Royals Rumors: Soria, Holland
The Royals are downplaying it, but they would trade closer Joakim Soria for a starting pitcher and would also discuss reliever Greg Holland, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Soria, 27, is potentially under contract through 2014. Holland is drawing interest from the Blue Jays and others after a breakout season. Either player would require a significant bounty.
Ron Santo Elected To Hall Of Fame
Longtime Cubs third baseman Ron Santo was elected to the Hall of Fame today, announced the Baseball Writers Association of America. Santo was elected by the Golden Era Committee, a newly-formed part of the Veterans Committee, which exists for players not elected during their initial 15 years of eligibility. Unfortunately Santo was not around to witness his election, having passed away a year ago due to complications from diabetes. His induction will take place July 22nd in Cooperstown.
Santo hit .277/.362/.464 with 342 home runs in his 15-year career, mostly for the Cubs. He was known as as a strong defender. In a sabermetric sense, Santo tallied 79.3 wins above replacement according to FanGraphs. Santo later served as the Cubs' radio color commentator.
Dodgers Sign Adam Kennedy
The Dodgers announced that they signed infielder Adam Kennedy to a one-year, Major League deal. The contract will be worth about $800K, and will include $150K in incentives based on plate appearances. The Dodgers pursued Kennedy because of his versatility.
“Adam gives us infield depth and an experienced left-handed bat,” GM Ned Colletti said in a statement. “He provides us with infield versatility at second and third base and can play first as well.”
Kennedy played first, second and third base for the Mariners in 2011, posting a .234/.277/.355 line with 23 doubles in 409 plate appearances. Kennedy signed one-year deals in the $1MM range in each of the past two offseasons. The Mariners signed him to a minor league deal worth $750K plus incentives last offseason. TWC Sports represents Kennedy, a 13-year MLB veteran.
As MLBTR's free agent tracker shows, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has committed about $15MM so far this offseason to free agents Mark Ellis, Juan Rivera, Matt Treanor, and Kennedy.
MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith first reported Kennedy's discussions with the Dodgers, with Tony Jackson, Ken Rosenthal, Dylan Hernandez and Tim Brown adding details.
Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.
Chong Tae-Hyon Remains Undecided
The latest Orioles hot stove information…
- Right-hander Chong Tae-Hyon is still deciding whether to stay in South Korea or accept an offer from the Orioles, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Connolly says the Orioles would likely offer a multiyear deal and a 40-man roster spot if Chong wants to be the first player to go from the Korea Baseball Organization directly to MLB.
- The Orioles will go to the Dominican Republic to watch Cuban center fielder Yoenis Cespedes work out, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. The Nationals, Tigers, Angels, Red Sox, Cubs, Marlins have reportedly made the trip recently, and the list of suitors is much bigger than that.
- Orioles fans, check out MLBTR's Twitter, Facebook, and RSS pages for the team.
Cubs Reach Agreement With David DeJesus
The Cubs reached an agreement with outfielder David DeJesus, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. It's a two-year deal, tweets MLB.com's Jane Lee. The Cubs confirmed the deal on Twitter, noting the inclusion of a club option for 2014. The contract guarantees $10MM, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweets salary details. DeJesus will be the Cubs' regular right fielder. He makes his offseason home in Wheaton, Illinois, according to the Cubs' press release.
DeJesus, 31, had a disappointing offensive season for the Athletics after being traded from the Royals a year ago, hitting .240/.323/.376 in 506 plate appearances. In his Royals career, DeJesus hit .289/.360/.427 in 3,799 plate appearances. Despite his offensive struggles in 2011, DeJesus was worth over two wins last year according to FanGraphs, partially on account of strong right field defense. He's logged over 1,700 innings at each outfield position in the course of his nine-year career. DeJesus was offered arbitration by the A's last week, so they'll receive a supplemental draft pick in 2012 for their loss.
DeJesus marks the first signing under new Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer. Epstein had interest in acquiring the outfielder for the Red Sox at the 2010 trade deadline until he tore a ligament in his thumb. DeJesus, an ACES client, ranked 29th on our top 50 free agents list, and I'm proud to say I actually predicted this one correctly in MLBTR's contest. With four of ten correct I rank 150th overall; six people are tied with six correct picks.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
13 Teams Eligible For First Competitive Balance Lottery
The new collective bargaining agreement calls for a competitive balance draft pick lottery beginning in 2013, and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo has details. 13 teams will be eligible for the first lottery based on their market size and revenue: the Diamondbacks, Orioles, Indians, Royals, Athletics, Pirates, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers, and Cardinals. The lottery gives each of these teams the chance to win one of six extra picks in the 2013 draft, which will come after the compensation picks for free agents. The odds of winning a pick will be based on each team's winning percentage in the previous season.
There will be another group of six picks after the draft's second round. The teams in the mix for these will be the ones that did not win a pick in the first lottery, as well as any other team that receives revenue sharing.
Mayo says lottery picks can be traded, but only once by a team and only during the regular season. The picks cannot be sold for cash.
A third lottery will be held for picks forfeited by teams that exceeded their bonus pools. Teams that did not exceed their pools will be eligible, with odds based on a formula of revenue and winning percentage. Got all that? There will be a quiz tomorrow.
Phillies Sign Brian Sanches, Scott Elarton
The Phillies announced today they've signed eight players to minor league deals with spring training invites: righty Scott Elarton, infielder Kevin Frandsen, catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, lefty Pat Misch, infielder Pete Orr, outfielder Scott Podsednik, righty Brian Sanches, and lefty Raul Valdes. The signings of Podsednik, Misch, Frandsen, Orr, and Valdes were reported previously.
Sanches, 33, posted a 3.94 ERA, 7.7 K/9, 5.3 BB/9, 1.02 HR/9, and 33.9% groundball rate for the Marlins in 61 2/3 innings this year. He was outrighted by the Marlins in October. If the soft-tosser does find his way to the Phillies' 40-man roster and succeeds, they can retain him in future seasons as an arbitration-eligible player.
Elarton, 35, pitched parts of ten seasons in the Majors, most recently in 2008 with the Indians. He last pitched professionally in 2010, tossing 19 2/3 innings for the Triple-A affiliate of the White Sox. Elarton won 17 games for the 2000 Astros, though his best season might have been '99.
Gosewisch, 28, played in 109 games last year for the Phillies' Double-A affiliate.
Giants Trying To Trade Affeldt Or Ramon Ramirez
The Giants have a ton of money tied up in the bullpen right now, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, so they're trying to move Jeremy Affeldt or Ramon Ramirez. Many teams seek bullpen help, including the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tigers, Twins, Angels, Mariners, Mets, Brewers, Cardinals, and Reds.
Affeldt, a 32-year-old lefty, had his $5MM club option exercised by the Giants in October. Ramirez, a 30-year-old righty, projects to earn $2.3MM in his last year before free agency.
Including Affeldt, Ramirez, Brian Wilson ($8.5MM), Javier Lopez ($4.25MM), Santiago Casilla ($1.9MM estimated), and Sergio Romo ($1.3MM estimated), the Giants project to have a $23.25MM bullpen in 2012. That doesn't seem too bad against a $130MM payroll, though it increases to over 23% of the team's spending once you remove the dead weight of Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.
Cardinals Rumors: Pujols, Dotel, Romero
The latest on Albert Pujols and the Cardinals' other dealings, courtesy of Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch…
- The Cardinals offered Pujols a nine-year, $198MM extension in January, confirmed Goold. Though this would be the third-largest contract in baseball history, the average annual value of $22MM would have the game's best hitter outside of the all-time top ten. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak wouldn't comment on whether the January offer still stands.
- Mozeliak explained his Pujols timeline to Goold: "I don't feel like right now everything outside of Albert's situation is urgent. That said, the one takeaway we have to have in the next couple weeks is what is the likelihood of us getting something done (with Pujols). I think directionally, that's what we're looking for as we move into the winter meetings and toward (the holidays)."
- One pressing factor might be the division-rival Cubs, who have "serious interest" in Pujols according to a Goold source, yet the talks so far have been preliminary. Yesterday, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported that the Cubs are showing interest in Pujols and Prince Fielder. Goold says Pujols has indicated a desire to meet face-to-face with any legitimately interested party, so perhaps a sit-down will occur with the Cubs soon.
- Octavio Dotel's agent Dan Horwits told Goold, "Dotel would like to be a Cardinal. Obviously, the Cardinals have some other contracts to address first, and we understand that." This week the Mets, Reds, Tigers, and Angels have been named as other suitors for the 38-year-old righty.
- J.C. Romero's agent Melvin Roman told Goold he has heard from the Cardinals and expects to have a discussion at the Winter Meetings. The 35-year-old southpaw is open to a one-year deal after allowing 44 baserunners in 24 2/3 big league innings this year. In September, Romero said his first choice was to return to the Rockies.
- Mozeliak commented on his team's shortstop situation to Goold: "If we had to wake up and give Tyler Greene an opportunity (at shortstop) we would be comfortable with that." The Cardinals have an internal debate about whether to give Greene the job, Mozeliak told B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com. Rafael Furcal is willing to wait on the Pujols negotiations to a point, though you have to think he'll pounce if a strong three-year offer comes along from another team. Goold believes Jimmy Rollins could be a possibility for the Cardinals at shortstop if Pujols signs elsewhere.
- Regarding the bullpen, Mozeliak told Rains, "There may be some things that we look at in January to add depth to that but I don't think we see anything short term on that now."
- Rains also learned that Bryan Anderson and Tony Cruz will compete for the Cardinals' backup catcher job, and the team has interest in retaining free agent infielder Nick Punto.
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