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Minor Deals: Gotay, Rays, Duckworth, Carlyle

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A number of former big leaguers agreed to minor league deals today. Here are the details:

  • The Marlins signed Ruben Gotay, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). The 27-year-old hasn't appeared in the majors since 2008, but he led the Pacific Coast League in walks and posted an .845 OPS last year.
  • The Rays announced that they signed five players, including righty Cory Wade and lefty R.J. Swindle, to minor league deals. Wade, 27, spent last year in the minors, but he pitched for the Dodgers in 2008-09. He has a 3.18 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 99 big league innings. Swindle is another 27-year-old who spent the 2010 season in the minors. He posted a 2.45 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 55 innings for the Rays' Triple-A affiliate. Like Wade, Swindle could prove useful for the 2011 Rays, who are building a bullpen on a budget.
  • The Reds signed outfielder David Cook, according to Eddy (on Twitter). The 29-year-old has a .258/.369/.468 line in eight minor league seasons.
  • The Red Sox signed right-hander Brandon Duckworth, according to Eddy (on Twitter). The 34-year-old spent the 2010 season pitching for the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate, where he posted a 3.32 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. He has a 5.28 ERA in parts of eight big league seasons.
  • The Yankees signed right-hander Buddy Carlyle to a minor league deal, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Carlyle, 32, spent the 2010 season in Japan after posting a 5.61 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in parts of six big league seasons.
  • The D'Backs signed David Winfree, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The 25-year-old has a .273/.319/.448 line in his eight-year minor league career.

Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies Seem Serious About Werth

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The Red Sox, Tigers and Phillies are seen as the most serious suitors for Jayson Werth, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Red Sox met with Werth and agent Scott Boras yesterday, according to ESPNBoston.com. However, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports that the sides did not discuss contract terms yesterday. Instead, Werth, GM Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona got to know each other.

The Rangers haven't ruled out pursuing Werth, but the White Sox are not pursuing him, Morosi reports. 

Red Sox Met With Crawford, Werth

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THURSDAY, 12:10am: Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona met with Scott Boras and Jayson Werth in Chicago on Wednesday, reports ESPN's Gordon Edes.

WEDNESDAY, 1:58pm: The Red Sox are serious about Crawford and have met with him and his representatives in Houston, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown (on Twitter).  The Angels have also met face-to-face with Crawford, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

8:28am: The Red Sox have been relatively quiet this offseason, making a waiver claim and a couple minor trades, but generally staying out of the spotlight. They’ve been busy behind the scenes, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald who reports the team is working hard to sign Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth.

Silverman suggests Crawford is asking for an eight-year deal and Werth is asking for a six-year deal.  Since teams such as the Angels, Rangers and Tigers could use outfielders and have money, the asking price in terms of dollars and years figures to remain high for both players.

As Silverman points out, a new deal could surpass the J.D. Drew and John Lackey contracts to become the largest free agent deal under Boston's current ownership group.

American League Free Agent Arbitration Decisions

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23 American League free agents were offered arbitration on November 23rd.  Four of those - Joaquin Benoit, John Buck, Victor Martinez, and Javier Vazquez - already have new contract agreements.  Current free agent Kevin Gregg has chosen to decline.  The remaining 18 AL free agents offered arbitration will have their decisions noted here and in our tracker.

Odds & Ends: Vazquez, Nationals, Yankees, Werth

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Links for Sunday…

Red Sox Interested In Matt Guerrier

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The Red Sox have shown interest in Matt Guerrier, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The reliever is a free agent for the first time this winter, after earning $3.15MM in 2010, his final year of arbitration eligibility.

Guerrier, who has spent his entire big league career in Minnesota, was not offered arbitration by the Twins this week. As a Type A free agent, the right-hander may have had trouble securing a deal with another team if he turned down arbitration. With no arb offer though, the 32-year-old is free to sign with any club without costing them a draft pick.

MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith examined Guerrier's free agent stock earlier this week, concluding that the righty may not receive multiyear offers due to some mediocre peripheral numbers and a deep free agent class. However, as a workhorse that has made at least 73 appearances in each of the last four seasons, Guerrier should draw plenty of interest on a short-term deal. For their part, the Red Sox are looking to improve a bullpen that ranked 12th in the AL in ERA (4.24) in 2010.

Cafardo On Gonzalez, V-Mart, Rangers, Nishioka

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Let's take a look at the latest from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe….

  • Cafardo suggests the money the Red Sox could have spent on Victor Martinez may be used to make a bigger splash. He speculates that splash could involve trading for Adrian Gonzalez and signing him to an extension, but ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Insider-only link) still expects the Padres to begin the 2011 season with Gonzalez on their roster.
  • One National League GM on Boston deciding not to match the Tigers' offer for Martinez: "He really rakes lefthanded pitching. That was the strange thing about the Red Sox for me — that in a division where there are so many good lefthanded pitchers, Martinez hit them at a .400 clip [in 2010]. Big, big loss for the Red Sox."
  • One option the Rangers are discussing internally, in the event they can't sign Cliff Lee, is moving Neftali Feliz to the rotation and signing a closer such as Rafael Soriano.
  • Olney reported earlier this week that rival executives view the Rangers as the team with the best shot at acquiring Zack Greinke. Cafardo hears the same thing, noting that Engel Beltre is "often mentioned as trade bait."
  • As we heard when the Twins won the bidding for Tsuyoshi Nishioka, the Red Sox were also involved. According to Cafardo, Boston's bid was about $2.3MM, and their interest in the Japanese shortstop was "marginal." With Jed Lowrie and Jose Iglesias already in the organization, Nishioka didn't make a ton of sense for the club.
  • Cafardo expects the Padres, Red Sox, or Indians to hire Josh Byrnes in the near future.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Konerko, Jeter, Lee, Beltre

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On this date back in 1974, Catfish Hunter met with Oakland A's owner Charles Finley and Peter Seitz of the American Arbitration Association in New York after the team failed to make a $50,000 payment into a long-term annuity fund. The right-hander claimed that his contract had been violated, and Seitz eventually ruled in his favor. Hunter became the first big name free agent in baseball history, later signing a five-year, $3.5MM contract with the Yankees that made him the highest-paid player in baseball history.

Here's a helping of links that go well with Thanksgiving leftovers…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Stark On Tigers, Angels, Werth, Rangers

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Teams have money to spend this offseason and ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark explains which clubs will spend more than others and what they’re going to devote their resources to. Here are the details:

  • The Tigers, who announced the Victor Martinez signing today, are still “prowling” for a right-handed corner outfielder. Scott Boras clients Jayson Werth and Magglio Ordonez could be options for Detroit. 
  • One AL executive predicts that the Angels will “spend their butts off."
  • Teams will be surprised if Carl Crawford doesn’t end up with the Angels, who could add Adrian Beltre, too.
  • The Red Sox appear to be the favorites to sign Werth.
  • Other clubs expect the Rangers to pursue Crawford or Zack Greinke if they can’t sign Cliff Lee.
  • The Orioles, Nationals, A’s, Brewers and Pirates are also looking to spend this offseason.

Red Sox Interested In Rod Barajas

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With Victor Martinez and John Buck off the market, the Red Sox are turning their attention to "a number of catching contingencies" including free agent Rod Barajas, reports FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi.  Barajas would presumably share time with, or be a veteran backup for, Jarrod Saltalamacchia in Boston.

Barajas hit .240/.284/.447 in 339 plate appearances with the Mets and Dodgers in 2010, including a .939 OPS with Los Angeles after he was claimed on waivers in late August.  The 35-year-old gained some AL East experience playing in Toronto in 2008-09 and is known for a strong throwing arm behind the plate.  Barajas has thrown out 32% of baserunners trying to steal on him over his 12-year career, though as Morosi pointed out, that percentage dipped to 15% last season. 

Boston tried to acquire Barajas from the Mets in July to fill in for their many injured catchers.  Barajas' solid power numbers should earn him a bigger contract than the $500K guaranteed deal he signed with New York last February, though he would still be a relatively cheap pickup for the Sox.

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