Nationals Acquire Tom Gorzelanny
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
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
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
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
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.
Quick Hits: Bradley, Reds, Perez, Yankees
On this date in 2010, Bengie Molina signed a one-year deal with San Francisco. The Giants sent the backstop to their eventual World Series opponents once Buster Posey forced his way into an everyday role. Now, Molina is the lone noteworthy free agent catcher remaining and he's without an obvious suitor. Here's the latest from around the major leagues…
- Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told MLB.com's Greg Johns that he is aware that Milton Bradley was arrested and is monitoring the situation as he awaits more information.
- A baseball insider tells John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that the Reds can't afford a $20MM player. That could make it difficult for the club to retain Joey Votto and Jay Bruce when their current extensions expire.
- Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com hears that Odalis Perez is nearing a $300K deal with a Korean team (Twitter link). The 32-year-old left-hander last appeared in the majors for the 2008 Nationals, when he posted a 4.34 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 159 2/3 innings.
- The Yankees appear to be focused on Andruw Jones, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests it's too early to rule them out on another Scott Boras client, Johnny Damon (Twitter link).
Moore Discusses Meche’s Retirement
The Royals caught a $12MM break yesterday and Dayton Moore has never seen anything like it. The Kansas City GM says he didn't expect Gil Meche to retire, since the right-hander had the option of collecting checks all season long. Instead, he forfeited the money, called it a career and provded his former team with unexpected financial flexibility.
“Gil had every right to finish off the final year of this contract and be compensated and he chose not to,” Moore said yesterday on a conference call with reporters.
The five-year, $55MM deal that Meche signed before the 2007 season looked good for the first two years and awful for the next two. Meche logged over 200 innings in 2007 and '08, posting a 3.82 ERA and leading the league in starts both seasons. But shoulder and back injuries limited his effectiveness and availability in 2009-10. At 32, the ten-year veteran is calling it a career.
Moore says he doesn't consider the signing a mistake, since Meche took the ball when healthy and helped ease Zack Greinke into major league stardom. But the caretaker of the best farm system in baseball isn't about to compromise his prospects' development with more long-term free agent deals.
“We’re not going to do anything with long-term contracts that’s going to restrict their transition to the major leagues,” Moore said.
There will come a time when the Royals look to complement their homegrown core with free agent pieces, Moore said. The team does have $12MM more than expected, but Moore says he doesn't plan to add any expensive pieces soon.
Indians, Choo Continue Discussing Multiyear Deal
GM Chris Antonetti told Paul Hoyes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the Indians continue to discuss possible multiyear deals with Shin-Soo Choo, even after avoiding arbitration with a one-year deal. The sides agreed to a $3.975MM salary for 2011, but agent Scott Boras and Antonetti both told Hoynes they'd consider an extension.
"We're still in the midst of discussions," Antonetti said. "I don't view it as the negotiations being closed."
The Indians continued their streak of avoiding arbitration this offseason, the club's first under Antonetti. Chris Perez, Rafael Perez and Asdrubal Cabrera all agreed to one-year deals this week, as our Arb Tracker shows.
I discussed what a potential Choo extension might look like in the fall. Click here for the latest on multiyear deals from around the majors.
Twins “Very Close” To Deal With Pavano
The Twins are "very close" to a new deal with Carl Pavano and are just working out the final details according to Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune (on Twitter). "I think we're in the home stretch here," said GM Bill Smith.
We first heard that the two sides were working towards a deal earlier this month, and just four days ago we heard that a decision was expected relatively soon. Previous reports indicated that they were working towards a two-year pact.
Pavano, 35, logged 221 innings in 2010, pitching to a 3.75 ERA with 4.8 K/9 and just 1.02 unintentional walks per nine innings. His 51.2% ground ball rate was the key to his success. Minnesota could slot him right behind Francisco Liriano to form a strong one-two punch in a division where both the Tigers and White Sox have improved quite a bit this offseason.
Quick Hits: Toregas, Montanez, Hargrove, Payrolls
A few notes from around the league that have nothing to do with players who avoided arbitration or filed salary figures…
- The Pirates signed catcher Wyatt Toregas to a minor league contract with an invitation Spring Training according to a team press release. The 28-year-old spent the 2010 season in the Indians' farm system, hitting .227/.311/.383 in 148 plate appearances.
- The Cubs signed outfielder Lou Montanez to a minor league deal according to Baseball America's Matt Eddy (on Twitter). They drafted him third overall back way back in 2000. Montanez hit .223/.257/.323 in 266 plate appearances with the Orioles over the last three seasons.
- Former Indians manager Mike Hargrove is back with the team as a special advisor, the club announced today.
- The Marlins project to have an Opening Day payroll around $58MM according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. It will be the franchise's highest payroll since opening the 2005 season at $60.4MM.
- The Twins, meanwhile, project to have an Opening Day payroll around $105.4MM according to Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune (Twitter links), but he says that a Carl Pavano signing could push that up to $115MM.
- The Royals are now projected to have a payroll around $40MM after Gil Meche's surprise retirement, tweets Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star. In a separate pair of tweets, Dutton says the team is unlikely to use the payroll savings from Meche's retirement on free agents, but will instead boost their draft and international free agent budgets.