Brendan Bianowicz has more GM Trade History series updates for us. Click below to download Excel spreadsheets with info on the AL Central GMs (trades, free agent signings, and top draft picks).
Archives for January 2010
Mets Sign Jason Bay
The Mets signed left fielder Jason Bay to a four-year, $66MM deal with a vesting option for 2014 that could bring the total to $80MM over five years. The backloaded deal contains a $17MM option for '14 that vests if Bay reaches 600 plate appearances in 2013 or 500 in both 2012 and 2013. The deal also has a full no-trade clause. In additional to a supplemental draft pick, the Red Sox will receive the Mets' second-round pick (currently #53 overall). Bay turned down a four-year, $60MM offer from the Red Sox during the summer; SI's Jon Heyman tweets that they eventually lowered their offer to three years.
One week ago, WFAN's Mike Francesa first reported that the Mets would announce a Bay signing pending a physical. MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone pegged the value of the deal, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post first mentioning the vesting option and Ed Price of AOL FanHouse contributing as well. The AP added more contract details today. SNY's Brad Como tweeted yesterday that Bay passed his physical.
The Mets are far from done this offseason, but many of the initial reactions to the Bay signing talked about their stronger need for starting pitching. The other concern is Bay's defense, which rates poorly under advanced metrics.
Astros Sign Josh Banks
The Astros signed righty Josh Banks to a minor league deal, tweeted MLB.com's Corey Brock last night. Banks, 27, has a 4.2 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.5 HR/9, and 5.38 ERA in his 115.3-inning big league career. For the Padres' Triple A affiliate this year he logged a 3.46 ERA in 125 innings. The Padres had claimed Banks off waivers from the Blue Jays in April of '08.
Banks made an appearance in Baseball America's 2008 Handbook, where his control, durability, and pitch efficiency were praised. However, they labeled his fastball as straight and suggested he "may be around the strike zone too much."
Matt Holliday, Cardinals Could Agree This Week
10:06pm: Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa says that any deal should be finalized this week, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The piece offers plenty of detail about this past weekend's negotiations, which have left the Cardinals with "a sense of optimism" regarding Holliday.
5:30pm: Sources tell ESPN.com's Buster Olney that the Cardinals and Holliday "are close to a deal."
12:35pm: It's been suggested that the Cardinals have offered multiple contract scenarios to Holliday. One might have been seven years and $112MM, according to SI's Jon Heyman. Also, Heyman talked to one source who believes the Orioles are "laying in the weeds" despite recent denials.
Meanwhile, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offers his take, in which he notes that silence from Cards GM John Mozeliak might be a positive sign.
8:30am: A Friday tweet by Cardinals manager Tony La Russa had some fans wondering if a Matt Holliday signing was imminent, but Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch contacted La Russa to get an explanation exceeding 140 characters. La Russa explained to Goold:
"We're getting ready to move. I know they’ve been talking a lot with Matt. I know we have a really smart Plan B…(It) could be on Plan A, or it could be our Plan B. The point is, we're not going to get stuck."
La Russa told Goold he was not referring specifically to Holliday with his "Soon the Cards will be smart too" tweet. However, Goold did learn from one source that there could be a Holliday resolution this week. Goold speculated that of the various packages offered to the slugger, six or seven years with a guarantee over $100MM might do the trick. Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports suggested on Wednesday that Holliday aims to top the $18MM average annual salary he passed up from the Rockies in '08. It will be interesting to see how high the Cardinals are willing to go given the lack of a clear second suitor for Holliday.
Odds & Ends: Orioles, Braves, Indians
Lots of other bits of information to get to on a busy Monday:
- The Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly has several pieces of information about once and perhaps future Orioles. Former Oriole Melvin Mora has three suitors, according to Mora's agent, two National League teams and one American League team.
- Mark Hendrickson, by contrast, could well return to Baltimore. He lives in nearby York, PA and wants to play in Baltimore. His agent, Joe Urbon, said both sides have talked, but there's been no movement yet.
- David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution believes that if his price tag drops to well below $10MM, Johnny Damon could be a good fit for the Braves. You'd have to think the Yankees would get back involved at that price, however.
- Matt Klaassen of Fangraphs.com thinks a disparity in GM talent could be behind the gap between the National and American League.
- And if Cleveland fans weren't upset enough over recent deals for Cliff Lee, C.C. Sabathia and Victor Martinez, MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince checks in with when he expects Cleveland to begin looking to trade Grady Sizemore in his latest Inbox.
- MLB.com's Chris Haft thinks the Giants should take a look at Mike Jacobs.
Mets “Very Interested” In Delgado
Erik Boland and David Lennon over at Newsday have a piece up reporting that the Mets are "very interested" in bringing back Carlos Delgado.
Delgado, who played in the Puerto Rican Winter League Sunday for the first time since surgery on his hip in May, went 1-for-4 as a designated hitter. As befitting a player who managed to play in just 26 games in 2009, the Mets are interested in Delgado on an incentive-laden deal.
Still, it is easy to understand New York's interest. Delgado was hitting .298/.393/.521 in 2009, one year after putting up a 2008 batting line of .271/.353/.518, including a tremendous second half.
Just for fun, let's combine rumors for a Delgado platoon with Mike Lowell, who was rumored to be in discussions to come to New York in exchange for Luis Castillo early this evening in a tweet by ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.
Delgado, against righties, had a .912 OPS in 2008, .902 in 2009. Lowell had a .961 OPS against lefties in 2008, an .867 OPS against them in 2009.
In other words, it would be an offensive option that would likely leave Daniel Murphy in the dust.
The piece also reports that the Mets are interested in starting pitching, with Joel Pineiro their preferred choice.
Miguel Olivo Reaches Agreement With Rockies
MONDAY, 8:27pm: Harding is up with a story now that includes contract details. The Rockies will pay Olivo $2MM in 2010, and then either exercise a club option for $2.5MM in 2011, or go with a $500K buyout.
MONDAY, 4:56pm: MLB.com's Thomas Harding tweets that an agreement has been reached on a one-year deal with a 2011 option.
WEDNESDAY, 7:35pm: Troy Renck of the Denver Post says Olivo's contract is for one year with a club option. Renck also reports that the Rockies and Torrealba solved the issue of the $400K salary gap, but were instead held up by how a reported two-year, $6MM deal would be paid out over 2010 and 2011. Renck outlines the whole situation in a blog post and notes that the Mets and Giants are both interested in Torrealba.
5:25pm: Free-agent catcher Miguel Olivo and the Rockies "are attempting to work out final details" on a deal that would make Olivo the new backup in Colorado, reports Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports.
Olivo hit .249/.292/.490 in 416 plate appearances with Kansas City last season, leading the Royals with 23 home runs. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Olivo earn regular playing time in Colorado given that Iannetta ended up losing the starting job to Yorvit Torrealba down the stretch last season (though, to be fair, Iannetta posted an .804 OPS himself in 2009 and is the clear incumbent given his new contract).
Should Olivo sign with Colorado, it would close the door on any chance of Torrealba re-signing with his former club. Torrealba and the Rockies were in talks earlier this winter, but apparently couldn't close the gap on a $400K difference between Torrealba's demands and what the Rockies wanted to pay him.
Indians Sign Shelley Duncan
Chad Jennings of The Journal News reports that the Cleveland Indians have signed longtime Yankee farmhand Shelley Duncan.
Duncan has hit just .219/.290/.411 in 163 major league plate appearances over three seasons, but had another strong season in Triple-A this past year, posting a batting line of .277/.370/.546 for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Duncan is 30, and could challenge for playing time in left field with the Indians. Keep in mind that if he shows anything with the bat, he's the type of player managers like to keep around, and would likely get the benefit of the doubt. His Triple-A numbers also indicate he could flourish with some regular major league at-bats. Good pickup for Cleveland.
Discussion: Wang Or Lewis?
Earlier today, Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com had updates on a pair of Alan Nero clients: pitchers Chien-Ming Wang and Colby Lewis.
Both pitchers represent low-cost rotation alternatives for 2010, and there are differing reasons to value the potential upside of both.
For Wang, the news came that he could throw off of a mound in six-to-eight weeks, news that was "even more positive" than expected from Dr. James Andrews, according to Nero.
Nevertheless, the pitching-needy Mets have yet to contact Nero about Wang, 1050 ESPN Radio's Andrew Marchand reports.
The reason Wang is even in the position of free agency is due to his health issues over the past few years. Considering he posted a 46-15 record from 2006-2008, with an ERA of 3.74, all while pitching in the ultra-competitive American League East, a return to form would present a team with a strong member of the starting rotation.
But could Lewis be an even better alternative than Wang? Lewis struggled mightily in five major league seasons, posting an ugly 6.71 ERA, but his performance in Japan during 2008-2009 was eye-popping. He led the Central League in strikeouts in each campaign, walking just 46 in 354 1/3 innings.
Ultimately, the combination of Lewis' numbers and good health would make him a better buy-low fit, in my opinion.
Mulder Signing Likely For Brewers?
Mark Mulder will meet with Brewers GM Doug Melvin next week, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Haudricourt says to "expect a signing." Mulder hasn't tossed a significant number of big league innings in a season since he logged 93.3 for the '06 Cardinals. He had rotator cuff surgery in September of '06 – more than three years ago.
Mulder would be a depth signing, similar to Brewers offseason additions Chris Capuano, John Halama, and Kameron Loe. The Brewers' big move was a three-year deal for Randy Wolf; Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says they'll "almost certainly" sign one of Jon Garland, Doug Davis, or Jarrod Washburn as well.
