Blue Jays Acquire Dana Eveland
8:09pm: Eveland will come into camp with a shot at a starting job with the Blue Jays, tweets Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.
2:42pm: According to a team press release, Toronto has acquired left-hander Dana Eveland from the A's in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Eveland was DFA'd by Oakland on Monday.
In nine starts for the Athletics last season, the 26-year-old posted a 7.16 ERA with 4.5 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9. However, Eveland had a passable 2008 – posting a 4.34 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 29 starts.
Johnny Damon Rumors: Saturday
7:03pm: Damon said on Friday that Tampa Bay remains a possible destination, writes Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. However, Topkin characterizes this as a "long shot", as Damon is likely to sign with Detroit.
11:47am: Pitchers are catchers are less than two weeks away, however Johnny Damon is still looking for a job and there doesn't appear to be many teams willing to bring him on board. FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi says the Braves and Tigers are definitely among the clubs interested in Damon, though Atlanta has taken a more passive approach. They'd be happy to take him if he "fell into their lap" according to the Fox scribe, which translates to "if his price comes way down."
Meanwhile, Lynn Henning of The Detroit News says the Tigers need to add a hitter after the Twins added Orlando Hudson, but he cautions that Damon isn't "a perfect answer or player." This certainly isn't the first time we've seen these two teams connected to the former Yankee left fielder.
Bobby Abreu didn't sign until February 12th last year, so Damon still has some time before meeting his former teammate's mark.
Odds & Ends: Kielty, Ruiz, Gillick, Santos
Saturday morning links…
- Arangure (via Twitter) writes that the A's have agreed to terms with Michael Feliz, a right-hander from the Dominican Republic. The deal, which is still pending a physical and an age investigation, will provide Feliz with an $800K bonus. The Dominican Prospect League website says that the 6'4, 200-pound hurler is 16-years-old.
- Tim tweets that Bobby Kielty is converting to pitching, and that his slider is actually pretty good. The 33-year-old last played in the big leagues back in 2007, when he was still an outfielder of course.
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure tweets that the Blue Jays, Rockies, and Rangers are the teams most interested in Cuban first baseman Jose Julio Ruiz. Ruiz was recently cleared to sign by the Office of Foreign Asset Control.
- Pat Gillick has returned to the Phillies as a senior advisor to president Dave Montgomery, reports Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun. Gillick was the team's GM from 2006-2008.
- ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to several talent evaluators, none of whom think Omir Santos is equipped to be a number one catcher. If the season started today, Santos would likely be behind the plate for the Mets.
Rockies Sign Four To Minor League Contracts
The Rockies have signed first baseman Josh Phelps, righthander Chris Gissell, and outfielders Alex Escobar and Bronson Sardinha to minor league contracts according to Jack Etkin of Inside the Rockies. Etkin says all four players will be a given a chance to make the roster of the Rockies' Triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs.
Phelps, 31, hasn't played in the big leagues since 2008, though he's a .297/.364/.495 career hitter off lefties, so he might work his way onto Colorado's bench with a big spring. Escobar, also 31, last appeared in the Majors way back in 2006, and he didn't play in affiliated ball at all last season.
The 26-year-old Sardinha is a former first round pick (2001), though he didn't play in 2009 after being released by the Tigers in April. Gissell, 32, spend the last two seasons playing for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate, posting a 3.44 ERA in 89 innings. He played for the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League once upon a time.
Mariners Re-Sign Erik Bedard
The Mariners officially re-signed Erik Bedard today to a one year deal worth $1.5MM guaranteed with a mutual option for 2011 worth $8MM. Incentives based on games and time in the majors could bring the total payout in 2010 close to $8.5MM, and there are similar escalators for 2011 as well. The southpaw started throwing at his Navan, Ontario home last month, and said the Mariners were his "first choice."
Bedard, 31 in March, believes he could be pitching in May after having surgery last August to repair a frayed labrum and inflamed bursa in his throwing shoulder, though a June or July return may be more realistic. He'd previously had a shoulder procedure in September of '08 to remove a cyst. The Mariners were satisfied enough with his physical to go forward with the deal.
Hip and arm injuries have limited Bedard to just 30 starts and 164 innings since initially coming to Seattle in a six-player blockbuster with the Orioles two years ago, however those were high quality innings: 3.24 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 3.87 FIP. Once healthy, he'll slot in behind Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee to form a potent 1-2-3 punch in the Great Northwest.
GM Jack Zduriencik has been a very busy man this winter. In addition to bringing back Bedard, he also imported in Lee, Chone Figgins, Milton Bradley, Eric Byrnes, Brandon League, Ryan Garko, and Casey Kotchman while locking up Hernandez and Franklin Gutierrez to long-term deals. The Orioles, Royals, and Red Sox also had varying degrees of interest in Bedard this offseason.
MLB.com's Jim Street initially reported the agreement, while Marc Brassard of Le Droit confirmed the deal and the terms. Kirby Arnold of The Everett Herald, Larry LaRue of The News Tribune, Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com (Twitter), and Larry Stone of The Seattle Times (Twitter) added details along the way.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
Mariners Designate Yusmeiro Petit For Assignment
The Mariners have designated righty Yusmeiro Petit for assignment according to a team press release. The move opens up a roster spot for the newly re-signed Erik Bedard.
The 25-year-old Petit was claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks back in November, and owns a 5.57 career ERA with a 6.9 K/9 and a 2.9 BB/9 in 229.1 innings. His 1.96 HR/9 is the worst in baseball history among pitchers with at least as 200 innings to their credit.
Nationals Sign Shawn Estes To Minor League Deal
The Nationals have signed veteran lefty Shawn Estes to a minor league contract according to the AP (via MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez). Estes will earn $600K and could pocket another $400K in incentives if he makes the club.
Estes, 37 later this month, last pitched in the big leagues back in 2008, when he gave the Padres 43.2 innings of 4.74 ERA ball, though his peripherals were ugly (3.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9). He spent last season with the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate, posting a 3.07 ERA in 13 starts despite similar peripherals. On the bright side, he did hold lefties to a .206 batting average.
Odds & Ends: Jackson, Norman, Dye, Lester, Manny
Some links for Friday night…
- MLB.com's Steve Gilbert tweets that the Diamondbacks and Edwin Jackson have made no progress towards reaching an agreement to avoid arbitration. A hearing is set for February 17th.
- Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette passes along a report from the independent St. Paul Saints that says that the Pirates have signed 25-year-old outfielder Anthony Norman to a minor league deal.
- Several executives told Morosi that they expect Jermaine Dye to sign with an AL club, though no one's sure which one.
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier says that Jon Lester's contract is one of the biggest bargains in baseball when you look at the deals Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander just received. Lester signed a five-year deal last March that guaranteed him at least $30MM.
- Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times wonders if 2010 could be the final year of Manny Ramirez's career. If so, he has a chance to be just the eighth player in history to retire with a career OPS over 1.000.
- ESPN's Keith Law says that the Orlando Hudson signing is a major upgrade for the Twins, likely enough to make them preseason favorites in the AL Central.
- Meanwhile, Law thinks it's too risky for the Diamondbacks to give Mark Reynolds a multi-year contract right now. The two-sides have been discussing such a deal recently.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com says the Mets are more likely to sign a pitcher rather than another catcher this month.
- Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle has some quotes from Travis Buck regarding his standing with the A's following all of their outfield additions, and adds that the team has found some interest in Dana Eveland and Gregorio Petit, both of whom were recently designated for assignment.
Gomes, Reds No Closer To A Deal
Jonny Gomes is no closer to returning to the Reds despite some discussions in recent weeks, reports MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
"Nothing recently," Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said on Friday night. "We may re-evaluate where we're at with our roster and with the number of people we have going [to Spring Training]."
Even if the team doesn't bring back Gomes, whose 20 homers were the third most on the club in 2009 despite just 314 plate appearances, Jocketty doesn't expect to sign another outfielder as a backup plan.
"We'll either do something with him or stay with what we have until we get to camp and see how it shakes out.
"There's no real deadline. We're playing it by ear. I don't think there's pressure one way or the other to get it done."
The Cubs, Mariners, and Royals all considered Gomes at one point, however they all ended up going in different directions for their outfield needs. MLBTR readers discussed his situation a few weeks ago.
Rockies Sign Melvin Mora
The Rockies officially signed Melvin Mora to a one-year deal worth $1.3MM today. It became clear that Colorado was a finalist for Mora's services when Orlando Cabrera signed with the Reds.
Mora, who turned 38 this week, hit .260/.321/.358 for the Orioles last year with eight homers. He spent all of his time at third base last year, where his defense was slightly above average, according to UZR/150. He has experience at all three outfield positions, short and second, too. The Rockies figure to use Mora at third, short and second to spell Ian Stewart, Troy Tulowitzki and Clint Barmes.
Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com broke the news before adding the salary details, both via Twitter.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.