Minor Moves: Bianchi, Threets, Gallagher, Atilano
Here are some of the day's minor transactions…
- The Cubs have acquired minor league infielder Jeff Bianchi on a waiver claim, the team announced. Bianchi was designated for assignment by the Royals last week to make room for Jonathan Broxton on their 40-man roster. Bianchi was a second-round pick for K.C. in the 2005 draft and has yet to reach the majors, though he missed close to two full seasons recovering from a torn labrum (2006) and reconstuctive elbow surgery (2010).
- The Athletics have signed left-hander Erick Threets to a minor league deal, tweets Matthew Eddy of Baseball America. Threets, 30, last pitched in the Majors in 2010, throwing 12.1 scoreless relief innings for the White Sox.
- The Reds signed right-handers Luis Atilano and Sean Gallagher to minor league deals, reports Eddy.
- The Brewers have signed catcher Mike Rivera to a minor league contract, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. The deal includes an invitation to the Brewers' big league spring training camp and is worth $500K if Rivera makes the Major League roster. Rivera, 35, has spent five of the last six years in the Brewers' organization and will provide the club with extra catching depth.
- The Rangers signed Alberto Gonzalez to a minor league contract with an invite to the Major League spring training camp, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Gonzalez was released by the Padres last month. The utility infielder has a career .242/.281/.317 line in 908 Major League plate appearances over five seasons with the Padres, Nationals and Yankees.
- The Yankees have designated Colin Curtis for assignment, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. The move creates space on New York's 40-man roster for Freddy Garcia, whose signing was made official today. Curtis, a fourth-round draft pick in 2006, has 64 Major League plate appearances to his name.
Sherman On Darvish, Buehrle, Fielder, Jones
Joel Sherman of the New York Post shares a few Yankees items and more from around baseball…
- The Yankees have a number of concerns about Yu Darvish and team officials "sounded pessimistic about making a significant posting bid, if they submit one at all." Given how the Yankees have been linked to Darvish for months, it's hard to believe they won't be bidding on the star pitcher, so this could well be some misdirection on the Bombers' part.
- The Yankees were interested in Mark Buehrle but wouldn't offer the veteran more than a two-year contract. This clearly wasn't going to get it done given the large market for Buehrle, who signed a four-year, $58MM pact with the Marlins.
- After "canvassing executives," Sherman finds the consensus is that Prince Fielder will sign with the Cubs. The belief is that Theo Epstein won't pass up the chance to acquire a slugger like Fielder given the lack of power hitters coming onto the market, and Epstein wants to make "a statement sign" in his first year in Chicago.
- Andruw Jones is likely to re-sign with the Yankees but the team will see if they can address starting pitching before taking care of their backups. Jones, for his part, plans to compete for a starting job this spring.
Cubs Acquire Ian Stewart In Four-Player Trade
The Cubs have acquired Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers from the Rockies in exchange for Tyler Colvin and DJ LeMahieu, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
Each team acquires a 26-year-old former first round pick coming off a disappointing season. Stewart, a non-tender candidate, has long been the subject of trade rumors and hit .156/.243/.221 in limited action in 2011. Colvin, who isn't yet arbitration eligible, hit .150/.204/.306 in 222 plate appearances.
LeMahieu, 23, has a career .753 OPS in the minors and saw his first big league action for the Cubs in 2011. He'll compete for time at second and third base, according to Renck (on Twitter). Weathers, 26, was also a first-round pick, but has yet to pitch above Double-A, where he posted a 5.32 ERA in 45 2/3 innings this year. The right-hander has excellent stuff (career 11.3 K/9), but hasn't been able to control it (7.1 BB/9).
Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported yesterday that the two teams were discussing a deal involving Stewart and Colvin.
Cubs Lack Cash For Prince Fielder?
Yesterday word was the Marlins and Rangers were not in on Prince Fielder, despite Scott Boras' Jimmie Foxx comparisons. The latest…
- The Cubs say they do not have the cash to sign Fielder, tweets Peter Gammons of MLB Network.
- The Marlins are not and will not be in on Fielder, a high-ranking Marlins official told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Fielder can't drive the Latin market like Albert Pujols could have.
- The Brewers are far from out of it on Fielder, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
- Most of the teams talking to Boras about Fielder don't want to commit to the seven or eight-year contract Fielder desires, topping out at five years, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Rockies Acquire Kevin Slowey
THURSDAY: The Twins acquired righty Daniel Turpen from the Rockies to complete the Slowey deal, they announced today. Turpen, 25, posted a 4.83 ERA in Double-A this year. He was taken by the Yankees from the Red Sox in last year's Rule 5 draft, then returned to Boston and later traded to Colorado.
TUESDAY: The Rockies agreed to acquire starter Kevin Slowey from the Twins for a player to be named later, reports MLB.com's Thomas Harding. The Twins have since announced the trade.
Slowey, 27, was widely regarded as a non-tender candidate had he remained with the Twins until next week's deadline. He projects to earn $2.7MM through arbitration in 2012, and is under team control through 2013. One of the game's most extreme flyball pitchers, Slowey (pictured) doesn't seem a great fit for Coors Field. The other concern is that Slowey hasn't compiled big innings totals in the Majors. Still, he limits free passes as well as anyone and could be a useful back-end rotation addition for Colorado. The Rockies also added starter Tyler Chatwood last week in a trade with the Angels.
The Rockies may have other irons in the fire, as Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post reported earlier that they've discussed a deal with the Reds involving closer Huston Street for starter Edinson Volquez. It's unclear whether those talks are still active given the Slowey acquisition. Renck also wrote that the Rockies have interest in trading for the Phillies' Placido Polanco or the Braves' Martin Prado, and asked the Cubs about D.J. LeMahieu and Scott Maine in Ian Stewart talks that have since lost momentum.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
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
Rangers Not Confident They Can Land Garza
3:27am: FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (who apparently doesn't sleep) tweets that the Rangers are "not at all" confident that they will be able to pry Garza away from the Cubs. Texas considers Chicago's asking price to be too steep.
10:06pm: The Cubs and Rangers are discussing a possible swap of Matt Garza for prospects, but aren't close to matching up yet, tweets Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports confirms (via Twitter) that the Rangers are trying to acquire the right-hander.
The Cubs are rumored to be seeking an "overwhelming offer" for Garza.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
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.
Prince Fielder Rumors: Wednesday
The latest on slugger Prince Fielder…
- Agent Scott Boras says he has a number of contract offers to take back to Fielder, including many from teams that surprised him, tweets Haudricourt.
- According to two Marlins beat writers, Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post and Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, the Marlins are definitely not in on Fielder (Twitter links).
- A friend of Fielder's told Newsday's Ken Davidoff that the first baseman is very interested in the Cubs (Twitter link).
- GM Doug Melvin says the Brewers "have to consider moving on" from Fielder, tweets Haudricourt.
- Despite signing Mark Buehrle, the Marlins are still talking to Fielder, tweets Heyman. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter) confirms the Fish will take a run at Fielder, and hears from a source with knowledge of the Mariners' plans that Seattle will make a "strong effort" to sign the slugger.
- The Cubs' pursuit of Fielder has probably been overblown, GM Jed Hoyer told MLB.com TV.
- The Marlins' interest in Fielder has been exaggerated, a good source tells Tom Haudricourt.
- The Marlins are already in pursuit of Fielder, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network, as signs indicate the Cardinals will re-sign Albert Pujols.
- The Rangers are not in on Fielder, president Nolan Ryan told reporters.
Tim Dierkes and Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Marlins Out Of Running For Albert Pujols
The latest on free agent superstar Albert Pujols…
- Marlins people are saying they withdrew their offer to Pujols, not the other way around, tweets ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. Either way, the end result is the same: the Marlins are out.
- Bob Nightengale of USA Today confirms (via Twitter) the Marlins are no longer involved, but says Pujols still has three offers in excess of $200MM. It's hard to imagine which teams besides the Cardinals would be offering that much.
- Well, it looks like the Marlins won't sign every top free agent on the market. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick hears that Dan Lozano has told the Marlins they're out of the running for Pujols, though there are still clubs involved besides the Cardinals (Twitter links).
- The Cardinals' offer currently on the table is for nine years, not ten, according to Buster Olney (via Twitter). Meanwhile, the Marlins aren't completely out on Pujols, but won't increase their offer, tweets MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
- Pujols appears headed back to the Cardinals and the two sides are believed to be only a few million dollars apart on a ten-year deal, reports Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.
- The Marlins are moving on emotionally from the Pujols talks, tweets Buster Olney, though they haven't necessarily pulled their offer.
- Pujols' camp is attempted to extract every possible nickel in an offer from Miami so they can take that to the Cardinals, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
- The Marlins are still in on Pujols, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Angels GM Jerry Dipoto told reporters his focus has not been on Pujols.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick hears lots of buzz in Dallas that the Pujols decision is shifting in the Cardinals' direction.
- Pujols is likely heading back to the Cardinals, tweets Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. He says the Marlins are shifting their attention to Prince Fielder, while several others say they'll turn to pitching targets.
- A Cardinals source sees a good chance of a resolution one way or another today on Pujols, tweets Jon Paul Morosi. Buster Olney says there's a growing sense among some officials involved in the Pujols talks that he's staying with the Cardinals.
- The Cubs are still involved in the Pujols talks, tweets Ken Rosenthal, though the extent is unclear.
- The Marlins say they've made their final offer to Pujols, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, though an additional meeting with agent Dan Lozano remains possible.
- The Cardinals are meeting with Pujols' camp this morning, tweets MLB Network's Jon Heyman. Heyman believes the Marlins' ten-year offer is in the $200-220MM range.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Cardinals' newest offer to Pujols is believed to approach $220MM over 10 years. The Cards didn't place a deadline on their offer, and general manager John Mozeliak said this wouldn't necessarily be the club's final offer. Strauss is unsure if all 10 years are guaranteed, or if the tenth year involves some kind of option.
Tim Dierkes and Luke Adams contributed to this post.