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Archives for February 2012

Wakefield To Decide On Future Soon

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Tim Wakefield may decide whether to pitch in 2012 by the weekend, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald reports. Red Sox GM Ben Cherington has said he expects to know soon whether there's a fit between his club and the 45-year-old knuckleballer.

“We’re discussing the options — and he has some options — and over the next few days, we’re going to try to figure it out,” agent Barry Meister told Lauber.

Wakefield posted a 5.12 ERA with 5.4 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 154 2/3 innings as a swingman for the 2011 Red Sox. 186 of his 200 career wins have been with the Red Sox, which means he's six victories away from tying Cy Young and Roger Clemens on Boston's all-time wins list.

Alderson: Mets’ Roster “Pretty Much There”

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Don’t expect the Mets to make substantial changes to their roster before Spring Training begins. GM Sandy Alderson told Dan Martin of the New York Post that he doesn’t intend to make major additions in the near future.

“We’re pretty much there,” Alderson said. “I don’t see what’s out there filling our specific needs.”

The Mets have postponed the search for a left-handed outfielder and are prepared to open the season with an outfield of Jason Bay, Andres Torres, Lucas Duda and Scott Hairston. Back in January, the Mets were linked to Jason Isringhausen and Alderson said Chris Young is “the kind of guy we might re-sign under the right circumstances." It’s not known whether the Mets are still considering bringing the pitchers back to New York.

Rich Harden To Miss 2012 Season

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Rich Harden will miss the 2012 season while he recovers from a shoulder operation, Peter Gammons of MLB Network reports on Twitter. Dr. James Andrews repaired a torn capsule in Harden's shoulder last week and the free agent right-hander aims to come back healthy in 2013.

Harden started 15 games for the 2011 Athletics, but he's no stranger to serious injuries, having spent much of the 2006 and 2007 seasons on the disabled list. The 30-year-old posted a 5.12 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 82 2/3 innings for the A's in 2011. He drew interest as a starter and as a reliever this offseason from teams such as the Rockies.

NL Central Notes: Greinke, Cardinals, Rodriguez

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All three of the National League's unsigned arbitration eligible players play in the NL Central, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows. Here are the latest links from the division…

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Padres, Cespedes, Ramirez

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The Dodgers signed 26-year-old right-hander Hideo Nomo on this date 17 years ago. Armed with an exceptionally deceptive delivery, Nomo struck out 236 batters and was named NL Rookie of the Year in 1995. Here are tonight's links, starting in L.A…

  • Michael Heisley, a billionaire who owns the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA, is bidding on the Dodgers, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports. The 75-year-old led one of the 11 bids that made it through the first round of cuts, Shaikin writes.
  • The Padres have the top farm system in baseball even though they don’t have a top-25 prospect, ESPN.com’s Keith Law writes. The Rays and Blue Jays round out Law’s top three and the White Sox rank 30th.
  • Jonathan Papelbon, Prince Fielder and Heath Bell make appearances on Dave Cameron’s list of the ten worst offseason moves at FanGraphs.
  • Free agent left-hander Horacio Ramirez will throw in front of scouts in Arizona tomorrow, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. The 32-year-old appeared in 12 games for the Angels last year, spending most of the season with their Triple-A affiliate.
  • Marlins officials met with Yoenis Cespedes in Miami today, showing him around the city and providing him with a tour of their new park, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com writes. Cespedes is currently blocked by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, though MLB has declared him a free agent.

Minor Moves: Crisotomo, Sardinha

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The latest minor moves from around MLB…

  • The Royals agreed to sign right-hander Branly Crisotomo for $98.5K, the Dominican Prospect League announced. Crisotomo's fastball generally sits in the 88-92 mph range and he throws a curve and change-up, according to the league press release.
  • The Orioles agreed to sign catcher Dane Sardinha to a minor league deal, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets. The 32-year-old appeared in 15 games for the Phillies last year and also has big league experience with the Tigers and Reds. Sardinha has a .216/.262/.328 line in 11 minor league seasons.

Contract Details: Pierre, Belisle, Andrus

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Juan Pierre, Matt Belisle and Elvis Andrus recently agreed to new deals; here are details on their respective contracts:

  • Pierre would earn $800K on the Major League roster and he could earn additional incentives based on plate appearances, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The outfielder signed a minor league deal with the Phillies last week.
  • Belisle will earn $4.1MM in 2013 and his extension includes a mutual option worth $4.25MM for 2014, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. If Belisle accepts his half of the option, the Rockies can still decline for $250K. The deal includes $450K in incentives for games finished.
  • Andrus gets a signing bonus of $750K, $2.375MM in 2012, $4.8MM in 2013, and $6.475MM in 2014, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets.

AL West Links: Beane, Athletics, Andrus

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Four years ago today, the Mariners acquired Erik Bedard from the Orioles in exchange for five players: Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Kameron Mickolio, and Tony Butler. The deal was one of our Trades of the Decade. Here's the latest from the AL West…

  • Athletics GM Billy Beane recently signed a lengthy contract extension, though ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider req'd) opines that losing may wear on him if the team doesn't get back into contention. He wonders if a potential new Dodgers owners could come calling in the near future.
  • If the Athletics do move to San Jose, owner Lew Wolff says they would be labeled the San Jose A's, reports Joe Stiglich of The Bay Area News (on Twitter).
  • The Rangers bought out Elvis Andrus' three arbitration years, but assistant GM Thad Levine told Richard Durrett of ESPN Texas that the club does want to keep him beyond that.

Diamondbacks Avoid Arbitration With Craig Breslow

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The Diamondbacks and Craig Breslow have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $1.795MM reports Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe (on Twitter). The Baratta Partners client filed for $2.1MM while the team countered with $1.5MM as our Arbitration Tracker shows.

Breslow, 31, came to Arizona in the Trevor Cahill trade. The lefty reliever pitched to a 3.79 ERA in 59 1/3 innings last season with the Athletics, though left-handed hitters tagged him for a .352/.394/.473 batting line in exactly 100 plate appearances. All of the Diamondbacks' arbitration-eligible players are now under contract for 2012.

Astros, Lowrie Avoid Arbitration

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The Astros announced that they avoided arbitration with infielder Jed Lowrie, signing him to a one-year contract for 2012. CAA represents Lowrie, who joined the Astros in the December trade that sent Mark Melancon to Boston. Lowrie's deal is worth $1.15MM plus performance bonuses, CAA tweets.

As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, first-year GM Jeff Luhnow has now avoided arbitration with all of the team's eligible players. Lowrie filed for $1.5MM and the Astros countered with an offer of $900K for a midpoint of $1.2MM.

Lowrie posted a .252/.303/.382 line with six home runs as a shortstop/third baseman in Boston last year. Mike Aviles, Robert Andino and Blake DeWitt were relevant to his case, as I explained this afternoon.

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