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Rangers Acquire Kelvin De La Cruz

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The Rangers acquired lefty Kelvin De La Cruz from the Indians, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  The Indians received cash considerations, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.  De La Cruz was designated for assignment a week ago to open a 40-man roster spot for Casey Kotchman.  The Rangers currently have an open 40-man spot they can use for De La Cruz.

De La Cruz, 23, posted a 4.19 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 6.0 BB/9, and 0.31 HR/9 in 86 Double-A innings last year, his second stint at the level.  A year ago, Baseball America ranked him 24th among Indians prospects, citing diminished stuff after an '09 elbow strain.  De La Cruz dropped out of BA's Indians top 30 this year and will be a project for the Rangers.

Brewers GM Discusses Greinke

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Zack Greinke doesn't see the need for an agent currently, but Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel not to read into that.  "I think he may end up doing a lot of this himself. Then, if it gets to a serious nature, he might get somebody to help," said Melvin.

Melvin said he first needs to talk to owner Mark Attanasio before he discusses a possible extension with Greinke.  The GM implied he'd prefer not to talk contract during the season.  Melvin cited four signed pitchers who I assume he considers comparable to Greinke; let's look more closely at each situation.

  • Greinke, 28, has a 3.82 ERA over 1279 2/3 career innings, though his 8.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9, as well as his 2009 Cy Young award, suggest he's better than his ERA.  A deal for Greinke would entirely cover free agent seasons, a key difference compared to some of the other contracts Melvin mentioned.  Greinke would have been a free agent after the 2010 season had he not signed a four-year, $38MM deal with the Royals in '09.  He's already made big money, unlike the comparables Melvin listed.  We don't know if that will give Greinke the security to seek top dollar or compel him to do the exact opposite.
  • Jered Weaver, a Scott Boras client, signed a five-year, $85MM extension with the Angels in August.  The contract included his final year of arbitration, so it was $70MM over four free agent years, a $17.5MM average annual value.  Weaver was also 28 at the time of the signing, and he had better career numbers than Greinke.  Two factors suppressed Weaver's price and term significantly: he strongly preferred to stay close to home, and he was a year and a month away from free agency.  Cole Hamels' agent has already stated the Weaver contract won't be a comparable, and Greinke might choose to toss it out as well.
  • Justin Verlander, a client of SFX Baseball, signed a five-year, $80MM deal, and Felix Hernandez, an Octagon client, signed a five-year, $78MM deal.  Both contracts covered two arbitration years and three free agent seasons, making them even worse comparables for Greinke.  Verlander received $20MM per free agent year and Hernandez got $19.3MM.  Verlander was coming off a better season than Greinke is, though he still had a 3.92 caree ERA at the time of signing.
  • C.J. Wilson, a client of Select Sports Group, recently signed a five-year, $77.5MM deal with the Angels.  Like Weaver, it appeared Wilson took less money because of his desire to play for the Halos.  Wilson's contract was signed on the open market following two seasons as a starting pitcher.  This seems closest to a legitimate comparable for Greinke, among the contracts Melvin named.

Despite the differences in service time in these comparables, the fact remains that Melvin cited a bunch of five-year deals in the $80MM range.  The Brewers' ceiling probably isn't much higher.  If Greinke is confident he can post a mid-3.00s ERA over 200 innings in 2012, he can land a six-year deal exceeding $100MM on the open market, even with the draft pick cost attached and possible competition from Matt Cain, Cole Hamels, and Anibal Sanchez.  And if Greinke doesn't go for a typical agency relationship, he'll save millions on commission.

Indians To Sign Cristian Guzman

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The Indians will sign infielder Cristian Guzman to a minor league contract with a spring training invite, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.  He took his physical today and the deal will likely become official tomorrow.

Guzman, 33, last played in the Majors in 2010 with the Nationals and Rangers.  He sat out the 2011 season due to a shoulder injury, he told Bastian.  Guzman is a career .271/.307/.383 hitter who has appeared at both middle infield positions.

Top 100 Prospects Lists

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With the release of Baseball America's top 100 prospects list today, my three preferred prospect sources have all published their lists.  I believe Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus can be seen without subscriptions:

A few notable differences in the lists:

Yankees Sign Raul Ibanez

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The Yankees have found their new designated hitter, officially announcing an agreement with Raul Ibanez that was first tweeted by ESPN's Buster Olney yesterday.  The framework for a deal was done weeks ago with the ACES client, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post, who pegs the value at $1.1MM.  Plate appearance incentives can bring the total to $4MM, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Ibanez

Never known for his defense, Ibanez has spent most of his career as a left fielder.  He dabbled at DH with the Mariners and Royals before signing with the Phillies after the '08 season, notably appearing 69 times in that role for the 2001-02 Royals.  Only eight other free agents hit more home runs in 2011 than Ibanez's 20, but he batted just .245/.289/.419 overall in 575 plate appearances.  The Yankees hope the 39-year-old can take advantage of their short right field porch.  Ibanez has a .304 OBP against lefties over the last three seasons, so he could be complemented by Andruw Jones, a right-handed hitter. 

In a February 18th poll, about 32% of MLBTR readers felt Ibanez was the best DH option for the Yankees, which edged out other free agent choices such as Johnny Damon, Vladimir Guerrero, and Hideki Matsui.  Ibanez was linked to the Yankees as early as January, but they preferred to dump some of A.J. Burnett's contract on the Pirates before finishing a DH deal.  That move opened a 40-man roster spot for the Yankees.  The Phillies offered Ibanez arbitration in November, which almost certainly involved a handshake agreement he'd decline.  In June, the Phillies will receive a supplemental draft pick for their loss.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Red Sox Receive Chris Carpenter, PTBNL From Cubs For Epstein, PTBNL

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The Red Sox received 26-year-old righty reliever Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later from the Cubs as compensation for Theo Epstein and a player to be named later, announced the teams today.  The Cubs hired Epstein as their president of baseball operations in October, despite one year remaining on his contract as Boston's GM.  Nearly four months after that announcement, Epstein and new Cubs GM Jed Hoyer reached a compensation agreement with former colleague and new Red Sox GM Ben Cherington.  Epstein said in a statement:

"I am relieved that this process is over and particularly pleased that the teams were able to reach agreement on their own without intervention from MLB.  I truly hope and believe that this resolution will benefit both clubs, as well as Chris, who is an extremely talented reliever joining a great organization at a time when there's some opportunity in the major league bullpen.  More than anything, I'm excited that we can all move forward and focus exclusively on getting ready for the season.  I wish Chris and the Red Sox nothing but the best in 2012 and beyond."

Carpenter, who made his big league debut with the Cubs last year, was recently ranked 13th on their prospect list by Baseball America.  The Cubs converted Carpenter to relief late in 2010, and he averaged 96.5 miles per hour on his fastball in the Majors last year.  His command and control are works in progress, but Baseball America thinks he could develop into a setup man.  The Red Sox placed Bobby Jenks on the 60-day DL to create a 40-man roster spot for Carpenter.

The inclusion of two players to be named later means this saga has not quite reached its conclusion, but an April 15th deadline is already in place and Cherington expects resolution by the end of spring training.  The Cubs also owe compensation to the Padres for Hoyer, which Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune notes will get done very soon and will not involve anyone on the team's 40-man roster.

WEEI's Alex Speier first reported the Red Sox would receive a pitcher from the Cubs' 40-man roster.

The 10 Best Minor League Deals Of The Offseason

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Some quality free agents may yet sign minor league deals, but let's take a look at the ten best of the offseason so far.

  1. Jeff Francis, Reds.  I ranked Francis 32nd on my top 50 free agents list, ahead of Chris Capuano, Freddy Garcia, Aaron Harang, Jason Marquis, Bruce Chen, and Chien-Ming Wang.  Three of those pitchers received two-year deals, yet Francis didn't get a roster spot.  He was a bigger health risk a year ago, when he received $2MM guaranteed from the Royals.  Francis and his wife reside in Denver, so it doesn't appear to be a hometown decision.  The Reds' rotation isn't full of openings, either, making Francis' minor league deal a mystery.
  2. Juan Pierre, Phillies.  It's fair to suggest Pierre isn't a big league regular anymore, but he's a valuable bench player.  Nate McLouth and Mark Kotsay received Major League deals, but don't seem to offer much more.
  3. Joel Pineiro, Phillies.  Pineiro ranked 46th on my list, a few spots ahead of Chen.  Wang didn't even make the list.  Pineiro's second year with the Angels was disappointing, but the groundballer was useful as recently as 2010.  Like Francis, he's attempting to join a pretty full rotation.
  4. Dan Wheeler, Indians.  Wheeler seems to have the same skill set the Red Sox valued at $3MM a year ago: good command and a lot of flyballs.  Does Jon Rauch do something better?
  5. Manny Ramirez, Athletics.  Manny marks the point on this list where I am no longer surprised the player did not receive a big league deal.  Ramirez will only provide two-thirds of a season at most, but he's a year removed from an .870 OPS.
  6. Jon Garland, Indians.  He missed most of 2011 with shoulder surgery, but his ability to soak up innings had been worth at least $5MM a year.
  7. Kevin Millwood, Mariners.  The Red Sox and Yankees were content to let Millwood work in Triple-A last year, but he provided nine decent starts for the Rockies.  He might be able to provide the value of a Marquis or Chen.
  8. Vicente Padilla, Red Sox.  Despite off-the-field concerns and an inability to stay healthy, Padilla can still get hitters out as a starter or reliever.
  9. Juan Cruz, Pirates.  Cruz allows too many walks and flyballs, but the same can be said for Jose Veras, who gave the Pirates a nice 2011 season after signing a minor league deal.
  10. Jamey Wright, Dodgers.  The Dodgers gave Mike MacDougal a roster spot to provide the same skill set with a harder fastball.  At any rate, Wright's a good guy to call when a groundball is needed.

Honorable mentions: Scott Linebrink, Juan Gutierrez, Angel Guzman, Koyie Hill, Ronny Paulino

Epstein Compensation Deal Is Close

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9:15am: The Red Sox will receive a pitcher from the Cubs' 40-man roster, tweets WEEI's Alex Speier.  That'd rule out McNutt.  Rafael Dolis, Chris Carpenter, Jeff Beliveau, and Casey Weathers are on the Cubs' 40-man and cracked Baseball America's top 30 prospects for the team.  The decision is coming down today, confirms Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

7:36am: A resolution on the Theo Epstein compensation deal is imminent, reports Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.  Edes' MLB source says the Red Sox will receive one quality minor leaguer, a legitimate big-league prospect, from the Cubs.  The decision might come today, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

The Cubs hired Epstein as their president of baseball operations in October.  Epstein resigned from Boston's GM position with one year remaining as part of the process, and the teams have not been able on agree which Cubs players the Red Sox will receive as compensation.  The commissioner's office has gotten involved, with the teams submitting briefs recently.  In January, Epstein explained his stance on WEEI: "There's no precedent for major, major compensation here."

The Cubs are not loaded with top-ranked prospects and young players, but I think it's safe to assume Matt Garza, Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, Brett Jackson, Javier Baez, and probably Matt Szczur will not be involved.  Given MLB's involvement, perhaps a player in the Cubs' next tier of prospects could be included, such as Trey McNutt.  Check out Kevin Goldstein's Cubs prospect rankings for Baseball Prospectus here.

Indians Close To Trading Kelvin De La Cruz

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The Indians are close to trading lefty Kelvin De La Cruz, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  De La Cruz was designated for assignment a week ago to open a 40-man roster spot for Casey Kotchman. 

De La Cruz, 23, posted a 4.19 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 6.0 BB/9, and 0.31 HR/9 in 86 Double-A innings last year, his second stint at the level.  A year ago, Baseball America ranked him 24th among Indians prospects, citing diminished stuff after an '09 elbow strain.  De La Cruz dropped out of BA's Indians top 30 this year and will be a project for his new team.

Athletics To Sign Manny Ramirez

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Manny Ramirez has agreed to terms with the A's on a minor league deal, the team announced today.  The deal is worth about $500K in the Majors, reports ESPN's Pedro Gomez.  The signing has been expected for several weeks.  Though the story is interesting, the A's took an insignificant financial risk and didn't commit a roster spot, and the likely reward is small as well.  Ramirez is represented by Praver/Shapiro.

Manny must first serve a 50-game suspension for violating MLB's performance-enhancing drug policy a second time, making his earliest possible debut June 2nd at Kansas City, according to Gomez.  Ramirez retired when news of the suspension hit in April of last year, but was reinstated in December.

Ramirez, 39, would be a certain Hall of Famer if not for his PED issues.  He owns a .312/.411/.585 line with 555 home runs in 19 seasons for the Indians, Red Sox, Dodgers, White Sox, and Rays.  He's projected to serve as the A's designated hitter for the latter two-thirds of the season.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports was the first to report that the agreement had been made (both Twitter links).

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