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Archives for January 2011

Cardinals To Sign Ramon Vazquez

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The Cardinals are set to sign infielder Ramon Vazquez to a minor league deal, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  The deal comes with an invite to Spring Training and could be completed and announced this weekend, a source told Goold.

Vazquez, 34, last appeared in the majors in 2009 with Pittsburgh.  The veteran, who is represented by MDR Sports, could give the Cards some much needed depth on the left side of the infield.  Vazquez spent 2010 with the Triple-A affiliates of the Mariners and Astros, hitting .257/.330/.363 in 202 plate appearances.

Phillies Avoid Arbitration With Ben Francisco

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The Phillies have agreed to a one-year, $1.175MM deal with Ben Francisco, tweets Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer.  The 29-year-old outfielder is represented by John Boggs.

This offseason was Francisco's very first as an arbitration eligible player.  In 2010, Francisco turned in a .268/.327/.441 slash line with six homers in 197 plate appearances.  Philadelphia acquired the right-handed batter from Cleveland in the deal that brought them Cliff Lee in 2009.  To keep up with the status of every arbitration eligible player, bookmark our handy Arb Tracker.

Paul Hagen of The Philadelphia Daily News has the breakdown of the incentives in Francisco's contract.

Cardinals Avoid Arbitration With Kyle McClellan

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The Cardinals and reliever Kyle McClellan have agreed to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration according to the team's Twitter feed.  The deal is worth $1.375MM, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. With the right-hander's contract taken care of, the Cardinals have no more arbitration eligible players for 2011. 

Last season McClellan, 26, turned in a career-best 2.27 ERA last season with 7.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 75.1 innings of work.  This winter marked McClellan's first crack at arbitration eligibility.  To keep up on all of the 2011 arbitration cases, check out our Arb Tracker.

Cashman Has “Full Backing” Of Steinbrenners

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Not long after the Yankees agreed to sign Rafael Soriano, we heard that the deal was driven more by ownership and not by GM Brian Cashman and his baseball operations staff. SI.com's Jon Heyman reports today that Cashman still has the "full backing" of the Steinbrenner family, a report echoed by ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter links). Heyman adds (via Twitter) that while Cashman preferred to keep the team's first round draft choice, he made no attempt to "body block" the deal with Soriano and relented because he's a "team man." 

Bill Madden and Roger Rubin of The New York Daily News reported this morning that ownership was "bothered by Cashman's blueprint," specifically with regards to Joba Chamberlain opening the season as Mariano Rivera's primary setup man. Soriano addresses that issue and then some, and the team is said to be willing to move Chamberlain in a package for a "viable starter."

Cashman has been the Yankees' GM since 1998, though he is not under contract beyond the 2011 season. His last three contracts have all been for three guaranteed years according to Cot's. 

Athletics Pushing To Sign Brian Fuentes

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Despite agreeing to sign Grant Balfour, the Athletics still aren't done trying to upgrade their bullpen. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that Oakland is "pushing" to sign Brian Fuentes, and he reiterates that the Blue Jays are a serious suitor for his services as well.

A multitude of teams have expressed interest in the free agent lefty this offseason, and with Balfour and Rafael Soriano now off the board, Fuentes has emerged as arguably the best free agent reliever available. Oakland already has two effective left-handers in its bullpen (Craig Breslow and Jerry Blevins), but there's no such thing as too many quality relievers.

We've also seen young, cost-controlled relievers traded quite a bit this offseason, including in deals for J.J. Hardy, Mark Reynolds, Jason Bartlett, and Cameron Maybin. Oakland could turn around and deal Blevins, Joey Devine, or Brad Ziegler for help at another position now or before the deadline. The market is certainly there, and adding Fuentes would help maintain the team's relief depth.

Orioles Still Trying To Add Pitching Depth

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The Orioles just finalized their deal with Kevin Gregg two days ago, but that doesn't mean they're done trying to strengthen their bullpen and pitching staff in general. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail told Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun that he's having enough ongoing trade talks as well as discussions with free agents to believe they can make another move before pitchers and catchers report in a month. 

"We have different discussions going on to try to get us a little more left-handed in the bullpen," said MacPhail. "We’ll just have to see how those discussions unfold."

"We got enough out there so you don’t know what’s going to come back and when or if anything comes back at all. That’s the case as you get progressively close to spring training. We have a lot of different conversations going on."

MacPhail declined to name specific targets or elaborate on how extensive talks were, but he acknowledged that the club still has some offers on the table for pitching help. Zrebiec hears from another source that any moves will not be too significant, and if they add another starter, it'll likely be through trade.

The market for lefty relief help still has a lot to offer as MLBTR's Free Agent Tracker shows. Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, Randy Flores, and Brian Fuentes are still available, though Fuentes is probably out of the team's price range according to Zrebiec. Kenshin Kawakami, Joe Blanton, Tom Gorzelanny, and Armando Galarraga highlight the starting pitching trade market.

Hoyer On Bell, Contracts, Pitchers, Hawpe, Hudson

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Padres GM Jed Hoyer spoke with Darren Smith of XX1090 Sports Radio about the state of his team yesterday. You can download the mp3 of the 16-minute interview here, and here's a recap of the important hot stove items…

  • Unsurprisingly, Hoyer's primary focus is arbitration figures at the moment. MLBTR's Arb Tracker shows that the team still has five players up for arbitration, including Heath Bell and Ryan Ludwick.
  • Hoyer believes the team will be able to sign Bell before an arbitration hearing. While the two sides are open to and have discussed the possibility of a multiyear deal, right now the focus is on getting a contract for 2011 worked out.
  • Hoyer likes the idea of bringing recently retired players in to just hang around with his young ballclub. Obviously the most notable recently retired player is long-time Padre Trevor Hoffman, who is now working with the club in a front office capacity.
  • "As far as Major League deals, I'd never say never, but I think we're pretty much done," said the GM. The team is closing in on deals with Gregg Zaun and Chad Qualls, and they figure to sign a few more players to minor league contracts before camp opens up.
  • "I think writing guys off after one year is a mistake," Hoyer said, referring to the recently signed Brad Hawpe. He considers age a factor when determining if a player is on the decline for good, and Hawpe is still just 31 and only a year removed from three straight seasons with no worse than a .879 OPS.
  • Free agent pitchers have called Hoyer directly to say they'd love to pitch for the Padres. Hitters aren't as receptive to playing in Petco Park, however.
  • Hoyer doesn't think they overpaid Orlando Hudson when they gave the second baseman a two-year, $11.5MM contract. "I think we got him on a very reasonable two year deal."
  • Gaslamp Ball rounded up the non-hot stove items for those of you interested in learning about how much playing time they plan to give Nick Hundley as well as how much they value defense.

Quick Hits: Votto, Garcia, Francis, Contracts

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Some news items to take us into the weekend….

West Notes: Thome, McCourt, Hairston, Angels

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The Situation and The Bachelor might soon be joined by The Freak and The Panda in the reality TV world.  MLB Productions and Showtime plan to air an all-access reality series about the Giants next summer, though Matt Cain says the deal hasn't been completely finalized yet.

As we ponder the concept of learning way more than we ever wanted to know about Aubrey Huff's rally thong, here are some other items from the western divisions…

  • The Rangers offered Jim Thome a more lucrative contract than his $3MM deal with Minnesota, but Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports Thome preferred the Twins due to their closer proximity to his family's home in Chicago.  Thome called his choice "difficult" and praised the Texas organization.
  • Fox has advanced Frank McCourt money from the Dodgers' current TV contract so the club can cover operating expenses, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.  Shaikin speaks to former Athletics executive Andy Dolich, who says such a move is "a bit odd," particularly during the offseason.  Another Shaikin source, USC Sports Business Institute Director Bill Carter, says the payment doesn't help the existing perception that McCourt doesn't have the finances to run the club.
  • Shaikin also reports that a Los Angeles judge has finalized his earlier ruling, throwing out a martial property agreement between Frank and Jamie McCourt that would have made Frank the Dodgers' sole owner.  Jamie McCourt is arguing that this ruling gives her co-ownership of the team, while Frank McCourt and his legal team are expected to pursue a new trial.
  • The Padres "have essentially moved on from" Jerry Hairston Jr., says MLB.com's Corey Brock as part of a San Diego-related reader mailbag.  The Yankees and Dodgers were connected to Hairston earlier this winter, but the Nationals have shown the most recent interest.
  • The Angels are still looking for a leadoff man, but Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com notes that the Halos only need such a player for the short-term, given top prospect Mike Trout's ability to play at the top of the order.
  • ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett catches up with right-hander Eric Hurley, who is healthy and looking to make the Texas roster in the spring.  Hurley, the Rangers' first-round pick in the 2004 draft, was ranked by Baseball America as the 68th best prospect in baseball before the 2007 season, but hasn't pitched outside of the Arizona Fall League over the last two years due to injuries.

AL East Notes: Rays, Chamberlain, Lowrie, O’s

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As the dust settles in the wake of the big Rafael Soriano signing, let's look around the AL East…

  • Rays fans discouraged by the loss of their closer should consider this tweet from Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.  Going by last year's slot recommendations, Tampa Bay's 12 picks within the first 88 selections of the 2011 amateur draft will cost "around $9.12MM" to sign.  Even with a bump in slot prices and yet another supplementary round pick if San Diego signs Chad Qualls, the Rays could sign all 13 draft picks for less than the $11.5MM that Soriano will earn from the Yankees next year.
  • We heard earlier today that the Yankees could be persuaded to trade Joba Chamberlain to obtain a "viable starter," but ESPNNewYork.com's Andrew Marchand wonders why the Bombers don't just put Chamberlain back into the rotation.  "Right now, Chamberlain's trade value is low," Marchand writes.  "The only way to increase that is to put him in a more important role. So not only could he solve your biggest problem, he could be used to address your next one."
  • Theo Epstein hinted that a strong spring from Jed Lowrie could win him the everyday shortstop's job, or at least give Terry Francona "a decision to make," writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.  A good start to the season from Lowrie could make either Marco Scutaro or perhaps Lowrie himself into trade bait, given the presence of shortstop prospect Jose Iglesias in Boston's system.
  • We've heard Baltimore is still in the market for a left-handed reliever, but Andy MacPhail is pretty pleased with how the Orioles' bullpen currently stacks up, writes Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.

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