Orioles Rumors

Orioles Place Alfredo Simon On Restricted List

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 20, 2011 at 10:22pm CDT

SUNDAY, 10:22pm: MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli reports that Simon is expected to be found not guilty, and could be released within ten days. One of the right-hander's agents, Phil Isaac, said they "fully expect [Simon] to be back up, and pitching very soon."

Ghiroli says the Orioles could keep Simon on the restricted list until he is ready to re-join the team. He will not get paid or accrue service time in the meantime.

FRIDAY, 8:13am: The Orioles announced that they placed right-hander Alfredo Simon on the restricted list to create roster space for Vladimir Guerrero. Simon is a suspect in a fatal New Year's Eve shooting in the Dominican, where he is currently in jail.

Players on the restricted list do not count toward a team's 25-man or 40-man roster. Two of the players to go on the restricted list recently, Carlos Zambrano and Milton Bradley, kept collecting paychecks while on the list, but it appears that Simon won't collect service time or salary. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com says the Orioles won't be paying the reliever.

2012 Vesting Options

By Mike Axisa | February 19, 2011 at 8:08pm CDT

Vesting options are always worth keeping track of during the season, especially since they can often have consequences that are less than desirable. Last year Magglio Ordonez ($15MM), Kerry Wood ($11MM), and Brian Fuentes ($9MM) all had big money options that did not vest, though Darren Oliver ($3.25MM) and Trever Miller ($2MM) had some smaller ones that did.

Here is a list of 2012 vesting options to keep an eye on this summer…

Bobby Abreu, Angels: $9MM option vests with 433 plate appearances. Abreu hasn't come to the plate fewer than 589 times in a season since 1997, his rookie year.
Adam Wainwright, Cardinals: His $9MM option for 2012 and $12MM option for 2013 will lock in as long as he does not finish 2011 on the disabled list. His second place finish in the 2010 Cy Young voting was step one of the vesting process.
Aramis Ramirez, Cubs: $16MM option vests if he is named MVP of either the regular season or League Championship Series, or if he is traded at some point in 2011.
Rafael Furcal, Dodgers: $12MM option vests with 600 plate appearances. Furcal has come to the plate 600+ times just once in the last three seasons (2009) due to injuries.
Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM option vests with 190 innings pitched. Garland hasn't thrown fewer than 191 1/3 innings since becoming a full-time starter in 2002.
Francisco Rodriguez, Mets: $17.5MM option vests with 55 games finished and if doctors declare him healthy at the end of the season.
Koji Uehara, Orioles: $4MM option vests with either 55 appearances or 25 games finished. Uehara hasn't reached either milestone in his first two big league seasons, though he came close in 2010: 43 appearances and 22 games finished.
Arthur Rhodes, Rangers: $4MM option vests with 62 appearances and if he's not on the disabled list at the end of the season.
Joakim Soria, Royals: $6MM option vests with 55 appearances, which he's done in three of his four big league seasons. The chances of it coming into play are microscopic, but Soria has a $6.5MM option for 2012 that could vest with 334 1/3 innings pitched (400 IP in 2010 & 2011). That was obviously put into his contract in case the team ever moved him into the rotation.
Dan Wheeler, Red Sox: $3MM option vests with 65 games; increases to $3.25MM with 70 games. Wheeler reached 64 games in 2010, but had at least 69 in each of the previous five seasons.

Mark Buehrle is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2011 season and although he doesn't have a traditional option in his contract, he gets an extra year at $15MM tacked onto his current deal if he's traded at some point this season.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Quick Hits: Liriano, Guerrero, Fielder, D’Antona

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 18, 2011 at 3:41pm CDT

On this date in 2009, the Mariners welcomed Ken Griffey Jr. back to Seattle, signing him to a one-year deal. The Kid hit 19 homers in his age-39 season and re-signed with Seattle for one last season before the 2010 campaign. Last year went poorly for Junior, but he's back in Seattle as a consultant this year. Here are today's links…

Francisco Liriano told La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he doesn't think his representatives had serious discussions with the Twins about a long-term deal during the offseason. (Twitter link).
Vladimir Guerrero says he hasn't thought about retirement, according to MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli (on Twitter). The Orioles finalized their deal with Vlad today.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that he doesn't expect Prince Fielder's contract status to be "an issue" for the team this year (Twitter link). Prince hits free agency for the first time after the coming season.
The Marlins released Jamie D'Antona, according to MLB.com's transactions page. They signed the third baseman last month after he spent two seasons in Japan. The 2003 second rounder clubbed 36 homers for the Yakult Swallows last year.
Tim Dierkes ranks this year's crop of third basemen from a fantasy perspective at RotoAuthority.

Orioles Sign Vladimir Guerrero

By Zachary Links | February 18, 2011 at 7:50am CDT

The Orioles signed Vladimir Guerrero to a one-year, the team announced. The SFX client will earn $8MM in total: $5MM this year and $3MM in deferred payments, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links). Zrebiec reports that Guerrero will get the $3MM several years from now.

It had been reported that the slugger was seeking a deal in the $8MM range while the O's were offering just $4.5MM for 2011. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail appeared to be willing to let Guerrero go elsewhere, but it seems that the front office had a change of heart. Guerrero is the latest move for the O's, who signed Derrek Lee, Kevin Gregg, and Justin Duchscherer and traded for Mark Reynolds this offseason.

In 2010, the veteran belted 29 homers while hitting .300/.345/.496 in 152 games for the Rangers. Texas had some interest in retaining Guerrero last month but with Michael Young and Mike Napoli in the fold there wasn't a need for the nine-time All-Star.

Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com first reported the agreement.

Quick Hits: Vlad, Pujols, Cabrera

By Dan Mennella | February 17, 2011 at 7:26pm CDT

Here are a few items of note for Feb. 17, the day on which Wally Pipp was born 118 years ago.

The Orioles will hold a press conference for Vladimir Guerrero on Friday, tweets Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com, so it's safe to assume that he passed his physical earlier this week and that his one-year deal is now official.
The Cardinals at some point offered Albert Pujols a nine-year contract extension worth more than $200MM, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com. To this point, the value of St. Louis' offer has been consistently around the $200MM range, but the length has been less clear.
Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, arrested in Florida late Wednesday night and charged with DUI and resisting arrest, will not likely face jail time, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com, who spoke to a "leading criminal defense attorney." Whether Cabrera will enter a treatment program at this time remains unclear, Morosi notes.

East Notes: Millwood, Bartlett, Manuel, Jenks

By Luke Adams 2 | February 13, 2011 at 11:11am CDT

Pitchers and catchers are reporting in Arizona and Florida, but up in the northeast, it doesn't feel like spring has arrived quite yet. Here are a few AL and NL East-related links while we wait for the snow to melt….

Although the Yankees and Kevin Millwood are still talking, they have "a ways to go," tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman. Yesterday, nearly 43% of over 6,300 MLBTR readers voted that Millwood would eventually sign with the Yanks.
The Rays were close to sending Jason Bartlett to San Francisco before they worked out a trade with another NL West club, Giants GM Brian Sabean tells Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.
John Gonzalez of the Philadelphia Inquirer wonders why it's taking so long for the Phillies and Charlie Manuel to work out a contract extension.
The Red Sox topped baseball's list of spenders this offseason, as ESPN.com's Katie Sharp writes. Since the turn of the century, the piece notes, only the 2009 Yankees have won a World Series after having outspent the rest of the league the previous winter.
Bobby Jenks spoke to the media in Fort Myers today, discussing his decision to sign with the Red Sox. The right-hander said he had offers elsewhere to close, but wanted to play in Boston, adding that he knows his role as a setup man and "didn’t come here to step on anybody’s toes." Alex Speier of WEEI.com has those quotes and more from Jenks.
Mike Puma of the New York Post and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun each pose 10 questions that could shape the Mets' and Orioles' seasons, respectively. In addition to discussing how new arrivals will fit in, each article addresses the back of the bullpen. Will the Mets let Francisco Rodriguez finish 55 games to trigger his 2012 option? And will it be Kevin Gregg, Koji Uehara, Mike Gonzalez, or someone else closing in Baltimore?
For updates all year long on the closing situations in Boston, New York, Baltimore, and everywhere else, be sure to follow @closernews on Twitter. A great resource for fantasy players, @closernews will keep tabs on injuries, ineffectiveness, overuse, and anything else that could affect which relievers are getting save opps.

AL East Notes: Vlad, Anderson, Delcarmen

By Dan Mennella | February 12, 2011 at 6:59pm CDT

Here are a few AL East items of note for Feb. 12. On this day in 1981, a contract violation by the Red Sox made catcher Carlton Fisk a free agent. Pudge eventually signed with the White Sox, with whom he spent the balance of his 24-year, Hall of Fame career.

Vladimir Guerrero's physical with the Orioles is scheduled for Wednesday, blogs Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. The Orioles' and Vlad's verbal agreement was first reported Feb. 4, so it's been an unusually long period between the agreement and scheduled physical, but O's president Andy MacPhail said that Guerrero's agent, Fernando Cuza, has signed an agreement that he can't accept another offer in the interim.
Brian Anderson is in Yankees camp and trying to make the team as a reliever, writes Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News. The former outfielder and first-round pick of the White Sox was DFA'd by the Royals in December after spending 2010 in the Kansas City organization, converting to life as a hurler. Anderson, signed to a minor league deal by the Bombers, said he was told by the Yankees that he has a chance to make the team out of camp, but if he doesn't, he will return to the minors to contine working.
The Rays were one of two finalists to sign reliever Manny Delcarmen, blogs Alex Speier of WEEI.com, but the right-hander ultimately chose Seattle over Tampa Bay. Both clubs offered minor league deals, and as we noted Thursday, Delcarmen also turned down a Major League offer from a National League team.

Orioles Notes: Payroll, Pujols, Guerrero

By Zachary Links | February 12, 2011 at 3:53pm CDT

Earlier this week, The Baltimore Sun published highlights of Orioles GM Andy MacPhail's address to a group of Baltimore School of Law students. MacPhail covered a wide range of topics and today the paper has published even more of his comments pertaining to the club..

Someone in the audience asked if promises were made three years ago by ownership that some of the cash generated by the creation of MASN would go toward increasing payroll. MacPhail says that he instead told ownership to keep payroll down and invest in the farm system. The GM's reasoning was that the O's will never be able to spend like Yankees and Red Sox and MASN can't generate money the way NESN (Red Sox) or YES (Yankees) can.
The O's would go beyond their budget to sign a special player under the right circumstances, or, as MacPhail phrased it, "the perfect storm". The GM cited the club's $140MM offer to Mark Teixeira after the 2008 season as an example of that. When someone asked if Albert Pujols could represent a similar perfect storm, MacPhail shot down the daydreams of optimistic Orioles fans everywhere by saying, "The likelihood of us stepping out to the degree that [Pujols] is looking at, for any one player, is remote at best. I read that he's looking for $30 million a year, and I just can't see how that's going to happen."
The club never anticipated increasing their bid for Vladimir Guerrero's services to $8MM. While MacPhail didn't discern another active bidder at the time, he felt that the Rangers could jump back into the mix if they were to trade Michael Young. Because of that, the GM increased his bid in order to "make the right deal."
The Orioles hope to make strides in international scouting, particularly in the Dominican Republic and in Venezuela.

Quick Hits: Duchscherer, Ramirez, Marmol, Broxton

By Zachary Links | February 12, 2011 at 3:43pm CDT

Links for Saturday..

Peter Schmuck of The Baltimore Sun called the Orioles' signing of pitcher Justin Duchscherer the latest "late-winter Hail Mary" by GM Andy MacPhail.
C.C. Sabathia told Mark Hale of the New York Post that he isn't concerned about the Yankees' rotation.
Carlos Marmol took his physical in Mesa, Arizona today, tweets Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. Marmol and the Cubs should finalize a long-term deal this week.
The Nationals still have loose ends to tie up from the Esmailyn Gonzalez scandal, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
Tom Singer of MLB.com will be keeping a close eye on Jonathan Broxton of the Dodgers as he looks to get his career back on track this season. Recently our own Mike Axisa characterized 2011 as a make or break year for the closer as he approaches free agency.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Cardinals and outfielder Jim Edmonds have not yet scheduled the physical that he needs to pass in order to finalize his minor league deal with the club. GM John Mozeliak confirmed that the agreement is open-ended in order to allow Edmonds time to recover from foot surgery before taking the physical.
After signing a one-year, $4MM this winter, Aaron Harang is looking to return to old form with the Padres, writes Don Norcross of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Meanwhile, Eric Chavez is looking for a fresh start with the Yankees, writes Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News.

AL East Links: Guthrie, Bard, Balfour, Rays

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 11, 2011 at 4:41pm CDT

Yankees officially announced that they signed Luis Ayala, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Warner Madrigal, Ronnie Belliard and Eric Chavez to minor league deals. Here are some notes on the Yanks and the rest of the AL East…

Jordan Parraz, who was designated for assignment by the Yankees, cleared waivers, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (Twitter link).
Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun asks if you'd extend any of the seven Orioles who were arbitration eligible this offseason.
If you answered Jeremy Guthrie, think again. The right-hander, who avoided arbitration with the Orioles today, told Jeff Zrebiec of the Sun that the Orioles appear to have ruled out an extension for him, though he wouldn't rule one out himself and doesn't have hard feelings about the team's decision.
Here's a fun fact from Zrebiec on Twitter: Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has never gone to an arbitration hearing with a player in 25 years of running baseball teams. Pretty astounding.
Daniel Bard told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that he would like to try starting again and has not discussed an extension with the Red Sox.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post has the latest on some creative discussions between Kevin Towers and the man he worked for last year, Brian Cashman.The Yankees, who considered completing a sign-and-trade with Arizona to acquire Carl Pavano without surrendering a draft pick, discussed a similar deal with the D'Backs about Grant Balfour. The Yankees were moving toward Balfour before they signed his former teammte, Rafael Soriano.
Justin Ruggiano and Leslie Anderson both cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The Rays designated the players for assignment to create roster space earlier in the week.

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