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Quick Hits: Varitek, A’s, Braves, Cordero, Lee, Pujols

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Some links as Tuesday turns into Wednesday…

Red Sox Sign Kelly Shoppach

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9:23pm: The Red Sox have announced the signing in a press release. Crasnick tweets that Shoppach can also earn another $400K in performance bonuses, raising the potential value of the deal to $1.75MM.

9:35am: The Red Sox have agreed to sign Kelly Shoppach to a one-year, $1.35MM deal, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). The deal will be announced today, Crasnick reports.

Shoppach, 31, hit just .176/.268/.339 in 253 plate appearances for the Rays in 2011, but he led the American League by preventing 41% of stolen base attempts. The Red Sox selected Shoppach in the second round of the 2001 draft. He made his MLB debut with the 2005 Red Sox before Boston shipped him to Cleveland in the Coco Crisp deal. The Rays declined Shoppach's option after the 2011 season and signed Jose Molina soon afterward.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia figures to be Boston's primary catcher in 2012 and with Ryan Lavarnway and Luis Exposito also on the 40-man roster, it doesn't appear that the Red Sox have room for longtime backstop Jason Varitek. The 39-year-old switch hitter posted a .221/.300/.324 line in 250 plate appearances this past season.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Nakajima, Martin, Ortiz

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Alex Rodriguez signed the largest contract in baseball history on this date four years ago, going back to the Yankees for $275MM over ten years. He did help the Yankees to a World Championship two seasons ago, but it's tough to see that deal having a happy ending. Here's the latest from the AL East…

  • The Red Sox are expected to exceed the $178MM luxury tax threshold next season according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier. The team will try to stay close to the threshold to minimize the penalty, however.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman told David Waldstein of The New York Times that he has continued to negotiate with the agent for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, but the two sides aren't close to a deal. The Yankees won Nakajima's negotiating rights last week.
  • Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com says (on Twitter) that people with the Orioles have given him the impression they were unwilling to offer David Ortiz a two-year contract before he accepted the Red Sox's offer of arbitration.
  • “We will see, I couldn’t say because it hasn’t been discussed," said Cashman to George A. King III of The New York Post when asked if a multi-year deal for Russell Martin was possible. The Yankees tendered all of their eligible players contracts yesterday, including Martin, who is arbitration-eligible for the fourth time as a Super Two.

Michael Cuddyer Rumors: Tuesday

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Michael Cuddyer is drawing lots of interest and with Josh Willingham agreeing to sign with the Twins, it won't be long before the market for Cuddyer becomes easier to read. Here are the latest details on Cuddyer:

  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com say (on Twitter) that the Mariners are talking to Cuddyer as well.
  • The Rockies offer to Cuddyer was larger than the three years and $25MM the Twins offered him, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). Cuddyer is seeking $30MM+ and has been mulling Colorado's offer for days.
  • The Twins maintain that their deal with Willingham is not yet finished, and that they are still talking with Cuddyer according to Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune (on Twitter).
  • There has been no immediate movement between the Rockies and Cuddyer following the news of Willingham's agreement with the Twins, reports MLB.com's Thomas Harding (on Twitter). 
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that there is at least one team besides the Rockies pursuing Cuddyer, and it's hardly a given that he heads to Colorado (Twitter links). The Giants and Red Sox are not the teams interested in Cuddyer, according to Morosi (Twitter links).
  • Cuddyer's original asking price was $36MM over three years and he continues to seek $30MM for three years, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
  • A person close to Cuddyer told Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he'll likely decide on his next team within three or four days. It appears that the Twins' most recent offer to Cuddyer — $24MM over three years, according to Christensen — is essentially a final offer. Jason Kubel remains high on the Twins' list as well, but the team will sign just one of Willingham, Cuddyer and Kubel.
  • The Twins are feeling some confidence that they'll end up with either Cuddyer or Willingham, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
  • Earlier today, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported that the Rockies are pushing for Cuddyer or Carlos Beltran.

The Latest On Gio Gonzalez

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The Tigers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Rangers are among the teams pursuing Athletics left-hander Gio Gonzalez, reports Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. The bidding figures to heat up a bit once the posting period for Yu Darvish ends at 4pm CT tomorrow. Here's the latest on Gonzalez, courtesy of Knobler…

  • The Athletics did indeed ask the Marlins for Mike Stanton in a trade, though the talks understandably went nowhere.
  • A's GM Billy Beane in enamored with Tigers' top pitching prospect Jacob Turner, and Detroit is willing to move him for Gonzalez. They balked at Beane's request for prospects Nick Castellanos and Drew Smyly in addition to Turner, though.
  • If the Tigers don't swing a trade for Gonzalez, Knobler says that they'll likely find a Brad Penny-type to be their fifth starter (Twitter links). They also want to find an upgrade at second or third base.
  • The Red Sox have shown just as much interest in Gio as they have closer Andrew Bailey.
  • The Phillies also inquired about Gonzalez, but the Athletics didn't like what they had to offer.

Players To Avoid Arbitration

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Tonight is the deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration eligible players. Many teams will agree to terms with players before the deadline and we'll keep track of them here:

  • The Orioles have agreed to terms with Dana Eveland on a one-year, $750K deal for 2012, MLBTR has learned.
  • The Giants have agreed to terms with Mike Fontenot on a one-year deal for 2012, avoiding arbitration, MLBTR has learned. It's a $1.05MM deal, according to the Associated Press.
  • The Red Sox announced that they re-signed Matt Albers. He'll earn $1.075MM, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
  • The Padres agreed to terms with Chris Denorfia on a one-year deal, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (Twitter link). The deal is worth $1.165MM, according to Ronald Blum of the AP
    The Pirates agreed to terms with Jason Grilli on a one-year, $1.1MM deal for 2012, MLBTR has learned.
  • The Rockies agreed to terms with Kevin Slowey on a one-year deal, the team announced (on Twitter). Slowey obtains $2.75MM from the Rockies, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link). MLBTR had projected a $2.7MM salary.
  • The Blue Jays agreed to sign Jeff Mathis to one-year deal that guarantees the backstop $1.5MM in 2012, MLBTR has learned. The Blue Jays have since confirmed the move.
  • The Blue Jays have avoided arbitration with Jesse Litsch (one-year, $975K) and Dustin McGowan (one-year, $600K) according to a team press release.
  • The Dodgers have signed outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. to a two-year deal.
  • The A's announced that they agreed to terms with Landon Powell, Daric Barton and Adam Rosales on one-year deals for 2012. The A's aren't non-tendering any arbitration eligible players this offseason. Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group hears Barton will earn $1.1MM in 2012 (Twitter link). Rosales will earn $600K and Powell will earn $620K, according to Ronald Blum of the AP.
  • The Marlins signed Donnie Murphy to a contract for 2012, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (Twitter link). He'll earn $560K, according to Ronald Blum of the AP.
  • The Brewers announced that they signed George Kottaras to a one-year deal, avoiding arbitration. He'll earn $700K, according to Ronald Blum of the AP.
  • The Astros avoided arbitration with Humberto Quintero, signing him to a one-year deal worth $1MM, according to the team. MLBTR had projected a $1.2MM salary for Quintero.
  • The Angels agreed to terms with right-hander Jerome Williams on a one-year deal, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times (on Twitter). Williams agreed to sign for $820K with $120K in incentives, according to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (on Twitter).
  • Skip Schumaker is nearing a two-year deal with the Cardinals.

American League Non-Tenders

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Today's American League non-tenders are below, but you can keep track of all teams in our non-tender tracker.

  • The Mariners announced that they non-tendered Dan Cortes and Chris Gimenez.
  • The Orioles announced that they non-tendered Willie Eyre, the right-handed reliever who was designated for assignment last week. They non-tendered Jo-Jo Reyes, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). The Orioles also non-tendered Luke Scott, tweets Connolly. Scott, who battled a shoulder injury in 2011 and underwent surgery this summer, projected to earn $6MM through arbitration. 
  • The Rays non-tendered Andy Sonnanstine, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (Twitter link).
  • The Rangers non-tendered right-hander Fabio Castillo, according to Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com (Twitter link).
  • The Red Sox announced that they non-tendered Rich Hill.
  • The Royals announced that they will non-tender left-hander Aaron Laffey.
  • The Twins announced that they've non-tendered left-hander Jose Mijares (Twitter link).
  • The Tigers non-tendered second baseman Will Rhymes, announced the team.  Rhymes is not yet close to being arbitration eligible, as he has less than one year of big league service time.  Rhymes, 28, hit .306/.377/.390 at Triple-A this year.

AL East Links: Rasmus, Jays, Scott, Red Sox, Madson

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Some links from the AL East…

  • The Blue Jays have sent the Cardinals cash considerations rather than players to be named later to complete this summer's Colby Rasmus trade, reports MLB.com Gregor Chisholm (Twitter links). St. Louis was supposed to received three players to be named later in the deal.
  • Chisholm also reports that the Blue Jays intend to go with five outfielders next year, so it's unclear what that means for Mark Teahen or the recently acquired Ben Francisco (Twitter links). There will be lots of competition in Spring Training.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Chisholm that his priority is to upgrade the bullpen and starting rotation, but there's no guarantee that he'll be able to do so this offseason (Twitter link).
  • The Orioles non-tendered Luke Scott earlier today, but GM Dan Duquette told MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli that they'd like "to leave the door open" for him to return to Baltimore (Twitter link).
  • The Red Sox have some interest in Kelly Shoppach, reports Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe (on Twitter). Shoppach started his career in Boston.
  • Left-hander Rich Hill is a non-tender candidate, but he told WEEI.com's Alex Speier that he hopes the Red Sox will retain him for next year. Hill is currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
  • CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman says (on Twitter) that the Red Sox still have their eye on Ryan Madson since Daniel Bard will be preparing to work as a starter next year.
  • Roger Mooney of The Tampa Tribute writes that the Rays bank on potential when handing out long-term contracts to young players, like the one just signed by left-hander Matt Moore.

How Much Will Ortiz, K-Rod, and Kelly Johnson Earn Next Year?

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Free agents David Ortiz, Francisco Rodriguez, and Kelly Johnson accepted their teams' offers of arbitration last week, making them signed players for 2012.  In recent years we've seen the occasional setup-type free agent reliever accept arbitration, but not position player regulars or a closer.  Without much recent precedent, determining the salaries of Ortiz, Rodriguez, and Johnson will be tricky. 

The players have incentive to avoid hearings.  If a deal is agreed upon, the player asks for a Signing Guaranteed Provision, guaranteeing the contract.  A hearing, however, opens up the small chance of the player being released in spring training.  The team would have to prove the player "failed to to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability" during spring training.  The Padres pulled this off with Todd Walker in 2007, but it's rare.  The Red Sox are happy to have Ortiz next year, and the Blue Jays have use for Johnson.  While I imagine the Brewers would like a do-over on offering K-Rod arbitration, I don't think they'll try to release him in spring training and then go toe-to-toe with Scott Boras.

I talked to a team executive, a former agency employee, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz about the salaries Ortiz, Rodriguez, and Johnson might receive.  The details:

  • Estimates ranged from $13-15MM on Ortiz.  He's working from a $12.5MM salary, and his raise will probably be relatively small.  The Red Sox could point to Travis Hafner as a $13MM comparable, while Ortiz's agents at SFX could look to top Adam Dunn's $14MM by virtue of Ortiz's higher batting average.  A two-year deal is possible for Ortiz, but if the Red Sox are at $18MM, Big Papi might as well stop worrying about multiyear security since he can easily get more than $4-5MM in 2013 with a passable 2012.
  • K-Rod should be an interesting case.  On the high end, Boras could argue for Mariano Rivera's $15MM salary.  If they're feeling adventurous, the Brewers could actually try to cut Rodriguez's $11.5MM salary, citing Jonathan Papelbon's $11MM salary for 2012 or Rafael Soriano's $10MM salary.  Rest assured that trying to cut Rodriguez's salary would lead to a hearing, so a settlement closer to Rivera's figure seems possible.
  • Johnson's case might involve bringing in a third baseman such as Miguel Tejada, who signed at $6.5MM for 2011.  Johnson earned $5.85MM in an off-2011, so $7MM is probably his ceiling.  A multiyear deal is possible here.  

Red Sox Rumors: Luxury Tax, Wandy

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The latest on the Red Sox, courtesy of Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald…

  • GM Ben Cherington's comments on the team's pursuit of pitching: "We need to add some pitching depth, we’re working on that, we don’t know what the scope of that’s going to be. Last year at this time, nobody knew who Alfredo Aceves was, and by the end of the year he was one of our best pitchers."  Tim Britton of the Providence Journal notes that Aceves was a non-tender last year by the Yankees, and takes a look at seven players who could interest the Sox if they're cut loose at tonight's deadline.  Click here for my list of non-tender candidates.
  • Red Sox president Larry Lucchino explained the team's stance on the luxury tax: "We wouldn’t rule it out (going over the threshold), but our plan historically has been to try to be at or around it.  We have gone over it when we felt there was a need to. When the baseball operations department suggested a certain transaction made imminent good sense, we were willing to go over it, and I think that will be our policy going forward."
  • Wandy Rodriguez is among the starting pitchers of interest to the Red Sox, writes Silverman.  Word was a week ago that the Astros didn't want to eat any of Wandy's potential $36MM over the next three years, though that was before Jeff Luhnow was hired as GM.
  • Gio Gonzalez, Andrew Bailey, John Danks, and Gavin Floyd also remain on the radar, says Silverman.  The White Sox and Red Sox got together during the Winter Meetings to discuss Danks and Floyd.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports explains why he feels the Red Sox are a fit to acquire the Marlins' Hanley Ramirez.
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