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Pirates Sign Ryan Church

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The Pirates officially signed outfielder Ryan Church to a one-year, $1.5MM deal today.  The deal includes another $1.32MM in plate appearance incentives.  With 600 plate appearances, Church would slightly top his '09 salary of $2.8MM.  The Pirates can retain Church beyond 2010 as an arbitration-eligible player, if they choose.

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the Pirates' extensive conversations with Church early Monday.  Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports followed a few hours later saying the sides were closing in on a deal.  Monday evening Kovacevic reported an agreement had been reached, and yesterday he added contract details.

Kovacevic says Church matches the Pirates' criteria in that he bats left-handed, plays strong defense, and could jump into an everyday role if necessary.  Kovacevic wrote Friday that the Pirates' outlook on Rick Ankiel dimmed due to Ankiel's expectation of an everyday job.  In a statement, Pirates GM Neal Huntington said Church "has the skills and tools to be a valuable player off the bench and could play regularly if the situation so dictates."

Church, 31, hit .273/.338/.384 in 399 plate appearances for the Braves and Mets last year.  Shipped to the Braves in July for Jeff Francoeur, Church's season included a sore hamstring, hyper-extended elbow, and back spasms.  The Braves designated him for assignment in December when Rafael Soriano accepted arbitration.  Church was non-tendered a few days later.

The Cardinals were the other club known to have Church on the radar.

Pirates Trying To Sign Three Relievers

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The Pirates' bullpen might have a new look soon.  According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, they're working on deals for three free agent relievers.

"Productive talks" with Octavio Dotel and D.J. Carrasco "could result in agreements soon," writes Kovacevic.  The Pirates appear to be working on a minor league deal for Carrasco, which is surprising given his solid work in 93.3 innings for the White Sox last year.  Pure speculation on my part, but perhaps Carrasco is lured to the Pirates by an opportunity to compete for the fifth starter job.  Interesting side note: Carrasco and new Pirate Brian Bass ranked #1-2 in relief innings for all of MLB last year. 

Dotel would be the big-ticket bullpen acquisition; he could have a shot at replacing Matt Capps as the Pirates' closer.  I imagine Dotel won't get much more than $3MM, which would be half his '09 salary.  That contract with the White Sox was signed in January of '08, a different time for free agents.

The third Pirates bullpen addition would be an unknown free agent right-hander on a big league deal.  Kovacevic speculates on several names, and also rules out Kevin Gregg while noting past Pirates interest in Jamey Wright.

One consequence of adding two relievers on Major League deals would be the need to clear a pair of 40-man roster spots.  Kovacevic speculates that Steve Pearce, Brian Bixler, and Delwyn Young could be on the bubble.

Nationals Willing To Offer Two Years To Hudson?

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9:44pm: "Don't look for [the Nationals] to offer Hudson a two-year deal," a source tells Ladson.  The source also says that the Nats only want to give Hudson a deal akin to Juan Uribe's one-year, $3.25MM contract with San Francisco, feeling that Uribe's deal "set the market for infielders like Hudson."  Ladson's piece also goes into greater detail about Washington's interest in Adam Kennedy. 

11:48am: The Nationals would be willing to offer a two-year deal to free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson at the right price, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Morosi mentioned on Twitter that the "per annum wouldn't be too high."  MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that Hudson "wants $9MM for 2010," which is out of the Nats' price range.  It seems likely that the handful of other teams considering second base help would also not be interested at that price.

Hudson, 32, did not sign last year until February 20th.  His contract with the Dodgers guaranteed only $3.38MM, but he ultimately earned about $8MM after incentives.  He hit .283/.357/.417, but lost playing time down the stretch.  If you are a believer in the defensive stat UZR, Hudson has been average at best the last few years.  The Nationals, who Morosi says are "prioritizing defense," must be evaluating Hudson in some other manner.

Uggla, Johnson May Benefit From Marlins Payroll Edict

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9:25pm: The Biz Of Baseball's Maury Brown looks at some of the big-picture reasons why MLB and the union may have made this announcement when they did.

7:07pm: Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald broke the story of MLB and the MLBPA criticizing the Marlins for not spending enough of their revenue-sharing money on player payroll.  In a follow-up blog post, Spencer said this "public flogging" may be an incentive for the team to spend on the two players who have carried the most buzz this winter — Dan Uggla and Josh Johnson.

Uggla has been at the center of several trade rumors (most notably with the Giants) as the Fish were looking to avoid paying their slugging second baseman a large arbitation raise for 2010.  Recently, however, Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that the Marlins haven't found a trade package to their liking and were looking at keeping Uggla for the start of the season.  Uggla made $5.3MM in 2009 and, as Spencer notes, is likely to earn between $7-8MM next season after arbitration.  Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports calls the Uggla situation "a fascinating test case" for how Florida will adjust to the MLB/MLBPA scrutiny.

As for Johnson, the Marlins have been discussing a long-term deal with their ace right-hander but the sticking point seems to be Florida's unwillingness to give Johnson a guaranteed fourth year on the contract.  We learned that negotiations between the club and pitcher were re-opening this week, and Johnson's agent Matt Sosnick may have a bit of extra leverage given that the eyes of both the league and the union are taking a close look at how the Fish do business.  Johnson is under team control through 2011, but it certainly wouldn't look good if Florida again passed on giving one of their young stars a big contract.

In regards to other low-spending teams, Spencer described Tuesday's announcement as "a signal" that unusually small payrolls would be under closer watch, citing the Pirates specifically.  Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that the Bucs aren't facing a similar probe and notes that Pittsburgh spent $64.4MM more on payroll than the Marlins did between 2006-2008.       

Odds & Ends: Valverde, Gardner, Wells

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Rounding up some news from around the majors on this Tuesday night….

  • MLB.com's Jason Beck cites a report from an unnamed radio station which states the Tigers' offer to Jose Valverde is for two years.  In another piece, Beck calls Detroit "the most logical destination" for Valverde.
  • Brett Gardner has two backers (sort of) in Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News and ESPN's Keith Law.  McCarron would like to see the Yankees acquire a "get-the-uniform-dirty type" but thinks Gardner should get "a real chance" to play every day.  Law would let Gardner start the season because he feels that potential signings Reed Johnson or Xavier Nady are "marginal improvements that may not justify the cost."
  • Jordan Bastian of MLB.com says the Blue Jays aren't thinking of moving Vernon Wells to a corner outfield spot in spite of Wells' declining UZR numbers in center.  One factor might be that the Jays don't really have any other solid CF options, especially with Alex Rios no longer on the roster. 
  • C.J. Wilson is not a candidate to be traded despite the Rangers' signing of Darren Oliver, reports Ben Rogers of ESPNDallas.com.
  • MLB.com's Jim Street says Miguel Tejada's asking price is too high for the Mariners to make a play for the free-agent infielder.
  • Brian McTaggart of MLB.com passes along a report from Houston's KRIV-TV that Great Court Capital is the investment company negotiating to buy the Astros from Drayton McLane.
  • Eric Hinske tells David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Atlanta "really seemed like the best situation" out of the clubs who made him offers.
  • Doug Miller of MLB.com provides a quick round-up of some of the remaining free agents on the market.

Nationals Looking At Adam Kennedy

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The Nationals "have interest" in Adam Kennedy, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson (via Twitter).  We've heard that the Mets, Athletics and Marlins have targeted Kennedy to various degrees, but this is the first time that Washington has been attached to the veteran infielder. 

In a mailbag story from Ladson yesterday, he felt the Nats would have a second baseman with a better glove than Cristian Guzman in their Opening Day lineup.  While Guzman would be playing 2B for the first time in his career, Kennedy's play at second has fluctuated wildly over the last three seasons.  Fangraphs charts his UZR/150 as -5.7 in 2007, leaping up to 21.8 in 2008 and then down to -14.8 last year.  Guzman, meanwhile, has kept a middling but stable -0.8 UZR/150 as a shortstop since 2002.

In that same mailbag, Ladson also noted that Felipe Lopez was not a candidate for the Nats' search for middle infield help given that Lopez "left on bad terms" in 2008 when Washington released him in mid-season.  Orlando Hudson, however, appears to be on the club's wish list and as we learned earlier today, may be offered a two-year contract.

Bengie Molina Willing To Sign Two-Year Contract

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Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports is reporting that free agent catcher Bengie Molina is backing away from his desired three-year contract and is now willing to sign a deal for only the next two seasons.  We learned two weeks ago from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick that Molina was considering lowering his demands, perhaps to reach a compromise with the Mets' offer of a one-year contract with an option (though Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com thought the Mets would be willing to offer Molina the full two years.)

A source told ESPN The Magazine's Tim Kurkjian (as reported on ESPN's Insider Rumors page) that a deal could be finalized between the team and the veteran catcher within "the next 48 to 72 hours," which makes sense if Molina and the Mets have met each other halfway on the contract's length.

Odds & Ends: Marlins, Chapman, Royals, Padres

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Links for Tuesday…

Brandon Jones Designated For Assignment

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Braves outfielder Brandon Jones was designated for assignment today to make room for Eric Hinske, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Jones, 26, hit .281/.360/.419 in his third Triple A stint.

Heading into the 2008 season, Baseball America ranked Jones the 70th-best prospect in the game.  At the time BA said the Braves considered Jones their "long-term answer in left field."

Royals Near Agreement With Paul Carlixte

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Dayton Moore's second "top five" international free agent signing is likely to be Dominican shortstop Paul Carlixte, writes ESPN's Keith Law.  Law says the Royals and Carlixte are near an agreement exceeding $1MM.

Law notes irregularities found by MLB's age investigation, but his source says Carlixte is a "great-looking shortstop with soft hands and a very quick bat."

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