Adrian Beltre
Rumors

The Red Sox officially introduced Adrian Beltre at a Fenway Park news conference Friday morning.  The free-agent third baseman Beltre is well known for his defense and replaces Mike Lowell in the corner.  Beltre's contract is for one-year, $9 million that includes a 2011 option for $5 million, the amount will double if Beltre has 640 plate appearances in 2010.  The option also includes a $1 million buyout.

Beltre, 30, is a .270 career hitter with 250 homers and 906 RBI.  2009 was an offensively slow year for Beltre due to left shoulder problems, however on June 30, 2009 he had bone spurs removed and is expected to rebound for 2010.

Beltre marks the fourth free-agent acquisition press conference for Boston this winter which includes, shortstop Marco Scutaro, right-hander John Lackey and outfielder Mike Cameron.

Adrian Beltre is heading to Boston

The Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners finalized their trade sending Casey Kotchman to the west coast for Bill Hall, a Minor League player to be named and cash.  Hall is a versatile slugger who will be able to fill any defense gap for the Sox.  In 2009 Hall began the season with the Brewers and finished with the Mariners. Hall started 51 games at third base, 22 games in left field, 12 games in right field, two at second base and one in center field.

Last year Hall, 30, batted .201 (67-for-334) with eight home runs and 36 RBI in 110 games between Milwaukee and Seattle. If Hall can regain his form at the plate, career-high 35 homers in 2006, he may be an extremely pinch-hitter for Boston.

Kotchman was displaced from the infield rotation when the Sox aquired third baseman Adrian Beltre but is expected to start at first base in Seattle. Last year Kotchman, 26, batted .268 (103-for-385) with seven home runs and 48 RBI in 126 games between Atlanta and Boston.

Mike Lowell trade speculation has run rampant for the past two years, but all the bluster finally seems to be amounting to something and numerous reports are indicating that the Boston Red Sox will trade Lowell to the Texas Rangers for prospect catcher Max Ramirez. 

If the trade is completed the Red Sox will likely have to pay a majority of the $12M remaining on Lowell's contract, which runs only through the up coming 2010 season.  Because the Red Sox will be paying more than $1M of Lowell's salary, the trade is subject to approval by the commissioners office.  Another potential hang up to the trade are Lowell's medical records.  Lowell has a history of injuries and is 35 years old. 

If the Lowell trade is completed, the Red Sox will have to look for another option at third base.  Kevin Youkilis is always an option for the team, having come up through the organization as a third baseman and recently he has split time between first and third base.  The Red Sox have been rumored to have interest in free agent Adrian Beltre, a Scott Boras client. 

In speaking with Boston Globe reporter Peter Abraham, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was elusive, but did not deny the trade rumors.  Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein was unavailable for comment. 

Joel Sherman of the New York Post is reporting that if the deal is completed, it will not be for a while.  Nevertheless, Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated believes the deal has a better than 50-50 chance of being completed.

Are Mike Lowell's days in Boston over?

Jayson Stark from espn.com has a new article up with plenty of off season rumors.

• Milton Bradley appears to have three different suitors: Rays, Rangers and Jays. However, Bradley is owed $21M over the remainder of his contact, so the Cubs will likely have to take on a bad contract in return.
• The Marlins had discussions about trading Dan Uggla with the Giants and Rangers.
• Rather than bid on Jason Bay or Matt Holliday, the Yankees seem content to try and resign Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui.
• Derek Lowe's contract is becoming burdensome for the Braves, especially as they look to extend Javier Vazquez. They'll try to move Lowe and hope to get a hitter in return for him.
• The Phillies are considering Placido Polanco, Mark DeRosa and Adrian Beltre at third base.

Johnny Damon is an off season priority for the Yankees

The premiere free agent pitcher this off season, John Lackey, will certainly be courted by all of the usual suspects: Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Angels and Phillies. However, Buster Olney of espn.com believes that the Mariners could also be an unlikely suitor involved in the bidding.

The biggest factor for the Mariners seemingly unlikely involvement is the amount of money they are clearing off of their team salary heading into 2010. Adrian Beltre, Erik Bedard and Miguel Batista combined to make $29.75M last season and are all headed to free agency. That number rises over $40M with the departure of Jarrod Washburn who was traded to Detroit during the season.

The Brewers and Rangers are also possible non-traditional suitors for Lackey's services.

Will the Mariners surprise everyone and land John Lackey?

Below is a list of third basemen who are eligible for free agency for the 2010 season, their age, current team, current contract and whether the player falls into a Type A or Type B free agent compensation status.

Free agent catchers
Free agent first basemen
Free agent second basemen
Free agent shortstops
Free agent left fielders
Free agent center fielders
Free agent right fielders
Free agent starting pitchers
Free agent middle relievers
Free agent closers

Adrian Beltre, 31, Mariners - 05:$10M, 06:$11.5M, 07:$11.5M, 08:$12M, 09:$12M (Type B)
Geoff Blum, 37, Astros - 08:$1.1M, 09:$1.1M club option ($0.1M buyout)
Aaron Boone, 37, Astros - 09:$750K
Joe Crede, 32, Twins - 09:$2.5M
Bobby Crosby, 30, Athletics - 05:$0.5M, 06:$0.75M, 07:$2.5M, 08:$3.5M, 09:$5.25M
Pedro Feliz, 35, Phillies - 08:$3M, 09:$5M, 10:$5M club option ($0.5M buyout)
Chone Figgins, 32, Angels - 09:$5.75M (Type B)
Troy Glaus, 33, Cardinals - 05:$8M, 06:$9M, 07:$10.5M, 08:$12.5M, 09$12.137M (Type B)
Mike Lamb, 34, Mets - 09:$400K
Melvin Mora, 38, Orioles - 07:$7,758,503, 08:$7,826,914, 09:$9M (Type B)
Robb Quinlan, 33, Angles - 09:$1.1M

Though the non-waiver trade deadline has passed, players can still be traded if they clear revocable waivers.  Simply put, if a team puts a player on waivers and no other team puts a claim in on that player, the team is then free to trade that player to another team.  If that player is claimed by another team, however, the first team can either pull that player off of waivers and they will not be able to trade the individual or allow the claiming team to keep the waived player and the claiming team assumes the entire contract responsibility. 

Jon Heyman of si.com broke down the list of players who will likely be put on waivers in to those who are "likely to clear", "could clear" and "unlikely to clear"

Likely To Clear

1. Bronson Arroyo - owed $17 over the remainder of 2009 and 2010
2. Adam Dunn - $12 is coming to him in 2010
3. Jose Guillen - $12 for 2010
4. Aaron Harang - over $25M in 2010 and 2011
5. Adrian Beltre - the remainder of his $12M in 2009
6. Aubrey Huff - the remainder of his $8M in 2009
7. Jason Giambi - the remainder of his $4M for 2009 and a $1.25M buyout for 2010 (or $6.5M contract)
8. Melvin Mora - the remainder of his $9M for 2009.  We already know he's not happy in Baltimore.
9. Juan Cruz - $2.25M in 09, $3.25M in 10, $4M option for 2011 or $500K buyout
10. Ty Wigginton - $2.5M in 09, $3.5M in 2010
11. Miguel Batista - $9M for 2009
12. Ron Mahay - $4M for 2009
13. Willie Bloomquist - $1.4M for 2009, $1.7M for 2010
14. Lyle Overbay - $7M in 2009, $7M in 2010
15. Willy Taveras - $2.25M in 2009, $4M in 2010

Could Clear

1. Jon Garland - remainder of $6.25M for 2009 plus a club buyout of $2.5M buyout for 2010 or a $10M contract
2. Doug Davis - $8.75M for 2009
3. Gil Meche - $22M for 2010 and 2011
4. Alex Rios - a staggering $63.2M from 2010-2014 AND a $1M buyout of a $13.5M club option in 2015.  Hard to imagine anyone taking on this contract or Toronto pulling him back.
5. Carl Pavano - $1.5M for 2009, but contract is LOADED with incentives.
6. Mark Hendrickson - $1.5M for 2009 with $500K in incentives
7. Jhonny Peralta - $3.4M for 2009, $4.6M for 2010, $250K buyout of $7M option for 2011
8. Jamey Carroll - $2.5M for 2009
9. Ron Villone - $600K

Unlikely To Clear

1. Roy Halladay - he wouldn't clear regardless of his contract, but he's owed $14.25M in 2009 and $15.75M for 2010
2. Felix Hernandez - the subject of a deadline blockbuster that never materialized, he's owed just the rest of his $3.8M in 2009, but is arbitration eligible.
3. Heath Bell - another arbitration eligible guy, he's only making $1.225M in 2009
4. Adrian Gonzalez - $3M for 2009 and $4.75M for 2010, he'd be arbitration eligible in 2011 if his team does not pick up his $5.5M option.
5. Marco Scutaro - just $1.1M for 2009, he's due a big raise in free agency for 2010 which is why the Jays would like to move him if possible.  Not likely.
6. Chad Qualls - arbitration guy making $2.5M for 2009
7. Michael Wuertz - only $1.1M, but arbitration eligible
8. Brian Bannister - $1.7M for 2009, but arbitration eligible
9. Josh Willingham - $2.95M for 2009 AND arbitration eligible
10. Gary Sheffield - a $14M salary that the Mets are only paying $400K of
11. David Eckstein - only $850K, but the Padres are trying to trim payroll
12. Jason Frasor - arbitration guy with $1.45M for 2009
13. Mark Teahen - $3.575M arbitration eligible

As the 2009 baseball season starts to round into shape, we're beginning to figure out which teams will be looking to add players at the trade deadline and who will be looking to dump players.  While the AL West has been wide open, Larry LaRue of The News Tribune writes that the Mariners poor start likely means they'll be looking to unload some of their veteran players.

The obvious choices to be moved are Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn and Adrian Beltre.  As LaRue notes, all three of these players are in the final year of their contracts and none would resigned by the Mariners.  General manager Jack Zduriencik has already started the process of finding teams that would be realistic trading partners. 

Beyond the obvious names, the Mariners are in full rebuilding mode which means practically no one is safe.  Russell Branyon, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Jason Vargas and Franklin Gutierrez are also names that could be had for the right price.

Ken Rosenthal has a new column up.  Let's take a look.

• The Mariners would like to move Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn or Miguel Batista to free up some money to go after free agents, but moving them would be difficult.
• One possibility was that the Mariners would swap Washburn for Hideki Matsui with the Yankees, but Matsui is set to make $3M more in 2009, so the deal fell apart.
• The Twins would like to move Delmon Young.  The Twins showed interest in Washburn last year, but it's not clear whether the two players could form the basis for a larger deal that would be necessary to accomodate the swap.
• The Yankees are not interested in Juan Cruz.
• If the Yankees do trade Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher it will likely be to improve their bullpen.
• Brian Shouse is high on the Rays wish list.
• Rich Hill to the Orioles would likely take only a low level prospect to complete with the Cubs.

Jayson Stark of espn.com gives us a lot of hot stove updates in his most recent post:

• The Braves are now the front runner to land AJ Burnett.
• It does not seem like another team has attempted to match the Yankees $140M offer to CC Sabathia who is expected to make a decision soon, possibly next week.
• The are rumors that the White Sox are looking at Jorge Cantu.
• The Phillies have been pursuing Derek Lowe, but it doesn't seem like they have a realistic shot of having him sign.
• Rafael Furcal's suitors seemed to have reduced to the Dodgers and As with possible interest from the Orioles.
• Ty Wigginton and Adrian Beltre are the likely back up plans for the Dodgers if they are unable to retain Furcal and Casey Blake.