Dodgers To Sign Matt Guerrier
The Dodgers signed Matt Guerrier to a three-year deal, the team announced today. The deal is for $12MM over three years, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Newsday's Erik Boland first reported the agreement (on Twitter).
The right-hander joins Scott Downs and Joaquin Benoit as the setup relievers to agree to three-year contracts this winter. Guerrier will not cost a draft pick, since the Twins declined to offer him arbitration.
Guerrier led the league in appearances in 2008-09 and pitched in 74 games this past season. Not only is he durable, he is a ground ball pitcher with a career 2.7 K/BB ratio against righties. That figure drops against lefties (1.5 K/BB), but he induces more ground balls against them.
However, defense independent pitching stats like FIP and xFIP suggest Guerrier's 3.17 ERA would have been higher if he had been less lucky in 2010. He posted solid ratios of 5.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 last year, but both rates were better in 2009.
The Red Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays also expressed interest in the 32-year-old this offseason. Boston offered a two-year deal with a vesting option for 2013, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The Rockies also bid on Guerrier, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).
When I examined Guerrier's free agent stock earlier in the offseason, I expected him to land a one-year deal, so agent Joe Bick deserves credit for taking advantage of a player-friendly market.
Joe Beimel Has Multiple Offers
Lefty reliever Joe Beimel is sitting on offers from several teams tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post, but none of them have come from the Rockies.
The market for Beimel has been very quiet this offseason, but that is nothing new. The 33-year-old lefty hasn't signed a contract before January since the 2005-2006 offseason, and in each of the last two winters he's had to wait until March to find a job. Beimel pitched to a 3.40 ERA in 45 innings for the Rockies in 2010, holding left-handed batters to a .221/.275/.379 batting line.
Rockies Sign Ty Wigginton
The Rockies continued their active offseason today, officially announcing their contract with Ty Wigginton. Wigginton received a two-year, $8MM deal with an option for 2013, which is steep compared to Eric Hinske's one-year, $1.35MM deal. The Wigginton contract represents another big win for ACES, the agency behind the deals for Joaquin Benoit, John Buck, Jhonny Peralta, Brandon Inge, and Javier Vazquez.
Wigginton, 33, hit .248/.312/.415 with 22 home runs in 649 plate appearances for the Orioles in 2010. The veteran utility man saw time at first base, second base, and third base for the Orioles, and also has experience in the oufield. He'd been previously identified as the Rockies' top target for a right-handed utility bat.
The Orioles made a curious decision this summer in not trading Wigginton, as he was certain to finish the year as an unranked free agent. Rather than acquire some minor league depth or salary relief, they will instead receive no compensation for his departure.
Wigginton is added to the list of offseason activity from the Rockies that has included extending Troy Tulowitzki, signing Jorge de la Rosa, and acquiring Jose Lopez and Felipe Paulino. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs is confused as to why the Rockies added Wigginton after getting Lopez.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first broke the news that the two sides were close on a deal, while his colleague Tracy Ringolsby added details.
Latest On The Rockies’ Search For A Reliever
The Rockies have been looking to strengthen their bullpen basically all offseason, but they haven't done much in that regard beyond trading for Felipe Paulino. They did make an offer to Matt Guerrier before he agreed to sign with the Dodgers, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post (Twitter link), but their search for relief help won't stop there.
In a series of tweets, Renck says the Rockies maintain interest in Jesse Crain, but like many clubs they prefer not to go three years on a reliever. He adds that they also like Bobby Jenks and former Rockie Brian Fuentes, but they might be out of their price range. Finally, Renck says it would not be surprising to see them pursue Jon Rauch, though Chad Qualls, Hideki Okajima, and Mike MacDougal are interesting options as well.
The back end of Colorado's bullpen is pretty well set with Huston Street, Rafael Betancourt, and Matt Belisle, but there's no such thing as too much depth. Street missed time with a shoulder issue and battled an oblique problem late in the season, and I'm sure the team would like to ease off Belisle, who led MLB with 92 relief innings in 2010.
Odds & Ends: Counsell, Ibanez, Johnson, Sheffield
Exactly one year ago, the Angels signed Hideki Matsui. Today, the slugger finalized his one-year agreement with the A's. Here are today's links…
- The Brewers are having ongoing discussions with the representatives for Craig Counsell, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (on Twitter).
- If you've heard about agent Darek Braunecker, but don't know much about him, you're not alone. David Waldstein of the New York Times introduces us to Cliff Lee's agent.
- The Phillies do not intend to trade Raul Ibanez, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Joe Blanton, on the other hand, is available.
- Rosenthal also notes that the Rangers and Rockies have not discussed Michael Young since the Winter Meetings (Twitter link).
- The Orioles are still talking to the representatives for Adam LaRoche, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
- Indians manager Manny Acta is watching Bartolo Colon's start in the Dominican Republic tonight, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes (on Twitter).
- Kerry Wood told Fred Mitchell and David Kaplan of the Chicago Tribune that he could see himself playing for the Cubs, but probably not for the White Sox.
- In case you were wondering, the Marlins don't intend to trade Josh Johnson, according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro (on Twitter).
- Gary Sheffield told Mike Ferrin and Tom Gordon of MLB Network Radio that he has discussed a potential deal with the Rays. However, manager Joe Maddon told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that the Rays have limited interest in Sheffield, though they wanted to get to know him better.
A’s Interested In Rich Harden
5:57pm: Renck reports the Harden-A's agreement is unconfirmed (Twitter link). The Rockies are out on Harden. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the A's have talked to Harden, who appears to have better offers elsewhere (Twitter links). Slusser notes that the A's are still talking to Justin Duchscherer.
5:09pm: The A's will sign Rich Harden, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports (Twitter link). Harden spent the first five and a half seasons of his career in Oakland, where he posted lofty strikeout numbers and a 3.42 ERA between trips to the DL.
The 29-year-old continued to encounter health issues in 2010, but the low ERA and remarkable strikeout numbers were nowhere to be found. Harden battled glute and shoulder injuries this year and posted a 5.58 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in 92 innings for the Rangers.
Seven teams other than Oakland reportedly had some interest in Harden: the Yankees, Twins, Rays, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Mariners, and Rockies.
Odds & Ends: Rivera, Mets, Bruce, Orioles, Dodgers
Links for Sunday….
- WEEI.com's Rob Bradford reports that Mariano Rivera's representatives initiated contact with the Red Sox, who eventually offered the closer a contract. Boston was never inclined to non-tender Jonathan Papelbon had they signed Rivera; they valued him at the back of their bullpen in the short-term, and the draft picks that would come their way if he signs elsewhere as a free agent in the long-term.
- SI.com's Jon Heyman has the scoop on the Mets new coaching staff (Twitter link). Dave Hudgens will be the hitting coach, Jon Debus the bullpen coach, Ken Oberkfell the bench coach, and Mookie Wilson the first base coach.
- Hal McCoy of The Dayton Daily News thinks the Jay Bruce extension is an excellent message.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun speculates that the Orioles could still sign two more relievers even after Koji Uehara's deal becomes official, and he wouldn't be against them signing a designated hitter type either.
- Seth Livingstone of USA Today looks at what Cliff Lee would mean to both the Yankees and the Rangers.
- Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter) breaks down the details of Jay Gibbons' contract with the Dodgers. $400K of Gibbons' $650K salary is guaranteed, and he could earn as much as $800K with incentives based on plate appearances (Twitter link).
- Hernandez's colleague at the L.A. Times, T.J. Simers, isn't a fan of the Dodgers' recent moves.
- Trading for Zack Greinke is still a possibility for the Brewers, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- Speaking to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, Andrew Friedman said the Rays are targeting "under-the-radar type guys that we feel fit us well and have a lot of upside."
- The Pirates haven't approached Andrew McCutchen about a long-term extension, but Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review suggests Jay Bruce's deal would be a good comparable if the two sides discuss anything.
- Clint Hurdle tells Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that his preference is for the Pirates to add two left-handed relievers.
- The Rockies agreed to minor league deals with a pair of players, including former Yankee first round pick Eric Duncan, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding.
Rockies Hoping To Extend Carlos Gonzalez
FRIDAY, 4:45pm: Monfort confirmed that the team has offered Gonzalez a seven-year extension, but questioned the salary number reported by the Post. "I'm not sure where $100MM came from," Monfort told Wilmer Reina at the Venezuelan paper La Verdad (link in Spanish). "It's true that our organization has talked with his agent about an agreement of seven years, but not with those numbers." – Nick Collias
THURSDAY, 6:18am: Rockies owner Dick Monfort has already committed over $100MM this winter to one of the cornerstones of his franchise, Troy Tulowitzki. Now, Monfort tells Troy Renck of the Denver Post that he'd be open to a six- or seven-year extension, potentially in the neighborhood of $100MM, for another of Colorado's stars: Carlos Gonzalez.
"I am hopeful, yes, that we can get something done," Monfort said. "Why? Well, I haven't talked directly with Carlos, but I know he likes it here. And as a player, I would like to know that Troy Tulowitzki is going to be hitting behind me forever. And I would like that I don't have to play center field every day because we already have a gazelle out there (in Dexter Fowler)."
Monfort acknowledged that, considering Gonzalez's representation, getting a deal done wouldn't be easy. But according to Scott Boras, if the young outfielder is interesting in pursuing an extension and feels that it's "economically suitable for him," he would be open to the idea.
According to GM Dan O'Dowd, any extension negotiations won't continue into spring training, so if the two sides intend to work out anything this winter, talks will need to pick up in the coming weeks. While there were rumors of an informal long-term offer for CarGo, discussions don't appear to have become serious yet. With Gonzalez still a year away from arbitration eligibility and under team control through 2014, the club likely won't be in any rush.
Odds & Ends: Giambi, Upton, Crawford, Yankees
On this date last year, the Brewers signed Randy Wolf to a three-year, $29.75MM deal. Now, GM Doug Melvin is still on the lookout for pitching, even after acquiring Shaun Marcum. Here's another round of links for the evening…
- The Rays have some interest in Jason Giambi, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter).
- Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger wonders how Carl Crawford’s $142MM deal will impact the Mets’ efforts to keep Jose Reyes around long-term.
- Arizona GM Kevin Towers told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he talked to one team about Justin Upton at the Winter Meetings (Twitter link).
- In another piece, Nightengale details the financial commitments the Yankees and Red Sox have made. As Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail points out, it's not easy competing with those two big spenders. "We're going to start a mid-Atlantic states division,'' MacPhail said.
- The Angels offered Carl Crawford a six-year deal worth $108MM, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter link). That fell well short of the seven-year $142MM offer that lured the left fielder to Boston.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Jack Curry of the YES Network that the team dined with Crawford's representatives even though they weren't interested in signing the outfielder. Curry suggests the dinner could have been a bluff.
- Speaking of the Yankees, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark names them on his list of 'losers' at the 2010 Winter Meetings.
Michael Young Rumors: Thursday
Previously we learned that the Rangers discussed Michael Young trades with the Angels, Cardinals, Dodgers, and Rockies. ESPN's Buster Olney speculates that the Rangers may be trying to set up other moves. The latest:
- Rosenthal tweets that the Rangers' talks with the Rockies are dormant and there are no active Young talks with other teams.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that the chances of a Young trade are less than 50 percent.