By Tim Dierkes | at
The Mariners re-signed pitcher Yusmeiro Petit, reports Baseball America's Matt Eddy. Eddy says the Ms released Petit on March 17th but re-signed him four days later.
Petit was claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks by the Mariners in November. He was designated for assignment in February to make room for Erik Bedard, and cleared waivers a few days later. The 25-year-old posted a 5.82 ERA, 7.4 K/9, and 3.4 BB/9 in 89.6 innings for Arizona last year, allowing 19 home runs.
By Tim Dierkes | at
3:01pm: The Dodgers are in too, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The D'Backs are not interested, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
11:38am: The Mets are discussing Gaudin, tweets Newsday's David Lennon.
7:57am: The Yankees released pitcher Chad Gaudin, tweets Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger. Gaudin had been placed on waivers on Tuesday, but no team claimed his $2.95MM salary. Since he was on a non-guaranteed contract, the Yankees will only pay a quarter ($737,500).
A year ago when Gaudin was released by the Cubs, he chose the Padres in part because of the opportunity to start. In that role in '09 he posted a 4.76 ERA, 8.37 K/9, and 4.69 BB/9 in 134.3 innings. The Mets, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Mariners are among the clubs looking a little short on arms. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tells us that the A's are not interested in a reunion with Gaudin.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The Rockies are next in our Offseason In Review series.
Major League Signings
Notable Minor League Signings
Trades and Claims: None
Extensions
Notable Losses
Summary
Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd focused most of his offseason efforts on the bullpen and bench, with the lineup and rotation already in good shape. He also locked up four of his own players. Let's take a closer look.
Betancourt was the main offseason splash. The Rockies acquired him from the Indians in July and enjoyed 25.3 dominant innings. That was enough to convince O'Dowd to take the plunge with an arbitration offer to the Type A free agent, though he declined Betancourt's $5.4MM club option first. Betancourt played it safe and accepted the offer, and the Rockies worked out a two-year agreement a couple months later. Betancourt turns 35 soon and has been dealing with shoulder inflammation, so this was a risky signing.
The risk of the Betancourt signing was balanced out by a slew of minor league deals to once-effective relievers. It's likely that a few of these work out, and the Rockies end up with a pretty good pen.
Tacking two, possibly three extra years on to Street's deal was unnecessary. Street dealt with biceps inflammation in September and now faces shoulder issues. A one-year deal in the $8MM range made more sense. As dominant as Street was in 2009, closers aren't getting paid like this anymore.
The Rockies want Helton to retire a Rockie, but did they need to commit to 2012 and 2013 now? A reworking of Helton's previous monstrous contract provides short-term financial relief, a necessity after O'Dowd committed $11MM to Street and Betancourt for 2011. The Iannetta extension was a clear bargain, though it was surprising to see the Rockies pick up Olivo a few weeks later for a 2010 job-sharing arrangement.
Offensive changes were unnecessary, as the Rockies' offense stacks up with any team in the NL. They might have the game's best fourth and fifth outfielders in Seth Smith and Spilborghs, and the bench was further solidified with Giambi and Mora.
It will be difficult for Jeff Francis to replicate Marquis' 216 innings of 4.04 ball, though letting the latter go and taking a draft pick was the right move. Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook, Jorge de la Rosa, and Jason Hammel form an underrated front four.
Though O'Dowd overindulged on extensions, the 2010 Rockies have few weaknesses and should be in the thick of the playoff hunt once again.
By Tim Dierkes | at
The White Sox signed pitcher Scott Elarton to a minor league deal, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
Elarton, 34, last pitched pro ball for the Indians in '08. He worked out for the Padres prior to the '09 season, but they did not offer him a contract. Elarton's big score was a two-year, $8MM deal signed with the Royals in December of '05 when Allard Baird was GM. He had labrum surgery in August of '06.
By Tim Dierkes | at
Our 2012 MLB Free Agent list has just been posted. Since that post will be a permanent addition to the sidebar, comments on it are closed. Leave comments here instead!
The 2012 list shows players who are eligible to become free agents after the 2011 season. My system is to allow a player to only be on one list at a time, so those on the 2010 or 2011 lists are not on the 2012 one. The 2012 list is for players who are signed through 2011 (some may have '12 options) and also for those who currently have between four and five years of service time. Part of the latter group will be non-tendered after the '10 season, at which point they'll join the '11 list and be removed from '12. Now that you're sufficiently confused, let's analyze this group!
By Tim Dierkes | at
MLBTR's up-to-date list of 2012 MLB free agents is below. These are players who are eligible for free agency after the 2011 season. The player's 2012 age is in parentheses. Players on the 2013 free agent list are not on this one. The cutoffs for this list are generally 20 innings pitched or 50 plate appearances in the Majors in 2011.
If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us. To see who represents these players, check out our agency database. For instant free agent updates, be sure to follow us on Twitter @mlbtraderumors.
List updated 6-22-12
Catchers
Josh Bard (34)
Ramon Castro (36)
First basemen
Jorge Cantu (30)
Ross Gload (36)
Derrek Lee (36) – Type B, offered arbitration
Second basemen
Alex Cora (36)
Bill Hall (32)
Felipe Lopez (32)
Julio Lugo (36)
Shortstops
none
Third basemen
Jorge Cantu (30)
Wes Helms (36)
Felipe Lopez (32)
Left fielders
Felix Pie (27)
Marcus Thames (35)
Center fielders
Marlon Byrd (34)
Aaron Rowand (34)
Right fielders
J.D. Drew (36)
Designated hitters
Manny Ramirez (40)
Starting pitchers
Kyle Davies (28)
Armando Galarraga (30)
Jon Garland (32)
Sergio Mitre (31)
Carlos Silva (33)
Jeff Suppan (37)
Javier Vazquez (35)
Brandon Webb (33)
Right-handed relievers
D.J. Carrasco (35)
Scott Linebrink (35)
Joel Zumaya (27)
Left-handed relievers
Joe Beimel (35)
Zach Braddock (24)
John Grabow (33)
Damaso Marte (37)
Trever Miller (39)
Dennys Reyes (35)
Arthur Rhodes (41) – Type B, no arbitration offer
Mitch Stetter (31)
Cot's Baseball Contracts was used in the creation of this list.
By Mark Polishuk | at
Mark Sheldon of MLB.com answered some Reds-related questions from fans in a mailbag today. Here are a few of the more intriguing items….
By Mark Polishuk | at
A round-up of some of Wednesday's newsbits….
By Zachary Links | at
WEDNESDAY, 10:01pm: MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports that the Dodgers aren't trying to deal Hu, since they need him in case something happens to Rafael Furcal. Gurnick also notes that L.A. is shopping Jason Repko, who has nowhere to play in the crowded Dodger outfield.
TUESDAY, 5:25pm: The Dodgers are looking to move pitcher Eric Stults and shortstop Chin-lung Hu, baseball officials from the NL and AL tell Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
Los Angeles may feel that Stults is now expendable as they have multiple candidates for the final spot in their rotation. Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse tweets that Ramon Ortiz is the top candidate, even though some within the organization feel that Josh Lindblom should be the fifth starter. Yesterday, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com wrote that the aforementioned Ramon Ortiz, Rule 5 selection Carlos Monasterios, Charlie Haeger, Russ Ortiz, and Josh Towers were all in the mix for the job. Mike Axisa recently summed up this proverbial game of musical chairs in one handy post.
Meanwhile, if the Dodgers are unable to find a taker in the majors for Stults, they could find a suitor overseas. The 30-year-old hurler has previously been linked to the Chiba Lotta Marines and earlier this week, he was named as a possible target of the Hanshin Tigers.
Hu, who recently turned 26, made a few appearances for Los Angeles in 2009 as a September call-up. For the team's Triple-A affiliate, he turned in .294/.332/.393 with 6 HRs in 544 plate appearances.
By Mark Polishuk | at
Bob Nightengale of USA Today is reporting that the Giants and reliever Jeremy Affeldt have agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $9.5MM. Nightengale tweets that the deal should be announced tomorrow.
Affeldt was due to earn $4MM from San Francisco this season, which would have been the final year of the two-year, $8MM pact he signed after the 2008 season. Under the new contract, Affeldt will make a guaranteed $4.5MM in both 2010 and 2011. For the 2011 season, the Giants can either pick up an option on Affeldt that would pay the left-hander $5MM for the year, or the club can buy him out for $500K.
The 30-year-old enjoyed the best season of his eight-year career in 2009. He posted a career-low 1.73 ERA in 74 appearances with San Francisco, and tied Minnesota's Matt Guerrier for the major league lead in holds with 33.
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