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Archives for January 2010

Mets, Dodgers In On Pineiro

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7:37pm: According to Tim Brown's Twitter feed, "In the face of economic limitations, Dodgers working on a way to sign Joel Pineiro."

7:09pm: According to Ed Price's Twitter feed, the Mets and Joel Pineiro are talking, with the money somewhere around two years, $15MM.

At that price, you'd have to think a deal could get done quickly. The Mets have been interested in Pineiro all offseason, though Pineiro has seemed to be looking for a deal that rivals or exceeds the three-year, $29.75MM contract Randy Wolf signed with the Brewers.

Two years, $15MM is exactly what Jason Marquis signed for earlier this offseason with the Nationals. Despite the concerns over whether Pineiro can repeat his successful 2009 without Dave Duncan, his pitching coach with the Cardinals, the Mets would be taking a worthwhile risk at that price and length.

Pineiro was 15-12 in 2009 with a 3.49 ERA and just 27 walks in 214 innings pitched.

Odds & Ends: Royals, Red Sox, Astros

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Here are some Duraflame logs for the Hot Stove…

  • Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reviews the Kansas City offseason, and let's just say he makes "Old Dogs" look like it got raves from the critics by comparison.
  • MLB.com's Ian Browne answers questions about the Red Sox, ranging from where contract talks stand with Josh Beckett (spring training is critical) to whether David Ortiz could be traded (not without his consent).
  • MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports that despite the apparent signing of Brett Myers, the Astros still prefer to develop pitchers themselves.
  • MLB.com's Mark Bowman addresses whether the Braves have improved their offense, or if position player moves are still to come, in his latest Inbox column.

A Look Back At The Second Week Of 2009

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Let's take a look back at the hot stove happenings from January 8-14th, 2009.  So much changes in a year…

Heyman On Mauer, Pujols, Damon, Washburn

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3:59pm: David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that the Braves have not made an offer to Damon, contrary to Heyman's suggestion below.

12:49pm: Jon Heyman's latest column for SI.com leads with thoughts on contract talks for two superstars, Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols.  Heyman says Mauer has been slow to engage with the Twins only because he's giving them a chance to put the 2010 team together first.  Heyman believes Mauer is "thinking about a contract for at least seven years and more than $20MM, though he isn't going to press the $30MM issue that could conceivably come into focus if he goes the free-agent route."  On the other hand, Heyman says Pujols is "surely seeking" $30MM a year.  On to Heyman's other rumors…

  • Heyman believes the Braves and Giants made offers to Johnny Damon.  It's not clear if the Giants' offer for Damon is still on the table given their Aubrey Huff agreement.
  • Jarrod Washburn rejected a $5MM offer from the Twins; the Mets and Royals are other suitors.
  • The Mariners have considered Ryan Garko.  An outfielder would make more sense.
  • The Rangers are looking for a "low-cost starting pitcher."
  • The Orioles are "still in play" for first baseman Adam LaRoche.  Currently it's difficult to name another LaRoche suitor.

AL West Moves

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A look at the moves made so far this winter by AL West clubs…

Angels

  • Acquired/re-signed: Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Fernando Rodney, Michael Rocco, Taylor Wilding, Julio Perez, Travis Chick, Gary Patchett, Cory Aldridge, Camilo Vazquez, Nick Gorneault,
  • Lost: Darren Oliver, Chone Figgins, John Lackey, Vladimir Guerrero, Kelvim Escobar, Matt Brown, Bobby Cassevah, David Herndon  

Athletics

  • Acquired/re-signed: Coco Crisp, Justin Duchscherer, Jack Cust, Michael Taylor, Dallas McPherson, Aaron Miles, Jake Fox, Bobby Cassevah, Matthew Whitney, Matt Wright, Marcus McBeth, Fernando Hernandez, Cedrick Bowers, Alex Valdez, Trey Webb 
  • Lost: Brett Wallace, Chris Denorfia, Bobby Crosby, Jeff Gray, Matthew Spencer, Ronny Morla, Jay Marshall 

Mariners

  • Acquired/re-signed: Cliff Lee, Chone Figgins, Milton Bradley, Casey Kotchman, Ken Griffey Jr., Brandon League, Josh Bard, Chad Cordero, Johermyn Chavez, Yusmeiro Petit, Josh Wilson, Corey Patterson, Kanekoa Texeira, Pedro Okuda, Ryan Langerhans, Chris Woodward, Guillermo Quiroz, Rich Dorman, Steve Bray, Steven Shell, Jose Yepez, Levale Speigner, Chris Seddon, Travis Denker, Mike Koplove, David Pauley, Ralph Henriquez 
  • Lost: Adrian Beltre, Brandon Morrow, Kenji Johjima, Justin Thomas, Bryan LaHair, Carlos Silva, Bill Hall, Chris Jakubauskas, Robert Manuel, J.C. Ramirez, Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, Roy Corcoran 

Rangers

  • Acquired/re-signed: Darren Oliver, Vladimir Guerrero, Rich Harden, Chris Ray, Khalil Greene, Kevin Richardson, Joe Inglett, Clay Rapada, Ben Snyder, Ray Olmedo, Geoff Geary, Matt Brown, Robbie Alcombrack, John Otness  

  • Lost: Jason Grilli, Ivan Rodriguez, Eddie Guardado, Marlon Byrd, Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, Kevin Millwood

Odds & Ends: Maddux, Valverde, Davis, Felix

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Links for Monday…

  • Press release: Greg Maddux has joined the Cubs as an assistant to GM Jim Hendry.  He'll work with the coaching staffs as well as baseball operations.  Click here for the official story. 
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Diamondbacks' interest in Jose Valverde has cooled.  The Tigers made an offer, the magnitude of which is unknown. 
  • Morosi says the Indians are not engaged in trade talks for Jhonny Peralta.
  • ESPN's Keith Law praises the Reds for adding a pitcher with huge upside in Aroldis Chapman.  He also points out that MLB's current draft setup "screws American-born players."
  • David Coleman of The Crawfish Boxes says the Astros drew a line when they designated Julio Lugo for assignment in '03 following domestic violence charges, making their Brett Myers signing seem hypocritical.
  • Free agent lefty Doug Davis is interested in joining the Nationals, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson, but Davis was told the Nats are more focused on adding a second baseman.  Davis acknowledged, "Things are kind of going slow for me because I'm fifth or sixth down the line [when it comes to] starting pitching."
  • Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times talks about the Mariners' need to sign Felix Hernandez long-term before the season begins.
  • Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles evaluates the Giants' Aubrey Huff signing.
  • MLB.com's Doug Miller discusses new defensive stats with experts and team officials.

Royals Sign Matt Herges

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The Royals signed reliever Matt Herges to a minor league deal, according to a team press release.  Herges, 40 in April, posted a 6.8 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, and 3.38 ERA in 34.6 innings for the Indians and Rockies last year.  He logged another 28.3 innings at Triple A.

Herges is one of a slew of minor league signings made by Royals GM Dayton Moore so far this offseason.  Check out the full list here.

Rangers Sign Vladimir Guerrero

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The Rangers officially signed Vladimir Guerrero to a one year, $5MM deal with a mutual option for 2011 today. Earlier in the week SI.com's Jon Heyman reported that the two sides were in "serious talks" about a deal worth $5MM with incentives. MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan first reported the agreement and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News added the specifics, noting that Vlad can earn more by reaching certain incentives.

Guerrero, 35 in February, is a career .321/.386/.568 hitter, though he's tailed off in recent years and had the least productive full season of his career in 2009. Vlad has hit .394/.471/.705 in over 220 plate appearances at the Ballpark in Arlington, though it'd be dangerous to make assumptions based on that sample.

Vlad, who only played in the outfield twice last year, was a defensive liability in each of the three seasons preceding 2009, so he'll serve as the club's primary designated hitter.

Ben Nicholson-Smith and Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.

Reds Sign Aroldis Chapman

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The Reds officially signed free agent lefty Aroldis Chapman to a six-year deal worth $30.25MM today.  Said GM Walt Jocketty: "We have to make some bold moves from time to time."  The Reds got involved just before Christmas, and Jocketty said he was happy to stay under the radar.  Chapman's payments will be spread out over ten years, and Jocketty noted that the contract will not significantly impact the Reds' 2010 payroll.  The Reds' GM wouldn't predict when Chapman would join the Major League rotation, but wouldn't rule out the possibility of him breaking camp with the team.

Chapman, 21, defected from the Cuban national team in July and established residency in the small European nation of Andorra in September.  An agency called Athletes Premier International represented Chapman along his path toward big league free agency, but he switched to the Hendricks brothers in November.  Armed with a mid-90s fastball and a plus slider, Chapman generated widespread interest.  The Red Sox, Marlins, Nationals, and Blue Jays reportedly made strong offers, and ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted that the Athletics finished second.  The early notion that Chapman's price tag would limit bidding to large-market clubs proved false.

News of Chapman's agreement with the Reds broke yesterday via Yahoo's Jeff Passan.  John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer and MLB.com's Mark Sheldon added details.

Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.

Rays Sign Dan Johnson

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The Rays signed first baseman Dan Johnson to a one-year, Major League deal worth $500K, writes Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.  The Rays sold Johnson's rights to the Yokohama BayStars about a year ago, and the 30-year-old hit .215/.330/.462 in 382 plate appearances in Japan in 2009.  He's got a career line of .248/.343/.420.  Most his big league time came with the A's from 2005-07.

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