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Archives for February 2012

Cubs Sign Gerardo Concepcion

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The Cubs have signed Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion to a contract, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (via Twitter).  The deal is worth $7MM with incentives that could push the total to $8MM, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes Los Angeles.  The contract will become official once Concepcion, a Jaime Torres client, passes a physical.

Concepcion, 18, established residency in Mexico in mid-January and was declared a free agent last week.  Several teams were interested in the young southpaw, including the Blue Jays, Giants, Phillies, Rangers, Red Sox, Royals, White Sox and Yankees.  Torres recently said Concepcion had received as many as 10 contract offers.

The signing is a nice win for Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein in their quest to rebuild both the Cubs' minor league system and their Latin American scouting and development systems.  The Cubs have also been linked to two other major Cuban free agents this winter, Yoenis Cespedes and Jorge Soler.

Notes On The Edwin Jackson Signing

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Nationals GM Mike Rizzo held a conference call with media this afternoon to discuss his team's agreement with right-hander Edwin Jackson.  Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post has some of the pertinent details…

  • "We did not acqire Edwin Jackson to trade another starting pitcher," Rizzo said.  "In spring training or before spring training, if a deal comes up we can’t pass up that positively impacts our ball club, we’d certainly be open-minded to it.”  We heard earlier today that the Nats were shopping John Lannan in order to free up some room for Jackson in the club's rotation.
  • In regards to Lannan, Rizzo said that though the southpaw has a minor league option remaining, Washington won't send him down to Triple-A.  "We feel that he’s a major league-caliber starting pitcher,” Rizzo said. “He’s a major league starter, and he’s ready to help a contending team. That’s what we’re going to use him as.”
  • Rizzo noted that six of last year's playoff teams had at least two starters with 200 innings pitched, and Jackson's presence will help correct the "innings shortage" Rizzo said the Nationals suffered last year.  This would seem to be a point in favor of the Nats keeping Lannan, as Kilgore notes Chien-Ming Wang's injury history, Stephen Strasburg's 160-inning limit and the fact that Jordan Zimmermann has never thrown more than 161 frames in a season.
  • The Nationals began talking with Scott Boras about Jackson within the last two weeks, and Jackson's willingness to accept a one-year contract was the turning point in negotiations.  “The term and the value was too good to pass up," Rizzo said.  "We felt it improved our club immensely. There comes a point where his value was such that we were comfortable making the deal.”

Marlins Notes: Cespedes, Sanchez, Oviedo

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The Marlins’ offseason is nearing completion, but there’s business to attend to before Opening Day. Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel has the latest from team president David Samson…

  • Samson isn’t sure whether Yoenis Cespedes will visit the Miami area before deciding where to sign, but the sides continue to talk. “Our offseason is not dependent on signing Cespedes at all,” Samson said.
  • Samson ruled out an extension for Anibal Sanchez, at least for now. Sanchez’s arbitration hearing will take place tomorrow, so we’ll soon know whether he’ll earn $8MM or $6.9MM in 2012. I examined Sanchez as an extension candidate earlier this week.
  • Samson doesn’t expect Juan Carlos Oviedo to be on the Marlins’ Opening Day roster, but he said the 29-year-old right-hander will likely be in Spring Training. MLB may discipline Oviedo for falsifying his identity.
  • Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson are ready for the season, Samson said.

Jeff Niemann Had Arbitration Hearing

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Rays right-hander Jeff Niemann had his arbitration hearing today, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported. Niemann and his agents at Hendricks Sports asked for $3.2MM, while the Rays countered with $2.75MM. Arbitrators James Oldham, Howard Edelman and Mark Irvings heard the case today and a decision is expected tomorrow morning, the Associated Press reports (via ESPN).

The Rays are 5-0 in arbitration and have a 4-0 mark under executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Niemann is the team's lone unsigned arbitration eligible player, as our Arbitration Tracker shows. The Nationals beat John Lannan in yesterday's hearing, which makes teams 1-0 so far this year.

Nationals Aggressively Shopping John Lannan

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After beating John Lannan in an arbitration hearing this week, the Nationals are now aggressively shopping the left-hander according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The move would potentially clear $5MM in payroll, and Rosenthal says (on Twitter) they are targeting Edwin Jackson (not Roy Oswalt). Signing Jackson is contingent on trading Lannan, he adds. The Nationals would like to get a position player in a trade for Lannan, MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets.

Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, and Jordan Zimmermann are locks for Washington's rotation, and Chien-Ming Wang is a safe bet as well given his $4MM salary. That leaves Lannan and Ross Detwiler for the final spot, though Detwiler is out of options. He could potentially shift to the bullpen if the team is able to move Lannan and sign someone like Oswalt or Jackson.

Lannan, 27, is the team's highest paid pitcher. He posted a 3.70 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 184 2/3 innings last year. It marked the third time in four seasons that he has started 30 games, pitched 180-plus innings and kept his ERA under 4.00. He will be under team contract as an arbitration-eligible player in 2013.

Damon & Guerrero Seek $5MM Deals

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Teams say Johnny Damon and Vladimir Guerrero are looking for deals worth $5MM or so, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark tweets. The asking prices appear to be suppressing interest in the pair of designated hitters.

Though Damon and Guerrero are among the biggest names available in free agency, they haven't played the outfield regularly in years and will likely be limited to DH or bench jobs in 2012. At this point in the offseason, most AL teams have a DH in place and clubs have limited funds for complementary players, so the market for Damon and Guerrero doesn't appear strong.

Damon, 38, signed for $8MM in February of 2010 and for $5.25MM at the end of January, 2011. Guerrero also has experience signing late. The 36-year-old signed for $7.6MM in February of 2011.

Nationals Beat Lannan In Arbitration

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The Nationals beat John Lannan in arbitration, so the left-hander will earn $5MM in 2012, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post tweets. A hearing took place yesterday to determine whether Lannan should earn $5.7MM, as he and his representatives at CAA requested, or $5MM, as the Nationals offered.

All of the Nationals' arbitration eligible players are now signed for 2012, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows. Lannan was arbitration eligible for the second time this offseason and will remain under club control through 2013. The 27-year-old posted a 3.70 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 184 2/3 innings last year. It marked the third time in four seasons that he has started 30 games, pitched 180-plus innings and kept his ERA under 4.00.

Indians, Rafael Perez Avoid Arbitration

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The Indians announced that they avoided arbitration with left-handed reliever Rafael Perez, agreeing to a one-year contract for 2012. Perez will earn $2.005MM plus incentives this year, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian tweets. Drew Seccafico represents the lefty.

As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, Perez filed for a $2.4MM salary and the Indians countered with an offer of $1.6MM. Asdrubal Cabrera is Cleveland's lone unsigned arbitration eligible player.

Paul Konerko Talks Next Contract

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Paul Konerko said 2013 could be his final season as a player, according to Chuck Garfien of CSNChicago.com. The first baseman turns 36 next month and it's not a given that he'll continue playing after his contract expires following the 2013 campaign.

"Yeah, in all reality I would see it ending after next year or maybe another year,” Konerko said. “I mean, at some point you got to go home and be around your kids and have other things to do."

Konerko expects to consider playing opportunities after the 2013 season, but he doesn’t intend to “hang on for another year and kind of go through the motions.” The White Sox briefly considered making Konerko a player-manager this offseason, and though he doesn’t expect to manage any time soon, it could happen at some point. He posted a .300/.388/.517 line with 31 homers in 2011, when he was named to the American League All-Star team for the fifth time in his career.

Latest On Mets’ Search For Outfield Bat

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The Mets remain interested in adding a left-handed hitting outfielder and appear to be hunting for the cash to sign one, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. It was reported last week that the Mets are monitoring the market for outfielders who hit from the left side, including Johnny Damon, Kosuke Fukudome, Rick Ankiel and Raul Ibanez.

I doubt that any of the outfielders above will cost more than $1-2MM in terms of guaranteed salary on a one-year deal. However, the Mets are working on a budget, even after cutting payroll by approximately $50MM this offseason. The Mets' projected outfield currently consists of the right-handed hitting Jason Bay and Scott Hairston, the left-handed hitting Lucas Duda and the switch-hitting Andres Torres.

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