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West Notes: Tanaka, Diamondbacks, Street, Benoit

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The Diamondbacks are interested in flying to Japan to meet with Masahiro Tanaka, although they have not yet scheduled a meeting, Nick Piecoro of AZCentral.com reports. The Diamondbacks have been connected to Tanaka and other top free-agent starters, although Piecoro notes that it will be tricky for them to outbid the Yankees and other big-market teams for Tanaka's services. Here are more notes from the West divisions.

  • The Yankees are the favorites to get Tanaka, but he would provide such a big boost to the Angels' rotation that he could change the complexion of the AL West if he heads to Anaheim, Troy Renck of the Denver Post writes (on Sulia).
  • The futures of Padres relievers Joaquin Benoit and Huston Street are intertwined, the San Diego Union-Tribune's Bill Center writes. The Padres have signed Benoit to a two-year deal that pays him $6MM in 2014 and $8MM in 2015, with an $8MM option for 2016 and a $1.5MM buyout. The option vests, however, if Benoit finishes 55 games in 2015, which would only happen if he were the closer for almost the entire season. Street, meanwhile, will be paid $7MM in 2014, with a $7MM option for 2015. Street will close for the Padres in 2014, but it's unclear what will happen after that. "Huston has done it very well for a long time. Benoit has done it for four years. Huston is a pro. Nothing changes here," says Padres GM Josh Byrnes. "We do have a decision for 2015. Nothing is guaranteed for 2015."

Masahiro Tanaka Links: Thursday

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After the Rakuten Golden Eagles made the long-awaited decision to post ace Masahiro Tanaka, the posting period opened this morning. Any team that is willing to pay his former club a posting fee of $20MM will have the right to negotiate with Tanaka over the next 30 days (a full refresher on the new rules can be found here). Tanaka's posting period comes to a close on Jan. 24 at 4pm CT, meaning that there could be as many as 700 more hours of drama, rumors and speculation regarding his ultimate destination. Here are today's Tanaka-centric links…

  • MLB.com's Richard Justice writes that teams see Tanaka not as a seven-year deal but rather as an investment to make an immediate impact that could yield a spot in the 2014 playoff picture. The Yankees would like to make an offer to close the bidding process before it truly begins, writes Justice, but several other teams likely feel the same.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that while Tanaka's new agent, Casey Close, does not have Scott Boras' public reputation of bargaining hard, he does have that reputation within the industry. Close is no stranger to large deals, as he represents Derek Jeter and Zack Greinke among others.
  • Sherman also runs down a list of eight teams that he feels to be the Yankees' most serious competition for Tanaka: the Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox, Phillies, Rangers, Cubs, Diamondbacks and Mariners.
  • In a piece for FOX Sports, Gabe Kapler writes that he spoke to one Major League GM who thought Tanaka would sign for something in the six-year, $105MM neighborhood (not including the posting fee). Kapler feels that Tanaka's age and the potential bidding war will up the price to something in the range of seven years and $125MM (plus the $20MM posting fee). He also cautions that Tanaka is far from a sure thing and will need to display impeccable command of his fastball or add some movement to it in order to flourish in the Majors.
  • Troy Renck of the Denver Post can't imagine Tanaka signing for anything less than $100MM (Sulia link).
  • The next 30 days will tell us if the Dodgers are hitting their spending limit — self-imposed or otherwise — or if their lack of big spending thus far in the offseason has merely been as a result of waiting for Tanaka, writes Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. Hernandez notes that the team already has five players under control through 2017 and would like that number to rise to seven with extensions to Clayton Kershaw and Hanley Ramirez.

Diamondbacks Extend Brad Ziegler

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The Diamondbacks have agreed to an extension with right-hander Brad Ziegler, the pitcher himself announced on Twitter. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that it's a two-year, $10.5MM contract with a club option for a third-year. Rosenthal reports that Ziegler's deal will pay him $4.5MM in 2014 and $5MM in 2015, and his $5.5MM option contains a $1MM buyout. He is a client of Icon Sports Management.

Ziegler-Brad

Ziegler, 34, is coming off a season in which he posted a 2.22 ERA and filled in as Arizona's closer, saving 13 games and falling one out short of matching his career-high of 73 1/3 innings. He was originally acquired by the Diamondbacks in July 2011 in what looks to be a lopsided deal in hindsight. Arizona sent Brandon Allen and Jordan Norberto to Oakland to land the side-armer. Ziegler has rewarded GM Kevin Towers with 162 1/3 innings of 2.27 ERA ball with 5.6 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate north of 70 percent.

Dating back to 2002 when batted ball data began being tracked, Ziegler's 66.1 percent ground-ball rate is the highest among all Major League pitchers with at least 300 innings pitched.

MLBTR's Matt Swartz projected Ziegler to earn $5MM in his final year of arbitration eligiblity, so he likely took a slight hit to his 2014 salary in exchange for multiple years in an environment that he enjoys. Towers has shuffled his bullpen this offseason by acquiring Addison Reed from the White Sox in exchange for Matt Davidson and trading Heath Bell to Tampa Bay in a three-team deal. Ziegler, Reed and J.J. Putz should form a solid core to handle the late innings for manager Kirk Gibson.

Initial reports that an extension with Ziegler was a possibility surfaced in September. Later that same month, he told reporters that it didn't matter to him whether he pitched in the eighth or ninth inning. With Reed and Putz both on board, Ziegler seems likely to return to the setup role in which he has thrived for most of his career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Diamondbacks Sign Eric Chavez

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Eric Chavez will officially be returning to the Diamondbacks for a second season. The team announced today that it has signed the third baseman to a one-year contract. Chavez, a client of All Bases Covered, is reportedly guaranteed $3.5MM and can earn another $1MM via incentives. He will receive $250K for playing in 60, 90, 120 and 150 games.

Chavez batted .281/.341/.488 with 25 homers in 567 plate appearances over the past two seasons between the Diamondbacks and Yankees. Once considered a defensive wizard at the hot corner, Chavez's glove-work has declined in recent years after a slew of back, shoulder and neck injuries have taken their toll on the veteran's body.

The 36-year-old veteran figures to serve as a left-handed bat off the bench and can back up regular third baseman Martin Prado from time to time. Chavez also has experience at first base, so he could see some time there should Paul Goldschmidt be injured or require a day off (though Mark Trumbo could back up that position as well).

Chavez was also connected to the Yankees and Braves this offseason. In the end, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports (via Twitter) that he preferred to stay close to his Phoenix home.

Heyman of CBS Sports was the first to report the agreement and the terms of the contract (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the incentives structure (also on Twitter).

West Notes: Santana, Garza, Gutierrez, Padres

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A look at the AL and NL West..

No Deal Between D-Backs, Valverde

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10:25am: Valverde told Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes that he does not have a deal with the Diamondbacks and has recently switched agents. Formerly with Scott Boras, he is now represented by Praver/Shapiro (Spanish Twitter links).

8:15am: The Diamondbacks and Jose Valverde have agreed to terms on a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).

With this deal, the 36-year-old Valverde returns to the organization that signed him as an international free agent in 1997. "Papa Grande" spent the first five seasons of his career with the Diamondbacks (2003-07), leading the National League with 47 saves in his final season there. He was then traded to the Astros for Chris Burke, J.C. Gutierrez and Chad Qualls that offseason.

Most recently, Valverde is known for his work with the Tigers. Valverde posted a 3.00 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 110 saves from 2010-12. However, he began to unravel late in the 2012 season and in the 2012 playoffs. He would eventually return to the Tigers in May 2013, briefly solidifying the closer role before allowing six home runs in eight appearances. The end result was a 5.59 ERA that caused the Tigers to designate Valverde for assignment.

Diamondbacks Notes: Reed, Tanaka, Chavez

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Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers did a conference call with reporters Monday evening to discuss the Addison Reed trade. Here are some notes:

  • The Diamondbacks continue to pursue starting pitching, and they'll likely try to find it on the free agent market and not through a trade, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweets. Matt Garza and Ervin Santana appear to be possibilities.
  • Masahiro Tanaka's status will not have a significant impact on the Diamondbacks' pursuit of a starter, Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona notes (on Twitter). "If for some reason he becomes posted, we'll circle back," Towers says.
  • Towers hopes that he can negotiate a new contract for free agent infielder Eric Chavez at some point before the holidays, tweets MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Arizona is reportedly one of at least seven teams that have interest in Chavez.
  • The origins of the Reed deal might have come from negotiations for the Mark Trumbo trade last week, which also featured both the Diamondbacks and White Sox. Towers says the White Sox mentioned Reed's name at that time, tweets Gilbert.

Diamondbacks Acquire Addison Reed For Matt Davidson

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have acquired Addison Reed from the White Sox in exchange for third baseman Matt Davidson. MLB.com's Steve Gilbert first reported that the trade was on the verge of happening (on Twitter).

Reed-Addison

Reed, 24, has saved 69 games for the White Sox over the past two seasons, posting a 4.20 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 126 1/3 innings in that time. Sabermetric stats such as FIP (3.38) and SIERA (3.33) feel that Reed's ERA should have been substantially lower in that time. The Diamondbacks will control Reed through the 2017 season and he is not arbitration eligible until next offseason, making him a highly affordable piece to add to the back-end of their bullpen.

Davidson, 23 in March, made his big league debut in 2013, slashing .237/.333/.434 with three homers in 87 plate appearances. The 2009 supplemental-rounder entered the 2013 campaign ranked as Baseball America's No. 88 overall prospect and MLB.com's No. 77 overall prospect. Davidson delivered on that praise by slashing .280/.350/.481 with 17 homers in 500 plate appearances prior to his promotion to the big leagues. He is controllable through the 2019 season and can't reach arbitration eligibility until at least the 2016-17 offseason.

Reed will step into the ninth-inning role for the Diamondbacks, relegating J.J. Putz and Brad Ziegler to setup duties. Arizona GM Kevin Towers has added some youth to his bullpen while shedding the salary of Heath Bell over the past week.

Davidson, meanwhile, can fill a long-term need for the White Sox, ideally solidifying third base for the South Siders for years to come. White Sox third basemen batted .249/.294/.352 last season, so Davidson should eventually displace the projected platoon of Conor Gillaspie and Jeff Keppinger. He will join an increasingly young core for the White Sox consisting of Avisail Garcia, Adam Eaton and Jose Dariel Abreu.

Arizona's acquisition of Mark Trumbo last week (a trade on which Towers and White Sox GM Rick Hahn also lined up) pushed Martin Prado back to third base on a full-time basis for the Snakes, likely leading to the belief that Davidson had become expendable (Prado is under contract for three more seasons). The White Sox could look to the free agent market to add any number of closer-types available, or they could elect to stay in-house and use flamethrower Nate Jones in the ninth inning.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cafardo On Trumbo, Middlebrooks, Burnett, Morales

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The Winter Meetings featured the three-team trade that sent Mark Trumbo to the Diamondbacks, as well as a number of other moves, but Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe argues that this year's meetings featured plenty of press, but comparatively little meaningful activity. Cafardo wonders whether baseball should issue a moratorium on moves before the Winter Meetings, so that the meetings themselves feature more signal and less noise. Here's more from Cafardo:

  • For the Diamondbacks, the Trumbo acquisition was about adding power, which is in short supply these days. "Just looking at the West, and looking at the National League and looking at the free agent market going forward, I just don’t know where you’re going to find power," says GM Kevin Towers.
  • If the Red Sox re-sign Stephen Drew, that would bump Xander Bogaerts to third base and make Will Middlebrooks a trade candidate. The Marlins, who are looking for a third baseman, would likely be interested.
  • Even after a report that the Orioles had interest in A.J. Burnett and had been in touch with his agent, the Pirates feel Burnett doesn't want to play for any other team. "There’s no reason for [Burnett] not to be back," says a Pirates official.
  • Four teams have offered two-year deals to free agent Bronson Arroyo, but Arroyo is holding out for a three-year deal, or maybe a two-year deal with a vesting option.
  • There doesn't appear to be a particularly robust market for Kendrys Morales, with the Mariners adding Corey Hart and Logan Morrison and the Angels likely to sign Raul Ibanez. The Orioles might be one possibility, but not at Morales' price.

Minor Moves: Asencio, Bocock, Ely, Martinez, Blanco

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Here are today's minor moves and outright assignments from around the league…

  • Jairo Asencio has signed with the KIA Tigers in the Korean Baseball Organization, MyKBO.net tweets. The Orioles acquired the 30-year-old righty from the Brewers all the way back in March, using him for just 2 1/3 innings this year. Asencio has a career 5.34 ERA in 43 big league appearances, but has been much better at Triple-A, where he's pitched to a 2.56 ERA across 165 games.
  • The Royals announced that they have signed infielder Brian Bocock and outfielder Johermyn Chavez to minor-league contracts. The 28-year-old Bocock has 38 big league games on his resume and last appeared in the majors in 2010 with the Phillies. He has a career .226/.297/.309 minor-league line. Chavez, 24, has never appeared in the big leagues. He's hit .261/.340/.438 in nearly 3,000 minor-league plate appearances. The Bocock deal was originally reported by Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish on Twitter.
  • The Red Sox have signed pitcher John Ely and re-signed Miguel Celestino to minor-league deals, WEEI.com's Alex Speier reports. Ely, 27, missed most of 2013 due to Tommy John surgery but had a strong year in Triple-A in 2012, posting a 3.20 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 168 2/3 innings for Albuquerque. Celestino, 24, posted a 6.12 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 for Double-A Portland in 2013.
  • The Pirates have signed utilityman Michael Martinez to a minor-league deal, MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo tweets. Martinez, 31, hit .300/.352/.407 for the Phillies' Triple-A Lehigh Valley affiliate in 2013. He also picked up 40 plate appearances at the big-league level.
  • The Diamondbacks announced that they've signed veteran catcher Henry Blanco to a minor-league deal with a spring training invite. Earlier today, Arizona was reportedly close to signing Blanco, who hit .142/.228/.246 with the Blue Jays and Mariners in 2013. Blanco, 42, played with the Diamondbacks in 2011 and 2012.
  • The Cubs announced that they have signed outfielder Ryan Kalish to a minor league deal with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Kalish, 25, was originally drafted by the Red Sox when Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer were with Boston.
  • The Cubs have also signed catcher John Baker to a minor-league deal with a non-roster invite, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets. The light-hitting Baker played briefly with the Padres in 2013, and also appeared in Tucscon (Padres) and Albuquerque (Dodgers) in Triple-A.
  • The Tigers outrighted infielder Dixon Machado to Triple-A Toledo, according to an MILB.com release. Machado hit .215/.264/.295 with Class A+ Lakeland in 2013. The Tigers designated him for assignment last week.

Charlie Wilmoth and Aaron Steen contributed to this post.

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