Players To Avoid Arbitration: Friday
Here's a list of the players who have avoided arbitration so far today, with more names sure to stream in:
- The Mets and John Maine have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $3.3MM, plus incentives.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports that the Astros have agreed to deals with Chris Sampson and Jeff Keppinger for 2010, avoiding arbitration. Sampson gets $815K, Keppinger $1.15M.
- The Rangers and Dustin Nippert have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $650K according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. The righty was eligible for arbitration for the first time after earning $412K in 2009.
- The D'Backs and Miguel Montero are close to agreeing on a $2MM salary for the coming season, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The sides have agreed to a deal, according to The Sports Network (via the Miami Herald).
- The Rangers agreed to pay Brandon McCarthy $1.32MM this year.
- The Dodgers agreed to a two-year deal with Matt Kemp. The center fielder will earn a total of $10.95MM over the course of the next two seasons.
- The Dodgers agreed to pay Chad Billingsley $3.85MM this year.
- The D'Backs and Conor Jackson agreed on a $3.1MM salary for the coming season.
- The Padres and Heath Bell agreed on a $4MM salary.
Tigers Have Not Expressed Interest In Damon
4:29pm: Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the Tigers aren't going to sign another outfielder. As he says, they're counting on Austin Jackson.
2:07pm: Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told Beck through a team spokesperson that the Tigers have not expressed interest in Damon. If the Braves aren't likely to sign Damon, where will he end up?
8:35am: Now that they've found a closer, the Tigers are looking for offense and Johnny Damon is one of the players they're considering, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck. The Tigers, who were first connected to Damon last night, have had preliminary talks with agent Scott Boras about Damon.
As Beck notes, the Tigers have an uncertain amount of payroll flexibility at this point, but it doesn't look like Damon will require a long-term commitment. The Braves are interested, but there are cheap corner outfield options out there, which limit Boras' leverage.
Red Sox Sign Brian Shouse, Six Others
FRIDAY: The Red Sox signed six others to minor league deals with invitations to Spring Training, according to a team press release. Fernando Cabrera, Edwin Moreno, Jorge Sosa, Angel Sanchez, Gil Velazquez, and Darnell McDonald will all join the Red Sox organization. Sosa is perhaps the most recognizable addition of the bunch. The eight-year MLB veteran pitched in 18 games for the Nats last year.
THURSDAY: Brian Shouse signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox on January 4th, according to the club's transactions page. Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald confirmed the deal today, noting that more minor league signings for the Red Sox should be revealed soon.
Shouse, 41, posted a 5.5 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, and 4.50 ERA in 28 innings for the Rays last year, missing a chunk of the season with an elbow strain. He's quietly been a force against left-handed hitters the last few years. On December 7th, the Type B free agent declined arbitration from the club. Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times writes that Tampa Bay will not receive compensation for the reliever, as he did not ink a major-league contract.
M’s, Felix Make “A Bit” Of Progress On Deal
The Mariners and Felix Hernandez made "a bit" of progress on a five or six-year deal, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com. The two sides will work towards a one-year deal first before resuming talks on a deal that would buy out some of Felix's free agent years.
Hernandez, 24 in April, will likely become a free agent after the 2011 season. A five-year deal would buy three free agent years out and a six-year deal would buy four of them out. Josh Johnson just agreed to a deal that will pay him $13.75MM for each of his first two free agent years, but Hernandez would presumably be looking for more, since he has more major league success to his name at a younger age.
Mariners Claim Tommy Everidge From A’s
The Mariners have claimed Tommy Everidge off waivers from the A's, tweets Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea. The A's designated the 26-year-old for assignment last week to make room for Jack Cust. Everidge had a .667 OPS in 97 major league plate appearances last year, but posted a .958 OPS in the upper minors. Everidge has played some third base, but has spent most of his time at first.
Diamondbacks Sign Adam LaRoche
The Diamondbacks signed Adam LaRoche to a one-year $6MM deal that could keep him in Arizona through the 2011 season. The streaky first baseman makes $4.5MM in 2010. Afterwards, he'll either receive a $1.5MM buyout or agree to exercise a $7.5MM mutual option for 2011.
The D'Backs were not known to be interested in LaRoche and it wasn't apparent that they had the money to sign him, but the move makes sense. It allows the club to play Conor Jackson in left field and give Brandon Allen more minor league seasoning. Eric Byrnes is the odd man out; the D'Backs designated him for assignment today in a move that will likely end his tenure in Arizona.
LaRoche reportedly turned down a two-year, $17.5MM deal from the Giants earlier this offseason, as he was aiming for three years. The 30-year-old earned $7.05MM in '09 and hit .278/.357/.487 with 24 home runs for the Pirates, Braves, and Red Sox. He was a Type B free agent, but the Braves chose not to offer arbitration.
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the agreement and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, SI's Jon Heyman, Frankie Piliere of AOL FanHouse and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic added detail.
Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.
Giants Talking To Calero, Could Add A Catcher
The Giants are definitely interested in reliever Kiko Calero, according to Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com. Giants vice president of baseball operations Bobby Evans confirmed that the club has been talking to Calero's agent, Diego Benz. Even still, Evans seems to think Calero will get a better offer from another club.
There has been little reported interest in the 35-year-old this offseason, despite his strong 2009 year. Calero allowed 36 hits and 30 walks in 60 innings, striking out 69 for a 1.95 ERA, but we haven't heard of interested teams other than the Cubs and Giants.
Brian Sabean is prepared to hand the starting catcher's job to Buster Posey, but Urban says the GM sounds open to adding another backstop (we know they inquired on Yorvit Torrealba). Signing a fifth starter is not a priority for the Giants.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Rolen, Sweeney, Twins
On this date in 1990, the Tigers signed free agent Cecil Fielder after he hit 38 homers as a member of the Hanshin Tigers the year before. Fielder went on to lead the league with 130 HR and 389 RBI over the next three years, landing a five-year, $36MM contract that made him the then-second-highest paid player in baseball history behind Barry Bonds. Believe it or not, Prince is already more than halfway to his father's career total of 319 homers despite having fewer than half as many plate appearances.
Let's see what's being written around the baseball blogosphere…
- The Phrontiersman goes back in time to see how things would have played out for the Phillies if Scott Rolen signed a contract extension and was never traded away.
- DRays Bay wonders if Matt Sweeney could take over first base for the Rays if Carlos Pena leaves as a free agent after 2010. Sweeney was acquired in the Scott Kazmir trade.
- Fack Youk compares Vladimir Guerrero to Hideki Matsui to Nick Johnson, the three biggest DH signings of the offseason.
- Lookout Landing says the Mariners did just fine to acquire Casey Kotchman, even though Adam LaRoche agreed to a relatively cheap deal yesterday.
- Meanwhile, Jorge Says No! thinks the Mets may have made a mistake by not signing LaRoche.
- Nick's Twins Blog wonders if Michael Cuddyer or Joe Nathan could be expendable as Minnesota's estimated payroll will approach nine-figures in 2011.
- AdamAdkins.net thinks the Tigers will regret signing Jose Valverde.
- Pinstripes Published takes a look at the market for Johnny Damon, or lack thereof.
- TurnTwo looks at all the movement going on with the Giants' defensive alignment.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Braves Not Likely To Sign Damon
Don't expect Johnny Damon to end up in Atlanta unless his asking price drops significantly. MLB.com's Mark Bowman hears that the club isn't likely to pursue Damon unless they can sign him for $1-2MM. One of Bowman's sources says "it would take a miracle" for the Braves to sign the left fielder.
The Tigers have some interest in Damon, and the Yankees could re-engage the Scott Boras client if the market continues to weaken Damon's negotiating position.
Dodgers, Billingsley Avoid Arbitration
The Dodgers avoided arbitration with Chad Billingsley, agreeing on a contract for 2010, according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. Billingley, who made $475K last year and was arbitration-eligible for the first time, will earn $3.85MM this year, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times.