A’s Designate George Kottaras For Assignment
The Athletics have designated catcher George Kottaras for assignment, according to a team press release. The move was made to free up 40-man roster space for the newly-acquired John Jaso, who will take Kottaras' spot as Oakland's primary left-handed hitting catching option.
Kottaras was acquired in July from the Brewers and hit .212/.280/.471 in 93 PAs as an Athletic, giving him a total slash line of .211/.351/.415 in 209 plate appearances for the 2012 season. Kottaras recently avoided arbitration by agreeing with the A's on a $1MM contract for 2013.
Mariners Acquire Morse In Three-Team Deal With Nationals, A’s
The Mariners, Nationals and Athletics have combined on a three-team trade that will send Michael Morse to the Mariners, John Jaso to the A's and a three-player package to the Nationals that includes minor league right-handers A.J. Cole, Blake Treinen and a player to be named from the Athletics.
The Mariners have been searching for hitters all winter long and now add Morse, who has hit 64 homers over the last three seasons and posted a .291/.321/.470 line in 430 PAs for Washington in 2012. It's a bit of a homecoming for Morse, who spent the first four years of his career in Seattle before being swapped to the Nats for Ryan Langerhans. The right-handed hitter could see time in either corner outfield spot or at first base, possibly sharing time with Justin Smoak and other newly-acquired veteran bats as Raul Ibanez and Jason Bay. Jaso's departure also clears the way for Jesus Montero to catch everyday, and the M's also have top prospect Mike Zunino waiting in the wings.
Morse has been a strong trade commodity ever since the Nationals re-signed Adam LaRoche. At least five or six teams had shown interest in Morse, with the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox among those linked to the first baseman/outfielder. Morse turns 31 in March and is scheduled to hit free agency next winter.
Cole is on his way back to the Nationals organization after being dealt to the A's last winter as part of the trade package for Gio Gonzalez. Cole, 21, was drafted by the Nats in the fourth round of the 2010 draft and was rated as the 57th-best prospect in the game by Baseball America prior to the season. In 27 starts for two of Oakland's A-ball affiliates, Cole posted a 3.70 ERA, 133 strikeouts and 29 walks over 133 2/3 innings, though the major bulk of that success took place at low A-ball.
Treinen, 24, was the Athletics' seventh-round pick in the 2011 draft. The righty has a 4.13 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 10.1 H/9 in 133 innings over two pro seasons and made 15 starts last year.
The left-handed hitting Jaso enjoyed a breakout season in 2012, hitting .276/.394/.456 in 361 PAs, the large majority of which came against right-handed pitching. He will likely step right in as Oakland's regular catcher against righties, with the right-handed hitting Derek Norris in line for at-bats against southpaws. Jaso, 29, is arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter and is under Oakland's control through the 2015 season.
Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post first reported the trade and the major teams and players involved. Earlier this evening, Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the M's were close to acquiring Morse. Morosi, Amanda Comak of the Washington Times and the Nationals' Twitter feed also added more details about the package going back to Washington.
Mariners Close To Acquiring Michael Morse
The Mariners and Nationals are close to a trade that would send Michael Morse to Seattle, reports Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
Rockies Avoid Arb With Wilton Lopez, Josh Outman
The Rockies have avoided arbitration with right-hander Wilton Lopez and left-hander Josh Outman by agreeing to one-year contracts with both pitchers, MLB.com's Thomas Harding reports (via Twitter). Lopez's deal will pay him just over $1.76MM while Outman will earn $675K, a source tells Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
Lopez, acquired in a December trade with the Astros, posted a 2.17 ERA, a 7.3 K/9 rate, a 6.75 K/BB ratio and a 55% groundball rate in 64 games with Houston in 2012. Lopez, 29, was projected by MLBTR's Matt Swartz to earn $1.4MM in his first time through the arbitration process. Lopez is represented by the Legacy Agency.
Outman was also arb-eligible for the first time and was seen as a non-tender candidate by MLBTR's Tim Dierkes given Outman's 8.19 ERA in 27 games (seven of them starts) for the Rockies in 2012. Outman did post an 8.9 K/9 — along with a 4.4 BB/9 and 10.4 H/9 — and pitched well for Oakland in three previous seasons, so $675K was a reasonable price for a Rockies team that is desperate for pitching. Swartz projected Outman would earn $600K through arbitration. Outman is represented by Turner Gary Sports.
Jhoulys Chacin, Tyler Colvin, Dexter Fowler and Jonathan Herrera are Colorado's four remaining arb-eligible players. You can follow the progress of their deals and more on MLBTR's ArbTracker.
Yankees, Phil Hughes Avoid Arbitration
5:08pm: Hughes' contract is worth $7.15MM, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).
4:39pm: The Yankees and Phil Hughes have avoided arbitration with a one-year contract, Chad Jennings of the Journal News reports. Terms of the deal between the Yankees and the CAA client were not announced.
Hughes had a projected salary of $5.7MM following a season in which he posted a 4.23 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 191 1/3 regular season innings. The right-hander was arbitration eligible for the third and final time after earning $3.2MM in 2012.
The Yankees have three remaining arbitration eligible players, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows: Joba Chamberlain, Boone Logan and David Robertson.
Dodgers Sign Peter Moylan
The Dodgers have signed right-hander Peter Moylan to a minor league contract, MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports (via Twitter). Moylan, 34, is represented by the Wasserman Media Group.
Moylan was a force out of the bullpen for the Braves from 2007-2010 when he posted a 2.44 ERA, a 7 K/9 rate and a 1.74 K/BB ratio in 259 relief appearances. The Australian has appeared in just 21 games over the last two seasons due to back injuries and rotator cuff surgery, however, and was non-tendered by Atlanta in November.
Quick Hits: Ramirez, Stanton, Blue Jays
Manny Ramirez, who is now playing in the Dominican Winter League postseason, wants to continue his MLB career, agent Barry Praver told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Ramirez last appeared in an MLB game in 2011, but the A's did sign him last February. Here are some more links from around MLB…
- Seattle’s offer for Justin Upton tells you they’ll be major bidders once the Marlins start listening to offers for Giancarlo Stanton, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes (on Twitter). The Mariners were prepared to send Taijuan Walker, Nick Franklin, Charlie Furbush and Stephen Pryor to Arizona to obtain Upton.
- Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca explains that the signing of Henry Blanco could save the Blue Jays some money behind the plate and enable them to spend on a late-inning reliever in free agency.
- With the return of Darren Oliver, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com (Twitter links) now sees six Blue Jays relievers competing for three spots. Among those six are Esmil Rogers and Jeremy Jeffress, who are both out of options.
- Former MLB first baseman/outfielder Ben Broussard worked out for five teams in Austin, Texas today, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 36-year-old, who played winter ball in Mexico, took grounders at first base and fly balls in left field during his audition (Twitter link). Broussard last appeared in the majors with the Rangers in 2008.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Orioles Extend Duquette, Showalter
Fresh off of their first playoff appearance in 15 years, the Orioles have decided to keep their leadership structure in place for the foreseeable future. The team announced extensions for manager Buck Showalter and executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette through the 2018 season.
Showalter led the Orioles to a 93-69 record this past season. The club defeated the Rangers in a Wild Card play-in game before losing to the Yankees in the Division Series. The 56-year-old finished second to A's manager Bob Melvin in the 2012 American League Manager of the Year voting. Now entering his fourth season with Baltimore, Showalter has a record of 1078-1018 in 14 seasons managing at the MLB level.
Duquette has made a number of significant moves in the year-plus since becoming the club's top baseball executive, as MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows. He traded for Jason Hammel, Jim Thome and Joe Saunders, signed Wei-Yin Chen and Nate McLouth and extended Adam Jones, for example.
Arbitration Notes: Samardzija, Pence
Teams and players must exchange arbitration submissions on Friday, so as the end of the week approaches we can expect a number of early deals. The exchange date itself typically features many agreements for stars and role players alike. MLBTR will cover everything with updated posts and with our Arbitration Tracker.
Here are some notes on arb eligible players from around MLB…
- The Cubs and Jeff Samardzija have decided to work on a one-year deal for now, Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com reports. The sides had brief conversations about a long-term deal, Levine notes. Samardzija, who turns 28 in one week, will go to arbitration for the first time following a breakout season. Even on a one-year deal he projects to earn $2.9MM.
- The Giants are expected to work out a one-year deal with Hunter Pence via the arbitration process, and though the right fielder would prefer a long-term commitment, he told Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com that he's happy to go one year at a time. “My goal in 2013 is to play every game with everything I’ve got and win that day," Pence said. Here's a complete look at San Francisco's class of arb eligible players.
Orioles Closing In On Showalter Extension
The Orioles hope to announce a contract extension for manager Buck Showalter this week and it could come as early as tomorrow morning, according to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. It's not yet known when the deal will become official but the two sides have been confident for weeks that it would all get hammered out.
Showalter's current contract has just one season remaining and the new deal is expected to take him through at least the 2017 season. That would make it longer than the three-year deal the skipper signed in August 2010.
Baltimore surprised the baseball world under Showalter's leadership in 2012, clinching their first postseason birth since 1997 with a 93-69 record.