Mike Axisa | MLB Trade Rumors

Giants, Yanks Swap Chris Stewart For George Kontos

By Mike Axisa | April 4, 2012 at 2:32pm CDT

2:32pm: The Yankees have acquired Stewart in exchange for right-hander George Kontos, reports MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (on Twitter).

Kontos, 26, allowed two runs in six innings for New York last September, his big league debut. He pitched to a 2.62 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 89 1/3 Triple-A innings.

2:13pm: Shea hears that Stewart is being traded to the Yankees, but it is not official and the team hasn't announced anything yet (Twitter link).

1:53pm: The Giants will trade Chris Stewart according to John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). The deal is pending at the moment. The backstop is out of options.

Stewart, 30, hit .204/.283/.309 in 183 plate appearances with the Giants last season after Buster Posey's injury. A release from the team says the trade will be announced later today. The details are unknown.

Cubs Claim Luis Valbuena

By Mike Axisa | April 4, 2012 at 2:18pm CDT

2:18pm: The Cubs have claimed Valbuena, reports ESPN's Keith Law (on Twitter).

2:04pm: Luis Valbuena has been claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays by an unknown team, reports Richard Griffin of The Toronto Star (on Twitter). He is out of options.

Valbuena, 26, was traded from the Indians to the Blue Jays in November. He spent the majority of 2011 with Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate where he hit .302/.372/.476 with 17 homers in 472 plate appearances. The infielder played 194 games for the Indians' varsity squad in 2009 and 2010 and saw a good deal of time at second base.

Cardinals Acquire Cedric Hunter

By Mike Axisa | April 4, 2012 at 1:22pm CDT

The Cardinals have acquired Cedric Hunter from the Athletics for future considerations, reports Brian Walton of TheCardinalNation.com. Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch confirmed the move (on Twitter). Hunter has been assigned to Triple-A.

Hunter, 24, was with Oakland after being claimed off waivers from the Padres in October. He had one hit and one walk in five plate appearances for San Diego last season, also putting up a .255/.322/.358 in 316 Triple-A plate appearances. Baseball America ranked him as the Padres top prospect back in 2007.

Brewers Claim Josh Stinson

By Mike Axisa | April 4, 2012 at 1:06pm CDT

The Brewers have claimed Josh Stinson off waivers from the Mets, reports ESPN New York's Adam Rubin (on Twitter). New York waived the right-hander earlier today. Stinson, 24, appeared in 14 games with the Mets last year, but spent most of the season in the upper minors, where he posted a 5.94 ERA in 109 innings.

Indians Designate Thomas Neal, Release Felix Pie

By Mike Axisa | April 4, 2012 at 1:04pm CDT

The Indians have designated Thomas Neal for assignment and released Felix Pie, reports MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (on Twitter). In related moves, Grady Sizemore was placed on the 60-day DL while Dan Wheeler and Jose Lopez were added to the roster. Jeremy Accardo, Ryan Spilborghs, and Rick Vandehurk will all report to Triple-A.

Neal, 24, was part of the trade that send Orlando Cabrera from the Indians to the Giants at least year's deadline. He hit .289/.343/.391 in 277 plate appearances split between Double and Triple-A last year. Pie, 27, is a .249/.298/.374 career hitter in over 1,000 big league plate appearances, most coming with the Orioles.

Rangers Sign Aaron Heilman

By Mike Axisa | April 4, 2012 at 12:05pm CDT

The Rangers have signed right-hander Aaron Heilman to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A, reports Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com (on Twitter). The Mariners released the Frontline Sports client over the weekend.

Heilman spent the first half of the 2011 campaign with the Diamondbacks, who released him in July after he posted a 6.88 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 28.5% ground ball rate in 35 1/3 innings. He later signed minor league deals with the Phillies and Pirates, but didn't pitch at the Major League level after July 15th. One fifth of fly balls against him left the yard in 2011, a major reason for his unsightly ERA.

Rangers Designate Cody Eppley For Assignment

By Mike Axisa | April 4, 2012 at 12:04pm CDT

The Rangers have designated Cody Eppley for assignment, reports Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com (on Twitter). The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for the Rangers.

Eppley appeared in ten games with the Rangers early on last year, but spent most of the season at Triple-A. The 26-year-old right-hander posted a 3.90 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 55 1/3 innings of relief with Round Rock.

Quick Hits: Cain, Lester, Bumgarner, Votto, Vazquez

By Mike Axisa | April 2, 2012 at 10:29pm CDT

We saw not one, but two historic contract extensions handed out today. Here's the latest from around the league…

"I did not seriously think so. The truth is, I don't have to," said Matt Cain to John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle when asked if he had thought about pitching for the rival Dodgers (Twitter link). The Giants and Cain agreed to a five-year, $112.5MM contract extension today.
Earlier today we heard from Zack Greinke, and tonight WEEI.com's Rob Bradford wrote about what Cain's deal could mean for Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester. Lester can become a free agent after 2014, assuming his option is picked up.
ESPN's Jim Bowden says not to be surprised if the Giants lock up Madison Bumgarner and not Tim Lincecum at some point during the next two seasons following the Cain deal.
Joey Votto's ten-year, $225MM extension is "going to have lasting repercussions on the sport," says Dave Cameron of FanGraphs. Meanwhile, ESPN's Keith Law says it's "an extension [the Reds] almost certainly will regret before it reaches its halfway point."
“I’m reserving the right to use that word retire, I guess.” said Javier Vazquez to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. “I’m not planning on playing, but I don’t want to retire, because I don’t want to say I’m retired and then come back. I want to make sure. Right now, I’m not planning on coming back or anything.”

Details Of Carlos Lee’s No-Trade Clause

By Mike Axisa | April 2, 2012 at 9:25pm CDT

Carlos Lee has 13 years in the big leagues and has spent the last five with the Astros, but he doesn't have traditional 10-and-5 no-trade protection according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Lee agreed to waive his 10-and-5 rights in exchange for full no-trade protection during the first four years of his contract. He can still block trades to 14 unknown teams this year.

Lee, 35, signed a six-year, $100MM contract with the Astros prior to the 2007 season. He's hit .286/.338/.486 during the life of the contract, though his home run total has declined every year since 2006. The rebuilding Astros have little use for player like Lee, but it's likely they'll have to eat a substantial portion of his $18.5MM salary to facilitate a trade this summer.

The Latest On Zack Greinke

By Mike Axisa | April 2, 2012 at 8:29pm CDT

Brewers right-hander Zack Greinke spoke to reporters about a variety of contract-related topics today. Here's a recap courtesy of MLB.com's Adam McCalvy and Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel (all Twitter links)…

“We’ll see,” said Greinke when asked if Matt Cain's extension will impact his extension talks with the Brewers. “Obviously, he’s really good. I can’t really get into if I think I compare to him or I don’t think I compare to him. That’s more business stuff I don’t feel like giving y’all my opinion on.”
Greinke said the only person he's spoken to about his contract situation is his wife, so he's unsure where reports of him being close to hiring an agent are coming from. "Sometimes it's accurate; sometimes it's not," he said. "I don't want to say what's accurate and what's not … Especially with business stuff, I don't think it's important for you guys to know until it actually comes out."
ESPN's Buster Olney says (on Twitter) that Greinke's market as a free agent next offseason will be more limited than Cole Hamels' given "[his] past." Some teams could avoid him all together.

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