Four Teams Interested In Ryan Theriot
THURSDAY: The Rangers and Indians also have some interest in Theriot, Heyman reports (on Twitter).
WEDNESDAY: The Phillies and Giants are among the teams interested in free agent Ryan Theriot, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. The shortstop/second baseman hit .270/.316/.321 in 384 plate appearances for San Francisco last season.
Theriot, a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council, owns a career .281/.341/.350 slash line across eight seasons with four teams. The veteran has had the good fortune of capturing World Series rings in his last two stops – San Francisco and St. Louis (2011).
The Giants reportedly shopped Theriot last March, with possible interest from teams including the Phillies, but wound up holding on to him.
Minor Moves: Dickerson, Cabrera, Hendrickson, Neal
Earlier today we learned the Phillies signed Rodrigo Lopez to a minor league deal, now here are the rest of Saturday's minor moves…
- The Yankees have released Chris Dickerson according to the MLB.com transactions page. New York designated the 30-year-old outfielder for assignment after claiming Russ Canzler last week. Dickerson hit .316/.417/.515 in Triple-A last year and received a September call-up.
- Fernando Cabrera signed a minor league deal with the Angels, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Cabrera, 31, owns a 5.24 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 across parts of seven career big league seasons. The right-handed reliever spent last season with the Mets' Triple-A affiliate.
- Mark Hendrickson will have a tryout with the Orioles during their mini-camp next week, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com (Twitter links). The 39-year-old left-hander has not appeared in the big leagues since 2011, and Kubatko says he's trying to reinvent himself as a sidearmer.
- The Indians have released Thomas Neal, the team announced (Twitter links). The 25-year-old outfielder was designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster for Nick Swisher earlier this month. The team says they have interest in re-signing Neal, who hit .314/.400/.467 in Double-A last season.
AL Central Notes: Escobar, Dolan, White Sox, Porcello
Aside from similar modest batting averages, you could hardly find two more different players than Harmon Killebrew and Luis Aparicio but it was on this day in 1984 that both AL Central greats were inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. Killebrew slugged 573 homers in his career and was a classic three-true-outcomes power hitter, while Aparicio hit just .262/.311/.343 in his career but made it Cooperstown on the strength of his defense (nine Gold Gloves) and speed, leading the league in steals nine times and finishing with 506 stolen bases in his career.
Here are some more notes from around the AL Central…
- The Indians were one of the teams interested in Kelvim Escobar before the right-hander signed a minor league deal with the Brewers earlier today, reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).
- Indians chairman and CEO Paul Dolan has been officially named as the club's control person by Major League Baseball's owners, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Dolan is now officially the Tribe's person in charge of the team's operations and its adherence to league rules.
- The White Sox are looking to add a reliever and a left-handed hitter before the season starts, writes ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine as part of an online chat with fans that also covers a number of Cubs-related topics.
- In response to another fan question, Levine doesn't think the White Sox have any interest in Kyle Lohse.
- Rick Porcello's name has surfaced in many trade rumors since the Tigers signed Anibal Sanchez, but Jamie Samuelsen of the Detroit Free Press doesn't think the Tigers should move either Porcello or Drew Smyly since the team needs the pitching depth.
Pirates Acquire Jeanmar Gomez
The Pirates have acquired Jeanmar Gomez from the Indians in exchange for Quincy Latimore, reports ESPN's Keith Law (on Twitter). Cleveland had designated the right-hander for assignment last week.
Gomez, 24, pitched to a 5.96 ERA with 4.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 90 2/3 innings for Indians last season. He owns a 5.18 ERA in 206 2/3 innings across 38 starts and four relief appearances in his big league career over the last three seasons. Baseball America ranked Gomez as the team's 21st best prospect in their 2010 Prospect Handbook, saying he should be a "serviceable fifth starter or middle reliever in the future."
Latimore, 23, was Pittsburgh's fourth round pick in the 2007 draft. The outfielder hit .252/.321/.433 with 15 homers and ten steals in 462 Double-A plate appearances last season, his second straight year at the level. Baseball America ranked Latimore as the 21st best prospect in the Pirates' system in their 2011 Prospect Handbook, noting he needs to be more patient at the plate.
Indians Sign Jerry Gil, Edward Paredes
Tonight's minor moves..
- The Indians announced that they have signed right-hander Jerry Gil and left-hander Edward Paredes to minor league deals. Gil, a converted shortstop, has a 4.35 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 119 career Triple-A starts. Paredes, 26, was in the Mariners' system from 2006-2011 and spent the bulk of his time in Double-A and Triple-A. The Tribe also confirmed the signing of Scott Kazmir to a minor league deal.
Indians Notes: Payroll, Hafner, DH, Starting Rotation
The Indians have been very busy during the first days of 2013 officially announcing the free agent signings of Nick Swisher and Brett Myers. MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports the team will open the season with a payroll hovering around $66-68MM (not including the $2.75MM buyout of Travis Hafner's 2013 club option and the $3.5MM sent to the Reds in the Shin-Soo Choo trade). As a result, GM Chris Antonetti has said the team's financial resources have been exhausted. The lone remaining hole in the lineup is designated hitter. Bastian says the Tribe could rely on internal options like Mike Aviles, Yan Gomes, Ezequiel Carrera, Tim Fedroff, and Rule 5 selection Chris McGuiness. Even bringing back Hafner is a possibility according to Antonetti, "I think some of that is going to depend upon other opportunities for Travis and his thoughts on returning, as well as what opportunities we may have for him compared to other guys." Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has more news and notes concerning the Indians:
- Hoynes adds Matt LaPorta to the list of in-house DH options, but says Antonetti could still sign a hitter or bring one in on a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training.
- Hoynes thinks Delmon Young would look good as the Tribe's DH, but doesn't see it happening at this time because of his asking price and character issues.
- The Indians will still consider trading Asdrubal Cabrera or Chris Perez, but only if the return is comparable to what they received in the Choo deal.
- The starting rotation looks like Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Myers, and Zach McAllister. Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco are the leading candidates for the fifth spot.
- With the flush of spending of this season, does this put extra pressure on the front office to win now? Hoynes doesn't sense any panic in the hallways of power, especially since new manager Terry Francona can opt-out of his deal if certain members of management lose their jobs.
Twins Notes: Myers, Harden, Alvarez, Diaz, Gomez
Here's the latest on the Twins, courtesy of 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson…
- The Twins had numerous discussions with Brett Myers before the right-hander signed with the Indians, but they never made him an offer.
- Rich Harden's minor league contract with Minnesota includes a July 31st opt-out date according to Wolfson. The right-hander can elect free agency if he's not added to the big league roster by then.
- The Twins will have a scout on hand to watch outfielder Dariel Alvarez and infielder Aledmys Diaz tomorrow. The two Cuban defectors are hosting a workout for teams.
- The club has had "brief talks" with free agent outfielders Ryan Sweeney and Scott Podsednik after trading both Ben Revere and Denard Span this offseason.
- The Twins have talked about Brent Lillibridge and Yuniesky Betancourt, but they're likely to sign elsewhere. Minnesota also has interest in Brandon Inge.
- The Indians have reached out to several teams about Jeanmar Gomez, including the Twins. Gomez was designated for assignment earlier this week and Cleveland has ten days to trade, release, or waive him.
Yankees Claim Russ Canzler
The Yankees have claimed Russ Canzler off of waivers from the Indians, ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports (on Twitter). This marks the third time this winter that the first baseman/designated hitter has been claimed. The Blue Jays claimed him on December 21st before Cleveland claimed him back on January 2nd.
Canzler will provide the Yankees with another right-handed bat, assuming he remains on New York's roster. The 26-year-old appeared in 26 games for the Indians this past season. He posted a .269/.299/.398 batting line in 97 MLB plate appearances while playing first base and left field. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted a .265/.328/.487 batting line with 22 home runs and 36 doubles in 539 plate appearances.
Quick Hits: Stanton, Indians, Blue Jays, Rays
The Marlins should trade Giancarlo Stanton and the sooner they do it, the better, opines MLB.com’s Hal Bodley. The 23-year-old, he argues, really won’t make the difference between winning and losing as this team rebuilds. Stanton would obviously net the Marlins a strong package of prospects – players who would be ready to contribute down the road when Miami would hopefully be ready to contend. Here’s more from around baseball as we head into Friday..
- After their next free agent signing, Indians General Manager Chris Antonetti said the team has “used the vast majority of our [financial] resources” for the offseason, tweets Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. It’s safe to assume that Antonetti was referring to Brett Myers‘ one-year, $7MM deal when he referred to the team’s next signing.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (video link) believes that the Blue Jays had the best offseason of any team in the majors because of their blockbuster with the Marlins and their trade for R.A. Dickey. Meanwhile, the Rangers have had the most disappointing winter thus far because of their misses on their top free agent targets.
- ESPN.com’s Buster Olney ranked the top ten infields in the majors and slotted the Rays in at No. 4. Olney writes that first baseman James Loney is likely getting his last full-time shot to show that he can be a consistent run producer.
- Antonetti also said that the recently re-acquired Russ Canzler will be among the Indians‘ internal DH options this year, Bastian tweets.
- Troy Renck of The Denver Post (on Twitter) expects the Rockies to have interest in free agent Brandon Webb.
Indians Designate Thomas Neal For Assignment
The Indians announced that they have designated outfielder Thomas Neal for assignment. The move will allow them to make room for Nick Swisher on the 40-man roster.
Neal, 25, was rated as a top 100 prospect before the 2010 season as a member of the Giants organization. He was then traded to the Indians in July 2011 for Orlando Cabrera in a deal that allowed Cleveland to give their own youngsters more playing time. Neal spent the 2012 season with Double-A Akron and posted a .314/.400/.467 slash line in 470 plate appearances. He also spent nine games on the Tribe's varsity squad last year.