One last long weekend without baseball

I will be enjoying a nice 4 day Presidents Day weekend and this will be the last weekend without baseball. Pitchers and Catchers will begin reporting next week, with the Yankees reporting on Thursday. I know the games don't start until March 1st but still there will be plenty to write about from the workouts and then eventually the exhibition games. It is a very exciting time of the year and it means that spring is drawing near which is always a good thing. Here are some things to keep an eye out for this weekend. It appears that the Johnny Damon saga may be coming to an end. The Detroit Tigers have apparently offered him a 2 yr deal for 14 million. If he does end up signing that, isn't it what he was offered by the Yankees and didn't he say he wanted to stay a Yankee?? The Atlanta Braves have offered him a one year deal and appear that they are still taking with him. It was being reported earlier today that the Chigago White Sox were trying to make a late push for him. I would guess he is going to sign with the Tigers by the end of this weekend. The New York Mets signed catcher Josh Riggans to a minor league deal today along with veteran Japanese lefty Hisanora Takahashi. My question is are the Mets playing a game of lets see how many catchers we can sign, they have an insane amount on their roster right now. Frank Thomas and Tom Glavine officially retired today. Tom Glavine will be joining the Braves front office. Tim Lincecum's arbitration hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. The Giants have offered him a long term deal for 3 years and 37 million. He is seeking 13 million for the one year and the Giants offered 8 million. It looks like he will go to the hearing and not sign the long term deal.

Daniel Murphy and Keith Hernandez

The New York Mets are committed to having Daniel Murphy play first base with Fernando Tatis being his caddy. The Mets made a good decision as they have now enlisted Keith Hernandez to tutor him. Keith Hernandez is arguably the best fielding first baseman ever. I would argue it because my favorite player of all time is Don Mattingly, that was the great debate of the 1980's. Those of us who grew up in that time would go back and forth on it if you were on opposite sides of the fence. The New York Mets should of got him to help last year but it is better late then never. The other good thing is that Keith Hernandez is a broadcaster for the team so he sees what is going on from upstairs and definitely has an eye for what can be done. I think Daniel Murphy actually did a pretty good job at first base after just bombing out in the outfield. I don't know if he will ever be a legitimate first baseman but at this point it is best to try and find out and get as much help as possible for the young man. Mookie Wilson who is one of the most beloved Mets of all time is back with the organization. He excepted a position as the minor league outfield and base running coordinator. The Mets avoided arbitration with Angel Pagan who most likely will be the opening day centerfielder. He agreed to a one year deal worth 1.45 million. The Mets also are close to a minor league deal with Mike Jacobs who played with the Royals last season. He batted 228 with 19 homeruns and 61 rbi's last season.

Baseball News

I am back, i took the day off yesterday due to me and my family having some kind of stomach virus. I didn't get to talk about the Yankees inviting 20 non roster players to spring training. I am not going to go through the whole list but basically you know most of them. The Yankees have announced some of the signings in the past few weeks. Reid Gorecki, Royce Ring, Marcus Thames etc got the invites and minor league deals with incentives if they make the roster. The 2 top catchers Austin Romine and Jesus Montero got invites along with Kei Igawa. If you forget who Igawa is he is the Japanese pitcher the signed a fews yrs ago that has become a bust. I am thinking the Yankees will give him the chance to be the 2nd lefty out of the pen but I doubt that will happen. The Yankees currently have Damaso Marte but they have other guys who will try and win that job. Wilkens Arias and Jeremy Bleich are 2 left handers to keep an eye on. Arias is 29 so not much of a prospect but held lefties to a sub 200 batting avg last year in the minors. Bleich spent his first year in pro ball last season and is a starting pitcher that could move quickly. It is always good to see some of the prospects and guys fighting for jobs in spring training. It appears that Chien-Ming Wang will be heading to Washington. He is expected to sign a minor league deal for 2 million with the chance to make the team when healthy. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported this morning that he already chose the Nationals. The Atlanta Braves offered Johnny Damon a one year deal today for 4 million with deferred money that could double it. He apparently turned it down still seeking a 2 yr deal. The Tigers and Rays are still said to have interest but may also want to keep it at a one year deal.

Yanks add a couple of Leftfielders

We all knew about Randy Winn but today the signing became official. Jon Heyman of SI.com also reported today that the Yankees signed Marcus Thames to a minor league deal. Chad Jennings of the Journal News and also the Lohud Yankees blog confirmed this on his blog. He had spoken to GM Brian Cashman this afternoon. The deal is a minor league deal that if he makes the 25 man roster out of spring training he will make 900,000. Marcus Thames started his career with the Yankees and only appeared in 7 games with them. He made a name for himself in Detroit where he averaged 23 homeruns and 58 rbi's in 3 season with them. He will compete with Winn and Gardner in spring training for the leftfield job. I think this is a good risk to take especially since they wanted a right handed hitting outfielder.

Baseball News

It appears that the Minnesota Twins and Joe Mauer are close to getting a long term deal done. There were reports yesterday that he had signed a 10 yr extension, they proved to be false but they are talking and most believe it will get done. I would doubt he will get 10 yrs but maybe 7 or 8. I think if this does eventually happen which it looks like it will it is a good thing for baseball. I think these small market clubs need to keep guys like this and I don't think the Yankees and Red Sox should just be chomping at the bit to go to war against each other for his services. The Oakland Athletics and Cincinatti Reds were busy yesterday. The Reds signed veteran shortstop Orlando Cabrera. The Reds traded Willy Taveras and Adam Rosales to the A's for utility infielder Aaron Miles and a player to be named later. Orlando Hudson is expected to sign this week and the Washington Nationals appear to be the frontrunners. The Nationals have made some moves this offseason and appear to be getting better. They also have Stephen Strasburg and the #1 pick this year. They are headed in the right direction.

Slow Day in Baseball

I didn't get up any posts yesterday, as it was a really uneventful day. The one bit of news that emerged was Jerry Hairston Jr. on a XM radio show saying that he never got an offer from the Yankees. The reason is the story though, he said it is because the Yankees were waiting for Johnny Damon to come to them and his price to drop. Yankees GM a little while later shot down that rumor but I would think it is probably true. If Johnny Damon comes to the Yankees and says he will take a one year deal for 5 million are the Yankees really going to say no?? I mean if they go a few million over budget is it going to kill them, I don't think so this is the Yankees. The Angels also signed Joel Piniero to a 2 yr deal worth 16 million. This is another guy the New York Mets missed out on. I really wonder who the Mets may get now, Jon Garland, Ben Sheets?? I think this was a good move by the Angels, they had to do something to counter what Seattle has been doing plus he is a pretty steady veteran pitcher.

Baseball Contracts avoiding arbitration

I am not going to go through the whole list since it is pretty long. I will discuss the biggest names though. Here are some of the players and the contracts they agreed too. Jonathan Papelbon/Boston Red Sox-1yr 9.35 million Jered Weaver/Anaheim Angels-1 yr 4.265 million John Danks/Chicago White Sox- 1yr 3.45 million Rafael Perez/Cleveland Indians-1 yr 895,000 Jorge Cantu/Florida Marlins-1 yr 6 million Matt Lindstrom/Houston Astros- 1yr 1.625 million Alex Gordon/K.C. Royals- 1yr 1.15 million Howie Kendrick/Anaheim Angels- 1yr 1.75 million Jonathan Broxton/L.A. Dodgers- 2 yrs 11 million Andre Ethier/ L.A. Dodgers- 2yrs 15.25 million James Loney/L.A. Dodgers-1 yr 3.1 million Russel Martin/L.A. Dodgers- 1yr 5.05 million Carlos Gomez/Milwaukee Brewers-1yr 1.1 million Rickie Weeks/Milwaukee Brewers-1yr 2.75 million Francisco Liriano/Minnesota Twins-1yr 1.6 million Carl Pavano/Minnesota Twins-1 yr 7 million Jeff Francouer/New York Mets-1yr 5 million Ryan Ludwick/St. Louis Cardinals-1yr 5.45 million There are many others but this is a pretty good list. Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners signed an extension for 5 yrs and roughly 8o million dollars. That was a great move by Seattle, he is their ace and they needed to lock him up. The Detroit Tigers finalized their deal with Jose Valverde to be the closer for 2 yrs and 14 million. There is a club option for 2012 for 9 million. The saga of Bengie Molina took an unexpected turn when the Mets made him a 1 yr offer and told him take it or leave it. It was for 5 million and he left it and signed back with the San Francisco Giants for 1 yr and 4.5 million. The Colorado Rockies signed Huston Street to a 3 yr 22.5 million dollar deal. He came to them last season in a trade.

Baseball back in business

The baseball world got back to business after basically shutting down for the holidays. Adrian Beltre has signed with the Red Sox for one year and a 2nd option year. The deal is for 9 million and the option is 5 million, this is pending a physical. I would think by doing this that they must know the can trade Mike Lowell but the thing is he did just have surgery, unless Texas said we will do the deal but he has to go get the surgery and show that he is capable of playing and then we will make the deal before the season starts. There is also a rumor going around about the Mets and Red Sox talking about a Luis Castillo/Mike Lowell swap but that makes no sense since the Mets have a good third baseman in David Wright and the Red Sox had a good second baseman in Dustin Pedroia. Former Yankee and fan favorite Shelly Duncan has signed a deal with the Cleveland Indians. Matt Holliday and the Cardinals are getting close, I would expect this deal to be finalized sometime this week. This would also affect Johnny Damon, there was a rumor today about him possibly going to Atlanta but the Braves would have to trade Melky Cabrera first who they did just aquire. There is also talk of him maybe going to the San Francisco Giants. I just think he has made himself look bad and I don't even know if those teams are legitimate options, if not does he come back to the Yankees and take a 1 yr lesser deal??

Hot Stove News

The Winter meetings have ended but the Hot Stove is still burning brightly. The Chicago White Sox signed former Seattle Mariner closer and most recently Met J.J. Putz. The deal is for one year and 3 million. He will be a setup man but give the White Sox another option to close other then Bobby Jenks. The Boston Red Sox are really coming hard after Adrian Beltre even though the Mike Lowell trade to Texas is not yet finalized. There is a report on ESPN.com today that the Blue Jays are seeking either Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes and Jesus Montero as well as others from the Yankees for Roy Halladay. That price is too steep for the Yankees at this time and I can't blame them. If the Red Sox don't get him which looks like they won't and they don't end up with him they can still sign another pitcher as the 4th starter and be in good shape. The Cardinals have made a formal offer to Matt Holliday today but terms of the deal are not known. The Cardinals GM said he expects a response from agent Scott Boras within the next 48 hours. If he resigns with St. Louis the market for Jason Bay will really heat up as he will be the only significant position player left on the market.

MLB Notes

I saw that the Pirates traded Nate McClouth to the Atlanta Braves today for Charlie Morton a right handed pitcher, Jeff Locke a left handed pitcher and Gorkys Hernandez a outfielder. This is an interesting trade because it happend a month plus ahead of the trade deadline. This is a significant upgrade for the Braves in centerfield and puts the Mets and Phillies on notice that the Braves think they can contend this year. The Braves also realeased Tom Glavine. The Red Sox won today to move into a first place tie with the Yankees with Josh Beckett pitching into the 7th inning with a no hitter. Kevin Youkilis left thgh the game with a ankle injury though that will be worth monitoring. I wonder if there will be more trades made ahead of the deadline now that there was already a big deal. I am sure guys like Nick Johnson some relievers like Heath Bell etc will be on the block.

Catching Up With Yankees News

The Pitchers for today were as follows: Melancon,Tomko,Hacker,Brackman,De La Rosa,Claggett,Jackson. The other group was: Hughes,Wang,Sabathia,Marte,Aceves,Ramirez CC was talking to some of the beat writers today and informed them that he is a Oakland Raiders fan. He played tight end in high school and was recruited by UCLA and Cal but was going to go to Hawaii because they were willing to let him play both baseball and football. "Then I got picked in the first round," he said. Mark Melancon was very impressive today according to Peter Abraham of the Journal News and http://yankees.lhblogs.com. He watched him pitch today to Derek Jeter,Robbie Cano, Austin Jackson and Austine Romine. He said his fastball was as advertised, he also threw five curveballs with 4 of them being strikes, its a big curve. He threw 30 pitches in all. The Yankees were very careful with him last year coming off of Tommy John surgery but he is now ready to be unleashed. I really think he has a good chance of making it out of spring training and if not he will be up by the end of the year, this kid has the tools and the makeup and may be the closer post MO.v Edwar Ramirez cut short his bullpen today due to a sore right shoulder. If this is seious at all which is too early to say then guys like Melancon and Robertson are going to have a really good chance at making it. The Grapefruit league begins on Wednesday for the Yankees and the pitchers for the first four games are set up as follows: Wednesday-Brett Tomko, Thursday-Phil Hughes,Friday-Ian Kennedy,Saturday-Joba Chamberlain. The main pitchers will be held back until late next week. Jorge Posada really liked what he saw from Melancon. He said his fastball had a late cut and that was what was leading to the swing and misses today. Posada also liked his curveball. He also said that Eric Hacker is a guy to keep an eye on, he throws 95 and its easy, very impressive. Derek Jeter has some hamstring soreness, it doesn't appear to be a big deal. I wouldn't worry about anything like this at this point, it really is no big deal, a lot of these muscles are being used now like they haven't been in a while.

Bern Baby Bern

Yes it is Bernie Williams, he is back well sort of. He will be with the Yankees until March 2 working out for the World Baseball Classic that he will be part of with Team Puerto Rico. It is great to see Bernie back in pinstripes and who knows if guys get hurt he may get a deal, no don't get too excited it isn't going to happen.