Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Orioles Finalists For Arroyo
2:55pm: Arroyo may have a clearer picture of where he's going to land by the end of the day today, a baseball source tells ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).
FRIDAY, 12:44pm: Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio tweets that Arroyo will end up signing with either the Dodgers or the Diamondbacks.
THURSDAY: Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that Arroyo's camp has lowered the asking price to the two-year, $22MM range, and the Orioles and Diamondbacks are "definitely pushing" for the veteran righty.
WEDNESDAY, 9:32pm: The D'Backs are "very serious" about signing Arroyo and are planning to meet with him, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets.
2:11pm: The Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Orioles are the three finalists to land free agent starter Bronson Arroyo, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Among those clubs, the Diamondbacks are "slight favorites" to lock up the soon-to-be 37-year-old.
We heard recently that Arroyo had yet to receive a firm offer, but reported interest has never waned in the durable righty. Another recent report suggested that Arroyo has continued to ask clubs for a third guaranteed year. Arizona, a newer entrant to the chase for Arroyo, is said to be interested in a two-year pact.
Rangers, Tommy Hanson Progressing Toward Deal
FRIDAY: The Rangers and Hanson are making progress on a deal, tweets Morosi.
THURSDAY: The Rangers are engaged in talks with free agent starter Tommy Hanson, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Morosi reported earlier today that Hanson had received multiple offers.
Hanson, 27, was non-tendered by the Angels just one year after being acquired from the Braves in exchange for Jordan Walden. The 6'6" righty has struggled over the last two years, posting a combined 4.76 ERA in 247 2/3 innings. But Hanson was quite productive over 2009-11, posting a 3.28 ERA in 460 1/3 innings. With just four years and 97 days of service time, any club signing Hanson would control him for at least one more season through arbitration.
Cardinals To Sign Pat Neshek
FRIDAY: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that Neshek will earn $1MM if he makes the big league club (Twitter link).
THURSDAY: The Cardinals have agreed to a minor league deal with right-handed reliever Pat Neshek, reports Keith Olbermann of ESPN.com (via Twitter) (hat tip to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). The 33-year-old gets a Spring Training invitation.
Neshek threw 40 1/3 innings last year for the Athletics, posting a 3.35 ERA. He elected free agency after the season, after accepting an outright assignment earlier in the year. The side-armer has been devastating against righties over his career, facing 555 batters and limiting them to a .181/.257/.315 mark. Opposite-handed hitters, however, have fared much better: in 326 plate appearances, lefties have put up a .237/.328/.432 mark against Neshek.
Mets Notes: Kiner, Drew, Hanrahan, Alderson, Wilpon
Longtime Mets broadcaster and Hall of Fame slugger Ralph Kiner passed away today at the age of 91. Kiner made his Major League debut with the Pirates in 1946 and proceeded to lead the Majors in home runs in each of his first seven Major League seasons. Injuries limited his outstanding career to just 10 seasons, but in that decade of work he batted .279/.398/.548 and belted 369 homers. Kiner joined the Mets broadcast team in its inaugural season of 1962 and continued working games until 2013. He went into the Hall as a Pirate in 1975.
MLBTR sends its condolonces to his family, friends and all of the people whose lives Kiner touched. Here is a look at some transactional news relating to the Mets …
- Stephen Drew's agent, Scott Boras, is seeking an opt-out clause after the first year of a deal, reports ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin. Though the Mets are willing to consider guaranteeing two or even three years to the free agent shortstop, says Rubin, they view the opt-out as a "deal-breaker."
- After watching Fernando Rodney sign with the Mariners, the Mets remain interested in adding a late-inning arm to their pen, reports Rubin. The team hopes it can land a solid option on a minor league deal, Rubin adds.
- The Mets are among the teams that will watch reliever Joel Hanrahan throw in a showcase tomorrow, GM Sandy Alderson said in an appearance today (as reported by Michael Baron of MetsBlog.) We heard earlier today that the Orioles could also be interested in Hanrahan, who figures to appeal to many clubs if he can prove his health.
- In an interview with ESPN.com's Keith Law (audio link), Alderson explained that the club has been prioritizing upside in its player acquisitions. The club has gone after high-ceiling high schoolers in the draft while employing what Alderson terms non-traditional methods of evaluation. Likewise, Alderson said, the team has gone against convention by pursuing relatively older players in the international market. The whole interview is well worth a listen for anyone interested in prospect acquisition and development.
- Meanwhile, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon spoke with Mike Lupica of ESPN New York 98.7 FM (audio link), telling him that he expects the club to be in the mix for a Wild Card this year. Wilpon explained that the club will stick with Alderson's long-term plan, but hopes to stay competitive without Matt Harvey by relying on the organization's wealth of young arms.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Minor Moves: Brian Bixler, Matt LaPorta
Here are the day's minor moves:
- Utilityman Brian Bixler has agreed to a minor league deal with the Phillies, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. The 31-year-old has seen time at the MLB level with the Pirates, Nationals, and Astros, but spent last season with the Mets' Triple-A affiliate. His career big league line is a modest .189/.249/.269 in 356 plate appearances, and he slashed .259/.323/.372 in 345 plate appearances in the upper minors last year. Bixler's calling card is versatility: he has played every field position but pitcher and catcher at the MLB level, and in fact appeared everywhere but the battery and at first during his 2013 stint at Las Vegas.
- The Orioles have signed 29-year-old outfielder Matt LaPorta to a minor league deal that does not include an invite to major league camp, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). LaPorta was the 7th overall pick of the 2007 draft and twice a Baseball America top-30 prospect, but has managed only a .238/.301/.393 line in 1,068 MLB plate appearances between 2009-12. With unfavorable defensive ratings, he graded out as a sub-replacement-level player for most of his time in the bigs. At Triple-A last year with the Indians organization, LaPorta slashed .238/.310/.476 with ten home runs in 185 plate appearances. LaPorta was the key piece in the deal that shipped C.C. Sabathia out of Cleveland, but became a minor league free agent this year.
- Checking in on the MLBTR DFA Tracker, three players sit in DFA limbo: Brett Wallace of the Astros and Emilio Bonifacio and Everett Teaford of the Royals.
Ryan Spilborghs To Retire
Longtime Rockies outfielder Ryan Spilborghs will retire, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post (via Twitter). The 34-year-old, who will join ROOT Sports as an analyst, wrote about his decision in a blog post.
Spilborghs spent time at all three outfield positions during parts of seven seasons in Colorado, playing an important reserve role in the club's 2007 and 2009 playoff runs. His career line stands at a sturdy .272/.345/.423 in 1,769 trips to the plate. In his best season at the plate, 2008, Spilborghs slashed .313/.407/.468 in 275 plate appearances.
After spending 2012 in the upper minors, Spilborghs headed to Japan last season. He saw 246 plate appearances for the Saitama Seibu Lions, slashing a disappointing .210/.283/.305.
Orioles Hope To Extend Hardy, Add Veteran Starter
In an appearance today on Baltimore's WBAL Radio, club executive VP Dan Duquette indicated that he was not troubled by failing to land closer Fernando Rodney, saying that the Mariners "liked him a little bit more than us." (Links via Twitter, courtesy of MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko.) Looking ahead, Duquette discussed some other moves the club hopes to make before the start of the season, saying that he hopes to reach an extension with shortstop J.J. Hardy and remains confident that the club will add a veteran starter to the rotation.
Regarding the veteran Hardy, Duquette said that the sides were "starting to work on" a new deal and hoped to put pen to paper before Opening Day. It had been reported previously that extension negotiations were expected to take place, as Hardy is entering the last year of his three-year, $22.25MM pact. The 31-year-old has been a sturdy performer for the Orioles, with excellent defense and a power bat leading to 11.2 rWAR and 10.3 fWAR over his three years in Baltimore. An extension for Hardy would likely mean that star youngster Manny Machado will remain at third for the foreseeable future.
On the starting pitching front, Baltimore has long been rumored to be amongst the clubs seeking to draw from the remaining pool of free agent rotation options. Though Duquette expressed confidence that the O's would indeed add a veteran arm, he noted that four or five other teams were interested in the same players. Most recently, Baltimore has been tabbed as one of the most likely landing spots for Bronson Arroyo as well as A.J. Burnett.
Free Agent Notes: Mariners, Cruz, Orioles, Relievers
The last major free agent closer domino fell today when Fernando Rodney signed with the Mariners. That deal carries implications for his new club and for other teams that had interest in his services. Here are the latest rumors on the free agent market …
- After inking Rodney, the Mariners are "all in" and are "cautiously optimistic" that they will land outfielder Nelson Cruz, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. We heard recently that Seattle was talking with Cruz and was willing to give him multiple years.
- Though they had interest, the Orioles never pursued Rodney that aggressively, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links). Connolly says that Baltimore never indicated a willingness to spend near the $14MM guarantee that Rodney will receive from Seattle. "They liked him a little bit more than us," executive VP Dan Duquette told WBAL Radio (via a tweet from MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko). Of course, the O's had a two-year, $15MM deal in place with Grant Balfour until the team blew up the deal over issues with his physical.
- With Rodney out of the picture, internal option Tommy Hunter appears to be the likeliest choice to close for Baltimore, notes Rich Dubroff of CSN Baltimore (via Twitter). Nevertheless, the Orioles have kept tabs on other late-inning relief options from the scratch-and-dent market. As Kubatko tweets, the club has shown interest in Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey as options to provide a mid-season boost. Both pitchers are coming off of surgeries, but offer plenty of upside. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes reported in early January that Hanrahan was preparing to audition in the spring, and also reported in December that Bailey has received significant interest, and expects to be ready by the middle of May.
- Of course, three other relievers also came off the board today, with Carlos Marmol and Chaz Roe signing with the Marlins and Pat Neshek going to the Cardinals.
- Now that Rodney has signed, it is clear that no reliever will beat Joe Nathan's guarantee of $20MM, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. That represents a notable shift, as every one of the last six signing seasons has featured a reliever deal with at least $25MM in guaranteed money. The changing market has not only opened the door for smaller-market clubs to ink top bullpen arms, Nicholson-Smith notes, but also creates an opportunity for teams to limit the earnings of their younger arms by preventing them from picking up saves and increasing their arbitration earnings. It is worth noting that this year's market featured an ample supply of excellent-but-aging closers, which could help explain why no single arm garnered a huge guarantee.
Orioles Avoid Arbitration With Matt Wieters
The Orioles have agreed to a one-year, $7.7MM deal to avoid arbitration with catcher Matt Wieters, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). The deal also includes award incentives, Heyman notes.
Wieters was one of the highest-profile arbitration cases remaining. He lands $200K short of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz's projection, but will earn just above the mid-point of the sides' filing figures ($8.75MM vs. $6.5MM). Of course, the one-year arrangement does not extend the club's control over its top backstop. With extension talks reportedly stuck in neutral, Wieters remains on track to hit free agency following the 2015 season.
Diamondbacks Avoid Arbitration With Mark Trumbo
The Diamondbacks have avoided arbitration with Mark Trumbo, settling on a one-year, $4.8MM deal, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports via Twitter. Trumbo's salary lands just north of the $4.7MM he was projected to earn by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Trumbo ($5.85MM) and the Diamondbacks ($3.4MM) had by far the largest relative split in filing numbers among cases involving a $4.5MM or greater player demand. Yet Arizona was able to bridge that gap with its prize off-season acquisition, giving the slugger a bit more than the $4.625MM midpoint between the sides' numbers. The 28-year-old will make a hefty salary for his first trip through arbitration, yet another reminder that home runs pay in that setting. (Trumbo has averaged over 30 long balls per year over his three full-time MLB seasons.)