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AL West Notes: Rangers, Abreu, Gonzalez

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Gabe Kapler and Ivan Rodriguez each hit two homers April 3, 2000 as the Rangers celebrated an Opening Day victory over the White Sox.  The Rangers have another season-opening date with the White Sox on Friday when both teams open their 2012 campaigns.  Here's the latest from the AL West…

  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels doesn't expect his club to finalize any contract extensions before Opening Day, he told reporters (including MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan), but Daniels is still hopeful since, "all it takes is one conversation to pick something up again."  While the team prefers to have contract talks settled by Opening Day, Daniels said he is open to negotiating during the season, "if we are able to handle it quietly and not let it be a distraction."  We heard earlier today that Texas is talking about a six-year extension with Ian Kinsler.
  • An unnamed Angels player says Bobby Abreu is becoming more accepting of his backup job with the team, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports.  Abreu has spoken out about his reduced role and the Halos are known to be shopping him, with one potential deal with the Indians falling through earlier this week.
  • The Athletics released right-hander Edgar Gonzalez last week, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Gonzalez signed a minor league deal with the A's in November.  Gonzalez posted a 5.00 ERA in 26 appearances (25 of them starts) for the Rays and Rockies' Triple-A affiliates last season, appearing in one Major League game with Colorado.  The veteran righty has a 5.90 ERA in 107 career appearances with the Rockies, A's and Diamondbacks since 2003.

Offseason In Review: Minnesota Twins

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Terry Ryan returned as Twins GM, attempting to keep his team afloat by dabbling in the middle of the free agent pool.

Major League Signings

Draft picks gained: #32 and #72 for Michael Cuddyer, #42 for Jason Kubel

International Signings

  • P Mauricio Silva ($370K)

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Trades and Claims

Notable Losses

Bill Smith's Twins teams had success in 2009-10, winning two division titles.  However, Smith's 2011 club produced disastrous results, and the Twins decided to reinstate longtime GM Terry Ryan to clean up the mess.  Ryan had a decent amount of money to spend on a team with many needs, and his solution was to sign veteran free agents.

Re-signing Cuddyer was the Twins' number one offseason priority, assistant GM Rob Antony told Jesse Lund in February.  The Twins appeared to top out around three years and $25MM, but the Rockies went $5MM beyond that.  The Twins also failed to find common ground with Kubel, who seemed to prefer a more hitter-friendly ballpark.  Ultimately, Ryan was able to sign Willingham for less than he offered Cuddyer.  Both 33-year-olds have defensive shortcomings, and Willingham is the better hitter.  He's also, however, more prone to injury.

The Twins ranked Delmon Young below Cuddyer and Kubel, so they traded him to the Tigers in August rather than non-tender him.  Perhaps the range of right field contributor Ben Revere and center fielder Denard Span will limit the damage caused by Willingham's defense in left. 

The signing of Doumit generally compensates for the loss of Kubel, at a lower salary.  Like Willingham, Doumit has durability and defense issues.  Doumit will spend time at right field, catcher, designated hitter, and first base.  He's best-served as a designated hitter, but with Justin Morneau now set to spend more of his time at DH than first, the Twins will deal with more Doumit defense.  Another part of the domino effect of Morneau at DH means semi-regular at-bats for former first-rounder Chris Parmelee, which is not justified by his work last year in the 24-year-old's second try at Double-A.

Patching a team through free agency is always difficult, but Ryan was at least able to keep the offense in a similar place for less money by replacing Cuddyer and Kubel with Willingham and Doumit.  Carroll could add an OBP boost from shortstop, a position for which Twins hitters posted a .292 OBP in 2011.  Tsuyoshi Nishioka's role with the 2012 Twins will be eliminated or greatly reduced, and their middle infield will be better for it.  The best hope for the Twins' offense lies in incumbents, as Joe Mauer and Morneau must stay healthy and productive to compensate for below-average hitting at left field and third base.

If you think the three new Twins position players are solid but unspectacular, the pitching additions are something less than that.  The Twins had the league's worst bullpen in 2011, and Ryan remedied that by retaining Capps at an above-market price.  Joel Zumaya was a decent bullpen flyer, but he went down for Tommy John surgery in March and has been released.  Capps has always had a low strikeout rate for a late-inning reliever, and that dipped to just 4.66 per nine in 2011.  It was time for a change, especially with Capps wanting $4.75MM.  Capps being the team's only real bullpen signing is particularly baffling, especially with Nathan leaving.  Ryan did sign Perkins for the long-term, potentially securing three free agent seasons on the hope that last year's breakout was legitimate.

The Twins were unable to put aside their differences with Slowey, trading him to the Rockies prior to the non-tender deadline.  Marquis was the team's sole rotation addition.  An NL lifer, Marquis is a back-end innings guy in the best case.  The team will pray that Francisco Liriano and Scott Baker can stay healthy and pitch at the front end.

Ryan's first offseason back was a safe one, in that the Twins didn't make any aggressive signings or trades.  Once again, the team's fortunes will rest on a handful of key players who have had trouble staying on the field in recent years. 

NL East Notes: Lannan, Johnson, Hamels

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With Jonathon Niese closing in on a contract extension with the Mets, let's look at some other news from around the NL East…

  • The Nationals announced they were optioning John Lannan to the minors, (a move first reported by Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post), which will make Ross Detwiler the club's fifth starter.  In a separate item, Kilgore examines the move and concludes "the Nationals quite clearly put financial interest last and what they believed to be the best baseball decision first."
  • The move is sure to spur on more rumors that the Nationals could trade Lannan, though GM Mike Rizzo told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington) that Detwiler won the job and that Lannan has drawn only "mild interest" on the trade market.  MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports that the Nats were asking a high price for Lannan, and other teams weren't willing to part with a starting position player in exchange for the southpaw.  (Both links are to Twitter.)
  • Josh Johnson hasn't given any thought to how Matt Cain's extension with the Giants may impact any possible new deal between himself and the Marlins, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.  Johnson signed a four-year, $39MM extension with Miami that runs through the 2013 season.  Even if Johnson pitches up to form over the next two seasons, you'd have to figure that his injury history will limit the size and value of a contract extension. 
  • The Phillies offered Cole Hamels an extension worth "Jered Weaver money" (five years, $85MM) late last season, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.  Hamels now has a strong case for an extension worth at least as much as Cain's deal, Heyman notes.  The Giants' initial offer to Cain, Heyman says, was reportedly worth less than $65MM.
  • From earlier today, Chad Durbin switched NL East teams, signing with the Braves after being released by the Nationals.

AL East Links: Bailey, Farnsworth, Alvarez, Yankees

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It was on this day in 1919 that Yankees outfielder Ping Bodie defeated an ostrich named Percy in a spaghetti-eating contest.  The valiant bird made it through 11 plates before finally passing out.  We here at MLB Trade Rumors usually stick to reporting transactions, but we promise to provide up-to-the-minute coverage of any modern player vs. bird eating duels.

Here's the latest from the AL East…

  • The Red Sox announced that Andrew Bailey will undergo surgery on his right thumb's UCL tomorrow, a procedure that a team source tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald will sideline Bailey for 4-5 months (Twitter link).  The Rays look like they'll also be without a closer, as Kyle Farnsworth is expected to start the season on the DL with an elbow issue.  To keep tabs on who the Sox and Rays will use in the ninth inning, follow Tim Dierkes on Twitter @CloserNews.
  • Red Sox GM Ben Cherington says he is continuing to explore external pitching options since he never feels comfortable about the club's depth, tweets Michael Silverman.
  • Blue Jays right-hander Henderson Alvarez has switched agencies and is now being represented by Proformance, reports MLBTR's Tim Dierkes.
  • No team claimed either Jayson Nix and Dewayne Wise today so both players will start the season with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network.  Any team that had claimed Nix or Wise would've had to put them on their 25-man roster.
  • With more teams willing to spend money on signing or extending top pitchers, Joel Sherman of the New York Post feels the Yankees need their young arms to deliver since the Bombers can no longer rely on outspending the competition.
  • Rule 5 draft pick Ryan Flaherty will make the Orioles, and thus will have to spend the entire season on the team's 25-man roster or else be offered back to his original team, the Cubs.  Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun relates how O's manager Buck Showalter told Flaherty the news in front of the rest of the team.

Reds Notes: Votto Reaction, Phillips

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Here' the latest out of the Queen City, including lots of thoughts about Joey Votto's contract extension…

  • Votto has full no-trade protection for the 10 years of his extension, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter) notes that the no-trade clause also covers the final two years of Votto's existing contract (covering 2012-13).
  • Votto's deal is "slightly backloaded," a source tells ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link) but doesn't included any deferred money.
  • The Reds think they still have a chance to reach an extension with Brandon Phillips, tweets Jerry Crasnick.  We heard yesterday that it was looking unlikely that Phillips and Reds would work out a new deal before the season begins.
  • It's telling that Votto and the Reds seemed to work out an major extension "in a matter of weeks" while Phillips and the club haven't been able to make much progress after a year of contract talks, writes Ken Rosenthal.  A team insider tells John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that while the Reds like their second baseman, "Phillips isn’t going to compete for the MVP every year. Votto is."
  • Also from Fay's link, he notes the differences between Votto's deal and Ken Griffey Jr.'s nine-year, $112MM deal with the Reds from 2000.  Fay feels the Reds believe they'll get a new local cable TV deal before their current agreement expires in 2016, and that the Reds' revenue streams from MLB's national TV contract and new media sources will also increase, thus allowing the team to push the payroll to around the $100MM mark.
  • Ken Rosenthal wonders if Castellini pushed Votto's deal though, a la Tigers owner Mike Illitch becoming involved in his team signing Prince Fielder.  Rosenthal also thinks Votto's extension could eventually become an albatross for the small-market Reds.
  • Cincinnati's smaller-market status, however, played a role in Votto's desire to stay in town.  The first baseman told John Fay (Twitter link) that "I'm about to sign a huge deal, John, and you're the only media I have [to] answer to."
  • In case you missed it earlier today, the Reds claimed Alfredo Simon off waivers from the Orioles.

Latest On Jon Niese

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The Mets are nearing a five-year extension with left-hander Jonathon Niese that figures to be worth $28.5MM or so based on Derek Holland's recent deal. Here's the latest on talks between the Mets and Niese:

  • The Mets' most recent offer to Niese was worth less than Holland's $28.5MM extension, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
  • The negotiations are progressing, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports (Twitter links). One source says the sides are "getting closer," so it's possible they'll agree to terms by Opening Day. Martino hears Niese's agent was talking to Mets GM Sandy Alderson today.
  • Extending Niese would be a step in the right direction for the Mets, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post wrote this morning.

Rockies Claim Adam Ottavino

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The Rockies announced that they have claimed right-hander Adam Ottavino off of waivers from the Cardinals (Twitter link). The Rockies optioned their new acquisition to Triple-A.

Ottavino, 26, debuted in the Major Leagues with the 2010 Cardinals but spent all of last season in the minors. He posted a 4.85 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 141 innings as a starter for the Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate in 2011. The 2006 first rounder has a 4.29 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in six minor league seasons.

Braves Sign Chad Durbin

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The Braves announced that they signed right-hander Chad Durbin to a Major League contract. The Nationals, had signed the 34-year-old to a minor league deal in February, but he opted out today, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).

Durbin posted a 5.53 ERA with 7.8 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 40.2% ground ball rate in 68 1/3 innings for the Indians last year. This marks the second time in a week the Braves have bolstered their pitching staff with a veteran addition. They signed Livan Hernandez to a Major League deal hours after the Astros released him last Friday.

Proformance To Represent Vladimir Guerrero

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Free agent designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero has changed agencies, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has learned. Proformance now represents the slugger, who had previously been represented by Fern Cuza of SFX.

Guerrero intends to play in 2012, and would consider signing with a Japanese team. He drew interest from the Indians late last month and he appeared to intrigue the Marlins earlier in the offseason. Guerrero has 2,590 hits, 449 homers and a .318/.379/.553 line in 16 big league seasons. In 590 plate appearances with the Orioles last year, the nine-time All-Star posted a .290/.317/.416 line with 13 homers.

MLBTR's Agency Database offers a complete, updated look at Proformance's client list.

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