SB Nation - Brad Penny

Yankees non-tender Chien-Ming Wang

Eli Greenspan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:55:14 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Yankees have decided to non-tender starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, according to Yankees.com. Wang, a two-time 19-game winner, had shoulder surgery in June last season and isn't expected to be ready until midseason 2010.

Wang was very ineffective with the Yankees in '09, posting a 9.64 ERA before being shut down.

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Chien-Ming Wang	1-6	12	9	0	0	0	0	42.0	66	46	45	7	19	29	9.64	2.02

His agent, Alan Nero, says Wang will be ready to go by May.

"He is way ahead of schedule," Nero said. "He started his throwing program on Dec. 1 and is under the supervision of Dr. James Andrews with his physical therapy. I'm very optimistic that he will be in the best shape of his life."

With that said, it will be interesting to see who pursues to the pitcher. The Rockies and Dodgers are possibilities for his services, considering their attentions to add another starting pitcher.

After missing out on Brad Penny, the Giants could also pursue his services. The Mariners have been inquiring about all sorts of players, and Wang could also be an option in Seattle.

Winter Meeting Blues? Not for this blogger

Phil Gurnee — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:17:20 -0000

Many Dodger fans and some writers have expressed displeasure with the fact the Dodgers sat on their hands during the recently concluded Winter Meetings. Getting past the angst of the unfathomable decision to not offer arbitration to Wolf and Hudson I'm having a hard time being outraged at the lack of movement.

In fact I'm even feeling kind of optimistic about the Dodgers keeping their hands away from the cookie jar where they have been burned time and time again during Ned's reign. Not much good has come when the Dodgers have gone to the winter meetings in the past. Pop over to MLBTR and check out all the moves that happened during these meeting and then add in the fact the Lowell to Ranger deal and I'm not looking at very much I think the Dodgers missed out on.

The big names want big deals and I haven't seen a big name in the 2009 FA class that I'd be interested in even if the Dodgers had money. Holliday or Bay? No thanks. Lackey would be great but not for his years and his price. It would have been nice to been in on the Granderson deal but we don't need an outfielder. E Jackson ended up being quite expensive so no thanks there.

I've stressed in the past that I wish we were able to dip our feet into the plethora of injured but substantial skill set of Harden/Sheets/Bedard but given the price and the health risk, maybe next year at this time we'll be glad we didn't have the money to spend on the fragility of the best pitchers available.

Once Brad Penny got 7.5 I was saying no thank you and maybe Ned was doing the same. At the end of the winter meetings he expressed that he would be okay with giving the group of Elbert/McDonald/Lindblom/Stults/Haeger a chance to battle it out in spring training for the fifth spot. For anyone who follows this blog, I think all of us who write for TBLA would be pleased if that really happened. Elbert was the minor league pitcher of the year in 2009 and McDonald in 2008. At least one of those pitchers should be able to capably handle the back end of a rotation spot. I'm much more worried about Billingsley and Kuroda rebounding and taking on the pressure of being the backbones of the rotation then I am of one of the Isotopes group not being able to handle their end of the rotation.

We are trying to fill the fourth spot by moving Juan Pierre. Given that Coco Crisp and Mike Cameron are still available for less by millions it still appears to be a long shot for the Dodgers to move Juan. My gut says that if they are unable to move Juan then they will try their best to trade Sherrill instead. Given that Sherrill might be on the move management did spend $100,000 on two Rule Five pitchers. Both have some upside as the Dodgers try the Venezuelan pipeline once again.

Even though the team ownership appears bleak I don't think the team itself should be lumped into the same problem sack. We have to replace Wolf but we don't really have to replace the Wolf of 2009 who was better then anyone imagined. The Dodgers will acquire a fourth starter, let us address the capabilities of that person when he's actually acquired. We need a 2nd baseman, which could come internally from DeWitt or a combo of DeWitt/Free Agent(Belliard) or maybe a Felipe Lopez will become available as Ned waits out this years free agent class.

Given the lack of financial flexibility the current Dodger management has to work with they kind of have to utilize the wait and see approach. Luckily for them it might simply be the best approach. The core of the team for 2010 is set.

1st - Loney 2nd - Unknown, SS - Furcal, 3rd - Blake, C - Martin

LF - Manny , CF - Kemp, RF - Andre

SP - Billingsley, Kershaw, Kuroda, (Elbert, Lindblom, Haeger, Stults, McDonald, Troncoso), Unknown

RP - Broxton, Kuo, Sherrill, Troncoso, Bellisario, Wade, Leach, Carlos Monasterios, Armando Zerpa, Justin Miller

This team should improve at 1st, SS, LF, and catcher. I'd expect Blake to regress a bit. The bench needs to be built again. Right now it looks like Hu is the utility infielder with Pierre/Repko manning two outfield spots. One backup catcher is needed and then one left handed pinch hitter if Repko makes the team or a right handed pinch hitter if he doesn't.

A quiet winter is not the worse thing that could happen to this team given the turmoil going on as the battle for who will own the team continues behind the scenes. The demise of the Dodgers has been overly exaggerated. The team is who plays the games and we still have one hell of a team and given the possible improvements from Loney, Kershaw, rebounds from Martin/Billingsly, or exciting rotational debuts from Elbert, the combination of all these factors could keep them on the same path they have been on the past two years.

Ownership is a mess, the team isn't, lets not confuse the two. WIthout a doubt this team would be better suited to do battle with the Phillies/Cardinals/Braves with a payroll around the level of 2008 but it is not going to happen, so we just need to focus on what we can do with what we have to work with. This optimism may be short lived but I'll work with it as long as I'm feeling it.

Dodgers Offseason Path Appears Set

Eric Stephen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:01:01 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Juan Pierre may be traded to fill a hole in the starting rotation.

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Through three days of the winter meetings, the Dodgers haven't made any deals, but we do have a better idea of their plans this offseason. Randy Wolf signed with the Brewers today for $29.75 million over three years, leaving the Dodgers with a sizable void to fill in their starting rotation.

Actually, there are two holes to fill, behind Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, and Hiroki Kuroda. It appears the Dodgers are still in the market for one starting pitcher, but general manager Ned Colletti said he is looking to fill one of the two open rotation slots from within. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reported:

Colletti said he's comfortable holding the last rotation spot for a Spring Training competition involving James McDonald, Scott Elbert, Josh Lindblom, Charlie Haeger and Ramon Troncoso. Colletti added left-hander Eric Stults to that group he originally listed on Tuesday.

In my mind, Elbert is the favorite of that group, with his electric left arm, but there is plenty of time for that to get sorted out. McDonald had success out of the bullpen (2.72 ERA, 8.70 strikeouts per nine innings), and I can see him returning to that role in 2010, even though I'm not ready to give up on him as a starter just yet. Both Haeger and Stults are out of options, so they will not only be fighting for a starting role at Camelback Ranch, but also will be fighting for their baseball lives.

How the Dodgers fill that other starting rotation slot has yet to be seen, but the Dodgers don't have much room in their budget without getting creative. If the Dodgers wanted to pay a pitcher $10 million a year, they would have either offered Wolf arbitration, or made an offer to him when presented the opportunity by Wolf's agent, Arn Tellem, today. Wolf's deal, coupled with Brad Penny's deal with St. Louis (one year, $7.5 million plus incentives) and the oft-injured Rich Harden's deal with Texas (one year, $7.5 million with an $11.5 million option for 2011), made it clear that most free agent pitchers are simply out of the Dodgers' price range. If they sign a free agent pitcher, it might be someone like a Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland, again. That is, if they come cheaply enough.

Another option to fill the starting pitching void is to trade Juan Pierre. The idea here is to swap Pierre's contract (two years, $18.5 million) for a high-priced pitcher in a swap of inflated contracts, using that money to pay for a position in need rather than for a fourth outfielder. Options here include:

		2009		2010 Projected
Pitcher	2010 Age	ERA	FIP	ERA	FIP	Contract remaining
Bronson Arroyo	33	3.84	4.78	4.11	4.49	2010: $11m; 2011: $11m option ($2m buyout)
Aaron Harang	32	4.21	4.14	4.18	4.14	2010: $12.5m; 2011: $12.75m option ($2m buyout)
Paul Maholm	28	4.44	3.83	4.29	4.20	2 years, $11m total, plus $9.75m option for 2012
Nate Robertson	32	5.44	4.55	4.89	4.67	2010: $10m
Jeremy Bonderman	27	only 10 IP		4.43	4.22	2010: $12.5m
2010 Projections from Bill James Handbook					Contract info courtesy of the amazing Cot's

I would have thought Kevin Millwood was another trade option (due $12 million in 2010), but he was traded to the Orioles earlier Wednesday. Maholm may be a pipe dream, as his contract isn't all that onerous, but the Pirates seem interested in Pierre, so maybe there is a fit.

Matching up Pierre with a team directly might be tough, so a three-team trade may be the way to go. In fact, Pierre may be traded to fill a different hole, second base. Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports tweeted this on Wednesday night:

Dodgers are more concerned about 2B than letting on publicly, but 3-way trade tries at offing Pierre while filling 2B aren't working yet.

This is interesting, because in the report by Gurnick, Colletti showed a faith in Blake DeWitt manning the second base next season:

At second base, he's sounding more and more comfortable with DeWitt, although he still hopes to add a veteran from a group of free agents that includes Ronnie Belliard, Craig Counsell, Juan Uribe, Jamey Carroll and Felipe Lopez.

"Barring something not on the radar, it will be Blake DeWitt plus a veteran if we started the season today," Colletti said

Whether or not any budget constraints forced this philosophy, Colletti appears to have a faith in the Dodgers' young talent to play a big role in 2010. If you ask me, I think the Dodgers bring back one of Garland or Padilla, and bring back Belliard to caddy for the Blakes -- DeWitt at second and Casey at third. Which means the 2010 Dodgers will look a lot like the 2009 Dodgers in many ways, and the returning cast will have to step up.

Diamond Leung reported that Colletti expressed that same sentiment while showing faith in Chad Billingsley in an interview with Sirius XM:

"Sometimes, you have to make your guys better. You just can’t continue to expect to fill everything from the outside and continue to sign free agents and continue to trade away players. You end up in the same spot more times than not and most of the time worse off than before you started making moves…

The 2010 Dodgers need their guys to be better if they want to stay atop the NL West.

BtB Analysis: Cardinals Sign Brad Penny; Nationals Sign Ivan Rodriguez

Tommy Rancel — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:41:24 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Chiu - ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Thanks to the big Yankees, Tigers, Diamondbacks trade, a few deals slipped through the crack that are worth noting. First, the Washington Nationals signed Ivan Rodriguez to a two-year deal believed to be worth a total of $5 million dollars. And second, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Brad Penny to a one-year deal worth at least $7 million, but could reach $9 million if he hits some incentives.

The signing of Pudge marks the second strange move of the winter meetings for the Nationals. It seems a little bit much to be giving the 38-year-old Rodriguez a guaranteed two-year deal at an annual salary of $2.5 million dollars. Catcher is some what of a question mark for the Nationals as promising starter, Jesus Flores, has yet to play over 90 games in a major league season. However, when healthy Flores should be the clear cut starter. Sure, Pudge is still a solid defensive catcher, and he brings "veteran presence," but paying $2.5 million dollars to a guy you're rather see a back-up seems like a waste of money.

Offensively, Rodriguez is a shell of the hitter he was in the late 90s and he hasn't had a .330 wOBA season since 2006. As for his mentor skills, his approach at the plate is not something you want your younger player to pick up on. He's earned less than 5.5% walks for five straight seasons and carried an O-Swing% around 40 the past three. Like Brian Bruney, it's not a terrible pick-up, but it's not something that really improves this team a whole lot.

The other deal that went down involved Brad Penny, who signs a one-year deal for the second straight offseason. However, unlike last season, he decided it was best to stick to the National League and that's probably the smartest thing for all parties involved. Like former teammate John Smoltz, Penny comes to the Cardinals after a disappointing half season or so with the Boston Red Sox that lead to his release, and ultimately a resurgence in the senior circuit.

You can easily make the argument that the Red Sox may have cut bait a little too soon with Penny as he was plagued by a high BABIP (.336) during his tenure in Beantown. However, you could make the same argument that his success in San Francisco was also do in part to a low BABIP (.211) and an unsustainable LOB% over 80% (SSS all the way around). I did notice that once he went bay side, Penny started throwing his change up, something he forgot to do in Boston. The slight change in pitch selection led to more ground balls, which makes him a perfect fit for Dave Duncan. Salary-wise, Penny should easily be worth the $7 million dollar tag, if not the entire potential $9 million. Even with a sub-par performance in Boston, he still earned a 2.0 WAR for his time there and a 2.5 overall for the season. He should be good for at least that in 2010, if not more, which puts his estimated value at over the $11 million mark.

MLB Trade Rumors: Brad Penny Signs with the Cardinals

raygu — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:00:16 -0000

by Eric Risberg - AP

2 months ago: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Brad Penny throws against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning of their baseball game in San Francisco, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

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Yesterday the Cardinals announced they had signed starting pitcher Brad Penny to a one year contract that could be worth up to $9 million with incentives. Penny has to be quite happy with his agents after getting that much money from a Cardinal team that is looking for a big bat to complement Albert Pujols in their lineup.

Penny went 11-9 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP pitching in Boston and San Francisco. In Boston, Penny made 24 starts going 7-8 with a 5.61 ERA and a 1.534 WHIP. In his 6 starts in SF, Penny went 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP.

I expect a 2010 Brad Penny to be somewhere in between his Boston and SF stats in 2009, maybe a low 4 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP.

Poll

Will Brad Penny pitch well enough to replace Joel Pineiro in 2010?

Brad Penny Signs for $7.5 Million???

Tom Dakers — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:53:04 -0000

That he signed with the Cards isn't really what I want to talk about, it is that he signed a 1 year $7.5 million contract with $1.5 million in incentives. Doesn't this seem a little rich to you? Brad Penny was 11-9 last year with a 4.88 ERA, the year before he was 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA. If Penny is worth $7.5 + how much is Doc worth? I can't imagine who the Cardinals were bidding against that would have brought their bid up that high. This will raise the price on the other free agent pitchers out there.

The agents for John Lackey, Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer must be thrilled.

Brad Penny Gives Cardinals More Upside in Rotation

Satchel Price — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:44:53 -0000

More photos » by Eric Risberg - ASSOCIATED PRESS

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According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Cardinals and right-hander Brad Penny have come to an agreement on a one-year deal worth $7.5M with another $1.5M in incentives. The deal is pending a physical scheduled for Tuesday.

Much of the talk in St. Louis has been based around Matt Holliday and finding a replacement for him if he leaves, but quietly the Cardinals needed to fill another huge hole in the rotation with the departure of Joel Pineiro. Pineiro quietly made himself into a groundball machine last season, and his combination of pristine control and command made him one of the most effective starters in the National League. The big year priced Pineiro out of St. Louis' range, so it appears that they've turned to Penny to replace him in the rotation, to be joined with Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse and presumably either Mitchell Boggs or Blake Hawksworth.

Penny, 32 in May, managed to bounce back in 2009 with the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants after pitching just 94 (poor) innings the year before with the Los Angeles Dodgers. While his 4.88 ERA doesn't exactly impress, he did post solid 4.46 FIP and 4.56 xFIP marks, and his big-time mid-90's velocity returned as the season went on. Penny has some big upside, he has top of the rotation stuff and went five straight seasons with sub-4.00 FIPs from 2003 to 2007, and he's been worth more than 2.5 wins above replacement in six of the past seven seasons. Considering the big fastball, his apparent return to health, and a pretty solid track record outside of 2008, it seems that the Cardinals have added a pretty good arm to their rotation.

If Dave Duncan can help Penny in the same way that he helped the likes of Carpenter, Pineiro, Lohse, Matt Morris, Jeff Weaver, and Jeff Suppan, among others, then this could end up being a really great signing for the Cardinals. The guaranteed money is pretty significant at $7.5M, but it's only a one-year deal so a lot of the risk is mitigated, and there's reason to believe that Penny should be able to be a 2-3 WAR pitcher next season, making him well worth the investment.

The Cardinals definitely have some risk in their rotation with Carpenter and Penny, not to mention Lohse's inconsistency and forearm issues from last season, but they could very well have one of the best, if not the best, rotation in the National League next season if everyone is healthy. The Cardinals have some holes to fill still, especially in the lineup, but for $7.5M they did just land a potential #2 starter.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:36:15 -0000

by Matt Slocum - AP

Today's Frosty Mug is so full, I didn't even have time to caption this picture of Randy Wolf.

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Some things to read while evening out the teams.

It turned out to be a pretty active first day of the Winter Meetings. The Brewers were the talk of the late night rumor mill, based on reports that they're close to signing a three year deal with Randy Wolf (also noted in Rumorville). Tom H. says the deal is rumored to be in the $25-27 million range, and is also quantifying the amount of smoke surrounding it.

With that said, the deal mustn't be done yet, because Arn Tellem, who represents Wolf, is meeting with the Mets this morning. Jon Heyman says the Mets aren't willing to offer Wolf a three year deal.

Is this the move you were hoping for from the Brewers? I'd be happy with it at this point, as long as the price isn't much above $27 million. There's always some risk involved, but this is almost certainly a better deal than, for example, the four year deal Joel Pineiro is seeking.

Wolf might not be the only starting pitcher the Brewers acquire this week. They've reportedly discussed a deal with the Mets that would send Corey Hart to New York for John Maine, a former student of Rick Peterson who has missed most of the last year with shoulder issues (FanShot). It's unclear how much fire is behind this smoke, but the Mets are also rumored to be discussing a similar trade with the Angels, with Juan Rivera taking Hart's place.

The Brewers also added a little depth to their middle infield yesterday, claiming shortstop Luis Cruz off waivers from the Pirates (FanShot). Cruz played seven positions (everything but pitcher and catcher) last season in AAA, but has virtually zero ability with the bat (a .274 OBP in AAA last season), and Adam McCalvy confirmed the move was made for minor league, not major league depth. The Brewers don't have a true shortstop prospect in the minors above Brent Brewer and Josh Prince, neither of whom played above A-ball last season.

The Brewer bullpen suffered a blow yesterday, as Mark DiFelice underwent surgery to repair damage to his labrum and rotator cuff, and will miss the entire 2010 season (FanShot). DiFelice is 33 and undergoing his second major shoulder procedure, but intends to try to pitch in the majors again in 2011, telling Adam McCalvy "I don't want it to end like this."

This raises the stakes a little bit in the search for additional bullpen help, but the Crew won't be getting said help from Rafael Betancourt. Late in the day yesterday it was reported that the Brewers were unlikely to lure Betancourt away from a return to the Rockies. I haven't seen it confirmed, but I'm pretty sure he accepted arbitration late last night.

Looking back at a rumor from the weekend, In-Between Hops has come out against a Jeff Suppan-for-Juan Pierre deal, fearing the extra $4 million in salary the Brewers would have to take on would make it difficult for them to sign a pitcher like Randy Wolf.

And, looking back even farther, Dave Allen of FanGraphs has a look at the pitch-blocking ability of Gregg Zaun. Ken Macha is making me crazy: I should see this as a positive, but instead I see it as the excuse that might be used to keep an underperforming/overused Zaun in the lineup and a more deserving catcher on the bench.

In the minors, Brewerfan.net has a new Power 50 up. It's always interesting to see how guys move up and down the charts during the offseason. This edition's big gainers were Kentrail Davis, Jake Odorizzi and John Axford, with Hernan Iribarren, Chris Cody and Max Walla losing significant ground.

And around here, we're looking for your help to select a Brewer All-Decade Team in a series we're calling Making Your '00 Face. That link will take you to the voting for first base, where Prince Fielder has opened up what will likely turn out to be an insurmountable lead. Voting for second base will open at 4 pm today.

Around baseball:

Braves: Reliever Rafael Soriano has accepted the team's offer of arbitration.
Cardinals: Have agreed to a one year, $7.5 million deal for Brad Penny, pending a physical.
Nationals: Signed Ivan Rodriguez to a two year deal worth $6 million, acquired reliever Brian Bruney from the Yankees for a PTBNL, and released reliever Saul Rivera.
Pirates: Signed reliever Vinnie Chulk to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Acquired pitcher Clay Rapada from the Tigers for a PTBNL or cash.
Red Sox: Signed pitcher Fabio Castro and re-signed Kason Gabbard.
Rockies: Released outfielder Matt Murton, who is expected to spend 2010 in Japan.
Tigers: Re-signed Adam Everett to a one year deal, and signed reliever Brad Thomas, who has spent the last two seasons pitching in Korea.
Twins: Carl Pavano has accepted the team's arbitration offer.

The Rule 5 Draft is on Thursday, so I'm almost done burying you in links like these: Harry Pavlidis of The Hardball Times and Lisa Winston of MiLB.com have a look at several players who recently played in the Arizona Fall League and were left unprotected in the draft.

Competition is heating up in the market for Edwin Jackson. One report yesterday had the Tigers receiving 12 offers for his services. I guess that's what you get when you put a pitcher who threw over 200 effective innings last season and is due about $5 million on the market.

Speaking of pitchers the Brewers might be interested in, Justin Duchscherer declined the A's offer of salary arbitration.

I think most of us will be happy to see these former Brewers sign elsewhere, and keeping one of them in the division would be a double bonus: Jason Kendall is reportedly drawing interest from the Royals, and Braden Looper has expressed interest in pitching for the Cubs.

In case you were wondering, Keith Law has an explanation of how the Winter Meetings, usually held in a warm vacation spot, ended up in Indianapolis. The cold temps and snow haven't kept people from exchanging some tidbits of info you probably would never have known without the internet (and might not have missed):

There was apparently a small tiff between Scott Boras and new Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog over comments Herzog made about Matt Holliday, a Boras client.
Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez didn't shoot anything while out deer hunting with Bobby Cox last week.
Former D-Back, Indian, Ray and Ranger Nick Bierbrodt, who hasn't pitched in the majors since 2004, is a ttempting a comeback.
New Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopolous is battling a cold this week, so he's not shaking anyone's hand.
Speaking of the Blue Jays, radio reporter Mike Wilner has an annoying ring tone and left his phone in the media workroom yesterday.
Craig Calcaterra brought an airport card to the meetings, making him one of the few writers not reliant on slow internet service.

And, of course we're all having fun this week, but Paul DePodesta has a reminder for all of us that many of this week's rumors will be just that, and not to get too worked up over them. Of course, no one ever gets too worked up around here, right?

Away from the meetings, here's a strange story. After months of investigation, Major League Baseball has concluded that new Twins prospect Miguel Angel Sano, who claims to be 16, is somewhere between 16 and 18. Sano also recently changed his name to Miguel Jean. If he turns out to be Miguel Tejada in disguise, the Twins will probably be very upset.

On this day in 1991, Brewer reliever Julio Machado was arrested for murder after shooting a passenger in a car that had just been involved in an accident. Machado was later found guilty and served 12 years in prison.

I don't have any Brewer birthdays today, but it is a Woot-off day, so there's that.

Drink up.

Tuesday Rockpile: Rafael Betancourt is officially a Rockie again

Poseidon's Fist — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:42:20 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

These two guys' fates seem to have shifted a bit.

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Some GM's, like David Dombrowski, choose to use the Winter Meetings to contact every team about Edwin Jackson - including the Rockies - only to pull him off the table. Instead, it seems Dan O'Dowd spent the majority of his time secluded in his room talking with his own players' agents yesterday.

Dan O'Dowd and Rafael Betancourt had danced in and out of option year, two year contract and three year contract discussions, with the Betancourt ultimately accepting arbitration (Renck) late last night. He'll likely make close to what he did had the Rockies exercised his option.

Thomas Harding reports that, as expected, Jason Marquis has declined arbitration (Harding), rewarding the Rockies with a sandwich pick for having the guts to risk dealing with his eight figure salary had he accepted. In truth, you would be hard pressed to find a more clearcut case for declining $10+mil guaranteed around the league.

Troy Renck reported that O'Dowd has been working on multi-year deals for Huston Street, Clint Barmes and Chris Iannetta, as fanshotted below by Hizilla. Street has been seeking $30mil, but the ultimate offer should be closer to $25mil.

As for locking up Iannetta (Harding), the deal is a buy-low contract that would buy out his arbitration years. It would be unlikely to pay him much more than he would receive those years. Harding notes that Iannetta actually improved his slugging percentage last season by twenty points. Who knew? A quick note from the bottom of the article. Dan O'Dowd said "[Franklin Morales] is going back into our bullpen."

As noted early in the day, the Rockies cleared space for Ryan Spilborghs (Harding). In deciding not to sell low on the gaucho, Dan O'Dowd had to tell Matt Murton he was once again squeezed from a deserved MLB roster spot. He was then sold to a team in Japan. I hope he can return to get another shot on this side of the Pacific in 2011.

For a brief wrap of NL West Rumors from the meetings, take the jump.

Arizona

MLBTR reports several teams are interested in reliever JJ Putz, including Arizona.

The Diamondbacks reportedly pushed yesterday's blockbuster trade, in which they would send Max Scherzer and one or two prospects while receiving Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. The deal would also involve Curtis Granderson. While Joel Sherman called the deal dead and Buster Olney is "unsure if the embers can be re-lit", there is one optimist. Jon Paul Morosi reports it is still a possibility.

Arizona beat writer Nick Piecoro's head must have been spinning, as he clearly disagreed with the idea of offering Scherzer for Jackson.

Los Angeles

While Los Angeles has no plans to decrease payroll (Dylan Hernandez, LA Times), they don't seem to be in much of a place of power. The Mets reportedly agreed to send Luis Castillo to Los Angeles for Juan Pierre, a move that would improve the Dodgers' starting lineup and take an expensive bench player off the books, but Ned Colletti wants pitching in return.

The Blue Jays talked to the Dodgers about Roy Halladay (Jayson Stark) but there is expectedly no match there

Colletti is also open to dealing lefty George Sherrill.

San Diego

The Padres will apparently non-tender Kevin Correia MLBTR), who was clearly their most valuable pitcher from start to finish. The former Giant had just a $750k base salary last season. It's a very sad cheap move from the Friars, but I guess they'll need to the money to pay their closer. While Heath Bell is one of their most enticing trade chips, San Diego's new GM Jed Hoyer seems inclined to keep Bell (Corey Brock, MLB.com), who would garner about a $5mil salary next season.

San Diego has also been linked to outfielder Reed Johnson (Bill Center, San Diego Union Tribune) and are now on the prowl for a backup catcher with the loss of Henry Blanco (Center).

San Francisco

St. Louis put a dent in the Giants' rotational depth, as the Cards signed Brad Penny to a one -year $7.5mil base salary contract (Buster Olney). He will likely have a physical tomorrow to complete the deal.

MLB.com's Chris Haft has some Giants nuggets - Eugenio Velez or Andres Torres will be their leadoff hitter, neither Pablo Sandoval nor Ryan Garko will catch at all next year, and the Giants might attempt to acquire Juan Rivera if the Angels sign Jason Bay.

Speaking of Garko, he is still "on the bubble" for being non-tendered a contract, according to Sabean (Andrew Baggarly).

Only one NL team remains a serious player for Dan Uggla, that team being San Francisco (Joe Frisaro, MLB.com). The Orioles are the most likely landing spot.

Winter Meetings, Day One Recap: Red Sox Make Minor Moves

Randy Booth — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:00:51 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

13 days ago: Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona listens to a question during a news conference at the baseball winter meetings in Indianapolis, Monday, Dec. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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Day one of the winter meetings has come and gone with a few splashes here and there. The big three (Jason Bay, Matt Holliday and John Lackey) have yet to move, but there's a lot of buzz surrounding potential new teams.

Oh, yeah. And Brad Penny is still too overpaid for 2010.

RED SOX RUMBLINGS

Full Count " Reports: Red Sox sign Castro, Gabbard

More minor moves. Castro is a "sign and see" type, where he's shown decent production at the minor league level, but hasn't pitched in the bigs since 2007. Gabbard, as we all know, was re-acquired last season from Texas but struggled once he went to the Sox. Actually, he struggled before that, too. This re-signing is probably just a last-ditch effort to see if he can give the Sox anything.

Twitter / Michael Silverman: Red Sox are one team that ...

The Red Sox are not interested in going after Detroit's Edwin Jackson, who will most likely be moved this offseason.

Jason Bay will not accept Red Sox’ arbitration offer | Boston Red Sox | projo.com | The Providence Journal

No shocker here. We knew he would do this about 12 months ago. I'm pretty sure he could make a tad more money in free agency. With that said...

Bay remains Sox's top priority | redsox.com: News

Really? To quote Theo, Bay is "one of" the team's priorities. There have been multiple reports: some say the Sox really want him back, others saying they'd rather go after Matt Holliday. But who really knows? There's also reports about Bay, that the Mariners are going hard after him (or not) and the Angels are really interested (or not). Who knows what is actually true? My bet: he stays with the Sox. Four years, $17M with a good amount of incentives.

Twitter / Jayson Stark: Hear Seatt has Nick Johnso ...

The Red Sox are interested in OBP-machine and injury-prone first baseman Nick Johnson. One question: where does he fit on this team? Oh, and the really important question: how much?

Full Count " Duchscherer’s agent, Red Sox meet

Justin Duchscherer wouldn't be a bad pickup for the Red Sox, barring his knee and depression is taken care of. He doesn't want to be in the 'pen either, though

Tim Wakefield, Daniel Bard want to see Jason Bay stay - BostonHerald.com

Your standard "find a teammate that likes the guy trying to get a contract" story. I'm sure they could find more, but there isn't a more interesting duo than Wake and Bard. We also find out that Bard follows offseason transactions closely (because he doesn't know if he'll get traded) and Wake doesn't (because he knows there's not a shot in hell he is traded).

NON-RED SOX RUMBLINGS

Shortstop Adam Everett re-signs with Tigers | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

My shortstop preference has gone back to his homeland a.k.a former team the Tigers. The deal is worth $1.55. That is absolutely peanuts for one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball.

New York Yankees trade Brian Bruney to Washington Nationals for draft pick

FIRESALE! OK, but not really.

Twitter / Ed Price: Hearing #Brewers closing i ...

Randy Wolf is close to signing with the Brewers. Depending on the money, this is a good pickup for the Brewers. He's going to be effective and not cost nearly as much money as John Lackey, one of only a handful (if that) of better starting pitchers that are in free agency.