Archives for March 2011

Garret Anderson To Retire

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 1, 2011 at 12:45pm CDT

Garret Anderson is retiring today, according to MLB.com's Lyle Spencer. The 17-year veteran posted a .293/.324/.461 in 17 seasons with the Angels, Braves and Dodgers, but he'll be remembered for his contributions in Anaheim. He retires as the Angels' all-time leader in games, hits, doubles, total bases, runs, extra base hits and RBI.

The 1990 fourth-round selection made three All-Star teams and won two Silver Sluggers. He was especially productive in 2002, when the Angels won it all, and 2003. Anderson led the American League in doubles both years, posting a combined OPS+ of 129.

Anderson agreed to a minor league deal with the Dodgers last March, but they cut him in August after a disappointing season. The 38-year-old hit .181/.204/.271 for the Dodgers and didn't draw interest as a free agent this winter.

Pirates Sign Cesar Lopez

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 1, 2011 at 12:28pm CDT

The Pirates announced that they signed right-hander Cesar Lopez to a minor league contract. Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald reports that the deal is worth $600K (Twitter link).

The 20-year-old was born in Havana, Cuba, and now lives in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Rene Gayo, the team’s director of Latin American scouting, says he likes what he has seen from the 6'3" non-drafted free agent.

“Cesar is a very talented player with great character who we believe is a great addition to our organization,” Gayo said. “He has an above average sinker, a fastball that can reach 94 [mph] and has a good projectable feel to pitch.”

Coincidentally, the Marlins have a young, right-handed pitcher by the name of Cesar Lopez in their system. Florida's pitcher is a Colombia native who turns 19 this month.

Bonderman May Sit Out For 2011

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 1, 2011 at 11:07am CDT

Jeremy Bonderman, who came back from 2008 shoulder surgery to pitch 171 innings last year, may not pitch at all in 2011. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick hears from a player who says Bonderman doesn't want to keep rehabbing or have to compete for a job in Spring Training (Twitter links).

"More than likely he's going to sit this year out," the player told Crasnick.

Bonderman started 29 games last year, posting a 5.53 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. The 28-year-old, who is about to begin his ninth big league season, is a free agent for the first time.

The Indians, Yankees, Rockies and Tigers were among the teams to show interest in Bonderman this offseason, though those clubs have all since added arms. The Tigers aren't re-signing Bonderman, but their opponents from the 2006 World Series could take a look at him. The Cardinals lost Adam Wainwright to Tommy John surgery and could be intrigued by Bonderman, as MLBTR's Mike Axisa explained last week.

Indians Sign Chad Durbin

By Luke Adams 2 | March 1, 2011 at 9:59am CDT

After spending three years in Philadelphia, Chad Durbin is headed back to the American League. The Indians announced that they signed the right-hander to a one-year, Major League contract.

The deal will pay the 33-year-old a base salary of $800K and could be worth another $1MM in incentives, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Earlier in the month, we heard that Durbin hoped to sign with a contender, but there didn't appear to be many Major League offers on the table from teams with playoff aspirations.

For Durbin, who had a 3.62 ERA in 194 appearances over the last three seasons with the Phillies, it will be his second stint with the Tribe. In 2003 and 2004, Cleveland was the first club to use the right-hander primarily out of the bullpen. As Crasnick notes (Twitter link), the Indians intend to deploy Durbin as a reliever again this time around.

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and Jon Heyman of SI.com both reported when the Indians and Durbin were close to a deal.

Extension Season Isn’t Over Yet

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 1, 2011 at 9:41am CDT

Now that March has arrived, few free agents remain and the offseason is essentially over. But if last year is any indication, we have more to look forward to in March than the occasional waiver claim or release. Teams take advantage of March and April to keep players off of the free agent market with extensions.

Joe Mauer ($184MM) and Ryan Howard ($125MM) headlined last year's crop of early-spring deals and 14 other players also inked extensions. Josh Beckett ($68MM), Justin Upton ($51.25MM), Yovani Gallardo ($30.1MM) and Matt Cain ($27.25MM) all signed deals worth $25MM-plus. Ben Zobrist ($18MM), Adam Lind ($18MM), Denard Span ($16.5MM), Brian Wilson ($15MM), Mark Reynolds ($14.5MM), Nick Blackburn ($14MM), Brett Anderson ($12.5MM), Scott Feldman ($11.5MM), Todd Helton ($9.9MM) and Jeremy Affeldt ($9.5MM) all signed extensions, too, as MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows.

In 2009, Ryan Zimmerman, Chipper Jones, Jon Lester, Gavin Floyd, Scott Baker signed extensions in April and May so while 2010 was extension-heavy it wasn't a complete aberration. Once the calendar turns to May, however, extension season slows down; there were no extensions in May or June of last year or in 2009.

Yankees Notes: Montero, Posada, Martin, Liriano

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 1, 2011 at 9:02am CDT

A month from now, Spring Training will be a thing of the past, but there are still jobs to be won and deals to be made over the course of the next four weeks. Here's the latest from Yankees camp…

Joe Mauer passed along some advice for Jesus Montero through Joe Brescia of the New York Times: the Twins backstop says Montero should make an effort to learn as much as possible from Jorge Posada and Russell Martin. Mauer, an unusually tall catcher like Montero, is excited for the Yankees prospect to arrive in the majors.
Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues says that the more he hears Joe Girardi and the Yankees coaching staff, the more he thinks Montero has a legit chance to back Martin up, instead of starting the season at Triple-A.
Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork hears that the Yankees did call the Twins about Francisco Liriano's availability during the offseason. The Twins and Yankees say nothing's happening on that front, however.
Rob Neyer of SB Nation has trouble imagining a package that would entice the Twins to part with Liriano.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff says the Yankees' long-term future is bright, even though the club would have preferred to make more pronounced upgrades to its rotation this winter.

Carpenter Clarifies Trade Comments

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 1, 2011 at 8:23am CDT

Chris Carpenter confirmed to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he wouldn’t prevent the Cardinals from trading him and added that he doesn’t expect or hope for a trade. The right-hander says the Cardinals are a contender, so he doesn’t think GM John Mozeliak will look to sell.

"For them to come to me about [a trade] would suggest our team is out of it and they wanted to go in another direction," Carpenter said. "I certainly don't see that being the case. I think we've got a great shot not just to win this division but to get to the World Series. That's my expectation and I think it's what everybody in here expects.”

The Cardinals, who lost Adam Wainwright to Tommy John surgery, have a 2012 option for Carpenter worth $15MM. Albert Pujols becomes a free agent after the season and holding onto Carpenter and Pujols won’t be easy.

Pujols will presumably cost upwards of $200MM and the Cardinals’ payroll is not big enough to sustain a $30MM player without cutting costs elsewhere. Cardinals sources suggest to Strauss that the team is unlikely to increase payroll from the $100MM range to $115MM in 2012.

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