MLB winter meetings: Plenty of pen action

DALLAS — Baseball's winter meetings have returned to the Wyndham Anatole, the same Texas venue that five years ago resulted in the contract to end all contracts — Alex Rodriguez leaving Seattle to follow the money, all $252 million of it, to the Texas Rangers.

The recoil from that 10-year deal and others that poured forth that historically reckless winter led to some industry soul-searching, and a temporary scaling back of huge contracts.

But now, flush with soaring revenues and an influx of new money from the Internet and satellite radio, teams are again in the mood to spend. So far, in an unusually active prelude to the winter meetings, which start here officially today, teams have shown little reluctance to give out whopping multi-year contracts.

"Obviously, we're back to the free-wheeling spending we haven't probably seen now for five or six years," said Gerry Hunsicker, the former Houston Astros' general manager who has switched to the American League as Tampa Bay's senior vice president of baseball operations.

Case in point is the hottest free-agent pitcher on the market, A.J. Burnett, whose agent, Darek Braunecker, arrived here Sunday confident of obtaining a five-year deal for his client despite his career 49-50 record.

The Toronto Blue Jays are believed to have already offered five years, the St. Louis Cardinals have gone four years and may well kick in the extra year to land Burnett, and the Rangers could be a late entrant as well.

The Mariners, who have hung on the periphery of Burnett talks, appear to be an increasing longshot, unless the M's unexpectedly blow away Braunecker when they meet here. The club had not made an offer entering the weekend, and were believed to be waiting to see if the market for Burnett was palatable for a full-blown pursuit.

"Right now, the Mariners are probably in that second-tier group we remain in dialogue with, but aren't necessarily clubs that are in the upper echelon for A.J.," Braunecker said Sunday evening.

"They're not out of it completely. The best way to categorize it is, we're further down the road with other clubs than we are with them. But that could always change."

Burnett's impending deal follows huge free-agent contracts for Paul Konerko, Rafael Furcal, B.J. Ryan, Billy Wagner, and others. The trade market has already seen stars such as Jim Thome, Carlos Delgado, Josh Beckett and Mike Cameron change teams.

Many baseball insiders feel this is shaping up to be one of the most active meetings in recent memory. One potential inhibiting factor for signing free agents, however, is the Wednesday night deadline for teams to offer arbitration to their own free agents. Teams that do so must be compensated with draft choices if the player signs elsewhere.

"There's probably been more trade talks, starting at the GM meetings [in early November] and leading up to the winter meetings, than there have ever been previously," said Lee Pelekoudas, Seattle's longtime assistant general manager. "Clubs have been concentrating more on trades than free agents, it appears. It should be a pretty active meeting, in general."

The Mariners arrive with clear marching orders — upgrade their starting pitching, and obtain a left-handed bat. While the four-day winter meetings don't constitute any sort of real deadline — last year's signings of Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre by Seattle weren't finalized until they got home — teams know their fans are riveted on the proceedings.

"I think that the excitement of fans that is generated by the media gets translated to club executives," Hunsicker said. "There's definitely pressure to get something done."

The Dec. 20 deadline for teams to tender contracts to their own players will provide another influx of players to ponder, and there will be plenty of lingering free agents and trade prospects after the winter meetings.

Nevertheless, the Mariners come here hopeful of jump-starting the process of upgrading last year's 93-loss team.

"Hopefully, we can get some things accomplished," Pelekoudas said. "We've done our due diligence with agents and clubs and think something productive can come out of it. We're hopeful."

With Burnett fading from sight and Paul Byrd signing Sunday with Cleveland, the Mariners' free-agent pitching sights could end up being focused on Kevin Millwood and Matt Morris. Jeff Weaver, Kenny Rogers and Jarrod Washburn are potential backup plans in what is regarded as a lackluster free-agent market.

"We may never have seen teams with so much money to spend, who are going to spend it on such a bad free-agent class," said one agent. "There's not one legitimate No. 1 guy out there."

Millwood, Weaver, Rogers and Washburn are all represented by Scott Boras, who reportedly received a phone call from Mariners GM Bill Bavasi expressing preliminary interest in his clients at 7 a.m. on the first morning in November that team executives were permitted to do so.

"The thing about Seattle — when you're a pitcher, all of a sudden, you love that city," Boras said. "It looks awfully good to you. Guys tell me they love Seattle, and I look it up — yep, a 1.8 ERA at Safeco Field."

Paradoxically, the Mariners might be in a position to deal pitching in their attempt to upgrade the roster. Gil Meche is a definite trade chip, though teams believe they have a chance to get him without giving up a player if the Mariners don't tender him a contract. Joel Pineiro is available, along with just about every other arm that's older than 19.

"The only name on our roster that's sacred is Felix [Hernandez]," Bavasi said, referring to the pitching staff.

The Mariners are believed to have interest in obtaining Carl Pavano from the Yankees, but the latest word from New York is that the Yankees aren't looking to trade him despite a disappointing season. Pavano, for whom Seattle made a strong bid as a free agent last year, still has three years and $30 million left on his contract. The Yankees are looking for a center fielder, and Jeremy Reed could be a fit for them.

With Brian Giles signing, the left-handed hitters on the free-agent market have dwindled to Jacque Jones, Jeromy Burnitz and Johnny Damon. The Mariners have expressed interest in Jones, while Burnitz has expressed interest in them.

"Jeromy would have interest in the Mariners for a number of reasons," said Burnitz's agent, Howard Simon. "But one is that apparently the Mariners are looking for a good left-handed power bat. I think he would be receptive to that kind of role, and he's interested in playing on the West Coast and in the American League."

Simon said, however, that contact with the Mariners "hasn't gotten past the early discussion stages."

Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff, Milwaukee's Lyle Overbay (but not Geoff Jenkins), Detroit's Dmitri Young and Washington's Brad Wilkerson are left-handed trade possibilities while Philadelphia's Bobby Abreu, owed $30.5 million over the next two years, would be an extreme longshot.

The Mariners would likely listen to offers for everyone but Hernandez, Ichiro and Yuniesky Betancourt, though it would take a blockbuster to get them to give up Adrian Beltre or Richie Sexson. There has been some speculation that the Angels would have interest in Beltre after losing out on Konerko, especially if they can't land Manny Ramirez.

The Mariners have expressed interest in re-obtaining Ron Villone from Florida, and have also discussed Marlins center fielder Juan Pierre.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com