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Red Sox, Beckett Sign Four-Year Extension

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The Red Sox signed Josh Beckett to a four-year extension, the team announced today. The deal, which is worth $68MM, pays Beckett a $5MM signing bonus and salaries of $15.75MM from 2011-14. The right-hander also has a clause blocking trades to three teams, two of which he can choose. After the 2011 season, Beckett should have ten and five rights which will allow him to veto any trade.

MLB.com's Ian Browne first reported the deal's value, after ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes suggested it would approach $70MM. Alex Speier of WEEI.com added the yearly breakdown (via Twitter) and Jon Heyman of SI.com explained the deal's no-trade protection (via Twitter).

As Heyman notes (via Twitter), the Red Sox save on luxury tax spending by completing the deal after the season's start. The extension gives the team control of Beckett, John Lackey, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz through 2014, as Speier notes (via Twitter).

Beckett was set to hit free agency after the season, so the contract averages out to $17MM per year for four free agent years. That's slightly less than what Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez got for the free agent years covered under their newly-signed extensions. It's more per year than the $16.5MM Lackey signed for last winter and, unlike Lackey's contract, Beckett's deal doesn't include injury protection for the Red Sox, according to Edes.

Hank Blalock And Joe Crede

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Hank Blalock is healthy, hit 25 homers last season and has Scott Boras representing him, but he still couldn't find a major league job after the Rays assigned him to the minors. Blalock figures to contribute to the Rays at some point this season even though this is not the route he wanted to take. But Blalock's trouble finding a job shows that another Scott Boras client doesn't have it easy.

Joe Crede turns 32 in April, which makes him two and a half years older than Blalock. Crede underwent surgery in September because of a herniated disk in his back. He has since recovered and was throwing and hitting a month ago, but teams haven't forgotten the back, shoulder, hand, knee and hamstring injuries Crede struggled with last year. 

Crede's bat is comparable to Blalock's at this point. Blalock appeared in more games than Crede, picked up 128 more plate appearances and hit ten more homers, but Crede's rate stats (.225/.289/.414) resemble Blalock's (.234/.277/.459). 

Even though Crede is older, more injury-prone and no more productive at the plate, Boras can point to Crede's defense. Every year since 2002, when data became available, UZR has ranked Crede as an above-average defender at third and he has defended particularly well in recent years.

If Blalock can't find a job now, it's unlikely that Crede can. It's hard to imagine Boras and Crede finding a guaranteed contract now, when roster spots are at a premium. But if Crede proves his health in workouts, he could become an attractive mid-season option for risk-taking GMs in search of a cheap third baseman who can play defense and add a little power. 

Brewers In “Ongoing” Talks With Fielder

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Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that talks with Prince Fielder about a contract extension are "ongoing." Attanasio did not say whether the club had made Fielder an offer and neither did Brewers GM Doug Melvin. But the club owner said deals of this magnitude can take a while.

"When you talk about $100 million type contracts, it's nine figures," Attanasio said. "Those are complex transactions. They don't get done with a quick conversation and a handshake. Everything has to line up to make it work. There's a mutual intent on both sides to try to make it work." 

The Brewers discussed an extension with agent Scott Boras last month, but no details emerged about the contract talks. Fielder is under contract for this year, when he'll earn $10.5MM and the Brewers have Fielder under team control in 2011, when the first baseman will earn a raise in his final arbitration year. 

Phillies Have Interest In Nelson Figueroa

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The Phillies have interest in Nelson Figueroa of the Mets, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. The 35-year-old righty is out of options, and has been outrighted before, so he can choose to become a free agent instead of reporting to the minor leagues if he clears waivers. Figueroa, whose waivers expire Wednesday, pitched for the Phillies in 2001.

The Mets cut Figueroa, but the Phillies could use pitching depth now that Joe Blanton, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge are on the disabled list. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported last week that the Phillies were interested in adding pitching. In 70.1 innings last year, Figueroa posted a 4.09 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 for the Mets. 

Reds DFA Miles, Balentien

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The Reds have designated Aaron Miles and Wladimir Balentien for assignment, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of CNati.com (Twitter link). We heard on the weekend that the Reds were likely to designate the pair for assignment to create roster space if GM Walt Jocketty didn't find a trade partner.

The Mariners designated Balentien for assignment last summer, before the Reds acquired the outfielder leading up to the trade deadline. The Reds would acquire Miles six months later for Adam Rosales and Willy Taveras in a bad contract swap.

Miles hit .185/.224/.242 in 170 plate appearances for the Cubs last year and followed that up with a .152/.222/.212 performance this spring. It's hard to imagine any team claiming him. Balentien hit a more robust .327/.353/.571 this spring; in 295 plate appearances last year, he hit .234/.305/.385.

Anthopoulos: The Blue Jays Can Spend

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Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star that he could have asked ownership to bid $30MM-plus on Aroldis Chapman.

"Paul [Beeston, the team's president] and ownership were fully prepared to endorse it," Anthopoulos said. "I guess my one regret is I wish it was a greater comfort level on our part. We weren't as familiar with the player as we needed to be."

But the next time the Blue Jays are pursuing a player they want, the GM is confident the club will be able to add payroll. He says the team was receptive to one possible deal that would have seen the Jays take on $4-5MM. The GM wants to put a presentable product on the field, even though his club is rebuilding. Anthopoulos acknowledged that fans come out to see the Jays play well, but says he'll only set aside the team's long-term goals to an extent.

"If we sign a certain free agent is it short-term? Do we have to surrender draft picks? Well that doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

The Blue Jays didn't surrender any draft picks this offseason, but they obtained three when Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas signed elsewhere. Anthopoulos says major league free agency is just one place the club looks for talent.

"We're opening minor-league free agency. We're impacting the Rule 5 Draft. We're impacting waiver claims. We're impacting the draft with the amateurs. We're impacting Latin America."

Offseason Questions For The NL East

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The offseason is officially over, but we've still got a few questions.  Our Offseason In Review series can be found here, and questions for the NL East are below.

  • Will the Braves regret not finding a way to keep Javier Vazquez in the 2010 rotation?  Will an extra two weeks of Jason Heyward justify free agent eligibility after the 2015 season?
  • Having already cut many of their scrap heap relief pickups, will the Marlins' streak of unearthing bullpen diamonds in the rough end?  Will bypassing Major League free agency cost the team wins in 2010?
  • Could the Phillies have signed Placido Polanco or a comparable player for a significantly smaller commitment?  Will they regret trading Cliff Lee for prospects?
  • Did the Mets overcommit to Jason Bay, given the lack of comparable offers?  Given the team's array of needs, will they rue putting all their eggs in the Bay basket?
  • Could the Nationals have matched the production of Jason Marquis and Ivan Rodriguez with smaller commitments to different players?  Will they lament letting pitching prospect Marco Estrada go in favor of reliever Tyler Walker?

No Ongoing Talks Between Dunn, Nationals

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MONDAY, 10:00am: ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears (via Twitter) that there are no ongoing talks between Dunn and the Nationals.

SUNDAY, 10:19pm: Dunn would prefer to hammer out a contract extension soon so that he doesn't have to hear his name in trade rumors, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com. 

3:45pm: Despite not working something out prior to Opening Day, Adam Dunn is still open to negotiating an extension with Washington during the season, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Dunn is also comfortable waiting until after the season, but made it clear he'd like to stay with the Nats:

"If it gets done in two weeks, if it gets done in a month, great," Dunn said. "If it doesn't, then like I said, we've got all offsesason. This is the place I want to be at. I want to be here. This team is obviously going in the right direction. I'm all for it."

Dunn is entering the second year of a two-year, $20MM deal he signed with Washington prior to the 2009 season. While Dunn failed to reach the 40 home run mark for the first time in five seasons, he still enjoyed perhaps his best season at the plate. The Big Donkey hit .267/.398/.529 and belted 38 homers in 159 games during his age-29 season.

There's never been any doubt about Dunn's bat; Fangraphs ranked his offense alongside the likes of Ryan Howard, Pablo Sandoval, and Alex Rodriguez. However, his woes with the glove will always limit his overall value in the National League, and that trend continued in Washington. UZR/150 pegged Dunn's time in the outfield at a brutal -39.5 mark, and while he improved at first base, the -25.0 mark he posted there is hardly impressive.

Still, the Nationals love Dunn's offensive thunder and don't seem to be deterred by his struggles on defense. Kilgore quotes general manager Mike Rizzo as saying the two sides are in communication, though Rizzo declined to comment further.

Dunn says that he prefers to stay out of negotiations, and is letting his agent, Greg Genske, handle all of the discussions until things get serious. Dunn remains firm on one issue — staying in Washington:

"There's a lot of things to be excited about. I feel comfortable here. I feel like I fit in really well here. My family loves it here. It seems like it's a great fit. When we do something special here, I want to be a part of it."

Odds & Ends: Brewers, Marlins, Red Sox, Calero

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Sunday night links..

Week In Review: 3/28/10 – 4/3/10

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As the first game of the 2010 season winds down, let's take a look back at the week that was..

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