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Pirates Designate Joe Martinez For Assignment

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The Pirates designated righty Joe Martinez for assignment to open a spot for Kevin Correia, tweets MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.  She adds that they also announced non-roster spring training invites for Tyler Yates, Jeff Clement, Rudy Owens, and Justin Wilson.

Martinez, 28 in February, was acquired by the Pirates from the Giants along with John Bowker in the trade deadline deal for Javier Lopez.  He posted a 3.94 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, and 1.0 HR/9 in 109 2/3 Triple-A innings this year.  Baseball America ranked him 30th among Giants prospects heading into the '09 season.  They called him "a groundball machine" with a "sinking 86-88 mph fastball, a true curveball and a plus changeup consistently down in the strike zone."

Which Teams Might Offer A Chance For Saves?

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Most relievers want to close; it's the most prestigious and lucrative bullpen job.  Browsing our list of unsigned relievers, Grant Balfour, Octavio Dotel, Brian Fuentes, Kevin Gregg, Trevor Hoffman, Chad Qualls, Jon Rauch, and Rafael Soriano have recent closing experience.  Surely Scott Boras will find Soriano a ninth inning job, while I imagine Fuentes and Gregg still expect to close as well.  Which teams might have openings in the ninth?

  • Orioles: They've got Koji Uehara and Mike Gonzalez already, but have been linked to Gregg.
  • Rays: If you're an agent, this is the team to call if your client is more interested in closing than in his 2011 salary.
  • Blue Jays: Jason Frasor is back, but the ninth inning is probably unsettled here.
  • Mariners: If they trade David Aardsma, they could sign a more affordable reliever and give him a shot to close.
  • Rangers: A week ago Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote that the Rangers are "unlikely to spend big for a reliever, even if they move righty Neftali Feliz to the rotation."  Frank Francisco and Mark Lowe are a couple of internal options, or the Rangers could sign someone affordable.
  • Braves: They've got youngsters Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel, plus veterans including new additions George Sherrill and Scott Linebrink.  They might be done with the bullpen.
  • Nationals: They've been linked to Gregg and were in on Jesse Crain.  GM Mike Rizzo said in November that he wants to improve the bullpen.
  • Pirates: Their Dotel gambit worked out this year, and the Bucs are known to be in on similar relievers despite the presence of Joel Hanrahan and Evan Meek.
  • Closing jobs can be tough to come by, but at the moment there could be a half-dozen teams willing to give a reliever the title.  Beverly Hills Sports Council represents Fuentes, Gregg, Dotel, and Hoffman, so they've got an interesting situation to sort out.

Average Free Agent Prices

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Using our free agent tracker, here are the average free agent prices for a single season by position so far this offseason.  Note that for utility players, our position assignments are somewhat subjective.

  • Catcher: $3.15MM.  Closest to average: Yorvit Torrealba.
  • First base: $6.53MM.  Closest: Lyle Overbay.
  • Second base: $4.35MM.  Closest: Bill Hall.
  • Shortstop: $6.41MM.  Closest: Miguel Tejada.
  • Third base: $2.58MM, which will rise when Adrian Beltre signs.  Closest: Melvin Mora.
  • Left field: $3.76MM.  Closest: Matt Diaz.  Without Carl Crawford: $1.4MM.
  • Center field: $970K.  Only two results here, Melky Cabrera and Tony Gwynn Jr.
  • Right field: $6.88MM.  Closest: Lance Berkman.
  • Designated hitter: $7.15MM.  Closest: Hideki Matsui.  Johnny Damon, Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, and Jim Thome are still out there.
  • Starting pitcher: $5.85MM.  Closest: Jon Garland.
  • Closer: $10MM.  Only two results here, Mariano Rivera and J.J. Putz.  Rafael Soriano, Kevin Gregg, and Brian Fuentes are still out there, while Bobby Jenks and Kerry Wood did not sign to close.
  • Right-handed reliever, non-closer: $3.02MM.  Closest: Koji Uehara, Dan Wheeler.
  • Left-handed reliever, non-closer: $2.47MM.  Closest: Randy Choate.

Brandon Webb Rumors: Wednesday

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Yesterday we learned that the Rangers and Nationals are still showing strong interest in Brandon Webb, the Cubs' pursuit has slowed, and there is a mystery NL Central team expressing late interest.  I wouldn't be surprised to see other teams in play as well.  The latest:

Olney On Beltre, Adam LaRoche, Derrek Lee

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The latest from ESPN's Buster Olney…

  • Olney ranks the rotations, with the Phillies, Giants, and Athletics taking the top three spots.  It seems odd to see the Cardinals in an eighth-place tie, but there are a lot of good ones.  How does your top ten look?
  • The Athletics would talk to free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre again if the player is willing.  Beltre reportedly ignored Oakland's five-year, $64MM offer, which isn't much lower than the offer the Angels pulled yesterday.  Beltre appears to crave $85-90MM over five years, or a sixth year. 
  • The Orioles have been talking to Adam LaRoche's agents about a three-year deal in the $21MM range, though it was said yesterday they're at an impasse.  LaRoche had a near-miss on a multiyear deal with the Giants last offseason, though that offer came with undesirable options attached.  Olney says the Orioles are in the one-year, $8MM range with Derrek Lee, which should be close to enough.  Failing those options, Olney suggests a platoon involving Troy Glaus and Russell Branyan or Jason Giambi.    

Jeff Francis Suitors

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The Mets, Nationals, Pirates, Rangers, and Yankees have varying degrees of interest in free agent lefty Jeff Francis, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.  Crasnick named five interested clubs a month ago: the Pirates, Mariners, Brewers, Astros, and Rockies.  It appears that a few teams dropped out and others jumped in; this is the first we've seen of the Yankees' interest.  MLB.com's Thomas Harding learned from Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd today that the team will continue to monitor Francis.

Francis, 30 in January, posted a 5.00 ERA, 5.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9, and 47% groundball rate in 104 1/3 innings this year for the Rockies.  His peripheral stats suggest Francis' work was more deserving of an ERA around 4.00.  The southpaw missed all of last season after having shoulder surgery in February of '09, and had some lingering issues this year.  The Rockies declined his $7MM club option in November.  He figures to sign a one-year, incentive-laden deal.

Contract Details: Bruce, Lee, Jenks, Pirates, Gomez

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Here are some recent updates on contracts from around the majors:

Mariners Seek Impact Bat For Aardsma

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The Mariners are looking for an "impact bat" in exchange for closer David Aardsma, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding. As Troy Renck of the Denver Post reported last week, Aardsma doesn't appear to be a fit with the Rockies, who believe the Mariners are asking for too much. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the Mariners are looking to trade Aardsma, who turns 29 next week.

Aardsma will earn a raise from his 2010 salary of $2.75MM when he and the Mariners determine his upcoming salary through the arbitration process. The reliever has posted high strikeout, walk and save totals since joining the Mariners and 2010 was no exception. In 49 2/3 innings last year, he posted a 3.44 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and 31 saves. Aardsma may have seen his trade value jump because of the rising cost of free agent relievers, as as MLBTR's Mike Axisa explains here.

The Rockies are considering a number of alternatives, including Grant Balfour, Todd Coffey, Jon Rauch, Chad Qualls and Joe Beimel. GM Dan O'Dowd told Harding that he would sign certain relievers to multiyear deals, but would generally prefer to make short-term commitments.

Teams have handed out 12 multiyear deals to relievers so far this winter, as MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows.

Odds & Ends: Garcia, Yankees, Red Sox, Konerko

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Links for Tuesday evening, exactly one year after the Mets signed R.A. Dickey to one of the most successful minor league deals of the 2009-10 offseason. One year later, the Amazins are still looking for arms…

  • The Mets aren't engaging Freddy Garcia in serious discussions, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (Twitter links). We heard earlier today that the Mets are waiting for starters' asking prices to drop, but pitching is the team's priority.
  • Across town, Leonel Vinas signed a minor league deal with the Yankees, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. The 19-year-old right-hander played on a local team sponsored by Hank Steinbrenner called "Hank's Yanks." 
  • The Bronx Bombers also make their share of major deals and, as Ronald Blum of the AP notes (via the Miami Herald) the Yankees were hit with an $18MM luxury tax for their 2010 spending. The Red Sox were the only other team hit with a tax; they owe $1.5MM.
  • As Alex Speier of WEEI.com points out, "the cost of player acquisition for the [Red] Sox is more than meets the eye," because the team pays them salary and pays a luxury tax premium.
  • Boston signed Bobby Jenks, but Red Sox GM Theo Epstein says Jonathan Papelbon is still the team's closer, according to  Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston.com (on Twitter).
  • White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn told MLB.com's Scott Merkin that the team was prepared to pursue other first basemen "aggressively" midway through their negotiations with Paul Konerko. However, the White Sox made one final push for their captain and brought him back on a three-year deal.
  • The Brewers have taken lots of criticism for their failure to put together better pitching in recent years, but Dave Cameron of FanGraphs likes what GM Doug Melvin is doing. Because the free agent market has been player-friendly, Cameron would also "abandon the free-agent market, keep [his] potential free agents, and trade prospects for guys headed towards free agency" were he a GM.

Dodgers Designate Brent Leach For Assignment

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5:43pm: The Yokohama BayStars signed Leach, according to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker.

5:07pm: The Dodgers designated Brent Leach for assignment, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter). The lefty appeared in 38 games for the Dodgers in 2009, but hasn't surfaced in the majors since.

Like Scott Nestor, whom the Dodgers signed today, Leach has struggled with command and posted high strikeout totals as a professional. Leach, who has started occasionally in the minors, has posted 9.3 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 over the course of his six-year minor league career. Last year he posted a 5.25 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 104 2/3 innings for the Dodgers' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. Now 28, Leach has been in the Dodgers organization since they selected him in the 6th round of the 2005 draft.

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