Minor Deals: Parraz, Mattheus, Boggs
We'll keep track of the latest minor deals right here:
- The Red Sox claimed outfielder Jordan Parraz off of waivers from the Royals, the teams announced. The 26-year-old has yet to appear in the majors, but he posted solid numbers at Triple-A last year. In his second stint at Omaha, he batted .266/.350/.410 with 27 doubles.
- The Royals also outrighted right-handers Gaby Hernandez and Victor Marte to Omaha.
- The Nationals announced on Twitter that they outrighted right-hander Ryan Mattheus to Triple-A.
- The Brewers signed Brandon Boggs, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (on Twitter). The 27-year-old outfielder hasn't played much in the past two seasons, but he posted a .733 OPS in 334 plate appearances for the 2008 Rangers.
- The Mariners and Astros also made minor deals today.
Cardinals, Giants, Padres Interested In Tejada
The Cardinals, Giants and Padres are expressing varying degrees of interest in Miguel Tejada, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes (link in Spanish). Some teams see Tejada as a shortstop and others see him as a third baseman, according to Rojas' source.
The 36-year-old played 58 games at short for the Padres after they acquired him from Baltimore, where he was playing third base. The Giants are focused on finding a shortstop and the Cardinals could use middle infield help.
Tejada could have earned a raise from his 2010 salary of $6MM had the Padres offered arbitration. The Padres did not offer arbitration, so teams will not have to surrender a pick to sign Tejada, a Type A free agent.
The six-time All-Star batted .269/.312/.381 with 15 homers between Baltimore and San Diego last year. He appeared in over 150 games for the 11th time in 12 seasons.
Mariners Sign Charlie Haeger, Three Others
Mariners signed knuckleballer Charlie Haeger, left-hander Fabio Castro, infielder Luis Rodriguez and right-hander Chris Smith, the team announced today. All four receive invitations to big league Spring Training.
Haeger, 27, appeared in nine games for the Dodgers this year. He struck out 30 batters in 30 innings, but walked 26 and posted an 8.40 ERA. He has generated strikeouts throughout his five-year MLB career, but has walked 6.4 batters per inning.
Rockies Rumors: De La Rosa, Garland, Daley
The Rockies are on the lookout for pitching and they already made one minor deal. Jim Armstrong and Troy Renck of the Denver Post have the details:
- The Rockies haven’t ruled out bringing Jorge de la Rosa back, but his agent continues talking to other teams and the Rockies are not going to offer more than three years. Some teams are prepared to make a four-year commitment to the left-hander, according to Armstrong.
- Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd is going through the process of finding a replacement in case De La Rosa leaves. Jon Garland, who is looking for a multi-year deal, is one of the team’s targets, O’Dowd confirmed.
- The Rockies agreed to sign Matt Daley to a contract that will pay the right-hander $422K in the majors and $236K in the minors, according to Renck. Daley, who is not yet arbitration eligible, posted a 4.24 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 28 relief appearances last year.
Bryan Bullington To Sign With Hiroshima Carp
The Royals announced that they have released Bryan Bullington so he can sign with the Hiroshima Carp. Kansas City designated the former first overall pick for assignment over the weekend.
The Pirates selected the right-hander first overall in the 2002 draft, but he has not produced at the major league level. Now 30, Bullington has a 5.62 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 81 2/3 innings for the Pirates, Royals, Indians and Blue Jays.
In 102 innings at Triple-A Omaha last year, Bullington showed some of the promise that the Pirates saw earlier in the decade. He posted a 2.82 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, allowing just eight homers.
Rangers Will Discuss Extension With Hamilton
Rangers GM Jon Daniels says the club has already had internal discussions about extending Josh Hamilton and, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas, the team will contact Hamilton's agent to discuss a long term deal this offseason. Hamilton, who was named AL MVP yesterday, says he intends to stay out of the negotiations.
Even before he won the MVP award, Hamilton was in position to command a substantial raise. He earned $3.25MM in 2010, his first time as an arbitration eligible player. The 29-year-old is still two years away from free agency, but 32% of MLBTR readers said they would not offer him an extension in a recent poll.
NL MVP Joey Votto will discuss a long-term deal with the Reds, Hamilton's former team.
Mets Rumors: Jeter, Lee, Alderson
Now that the Mets have hired a GM and a manager, they're set to begin a quiet offseason. Here are some details on their winter plans:
- In case there was any doubt remaining, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News makes things clear: there is "absolutely no way" Derek Jeter becomes a Met, according to a source with direct knowledge of the team's thinking.
- As Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog notes, GM Sandy Alderson repeated on WFAN that the Mets won't be pursuing "top end" free agents like Cliff Lee this offseason.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that Alderson risked shortening his own honeymoon period when he chose Terry Collins as manager.
Giants Focused On Finding A Shortstop
Now that the Giants have re-signed Aubrey Huff, they are focusing on finding a shortstop, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. They have serious interest in re-signing Juan Uribe, but GM Brian Sabean will also consider trades.
The Giants really wants Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew, according to Schulman, who reports that Arizona GM Kevin Towers will not deal him. Alternatively, Jose Reyes, Jason Bartlett and Marco Scutaro could become trade targets or the Giants could ask Emmanuel Burriss to take on a bigger role.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman guaranteed to Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record that Derek Jeter’s representatives have called “every club out there.” Negotiations between Jeter and the Yankees appear to be souring, but it still seems unlikely that the shortstop would leave the Bronx or that a team like the Giants would match the Yankees $45MM offer.
Rosenthal On Lee, Konerko, Huff, Burrell, Hudson
The Yankees’ “lack of tact” in their negotiations with Derek Jeter isn’t helping them, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Here are Rosenthal's latest updates on the Yankees and other teams around the league:
- Even Cliff Lee’s representatives would be surprised if the left-hander received a seven-year offer like C.C. Sabathia did.
- The Rangers were in on Victor Martinez “big,” according to Rosenthal.
- The Rangers are talking to Vladimir Guerrero and showing interest in Paul Konerko. The White Sox offered the first baseman arbitration, so it will cost a top pick to sign him.
- The Dodgers showed serious interest in Aubrey Huff before he re-signed with the Giants, according to Rosenthal.
- The Phillies discussed the idea of bringing Pat Burrell back to Philadelphia, but decided against it.
- Type B free agent Orlando Hudson almost certainly agreed in advance to reject the Twins’ offer of arbitration, Rosenthal says. The Twins agreed not to offer the second baseman arbitration if he was a Type A free agent, so Hudson may have agreed not to accept if he ended up a Type B.
- The Marlins have between $3-8MM to spend, depending on which one of Rosenthal’s sources you ask.
- Eric Hinske is close to deciding between the Braves and Brewers, who have both offered him contracts.
Orioles Notes: Martinez, Randolph, Nishioka
The Orioles declined to offer arbitration to Kevin Millwood or Koji Uehara tonight. Here are the other hot stove-related items about the O's:
- President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail tells Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that he's "disappointed" to have missed out on Victor Martinez. The Orioles made Martinez a four-year $48MM offer at the general manager meetings in Orlando last week and were not given the chance to raise their offer, according to Zrebiec. MacPhail says the O's are now "looking at other options."
- The Orioles agreed to sign former Mets manager Willie Randolph to be Buck Showalter's bench coach, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
- The Orioles did not bid on Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, according to Connolly (on Twitter).