West Notes: Shields, Rangers, Saunders
James Shields rejected a four-year, $80MM offer from the Giants before signing with the Padres for $5MM less, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman writes. The Giants rescinded the offer once they re-signed Jake Peavy, however, so by the time Shields actually signed, the Cubs and Marlins were probably the Padres’ top rivals for Shields. Shields’ agent, Page Odle, says his client received more than one offer with a higher average annual value than the one he ultimately accepted from the Padres, confirming that Shields’ desires to play near his home outside San Diego and to for a revamped Padres team were quite strong. Odle implies, though, that another factor might have been that the Giants’ offer simply came too early in the offseason, and that he and Shields wanted more time to make a decision. Odle also says he and Shields did not reject a $110MM offer, as had been reported last month. Here are more notes from the West divisions.
- The Rangers have three pitchers in Yu Darvish, Yovani Gallardo and Neftali Feliz who look like they could be extension candidates, but the team has no plans to extend any of them during Spring Training, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. “There is nothing in the works right now,” says GM Jon Daniels. Darvish is signed through 2017, but can become a free agent a year earlier if he wins a Cy Young award in one of the next two seasons or finishes between second and fourth in both of them. “Counterintuitively, I’m rooting for him to be able to void that last year,” says Daniels, suggesting that the year lost will be positive if Darvish performs well enough to finish at or near the top in Cy Young balloting in one or both of the next two seasons.
- Manager Lloyd McClendon says the Mariners will use newly signed lefty Joe Saunders purely as a reliever, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets. The 33-year-old Saunders has pitched almost his entire career as a starter, but he made six relief appearances for the Orioles last season.
Ben Cherington Has Extension With Red Sox
GM Ben Cherington and the Red Sox at some point agreed to a contract extension beyond 2015, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. When Cherington agreed to the deal isn’t known, and neither are its terms. Cherington received a contract upon becoming GM in 2011, but he is now signed to a new deal that hadn’t previously been made public.
“I’m under contract. I have a contract,” said Cherington at a press conference today to discuss manager John Farrell’s new deal. “We understand that contracts for people in uniform are important and need to be discussed. … I have a contract. I’m in good shape. There’s no issue. Glad to be working with [principal owner John Henry] and the rest of the group.”
Since Cherington became general manager, the Red Sox have had two losing seasons out of three, but Cherington’s moves to remake the team following an ugly 2012 season helped the Red Sox to a 2013 World Series win and Cherington to a Sporting News Executive of the Year award. This offseason, his big acquisitions have included Pablo Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez, Rick Porcello, Justin Masterson and Wade Miley, and he signed Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo late last season.
Blue Jays Sign Chris Dickerson
The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve signed outfielder Chris Dickerson to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Dickerson is represented by MVP Sports Group.
In 2014, the 32-year-old Dickerson hit .309/.407/.479 in a terrific half-season with the Pirates’ Triple-A Indianapolis affiliate before heading in a minor trade to Cleveland, where he hit .224/.309/.327 in 112 plate appearances. The veteran has a career .257/.335/.395 line in parts of seven seasons, providing teams with a reasonable left-handed bench option who can play all three outfield spots. The Blue Jays are a bit thin in their outfield, so Dickerson could compete for a bench job.
Mariners Defeat Tom Wilhelmsen In Arbitration
The Mariners have won their arbitration hearing against reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. Wilhelmsen had asked for $2.2MM, but he will instead receive a 2015 salary of $1.4MM.
Wilhelmsen, 31, is coming off a strong year in which he posted a 2.27 ERA in 79 1/3 innings. His peripherals (8.2 K/9, 4.1 BB/9) and track record suggest he isn’t likely to sustain an ERA that strong, but he has a terrific mid-90s fastball, and he’ll continue to pitch in a pitcher-friendly ballpark.
Wilhelmsen might have made more through the arbitration system this winter had he continued as the Mariners’ closer — he saved 53 games in 2012 and 2013 combined, but only one in 2014 after the team signed Fernando Rodney. Wilhelmsen has two more years of arbitration eligibility, and is currently eligible for free agency following the 2017 season.
Dodgers Sign Brandon Beachy
The Dodgers have announced that they’ve signed righty Brandon Beachy to a one-year deal. Beachy will receive $2.75MM, and the Dodgers will get a club option for 2016 that can be worth between $3MM and $6MM depending on how much Beachy pitches in 2015. To clear space for Beachy on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers moved pitcher Chris Withrow to the 60-day DL. Beachy is represented by Icon Sports Management.
Beachy missed the entire 2014 season after having his second Tommy John surgery and will likely spend the first part of the 2015 season on the disabled list. As Rosenthal notes, though, Beachy gives the Dodgers an extra starting pitching option for 2016 after a 2015-16 offseason in which Brett Anderson and perhaps Zack Greinke (who has an opt-out) could depart via free agency. Once Beachy is healthy, he’ll join Anderson and Brandon McCarthy as newcomers to the Dodgers’ group of rotation candidates.
Should Beachy return to form, he could end up being very helpful — the 28-year-old has a career 3.23 ERA with an excellent 9.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in parts of four seasons with the Braves, giving him upside that’s rare in a pitcher signed to a one-year deal. Finding a pitcher with Beachy’s talent is especially tricky at this point in the offseason — the free agent starting pitching market is now largely bare, with Kevin Correia, Randy Wolf and Chris Young as the only significant free agents remaining. It’s not yet clear, however, how well Beachy will pitch after having surgery for the second time in three years.
Atlanta non-tendered Beachy earlier this offseason. He still only has four years and 14 days of service time, so as MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted earlier this month, he would have had two years of team control remaining regardless of the terms of his new deal. The Dodgers’ club option for 2016 means they won’t have to take him through the arbitration process for his last year before he becomes eligible for free agency.
FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the deal (via Twitter). CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweeted that Beachy would receive $2.75MM guaranteed. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweeted the terms of the Dodgers’ 2016 option.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor Moves: Daniel Cabrera
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.
- The Reds have signed righty Daniel Cabrera to a minor-league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets. Cabrera, who last appeared in the big leagues in 2009, issued 520 walks in 892 1/3 innings over parts of six seasons, frequently frustrating his teams despite his terrific velocity. The 33-year-old spent the last two years starting for Chunichi in Japan, posting a combined 3.49 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. He then pitched for Leones de Escogido in Dominican winter ball this offseason and walked 11 batters in 12 2/3 innings, struggling with the control issues that dogged him throughout his big-league career.
Zimmermann Not Willing To Talk Extension After Season Starts
Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann is willing to discuss a contract extension during Spring Training, but not during the season, CSNWashington.com’s Mark Zuckerman tweets. Zimmermann’s stance would effectively set a deadline on extension talks, since the pitcher can become eligible for free agency after the season. The two sides have not made progress recently, Zimmermann says.
In December, the Nationals were reportedly planning to try to extend Zimmermann, but he was the subject of trade rumors later in the offseason. The Nats also signed Max Scherzer to a huge seven-year deal, possibly reducing both their ability to pay Zimmermann and their need to keep him long-term. If the Nationals don’t sign Zimmermann, he’ll join a loaded 2015-16 class of free-agent pitchers that also could include David Price, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Rick Porcello along with Zimmermann’s fellow Nationals starter Doug Fister and possibly Zack Greinke. Zimmermann currently ranks sixth (behind Price and Cueto) in Tim Dierkes’ 2016 Free Agent Power Rankings.
Red Sox Extend John Farrell
The Red Sox have announced that they’ve extended manager John Farrell through the 2017 season with an option for 2018. The deal adds one year plus an option to Farrell’s current deal, which continues through 2015 with a team option for 2016.
Farrell replaced Bobby Valentine following the 2012 season and led the Red Sox to a World Series win the following season, winning the Sporting News AL Manager of the Year award and finishing second in BBWAA AL Manager of the Year voting. Last season, the Red Sox fell to last place, and Farrell now owns a 168-156 record in two years with the team. Farrell also led the Blue Jays to a 154-170 record as their manager during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Orioles Defeat Alejandro De Aza In Arbitration
The Orioles have won their arbitration case against outfielder Alejandro De Aza, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun tweets. De Aza, who had filed for $5.65MM, will make $5MM next season in his last year before free agency eligibility.
De Aza made $4.25MM last season, so his $5MM 2015 salary will represent only a relatively modest raise. He had been in the midst of a disappointing season with the White Sox before arriving in Baltimore after an August trade. A strong stretch run with the Orioles helped save his season, but he still experienced overall declines (some of them admittedly slight) in most offensive categories, hitting .252/.314/.386 with just eight home runs for the season.
Via MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker, the Orioles have now either settled or completed the arbitration process with all 11 of their arb-eligible players. They will pay a total of about $57.5MM to those players, including Chris Davis at $12MM, Bud Norris at $8.8MM and Matt Wieters at $8.3MM.
Week In Review: 2/14/15 – 2/20/15
Here’s a look back at this week at MLBTR.
Extensions
- Royals – signed IF Eric Hosmer to a two-year deal, avoiding arbitration
Arbitration
- Braves – lost arbitration case to P Mike Minor
- Diamondbacks – lost arbitration case to OF Mark Trumbo
- Pirates – lost arbitration case to IF Pedro Alvarez
- Rockies – won arbitration case against C Wilin Rosario
Options
- Nationals – exercised option on manager Matt Williams for 2016
Trades
- Pirates – acquired P Steven Brault from Orioles to complete Travis Snider trade
Outrighted
- Padres – P Aaron Northcraft (link)
Retired
- DH Jason Giambi (link)
Key Minor League Signings
- Yankees – P Jared Burton (link)
- Mariners – P Joe Saunders (link)
- Royals – P Franklin Morales (link)
- Indians – P Bruce Chen (link)
- Angels – P Matt Lindstrom (link)
- Orioles – IF Jayson Nix (link)
- Marlins – OF Reed Johnson (link)
- Athletics – P Barry Zito (link)
- Dodgers – P David Aardsma (link)
- Rangers – P Jamey Wright (link)