Padres Sign Jon Garland
The Padres signed Jon Garland to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2011. Garland earns $4.7MM in 2010, plus another $600K if San Diego buys out his $6.75MM mutual option for 2011.
The 30-year-old Garland earned $7.25MM with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers last year, when he made 33 starts with a 4.01 ERA. Moving to Petco Park will certainly help boost his overall numbers. We heard that San Diego had about $5MM left to spend last week. The Padres wanted someone durable that would contribute innings and Garland definitely fits that criteria. He has made at least 32 starts and thrown at least 191.2 innings every year since 2002.
The Mets and Dodgers were two other teams recently connected to the righty.
MLB.com's Corey Brock first reported the agreement and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and Dan Hayes of the North County Times added details via Twitter.
Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.
Odds & Ends: Hudson, Turnbow, Delgado, Nady
Links for Tuesday…
- Orlando Hudson is "making progress on signing with a team," tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson, however Hudson declined to name the team. In separate tweet, Ladson says a source told him that the Nationals top Hudson's wish list.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that the Diamondbacks and Rockies are pursuing Derrick Turnbow, who could sign soon.
- MLBTR's resident translator Nick Collias passes along this report from Esteban Rivera of the Puerto Rican newspaper Primera Hora, in which Carlos Delgado says that the Mets, Orioles, and Royals "have seen him [play] on the island." Omar Minaya said there is still a mutual interest in bringing Delgado back to New York, tweets ESPN's Jorge Arangure
- The final offer Scott Boras presented the Yankees with for Xavier Nady was worth $5MM, tweets Joel Sherman of The New York Post. He adds that the Yanks would have considered him at the price he signed for today, and that they'll only do a minor league deal for Rocco Baldelli (via Twitter).
- Now that Ben Sheets has signed with the A's, Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com tweets that the Mets' next target appears to be John Smoltz. A source tells him they haven't aggressively pursued Jon Garland.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart mentions that the Astros and Wandy Rodriguez are set to go an arbitration hearing on February 17th. Wandy filed for $7MM, the team $5MM.
- Meanwhile, Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle breaks down the Astros' offseason in a video.
- Rick Ankiel said that the Nationals, Marlins, and Yankees were in it until the end, reports Doug Tucker of The Brownsville Herald.
- Cody Ross' arbitration hearing has been scheduled for February 15th, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. Ross is seeking a $4.45MM salary in 2010, but the Marlins are countering with $4.2MM.
- ESPN's Buster Olney wrote about baseball's internal discussions on how to fix the draft, including some notes about what was discussed at the recent general managers meeting (sub. req'd).
- In a mailbag, MLB.com's Kelly Thesier says the Twins payroll appears to be right around $90MM, and they don't seem willing to spend much more than that.
- Meanwhile, Lyle Spencer of MLB.com writes in his mailbag that the Angels "appear to have stretched the salary budget to its limit," so don't expect any more major moves.
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday lists what he thinks are the best run organizations in baseball (sub. req'd). There's 15 of them, however ten are from the AL while just five come from the NL.
- John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer looks at the list of remaining free agents, and sees only one fit for the Reds: Orlando Cabrera. He's probably too expensive for them at this point, however.
- MLB.com's Marty Noble says in a mailbag that he doesn't believe the Mets' current roster and the Opening Day roster will be the same, but he's not sure where the club can turn to improve.
Athletics Still Talking To Johnny Damon
4:45pm: Jeff Fletcher at AOL FanHouse says that Damon is unlikely to end up in Oakland. GM Billy Beane says a utility infielder is the priority now.
1:12pm: In a pair of tweets, ESPN's Buster Olney says that the A's and free agent Johnny Damon are still talking even after they signed Ben Sheets. Damon wouldn't get much money, but if Oakland offers anything more than the $2MM the Yankees are bidding, he might be best off taking it.
It was originally reported that Damon would be a Plan B for the A's, meaning they'd only turn to him if the Sheets well dried up. It's worth nothing that Damon benefited greatly from the New Yankee Stadium, posting a .915 OPS at home and a .795 OPS on the road in 2009. Moving to Oakland on a one-year deal might not be the best move if he's looking to boost his value for a potential payday after the 2010 season.
Cardinals Sign Rich Hill
The Cardinals have signed free agent lefty Rich Hill, and invited him to Spring Training according to the team's official Twitter feed. The Orioles non-tendered Hill after he posted a 7.80 ERA in 13 starts (and one relief appearance) last season, and he missed the second half after having surgery on his pitching shoulder.
The soon to be 30-year-old has been plagued by extreme control issues since the breakout 2007 season that saw him post a 3.92 ERA with a 8.4 K/9 in 32 starts for the Cubs. He's walked 111 batters in 141.1 innings since then, majors and minors.
Reds Have Interest In Cabrera, Amezaga
The Reds have some interest in free agents Orlando Cabrera and Alfredo Amezaga, reports John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer. The problem is that the team doesn't have much wiggle room financially.
“We’ve kicked it around a little bit,” (GM Walt) Jocketty said (of Cabrera). “We’re not sure it’s the right fit for us. And I don’t know if financially we’re in position to do it.”
“We’ve looked it a little bit,” Jocketty said (of Amezaga). “But he’s been hurt a lot. We have not talked to his agent at this point.”
The Nationals also expressed some interest in Cabrera, but we haven't heard about much interest in Amezaga. Jocketty also added that they have not talked to either Jermaine Dye or Gary Sheffield.
Yankees Acquire Greg Golson
The Yankees have acquired outfielder Greg Golson from the Rangers, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Texas will receive minor league infielder Mitch Hilligoss and cash considerations.
Texas designated Golson for assignment last week to make room on the 40-man roster for Khalil Greene. The 24-year-old righty hitter is a career .263/.308/.395 hitter with 140 stolen bases in the minors, though he hasn't had much success over A-ball. Hilligoss, 24, is a .275/.324/.352 career hitter and has yet to reach Double-A.
Phillies Claim Brian Bocock Off Waivers
The Phillies have claimed infielder Brian Bocock off waivers from the Blue Jays, tweets MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. Toronto just claimed Bocock off waivers from the Giants earlier this month.
Bocock, 25 in March, spent most of '09 in High A ball, where he hit .241/.303/.339. The speedy shortstop is hailed for his defense, according to Baseball America's '08 Handbook.
Note: an earlier version of this post contained incorrect information about the Phillies having higher priority than the Blue Jays for NL players. Only trade waivers are league-specific.
Two Teams Left In Edmonds Sweepstakes
There are only two teams left competing for the services of Jim Edmonds reports Rob Rains of The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and the Cardinals are not one of them. It's unknown what kind of salary either team is offering, or if they're even guaranteeing him a roster spot, but Rains says the Cards likely would have offered him just the league minimum.
The 39-year-old Edmonds first made waves about a possible comeback last week, and he was reportedly contacted by multiple clubs soon thereafter. The Yankees are said to be looking for an outfielder, however GM Brian Cashman said that they aren't interested in Edmonds at all.
Rockies Agree To Multi-Year Contracts With Street, Betancourt
MONDAY, 6:40pm: Troy Renck of the Denver Post has some updated incentive details on the Betancourt deal. He receives $50K for 40 games finished, another $50K at 45 and $100K at 50, 55 and 60 games finished.
TUESDAY, 12:50pm: The Rockies have agreed to multi-year contracts with righty relievers Huston Street and Rafael Betancourt, reports FoxSports.com's Tracy Ringolsby.
Street, who was arbitration eligible for the third and final time, agreed to a three year deal worth $22.5MM with an option for a fourth year. The deal is still pending a physical, which Street will take this coming weekend. The former AL Rookie of the Year came over in the Matt Holliday deal last offseason, then saved 35 games and posted a 3.06 ERA in 61.2 innings while making $4.5MM during his first season in Colorado.
Betancourt agreed to a two year deal worth $3.775M per season. He accepted the team's offer of arbitration earlier this offseason after being designated as a Type-A free agent, though the Rockies first declined his $5.4MM option for 2010. The Rockies acquired him at mid-season from the Indians, and watched as he put up a 1.78 ERA with a 29-5 K/BB ratio in 25.1 innings down the stretch. He earned $3.35MM in 2009.
Damon, Yankees Have Been Talking
SATURDAY, 3:12pm: Yanks GM Brian Cashman denies that the club is waiting on Damon before looking into other outfield options, reports Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog.
Additionally, Cashman stressed that the team has "had no discussions on Jermaine Dye" and is "not on Jim Edmonds at all."
2:30pm: In a text to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger, Damon says that he "should have a team in a week" (via Twitter).
1:56pm: Heyman reports (via Twitter) that Damon has "days" to take a "low deal" from the Yankees. Assuming he says no, the club will sign another outfielder from the group of Reed Johnson, Xavier Nady, Randy Winn, Jim Edmonds, and Jermaine Dye.
FRIDAY, 6:17pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman was on MLB Network's Hot Stove show tonight, and said that the Yankees and Johnny Damon have spoken recently. Here's his exact quote:
"He did meet or talk to the Yankees in the last couple of days. Still doesn't look like a great chance of happening though believe it or not. They are talking, but the Yankees have these budgetary constraints. They've been telling other teams they have about 2 million dollars to spend. I think for Damon they would probably go over that. I mean this is a guy who's had 100 runs scored 9 times and 24 home runs. Terrific player, but I would still say more likely Braves or Tigers, at this point."
Two days ago we heard from former Yankee Jerry Hairston Jr. that the team never made him an offer because they're "waiting on Damon's price to come down," however GM Brian Cashman shot that report down.
It's certainly getting late in the offseason, however just for a frame of reference, Bobby Abreu didn't sign with the Angels until February 12th of last season. Damon might have a little more waiting to do.