Tigers Sign Joaquin Benoit
Talk about rebuilding value. The Tigers officially signed righty reliever Joaquin Benoit to a three-year, $16.5MM deal today, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. He can earn another $1MM per year in incentives. It's the biggest contract for a non-closer reliever since Scott Linebrink's four-year, $19MM pact with the White Sox three years ago. Benoit's last contract had been of the minor league variety with the Rays, but now he'll be paid $5.5MM annually. The contract is another big score for the Levinson brothers at ACES, who also did the deals for John Buck, Brandon Inge, and Jhonny Peralta.
Benoit was one of baseball's best bargains in 2010, as he posted a 1.34 ERA, 11.2 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9, and 38.9% groundball rate in 60 1/3 innings. Benoit was available cheaply because he was coming off rotator cuff surgery performed in January of 2009. The Rays will receive a supplemental draft pick for their loss.
This time around, the Tigers had to pay full sticker price with a commitment reminiscent of the Astros' three-year, $15MM deal with Brandon Lyon a year ago. Benoit will set up for Jose Valverde in 2011, and could close in the following seasons. The Tigers' biggest offseason deals are yet to come, as they're expected to add a big bat or two. Tip of the hat to MLBTR's Mark Polishuk, who correctly predicted the Tigers would sign Benoit.
Benoit is off the board, but right-handed relief remains a strong suit of this year's free agent class.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports was first to report the near-agreement, while ESPN's Enrique Rojas added details.
Morosi On Soriano, Pirates, Tigers
Joaquin Benoit agreed to a lucrative three-year deal yesterday, but a former bullpen mate of his could be waiting a lot longer for his free agent payday. As Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports explains, Rafael Soriano may find more teams pursuing him if he shows some patience. Here’s how some teams other than the Angels could end up in pursuit of the former Rays closer, plus other hot stove notes:
- If the Red Sox send Daniel Bard or Jonathan Papelbon to Arizona in a potential Justin Upton trade, they could be willing to spend on Soriano.
- The Rangers could be looking for a closer if Cliff Lee signs elsewhere and Neftali Feliz moves to the rotation and the White Sox may non-tender Bobby Jenks.
- Agent Scott Boras says closers like Soriano are rare. “A closer of this caliber — at 30 — is almost never in the marketplace.”
- A source suggests to Morosi that the Pirates could deal Evan Meek or Joel Hanrahan and sign a replacement.
- The Tigers would now like to add left-handed relief and are considering J.C. Romero.
Odds & Ends: Jones, Mets, Yankees, Guerrero, Greinke
A few more links for Wednesday night…
- In addition to all the other trade targets and free agents they've been eyeing lately, the Rockies have inquired on Andruw Jones, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman.
- The Mets completed two of their four second-round managerial interviews today. Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork has extensive post-interview remarks from Bob Melvin and a briefer comment from Chip Hale, with Terry Collins and Wally Backman due up tomorrow. Rubin tweets that Sandy Alderson expects to announce the team's new skipper by next Tuesday.
- The Yankees hope to further their discussions with Derek Jeter and Cliff Lee this week, writes Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger. Lee is "about ready to entertain offers," Nolan Ryan tells Heyman (Twitter link).
- Some opinions from past and present Red Sox players: David Ortiz guarantees Vladimir Guerrero will return to the Rangers, while Lou Merloni argues that the Sox need to trade Jonathan Papelbon. The Dallas Morning News and WEEI.com have the details.
- A baseball official tells Danny Knobler of CBS Sports that he could see the Rangers, Brewers, and Blue Jays becoming involved in trade talks for Zack Greinke.
- They've made plenty of moves already this offseason, but the Marlins may not be done yet. Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post passes along a quote (via Twitter) from Larry Beinfest that suggests the team will pursue a starting pitcher.
- MLive's Steve Kornacki thinks Joaquin Benoit is "absolutely" worth the $16.5MM the Tigers spent on him.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports considers Ken Williams' offseason plans – A through E.
Tigers In Serious Talks With Adam Dunn
2:04pm: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that a source says talk about Dunn going to the Tigers is "way too premature." Detroit likes the first baseman/outfielder/DH, but they're not that far along in talks.
12:42pm: Adam Dunn is moving closer to a deal, maybe with the Tigers, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. SI's Jon Heyman tweets that Dunn and the Tigers are in serious talks, but big man is not close to an agreement with any team. The powerful left-handed slugger is known to be among Detroit's targets. He could fit as their regular left fielder, perhaps getting the occasional start at DH or first base. The Tigers have been aggressive so far this offseason, and to secure Dunn this early they'd probably have to guarantee four years.
Meetings Rumors: A’s, Tigers, M’s, Red Sox, O’s
Baseball's general managers met in Orlando today and discussed potential changes to the collective bargaining agreement. MLB Executive Vice President Rob Manfred told reporters that he's optimistic about reaching a new CBA with the MLB Players Association and eager to hear the opinions of baseball's GMs. Manfred declined to go into detail on the talks, but the GMs addressed a number of hot stove topics with MLBTR soon afterwards. Here are the details (and be sure to follow @mlbtrorlando for more updates):
- The A's are off to a busy offseason start, but it's not intentional. "I don't think any particular reason other than opportunities presented themselves when they did," A's GM Billy Beane said. "It wasn't by design or anything like that. [David] DeJesus was somebody we inquired on back in August when he was hurt and we didn't control the pace of that negotiation, because they didn't move him until they were ready to move him."
- Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski says the Tigers could add left-handers, right-handers or both to their bullpen this winter.
- The Tigers expect Andy Oliver to be a quality big league pitcher, but they aren't counting on him for their 2011 rotation, according to Dombrowski.
- Asked who will close for his team in 2011, Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik praised David Aardsma's recent body of work. Zduriencik also said he doesn't expect Milton Bradley's history with manager Eric Wedge to be an issue.
- The Mariners opened the 2010 season with a heavily right-handed bullpen and Zduriencik says "it'd be nice to have a left-hander or two out there" in 2011.
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein says the Red Sox need to get to know Andrew Miller and Taylor Buchholz before he knows specifically what to expect from the team's new acquisitions. He does like "the possibility of real upside" for both pitchers, and was impressed by Buchholz's 2008 season with the Rockies.
- Epstein says the Red Sox bullpen is far from a finished product despite the acquisitions. "We probably have to acquire one or two relievers through trade or free agency and we will. I really believe in the guys we have in the back: [Jonathan] Pabelbon, [Daniel] Bard and possibly [Felix] Doubront. If he's not in the rotation, he could be a very valuable bullpen piece."
- Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail says there haven't been major developments with free agents Cesar Izturis or Ty Wigginton since the O's expressed interest in both when the offseason ended.
- For more GM Meetings coverage, see what Jed Hoyer of the Padres, Neal Huntington of the Pirates and Andrew Friedman of the Rays had to say.
Tigers Nearing Deal With Joaquin Benoit
The Tigers are nearing a three-year deal with reliever Joaquin Benoit, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi tweets that the contract "is in [the] final stages of discussion."
Benoit signed a minor league deal with the Rays in February and was one of baseball's best bargains. The righty posted a 1.34 ERA, 11.2 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9, and 38.9% groundball rate in 60 1/3 innings. The 33-year-old was available cheaply because he was coming off rotator cuff surgery performed in January of 2009. This time around, the Tigers had to pay full sticker price.
Bartolo Colon Back On The Radar
Bartolo Colon looked sharp in the most recent step of his return to action last night, holding the defending Dominican Winter League and Carribean Series champions the Leones del Escogido to a pair of singles in five scoreless innings. Colon struck out six for the Alguiles del Cibao, according to Jose Caceres' recap in the Dominican daily Hoy (link in Spanish), as he generally overwhelmed hitters with a mixture of fastballs and sinkers.
Colon announced he was attempting a comeback to Yoel Adames of ESPN Deportes in late October while pitching for the champion Dominican team in the Pan-American Games qualifier. He said at the time that he "maintains conversations" with the Yankees, Rockies, Cardinals, and Tigers, though other teams approached him following his complete game victory over Nicaragua on October 10. The 37-year-old right-hander was solid in three of his four appearances in Puerto Rico, the only exception being a 2.3-inning, six-run drubbing by Team USA that Colon chalked up to inadequate rest.
Though he hasn't pitched in the majors since 2009, Colon pointed to the offseason following the 2005 season as the focal point of his decline. That winter, Colon pitched for the Dominican Republic in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, fresh off of his 21-win, 222 inning Cy Young campaign. The extra workload, he said, left a lingering soreness in his pitching elbow that marred his ensuing three seasons with the Angels and Red Sox, culminating in surgery to remove bone spurs in 2009.
After signing with the White Sox in January 2009, Colon was effective through 19 starts, pitching to a 4.19 ERA before a knee injury ended his season in July. He said he has devoted the ensuing year to training in the Domincan Republic, and he claims to be throwing pain-free at his customary "full velocity." If Colon continues to pitch well and is willing to sign for around the $1MM that he received from the White Sox in 2009, he could make sense for the teams on his contact list and a number of others looking to add some upside to the back end of their rotation.
Sherman On Crawford, Angels, Tigers, Greinke
In his latest Hardball piece for the New York Post, Joel Sherman previews the upcoming GM meetings and look specifically at what to expect for a few top free agents and trade targets. Here are some of the highlights:
- "Three teams with money will definitely be bidding" on Carl Crawford, according to an American League insider. Those three teams? The Red Sox, Tigers, and Angels.
- People around baseball expect the Angels to spend big this winter, with one of Sherman's sources indicating that it wouldn't surprise him to see the Halos end up with Crawford, Rafael Soriano, and Adrian Beltre.
- Several executives believe the Tigers will make a play for two bats from the top tier of free agents, which includes Crawford, Jayson Werth, Adam Dunn, and Victor Martinez.
- Sherman predicts that Werth will sign a contract that lands somewhere in between the deals signed by Jason Bay and Matt Holliday a year ago. Five years and $90MM is the estimate from Sherman.
- According to an NL exec, a Zack Greinke trade may be unlikely because the Royals "are starting from a position of not wanting to trade [Greinke], and when you start there, it is hard to get anywhere." Still, Sherman names the Rangers as a team to watch in the Greinke sweepstakes, particularly if Cliff Lee signs elsewhere.
Marlins Intend To Trade Uggla
After breaking off extension talks and gauging interest in their second baseman, the Marlins now plan to trade Dan Uggla, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Marlins are "down the road" in discussions with a few teams and could make a deal within the next week, according to Rosenthal's source. Rosenthal identifies the Nationals, Tigers, Braves, and Blue Jays as potential suitors who are in on the 30-year-old.
When Rosenthal ran down the list of teams who could have interest in Uggla, he noted that not every club would view the Marlin as a second baseman. Many teams with question marks at third base are considering making a play for Uggla. Meanwhile, Rosenthal indicates the Cubs and Angels are among the teams who don't have interest in acquiring Uggla, despite having a need for offense.
Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post believes that Uggla and the Marlins could still agree on an extension, but concedes that the two sides are currently "very bitter at each other." He expects Florida to actively shop Uggla at this week's GM meetings, though he suggests the team will be demanding a significant return (all Twitter links).
Marlins Break Off Uggla Extension Talks; Tigers Interested
The Marlins have ceased negotiations with Dan Uggla about a long-term contract, the second baseman told The Associated Press. Uggla said he and his representatives still want to negotiate, but the club has broken off talks for the time being.
It's possible the Marlins are simply going back to the drawing board to create a new offer after Uggla turned down their four-year, $48MM proposal last weekend. Or, perhaps the club is taking time to once again look at its trade options with regards to the slugger. Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com report that the Tigers have contacted Florida about Uggla. Though Detroit's primary need is for a left-handed batter, the right-handed hitting Uggla provides a big upgrade over the Tigers' current second base options of Scott Sizemore and Will Rhymes.
Morosi and Rosenthal report the Tigers are "looking everywhere for a power bat." Detroit could revisit trying to acquire Adam Dunn after exploring a deal for him at the trade deadline, though the club's main offseason priority is Victor Martinez.