By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
Mariners signed knuckleballer Charlie Haeger, left-hander Fabio Castro, infielder Luis Rodriguez and right-hander Chris Smith, the team announced today. All four receive invitations to big league Spring Training.
Haeger, 27, appeared in nine games for the Dodgers this year. He struck out 30 batters in 30 innings, but walked 26 and posted an 8.40 ERA. He has generated strikeouts throughout his five-year MLB career, but has walked 6.4 batters per inning.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Tigers officially added a middle of the order bat, signing catcher Victor Martinez to a four-year, $50MM contract. Martinez was widely regarded as the best offensive catcher available, though he may see significant time as Detroit's designated hitter. He'll earn $12MM in 2011, $13MM in 2012-13 and $12MM in 2014.
Martinez, 32 next month, hit .302/.351/.493 in 538 plate appearances for the Red Sox this year, earning his fourth All-Star nod. As a switch-hitter, Martinez provides the left side protection the Tigers craved. He also logged 904 innings behind the plate, a number that should decrease in Detroit due to the presence of Alex Avila.
Though the Red Sox hoped to re-sign Martinez, reportedly offering him a choice of three years and $36MM or four years and $42MM. They can take solace in receiving the best available draft pick as part of their compensation. The Tigers must surrender their #19 draft pick next year to the Red Sox, unless Detroit also signs Jayson Werth later. In that case the Red Sox would get the Tigers' second-round pick. Regardless, the Red Sox will also receive a supplemental draft pick.
According to Ignacio Serrano of El Nacional, who broke the story, Martinez turned down a four-year, $48MM offer from the Orioles and a three-year, $48MM contract from the White Sox. MLBTR has learned that the White Sox in fact offered $48MM over four years. Martinez is represented by Octagon.
The Tigers have been baseball's most aggressive team this offseason. Prior to the Martinez agreement, they committed $39.25MM to Brandon Inge, Jhonny Peralta, and Joaquin Benoit. In a November 10th poll, three of five MLBTR writers correctly predicted Martinez would sign with the Tigers.
Serrano broke the story, Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com reported that an agreement was in place and Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes reported on Twitter that the deal was official and added contract details.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
The Rockies are on the lookout for pitching and they already made one minor deal. Jim Armstrong and Troy Renck of the Denver Post have the details:
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
The Royals announced that they have released Bryan Bullington so he can sign with the Hiroshima Carp. Kansas City designated the former first overall pick for assignment over the weekend.
The Pirates selected the right-hander first overall in the 2002 draft, but he has not produced at the major league level. Now 30, Bullington has a 5.62 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 81 2/3 innings for the Pirates, Royals, Indians and Blue Jays.
In 102 innings at Triple-A Omaha last year, Bullington showed some of the promise that the Pirates saw earlier in the decade. He posted a 2.82 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, allowing just eight homers.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
Rangers GM Jon Daniels says the club has already had internal discussions about extending Josh Hamilton and, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas, the team will contact Hamilton's agent to discuss a long term deal this offseason. Hamilton, who was named AL MVP yesterday, says he intends to stay out of the negotiations.
Even before he won the MVP award, Hamilton was in position to command a substantial raise. He earned $3.25MM in 2010, his first time as an arbitration eligible player. The 29-year-old is still two years away from free agency, but 32% of MLBTR readers said they would not offer him an extension in a recent poll.
NL MVP Joey Votto will discuss a long-term deal with the Reds, Hamilton's former team.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
Now that the Mets have hired a GM and a manager, they're set to begin a quiet offseason. Here are some details on their winter plans:
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
Now that the Giants have re-signed Aubrey Huff, they are focusing on finding a shortstop, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. They have serious interest in re-signing Juan Uribe, but GM Brian Sabean will also consider trades.
The Giants really wants Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew, according to Schulman, who reports that Arizona GM Kevin Towers will not deal him. Alternatively, Jose Reyes, Jason Bartlett and Marco Scutaro could become trade targets or the Giants could ask Emmanuel Burriss to take on a bigger role.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman guaranteed to Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record that Derek Jeter’s representatives have called “every club out there.” Negotiations between Jeter and the Yankees appear to be souring, but it still seems unlikely that the shortstop would leave the Bronx or that a team like the Giants would match the Yankees $45MM offer.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
The Yankees’ “lack of tact” in their negotiations with Derek Jeter isn’t helping them, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Here are Rosenthal's latest updates on the Yankees and other teams around the league:
By Tim Dierkes | at
35 free agents were offered arbitration this year, 12 more than last year. If you're not sure what offering arbitration means, click here to read our free agent arbitration primer.
The following players were offered arbitration today, and now have until November 30th to decide whether to accept. Type As who turn down arbitration cost a draft pick for a new team to sign; Type Bs do not.
Type A (14 players)
Grant Balfour
Adrian Beltre
Carl Crawford
Jorge De La Rosa
Scott Downs
Adam Dunn
Frank Francisco
Jason Frasor
Paul Konerko
Cliff Lee
Victor Martinez
Carl Pavano
Rafael Soriano
Jayson Werth
Type B (21 players)
Joaquin Benoit
John Buck
Randy Choate
Kevin Correia
Jesse Crain
Octavio Dotel
Pedro Feliciano
Jon Garland
Kevin Gregg
Brad Hawpe
Aaron Heilman
Trevor Hoffman
Orlando Hudson
Adam LaRoche
Felipe Lopez
Miguel Olivo
J.J. Putz
Chad Qualls
Yorvit Torrealba
Juan Uribe
Javier Vazquez
Regarding my predictions yesterday, I was correct on 46 of 62 players. That's slightly worse than my success rate last year, though I did predict that we'd see more than 30 total arbitration offers this year. I was particularly surprised by the decisions on Vazquez, Hoffman, Guerrier, Podsednik, Correia, Dotel, Hawpe, and Qualls. Vazquez and Hoffman were offered only because of gentleman's agreements that they'd decline.
We may be seeing more arbitration offers this year due to more value being placed on draft picks, especially with a strong 2011 class. Additionally, teams may have been more inclined to offer based on the expectation that players will decline in hopes of getting in on the lavish contracts given out so far.
All 65 of the arbitration decisions are noted in our Free Agent Arbitration Offer Tracker, which will also show who accepts on November 30th. The decisions are noted in our constantly-updated 2011 free agents list as well.
By Tim Dierkes | at
10 American League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make, and we'll group them in this post. For a fantastic customizable chart with all 65 Type A/B free agents and their decisions in real-time, click here.
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