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Yankees Sign Brian Roberts

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JAN. 13: After nearly a month, Roberts' deal with the Yankees is now official, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). Roberts will receive Alex Rodriguez's 40-man roster spot.

Sherman also has the breakdown of Roberts' incentives. He will receive $175K for reaching 250 and 300 plate appearances, $250K for 350 and 400 plate appearances, $300K for 450 and 500 plate appearances, $350K for 550 plate appearances and $400K for 600 and 650 plate appearances (Twitter link). All told, Roberts can earn $2.6MM worth of incentives (as the Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly reported last month), meaning he can earn a total of $4.6MM on his one-year deal.

DEC. 17: The Yankees and second baseman Brian Roberts have agreed to a one-year deal worth $2MM plus incentives, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Morosi's colleague, Ken Rosenthal, reported last night that the two sides were likely to reach an agreement. Roberts is represented by Relativity Baseball (formerly known as SFX).

The 36-year-old Roberts played in 77 games last season — his highest total since 2009. He's spent his entire career with the Orioles to date, finishing a four-year, $40MM extension this past season that saw him play just 192 games and slash just .246/.310/.359 due to injuries. Over the life of that contract, Roberts was sidelined for significant amounts of time due to an abdominal strain, two concussions (one of which caused him to miss more than an entire season's worth of games), hip surgery and hamstring surgery.

Prior to that onslaught of injuries, the switch-hitting Roberts was a consistent threat at the plate and on the basepaths. From 2004-09, he batted .290/.365/.438 and averaged 46 doubles, four triples, 12 homers and 35 stolen bases per season. He's spent his entire career with to this point with the Orioles, who selected him with the 50th overall pick in the 1999 draft as compensation for the loss of free agent Rafael Palmeiro.

As Rosenthal notes (on Twitter), Roberts' low base salary will allow the Yankees to pursue other infield options. Mark Reynolds remains a possibility, and the team has also expressed interest in trading for Dustin Ackley. New York was also linked to Brandon Phillips in a rumor that gained quite a bit of attention, but that doesn't appear to be a likely outcome at this point.

Royals, Jeremy Guthrie Restructure Contract

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The Royals and Jeremy Guthrie have restructured the final two years of Guthrie's three-year, $25MM contract, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Guthrie had been slated to earn $11MM in 2014 and $9MM in 2015 but will now earn $8MM this coming season, $9MM in 2015 and have a $10MM mutual option added to his contract for 2016, Sherman reports. That option comes with a $3.2MM buyout, meaning that Guthrie is essentially guaranteed the same amount of money, but the Royals have some additional payroll flexibility for the 2014 campaign.

Guthrie posted a 4.04 ERA in a career-high 211 2/3 innings last year — his first full season with the Royals. He was originally acquired from the Rockies in a 2012 change-of-scenery deal that sent Jonathan Sanchez to Colorado. That trade worked out considerably better for the Royals than the Rockies, as Guthrie posted a 3.16 ERA in 91 innings for the Royals in 2012. That success led to his three-year, $25MM contract last offseason.

Though Guthrie's ERA was solid, it wasn't without red flags. The 34-year-old's 4.7 K/9 rate was the lowest of his career, as was his 91.8 mph average fastball. ERA estimators like FIP (4.79), xFIP (4.55) and SIERA (4.79) all feel that Guthrie had a substantial amount of good fortune last season. The Royals will need him to continue to outperform those metrics with the likely subtraction of Ervin Santana from their rotation.

Orioles Focused On Starters, Unlikely To Sign A Closer

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Though the Orioles were clearly interested in signing a closer at one point this offseason — they did reach a two-year agreement with Grant Balfour that ultimately fell through — the team will likely go with an in-house candidate in the ninth inning this season, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. According to Connolly, the Orioles "have seemingly walked away" from the idea of adding a high-priced ninth-inning option like Balfour or Fernando Rodney. The team is now focused on starting pitching and adding one more backup catcher to the mix, despite already having four catchers on its 40-man roster.

Connolly's piece makes Bronson Arroyo out to be the likeliest candidate from the group of him, Matt Garza, Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez. The reasons, not surprisingly, are Arroyo's cheaper price tag and the fact that he is not tied to draft pick compensation. Connolly notes that if the demands of Garza, Jimenez or Santana drop below four years following resolution of the Masahiro Tanaka situation, the O's could be a factor there as well.

Baltimore already has Johnny Monell, Steve Clevenger and Michael Ohlman on its 40-man roster, but executive vice president Dan Duquette would still like a more experienced option to consider for Matt Wieters' backup. He lists John Buck, Miguel Olivo and Michael McKenry as potential options on the free agent market, noting that McKenry is the most intriguing of the bunch.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Headley, Yankees

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The Red Sox are faced with a problem unique to big-market teams, John Tomase of the Boston Herald writes. That question is how to spend all their money. Baseball has clamped down on spending on amateur talent, and the Angels' recent example shows the problems inherent in free-agent spending sprees. The Red Sox will have plenty of money coming off the books next offseason, perhaps giving them $50MM with which to spend. The Red Sox haven't spent heavily on top free agents recently, letting Jacoby Ellsbury depart and not signing Brian McCann. But Tomase suggests they'll continue to spend to add depth and build a "strong middle class." They could also look to extend their own stars, perhaps including Jon Lester and/or David Ortiz. Here are more notes from the AL East.

  • The Yankees have not made any recent attempts to trade for Padres third baseman Chase Headley, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News tweets. Yesterday's news confirmed that Alex Rodriguez will be out for the entire 2014 season, but the Yankees could well go with their existing options at third.
  • Kelly Johnson and Eduardo Nunez could receive significant innings at third base this year, Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler tells Martino. "We’ll look left, we’ll look right, we’ll look under rocks and see if something can work itself out and makes sense," says Eppler. "But with Kelly Johnson, who we spoke to earlier in the season … before we came to an agreement with him, we talked to him about playing third base … as well as second base and there’s outfield."

A-Rod Notes: Spring Training, Independent Ball

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After news of Alex Rodriguez's suspension broke yesterday, A-Rod continues to occupy the headlines today, in part because of 60 Minutes' interviews with Tony Bosch, Bud Selig, MLB's Rob Manfred and Rodriguez's attorney Joe Tacopina. You can watch the segment here. Here's more on the A-Rod saga.

  • The group best positioned to prevent A-Rod from attending spring training is his Yankees teammates, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. Since Rodriguez's suspension will prevent him from playing for the Yankees in 2014, his presence at spring training does not benefit the team. Instead, Sherman says, "[t]his would be about tweaking MLB and/or the Yankees while making sure to avoid what he dreads so much — irrelevancy." He would be a distraction. Sherman suggests that Rodriguez's teammates, perhaps led by Derek Jeter, could ask A-Rod not to attend spring training. If he refuses, Yankees players could explain their preferences to the media.
  • Releasing Rodriguez wouldn't make sense, Sherman says, because A-Rod will have to take additional drug tests in the coming year. If he were to fail a test, or face any other kind of additional punishment, the Yankees would be off the hook for even more salary.
  • One potential obstacle to Rodriguez playing independent baseball this summer is that the Yankees still control his rights, USA Today's Bob Nightengale writes. That means they can, say, send him to their spring training facility in Tampa and have him work out there. He needs the Yankees' permission to play elsewhere, and the Yankees can help avoid a "sideshow" by denying him that privilege.

Minor Moves: Yangervis Solarte

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Here are today's minor moves from around baseball.

  • The Yankees have signed infielder Yangervis Solarte to a minor-league deal, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweets. Rosenthal notes that Solarte could figure into the Yankees' mix at second and third, along with Dean Anna, Scott Sizemore and Corban Joseph. Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts figure to play key roles at those positions. Solarte, 26, hit .276/.323/.403 in 577 plate appearances with the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock last year. He has never played in the Majors.

MLBTR Originals

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A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR the past seven days:

  • Charlie Wilmoth opines it may be harder for sluggers like Nelson Cruz and Kendrys Morales (ranked #17 and #28, respectively, on MLBTR's 2014 Top 50 Free Agents list) to take advantage of the riches of today's free agent market because their solid-but-not-elite bats are offset by their limited defensive value and being tied to draft pick compensation.
  • Charlie asked MLBTR readers which team will sign Stephen Drew (#14 on MLBTR's 2014 Top 50 Free Agents list). More than 75% of you believe his next team will either be the Red Sox or Mets.
  • Tim Dierkes was the first to report the financial terms ($775K) of the one-year deal right-handed reliever Jesse Chavez signed with the A's to avoid arbitration.
  • Zach Links revisited some of the notable transactions which have occurred on January 8th in recent years.
  • Steve Adams hosted the weekly live chat.
  • There are many ways to enjoy MLB Trade Rumors. Here's a refresher on how to use the apps, features, and functions on MLBTR.

NL Notes: Mets, Cardinals, Braves

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The Mets made one of the best under-the-radar improvements this offseason by upgrading their outfield defense, ESPN's Mike Petriello writes (Insider-only). With Juan Lagares starting in center field for the entire season, and Curtis Granderson and Chris Young on either side of him, the Mets should be much better off defensively than they were with Lucas Duda and others last season. Petriello also lists the Cardinals' defense, in both the infield and the outfield, as one that should be dramatically improved as a result of this offseason's moves. The Cardinals acquired Peter Bourjos for David Freese, improving their outfield while allowing Matt Carpenter to shift back to third. Another new addition, Mark Ellis, figures to help at second base. Here are more notes from the National League.

MLBPA Mulling Legal Options Over TV Appearances

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MLBPA has released a statement saying that it is considering legal options amidst news that Tony Bosch and MLB executive Rob Manfred will appear on 60 Minutes tonight. "After learning of tonight's 60 Minutes segment, Players have expressed anger over, among other things, MLB's inability to let the result of yesterday's decision speak for itself," says the MLBPA.

The news of Bosch and Manfred's interviews comes a day after the decision to reduce Alex Rodriguez's suspension to 162 games. Although the suspension was reduced from 211 games, the decision was still widely considered to be a victory for Major League Baseball. The MLBPA feels that the interviews are "inconsistent with our collectively-bargained arbitration process" and the confidentiality stipulated by the Joint Drug Agreement.

"It is unfortunate that Major League Baseball apparently lacks faith in the integrity and finality of the arbitrator's decision and our Joint Drug Agreement, such that it could not resist the temptation to publicly pile-on against Alex Rodriguez," the statement reads. "It is equally troubling that the MLB-appointed Panel Arbitrator [Manfred] will himself be appearing in the '60 Minutes' segment, and that Tony Bosch, MLB's principal witness, is appearing on the program with MLB's blessing."

Yesterday, the MLBPA released a separate statement, saying that it disagreed with the arbitrator's decision in Rodriguez's case, but adding that it recognized the decision was "legal and binding" and that it respected the process that led to it.

Week In Review: 1/5/14 – 1/11/14

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Here's a look back at this week at MLBTR:

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