White Sox Acquire Alex Rios
According to the New York Times' Tyler Kepner (via Twitter), the White Sox have acquired Alex Rios from the Blue Jays. It's a straight waiver claim, so the Blue Jays will receive nothing in return. Says Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi:
"This allows us to get out from under a contract and do more to address our club."
Check out Ken Fidlin's article from the Toronto Sun for more Ricciardi quotes on the move.
The 28-year-old Rios is due roughly $60MM more on the seven-year contract he signed last April, which will take him through the 2014 season with a club option for 2015. Rios is hitting .264/.317/.424 in 479 plate appearances for the Jays this season. With the Jake Peavy acquisition already in the books, that means White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has taken on more than $100MM in future contracts for the Sox.
To lose Rios' fat contract is a major relief for the re-building Blue Jays, while the Sox add a relatively stable long-term piece to their outfield. This could also potentially spell the end for Jermaine Dye as a member of the Sox, as he has a mutual option after this season and it's not clear how he'd fit into the picture. If he is retained, Rios could potentially play center field.
Orioles Ink Freddy Guzman
According to the Minor League Baseball transactions feed, the Orioles signed free agent OF Freddy Guzman and assigned him to AAA Norfolk. The 28-year-old Guzman last appeared in the majors in '07 for the Rangers. He'll provide some minor-league depth.
Odds & Ends: A’s, Yankees, Brewers
Some links to peruse with your Sunday brunch:
- The A's are apparently in the process of finalizing a five-year naming rights contract with Verizon for Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, say Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross at the San Francisco Chronicle. Ownership could come into a lot of cash that way.
- John Harper at the New York Daily News believes the Yanks' handling of the Red Sox this weekend means Yankees GM Brian Cashman has outmaneuvered Theo Epstein.
- The Brewers have signed their fifth-round pick, D'Vontrey Richardson, but terms haven't been disclosed just yet, says Tom Haudricourt at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
- Phil Rogers at the Baltimore Sun believes that the Indians' and Pirates' firesales "raise competitiveness issues."
- Dan Novick at the Hardball Times asks the $64,000 question: "Why should I care about Alex Rios?"
Red Sox Put In Claim On Guzman?
With the recent injury to Jed Lowrie, the Red Sox have accelerated their search for a big-league shortstop. That search has led them to claim Cristian Guzman from the Nationals, says Nick Cafardo at the Boston Globe. The Nationals can either allow Guzman to be claimed, pull him back from waivers, or try to work out a deal in the next 48 hours.
Guzman is in the first year of a two-year, $16MM contract, and the Sox would likely be on the hook for his prorated salary this year and $8MM next year. The 31-year-old Guzman is batting .315/.333/.437 this year. If the Sox are awarded the claim, which has not been confirmed, this means he has likely been passed on by all of the NL and a significant portion of the AL, or that the Sox were awarded the claim over the other claiming team(s).
Pirates Sign Sixth-Rounder For $1.2MM
The Pirates continue to pony up quite a bit of cash into the draft in their efforts to rebuild: According to John Perrotto at Pirates Report, they signed their sixth-round pick, Zach Von Rosenberg, for a bonus of $1.2MM. Rosenberg, a 6-5 high-school righty, had a scholarship to Louisiana State.
It's another move in which the Pirates paid significantly more than the recommended slot bonus for their draft choice, as they gave $1.125MM to their eighth-round pick Colton Cain and $600k to their fourth-rounder Zack Dodson. They're a team on a mission. Dejan Kovacevic at the Pittsburth Post-Gazette projects that Von Rosenberg would immediately jump to the top 10 of the Pirates' farm system.
One-Year Gambles
Earlier today, Ray Ratto at the San Francisco Chronicle decried Billy Beane's propensity to sign aging former stars to one-year deals, citing the recent release of Jason Giambi as another failed experiment:
"The final point here is that Beane is finally going to have to make his next stand without the benefit of 35-plus hope-and-a-prayer guys whose only benefit is that they're available. It's a short-stack strategy whose failures far exceed all the benefits of the one time it worked."
With many players facing team budget crunches, there were no shortage of these types of deals this past offseason. Using Ratto's criteria of "35-plus hope-and-a-prayer guys," let's check out the performances of some of this past year's veteran one-year gambles, sticking specifically to hitters and starters who once flashed star-level success at the big league level, and deals with guaranteed major-league money:
HITTERS
- Jason Giambi – .193/.332/.365 in 328 plate appearances. Signed one-year, $5.25MM contract with club option for 2010 with A's. Released this week.
- Ken Griffey Jr. – .222/.322/.401 in 334 PA. Signed one-year, $2MM contract with Mariners.
- Bobby Abreu – .320/.416/.456 in 445 PA. Signed one-year, $5MM with Angels.
- Ivan Rodriguez – .245/.274/.384 in 318 PA. Signed one-year, $1.5MM with Astros.
- Nomar Garciaparra – .265/.300/.372 in 120 PA. Signed one-year, $1MM with A's.
- Garret Anderson – .289/.320/.435 in 338 PA. Signed one-year, $2.5MM with Braves.
- Cliff Floyd – .125/.176./.125 in 17 PA. Signed one-year, $750k with Padres.
- Jason Varitek – .225/.333/.432 in 336 PA. Signed one-year, $5MM with Red Sox.
- Orlando Cabrera – .289/.326/.384 in 476 PA. Signed one-year, $4MM with A's, now with the Twins.
STARTING PITCHERS
- Bartolo Colon – 4.19 ERA, 38/21 K/BB ratio in 62.1 innings. Signed one-year, $1MM deal with White Sox.
- John Smoltz – 8.32 ERA, 33/9 K/BB ratio in 40 innings, DFA'd this week. Signed one-year, $5.5MM-guaranteed deal with Red Sox.
- Mike Hampton – 5.19 ERA, 71/44 K/BB ratio in 105 innings. Signed one-year, $2MM with Astros.
- Tom Glavine – Did not play. Signed one-year, $1MM deal with Braves.
- Randy Johnson – 4.81 ERA, 80/31 K/BB ratio in 91.2 innings. Signed one-year, $8MM with Giants.
Hampton has had his moments and Anderson, Varitek and Cabrera have been passable, but it looks like the only real win from this group was Bobby Abreu, and he was probably less of a "gamble" in the sense that he had a fairly clean bill of health and success up to his signing. Gambling on veteran stars has been like playing roulette for many teams this season. Let me know if you think I missed anyone notable in the comments and we'll add them to the list.
Odds & Ends: Yankees, Giambi, Smoltz
On this day last year, Brian Giles invoked his no-trade clause in a deal that would have sent him to Boston. Some links:
- Robinson Cano, Brian Bruney, Mark Melancon and David Robertson have all cleared waivers for the Yankees, says George A. King III at the New York Post, and quite a few more names are going through waivers now, including A.J. Burnett and Melky Cabrera. Keep checking out our updated Players Who Have Cleared Waivers post as August progresses.
- Vicente Padilla is "disappointed" in having being designated for assignment and being called a "bad teammate," says T.R. Sullivan at MLB.com, and he wants to pitch again.
- According to George A. King III at the New York Post, the Yankees have no interest in bringing back Jason Giambi, who was released by the A's this week.
- Yahoo Sports' Gordon Edes writes that the failed John Smoltz gamble by the Red Sox proves just how deep the gap is between small and large-market teams.
- Ray Ratto at the San Francisco Chronicle believes that the failed Jason Giambi gamble proves that GM Billy Beane shouldn't continue with one-year deals for older veterans.
Mets Acquire Jason Dubois
According to Rick Brown at the Des Moines Register, the Mets acquired outfielder Jason Dubois from the Cubs last night for cash considerations. Dubois, 30, hasn't played in the majors since 2005, but has put up a solid .302/.390/.502 line for AAA Iowa this year. He could find time from the big-league bench with the Mets' injury issues.
Rays DFA Michel Hernandez
According to Marc Topkin at the St. Petersburg Times, the Rays have designated backup catcher Michel Hernandez for assignment. He'll make room for the newly-acquired Gregg Zaun. The 30-year-old Hernandez put up a .242/.292/.343 line in 107 plate appearances for the Rays this year.
Odds & Ends: White Sox, Rolen, Halladay
Some late-night links to peruse as we wonder how the Phillies can fit in both Pedro Martinez and J.A. Happ into their pitching staff:
- The Red Sox signed 11th-round pick, high school SS Jason Thompson, to a deal worth $300k, says Jim Callis at Baseball America.
- Evan Brunell at the Hardball Times defends the rationale behind the widely-panned Scott Rolen trade.
- Scot Gregor at the Daily Herald wonders if any of the three recently-defected Cuban talents might land on the White Sox. They all share the same agent, Jaime Torres, as current Sox Dayan Viciedo, Jose Contreras and Alexei Ramirez.
- Joe Cowley at the Chicago Sun-Times posits the question: Do the White Sox keep Scott Podsednik for another year or go after Chone Figgins as their speedy lead-off man for 2010?
- Craig Calcaterra at the Hardball Times questions whether J.P. Ricciardi actually "botched" the Roy Halladay negotiations, as he has been criticized for doing.