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Jason Giambi

Quick Hits: Overbay, Accardo, Diamond, Astros

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Links for Sunday, as Opening Day inches a little closer….

Quick Hits: Giambi, Young, Hairston, Wakefield

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While a couple more arbitration hearings were averted Thursday, here's a few tidbits of note:

  • The Rockies have a uniquely structured minor-league deal with Jason Giambi, blogs Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Giambi will earn a salary of $850,000 this season or a $250,000 buyout if he's cut during Spring Training (which is unlikely, according to Renck). There's also a mutual option for 2012 worth $1MM with a $150,000 buyout. Finally, Giambi can request that he be released on two separate dates (March 31 and June 1) if he's not on the 25-man roster at those times.
  • The Mets' incentive-laden, one-year deal with Chris Young is structured such that the right-hander will earn bonuses for a variety of benchmarks, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. On top of his $1.5MM base salary, Young can earn as much as $1,525,000 for starts Nos. 10-31 and $1,875,000 for innings 70-180.
  • The Mets' one-year pact with Scott Hairston is a Major League deal, contrary to some earlier reports, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and is worth $1.1MM in base salary and $400,000 in incentives.
  • Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox's 44-year-old knuckleballer, says he hasn't ruled out the possibility of pitching beyond 2011, writes Ian Browne of MLB.com. Wakefield, entering his 16th season with Boston, is in the final year of a two-year deal he signed prior to the 2010 campaign. It's far too soon to guess whether Wakefield would pitch for another team or if one would be interested in him after 2011, but because the knuckleball is relatively easy on the arm, it stands to reason someone might take a flier on him to eat innings in a swing role.

Rockies To Re-Sign Jason Giambi

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The Rockies announced that they have agreed to a minor league deal with Jason Giambi (Twitter link). The agreement, which is pending a physical, includes an invitation to big league camp for the WMG client. Giambi will earn $1MM in 2011 if he makes the team, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).

Giambi hit .244/.378/.398 with six homers and 35 walks in 222 plate appearances for the Rockies last year. The 40-year-old left-handed batter isn't a natural complement to first baseman Todd Helton, or a viable defender at this point in his career. The Rockies have already added infielders Jose Lopez and Ty Wigginton this offseason, but Giambi will provide the team with depth.

Rays Notes: Bullpen, First Base, DH

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The Rays find themselves in a difficult position as the 2011 season approaches. Forced to cut payroll, they've lost Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford, (presumably) Rafael Soriano, and most of their bullpen to free agency, and traded Jason Bartlett as he approaches his final arbitration year.

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times looks at some of the issues left to be addressed as the Rays begin bargain shopping this offseason:

Odds & Ends: Giambi, Upton, Crawford, Yankees

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On this date last year, the Brewers signed Randy Wolf to a three-year, $29.75MM deal. Now, GM Doug Melvin is still on the lookout for pitching, even after acquiring Shaun Marcum. Here's another round of links for the evening…

  • The Rays have some interest in Jason Giambi, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter).
  • Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger wonders how Carl Crawford’s $142MM deal will impact the Mets’ efforts to keep Jose Reyes around long-term.
  • Arizona GM Kevin Towers told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he talked to one team about Justin Upton at the Winter Meetings (Twitter link).
  • In another piece, Nightengale details the financial commitments the Yankees and Red Sox have made. As Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail points out, it's not easy competing with those two big spenders. "We're going to start a mid-Atlantic states division,''  MacPhail said.
  • The Angels offered Carl Crawford a six-year deal worth $108MM, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter link). That fell well short of the seven-year $142MM offer that lured the left fielder to Boston.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Jack Curry of the YES Network that the team dined with Crawford's representatives even though they weren't interested in signing the outfielder. Curry suggests the dinner could have been a bluff.
  • Speaking of the Yankees, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark names them on his list of 'losers' at the 2010 Winter Meetings.

Renck On Buck, Lopez, Giambi, Mora

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It's already been a busy day for the Rockies what with their declined options on Jeff Francis, Octavio Dotel and (possibly) Miguel Olivo, but the Denver Post's Troy Renck has even more news from the Mile High City.  All of Renck's links are from Twitter…

Odds & Ends: Hart, Cox, Giambi, Pierzynski

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Links for Tuesday night, as the Rays, Yankees and Reds clinch playoff berths…

Rockies Sign Jason Giambi

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Jason Giambi officially signed a one-year deal worth $1.75MM to return to the Rockies as a pinch hitter and occasional first baseman. He excelled in Denver last summer, hitting .385/.529/.692 as a pinch hitter and .292/.452/.583 overall (small sample size warnings apply). The former AL MVP hit poorly in Oakland last year, so his 2009 OPS was a career-low .725.

Andrew Marchand of 1050 ESPN Radio first reported that a deal was close, Jon Heyman of SI.com tweeted that it was official and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweeted the value of the contract.

We heard that the Rockies were interested in free agents Orlando Cabrera and Orlando Hudson, too.

Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Rockies Notes: Mora, Giambi, Speier

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Troy Renck of the Denver Post looks at a number of Rockies-related items in his latest blog entry….

  • Eric Goldschmidt, agent of veteran infielder Melvin Mora, says his free-agent client is "definitely interested" in playing for Colorado.  Renck points out that Mora's versatility would make him a logical signing for the Rockies, given that their other recent bench signing (Jason Giambi) can only play first base.  Mora could decide on his future by the end of the week as he picks from between "roughly" five interested teams.
  • Speaking of Giambi, Renck said that his clubhouse presence was a big factor in his re-signing with the Rockies.  Troy Tulowitzki credited Giambi with "helping…with the mental side" of baseball.
  • Renck says the Rockies are "expected to sign" reliever Justin Speier to a minor-league contract.  Released by the Angels in August, Speier pitched for Colorado from 2001 to 2003 and has a 2.55 K/BB ratio in 12 major league seasons.
  • Eric Gagne is "becoming a more likely non-roster invite than Derrick Turnbow."  We heard yesterday from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter) that Arizona is also interested in Turnbow, so perhaps Colorado doesn't want to get into a bidding war with its divisional rival.
  • Colorado GM Dan O'Dowd told Renck he was "surprised" when Jose Contreras signed with Philadelphia.  O'Dowd said the Rockies wanted to use Contreras out of the bullpen while the Phillies offered him a chance to start.  Interestingly, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said today (as reported by Todd Zolecki of MLB.com) that Contreras will only start during spring training and will be a reliever by Opening Day.

Stark On Holliday, Lee, Phillies, Rockies, Cubs

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ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says the Baseball Writers' Association of America needs to establish an award for relief pitchers. He also provides plenty of rumblings from around the league; here they are:

  • Stark hears that the only offers Matt Holliday had in-hand when the Cardinals signed him were one-year deals worth $18MM or so.
  • The Phillies offered Cliff Lee a three-year extension worth $60MM or so before trading for Roy Halladay. It's unclear whether Lee and agent Darek Braunecker formally turned the offer down, but others believe Lee will seek a longer-term deal once he hits the open market after this season.
  • The Phillies are "plenty interested" in Pedro Martinez on a half-season deal similar to the one he signed last year, but one NL club hears that Pedro is looking for a full-season job at "market" dollars.
  • The Phillies have backed off on John Smoltz, who wants to start, but they are interested in Jose Contreras.
  • The Rockies talked actively to the Marlins about Dan Uggla. Now, the Rockies are more intent on free agent options including Miguel Tejada, Orlando Cabrera and Orlando Hudson.
  • They'd also like to bring Jason Giambi back.
  • Scouts who have seen Carlos Delgado play first base in Puerto Rico say the slugger should look for a DH job, since his fielding is suspect.
  • Stark has the impression that the Cubs have set aside their interest in Ben Sheets as they pursue a bench bat and a setup man.
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