Mets Sign Blaine Boyer
The Mets have signed right-hander Blaine Boyer to a minor league contract, reports ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin. The deal includes an invitation to New York's Major League Spring Training camp.
Boyer was selected as a non-tender candidate by MLBTR's Tim Dierkes in November, and indeed, the 29-year-old reliever was non-tendered by Arizona last month. Boyer posted a 4.26 ERA in 54 appearances with the D'Backs in 2010, and had a perfectly matched K/BB ratio (29 strikeouts, 29 walks). On the plus side, he's a hard-thrower with one of the best groundball rates in the game.
Mets To Sign Tim Byrdak
The Mets have agreed to sign left-handed reliever Tim Byrdak to a minor league deal, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter). Mike Silva of the New York Baseball Digest first reported the deal.
Byrdak posted a 3.49 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 38 2/3 innings for the Astros last year before they outrighted him off of their 40-man roster in November. Byrdak has a career ground ball rate of 40.9%, but that figure dropped to 28.6% in 2010, the 37-year-old's ninth big league season.
Earlier this week, Mets manager Terry Collins said he'd like to add another left-handed reliever to complement newcomer Taylor Tankersley.
Mets Designate Stoner, Pridie For Assignment
The Mets designated pitcher Tobi Stoner and utility outfielder Jason Pridie for assignment, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
Stoner and Pridie were 40-man-roster casualties following the Mets' recent signings of Chris Young, Scott Hairston and Willie Harris, writes Rubin. Harris, signed to a minor-league deal, is a stronger candidate than Stoner and Pridie to perhaps claim a roster spot from the out-of-favor Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo.
Stoner appeared in just five games for the Mets over the past two seasons, spending most of his time in the minors. Similarly, Pridie appeared in 11 games for the Twins in 2008-09 and spent all of 2010 in the Mets' farm system.
Quick Hits: Giambi, Young, Hairston, Wakefield
While a couple more arbitration hearings were averted Thursday, here's a few tidbits of note:
- The Rockies have a uniquely structured minor-league deal with Jason Giambi, blogs Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Giambi will earn a salary of $850,000 this season or a $250,000 buyout if he's cut during Spring Training (which is unlikely, according to Renck). There's also a mutual option for 2012 worth $1MM with a $150,000 buyout. Finally, Giambi can request that he be released on two separate dates (March 31 and June 1) if he's not on the 25-man roster at those times.
- The Mets' incentive-laden, one-year deal with Chris Young is structured such that the right-hander will earn bonuses for a variety of benchmarks, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. On top of his $1.5MM base salary, Young can earn as much as $1,525,000 for starts Nos. 10-31 and $1,875,000 for innings 70-180.
- The Mets' one-year pact with Scott Hairston is a Major League deal, contrary to some earlier reports, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and is worth $1.1MM in base salary and $400,000 in incentives.
- Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox's 44-year-old knuckleballer, says he hasn't ruled out the possibility of pitching beyond 2011, writes Ian Browne of MLB.com. Wakefield, entering his 16th season with Boston, is in the final year of a two-year deal he signed prior to the 2010 campaign. It's far too soon to guess whether Wakefield would pitch for another team or if one would be interested in him after 2011, but because the knuckleball is relatively easy on the arm, it stands to reason someone might take a flier on him to eat innings in a swing role.
Mets Sign Scott Hairston
The Mets have officially signed Scott Hairston, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo (on Twitter). Like his brother Jerry, who signed with the Nationals yesterday, Scott is a CAA client.
Hairston spent the 2010 season in San Diego, where he hit .210/.295/.346 in 336 plate appearances. The 30-year-old, who played all three outfield positions last year, has a .278/.331/.498 line against left-handed pitching in his career. Willie Harris and Hairston should provide manager Terry Collins with alternatives to Carlos Beltran, Angel Pagan and Jason Bay in the outfield.
Mets Sign Chris Young
The Mets completed their one-year deal with Chris Young, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork, who first reported the deal (Twitter links). The agreement guarantees the right-hander $1.1MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Agent Lon Babby represents Young, who can earn up to $4.5MM if he reaches all the deal's incentives.
Injuries have limited Young to just 36 starts in the past three seasons, but he was durable and effective from 2005-07, when he started 30 or more games per season. He has always been hard to hit (7.4 H/9), but vulnerable to walks (3.5 BB/9). In 135 career starts (751 2/3 innings), the 6'10'' right-hander has a 3.80 ERA. He missed most of last season with a shoulder strain before pitching for the Padres in September.
Young will join Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, R.A. Dickey and Chris Capuano in the team's rotation if the pitchers remain healthy this spring. Johan Santana should join the group midway through the season.
The deal reunites Young with two of his former Padres bosses, current Mets execs Sandy Alderson and Paul DePodesta.
Mets Negotiating With Tim Byrdak
The Mets and left-hander Tim Byrdak have "mutual interest" in each other and have been discussing a contract, according to Mike Silva of the New York Baseball Digest. Silva thinks a deal could be finalized within "the next couple of days."
We heard earlier today that the Mets were looking for southpaw relief help, and Byrdak fits that bill, holding left-handed batters to a .202/.296/.380 line in his nine Major League seasons. Byrdak, 37, has a 3.46 ERA over the last four seasons but also averaged five walks per nine innings in that stretch; it's actually an upgrade from his career 5.5 BB/9 rate. Byrdak spent the last three seasons with the Astros, who released the southpaw in November.
Mets Notes: Reyes, Dickey, Beimel
Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com has the latest on the Amazins…
- Jose Reyes doesn't want to discuss his impending free agent status during the season. It may be a moot point, since Sandy Alderson wasn't planning to pursue extension talks with players before Spring Training, though the Mets GM recently hinted he could be open to negotiating with Reyes during the season. Reyes will earn $11MM in 2011 after the Mets picked up the option year on the four-year, $23.25MM contract signed by the shortstop in 2006.
- R.A. Dickey and the Mets have exchanged arbitration figures, but the knuckleballer still hopes the two sides can work out a multi-year contract. Both Dickey and the club were interested in the prospect of a long-term deal back in October.
- The Mets have had "discussions" with free agent reliever Joe Beimel, but a source tells Rubin that these talks aren't "active." (Twitter link) It's possible the Mets were one of several teams that made Beimel an offer last month, though we haven't heard much news about Beimel since. Rubin reported earlier today that the Mets are still looking to add another left-handed reliever to their bullpen before Spring Training.
Collins Hopes To Add Another Lefty Reliever
The Mets added Taylor Tankersley on a minor league contract just a few days ago, but new manager Terry Collins told ESPN New York's Adam Rubin that he'd like to add another lefty reliever before the season. Tankersley would then have competition for the lefty specialist job in Spring Training.
"We're hoping to sign another one," said Collins. "It certainly would make it a little bit better for us if we had another one coming into camp, and I know Sandy [Alderson] is working with a couple of people."
Our Free Agent Tracker shows that players like Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, and Ron Mahay remain unsigned. Oliver Perez does not seem to be a candidate for that or any job with the team, and the out-of-options Pat Misch hasn't had much success against lefties in his career: .289/.337/.467 against. His best shot at making the club might be as a long reliever, says Rubin.
Multiyear Deal Notes: Pelfrey, Danks, Andrus
We already found out that the Brewers and Rickie Weeks are tabling talks about a multiyear contract while the Cubs hope to pursue one with Carlos Marmol, so let's recap a few more notes regarding potential contract extensions…
- Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets that the Mets never talked about a multiyear contract with Mike Pelfrey before agreeing to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration today.
- John Danks told MLB.com's Scott Merkin that neither he nor the White Sox are panicking about getting an extension done. "It's not at the point where it's do-or-die for a [multiyear] deal," said the lefty, who confirmed that the two sides haven't talked seriously about a deal since before the 2009 season (Twitter link).
- Meanwhile, MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wonders if the Rangers will approach Elvis Andrus about a multiyear contract in Spring Training. Andrus is under team control through the 2014 season.