Mike Axisa | MLB Trade Rumors

Twins Avoid Arbitration With Alexi Casilla

By Mike Axisa | January 16, 2011 at 1:30pm CDT

The Twins and Alexi Casilla have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $865K, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman. It was his first time eligible for arbitration.

Casilla, 26, missed almost two months of the 2010 season after having surgery to remove bone spurs from his throwing elbow. When he was on the field, he hit .276/.331/.395 in 170 plate appearances, a nice rebound from a .202/.280/.259 effort in 2009. The departures of J.J. Hardy, Orlando Hudson, and Brendan Harris have created an opening for Casilla to get regular playing at one of the middle infield spots. New pick-up Tsuyoshi Nishioka will handle the other spot.

MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows that the Twins still have five players eligible for arbitration: Matt Capps, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, Delmon Young, and Francisco Liriano.

Quick Hits: Carpenter, Martin, Francis, Yankees

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 10:26pm CDT

Eighteen years ago today, the Angels traded Lee Stevens to the Expos for minor leaguer Jeff Tuss, but Tuss refused to report to his new team. Keith Morrison, another minor leaguer, was included in the deal instead, and Tuss never played affiliated baseball again.

Here are today's batch of links…

Chris Carpenter told MLB.com's Matthew Leach that he's not worried about his future with the Cardinals. The right-hander is under contract for 2011 with a $15MM club option for 2012, but an extension for Albert Pujols might push the 35-year-old Carpenter out of town if the team needs to shed payroll.
Richard Griffin of The Toronto Star reports that the Blue Jays offered Russell Martin the same amount of money as the Yankees, but the catcher signed with New York because of a better opportunity to win (Twitter link). Shi Davidi of The Canadian Press tweets that the Jays wanted Martin to catch four times a week as well as play another position.
Jeff Francis said the Blue Jays did not show any interest in him before he joined the Royals according to Davidi on Twitter. Francis grew up in Canada, but nowhere close to Toronto.
Chad Jennings of the The Journal News takes a look at the Yankees' multiyear relief contract from the last decade.
Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that Cardinals GM John Mozeliak has pledged to keep negotiations about a contract extension with Albert Pujols private.
The Rangers offered Jim Thome more than $4MM before he decided to sign with the Twins for $3MM, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). We knew that Thome turned down more money from Texas, but now we know how much.
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts told fans that he has confidence in GM Jim Hendry at today's Cubs Convention according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat (on Twitter).
Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer says this winter's market for free agent relievers has been wonderful for Ryan Madson. The Phillies' setup man is due to become a free agent next offseason after his three-year, $12MM contract expires.

Rockies Sign Two To Minor League Contracts

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 9:52pm CDT

The Rockies have signed right-hander Jim Miller and left-hander Josh Muecke to minor league contracts, reports Jack Etkin of Inside The Rockies. It is unclear if either will receive an invite to Spring Training.

Miller, 28, was Colorado's eighth round pick in 2004, though the Rockies traded him to the Orioles for Rodrigo Lopez before the 2007 season. He made his big league debut with the O's in 2008, allowing just one earned run in 7 2/3 innings. Miller has yet to return to the show and posted a 4.84 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 57 2/3 relief innings for Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate this past season.

Muecke, 29, spent the 2010 season with the Rockies' Triple-A affiliate. He posted a 5.94 ERA in 119 2/3 innings (22 starts, three relief appearances), striking out 6.1 and walking 3.2 batters per nine innings, respectively. He was Houston's fifth round pick way back in 2003.

This Date In Transactions History: January 15th

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 8:52pm CDT

January 15th has been a surprisingly busy day for transactions throughout baseball history, particularly when it comes to trades involving big name players. We already told you about the Lee Stevens deal, but let’s take a look at a few more…

Two years ago today the Dodgers released Andruw Jones after he agreed to restructure his contract. Jones hit just .158/.256/.249 during the first year of the two-year, $36.2MM contract he signed with LA.
Eight years ago today the Expos traded Bartolo Colon and a minor leaguer to the White Sox for Rocky Biddle, Orlando Hernandez, Jeff Liefer, and cash. The deal came less than eight months after Montreal traded Stevens, Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, and Grady Sizemore to Cleveland for Colon and the other Drew brother, Tim.
That trade took place immediately after the White Sox acquired El Duque from the Yankees for Antonio Osuna and a minor leaguer.
One year before the Colon swap, the Dodgers sent Gary Sheffield to the Braves for Brian Jordan, Odalis Perez, and Andrew Brown. Perez had some nice seasons in Los Angeles, but Sheffield was a monster for the Braves. He hit .319/.412/.562 with 64 homers in his two years with the team.
The Tigers signed Cecil Fielder on this date in 1990. Prince’s father had spent the previous two seasons in Japan, and he came back to MLB with a 51 homer season in 1990 followed by a 44 homer season in 1991.
The Reds purchased Wally Pipp from the Yankees for $7,500 on this date way back in 1926. Pipp is most famous for being held out of a game in 1925, with his replacement at first base being a 21-year-old rookie named Lou Gehrig. Pipp never got his job back.
Some other players involved in transactions on this date: Mike Redmond, David Eckstein, John Mabry, Jose Molina, Tim Raines, Juan Uribe, and the late Rod Beck.

Poll: Who Will The Rays Sign To DH?

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 7:29pm CDT

The Rays have been rebuilding their bullpen on the fly this offseason, but they're also in the market for a DH. Just yesterday we heard that the team seems to prefer Vladimir Guerrero to Manny Ramirez, though R.J. Anderson at The Process Report wonders why. Unless Scott Boras is asking for a king's ransom, he explains that Manny is the better option. Tampa has also been connected to Johnny Damon and Andruw Jones recently, two more DH options.

Jim Thome just took a $3MM guarantee from the Twins, which probably sets the market for the remaining DH's. That should fit nicely into the Rays' budget, who have some Matt Garza money left to spend. Some of that has since gone to Kyle Farnsworth though. Our Free Agent Tracker shows that Troy Glaus, Jason Giambi, and Russell Branyan are three more DH options available via free agency.

Who will the Rays sign to DH?

Vladimir Guerrero 44.50% (3,648 votes)

Manny Ramirez 18.68% (1,531 votes)

Johnny Damon 13.34% (1,094 votes)

Russell Branyan 7.56% (620 votes)

Troy Glaus 5.22% (428 votes)

Jason Giambi 4.26% (349 votes)

Someone not listed 3.61% (296 votes)

Andruw Jones 2.83% (232 votes)

Total Votes: 8,198

Athletics Avoid Arbitration With Brad Ziegler

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 6:49pm CDT

The Athletics and Brad Ziegler have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $1.25MM, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (on Twitter). The reliever was eligible for arbitration for the first time.

Ziegler, 31, pitched to a 3.26 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 60 2/3 innings last season. He famously started his career with a 39 1/3 inning scoreless streak, and in his three big league seasons he's limited right-handers to just a .230/.281/.284 batting line compared to .312/.419/.483 for lefties.

Oakland still has five unsigned players up for arbitration according to our Arb Tracker: Conor Jackson, Craig Breslow, Dallas Braden, Josh Willingham, and Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Royals To Sign Bruce Chen

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 5:14pm CDT

The Royals and Bruce Chen have agreed to a one-year contract worth $2MM with another $1.5MM in performance bonuses according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter). The deal is pending a physical per a team press release. Chen is represented by Scott Boras.

The 33-year-old is the second free agent lefty Kansas City has signed in as many days. Unlike Jeff Francis, Chen spent the 2010 season with the Royals, pitching to a 4.17 ERA in 140 1/3 innings. He struck out 6.3 and walked 3.7 batters per nine innings pitched, respectively. It was the second most innings Chen has pitched in a single big league season since 2001, as he's bounced around from team to team over the last decade.

Chen has extensive experience both starting and relieving, so he'll provide the Royals with quite a bit of flexibility should some of the high-end arms from their top ranking farm system come up during the season. He'll also be a nice piece of trade bait at the deadline should he repeat last season's success.

GM Dayton Moore recently indicated that he was prioritizing pitching depth, and within five days he signed both Chen and Francis for just a $4MM guarantee combined. Those two won't replace Zack Greinke's production, but they'll give the team much needed innings.

Blue Jays Avoid Arbitration With Carlos Villanueva

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 5:11pm CDT

The Blue Jays and Carlos Villanueva have agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.415MM according to SI.com's Jon Heyman. Villanueva was arbitration-eligible for the second time.

Toronto acquired the 27-year-old right-hander from the Brewers in December for a player to be named later. Villanueva pitched to 4.61 ERA with 11.4 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 52 2/3 relief innings last season, though he's surrendering one long ball for fewer than every seven innings pitched in his relatively young career. Last season was his first as a full-time reliever.

The Blue Jays still have seven players still eligible for arbitration according to our Arb Tracker. The list includes Yunel Escobar, Jesse Litsch, Brandon Morrow, Casey Janssen, Shawn Camp, Rajai Davis, and Jose Bautista.

Cardinals Avoid Arbitration With Kyle McClellan

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 1:00pm CDT

The Cardinals and reliever Kyle McClellan have agreed to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration according to the team's Twitter feed. The deal is worth $1.375MM, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. With the right-hander's contract taken care of, the Cardinals have no more arbitration eligible players for 2011.

Last season McClellan, 26, turned in a career-best 2.27 ERA last season with 7.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 75.1 innings of work. This winter marked McClellan's first crack at arbitration eligibility. To keep up on all of the 2011 arbitration cases, check out our Arb Tracker.

Cashman Has “Full Backing” Of Steinbrenners

By Mike Axisa | January 15, 2011 at 12:20pm CDT

Not long after the Yankees agreed to sign Rafael Soriano, we heard that the deal was driven more by ownership and not by GM Brian Cashman and his baseball operations staff. SI.com's Jon Heyman reports today that Cashman still has the "full backing" of the Steinbrenner family, a report echoed by ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter links). Heyman adds (via Twitter) that while Cashman preferred to keep the team's first round draft choice, he made no attempt to "body block" the deal with Soriano and relented because he's a "team man."

Bill Madden and Roger Rubin of The New York Daily News reported this morning that ownership was "bothered by Cashman's blueprint," specifically with regards to Joba Chamberlain opening the season as Mariano Rivera's primary setup man. Soriano addresses that issue and then some, and the team is said to be willing to move Chamberlain in a package for a "viable starter."

Cashman has been the Yankees' GM since 1998, though he is not under contract beyond the 2011 season. His last three contracts have all been for three guaranteed years according to Cot's.

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