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Reds To Sign Ramon Santiago

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The Reds have reached agreement on a minor league deal with infielder Ramon Santiago, reports CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman (Twitter links). Santiago gets a Spring Training invitation, and will earn $1.1MM if he breaks camp with the club. 

The 34-year-old Santiago, who recently joined the Beverly Hills Sports Council, has been a regular utility cog with the Tigers for ten of the last twelve years. Since his one season of everyday playing time in 2003, Santiago has only once exceeded 300 plate appearances, but has received at least 150 in each of the last six campaigns. In 2013, Santiago stepped up to bat 234 times and registered a .224/.298/.288 triple-slash, continuing a downturn in his stat line that began the year before. Santiago still rates out well with his glove, however, and boasts generally solid defensive metrics up the middle and at third.

For the Reds, the switch-hitting Santiago should have a good chance at cracking the roster. Though the team has other infield backup options in the fold, such as Skip Schumaker, Jack Hannahan, and Chris Nelson, none of those players has spent significant time at shortstop. Santiago has played the majority of his big league games at the position, with most of his remaining appearances coming at the second base position.

Angels To Sign Brennan Boesch, Carlos Pena

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WEDNESDAY: Boesch would earn $800K if he makes the MLB roster, while Pena would make $1MM.

TUESDAY: The Angels have reached agreement on minor league deals with outfielder Brennan Boesch and first baseman Carlos Pena, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). Boesch, 28, is represented by CAA Sports, while the 35-year-old Pena is a client of the Boras Corporation. Both deals include Spring Training invites, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

Boesch saw only 53 MLB plate appearances last year, posting a .275/.302/.529 line, before he was released by the Yankees in July. The Yanks had signed Boesch to a $1.5MM deal after he was let go by the Tigers, for whom he had been a regular between 2010-12. Over that stretch, Boesch posted a .259/.315/.414 triple-slash with 42 home runs and 18 stolen bases in 1,487 plate appearances. With just over three years of MLB service to his name, Boesch comes with team control beyond the 2014 season.

Pena, a 13-year MLB veteran, was an everyday player until last season. Spending most of 2013 with the Astros, Pena slashed .207/.321/.346 in 328 plate appearances. As that line would indicate, Pena has hung his hat on his ability to get on base via the walk, which he has done at about twice the league-average rate throughout his career. Once a major power threat — he hit 172 home runs between 2007 and 2011 — Pena's HR/FB rate has dropped from a peak of 29.1% down to around the 15% level in recent seasons.

Cubs Avoid Arbitration With Justin Ruggiano

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The Cubs have avoided arbitration with outfielder Justin Ruggiano, who will earn $2MM next season, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports via Twitter. Chicago picked up Ruggiano, who turns 32 in April, from the Marlins in mid-December. 

As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, Ruggiano settled for just under the midpoint between his $2.45MM filing number and the team's $1.6MM counter. His 2014 salary lands just above the $1.8MM that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected. 

Ruggiano, who swings from the right side of the plate, had a stellar 2012 season in which he posted a .313/.374/.535 line and notch 13 homers and 14 steals over just 91 games. He took a step back last year, however, receiving a career-high 472 plate appearances but registering only a .222/.298/.396 triple-slash. Ruggiano did knock 18 long balls and swipe 15 bags, but Baseball-Reference valued his contributions at replacement level while Fangraphs credited him at about one win.

Royals Acquire Carlos Peguero, Designate Everett Teaford

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2:35pm: The deal is for cash, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, meaning that no players will head back to Seattle in exchange for Peguero. 

12:50pm: The Royals announced that they've acquired outfielder Carlos Peguero from the Mariners in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Left-hander Everett Teaford has been designated for assignment in order to clear a roster spot, according to the press release. 

The 26-year-old Peguero offers tremendous left-handed power but struggles against left-handed pitching and has long had a serious problem with strikeouts. He batted .260/.321/.460 in 505 Triple-A plate appearances last season and boasts a career .230 ISO (slugging minus batting average) in the minor leagues. However, Peguero has batted just .195/.242/.380 in the Majors. Baseball America ranked him among Seattle's Top 30 prospects on four occasions but always expressed reservations about his plate discipline. BA noted he has surprising speed and athleticism for his size and could be an average corner outfield defender.

Teaford, 30 in May, has a career 4.25 ERA with 5.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 43.8 percent ground-ball rate in 106 big league innings. The former 12th-round pick saw just one inning in the Majors this season but has a strong track record at the Triple-A level where he's posted a 3.27 ERA with 161 strikeouts against 59 walks in 168 innings of work.

Cardinals Avoid Arbitration With Daniel Descalso

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The Cardinals have avoided arbitration with infielder Daniel Descalso, settling at $1.29MM, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Descalso can earn $10K if he reaches 250 plate appearances, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Descalso, 27, will earn the midpoint between his submitted $1.65MM figure and the club's $930K mark. The case had featured the second-highest relative gulf in filing figures, and club GM John Mozeliak acknowledged that a hearing was possible. Ultimately, Descalso will earn just over the $1.2MM projection arrived at by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

Descalso has been an important part-timer for St. Louis over the last three seasons, logging at least 350 plate appearances in each one and maintaining an OPS in the .650 range. He has seen most of his action at third or second, but has also played 95 games at short (including 55 last season). In 2013, Descalso saw his playing time dip slightly from prior seasons to 123 games and 358 trips to the plate. He ended up with a .238/.290/.366 triple-slash on the year. 

Suk-min Yoon In Talks With Two Clubs, May Sign Soon

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WEDNESDAY: The Twins aren't inclined to meet agent Scott Boras' asking price at this time, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN.

TUESDAY, 10:05pm: Yoon has yet to meet with Twins officials and has not visited Minnesota, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter links). That does not mean that the club is out on Yoon, says Berardino, who was told by a source that the Twins are "monitor[ing]" things at present.

5:16pm: South Korean hurler Suk-min Yoon is engaged in talks and could sign soon, according to a Naver Sports article (Korean language link, via a tweet from Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). The 27-year-old righty has reportedly fielded four offers from MLB clubs, and is in discussions with two of the offering teams.

Yoon landed at 36th on MLBTR's Tim Dierkes's list of the top fifty free agents. Though he is said to offer substantially less upside than fellow Korean Hyun-jin Ryu of the Dodgers, Yoon is said to be the next-best arm to come out of the KBO. As Dierkes explained in his profile of Yoon, the hurler has experience both as a starter and as a reliever. 

The most recent reports indicated that the Red Sox and Twins both have interest in Yoon, who is not controlled by any KBO club and is therefore a free agent. While Yoon's value remains difficult to assess, Dierkes gave his best guess as a two-year, $10MM deal.

Mariners To Sign Scott Baker

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12:34pm: Baker has already passed his physical, and the deal will be announced later today, tweets Greg Johns of MLB.com.

12:17pm: The Mariners have agreed to terms with right-hander Scott Baker on a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, according to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. Baker, who is represented by Octagon, will earn $1MM if he makes the team and can earn up to $3.25MM more via incentives, according to Cotillo (Twitter links).

The 32-year-old Baker underwent Tommy John surgery prior to the 2012 season — his walk year with the Twins. He inked a one-year, $5.5MM contract with the Cubs last offseason, but persistent setbacks in his recovery limited him to three starts late in the season.

Baker's last significant big league action came in 2011, and it was also the best work of his career. In 134 innings for the Twins that season, the former second-round pick posted a 3.14 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. Strong command and K/BB numbers have been typical of Baker throughout his career, as evidenced by his lifetime 3.4 K:BB ratio. Baker's skill-set seems to be fitting of Safeco Field; the extreme fly-ball pitcher has just a 34 percent ground-ball rate for his career.

Should Baker make the rotation out of Spring Training, he'll slot in behind aces Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma. Top prospect Taijuan Walker and right-hander Erasmo Ramirez are also candidates for the rotation, and the Mariners have been said to be on the lookout for a veteran starter to add to the mix as well (presumably, Baker is not that arm).

Angels To Sign Chad Tracy

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The Angels have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran corner infielder Chad Tracy, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Tracy, a client of Octagon, receives an invitation to Major League Spring Training.

There was some confusion earlier today, as the Orioles agreed to a minor league deal with the veteran minor leaguer of the same name (that Tracy happens to be the son of former Rockies and Dodgers manager Jim Tracy).

In Tracy, the Angels have added a potential bench bat with nine seasons of Major League experience under his belt. Though he batted just .202/.243/.326 in 136 plate appearances with the Nationals in a pinch-hitting role last season, he batted .269/.343/.441 in a similar role in 2012. Tracy broke through with an outstanding sophomore campaign with the Diamondbacks in 2005 when he belted 27 homers and slashed .308/.359/.553. However, he's been unable to replicate that form in his subsequent big league seasons.

The Angels have brought in several notable MLB veterans recently, as they also added outfielder Brennan Boesch and first baseman Carlos Pena on minor league contracts yesterday.

Rosenthal’s Latest: M’s, Cruz, Rodney, Reds, Drew

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The Mariners are "back in business, showing strong interest" in Nelson Cruz and Fernando Rodney again, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports in his latest column. The Mariners, who are said to have some financial leeway by new team president Kevin Mather, is also looking at the trade market for starting pitchers, though they're not currently focused on David Price or Jeff Samardzija. Rosenthal also notes that the Indians aren't having any conversations on Justin Masterson, nor are the Reds inclined to move any of their starters, further limiting the list of trade targets. More highlights below…

  • Cruz could be a fallback option for the Rangers, but probably only if he's willing to sign a one-year deal. Bringing Cruz back would allow the Rangers to deal Mitch Moreland.
  • Rosenthal wonders if the Reds should be thinking about dealing a starter. While they're trying to extend Homer Bailey, that seems to be a tall order as he's just one year from free agency. Mat Latos, Mike Leake and Johnny Cueto are all only controlled through 2015, and as Rosenthal notes, not all can be long-term pieces.
  • The Athletics aren't considering making a run at Stephen Drew and shifting Jed Lowrie from short to second base. The A's are comfortable platooning Eric Sogard and Nick Punto.
  • A rival executive wondered to Rosenthal if the Braves would match up with the Mariners on a Dustin Ackley trade, but Rosenthal hears that the Braves aren't looking for a second baseman. They currently have Dan Uggla, who is owed $26MM through 2015, and three fallback options in Ramiro Pena, Tommy La Stella and Tyler Pastornicky.
  • Braves GM Frank Wren said he doesn't hold any ill will toward players who go to arbitration hearings — such as the ones he could face with Jason Heyward, Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman: "We don’t look at it as an antagonistic process. We look at it as a solution to a disagreement on a player’s salary."

East Notes: Kimbrel, Rodney, Yanks, Phils, Red Sox

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TheScore.com's Drew Fairservice examines the likely arbitration trial the Braves will undergo with closer Craig Kimbrel, noting that it's difficult to imagine the Braves coming out on top of that hearing. Fairservice points out a number of Kimbrel's feats, including the fact that he has the lowest ERA and highest strikeout in history for a pitcher with 200+ games as well as the lowest ERA ever for a reliever through his first four seasons. More from baseball's Eastern divisions…

  • Andy Martino of the New York Daily News writes that it makes little sense for Fernando Rodney to go to the Mets. Team insiders tell Martino that Bobby Parnell has been assured the ninth inning is his, so Rodney would likely only pitch as the closer in the event of a setback in Parnell's recovery or further injury.
  • Also from Martino, the Yankees haven't had any talk with Rodney since one "very preliminary" discussion back in November. While the team is aware of its bullpen holes, a Major League source tells Martino that they lack the payroll flexibility to address the 'pen after signing Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees are hoping that Dellin Betances can serve as a power reliever, Martino adds.
  • Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg will have many decisions on his hands in Spring Training as he looks to sort out the team's bench, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sandberg said Freddy Galvis is a lock for the bench, and Gelb notes that Wil Nieves' $1.1MM salary makes him the likely backup catcher. Beyond that, there are no certainties. Gelb writes that John Mayberry could be traded in Spring Training, and the team would prefer a left-handed bat to back up Ben Revere in center.
  • General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. also told Gelb that the Phillies do not have any standing Major League offers to free agents at this time.
  • In response to David Ortiz's comments that he would play elsewhere if he couldn't work out a multi-year deal with the Red Sox, second baseman Dustin Pedroia told WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that the team should give Ortiz "whatever he wants." Pedroia spoke not only about how productive Ortiz is, but how much he likes Ortiz's passion and attitude as well as what Big Papi means to the team.
  • Pedroia also told Bradford that he "hates" the business side of baseball and is glad he doesn't have to worry about it for the rest of his career. On a related note, he said he doesn't fault Jacoby Ellsbury for signing with the Yankees: "He got an offer he couldn’t refuse. I don’t think anyone would fault him for going where he went and that’s that. I’m happy for him. That guy, he played his butt off for us. We won two championships together."

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