Jamie Moyer Hopes To Pitch In 2012
Free agent lefty Jamie Moyer is having Tommy John surgery Wednesday, according to his foundation's Facebook page last night, and he's "cautiously optimistic" about a comeback. Moyer would be 49 for the 2012 season, and his left elbow has over 4,000 innings and 57,000 pitches of mileage. He's got 267 wins and a 4.24 ERA across 24 seasons for the Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles, Red Sox, Mariners, and Phillies.
Twins Sign Dominican Prospect Pimentel
The Twins signed 17-year-old shortstop Javier Pimentel to a $575K deal, according to the Dominican Prospect League. In his July 2nd prospect rankings, Blake Bentley placed Pimentel in a tenth-place tie, calling him "a wide-shouldered shortstop with a solid bat and plenty of room for improvement."
In other news from the league, the Mets inked 17-year-old shortstop Alfredo Reyes for $200K.
Rockies Reach Agreement With Jorge De La Rosa
The free agent market for starting pitching continues to thin out quickly, as lefty Jorge de la Rosa has reached an agreement to re-sign with the Rockies. De La Rosa agreed to a three-year, $32MM deal. The pitcher maintained flexibility by securing a player option on the third year, while the Rockies added a fourth year club option at $11MM. Today is a huge day for the Colorado franchise, as they're also nearing a six-year extension with shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Both players are represented by TWC Sports.
De La Rosa, 30 in April, posted a 4.22 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 52.3% groundball rate in 121 2/3 innings for the Rockies this year. He missed ten weeks with a torn tendon in his finger, but pitched acceptably upon his return. De La Rosa was one of the few starters with upside on this year's free agent market – he throws quite hard for a southpaw and is relatively young. There have been a few Oliver Perez comparisons, but Perez isn't a groundball pitcher. De La Rosa's player option gives him the freedom to test the open market or renegotiate after the 2012 season in the event he takes it to the next level and racks up a few 200 inning, 200 strikeout type seasons. He's yet to reach either of those plateaus in his career.
De La Rosa set out seeking a four or five-year deal in free agency, but ultimately stayed where he's most comfortable. The Nationals and Pirates were among his other suitors. Since De La Rosa was a Type A free agent who turned down arbitration, the Rockies would have received two draft picks if he'd signed elsewhere.
Now that De La Rosa, Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda, Javier Vazquez, Jon Garland and Jake Westbrook have signed deals, there's not much left on the starting pitching market other than Cliff Lee and Carl Pavano. As I explained yesterday, many teams could be looking to add starters.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the De La Rosa deal was close, and Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post added details.
Free Agent Arbitration Decisions Due Today
Today marks the deadline for the 35 free agents offered arbitration to decide whether or not to accept. All of the decisions will be chronicled on the front page of MLBTR as well as in our handy free agent arbitration offer tracker. Of the 35 offered, four unsigned players – Trevor Hoffman, Kevin Correia, Octavio Dotel, and Kevin Gregg, have already chosen to decline. Another eight have new contract agreements: Jorge De La Rosa, Juan Uribe, Joaquin Benoit, John Buck, Jon Garland, Victor Martinez, Yorvit Torrealba, and Javier Vazquez.
That leaves 23 decisions for today:
Type A (12 players)
Grant Balfour
Adrian Beltre – lock to decline
Carl Crawford – lock to decline
Scott Downs – likely to decline
Adam Dunn – likely to decline
Frank Francisco – likely to accept
Jason Frasor
Paul Konerko
Cliff Lee – lock to decline
Carl Pavano – expected to decline
Rafael Soriano – lock to decline
Jayson Werth – lock to decline
Type B (11 players)
Randy Choate
Jesse Crain - expected to decline
Pedro Feliciano
Brad Hawpe
Aaron Heilman – may be leaning toward declining
Orlando Hudson – expected to decline
Adam LaRoche
Felipe Lopez
Miguel Olivo
J.J. Putz – likely to decline
Chad Qualls
As you can see, there about about a dozen decisions in question. Type A relievers Francisco, Balfour, and Frasor have good cases for accepting, as they'll otherwise be saddled with the draft pick cost. Konerko accepting would mean a one-year deal at a strong salary, something he may find appealing.
It's possible some of the Type Bs have handshake agreements to decline, as Vazquez and Hoffman did. The only reason for a Type B to accept would be if they expect no multiyear offers and feel that they'd earn more in 2011 through arbitration than the open market. Hawpe, LaRoche, and Qualls have to consider that route.
Andy LaRoche, Delwyn Young Elect Free Agency
Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young elected free agency today after clearing outright waivers, MLBTR has learned. LaRoche, Young, and Zach Duke were designated for assignment by the Pirates ten days ago, with Duke being traded to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
MLBTR pegged all three as non-tender candidates on November 2nd, so infielders LaRoche and Young are just reaching free agency a few days early. Both former Dodgers prospects struggled to hit at the Major League level, but they're on the right side of 30 and can play multiple positions.
Yankees Rumors: Jeter, Rivera
The latest Yankees talk…
- Talks between the Yankees and Derek Jeter are "at a standstill until Jeter and his agent, Casey Close, 'drink the reality potion,'" a source close to the negotiations tells ESPN's Wallace Matthews. The Yankees are stuck on three years and $45MM, while Jeter wants more years and $23-25MM annually. Matthews says the Yankees are not budging from their offer, though SI's Jon Heyman expects them to up the money but not the years this week.
- The Yankees and Mariano Rivera, on the other hand, are progressing smoothly in their negotiations according to ESPN's Andrew Marchand. Rivera could be bumped to $16-17MM per year, but it's unknown whether the Yankees will guarantee two years.
- Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues estimates Phil Hughes' first-year arbitration reward in the $3.2-3.5MM range.
Odds & Ends: Alexei Ramirez, Crawford, Hall
Five years ago today, the Blue Jays signed closer B.J. Ryan to a five-year, $47MM deal, the largest ever for a reliever (the contract was later matched in total by Joe Nathan). Ryan gave the Jays two solid seasons, earning his release in '09. Today's links:
- White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez has until Wednesday to decide whether to choose arbitration over a $1.1MM salary for 2011, reports Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune. Even as a first timer Ramirez would certainly beat that, so look for him to choose arbitration unless a multiyear deal can be hammered out. The Sox have four other arbitration eligible players: John Danks, Carlos Quentin, Tony Pena, and Bobby Jenks.
- Carl Crawford's agents at Legacy Sports are sending interested teams iPads with pro-Crawford videos preloaded, reports Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.
- Versatile free agent Bill Hall is in play for eight teams, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown. The Rockies are one interested club, tweets Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. The Yankees may be another, based on a Ken Rosenthal report from earlier this month. Renck believes the Rockies will have interest in Ryan Theriot if he's non-tendered, as well.
- Tsuyoshi Nishioka sounds eager to sign with the Twins, based on press conference quotes passed along by Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
- Scott Boras has a proposal to replace the Rule 5 draft, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports provides the details. Also, Rosenthal previews the rest of the offseason.
Tigers Designate Zach Miner For Assignment
The Tigers designated righty Zach Miner for assignment to clear a spot for Victor Martinez, according to a team press release. Miner had Tommy John surgery on May 28th, so a non-tender was expected on Thursday anyway.
Miner, 29 in March, posted a 4.24 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in his four seasons with the Tigers. He had a strong 56.1% groundball rate in '07, but it dropped off in the two following campaigns.
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Rangers Avoid Arbitration With Mark Lowe
The Rangers avoided arbitration with reliever Mark Lowe, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Lowe, arbitration eligible for the second time, will earn $1.2MM in 2011 with a potential $100K in incentives. The 27-year-old received a $5K raise after missing most of the season due to back surgery. He came to the Rangers while on the disabled list in the July Cliff Lee trade.
Three other arbitration eligible players have also already signed in advance of Thursday's non-tender deadline: Scott Proctor, Wil Ledezma, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.