Arbitration Figures: Tuesday
Today is the deadline for players and teams to submit arbitration figures. Let's keep track of those figures here, with the latest updates on top. You can track all of the players that avoided arbitration today here.
- MLB.com's Jane Lee tweets that Craig Breslow filed for $1.55MM, but the Athletics countered with $1.15MM.
- Zachary Levine of The Houston Chronicle has some figures for the Astros. Wandy Rodriguez filed for $10.25MM, Hunter Pence for $6.9MM. The team countered with $8MM and $5.15MM, respectively.
- Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star tweets that Billy Butler filed for $4.3MM while the Royals countered with $3.4MM.
- Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Javier Lopez filed for $2.875MM and Andres Torres for $2.6MM (Twitter link). The Giants countered with $2MM and $1.8MM, respectively.
Players To Avoid Arbitration: Tuesday
Today is the deadline for players and teams to submit arbitration figures. The sides will then settle on a salary between the team's proposed number and the player's proposed number or go to an arbitration hearing. Arbitration eligible players are under team control, so the clubs don't risk losing them – it's a question of how much the players will earn.
Yesterday, 11 players avoided arbitration. We could see just as many agreements trickle in today and we'll keep you posted on them right here and with our Arb Tracker. The latest updates will be at the top of the post:
- The Angels have agreed to terms with Reggie Willits and Howie Kendrick, tweets Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times. Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register tweets that Kendrick will earn $3.3MM, Willits $775K (on Twitter).
- The Giants agreed to terms with Santiago Casilla on a one-year deal worth $1.3MM with incentives, according to ESPN Deportes' Enrique Rojas (on Twitter). The team also announced that they avoided arb with Jonathan Sanchez and Ramon Ramirez (on Twitter). Sanchez will earn $4.8MM with incentives tweets Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle while Ramirez will earn $1.65MM according to Janie McCauley of The Canadian Press.
- The Braves agreed to terms with Peter Moylan and Eric O'Flaherty, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman (on Twitter). Moylan gets $2MM, O'Flaherty gets $895K according to Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter).
- The Mariners agreed to terms with Brandon League, David Aardsma and Jason Vargas, the team announced. Aardsma will earn $4.5MM with plenty of incentives, according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times (plus Twitter link).
- The Rangers agreed to terms with C.J. Wilson and Nelson Cruz, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan (Twitter links). Cruz gets $3.65MM, and Wilson gets $7.05MM with a chance to earn another $100K according to his agent Bob Garber, via email.
Players To Avoid Arbitration: Monday
Teams and players exchange arbitration figures tomorrow if they haven't already come to terms for 2011. That means plenty of players will likely avoid arbitration today. We'll keep track of them all right here and with our Arbitration Tracker; the latest updates are at the top of this post:
- The Blue Jays avoided arbitration with Shawn Camp, agreeing to a one-year, $2.25MM deal, according to MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm (on Twitter).
- The Tigers avoided arbitration with Armando Galarraga by agreeing to a one-year, $2.3MM deal, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.
- The Orioles and Jim Johnson have agreed to a one-year, $975K deal, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun.
- The Blue Jays have reached agreement on a one-year, $830K deal with Jesse Litsch, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (Twitter links).
- The Indians have avoided arbitration with Asdrubal Cabrera, agreeing to a one-year deal, according to the team's Twitter feed. The deal is worth $2.025MM, according to the Associated Press.
- The Marlins have agreed to terms one-year deals with Leo Nunez and Edward Mujica, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (via Twitter). Nunez will earn $3.65MM, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets. Meanwhile, Mujica will make $800K according to Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel (via Twitter).
- The Blue Jays and Casey Janssen have agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.095MM, according to the Associated Press.
- The Rays and B.J. Upton avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $4.825MM, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (Twitter links).
- The Nationals avoided arbitration with John Lannan, agreeing to a one-year, $2.75MM deal, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
- The Rockies and Matt Lindstrom agreed to a two-year deal.
- The Royals avoided arbitration with Robinson Tejeda, agreeing to a one-year contract, the team announced. It's worth $1.55MM, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). The deal leaves Billy Butler and Kyle Davies as Kansas City's remaining unsigned arbitration eligible players.
Teams Continue To Search For Pitching
Teams are still hunting for pitching even as the free agent pool continues to shrink. The Padres, Cardinals, Pirates and Mets are looking for arms, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick notes that the Rays and Nationals have not stopped shopping, either (Twitter link).
Two AL East clubs, the Orioles and Yankees have some interest in Freddy Garcia, according to Heyman.
Over in the NL East, the Nationals and Mets have made progress on deals for pitchers today. The Nationals are set to acquire Tom Gorzelanny from the Cubs and the Mets are nearing a deal with Chris Young.
Orioles Avoid Arbitration With Adam Jones
7:38pm: The deal is worth roughly $3.25MM, according to Connolly (via Twitter). That's about what MLBTR's Tim Dierkes predicted in August, as Jones gets his first big payday after losing a Super Two tiebreaker the previous offseason.
6:37pm: The Orioles have agreed to a one-year deal with Adam Jones, according to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). This year was the outfielder's first as an arbitration-eligible player.
Last season Jones came close to replicating the numbers from his 2009 All-Star campaign. The 25-year-old hit .284/.325/.442 with 19 homers in 621 plate appearances. In five big league seasons, Jones owns a slash line of .274/.319/.427 with a respectable -4.7 UZR/150 in center field.
According to MLBTR's Arb Tracker, the O's now have five players who are still eligible for arbitration this winter. Felix Pie, J.J. Hardy, Jeremy Guthrie, Jim Johnson, and Luke Scott are still scheduled to exchange figures with the club.
Orioles Still Trying To Add Pitching Depth
The Orioles just finalized their deal with Kevin Gregg two days ago, but that doesn't mean they're done trying to strengthen their bullpen and pitching staff in general. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail told Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun that he's having enough ongoing trade talks as well as discussions with free agents to believe they can make another move before pitchers and catchers report in a month.
"We have different discussions going on to try to get us a little more left-handed in the bullpen," said MacPhail. "We’ll just have to see how those discussions unfold."
"We got enough out there so you don’t know what’s going to come back and when or if anything comes back at all. That’s the case as you get progressively close to spring training. We have a lot of different conversations going on."
MacPhail declined to name specific targets or elaborate on how extensive talks were, but he acknowledged that the club still has some offers on the table for pitching help. Zrebiec hears from another source that any moves will not be too significant, and if they add another starter, it'll likely be through trade.
The market for lefty relief help still has a lot to offer as MLBTR's Free Agent Tracker shows. Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, Randy Flores, and Brian Fuentes are still available, though Fuentes is probably out of the team's price range according to Zrebiec. Kenshin Kawakami, Joe Blanton, Tom Gorzelanny, and Armando Galarraga highlight the starting pitching trade market.
AL East Notes: Rays, Chamberlain, Lowrie, O’s
As the dust settles in the wake of the big Rafael Soriano signing, let's look around the AL East…
- Rays fans discouraged by the loss of their closer should consider this tweet from Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. Going by last year's slot recommendations, Tampa Bay's 12 picks within the first 88 selections of the 2011 amateur draft will cost "around $9.12MM" to sign. Even with a bump in slot prices and yet another supplementary round pick if San Diego signs Chad Qualls, the Rays could sign all 13 draft picks for less than the $11.5MM that Soriano will earn from the Yankees next year.
- We heard earlier today that the Yankees could be persuaded to trade Joba Chamberlain to obtain a "viable starter," but ESPNNewYork.com's Andrew Marchand wonders why the Bombers don't just put Chamberlain back into the rotation. "Right now, Chamberlain's trade value is low," Marchand writes. "The only way to increase that is to put him in a more important role. So not only could he solve your biggest problem, he could be used to address your next one."
- Theo Epstein hinted that a strong spring from Jed Lowrie could win him the everyday shortstop's job, or at least give Terry Francona "a decision to make," writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. A good start to the season from Lowrie could make either Marco Scutaro or perhaps Lowrie himself into trade bait, given the presence of shortstop prospect Jose Iglesias in Boston's system.
- We've heard Baltimore is still in the market for a left-handed reliever, but Andy MacPhail is pretty pleased with how the Orioles' bullpen currently stacks up, writes Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.
Gregg Likes Orioles’ Direction
Kevin Gregg didn’t have much say in his future immediately after the 2010 season. The Blue Jays had the choice of cutting him loose, keeping him for one more year or keeping him for two more years. Their decision to let him hit free agency caught Gregg by surprise, but it ultimately led him to the security of a multiyear deal.
“You like to know where you’re going to be at,” Gregg told reporters on a conference call. “Two years isn’t a long time, but it’s nice for me and my family to know where we’re going to be at least for two years, maybe three.”
The Orioles officially announced the $10MM deal that will keep Gregg in Baltimore through 2012 or, if an option vests, 2013. Manager Buck Showalter says he likes the right-hander’s "moxie" and closing background, though he stopped short of promising his newest reliever the team’s closing job.
Gregg, who has averaged slightly more than 30 saves per season since 2007, will have to compete for the chance to save games with Koji Uehara. But that wasn't a deterrent earlier in the offseason when he was choosing from a number of proposals.
“Fortunately for me, I had a lot of interest all over the board,” Gregg said.
After sorting through his offers, the Beverly Hills Sports Council client decided he wanted to join the Orioles. The team went 34-23 after Showalter took over last summer and has since added Derrek Lee, J.J. Hardy and Mark Reynolds. Gregg says he likes Baltimore’s direction and wanted to stay in what he considers baseball’s toughest division because pitching in the AL East is a challenge. It will also provide him with plenty of chances to remind the Blue Jays what they could have had.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Orioles Sign Kevin Gregg
The Orioles officially announced that they signed Kevin Gregg to a two-year deal. The contract will pay Gregg $10MM and includes an option, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (all Twitter links). The vesting option would bring the total value of the deal to the $16-20MM range, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Beverly Hills Sports Council represents the right-hander.
Gregg saved 37 games for the Blue Jays in 2010. The 32-year-old posted 8.8 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 along with a 3.51 ERA. Koji Uehara, another candidate to close for Buck Showalter, posted a miniscule 1.0 BB/9 to go along with 11.3 K/9 in 2010.
Jim Johnson, Mike Gonzalez and another former Blue Jay, Jeremy Accardo, will also likely contribute out of the Orioles' 'pen in 2011. Alfredo Simon is currently involved in an investigation into a fatal shooting in the Dominican Republic, so it's not clear whether he'll be able to pitch.
The Blue Jays will obtain a draft pick for losing Gregg, but the Orioles do not have to surrender one. Toronto amateur scouting director Andrew Tinnish now has seven of the top 72 picks in the 2011 draft.
The Orioles could still use a left-handed reliever and a starter who can eat innings at the back of the team's rotation.
AL East Notes: Jays, Soriano, Farnsworth, Arroyo
Some news items from the AL East…
- Toronto's payroll could end up being in the $80-$85MM range, tweets FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi. The Blue Jays currently have just under $49MM committed for 2011 (according to Cot's Baseball Contracts) and have eight players eligible for arbitration. Jose Bautista will get the biggest raise of this group, but even with notables like Yunel Escobar and Brandon Morrow also arb-eligible, the Jays should have a bit of money left to spend beyond settling their arbitration cases.
- Perhaps the Jays' extra money could be spent on Brian Fuentes? We heard about Toronto's interest in Fuentes earlier this week, and now SI's Jon Heyman tweets that the Jays are still "pressing for" the free agent reliever.
- Did Scott Boras wait too long for a Rafael Soriano market to develop? Fangraphs' R.J. Anderson thinks this might be the case, and that Soriano might have to settle another one-year contract with the hopes of finding a long-term deal next offseason.
- A bit of early reaction to Tampa Bay's agreement with Kyle Farnsworth: CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler thinks the signing is risky, but believes the Rays need to take chances on their bullpen if they want to contend. Meanwhile, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs thinks the Rays made a better deal for Farnsworth than Boston did with Bobby Jenks, given that Farnsworth and Jenks put up comparable numbers over the last two seasons.
- Bronson Arroyo tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald that he enjoyed pitching for the Red Sox and wouldn't mind returning: "Even though I can safely say that I’ve cemented myself in Cincinnati for a while, [Boston] definitely still feels like home and in the back of my mind I know that there is no better place to play than in Fenway Park." Arroyo said when his three-year extension with the Reds runs out after the 2013 season, he would be interested in pitching for the Rays (to play close to his family), returning to the Red Sox, or staying in Cincinnati.
- MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli has details on the vesting option included in Kevin Gregg's contract with the Orioles. Gregg's 2013 option will become guaranteed if he finishes 50 games in 2012, or if he finishes 100 games total in 2011-12. As SI's Jon Heyman tweeted in the previous link, Gregg will earn between $6-$10MM in 2013 if his option vests.
- Matt Bush, the first overall pick of the 2004 draft, talks to MLB.com's Dawn Klemish about his battle with alcoholism and the progress he's made in the Tampa Bay organization.