Cubs Sign Chad Tracy
The Cubs officially signed infielder Chad Tracy to a minor league deal today. ESPN's Bruce Levine and Jayson Stark first reported the agreement last night, which is worth $900K if Tracy makes the team and another $525K if he reaches 450 plate appearances.
Tracy, 30 in May, struggled to a .237/.306/.389 line in 288 plate appearances for the Diamondbacks last year. Tracy's future looked bright in May of '06, when he inked a three-year, $13.25MM deal with the D'Backs coming off a .308/.359/.553 season. But even then he was shielded against lefties, against whom he's never had success. Tracy's left knee began to bother him, and he had microfracture surgery in September of '07. A blood clot complicated his recovery. In March of '09, Tracy told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert the knee was no longer a factor.
Tracy gives Chicago a left-handed reserve bat and corner infield backup for Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee. The Rockies, Orioles and Mets had also shown interest in the veteran infielder, who will be changing addresses for the first time in his six-year major league career.
Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
Rockies Notes: Mora, Giambi, Speier
Troy Renck of the Denver Post looks at a number of Rockies-related items in his latest blog entry….
- Eric Goldschmidt, agent of veteran infielder Melvin Mora, says his free-agent client is "definitely interested" in playing for Colorado. Renck points out that Mora's versatility would make him a logical signing for the Rockies, given that their other recent bench signing (Jason Giambi) can only play first base. Mora could decide on his future by the end of the week as he picks from between "roughly" five interested teams.
- Speaking of Giambi, Renck said that his clubhouse presence was a big factor in his re-signing with the Rockies. Troy Tulowitzki credited Giambi with "helping…with the mental side" of baseball.
- Renck says the Rockies are "expected to sign" reliever Justin Speier to a minor-league contract. Released by the Angels in August, Speier pitched for Colorado from 2001 to 2003 and has a 2.55 K/BB ratio in 12 major league seasons.
- Eric Gagne is "becoming a more likely non-roster invite than Derrick Turnbow." We heard yesterday from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter) that Arizona is also interested in Turnbow, so perhaps Colorado doesn't want to get into a bidding war with its divisional rival.
- Colorado GM Dan O'Dowd told Renck he was "surprised" when Jose Contreras signed with Philadelphia. O'Dowd said the Rockies wanted to use Contreras out of the bullpen while the Phillies offered him a chance to start. Interestingly, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said today (as reported by Todd Zolecki of MLB.com) that Contreras will only start during spring training and will be a reliever by Opening Day.
Odds & Ends: Hudson, Turnbow, Delgado, Nady
Links for Tuesday…
- Orlando Hudson is "making progress on signing with a team," tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson, however Hudson declined to name the team. In separate tweet, Ladson says a source told him that the Nationals top Hudson's wish list.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that the Diamondbacks and Rockies are pursuing Derrick Turnbow, who could sign soon.
- MLBTR's resident translator Nick Collias passes along this report from Esteban Rivera of the Puerto Rican newspaper Primera Hora, in which Carlos Delgado says that the Mets, Orioles, and Royals "have seen him [play] on the island." Omar Minaya said there is still a mutual interest in bringing Delgado back to New York, tweets ESPN's Jorge Arangure
- The final offer Scott Boras presented the Yankees with for Xavier Nady was worth $5MM, tweets Joel Sherman of The New York Post. He adds that the Yanks would have considered him at the price he signed for today, and that they'll only do a minor league deal for Rocco Baldelli (via Twitter).
- Now that Ben Sheets has signed with the A's, Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com tweets that the Mets' next target appears to be John Smoltz. A source tells him they haven't aggressively pursued Jon Garland.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart mentions that the Astros and Wandy Rodriguez are set to go an arbitration hearing on February 17th. Wandy filed for $7MM, the team $5MM.
- Meanwhile, Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle breaks down the Astros' offseason in a video.
- Rick Ankiel said that the Nationals, Marlins, and Yankees were in it until the end, reports Doug Tucker of The Brownsville Herald.
- Cody Ross' arbitration hearing has been scheduled for February 15th, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. Ross is seeking a $4.45MM salary in 2010, but the Marlins are countering with $4.2MM.
- ESPN's Buster Olney wrote about baseball's internal discussions on how to fix the draft, including some notes about what was discussed at the recent general managers meeting (sub. req'd).
- In a mailbag, MLB.com's Kelly Thesier says the Twins payroll appears to be right around $90MM, and they don't seem willing to spend much more than that.
- Meanwhile, Lyle Spencer of MLB.com writes in his mailbag that the Angels "appear to have stretched the salary budget to its limit," so don't expect any more major moves.
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday lists what he thinks are the best run organizations in baseball (sub. req'd). There's 15 of them, however ten are from the AL while just five come from the NL.
- John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer looks at the list of remaining free agents, and sees only one fit for the Reds: Orlando Cabrera. He's probably too expensive for them at this point, however.
- MLB.com's Marty Noble says in a mailbag that he doesn't believe the Mets' current roster and the Opening Day roster will be the same, but he's not sure where the club can turn to improve.
Rockies Agree To Multi-Year Contracts With Street, Betancourt
MONDAY, 6:40pm: Troy Renck of the Denver Post has some updated incentive details on the Betancourt deal. He receives $50K for 40 games finished, another $50K at 45 and $100K at 50, 55 and 60 games finished.
TUESDAY, 12:50pm: The Rockies have agreed to multi-year contracts with righty relievers Huston Street and Rafael Betancourt, reports FoxSports.com's Tracy Ringolsby.
Street, who was arbitration eligible for the third and final time, agreed to a three year deal worth $22.5MM with an option for a fourth year. The deal is still pending a physical, which Street will take this coming weekend. The former AL Rookie of the Year came over in the Matt Holliday deal last offseason, then saved 35 games and posted a 3.06 ERA in 61.2 innings while making $4.5MM during his first season in Colorado.
Betancourt agreed to a two year deal worth $3.775M per season. He accepted the team's offer of arbitration earlier this offseason after being designated as a Type-A free agent, though the Rockies first declined his $5.4MM option for 2010. The Rockies acquired him at mid-season from the Indians, and watched as he put up a 1.78 ERA with a 29-5 K/BB ratio in 25.1 innings down the stretch. He earned $3.35MM in 2009.
Odds & Ends: Mauer, Turnbow, Loaiza
Links for Monday…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if the convergence of Joe Mauer, Ron Shapiro, and Bill Smith in St. Paul Wednesday for a Rick Reilly program will accelerate extension talks.
- The Rockies "remain firmly in the mix" for free agent reliever Derrick Turnbow, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Turnbow could make a choice by Wednesday.
- In his latest MLB.com mailbag, Jordan Bastian notes that Blue Jays starter Dustin McGowan is out of options.
- MLBTR's resident translator, Nick Collias, passes along this Esteban Loaiza interview with Hector Linares from the Mexican newspaper Excelsior. Loaiza says he's doing everything possible to make it back to the big leagues, and has received a few calls from teams. He last pitched for the White Sox in June of '08.
- Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News explains why the Phillies' Cliff Lee trade was the right move. He says fans don't understand, and the Phils needed the prospects.
- Aaron Gleeman wouldn't mind seeing Delmon Young benched and Jim Thome added by the Twins to platoon at DH.
- RotoAuthority assesses David Wright's fantasy prospects for 2010.
- Baseball America's Ben Badler says MLB voided the seven-figure contract Dominican third baseman Duanel Jones had with San Francisco. ESPN's Jorge Arangure says (via Twitter) the move was prompted by Jones failing a drug test administered by the Giants.
- Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie told MASN's Steve Melewski that his $120K pay cut from 2008 to 2009 did not affect his '09 performance.
Stark On Holliday, Lee, Phillies, Rockies, Cubs
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says the Baseball Writers' Association of America needs to establish an award for relief pitchers. He also provides plenty of rumblings from around the league; here they are:
- Stark hears that the only offers Matt Holliday had in-hand when the Cardinals signed him were one-year deals worth $18MM or so.
- The Phillies offered Cliff Lee a three-year extension worth $60MM or so before trading for Roy Halladay. It's unclear whether Lee and agent Darek Braunecker formally turned the offer down, but others believe Lee will seek a longer-term deal once he hits the open market after this season.
- The Phillies are "plenty interested" in Pedro Martinez on a half-season deal similar to the one he signed last year, but one NL club hears that Pedro is looking for a full-season job at "market" dollars.
- The Phillies have backed off on John Smoltz, who wants to start, but they are interested in Jose Contreras.
- The Rockies talked actively to the Marlins about Dan Uggla. Now, the Rockies are more intent on free agent options including Miguel Tejada, Orlando Cabrera and Orlando Hudson.
- They'd also like to bring Jason Giambi back.
- Scouts who have seen Carlos Delgado play first base in Puerto Rico say the slugger should look for a DH job, since his fielding is suspect.
- Stark has the impression that the Cubs have set aside their interest in Ben Sheets as they pursue a bench bat and a setup man.
Odds & Ends: Gomes, Coffey, Nolasco, Vazquez
Links for Thursday…
- Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that team sources have told him that the Cubs are looking at Jonny Gomes as a fourth outfielder. Gomes – who proved to be one of the best minor league deals of 2009 – confirms.
- The Brewers signed arbitration-eligible reliever Todd Coffey for $2.025MM, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. That's just short of the midpoint.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro writes that a strong 2010 season would lead the Marlins to explore a multiyear deal with Ricky Nolasco. Nolasco is under team control through 2012, and will earn $3.8MM in his second arbitration year.
- Yankees pitcher Javier Vazquez spoke to Puerto Rican newspaper La Perla del Sur. MLBTR's translator Nick Collias supplies this interesting quote: "I don't have much playing time left…I go year by year, and I don’t know if it will be one, two or three years, but I'm definitely not going to play until 40." Vazquez is eligible for free agency after the season.
- Rockies outfielder Dexter Fowler switched to Scott Boras in November, Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post wrote in a Monday blog post. Fowler's been added to our Scott Boras client list, which can always be found on the sidebar.
- MLBTR missed this January 14th signing: the White Sox added Daniel Cabrera on a minor league deal. Cabrera, 29 in May, posted a 0.55 K/BB ratio and 6.00 ERA in 51 big league innings last year.
- The Mets and Diamondbacks haven't had any new discussions for catcher Chris Snyder, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Piecoro examines the debate about whether to trade Snyder.
- Luke Scott wants to play defense, writes Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Scott says he's "taking one for the team" by serving as DH, and it hurts him in contract negotiations.
- Slugger Jim Thome continues to keep the door open for the White Sox, writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. However, in comments to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, manager Ozzie Guillen indicated a preference to avoid a permanent DH.
Gagne To Work Out For Teams
THURSDAY, 8:23am: Via Twitter, Yahoo's Tim Brown adds the Rockies, Dodgers, and Blue Jays as other clubs that will watch Gagne throw.
WEDNESDAY, 2:43pm: ESPN's Jayson Stark talked to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., who downplayed the Gagne tryout: "We don't have any expectations, at all."
8:19am: After being released by the Brewers in March of last year, Eric Gagne hooked on with a Can-Am League team as a starter. He tallied 102.6 mediocre innings, and now hopes to find his way back to the bigs.
Today David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News passes along a segment from Montreal radio station CKAC in which Gagne indicated he has a throwing session scheduled with the Phillies today. The 34-year-old hasn't done much since his 33.3-inning stint with Texas in '07.
Rockies Sign Jay Payton
The Rockies announced the signing of outfielder Jay Payton to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Thomas Harding. The 37-year-old last appeared in the Majors in 2008, when he hit .243/.291/.346 for the Orioles. His corner outfield defense generally rated as a positive in his last few years. Payton hoped to play in 2009, but had arthroscopic shoulder surgery in April after a weightlifting injury.
Payton played with the Rockies from the '02 trade deadline through the '03 season. His .309/.359/.532 line contained drastic home/road splits, and the Rockies non-tendered him due to limited financial flexibility.
Rockies Sign Paul Lo Duca
The Rockies officially signed catcher Paul Lo Duca to a minor league deal today. If he makes the team, Lo Duca's role will be to come off the bench as a backup option at catcher, first base and the outfield. The news first broke Tuesday when Lo Duca texted MLB Home Plate producer James Kouledianos.
The Denver Post's Troy Renck reported Tuesday that the Rockies' interest in Lo Duca may be related to his relationship with manager Jim Tracy — the catcher played under Tracy in Los Angeles from 2001 to 2004. Lo Duca, a former four-time All-Star, last played in the majors in 2008, when he posted a .243/.321/.295 line in 193 plate appearances with the Marlins and Nationals.