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Archives for January 2012

Giants To Sign Ryan Theriot

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The Giants have agreed to sign free agent infielder Ryan Theriot, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client obtains a one-year deal worth $1.25MM that includes $750K in incentives.

Theriot spent the 2011 season playing shortstop and second base for the Cardinals, who non-tendered him in December. At the plate, the 32-year-old posted a .271/.321/.342 line in 483 plate appearances. He will join middle infielders Freddy Sanchez, Brandon Crawford and Emmanuel Burriss in San Francisco, where he'll also be reunited with former Cubs teammate Mike Fontenot. Theriot owns a .282/.344/.353 line in seven MLB seasons.

Phillies Sign Juan Pierre

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The Phillies have signed Juan Pierre to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to Spring Training, the team announced. Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com first reported the deal (on Twitter). SFX represents Pierre, who joins a left field mix that includes John Mayberry, Laynce Nix and Domonic Brown.

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. 

The Mets and Tigers were also linked to Pierre this offseason. He placed 43rd on MLBTR's list of top free agents entering the offseason.

Yankees Interested In Raul Ibanez

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The Yankees have interest in Raul Ibanez, Kevin Kernan of the New York Post reports. Ibanez has drawn interest from a number of clubs, including the Mets and Tigers, in recent weeks. We heard ten days ago that ACES had contacted the Yankees about Ibanez, but this is the first concrete indication that the interest is mutual.

Ibanez posted a .245/.289/.419 line with 20 home runs in 575 plate appearances as the Phillies' everyday left fielder last year. The 39-year-old could provide the Yankees with an option at designated hitter or in the corner outfield positions. He owns a .286/.351/.488 line against right-handed pitching in 16 MLB seasons. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggested earlier today that Ibanez would be a good fit in the Bronx (Twitter link).

Results For Modified Type A Free Agents

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When baseball's players and owners announced the new collective bargaining agreement in November, they introduced dozens of changes to the game, including one that mattered a great deal to a subset of free agents. Beginning in the 1980s, teams had to surrender draft picks to sign Type A free agents who rejected offers of arbitration from their former teams. This penalty made it difficult for many non-elite Type A players to generate interest, seams teams were hesitant to surrender a draft pick for anything less than a star.

For the 2011-12 offseason, players and owners agreed to modify the procedure for Type A free agents. The sides determined that teams should only surrender picks for the best free agents, and that it should no longer cost draft picks to sign 11 Type A players. Here's a look at how those 11 players fared this offseason, when their leverage wasn't diminished by their Type A ranking (players sorted by guaranteed conract value):

While it's impossible to know how this group would have done if the players above had been tied to draft pick compensation, it's safe to assume they wouldn't have done any better (no team wants to surrender draft picks). In previous offseasons, someone like Dotel might have still have been waiting for a job at this point in the winter. I believe the procedural changes provided these 11 players with additional leverage and, as a result, more guaranteed money.

Reds, Arredondo Avoid Arbitration

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11:02pm: The deal is worth $2MM over two years, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.

6:57pm: The Reds and reliever Jose Arredondo have avoided arbitration by agreeing to terms on a two-year contract, the team announced via Twitter.

Arredondo, a right-hander, was eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason as a Super Two, so he'll have two remaining years of arbitration eligibility after this deal expires. He's slated to hit free agency after the 2015 season.

Arredondo, 28 in March, rebounded with the Reds in 2011, his first season in Cincinnati, after missing the entire 2010 campaign due to Tommy John surgery. He burst onto the Major League scene in 2008 with the Angels, posting a 1.62 ERA in 61 innings for Anaheim.

For his career, the native Dominican has put up a 3.40 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 8.5 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 159 innings.

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com first reported the sides were nearing a two-year deal last week.

Quick Hits: Francis, Cespedes, CBA

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A few stray items to pass along as the night winds down …

  • Jeff Francis, who agreed to terms with the Reds on a minor league deal, can earn a base salary of $1.5MM if he makes the big league club, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. The deal could be worth as much as $3.25MM with incentives and includes a March 28 opt-out clause, reports Crasnick (Twitter links).
  • The Orioles remain interested in signing Yoenis Cespedes, according to Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun, and will send a contingent to further scout the Cuban free agent in next week's Carribean Series in the Dominican Republic.
  • Several general managers of small- and mid-market clubs are concerned the new labor agreement has furthered the divide between baseballs haves and have-nots, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com. In particular, the greater the number of teams that continue to shell out massive contracts, the more it encourages players on small-market clubs to refrain from signing extensions prior to free agency.
  • Brad Lidge told the Phillies he wanted to stay in Philly, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN, but they apparently had no interest in retaining the right-hander. We heard earlier today that the Phils made a "lowball" offer to Lidge, who instead agreed to terms with the Nats.
  • MLBTR's Tim Dierkes appeared on Tuesday's BP Podcast with Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. You can download the mp3 or listen through iTunes.

AL West Notes: Uehara, Ichiro, Manny, Cardenas

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A few items of note to share from the AL West …

  • There's a "good chance" the Rangers will trade reliever Koji Uehara, sources tell T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. On Tuesday we heard that Uehara vetoed an agreed-upon trade between the Rangers and Blue Jays, so it's not too surprising to hear that Texas is still shopping the right-hander. There are a number of teams interested in Uehara, according to Sullivan, and the Rangers "like what they are hearing" in terms of potential return.
  • The Mariners and Ichiro Suzuki have agreed to table extensions talks, perhaps till after the 2012 season, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, meaning the 11-year veteran, who's spent his entire career to date with the M's, could enter free agency for the first time.
  • Athletics managing partner Lew Wolff said he would be OK with signing Manny Ramirez, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, although the decision is ultimately up to GM Billy Beane (Twitter links). Said Wolff: "I wouldn't want to not have a player because he made a mistake and paid the price for it …"
  • The A's hope Adrian Cardenas clears waivers so they can retain him, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Cardenas was designated for assignment earlier today.

Minors Moves: De La Torre, Rohlinger

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A couple of minor league transactions to pass along. We'll add to this list if anything else comes in tonight …

  • The Indians announced they've signed right-hander Jose De La Torre and infielder Ryan Rohlinger to minor league contracts. De La Torre, 26, has struck out 277 batters in 265 2/3 career minor league innings. He's spent his career to date in the Mets farm system. Ry-Ro, 28, had cups of coffee with the Giants each of the past four seasons before moving on to the Rockies' organization last year.

Giants Agree To Sign Clay Hensley

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8:02pm: The contract is non-guaranteed, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, meaning Hensley will have to win a job in Spring Training.

7:34pm: The Giants have agreed to terms with reliever Clay Hensley on a Major League contract, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, who adds the deal is worth $750K in base salary with an additional $300K at stake in incentives (Twitter links).

Hensley, 32, became a free agent when he was non-tendered by the Marlins in December. He was projected to earn $1.4MM in his second trip through arbitration, a price tag that Miami was apparently uncomfortable with.

In 466 1/3 career innings with the Padres and Marlins, the right-hander has posted a 3.94 ERA and 1.35 WHIP, spending some of that time as a starter. His best season out of the bullpen came in 2010 with the Fish, when he posted a strong 9.24 K/9, 3.48 BB/9 and 53.4% GB rate.

For all you trivia buffs, Hensley served up Barry Bonds' 755th career homer, which tied the slugger with Hank Aaron on the all-time leaderboard.

Mets Monitoring Outfield Market

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The Mets are "diligently monitoring" the market for left-handed-hitting outfielders such as Johnny Damon, Kosuke Fukudome, Rick Ankiel, Raul Ibanez and Juan Pierre, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. Crasnick adds that the surplus of players who fit that bill affords the cash-strapped Mets with some much-needed negotiating leverage (Twitter links).

Andres Torres is the Mets' projected starting center fielder, and he'll be flanked by Jason Bay in left and perhaps a platoon of Scott Hairston and Lucas Duda in right, so it's unclear as to what role one of the above-mentioned players would fill.

As our Transaction Tracker shows, it's been a pretty quiet offseason for the Mets, their most notable moves being the acquisitions of Torres and relievers Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez.

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