New York Mets Rumors

Buster Olney of espn.com has a few rumors and notes to pass along:

• Adrian Gonzalez has begun preliminary talks with the Padres about an extension, but Olney feels the liklihood of one being signed soon is slim.  Even if an agreement is reached, it is unlikely to be longer than through 2011.  Gonzalez is entering the last year of a four year $9.5M contract that will pay him $4.75M in 2010 and a $5.5M club option for 2011. 
• More likely, Olney feels, we'll see a bidding war for Gonzalez at next June's trade deadline.
• The Dodgers, Angels and Mets are the rumored suitors for Joel Pineiro.

Will Adrian Gonzalez be traded at July's trade deadline?

With Jason Bay off the market after being signed by the Mets, the last remaining big name free agent is Matt Holliday.  Let's take a look at the rumors surrounding where he's going to land.

• Buster Olney of espn.com tweets that the Cardinals latest offer to Holliday is over $100M guaranteed.  Remember, the Jason Bay contract was only $66M guaranteed, but with reasonable incentive clauses to get the deal to $80M.
• Tracy Ringolsby of Fox Sports writes that the Cardinals offer could be as high as eight years and $140M.  
• Ringolsby also writes that the Orioles made a eight-year, $130M offer, but Jeff Zrebic of the Baltimore Sun writes that Orioles president Andy MacPhail denied the report.
• Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated write that Holliday reportedly turned down an offer from the Cardinals in excess of six-years and $100M as recently as the past few weeks.  As such, Holliday is rumored to still be talking with many teams.  

Where will the prize of the 2010 free agent class, Matt Holliday, land?

The New York Mets have reached a tentative agreement to sign former Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay to a four year contract, reports Jerry Crasnick of espn.com.  The initial terms of the deal are four years, $66M, but the deal also includes a vesting option for a fifth year that would increase the total $80M over five years. Completion of the deal will wait until Bay passes a physical, rumored for next week.

Speculation is that the fifth year option will vest based on typically achieveable plate appearance goals over the first four years of the contract.  Bay has played in an average of 154 games per season since 2005.

Bay was offered arbitration by the Red Sox back in November and as such will receive a supplementary first round pick and the Mets second round pick, seventh of the second round, as compensation in the upcoming 2010 draft. 

Jason Bay is heading to New York

With Bay's signing, the next chip to fall is the winter's most prized free agent, Matt Holliday.  As Keith Law of espn.com suggests, with Bay's fifth year option likely to vest, Holliday is unlikely to sign for less than five years, $80M.

The Rule 5 Draft was held today.  Here are the first round picks. Draft picks are listed by the team making the selection, player name and the team he was selected from.

As a reminder, players selected in the Rule 5 draft must remain on the 25-man roster the entire subsequent season or they are returned to the team from which they were taken.

1. New York Yankees* (from Washington): Jamie Hoffmann, Dodgers
2. Pittsburgh: John Raynor, Marlins
3. Texas^ (from Baltimore): Benjamin Snyder, Giants
4. Kansas City: Edgar Osuna, Braves
5. Cleveland: Hector Ambriz, Diamondbacks
6. Arizona: Zach Kroenke, Yankees
7. New York Mets: Carlos Monasterios, Phillies
8. Florida# (from Houston): Jorge Jiminez, Red Sox
9. San Diego: pass
10. Oakland: Bobby Cassevah, Angels
11. Toronto: Zech Zinicola, Nationals
12. Chicago White Sox: pass
13. Milwaukee: Chuck Lofgren, Indians
14. Chicago Cubs: Mike Parisi, Cardinals
15. Tampa Bay: Armando Zerpa, Red Sox
16. Seattle: Kanekoa Texeira, Yankees
17. Texas: pass
18. Florida: pass
19. San Francisco: Steve Johnson, Orioles
20. St. Louis: Ben Jukich, Reds
21. Colorado: pass
22. Philadelphia: Ken Herndon, Angels
23. Los Angeles Dodgers: pass
24. Boston: pass
25. Los Angeles Angels: pass
26. New York Yankees: pass

* Acquired from Nationals as part of Brian Bruney trade
^ Acquired from Baltimore as part of Kevin Millwood trade
# Acquired from Houston as part of Matt Lindstrom trade

The Tigers, Twins, Braves and Reds did not have picks because their 40 man roster was full.

The number 1 pick of the 2009 Rule 5 Draft, Jamie Hoffmann will now play all of 2010 on the Yankees 25-man roster

The Tigers payroll was over $115M in 2009 and despite a competitive playoff run to the very end of the season, the team is looking to pare down its payroll for 2010 and moving Miguel Cabrera could save the team a lot of money.  Detroit has already openly shopped outfielder Curtis Granderson ($23.75M left on his contract from 2010-2012) and pitcher Edwin Jackson (arbitration eligible and due for a big raise) and not recieved too many bites.  Cabrera's contract blows away that of Granderson and Jackson, as he's set to make the following in each year of his deal: 10:$20M, 11:$20M, 12:$21M, 13:$21M, 14:$22M, 15:$22M. 

Despite being owed $126M over the next six years, there will still be interest in Cabrera because of his immense productivity.  Some potentially interested teams include:

Red Sox: David Ortiz and Mike Lowell come off the books after 2010 and if the Red Sox can convince the Tigers to give them some financial relief in 2010, the money might work out.

Angels: When Cabrera was traded from Florida to Detroit, the Angels were heavily involved in the bidding and would be happy to take Cabrera now, two years later.

Mets: With Carlos Delgado's likely departure, the Mets have a hole at first base that Cabrera could fill.

White Sox: Similar to the Red Sox, the White Sox remove Paul Konerko from the books after 2010 and Cabrera would fill in nicely.

Giants: They are in desperate need of offense, but already have two big contracts in Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand and would need to put Pablo Sandoval somewhere.

Mariners: Resigning Felix Hernandez is their priority, but Cabrera would be a big addition to their anemic offense.

Braves: Much like the Giants, they could really use the offensive help, but may lack the financial flexilibity to bring on Cabrera.  Moving Derek Lowe or Javier Vazquez would allieviabe some financial constraints.

Financial reasons will force the Tigers to try and move Miguel Cabrera this off season

A number of Rays rumors to look at in Joe Smith's article from the St. Petersburg Times.

• The Rays would like to sign star outfielder Carl Crawford to a long term extension.  Crawford will likely make about $11.5M in 2010 with escalators and could command quite a bit on the open market.  There's word in the article that the Mets and Braves have expressed interest in acquiring Crawford if the Rays look to move him, however it is likely that almost every team in baseball would be interested.
• BJ Upton is rumored to be available and the Rangers and White Sox have already inquired.
• Smith feels like the Rays will be interested in signing Kevin Gregg or JJ Putz this off season.
• Gregg Zaun is currently a free agent, but the team might look to bring him back and try the Zaun/Dioner Navarro platoon that worked in 2009.

Carl Crawford will command a lot in a trade if the Rays are unable to extend him

Though John Lackey, Jason Bay and Matt Holliday will dominate the headlines and the dollars this off season, Buster Olney of espn.com breaks down the next tier of free agents who are sure to get plenty of calls when free agency begins on Friday.

Brandon Lyon: Though there are a lot of closers available via free agency, Lyon may be willing to take a set up role and is only a Type B free agent. The Phillies, Angles, Mets and Yankees are all likely to be interested

Mark DeRosa: As a player who can play multiple positions his flexibility is a good fit for the Phillies. His bat is a good fit for any team.

Jermaine Dye: His age, 35, precludes him from being able to command a long term deal, but an AL team might be able to snag a good DH for a short and small contract.

Miguel Tejada: Though he might not be able to play shortstop anymore and would require a move to third base, his 313/340/455 splits are still attractive. Philly and Oakland could be good fits.

Miguel Tejada hopes to get plenty of offers this off season

Nick Johnson: Defense and power are very suspect for Johnson, but his OBP (an absurd .477 in 35 games last year for the Marlins) is still attractive. Offense starved teams like Oakland or San Francisco could be interested.

Coco Crisp: He's unlikely to be an everyday outfield, but his defense and speed are still tremendous and he could be a good platoon outfielder.

JJ Putz: A big market team like the Red Sox (think Billy Wagner), Yankees or Angels might be willing to give Putz a one-year deal despite coming off of injury.

Placido Polanco: His 45 extra base hits along with solid defense at second base will certainly attract suitors.

Rafael Betancourt: If the Rockies offer him arbitration, he becomes a Type A free agent and interest will be minimal. If they don't, look out.

Olney notes at the end of his piece that the rational behind Betancourt also applies to relievers Wagner, Jose Valverde, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano.

The early serious bidders for John Lackey appear to be the Angles, Red Sox and Mets so far.  Buster Olney from espn.com heard that the Angels most recent offer to Lackey was a multi-year contract for a total of $72M. 

Though the Red Sox have plenty of pitching depth with Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield, during the recent general manager meetings in Chicago, the Red Sox brass met with Lackey's agent. 

Similarly, the Mets general manager, Omar Minaya, met with Lackey's agent as well and was very encouraged by the conversation. 

Buster Olney ranks the Mariners as the team most likely to land Lackey in his rankings:

1. Mariners
2. Angels
3. Brewers
4. Mets
5. Red Sox
6. Yankees

John Lackey will have plenty of suitors this off season

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?

This list of free agents for the 2010 class is growing with every declined option.  Four more players were added to the mix today when their respective teams declined their options.

• The Mets declined their $9.1M option on reliever JJ Putz.
• Austin Kearns had his $10M option declined by the Nationals and received a $1M buyout.
• The Rockies declined their portion of a mutual option on catcher Yorvit Torrealba and reliever Alan Embree.  Torrealba received a $500K buyout, while Embree got $250K.

Austin Kearns is now a free agent