Mets To Acquire Gary Matthews Jr.
The Mets will acquire Gary Matthews Jr. and cash from the Angels for Brian Stokes. Matthews, who receives $500K for being traded, is set to make $11MM in 2010 and $12MM in 2011. The Angels will pick up all but $2MM of the $23.5MM remaining on the deal.
Matthews joined the Angels before the 2007 season, signing a $50MM deal. He leaves without much fanfare, as he's coming off a season in which he combined poor defense with a .250/.336/.361 line. That's far from the .866 OPS he posted in his 2006 walk year.
The 30-year-old Stokes allowed 72 hits and 38 walks in 70.1 innings last year, striking out 45 for a 3.97 ERA.
Jon Heyman of SI.com first reported the deal. Heyman, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick followed up with details, all via Twitter.
Sheets Impresses In Throwing Session
WEDNESDAY, 7:52am: Sheets topped out at 92 mph on Tuesday, writes Tabby Soignier of The News-Star. Mariners scout John Stearns' take:
"I was impressed. Ben was free and easy, throwing the ball really well with not too much effort. He had good velocity. I was especially impressed with his curve ball. He's got a plus Major League curve ball with a lot of depth to it."
Soignier noted the presence of the Giants and Pirates, two clubs not on our list below (via Twitter, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette already says the Bucs won't be bidding). Ed Price of AOL FanHouse adds the Phillies and Athletics, while adding more about Sheets' three throwing sessions. Click here to see video from the session, as well as Sheets' interview with MLB Network's Trenni Kusnierek.
MONDAY, 7:14pm: Ben Sheets will have quite an audience when he throws for interested teams on Tuesday. It's no surprise that clubs are curious about the 31-year-old. He has a 3.72 ERA and nearly four times as many strikeouts as walks in his eight-year MLB career. He missed last year after undergoing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon, so clubs want to see if Sheets is back in form before signing him. The right-hander told ESPN.com's Tim Kurkjian that he feels "refreshed" and "fantastic." Here's a list of teams that will be on hand this week to see for themselves.
- Reds
- Nationals
- Diamondbacks
- Cubs (by the way, we're not on board with the rumor that Sheets is "all but signed" by them)
- Rangers
- Cardinals
- Blue Jays
- Dodgers
- Brewers (Sheets appears too expensive for them)
- Mets
- The Angels will not be there this Tuesday.
- The Yankees were not present.
- The Astros currently have no plans to watch Sheets.
Players To Avoid Arbitration: Tuesday
Noon ET today was the deadline for both the team and player to submit their salary figures for arbitration, however the two sides can come to an agreement at any point before the actual hearing. The hearings are scheduled for the first week of February.
We'll keep track of the players who avoid arbitration today by agreeing to deals here. Make sure you check back in for updates, and be sure to click the "Continue Reading" link to see today's full list of settlements. Yesterday's list can be found here.
- Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Angels avoided arbitration with Mike Napoli and Reggie Willits by signing the duo to one-year deals. Napoli will earn $3.6MM in 2010 with a $100K bonus if he makes 120 starts. Willits' contract is worth $625K.
- Zach Duke's one-year contract with Pittsburgh is worth $4.3MM with no performance bonuses, tweets Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- The Padres and reliever Mike Adams have agreed to a contract, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock (via Twitter). Brock's follow-up tweet says Adams' deal is worth $1MM, virtually splitting the difference between San Diego's $875K offer and Adams' $1.2MM demands.
- Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets that the Twins have agreements in place with all eight of their arbitration eligible players. In a follow-up tweet, Christensen reports that Francisco Liriano agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.6MM and Jesse Crain agreed to a one-year contract worth $2MM.
- Marc Carig of the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that the Mets avoided arbitration with reliever Sean Green (via Twitter). The one-year deal was worth $975K, according to the New York Daily News' Anthony McCarron.
- The Tigers avoided arb with Gerald Laird and Zach Miner as well according to James Jahnke of The Detroit Free Press. MLB.com's Jason Beck tweets the details on the one-year contracts: Laird will earn $3.95MM, Miner will earn $950K.
- Christensen tweets that the Twins avoided arb with Brendan Harris, signing him to a two year deal worth $3.2MM with another $650K in possible incentives.
- The Tigers and Bobby Seay avoided arbitration according to MLB.com's Jason Beck (via Twitter), agreeing to a one year deal worth $2.475MM.
- Thesier tweets that Matt Guerrier agreed to a one year deal worth $3.15MM with the Twins, avoiding arb.
- Amalie Benjamin of The Boston Globe tweets that the Red Sox have avoided arbitration with Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen, with Delcarmen getting $905K plus incentives according to Joe McDonald of The Providence Journal. Boston avoided arb with Jonathan Papelbon as well.
Angels In On Joel Pineiro Bidding
The Angels are in on the Joel Pineiro bidding, according to ESPN's Buster Olney (via Twitter). We first heard of their interest in the righty back in December, but they'll have to compete with the Mets and Dodgers for his services.
After losing John Lackey to the Red Sox and making a push for Roy Halladay before he landed in Philadelphia and Aroldis Chapman before he signed with Cincinnati, it's clear the Angels are looking to add another quality arm to their rotation. Despite that, they will not in attendance for Ben Sheets' workout today.
GM Trade Histories: AL West
Brendan Bianowicz has one more big update to our GM Trade History Series. Check out the AL West spreadsheets below for GM information on trades, free agent signings, and more.
Ben Sheets To Throw For Teams Tuesday
SATURDAY, 8:31pm: The Mets will be in attendance when Sheets throws on Tuesday, according to Ed Price of Fanhouse.com (via Twitter).
Earlier today, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak confirmed to fans and reporters that the club will be in Monroe, Louisiana to watch Sheets as well.
FRIDAY, 4:36pm: Brewers GM Doug Melvin tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the Brewers will watch Sheets next week. Haudricourt suggests the Brewers are just being dilligent.
1:33pm: The Dodgers will watch Sheets pitch, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (via Twitter).
11:42am: The Angels could use Sheets, but will they watch him throw? "Not at this time," GM Tony Reagins tells Bill Shaikin of the LA Times.
8:40am: Cardinals GM John Mozeliak tells Rob Rains of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat that the Cards will "likely" watch Sheets throw.
MLB.com's Jordan Bastian adds the Blue Jays to the list of interested teams.
THURSDAY, 1:52pm: The Rangers will be in attendance on Tuesday, writes MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Sheets and Rich Harden would be a high-upside, high-injury risk pair of rotation additions.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Rolen, Sweeney, Twins
On this date in 1990, the Tigers signed free agent Cecil Fielder after he hit 38 homers as a member of the Hanshin Tigers the year before. Fielder went on to lead the league with 130 HR and 389 RBI over the next three years, landing a five-year, $36MM contract that made him the then-second-highest paid player in baseball history behind Barry Bonds. Believe it or not, Prince is already more than halfway to his father's career total of 319 homers despite having fewer than half as many plate appearances.
Let's see what's being written around the baseball blogosphere…
- The Phrontiersman goes back in time to see how things would have played out for the Phillies if Scott Rolen signed a contract extension and was never traded away.
- DRays Bay wonders if Matt Sweeney could take over first base for the Rays if Carlos Pena leaves as a free agent after 2010. Sweeney was acquired in the Scott Kazmir trade.
- Fack Youk compares Vladimir Guerrero to Hideki Matsui to Nick Johnson, the three biggest DH signings of the offseason.
- Lookout Landing says the Mariners did just fine to acquire Casey Kotchman, even though Adam LaRoche agreed to a relatively cheap deal yesterday.
- Meanwhile, Jorge Says No! thinks the Mets may have made a mistake by not signing LaRoche.
- Nick's Twins Blog wonders if Michael Cuddyer or Joe Nathan could be expendable as Minnesota's estimated payroll will approach nine-figures in 2011.
- AdamAdkins.net thinks the Tigers will regret signing Jose Valverde.
- Pinstripes Published takes a look at the market for Johnny Damon, or lack thereof.
- TurnTwo looks at all the movement going on with the Giants' defensive alignment.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Aroldis Chapman Rumors: Saturday
According to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com, the Red Sox are "starting to pull back" from their pursuit of Aroldis Chapman. Boston was one of the first clubs to offer a contract to the Cuban left-hander, worth a reported $15.5MM and made before Chapman switched agents from Edwin Mejia to the Hendricks brothers. Now that the bidding has now reportedly passed the $20MM mark, however, the Sox aren't willing to spend that much on "someone they believe has a lot of question marks."
The Red Sox were seen as one of three 'finalist' candidates for Chapman's services, along with the Blue Jays and Angels. It was reported yesterday that Toronto had offered Chapman a $23MM deal, and today, Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star breaks down how and why the Jays (not known for being big spenders) are willing to break the bank for this particular prospect.
Aroldis Chapman Rumors: Friday
7:30pm: ESPN's Jorge Arangure says (via Twitter) that if the Yankees don't sign Chapman, he'd be willing to bet that it has more to do with makeup than money.
5:49pm: Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com tweets that the Reds are in on Chapman, however the Jays remain the favorite. In a second tweet, Rosenthal mentions that Toronto has money to spend after sending Scott Rolen, Alex Rios, and Roy Halladay packing.
4:00pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets that the Blue Jays have a "decent shot" at signing Chapman, now that they appear to have bid over $20MM. He names the Nationals, Marlins, Red Sox, A's and Angels as potential players for the prospect.
12:11pm: As the Aroldis Chapman sweepstakes continue, at least one outlet is reporting that the Blue Jays have made the left-hander a considerable offer. Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald reports that the Jays offered Chapman a $23MM deal (click here for the Miami-based paper's original Spanish story and here for some Drunk Jays Fans analysis).
Ebro reports that the Marlins raised their offer to $16MM, but have now conceded defeat. Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reported yesterday that the Marlins did not expect to sign Chapman. That leaves the Angels, Red Sox and Blue Jays in pursuit of the Cuban prospect.
Orioles Notes: Mora, Tejada, Atkins, Hill
A pair of former Oriole bats are still looking for somewhere to sign, and Baltimore has shown no interest in bringing back either Melvin Mora or Aubrey Huff, according to Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Here are some more Baltimore-centric tidbits from their piece:
- The O's may not be interested in Mora, but we heard earlier in the week that a few other clubs are. Mora confirms that several teams have been in touch with his agent, including the Rockies, Cardinals, and Angels.
- The Orioles are still looking to add a corner infielder. Although they've had discussions with Miguel Tejada's representation, "a reunion remains unlikely."
- The club would prefer to play Garrett Atkins at first base, rather than at third. The greater number of affordable first basemen left on the market, however, may force their hand.
- A handful of teams, including Baltimore, have extended minor league contract offers to Rich Hill, but the lefty has yet to make a decision.