fastball.

"But nobody ever could have foreseen him doing all of this – and really with just one pitch."

The Tigers dealt Wells to Cincinnati, where he pitched to an ERA of 3.59 in 11 starts. The Yankees would ultimately sign him two different times as a free agent. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports caught up with Joe Klein, who was the Tigers GM at the time. Klein assures Tigers fans that he would have made the deal if Rivera had been available. Imagine if Mariano had been closing games for the Tigers in place of Todd Jones, Troy Percival, Matt Anderson and others.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Yankees, Oil Can, Halladay, Mets

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On this date 21 years ago, the Baltimore Orioles traded Ray Knight to the Tigers, only one year after signing the World Series hero as a free agent. The O’s received Mark Thurmond, who would go 1-8 in 1988 with an 85 ERA+. Knight would only play 105 games for the Tigers before retiring. With spring training now in full swing, several veteran free agents are still without contracts or guaranteed jobs and may be on the verge of retirement. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • More Hardball puts together a 25-man roster of veteran players in camps on minor league deals.
  • 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba spoke with Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch about a number of topics including what the will happen once the current contracts for Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter expire.
  • Sully Baseball makes a case for a team, any team, signing Oil Can Boyd.
  • The Phrontiersman takes a look at the possibility of the Phillies trading for Roy Halladay at some point during the season.
  • Megamets argues for the Mets adding Dennys Reyes, over the other available lefty relievers.
  • The Sports Banter puts together their own list of off-season winners.
  • Midwest Sports Fans project the Twins opening day roster.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.

Yankees Rumors: Teixeira, Igawa, Sabathia

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The Yankees chatter died down a bit today, but here’s what we’ve got.

Papelbon Gets $775K

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Outspoken Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon signed a one-year deal for $775K for ’08.  That’s significantly more than the Sox had to give him, so it seems they value his happiness.  His new salary beats Mariano Rivera’s two-year service time closer record of $750K.

Papelbon’s salary will increase drastically a year from now, as he’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time.  He probably won’t get the $10MM Ryan Howard did, but something north of $5MM seems possible.

K-Rod Looking For Rivera Money?

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On Saturday, we discussed the Francisco Rodriguez situation.  He’s been historically good for a closer his age, and his next contract could be record-breaking.  That contract doesn’t seem likely to come from the Angels.

K-Rod has arrived in camp, and he admits that ’08 is probably his last season with L.A.  Mike DiGiovanna speaks of repeated rejected extension attempts by the Angels.  After the ’07 season, the Angels offered something near three years and $34MM.  Rodriguez unsurprisingly turned this down, as it’s $11MM short of the Mariano Rivera money he craves.  GM Tony Reagins is thinking about a future that may include Kelvim Escobar or Ervin Santana in the pen.

2008 will be huge for Rodriguez, whose post-break 3.45 ERA and 5.6 BB/9 raise red flags for a team considering committing $40MM+ to him.

Mariano Rivera Confusion?

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Here is a December 17th press release from the Yankees announcing Mariano Rivera’s three-year deal.  Here is a New York Daily News article from early this morning indicating that Rivera has yet to sign on the dotted line.  There is a lot of dated information in the Daily News article, so it seems as if they simply accidentally posted an old story, nothing more.  Threw me for a loop, though.

Rivera Agrees To Deal With Yanks

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UPDATE: Kat O’Brien’s sources also indicate that Rivera has accepted the offer.  We can close the book on this one.

Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record has the scoop: Mariano Rivera has agreed to the Yankees three-year, $45 million offer. Caldera’s source is a friend who spoke to Rivera today, so I suppose it’s not official official.

Caldera also reports that the friend said, "He would have taken two years and an option." Wonderful. So not only did the Yankees overpay, but now it’s rubbed in their faces.

This will surely somehow factor into the deal for Francisco Cordero, now the best closer option on the market. Maybe moreso, it could affect the Joe Nathan negotiations, scheduled to begin about a year from now.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.

Odds and Ends: Fukumori, Rivera, Haerther, Walker

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Some small notes from various sources:

  • According to the North County Times, the Padres brought in Japanese righty reliever Kazuo Fukumori for a workout at Petco last week. The Padres haven’t yet been mentioned as suitors for Fukumori. The Rockies, Royals, Rays, and Red Sox have previously been linked to the free agent.
  • New York Daily News writers Bill Madden and Anthony McCarron spoke to sources close to Mariano Rivera, who reveal that the 38-year-old closer could accept the Yankees current offer of three years, $45 million as soon as this weekend. Rivera was seeking a fourth year guaranteed, citing the deal the Mets gave to Billy Wagner before 2006, and the contracts the Yankees are giving teammates Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez. Unfortunately, Rivera doesn’t compare well with any of those signings.
  • As mentioned in the comments, the Blue Jays have claimed former Cardinal Cody Haerther off waivers. Haerther, a left-handed leftfielder, hit .292/.385/.494 in 154 at bats in the minor last year, most of which was spent at AA. He seems to have no immediate spot with the Blue Jays. As we’ve mentioned, left field is pretty jammed, and it’s believed that Haerther can’t adequately handle any other position.
  • The Giants re-signed righty reliever Tyler Walker to a one-year, $750,000 deal. They had declined his $1 million team option before the re-signing. Walker posted a 1.26 ERA last season, striking out nine and walking four in 14.1 IP. He returned to the majors on August 29 last year, after undergoing Tommy John surgery in mid-2006.

    The Yanks fan in me also has to mention that the Giants hired Roberto Kelly as their first base coach.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog

Rivera Wants Four Years

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Why is that three-year, $45MM offer to Mariano Rivera from the Yankees still on the table?  According to Ken Rosenthal, it’s because Rivera wants four guaranteed years.  He’s looking at the contracts of Jorge Posada, Billy Wagner, and even Alex Rodriguez in demanding to be paid through his age 41 season.  As I said before, I think it’s time for the Yankees to go to Plan B.

Rosenthal says the Yanks are still the favorite for Rivera, despite his quote about playing for the Dodgers.  Rivera has apparently told his agents to shop him around, as he’s annoyed by Hank Steinbrenner’s public comments about his age.  Hank seems to make a lot of public comments that don’t seem professional or well thought-out. 

Yankees Offer To Rivera: 3/45

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UPDATE: Hank Steinbrenner confirms the offer as 3/45.  Not sure what Rivera is waiting for…no need to haggle over a no-trade clause since Rivera would be a 10 and 5 player.   

According to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, the Yankees have a very aggressive offer on the table for closer Mariano Rivera: three years, $45MM.  $15MM a year for a closer!  It’s unheard of.  Billy Wagner makes $10.5MM annually, but he signed two years ago.  Rivera’s next deal could inflate Francisco Cordero’s contract. 

If Rivera pushes for a higher average annual salary or a fourth year, I think the Yankees would be right to pass no matter what kind of media backlash they might receive.

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