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Cubs Claim Liam Hendriks

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The Cubs have claimed right-hander Liam Hendriks off waivers from the Twins, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (on Twitter). Hendriks had been designated for assignment last week to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Phil Hughes.

Hendriks, still just 24 years old, makes for a nice buy-low option for the Cubs. The 25-year-old ranked sixth and seventh on the Baseball America's Top 10 Twins prospects lists from 2010-11 and has a solid minor league history. The Australian righty has a 3.61 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 254 career innings at Triple-A and a career 2.99 ERA in the minors as a whole.

Hendriks has been unable to put it together in three Major League stints, however, as evidenced by his bloated 6.06 ERA in 156 innings. He's averaged 5.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in those 156 frames to go along with a below-average 40.4 percent ground-ball rate. Hendriks barely averages better than 90 mph on his fastball, leading to too much hard contact when it's in the zone, as evidenced by a 23.3 percent line-drive rate from his opponents that has helped bloat his career BABIP to .330.

In their most recent write-up of Hendriks (prior to the 2011 campaign), Baseball America noted that Hendriks had the ceiling of a No. 3 starter if he could continue to keep his fastball down in the zone to pair with a solid slider and above-average changeup.

Blue Jays Notes: Rasmus, Samardzija, Anthopoulos

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Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos spoke with reporters at the conclusion of the Winter Meetings today.  Sportsnet.ca's Ben Nicholson-Smith (in two seperate pieces) and the Toronto Sun's Bob Elliott have the highlights of Anthopoulos' talk, as well as a few other hot stove items…

  • Anthopoulos didn't say whether or not he'd recently discussed a contract extension with Colby Rasmus, who is eligible for free agency next winter.  Rasmus has raised his value after a big 2013 campaign, though Anthopoulos noted that larger-market teams like Toronto had the luxury of waiting before locking players up.  "We don’t mind paying a little more to be sure we get a little more information," Anthopoulos said.
  • Rasmus' name reportedly emerged in trade talks for starting pitching.  While Anthopoulos noted that "no one is untradeable," he also added that "for us to move an everyday position player and feel like we can get better, that would be hard to do."
  • The Cubs are asking for Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and a third prospect from the Blue Jays for Jeff Samardzija, Elliott reports.  Anthopoulos recently said he was constantly being asked about Stroman and Sanchez, the Jays' top two pitching prospects, in possible deals.
  • The Blue Jays have been approached by teams looking to add power hitters.   "The one thing we have is power and there’s not a lot of power on the market and the free-agent prices don’t work….We haven’t lined up anything,” Anthopoulos said.
  • The Jays have three starting pitchers targeted and Anthopoulos says a fourth pitcher could also be in play.  “We’re not going to close the door on the fourth,” the GM said. “The fourth is a little more challenging, but I think there could be a domino effect with the fourth if we do some other things.”
  • The signing of Tomo Ohka adds another knuckleballer to the organization and Anthopoulos hinted that the team may add more knuckleballers to prepare their catchers for the challenge of handling R.A. Dickey.  “To be honest, we’ll look to add some more guys if we can….We may look to get some other guys that we think can be guys to convert," Anthopoulos said.
  • The Jays are looking to add an international free agent, Nicholson-Smith reports, so the trade of Rule 5 draft pick Brian Moran to the Angels for $244K of extra space under the international spending cap helped Toronto prepare for this potential signing.  The Blue Jays attempted to acquire international cap space from the Phillies earlier this winter but were turned down.

NL East Notes: Papelbon, Braves, Samardzija, Nats

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Trading Jonathan Papelbon wouldn't solve much for the Phillies at this point, opines Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com. Seidman runs down a possible scenario in which the Phillies ate $6MM to move Papelbon, noting that GM Ruben Amaro Jr. would then still try to sign a replacement. Names like Grant Balfour and Joaquin Benoit could cost upwards of $10MM per season anyhow, meaning the Phillies may not even save much money should that scenario play out. Papelbon will have more value to teams at the trade deadline when fewer quality options are available, writes Seidman. Here's more from the NL East…

  • David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that the Braves have approached some of their young stars about extensions over the past two years but felt they'd have to overpay to get something done.
  • O'Brien also runs down the Braves needs on the heels of a quiet Winter Meetings, noting that they're optimistic about re-signing Eric O'Flaherty. Atlanta is still pursuing a veteran bench bat — O'Brien mentions Eric Chavez — and are still interested in Jeff Samardzija. The Braves may be considered the favorites to land Samardzija at this point, says O'Brien, noting that payroll constraints will likely preclude them from pursuing David Price.
  • After adding to their rotation, bench and bullpen, the Nationals will now turn their focus to extending Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Should the Nats be unable to extend Zimmermann, they may be forced to consider trading him this time next season, one source told Kilgore.
  • Nate McLouth spoke to former teammate Adam LaRoche (whom he called one of his favorite teammates ever) and asked what the Nationals clubhouse was like before deciding to sign there, writes Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. McLouth doesn't hold ill will toward the Orioles for not retaining him.

Marlins, Cubs Swap Ruggiano For Bogusevic

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The Marlins announced that they have traded outfielder Justin Ruggiano to the Cubs for outfielder Brian Bogusevic.

Ruggiano, who turns 32 in April, wasn't able to repeat a breakout 2012 campaign that saw him bat .313/.374/.535 with 13 homers and 14 steals in 91 games for the Marlins. The Texas A&M product slipped to a .222/.298/.396 batting line in 2013, though he did continue to show plus power and speed; Ruggiano posted career-bests in homers (18) and stolen bases (15) in a career-high 472 plate appearances.

Bogusevic, set to turn 30 in February, batted .273/.323/.462 in 155 PAs for the Cubs in 2013. He's a career .236/.313/.370 hitter in 773 trips to the plate, suggesting that he's unlikely to continue that trend. However, like Ruggiano, he can play all three outfield spots. Defensive metrics have been more kind to Bogusevic than Ruggiano, and Bogusevic is not yet arbitration eligible. Ruggiano, on the other hand, projected to earn $1.8MM this season (per MLBTR's Matt Swartz). Essentially, the Marlins improved a bit defensively and saved some money at the expense of some right-handed pop.

NL Central Links: Walker, Alvarez, Cards, Rule 5

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Let's round up a few morning updates from around the NL Central….

NL Central Notes: Cubs, Cards, Weeks, Carpenter

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We've already passed along several of Scott Boras' more newsworthy comments from Wednesday's scrum with reporters in Orlando, but one of the superagent's most notable barbs was reserved for the Cubs. Boras likened Chicago's rebuilding process to a lollipop that takes all day to dissolve, suggesting that a major-market team should be retooling more rapidly. Although team president Theo Epstein wasn't surprised by Boras' remarks, he declined to shoot back.

"We’re not going to get into a war of words with Scott other than to say the folks who work for the Cubs probably have a better understanding of our situation than he does," Epstein said, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Here's more from around the NL Central:

Free Agent Rumors: Cruz, Benoit, Valverde, Giants

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As Day Three of the Winter Meetings in Orlando comes to a close, plenty of free agents are still seeking new teams. Here are the latest updates on a few of them:

  • Rockies people tell Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link) that nothing has changed with Nelson Cruz. There's interest in the free agent outfielder, but it's not being characterized as serious at this point.
  • The Mariners have been ardent Cruz pursuers from the start of the winter, and one baseball source tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com they'll continue to be in the mix for him even after adding Robinson Cano, Corey Hart, and Logan Morrison.
  • Teams believe reliever Joaquin Benoit's likeliest destinations are the Indians, Padres, Mariners, Cubs, or Yankees, tweets Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.
  • Agent Scott Boras says client Jose Valverde, who turns 36 in March, intends to continue his big league career and has drawn interest from two big league teams, writes James Schmehl of MLive.com. The Tigers released their former closer in August after his Triple-A reboot didn't go as well as he hoped.
  • Earlier in the evening, assistant GM Bobby Evans expressed optimism that San Francisco would find a left fielder by trade or free agency by the day's end, with Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com naming Franklin Gutierrez as a candidate. However, the Giants no longer expect resolution on their left field situation tonight, says Baggarly (via Twitter). The CSN Bay Area scribe also takes a more in-depth look at some of the club's options.
  • Catcher Kurt Suzuki is talking with the Rockies, Cubs, and Twins, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Latest On Jeff Samardzija

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Our last few updates on Jeff Samardzija came back on Monday, but the Cubs pitcher's name is back in the rumor mill today, with an earlier report suggesting that the Diamondbacks may no longer be in the mix now that they've agreed to send Tyler Skaggs back to the Angels. Here are the latest updates on Samardzija:

  • There was no resolution to Samardzija's long-term solution following his sitdown with the Cubs today, but team president Theo Epstein called it a "great meeting," according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago. "There is no trade imminent," Epstein said. "We'll see what happens. We hope he's here for a long time."
  • Sources tell Rogers that if Samardzija were to sign an extension, he'd be seeking a deal that would pay him as if he's a free agent, as a trade-off for agreeing to stick with the Cubs through their rebuilding process. Based on Samardzija's reported asking price on a new contract and the team's reported asking price in trade talks, neither an extension nor a trade seems all that likely right now.

Earlier updates:

  • The Cubs are meeting again today with Samardzija to discuss a possible extension, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. According to Sherman, the Cubs aren't hearing what they were hoping for in trade talks, which might make the team more likely to pursue a long-term deal. However, the right-hander isn't overly anxious to commit long-term since he's not sure when the Cubs will contend, says Sherman (Twitter links).
  • Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that due to the Cubs' high asking price for Samardzija, it seems likely the club will ultimately revisit trade discussions in the summer rather than completing a deal during the offseason.

Minor Moves: Wilk, Martin, Hottovy

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Tonight's minor moves..

  • Former Tigers left-hander Adam Wilk spent the past season in Korea but plans to return to MLB in 2014, agent Steve Canter tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
  • Former Nationals and Rays right-hander J.D. Martin has signed with Korea's Samsung Lions, Canter tells Morosi (via Twitter).  The Rays designated Martin for assignment in September.  Martin was outstanding in 160 1/3 innings for Triple-A Durham this year, posting a 2.75 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 and winning International League Most Valuable Pitcher honors. The 30-year-old has not pitched in the Majors since 2010, when he started nine games for the Nationals.
  • The Cubs signed former Royals reliever Tommy Hottovy to a minor league contract, a source tells Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish (via Twitter).  The 32-year-old left-hander has 17 big league games to his credit.  He spent last season with the Blue Jays Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, posting a combined 4.19 ERA with 8.8 K/'9 and 3.6 BB/9.

NL Central Rumors: Boggs, Cubs, Pirates, Burnett

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The Cubs are among the clubs with interest in free agent pitcher Mitchell Boggs, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.  The Phillies, Indians, Mariners, and Mets are also in on him.  The Rockies non-tendered the right-hander after a subpar 2013.  Here's more from the NL Central…

  • According to a club source, the Pirates' deal for Edinson Volquez won't preclude them from re-signing A.J. Burnett, tweets Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
  • A rival exec says that the one-year, $5MM pact for Volquez makes sense, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  The exec says that Volquez boasts a Francisco Liriano-type profile with his strikeout rate and ability to induce groundballs.
  • Tim Dierkes of MLBTR (on Twitter) wonders if the Volquez deal could hamstring Pittsburgh somewhat financially in their effort to re-sign Burnett if he calls for a $10-12MM commitment.
  • The Cardinals signed right-hander Angel Castro for bullpen depth, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports that Castro was added to the Cardinals' 40-man roster, so it's a major-league deal.  Castro spent last season with the Dodgers' Triple- A affiliate, posting an ERA of 3.48 with 7.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 19 starts and six relief appearances.
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