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Archives for January 2012

Giants Avoid Arbitration With Angel Pagan

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The Giants and Angel Pagan have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $4.85MM, reports The Associated Press (via ESPN). He can earn an additional $50K each for 550, 600, and 650 plate appearances. MLBTR's Matt Swartz projected the Legacy Sports Group client to earn $4.7MM next season.

Pagan, 30, was acquired from the Mets for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez back in December. He hit .262/.322/.372 with seven homers and 32 steals while battling a rib fracture in 2011, and is a .279/.331/.418 career hitter. Pagan was arbitration-eligible for the fourth time as a Super Two and will become a free agent after this coming season. He made $3.5MM last season.

As our Arbitration Tracker shows, the Giants still have six unsigned arbitration-eligible players: Melky Cabrera, Santiago Casilla, Tim Lincecum, Sergio Romo, Pablo Sandoval, and Nate Schierholtz.

A’s Notes: Taylor, Gomes, Damon, Outman, Moscoso

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On this date in 1986, the Mets and Twins completed a five-player trade involving former first rounder Billy Beane. Now the Athletics’ GM, Beane completed a trade today, obtaining Seth Smith from Colorado for Guillermo Moscoso and Josh Outman. Here are the latest Athletics-related links… 

  • Beane says the Athletics are still looking for right-handed hitting outfielder depth, Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group tweets. Michael Taylor will have to play his way into the picture, according to Stiglich.
  • John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle hears that the A's are pursuing a Jonny Gomes/Ryan Ludwick type for depth. The A's haven't ruled out Johnny Damon, Shea tweets.
  • Outman told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that the trade was "bittersweet," but that he's "not mad by any means," Pitching so far above sea level will be an adjustment for the fly ball pitcher, however.
  • Moscoso told Slusser that he's "in shock," although he's looking forward to the opportunity in Colorado.

How To Use MLBTR

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An explanation of the many ways to enjoy MLB Trade Rumors:

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Reds, Arredondo Nearing Two-Year Deal

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The Reds are nearing a two-year deal with right-handed reliever Jose Arredondo, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The 27-year-old had a projected 2012 salary of $1MM through arbitration.

Arredondo posted a 3.23 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 5.3 BB/9 and a 42.1% ground ball rate in 53 innings last year. A two-year deal would cover the first two of his four arbitration seasons (he's a super two player). Arredondo, who missed the 2010 season with Tommy John surgery, broke onto the scene in 2008 with an impressive debut season in Anaheim (1.62 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 51.2% ground ball rate in 61 innings).

Yankees, Hideki Matsui Have Been In Contact

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There has been some contact between Hideki Matsui and the Yankees this offseason, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The Yankees, who have also been in touch with Johnny Damon, appear to have just $1-2MM to spend on a DH. That would likely be enough to sign the 37-year-old Matsui, who’s coming off a disappointing season in Oakland.  

Matsui posted a .251/.321/.375 line with 12 homers in 583 plate appearances last year. He recovered from a slow start to produce better results in the second half (.753 OPS after July 1st), but the average DH posted a .265/.340/.429 line in 2011, so the positionless Matsui hasn’t drawn much interest. A return to Oakland doesn’t seem likely and no other teams have been publicly linked to the Wasserman Media Group client.

Orioles Interested In Francisco Cordero

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The Orioles have shown interest in Francisco Cordero, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. Talks between the free agent closer and the Orioles are preliminary, Connolly notes.

Jim Johnson is the current favorite to close games for manager Buck Showalter. The Orioles are open to trading Kevin Gregg and absorbing some of the $5.8MM he'll earn in 2012, Connolly reports. I find it hard to imagine a team taking on more than $1.5MM of Gregg's salary given the 53K/40BB ratio he posted in 2011 and the availability of other free agent relievers.

The Orioles discussed a Brandon League deal with the Mariners at the Winter Meetings and expressed interest in Seattle starter Jason Vargas at the time, according to Connolly. Jeremy Guthrie and Mark Reynolds also surfaced in the trade talks, Connolly reports. The Angels and Rays have also been linked to Cordero, who probably won't return to Cincinnati now that Ryan Madson is set to join the Reds.

Rockies Offer Jamie Moyer Minor League Deal

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The Rockies are waiting to see if 49-year-old left-hander Jamie Moyer will accept a minor league contract offer, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. The Rockies would give Moyer the chance to compete for a rotation spot while tutoring younger pitchers on the staff. 

Moyer pitched for the Phillies in 2010 and missed last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He worked out in front of scouts this offseason and appears to have impressed the Rockies. Renck reported earlier today that the Rockies offered a veteran pitcher a contract. 

Moyer owns a 267-204 career record with a 4.24 ERA in 24 MLB seasons. He posted a 4.84 ERA with 5.1 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 and a 44.1% ground ball rate for the 2010 Phillies. 14 of the players on Colorado's 40-man roster were not born when Moyer debuted with the Cubs in June of 1986.

NL Central Notes: Pujols, Beltran, Cubs, Aoki

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The Reds signed a catcher today and the Pirates avoided arbitration with a pair of pitchers. Here are some more notes from the NL Central…

  • Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said this weekend that his team must stay within certain financial limitations to put a competitive team on the field year after year, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The Cardinals would have liked to retain Albert Pujols, but keeping him wasn’t necessarily realistic. “It's how much can I afford to pay one player and put together a team that's going to be competitive? That's the whole jigsaw puzzle that all teams have,” DeWitt said.
  • Carlos Beltran said the Indians, Rays and Giants were among the finalists for his services this offseason, MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports. Beltran said another team offered a three-year deal worth less money, B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com tweets.
  • Cubs director of scouting and player development Jason McLeod said he's looking forward to meeting with his scouts this week to find ways of drafting more effectively under the new collective bargaining agreement, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
  • Tom Haudricourt on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets that there's an expectation that the Brewers will sign outfielder Norichika Aoki. They have until 4pm CDT tomorrow to sign Aoki, or else he’ll be returned to the Yakult Swallows and the Brewers will get their $2.5MM posting fee back.

iPhone App Users: Feedback Requested

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The second version of our Baseball Trade Rumors iPhone app came out recently, with plenty of upgrades.  In the name of constant improvement, we're already looking into what should be done for version 3.  The app's commenting feature needs a tune-up, and we're also looking into developing a similar app specifically for the iPad.  The price of the iPhone app will remain $2.99.  Beyond that, if you have purchased our iPhone app, what would you like to see added or changed?  Please click here to take the simple one-question survey.

Reds Sign Dioner Navarro

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The Reds signed catcher Dioner Navarro to a minor league deal, according to the team's Twitter feed.  He'll earn $800K plus $200K in incentives in the bigs, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.  Navarro, 28 in February, will provide veteran depth after catching tandem Devin Mesoraco and Ryan Hanigan.  He's represented by MDR Sports Management.

Navarro hit .193/.276/.324 in 202 plate appearances for the Dodgers last year, catching 428 innings.  He was designated for assignment in August.  The Reds' other non-roster invitees include Sean Gallagher, Ron Mahay, Kanekoa Texeira, Clay Zavada, and Corky Miller.

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