MLB Offseason Thread 2006-2007

How about a Mets-Yankees battle over Mike Mussina? Mussina has told friends the Mets would be a welcome option if the Yankees don't want him back.
-- New York Post

Though free-agent slugger Barry Bonds reportedly would prefer to play for an American League club close to his Beverly Hills home, the Angels, according to several sources, have no plans to pursue the controversial outfielder. The only way the Angels would consider the 42-year-old Bonds is if they fail in their efforts to acquire a big bat through free agency or trade, and Bonds is still available in February.
-- Los Angeles Times

The Dodgers do not plan to submit a bid for the right to negotiate with Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, but that doesn't mean they won't aggressively pursue top-tier free agents this off-season. Landing a pricey starting pitcher and a proven slugger are top priorities. If GM Ned Colletti can accomplish that, he can fill other holes with less expensive parts.
-- Los Angeles Times

The Astros have already contacted the agents for free-agent sluggers Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Lee and Aramis Ramirez, among others, but aren't permitted to begin negotiating deals until Nov. 12.
-- Houston Chronicle

Pat Burrell's representatives indicated yesterday that he would accept a trade to the Giants. In trade, the Giants might want the Phillies, who are looking for bullpen help, to take closer Armando Benitez.
-- Philadelphia Daily News

Though he had said as much late in the season, Moises Alou said it more plainly Thursday: He is "more than 99.9 percent sure" he won't be back with the Giants next year.
-- San Francisco Chronicle

Eventually, Bud Selig hopes to announce that baseball will hold its season opener in China, perhaps as early as 2008.
-- New York Times

Mets general manager Omar Minaya said on a conference call yesterday that he already has begun talks with the agents for Orlando Hernandez and Chad Bradford and is awaiting a call back from Willie Randolph to find out who will represent him in negotiations.
-- Newsday

A source in the organization said the White Sox will explore trading Neal Cotts this winter, leaving them in the market for another left-hander in the bullpen. Rookie Boone Logan wasn't the answer and fell out of favor with a ''big-league attitude,'' according to one Sox insider, to go along with control problems. The only in-house candidate who intrigues the Sox is knuckleballer Charlie Haeger, who can pitch a lot and go both long and short.
-- Chicago Sun-Times

Aramis Ramirez hopes to stay with the Cubs. The third baseman said Thursday that several teams have contacted his agent to discuss his availability since he filed for free agency this week.
-- Chicago Sun-Times

Although terms of the contract were not immediately available, the new deal is believed to include a pay raise for Dave Dombrowski, whose salary was already the highest in Major League Baseball for a GM. Dombrowski said he didn't receive an ownership stake with the Tigers as part of the new contract.
-- Detroit Free Press

Though some Angels, particularly pitcher John Lackey, questioned the wisdom of letting the second baseman go, Adam Kennedy, who has drawn interest from several teams, leaves with no bitterness. Bill Stoneman, the Angels GM, phoned Kennedy this week to inform the second baseman he wouldn't be retained, that the team was handing his job to Howie Kendrick, and what ensued, Kennedy said, was "a real pleasant conversation."
-- Los Angeles Times

 

Jason Schmidt?

 

Mussina, Not Wright, Figures in Yanks’ Pitching Plans

The Yankees must decide in the next few days whether to exercise their team options on outfielder Gary Sheffield and starters Mike Mussina and Jaret Wright. None of the players is expected to be back with the Yankees at the option-year price.

Mussina, who turns 38 next month, has known that the Yankees will not pick up his $17 million option. But he wants to stay and the team wants him back. Arn Tellem, Mussina’s agent, said in an e-mail message that he has had positive talks with the Yankees, but he added that the sides had just started the process.

The Yankees would like to re-sign Mussina for two years, and they seem to understand it would take more than $10 million a year to sign him. Mussina, who had no arm problems last season, would be the second solid member of the rotation, joining Chien-Ming Wang.

Wright improved late in the season, but he pitched poorly in the playoffs and would cost the Yankees $7 million to retain. While they still could pick up his option — either to trade him or to keep him — there are indications they will cut ties with him by paying a $4 million buyout.

If the Yankees let Wright go, they would still have Carl Pavano and Randy Johnson — who had back surgery last month — behind Wang and Mussina, assuming he re-signs.

The Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka could fill another spot, and the Yankees are expected to submit a bid for the right to negotiate with him. The posting period during which major league teams can submit bids for him began yesterday and ends Wednesday.

Matsuzaka’s team, the Seibu Lions, has until Nov. 14 to accept the highest offer. If it is accepted, the team that made the bid has a 30-day window to reach a contract agreement with Matsuzaka, who is represented by Scott Boras.

The Mets are expected to make a bid for Matsuzaka as well. The general manager of the Seattle Mariners, Bill Bavasi, said his team would not get involved.

The Yankees still plan to pick up Sheffield’s $13 million option and trade him, despite Sheffield’s public complaints about the idea. Sheffield, who turns 38 this month, wants to play for three more seasons.

JETER WINS GOLD GLOVE Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter won a Gold Glove for the third year in a row yesterday in balloting by American League managers and coaches. The Yankees’ principal owner, George Steinbrenner, said he hoped it would not be the only award Jeter wins.

“I hope he wins M.V.P.,” Steinbrenner said through his publicist, Howard Rubenstein. “He should. He’s a great Yankee and a great leader.”

Jeter’s reputation as a strong fielder irritates his critics, who believe he is overrated defensively. This season, Álex González of Boston committed fewer errors (7) than Jeter (15) and had a better fielding percentage. But González has never won the award. There was only one first-time winner among the A.L. honorees: second baseman Mark Grudzielanek of the Kansas City Royals.

Other winners included first baseman Mark Teixeira of Texas, third baseman Eric Chavez of Oakland, outfielders Torii Hunter of Minnesota, Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle and Vernon Wells of Toronto and two Detroit Tigers: catcher Iván Rodríguez, a 12-time winner, and pitcher Kenny Rogers.

MINAYA SETTING PRIORITIES Mets General Manager Omar Minaya said in a conference call yesterday that he was re-evaluating the team’s priorities. He did not say if one of them would be to re-sign reliever Guillermo Mota, who was suspended for 50 games Wednesday for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy.

The Mets are unlikely to bring him back, which places a greater emphasis on the late-inning relievers Duaner Sánchez and Aaron Heilman, and on re-signing Chad Bradford. Minaya said Sánchez, who is recovering from a separated shoulder sustained in a taxicab accident in July, was scheduled to start throwing in December.

The Mets do not figure to trade Heilman unless they can fortify their bullpen in other moves. The Mets have been in contact with Rex Gary, Bradford’s agent, but Minaya said he did not think a deal was imminent.

Minaya repeated his desire to re-sign Tom Glavine, saying that he had spoken to Glavine’s agent, Gregg Clifton, but had not begun negotiations. Minaya said he hoped to resolve Glavine’s status by Nov. 20, the Mets’ deadline for exercising their $14 million option. The probable outcome is a one-year deal with an option if Glavine, who has 290 victories, does not reach 300 in 2007.

“We’re just waiting for Tommy to get with his family,” Minaya said. Minaya said he expected to begin talks soon for a contract extension for Manager Willie Randolph and that everyone on the coaching staff was expected to re-sign, except perhaps for the third-base coach, Manny Acta, a candidate for managerial openings in Washington, Texas and Oakland. BEN SHPIGEL (NYT)

top prospects shut down The Mets shut down pitcher Mike Pelfrey after he threw four innings in the Arizona Fall League because he had what Omar Minaya called “regular soreness.” Another pitcher, Philip Humber, was pulled from Arizona with shoulder tendinitis.

“It’s nothing major,” Minaya said of Pelfrey and Humber. “If you get little aches and pains this late in the year, why not shut them down?”

BEN SHPIGEL (NYT)

 

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn. Sad, such potential.

 

NL Gold Glove Winners

C: Brad Ausmus, HOU
1B: Albert Pujols, STL
2B: Orlando Hudson, ARI
3B: Scott Rolen, STL
SS: Omar Vizquel, SF
OF: Carlos Beltran, NYM
OF: Mike Cameron, SD
OF: Andruw Jones, ATL
P: Greg Maddux, LAD

 

Notes: Rivera backs A-Rod

NEW YORK -- Mariano Rivera wants to pitch for three more years, with his final season coming in the new Yankee Stadium. And he hopes that Alex Rodriguez is with him for all three of those seasons.

Rivera, who spoke with reporters on Thursday at his new restaurant, Mo's New York Grill, said that blaming A-Rod for the Yankees' early postseason exit is simply unfair.

"This guy, he's a great player. We're a better team with him; I hear people say we should trade him and I don't agree," Rivera said. "I don't think we lost because of Alex. We lost, period. The fans, everybody, they should be with him."

Rivera, whose contract expires after the 2007 season, wants to sign a contract extension that will allow him to play two more seasons. Although the Yankees don't typically sign players to extensions before their contracts are up, Rivera is one of the few players that New York hasn't allowed to reach free agency.

"I want to talk to them about another contract; maybe two more years," Rivera said. "Hopefully we can do it soon, maybe before the season."

In March 2004, Rivera had one year remaining on his deal when he signed a two-year extension with an incentive-based option for 2007. He is in the same position now, and it's hard to believe that the Yankees will let their closer finish his career in another uniform.

General manager Brian Cashman did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Rivera, who missed three weeks in September because of a strained muscle in his forearm, had his arm checked after the season, but no damage was found.

"I'm fine," Rivera said. "They took some pictures of my elbow and it's good."

Moose call: The Yankees have until Nov. 15 to make a decision on Mike Mussina's $17 million option, though the likely scenario would have the two sides coming to terms on a new contract instead.

Mussina's agent, Arn Tellem, has already started talking with Cashman about a new contract for the pitcher, who is probably looking for a two-year deal worth $20-22 million.

"We've had positive talks," Tellem said in an e-mail. "We're making progress."

Mussina, who turns 38 in December, has said several times that he wants to return to New York. The right-hander went 92-53 in his first six years with the Yankees.

 

Pedro says retirement possible if shoulder doesn't regain full strength

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Pedro Martinez says that if his right shoulder doesn't return to full strength, he would consider retiring.

Martinez missed the latter part of the season for the New York Mets with a calf injury and had surgery Oct. 5 to repair a torn rotator cuff. He isn't expected to resume throwing off a mound until June.

Thus far, his recovery has gone well.

"It's getting better and progress is above all what is hoped for," Martinez told The Associated Press on Friday. "To go back I have to recover. I have to be healthy. But if God doesn't want that, then I would have to think about giving it all up."

The three-time Cy Young Award winner is working on flexibility but said he "won't put his hand on a ball" until at least March.

Martinez said 2006 was the toughest season of his career. He went 9-8 with a 4.48 ERA in 23 starts.

"It's going to be a bitter winter because I am going to have to do a lot of work," he said. "The pain I feel was one of the worst I have felt with any injury in my career."

Martinez needs two strikeouts to reach 3,000. The Mets owe him $14 million next year and $11.5 million in 2008.


Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.