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East Notes: Price, O’s, Balfour, Braves, Marlins

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In an article with the latest on the David Price situation, the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin dismisses reports that the Rays are motivated to move the Cy Young winner by Dec. 31 to avoid having to pay $4MM in deferred money. "The payment isn't due until Oct. 1, and it is the Rays' obligation, so really a nonfactor, as including it would be the same as asking for cash in a deal and subject to MLB approval," Topkin writes. While the Mariners are often named as a likely suitor for Price, they "seem to talk more about what prospects they don't want to trade." Here's more from the AL and NL East:

  • The Orioles could fill their closer and second base vacancies from within, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Fans have been frustrated by the club's quiet offseason thus far, but the O's seem likely to pluck their next second baseman from what they already have, and they won't spend lavishly on another ninth-inning option if Fernando Rodney doesn't drop his price.
  • The Orioles' nullified deal with Grant Balfour could conceivably have ramifications for Baltimore, Kubatko writes.  It's possible that the reliever could decide to file a grievance with the Players' Association or that some free agents down the road may be leery of agreeing to terms with the club.
  • The Yankees could be back in on Balfour, along with the Tigers, Rockies, and Angels, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Earlier this week we heard that the Rays are also in the mix.
  • The Braves won't force the issue in their search of bullpen depth, writes MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
  • The Marlins, meanwhile, are after a veteran presence to add to their pen, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Central Notes: Castro, Indians, Twins, Hart

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Starlin Castro claims that stress related to an ongoing legal dispute in the Dominican Republic has affected his on-field performance for the Cubs, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports. A coach at a baseball school in the Dominican is suing Castro, contending that a contract the shortstop's father signed when Castro was an amateur entitles the academy to a portion of his Major League earnings. The affair has had a "direct impact on his duties as a professional ballplayer, leading to one of his worst-ever statistical performances," Castro's countersuit states. While the 23-year-old played in 161 games last season, 2013 saw him slump to a .245/.284/.347 line. The 2014 season will be the second of the seven-year, $60MM deal Castro signed inked with the Cubs in 2012. Here's more from around baseball's Central divisions:

 Zach Links contributed to this post.

 

More React To Choo Deal

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Most executives and scouts expected Shin-Soo Choo to wind up with the Rangers, ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports. Sources say Choo liked Texas because of its recent run of success, the growing Korean population in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and because the team conducts Spring Training in Arizona. While GM Jon Daniels would have also been comfortable re-signing Nelson Cruz to a shorter deal, the agreement shows that MLB executives prefer to have their rosters complete before Christmas, Crasnick says. Here's more on the deal from around baseball:

  • The signing makes Texas one of the AL's best teams, ESPN.com's Keith Law says, writing that Choo could be worth 6 wins in 2014 because of the defensive boost he's likely to get after transitioning out of center field. However, Law notes that it's also a lengthy contract for a player who struggles mightily against left-handed pitching.
  • The Mariners appear to be one of the losers following the signing, according to Law, who says Seattle projects as the fourth-best team in the AL West even after inking Robinson Cano. Choo would have also been a good fit for the Tigers, who Law says have had a puzzling offseason thus far.
  • A source close to Choo says the outfielder considered the Rangers his "clear first choice," FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes. While Texas will enter 2014 with more left-handed hitters in its lineup, the club appears to be the AL West's best as things currently stand, Rosenthal says. He adds that the signing takes the Rangers out of the running for Masahiro Tanaka, if he's eventually posted.
  • Anthony Castrovince profiles Choo in an article for MLB.com, lauding his work ethic.
  • Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News writes that the deal completes a Texas offseason in which the team managed to achieve nearly all of its goals. The club had intended to keep its payroll around $125MM.
  • While the Yankees weren't able to sign Choo, Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News says the deal may ultimately help the Yanks because it eliminates Texas as a potential suitor for Masahiro Tanaka.

Twins’ Colabello Rejects Offer To Play In South Korea

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SATURDAY: Colabello has rejected an offer to play in South Korea, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press writes. A source with direct knowledge of the situation says Colabello turned down a "significant offer" from a Korean team that wasn't the LG Twins. The slugger could have earned nearly $1MM in 2014 under the offer, while the Twins would have received a comparable buyout. "Things are always subject to change, but Chris made it clear he wants to help the Minnesota Twins," said Brian Charles of Big League Management Co., who represents Colabello.

FRIDAY: Berardino now indicates that the Twins are asking for "possibly upwards of $1MM."

FRIDAY: The Twins could send 1B/OF Chris Colabello to play in Korea, Berardino notes (citing a Korean news report). The Twins are reportedly in discussions with the LG Twins (and that's not a typo) to transfer Colabello's contract, which could net them up to $1MM. Such a move would free a 40-man roster space for the (Minnesota) Twins, who need one to accomodate the impending signing of catcher Kurt Suzuki. The Twins could only send Colabello abroad with his permission.

Colabello, 30, hit .194/.287/.344 in 181 plate appearances in his big-league debut in 2013, but he also hit 24 home runs in Triple-A, posting a .352/.427/.639 line in 391 plate appearances there. Colabello has a total of 50 home runs between the minors and the Majors since the Twins signed him out of independent ball prior to the 2012 season.

Aaron Steen contributed to this post.

Minor Moves: Lin, Sanchez, Sosa, Ni, Burriss

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We'll keep tabs on the day's minor moves right here …

  • The Rangers have inked Taiwanese outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin to a minor league deal, Baseball America's Matt Eddy tweets. Signed by the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 2007, Lin got his only 12 major league plate appearances in 2012 with Boston, swatting three singles in 12 plate appearances. He's hit .253/.349/.339 in his seven minor league seasons.
  • The Dodgers have signed two right-handed pitchers, Romulo Sanchez and Henry Sosa, and lefty Fu-Te Ni to minor league deals, according to Eddy (via Twitter). Sanchez spent 2013 in the Mexican League, while Sosa pitched for a Korean team last year. Ni last pitched in 2012, when he amassed a 4.56 ERA in 23 2/3 innings for the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate.
  • Eddy tweets that the Nationals have signed three minor league free agents: shortstop Emmanuel Burriss, catcher Mitch Canham and first baseman Brock Peterson. Burriss, 28, has seen 801 plate appearances in parts of five MLB seasons, but has struggled to a .243/.304/.269 line. He last appeared in the majors in 2012 with the Giants. The 29-year-old Canham has never appeared in the majors, but has seven minor league seasons under his belt and a lifetime line of .255/.340/.364. Now 30, Peterson got 28 plate appearances with the Cardinals in 2013, his first taste of the big leagues, managing just a .077 batting average. His career minor league triple slash of .274/.354/.464 is much better, however.
  • The Nationals have also signed backstop Chris Snyder to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, the club announced via Twitter. The soon-to-be 33-year-old Snyder should have a chance to compete for the club's backup job with younger options Jhonatan Solano and Sandy Leon. Snyder's last substantial MLB action came in 2012 with the Astros, when he put up a .176/.295/.308 line in 258 plate appearances. Snyder did, however, post an OPS over .800 last year in his time at Triple-A with the Orioles and Angels. His career MLB line stands at .224/.328/.382 in 2,459 plate appearances. The Steamer and Oliver projection systems (via Fangraphs) both like Snyder to put up an 84 wRC+ at the plate next year while adding solid defense. Snyder spent part of the spring with the Nationals last year, but requested his release when he failed to make the big league roster. Snyder would earn $1MM plus incentives if he makes the roster out of the spring, reprots ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). 
  • The Brewers have released righty Cody Scarpetta, tweets Eddy. As Eddy notes, Scarpetta was twice ranked among the ten best prospects in the Milwaukee organization, and occupied a 40-man spot for three seasons. The 25-year-old posted a 3.85 ERA in 117 innings at Double-A Huntsville in 2011 before missing the 2012 season to undergo Tommy John surgery. Scarpetta mustered only a 7.15 ERA in 34 innings at the High-A level last year, including an ugly 9.5 BB/9.
  • As always, MLBTR's DFA Tracker is your guide to players currently (or previously) facing DFA limbo. At the present, seven players have been removed from their clubs' 40-man rosters while they wait to learn their fate: Eric Surkamp of the Giants, Brett Marshall of the Yankees, Trey Haley of the Indians, Chance Ruffin of the Mariners, Ryan Reid and Jerry Sands of the Pirates, and Alex Castellanos of the Red Sox. Decisions are due today on Castellanos and tomorrow on Reid and Sands, but the others could be forced to sweat things out over Christmas.

Aaron Steen contributed to this post.

 

Reactions To Shin-Soo Choo Signing

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By agreeing to a seven-year, $130MM contract today with Shin-Soo Choo, the Rangers put an exclamation point on an offseason of sizable future salary commitments — for the team and the league as a whole. Along with the contract commitments taken on or made to Alex Rios, Prince Fielder, Martin Perez, Elvis Andrus, and Matt Harrison, Texas has added nearly $400MM in future salary obligations to its books during the 2013 calendar year. And as MLBTR's 2014 Free Agent Tracker shows, league-wide salary expenditure through free agency has now passed the bar set in 2013, when the league spent $1.46 billion on open-market players. 

With Choo off the board, the top remaining free agent position players are Stephen Drew and Nelson Cruz. Of course, several other major pitching targets are still free, and figure to command sizeable deals of their own. Here are some of the early reactions from around baseball to Choo's signing:

  • As far as discipline goes, Choo, Prince Fielder and Geovany Soto will add real stress to opponent pitch counts, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas News. In 2013, the Rangers ranked ninth in the AL in total pitches seen and that was with the benefit one of extra game.
  • In the wake of Choo signing with Texas, Reds GM Walt Jocketty reiterated that Billy Hamilton is his guy, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  “He’s the guy,” Jocketty said. “We feel confident he can be a good leadoff hitter. He’ll give us great defense. The only question is how often he can get on base. He’ll start working on his bunting again after the first of the year. If he can master that, it will really help him.”
  • The Rangers and Boras worked well into Friday night and Saturday morning to put together the deal, writes Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports.  Brown adds that Choo's left-handed bat should play particularly well in Texas.
  • Bringing Choo into the fold takes care of the final item on the Rangers' to-do list and helps ensure that the three-way race for the American League West will once again be must-see baseball, writes Fangraphs' Paul Swydan.
  • Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com looks at possible lineups for the Rangers now that Choo is in the fold.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Price, Davidson, Angels

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On this date in 2009, the Yankees were assessed with a luxury tax of $25.69MM for its spending.  As it was in every year since the tax was enacted in 2002, the Yankees were the only team penalized.  Now in 2013, there are multiple clubs paying the luxury tax, headlined by the Dodgers, and the Yankees are working to stay beneath the $189MM threshold.  More from around baseball..

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.  

Yankees Could Stay In-House For Last Rotation Spots

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The Yankees are likely to bid for Masahiro Tanaka, if he's made available to them. But GM Brian Cashman suggests that the Yankees could also simply go with what they have in the back of their rotation, Jorge Castillo of the Star-Ledger reports. "We’re focusing solely on what’s available in the marketplace," says Cashman. "And also recognizing and restating that we might not get everything answered with an exclamation point or the comfort level that we’d prefer."

After C.C. Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova, the next group of names on the depth chart include Michael Pineda, David Phelps, Manny Banuelos, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno. Given that Kuroda will be 39 in February and that Sabathia had a down season in 2013, it would be somewhat surprising if the Yankees headed into the season with their current collection of talent. Unlike much of the rest of the free-agent market, the starting pitching market remains relatively fertile ground, with Ervin Santana, Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez and Bronson Arroyo still available.

Quick Hits: Castro, Cubs, Balfour, Phillies, Yankees

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Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro is fighting to prevent millions of dollars from being seized from his bank accounts, Juan Perez Jr. and Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune report. When Castro was 16, his father allegedly signed a contract promising three percent of Castro's big-league earnings to a baseball academy in the Dominican. When Castro signed his $60MM contract in 2012, the academy claimed Castro owed it $1.8MM. Dominican law states that twice that figure be frozen until the matter is resolved, so Dominican authorities have frozen $3.6MM. Castro's lawyers, meanwhile, are fighting for that $3.6MM to be unfrozen, and they're also asking for $5MM in damages. They claim that the academy did not have the right to percentage of Castro's extension. Castro was just 16 when the agreement was with the academy was reached, and he signed the big contract with the Cubs after he turned 18. Castro's father didn't have the right to sign away his earnings past age 18, Castro's attorneys argue. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.

  • There were high expectations for Theo Epstein when he became president of the Cubs, and Andy MacPhail faced similar expectations two decades ago, CSNChicago.com's Patrick Mooney reports. MacPhail served as president and CEO of the Cubs from 1994 through 2006. Like Epstein, he preceded his tenure in Chicago by winning two World Series titles as a general manager (with the Twins). Like Epstein, MacPhail planned the Cubs' resurgence around young talent, although it didn't work perfectly in MacPhail's case, partly because of the Cubs' struggles to keep pitchers like Kerry Wood and Mark Prior healthy. "We weren’t the luckiest birds in the world, health-wise, with our starting pitchers. But most people forget – I think we had a better won-loss record in ’04 (89-73) than we did ’03 (88-74). So we were kind of building towards it," MacPhail says.
  • Grant Balfour says he told Orioles executive Dan Duquette what he thinks about the O's backing out of his two-year deal with them, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "I called Dan Duquette and told him, 'I’ve played in this league for 10 years, I deserve to be treated with respect and you did not treat me with respect.'" Balfour says. "'Two well respected physicians said I am completely healthy – because I am healthy. I’m a fighter and a winner and I would have given you your best chance to win.'"
  • Jonathan Papelbon and Ruben Amaro Jr. "deserve each other," the Inquirer's Matt Gelb writes. Papelbon has been "surly" about his tenure with the Phillies, and Amaro has been defiant about the Phillies' outlook. The Phillies are trying to trade Papelbon, but they may be stuck, not only because of Papelbon's declining velocity and peripherals, but also because general managers aren't as keen as they once were on spending tens of millions of dollars on closers.
  • The Yankees' additions of switch-hitters Carlos Beltran and Brian Roberts should help balance their lineup, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. "We were too left-handed last year and [because of injury, in particular] too easy to navigate through at times," says manager Joe Girardi. "I think the switch-hitters make it tougher for the opposing manager." Beltran himself actually hit far better from the left side (.315/.362/.509) than the right side (.252/.281/.448) in 2013, although he's hit only slightly better as a lefty than as a righty for his career.

Rakuten Golden Eagles To Sign Kevin Youkilis

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9:09pm: In an email, Speier clarifies that Youkilis will receive a $2MM signing bonus, $2MM in salary and up to $1MM in incentives.

3:26pm: Youkilis will earn a $4MM base salary, and his contract also contains $1MM worth of "very earnable" incentives, reports Alex Speier of WEEI.com. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports, via Twitter, that Youkilis' plan is to play for just one more season.

1:13pm: The Rakuten Golden Eagles will sign Kevin Youkilis, according to a report from Nikkan Sports (passed along by NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman on Twitter). MLBTR has confirmed the report with Youkilis' agent Joe Bick of Pro Star Management, Inc.

Youkilis-Kevin

Youkilis will sign a one-year deal with the Golden Eagles. Though previous reports indicated that he wanted to play close to his California home, Bick explained to MLBTR that his client's West Coast preference was in order to be near to his family. Youkilis' wife and children will be going with him to Japan, however, which was a key factor in his decision. Youkilis considered the opportunity to play in Japan a "life experience that was too good to pass up," said Bick.

Youkilis, who turns 35 in March, inked a one-year, $12MM contract with the Yankees last offseason but saw his 2013 campaign cut short by a pair of back injuries. He would appear in just 28 games for the Yankees, batting .219/.305/.343 with a pair of homers before undergoing season-ending back surgery in June. A three-time All-Star that finished third in the AL MVP voting back in 2008, Youkilis was one of the American League's best hitters from 2007-11 when he batted .294/.395/.517 over a five-year span.

Youkilis could appear at either corner position for the Golden Eagles, who now have a vacancy at third base following Casey McGehee's decision to return to Major League Baseball on a one-year deal with the Marlins. That situation was not necessarily linked to Rakuten's interest in Youkilis, however, as the two sides have been in discussions for roughly three weeks. Youkilis received interest from eight or nine Major League clubs, but ultimately elected to be with his family for a new experience in Japan.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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