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Miguel Tejada

Odds & Ends: Wedge, Nats, Marlins, Webb, Tejada

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Some links for Saturday..

  • Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer hears that Eric Wedge is taking this year off by choice.  The former Indians skipper, who is still under contract with the club for one more year, was connected to the Mets' bench coach job for a while.
  • The strong play of Nats rookie shortstop Ian Desmond could bump Cristian Guzman from the starting lineup, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  However, it  will be difficult for Washington will find a taker for Guzman's $8MM salary.
  • Newly acquired Dodger Garret Anderson knows that he's fighting for a very limited role with club, writes MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.  Anderson played in 135 games for the Braves last season, hitting .268/.303/.401 with 13 HRs.
  • Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Giants pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim has the right to opt out of his contract on March 15th if he doesn't think he'll make the 25-man roster.  The 31-year-old – who last pitched in the majors in 2007 – signed a minor league deal with San Francisco in February.
  • Bobby Valentine told Marlins beat reporters that he was never spoke with club owner Jeffrey Loria about managing the team, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.  Bobby V said the speculation was unfair to skipper Fredi Gonzalez, who led guided Florida to 87 wins and a second-place finish in the NL East.
  • Arizona GM Josh Byrnes said that the club wants to look at internal candidates first if Brandon Webb is unable to start the regular season, tweets MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.  Byrnes added that the club, as always, will keep an eye on the waiver wire as Spring Training winds down (also via Twitter).
  • Despite the impressive play of Josh Bell, Miguel Tejada will be the Orioles' starting third baseman barring a "dramatic" event, writes Peter Schmuck of The Baltimore Sun.  The O's signed Tejada to a one-year, $6MM deal in late January.
  • Joe Posnanski takes a look at the history of the Rule 5 draft.  Fun Fact: The Rule 5 draft goes back more than 100 years.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Baldelli, Gregg, Blockbusters

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On this date way back in 1935, the Yankees released an aging slugger by the name of Babe Ruth just one day before his 40th birthday so he could sign with the Boston Braves. The Sultan of Swat hit .288/.448/.537 with 22 homers in his final season in New York, easily his worst full season with the team. He went on to hit just .181/.359/.431 with six homers in 28 games for the Braves before retiring in May. Ruth ended his career as a .342/.474/.690 hitter with a then-record 714 homers. 

 Here's some links from around the web…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Odds & Ends: Tejada, Lincecum, Bedard

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Some links for your Tuesday night…

Orioles Designate Dennis Sarfate For Assignment

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SATURDAY, 8:08pm: Kubatko reports that Baltimore is trying to deal Sarfate rather than lose him for nothing if another team makes a waiver claim.  "Several teams" are interested in the reliever, according to Sarfate's agent.

WEDNESDAY, 3:39pm: The Orioles designated pitcher Dennis Sarfate for assignment to make room for Miguel Tejada, reports Roch Kubatko of MASN.  Oddly enough, Sarfate came to the O's in the December '07 Tejada deal with the Astros.

Sarfate, 29 in April, struggled in 35.6 innings between the Majors and Triple A this year.  He had shoulder surgery in September of '08 and a circulatory finger problem in the summer of '09.  The injuries seemingly caused his mid-90s velocity to disappear, but Kubatko says Sarfate was hitting 97 recently in the Mexican Winter League.

Orioles Make Offer To Will Ohman

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The Orioles offered a minor league deal to lefty reliever Will Ohman, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.  Ohman will throw for the O's and other clubs this week.  Ohman, 32, had a lost 2009 season after signing with the Dodgers on March 30th.  Shoulder problems led to September surgery.  When he's right, Ohman can shut down lefties.  Connolly adds that the Orioles are still in talks with southpaw Mark Hendrickson.

Connolly also notes that Miguel Tejada's one-year, $6MM deal to return to Baltimore is official.  Connolly speculates that reliever Dennis Sarfate could be designated for assignment to make room for Tejada.  You may recall that Sarfate came to the Orioles from the Astros in the December '07 Tejada trade.

Odds & Ends: Nelson Cruz, Tejada, White Sox, Ankiel

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Some links to browse through on your Sunday afternoon…

  • Besides sifting through the remaining free agents, the Yankees are exploring the trade market for left field, writes Frankie Piliere of Fanhouse (via Twitter).  Piliere heard unconfirmed whispers that one of those inquiries was made on Nelson Cruz. 
  • Oregon State left-hander Josh Osich will miss the 2010 season due to Tommy John surgery, writes Jason Churchill. The 20-year-old southpaw had been described as a "lock for the mid- to late first round" by Keith Law.
  • Steve Melewski takes a look at the arguments for and against Miguel Tejada's return to Baltimore, and also suggests slotting Miggy into the cleanup spot to start the season.
  • White Sox VP Scott Reifert passes along a quote (via Twitter) from scouting director Doug Laumann, saying the south-siders will likely focus on pitching in the next draft.
  • Rany Jazayerli has mixed feelings about the Royals' acquisition of Rick Ankiel, but says the outfielder is a better fit than Mike Jacobs was a year ago.
  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski repeated that he's not going to sign a hitter who can't play the field, writes John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. 
  • Tyler Kepner of the New York Times doesn't expect Johnny Damon to return to the Yankees in 2010. 
  • Fernando Tatis and Ryan Freel are options for the Rockies, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. 
  • Derrick Turnbow is still on the Rockies' radar, writes Renck.
  • Tom Robson heads Bob Elliott's list of Canadians eligible for the 2010 draft at the Canadian Baseball Network. 

Orioles Agree To Sign Miguel Tejada

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Miguel Tejada arrived in Baltimore with a $72MM contract and the promise of MVP-caliber play six offseasons ago. This time, the expectations are more moderate and so is Tejada's contract. The Orioles agreed to a one-year, $6MM deal with the infielder, who will play third for the first time in his MLB career. 

Baltimore already signed one corner infielder, Garrett Atkins, so Tejada will play third and Atkins will play first. The 35-year-old Tejada hit .313/.340/.455 for the Astros last season, with pretty drastic home-road splits. UZR/150 tells us that Tejada's defense cost the Astros ten-plus runs last year, though that was at a different position than the one the O's will have him play.

Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun first reported the deal and Jon Heyman of SI.com added the terms.

Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

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.

Olney On Lee, Pineiro, Orioles

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A look at the latest blog post from ESPN's Buster Olney…

  • Olney believes the Phillies could have and should have kept Cliff Lee.  He points out that they could've traded Joe Blanton and taken draft picks for Lee after the season, resulting in a similar prospect package to the one they received from the Mariners.  It's not the exact same, partly since Blanton could yet net draft picks for the Phils, but I agree with Olney's point.  The Phillies' decision to move Lee in tandem with the Roy Halladay trade just seems weird.
  • Consequences of the Angels' Joel Pineiro deal: the Mets could sign Jon Garland or Ben Sheets, and the Dodgers could bring Vicente Padilla back.  Newsday's Ken Davidoff gets the sense the Mets "have prioritized Sheets over Garland." 
  • Olney says the Orioles "are very comfortable letting the field of free-agent corner guys come to them, at their price."  On a related note, O's second baseman Brian Roberts said to MASN's Roch Kubatko that he'd love to have Miguel Tejada back in Baltimore.

Odds & Ends: Lincecum, Reds, Red Sox, Uggla, Molina

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Some Tuesday links…

  • After talking to someone familiar with the process, FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi guesses (via Twitter) that Tim Lincecum will file for somewhere between $12-13MM in arbitration.
  • John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer has the Reds' 2010 payroll at just about $70MM at the moment.
  • In a mailbag, Amalie Benjamin of The Boston Globe says that the Red Sox aren't likely to go out and spend on a high-risk, high-reward pitcher like Ben Sheets after signing John Lackey. 
  • Joe Frisaro of MLB.com doesn't think the Marlins will look to trade Dan Uggla, even after he agreed to a deal yesterday that makes him the team's highest paid player in 2010.
  • Meanwhile, Frisaro says that Cody Ross is likely headed to an arbitration hearing after negotiations hit an impasse.
  • Tony Massarotti of The Boston Globe wonders if the Red Sox are doing the right thing by going year-to-year with Jonathan Papelbon through his arbitration years.
  • After turning down the Mets' latest offer, ESPN's Buster Olney thinks (via Twitter) that the Mariners might be a good fit for Bengie Molina.
  • MLB.com's Adam McCalvy tweets that the Brewers will continue negotiating with their six remaining arbitration eligible players today, though GM Doug Melvin said that no multi-year deals are in the mix.
  • John Lowe of The Detroit Free Press says it wouldn't be a shock if Justin Verlander sought at least $6MM through arbitration this year after seeking $4.15MM last year. Joe Blanton received just under $5.5MM in his second year of arbitration, so I wouldn't be surprised if Verlander submitted a figure closer to $8-9MM.
  • Meanwhile, Lynn Henning of The Detroit News spoke to some scouts who think Austin Jackson might not be ready for the big leagues, at least at the plate. Jackson is slated to start the year as the Tigers' everyday center fielder.
  • MLB.com's Jason Beck tweets that the Jose Valverde deal is official.
  • The Rays aren't close to deals with any of their four arbitration eligible players, reports Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times. Tampa has a self-imposed deadline of noon ET today to get deals done, which is when the two sides must submit their salary figures.
  • In a chat with readers, Tom Boswell of The Washington Post said he heard the Nationals were close to a "trade for a major-league ready pitcher of Jordan Zimmermann quality but it fell through when the other team backed out." He thinks Josh Willingham may have been involved.
  • The Giants haven't confirmed if they're still interested in Miguel Tejada according to Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com, however he spoke to someone who says Tejada remains on the Twins' radar.
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