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Archives for January 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.

Uehara, Feldman Drawing Interest

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Rangers right-hander Koji Uehara is drawing “considerable interest,” MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports. A possible deal with the Blue Jays fell through, but the Orioles are intrigued and other teams have shown more interest than Baltimore.

Scott Feldman has also drawn interest, Sullivan reports. However, the 28-year-old right-hander will make $6.5MM in 2012 with a $9.25MM club option for 2013 ($600K buyout), and he spent much of the 2011 season recovering from a winter knee operation. I expect the Rangers would pick up the majority of Feldman’s contract in any trade. He posted a 3.94 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 32 innings in the second half of last season.

Uehara posted a 2.35 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 in 65 innings for the Orioles and Rangers in 2011. However, he allowed 11 regular season home runs and three more in the postseason. He'll earn $4MM in 2012.

Orioles, Robert Andino Avoid Arbitration

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The Orioles announced that they have avoided arbitration with infielder Robert Andino. As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, the Orioles submitted a $1MM offer, while Andino and his representatives at Legacy Sports Group asked for $1.6MM. The sides settled at the midpoint for a $1.3MM salary, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets.

Andino, 27, posted a .263/.327/.344 line in 511 plate appearances while playing second, third, shortstop and left field in 2011. He's arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason and will remain under team control through 2014. The Orioles have unresolved arbitration cases with Brad Bergesen, Jeremy Guthrie and Adam Jones.

Free Agents Who Cost Draft Picks

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The Tigers committed $214MM to sign Prince Fielder yesterday afternoon, but that's not all they gave up — the Brewers will obtain Detroit's first round pick in the upcoming amateur draft. Here's the complete list of players who cost their new teams draft picks this offseason:

  • Albert Pujols – Angels lose 19th overall pick to Cardinals, who also obtain a supplementary first rounder
  • Prince Fielder - Tigers lose 27th overall pick to Brewers, who also obtain a supplementary first rounder
  • Jonathan Papelbon - Phillies lose 31st overall pick to Red Sox, who also obtain a supplementary first rounder
  • Jose Reyes – Marlins lose 67th overall pick to Mets, who also obtain a supplementary first rounder
  • C.J. Wilson – Angels lose 78th overall pick to Rangers, who also obtain a supplementary first rounder

In previous years, middle relievers and second-tier free agents such as Juan Cruz cost draft picks. This limited their employment prospects considerably, but the Players Association pushed for changes in negotiations leading up to the collective bargaining agreement, and teams no longer surrender picks for as many free agents. As a result Matt Capps, Octavio Dotel, Darren Oliver and others faced one less obstacle this offseason.

One year ago, under the previous CBA, teams gave up picks to sign Victor Martinez, Adam Dunn, Jayson Werth, Carl Crawford, Scott Downs, Cliff Lee, Adrian Beltre, Grant Balfour and Rafael Soriano. Two years ago, teams gave up picks to sign Jose Valverde, Jason Bay, Mike Gonzalez, John Lackey, Chone Figgins, Marco Scutaro and Billy Wagner.

Next offseason, teams will only offer players arbitration if they're prepared to pay a one-year salary that matches or exceeds the average salary of the 125 highest-paid players from the previous season (likely more than $12MM).

Draft order via River Ave. Blues.

Quick Hits: Zimmerman, McCutchen, Cespedes, Sano

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MLB has announced that Tony La Russa will manage the NL team during the All-Star Game in 2012, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). La Russa retired from managing earlier this offseason, but he'll continue the tradition of the pennant winning managers from the prior year managing the two All-Star clubs. Here's the latest from around the league…

  • Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post reports that Ryan Zimmerman is open to a creative contract extension that would allow the Nationals to build a strong team around him. "We want to do a deal so it helps me and the team at the same time, so they can go out and sign guys like Prince Fielder or other free agents," said Zimmerman. Fielder is off the table now, and the Nats know what it'll take to sign their star third baseman long-term.
  • "Never say never," said Pirates GM Neal Huntington to Jeff Nelson and Jim Memolo of MLB Network Radio when asked about a potential Andrew McCutchen trade. "If someone wants to back up the truck and give us one of those organization-altering deals, it's something that we'd have to listen to…It would have to be a dramatic overpay on the part of the other club."
  • The Nationals consider Yoenis Cespedes a corner outfielder or even a first baseman, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson (on Twitter). Earlier today we learned that Cespedes has gained residency in the Dominican Republic, and now awaits MLB's approval to become a free agent.
  • The Indians are "making the necessary moves to get [Robert Hernandez Heredia] to the United States," reports the AP (via ESPN). Heredia, better known as Fausto Carmona, faces a judicial process in the Dominican Republic after lying about his identity.
  • Twins top prospect Miguel Sano has changed representation according to SI.com's Melissa Segura (on Twitter). He is now with SFX agent Troy Caradonna.

AL East Links: Red Sox, Jays, Rays, Rivera, Martin

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Who would have guessed that two AL teams would hand out $200MM+ contracts this winter, and neither of them would reside in the AL East? Here's the latest from the only division with three 90-win teams in 2011…

  • The Red Sox have checked in with Edwin Jackson and maintain interest in Roy Oswalt, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). They're also looking at some infielders.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm that he doesn't anticipate a move to upgrade the starting rotation before Spring Training (Twitter links). "I wouldn't expect us to do anything else. Maybe adding a reliever is probably the only thing I think we have a chance at doing," said the GM a few hours before signing Francisco Cordero.
  • In an interview with Jim Duquette and Jeff Joyce of MLB Network Radio, Anthopoulos said that Brandon Morrow's work ethic was one reason why the Blue Jays signed him to an extension. "I haven't been doing this very long … but the mistakes we have made, we haven't necessarily put as much stock into someone's character and the work ethic," he said.
  • Anthopoulos also acknowledged that the Blue Jays would be able to support a high payroll down the road, but they're "not there yet right now."
  • Rays president Matt Silverman told Marc Topkin of The Tampa Times that they haven't found a deal to trade one of their excess starters yet, but that doesn't mean they aren't still looking (Twitter link).
  • Yankees closer Mariano Rivera hinted at retirement during Jorge Posada's retirement press conference today, reports MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "[It's] the same thing; just knowing that it's time to go," Rivera said. "You just have to accept that. I mean, I love the game and I have the passion for the game, but when the time comes and you have to go, you have to go."
  • WEEI.com's Alex Speier wrote about the Red Sox in the wake of the Prince Fielder signing, saying they preferred trading for Adrian Gonzalez last offseason to waiting for this year's crop of free agent first baseman.
  • Prior to avoiding arbitration with a one-year deal, the Yankees and Russell Martin discussed a two-year contract according to WFAN's Sweeny Murti (on Twitter).

Minor Moves: German Duran, Yairo Munoz

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Let's keep track of the day's minor signings here…

  • The Marlins have signed utility man German Duran according to a release by the independent Grand Praire Air Hogs. The 27-year-old reached the big leagues with the Rangers in 2008, but spent last season with the Air Hogs and in the Mexican League. He hit .268/.338/.429 in just 65 total plate appearances in 2011.
  • The Athletics have signed 16-year-old Dominican shortstop Yairo Munoz according to a release from the Dominican Prospect League. Munoz is said to be a "contact hitter who can drive the ball gap to gap, he uses his speed to leg out extra bases and he shows instincts to play the game."

Reds, Francis Close To Deal

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The Reds are close to signing free agent left-hander Jeff Francis to a minor league deal, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).  Last week it was reported that Francis was gaining interest from clubs, including the Reds, Mariners, Blue Jays, and Mets.

Francis spent 2011 with the Royals, posting a 4.82 ERA with 4.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 across 31 starts.  His 183 innings of work last season was his highest total since 2007, the season prior to suffering a shoulder injury.

Reactions To The Prince Fielder Signing

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Scott Boras did it again. Just when it looked like the market for Prince Fielder had slowed late in the offseason, Boras got his prized client the fourth richest contract in baseball history. The Tigers agreed to sign the slugger to a nine-year contract worth $214MM today, giving them the most devastating 3-4 lineup tandem in the game. Here's a recap of what's been said about the deal…

  • "In some sense, I'm glad he got a good contract that he's satisfied with. We knew early on that we probably weren't going to be in it. I think Prince probably knew that, too," said Brewers GM Doug Melvin to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Melvin confirmed they hadn't had serious extension talks with Fielder since Spring Training of 2010, and he credited the slugger with helping the team get back to being contenders.
  • Rival executives told Joel Sherman of The New York Post that they think the signing came from ownership, not GM Dave Dombrowski (Twitter link). He says deals for other Boras clients — Johnny Damon, Ivan Rodriguez, and Magglio Ordonez — happened the same way. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports heard that owner Mike Illitch influenced the signing "100%" (Twitter link).
  • The Nationals and a mystery team were strongly in on Fielder, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). The Mariners, meanwhile, told teams they didn't have money to spend on a hitter of Prince's caliber, which is why they traded for Jesus Montero according to Sherman.
  • Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News says (on Twitter) that the Giants were never really in on Fielder.
  • ESPN's Keith Law, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs, and SI.com's Cliff Corcoran agree that Fielder will improve the Tigers in the short-term, but the last few years of the contract could be messy.

Koji Uehara Rejects Trade To Blue Jays

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Rangers reliever Koji Uehara has invoked his no-trade clause to reject a trade to the Blue Jays, reports Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas. The right-hander's limited no-trade clause allows him to block trades to six teams, and Toronto is one of those six.

Uehara, who turns 37 in April, posted a 2.35 ERA, an 11.8 K/9 rate, and a phenomenal 9.44 K/BB ratio in 65 games last season with the Orioles and Rangers. His $4MM option for 2012 vested in the process, but the Texas bullpen is starting to get crowded, particularly with righties like Uehara, Joe Nathan, Mike Adams, and Alexi Ogando. The Jays were one of several teams interested in acquiring him, but they have since signed Francisco Cordero.

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