Dodgers Re-Sign Vicente Padilla
Vicente Padilla officially signed a one-year, $5.025MM deal with the Dodgers today. He can earn another $1MM in innings incentives. MLB.com's Ken Gurnick first reported the agreement earlier today, with his colleague Jesse Sanchez as well as Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times tweeting the contract details.
Padilla, 32, posted a 5.9 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, and 4.46 ERA in 147.3 innings for the Rangers and Dodgers last year. The Dodgers added him as a free agent in August after the Rangers released him, and he tossed 56.6 solid innings for L.A. between the regular season and playoffs. Padilla's '09 injury ledger included forearm tightness, a strained shoulder, a bruised palm, swine flu, and a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Gurnick had previously named Joel Pineiro, Jon Garland, and Braden Looper as other Dodgers targets. Pineiro is off the board, while Garland and Looper will presumably have to look elsewhere.
Phillies Sign Joe Blanton To Extension
The Phillies signed Joe Blanton to a three-year, $24MM extension, according to a team press release. The deal buys out Blanton's last arbitration year and two free agent seasons. AOL FanHouse's Ed Price tweets the details: $7MM in '10 and $8.5MM in '11 and '12. Another $500K can be earned with innings incentives. The price is reasonable, given the recent contracts signed by Jason Marquis and Joel Pineiro.
Blanton, 29, has seen an uptick in his strikeout rate since joining the Phillies in July of '08. Last year he posted a 7.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, and 4.05 ERA in 195.3 innings.
Pirates Designate Anthony Claggett For Assignment
The Pirates designated pitcher Anthony Claggett for assignment to make room for Octavio Dotel, according to a team press release. Claggett, 25, posted a 3.07 ERA, 4.7 K/9, and 3.5 BB/9 in 82 Triple A innings last year. The Bucs had claimed him off waivers from the Yankees in September.
Josh Johnson Signs Four-Year Extension
Josh Johnson officially signed a four-year contract extension with the Marlins. The move follows criticism of the Marlins by MLB and the MLBPA, and comes months after talks began between the club, Johnson, and agent Matt Sosnick.
The $39MM deal will pay the right-hander $3.75MM this year, $7.75MM next year, and $13.75MM in both 2012 and 2013. Johnson also earns $50K for making the All-Star team, $500K for winning the Cy Young Award and $1MM for winning World Series MVP. The contract does not include a no-trade clause.
The deal, which buys out two of Johnson's arbitration years and two of his free agent years, resembles the four-year, $38MM extension Zack Greinke signed prior to his Cy Young season. Johnson doesn't have any Cy Youngs on his mantle, but he's coming off an All-Star season in which he allowed fewer hits than innings pitched, struck out 8.2 batters per nine and limited his walk and homer rates. He finished 15-5 with a 3.23 ERA.
ESPN's Jerry Crasnick first reported the agreement. MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, Sirius XM's Home Plate Channel and Crasnick all added details.
Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.
Rangers Sign Khalil Greene
The Rangers officially signed infielder Khalil Greene today to a one-year, $750K deal. The agreement was first reported by MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan on January 9th.
Greene, 30, hit .200/.272/.347 in 193 plate appearances for the Cardinals last year, tallying 240.3 innings at shortstop and 96 at third base. He'll serve as a utility infielder for Texas. On December 4th, 2008, the Cards acquired Greene from the Padres for pitchers Mark Worrell and Luke Gregerson. Greene had a promising spring, but hit the DL in May with social anxiety disorder. Earlier this month, ESPN's Buster Olney wrote that Greene has been working out diligently at Vanderbilt this offseason with his former college coach.
Greg Golson Designated For Assignment
The Rangers designated outfielder Greg Golson for assignment to make room for Khalil Greene, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Golson, 24, hit .258/.299/.344 in 500 Triple A plate appearances last year. He was acquired by the Rangers in November of '08 for John Mayberry Jr.
Crasnick On Remaining Free Agents
ESPN's Jerry Crasnick looks at the prominent remaining free agents in his column today. He goes position-by-position, outlining who's out there and which teams might be looking. If you enjoy playing free agent matchmaker, it's a must-read. Crasnick's main point: "Roster spots are like gold, and dozens of players with legitimate aspirations are being forced to downsize their expectations."
Olney On Lee, Pineiro, Orioles
A look at the latest blog post from ESPN's Buster Olney…
- Olney believes the Phillies could have and should have kept Cliff Lee. He points out that they could've traded Joe Blanton and taken draft picks for Lee after the season, resulting in a similar prospect package to the one they received from the Mariners. It's not the exact same, partly since Blanton could yet net draft picks for the Phils, but I agree with Olney's point. The Phillies' decision to move Lee in tandem with the Roy Halladay trade just seems weird.
- Consequences of the Angels' Joel Pineiro deal: the Mets could sign Jon Garland or Ben Sheets, and the Dodgers could bring Vicente Padilla back. Newsday's Ken Davidoff gets the sense the Mets "have prioritized Sheets over Garland."
- Olney says the Orioles "are very comfortable letting the field of free-agent corner guys come to them, at their price." On a related note, O's second baseman Brian Roberts said to MASN's Roch Kubatko that he'd love to have Miguel Tejada back in Baltimore.
Gagne To Work Out For Teams
THURSDAY, 8:23am: Via Twitter, Yahoo's Tim Brown adds the Rockies, Dodgers, and Blue Jays as other clubs that will watch Gagne throw.
WEDNESDAY, 2:43pm: ESPN's Jayson Stark talked to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., who downplayed the Gagne tryout: "We don't have any expectations, at all."
8:19am: After being released by the Brewers in March of last year, Eric Gagne hooked on with a Can-Am League team as a starter. He tallied 102.6 mediocre innings, and now hopes to find his way back to the bigs.
Today David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News passes along a segment from Montreal radio station CKAC in which Gagne indicated he has a throwing session scheduled with the Phillies today. The 34-year-old hasn't done much since his 33.3-inning stint with Texas in '07.
Rockies Sign Jay Payton
The Rockies announced the signing of outfielder Jay Payton to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Thomas Harding. The 37-year-old last appeared in the Majors in 2008, when he hit .243/.291/.346 for the Orioles. His corner outfield defense generally rated as a positive in his last few years. Payton hoped to play in 2009, but had arthroscopic shoulder surgery in April after a weightlifting injury.
Payton played with the Rockies from the '02 trade deadline through the '03 season. His .309/.359/.532 line contained drastic home/road splits, and the Rockies non-tendered him due to limited financial flexibility.