Quick Hits: Cespedes, Pierzynski, Molina, Selig
A few news items to wrap up a busy Monday…
- The Cubs, Marlins and Tigers are the three teams most actively targeting Yoenis Cespedes, reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Last week, Cespedes said the Cubs were his most ardent suitor, with the Marlins, Tigers, Orioles, White Sox and Indians also showing "more interest" in him.
- White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski tells MLB.com's Scott Merkin that he plans to continue playing after 2012. Pierzynski, 35, has spent the last seven years with the Sox and is a free agent after this season.
- Yadier Molina's future with the Cardinals is debated in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch roundtable.
- Bud Selig's two-year contract extension was officially finalized and announced today, Major League Baseball announced. Selig will remain commissioner through the 2014 season. The extension was approved by a unanimous 30-0 vote amongst team owners.
- Derrek Lee could retire if he doesn't find "a perfect situation," tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Yesterday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post said Lee could be in for a Jermaine Dye-esque "forced retirement" since no team would be willing to meet his desired price.
- The Rays reportedly have interest in Edgar Renteria for a bench spot, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
- The Astros will consider uniform changes and even possibly a name change for 2013, new club owner Jim Crane announced at a press conference today (passed on by Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle).
- Indians catcher Lou Marson could see a lot of playing time against left-handed pitching, writes MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. Regular catcher Carlos Santana could play at first base on the days the strong-armed Marson (who threw out 33.3% of baserunners last year) is behind the plate. The right-handed hitting Marson has a .285/.367/.395 career line against southpaws and would add balance to an Indians lineup that is very heavy on left-handed bats.
Quick Hits: Cespedes, Fielder, Lee, Nationals, Indians
On this day in 2006, the Mets traded Kris Benson to the Orioles for Jorge Julio and John Maine. Benson, who pitched for five different teams in his 12-year career, announced his retirement earlier this month. Here's a look at today's links..
- Yoenis Cespedes has yet to establish residency in the Dominican Republic and a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter) there is no guarantee it will happen this week.
- A surprising number of baseball executives think that the Dodgers will ultimately be in play for Prince Fielder, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- More from Sherman (via Twitter) as he writes that some executives think Derrek Lee could end up in something of a forced retirement, similar to Jermaine Dye. Lee wants to continue playing, but only at price that he likely won't get.
- The silence surrounding the Nationals' pursuit of Fielder is in line with GM Mike Rizzo's standard operating procedure, writes Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com.
- The oft-traded Aaron Cunningham has a positive outlook on getting dealt and views each deal as an opportunity to start fresh, writes Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer. The 25-year-old, who was recently acquired by the Indians, has been dealt four times in his career.
- No team has gone through a more significant clubhouse-culture makeover this winter than the Rockies, who have added Michael Cuddyer, Casey Blake, Ramon Hernandez, and Marco Scutaro, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com.
Indians Sign Julio Lugo
The Indians have signed Julio Lugo to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, reports Dionisio Soldevila of the AP (on Twitter). He's an ACES client.
Lugo, 36, spent last season with the Braves, signing a minor league deal in May and getting released in September. In between, he hit .231/.286/.365 in 58 minor league plate appearances and .136/.208/.136 in 48 big league plate appeances. Lugo gives the team some infield depth along with Jose Lopez and Andy LaRoche, who signed minor league deals with Cleveland earlier this offseason.
AL Central Notes: Eldred, Gordon, Carmona
It was on this day in 1993 that Tigers legend Charlie Gehringer passed away at the age of 89. Gehringer spent his entire 19-year career in Detroit, finishing with a .320/.404/.480 career line, the 1937 AL MVP Award, a 1935 World Series championship and induction into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. Gehringer is still among the Tigers' franchise leaders in virtually every offensive category and is widely regarded as one of the game's greatest second basemen.
Some items from Detroit and elsewhere in the AL Central…
- The Tigers signed first baseman Brad Eldred to a minor league contract that doesn't include an invitation to the team's Major League Spring Training camp. Eldred, 31, has an .870 OPS and 227 homers over 10 minor league seasons but has seen just 282 plate appearances in the bigs, his most recent cup of coffee coming with the Rockies in 2010. Eldred hit .278/.351/.536 for the Giants' Triple-A affiliate last season.
- The Royals shouldn't wait to sign Alex Gordon to an extension, argues Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star. Mellinger thinks Michael Cuddyer's three-year, $31.5MM pact with the Rockies could be "the general framework" for a new Gordon deal, and both Gordon and Cuddyer are represented by agent Casey Close. Mellinger thinks a four-year, $35MM contract would fair to both sides; that's about $5MM higher than what MLBTR's Tim Dierkes guessed a Gordon extension would look like last August.
- Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com thinks the Indians should release Roberto Hernandez Heredia (a.k.a. Fausto Carmona) and use the saved salary on an available pitcher like Roy Oswalt, Edwin Jackson or Livan Hernandez.
- Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated looks at how teams pay much larger median bonuses to 16-year-old Latin American prospects, when a much smaller percentage of those young prospects actually reach the majors. While players like Carmona have knowingly committed age and identity fraud, Segura argues that "by placing such high premiums on 16-year-olds, teams are fooling themselves."
Indians Acquire Kevin Slowey
4:49pm: The Rockies are sending $1.25MM to Cleveland in the deal, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian tweets. That means the Indians will pay Slowey $1.5MM in 2012.
3:03pm: The Indians have acquired starting pitcher Kevin Slowey and cash considerations from the Rockies for right-handed reliever Zach Putnam. The Rockies announced the moves, which Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported on Twitter.
It's been a busy week for the Indians, who are faced with the possibility that Fausto Carmona has been playing under an assumed name. They've signed Ryan Spilborghs, Gregorio Petit, Fred Lewis and Jeremy Accardo to minor league contracts.
The move provides Cleveland with rotation depth in the event that Carmona isn't ready to pitch out of the rotation on Opening Day. Meanwhile, the Rockies clear room on a crowded pitching staff that includes more rotation options than ever after this week's deal for Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscoso.
Though the Indians are acquiring Slowey from Colorado, he has spent his entire five-year career in the AL Central. In 2011 he posted a 6.67 ERA with 5.2 K/9, 0.8 BB/9 and a 31.1% ground ball rate in 59 1/3 innings for the Twins, who traded him to the Rockies for Daniel Turpen in December. Slowey owns a 4.66 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 1.4 BB/9 and a 31.6% ground ball rate for his career and will earn $2.75MM in 2012.
Putnam, 24, debuted with the Indians in 2011, but spent most of the season at Triple-A. The 2008 fifth rounder posted a 3.65 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 69 innings of relief at Columbus.
Dominican Police: Carmona Using Assumed Name
FRIDAY: Carmona was released from court in the Dominican and asked for the forgiveness of fans, the U.S. government and the Indians, the Associated Press reports (via ESPN). It appears unlikely that the Indians will void Carmona's contract, but the right-hander has to get to the U.S. to get paid this year, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets.
THURSDAY, 3:25pm: The Indians issued the following statement regarding Carmona: “We were recently made aware of the situation that occurred today in the Dominican Republic and are currently in the process of gathering information,” GM Chris Antonetti said. “We are not prepared to make any additional comment at this time.”
2:23pm: Police in the Dominican Republic say Fausto Carmona's real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes tweets. Dionisio Soldevila of the AP tweets that Carmona is 31, not 28 and Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com tweets that the right-hander's chances of obtaining a visa quickly don't seem good. Yancen Pujols first tweeted news of the identity issues.
The Indians exercised Carmona's option after the season, so he'll earn $7MM in 2012. The ground ball pitcher posted a 5.25 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 188 2/3 innings in 2011. The Marlins placed Leo Nunez/Juan Carlos Oviedo on the restricted list because of issues related to his assumed name. It's not clear whether Carmona will be able to pitch in the U.S. by Opening Day.
Indians To Sign Ryan Spilborghs
The Indians announced that they have agreed to sign free agent outfielder Ryan Spilborghs to a minor league deal. The Boras Corporation represents the outfielder, who was non-tendered in December.
Spilborghs posted a .210/.283/.305 line in 223 plate appearances for the Rockies in 2011, appearing at all three outfield positions. The 32-year-old has a career .273/.357/.443 line against left-handed pitching and could add balance to a Cleveland lineup that includes a number of outfielders who hit from the left side: Michael Brantley, Shin-Soo Choo, Ezequiel Carrera and Grady Sizemore. The Rangers also expressed some interest in Spilborghs, who has an overall career line of .272/.345/.423.
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com first reported the news on Twitter. Troy Renck of the Denver Post reported this morning that a deal was likely to occur and MLB.com's Jordan Bastian added detail.
Indians Likely To Sign Ryan Spilborghs
Free agent outfielder Ryan Spilborghs is likely to sign with the Indians, Troy Renck of the Denver Post tweets. The Indians are reviewing Spilborghs' medicals, Yahoo's Tim Brown tweets. The Boras Corporation represents the outfielder, who was non-tendered in December.
Spilborghs posted a .210/.283/.305 line in 223 plate appearances for the Rockies in 2011, appearing at all three outfield positions. The 32-year-old has a career .273/.357/.443 line against left-handed pitching and could add balance to Cleveland's lefty-heavy lineup. The Rangers also have some interest in Spilborghs, who has an overall career line of .272/.345/.423.
AL Central Notes: Twins, Royals, Pena, Kotchman
Earlier today we learned that 28-year-old Fausto Carmona is actually 31-year-old Roberto Hernandez Heredia, and that the right-hander might not be able to secure a visa to the United States anytime soon. MLB.com's Jordan Bastian says (on Twitter) that it's unclear if the Indians will be able to void Heredia's contract, plus he's not sure they would do that even if it is an option. Here's the latest from the AL Central…
- Twins GM Terry Ryan told MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger that he's not ruling out the possibility of adding some more pitching (Twitter link). "I don't think you should ever say you're set to go," said Ryan.
- A top Royals official told Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star that he'd "be really surprised" if the team signs or trades for another starting pitcher before Spring Training (Twitter link). Dutton says the team wants to get a look at its in-house options.
- Royals GM Dayton Moore confirmed Dutton's report, telling Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports: “We could have probably jumped in there on some pitchers who were traded, but we need another year to find out what we have here with guys like Chris Dwyer, Jake Odorizzi and [Mike] Montgomery … We may be more receptive to a deal like that next year"
- The Indians remain interested in Carlos Pena and Casey Kotchman, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). We've heard about their interest in both players throughout the offseason.
- The Indians signed Jeremy Accardo to a minor league contract earlier today, and Tom Withers of The AP has the details (on Twitter). Accardo will make $825K if he's on the 40-man roster, with another $300K in incentives.
- Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN provides the details of Joel Zumaya's contract with the Twins (on Twitter). The right-hander is guaranteed $400K of his $850K base salary, and he'll get all of it if he makes the team to start the season.
Minor Moves: Petit, Loux
Here's where we'll track the day's minor moves…
- The Indians signed infielder Gregorio Petit to a minor league deal, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus tweets. The 27-year-old appeared in the Majors with the Athletics in 2008-09, but didn't play affiliated baseball last year. He spent the 2010 campaign with the Rangers' top affiliate, where he posted a .658 OPS in 525 plate appearances as the Oklahoma City shortstop.
- The Giants announced 25 non-roster invitees, including right-hander Shane Loux. The 32-year-old last appeared in the Majors in 2009 and spent the 2011 season as a starter for the Giants' top affiliate.