The Red Sox signed lefty reliever Jesse Carlson to a split contract with a spring training invite, his brother told Robert Mayer of the local online newspaper the Berlin Patch in a story published yesterday. Carlson, 30, had rotator cuff surgery in May and was removed from Toronto's 40-man roster in November. Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com first tweeted the near-agreement yesterday morning.
Red Sox Rumors
AL East Notes: Eyre, Jeroloman, Golson, Miller, Rays
The Yankees, Red Sox, and the rest of the AL East have been overshadowed this morning by a big spender out west, but here's what's going on in the division:
- The Orioles designated reliever Willie Eyre for assignment to make room on the roster for Dana Eveland, announced the team. The 33-year-old would have been arbitration eligible. The O's also announced second baseman Greg Miclat will go the Texas as the player to be named later in the Taylor Teagarden deal.
- The Blue Jays have designated Brian Jeroloman for assignment, tweets MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm. The move clears a roster spot for the returning Kelly Johnson.
- Greg Golson has been released by the Yankees, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. Having added two players in this morning's Rule 5 draft, the Yanks needed space on their roster, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- The Yankees are close to signing former Indians prospect Adam Miller to a minor league deal, tweets Sherman. Miller ranked among Baseball America's top 100 prospects for five straight years from 2005 to 2009.
- The Rays are open-minded about listening to trade offers, even for players like James Shields or Jeremy Hellickson, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. However, they'd need a very large return for their high-end pitchers.
- Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal looks at a few Red Sox trade chips, as the team searches for pitching help.
2011 Rule 5 Draft Results
Rule 5 players must stay with their new big league club all year or be offered back to the old team. MLB.com has a full recap of both the Major League and minor league portions of the draft. The results of the Major League phase are listed below:
- Astros take Rhiner Cruz from Mets.
- Twins take Terry Doyle from White Sox.
- Mariners take Lucas Luetge from Brewers.
- Orioles take Ryan Flaherty from Cubs.
- Royals take Cesar Cabral from Red Sox; traded to Yankees for cash.
- Cubs take Lendy Castillo from Phillies.
- Padres
- Pirates take Gustavo Nunez from Tigers.
- Marlins
- Rockies
- Athletics
- Mets
- White Sox
- Reds
- Indians
- Nationals
- Blue Jays
- Dodgers
- Angels
- Giants
- Braves take Robert Fish from Angels.
- Cardinals take Erik Komatsu from Nationals.
- Red Sox take Marwin Gonzalez from Cubs, traded to Astros for Marco Duarte
- Rays
- Diamondbacks take Brett Lorin from Pirates.
- Tigers
- Brewers
- Rangers
- Yankees take Brad Meyers from Nationals.
- Phillies
Boras On Fielder, Rays, Dodgers, Damon
Agent Scott Boras held court in Dallas tonight, providing updates on his many free agent clients and entertaining reporters with quips along the way. Here are the details:
- Boras made it clear that Prince Fielder has drawn lots of interest this offseason. The agent explained that Fielder compares favorably to all-time greats such as Jimmie Foxx and suggested teams will look to lock Fielder up for as long as possible if they recognize his potential as someone who can produce at the plate for the better part of a decade while boosting TV ratings and attendance (Boras' arguments, not mine). He played down concerns about Fielder's body, suggested he's just entering his prime and argued that comparable free agent power hitters won't be available any time soon.
- Fielder doesn't have any geographical preference as to where he signs, tweets Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. Boras quipped that the distance from home plate to the outfield fence is the only geography concerning Fielder. For more on Fielder, click here.
- Generally speaking, Boras explained that Seattle and Milwaukee are desirable places to play because they have the potential to draw substantial crowds. He also said "the city [of Los Angeles] is waiting for the return of the Dodgers" and praised the Dodgers as a storied franchise in American sports.
- Johnny Damon played "very well" in 2011, according to Boras. He joked that 38-year-old is in line for a five-year deal, though a one-year contract is probable in reality. Boras half-jokingly suggested the Rays "have lots of money" despite their perennially low payrolls.
- Carlos Pena will likely have multiyear offers, Boras said.
- Asked if Kyle Lohse could waive his no-trade clause, Boras replied that he thinks Lohse is happy in St. Louis, tweets B.J. Rains of Fox Sports Midwest.
- The market for Ivan Rodriguez is narrowing, tweets Amanda Comak of the Washington Times. The Nationals aren't in on Pudge, tweets Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
- The Nats have some interest in bringing back Rick Ankiel, tweets Comak.
- Boras expects Daisuke Matsuzaka to be healthy and return "sometime this summer," tweets Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
- J.D. Drew is undecided on whether he'll play in 2012. It would have to be the right situation.
- Andruw Jones would've liked more playing time in 2011, but understands he won't be a full-time player, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. A deal with the Yankees is likely in the coming weeks, tweets Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
- The Braves haven't progressed toward an extension for Michael Bourn, tweets Stephen Goff of Examiner.com.
MLBTR's Luke Adams co-wrote this post.
Ortiz, Kelly Johnson, Francisco Rodriguez Accept Arbitration
Three free agents accepted arbitration at tonight's deadline: David Ortiz of the Red Sox, Kelly Johnson of the Blue Jays, and Francisco Rodriguez of the Brewers. The trio is now off the market and under team control for 2012 at a salary to potentially be determined by the arbitration process. For further details, check out MLBTR's free agent arbitration offer tracker, which allows you to filter by team, type, whether the player was offered, and whether he accepted.
Ortiz, Johnson, and Rodriguez all probably could have found two-year deals on the open market, but they'll receive raises for 2012 by accepting arbitration. Of the three, only Ortiz was inhibited by having a draft pick cost attached.
Free Agent Arbitration Offer Decisions
37 free agents were offered arbitration in November, but Jonathan Papelbon, Jose Reyes, Heath Bell, Rod Barajas, Clint Barmes, Matt Capps, Bruce Chen, David DeJesus, Ryan Doumit, Mark Ellis, Frank Francisco, Freddy Garcia, Aaron Harang, Ramon Hernandez, Jose Molina, Jon Rauch, and Mark Buehrle have already reached agreements. The deadline is tonight at 11pm central time. For MLBTR's handy chart that can be filtered by team, type, and whether the player was offered and/or accepted, click here.
- Based on Heyman's tweet indicating only three players accepted arbitration, we can deduce that Prince Fielder (A), Albert Pujols (A), Jimmy Rollins (A), C.J. Wilson (A), Francisco Cordero (B), Octavio Dotel (B), Raul Ibanez (B), Edwin Jackson (B), and Darren Oliver (B) declined their respective teams' offers.
- Derrek Lee (B) has turned down the Pirates' offer, tweets MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.
- Kelly Johnson (A) has accepted the Blue Jays' offer, tweets Jon Heyman.
- Michael Cuddyer (A) and Jason Kubel (B) have declined the Twins' offers, tweets Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.
- Francisco Rodriguez (A) has accepted the Brewers' offer, tweets MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
- Ryan Madson (A) will decline the Phillies' offer, tweets Jon Heyman.
- David Ortiz (A) will accept Boston's offer, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston confirms that Ortiz has officially accepted (Twitter link).
- Aramis Ramirez (B) officially declined the Cubs' offer, tweets Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
- Josh Willingham (A) will decline Oakland's offer, MLBTR has learned. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Willingham has officially declined.
- Dan Wheeler (B) will decline Boston's offer of arbitration, tweets Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. Cherington confirmed the decision to reporters, including Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald (Twitter link).
- Carlos Pena (B) has decided not to accept the Cubs' arbitration offer, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. Cubs president Theo Epstein recently told reporters he did not expect Pena to accept, as he's likely to find a multiyear deal on the open market.
Red Sox Increase Two-Year Offer To Ortiz?
8:27pm: Ortiz said tonight that he hadn't heard about an increase to Boston's two-year offer, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI. Ortiz officially accepted arbitration, though the two sides could still work out a multiyear agreement.
7:22pm: With tonight's arbitration deadline looming, the Red Sox have boosted their two-year contract offer to David Ortiz, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. McAdam says the new offer increases the $18MM figure the Sox previously proposed, but still falls slightly short of $20MM, meaning Ortiz is unlikely to accept it.
With numerous reports indicating Ortiz has decided to accept Boston's offer of arbitration, the 36-year-old will be in line for a raise over last year's $12.5MM salary on a one-year deal. If Ortiz accepts arb, the Sox would be less likely to continue pursuing a multiyear deal, a source tells McAdam.
Other Red Sox notes:
- If the Sox are paying Ortiz upwards of $14-15MM next season, it's less likely they'll spend on a closer or outfielder, tweets ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
- Boston is close to signing Jesse Carlson to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite, tweets McAdam.
David Ortiz Accepts Arbitration
8:08pm: Ortiz has officially accepted arbitration, tweets Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston. Neither side has ruled out a multiyear deal at some point this offseason, tweets MLB.com's Ian Browne. The Sox reportedly increased their two-year offer to Ortiz today.
3:30pm: The Red Sox have not heard any official word from Ortiz, reports WEEI's Rob Bradford.
2:20pm: Free agent DH David Ortiz will accept Boston's arbitration offer, tweets MLB Network's Jon Heyman. Ortiz's plan was first reported yesterday by ESPN's Enrique Rojas. That means Ortiz is under the team's control for 2012 at a salary to potentially be determined by the arbitration process. He'll get a raise on this year's $12.5MM salary.
Ortiz, 36, was MLBTR's 13th-ranked free agent, but his market was cold given his inability to play the field and the attached draft pick cost.
AL East Notes: Orioles, Red Sox, Crawford, Jays, Rays
AL East updates:
- Orioles GM Dan Duquette expects to make a deal or two tomorrow, according to Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. The moves would likely be trades to obtain pitching, Ghiroli adds (Twitter links).
- The Red Sox have no plans to try to trade Carl Crawford, writes WEEI's Alex Speier.
- GM Ben Cherington and the Red Sox seem content to wait out the pitching market for bargains, says Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
- The Red Sox didn't have "substantive conversations" with Erik Bedard before the lefty signed with the Pirates, tweets Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos says there's a "very select group" of players the team will consider in the Rule 5 draft tomorrow, according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. The Jays will only clear a spot on their 40-man roster if they think they have a shot to acquire one of those players (all Twitter links).
- Anthopoulos also said yesterday that he thinks the Blue Jays' ability to boost payroll has been "grossly exaggerated," writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. Team president Paul Beeston said the Jays could increase payroll to around $120MM eventually, but that they'd need to start drawing more fans first.
- The Rays are still talking to free agents, but nothing is imminent, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. There may be mutual interest between Johnny Damon and the Rays for a reunion, tweets Newsday's Ken Davidoff.
White Sox, Red Sox Meeting On Danks, Floyd
The White Sox and Red Sox are meeting to discuss Chicago starters John Danks and Gavin Floyd, tweets ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes. Yesterday White Sox GM Kenny Williams called the Sergio Santos trade "the start of a rebuilding," but said that he'd probably keep his pitching intact due to insufficient offers.
