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Orioles Rumors: Adam Jones, Tommy Hanson, Fielder

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The Orioles acquired Jai Miller today and also sent Brandon Snyder to Texas.  The latest on the team…

  • Executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette told Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com he wants to improve the Orioles' "on-base capability from top to bottom."  Duquette isn't sure he currently has a .380 OBP guy, and isn't sure if his second baseman is currently on the roster.  The free agents with the best 2011 OBPs include Casey Kotchman, Chris Snyder, Carlos Pena, and Pat Burrell.
  • The Orioles haven't made contract with Luke Scott since non-tendering him on December 12th, reports Kubatko.    
  • The Orioles are fairly confident they will add another outfielder, though that wouldn't necessarily portend an Adam Jones trade, writes Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.  The Orioles were not overly intrigued by the Braves' offer of Jair Jurrjens, Martin Prado, and a minor league pitcher.  Connolly doesn't see Jurrjens as a centerpiece for a Jones trade.  Instead, the Orioles are intrigued by Tommy Hanson.
  • Connolly notes that an extension remains possible for Jones, who is under team control for two more years.  January is always a big month for extensions.
  • An Orioles source told Connolly they would not offer Prince Fielder the seven-year, $140MM deal Mark Teixeira rejected three years ago.  For the Orioles to sign Fielder, Connolly feels that his market would have to completely collapse, and he finds that highly unlikely.  Connolly reiterates that agent Scott Boras and Fielder "did not meet with [Orioles owner] Peter Angelos despite being in the area – which I thought should demonstrate once and for all that the Orioles really aren’t anywhere near the frontburner of this issue and Fielder's side isn't forcing it." 

Nationals Ownership Meets With Boras About Fielder

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Yesterday we learned from Scott Boras that "there's a lot of passengers on the PF Flyer," and Prince Fielder is best described as a combination of Henry Kissinger and Frank Howard (courtesy of Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post).  The latest on the PF Flyer…

  • The Nationals' ownership recently met with Boras in Washington, D.C. to discuss Fielder, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson.  As you might expect, the Lerners will make the final decision on Fielder.
  • Many in the industry believe Boras seeks an opt-out clause for Fielder, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Rosenthal's source notes that opt-outs clearly favor players, in that the team assumes the risk of keeping him if he's underperforming and losing him if not.  Still, I think there are scenarios where a player can opt out and the team can avoid the worst part of a long-term contract.  If Fielder rakes for three years and a team pays him $75MM, quitting while they're ahead at that point can work, even if Fielder has a few more good years in him.

Red Sox Sign Carlos Silva, Ciriaco, Spears

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The Red Sox have announced the signings of minor league free agents Carlos Silva, Brandon Duckworth, Charlie Haeger, Will Inman, Doug Mathis, Tony Pena Jr., Chorye Spoone, Jesse Carlson, Rich Hill, Justin Thomas, Pedro Ciriaco, and Nate Spears.  The signings of Spoone, Thomas, Inman, Pena, Carlson, and Hill had been reported previously.

Silva, 32, was released by the Cubs in March of 2011 with $11.5MM remaining on his contract.  He signed with the Yankees in April, but was released in July amid shoulder problems after seven minor league starts.  The control artist was useful upon his initial change of scenery, posting a 4.22 ERA in 21 starts for the 2010 Cubs after the Milton Bradley trade.  As the Red Sox press release notes, "No active hurler with at least 750.0 innings pitched has fewer walks per nine innings than Silva (1.73)."  Silva will make a prorated $1MM while in the Majors, reports WEEI's Alex Speier.    

Ciriaco, 26, was non-tendered by the Pirates in December.  The middle infielder hit .231/.243/.300 in 289 plate appearances in his second career Triple-A stint.  Spears, a versatile 26-year-old, spent the last two years in Boston's minor league system.  In 2011 he hit .248/.355/.397 in 378 plate appearances, getting his first cup of coffee with the big club.    

Haeger, a 28-year-old knuckeballer, spent 2011 with the Mariners' Triple-A club and the Red Sox' Double-A team.  He posted a 5.44 ERA, 7.7 K/9, 5.9 BB/9, and 0.92 HR/9 in 97 2/3 innings.  Mathis, a 28-year-old righty, last appeared in the bigs in 2010 with the Rangers.  As a starter for the Giants' and Athletics' Triple-A affiliates, he put up a 4.27 ERA, 6.7 K/9, 4.2 BB/9, and 0.63 HR/9 in 86 1/3 innings.  Duckworth, 35, last appeared in the Majors in 2008.  He spent 2011 with Boston's Triple-A affiliate, posting a 3.97 ERA, 6.7 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, and 0.84 HR/9 in 118 innings.

Rangers Acquire Brandon Snyder

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The Rangers acquired infielder Brandon Snyder from the Orioles for cash considerations, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.  Snyder, 25, was drafted 13th overall by the Orioles in 2005, a first round that has become legendary for the talent produced.

Snyder gave up catching after the 2006 season and now plays the infield corners.  In 2011 he hit .261/.312/.406 in 494 Triple-A plate appearances, his third stint at the level.

Arbitration Information

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MLB Trade Rumors is the only website you need to track the progress of the 100+ arbitration eligible players this month, a list that includes Tim Lincecum, Cole Hamels, Hunter Pence, Clayton Kershaw, and David Price.  January 17th is a date to keep in mind; that is the deadline for players and teams to exchange salary figures.  Important links:

Indians Sign Robinson Tejeda

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The Indians signed right-handed reliever Robinson Tejeda to a minor league deal with a spring training invite, reports MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.  The 29-year-old entered the 2011 season as the Royals' setup man, but quickly lost the job partly due to a shoulder injury.  He was removed from the team's 40-man roster in June and elected free agency in October.

When healthy Tejeda spent most of the 2011 season at Triple-A, posting a 3.80 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, and 1.60 HR/9 in 45 relief innings.  Tejeda did some solid work for the Royals at times in 2009-10, with a 9.6 K/9 and an average fastball around 94 miles per hour.  His heater was down to 90.2 in 2011, probably in relation to his injury.  The Indians' press release says he finished the season healthy at Omaha.

The Indians' other non-roster invitees so far include Luke Carlin, Michel Hernandez, Matt Pagnozzi, Andy LaRoche, Jose Lopez, and Felix Pie.

Extension Candidate: Asdrubal Cabrera

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It's difficult to argue with the selection of Jacoby Ellsbury as the American League's 2011 Comeback Player of the Year, but Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera belonged in the discussion.  A broken left forearm cost Cabrera much of the 2010 season, but he posted a career year in 2011, winning a Silver Slugger with a 25 home run campaign.  What would a fair extension look like?

Asdrubal

First we must address the question of whether the Indians or Cabrera would be interested in a multiyear deal.  The Indians have to note Cabrera slumped to .244/.310/.419 in the second half.  That's useful for a shortstop, but not star territory.  Then there's the matter of Cabrera's defense, which UZR rates as consistently below-average.

On the other hand, Cabrera played in 151 games last year and hit .289/.344/.486 over the season's first four months.  He may have worn down toward the tail end of the season.  He hit more flyballs than ever and may truly be a perennial 20 home run threat now.  And it's possible the Indians prefer other defensive metrics that present Cabrera in a better light.  Jason Donald doesn't profile as an everyday shortstop; the Indians don't have anyone nipping at Cabrera's heels.

Cabrera, a client of Octagon, has a bit more than four years of Major League service.  Matt Swartz's projections call for a raise of nearly $3MM in his second arbitration year, bringing Cabrera to approximately $4.8MM for 2012.  As a comparison, J.J. Hardy's 2008 season, in which he hit 24+ home runs for a second consecutive year, earned him a $2MM raise heading into his second arbitration year.

Hardy had a couple of injury-plagued years before fully bouncing back in 2011.  His three-year, $22.25MM extension was signed in July, and the $7.4MM average annual value feels well light of what he could have earned on the open market.  Generally players, even shortstops, are compensated more for offense than defense.  Although Jhonny Peralta and Clint Barmes are superior defenders to Cabrera, Cabrera's 25 home run, 92 RBI campaign probably puts him ahead of the $5.5MM-range average annual values they scored on two-year free agent deals.  Of course, Cabrera is two full seasons away from the open market.

Toronto's Yunel Escobar doesn't have the power of any of those players, but he is a shortstop who signed an extension prior to his second arbitration year.  The contract is probably too team-friendly to be instructive, with $5MM salaries for each of the last two arbitration years and two club options for free agent years at the same amount.  Stephen Drew is a point of reference on the other end of the spectrum; he's under contract for $15.75MM for his last two arbitration years alone.

What would be a fair offer for Cabrera?  I'm thinking $4.25MM for 2012, $6.5MM for 2013, and $8MM apiece for two free agent years.  That'd put him around $27MM over four years, a nice guarantee for a player who had never topped six home runs in a season prior to 2011.  The Indians would probably prefer a club option on the last year or two, but with Cabrera within spitting distance of free agency they might not be able to get that.  It's possible the Indians don't value Cabrera's free agent years at that level, but I think a reasonable four-year extension would benefit his trade value.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Orioles Eyeing Chen, Jackson, Maholm

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Wei-Yin Chen, Edwin Jackson, and Paul Maholm are among the pitchers of interest to the Orioles as they seek to further upgrade their rotation, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Their interest in Chen has been known for a while, and last Thursday Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun linked the Orioles to Jackson and Joe Saunders.  I added Hisashi Iwakuma to the list yesterday.

Last week, Connolly wrote that Jackson's upside intrigues the Orioles, though Duquette and the team have historically been reluctant to give pitchers four-year deals.  Today, Rosenthal writes that the Orioles expect Jackson will be beyond their price range.  He notes that Roy Oswalt and Hiroki Kuroda are not realistic for Baltimore given their desire to sign with contenders.

Nationals Emerge As Favorite For Fielder?

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5:11pm: The Nationals’ local TV revenue is about to “double, triple or more,” a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Owner Ted Lerner is already the wealthiest in MLB, according to Forbes.  One of Rosenthal’s sources expects the Nationals to sign Fielder, though the first baseman will want a full no-trade clause.  LaRoche’s presence on the roster wouldn't stop the team from making a move, Rosenthal writes.

2:17pm: Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post has quotes from the always-colorful Scott Boras:

"As I’ve told many, there’s a lot of passengers on the PF Flyer.  I keep having discussions with teams, and they keep coming back after those discussions. We are having a very robust and constant communication with many teams.  We’ve had an opportunity over the last 10 days to certainly get more definition, I would say. Normally in free agency, after a period of time you have teams that move to the background. When we think that’s happened, those teams have called back and they’ve changed their position."

The Lerner family's stance against a big-money splash has thawed, writes Kilgore.  Who better to pursue than a man Boras describes as "a combination of Henry Kissinger and Frank Howard?"

10:34am: One MLB official told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel recently that "word is spreading in the industry that the Washington Nationals have emerged as the favorite" to sign Prince Fielder.

What to make of this rumor?  Haudricourt is reliable, but he made it clear that he is relaying the opinion of "the industry" as passed through one MLB official.  So the source doesn't appear to be from Scott Boras' camp, nor from the Nationals.  Still, the rumor echoes something ESPN's Buster Olney wrote on Thursday: "Some rival executives strongly believe that Washington will be the eventual landing place for Fielder."   That same day, a Nationals player suggested to Jon Heyman the team was in the mix.  

The biggest obstacle to the Nationals signing Fielder seems to be having Adam LaRoche under contract for one year, which did not seem like a major impediment prior to the offseason.  GM Mike Rizzo left the door open a crack for Fielder last Wednesday when talking to Mike Ferrin on MLB Network Radio, speaking at length about LaRoche but adding, "As far as, are we going to dabble our toe in that [Fielder] water?  Those are decisions that we make early on in the process and we've more or less decided that Adam is going to be our first baseman unless something extraordinary, out of the ordinary happened, that's how we're going to go to Spring Training."

Mariners, Orioles In On Hisashi Iwakuma

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2:28pm: The Orioles are in on Iwakuma, MLBTR has learned.  New GM Dan Duquette has been active internationally, signing Tsuyoshi Wada and showing interest in Wei-Yin Chen, Yoenis Cespedes, and Chong Tae-Hyon.

2:03pm: The Mariners and two other American League teams are in the hunt for free agent starter Hisashi Iwakuma, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

The Mariners rumor has been kicking around in Japanese reports since Friday.  A week ago, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that four teams inquired on Iwakuma, with the Athletics in that mix but with "lukewarm" interest.  Iwakuma may have been on the Twins' radar, though they added Jason Marquis in late December.  Both teams bid on him in 2010 via the posting process.  The A's won with a $19.1MM bid, but could not work out a contract with Iwakuma.

Iwakuma, a member of the Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2011, posted a 2.42 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, and 0.45 HR/9 in 119 innings, battling a shoulder injury.

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