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Archives for January 2012

Tigers Notes: Prince, Cespedes, Pitching

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Here's the latest out of the Motor City regarding Prince Fielder's huge contract and some other items of note …

  • Contrary to many large, backloaded contracts, Fielder's nine-year deal is structured so that he'll earn $23MM in each of the first two years, and $24MM in each of the seven years thereafter, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN).
  • Fielder's deal also includes a limited no-trade clause, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
  • Fielder's agent, Scott Boras, told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio that he did not receive an offer from the Tigers on Prince until after news broke of Victor Martinez's season-ending knee injury (Twitter link).
  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said Detroit is "most likely" out of the running for free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, although he cautioned that "you never can tell," tweets Jason Beck of MLB.com.
  • The Tigers might still sign another pitcher, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com, although it would likely be on a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

Gerardo Concepcion Close To Signing

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Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion, an 18-year-old free agent, is very close to signing with a team, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (story is in Spanish).

Concepcion's agent, Jaime Torres, tells Rojas that the lefty has offers from as many as 10 teams and could sign as soon as this weekend. Earlier this week, Torres said the Rangers, Yankees, Cubs and White Sox have expressed the most interest in Concepcion so far.

The Cuban defector recently established residency in Mexico and was declared eligible for free agency thereafter.

NL East Notes: Cora, Rodriguez, Phillies, Mets

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The latest links from the NL East…

  • Though Alex Cora announced his retirement from winter ball, he intends to play in the Major Leagues this year. He has drawn interest as a coach and infielder, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. According to the Puerto Rican paper El Nuevo Dia, Cora says he'd still like to play in the majors for another year, even though he hasn’t seen official offers yet (translation by Nick Collias).
  • Ivan Rodriguez, who caught for the Nationals last year but hasn’t signed with a new team yet, tells Amanda Comak of the Washington Times that it’s tough not having a job. “At the same time, what you going to do?” Rodriguez said. “You really cannot do anything. The only thing I can tell you is that I'm in good shape.”
  • The Phillies are bottom fishing for infielders, Heyman tweets. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets that the Phillies could look for someone with a little more power than Wilson Valdez — perhaps Ryan Theriot.
  • The Mets don’t expect to re-sign Jason Isringhausen, though they haven’t ruled anything out, Dan Martin of the New York Post reports.

Yankees Sign Hiroki Kuroda

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The Yankees have signed Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year contract, the team announced.  Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported the agreement (Twitter link).  The deal will pay Kuroda $10MM, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  Kuroda is represented by the Octagon agency.

Kuroda

Kuroda was originally looking for a one-year deal worth $13-$14MM for next season, but recently dropped his asking price and was sending feelers out to the Yankees and Red Sox.  Olney reports that Kuroda's salary was an "extra expenditure" approved by ownership, so the club will not have to move a similar salary in order to fit the team's payroll.

Kuroda turns 37 in February and comes to the American League after four years of pitching for the Dodgers.  Kuroda has pitched at least 183 innings in three of his four years in the Majors and his career numbers include a 3.45 ERA, a 3.29 K/BB ratio and a 48.6% ground ball rate that should ease his transition from Dodger Stadium to Yankee Stadium.  (Kuroda's career home/away splits are also virtually identical.)

Between Kuroda and the newly-acquired Michael Pineda, a once-shaky Yankees pitching staff has been overhauled and improved in just one day.  C.C. Sabathia, Pineda, Kuroda and Ivan Nova project as the top four, with Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Yankees, Boone Logan Avoid Arbitration

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The Yankees avoided arbitration with left-hander Boone Logan, the Associated Press reports (via the Boston Herald). The Select Sports Group client will earn $1.875MM in 2013.

Logan, 27, posted a 3.46 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 41 2/3 innings last year, when he earned $1.2MM. He's under team control through 2013. As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, Logan asked for a 2012 salary of $2.1MM, and the Yankees offered $1.7MM. The Yankees have now agreed to terms with all of their arbitration eligible players.

Phillies Likely To Sign Juan Pierre

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9:55am: The Phillies are likely to sign Pierre, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. It's expected to be a minor league deal.

9:30am: The Phillies have had "serious discussions" with free agent outfielder Juan Pierre about a minor league deal, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com tweets. The Mets and Tigers have also been linked to the SFX client in recent weeks, though the Tigers' interest in adding position players has diminished now that they've added Prince Fielder.

Pierre spent the 2011 season with the White Sox and posted a .279/.329/.327 line with 27 stolen bases (44 attempts) in 711 plate appearances as the team's everyday left fielder. The 34-year-old has averaged 155 games played and 50 stolen bases since breaking in as an everyday player with the 2001 Rockies.

This post was first published on January 27th, 2012.

Edwin Jackson Rumors: Thursday

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The Red Sox have offered Edwin Jackson a contract and the Orioles would consider offering a four year deal. The market for Jackson — arguably the top free agent remaining — seems to be picking up. Here are the most recent rumors from around MLB:

  • The Red Sox are believed to be one of a few teams with which Jackson would accept a one-year deal, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets.
  • The Cardinals checked in on Jackson, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The right-hander, who finished the 2011 season in St. Louis, has a multiyear offer from an unknown team that's not the Red Sox or Cardinals.

Red Sox Designate Scott Atchison For Assignment

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The Red Sox designated right-hander Scott Atchison for assignment, the team announced. The move creates roster space for outfielder Cody Ross, whose contract became official today.

Atchison, 35, posted a 3.26 ERA with 5.0 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 30 1/3 innings for the Red Sox in 2011. He spent post of the season at Triple-A, where he pitched 61 1/3 more innings with a 2.64 ERA, 10.6 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9. He is not yet arbitration eligible.

Red Sox Sign Cody Ross

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The Red Sox have signed outfielder Cody Ross to a one-year deal, the team announced.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement, and ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes reports the deal is worth roughly $3MM plus incentives (all Twitter links).  Ross is represented by SFX. 

Ross played all three outfield positions for the Giants last season and hit .240/.325/.405 line with 14 home runs in 461 plate appearances.  A right-handed hitter, Ross projects to join the left-handed hitting Ryan Sweeney in a right field platoon, though Ross could also get a few starts in left field for Carl Crawford (also a lefty bat) against tough southpaws.

The Mets, Athletics, Reds, Braves and Rockies were all connected to Ross at various points this winter, with Boston seemingly moving into the lead once they freed up some payroll space by trading Marco Scutaro to Colorado.  With Ross in the fold, a source tells Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that the Sox will still try to add a starting pitcher with the money saved from the Scutaro deal.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Manny Corpas

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Here's today's list of outrighted players:

  • The Cubs outrighted Manny Corpas off of their 40-man roster, Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald tweets. The right-hander will attend Spring Training as a non-roster player. Corpas, 29, last pitched in the Major Leagues in 2010, when he posted a 4.62 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 62 1/3 innings for the Rockies. He underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2010 and spent the entire 2011 season recovering.

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