Twins Agree To Sign Joel Zumaya
The Twins and Joel Zumaya have agreed to a one-year contract, the team announced. MLB.com's Jason Beck first reported the deal, which could pay the Hendricks Sports client anywhere from $800K to $1.7MM based on incentives.
Zumaya, 27, told Beck that he was weighing "good offers" from three other clubs, but signed with the Twins because they offered him guaranteed money and not a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. The Tigers were not on his short list, and earlier today we learned the Red Sox and Padres were among the clubs with serious interest.
The flamethrowing right-hander has not pitched since June of 2010 due a fracture in his throwing elbow, an injury he suffered at Target Field and the latest ailment in a laundry list of injuries. In the five seasons since his dominant rookie campaign in 2006 (1.95 ERA and 10.5 K/9 in 83 1/3 innings), Zumaya has undergone five surgeries, including two on his elbow, two on his shoulder, and one on his right middle finger.
A Twins official told Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com that they clocked Zumaya at 92-94 during his December workout, which was attended by 20 teams (Twitter link). Zumaya hopes join a Twins' bullpen that lost Joe Nathan but will return Matt Capps and Glen Perkins.
Cubs Sign Jason Jaramillo
The Cubs completed their minor league deal with catcher Jason Jaramillo, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has learned. MLBTR reported in December that the Cubs were nearing a deal with the 29-year-old.
Jaramillo has accumulated 366 big league plate appearances over the last three seasons with the Pirates, hitting .235/.293/.327. A former second-round pick of the Phillies, Jaramillo missed much of this season with an elbow injury. The switch-hitter will be a candidate for the Cubs' backup catcher job behind Geovany Soto, a role filled by Koyie Hill the last several years. Jaramillo is a native of Wisconsin.
MLBTR's Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
Astros Designate Craig Tatum For Assignment
The Astros designated catcher Craig Tatum for assignment, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com tweets. The move creates a 40-man roster spot for the newly signed Jack Cust.
The Astros had claimed Tatum from the Orioles in October. The 28-year-old has three partial seasons of catching experience at the Major League level and isn't yet eligible for arbitration. He has a .223/.291/.264 line in 299 MLB plate appearances and has stopped 21% of stolen base attempts against him. In eight seasons as a minor leaguer, the 2004 third round pick has a .249/.316/.377 batting line and has stopped 35% of stolen base attempts.
Latest At RotoAuthority.com
My six-year-old fantasy baseball website, RotoAuthority, re-launched this week, with a team of writers and tons of great content. The latest:
- Bullpen depth charts for all 30 teams by Tim Dierkes.
- 7 Pitchers You Have To Draft, by Edwin Van Bibber-Orr.
- Dan Mennella explains why Kenley Jansen is a sleeper and Michael Young is a bust.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Nevin Ashley
Here's where we'll keep track of the day's outright assignments…
- Rays catcher Nevin Ashley cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Rays had designated the 27-year-old for assignment five days ago. He posted a .263/.358/.384 line in 444 plate appearances for the Rays' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2011. Ashley, a 2006 sixth rounder, has a .260/.353/.378 line in parts of six pro seasons.
Rangers Close To Deal With Yu Darvish
The Rangers have a 4pm central time deadline to sign Yu Darvish today. If they fail to reach an agreement with agents Don Nomura and Arn Tellem, the $51,703,411 posting fee will not be paid to the Nippon Ham Fighters and Darvish will return to Japan for the 2012 season. The latest:
- The sides are closing in on a five-year deal with a player option for a sixth year, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
- Darvish's agreement with the Rangers is expected to be for six years, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
- The Rangers are close to a deal with Darvish, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. He elaborates that the Rangers and Darvish "are still working on details, but they are making good progress" with four hours remaining until the deadline. The deal will get done, according to Jon Heyman's sources.
- The Rangers are "cautiously optimistic that Darvish will be signed," reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Gerardo Concepcion Close To Free Agency
18-year-old Cuban lefty Gerardo Concepcion has established residency in Mexico, agent Jaime Torres told Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com. He should be able to declare free agency and negotiate with Major League teams very soon. The Yankees, Rangers, Cubs, White Sox, and Phillies are among the interested clubs, Rojas tweets.
Concepcion defected from Cuba during a tournament in the Netherlands last June, as did Aroldis Chapman.
Extension Candidate: Daniel Hudson
The Diamondbacks' Daniel Hudson has a sweet resume for a starting pitcher with one year and 117 days of Major League service time. He's already racked up 336 career innings (222 last year) and also has 25 wins and a 3.19 ERA. What are his extension prospects?
As I showed in my Madison Bumgarner post, pitchers with less than two years of service time don't get big bucks on extensions. Hudson and Bumgarner currently have much better bodies of work than James Shields, Ubaldo Jimenez, Brett Anderson, and Wade Davis did, but they probably couldn't push the guaranteed money much past $15MM by signing now. Instead, Hudson and Bumgarner may attempt to set a new standard for pitchers with between two and three years of service, one year from now.
The two-to-three record holder is Gio Gonzalez, who flew past the standard $30MM extension by getting a $42MM guarantee from the Nationals. However, Gonzalez is not a good comparison for Hudson, as the former was a Super Two. Hudson won't be. The Proformance client will go to arbitration three times, beginning with the 2014 season.
The typical 2+ pitcher extension is a four-year, $30MM deal, signed by Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Yovani Gallardo, Trevor Cahill, and Ricky Romero. These deals included one or two club options. Hudson will match this group in service time after the 2012 season, but he already matches them in overall statistics. Hudson already has more innings and wins than Gallardo did and more strikeouts than Lester or Cahill. If Hudson reaches his 2012 Bill James projections, he'll have at least a 185 inning, 11 win, 141 strikeout, and significant ERA advantage over any of those 2+ peers. Hudson and Bumgarner will likely be in a class by themselves, and if they sign extensions a year from now they ought to be able to raise the bar to $40MM over five years for non-Super Two 2+ pitchers.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Red Sox Still Interested In Gavin Floyd
WEDNESDAY, 11:30am: The Red Sox are still showing interest in Floyd, tweets Morosi.
TUESDAY, 9:15am: We haven't heard a ton about righty Gavin Floyd lately, but the White Sox are still listening on the soon-to-be 29-year-old, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. White Sox GM Kenny Williams has traded Carlos Quentin, Sergio Santos, and Jason Frasor this winter, but he's held onto his starting pitching and even extended John Danks.
This winter top young starters Michael Pineda, Mat Latos, Gio Gonzalez, and Trevor Cahill have been traded, but all came with at least four years of team control. Floyd and crosstown hurler Matt Garza are in the next tier along with Jair Jurrjens, with two years of control at higher prices. Two years of Floyd will cost $16.5MM in salary plus prospects. Floyd is capable of 30 starts and a sub-4.00 ERA, so he's still plenty valuable and may represent a more reasonable commitment than a four-year deal for Edwin Jackson. The Yankees figure to be done rotation shopping, but the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Pirates are potential fits in my opinion.
Astros Sign Jack Cust
WEDNESDAY, 11:17am: The Astros announced the non-guaranteed Major League deal, which is worth $600K. They still need to clear a 40-man roster spot for Cust.
TUESDAY, 9:30pm: The Astros have agreed to sign Jack Cust, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. It's a one-year deal with a club option for 2013, Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle tweets. TWC Sports represents the corner outfielder/DH.
Cust, 33, averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09, but his power numbers have since fallen off. If he regains his form in Houston, he could DH for the Astros in 2013, when the team moves to the American League West. Cust, who has a career UZR/150 of -22.4 as an outfielder, figures to pinch hit and play left and right in 2012.
Cust posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. The Mariners released him in August and the Phillies signed him soon afterwards. There was no reported interest in Cust earlier in the offseason.