Rumors for October, 2010
Orlando Hernandez not retiring from baseball
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MLB.com’s Bill Ladson says via Twitter that right-handed pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez is not retiring from baseball. The 45-year-old was signed a Minor League deal with the Nationals in early July, but gave up his comeback at the end of August.
Hernandez joined the Harrisburg Senators, and after three weeks of pitching out of the Harrisburg’s bullpen he decided to call it quits for the year. Hernandez had a record of 1-1 with a 1.86 ERA in six appearances over 9.2 innings during his Minor League stint this season.
Orlando last pitched in the Major Leagues with the New York Mets in 2007 when he went 9-5 with a 3.72 ERA in 27 appearances (24 starts). He has a lifetime 61-40 record with a 3.96 ERA. Hernandez won 3 World Series rings with the Yankees in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Reds unlikely to pick Cabrera’s option but still want him back
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The Cincinnati Reds are not likely to pick up shortstop Orlando Cabrera’s $4 million mutual option, according to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, but the team may want him back for next season at a lower price.
“We’re not sure. We’ll probably know something later this week,” Red’s GM Walt Jocketty said.
The Reds will be responsible for a $1 million buyout if they decline the option.
Earlier this month Jocketty said, “It’s probably more than we want to exercise, we’ll try to find a happy medium..if not [Paul] Janish would be our SS”.
Cabrera was signed to a one-year deal for $3.02 million in February. He had a down year in 2010 with a .263 batting average with 4 home runs and 42 RBIs in 123 games. He missed 27 games this season with a strained left oblique muscle.
The Reds also have to make a decision on outfielder Jonny Gomes and catcher Ramon Hernandez. The team has a $1.75 million club option on Gomes for next season. Hernandez had a $3.25 million vesting option for 2011 that would have been guaranteed if he played in 120 games. He played in only 97 games.
Florida Marlins re-sign INF Donnie Murphy
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The Miami Herald’s Clark Spencer reports that the Florida Marlins have re-signed infielder Donnie Murphy to a split contract with an invitation to Spring Training.
Murphy received a lot more playing time with the Fish after Jorge Cantu was traded from the Marlins to the Rangers in July. However he was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a dislocated right wrist at the beginning of September that required season-ending surgery.
Murphy hit .318/.348/.705 in 29 games for with the Marlins in 2010. He gives Florida depth at third base, second base and shortstop. The 27-year-old originally signed with the team in December 2009.
Mets to interview Blue Jays special assistant Dana Brown for GM job
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ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin tweets that the New York Mets have received permission to interview Toronto Blue Jay’s special assistant Dana Brown. Brown will be the sixth candidate the Mets will interview for the open GM position.
Brown graduated from Seton Hall University and spent eight seasons as director of scouting for the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos.
Rubin adds that Sandy Alderson will be back on Thursday to complete his first-round interview. It was previously believed that Alderson had been invited back for his second round in the interview process.
Once the second round of interviews occur, team owner Fred Wilpon and president Saul Katz will likely become involved.
The team has already interviewed former Kansas City Royals GM Allard Baird, Chicago White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn, former Arizona Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes, and Los Angeles Dodgers assistant GM Logan White.
St. Louis Cardinals and Tony La Russa agree to one-year deal
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According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold, the St. Louis Cardinals and manager Tony La Russa agree to a one-year deal with an option for 2012.
Over the weekend, the St. Louis Post’s Joe Strauss mentioned that La Russa’s return to St. Louis is “almost certain” at this point.
Strauss added today that bullpen coach Marty Mason has been dismissed.
John Gibbons is a serious candidate for the Pittsburgh Pirates managerial position
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According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, former Toronto Blue Jays’ manager and current Kansas City Royals bench coach, John Gibbons, is regarded as a serious candidate for the vacant Pittsburgh Pirates managerial position. Olney adds that “it wouldn’t be a surprise if he got the gig.”
Gibbons had been in contact with the Seattle Mariners for their managerial vacancy that eventually went to Eric Wedge.
The Pirates have interviewed many candidates over the past few weeks including Carlos Tosca, Bo Porter, John Gibbons, Jeff Banister, Ken Macha and Dale Sveum. The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo said over the weekend that Macha might be the Pirates “best choice”.
Cody Ross would like to finish his career with the Giants
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Over the weekend, San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean left a strong impression that Cody Ross will be tendered a contract for the 2011 season, according to the San Jose Mercury News’ Andrew Baggarly. In the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea’s column today, Ross mentioned that he would like to finish his career in San Francisco.
Prior to the post-season, Ross was a likely candidate to be non-tendered a contract. Now that he’s hit four home runs, with three of them in the first two games of the NLCS, he’s likely changed the minds of the Giants.
Ross made $4.45 million this season, and will likely receive a raise in his final year of salary arbitration.
“His number isn’t going to go off the map,” Sabean said. “His platform year was last year, not this year, so it’s a very affordable situation if we go that route.”
Re-signing of Barajas and Gibbons by Dodgers is a priority
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Los Angeles Dodgers general manager, Ned Colletti, has said that re-signing catcher Rod Barajas and outfielder Jay Gibbons would be early off-season prioritites for the team, according to MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick.
Barajas, 35, was acquired by the Dodgers in August from the New York Mets for cash. In 25 games for the Dodgers, Barajas hit 5 home runs and hit .297/.361/.578. Barajas signed a one-year contract before the 2010 season for $500,000.
Gibbons, 33, hit .280/.312/.507 in 37 games for the Dodgers in 2010.
The team is also expected to have interest in re-signing Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla – both are free-agent candidates. The Dodgers agreed to a three-year contract with left-handed pitcher Ted Lilly over the weekend, pending a physical, but Gurnick adds that the team will likely go with Kuroda and Padilla for shorter contracts.
Eric Wedge officially announced as manager of the Mariners
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The Seattle Mariners officially announced former Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge as the team’s manager on Monday. He will be formally introduced at a news conference on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated was the first to report that Wedge was hired as manager with FOXSports’ Ken Rosenthal reporting that his contract was for three-years.
Other candidates for the Mariners job included Lloyd McClendon, Clint Hurdle, Bobby Valentine and interim manager Daren Brown. Brown was not believed to be a serious candidate for the permanent position.
Bo Porter favorite to be next Florida Marlins manager
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38-year-old Bo Porter has emerged as the Florida Marlin’s leading candidate to be their next field manager, according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. Several sources close to Frisaro have confirmed that the Marlins have serious interest in Porter and Porter has gone as far as making inquiries about candidates for his coaching staff.
On Saturday, FOXSports’ Jon Paul Morosi said some officials in the Marlins’ organization favor Porter as the next manager, but at the time it was unclear where the search stood.
It was believed until early last week that Bobby Valentine was the “front-runner” for the Marlins job. ESPN’s Tim Krkjian confirmed that Valentine removed his name from consideration on October 13. Other candidates for the Marlins’ job include Tony Pena, Ted Simmons, Jim Fregosi and interim manager Edwin Rodriguez.
