Omir Santos Rumors

Indians Sign Omir Santos

We'll track the latest minor moves here...

• The Indians announced that they signed catcher Omir Santos to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to Spring Training (Twitter link). Santos, 31, appeared in three games for the Tigers in 2012. He spent most of the season with the Triple-A affiliates of the Tigers and Rockies, posting a .310/.318/.429 batting line in 212 plate appearances. Santos has experience in parts of four MLB seasons with the Orioles, Mets and Tigers.

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Rockies Sign Omir Santos

The Rockies signed catcher Omir Santos, according to their team website. The 31-year-old elected free agency last week after the Tigers designated him for assignment.

Santos appeared in three games with Detroit this month after the Tigers promoted him from Triple-A Toledo, where he had a .310/.315/.417 batting line in 89 plate appearances. Santos also appeared in 11 games with last year's Tigers team and has MLB experience in four seasons. He is a Praver/Shapiro client.

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Minor Moves: Omir Santos, Russ Mitchell

The latest minor moves...

• The Tigers announced that they outrighted Omir Santos to Triple-A (Twitter link). However, the catcher declined the assignment and is now a free agent, according to the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter). The Tigers designated the 31-year-old for assignment two days ago after he appeared in three games with the big league club. He posted a .310/.315/.417 batting line in 89 plate appearances at Triple-A before the Tigers added him to their roster.
• The Giants signed third baseman Russ Mitchell, according to the team's website. Mitchell, 27, appeared in 25 games for last year's Dodgers team, posting a .157/.259/.294 batting line in 58 plate appearances. He has a .265/.325/.444 batting line in ten minor league seasons and can play first and second base, as well as third.

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Tigers Designate Omir Santos For Assignment

The Tigers announced that they designated catcher Omir Santos for assignment (Twitter link). The team placed Alex Avila on the 15-day disabled list, purchased the contract of catcher Bryan Holaday and recalled right-hander Jose Ortega in related moves.

Santos, 31, has been removed from and added to the Tigers' roster a number of times in recent years. He appeared in three games with Detroit this month after the Tigers promoted him from Triple-A Toledo, where he had a .310/.315/.417 batting line in 89 plate appearances. Santos also appeared in 11 games with last year's Tigers team and has MLB experience in four seasons.

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Outrighted: Thompson, Burton, Pirates, Tigers

Players outrighted off 40-man rosters today:

• The Reds announced that they outrighted Daryl Thompson and Jared Burton off of the 40-man roster.  Burton would have been arbitration eligible for the second time and MLBTR projected a salary in the $900K range for the 30-year-old.
• The Pirates announced that they outrighted Brian Burres, Kevin Hart, Brandon Wood and Steve Pearce to Triple-A to create 40-man roster space.  All four players can now elect free agency.  Wood and Pearce would have been arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason, and though neither player projected to earn even $1MM, the Pirates decided to cut them loose instead of tendering contracts.
• The Tigers outrighted catcher Omir Santos and lefty Brad Thomas, tweets MLB.com's Jason Beck.  Thomas would have been arbitration eligible, but it was clear he wouldn't make it to the point of being tendered a contract after missing much of the season with an elbow injury.

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Minor Deals: Adams, Ryan, Bass, Santos

We've seen our share of major moves since yesterday, but the minor deals keep streaming in, too. Here they are:

• The Mets signed Russ Adams and Dusty Ryan to minor league contracts, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. The Blue Jays made Adams their first round pick in 2002, but he disappointed in parts of five seasons in Toronto, batting .247/.313/.372. The Blue Jays drafted Adams as a shortstop, but he has big league experience at second base and in left field. Ryan, 26, batted .199/.333/.349 for the Padres' Triple-A affiliate in 2010. He had cameos with the Tigers in 2008 and 2009.
• Oddly enough, the Tigers signed a former Mets backstop today. MLB.com's Jason Beck reports that Detroit added Omir Santos on a minor league deal (Twitter link). The 29-year-old last appeared in the majors on the 2009 Mets.
• The Phillies signed right-hander Brian Bass, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (on Twitter). The 28-year-old has a 5.16 ERA with 5.1 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 183 major league innings.

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New York Rumors: Beltran, Lee, Jeter, Santos

Rangers officials have told friends that they expect the Yankees to offer Cliff Lee so many years that other teams will have to back off, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. But team president Nolan Ryan is expected to push aggressively for Lee's return, so it's far too early to rule Texas out. Here's the latest on the Yankees and the Mets:

• Carlos Beltran says he'd prefer to play center field, but is open to playing right, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo (on Twitter). Beltran also told reporters he would consider waiving his no-trade clause.
• Sherman predicts the Yankees will sign Lee to a five-year $125MM deal. The imagined contract would pay Lee $23MM for five seasons with a sixth year option for $25MM ($10MM buyout).
• The Yankees say they're extremely unlikely to pursue a free agent catcher, since they want to give their young catching a real chance to emerge in 2011 as Jorge Posada transitions to DH.
• Mark Simon of ESPNNewYork.com looks back at some recent contracts to prove that locking up pitchers to long-term deals is risky.
• The Yankees don't want to surrender a draft pick to sign a Type A free agent like Scott Downs, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (on Twitter).
• It's unlikely that the Yankees will agree to a deal with Derek Jeter next week, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com.
• There's been a lot of Moneyball talk about the Mets front office, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believes Sandy Alderson, J.P. Ricciardi and Paul DePodesta are not about ideology. "This is about picking the right players and all of the different ways it can be done."
• Alderson interviewed Clint Hurdle and Don Wakamatsu at Citi Field yesterday, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.  Next up, the GM will interview Mets Triple-A manager Ken Oberkfell in the Dominican Republic.
• Omir Santos and Mike Hessman are free agents after refusing minor league assignments, according to Rubin (on Twitter).

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Odds & Ends: Mets, Giants, Gregg, Pujols, Webb

Links for tonight as we remember Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson, who passed away today at the age of 76.  MLB.com's Marty Noble penned a great article today looking back at the life and career of the universally beloved skipper.

• The Mets announced that GM Sandy Alderson will interview in-house candidates Wally Backman, Terry Collins, and Chip Hale in California this weekend, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.  Earlier today the Mets sat down with Bob Melvin and Dave Jauss in New York.
• Giants GM Brian Sabean says that the club will soon make an offer to Aubrey Huff and will "certainly be in discussions" with Juan Uribe, writes Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News.
• Expect the Rockies to call Kevin Gregg's agent, tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post.
• Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols said that he hopes to work out an extension with the club before Opening Day, according to the Associated Press.
• Jonathan Maurer, the agent for Brandon Webb, says that several teams have already contacted him with interest in his client, according to the Associated Press.  We learned yesterday that Webb would like to return to Arizona but that seems unlikely.
• After turning down his end of a mutual option today, Scott Podsednik is still in talks with the Dodgers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
• The Denver Post's Troy Renck says that Jorge de la Rosa hasn't been presented with an offer from the Rockies since last winter when he instead opted to take a one-year deal in arbitration.
• The Mets dropped five players from the 40-man roster today including Jesus Feliciano and Omir Santos, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.

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Stark's Latest: Trade Block, Mets, Phillies, Tigers

ESPN's Jayson Stark has a new blog post up with some trade rumor nuggets for us. It's behind the Insider wall (if you don't have a subscription yet, what are you waiting for?), so I can't give away too much...

• Stark lists 16 players currently on the trade block. Among the names we haven't seen mentioned recently: Willie Harris, Andy Marte, Tim Stauffer, Omir Santos, and Brad Thomas.
• The Mets are looking to move one of their extra catchers, either Santos or Chris Coste, and are looking to add "major league-ready triple-A pitching depth." Aren't we all...
• The Phillies are looking to add all sorts of pitching depth, and have interest in the recently released Chad Gaudin.
• Scott Sizemore's rocky spring has the Tigers looking for a second base upgrade.
• Kansas City is shopping Brayan Pena in their perpetual search for starting pitching.
• The Braves have told other clubs that David Ross is available, "possibly in a catcher-for-catcher swap for a younger backup-catcher type."

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Odds & Ends: Kielty, Ruiz, Gillick, Santos

Saturday morning links...

• Arangure (via Twitter) writes that the A's have agreed to terms with Michael Feliz, a right-hander from the Dominican Republic.  The deal, which is still pending a physical and an age investigation, will provide Feliz with an $800K bonus.  The Dominican Prospect League website says that the 6'4, 200-pound hurler is 16-years-old.
• Tim tweets that Bobby Kielty is converting to pitching, and that his slider is actually pretty good. The 33-year-old last played in the big leagues back in 2007, when he was still an outfielder of course.
• ESPN's Jorge Arangure tweets that the Blue Jays, Rockies, and Rangers are the teams most interested in Cuban first baseman Jose Julio Ruiz. Ruiz was recently cleared to sign by the Office of Foreign Asset Control.
• Pat Gillick has returned to the Phillies as a senior advisor to president Dave Montgomery, reports Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun. Gillick was the team's GM from 2006-2008. 
• ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to several talent evaluators, none of whom think Omir Santos is equipped to be a number one catcher. If the season started today, Santos would likely be behind the plate for the Mets. 

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