Rumors for March, 2010
Arizona Diamondbacks and Kris Benson agree to a Minor League contract
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Diamondbacks and right-handed pitcher Kris Benson have agreed to a Minor League deal. He will make $650,000 if he makes the Major League team.
It was rumored that in addition to the Diamondbacks, the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers have been interested in Benson.
Benson, 35, has only appeared in eight Major League games since 2006 because of arm and elbow injuries. In his eight games with the Texas Rangers last season, he was 1-1 with a 8.46 ERA in 22 1/3 innings. You can see Benson’s statistics here.
Washington Nationals release LHP Ron Villone
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to NatsTownNews and Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, the Washington Nationals have released left-handed pitcher Ron Villone.
Villone, 40, was 5-6 with a 4.25 ERA in 63 games with the Nationals in 2009. You can see Villone’s contract history and statistics here.
Johnny Damon Rumors: Wanted to take a year off from the AL East
Posted by: | CommentsJoe Smith and Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times says the Johnny Damon would still like “the opportunity to play for the Rays.” Damon had his opportunity to sign with the Rays this off season, but he chose to go with the Tigers.
His reason for signing with Detroit:
- Did not want to play right field for the Rays.
- Detroit’s Spring Training home in Lakeland allows Damon to commute from his Orlando-area home.
- Damon has concern over the Rays’ payroll situation.
- The best reason: Wanted to “take a year off” from the daily grind of the AL East.
“I knew they had some issues with what’s going to happen with (Carl) Crawford and (Carlos) Peña, what’s going to happen with the payroll, all that stuff. I kinda felt like they had to get off to a great start, if not things could change,” Damon said.
“I do love that organization. I probably am going to be rooting for them as soon as my playing days are over. And there’s still a chance in the future.”
Ty Wigginton Trade Rumors: Could the Orioles trade Wigginton?
Posted by: | CommentsBaltimore Orioles utilityman Ty Wigginton has a home through the 2010 season, but may not have an opportunity to play given the team’s activity this off season. Rich Dubroff of the Carroll County Times suggests that Wigginton could be a trade target for those teams that are looking for a “multi-tasking power hitter.”
Wigginton has the ability to play throughout the infield and the corner outfield spots, but with the Orioles signings of Miguel Tejada and Garrett Atkins this off-season Wigginton’s playing time will be reduced. His best bet is to play second base while starting second basemen Brian Roberts recovers from a herniated disk in his back. Roberts may not be ready by Opening Day.
“I have no idea what my role is,” Wigginton said. “They haven’t told me anything. They said I’m going to move around a little bit in Spring Training, but that’s about it.”
Wigginton, 32, is traditionally a right-handed power hitter. In 2008, he had a .526 slugging percentage with the Houston Astros. However, he hit .273 with 11 home runs and a .400 slugging percentage with the Orioles in 2009. You can see Wigginton’s contract history and statistics here.
Good morning! Here are a few stories to follow today:
- Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News says that former Phillies relief pitcher Scott Eyre is not against a comeback. “I’m not against [a comeback] completely,” Eyre said. “Somebody would have to call me. But my elbow feels good. I throw batting practice to my two boys every couple days. I’ll stay in shape just in case.”
- Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times says that there is a four-way race for two spots in the Cubs rotation. The competition includes Sean Marshall, Tom Gorzelanny, Carlos Silva and Jeff Samardzija. Wittenmyer says Marshall may be the only one with an upper-hand.
- Left-handed pitcher Ron Mahay won’t be signing with the New York Mets if they offer him a Minor League deal. A separate source says no way that the Mets offer Mahay a major-league contract. (Adam Rubin, New York Post)
- Kevin Millar may get a bench spot from the Chicago Cubs when camp breaks later this month. Millar has been tearing up Spring Training by hitting .385 with an on-base percentage of .600. Millar signed a Minor League contract with an invite to Spring Training this winter, so he’s not guaranteed a roster spot. (Gordon Wittenmyer, Chicago Sun Times)
Adeinis Hechevarria signs with Blue Jays
Posted by: | Comments03/14 20:03: Hechevarria has agreed to a four-year, $10MM deal with Toronto, a source tells Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (via twitter).
03/14 17:11: According to a source close to George A. King III of the New York Post, Cuban shortstop Adeinis Hechavarria is close to signing a $10 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Earlier last week, it was believed that that Yankees were close to signing the shortstop as the heir apparent to Derek Jeter, but with the impending contract extension of Jeter, Hechavarria is reluctant to play for the Yankees.
Jordan Bastian of MLB.com follows up with a tweet regarding Alex Anthopoulos, Toronto’s GM, saying that he, “neither confirm nor deny report about Hechavarria.”
PRO Rumors Editorial: Joe Mauer – The $200 Million Man
Posted by: | CommentsWith the speculation recently about whether the Twins should, or would, look into trading Joe Mauer, there have also been conversations about how much it would take to sign the two-time batting champion and reigning American League MVP.
Mauer enters the 2010 season in the last year of a four-year deal. At the time the contract seemed like a no brainer; buy out the arbitration years of a very good, young player, and deal with the inevitable “how can we resign this player” concerns when the time comes.
Well, the time has come.
Not only is Mauer a homegrown talent, but the real-life Bill Brasky is also from St. Paul, so that makes him the face, identity, persona, and thesaurus, of the franchise. He’s also the entire reason the Twins have been or will be relevant on the Big Stage in the near future. So what’s a player like that worth?
The stats speak for themselves: a career batting average of .327, a career OPS a shade under .900, and he’s coming off a career year which saw his season high homerun total jump from 13 to 28. All trends are pointing upwards for this soon to be – April 19th – 27 year old.
How much is arguably the game’s best player, playing a premium defensive position, worth?
Instead of giving the “he’s worth whatever someone is willing to pay him” line – let’s remember that doesn’t always ring true, Yuniesky Betancourt made $2.3 million last year to be the worst player in baseball – we should look at it from the Twins’ perspective.
We can be pretty well assured that the Yankees will offer Mauer a contract north of $200 million, so does it make sense for the Twins to offer Mauer the same knowing how big a chunk that would take out of their overall payroll? Absolutely.
Rob Neyer recently speculated if a team could afford to spend 25 percent of its payroll on one player and continue to succeed. The Twins are moving into a new stadium and have just locked up centerfielder Denard Span – buying out his arbitration years and a year a free agency – so there is already a presumed influx of money coming, as well as future money being saved on a key everyday player. Add in that the Twins have Ben Revere and Aaron Hicks on the way to be cheap alternatives to the expiring contracts of Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel, and Minnesota could easily justify how paying Mauer so much could fit within their economic model.
Whether it’s best for baseball that Mauer stay in Minnesota is a discussion for another day. He is almost assuredly to be offered a contract mirroring or coming close to the 10-year, $275 million deal Alex Rodriguez signed in 2007. Is Mauer worth it? Yes.
And to Minnesota he’s worth so much more.
PRO Rumors: Beckett, The next Joe Mauer, Billy Wagner and Andruw Jones
Posted by: | CommentsHere are a few stories from Nick Carfardo of the Boston Globe as an appetizer before PRO Rumors TV tonight!
- According to a source close to talks, the toughest part of the Josh Beckett negotiations is getting the Sox fair injury protection while still making certain Beckett gets what he’s worth. “There’s been a lot of back and forth on that issue already,” said the source. “This is something that may take some time. If it’s a shorter deal of three years, the language may not be required or it may be scaled down. If it’s longer, then the language would likely have to be included.” Beckett’s agent Michael Moye is looking at a number of ways to make this part of the deal happen. The market for pitching appears to have shrunk the past two years, so it may behoove Beckett to sign now.
- Billy Wagner the now Atlantic Brave close was asked about the possibility of returning to Boston this past off season where he provided this response. “It was very tempting because I enjoyed it so much, but it was awful hard because I’d like to close, at least give it a shot. He’s (Jonathan Papelbon) earned his spot there, and if he had a tough spell, it would just fuel speculation, and he doesn’t need that.”
- Is there possibly another catcher who is coming up through the ranks that some view as the next Joe Mauer? The Baltimore Orioles triple-A manager Gary Allenson has spent significant time with Matt Wieters watching him develop and he thinks Wieters has the potential to be the next Mauer. “He’s an excellent catch-and-throw guy, very big and athletic. His hands are probably twice the size of mine, which is great. But for a kid his age, he really understands how to handle a staff.”
- Andruw Jones the 10-time Gold Glove center fielder with 388 career homers decided to work out this off season at Scott Boras’s facility where he dropped 25 pounds. Though it is only spring training, Jones is hitting .357 and has repeatedly been placed in the heart of the White Sox lineup.
