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Archives for January 2011

Odds & Ends: Boras, Everett, Francis, Webb, Olivo

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Some links for Monday night as the deals for Pedro Feliciano and Brad Hawpe become official..

  • The players' association has found that Scott Boras did not violate union rules when his company made loans to a Dominican prospect, according to the Associated Press.
  • Adam Everett's minor league deal with the Indians will pay the 33-year-old $700K plus incentives if he makes the team, or $15K per month at Triple-A, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link).
  • The Rockies will reach out to pitcher Jeff Francis this week, tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post.  There's a chance that the left-hander returns to Colorado but he might have a better opportunity elsewhere.
  • Brandon Webb, who officially joined the Rangers earlier today, says that he won't rush himself back in order to start the season in the rotation, writes ESPN.com's Richard Durrett.
  • Greg Johns of MLB.com likes the Mariners' signing of Miguel Olivo.

Rays, Others Interested In Delcarmen

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8:00pm: The Rays are one of "several teams" interested in Delcarmen, a baseball source tells Alex Speier of WEEI.com.  Roughly a month ago it was said that two AL East clubs (but not the Red Sox) were showing interest in the reliever.

7:15pm: The Rays are showing interest in reliever Manny Delcarmen, writes Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times.  Delcarmen, who turns 29-years-old next month, spent the first five seasons and change with the Red Sox before before being dealt to the Rockies in August.

In 57 appearances for Boston and Colorado last season, Delcarmen registered a 4.99 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9.  Just yesterday, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe warned readers "not to bet against the Rays" when it comes to the right-hander.

Mets Sign Capuano And Buchholz, DFA Igarashi

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7:56pm: More from Rubin (via Twitter) as a Mets official says that these additions do not take the Mets out of the running for other free agent starters such as Chris Young and Jeff Francis.  Rubin also tweets that Igarashi, due to his salary, is expected to clear waivers and hook on with the Mets in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.

7:41pm: Capuano's deal has a base of $1.5MM plus incentives while Buchholz will earn a $600K base salary, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter links).  The Brewers all but closed the door on bringing back Capuano when they dealt for Zack Greinke and signed Shaun Marcum as Capuano wants to start.  Meanwhile, Buchholz says that the Mets will use him as a reliever.

6:08pm: The Mets have signed pitchers Chris Capuano and Taylor Buchholz to one-year deals, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post.  In order to make room for the two, the Mets have designated Ryota Igarashi for assignment, Puma tweets.

Capuano, 32, turned in a 3.95 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 66 innings of work last season for the Brewers.  The left-hander missed the 2008 and '09 major league seasons after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery in May of 2008.  In 2010 he made nine starts with 15 relief appearances. Capuano was never a flamethrower but his 87.4 mph fastball last season was consistent with his career average.

Buchholz, a 29-year-old right-hander, was originally selected in the sixth-round of the 2006 draft by the Phillies.  Since then, he has spent time with the Astros, Rockies, and had a cup of coffee with the Blue Jays to close out 2010.  In 285 career big league innings, Buchholz has a 4.39 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9.  He started a combined 27 games in 2008 and 2009 but has not made a major league start since.

Meanwhile, Igarashi is owed $1.1MM for 2011.  The Japanese right-hander signed a two-year deal with the club in December 2009 but disappointed in 2010, registering a 7.12 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9 in 34 appearances.

Rangers, Beltre Close To Deal

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7:35pm: Jeff Wilson of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that Beltre will be in the Dallas area tonight in preparation for a physical on Wednesday. MLB.com's Peter Gammons adds that the Athletics offered six years and $76MM at one point, making the Angels the third highest bidder in the division (Twitter link).

12:49pm: The deal is not done, but it could be worth as much as $96MM over six years, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. The contract would include a clause that would allow the Rangers to opt out of the sixth year if Beltre doesn't reach a threshold for plate appearances.

10:15am: The Rangers are close to a six-year deal with Adrian Beltre, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown (on Twitter). Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Rangers are making progress and that a deal would be in the $90-100MM range (Twitter links). Yahoo's Jeff Passan agrees that the value of the deal will approach $100MM. A source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that the deal would effectively be for five years with a vesting option for a sixth year. (Twitter link). Agent Scott Boras represents Beltre.

Beltre led the American League in doubles last year and added 28 homers, hitting .321/.365/.553 in 641 plate appearances. He made the All-Star team, won his second career Silver Slugger and played standout defense. The defensive metric UZR/150 suggests that Beltre was significantly above average with the glove (12.7 UZR/150) for the eighth time in the past nine seasons. Beltre, 31, would be 37 in the final season of a six-year deal. 

Michael Young said yesterday that he'd be willing to move from third base if the Rangers sign Beltre. Young shifted from second base to shortstop when the Rangers traded Alex Rodriguez and from short to third when Elvis Andrus reached the majors, so position switches are nothing new for him. If the Rangers don't trade him, Young figures to appear in the lineup most days as a DH and utility player.

Young has no-trade protection, $48MM remaining on his contract and ten and five rights that take effect this May. The Rangers discussed a potential deal with the Rockies last month, but the team would have to overcome many obstacles to move Young.

Since the Red Sox offered Beltre arbitration, they will obtain two top draft picks next year. One will be a supplementary first rounder and the other will come from the Rangers. It will be Texas' first rounder as long as the Rangers don't sign Rafael Soriano. If they do sign the closer, the Rays would get the Rangers' top pick and the Red Sox would get their second rounder.

The Angels already missed out on Carl Crawford, so losing Beltre to a division rival would be a considerable blow for a franchise that finished below .500 for the first time since 2003 last year. The A's, another one of Beltre's suitors, will once again face the longtime Mariner as a division rival.

This is the second long-term deal of Beltre's career. He signed a five-year, $64MM deal with the Mariners after the 2004 season. In five seasons in Seattle, Beltre hit 103 homers and posted a .266/.317/.442 line while playing stellar defense (that's 3.4 WAR per season, in case you're wondering).

Boras and Beltre accepted a $10MM offer from the Red Sox last offseason, though other clubs offered more guaranteed money. That decision positioned the third baseman for a considerably larger payday.

PioDeportes first reported the agreement over the weekend. 

The post was originally published on January 4th.

Reds Close To Signing Hermida

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The Reds are close to signing outfielder Jeremy Hermida to a minor league deal, a baseball source told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.  Sheldon cautions that the deal has not been finalized and the club has yet to make a formal announcement.

It's no secret that the Reds have been looking for a left-handed hitting outfielder to come off of the bench and Hermida could fit the bill, provided that he proves himself in Spring Training.  The former first-round pick had a down year in 2010 but has a respectable career slash line of .259/.335/.417 across six big league seasons.

Kevin Gregg To Decide This Week

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Reliever Kevin Gregg has been mulling offers from a few clubs and will make a decision "this week, in the next couple of days", agent Danny Horwits told Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun.  Baltimore offered the right-hander a two-year deal worth between $8-10MM in early December.

Since putting the two-year offer on the table, the O's have been in regular contact with Horwits.  The agent won't disclose which teams are in the mix for his client but it appears that Baltimore is among the finalists.

“We’ve been going back and forth with the teams that are left in the mix for the last couple of weeks,” the agent said. “We’re received new counter offers, fine-tuned other offers. Now, we’re pretty much in the mode of Kevin is going to make a decision.”

Gregg turned in a 3.51 ERA last season with 8.8 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 63 appearances for the Blue Jays.  The 32-year-old will likely mark the last major acquisition for the O's this winter.  Derrek Lee will likely mark their final offensive upgrade and even though they're in need of a starter and a left-handed reliever, those vacancies will be filled with small deals.

Mariners Designate Anthony Varvaro For Assignment

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The Mariners have designated Anthony Varvaro for assignment, tweets Larry Stone of The Seattle Times.  The reliever was DFA'd to make room for Miguel Olivo, whose deal became official this afternoon.

Varvaro, 26, was projected to be a top pick out of St. John's University in 2005 before suffering an elbow injury.   The right-hander would instead be nabbed by the M's in the 12th round of the draft as he required surgery before ever throwing a pitch as a pro.  He threw just four innings for Seattle after making his major league debut in 2010.

Padres Agree To Sign Brad Hawpe

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JANUARY 3RD: Hawpe's deal is worth $3MM guaranteed, tweets Bernie Wilson of the Associated Press.  The 31-year-old will earn $2MM in '11 with a $6MM mutual option for '12 that can instead be bought out for $1MM.

DECEMBER 24th: The Padres have reached an agreement with Brad Hawpe on a one-year deal according to Bernie Wilson of the AP (via The Miami Herald). The deal is pending a physical. He is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Hawpe, 31, will replace the departed Adrian Gonzalez at first base even though he has just 72 innings of experience at the position in the big leagues. He's a .279/.373/.490 career hitter with at least 22 homers per year from 2006 through 2009. In close to 1,600 plate appearances away from Coors Field, Hawpe is a .271/.367/.467 career hitter. The Padres will likely want to bring in a platoon partner for the lefty swinging Hawpe, who is a .245/.322/.438 career hitter against southpaws.

A quad strain cost Hawpe a little more than two weeks early in the 2010 season, and a rib issue cost him a few days in June. The Rockies cut ties with him in August, and the Rays picked him up off the scrap heap. The Padres also had interest in signing him before Tampa swooped in. Hawpe didn't do much for the Rays on the field (.179/.304/.333 in 46 plate appearances), but he will bring them a supplemental first round pick as a Type-B free agent. San Diego will not have to surrender a pick for the signing.

Rangers Notes: Beltre, Young, Pettitte

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The Rangers have been busy today, finalizing deals with Brandon Webb and Arthur Rhodes and designating Clay Rapada and Max Ramirez for assignment in the process. Here are a few more notes on the defending American League champs, from MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan:

  • Team officials don't seem optimistic about signing Adrian Beltre. Click here for the latest on the free agent third baseman.
  • The Rangers have asked Michael Young what he thinks about switching positions again and he was not receptive to the idea. Troy Renck of the Denver Post hears that the Rockies aren't likely to discuss potential Young trades with the Rangers (Twitter link).
  • Earlier in the offseason, the Rangers were interested in Andy Pettitte, according to Sullivan. However, they heard that the lefty will either return to the Yankees or retire. ESPNNewYork reported today that the Yankees expect to hear from Pettitte soon. 

Rangers Designate Ramirez & Rapada For Assignment

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The Rangers designated Max Ramirez and Clay Rapada for assignment to create roster space for Brandon Webb and Arthur Rhodes, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter).

Ramirez appeared in 28 games for the Rangers last year, batting .217/.341/.348 in 85 plate appearances. The 26-year-old has spent most of his seven-year pro career in the minors, where he has a .298/.396/.476 career line. The Rangers already have three backstops on their 40-man roster: Taylor Teagarden, Yorvit Torrealba and Matt Treanor.

Rapada, 30 in March, appeared in 13 games for the Rangers last year. He pitched just nine innings, walking seven and striking out five. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted a 1.82 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 59 1/3 innings. Those numbers, which are similar to the ones he posted for the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate in 2009, have yet to translate into big league success for the left-hander.

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