Minor Moves: Tim Redding, Matt Young
Let's keep track of the day's minor transactions right here…
- The Blue Jays have released Tim Redding according to the Pacific Coast League transactions page. Toronto signed the veteran right-hander during the offseason. Redding, 34, pitched to an 8.66 ERA in seven starts and 16 relief appearances with their Triple-A affiliate this year.
- The Tigers have released Matt Young according to the International League transactions page. The 29-year-old had one double and nine strikeouts in ten at-bats with Detroit earlier this season, but they designated him for assignment and then outrighted him last month. Young hit .212/.363/.276 in 369 Triple-A plate appearances this season.
Minor Moves: Sweeney, Tuiasosopo, Redding, Cabrera
The latest minor league deals…
- The Mariners signed former MLB reliever Brian Sweeney to a minor league contract, MLB.com's Greg Johns reports. Sweeney spent the 2011 season with the Mets' top affiliate and last appeared in the Majors with the 2010 Mariners.
- The Twins signed left-hander Luke French, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports (Twitter links). French owns a 4.99 ERA with 4.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 155 Major League innings.
- The Mets signed infielder Matt Tuiasosopo, who picked up MLB experience with the Mariners from 2008-10, Eddy reports.
- The Blue Jays signed right-hander Tim Redding and left-hander Bill Murphy, according to Eddy. Redding has substantial MLB experience as a starter for the Astros, Nationals and Mets.
- Eddy reports that four catchers signed minor league deals: Mitch Canham joined the Rockies, Orlando Mercado agreed to terms with the Marlins, Kyle Phillips caught on with the Blue Jays and Max St. Pierre signed with the Red Sox. Phillips appeared in 36 games for the 2011 Padres and St. Pierre made his debut with the 2010 Tigers after 14 minor league seasons.
- Former MLB starter Daniel Cabrera signed a minor league deal with the Pirates, Mario Rojas of CandelaDeportiva reports. Cabrera, 30, was a fixture in Baltimore's rotation from 2004-08, but hasn't pitched in MLB since 2009.
- The Cubs re-signed infielder Bobby Scales, who started the 2011 season in Chicago before going to Japan, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus tweets.
- The Phillies re-signed former Tigers outfielder Brent Clevlen, Goldstein tweets.
- The Orioles signed 18-year-old outfielder Andres Aguilar, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. The speedy Guatemala native has a strong throwing arm.
Minor Moves: Carter, Ramirez, Dopirak, Redding
The latest minor moves…
- Baseball America's Matt Eddy posted a comprehensive list of recent minor league transactions, including a swarm of draft pick signings and undrafted free agent pickups from the last week.
- The Rays released Chris Carter according to the Triple-A International League transactions page. The 28-year-old hit .270/.309/.460 with ten homers in 233 plate appearances.
- The Astros released catcher Max Ramirez and first baseman/DH Brian Dopirak, tweets Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle. The Astros had signed Ramirez in May after he'd been released by the Cubs. Dopirak was added in December. Both players had OBPs under .290 in their brief Triple-A stints.
- The Phillies signed righty Tim Redding to a minor league deal, tweets MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. The 33-year-old posted a 6.59 ERA in 13 starts for the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate this year.
- The Angels inked righty Jerome Williams for their Triple-A rotation, tweeted his agency Full Circle Sports Management. The 29-year-old was drafted 39th overall by the Giants back in '99, one pick after the Rangers grabbed Colby Lewis. Williams hasn't pitched in the bigs since '07.
Dodgers May Guarantee Redding’s Deal
The Dodgers plan to use a fifth starter next Sunday in San Diego and could choose to call upon Tim Redding, who is not on the 40-man roster, writes MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. Adding the 33-year-old would require guaranteeing his $750K salary and moving a player off of the 40-man roster to make room for him.
Alternatively, the club could call upon John Ely, who is already on the 40-man roster, to make the start. The Dodgers will have both Ely and Redding pitch Tuesday in an extended spring training game, which puts them on schedule to pitch Sunday. Right-hander Jon Garland is also lobbying to make the start as he recovers from a strained oblique.
Redding last pitched in the majors in 2009 for the Mets, making 17 starts and 13 relief appearances. In eight major league seasons, Redding owns a 4.95 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9.
Dodgers Sign Tim Redding
The Dodgers have signed Tim Redding to a minor league deal and invited him to Spring Training, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The 32-year-old will provide depth for the Dodgers, who already have starters Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly, Jon Garland and Vicente Padilla.
Redding didn't appear in the majors last year, though he logged 109 innings in the minor leagues. Pitching for the Yankees' and Rockies' Triple-A affiliates, Redding posted a 2.89 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 as a starter. He last appeared in the majors with the 2009 Mets, when he posted a 5.10 ERA in 120 innings as a swingman.
The Dodgers added Dana Eveland in a similar move earlier in the offseason. The Redding deal is one of many minor league contracts GM Ned Colletti has negotiated this winter. Agent Tom O'Connell represents Redding.
Odds & Ends: Pedro, DeShields, Myers, Lee
Links for Thursday, as Juan Pierre picks up his 500th career stolen base…
- Pedro Martinez said he has recently received offers to pitch this year, but still doesn't intend to play in 2010, according to this AP report on ESPN.com.
- Mets owner Fred Wilpon implied to Mike Puma of the New York Post that Omar Minaya will definitely be his GM in 2011.
- Top Astros draft pick Delino DeShields Jr. told MLB.com's Brian McTaggart that he's excited to begin his pro career. DeShields' deal could be finalized today.
- Astros GM Ed Wade told Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse that he has no concern about Brett Myers' health. "He's a 29-year-old horse," Wade said.
- Chuck Greenberg's group, which won the auction to buy the Rangers for hundreds of millions, plans to pursue Cliff Lee when he hits free agency after the season, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Yesterday, we saw that GM Jon Daniels has interest in bringing the left-hander back.
- Tim Redding, who had been pitching in the Yankees system, signed with the Samsung Lions of the Korean Professional Baseball League, according to Donnie Collins of the Scranton Times-Tribune (Twitter link).
- Over at RotoAuthority, Tim Dierkes wonders what to expect from Mike Minor as a fantasy baseball option this year.
- The Yankees had interest in Willie Harris before the deadline, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- The Rockies 'kicked the tires' on Derrek Lee last month, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter).
Yankees Sign Tim Redding
Tim Redding officially signed a minor league deal with the Yankees, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (via Twitter). The Dodgers and a Korean team also expressed interest in Redding, who was released by the Rockies this morning.
Redding, 32, had been pitching at Triple A in the Rockies organization. The righty had a 4.32 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 25 innings. He posted a 5.10 ERA in 120 innings for the Mets last year, with 5.7 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9.
Back in 2005, Redding started one game for the Yankees. It didn't go well for anyone but the Red Sox hitters Redding faced; he allowed four walks, four hits and six runs in his lone inning in Yankee pinstripes.
Rockies Release Tim Redding
The Rockies released pitcher Tim Redding from their Triple A club, reports Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies. The 32-year-old righty posted a 4.32 ERA, 7.6 K/9, and 1.8 BB/9 in 25 innings for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox.
The Rockies had signed Redding to a minor league deal in January after he'd been non-tendered by the Mets in December. Since Redding signed with the Rockies he's reportedly been monitored by the Phillies and Mariners.
Phillies Looking At Tim Redding
The Phillies are "kicking the tires a bit" on Tim Redding, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Renck says that Philadelphia was interested in Redding over the winter, before the right-hander signed a minor league deal with the Rockies.
We heard this week that Redding, who was assigned to Colorado's Triple A affiliate, has an opt-out clause in his contract that he can exercise if he finds a spot on another club's 25-man roster.
Following an oblique injury to Joe Blanton, the Phils seem to be looking a little more aggressively at potential starting pitching options around the majors. Still, Renck suggests that the Phillies' interest in Redding isn't overly strong at the moment, and that for now the team plans to replace Blanton in their rotation with Kyle Kendrick. Given the lack of positive reports delivered by Mariners' scouts who watched Redding pitch, Philadelphia could be better off sticking with Kendrick.
Odds & Ends: Lowell, Redding, Brantley, Wilson
Some news items as we say goodbye to March and hello to another great baseball-filled April…
- ESPN's Rob Neyer thinks the Rangers should just go ahead and acquire Mike Lowell, since the reported $3MM gap between Texas and Boston is a small price to pay for solidifying the Rangers' first base platoon. Given the number of conflicting reports about the deal, it's hard to say if a Lowell-to-Texas trade is imminent or a longshot at this point.
- Tim Redding talks to The Denver Post's Jim Armstrong about being assigned to Colorado's Triple-A team. Four days ago, Tracy Ringolsby of Inside the Rockies pointed out that Redding has an opt-out clause he can use if he finds a spot on another team's 25-man roster. That's unlikely; Ringolsby says the Mariners scouted Redding but came away unimpressed.
- The Indians were hoping to hold up Michael Brantley's service clock, but his strong Spring Training and Russell Branyan's injury forced the club's hand, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. Brantley will now be Cleveland's starting left fielder on Opening Day.
- Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times takes a look at Angels catcher Bobby Wilson, who is out of options and faces a tough task in finding a roster spot given the Mike Napoli–Jeff Mathis combo behind the plate in Los Angeles. If the Angels are forced to put Wilson on waivers, you'd figure that several teams would be interested in a catcher who has a solid .283/.338/.423 line in 2642 minor league plate appearances.
- Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com chatted with fans about a number of A's and Giants-related topics, including Urban's belief that the extensions for Matt Cain, Brian Wilson and Jeremy Affeldt may have been inspired by San Francisco's confidence in their upcoming crop of position players.
- In another online chat, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch mentioned that the Cardinals are interested in acquiring a left-handed power bat for the bench. Strauss noted the club's "history of eleventh-hour spring training moves."