Shairon Martis Rumors
Minor Moves: Rice, Romak, Twins
The latest minor moves from around MLB...
- The Mets announced that they agreed to sign left-hander Scott Rice to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training. Rice, 31, has a 4.08 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 14 minor league seasons.
- The Mets also signed outfielder Jamie Hoffmann to a minor league contract, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. The 28-year-old spent this past season with the Orioles' Triple-A team.
- The Cardinals agreed to a minor league contract with first baseman/right fielder Jamie Romak, MLBTR has learned. The Cardinals acquired the 27-year-old from the Royals midway through the 2012 season. In 442 total plate appearances in the upper minors, Romak posted a .260/.336/.406 batting line and hit 10 home runs and 21 doubles this past season.
- The Blue Jays signed infielder Jim Negrych to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports (on Twitter).
- The Twins announced that they signed 12 players to minor league contracts that include invitations to MLB Spring Training: right-handers Samuel Deduno, Shairon Martis, Luis Perdomo, Esmerling Vasquez and P.J. Walters; outfielders Brian Dinkleman and Wilkin Ramirez; infielders James Beresford and Deibinson Romero and catcher Eric Fryer. Right-hander Tom Boleska and infielder Jason Christian also signed minor league deals with the Twins.
Pirates Sign Jake Fox, Five Others
The Pirates announced six minor league free agent signings: Jake Fox, Brandon Boggs, Kyle Cofield, Jose Diaz, Shairon Martis, and Stefan Welch. Fox, Boggs, and Martis received non-roster invites to spring training. The signings of Fox and Martis were first reported yesterday by Baseball America's Matt Eddy.
Fox, 29, has a line of .237/.288/.425 in 534 plate appearances across parts of four big league seasons with the Cubs, Athletics, and Orioles. He's spent time at catcher and the infield and outfield corners. Fox has some powerful minor league performances on his resume.
Boggs, 28, hit .241/.381/.419 for the Brewers' Triple-A team this year, playing the outfield corners. Most of his big league experience came with the Rangers in 2008. Martis, 24, had 106 1/3 Major League innings in the Nationals' rotation from 2008-09. He spent 2011 with the team's Double-A affiliate, posting a 3.05 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, and 0.6 HR/9 in 133 innings.
Cofield, a 24-year-old minor league reliever, was acquired by the White Sox from the Braves for Scott Linebrink and cash a year ago. Diaz, a 27-year-old minor league reliever, posted a 1.41 ERA and 10.7 K/9 with 22 saves for the Orioles' Double-A club this year. Welch, a 23-year-old first baseman, hit 16 home runs in 514 plate appearances for the Mets' High-A team this year.
White Sox Outright Four, Release Pena
The White Sox announced that they outrighted right-handers Kyle Cofield, Josh Kinney and Shane Lindsay and left-hander Leyson Septimo to Triple-A. They also requested unconditional release waivers for right-hander Tony Pena after reinstating him from the 60-day disabled list. All five players will become free agents and the White Sox now have 36 players on their 40-man roster.
Cofield, 24, spent the 2011 season in the upper minors, where he posted a 3.30 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 30 innings. Kinney appeared in 13 games for the White Sox, striking out more than one batter per inning. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted an impressive 2.77 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 61 2/3 innings.
Lindsay, a native of Melbourne, Australia, had a cameo with the White Sox after spending most of the season in the upper minors. He posted a 2.18 ERA in the minors this year despite an alarming walk rate of 7.5 per nine innings. Septimo posted a similarly high walk rate (6.6 BB/9) in 56 innings at Double-A this year. Lastly, Pena, who was traded for Brandon Allen in 2009, appeared in 17 games for the White Sox this season.
NL Notes: Mets, Martis, Loney, D'Backs
Hall-of-Famer and Cardinals legend Red Schoendienst celebrates his 88th birthday today. Let's celebrate by looking at some news from the league where Schoendienst spent his entire 33-year career as a player and manager.
- The Mets want to find a new minority owner by June, reports The Wall Street Journal's Matthew Futterman, Michael Rothfeld and Chad Bray. If the Wilpons can't sell a minority share of just the club, Futterman, Rothfeld and Brian Costa report that the Mets ownership group could look to add a share of the SNY cable network to the sale "if and when it became a necessity." Jeff Wilpon said last week that SNY wasn't for sale.
- Mark Cuban tells Newsday's Barbara Barker that after failed attempts to buy the Cubs and Rangers, he won't pursue another baseball ownership opportunity unless he's approached. Cuban thinks the Mets are "a great opportunity, but I'm not going to call their investment banker." Cuban also said it's "very unlikely" he would settle for a minority share in a franchise unless he was given the first chance at buying a majority share in the future.
- Shairon Martis has cleared waivers and been outrighted to the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate, reports the team's official Twitter feed. Martis was designated for assignment by Washington on January 24.
- James Loney and the Dodgers "don't appear close to a settlement" of Loney's arbitration case, reports ESPNLosAngeles.com's Tony Jackson. Loney is L.A.'s last arb-eligible player, now that Hong-Chih Kuo has come to an agreement with the club. You can keep track of all the outstanding and settled arbitration cases at the MLBTR ArbTracker.
- Joe Pawlikowski of Fangraphs looks at what the Diamondbacks have done to remake their bullpen after last year's disastrous performance.
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