Giants Agree To Sign Third Base Prospect
The Giants have agreed to sign a Dominican third base prospect to a seven-figure deal, according to Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus. They will sign Duanel Jones to a deal worth $1.3MM, according to McDaniel's sources, though that number has yet to be completely confirmed.
White Sox Acquire Juan Pierre
FRIDAY, 12:57pm: The Dodgers will obtain Ely and Link to complete the deal, tweets MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
TUESDAY, 11:44am: The Dodgers will choose two pitchers from a list of arms that could contribute in the majors next year, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. The teams will complete the trade on or before January 7th, 2010, according to a Dodgers press release.
11:31am: The Dodgers have officially announced the deal, according to Hernandez. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports hears that John Ely and Jon Link are heading to the Dodgers. The Tigers and Pirates also had interest in Pierre, according to Morosi.
10:43am: The White Sox will pay $3MM of Pierre's salary in 2010 and $5MM of it in 2011, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney. That means the Dodgers will pay the remaining $10.5MM.
10:28am: Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times says the Dodgers will acquire two players to be named later.
9:52am: The White Sox acquired Juan Pierre from the Dodgers for two minor league pitchers, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown (and confirmed by Ken Rosenthal). The Dodgers will take on roughly half of Pierre's salary. The outfielder has $18.5MM remaining on his deal ($10MM next year and $8.5MM in 2011), so the Dodgers are taking on about $9MM.
Pierre, 32, hit .308/.365/.392 in 425 plate appearances for the Dodgers last year. He stole 30 bases and played well in the outfield, according to UZR (though we don't want to draw sweeping conclusions from 750 innings of work).
The White Sox had shown interest in Scott Podsednik and Brett Gardner, but they appear set with their new addition. If Pierre performs close to last year's levels, the White Sox will have themselves a bargain (depending on the pitchers they give up).
Boston Offered Holliday Five Years
Before they signed John Lackey, the Red Sox offered Matt Holliday a five-year deal worth $82.5MM, according to Peter Gammons (via Twitter). ESPN.com's Buster Olney heard the same thing and adds, not surprisingly, that the Red Sox are no longer suitors for Holliday. That's comparable to the amount of money the Cardinals are willing to guarantee the left fielder, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Odds & Ends: Cubs, Vazquez, Matthews
Some links for Friday…
- Jayson Stark and Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com expect the Cubs to go after free agent center fielders now that they've dealt Milton Bradley.
- John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer doesn't expect the Reds to deal Aaron Harang in the near future.
- The Chiba Lotte Marines signed Bryan Corey, according to NPB Tracker.
- A source close to Javier Vazquez tells MLB.com's Mark Bowman that it's highly unlikely the pitcher would approve a trade to a west coast team like the Angels. The Braves are still interested in trading Derek Lowe.
- USA Today's Bob Nightengale says it would be an upset to see anyone but the Cardinals sign Matt Holliday.
- Now that the Dodgers have traded Juan Pierre, the Angels are optimistic about unloading Gary Matthews Jr. and his contract, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. The Angels will have to eat some of the $23MM owed to Matthews if they hope to deal him.
- O's reliever Jim Johnson tells Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that he's glad to have new acquisition Mike Gonzalez around.
- Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News says the Yankees still need another arm. Brian Cashman says the Yankees aren't done.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times expects the Yanks to spend big on next year's free agent class.
- New Blue Jay Kyle Drabek tells the Toronto Sun that he doesn't plan on changing his approach, though he does feel some pressure as a major piece of the Roy Halladay trade.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates evaluate players and then stand by the figures they decide on almost all the time. This approach prevents the Pirates from over-spending and sometimes prevents them from signing their targets (like Miguel Angel Sano).
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that the Brewers expect Claudio Vargas to take his physical today and finalize his deal.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan examines Scott Boras' relationship with mystery teams.
Phillies Exercise Jimmy Rollins’ 2011 Option
The Phillies picked up Jimmy Rollins' $8.5MM option for 2011, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse. It's interesting to see the Phillies pick the option up now; they could easily have preserved some flexibility by waiting.
Brewers To Sign Kameron Loe
The Brewers agreed to sign Kameron Loe to a minor league deal, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Loe will earn $650K if he makes the team and can earn another $200K in incentives. The Pirates were among the other interested clubs.
Braves To Sign Joe Thurston
The Braves have agreed to sign Joe Thurston, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 30-year-old utility man hit .225/.316/.330 for the Cardinals last year, spending time at second, third and left. The Phillies, Yankees, Rockies, Dodgers and Indians also had interest in Thurston, according to his agent, Lou Tevlin.
Mariners Sign Ryan Langerhans
The Mariners signed Ryan Langerhans to a one-year major league contract, according to a team press release. They had non-tendered him earlier in the month, but had expressed interest in retaining him.
The 29-year-old hit .218/.311/.386 in 122 plate appearances for the Mariners last year. UZR/150 ranks him as quite a good defensive outfielder over the course of his career.
Cardinals Rumors: Holliday, DeRosa, Smoltz
Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa and John Smoltz are all possibilities for the Cardinals. Joe Strauss and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch have the latest on the trio of free agents.
- The P-D reported that the Cards offered Holliday up to eight years, but they now revise that, saying the club hasn't guaranteed any more than five years. The Cards don't appear likely to guarantee more than six seasons.
- DeRosa hopes to sign soon and he isn't going to wait around for Holliday. The Yankees have some interest in DeRosa.
- Smoltz's agent, Keith Grunewald says the Cardinals are interested, though Smoltz is still in contact with other teams.
Heyman On Bay, Molina, M’s, Dodgers
The Mariners are "not a serious player" for Jason Bay, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. The Braves and Giants don't appear to be engaged with Bay and the Angels aren't focused on him now, so the Mets are the lone known suitor for the left fielder. They're keeping in touch with Scott Boras, who represents Matt Holliday, but they may be willing to offer Bay a deal in the five-year $75MM range. They're hoping to hear back from him today.
Ideally, the Mets would like to sign Bay and Bengie Molina, who still wants a three-year deal worth about $20MM, or roughly twice as much as the team is presently willing to commit. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:
- The Angels have more interest in Javier Vazquez than Derek Lowe, according to one source.
- The Mariners are interested in locking up Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez.
- The Red Sox would like to acquire Adrian Gonzalez. If they can't pull a trade for Gonzalez off, they would like to sign Adrian Beltre. However, that could put them over the luxury tax.
- The Dodgers are interested in Ronnie Belliard and Felipe Lopez.