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Astros Sign Ryan Rowland-Smith

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The Astros have signed left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith to a one-year contract worth $725K plus incentives, according to a team press release.  Rowland-Smith will join Nelson Figueroa and others in a competition for the team's fifth starter job.  The Astros will have the opportunity to control Rowland-Smith through 2013 as an arbitration eligible player.

Rowland-Smith, 28 in January, posted a 6.75 ERA, 4.0 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 2.1 HR/9, and 37.1% groundball rate in 109 1/3 innings this year before being non-tendered by the Mariners.  The Australia native spent time on the DL with a lower back strain this year after battling a triceps injury in '09.

News of the agreement was first reported by Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.

Red Sox Re-Sign Jason Varitek

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The Red Sox have re-signed catcher Jason Varitek to a one-year deal, according to a team press release.  No contract details were mentioned by the club, but Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated reports that Varitek will earn $2MM next season (via Twitter).

Varitek, 39 in April, will return for a 15th season in Boston. Last year, the Red Sox captain appeared in just 39 games and he'll likely assume a backup role again in 2011, when Jarrod Saltalamacchia could become the regular Boston backstop.

Thanks in large part to a torrid start at the plate, Varitek finished the 2010 season with a strong .232/.293/.473 batting line. The former Silver Slugger winner belted seven homers in just 123 plate appearances, proving that he still has some pop.

Though Varitek struggled to limit opposing base stealers early in the season, he threw out nine of 43 would-be base stealers overall. That figure (21%) is below average, but significantly better than the 13% mark he posted in 2009.

Heyman was the first to break the news of the signing on December 2, and MLB.com's Peter Gammons adds that the deal has $300K in incentives.

Ben Nicholson-Smith and Mark Polishuk contributed to this post.

Padres Sign Gregorio Petit

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The Padres have signed shortstop Gregorio Petit, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America.  Petit recorded 56 plate appearances with Oakland in 2008 and 2009 before being dealt to Texas for Edwar Ramirez last March, and he spent all of last season with the Rangers' Triple-A team.

Rockies Hoping To Extend Carlos Gonzalez

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FRIDAY, 4:45pm: Monfort confirmed that the team has offered Gonzalez a seven-year extension, but questioned the salary number reported by the Post. "I'm not sure where $100MM came from," Monfort told Wilmer Reina at the Venezuelan paper La Verdad (link in Spanish). "It's true that our organization has talked with his agent about an agreement of seven years, but not with those numbers." – Nick Collias

THURSDAY, 6:18am: Rockies owner Dick Monfort has already committed over $100MM this winter to one of the cornerstones of his franchise, Troy Tulowitzki. Now, Monfort tells Troy Renck of the Denver Post that he'd be open to a six- or seven-year extension, potentially in the neighborhood of $100MM, for another of Colorado's stars: Carlos Gonzalez.

"I am hopeful, yes, that we can get something done," Monfort said. "Why? Well, I haven't talked directly with Carlos, but I know he likes it here. And as a player, I would like to know that Troy Tulowitzki is going to be hitting behind me forever. And I would like that I don't have to play center field every day because we already have a gazelle out there (in Dexter Fowler)."

Monfort acknowledged that, considering Gonzalez's representation, getting a deal done wouldn't be easy. But according to Scott Boras, if the young outfielder is interesting in pursuing an extension and feels that it's "economically suitable for him," he would be open to the idea.

According to GM Dan O'Dowd, any extension negotiations won't continue into spring training, so if the two sides intend to work out anything this winter, talks will need to pick up in the coming weeks. While there were rumors of an informal long-term offer for CarGo, discussions don't appear to have become serious yet. With Gonzalez still a year away from arbitration eligibility and under team control through 2014, the club likely won't be in any rush.

Pirates Sign Scott Olsen

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The Pirates signed lefty Scott Olsen, the team announced.  Olsen will earn about $500K with a chance to make another $3MM in incentives based on starts.  The deal includes a $4MM club option for 2012.  Olsen is represented by Sosnick Cobbe Sports.

Olsen, 27 in January, posted a 5.56 ERA, 5.9 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 46.5% groundball rate in 81 innings for the Nationals this year.  He had labrum surgery in July of '09, and shoulder soreness lingered into the 2010 season.  He pitched well through his first seven starts, with a 3.15 ERA in those 40 innings.  ESPN's Keith Law wrote, "To have value to the Pirates he'll need to locate his fastball better and improve his barely-average changeup." 

Olsen joins Kevin Correia as the new members of Pittsburgh's rotation, which lost Zach Duke to a trade and could see Paul Maholm depart as well.  Ross Ohlendorf and James McDonald figure to take a couple of spots.

MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch first reported on Monday that a deal was close and ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reported the agreement.

The Players Teams Must Surrender Picks For

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The Tigers, Red Sox, White Sox and Nationals have already proven that they're willing to surrender top draft picks to sign top free agents. Victor Martinez, Carl Crawford, Adam Dunn and Jayson Werth all cost draft picks, but they aren't the only ones attached to selections in the 2011 draft.

Teams will also have to surrender draft choices to sign Type A free agents Grant Balfour, Adrian Beltre, Scott Downs, Cliff Lee and Carl Pavano since those players all turned down offers of arbitration. Keep in mind that the Tigers, Red Sox, White Sox and Nationals have already surrendered their top pick, so signing one of the remaining Type A free agents would only cost them a second or third rounder.

A little historical context: last offseason, teams gave up picks to sign Jose Valverde, Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, Mike Gonzalez, John Lackey, Chone Figgins, Marco Scutaro and Billy Wagner.

In the 2008-09 offseason, clubs surrendered draft choices to sign Orlando Cabrera, Juan Cruz, Orlando Hudson, Derek Lowe, Mark Teixeira, Brian Fuentes, C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Raul Ibanez and Francisco Rodriguez.

Red Sox Sign Carl Crawford

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The Red Sox are officially the winners of the 2010 Winter Meetings. Boston signed a seven-year, $142MM deal with Carl Crawford, just days after acquiring Adrian Gonzalez. The deal, which is official now that Crawford has passed his physical, includes a partial no-trade clause.

Not only will the move give Boston a tremendous everyday lineup, it will put pressure on a number of the team's rivals. The Rays will face their former outfielder 18 times per season; the Angels lose out on their top offseason target and the Yankees are left with no major free agent to pursue if Cliff Lee ignores their overtures. According to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, the Yankees never made a formal offer to Crawford, while the Angels may have topped out at $108MM.

Crawford will become the first position player without a 20 homer season on his resume to sign a nine-figure contract. His representatives at Legacy Sports negotiated a deal that falls just short of the eight-year, $160MM Dan Duquette signed Manny Ramirez to a decade ago. However, it surpasses the seven-year, $126MM deal Jayson Werth signed this week.

The Red Sox add another outfielder to the roster and another left-handed bat to the lineup. It's likely that Terry Francona will play Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew in the outfield with Mike Cameron and Ryan Kalish as backups. Drew, Kalish, Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz all bat left-handed.

Crawford, 29, batted .307/.356/.495 with 19 homers and 47 stolen bases in 657 plate appearances for the Rays last year. He made his fourth All-Star team and managers and coaches recognized his above-average defense with a Gold Glove.

It's not much compensation for losing a franchise player, but the Rays will get two draft picks next June for losing a Type A free agent after offering arbitration. They pick up a supplementary first rounder plus Boston's 24th overall pick. The Red Sox already obtained the 19th overall pick when the Tigers signed Victor Martinez.

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe broke the news (on Twitter) and  Jon Heyman of SI.com added detail on the partial no-trade clause (Twitter link).  Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link) has the yearly numbers: Crawford receives a $6MM signing bonus, $14MM in 2011, $19.5MM in 2012, $20MM in 2013, and then his pay increases by $250K each season before topping out at $21MM in 2017.

Russell Martin Rumors: Friday

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Yesterday, we learned that free agent catcher Russell Martin has offers from the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays. He also has a multiyear offer from a mystery team, but Boston may be the favorite to sign the former Dodger. Here are today's rumors:

  • The Yankees are taking an aggressive approach with Martin, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
  • Agent Matt Colleran tells Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com that his client is deciding between the three AL East teams: the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays (Twitter link).

Odds & Ends: Greinke, Ryan, Jeter, Atkins, Garza

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On this date two years ago, the Tigers sent Matt Joyce to the Rays for Edwin Jackson. It's been a busy couple of years for Jackson, who has bounced from Detroit to Arizona to Chicago, twirling a no-hitter along the way. Here are today's links…

A Look At The Catching Market

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Victor Martinez, John Buck, A.J. Pierzynski, Miguel Olivo and Yorvit Torrealba have all agreed to multiyear deals this offseason and the pool of available free agent catchers figures to shrink a little more if Henry Blanco works out a deal with Arizona, Matt Treanor returns to Texas and Russell Martin signs with one of his AL East suitors. Here's a look at which teams could use catching depth and where they might find it:

Teams with potential interest in catching depth:

Catchers on the free agent market:

Potential trade targets:

At least seven teams could be in the market for a backup catcher and there are not that many viable options on the free agent market, so teams with catching depth will likely draw interest in their extra backstops this winter.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

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