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Michael Weiner Passes Away

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MLBPA executive director Michael Weiner has died of brain cancer, Diamondbacks pitcher Brad Ziegler tweets. Weiner was 51.

Weiner joined the union staff as a lawyer in 1988 and replaced Don Fehr as its executive director in 2009. In 2011, Weiner led the union to agree to the Collective Bargaining Agreement that currently governs Major League Baseball. Weiner will likely be remembered in part for paving the way for punishments for the use of PEDs throughout the game. But he also helped negotiate the addition of a second Wild Card team, the move of the Houston Astros to the American League, the expansion of instant replay, and changes in team compensation for departing free agents.

In August 2012, it was reported that Weiner was being treated for a brain tumor, which turned out to be inoperable. He continued to work despite the diagnosis, keeping a full schedule even during the 2013 season. Weiner is survived by his wife, Diane, and three daughters.

Former MLB first baseman Tony Clark was Weiner's deputy executive director. He will become MLBPA's acting executive director.

Royals Designate George Kottaras For Assignment

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The Royals have designated catcher George Kottaras for assignment, according to a team release. The move clears the way for starting pitcher Jason Vargas to join the Royals' 40-man roster.

Kottaras, 30, hit .180/.349/.370 in 126 plate appearances for the Royals in 2013. Kansas City recently signed catcher Francisco Pena to a big-league deal, adding him to the 40-man roster. That gave them four catchers on their 40-man: Kottaras, Pena, Salvador Perez and Brett Hayes. Kottaras had a projected 2014 salary of $1.2MM and was a non-tender candidate.

Reactions To The Jason Vargas Signing

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The Royals made the biggest signing of the day so far, announcing a four-year, $32MM deal for lefty starter Jason Vargas. Here are reactions and fallout from around the web.

  • Four years for Vargas is too many, ESPN's Keith Law argues (Insider-only). Vargas is already a below-average starter, Law argues, and it's optimistic to think Vargas' finesse style will hold up for four years, particularly given that his results so far have partly been a creation of favorable home parks in Seattle and Anaheim.
  • The Angels were evidently in agreement that four years was too many. They would not give Vargas a fourth year, and instead offered him three years and $24MM, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes (Twitter links).
  • Focusing on the number of years in the contract misses the point, writes Dave Cameron of FanGraphs. Vargas' deal only costs $8MM per year. He only needs to produce about 5 WAR over the course of the contract to justify the deal, and that seems possible, even if he isn't that likely to pitch well in the final season of the contract.

AL East Notes: Granderson, Ortiz, Navarro, Orioles

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Curtis Granderson is "a serious part" of the Yankees' offseason plans, GM Brian Cashman told George A. King III of the New York Post. Cashman told King that the Yankees remain interested and don't consider Granderson to be a fallback option by any means. Signing Granderson would likely mean the team would look to move Ichiro Suzuki, King adds. Here's more on the American League East.

  • The Red Sox and David Ortiz made an agreement at the time of his last signing that the two sides wouldn't negotiate an extension until the completion of his current deal, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
  • Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald tweets that the Red Sox consider Dioner Navarro to be a fallback option if the free agent market doesn't break their way, but not a primary target.
  • The Yankees are a good fit for Omar Infante, opines MLBTR's Tim Dierkes (Twitter link). Tim wonders if the Yankees, who reportedly don't want to wait for Robinson Cano before pursuing other free agents, should just strike quickly and snatch Infante up.
  • Matt Wieters and Chris Davis of the Orioles are both Scott Boras clients, and they're both two years away from free agency. That means the Orioles need to determine what they plan to do with each player, MASNsports.com's Steve Melewski writes. What to do with Davis might be particularly tricky, since his 2013 season was so dramatically different from his past performances.

Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

Rockies Sign LaTroy Hawkins

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Thursday: Hawkins has passed his physical, and the deal is now official, Hawkins himself tweets.

Monday: The Rockies have agreed to terms with right-hander LaTroy Hawkins on a one-year, $2.25MM deal, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter links) The contract also carries a $2.25MM option for 2015 with a $250K buyout and will be official if Hawkins passes a physical on Thursday.  Hawkins is represented by Reynolds Sports Management.

Hawkins will serve as the Rockies' closer, Nightengale reports.  The club was known to be looking for back-end relief help, and though Rex Brothers pitched well as a replacement close for Rafael Betancourt, Colorado will instead use Brothers as a setup man with an eye towards slowly easing him towards the closer's job (according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post).  Since Hawkins is a righty and Brothers is a lefty, it's possible manager Walt Weiss could platoon his two closing options depending on the situation. 

This is the well-traveled Hawkins' second stint in Colorado, as the veteran righty threw 55 1/3 relief innings for the Rockies' pennant-winning team in 2007.  Hawkins turns 41 in December but is coming off one of his stronger seasons — he posted a 2.93 ERA, 5.50 K/BB and 7.0 K/9 in 70 2/3 IP with the Mets in 2013.  Hawkins has done a good job of keeping the ball on the ground over his career, with a 47.8% grounder rate and an 8.6% HR/FB rate over his 19 Major League seasons, so he projects well at Coors Field.

There was solid demand for Hawkins, as Nightengale reports that the Mets, Braves and Indians were all interested in his services and 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson notes that the Twins "had [a] brief talk" of signing the veteran as well.

NL West Notes: Lopez, Kemp, Rockies, Padres

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The Giants and Javier Lopez have finalized a three-year, $13MM contract, pending a physical, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the exam may not take place until next week. Here's more out of the NL West…

  • Matt Kemp doesn't want to be traded, but he's accepted the fact that it's a possibility and rumors of potential deals aren't going away, agent Dave Stewart tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Mariners have been linked to Kemp, and Rosenthal adds that the Rangers spoke with the Dodgers at the GM Meetings as well, though they consider Kemp's contract too prohibitive. Kemp's preference, should he be traded, is too end up with a winning team, but Stewart made it clear that Kemp's desire is to spend his career in Dodger blue. 
  • Even though they have a deal in place for veteran right-hander LaTroy Hawkins to be their closer, the Rockies say the job of rebuilding their bullpen is not complete, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post.  "We don't look at it like our bullpen is closed," assistant GM Bill Geivett said. "It's only Nov. 19, and we've just made one move, so we are still looking for ways to improve our club."  Joe Smith and Edward Mujica are among the options available, but they'll likely be seeking three-year comittments.
  • A left-handed hitter remains the Padres' priority, tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com.  A starting pitching upgrade wasn't at the top of the Pads' list this offseason, but Josh Johnson was a clear upgrade at the top of the rotation.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Rays, Jose Molina Working On Two-Year Deal

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4:44pm: The two sides are indeed negotiating a two-year deal, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The contract could be finalized next week.

2:51pm: The Rays are making progress on re-signing catcher Jose Molina, according to ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter link). The two sides could be working on a two-year deal, Olney hears.

The 38-year-old Molina batted .233./.290/.304 in 99 games for the Rays last season — the lowest offensive output of the past four years for Molina. However, he's regarded as one of the game's best defensive catchers and is an expert in the art of pitch-framing. He's also caught 38 percent of opposing base-stealers throughout his career.

The Rays currently figure to deploy Jose Lobaton as their everyday backstop. Other free agent options such as Brian McCann, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and perhaps even A.J. Pierzynski may be well beyond the Rays' price range. They've been linked to Ryan Hanigan as well, who would represent an affordable, defense-first alternative for GM Andrew Friedman, should things with Molina fall through.

Phillies Re-Sign Carlos Ruiz

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The Phillies had a hole to fill at catcher, and they've filled it with the most familiar face possible. The Phillies and GM Ruben Amaro Jr. officially announced today that Carlos Ruiz has re-signed with the team on a three-year, $26MM contract that contains a club option for a fourth season.

Ruiz will reportedly earn $8.5MM annually, and the club option was reported to be worth $4.5MM with a $500K buyout. The longtime Phillie can also earn an additional $500K each season by appearing in more than 125 games behind the plate. He is able to block trades to four teams.

Ruiz-Carlos

Ruiz, also known as "Chooch," is represented by agent Marc Kligman. The 34-year-old began the season with a 25-game suspension for amphetamine usage and was limited by a hamstring injury upon his return. As such, the .268/.320/.368 batting line produced by Ruiz doesn't tell the whole story of his season. Over the season's final two months, the Panamanian backstop slashed .288/.343/.444.

Ruiz caught just 25 percent of runners attempting to steal against him last season — an area in which he's been unable to consistently post an above-average mark throughout his career. Fangraphs estimates that he saved 1.8 runs blocking pitches in the dirt, though there have been studies done on pitch framing by catchers that indicate he is below-average in that department.

Ruiz's $26MM guarantee eclipses the two-year deal that MLBTR's Tim Dierkes projected in his free agent profile. Ruiz reportedly had offers in the two-year $15-20MM range, and Kligman looks wise to have waited for a three-year offer to trump those proposals.

At season's end, Ruiz told the Philadelphia Inquirer's Ryan Lawrence that he hoped to spend his entire career with the Phillies, and he may have the opportunity to do just that with this deal, as it will run through his age-37 season with an option for his age-38 campaign. In parts of eight big league seasons with the Phils, Ruiz is a .274/.358/.412 hitter with 57 home runs.

With Ruiz off the market, the top remaining free agent catchers are Brian McCann, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and A.J. Pierzynski. Ruiz's surprising guarantee is good news for Saltalamacchia and Pierzynski in particular, as they, like Ruiz, are in a lower tier than McCann.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that Ruiz would re-sign with the Phillies (on Twitter). Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the deal was for three years and $26MM with a club option (Twitter links). ESPN's Jayson Stark provided the financial details and reported the limited no-trade clause (on Twitter), and Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com tweeted the incentives.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Royals Sign P.J. Walters To Minor League Deal

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The Royals' signing of Jason Vargas will draw more headlines, but the team also inked right-hander P.J. Walters to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training today. The pitcher himself announced the signing on Twitter, and MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has confirmed that it's a minor league deal. Walters is represented by Aspire Sports Management.

The 28-year-old Walters pitched 39 1/3 innings for the Twins in 2013, posting a 5.95 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 39.7 percent ground-ball rate in eight starts. He made a dozen starts for Minnesota the year prior but encountered similar struggles. Walters is a decent depth signing for the Royals, as his 4.50 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 645 career Triple-A innings are serviceable numbers.

Lance Berkman Leaning Toward Retirement

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The Pirates reached out to Lance Berkman but were told by his agent that Berkman is leaning toward retirement, tweets Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Berkman, 37, appeared in 73 games for the Rangers this season, batting .242/.340/.359 — hardly the numbers that Texas was hoping for when signing Big Puma to a one-year, $10MM contract last offseason. Berkman was slowed by injuries once again this year — primarily hip inflammation but also some pain in the same surgically repaired right knee that cost him the majority of his 2012 season.

It feels like a long time ago that Berkman revived his career with a stellar 2011 campaign that helped the Cardinals to a World Series victory. The switch-hitting slugger slashed .301/.412/.547 with 31 homers that season, earning himself a one-year, $12MM extension with the Cardinals that proved to be a sunk cost due to the aforementioned knee issues.

Berkman is a career .293/.406/.537 with 366 home runs. If he decides to call it quits after this season, he'll have banked just north of $124MM in his big league career, according to Baseball-Reference.

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