Garrett Jones Had Arbitration Hearing Today
Pirates outfielder/first baseman Garrett Jones had his arbitration hearing today, the Associated Press reports (via ESPN.com). Jones and his representatives at SFX asked for $2.5MM, while the Pirates offered $2.25MM. Arbitrators Margaret Brogan, Dan Brent and Matt Goldberg are expected to reach a decision by tomorrow.
Jones posted a .243/.321/.433 line with 16 home runs in 477 plate appearances for the Pirates last year and drew some trade interest from the Yankees this offseason. Casey McGehee, whose numbers and salary demands are comparable to those of Jones, is scheduled for the last arbitration hearing of the offseason. So far this winter teams have won four of six arbitration cases, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows.
NL East Notes: Kazmir, McCann, Hamels, Oswalt
The Mets took a chance on Jason Isringhausen exactly one year ago, signing him to a minor league deal. Isringhausen collected his 300th career save in 2011, and the Mets obtained 46 2/3 innings of 4.05 ERA baseball from the 39-year-old right-hander. We haven’t heard much about Isringhausen’s free agent prospects in recent weeks, but we do have some links from the NL East…
- Ten years ago the Mets made Scott Kazmir their first round pick. Much has changed in the last decade, but the Mets have some interest in bringing the left-hander back, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News tweets. The Mets were expected to have someone in attendance at Kazmir's audition in Houston today.
- Brian McCann said he's not concerned about signing an extension for 2014 and beyond, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. The Braves have a 2013 option for McCann on his current contract and they figure to exercise if after the season.
- Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. joined Jim Duquette and Kevin Kennedy on MLB Network Radio and said he's still hoping to work out an extension with left-hander Cole Hamels. The sides haven't set a deadline for a long-term deal.
- Amaro suggested the Phillies don't have the payroll flexibility required to add Roy Oswalt. "I just don't know that it's a fit for us right now," he said.
- The Phillies and Marlins are among the teams eyeing Cuban outfield prospect Jorge Soler.
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Giants To Sign Ramon Ortiz
The Giants announced that they invited right-hander Ramon Ortiz to Spring Training, presumably on a minor league deal (Twitter link). Praver/Shapiro represents the 38-year-old, who split the 2011 season between the Cubs and their Triple-A affiliate.
Ortiz appeared in 22 games for the Cubs last year, posting a 4.86 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 33 1/3 innings. The 11-year MLB veteran also made 16 starts at Triple-A, completing 99 1/3 innings with the Iowa Cubs. The Cubs were the only other team that was publicly linked to Ortiz this offseason.
Minor Moves: Fisher, Crowe, Rockies
Keeping track of the latest minor moves from around MLB…
- The Reds assigned Carlos Fisher to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. The right-hander, who was designated for assignment last week, receives an invitation to Major League Spring Training.
- Outfielder Trevor Crowe will be in Indians camp as a non-roster player, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian tweets. Cleveland outrighted Crowe off of the 40-man roster back in November.
- The Cubs released right-hander Robinson Lopez, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (on Twitter). Chicago acquired Lopez from Atlanta in the 2010 Derrek Lee trade.
- The Rockies signed right-hander Zack Segovia to a minor league deal, Goldstein tweets. Segovia, 28, appeared in the Majors with the 2007 Phillies and the 2009 Nationals.
- The Rockies signed Jared Wells, a right-hander who pitched briefly with the 2008 Mariners and Padres, according to Goldstein (Twitter link).
- The Marlins signed 32-year-old infielder Chase Lambin, Goldstein tweets. Though Lambin has 500-plus games of Triple-A experience, he has yet to play in the Major Leagues.
Which Players Might Bring Draft Pick Compensation After 2012?
After accepting Boston's arbitration offer this winter, David Ortiz submitted a $16.5MM salary figure for 2012 against the team's $12.65MM. They ended up settling at the midpoint recently. Ortiz's $14.575MM salary will not be possible for a free agent accepting arbitration after the 2012 season, however, because the new collective bargaining agreement simplified the process. Draft pick compensation for a departing free agent will require the team to make a "qualifying offer" in the $12-13MM range. The qualifying offer amount will be determined by averaging the top 125 salaries from 2011. This offer will be fixed each offseason, even for players already earning more than the qualifying offer amount, MLB told me today.
Though 2011 salaries are used for the 2012 qualifying offer (which reflects the player's potential 2013 salary), MLB does not seem to know the exact amount, so we'll use $12.5MM as a proxy for now. For elite free agents, a qualifying offer will be a lock, as will their decision to turn it down. The locks for 2012 appear limited to starting pitchers: Matt Cain, Cole Hamels, and Zack Greinke. A look at the more borderline potential free agents from the 2012-13 class follows.
Rays Extend Joe Maddon
WEDNESDAY, 10:00am: The Rays officially announced Maddon's three-year extension.
TUESDAY, 4:04pm: Maddon will earn approximately $2MM per season under his new contract, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets.
11:13am: The Rays have agreed to a three-year contract extension with manager Joe Maddon, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Maddon's contract had been set to expire after 2012, and the sides had been working on an extended agreement over the course of the offseason. An announcement is expected tomorrow, according to Topkin.
Maddon, the 2011 American League Manager of the Year, has managed the Rays to three playoff berths in the past four seasons, including an AL pennant in 2008. In six years under the 57-year-old Maddon, the Rays have a 495-477 record.
Twins Avoid Arbitration With Alexi Casilla
The Twins avoided arbitration with infielder Alexi Casilla, agreeing to a one-year, $1.3825MM contract, tweets director of baseball communications Mike Herman. The Proformance client settled $25K below the midpoint, avoiding an arbitration hearing. Casilla received a $517,500 raise his second time through arbitration. MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith looked at some possible comparables last week.
As MLBTR's arbitration tracker shows, the Twins are now finished with their arbitration eligible players. They committed a total of $8.432MM to Casilla, Francisco Liriano, and Glen Perkins for 2012.
Two arbitration eligible players remain unsigned overall: Garrett Jones and Casey McGehee of the Pirates.
Athletics Notes: Manny, Cespedes
The A's made a splash Monday, signing Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year, $36MM contract that allows him to reach free agency at its conclusion. The latest on the club:
- "The A's are likely to sign Manny Ramirez just before or soon after the start of spring training," writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Pitchers and catchers are due to report Saturday, while the full squad reports February 24th. Manny, of course, has a reputation of arriving late to spring training. Ramirez would serve as designated hitter for the A's, but he'd first need to serve a 50-game PED suspension.
- Despite the Cespedes signing, Coco Crisp still feels he's Oakland's best center field option. Crisp told Slusser, "Unless he's a demigod come down from the heavens, no one is going to outshine me in center field." Crisp noted that a center field job was one of the reasons he chose the A's over the Rays, but concluded, "I'm excited to play alongside Cespedes – no matter what side that may be."
- Cespedes' no-arbitration clause is precedent-setting, writes ESPN's Buster Olney, as in the past only Japanese players have managed to secure free agency without the typical requirement of six years of Major League service.
- As I noted earlier today, the A's have four out of options players on the 40-man roster with fewer than five years of Major League service: Brandon Allen, Jerry Blevins, Joey Devine, and Kila Ka'aihue.
Out Of Options 2012
The following 40-man roster players have less than five years service time and are out of minor league options. That means they must clear waivers before being sent to the minors. I've included players on multiyear deals. This list was compiled through MLBTR's sources.