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2012 Vesting Options Update

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Bobby Abreu's $9MM option for next season vested last weekend, so let's look around the league to see where some other players with vesting options stand…

  • Rafael Furcal, Cardinals: $12MM option vests with 600 plate appearances. Injuries have limited Furcal to just 179 plate appearances this year, so this one won't be vesting.
  • Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM option vests with 190 innings pitched. Garland is unlikely to pitch the rest of the season due to a shoulder issue, and he's only thrown 54 innings. The Dodgers won't have to worry about this one.
  • Koji Uehara, Rangers: $4MM option vests with either 55 appearances or 25 games finished. Uehara has appeared in 46 games and finished 20, putting him on pace for 67 and 29, respectively.
  • Arthur Rhodes, Rangers: $4MM option vests with 62 appearances and if he's not on the disabled list at the end of the season. Rhodes made 32 appearances with the Rangers before being designated for assignment earlier this week. Even if another team picks him up in short order, he's still unlikely to appear in enough games for the option to kick in. 
  • Joakim Soria, Royals: $6MM option vests with 55 appearances. With 47 appearances already to his credit, Soria is on pace to pitch in 68 games this year.
  • Dan Wheeler, Red Sox: $3MM option vests with 65 games; increases to $3.25MM with 70 games. Wheeler has appeared in 34 games this year with a disabled list stint mixed in. He'd have to appear in 31 of the team's final 51 games for the option to vest, which seems unlikely.

Francisco Rodriguez agreed to waive his vesting option in exchange for additional compensation following the trade that sent him to the Brewers. He would have been guaranteed a $17.5MM salary for next season had he finished 55 games this year and been declared healthy by doctors. 

Adam Wainwright's 2012 ($9MM) and 2013 ($12MM) options will not vest because he will finish the season on the disabled list after having Tommy John surgery. Aramis Ramirez's option depends on MVP Award finishes and whether or not he's traded, not plate appearances or another counting milestone.

Dodgers Links: Kuroda, Bankruptcy

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The Dodgers will send Chad Billingsley to the mound against the Diamondbacks later tonight as they try to make some late-season noise in the NL West. Here's the latest from Dodgerland…

  • Hiroki Kuroda told Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times that he wants to win the World Series with the Dodgers, which is why he was unwilling to waive his no-trade before the deadline. "I wanted that feeling [of wanting to win] to remain important to me," said Kuroda. "I think your self-identity is defined by certain decisions you make. If you go back on them, you lose a sense of who you are."
  • Meanwhile, Steve Dilbeck of The Los Angeles Times says he doesn't expect Kuroda to re-sign with the Dodgers after the season. He believes the right-hander will return to Japan to pitch for the Hiroshima Carp again, where he was their "greatest, most beloved player."
  • Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times reports that the Dodgers and MLB have submitted a $150MM loan agreement to the U.S. Bankruptcy court, under which the league would loan the team the money it needs for the rest of the season at 7% interet. MLB will not be able to seize the Dodgers if they default. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross ordered the two sides to negotiate a loan geared towards saving the team money on interest last month.

Marlins Interested In Long-Term Deal With Stanton

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Marlins' slugger Mike Stanton won't be a free agent until after the 2016 season, but that hasn't stopped the team from thinking about signing him long-term. Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post reports that clubs is having "preliminary internal talks" about a long-term deal for the 21-year-old, though they haven't come up with specifics and probably won't make an offer until next year.

Stanton leads the Marlins with 25 home runs this season, and since his debut last June, he's hit .259/.328/.518 with 47 homers. Only Jose Bautista (69), Mark Teixeira (56), Albert Pujols (53), and Curtis Granderson (49) have gone deep more times since Stanton reached the big leagues. He's hitting .259/.330/.528 this year, and UZR approves of his defense in right (+10.3 UZR).

The Marlins won't have to worry about Stanton getting expensive anytime soon; he'll earn $417K this year and won't be eligible for arbitration until after the 2013 season. As our Agency Database shows, Stanton is represented by the Wasserman Media Group, which has negotiated long-term deals for Chase Utley and Wandy Rodriguez in recent years. 

Giants Release Jose Casilla

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The Giants have released Jose Casilla according to Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links). The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Waldis Joaquin, who could have opted out of his minor league contract had he not been added to the roster.

Casilla, 22, is the brother of Giants reliever Santiago Casilla. He had a 9.49 ERA in 12 1/3 innings for San Francisco's Single-A affiliate, and Schulman notes that he is recovering from Tommy John surgery. The team could opt to re-sign him to a minor league contract.

Joaquin, 24, has pitched to a 3.79 ERA in 35 2/3 relief innings for the Giants' Triple-A club, though he's walked nearly as many batters as he's struck out (18 to 17). He's made appearances for the Giants in each of the last two seasons, allowing 11 runs in 15 1/3 innings. 

Orioles Designate Brandon Erbe For Assignment

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The Orioles have designated Brandon Erbe for assignment, reports Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Cesar Izturis, who was activated off the 60-day DL. Zach Britton was placed on the 15-day DL with a shoulder strain as well.

Erbe, 23, was ranked as the Orioles 27th best prospect before the season by Baseball America. He gave up four runs in 4 1/3 minor league innings this season after coming back for an August 2010 surgery to repair a torn labrum. Erbe owns a 4.45 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 580 minor league innings, though he has never reached the big leagues.

Minor Moves: Chad Gaudin, Brett Carroll

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Let's keep track of the day's minor transactions here…

  • The Blue Jays have signed Chad Gaudin according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Gaudin, 28, was released by the Nationals two weeks ago after pitching to a 3.52 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 15 1/3 innings during a minor league rehab stint. He allowed ten runs in 8 1/3 innings for Washington earlier this season.
  • The Red Sox have signed Brett Carroll, two days after he elected free agency after the Brewers designated him for assignment. The 28-year-old outfielder is listed on the roster of Boston's Triple-A affiliate. Carroll hit .281/.356/.469 in 381 plate appearances for Milwaukee's Triple-A club.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pence, Ubaldo, Rangers

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Five years ago today, the Rangers walked Vladimir Guerrero four times in five plate appearances in their 10-3 win over the Angels. Three of the walks were intentional, and the game ended Guerrero's 44-game hitting streak against Texas. That was every game he'd played against them in his career up to that point. Vlad is a .318/.380/.556 career hitter, but he has hit .395/.461/.661 in 108 career games against the Rangers.

Here is this week's batch of post-trade deadline links…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.

Draft Signings: Red Sox, Rays, Royals

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Now that the trade deadline is behind us, the next big event is the draft signing deadline on August 15th. We'll keep track of any draft signings here…

  • The Cubs have signed ninth rounder Garrett Schecht for an above-slot $235K, reports Callis on Twitter. The high school outfielder from Illinois received the largest bonus in the ninth round so far.
  • The Red Sox have signed third rounder Jordan Weems according to Baseball America's Jim Callis (on Twitter). Weems, a catcher from a Georgia high school, received a $500K bonus. MLB.com's slot recommendation was $275K.
  • Callis tweets that the Rays have signed fourth rounder Riccio Torrez for $180K, just above MLB's slot recommendation of $169K. Torrez is a third baseman from Arizona State.
  • The Royals have signed their second-round pick, catcher Cameron Gallagher, according to a team press release. Callis says (on Twitter) he received a $750K signing bonus, well above MLB's slot recommendation of $563K.  The club has now signed 26 of their 50 selections in this year's draft.

Minor Moves: Flores, Stokes, Ward, Carson

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Let's keep track of the day's minor moves here…

  • The Yankees will release Triple-A left-hander Randy Flores tomorrow according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Both sides agreed to the move. Flores pitched to a 2.54 ERA in 28 1/3 innings for New York's top minor league affiliate, but he gave up 14 hits in 14 innings against lefties.
  • The Diamondbacks have signed Brian Stokes and assigned him to Triple-A Reno according to the team's Twitter feed. The righty reliever spent last season with the Angels organization, throwing 16 2/3 innings in the majors and 17 2/3 innings in the minors.
  • The D'Backs also signed infielder Daryle Ward according to the club's Twitter feed. The 36-year-old had been playing with the independent Newark Bears, and he hasn't appeared in the big leagues since 2008. He's headed to Double-A Mobile.
  • The Rays have acquired Matt Carson from the Athletics according to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League transactions page. The 30-year-old outfielder hit .285/.338/.538 with 19 homers and 11 stolen bases in exactly 400 plate appearances for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate this season. He's seen time with the A's in each of the last two seasons, posting a .200/.210/.370 batting line with five homers in 105 plate appearances from 2009-2010.
  • The Astros have released right-hander Brad Hennessey according to Zachary Levine of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The 31-year-old pitched to a 7.76 ERA in 26 2/3 innings for Houston's Triple-A affiliate,

Bell Will Accept Arbitration Offer If No Extension

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8:38pm: Padres owner Jeff Moorad told XX1090 sports radio that they don't mind if Bell accepts arbitration after the season. "In some ways [it's] even preferable from our point of view … We certainly don’t mind going to year-to-year, though we are willing to guarantee a couple of years with him." 

Dan Hayes of The North County Times passed along Moorad's quotes (Twitter links).

7:49pm: The Padres did not move closer Heath Bell prior to yesterday's trade deadline, instead keeping the right-hander with hopes of signing him to an extension or getting two draft picks after the season. The latter will not be possible though, Bell told Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribune that he intends to accept arbitration after the season if the two sides have not worked out a contract extension…

"If I don't have a multi-year deal and they offer me arbitration, I will accept arbitration," said Bell. "My wife and I talked about all the scenarios last night … There is no downside to me accepting arbitration and the family staying in San Diego for at least another year. My kids love it here. My family is happy here. And I'm in a position where I can make some decisions right now … The ball is in my court. I want to stay in San Diego. And I want to win here."

Bell, 34 in September, has indicated a willingness to take a discount to stay in San Diego long-term. He comfortably projects to be a Type-A free agent, but with a $7.5MM salary this season, an arbitration award could push his 2012 earnings north of $10MM. Here's what the right-hander said about terms of a potential contract extension…

"I'd like to get a three-year contract with the Padres," said Bell. "But I think I'm in position to come back no matter what … If they offered me three years at $27 million, we'd talk. If they offered me three years at $30 million, I would really have to consider it. Maybe I could get an All-Star bonus. I'd like that."

Center says the team is willing to discuss a two-year contract with an option for a third year. Bell is still highly effective, pitching to a 2.28 ERA and 30 saves in 32 chances, but it's worth nothing that his strikeout rate has plunged more than four full strikeouts per nine innings this season (from 11.1 to 6.9), and left-handed batters have handled him well. A three-year contract would take him through age 37.

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