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Archives for January 2011

Minor League Signings: Bynum, Padilla, Romero

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A few notable minor league signings, courtesy of Baseball America's Matt Eddy…

  • The Cardinals signed infielder Freddie Bynum. The 30-year-old spend last season in Japan, and is a career .234/.275/.379 hitter in 377 plate appearances, mostly with the Orioles and Cubs. He has experience at both middle infield spots and in the outfield.
  • The Marlins signed outfielder Jorge Padilla. The 31-year-old finally made his big league debut in 2009 after a minor league career that started in 1998. He hit .120/.154/.120 in 26 plate appearances with the Nats and has performed well at the Triple-A level (.304/.372/.406).
  • The Marlins also added another outfielder, 27-year-old Alex Romero. He hasn't played in the big leagues since 2009, and is a .239/.279/.339 career hitter in 299 plate appearances, all with the Diamondbacks. Romero can handle all three outfield spots.

J.D. Martin Expected To Be Taken Off 40-Man Roster

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Now that the Jerry Hairston Jr. contract is official, the Nationals are expected to take J.D. Martin off their 40-man roster according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson (on Twitter). The move will create room for their new utility player.

Martin, 28, has made 24 starts for the Nationals over the last two seasons, most of which came in 2009. He's pitched to a respectable 4.32 ERA with 4.9 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 125 innings. Martin has spent most of the last three seasons in Triple-A, posting an excellent 3.21 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 144 innings at the level.

Yankees, Carl Pavano Considered Deal

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2:39pm: ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Yankees would have signed Pavano only if they were able to work out a sign-and-trade that would have saved their first round draft pick. Pavano is a Type A free agent and would have required such compensation.

11:58am: Pavano seriously considered returning to the Yankees, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Yankees explored a one-year, high-salary deal with Pavano before the Twins offered a second year.

10:43am: The Yankees paid Carl Pavano $39.95MM from 2005-08 and got 26 total appearances from the right-hander, who made annual trips to the 60-day DL. But Pavano's first stint in New York didn't stop the team from considering him this offseason. GM Brian Cashman told reporters, including Peter Botte of the New York Daily News, that the club had "several discussions" with agent Tom O'Connell, who represents the 35-year-old (Twitter link).

Pavano, who is 'very close' to a deal with the Twins, has rebounded from his four seasons in the Bronx. He has a 4.39 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 420 1/3 innings since the beginning of the 2009 campaign.

Nationals Sign Jerry Hairston Jr.

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The Nationals announced that they have officially signed Jerry Hairston Jr. to a one-year contract with a $2MM base salary. Hairston, a CAA client, can earn another $1MM in incentives.

Hairston hit .244/.299/.353 in 476 plate appearances for the Padres last year, playing all over the diamond, as usual. The 34-year-old appeared at short, second, third and in both corner outfield positions in 2010. Hairston hasn't shown much of a platoon split throughout his career; the right-handed batter has an OPS of about .700 against right-handers and left-handers.

The Nationals have been in the midst of a back-and-forth with the Mets this week. First, the Mets signed longtime Nats utlity player Willie Harris. Then the Nats signed former Mets utility player Alex Cora. We heard yesterday that the Mets are likely to sign Scott Hairston and the Nats responded by agreeing to terms with his brother today.

MLB.com's Bill Ladson first reported the deal, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports added details (Twitter links).

Collins Hopes To Add Another Lefty Reliever

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The Mets added Taylor Tankersley on a minor league contract just a few days ago, but new manager Terry Collins told ESPN New York's Adam Rubin that he'd like to add another lefty reliever before the season. Tankersley would then have competition for the lefty specialist job in Spring Training.

"We're hoping to sign another one," said Collins. "It certainly would make it a little bit better for us if we had another one coming into camp, and I know Sandy [Alderson] is working with a couple of people."

Our Free Agent Tracker shows that players like Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, and Ron Mahay remain unsigned. Oliver Perez does not seem to be a candidate for that or any job with the team, and the out-of-options Pat Misch hasn't had much success against lefties in his career: .289/.337/.467 against. His best shot at making the club might be as a long reliever, says Rubin.

Nationals Acquire Tom Gorzelanny

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Tom Gorzelanny is heading to Washington for three prospects, the Cubs and Nationals announced today. Lefty Graham Hicks, right-hander A.J. Morris and outfielder Michael Burgess are going to Chicago in the trade. 

The Nationals have been looking to bolster their rotation all offseason long. Cliff Lee and Zack Greinke spurned the Nationals, but GM Mike Rizzo continued his pursuit of arms. Once the Cubs acquired Matt Garza from the Rays, Chicago had a starter to spare and the team seriously considered moving Gorzelanny.

Gorzelanny posted a 4.09 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 126 1/3 innings for the Cubs last year. The left-hander started 23 games, after spending most of the 2009 season as a reliever. Though Gorzelanny faded as the 2010 season progressed, he has logged over 200 innings before. The 28-year-old's best season may have come in 2007, when he posted a 3.88 ERA in 201 2/3 innings for the Pirates.

Morris, 24, posted a 3.77 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 86 innings as a swingman at Rookie ball and Class A last year. The 2009 fourth rounder has yet to pitch in the upper minors. Neither Morris nor Burgess appeared on Baseball America's list of top ten Nationals prospects.

Burgess, 22, posted a .265/.357/.465 line in 529 plate appearances at Class A and Double-A last year. The 2007 supplementary first rounder has hit at least 18 homers in eacch of the past three seasons.

A super two player, Gorzelanny is on track to hit free agency after the 2013 season. He agreed to terms on a $2.1MM deal for 2011 yesterday.

Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com first reported the trade and MLB.com's Bill Ladson and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported on the deal as the story broke.

Rays Look To Add Relief, Confident They’ll Find Bat

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Andrew Friedman told ESPN 1040 in Tampa Bay that he's 'confident' the team will find someone who will help them score before the season begins (audio here). But the Rays' executive VP of baseball operations says he's focused on adding a relief pitcher and suggested a trade is more likely than a free agent signing.

Friedman said the market for relievers got 'out of control' for the small-market Rays this offseason. The team has added Kyle Farnsworth, Chris Archer, Joel Peralta, J.P. Howell, Cesar Ramos, Adam Russell, Cory Wade and R.J. Swindle, but lost Rafael Soriano, Joaquin Benoit, Dan Wheeler, Randy Choate, Grant Balfour and Chad Qualls to free agency. Rays fans aren't the only ones worried about the club's remade 'pen.

"We're kind of freaking out about it, too," Friedman said. "It's extremely daunting to reconstruct a bullpen in one offseason."

Tommy Rancel of ESPN 1040 speculates that Frank Francisco, Joel Hanrahan and Michael Wuertz could be potential trade targets for the Rays. 

A’s Designate Steve Tolleson For Assignment

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The A's designated infielder Steve Tolleson for assignment to make room for Brian Fuentes on the 40-man roster, the team announced.

Tolleson made his major league debut last year, batting .286/.340/.408 in 53 plate appearances. The 27-year-old spent most of the season at Triple-A Sacramento, where he hit a robust .332/.412/.503 in 339 plate appearances. The 2005 fifth round selection has extensive minor league experience at second and short, plus some experience at third base and in the outfield.

Athletics To Sign Brian Fuentes

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The Athletics have agreed to terms with Brian Fuentes on a two-year contract that includes a club option for 2013, the team announced.  Terms of the deal are unknown but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter) reported that the deal would be for two years with an option for a third at more than $5MM per season.  Meanwhile, Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter) reported that the two sides were working on a two-year deal worth roughly $10.5MM.

Fuentes, 35, registered a 2.81 ERA last season with 8.8 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 for the Angels and Twins.  The 6'4" left-hander is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

The A's have remade their team quite a bit this offseason, facilitating trades for David DeJesus and Josh Willingham while signing Grant Balfour and Hideki Matsui as free agents. Fuentes would join Balfour in an already strong bullpen that features Michael Wuertz, Craig Breslow, Brad Ziegler, and All-Star closer Andrew Bailey.

ESPN's Buster Olney pointed out that geography could work in Oakland's favor since Fuentes is from nearby Merced. The Blue Jays were also considered a serious suitor to sign the lefty reliever, and both the Yankees and Rays were connected to him earlier this month. Fuentes was said to be seeking Scott Downs money a few weeks ago, though it's likely that his asking price has since come down.

Steve Phillips of AOL Fanhouse first reported (via Twitter) that the two sides were close to finalizing an agreement.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker

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MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker has details on every arbitration eligible player. If the player agreed to terms with his team, we have the dollar amount. If the sides exchanged figures, you'll see both submissions and our automatically-generated midpoint. The tracker allows advanced sorting, so you can narrow your searches by team, signed/unsigned players and whether the case went to a hearing.

As teams and players resolve arbitration cases in January and February, we'll keep the tracker updated with all the information you need to know. Check out MLBTR's Transaction Tracker and Free Agent Tracker while you're at it.

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