Indians Sign Julio Lugo
The Indians have signed Julio Lugo to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, reports Dionisio Soldevila of the AP (on Twitter). He's an ACES client.
Lugo, 36, spent last season with the Braves, signing a minor league deal in May and getting released in September. In between, he hit .231/.286/.365 in 58 minor league plate appearances and .136/.208/.136 in 48 big league plate appeances. Lugo gives the team some infield depth along with Jose Lopez and Andy LaRoche, who signed minor league deals with Cleveland earlier this offseason.
Red Sox Intensifying Pursuit Of Roy Oswalt
8:16pm: Oswalt is not close to signing, reports Morosi (on Twitter). The Red Sox remain very much involved, he says.
6:53pm: With the Marco Scutaro trade providing $6MM of salary relief, the Red Sox have now intensified their pursuit of Roy Oswalt according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (all Twitter links). They are not the only team in on the right-hander, though the Tigers are only on the fringe of the sweepstakes. Morosi calls the situation "fluid."
Oswalt, 34, is reportedly looking for a one-year deal worth $8MM. Earlier this week we heard that Boston would have to move some money to be able to afford him, which is exactly what the Scutaro trade did. Oswalt pitched to a 3.69 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 139 IP for the Phillies last season, missing time with back problems. Prior to that, the long-time Astro made at least 30 starts and threw at least 180 IP in seven straight seasons.
Red Sox Avoid Arbitration With Daniel Bard
The Red Sox and Daniel Bard have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract, the team announced. Earlier this week the SFX client filed for $1.825MM while the team countered with $1.4MM, and MLB.com's Ian Browne says (on Twitter) that they settled at the midpoint: $1.6125MM. Our system projected a $1.6MM salary for the right-hander.
Bard, 26, was arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason. As a Super Two, he'll go through the process four times rather than the usual three. He's pitched to a 2.88 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 197 career innings, all of which were spent setting up the now departed Jonathan Papelbon. Bard will come to Spring Training with a chance to win a job as a starting pitcher this year.
As our Arbitration Tracker shows, the Red Sox have three unsigned arbitration-eligible players remaining: Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey, and David Ortiz.
Rockies Acquire Marco Scutaro
The Rockies have acquired Marco Scutaro from the Red Sox in exchange for Clayton Mortensen, the teams announced. Scutaro is the second shortstop the Sox have traded this winter, following the deal that sent Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland to the Astros for Mark Melancon.
Scutaro, 36, fills the Rockies' need for a second baseman, as the veteran will return to the position after primarily playing shortstop over the last three seasons. He hit .299/.358/.423 in 445 plate appearances with Boston in 2011, and is returning to the NL for the first time since he broke into the Majors with the Mets in 2002-03. Renck says Colorado earmarked Scutaro as a target when the offseason began.
Mortensen, 26, was a supplemental first-round pick (36th overall) for the Cardinals in the 2007 draft. The right-hander was part of the trade package the Cardinals sent to the A's in July 2009 in exchange for Matt Holliday. Mortensen has a 5.12 ERA, a 4.7 K/9 rate and a 3.7 BB/9 rate in 24 Major League games (13 of them starts) with the Rockies, A's and Cardinals. His 51.3% ground ball rate helps offset the lack of strikeouts.
Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe says (on Twitter) that the Red Sox will platoon Mike Aviles and Nick Punto at shortstop. The deal relieves the team of Scutaro's $6MM salary, giving the club some more money to use towards a starting pitcher. Mortensen is still in his pre-arbitration years.
Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN first reported the agreement (on Twitter) while Troy Renck of The Denver Post said the two sides were finishing up the trade earlier today. Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Orioles Notes: Fielder, Arbitration-Eligibles, Jones
Orioles GM Dan Duquette spoke to fans and the media at Orioles FanFest today, so let's round up the latest news (all links go to Twitter)…
- "Are we going to get him? I don't know. If we don't, we'll look for someone just like him," said Duquette when asked about the possibility of signing Prince Fielder according to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. "There are some players that are attractive to us that we might be able to sign as a DH. That's still possible."
- Duquette said that the team will continue to talk to its arbitration-eligible players right up to a potential hearing, but extension talks have been tabled according to MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. As our Arbitration Tracker shows, Robert Andino, Brad Bergesen, Jeremy Guthrie, and Adam Jones remain unsigned.
- Jones told Ghiroli that staying in Baltimore long-term is "up to them." The outfielder is an extension candidate, but his name has come up in trade talks as well.
- Second baseman Brian Roberts has "started his workout program" according to Kubatko, though Ghiroli reports that Duquette said they need to have "more patience." Roberts is still dealing with concussion symptoms and skipped the event per his doctor's advice.
Rangers Co-Owner Prefers Hamilton To Fielder
With the Yu Darvish contract all wrapped up, the Rangers have found themselves in the middle of the Prince Fielder rumormill whether they like it or not. Team co-owner Bob Simpson told Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News that the slugging first baseman is likely not an option for them at his asking price, and that he'd prefer to re-sign his own star player.
"I think he's, given our set of cards, too pricey," said Simpson. "And if that were to change, I guess they would look at that harder. But right now I think he's priced himself out of what we could do."
"We've got guys, frankly, like Josh Hamilton I would love to see re-signed. And frankly, my personal preference at this moment would be to re-sign him instead of helping Fielder. We (the ownership group) could all debate that."
Simpson said yesterday that the team is operating at a deficit and will continue to do so until their new television deal starts in 2015. Extension talks with Hamilton were put on hold until Darvish and the club's arbitration-eligible players were signed, though assistant GM Thad Levine told Todd Hollandsworth and Jim Memolo on MLB Network Radio that the two sides were "in active discussions" yesterday (mp3 here).
Rockies “Remain Strongly Interested” In Justin Turner
With their pitching needs generally satisfied following the Seth Smith trade, the Rockies have turned their attention to adding another second baseman. They had talks with the Red Sox about Marco Scutaro, and Troy Renck of The Denver Post says they "remain strongly interested" in Justin Turner.
Last month we heard that the Mets have interest in Eric Young Jr., and that the two sides could potentially work out a trade with Turner going to Colorado. At the moment, the Rockies have DJ LeMahieu, Chris Nelson, and Jonathan Herrera penciled in at second base. The 27-year-old Turner hit .260/.334/.356 with four homers and seven steals in 487 plate appearances for he Mets last season, spending most of his time at second while also playing third and a little bit of shortstop.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Darvish, Montero, Pineda
Three years ago today, Russell Martin and the Dodgers avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $3.9MM, a record for a first time eligible catchers. Martin had hit .285/.373/.433 with 42 homers and 49 steals during the first three years of his career. Here's the latest from around the web…
- 1 Blue Jays Way spoke to top Jays prospect Travis d'Arnaud about his injury rehab.
- Royals Review interviewed Royals vice president Mike Swanson.
- Baseball Time In Arlington explained the genius of the Yu Darvish contract.
- More Mariners explains what Jesus Montero will do for the Mariners.
- Bunt Double is sad to see Montero go.
- North and South of Royal Brougham wonders if Hector Noesi can replace Michael Pineda.
- Know Hitter was surprised by the Montero-Pineda trade.
- Yankees Fans Unite says Pineda will allow the Yankees to spend on offense in the future.
- Red Sox Beacon took stock of the Red Sox following the Yankees' recent moves.
- Rant Sports Red Sox tried to determine fair compensation for Theo Epstein.
- Drunk Jays Fans wrote about the Blue Jays and where they the team is headed.
- The Blue Jay Hunter explored a 1993 trade that would have sent Randy Johnson to Toronto.
- Call to the Pen analyzed Pablo Sandoval's contract extension.
- Fish Stripes broke down what a potential Mike Stanton extension could look like.
- Brotherly Glove looked at the Phillies roster with Joel Pineiro and Kyle Kendrick.
- Amazin' Avenue wrote about David Wright's immediate future.
- Capitol Avenue Club thinks the Braves might be overpaying Eric O'Flaherty.
- District on Deck wrote about the Nationals search for a center fielder.
- Lookout Landing mused about the future of Franklin Gutierrez.
- BoSox Injection thinks the Red Sox should pursue Gavin Floyd.
- Redbird Rants wrote about the Yadier Molina dilemma.
- The Todd Van Poppel Rookie Card Retirement Plan thinks the A's are botching their rebuild.
- Pirates Prospects looked at Brandon Allen as a potential trade target.
- Monkey with a Halo wrote about Erick Aybar's future with the Angels.
- Wahoo's on First thinks the Indians overpaid Chris Perez.
- McCovey Chronicles called the Giants' outfield situation mediocre.
- Redleg Nation wishes the Reds would give Todd Frazier a chance.
- Seedlings To Stars put together a list of the Reds' top prospects.
- Camden Depot doesn't expect Yoshihiro Doi to help the Orioles much.
- MLB Draft Insider ranks the 25 best prospects in next year's draft.
- My MLB Draft put together a mock first round of next year's amateur draft.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
AL East Links: Montero, Kuroda, Red Sox, Yankees
Here's the latest from the AL East, starting with an update on two pending moves involving the Yankees…
- Jesus Montero is dealing with a passport or visa issue at the moment and is unable to travel to Seattle for his physical, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Once that is resolved, the trade sending him and Hector Noesi from the Yankees to the Mariners for Michael Pineda and Jose Campos will be made official.
- Bob Klapisch of The Bergen Record says (on Twitter) that Hiroki Kuroda is still in Japan, so he has yet to take his physical and finalize his one-year contract with the Yankees. Klapisch adds that like Montero, Campos is stuck in Venezuela at the moment.
- Red Sox GM Ben Cherington indicated to MLB.com's Ian Browne that the team is unlikely to make any big changes to the roster before Spring Training. "If Spring Training were to start tomorrow, we'd feel good about where we are and [we'd be] ready to put the team together," said the GM.
- Though the Yankees currently have $1-2MM to spend on a designated hitter, they could free up cash by dealing A.J. Burnett, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets. Burnett has $33MM remaining on his contract, and it would be a surprise if the Yankees free up more than $10MM via trade.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff suggests Raul Ibanez might be the best DH option for the Yankees, assuming Johnny Damon signs with a team that can offer more plate appearances.
- Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com reports that former Oriole Brady Anderson was named special assistant to Orioles GM Dan Duquette today. Melewski also lists some changes in the responsibilities handled by other front office employees.
Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.
Melvin: Brewers “Way Over” Projected Budget
Coming off their first NLCS appearance in 29 years, the Brewers are looking at the first nine-figure payroll in franchise history heading into 2012. Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel spoke to GM Doug Melvin, who confirmed that the team will outspend its projected budget next year.
“We’re way over what we projected our budget to be at this point,” said Melvin. “It’s over $100 million. We hoped to be in the low 90s.”
There's no indication that the Brewers will need to move some players to shed payroll, and Haudricourt notes that the $100MM+ figure includes players who under team control but remain unsigned. That includes the arbitration-eligible Shaun Marcum and Jose Veras, who filed for $8.7MM and $2.375MM earlier this week, respectively. The team countered with $6.75MM and $2MM.
Melvin also said it's unlikely the Brewers would be able to re-sign Prince Fielder even if the slugger was willing to take a one-year deal. Milwaukee agreed to sign Norichika Aoki for two years and $2.25MM yesterday, but their biggest additions came earlier this offseason: Aramis Ramirez (three years, $36MM) and Alex Gonzalez (one-year, $4.25MM).