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Indians Sign Chad Durbin

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After spending three years in Philadelphia, Chad Durbin is headed back to the American League. The Indians announced that they signed the right-hander to a one-year, Major League contract. 

The deal will pay the 33-year-old a base salary of $800K and could be worth another $1MM in incentives, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Earlier in the month, we heard that Durbin hoped to sign with a contender, but there didn't appear to be many Major League offers on the table from teams with playoff aspirations.

For Durbin, who had a 3.62 ERA in 194 appearances over the last three seasons with the Phillies, it will be his second stint with the Tribe. In 2003 and 2004, Cleveland was the first club to use the right-hander primarily out of the bullpen. As Crasnick notes (Twitter link), the Indians intend to deploy Durbin as a reliever again this time around.

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and Jon Heyman of SI.com both reported when the Indians and Durbin were close to a deal.

AL Central Notes: Dunn, Knapp, Nathan

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A few tidbits of note from what may be one of the more competitive and intriguing divisions in baseball in 2011 …

  • White Sox slugger Adam Dunn suspects that his now-infamous war of words with then-Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi in 2008 hurt his value on the free-agent market that offseason, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. Dunn, of course, was traded from the Reds to the Diamondbacks in a post-deadline deal in 2008 and signed a modest two-year deal with the Nationals in the subsequent offseason. He reportedly was unwilling to be a full-time DH then, but when he hit free agency this offseason after two productive years in Washington, he had no such qualms, signing a nice four-year, $56MM deal with the South Siders.
  • Indians right-hander Jason Knapp could "rocket up" next year's prospects lists if he's healthy this year and continues to polish up his raw talents, writes Jim Callis of Baseball America. It feels like a lifetime ago that the Indians acquired Knapp from the Phillies in the Cliff Lee deal, and it looks like Knapp may be Cleveland's last hope of salvaging a player with big upside from that swap. As Callis notes, Knapp has logged only 40 innings since the Tribe acquired him in 2009 due to injuries, but he's still only 21.
  • Twins reliever Joe Nathan, recovering from Tommy John surgery that cost him all of 2010, will have to prove that he's his old self before he returns to closing duty, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. “I don’t make any decisions until the end of spring training," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told Passan. "If [Nathan] comes back and throws like he did two years ago, he’ll probably be our closer." Of course, the Twins have a nice insurance policy in Matt Capps should Nathan not be ready. The Twins acquired Capps in a midseason trade last year and avoided arbitration with him this offseason, settling on a 2011 salary of $7.15MM.

Quick Hits: Durbin, Dickerson, CBA

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Newly signed Indians right-hander Chad Durbin was one of the last free agents to ink a deal, but he's not yet in uniform. More on that and a couple other items of note …

  • The Indians' deal with Durbin is not yet officially complete, likely because the Tribe needs to first free up a spot on the 40-man roster, blogs Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Bastian speculates the deal will be announced on Tuesday. Durbin, of course, agreed to a Major League deal with Cleveland on Friday and could earn up to $1.8MM in 2011 if he reaches his incentives.
  • Indiana left fielder Alex Dickerson and his powerful bat may be scaling the first-round draft board, writes Stephen Goff of Examiner.com. Dickerson is a legitimate hitter, ESPN.com scout Keith Law told Goff, but his defense is shaky, limiting him to left field or first base, and comparisons to more athletic outfielders such as UConn's George Springer and South Carolina's Jackie Bradley Jr. won't  do his draft stock any favors. The Astros were among the many Major League clubs scouting Dickerson and others in Corpus Christi, Texas, this weekend, according to Goff. Houston has the 11th overall pick in this June's First-Year Player Draft.
  • MLB Players Association executive director Michael Weiner said MLB and the MLBPA had preliminary meetings about brokering a new collective bargaining agreement last week, writes Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun. Weiner expects there will be one or two formal meetings before Spring Training is over, but the sides won't really roll up their sleeves until the regular season begins.

Chad Durbin Close To Signing With Indians

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FRIDAY, 8:10pm: Durbin's agent is in Arizona, talking to the Indians and other interested teams, according to Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer (via Twitter).

FRIDAY, 10:33am: Durbin is close to signing with the Indians, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer says the team has no comment at this time (Twitter links).

THURSDAY, 5:56pm: The Phillies, Rangers, Red Sox, Rays, and Royals are also pursuing the hurler, tweets Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.

3:59pm: The Indians and free agent right-hander Chad Durbin are in talks according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter), and a deal could happen within a day or two. 

Earlier this week we heard that the Red Sox, Rays, Phillies, Rangers, and Mariners were all in pursuit of the 33-year-old, who indicated that he would accept a minor league deal from Philadelphia if his "hand is forced because there are no Major League offers on the table." A few weeks ago Durbin said that he hoped to join a contender, which doesn't really define the Indians.

Cleveland is seeking a starting pitcher, having been connected to both Kevin Millwood and Jeremy Bonderman in recent weeks. Although Durbin hasn't started a game since 2007, he has 75 career MLB starts to his credit and may wish to give it another shot. The bullpen is always a fallback.

Quick Hits: Darvish, Simon, Kenny Williams, Rays

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Happy birthday to Brian Duensing (28), Kelly Johnson (29), Casey Kotchman (28), Daniel Nava (28), J.J. Putz (34), Don Wakamatsu (48) and Hall-of-Fame manager Sparky Anderson, who would've turned 77 years old today.

Onto some news from around the majors…

  • ESPN's Keith Law expects the Blue Jays to be "serious bidders" for Yu Darvish. (Twitter link)  The Japanese star says he wants to pitch in the Major Leagues in 2012, and at least nine teams besides Toronto are known to have interest.
  • Prosecutor Victor Mueses tells ESPNDeportes' Enrique Rojas that there are no plans to drop pending manslaughter charges against Orioles reliever Alfredo Simon.  It was reported over the weekend that Simon was expected to be released soon, but "nothing has happened to make us change our position," Mueses says.  Rojas also reports that Simon has agreed to pay $70K to the families of the victims of the New Year's Eve shooting in order to have the charges dropped, but Mueses says that such an agreement wouldn't impact his office's case.
  • White Sox GM Kenny Williams criticized baseball's financial structure yesterday and told Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune today that he was even uncomfortable with his own team's $125MM payroll.  "We're out on a limb.  But that's our choice.  We made the choice in an effort to give our fans hope and give ourselves a chance to compete for a championship," Williams said.  "If things don't go our way, if we don't get the support, we'll lose money.  We're going to lose money but we've gone into this knowing how long can you do that, how much can you absorb?"
  • "The Rays’ bullpen figures to be a season-long work in progress," writes FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal.  Tampa Bay lost almost its entire bullpen to free agency, and Andrew Friedman admitted the club was "kind of freaking out about it" in January.  Rosenthal says the Rays will look at relievers cut by teams at the end of Spring Training, and they will also continue to consider possible trades.  
  • When might some of the Indians' young stars reach the majors?  Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer weighs in on when Tribe fans can see the likes of Lonnie Chisenhall at Progressive Field.

Quick Hits: Athletics, Cabrera, Jeter, Braves, Janssen

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Let's take a look at some links for Monday night..

Indians Notes: Masterson, Bonderman, Carmona

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Paul Hoynes and Terry Pluto at the Cleveland Plain Dealer have the latest on the Tribe….

  • In a mailbag, Hoynes explains that the Indians likely didn't consider bringing back Manny Ramirez because they preferred to add a player who could handle the outfield – like Austin Kearns.
  • Within the same article, Hoynes says that the Red Sox have approached the Indians multiple times about the possibility of re-acquiring Justin Masterson. The Indians aren't likely to move the right-hander, but Hoynes points out they'd be "silly not to listen."
  • Hoynes also adds that he still thinks Jeremy Bonderman could become an Indian, on a minor league deal. However, he doesn't see the team signing Kevin Millwood unless the veteran's asking price goes down.
  • In a separate piece, Fausto Carmona tells Hoynes that he's happy in Cleveland and unfazed by trade rumors involving him: "I never read the newspaper in the Dominican Republic. I can't control the situation. A lot of people see something on the Internet and call me and say do you know about this trade? I just tell them I'm ready to play, no matter what the situation."
  • Pluto says he's come around on the Orlando Cabrera signing after finding out it was only for $1MM. He notes that, if Cabrera plays well, the Tribe could turn him into a midseason trade chip as they did with Russell Branyan last year.

Millwood Rejected Yankees’ Minor League Offer

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One of the few notable names left on the starting pitching market, Kevin Millwood still appears to be seeking a Major League contract. The veteran right-hander recently turned down a minor league offer from the Yankees, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. According to Sherman, the deal was structured similarly to the one Freddy Garcia signed with the club.

Despite their ongoing need for help at the back of the rotation, the Yankees are "adamant" about not guaranteeing Millwood big league money to compete for a starting pitching job. If the righty were to sign a minor league deal, he would have to beat out New York's other in-house options to earn a roster spot.

Considering most teams have figured out their rotations by now, there may not be a Major League offer out there for the 36-year-old. While it's never safe to underestimate Scott Boras, Millwood doesn't seem to have many suitors, with the Yankees and Indians among the few teams linked to him in recent weeks. When we asked you last weekend for predictions on Millwood's landing spot, those two clubs combined to earn about 70% of over 6,800 votes.

Quick Hits: Diamondbacks, LaRoche, Pence, Young

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Some links for Saturday evening as the cold weather makes its way back to the Northeast..

Indians Outright Joe Martinez

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The Indians have outrighted right-hander Joe Martinez off of their 40-man Major League roster, according to a team press release.  Martinez is now on the club's Triple-A roster, but will remain in the Major League Spring Training camp as a non-roster invitee.

Martinez, who turns 28 next week, came to the Tribe in a deal with the Pirates in January after being designated for assignment by Pittsburgh two weeks earlier.  In 18 career Major League games (six of them starts) with Pittsburgh and San Francisco, Martinez has a 6.16 ERA and a 13.0 H/9 rate.  Originally a 12th-round pick of the Giants in the 2005 draft, Martinez has a career 3.58 ERA and a 3.63 K/BB ratio in 128 minor league appearances, all but eight of them starts.

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