The White Sox beat the deadline and offered arbitration to left-hander Scott Schoeneweis late Saturday night, while the Cubs agreed Sunday to a one-year, $1.55 million deal with catcher Michael Barrett and sent Damian Miller to Oakland.
Schoeneweis, who earned $1.45 million last year, was used in relief after being acquired from Anaheim in July. But with the loss of free agent Bartolo Colon to the Angels, Schoeneweis is expected to take the No. 4 spot in the Sox’s rotation behind Esteban Loaiza, Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland.
With 26 teams non-tendering 58 players, the free-agent pool increased to 167 players, setting up a mad scramble for jobs. Like Barrett, many free agents who were non-tendered figure to wind up with the teams that cut them loose. Teams are getting around the 20-percent limit on salary decreases by agreeing to re-sign players before non-tendering them.
Florida left-hander Mark Redman, for instance, was traded to the A’s last week but was non-tendered Saturday. He re-signed Sunday for three years and $12 million. Baltimore also non-tendered left-hander Damian Moss, who was acquired last summer in the Sidney Ponson deal. He also figures to re-sign, though at a reduced price.
Others cut loose included Marlins right-handed reliever Braden Looper, Colorado outfielder Jay Payton and Anaheim first baseman Shawn Wooten.
Though the Cubs were rumored to be sending Miller, 34, to Oakland as the player to be named in the Barrett deal, they wound up doing a separate deal in which they paid $800,000 of Miller’s $3 million salary and the two teams agreed to exchange minor-leaguers before April 1.
The Cubs saved only $650,000 in what is essentially a Miller-for-Barrett swap but believe they upgraded offensively if Barrett plays at his 2002 level.
“It was an opportunity to get a little younger,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. “He’s 27 and a guy with a lot of upside.”
Hendry declined to rule the Cubs out of the picture for catcher Javy Lopez but said no offer had been made to Lopez or Ivan Rodriguez.
The Sox need starting and bullpen help but are trying to get rid of the contracts of Paul Konerko, Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez and Billy Koch to help in that pursuit.
Thus far the Sox’s off-season plans have been stuck in neutral. The proposed Ordonez-for-Nomar Garciaparra deal was held up by the snag in negotiations over the Alex Rodriguez-for-Manny Ramirez trade.
No team has been willing to pick up the contracts of Thomas or Koch. Thomas and Koch are considered overpriced and prickly, a seemingly lethal combination after the success of the last two World Series champions, Anaheim and Florida, which proved the importance of clubhouse chemistry.
Konerko is a difficult sell. One factor is his salary of $8 million in 2004 and $8.75 million in ’05. Another is his 65-RBI season with a glut of first basemen on the market, including Wooten, Rafael Palmeiro and ex-Cubs Randall Simon and Eric Karros.
The Dodgers were interested in Konerko but could move catcher Paul LoDuca to first if they sign Lopez. Anaheim is another option after the Angels lost free agent Scott Spiezio and non-tendered Wooten. But the Angels might sign Karros, the former Dodger who’s still very popular in Southern California.
The Sox still desperately need a closer and may consider Florida’s Ugueth Urbina if his price tag drops and they can dump Koch. Urbina, a former Expo, is a favorite of Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who once coached in Montreal.
Urbina went 3-0 with a 1.41 ERA in 33 games for the Marlins after being acquired from Texas, but he was inconsistent in the postseason and is reluctant to take a major cut from his $4.5 million salary in 2002.
Most GMs expect players’ demands to drop considerably by January.
