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Minor Moves: Martinez, Erbe, Liz, Olmsted

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Here are some minor moves from around the league…

  • The Angels have signed righty Joe Martinez to a minor league pact, per the club's official transactions page. The 31-year-old Martinez made a pair of appearances for the Indians last season, allowing one run in five innings. He has a 5.82 ERA in 55 2/3 career innings between the Giants, D'Backs, Pirates and Indians and a 4.75 ERA in 548 Triple-A innings. 
  • Right-hander Brandon Erbe has signed a minor league deal with the Rockies, according to the team's transactions page. Erbe, 26, ranked as the game's No. 27 prospect heading into the 2007 season, per Baseball Prospectus, but 2010 shoulder surgery has stalled his once-promising career. The former third-round pick has thrown just 45 minor league innings over the past three seasons as he's battled back from a torn labrum. 
  • The Blue Jays signed right-hander Radhames Liz to a minor league contract, Baseball America's Matt Eddy tweeted this weekend. The 30-year-old was once among the game's Top 100 prospects, per BA, but hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2009. Liz has spent the past three seasons pitching for the LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization and led the league in strikeouts last season with 188. However, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported (via Twitter) that he'll begin the season rehabbing a knee injury. Liz had a 7.50 ERA in 110 1/3 Major League innings with the Orioles from 2007-09.
  • Brewers senior director of media relations Mike Vassallo tweets that the club has released right-hander Michael Olmsted. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel spoke with manager Ron Roenicke about the decision to release the 6'6", 282-pound right-hander. Roenicke said they simply wanted to give Olmsted a chance to get an opportunity elsewhere rather than releasing him later in the spring. Olmsted posted a 5.88 ERA in 59 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A for the Brew Crew last season, but the 26-year-old has an excellent 3.02 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in his minor league career.

Minor Moves: Orioles, Clement, Erbe, Quiroz, Red Sox

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Here are the latest minor signings from around the league…

  • The Orioles added independent league pitchers Logan Mahon and Chase Johnson on minor league deals, according to CSNBaltimore's Rich Dubroff and the Baltimore Sun's Eduardo A. Encina, respectively (Twitter links).
  • The Giants also added an independent league arm today, signing Omar Javier to a minor league deal, tweets Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Omar hasn't pitched in affiliated ball since 2009 with the Cardinals.
  • The Twins have signed former No. 3 overall pick Jeff Clement to a minor league deal, tweets Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Clement, 29, appeared on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list from 2006-08 and has a career .280/.359/.493 line at Triple-A. However, he's failed to produce in four separate Major League stints between the Mariners and Pirates.
  • ESPN's Jayson Stark tweets that the Phillies have signed righty Brandon Erbe to a minor league deal. The 24-year-old was a third-round selection by the Orioles back in 2005 and was once a highly regarded prospect. He's battled a series of shoulder injuries and pitched to a 6.82 ERA in 30 1/3 innings for Baltimore's Class-A Advanced affiliate in 2012.
  • Stark also reports that the Giants have signed minor league catcher Guillermo Quiroz to a minor league contract (Twitter link). The former top prospect is now 30 years old and carries with him a .260/.323/.424 batting line over parts of nine Triple-A seasons. He's managed just a .538 OPS in 282 Major League plate appearances.
  • The Red Sox have signed right-handers David Carpenter, Sandy Rosario and Jose De La Torre to minor league deals, according to MLB.com's Evan Drellich. Carpenter appeared in 32 1/3 innings for the Blue Jays and Astros in 2012 but posted an 8.07 ERA. The 27-year-old Rosario has a career 3.48 ERA and 4.4 K/BB ratio in the minors but has barely pitched above the Double-A level. De La Torre was acquired from the Indians for Brent Lillibridge.
  • MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports that the Astros have signed righties Edgar Gonzalez and Jose Valdez to minor league contracts. Gonzalez, 29, has a 5.84 ERA over 350 career innings between the Diamondbacks, Rockies and Astros. Valdez hurled 12 innings for Houston last year after spending the past three seasons in their farm system. He has an impressive 103 strikeouts in 83 2/3 career Triple-A innings. McTaggart has the breakdown of each contract in his piece, including out clauses that allow Valdez to pursue opportunities in Japan.

Orioles Rumors: Quentin, Floyd, Koji, Street, Erbe

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The latest on the Orioles:

  • Baltimore has interest in Carlos Quentin and Gavin Floyd, but it's unclear if they match up with the White Sox, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. The Sox would like young pitching and the O's don't want to give that up, Connolly adds. Brad Bergesen was one name floated by Baltimore in trade talks, tweets MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
  • The Orioles are talking to the Rangers about re-acquiring Koji Uehara, according to Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com.
  • A club official told Connolly that there's "no chance" the team wants Alfonso Soriano (Twitter link).
  • The Orioles are telling other clubs that Adam Jones is off limits, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • Troy Renck of the Denver Post hears that talks between the Orioles and Rockies about Huston Street have "no traction" (Twitter link).
  • GM Dan Duquette says he has several offers out to free agent position players and pitchers, and adds that the club was in on Kevin Slowey before the Twins sent him to the Rockies, tweets Ghiroli.
  • The O's have re-signed Brandon Erbe to a minor league contract, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Brandon Erbe, David Purcey

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Here's today's list of players to get outrighted to Triple-A…

  • Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com reports that the Orioles have outrighted Brandon Erbe off the 40-man roster. Erbe was sent to the team's New York-Penn League affiliate, which is short season Single-A ball, not Triple-A. Erbe had been designated for assignment over the weekend.
  • The Tigers announced (on Twitter) that they outrighted left-hander David Purcey to Triple-A. Detroit designated him for assignment last week to create roster space for David Pauley. The 29-year-old Purcey has a 5.61 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 7.2 BB/9 in 33 2/3 innings for three teams this year.

Orioles Designate Brandon Erbe For Assignment

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The Orioles have designated Brandon Erbe for assignment, reports Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Cesar Izturis, who was activated off the 60-day DL. Zach Britton was placed on the 15-day DL with a shoulder strain as well.

Erbe, 23, was ranked as the Orioles 27th best prospect before the season by Baseball America. He gave up four runs in 4 1/3 minor league innings this season after coming back for an August 2010 surgery to repair a torn labrum. Erbe owns a 4.45 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 580 minor league innings, though he has never reached the big leagues.

Rangers Discussing Millwood Trades

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3:10pm: MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan believes the Orioles have cooled on Millwood.  He says the Rangers were interested in Chris Tillman (which is crazy) while the O's offered David Hernandez and Brandon Erbe (Erbe alone seems fair).

9:00am: Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says no deal is imminent and the Rangers are in serious talks with multiple teams about Millwood.  As you know, the Rangers allowed Millwood to record "The $12 Million Out" last September, letting his $12MM option vest for 2010.  Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic guesses that the D'Backs could be in the mix for Millwood if talks for Edwin Jackson fail, and Morosi agrees.

6:56am: The Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck reports that while it may have started as speculation, the rumors of Kevin Millwood going to Baltimore are starting to become more of a reality.

Schmuck reports that the Orioles are getting closer to acquiring Millwood for one of their second-tier pitching prospects. The Rangers are likely to eat some of Millwood's contract no matter what, I assume, but Schmuck writes that the number is dependent on which prospect the Orioles surrender.

Schmuck also adds that the Orioles have "at least a passing interest" in Joel Pineiro.  Pineiro's agent Adam Katz tells MASN's Roch Kubatko that Baltimore's interest in Pineiro and Rich Harden has just been "preliminary tire-kicking," however.

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