Mets Claim Anthony Recker
The Mets have claimed catcher Anthony Recker from the Cubs, according to Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald (via Twitter). Recker was designated for assignment by Chicago yesterday to make room for right-hander Carlos Gutierrez.
Recker, 29, posted a .143/.263/.245 slash line in 58 plate appearances for the Athletics and Cubs in 2012. For his career, Recker has a .277/.359/.474 career batting line in over 1,200 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
Pirates Claim Ali Solis
The Pirates have claimed catcher Ali Solis off of waivers from the Padres, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Twitter). Catcher Eric Fryer and first baseman Jeff Clement were designated for assignment to make room for Solis and right-hander Chad Beck to make room on the 40-man roster.
Solis, 25, spent the year in Double-A San Antonio, posting a slash line of .283/.307/.419 with six homers in 87 games. The catcher also saw his first big league action in September, appearing in five games for the Padres.
Fryer, 27, owns a .204/.291/.275 slash line across two Triple-A seasons Clement, 29, spent 23 games on the varsity squad and hit .276/.340/.486 in 112 Triple-A games this year.
Quick Hits: Cardinals, Athletics, Farrell, Marlins
While last winter was an offseason of transition for the Cardinals, the club is now set to retain almost everyone after coming just one win away from reaching the World Series, writes Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Kyle Lohse and Lance Berkman are the club's only two free agents, but neither player is expected to return to St. Louis. Lohse seems bound for a significant payday with another club while Berkman is contemplating retirement. Here's more out of the Central divisions..
- Twins General Manager Terry Ryan confirmed that the club "would like to keep" right-hander Scott Baker, tweets Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN. Baker, who is seven months removed from Tommy John surgery, said earlier this year that he would like to remain in Minnesota.
- Jane Lee of MLB.com expects to see the Athletics target veteran pitching this winter to support their young rotation. Billy Beane & Co. could help achieve that goal by re-signing Brandon McCarthy but they are also expected to comb the open market for one-year options.
- John Farrell and Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos were never a good fit, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. At today's introductory presser in Boston, Farrell indicated that he and the GM weren't able to communicate effectively during their two years together in Toronto.
- Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports thinks that the Marlins' dysfunctional ownership could be a deterrent to managerial candidates.
Red Sox Notes: Ortiz, Ross, Farrell, Cherington
Earlier today, the Red Sox (re-)introduced John Farrell to the Boston media, two days after sending Mike Aviles north of the border to free him from the manager from his contract with the Blue Jays. Here's more on the Red Sox..
- In an interview with NBC's Bob Costas, former Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine opined that David Ortiz quit on the team after their blockbuster deal with the Dodgers, writes Matthew Pouliot of HardballTalk. "He realized that this trade meant that we’re not going to run this race and we’re not even going to finish the race properly and he decided not to play anymore. I think at that time it was all downhill from there," said Valentine. The slugger is currently working to iron out a new deal with Boston.
- Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) found it interesting that Farrell mentioned Cody Ross right away when asked about players that he has reached out to. Ross is set to hit the open market after turning in a strong campaign on a one-year, $3MM deal.
- There has been talk that the Blue Jays are upset with the Red Sox over what they perceive as tampering in the courtship of John Farrell, but GM Ben Cherington says that nothing of the sort took place, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com. "I can say definitively that wherever that speculation was coming from, it wasn't coming from me. The only conversations I had about the situation were directly to [CEO] Paul [Beeston] and [GM] Alex [Anthopoulos]'s until Saturday, when I got a chance to talk to John," said Cherington.
- The solid relationship and familiarity between Cherington and Farrell will be key to the club's success going forward, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.
Cubs Notes: Camp, Pitching, Bush
The Cubs flirted with the idea of trading Alfonso Soriano during the season and many have speculated that they could once again try to find a fit for him this winter. Last week, however, Soriano said that he would be reluctant to join an AL club as a designated hitter. Here's more out of Wrigley..
- Right-hander Shawn Camp is the Cubs' only free agent this winter and team President Theo Epstein says that he is interested in having him back, tweets Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald. Camp, who hooked on with the Cubs on a minor league deal in March, posted a 3.59 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 80 appearances last season.
- Epstein added that the Cubs will likely pursue two starting pitchers, either through trades or free agency, this winter, Miles writes. The deadline deals of Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm combined with the elbow injury to Matt Garza left the rotation short-handed last year.
- The Cubs gave Assistant GM Randy Bush a three-year contract extension, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com (via Twitter). Bush is entering his seventh season in the position and his ninth season overall with the organization.
Randy Wolf To Miss 2013 Season
Veteran left-hander Randy Wolf will undergo Tommy John surgery next week that will cause him to miss all of the 2013 season, writes Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. However, the 36-year-old told Connolly that he plans to return in 2014.
Wolf also underwent Tommy John surgery in July of 2005 as a member of the Phillies, sidelining him for the remainder of the season and the first half of the 2006 season. The lefty was picked up by the Orioles after he was released in the final season of his three-year deal with the Brewers. Wolf posted a 5.65 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 157.2 innings of work for the two clubs.
Quick Hits: Pagan, Upton, Rodriguez, Yankees
Many teams now find themselves flush with cash thanks to lucrative national and local TV contracts, making this a promising offseason for free agents, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd). "There's so much money out there, it's scary," said a highly ranked executive. Top free agents such as Zack Greinke are obviously in line for major paydays, but other free agents such as Angel Pagan, Ryan Ludwick, and Mike Adams could be in for more money than they ever imagined. More from around baseball..
- Even after moving Chris Young, the Diamondbacks could part with Justin Upton and go with an outfield of Gerardo Parra, Adam Eaton, and Jason Kubel with A.J. Pollock in reserve, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Arizona could also move Kubel and keep Upton instead, but financially it would make more sense to move Upton as he is owed $38.5MM over the next three years.
- Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times imagines that the Rays would have interest in Alex Rodriguez as a DH if the Yankees were willing to eat enough of his contract. The embattled third baseman is owed $114MM over the next five years and holds a complete no-trade clause.
- Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News lists some possible destinations for Rodriguez in 2013.
- Yankees' GM Brian Cashman told ESPN Radio he will listen to offers for Rodriguez (h/t MLB.com's Evan Drellich). "It's not like I'm going to hang phones up on anybody who wants to make any overtures about anything. You're talking about realistic stuff and unrealistic stuff. I don't think it's realistic at all for us to be moving forward with anything but Alex Rodriguez at third base."
- Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) suggests that the Yankees blow up the team in an effort to get younger and more athletic. Bowden's proposed plan calls for the club to start by convincing Rodriguez to waive his no-trade clause and filling his spot with the likes of a Chase Headley.
- The Orioles should have interest in Scott Feldman, if the Rangers decline his $9.25MM option, reasons CSNBaltimore.com's Rich Dubroff. The Orioles need additional rotation depth and a long reliever, roles Feldman has performed before. The right-hander is also liked by manager Buck Showalter, who was the Rangers' skipper when Feldman made his debut in 2005.
- The Blue Jays will look to trade Yunel Escobar but it won't be easy because of his reputation, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
- The revival of Mark McGwire's baseball career stems from the opportunity former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa gave the slugger as the team's hitting coach, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. For McGwire, he's brought staggering results to the St. Louis lineup as the team has led the National League in batting average over the past three seasons under his tutelage.
Daniel Seco contributed to this post.
Farrell Reactions: Red Sox, Blue Jays, Aviles
After months of speculation, the Red Sox finally got their man in Blue Jays skipper John Farrell. Several names were floated about as potential bait for Toronto, but the Blue Jays wound up receiving shortstop Mike Aviles in the compensation deal. Here's a look at some of the reactions to the move..
- The loss of Aviles is not an insignificant one for the Red Sox, according to the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham. Aviles could have been a solid player off the bench next season, capable of backing up three infield positions and even playing some outfield, plus he was one of the most professional and accountable players on the team, setting an example for the young players, writes Abraham.
- In a separate article, Abraham says now the Red Sox have their manager, the real work starts for GM Ben Cherington, who must fill in the holes on the roster and hire a coaching staff.
- The Blue Jays were willing to let Farrell go in part because keeping him would have meant giving him a multi-year extension, and he hadn't earned that, writes Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. The club wasn't eager to do that in part because of the team's lack of on-field discipline in the 2012 season.
- If Farrell is such a good manager, Scott Miller of CBSSports.com wonders why the Blue Jays would allow him to walk for relatively little. However, Miller spoke with one highly respected person close to the Blue Jays who insists that Toronto's struggles were not Farrell's fault and that he will develop into a very fine manager one day.
- There are suggestions that first base coach Torey Lovullo, third base coach Brian Butterfield, and extra coach Luis Rivera may now follow Farrell to the Red Sox, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. GM Alex Anthopoulos confirmed all coaches are "free to talk" with other organizations because none of them are under contract beyond this season, tweets MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm.
- The Red Sox deserve credit for being decisive and moving quickly to grab the manager that they wanted all along, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Boston's sacrifice of Aviles also seems especially mild given that the Blue Jays supposedly asked for Clay Buchholz in return for Farrell last winter.
- Toronto was furious with what they perceived to be tampering on the part of Boston, but they were wise to move past it, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com. Olney adds that Torey Lovullo is likely to be a prominent candidate for the Jays' managerial job as he is highly regarded in the organization.
- With a new manager in place, General Manager Ben Cherington's neck is now on the line, opines Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.
- The Blue Jays would do well to turn around and hire Brad Ausmus, opines Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). The Red Sox hiring team indicated to Cafardo that Ausmus was very impressive during the process.
- Rules mandate that both teams receive a player in such a deal, but whoever the Sox get from the Blue Jays is expected to be marginal, writes Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com.
- In getting Aviles as compensation, the Blue Jays seemingly followed the Lou Pinella-Randy Winn precedent from 2002, tweets Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.
- Look for Lovullo to join Farrell in Boston as the team's new bench coach according to an industry source, tweets Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.
- The reaction by current Red Sox players to Sunday's managerial hiring has been been completely different than how the team responded to Bobby Valentine's arrival in Boston last fall, tweets Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe.
Edward Creech and Daniel Seco contributed to this post.
Red Sox Hire John Farrell
The Red Sox have announced the hiring of John Farrell as their new manager and his agreement to a three-year deal that will run through 2015. As compensation to the Blue Jays, to whom Farrell was under contract through 2013, the Red Sox traded shortstop Mike Aviles for right-hander David Carpenter.
The Red Sox confirmed in their press release they sought and received permission from the Blue Jays to talk directly to Farrell and made the agreement late last night. Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter), that Farrell approached him one week after the season to tell him, if the opportunity to manage in Boston came up, he wanted to pursue it calling it a dream job.
"I’m extremely excited to be returning to the Red Sox and to Boston," said Farrell in the Red Sox's statement. "I love this organization. It’s a great franchise in a special city and region, with great fans, and we want nothing more than to reward their faith in us."
"We are thrilled to name John Farrell as our new manager," said Executive Vice-President/General Manager Ben Cherington, who made the announcement. "John has been a major league pitcher, front office executive, coach, and manager. His broad set of experiences, and exceptional leadership skills, make him the ideal person to lead our team. I have known him in various capacities throughout my career, and I hold him in the highest regard as a baseball man and as a person."
Aviles saw his role reduced towards the end of the season in Boston as the club slotted Jose Iglesias in as the starting shortstop for the bulk of September. The 31-year-old took a step back offensively in 2012 as he hit just .250/.282/.381 with 13 homers. In parts of five big league seasons for the Royals and Red Sox, Aviles owns a .277/.308/.408 batting line. Aviles, who earned $1.2MM last season, will head to arbitration once again this winter and is set to hit the open market after the 2014 season.
This marks the second time that Carpenter has been traded this year, as he went from the Astros to Toronto in a ten-player deal this summer. The 27-year-old appeared in 33 games for the two clubs last season, posting a 8.07 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9. He also had a 3.08 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 23 Triple-A appearances.
Boston had been linked to Farrell, their former pitching coach, ever since Bobby Valentine appeared to be losing his grip on the club this year. Meanwhile, Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos repeatedly deflected questions about the possibility of Farrell returning to the Red Sox and even instituted a club policy of blocking personnel from leaving for a lateral move.
Two compensation deals for baseball decision makers were completed last season. Theo Epstein went from the Red Sox over to the Cubs' front office while manager Ozzie Guillen was traded from the White Sox to the Marlins. The White Sox received Double-A reliever Jhan Marinez and Triple-A shortstop Ozzie Martinez for their skipper. While both were ranked highly within the Marlins' farm system, neither player is viewed as an elite prospect. Meanwhile, the Cubs and Red Sox had a long protracted battle over what Epstein's compensation package should be before finally agreeing upon pitching prospects Chris Carpenter and Aaron Kurcz going to Boston for Jair Bogaerts.
Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter) was the first to break the news of Farrell's hiring. Rob Bradford of WEEI.com first reported the inclusion of Aviles and, along with colleague Alex Speier, Carpenter.
Edward Creech contributed to this post.
Cafardo On Mets, Davis, Lincecum, Peavy
The Yankees are obviously frustrated with how their 2012 campaign turned out, but an American League General Manager told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that they won't have to blow things up the way that the Red Sox did in order to improve. “[I] don’t think they necessarily have to hit rock bottom like Boston to get better," said the GM. "We always said you can’t do that in Boston, but it happened. We always say that can’t happen with the Yankees, so I guess we’ll see. But I just see Brian Cashman trying to get this team younger while still competing. That’s what I think will happen.” Here's more from today's column..
- We've heard that the Mets will be open to trading Ike Davis, but special assistant J.P. Ricciardi would be shocked to see any movement on the first baseman. Davis has often been linked to the Red Sox and the Rays would also be a fit. Tampa Bay could certainly afford to part ways with a pitcher in order to improve their offense.
- Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum will be available in trade and it will be interesting to see what kind of market develops for him. The Giants say his problems were strictly mechanical, but other teams wonder why his fastball dipped from around 96 mph to 92 mph for most of the season. The 28-year-old is due $22MM in the final year of his deal.
- The White Sox will decline Jake Peavy's $22MM option for 2013 and one National League GM sees him fetching a three-year deal worth $36-40MM on the open market. Understandably, the GM cautioned that team doctors would have to do a thorough check on him despite the fact that he stayed healthy this past season.
- Ricciardi's deal with the Mets is up but he expects to return. So far, no one has inquired on him as a GM candidate or something close, though he says he would like to return to the front office.