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Archives for November 2010

Giants Re-Sign Aubrey Huff

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The Giants re-signed first baseman Aubrey Huff to a two-year, $22MM deal today.  The contract pays $10MM per year and includes a $10MM club option for 2013 with a $2MM buyout.  The deal does not include a no-trade clause, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Huff, 34 next month, hit .290/.385/.506 in 668 plate appearances for the World Champion Giants in a resurgent season.

The Giants inked Huff to a one-year, $3MM deal in January of this year, which turned out to be one of that offseason's top bargains after he finished seventh in the NL MVP voting.  Given Huff's age, defensive abilities, and struggles in 2009, plus the robust free agent market for first basemen, the new commitment comes with plenty of risk at $11MM per year.  Huff hired Ed Hayes as his agent a few weeks ago, clearly a smart move.  Giants GM Brian Sabean told reporters that he got clearance to match an offer Huff received from another team.

Four of five MLBTR writers polled on November 10th predicted Huff would re-sign with the Giants.

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports was first to report Huff's agreement today, while Tribune News Services added contract details.

Justin Upton Rumors: Tuesday

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Only two or three teams have the players to make a Justin Upton deal work, Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.  Towers added, "We're not talking about getting A-ball prospects back. It would have to be players that could help us in 2011."  Towers expects to know whether Upton will be traded before the end of the Winter Meetings (December 9th).  Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall predicted, "I think he'll probably be here on Opening Day."

Two GMs who spoke with Towers told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that Towers is growing more pessimistic about trading Upton.  Rosenthal's sources say possible suitors like the Reds and Nationals "do not appear to match up for one reason or another."  ESPN's Buster Olney wrote today that the Marlins, Rays, and Blue Jays are thought to be in the best position to make a deal.

We learned yesterday that the Mariners, Athletics, Tigers, and Royals are on Upton's no-trade list.

Cardinals Sign Raul Valdes

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The Cardinals signed lefty reliever Raul Valdes to a minor league deal, tweets Baseball America's Matt Eddy.  Valdes, 33 next month, made his Major League debut with the Mets this year.  He posted a 4.91 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 33.7% groundball rate in 58 2/3 innings.

Valdes struggled against lefties, who hit .330/.366/.625 against him in 94 plate appearances this year with four home runs.  On the other hand, he struck out 27 and walked only three against southpaws.    

Odds & Ends: Padres, Choo, Willis, Guillen

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Links for Monday night. with just one day remaining for teams to determine whether to offer arbitration to their ranked free agents…

Minor Deals: Mariners, Sutton, Braves, Burroughs

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Here is today's batch of minor league deals, with the most recent updates at the top:

  • The Mariners signed Luis Rodriguez, a shortstop who played in the majors from 2005-09 with the Twins and Padres, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). The light-hitting 30-year-old exploded with 16 homers and 17 doubles in 400 plate appearances for the White Sox at Triple-A in 2010.
  • The Yankees signed Neal Cotts, the Marlins signed Josh Kroeger and the A's signed Adam Heether and Anthony Lerew, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (all links go to Twitter). Cotts, a 30-year-old left-hander, has pitched parts of seven seasons in the majors, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2009 and didn't pitch in 2010 because of hip surgery. Kroeger, 28, has 47 homers and 51 steals over the course of the past three seasons at Triple-A.
  • The Red Sox signed former Reds outfielder Drew Sutton, according to Eddy (on Twitter). The 27-year old has a .229/.302/.381 line in 118 major league plate appearances, but he did hit 20 homers at Double-A two seasons ago.
  • Eddy reports that the Cubs have re-signed longtime minor leaguer Bobby Scales (Twitter link).
  • The Braves have signed four players, according to Eddy (all links go to Twitter). Outfielder Jose Constanza, 27, batted .319/.373/.394 at Triple-A for the Indians; 28-year-old infielder Ed Lucas hit .307/.398/.480 at Triple-A for the Royals; utilityman Wilkin Castillo can catch and play in the infield and outfield, but hasn't hit Triple-A pitching and Shawn Bowman, 25, hit 22 homers at Double-A.
  • The Mariners signed left-hander Fabio Castro to a minor league contract, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes (on Twitter). The 25-year-old hasn't appeared in the majors since 2007; he posted a 4.93 ERA with 8.8 K/9 for Boston's Triple-A affiliate in 2010.
  • The White Sox claimed releiver Waldis Joaquin off of waivers from the Giants, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. The 23-year-old made the Giants' Opening Day roster, but allowed six earned runs and seven walks in 4 2/3 innings, so he was demoted to the minors. He posted a 4.43 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 40 2/3 innings split between Rookie ball and Triple-A.
  • The Brewers signed signed right-hander Zack Segovia to a minor league deal and invited him to Spring Training, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. The 27-year-old has big league experience with the Phillies and Nationals. He spent the 2010 season with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate and posted a 4.19 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 62 1/3 innings.
  • The D'Backs signed Sean Burroughs, according to minor league transactions cited by Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (on Twitter). The third baseman is reunited with GM Kevin Towers, who signed Burroughs in 1998 to what was then the biggest amateur bonus in team history. Now 30, Burroughs hasn't played pro ball since 2007.

Yankees Prefer To Offer Rivera One Year

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The Yankees want to re-sign Mariano Rivera to a one-year deal, but the closer wants a two-year contract worth about $18MM per season, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan (on Twitter). Jon Heyman of SI.com reported on Friday that Rivera was looking for a two-year deal and it now appears that the 40-year-old wants a raise from his 2010 salary of $15MM.

Like longtime teammate and fellow free agent Derek Jeter, Rivera will likely return to New York, but there's no guarantee that negotiations will go smoothly for either player. With 559 regular season saves, a career 2.23 ERA, strong peripherals and a history of relatively good health, Rivera has considerable bargaining power. The Yankees can point to Rivera's age – he turns 41 in a week – and suggest a one-year deal is fair, but Rivera has posted ERAs below 2.00 and been an All-Star each season from 2008-10.

Dodgers To Sign Dana Eveland

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The Dodgers agreed to sign Dana Eveland to a minor league split contract, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times. Eveland joins his fourth organization in ten months; he went from Oakland to Toronto in a February trade before the Pirates acquired him mid-season.

The 27-year-old left-hander pitched 54 1/3 innings for the Pirates and Blue Jays in 2010. In total, Eveland allowed 11.9 hits and 5.3 walks per nine innings pitched, striking out 4.0 batters per nine. Those peripheral stats aren't pretty, but he generated lots of ground balls as usual, posting a 50% ground ball rate. Eveland's best major league season came in 2008, when he made 29 starts at the back of Oakland's rotation and posted a 4.34 ERA.

The Dodgers will be able to retain Eveland as an arbitration eligible player through 2013, but the move is presumably geared toward 2011.

Phillies To Offer Werth Arbitration, Not Durbin

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The Phillies will offer arbitration to Jayson Werth, but not to Chad Durbin, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. There's no reason not to offer Werth arbitraiton. The Type A free agent will turn down the Phillies' offer in search of a multi-year deal, so Philadelphia stands to pick up two top picks for losing him.

The Phillies are interested in bringing Durbin, a Type B free agent, back, but they're reluctant to give him a significant raise. The right-hander earned $2.125MM in 2010 and would likely have earned more in 2011 through the arbitration process. If Durbin had turned down an offer of arbitration to sign elsewhere, the Phillies could have obtained a supplementary round pick in next year's draft.

Click here to vote on which Type A free agents will be offered arbitration and here to vote on which Type B free agents will be offered arbitration.

 

Reds Will Discuss Long-Term Deal With Votto

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Joey Votto is not sure about his interest in a long-term deal, but the Reds will approach the newly crowned NL MVP about an extension, according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Reds GM Walt Jocketty told Fay that the team was waiting to discuss a deal until the MVP was announced to be fair to Votto (Twitter link). The first baseman was uncertain of his interest in an extension earlier in the offseason and he remains undecided.

“How open am I to that? I don’t know," Votto said. "You’d have to see the figures and talk about the years. Because we haven’t had any conversations about it. It wouldn’t be fair to comment on it. I’m not trying to dodge the question. But I’ve got nothing.”

Ryan Howard and Justin Morneau parlayed MVP seasons into big arbitration raises in recent years. Albert Pujols, who has the same agent as Votto, signed a seven-year $100MM deal with Jocketty back in 2004. It's unclear how long the Reds would like to lock Votto up for, but he has set himself up to earn over $30MM for his three arbitration seasons. Agent Dan Lozano could compare his free agent value to that of Mark Teixeira and Adrian Gonzalez, so Votto will be expensive to sign long-term.

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