Brandon Jones Designated For Assignment
Braves outfielder Brandon Jones was designated for assignment today to make room for Eric Hinske, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jones, 26, hit .281/.360/.419 in his third Triple A stint.
Heading into the 2008 season, Baseball America ranked Jones the 70th-best prospect in the game. At the time BA said the Braves considered Jones their "long-term answer in left field."
Royals Near Agreement With Paul Carlixte
Dayton Moore's second "top five" international free agent signing is likely to be Dominican shortstop Paul Carlixte, writes ESPN's Keith Law. Law says the Royals and Carlixte are near an agreement exceeding $1MM.
Law notes irregularities found by MLB's age investigation, but his source says Carlixte is a "great-looking shortstop with soft hands and a very quick bat."
White Sox Re-Sign Ramon Castro
The White Sox re-signed catcher Ramon Castro to a one-year, $1MM deal with a club option for 2011, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. MLB.com's Kelly Thesier says the deal pays $800K in 2010 and has a $1.2MM club option/$200K buyout for '11. She notes that the Sox designated catcher Cole Armstrong for assignment to make room for Castro.
Castro, 34 in March, was traded with cash by the Mets to the White Sox in May of '09 for Lance Broadway. Castro hit .219/.292/.406 in 171 plate appearances on the season, catching about 400 innings. A December 14th report that Castro signed with the Blue Jays proved to be inaccurate. The Padres were another club known to be interested in Castro. The backup catcher market still includes Brad Ausmus, Jose Molina, and Mike Redmond.
The White Sox have added over $29MM in new contracts this winter, acquiring/re-signing Mark Teahen, Juan Pierre, J.J. Putz, Mark Kotsay, Omar Vizquel, Freddy Garcia, Castro, Andruw Jones, and others.
Braves Sign Eric Hinske
The Braves officially signed first baseman/outfielder Eric Hinske to a one-year worth about $1MM. Hinske can earn another $500K in incentives. Scott Miller of CBSSports.com broke the story a week ago, and David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution followed with contract details.
Hinske, the 2002 Rookie Of The Year, hit .242/.348/.432 in 224 plate appearances with the Pirates and Yankees last season. The Braves were looking to add a pinch-hitter to complete their winter moves from a lineup standpoint, and Hinske's signing fits the bill. He fares well against right-handed pitching (.804 career OPS) and can play first, third and both corner outfield positions. Also, as Miller's story noted, Hinske is "something of a good-luck charm," having played in the last three World Series. So, in the words of Bill Murray, he's got that goin' for him.
Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
Astros Sign Brett Myers
The Astros officially signed Brett Myers to a one-year, $5.1MM deal today. His contract pays $3.1MM in 2010 and has an $8MM mutual option/$2MM buyout for '11. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick first tweeted that the Astros were talking to the right-hander about a starting job and MLB.com's Brian McTaggart followed up with a couple Tweets of his own, first indicating that the Astros had signed Myers, then passing the specifics along. Alyson Footer tweeted salary details today.
Myers' ERA and hit rates have risen for two consecutive seasons and his strikeout rate dropped for the second straight year in 2009. His average fastball lost velocity and his slider lost effectiveness. To his credit, Myers lowered his walk rate last year and allowed a disproportionately high homer total. He was sidelined for much of the season due to hip surgery.
The Astros are hoping that Myers can recover his 2005-06 form. The 29-year-old made 30 starts in both seasons, keeping his ERA below 4.00. Myers joins Roy Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez in a rotation that will likely include two of Brian Moehler, Bud Norris and Felipe Paulino. The Astros have committed over $28MM this offseason to Myers, Matt Lindstrom, Pedro Feliz, Brandon Lyon, Jason Michaels, Geoff Blum, and others – more than they were thought to have available.
Cubs To Make Run At Sheets
TUESDAY, 11:50am: MLB.com's Carrie Muskat tweets that Cubs officials say Sheets' current asking price does not fit their budget. Sheets' agent Casey Close could stand to do a better job controlling the information on his client, because the reports of a $10-12MM demand make him look bad. Muskat says the Cubs are still looking for right-handed relief.
MONDAY, 8:58pm: As Ken Rosenthal guessed last week, the Chicago Cubs are set to make a run at free agent pitcher Ben Sheets, the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan reports.
According to Sullivan, Cubs GM Jim Hendry contacted Sheets' agent during the Winter Meetings. Sheets is reportedly asking for two years and a guaranteed $10-12MM per year, though the Cubs believe "they have a good shot at landing him with an incentive-laden deal." MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone believes Sheets is aiming for a second-year player option.
Sullivan sees Sheets slotting in nicely in front of Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly in the Chicago rotation, with Randy Wells and newly-acquired Carlos Silva also serving as starting options. With Lilly coming off of arthroscopic shoulder surgery, and little recent success from Silva, it is hard to imagine the Cubs want to roll the dice with Sheets. However, they did acquire Rich Harden in July 2008, so high-risk, high-reward pitchers may just be how the Cubs roll.
Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
Pirates Add Bass, Carlin, Myrow
The Pirates reached agreements with pitcher Brian Bass, catcher Luke Carlin, and outfielder Bryan Myrow on minor league deals, according to a team press release.
Bass, 28, posted a 4.90 ERA, 5.6 K/9, and 4.6 BB/9 in 86.3 relief innings last year. He allowed 11 home runs in that time despite an excellent 61.4% groundball rate. The Orioles non-tendered him after the season.
Carlin, 29, hit .321/.430/.481 for the D'Backs' Triple A club. They still chose to outright him in early December. Myrow, 33, hit .307/.419/.496 for the Triple A affiliates of the Pirates and White Sox. Both players have had multiple Triple A stints, but their 15% walk rates in '09 are intriguing.
Damon Remains Unlikely For Yankees
Buster Olney of ESPN and Joel Sherman of the New York Post find a Johnny Damon-Yankees reunion unlikely.
Both writers say Damon would have to greatly reduce his salary demands. According to Sherman, the Yankees are telling agents they have only $2MM to spend. Both writers also agree that Brian Cashman would have to lobby Hal Steinbrenner to expand the budget to accomodate Damon. Sherman says a July trade for Mike Cameron was scrapped because Hal would not approve a $5.5MM increase.
In the likely event the Yanks move on from Damon, Sherman ranks the team's targets: Xavier Nady, Reed Johnson, Rocco Baldelli, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Marcus Thames.
Indians Sign Mark Grudzielanek
The Indians signed Mark Grudzielanek to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince. Grudzielanek, 39, hit .299/.345/.399 for the Royals in '08. That season ended early with an August ankle injury. The Royals surprisingly offered Grudzielanek arbitration after the season, and he declined, but they did not get a draft pick because he didn't sign until July. That minor league deal with the Twins was short-lived.
Minor League Transactions
Baseball America's Matt Eddy is back with minor league transactions for the period of December 21-31. A few notable moves…
- The White Sox signed 1B/OF Jason Botts, who compiled a .230/.325/.344 career line with the Rangers.
- The Marlins signed reliever Chris Schroder, who posted a 2.22 ERA in 56.6 Triple A innings last year.
- The Dodgers brought Jay Gibbons aboard. Gibbons signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in January of '09 and was cut in March.
- The Yankees added outfielder Reid Gorecki, who hit .286/.351/.464 in Triple A. Also, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yanks signed lefty reliever Royce Ring and outfielder David Winfree.
- The Giants signed reliever Kevin Cameron, who had a respectable rookie season with the Padres back in '07. He pitched only 32.3 innings in '09 for various A's affiliates.
- The Blue Jays signed left fielder Chris Lubanski, who was originally drafted fifth overall by the Royals in 2003.