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A’s, George Kottaras Avoid Arbitration

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TUESDAY: Kottaras will earn $1MM in 2013, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter).

MONDAY: The Athletics announced that they avoided arbitration with catcher George Kottaras. The Lapa/Leventhal client agreed to a one-year deal for the 2013 season.

Kottaras had a projected salary of $1.1MM following a season in which he hit nine home runs and posted a .211/.351/.415 batting line in 209 plate appearances. Oakland acquired Kottaras from the Brewers for Fautino De Los Santos in July.

The A's have three remaining arbitration eligible players, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows: Jerry Blevins, Brandon Moss and Seth Smith.

Diamondbacks Interested In Extending Hill

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The Diamondbacks have had preliminary discussions about a contract extension for second baseman Aaron Hill, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. CEO Derrick Hall says GM Kevin Towers hopes to begin more substantial talks with Hill’s representatives at Legacy Sports Group.

“We’re interested in trying to come to an agreement with Aaron before the season starts,” Hall said. “We know he wants to be here and we obviously feel the same way and would like for him to be here. So Kevin and his agent will begin to speak very soon.”

Piecoro suggests the sides have yet to discuss contract length or value. Hill will earn $5.5MM in 2013 under his current contract, which was signed months after the Diamondbacks traded for him in August of 2011.

Hill posted a .302/.360/.522 batting line with 26 home runs in 668 plate appearances last year, his first full season in Arizona. Among second basemen only Robinson Cano produced more wins above replacement than Hill in 2012, according to FanGraphs' version of the metric (7.8 for Cano, 6.2 for Hill). Hill rebounded from a 2011 season that saw him post a .246/.299/.356 line in 571 plate appearances for Toronto and Arizona.

In case you missed it, the Diamondbacks recently extended closer J.J. Putz through the 2014 season.

International Moves: Dodgers, Liberato, Villatoro

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We’ll keep track of the day’s international signings here…

  • The Dodgers announced the signings of four 17-year-olds from the Dominican Republic (via Twitter): outfielders Deivy Castillo and Ariel Sandoval, shortstop Ravel Hernandez, and right-hander Miguel Urena. Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times tweeted the age and positions of each player.
  • The Mariners signed Luis Liberato, a 17-year-old outfielder from the Dominican Republic, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. Liberato obtains a $140K bonus. The 6'1" teenager has gap power with a solid swing and could stay in center field or move to right, according to Badler.
  • The Blue Jays signed 18-year-old right-hander Denis Villatoro to a five-year contract, Saúl Carranza of the Honduran newspaper Diez reported over the weekend (translation via MLBTR's Nick Collias). It's a five-year deal, according to La Tribuna. Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun notes that it's worth $20K (Twitter link). Villatoro, who worked out for the Blue Jays before signing, said he's "very happy" to have agreed to terms with Toronto, Carranza reports. His fastball reaches 93 mph, and he also drew interest from the Orioles, Yankees, Mets, Astros, Giants and Pirates.

Minor Moves: Young, Loewen

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The latest minor moves from around MLB…

  • The Nationals have signed Delwyn Young to a minor league contract, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson (on Twitter). Young has a career line of .258/.317/.393 in 779 plate appearances for the Dodgers and Pirates. He posted just a .569 OPS for the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League last season. The second baseman/outfielder did not receive an invitation to Major League Spring Training.
  • The Blue Jays signed outfielder Adam Loewen to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training, the team announced. The 28-year-old native of Surrey, British Columbia returns to the Blue Jays organization following a season with the Mets’ top affiliate. Loewen played at Triple-A Buffalo (now Toronto's International League affiliate) last year and posted a .227/.328/.391 batting line with eight home runs in 238 plate appearances. The former pitching prospect spent the 2009-11 seasons in the Blue Jays organization.

Diamondbacks Unlikely To Land Porcello

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6:16pm: The Diamondbacks are unlikely to acquire Porcello, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter).

10:53am: The Tigers would likely ask for a shortstop, a late-inning reliever or a right-handed hitting outfielder in a trade for Porcello, Morosi adds. Detroit doesn't appear to be a finalist for Scott Hairston, who could decide between the Yankees and Mets.

8:14am: The Diamondbacks have talked to the Tigers about trading for starter Rick Porcello, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter). Morosi confirms that the Mariners have also had talks with Detroit about Porcello. The Angels, Pirates, Padres, Orioles and Cubs have also been linked to Porcello this offseason.

The 24-year-old posted a 4.59 ERA with 5.5 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 53.2% ground ball rate in 176 1/3 innings this past season. He earned $3.1MM in 2012 and has a projected salary of $4.7MM for 2013. He’s under team control through 2015.

Arizona has many internal starting pitching options, including Ian Kennedy, Brandon McCarthy, Trevor Cahill, Wade Miley, Tyler Skaggs, Josh Collmenter and Patrick Corbin. Plus, Daniel Hudson could return from Tommy John surgery midseason. However, GM Kevin Towers has shown this offseason that he’s willing to add to apparent areas of depth. Last month Towers signed Cody Ross even though the Diamondbacks' outfield seemed full to most outside observers.

Pirates To Sign Jeff Karstens

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The Pirates have agreed to sign right-hander Jeff Karstens to a one-year deal, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The deal with the Moye Sports Associates client is believed to be worth about $2.5MM, Brink adds. The agreement is pending a physical.

The Pirates non-tendered Karstens earlier in the offseason instead of going to arbitration with a projected $3.8MM salary. The 30-year-old drew interest from the Rockies while on the free agent market.

Karstens earned $3.1MM in 2012, but missed time with shoulder, groin and hip injuries. When healthy, he posted a 3.97 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 90 2/3 innings, mostly as a starter. GM Neal Huntington expressed confidence in Karstens soon after the regular season ended. “Jeff gives you everything he has every time he gets the ball,” the GM told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Reds Sign Cesar Izturis

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The Reds signed Cesar Izturis to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. Peter E. Greenberg & Associates represents the infielder.

“He adds competition, mainly defensively and he provides insurance,” Reds GM Walt Jocketty said of Izturis.

Izturis posted a .241/.254/.343 batting line in 173 plate appearances for the Brewers and Nationals in 2012. The 32-year-old played all four infield positions with Milwaukee and appeared at second base, third base and shortstop with Washington.

Quick Hits: Giants, Byrd, Reyes, Jurrjens

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As arbitration eligible players around MLB agree to terms with their respective teams, be sure to use MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker. The tool allows users to search in many ways, including by team and by service time. Here are the latest links from around MLB…

  • The Giants' multiyear deals with Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro are among five free agent contracts that could backfire, ESPN.com's Jim Bowden writes.
  • The Giants would offer Brian Wilson a big league contract, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (on Twitter). The Mets are also in on Wilson, who was non-tendered by San Francisco at the end of November.
  • Doug Lara, Marlon Byrd's personal hitting coach, told Puro Beisbol last week that the outfielder is in discussions with the Marlins. Byrd has been playing for the Tomateros de Culiacán this winter (translation via Nick Collias). 
  • Dennys Reyes told Puro Beisbol that he has offers from the Dodgers, Orioles, and Blue Jays. Among the three, Reyes said, "I'd like to return to the Dodgers," the team he debuted with as 20-year-old in 1997 (translation via Nick Collias). 
  • Free agent right-hander Jair Jurrjens told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that he feels good physically and has begun throwing bullpens (Twitter link).

Blue Jays, Colby Rasmus Avoid Arbitration

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The Blue Jays avoided arbitration with center fielder Colby Rasmus, agreeing to a one-year, $4.675MM deal, MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm reports (on Twitter). Beverly Hills Sports Council represents Rasmus, who was arbitration eligible for the second time.

Rasmus, 26, remains under team control through 2014. Matt Swartz had projected a $4.5MM salary for Rasmus following a season in which he hit 23 home runs and posted a .223/.289/.400 batting line.

As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, the Blue Jays have three remaining unsigned arb eligible players: Emilio Bonifacio, J.A. Happ and Josh Thole.

Orioles, Brian Matusz Nearing Deal

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The Orioles are nearing a deal with arbitration eligible left-hander Brian Matusz, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports (on Twitter). The Orioles have yet to complete a deal with the Excel Sports Management client.

Matusz, 25, is arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason following a year in which he posted a 4.87 ERA in 98 innings as a starter and reliever. The super two player had a projected $1MM salary, Matt Swartz anticipated for MLBTR.

Matusz is one of Baltimore's seven remaining arb eligible players, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows. Chris Davis, Jason Hammel, Jim Johnson, Darren O'Day, Troy Patton and Matt Wieters are the others.

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