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Archives for November 2010

Edwin Rodriguez Met With Javier Vazquez Today

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7:26pm: Capozzi corrected an error in his post, adding that he has "no idea" what kind of contract Vazquez is looking for (Twitter link).

3:33pm: Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post reports that Vazquez is "said to be seeking" a three-year deal worth $33MM, almost identical to his last contract. I guess there's no harm in asking.

2:54pm: The Marlins and Javier Vazquez are known to have interest in each other, and manager Edwin Rodriguez said he met with the free agent right-hander in Puerto Rico this morning on the Marlins Insider Show. "Hopefully we can get him and put him in that rotation," said Rodriguez, who has known Vazquez since he was a teenager according to Juan C. Rodriguez of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). The two share the same hometown. 

President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest confirmed the team's interest in adding to their rotation earlier in the show, saying "There's some speculation out there that we're on some starting pitching … I think that's fair to say." Reports have indicated that the Marlins only have $3-4MM left to spend this offseason, which might not be enough to land Vazquez even coming off his down year. He made $11.5MM in 2010.

I examined the 34-year-old's free agent stock last month, saying that he's a potential bargain on a short-term, low-money deal. Surely that's what the Marlins have in mind.

Team And Transaction-Only Feeds

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If you'd like to filter MLBTR's information by team or limit it to transactions only, we've got you covered.

In the navigation bar, check out the Feeds By Team dropdown.  Clicking on the name of a team returns all the posts that reference that club.  For example, this page displays only posts with Braves-related rumors.  The newest will always be on top. 

Next to the word "Braves" you'll see an RSS button and a Twitter button.  The RSS button leads here, to the URL you'd put into your RSS reader to receive only our Braves rumors.  The Twitter button takes you to @mlbtrbraves, which shows all posts involving the team.  The MLBTR team Twitter pages are also a place to quickly receive info from team press releases, even if that info is not used on the main site.

Be sure to check out your favorite team's MLBTR page on Facebook so you can receive and comment on the latest rumors.

If you'd prefer to monitor only actual transactions, we've got several options.  Our Transactions page shows only posts marked as transactions, such as signings, trades, DFAs, and releases.  You can also get this same info on Twitter and RSS.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Scott Downs

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Left-handed relievers are always in high demand regardless of the time of year, and this offseason Scott Downs is the best the free agent market has to offer. Let's examine the former Blue Jay's stock… 

The Good

  • Downs isn't just a lefty specialist, he's perfectly capable of facing right-handed batters as well. Over the last three seasons, he's held righties to a .238/.325/.329 batting line (removing intentional walks) compared to .198/.264/.316 vs. LHB. 
  • He's already proven to be more than capable against the tough lineups that inhabit the AL East.
  • Downs has experience in a variety of roles, so he's an option to both close or set-up.

The Bad

  • Downs will turn 35 in Spring Training, so a three-year deal will carry him through age 37.
  • He's been on the disabled list three times since 2008 with foot and ankle issues, and he also missed the last two-plus weeks of the 2009 season with a hamstring issue.
  • Downs is a Type-A free agent that will certainly be offered arbitration, so it'll cost a high draft pick to sign him.

The Verdict

Joaquin Benoit's three-year, $16.5MM deal might have set the market for Downs, who's the best non-Rafael Soriano reliever on the market. The Red Sox are expected to show interest though the Yankees are reportedly not willing to surrender the draft pick. A reliever of Downs' quality fits with all 30 clubs, but only a few may be willing to offer multiple years at potentially closer money to sign him. Tim projected him to sign with Boston, and the smart money is on Downs joining a contender's bullpen.

New York Notes: Terrasas, Mets Manager, Jeter

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The latest on both teams in the Big Apple…

Orioles Rumors: V-Mart, Garland, Duke, Manny

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We know that the Orioles have varying levels of interest in Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Jorge de la Rosa, as well as J.J. Hardy and Jason Bartlett, but here's the latest from Charm City…

Minor Deals: Jesus Guzman, Enrique Gonzalez, LaHair

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Today's minor signings…

  • The Padres signed third baseman/left fielder Jesus Guzman to a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned.  Guzman, 26, hit .321/.376/.510 with 18 home runs in 492 Triple-A plate appearances for the Giants' affiliate this year, his second extended stint at the level.  He'd been designated for assignment in January to make room when the Giants re-signed Bengie Molina, but remained in the organization for the 2010 season.
  • The Tigers re-signed righty Enrique Gonzalez to a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned.  Gonzalez, 28, posted a 3.41 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, and 1.2 HR/9 in 66 Triple-A innings across eleven starts this year, also racking up 26 big league relief frames.  He'd been designated for assignment in August and outrighted shortly thereafter.
  • The Cubs re-signed first baseman/left fielder Bryan LaHair to a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned.  LaHair, 28, hit .308/.385/.557 with 25 home runs in 478 Triple-A plate appearances this year, his fifth stint at the level.

Justin Upton Rumors: Saturday

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Yesterday we learned that at least 15 teams inquired about the availability of Arizona's Justin Upton at the GM Meetings, and that five of those clubs wanted to push talks further along. We also learned that the 23-year-old can block trades to Athletics, Indians, Royals, and Tigers. Here are today's batch of Upton rumors, with more to come throughout the day…

  • ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that a lot of people in the game are wondering why the Diamondbacks are so intent on marketing their budding star. They're curious if something's wrong.
  • ESPN's Keith Law (Insider req'd) lists four reasons why new GM Kevin Towers might want to deal Upton, noting that he may have concerns about his on-field potential, makeup, and health.

Cardinals Remove Four From 40-Man Roster

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The Cardinals have removed Adam Ottavino, Nick Stavinoha, Daryl Jones, and Steve Hill from their 40-man roster according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach. All four players will now be exposed in next month's Rule 5 Draft. 

Jones, 23, hit .244/.335/.361 in 518 Double-A plate appearances this year. Ottavino, 25 on Monday, made five appearances with St. Louis this year (three starts), posting a 8.46 ERA with 12 strikeouts and nine walks in 22.1 innings. Hill, 25, received just three plate appearances with the Cardinals this year, hitting a home run for his first career hit. The backstop is a .289/.341/.510 hitter in the minors. They were ranked the 4th, 11th, and 24th best prospects in the team's farm system according to Baseball America's 2010 Prospect Handbook, respectively.

Stavinoha, 28, has received 278 plate appearances with the Cards over the last three seasons, hitting .234/.256/.325 with 54 strikeouts and just seven unintentional walks. He is a .301/.345/.469 hitter in almost 1,400 Triple-A plate appearances and has experience playing both outfield corners as well as first base. 

Minor Deals: Sborz, Huber, Royals, Ruiz

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We'll keep track of all of the day's minor deals right here:

  • Righty reliever Jay Sborz, 26 in January, signed a minor league deal with the Braves with a Spring Training invite, MLBTR has learned.  Sborz was outrighted by the Tigers on November 4th after posting a 4.74 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 4.9 BB/9, and 1.6 HR/9 with 19 saves in 43 2/3 Triple-A innings this year.
  • The Twins signed Justin Huber to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training, tweets Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.  Huber last played in the majors with Minnesota in 2009, and has a .580 OPS in 175 career plate appearances.
  • The Royals announced that four players have been designated for assignment: Jordan Parraz, Victor Marte, Gaby Hernandez and former #1 overall pick Bryan Bullington.
  • The Rays released first baseman Jose Ruiz, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter).
  • The Tigers announced that they signed Al Alburquerque to a major league deal for 2011. GM Dave Dombrowski says the team has been impressed with the right-hander's winter ball performance and expects him to compete for a bullpen job in Spring Training. The 24-year-old has struck out 191 batters in 174 1/3 minor league innings in the Cubs and Rockies organizations.
  • The Yankees have released Jonathan Albaladejo, who signed with a Japanese team, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
  • The Diamondbacks claimed right-hander Juan Jaime from the Nationals, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson (on Twitter). The 23-year-old right-hander didn't pitch in 2010, but he has a 2.42 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9 in 111 2/3 minor league innings.
  • The Blue Jays signed Mike Hinckley, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The lefty posted a 1.93 ERA in 28 games with the Nationals from 2008-09. Last year he posted 6.8 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 46 2/3 innings in the upper minors.
  • Josh Barfield, Ryan Feierabend and Brandon Moss all got Spring Training invitations from the Phillies according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.

Pirates Designate Duke, LaRoche, Young

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The Pirates have designated Zach Duke, Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young for assignment, according to a team press release.  The moves do not come as a surprise, as MLBTR pegged all three as non-tender candidates earlier this month.

Following a season where he posted a 5.72 ERA in 29 starts, Duke was seen as a non-tender candidate given that he could've earned a $5MM salary through arbitration this winter.  In six seasons in Pittsburgh, Duke delivered a 4.54 ERA in 160 games (all but one of them a start) with a 1.92 K/BB ratio and a 4.7 K/9 rate.  Duke was an All-Star in 2009, has a couple of solid seasons under his belt and is left-handed, so it's likely he'll find work at the back end of another team's rotation.  MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch reports that the Pirates tried to negotiate a new deal with Duke and also explored trade possibilities before finally designating the southpaw.

LaRoche joined the Pirates as part of the big Manny Ramirez/Jason Bay three-team deal in July 2008.  He was Pittsburgh's regular third baseman in 2009 but became expendable after the Bucs called up Pedro Alvarez to man the hot corner.  Once seen as a promising infielder in the Dodgers organization (he was ranked 19th among all major league prospects by Baseball America in both 2006 and 2007), LaRoche has a .224/.304/.338 line in 1228 career plate appearances with L.A. and Pittsburgh.

Young is another former Dodger prospect who joined the Bucs in April 2009.  Young has an impressive career OPS of .876 in eight minor league seasons, but has never been able to find regular playing time at the major league level.  His line in two seasons with the Pirates: .255/.312/.393 in 595 plate appearances, with time spent at second base, third base, and the outfield corners.

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