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Archives for January 2012

Yoenis Cespedes Granted Free Agency

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MLB has informed teams that Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is now a free agent, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. Cespedes, a client of Adam Katz of Wasserman Media Group, recently gained residency in the Dominican Republic.

Earlier this week, it appeared that the Cubs, Marlins, and Tigers were the teams most actively targeting Cespedes. The White Sox, Orioles, Indians, Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays and Rangers also appear to have some interest in Cespedes, but the Nationals aren’t involved. 

Marlins Sign Austin Kearns

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The Marlins announced that they signed corner outfielder Austin Kearns to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training. SFX represents Kearns, who appeared in 57 games with the Indians in 2011. 

The ten-year MLB veteran posted a .200/.302/.287 line in 174 plate appearances for the Indians last year, and got released in July. Kearns, a right-handed hitter, owns a career line of .254/.350/.417 and has historically had a little more success against left-handed pitching.

Reds, Masset Sign Extension

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The Reds signed arbitration eligible reliever Nick Masset to a two-year extension, the team announced (on Twitter). As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, Masset had filed for a $2.9MM salary through arbitration, while the Reds had countered with $2.1MM. The deal is worth a guaranteed $5.5MM and includes performance bonuses, MLBTR has learned. 

Masset is arbitration eligible for the third of four times as a super two player, so the deal buys out his two remaining seasons of team control. The 29-year-old posted a 3.71 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 70 1/3 innings in 2011. The Jet Sports Management client is still on track to hit free agency after the 2013 season.

Jose Arredondo, another extension candidate, is the Reds' lone unsigned arbitration eligible player.

Latest At RotoAuthority

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My fantasy baseball website RotoAuthority is back in action with a team of excellent writers.  The latest:

Reds Acquire Wilson Valdez

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The Reds announced that they acquired infielder Wilson Valdez from the Phillies for left-hander Jeremy Horst (Twitter link). Horst will be in Major League Spring Training as a non-roster player, according to the Phillies, who now have two open spots on their 40-man roster.

Valdez, 33, posted a .249/.294/.341 line in 300 plate appearances for the Phillies in 2011, playing second, third and short. He even pitched an inning, picking up a win against the Reds in May. He'll earn $930K in 2012.

Horst made his MLB debut in 2011, posting a 2.93 ERA with a 9K/6BB ratio in 15 1/3 innings. The 26-year-old also posted a 2.81 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 51 1/3 innings at Triple-A last year.

Marlins Notes: Hanley, Fielder, Cespedes

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It's been busy offseason for the Marlins, who signed Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Heath Bell before trading for Carlos Zambrano. Here's the latest from MLB's first Florida team…

  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com's reports (on Twitter) that the Marlins briefly considered trading Hanley Ramirez to free up money so they could sign Prince Fielder, but they decided against it. Prince is in Detroit now, and Hanley will come to camp as the third baseman.
  • The Marlins are prepared to make a significant offer to Yoenis Cespedes according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. He says it'll be four-to-six years in length. Cespedes recently gained residency in the Dominican Republic, and is waiting to be declared a free agent by MLB.
  • Meanwhile, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter) that Cespedes has told teams he would prefer not to play in Miami. However, Friasro tweets that Cespedes has no issues playing for the Marlins.

Red Sox Have Made Offer To Edwin Jackson

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The Red Sox have made an offer to free agent right-hander Edwin Jackson reports ESPN's Jim Bowden (on Twitter), and the two sides are currently in talks. A source told Bowden that they prefer Jackson to Roy Oswalt, to whom they also made an offer.

Jackson, 28, might be willing to accept a one-year contract according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Scott Boras client has thrown at least 199 innings in each of the last three years, with a 3.96 ERA, 7.1 K/9, 3.00 BB/9, and a 44.0% ground ball rate during that time. With Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz carrying injury concerns, Jackson would add a much needed innings eater to Boston's staff.

Tigers Notes: Fielder, Cespedes, Boesch

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The Tigers agreed to sign Prince Fielder to the biggest contract in franchise history and the fourth biggest in MLB history less than 24 hours ago, so there’s lots of Tigers chatter today. Here are the latest links…

  • Some ‘MLB bigs’ say the Fielder contract is too long and for too much money, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The first baseman agreed to a nine-year, $214MM deal.
  • One rival general manager says Fielder has elite makeup, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. “He's great that way," the GM said.
  • People in baseball aren’t sure if the Fielder signing takes the Tigers out of the running for Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com tweets. Cespedes has gained residency in the Dominican Republic, but he's not yet a free agent.
  • Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch joined Jim Bowden and Casey Stern on MLB Network Radio and said he's eargerly awaiting hitting in the same lineup as Fielder. Boesch added that he had no idea Fielder was joining the Tigers.
  • Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer told John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press that "[his] phone has blown up talking about [the news]. It is Christmas come late."
  • Here are some more reactions to the Fielder deal.

Lidge, Nationals Nearing Deal

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The Nationals are nearing a deal with free agent reliever Brad Lidge, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com tweets. Rex Gary of Turner Gary Sports represents Lidge.

Lidge, 34, appeared in just 25 games in 2011 because of a rotator cuff injury. He posted a 1.40 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in 19 1/3 regular season innings for the Phillies before pitching two scoreless frames in the Division Series. The ten-year veteran owns a career ERA of 3.44 with 12.0 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and a 40.7% ground ball rate.

Lidge, who earned $12MM in 2011, did not receive an offer of arbitration from Philadelphia. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com hears that the Phillies made Lidge a lowball offer (Twitter link).

This post was first published January 26th, 2012.

White Sox Sign Scott Olsen

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The White Sox signed left-hander Scott Olsen to a minor league contract, ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick tweets. The deal includes a 2013 option on Olsen, a Sosnick/Cobbe client.

Olsen, 28, signed with the Pirates last offseason, but he had shoulder problems and Pittsburgh released him in May. He was a serviceable starter for the Marlins from 2006-08, when he posted a 4.65 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 559 innings. However, he struggled in 2009-10 as a member of the Nationals and hasn't had success in the Major Leagues since.

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