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Blue Jays Acquire Jeremy Jeffress

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The Blue Jays have acquired Jeremy Jeffress from the Royals for cash considerations according to his agent, report Danny Knobler and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). Jeffress is represented by Double Diamond Sports Management.

Kansas City designated Jeffress for assignment late last week. They originally acquired him from the Brewers in the Zack Greinke deal, but he's spent most of the last two years in Triple-A. The 25-year-old Jeffress owns a 4.89 ERA in 38 2/3 big league innings spread out over the last three years. He owns a 5.60 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 82 career Triple-A innings.

Sherman’s Latest: Dickey, Wright, Hunter, Upton

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Here's the latest from Joel Sherman of The New York Post…

  • The Mets are making progress, albeit slowly, in contract talks with David Wright and R.A. Dickey. The impression is that there is still a substantial gap in talks with Dickey, and they've been gauging his trade value during the GM Meetings. They are not doing the same with Wright, however.
  • The Yankees would not do a two-year deal worth $20MM or so for Torii Hunter since they want to get under the luxury tax threshold next year. They are fixated on one-year contracts this offseason and could fill their right field hole with a low-cost platoon.
  • "The Yankees are not on him," said a source about Justin Upton, in part because they're unsure if he's a good fit for New York (Twitter link). The Rangers and Rays are strongest early players for Upton, and Sherman gets the sense that the D'Backs want to act quickly (Twitter links).
  • The Diamondbacks want high-end, MLB ready players in return for Upton and would love to get Jurickson Profar or (more likely) Elvis Andrus from the Rangers. They don't love Mike Olt, however (Twitter links). GM Kevin Towers likes Yankees prospect Mason Williams, but he is several years away from the show and unlikely to be enough to headline a trade package (all Twitter links).
  • Next year's crop of free agent starting pitchers is weak, which could benefit Zack Greinke since teams won't be able to find a stopgap and reassess next year. Josh Johnson and Tim Lincecum highlight next winter's pitching crop, and both come with question marks.
  • The Mariners, who have young pitching, are said to be talking to the Royals and Twins, who have young hitting. Seattle would love to pry Wil Myers, Aaron Hicks, and/or Ben Revere loose.
  • Jason Bay didn't produce with the Mets, but he lived up to his billing as a hard worker and good teammate. Sherman expects the outfielder to take a low-salary, change of scenery deal (Twitter link).
  • Mets officials think Scott Hairston will get a two-year deal worth between $8-10MM this winter.

Minor Moves: Mock, Burke, Maier, Slowey, Ford

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Here are Wednesday’s minor moves…

  • The Diamondbacks have signed Garrett Mock to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 29-year-old right-hander posted a 3.79 ERA in 61 2/3 relief innings in Triple-A this season.
  • The Mets have signed right-hander Greg Burke to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training, the team announced (on Twitter). Burke, 30, pitched to a 1.53 ERA in 64 2/3 relief innings in Triple-A this year.
  • Indians right-hander Kevin Slowey has elected free agency, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America.  The 28-year-old spent 2012 with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate.
  • The Red Sox have signed Mitch Maier to a minor league deal, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (on Twitter). The 30-year-old outfielder hit .172/.260/.313 in 74 plate appearances for the Royals this year.
  • The Pirates have signed Darren Ford to a minor league pact, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 27-year-old outfielder hit .273/.326/.385 with 26 steals in 329 Triple-A plate appearances this year.
  • The Pirates have signed infielder Jared Goedert to a minor league deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 27-year-old hit .311/.373/.502 with 19 homers in 504 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A this season.
  • The Royals have agreed to re-sign catcher Manny Pina to a minor league contract, reports Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter). Pina, 25, hit .278/.415/.417 in 183 minor league plate appearances this summer. Dutton notes that he will be exposed in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Ishikawa, Torres, Ford, Nickeas

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Tonight’s outright assignments..

  • The Brewers announced via press release that they have outrighted first baseman Travis Ishikawa to Triple-A Nashville.  Ishikawa, 29, hit .257/.329/.428 with four homers in 94 games last season.
  • The Rockies announced (via Twitter) that they have outrighted right-hander Carlos Torres.  In related moves, the club selected the contracts of right-hander Josh Sullivan, reinstated Todd Helton, Juan Nicasio, and Christian Friedrich from the 60-day DL.  The right-hander appeared in 31 games for the Rockies this season posting a 5.26 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9.
  • The Orioles announced (via Twitter) that they have outrighted Lew Ford, Zach Phillips and Steven Tolleson to Triple-A Norfolk.  Ford turned in another strong Triple-A batting line in 2012, hitting .331/.390/.550 with 11 homers in 62 games.
  • Mets catcher Mike Nickeas cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Las Vegas, tweets Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger.  Nickeas saw time in 47 big league games for the Mets this season as one of several backstops to pitch in at the position.
  • The Twins announced that right-hander Sam Deduno has been assigned outright to Triple-A Rochester.  The move will help make room for the acquisitions of Thomas Field, Josh Roenicke, and Alexi Casilla off of waivers.
  • The Royals sent catcher Manny Pina to Triple-A Omaha on outright assignment, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  In related moves, left-hander Danny Duffy and right-hander Felipe Paulino have been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list.  Pina, 25, hit .260/.389/.397 in 162 Double-A plate appearances last year.

Royals Designate Jeffress, Bourgeois For Assignment

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The Royals announced that they designated right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, left-hander Tommy Hottovy and outfielder Jason Bourgeois for assignment. The Royals needed 40-man roster space to claim Guillermo Moscoso and Brett Hayes and reinstate Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino from the 60-day disabled list.

Jeffress spent most of the 2012 season at Triple-A, where he posted a 4.97 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 58 innings of relief. Hottovy spent most of the season in the Omaha bullpen with Jeffress. The 31-year-old left-hander posted a 2.52 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 50 innings. Bourgeois appeared in 30 games with Kansas City this past season, posting a .258/.303/.323 batting line in 66 plate appearances.

Indians Claim Blake Wood

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The Indians claimed right-hander Blake Wood off of waivers from the Royals, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports (on Twitter). Wood hasn't pitched since undergoing Tommy John surgery this past May.

Wood contribued out of the Royals' bullpen in 2010-11, posting a 4.30 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 119 1/3 total innings. The 27-year-old posted improved numbers in 2011, his second full MLB season. He'll be arbitration eligible for the first time this coming offseason, when he projects to obtain a raise to $600K or so.

Royals Claim Guillermo Moscoso, Brett Hayes

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The Royals claimed right-hander Guillermo Moscoso off of waivers from the Rockies and claimed catcher Brett Hayes off of waivers from the Marlins, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports (on Twitter). The Royals have confirmed the moves.

Moscoso, 28, appeared in 23 games for the Rockies in 2012, posting a 6.12 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 50 innings. Hayes, also 28, appeared in 39 games for the Marlins in 2012. He hit .202/.229/.254 in 118 plate appearances with Miami.

Twins Notes: Santana, Casilla, Messenger

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The Twins made a push to trade for Ervin Santana before the Royals acquired him this week, Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com reports. The Twins were “in heavily” on Santana, but they wanted the Angels to absorb more than $1MM in salary. Here are some more Twins-related notes from Wolfson…

  • Rays starter James Shields could become a target for the Twins in Wolfson’s view.
  • Assistant GM Rob Antony was expected to speak with the agent for second baseman Alexi Casilla yesterday. It seems likely that the Twins will non-tender Casilla, who’s arbitration eligible this winter. You can view MLBTR’s full list of non-tender candidates here.
  • The Twins have inquired about right-hander Randy Messenger. The 31-year-old last pitched at the MLB level in 2009, but he is coming off of a strong season with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. Messenger posted a 2.52 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 196 2/3 innings this past season.

AL Central Notes: White Sox, Kelly, Rondon, Royals

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Here are some notes from around the AL Central…

  • The White Sox won't make any qualifying offers to any of their remaining free agents, GM Rick Hahn told reporters (including Jim Margalus of the South Side Sox blog).  Kevin Youkilis, A.J. Pierzynski and Brett Myers all weren't expected to receive the $13.3MM qualifying offers, though Hahn told all three players he would be interested in bringing them back to Chicago next season.
  • In an interview with The Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 radio, Hahn re-stated his interest in Youkilis.  "He knows there is no confusion in his mind about our desire to bring him back. So we're going to stay on that, stay in communication," Hahn said.  "It's not a great time to be a club in the free-agent market looking for a third baseman, the player pool is not real deep, so I expect Kevin will be popular, but we're going to be in on that until the end, I think."
  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told Don Kelly that the team was interested in re-signing him to a minor league contract, Kelly tells George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press.  Kelly elected to become a free agent when the Tigers outrighted him off the 40-man roster yesterday.
  • With Jose Valverde on his way out of Detroit, Dombrowski and Jim Leyland hinted that rookie Bruce Rondon could be the Tigers' closer next season, reports MLB.com's Jason Beck.  The Venezuelan right-hander turns 22 in December and has a 2.53 ERA with 213 strikeouts in 196 minor league innings, though Rondon has only eight innings of experience above the Double-A level.
  • The Royals' acquisition of Ervin Santana is "not a great trade," writes Rany Jazayerli of the Rany On The Royals blog, but he ultimately likes the move since it shows Kansas City is willing to make aggressive moves to upgrade their rotation and, even if Santana doesn't pan out, the Royals are only committed to him for one season.

East Links: Ortiz, Hunter, Oliver, Marlins, Phillies

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Earlier tonight we had some West and Central links, so now let's complete the trifecta with some notes from baseball's two East divisions…

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