Mariners offer pitcher Millwood four-year deal
Seattle Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi didn’t pull off a big trade on Monday, nor did he make a big splash at the winter meetings with a free-agent signing.
That said, the first day of the winter meetings was still an unmitigated success for Bavasi and the Mariners, who made signifigant inroads toward signing free agent pitcher Kevin Millwood.
According to several sources, Bavasi and a representative for Millwood’s agent, Scott Boras, had encouraging talks at the Wyndam Anatole Hotel and that the two sides are supposedly are close on terms for the 30-year-old right-hander who led the American League in ERA last season.
Sources said the Mariners have offered Millwood a four-year contract worth $44 million. There’s a potential that the deal will include numerous incentives and possibly an option for a fifth season.
“Nothing is impending,” Bavasi said of any potential deal involving trades or free agents. “... It’s been an active day.”
Bavasi did say that by 4:30 p.m. PST that the team had talked with representatives from 11 different major league teams and that discussions, to that point, had focused more on trades than free agents.
“We’re talking more on the trade front,” he said. “Most of our work here is with clubs.”
As for the trade front, the Mariners have had discussions with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays about Aubrey Huff, a left-handed first baseman and outfielder.
Seattle has reportedly dangled pitcher Gil Meche in the past but the Devil Rays are not interested. They may have interest in reliever Julio Mateo, though Boston might be able to offer more to land Huff.
“Seattle does want Huff,” said a source familiar to the Devil Rays situation.
And, from the looks of it, they want Millwood.
Seattle is believed to have turned its attention to Millwood, who was 9-11 with a 2.86 ERA with the Indians in 2005, after the price tag for Florida’s A.J. Burnett got too high.
Burnett is reportedly close to signing a contract that could cover five years and $55 million. Burnett - who has a 49-50 career record - is looking at St. Louis and Toronto with the Blue Jays being the frontrunner.
The Mariners are fond of Millwood - who will turn 31 on Dec. 24 - for many reasons.
First of all, Millwood fits a need. Bavasi came to Dallas looking for a starting pitcher to help upgrade a rotation that was terribly inconsistent in 2005.
The Mariners also like Millwood’s durability. He has pitched at least 200 innings four times during his nine-year career.
Millwood came close to that again last season when he threw 192 innings over 30 starts for the Indians.
Other than Jamie Moyer (200 innings), Ryan Franklin (190.2) and Joel Pineiro (189) threw more than 180 innings and Franklin isn’t expected back in 2006.
Then there’s the market the Mariners are looking at. Aside from making a trade to land a pitcher, there’s not a whole lot of attractive options on the free-agent market after Millwood and Burnett.
On Monday, 35-year-old Paul Byrd signed a two-year contract (with an option for a third year) with Cleveland for $14.25 million. Byrd was 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA with the Los Angeles Angels last season.
Late last month, the Oakland A’s gave starting pitcher Esteban Loaiza a three-year contract worth $21.4 million. So, while four years and $44 million for Millwood isn’t a bargain, it might not be a bad contract.
The Mariners aren’t the only teams interested in Millwood.
The Detroit Tigers are said to be high on Millwood and the Indians, according to general manager Mark Shapiro, aren’t out of the race.
“There still might be room for Millwood or there still might be room for another starter,” Shapiro said.
But Byrd, a friend of Millwood’s, didn’t sound like Cleveland had much of a chance to retain Millwood.
“With what he was looking for, a five-year deal, the window had passed for Cleveland to sign him,” said Byrd, who talked with Millwood a week ago.
If the Mariners do sign Millwood, they most likely will not do it until after midnight on Wednesday, the deadline for teams to offer arbitration to eligible players.
Should the Mariners sign Millwood before then, they would surrender a second-round draft pick - Seattle’s first-round pick, No. 5 overall, is protected. That’s something Bavasi said the club didn’t want to do.
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