Pirates To Sign Joe Beimel
The Pirates officially announced that they have agreed to terms with Joe Beimel on a minor league deal. The contract will be worth $1.75MM in the major leagues plus up to $300K in incentives, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter). Biertempfel notes that the Red Sox and Orioles offered the left-hander deals. Beimel's deal with the Pirates includes an out-clause that allows him to become a free agent if he doesn't make the team's Opening Day roster, but he's expected to make the club.
Beimel, who went to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and has ties to the area, was originally drafted by the Bucs in 1998 and made his big-league debut with them in 2001.
After breaking into the Majors in a swing role, Beimel has evolved into a well-travelled lefty specialist (limiting LHB to .259/.320/.400 in 929 career PA), having spent time with the Dodgers, Nationals and Rockies over the past three seasons. Beimel, who will turn 34 in April, has a 4.16 career ERA over 562 1/3 innings.
Troy Renck of the Denver Post first reported the agreement and MLBTR's Tim Dierkes learned that the left-hander had Major League offers and a two-year offer.
Anthopoulos Talks Hill, Encarnacion, Wells, Arencibia
Alex Anthopoulos says he has has 'tinkered' and 'talked' about acquiring a third baseman and won't rule out potential acquisitions. But the Blue Jays GM remains confident in Jose Bautista's ability to play the position all season long. The defending AL home run champ played 48 games at third last year and spent 225 games at the hot corner for the Pirates from 2007-08, so the Blue Jays say they're set at third.
Last year's third baseman, Edwin Encarnacion, will combine with Adam Lind to play first base and DH. The Blue Jays are hopeful that Lind can handle first defensively and they're optimistic about Encarnacion's power potential. Anthopoulos says he thinks Encarnacion has "one more gear in there" and while he hesitated before comparing him to Bautista, the GM says he can see Encarnacion hitting 30 homers or more in 2011.
The Blue Jays are also looking for a bounceback season from Aaron Hill, and they have a decision to make before the season starts. The team can either exercise Hill's 2012-14 options before the coming season begins or they can wait until the offseason, at which point they'll be able to exercise his 2012-13 options or just his 2012 option. Anthopoulos declined to elaborate on the team's plan, but did emphasize that the sides aren't bound to Hill's current deal.
“There’s a lot of flexibility,” Anthopoulos told a crowd of about 500 Blue Jays fans at last night's State of the Franchise event. “We’re not tied into anything. There’s nothing that prevents us from sitting down with Aaron and his agent and saying we want to do a five-year deal, four-year deal, six-year deal.”
Anthopoulos also discussed one multiyear deal that has become the responsibility of another organization. He declined to confirm reports that the Blue Jays are sending $5MM to the Angels as part of the Vernon Wells trade.
"The deal that was announced [Wells straight up for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera] was the deal that was agreed to," he said.
The Blue Jays have money to spend now that they've unloaded most or all of Wells' deal and they remain open to making acquisitions. Anthopoulos, a Montreal native and former Expos employee, says he can relate to fans who want a bona fide slugger like Vladimir Guerrero.
"I understand," Anthopoulos said. "He was one of my favorite players growing up and he's someone that I admire."
However, Anthopoulos exaplined that he doesn't want to acquire players who get playing time in place of developing players. For example, the Blue Jays intend to provide their top catching prospect with the chance to show major league pitchers why he won the Pacific Coast League MVP last year.
“We really don’t want to get in the way of J.P. Arencibia because we do believe that he’s an important component of this team” Anthopoulos said. “He has nothing more to prove down [in the minors]. He needs to get an opportunity to play up here and we might have to let him live through some struggles early on.”
If the Blue Jays don't spend on free agents or through trades, they say they'll have more to spend on player development, the amateur draft and international free agency. Amateur spending will not end the Blue Jays' 17-year playoff drought immediately, but it's promising news for fans of a team that has seven of the first 78 selections in the upcoming June draft.
Rays To Sign Casey Kotchman
The Rays signed Casey Kotchman to a minor league deal and invited him to Spring Training, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The deal could pay Kotchman $750K, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Kotchman, 28 next month, provides insurance for Dan Johnson, another left-handed hitting first baseman.
Kotchman hit .217/.280/.336 in 457 plate appearances for the Mariners last year, adding nine homers and 20 doubles. He hit as many as 37 doubles for the 2007 Angels, but his production has dropped off since. The former first rounder has a .736 OPS against right-handed pitching and a .656 OPS against left-handed pitching in his career.
The Indians had interest in Kotchman as recently as yesterday.
New York Notes: Mets, Cashman, Rangers
The Wilpons announced that they're willing to sell a minority share in the Mets and the Yankees are making news today, too. Here's the latest:
- Fred Wilpon says the Mets are talking about selling 20-25% of the team, according to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times (on Twitter).
- Jeff Wilpon says Citi Field and SNY are not for sale, according to ESPNNewYork's Adam Rubin (Twitter link).
- Brian Cashman didn't want to sign Rafael Soriano for $35MM in guaranteed money, but that doesn't mean he wants to leave New York. As Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports explains, Cashman likes New York and is likely to stay there.
- Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg suggested earlier in the week that Texas helped Philadelphia sign Cliff Lee and Yankees president Randy Levine didn't take kindly to those remarks. He told Jon Heyman of SI.com that Greenberg is "delusional" and pointed out that the Rangers have benefitted from revenue sharing, or to borrow Levine's word, "welfare."
Rays Claim Rob Delaney
The Rays claimed minor league right-hander Rob Delaney off of waivers from the Twins, according to LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (on Twitter). The Twins had designated Delaney for assignment when they claimed Dusty Hughes from the Royals earlier in the week.
Delaney has appeared in just one big league game so far, but the 26-year-old right-hander has plenty of minor league experience. He has a 2.96 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 242 minor league relief appearances. Last year he posted a 3.44 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 83 2/3 innings for the Twins' top affiliates.
The Rays lost most of their best relievers this offseason, but they have added or re-signed Dirk Hayhurst, Kyle Farnsworth, Christopher Archer, Adam Russell, Cesar Ramos, Joel Peralta, Jonah Bayliss, J.P. Howell, Cory Wade and R.J. Swindle, as MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Wells, Butler, Weeks, Cubs
The Brewers signed Jim Edmonds to a minor-league contract one year ago today, even though the outfielder did not play at all during the 2009 season. He hit a more than respectable .286/.350/.493 with eight homers in 240 plate appearances before being traded to the Reds for Chris Dickerson. All told, the 40-year-old Edmonds hit .276/.342/.504 last season, though he battled oblique and achilles strains.
Here is this week's collection of links…
- Pine Tar And Pocket Protectors calls the Vernon Wells trade an "act of desperation."
- Lookout Landing doesn't get the trade for the Angels.
- LA Angels Insider says everyone knew the team would eventually cut ties with Mike Napoli.
- Baseball Time In Arlington looks at the ripple effect of the Rangers acquiring Napoli.
- Rooftop View compares Wells to another high-priced outfielder, Alfonso Soriano.
- Royals Review believes that Billy Butler's contract extension is ridiculously good for the team.
- Disciplies of Uecker thinks a three-year contract extension for Rickie Weeks is ideal.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness says Scott Podsednik's poor decision has benefitted the Dodgers.
- Red Sox Beacon explores Boston's starting pitching depth.
- Bay City Ball remembers what Chris Ray brought to the Giants.
- The Nats Blog attempts to put together the best lineup for Washington.
- Cubs Billy Goat Blog wonders if next year's Cubs will be better than last year's.
- M.C. Antil says that Gil Meche did the right thing by retiring.
- More Hardball puts together a list of useful players still on the free agent market.
- Beyond The Box Score reviews the multiyear contracts given to position players last offseason.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
Heyman On Pettitte, Millwood, Molina, Wandy
Yankees people seem a bit more optimistic about the potential return of Andy Pettitte, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. They’ll consider alternatives such as Kevin Millwood, but only after hearing from Pettitte. Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors:
- The Indians and Royals remain possibilities for Millwood.
- One rival executive doesn’t think the Bartolo Colon signing means much for the Yankees. "There is no real risk. But there is no real reward, either," the executive said.
- Bengie Molina might consider returning for “special opportunities,” Heyman writes.
- The Rangers and GM Jon Daniels have started discussing a contract extension and Rangers people expect a new deal for Daniels, whose current contract expires after the 2011 season.
- One competing executive believes the Astros overpaid for Wandy Rodriguez. I don’t mind this deal for the Astros, since solid left-handed starters aren’t cheap or easy to find and Rodriguez was about to hit free agency.
Rockies, Ian Stewart Avoid Arbitration
FRIDAY: Stewart will earn $2.22875MM, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter). That's below the $2.375MM midpoint, closer to the Rockies' submission. MLBTR has learned that if Stewart stays healthy and reaches his incentives next season he will earn $2.35MM.
THURSDAY: The Rockies have avoided arbitration with third baseman Ian Stewart, MLBTR has learned. With salary submissions of $2.6MM and $2.15MM, the sides had been $450K apart on the Super Two player's first arbitration year. Stewart's settlement amount is not yet known, but his agreement means the Rockies have taken care of all their arbitration eligible players according to our Arb Tracker.
Stewart, 26 in April, hit .256/.338/.443 in 441 plate appearances in 2010. He projects as the Rockies' starting third baseman once again, though they've got backup options in Jose Lopez, Ty Wigginton, and Joe Crede.
Blue Jays Look Forward To Eventual Payroll Boost
When you think of deep-pocketed AL East teams, you think of the Yankees and Red Sox. But the Blue Jays once had one of the biggest payrolls in the game and their president says it can happen again.
"With this city, with this country, with our market, we should be a city that can have $140 or $150MM in the way of salaries," team president Paul Beeston said at the State of the Franchise even in Toronto last night. "We should be able to support that and that's the direction that we're headed to."
The Blue Jays' payroll will likely sit in the $65-70MM range this year, though the precise figure will depend on how arbitration cases with Jose Bautista, Frank Francisco and Jason Frasor turn out and whether GM Alex Anthopoulos acquires more players.
As aggressive as Anthopoulos was on the trade market, the Blue Jays have been relatively quiet in free agency this offseason. They're one of eight teams that didn't sign a free agent to a multiyear deal, but that could change in a few years, as the club becomes more aggressive in free agency. And whether it's trades, free agency or the draft, the Blue Jays say that they make their moves with one primary goal in mind.
“We’re not here to be a competitive baseball team," Beeston said. "We’re here to win the World Series on a sustainable basis.”
Front-Office Notes: Mets, Indians, Jays, Padres
While arbitration cases continue to be settled and the final handful of straggling free agents negotiate with potential suitors, here's some notes from a few front offices around the Majors on Thursday …
- Mets owner Fred Wilpon said that he'd like to see former GM Omar Minaya return to the team in an advisory role, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Minaya, of course, was replaced by Sandy Alderson following the 2010 season but remains under contract with the Mets and is owed approximately $1.1MM annually through 2012. Wilpon said Minaya is a good person and would be a welcome re-addition to the organization, but he understands that Minaya has needed time to evaluate his options. Begley speculates that Minaya could return in a talent-evaluation capacity, perhaps internationally.
- Indians GM Chris Antonetti said that he expects to land another player or two this offseason, tweets Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Bastian notes that the Tribe could still use a third baseman and starting pitcher, in particular. Antonetti is in his first year as Indians GM.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said that Toronto is likely done making any major moves this offseason, but minor ones remain possible, according to Shi Davidi of the Candian Press (twitter links). Of course, Anthopoulos added the caveat that this could change with one phone call.
- Padres GM Jed Hoyer, similar to Anthopoulos, said he has a pretty good idea of what his club is going to look like this season, barring any unforeseen injuries, tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com. Hoyer is happy with the Padres' offseason in the wake of the momentous Adrian Gonzalez swap, writes Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and said that the organization targeted free agents who were coming off down seasons in 2010 in the hopes that they might rebound with the Friars in 2011.