Dodgers Sign Chone Figgins
FRIDAY: The Dodgers have officially announced the Figgins signing, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
WEDNESDAY: The Dodgers have agreed to sign Chone Figgins to a minor league contract, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter). ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reported earlier this evening that the two sides were close on a deal that includes an invitation for Figgins to join the Dodgers' Major League spring training camp. Figgins, who celebrates his 36th birthday today, is represented by the ACES agency.
Figgins signed a minor league deal with the Marlins last spring but was released in March, leading him to sit out the 2013 season. The veteran utilityman was looking to make a comeback and recently worked out for several teams, including the Dodgers. Figgins played mostly third base and outfield in 2011-12 but he has experience all over the diamond, making him a potentially valuable bench piece if he makes the Los Angeles roster. Most notably, Figgins could provide depth at second base behind rookie Alexander Guerrero.
Figgins is looking to revive his career after three miserable seasons in Seattle. He signed a four-year, $36MM free agent deal with the Mariners following the 2009 season but struggled badly, hitting .227/.302/.283 in 1209 PA with the team before being released with one year remaining on his contract.
Giants Acquire David Huff From Yankees
The Giants have acquired lefty David Huff for cash considerations, the Yankees announced. Huff was designated for assignment on Wednesday to make roster space for Masahiro Tanaka.
Huff, 29, pitched to a 4.67 ERA in 34 2/3 innings for the Yankees last season. He was claimed off of waivers early in the year from the Indians, the only organization he had played for to that point. Of Huff's 69 career MLB appearances, 54 have been starts. But while he received two spot starts for Yankees in 2013, and also made 14 Triple-A starts, Huff spent most of his time in New York working out of the pen.
Huff came to Cleveland as the 39th overall pick of the 2006 draft. Oddly, the southpaw has a significant reverse platoon split over his career: he has allowed a .797 OPS to righties, while lefties have knocked him around for an even .900 mark.
Odrisamer Despaigne Cleared To Sign With MLB Teams
Cuban righty Odrisamer Despaigne can now sign with a MLB club after being cleared by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez reports (via Twitter). Despaigne is represented by agent Jaime Torres, who also represented players like Jose Contreras, Alexei Ramirez, and Yasiel Puig as they transitioned from Cuban baseball to the big leagues.
Despaigne, a righty, turns 27 in early April. Several clubs were noted as having watched Despaigne throw as of late October, but the list has no doubt grown since. As Sanchez notes, Despaigne has participated in two recent showcases in Mexico. The righty threw eight innings over two starts in the Mexican Pacific League in late December, allowing three earned runs and registering two strikeouts against two walks. Steve Sypa of Amazin' Avenue has a nice profile on Despaigne.
Despaigne could hold another showcase before choosing a team, Sanchez says. Several teams that had been interested in Masahiro Tanaka also showed interest in Despaigne, Sanchez adds in another tweet. Despaigne joins fellow Cuban Yenier Bello – who was also just cleared — on the list of 2014 free agents.
Marlins Sign Ty Wigginton
The Marlins have signed Ty Wigginton to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite, the club announced. The 12-year MLB veteran is an ACES client.
Wigginton, 36, has spent most of his career at the corner infield, though he has seen some time up the middle and in the corner outfield. He has only played several seasons as a regular — most recently, in his 2010 All-Star year with the Orioles — but has seen at least 400 plate appearances in eight seasons. 2012 was Wigginton's last full season of MLB action. He posted a .235/.314/.375 line and eleven home runs in 360 plate appearances for the Phillies.
Wigginton has been a free agent since the Cardinals released him last July. He had signed a two-year, $5MM deal with St. Louis, but was cut loose after struggling to a .158/.238/.193 line in his first 63 plate appearances for his new club.
The Marlins entered the offseason with a hole at third and plenty of roster opportunities to compete during the spring. It could be an uphill battle for Wigginton to earn a roster spot. Among the organization's non-prospect mix, fellow minor league signee Casey McGehee figures to have the inside track at the hot corner, and Greg Dobbs makes sense as a backup or platoon-mate since he swings from the left side. Also under team control is Ed Lucas, who played 61 games at third last year for the Fish and was the team's only infielder to post a positive fWAR.
Kevin Mather Named President Of Mariners
TODAY: Seattle officially announced Mather's promotion to the role of president and COO via press release. Meanwhile, the club announced that fellow executive Bob Aylward will take over as Chairman of the Board of NW Sports Net LLC (the club's TV network). Previously, both roles had been under Armstrong's jurisdiction.
Mather said (through the press release) that he will "support[] Jack Zduriencik as he continues to lead the baseball operation and builds the Mariners both for 2014 and for future seasons." Speaking to reporters later today, Mather said that he views his role as coordinating the business and baseball operations side of the club, Shannon Drayer of ESPN Radio Seattle tweets. Mather added that the club has enough payroll flexibility to add additional players this offseason, tweets Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune.
YESTERDAY: The Mariners are expected to name Kevin Mather as the club's new president, reports Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). Mather will move up from his current position as VP of finance and ballpark operations, taking charge after a long term at the helm for the outgoing Chuck Armstrong.
Mather has held his role since all the way back in 1996, when he came to Seattle from the Twins organization. This 2012 profile from the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin paints Mather as a shrewd businessman who keeps a close eye on the bottom line. According to the piece, Mather oversaw the building of Safeco Field, and since that time has run the facility, handled its lease, and largely controlled the team's finances.
Mather will take over a club that enjoys a substantial new TV deal and a nice home park that he helped to build. One priority could be to improve the team's lagging attendance figures. (Last year, the Mariners were 25th in baseball at getting people in the seats, with a total draw closer to that of the last-place Rays than the 22nd-place Diamondbacks.) With the Seattle president position reportedly set to oversee both business and baseball operations of the club, Mather (along with GM Jack Zduriencik) will be tasked with building a winner in a tough AL West division after spending big money to extend ace Felix Hernandez and making a huge splash by adding superstar Robinson Cano.
Red Sox To Sign Jose Mijares
The Red Sox have agreed to terms with southpaw reliever Jose Mijares on a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Mijares will earn $1MM if he lands on the MLB roster, MLBTR's Zach Links reports (Twitter links), and could earn around an additional $1MM in incentives tied to games pitched. The deal includes an opt-out date in March, adds Links.
Mijares, 29, spent last season with the Giants. His 4.22 ERA in 49 innings was among the second-highest of his career, but Mijares had attractive rate statistics (9.9 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9). Mijares suffered from a staggering .410 BABIP, the highest mark in all of baseball among pitchers with at least 40 innings. Advanced metrics like FIP (3.05), xFIP (3.90), and SIERA (3.45) thought Mijares outperformed his ERA last year.
Mijares looks increasingly to be a lefty-on-lefty guy. Over his career, he has allowed a .818 OPS to righties and a .623 OPS to lefties. But those splits were even more pronounced last year, as Mijares gave up a .961 OPS to righties and .710 mark to same-handed hitters.
Orioles, Blue Jays Active On Starting Pitching Market
According to separate reports, both the Orioles and Blue Jays are active in the market for starting pitching. Both clubs have been fairly quiet in free agency to date, at least in terms of dollars committed. (Baltimore gave $4.5MM to Ryan Webb, but otherwise has not promised much above league minimum for any players; Toronto has given out only one MLB contract, guaranteeing $8MM to Dioner Navarro.)
The Orioles have had "recent, active dialogue" with several starters, including sought-after names like Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Bronson Arroyo, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). As Connolly recently reported, the club's interest in closer Fernando Rodney may take a backseat to starting pitching in terms of priority.
Meanwhile, Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos says that the club is "not done yet," as Sportsnet.ca's Ben Nicholson-Smith reports. Noting that plenty of options remain, Anthopoulos expressed hope in making new acquisitions, but cautioned that, "at the same time we're not going to force anything." The Toronto GM said that the club likes the upside of several of its in-house starting options, including the rehabbing Brandon Morrow. He also warned that players with draft-pick compensation attached — which can refer only to Santana and Jimenez, among pitchers — could remain unsigned "into February and even into March."
With Masahiro Tanaka off of the market and Matt Garza seemingly close to following him, the starting pitching dam may finally have burst. As I noted on Tuesday, the long delay in Tanaka's situation has left an unprecedented number of substantial free agent business left to complete just weeks before the start of Spring Training — especially with respect to a number of quality rotation options.
Mets Re-Sign Daisuke Matsuzaka
4:19pm: Matsuzaka would earn $1.5MM if he lands in the big leagues, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
2:34pm: The Mets have re-signed right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka to a minor league deal with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, the club announced on Twitter.
The 33-year-old Matsuzaka, a client of Relativity Baseball, started seven games down the strech for the Mets in 2013, posting a 4.42 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 but a very low 28.3 percent ground-ball rate in 38 2/3 innings of work. Despite his extreme fly-ball tendencies, Matsuzaka managed to allow just four homers in those 38 2/3 frames (0.9 HR/9).
Matsuzaka came to the Mets after being granted his release from Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate. Though he posted a solid 3.92 ERA with 95 strikeouts against just 39 walks in 103 1/3 minor league innings for the Indians, Cleveland didn't have room in its rotation for him and allowed him to explore opportunities elsewhere.
The Red Sox originally signed Matsuzaka to a six-year, $52MM contract after winning exclusive negotiation rights by submitting a $51.11MM posting fee to Nippon Professional Baseball's Seibu Lions. Matsuzaka was regarded as the game's top prospect by Baseball America prior to his arrival. He didn't live up to those expectations, though he did enjoy a pair of solid seasons in Boston before injuries and ineffectiveness stalled his career. Matsuzaka underwent Tommy John surgery midway through the 2011 season but is fully recovered from that procedure.
Matsuzaka figures to compete for the fifth spot in the rotation behind Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese, Dillon Gee and Zack Wheeler. He'll likely face competition from the likes of John Lannan, Jenrry Mejia, Jacob deGrom and Rafael Montero in Spring Training.
Phillies Avoid Arbitration With Ben Revere
The Phillies have avoided arbitration with center fielder Ben Revere, agreeing to a one-year, $1.95MM deal, the club announced. MLBTR's Zach Links reports (via Twitter) that Revere can earn bonuses for awards such as an All-Star selection or Gold Glove, among others.
The deal delivers the 25-year-old a cool $450K more than was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz — a 30% bump over Swartz's $1.5MM projection. The higher mark also sets a nice baseline for Revere to work from. He will pass through arbitration three more times before qualifying for free agency in 2018. (Revere was a Super Two this year.)
Revere saw his 2013 season shortened when he broke his foot on a foul ball. Before the injury, he had a .305/.338/.352 line in 336 plate appearances. Promisingly, however, Revere had improved his OPS in each successive month of the season to that point (.456 in April; .712 in May; .805 in June; and .857 in July until the injury). Revere had also notched 22 stolen bases in that partial season of work. He has still yet to hit a big league home run after exactly 1,400 trips to the MLB plate.
Revere caps the Phillies' arbitration spending for the year. As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, the Phils paid out a total of $14.113MM, exceeding their total team projection of $12.7MM. The other Phillies to avoid arbitration were Kyle Kendrick ($7.675MM), Antonio Bastardo ($2MM), John Mayberry ($1.587MM), and Kevin Frandsen ($900K).
Orioles’ Deal With Tyler Colvin Falls Through
JAN. 24: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that Colvin's physical revealed that he still has back issues, causing the Orioles to reduce their offer from a Major League contract to a minor league deal. As such, Colvin will not sign and remains a free agent. Heyman points out that Colvin can now seek a big league deal with a club, knowing that he can sign a minor league pact with the O's as a fallback (Twitter link).
JAN. 22: A source tells ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link) that the Orioles found an issue with Colvin's physical, which could be creating an obstacle to the deal.
JAN. 15: The Orioles have agreed to terms with free agent outfielder Tyler Colvin, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links). Only a physical stands in the way of the deal, Connolly says, which is believed to be a guaranteed MLB contract. Colvin, 28, is represented by Relativity Baseball.
The left-handed swinging Colvin has seen MLB action in parts of five seasons. In 2012, his first year with the Rockies, Colvin posted a promising .290/.327/.531 triple-slash in 452 plate appearances. But he took a step back last year, earning only 78 MLB plate appearances and registering a meager .160/.192/.280 line in the process. He continued to hit at the Triple-A level, however, slashing .275/.377/.480 in 269 trips to the plate for Colorado Springs.
Colvin started his career with the Cubs before heading to Colorado in the Ian Stewart trade. The 13th overall choice in the 2006 draft, Baseball America considered Colvin the game's 75th-best prospect after the 2007 season.
Colvin joins a long list of outfielders that will join the O's for Spring Training. (The Sun's Eduardo Encina counts 12, on Twitter.) Other offseason outfield additions include Delmon Young, Quintin Berry, Xavier Paul, David Lough, and Francisco Peguero.