Orioles Claim Darren O’Day
The Orioles claimed righty reliever Darren O'Day off waivers from the Rangers, the team announced.
O'Day, 29, struggled with the longball in 16 2/3 big league innings for Texas this year. The sidearmer tossed another 21 1/3 innings in the minors, mostly at Triple-A. O'Day will be arbitration eligible for the second time after the season, and we project a very small raise to $1.3MM.
O'Day joined the Rangers via an April 2009 waiver claim from the Mets. From that point through the end of the 2010 season, he provided the Rangers a 1.99 ERA, 7.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, and 0.61 HR/9 in 117 2/3 innings. Over the course of his career, he hasn't shown the typical lefty/righty splits of a sidearm pitcher.
The Orioles' 40-man roster now stands at 38, as Jake Arrieta, Brian Roberts, and Luke Scott were activated from the 60-day DL.
Free Agent And Trade Market For Right Fielders
The Red Sox, Twins, Athletics, Cubs, Pirates, Cardinals, Rockies, Padres, and Giants could explore the market for right fielders this year, which mostly consists of a variety of free agents.
Starting Right Fielders Available In Free Agency
Three potential right fielders who will land starting jobs are Carlos Beltran, Michael Cuddyer, and Jason Kubel. Beltran is a middle-of-the-order bat, but he'll be 35 in April and missed much of 2009-10 with knee issues. Signing him will not involve the loss of a draft pick, but it may take three years and a salary of at least $13MM. Cuddyer can't match Beltran's bat, but he is younger, more versatile, and presumably cheaper. Signing him probably will require the loss of a draft pick though. Kubel is a similar hitter to Cuddyer aside from handedness, but Kubel's outfield defense is a minus.
Four more free agents may be vying for a role that sits between starter and reserve: David DeJesus, Magglio Ordonez, J.D. Drew, and Kosuke Fukudome. DeJesus, 32 in December, brings defensive value and seems the best bet. Fukudome doesn't have the power desired of a corner outfielder, while Ordonez and Drew bring significant health risk and may be limited to AL teams.
Thinking Outside The Box
Brad Hawpe, Ryan Ludwick, Josh Willingham, and Cody Ross played little or no right field this year, but they've done so in their careers. Grady Sizemore has never played right field as a pro. Agent Joe Urbon says Sizemore prefers center but will consider corner outfield opportunities. After missing significant time due to injury the last few years, Sizemore will be a wild card on an incentive-laden deal.
Quality Backups
Reed Johnson is likely to secure a Major League deal, while Scott Hairston, Mark Kotsay, and Corey Patterson have a shot.
Non-Tender Candidates
The Rockies could non-tender Ryan Spilborghs, who was productive in 2010. Garrett Jones probably won't be non-tendered, but the Pirates could move him if they don't consider him worth $2.4MM or so. Former top prospect Jeremy Hermida could be cut by the Padres; he hit .319/.400/.524 in Triple-A this year.
Other Trade Candidates
Carlos Quentin's name is often bandied about in trade rumors as he enters his final year of team control, but there's no guarantee the White Sox will move him. The Rockies' Seth Smith could be dealt if the team signs someone like Cuddyer.
Dodgers' GM Ned Colletti isn't inclined to trade Andre Ethier, he told ESPN's Jim Bowden in October.
Check out our full free agent list, as well as our articles on the markets at catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, and center field.
Twins Rumors: Nathan, Cuddyer, Kubel, Slowey
The latest Twins rumors, courtesy of ESPN 1500's Phil Mackey…
- Joe Nathan's top priority is to pitch for a winning team next year, preferably as the closer. Last week Nathan's agent said his client seeks a closing job. "Money won't be the driving force" for Nathan, writes Mackey. Mackey says Nathan has strong interest in returning to the Twins, who definitely have openings at the back end of their bullpen.
- Mackey hears that Michael Cuddyer will "listen attentively to all interested parties," even if the Twins make the best offer. The Twins maintain interest in Jason Kubel as well. At the least, I expect they'll offer arbitration to both of them later this month.
- Mackey's hunch says to keep an eye on Clint Barmes, Kelly Shoppach, and Ryan Doumit as potential free agent targets. I ranked Barmes 35th among free agents on Monday, predicting the Twins as his new team. Make your picks for Barmes and 49 other free agents by Sunday night for the chance to win cash and baseball-related prizes and bragging rights. Over 3,000 people have entered so far.
- There's a very good chance the Twins will non-tender righty Kevin Slowey, wrote MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger on Monday.
- The Twins' 2012 payroll is expected to decrease slightly, leaving $20-25MM to spend, wrote Bollinger on Saturday.
- View MLBTR's projected salaries for Slowey and the Twins' other four arbitration eligibles here, and read Ben Nicholson-Smith's offseason outlook for the team here.
MLBTR Chats
Every week, MLBTR conducts a live chat with either Tim Dierkes or Ben Nicholson-Smith. Most of the time, it's me, and the chat is held at 2pm central time on Wednesdays. That's the plan for today.
All you have to do to participate is visit MLB Trade Rumors at any point during the hour-long chat and click the chat link. Then you'll have the opportunity to put in your name and submit a question.
With thousands of questions streaming in, I am typically able to answer about 60 of them in an hour. If you feel like your questions are being ignored, the reason is probably just the sheer volume. If you'd like to improve your chances of having a question answered, avoid posting it repeatedly, complaining about how your questions or favorite team are being ignored, or asking something that has been well-covered in our articles. Instead, submit a few interesting questions that can reasonably be answered without research.
To view transcripts of past MLBTR chats, click here.
Marlins Notes: Payroll, Oviedo, Vazquez
Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest spoke with reporters yesterday; here are the hot stove highlights.
- The Marlins will raise their payroll to at least $85MM in 2012, writes Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post. By my calculations they should have over $20MM to spend on '12 salaries, if Juan Carlos Oviedo does not remain with the team.
- Oviedo, the former Leo Nunez, is in the Dominican Republic working through identity-related legal issues. Beinfest hopes for clarity on the situation as soon as possible, but has "contingencies in place." Beinfest noted that there are dates that are sensitive to Oviedo's situation, namely the December 12th non-tender deadline.
- Beinfest told reporters the Marlins' top priority is to add rotation depth. In regard to Javier Vazquez, he said, "I haven't talked with Javy since the season ended. What a great job he did for us, and we will check in with him and his agent. We'll see where his head is, and where his thoughts are. That door was left open when the season ended to at least explore. Javy's mind is wherever Javy's mind is. He's a veteran guy. We'll at least explore and keep and touch, and we'll see."
- Beinfest seems more open to trading young players, saying, "I think we need to become a little more open, just in general. I think we've been very protective of our zero to three [years of experience] players because we've had to be, given our payroll challenges. I think we can open up a little more now."
- This is an important offseason for center fielder Chris Coghlan, says Beinfest, after two disappointing seasons.
- To read my offseason outlook for the new Miami Marlins, click here.
Cubs, Nationals May Have Interest In Buehrle
The Cubs and Nationals might be among the suitors for free agent lefty Mark Buehrle this winter. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune hears from a source that the Cubs "would be interested Buehrle if the price tag and years aren't astronomical." And Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post wrote yesterday that "some individuals with ties to the Nationals believe they will pursue Buehrle."
Buehrle, 32, has spent his entire career with the White Sox after they drafted him in the 38th round in 1998. In each of the last 11 campaigns, he's reached a minimum of 201 regular season innings. Last year Buehrle posted a 3.59 ERA, 4.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.92 HR/9, and 44.9% groundball rate in 205 1/3 frames.
Buehrle is a Type B free agent, and SI's Jon Heyman wrote last month that the White Sox are expected to try to re-sign him to a two-year deal. Buehrle said in September he'd like to play two or three more years. He considers the NL a potentially interesting challenge, and has talked many times about pitching for his home-state Cardinals. However, the Cards don't appear to have a rotation opening for him. Buehrle doesn't seem inclined to play too far from home, yet he may have reservations about going to the crosstown Cubs. In theory, the Royals could be in play, but we haven't heard anything yet.
I ranked Buehrle 12th on my top 50 free agents list, predicting a return to the White Sox. Make your pick for Buehrle and 49 other free agents for a chance to win great prizes in MLBTR's new contest.
Minor Moves: Burton, Reyes, Wood
Today's minor moves…
- Jared Burton elected free agency, according to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon (on Twitter). The 30-year-old right-hander showed promise out of the 'pen in 2007-08, but has appeared in just ten MLB games since 2010. He spent time on the 60-day DL with shoulder inflammation in 2011.
- The Padres signed 16-year-old outfielder Franmil Reyes out of the Dominican Republic for $700K, tweets MLB.com's Corey Brock. Baseball America's Ben Badler has more on Reyes.
- The Pirates announced they've signed reliever Tim Wood to a minor league deal. The 28-year-old had eight big league innings for the Bucs this year, and posted a 3.49 ERA, 6.2 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.4 HR/9, and 24 saves in 49 Triple-A relief innings for the Pirates and Rangers.
Projected Arbitration Salaries
As explained in these three posts, Matt Swartz has developed a very accurate model for MLBTR to project arbitration salaries. By my count there are 196 remaining arbitration eligible players. Click here to download an Excel spreadsheet with our projected salaries, or click below to see everything.
Tigers Notes: Ordonez, Guillen, Catcher, Jose Reyes
Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski spoke to reporters today; here's the latest from John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press on Twitter.
- It's very unlikely free agents Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen will be back next year. Reliever Joel Zumaya would be on a minor league deal if he returns.
- Victor Martinez will be the Tigers' full-time designated hitter next year, so Dombrowski will seek a back-up catcher for Alex Avila.
- Dombrowski sees the arbitration eligible Delmon Young as his left fielder in 2012 on a one-year deal. Matt Swartz projects Young to earn $6.3MM next year through the arbitration process.
- "In so many words, Dombrowski ruled out any run at [Jose] Reyes," tweets Lowe.
- Most likely, Jacob Turner and other youngsters will compete for the Tigers' fifth starter job next spring, with a veteran on board for projection, tweets MLB.com's Jason Beck.
Yankees Decline Option On Andrew Brackman
The Yankees declined their 2012 option on righty Andrew Brackman, GM Brian Cashman told reporters on a conference call today. The 6'10" 25-year-old righty is now a free agent; ESPN's Keith Law explains that Brackman's contract called for the Yankees to release him if they didn't pick up his option.
Brackman, 25, made his Major League debut this year with three relief appearances. The Yankees drafted him 30th overall out of North Carolina State in 2007 and signed him to a $4.45MM Major League contract. The Yankees knew at the time that Brackman needed Tommy John surgery. Brackman made it up to Triple-A this year, where he was shifted to the bullpen. He posted a 6.00 ERA, 7.0 K/9, 7.0 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 96 innings.