Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Red Sox, David Ortiz Settle At Midpoint

By | at

Hours before today's arbitration hearing, the Red Sox and designated hitter David Ortiz settled at the midpoint for $14.575MM, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  The new contract represents the largest-ever average annual value for a DH, notes WEEI's Rob Bradford.  Had Ortiz and the Red Sox reached a hearing, a panel of three arbitrators would have chosen between Boston's $12.65MM submission and Ortiz's $16.5MM salary figure for 2012.  Ortiz is represented by Fern Cuza of SFX.

Potentially inhibited by the cost of a draft pick, Ortiz accepted an arbitration offer from the Red Sox in December, and it took the looming threat of a hearing to force a settlement.  I favored the Red Sox in a potential hearing, but they preferred not to risk a situation many regard as a crapshoot.  As a bonus, they were able to avoid Ortiz having a front-row seat for their attempt to prove he's worth less than the midpoint.

Six potential arbitration hearings remain, as our tracker shows: Alexi Casilla (Twins), Casey Janssen (Blue Jays), Adam Jones (Orioles), Garrett Jones (Pirates), Casey McGehee (Pirates), and Jose Veras (Brewers).

Indians Close To Deal With Jon Garland

By | at

The Indians are working on a deal for free agent righty Jon Garland, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  This morning ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted that Garland "is getting a minor league deal" with the Indians, but still has to pass his physical.  Garland, 32, made nine starts for the Dodgers to begin the 2011 season before having July surgery to clean out debris in his shoulder.  

Two weeks after the surgery, Garland said he expected to be ready for spring training, explaining to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick and AJ Cassavell, "I was very satisfied with what the doctor said. He's upbeat. The labrum was almost pristine. The cuff was a little worse than he thought, but a lot of what he found was just scar tissue and bursitis. He shaved down the bone so things move smoothly. A layoff like this can only help the rest of my body."

The Indians added Derek Lowe and Kevin Slowey this offseason, with the latter likely battling for the fifth starter job with David Huff and Jeanmar Gomez, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.  Fausto Carmona, who was previously penciled in, is an unknown due to false identity charges.

Prior to 2011, Garland had posted nine consecutive seasons of at least 190 regular season innings.  He signed a team-friendly one-year, $5MM deal with the Dodgers in November of 2010.  At that time it seemed likely to become a two-year, $13MM contract, as an $8MM option for 2012 was to vest with Garland's customary 190 innings.  Now it seems the California native may wind up back in the AL Central, after spending the first eight seasons of his career with the White Sox.

This post was originally published on February 13th.

Rangers, Nelson Cruz Agree To Two-Year Deal

By | at

Nelson Cruz passed his physical, and his two-year deal with the Rangers is worth $16MM plus incentives, MLBTR has learned.  The ACES client had an arbitration hearing scheduled for next week.

Icon_13379383

Cruz, 31, hit .263/.312/.509 with 29 home runs in 513 plate appearances last year, adding eight more homers in 70 postseason PAs.  The right fielder's arbitration case seemingly had some bearing on those of Adam Jones and Alex Gordon, who remain unsigned.

Cruz will be eligible for free agency upon the completion of his two-year deal.  His .540 slugging percentage since 2008 ranks sixth in MLB among those with at least 1500 plate appearances.  Health has been the only obstacle for the late-blooming Cruz, who has averaged 120 regular season games over the past three years.

The Rangers extended shortstop Elvis Andrus yesterday, so Mike Napoli is their only remaining unsigned  arbitration eligible player.  Napoli's hearing is scheduled for Wednesday of next week, with a $3.2MM salary spread.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Padres To Sign Jeff Suppan

By | at

3:05pm: Suppan will earn $950K if he makes the Major League roster, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.  He obtained an invitation to Spring Training.

12:07pm: The Padres will sign righty Jeff Suppan to a minor league deal today, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock.  Suppan is represented by Lapa/Leventhal.

Suppan, 37, posted a 4.78 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 1.25 HR/9, and 10.1 H/9 in 165 2/3 innings for the Royals' Triple-A affiliate last year.  The 16-year MLB veteran has 138 wins and a 4.69 ERA in his career.

Was Elvis Andrus’ Extension Necessary?

By | at

The Rangers recently extended 23-year-old shortstop Elvis Andrus for three years and $14.4MM.  The contract covers Andrus' three arbitration years.  As we'd expect for a Boras Corporation client, the Rangers were not able to secure any free agent seasons.  Does this contract extension offer value to the Rangers as opposed to just going year-to-year?

I talked to a couple of agency employees who estimated Andrus' year-to-year arbitration earnings in the range of $15.3-15.5MM, with salaries around $3MM, $4.8MM, $7.5MM if his offense holds steady.  Andrus brings runs and steals to the table and might win some Gold Gloves, but arbitration doesn't pay this skillset handsomely.  The Rangers didn't get much cost savings here, unless Andrus takes his offensive game to another level.

As with any extension, the Rangers got cost certainty, in that they don't have to haggle with the Boras Corporation three times to determine Andrus' salaries.  There is also the benefit of pleasing Major League Baseball, as the contract might help keep future shortstop salaries down.

The downside for the Rangers is that Andrus' earnings for 2012-14 are now guaranteed, even if his offense suffers a downturn or he endures a significant injury.  Such events would have limited his arbitration salaries.  J.J. Hardy's 2009 season is a good example: his performance and playing time plummeted, so he settled with the Brewers for just a $750K raise.  The Rangers no longer have that protection, and all they received in return was a million or two in savings and some cost certainty. 

Possible Fits For A.J. Burnett

By | at

1:40pm: The Pirates have spoken to the Yankees about Burnett, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, "though those conversations failed to progress and perhaps qualified only as due diligence."  Rosenthal says that Burnett hopes to stay with the Yankees, but notes that the Pirates are not on his no-trade list.

8:05am: Righty A.J. Burnett has provided innings for the Yankees over the last two years, 377 in the regular season to be exact.  His peripheral stats suggest a brighter future, but Burnett posted a 5.20 ERA over 2010-11.  How does the free agent market deal with starting pitchers who provide innings and good stuff but lack the hoped-for results?

The free agent market just valued Edwin Jackson at $11MM for one year, but his ERA over the last two years is a full run lower than Burnett's, and with 32 additional regular season innings.  He does seem to have Burnett's reputation of good stuff without the results to match, though Jackson is significantly younger.  Had Jackson set out to find the best two-year offer possible, perhaps he could have gotten $20MM.  A year ago, Carl Pavano signed for two years and $16.5MM, and he too was coming off a better two-year performance than Burnett.  Pavano, however, lacks the upside of Burnett or Jackson.  The bottom line is that as a free agent, I think Burnett might find $12MM if he were set on a two-year deal.

Word from Joel Sherman of the New York Post is that the Yankees are "quietly — but diligently — still working to trade" Burnett to create additonal payroll flexibility for both Eric Chavez and one of Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, or Raul Ibanez.  GM Brian Cashman lacks leverage, as Burnett hasn't pitched well over the last two seasons and will be battling this spring to crack the Yankees' rotation.  So if Burnett's free agent value is around $12MM over two years, Cashman might have to let a team take him for $8-10MM over that span.  That could be the possible savings for the Yankees against the $33MM owed to the 35-year-old.

Possible fits for Burnett:

  • Pirates: The Pirates can't seem to convince free agent starters to take their money, and Burnett could reject them as well if they are one of ten teams covered in his limited no-trade clause.   Still, they'd represent a fresh start back in the easier league, and Burnett could be a big fish in a small pond.
  • White Sox: If the White Sox add Burnett, they'd have the rotation depth to trade Gavin Floyd for prospects without decimating their rotation.
  • Orioles: Their rotation has plenty of options, but without Jeremy Guthrie, the veteran role falls to Jason Hammel.  Burnett's wife is famously a Maryland resident, as we learned from past trade rumors and his free agency process.  Burnett could work for the Orioles, but only if they found some payroll flexibility, had the desire to add yet another rotation candidate, and Cashman was willing to trade within the division.
  • Athletics: When Bartolo Colon is your innings guy, a little more veteran depth wouldn't hurt.

Reds Designate Carlos Fisher For Assignment

By | at

The Reds designated righty Carlos Fisher to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Ryan Ludwick, reports MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.  Jeff Francis' minor league deal with the Reds was also finalized.

Fisher, 28, has compiled a 4.74 ERA in 98 2/3 innings across stints with the Reds in each of the last three seasons.  Fisher, a native of Duarte, California, was drafted by the Reds in the 11th round in 2005.

Yankees Sign Russell Branyan

By | at

The Yankees signed first baseman Russell Branyan to a minor league deal with a spring training invite, reports Dan Martin of the New York Post.  The move does not impact the team's pursuit of Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Raul Ibanez, notes Martin, though it could affect their interest in Eric Chavez.  Branyan will make $750K plus incentives if he makes the big league roster, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Branyan, an ACES client, hit .197/.295/.370 in 146 plate appearances for the Diamondbacks and Angels last year.  The D'Backs released him in May.  The powerful left-handed hitter has 194 career home runs and a .485 slugging percentage.

Athletics Extend Beane Through 2019

By | at

WEDNESDAY: The extensions will have option years, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

TUESDAY: Not much is certain when it comes to the future of the Athletics, but their leadership team will remain in place long-term. Owner Lew Wolff said today that GM Billy Beane and president Michael Crowley have agreed to extensions through the 2019 season, Jon Erlichman and Rob Gloster of Bloomberg News report. Beane told Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN.com that reports of a deal are a bit premature (Twitter link), but Wolff expects Beane and Crowley to sign within 30 days.

Beane became the team's GM after the 1997 season and Crowley became team president one year later. They face a problematic stadium situation in Oakland and the club may move to San Jose in the relatively near future. Both Beane and Crowley have ownership stakes in the Athletics and Wolff is the club's managing partner.

The Athletics have made five playoff appearances under Beane, who has been with the team longer than any other American League GM. Beane was recently portrayed on the big screen by Brad Pitt in Moneyball. He last constructed a playoff team in 2006, when Oakland made it to the ALCS.

Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Giants Designate Justin Christian For Assignment

By | at

The Giants designated outfielder Justin Christian for assignment, tweets Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.  With the additions of Ryan Theriot and Guillermo Mota, the team's 40-man roster is now full.

Christian, 31, hit .294/.376/.459 in 589 plate appearances across Double and Triple-A in 2011, appearing at all three outfield positions.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top