By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
The Blue Jays announced that they have given Mark Teahen his unconditional release. They designated the infielder/outfielder for assignment earlier in the month and will be responsible for paying his $5.5MM salary in 2012.
Teahen joined the Blue Jays in the three-way deal that sent Edwin Jackson to St. Louis and Colby Rasmus to Toronto. The 30-year-old posted a .200/.273/.300 line in 177 plate appearances for the White Sox and Blue Jays in 2011, appearing at all four corner positions.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
Representatives for free agent hitters have started calling the Tigers, who will probably play the 2012 season without one of their top offensive players. But general manager Dave Dombrowski is still digesting the news that Victor Martinez is likely out for the season with a torn ACL, and he doesn't feel the need to rush the team's next move. The GM points to the 2011 Cardinals, who lost Adam Wainwright in Spring Training but won the World Series.
"You need to be resilient," Dombrowski said on a conference call with reporters. "After you feel sorry for yourself for a day you move on, you look at all your alternatives."
If the Tigers add a bat, it would most likely be a short-term addition, Dombrowski said. The club could maneuver from within, but that would mean using Jhonny Peralta, Alex Avila or an outfielder at DH on occasion — not shifting Miguel Cabrera to third base and pursuing a first baseman. Dombrowski declined to comment on specific players, but Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero are among the available free agent designated hitters.
As for Martinez, he injured his left knee late last week while doing a side to side shuffling exercise. The Tigers expect him to recover fully if he undergoes surgery, as expected. The possibility exists that he could return late in the 2012 season, but that would be a bonus, rather than anything Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland will count on.
Martinez signed a four-year, $50MM contract with the Tigers last offseason and posted a .330/.380/.470 line in his first season in Detroit. Though Martinez appeared in 26 games at catcher last year, the Tigers hadn't planned to rely on him behind the plate in 2012.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The dust appears to be settling from today's arbitration agreement madness. A few more settlements may trickle in, but at the moment our arbitration tracker shows 59 unsigned players spanning 22 teams. Big names include Tim Lincecum, Hunter Pence, Matt Garza, Clayton Kershaw, and Mike Napoli. These players all exchanged figures with their teams. The deadline was noon central time today.
After figures are exchanged, teams and players often agree at the midpoint. A few teams, however, have traditionally treated the exchange of figures as a deadline, and as a policy go to hearings after that point. If these teams are still using the "file and trial" strategy, we'll see hearings for Jed Lowrie (Astros), Casey Janssen and Brandon Morrow (Blue Jays), Emilio Bonifacio and Anibal Sanchez (Marlins), and John Lannan and Mike Morse (Nationals).
Any of the 50+ players to file are candidates to go to a hearing in February if an agreement cannot be reached. At a hearing, the team and the player's agency each take an hour to defend their salary submission, and an independent three-person panel picks one of the salaries.
Last year, 33 players filed numbers, three went to hearings, nine signed multiyear extensions, and 21 settled within $250K of the midpoint.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Brewers are "just finalizing things" on a multiyear deal with Norichika Aoki, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Earlier, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy wrote of a consensus at Miller Park that a deal gets done before today's 4pm central time deadline.
The Brewers won the rights to negotiate with Aoki with a $2.5MM bid in December. The 30-year-old outfielder hit .292/.358/.360 for the Yakult Swallows last year and would assume a bench role for Milwaukee.
By Tim Dierkes | at
2:03pm: Bob Nightengale of USA Today talked to Hamels' agent John Boggs, who said, "We thought about just going for it, and filing for a number [of about $17 million], but we thought this was fair. Our sights are now set on free agency. At some point, we'll talk to the Phillies about that.'' Noting the unpredictable nature of free agency, Boggs sang his client's praises and added, "Pitching is something everybody will always be clamoring for. That never changes."
11:15am: The Phillies avoided arbitration with Cole Hamels, agreeing to a $15MM deal with award incentives, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. MLBTR had projected $14MM for the John Boggs & Associates client, who received one of the largest arbitration settlements ever. Three years ago Hamels signed a multiyear deal while leaving his last arbitration year open, and it enabled him to get a $5.5MM raise in his last year before free agency.
Excluding Roger Clemens' free agent arbitration salary, I believe only Prince Fielder's $15.5MM tops Hamels' reward. Tim Lincecum is expected to jump to the top of the list.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Cubs avoided arbitration with catcher Geovany Soto by agreeing to a $4.3MM deal, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. MLBTR had projected the Wasserman Media Group client for $4MM. The Cubs still have a slew of unsettled cases.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Dodgers avoided arbitration with first baseman James Loney on a deal worth $6.375MM plus performance bonuses, according to his agency CAA. Clayton Kershaw is the team's lone remaining arbitration eligible player.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Indians avoided arbitration with pitchers Justin Masterson ($3.825MM) and Chris Perez ($4.5MM), tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. For the Indians, Asdrubal Cabrera and Rafael Perez remain.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Blue Jays announced they've avoided arbitration with second baseman Kelly Johnson for $6.375MM and outfielder Ben Francisco for $1.5375MM. Casey Janssen and Brandon Morrow are the Jays' remaining arbitration eligible players.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Mariners avoided arbitration with starter Jason Vargas on a deal worth $4.85MM, announced his agency CAA. The Mariners have signed all of their arbitration eligible players.
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