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Minor Moves: Purcey, Lowe, Moore, Miller, Startup

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Pour a tall cup of coffee and open up a Baseball Reference tab. It’s time for this Saturday morning’s minor moves, via the Pacific Coast League and International League transaction pages (except where otherwise noted) …

  • The White Sox have signed lefty David Purcey to a minor league deal. The 31-year-old had rejected an outright assignment from the Sox in late October to become a free agent. Purcey made 24 apperances for the Sox’s major league club in 2013, posting a 2.13 ERA but walking 6 batters per nine innings.
  • The Dodgers signed first baseman/outfielder Jamie Romak to a minor league deal, according to MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes (on Twitter).  Romak’s deal includes a July 1st opt out.  The 28-year-old posted a .242/.322/.461 slash line with 22 homers in 134 games for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate last season.
  • Right-handed reliever Mark Lowe, 30, has signed with the Rays, reports ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Lowe was battered in just eleven appearances with the Angels last year, but posted a 3.60 ERA across 2009-12 and has continued to notch high strikeout totals while being stashed in the upper minors. 
  • The Cardinals signed third baseman Scott Moore, a thirty-year-old who has thrived at Triple-A but has yet to have a real shot in the bigs. Last year, over 485 plate appearances in the Oakland and San Diego organizations, he hit .271/.353/.448 with fourteen long balls. In his most extended MLB action, a 2012 stint with the Astros, Moore hit a more-than-respectable .259/.330/.448 with nine home runs in 228 plate appearances. 
  • Right-hander Jim Miller is back with the Yankees on a minor league pact after making just one MLB appearance last year, an ill-fated inning-and-a-third that resulted in three earned runs. The 31-year-old had been a solid member of the A’s pen just one year prior, however, as he registered a 2.59 ERA in 48 2/3 innings for Oakland. Miller did flash a 13.1 K/9 rate during his 63 1/3 Triple-A innings last year, a somewhat intriguing mark given his manageable walk rates. Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com had the news first on Twitter.
  • Lefty reliever Will Startup will stay with the Tigers after he notched a 3.41 ERA in 58 Double-A innings last year. Startup reached Triple-A as a 21-year-old back in 2006, but before joining Detroit had landed with the Sugar Land Skeeters in 2012.
  • The Giants have inked two righties to minor league deals, bringing aboard Jason Berken and Daryl Maday. Berken, 29, has thrown in 110 MLB games, including 28 as a starter, and recorded a 5.36 ERA over 248 2/3 innings. He spent last year at the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate, where he managed a 3.80 ERA in 161 innings — all as a starter — and posted 6.5 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9. Meanwhile, at 28 years of age Maday has yet to see San Francisco, but will continue to keep the dream alive in the Giants system. He has bounced between Double-A and Triple-A since 2008, and now serves primarily as a reliever. Last year, Maday notched a cumulative 4.17 ERA in 49 2/3 innings, with 7.1 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9.
  • The Pirates signed first baseman Miles Durham and catcher Francisco Diaz to minor league deals. At age thirty, Durham has spent his entire career in the Pittsburgh organization, other than a brief Independent League stint, and apparently served as a player-coach last season. Dia, 23, has all the markings of a light-hitting backstop (two career home runs in 1,115 plate appearances), though he has reached base at a productive clip in the low minors.
  • Longtime Yankees farmhand Walter Ibarra has agreed to play short in the Cubs organization on a minor league pact. The 26-year-old reached Triple-A for the first time last year. Known for his defense, Ibarra failed to himpress with a cumulative .276/.308/.367 slash across 212 Double-A and Triple-A plate appearances in 2013.
  • And the Nationals have reached agreement with a player by the name of Josh Johnson — not the starting pitcher, but the middle infielder and third baseman who has been in the Nats’ system since 2010. Last year, playing at both of the two highest minor league levels, the 27-year-old Johnson put up an impressive .293/.390/.458 line in 300 trips to the plate. He was especially impressive in his short time at Syracuse, where he had a .924 OPS and was a perfect six-for-six in stolen bases in just 111 plate appearances. Washington also added catcher Sean McCauley to the fold on a minor league pact. The 24-year-old was brought back to professional baseball by the Nats last year in a coaching capacity after losing his career to injury.
  • The Rangers have signed righty Zach Russell away from the Cards’ system. The 24-year-old reliever topped out with a brief Double-A stint last year, but struggled there.

East Notes: Murphy, Cano, Perez, Rays

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The Mets are looking for players to buy into their offensive philosophy, and that means finding guys with discipline at the plate, writes Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.  That might help to explain why the free-swinging Daniel Murphy has found himself on the pages of MLBTR over the last week or so.  Marlon Byrd, who signed a lucrative two-year deal with the Philies, didn't show up on the Mets radar because he also doesn't fit the bill for what the Mets are looking for.  Possible target Curtis Granderson, however, boasts a solid walk rate.  Here's more out of the AL and NL East..

  • It was hard to find an executive at the GM Meetings who didn't expect to see Robinson Cano back with the Yankees, but almost everyone expects a leverage battle between the two sides, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Sherman suggests that the Bombers could invoke a similar strategy to what they did with Andy Pettitte after the 2008 season.  The Yanks offered the hurler a pay cut from $16MM to $10MM and when he declined, they cautioned that the offer would go down if they signed someone else.  After they spent megabucks on Mark Teixeira, Pettitte (reluctantly) accepted a $5.5MM deal.
  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson told Mike Francesa of WFAN Radio that he wouldn’t trade Noah Syndergaard under virtually any circumstances, according to Matthew Cerrone of Metsblog.
  • The Nationals have interest in free agent Oliver Perez, a person familiar with the situation tells Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.  Left-handed batters hit .238/.358/.288 against the 32-year-old reliever last season.
  • After numerous conversations with player agents and other teams, Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman headed home from the GM Meetings with a better sense of potential moves, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.  The Rays are looking for a first baseman, catcher, and one or two late-inning relievers. Friedman isn't sure if their next move is a trade or signing, but he "would be surprised" if nothing happened between now and the winter meetings on December 8th.

Mutual Interest Between Yankees, Javier Lopez

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There's mutual interest between the Yankees and left-hander Javier Lopez, agent Barry Meister tells Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger. The two sides have had preliminary discussions and plan to have more substantial discussions later in the offseason once the Yankees have had time to address their biggest issues.

Lopez's primary goal, according to Meister, is to pitch on a contending team. "Of course, the Yankees are perennially that," he told McCullough. As McCullough notes, the Yankees have a need in the bullpen with Mariano Rivera retiring and Boone Logan hitting free agency.

Lopez, 36, pitched to a 1.83 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 39 1/3 innings in 2013, primarily working as a lefty specialist for the Giants. Lopez was incredibly good in that role, limiting opposing left-handers to a minuscule .156/.208/.222 slash line. He's said to be looking for a multiyear deal on the free agent market after finishing up a two-year, $8.5MM contract with San Francisco.

Reds Likely To Move Ryan Hanigan

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NOV. 15: Hanigan "is going to be traded," tweets Olney. Multiple teams are interested in Hanigan, and the Reds feel they can get a good prospect in exchange, Olney adds.

NOV. 8: The Reds have agreed to a two-year deal with free agent Brayan Pena, giving them three catchers on their 40-man roster: Pena, Devin Mesoraco and Ryan Hanigan. It appears that Hanigan is the odd man out, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears from a source that Hanigan is likely to be moved (Twitter link). ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Rays and Yankees, two teams with question marks at catcher this offseason, have liked Hanigan in the past.

Hanigan, 33, struggled through the worst season of his career in 2013, batting just .198/.306/.261 and tying a career-low with two home runs. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Hanigan to earn $2.3MM through arbitration this offseason, which should be a cheap enough sum for interested parties to take on. The main culprit in Hanigan's poor season appears to have been a .216 batting average on balls in play. That number figures to trend back toward his career mark of .283, especially when considering that Hanigan's batted-ball profile didn't radically change in 2013. In fact, Hanigan's 21.5 percent line-drive rate was actually a slight increase over his 2012 mark (21.2 percent) and is right in line with his career mark (21.9 percent).

Hanigan has long been known as a patient hitter that is tough to strike out, as evidenced by a career 12 percent walk rate and 10.1 percent strikeout rate. Detractors may point to the lofty walk rate as a product of him batting eighth in an NL lineup so often (one spot in front of the pitcher), but Hanigan's career walk rate in more than 300 plate appearances out of the seventh slot in the order is higher than his walk rate in 1,110+ PAs in the eighth slot.

Hanigan also carries a reputation as a solid defensive backstop, having led the league in caught-stealing percentage in 2013 (45 percent) and 2012 (48 percent). His 40 percent career mark is about 12 percentage points higher than the league average, which tends to be around 28 percent. He's also known as one of the best in the business in terms of pitch-framing — an art he discussed at length with Ben Lindbergh for a Grantland piece back in May.

Quick Hits: Young, Hawkins, Braden, Girardi

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The White Sox owe it to Paul Konerko to bring him back for a final season in 2014 if the long-time first baseman wishes to keep playing, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune opines.  The Sox would have to release or trade Adam Dunn to make room for Konerko with Jose Dariel Abreu now aboard, and while eating Dunn's contract would be expensive, Sullivan argues that Dunn is already a sunk cost and not worth keeping if it means cutting ties with a franchise icon.

Here are some more items from around baseball tonight…

  • Chris Young would like to play for the Astros but the free outfielder didn't say if he'd been contacted by the team, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart tweets.  Young, a Houston native, has drawn some level of interest from the Red Sox and Mets this winter.
  • Also from McTaggart, LaTroy Hawkins said he hasn't been contacted by the Astros this offseason, though the veteran has other "irons in the fire."  The Astros are looking for bullpen help and Hawkins has a connection to Houston, having pitched for the club in 2008-09.  As many as seven teams, however, have already shown interest in Hawkins, including the Rockies and Mets.
  • Dallas Braden tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link) that he intends to try out for teams when he increases his stamina.  After throwing a perfect game in 2010, Braden made just three starts in 2011 and hasn't pitched since due to a pair of shoulder surgeries.  The southpaw elected free agency from the A's following the 2012 season.
  • Brian Cashman tells reporters (including The Chicago Sun-Times Gordon Wittenmyer) that he always expected Joe Girardi to return to manage the Yankees, despite the rumors that Girardi would join the Cubs.  Wittenmyer believes the Cubs' reported "back-channel communication" to try and woo Girardi "underscored an ongoing disconnect between the Cubs’ baseball and business sides of the operation."
  • The qualifying offer may not be the hindrance to some free agents as it appears, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal argues.  Michael Bourn and Kyle Lohse were last offseason's two infamous examples of how a draft pick compensation tag could hurt a player's market, but MacPherson opines that the Baseball Prospectus PECOTA system projected Bourn and Lohse as worth the contracts they eventually signed with the Indians and Brewers, respectively.
  • If the Rockies could somehow get Justin Morneau at a reasonable price, he would make an ideal platoon partner for Michael Cuddyer and Jordan Pacheco, Troy Renck of the Denver Post opines (Sulia link).
  • A member of the Yankees baseball operations staff predicts Phil Hughes will sign with an NL West team, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (via Twitter).  The flyball-prone Hughes could be greatly helped by pitching at AT&T Park, Petco Park or Dodger Stadium, though Chase Field or Coors Field aren't good fits.  The source says Hughes is a "good fit in Minnesota," and the Twins and Royals are the only teams linked to Hughes so far this offseason.
  • Though Tim Hudson is 38 and coming off a nasty broken ankle, a National League talent evaluator still picked the veteran righty as the best risk amongst free agent pitchers who are at least 33 years old, SI.com's Tom Verducci reports.  Bartolo Colon, Roy Halladay, Dan Haren and Ryan Vogelsong round out the top five.

Yankees Notes: Morales, Cano, Jeter, Trades

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Here's the latest from the Bronx…

  • The Yankees are interested in Kendrys Morales, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports.  Despite Morales' history of leg injuries, Yankees scouts feel the switch-hitter could add first base depth behing Mark Teixeira in addition to taking regular DH at-bats.  I'm not sure Morales is a good fit given that the Yankees need to keep their DH spot relatively open for their other veterans on the roster.  MLBTR's Tim Dierkes predicted a two-year, $28MM deal for Morales, and given the draft pick compensation tied to him, I'd guess the Yankees would only make a move if they're unable to land other free targets.
  • Negotiations with Robinson Cano are expected to begin soon, Hal Steinbrenner told reporters (including Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger) during the GM Meetings.  “I’m sure in the next week we’re going to sit down and talk to him. We haven’t really had any communication on any specifics, yet. But it’s the beginning of the process," Steinbrenner said.
  • Steinbrenner didn't discuss anything beyond the 2014 season with Derek Jeter during the shortstop's recent contract talks.  "I don’t know that Derek has thought that far. He’s got a lot of thinking to do just getting to March. You know what I mean? And I think that’s his focus for right now," the managing general partner said.  We heard earlier this week that Steinbrenner himself who negotiated Jeter's one-year, $12MM deal for 2014.
  • Also during the talk, Steinbrenner discussed such topics as the Alex Rodriguez situation and the Yankees' recent struggles in player development.
  • The Yankees don't have have many prime trade chips, but Mike Axisa of the River Ave Blues blog puts Ivan Nova as the best chip on the team's roster.  It seems unlikely that New York would consider trading Nova, however, as the Yankees need both starters and relatively inexpensive players under team control.

AL East Rumors: Ryan, Drew, Freese, Wieters

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This morning's news out of the American League East..

  • A deal that would bring Brendan Ryan back to the Yankees was set weeks ago, pending a physical following minor surgery, according to Peter Gammons of MLB Network (via Twitter).  There's reportedly mutual interest in a new deal.
  • Stephen Drew won't be back with the Red Sox, a source tells Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.  There are a number of teams out there that are willing to make multi-year deals beyond what the BoSox are willing to do.
  • A report yesterday indicated that the Yankees are in pursuit of Cardinals third baseman David Freese, but someone involved with the club tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post that it won't happen.  The Yankees still won't know what will happen with Alex Rodriguez for at least another month, so if the club does anything at third base, it will be with a left-handed complement, such as Eric Chavez, or a free agent like Jhonny Peralta or Drew who could play shortstop or third and provide insurance for both Jeter and A-Rod.  Sherman also notes the possibility that the Yanks could wait and see if the Cards non-tender Freese ($4.4MM projected), but as Tim Dierkes wrote earlier this month, that seems like a drastic measure.
  • Sherman also writes that Marlon Byrd apparently wasn't on the Yankees radar.  When asked about the outfielder, GM Brian Cashman said, "I didn't even know who his agent was."  As shown in the MLBTR Agency Database, his agent is Seth Levinson, who has a long, strong relationship with Cashman.
  • Free agent outfielder Chris Young is on the Red Sox's list of fallback options if they don't re-sign Jacoby Ellsbury, tweets Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.
  • Both Matt Wieters and J.J. Hardy have been mentioned in trade rumors over the last couple of days, but Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette didn't sound eager to move either one in a conversation with Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.

AL Notes: Beltran, Royals, Scherzer, Yankees

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Carlos Beltran wouldn't mind returning to the Royals, writes MLB.com's Dick Kaegel. "I think it would be a great story if it happens for me to go back," Beltran says of the possibility of again playing for the team with which he began his big-league career. Unsurprisingly, though, he isn't ready to commit to anything just yet, with seven to ten teams that might want to sign him, including many from big markets. "[T]here are just a lot of teams that have interest in my services, but we haven't talked about the number of years or the money; everything is preliminary right now," says Beltran. Here's more from the American League.

  • The Royals would like to sign starting pitcher Josh Johnson, ESPN's Buster Olney tweets. Johnson appears to be a high-upside gamble and is a good team player, Olney says, and he might be available on a one-year contract.
  • AL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer wouldn't mind signing an extension to stay with the Tigers, Chris Iott of MLive.com writes. "I am open (to a new contract)," says Scherzer. "I realize I have it good here in Detroit. But it also takes two to dance." Scherzer is due to become a free agent after the 2014 season and should be in line for a huge payday. His agent, Scott Boras, sometimes negotiates pre-free agency extensions for his clients, but often prefers to have them test free agency. The Tigers also could trade Scherzer or another starter this offseason.
  • The Yankees are unlikely to sign big-name free agents right away, reports Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York. They do not expect Brian McCann or Beltran to agree to a contract before they know what their options are, and so the only way to sign those players right now would be to make them offers that are difficult to refuse. Marchand notes that the Yankees like Beltran better than Jacoby Ellsbury or Shin-Soo Choo because Ellsbury and Choo would require longer contracts.

East Notes: Rays, Red Sox, Ellsbury, Phillies, Tanaka

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Agent Scott Boras believes the Rays should relocate, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. When asked to describe the Rays' status, Boras replied, "I would say the Tale of Two Cities, the one they're in and the one they should be in.'' Boras says the Rays have built a team that fans should want to see, but so far, the Tampa area hasn't provided the team with attendance to match. "I don't know, maybe New Jersey would like that winning percentage," Boras says. Here are more notes from the East divisions.

  • Red Sox GM Ben Cherington says teams have been calling about Boston's starting pitching, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets. The Red Sox have six solid starting pitching options in Jon Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buchholz, Jake Peavy, Ryan Dempster and Felix Doubront.
  • The Red Sox are preparing for what might happen if they can't re-sign outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, MLB.com's Paul Hagen reports. "Whether it's Ellsbury or any of our free agents, I don't think you find a carbon copy where you're exactly replacing the skills," Cherington says. "The challenge then is to try to make the team just as good in other ways." Boras, Ellsbury's agent, often is in no hurry for his clients to sign, so it makes sense that the Red Sox would be formulating backup plans, even if they aren't ruling out the possibility that Ellsbury will return.
  • The Phillies might be willing to trade outfielder Domonic Brown, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. Such a move would create an opportunity for them to add another free agent outfielder to pair with Marlon Byrd. Rosenthal cites Brown's poor defense as one reason the Phillies might want to deal him. Some of the available free agents, like Nelson Cruz and Carlos Beltran, aren't much better defensively, but at least dealing Brown might help the Phillies upgrade at other positions. The Phillies deny that they are interested in dealing Brown, Rosenthal notes.
  • One reason the Yankees are so interested in starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is that his posting fee would not count account their luxury-tax threshold, Rosenthal writes. Tanaka therefore is more appealing to teams like the Yankees and Dodgers who have luxury-tax issues.

Latest On Brian Wilson

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General Manager Brian Cashman told reporters, including Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger (on Twitter), that you can rule out the Yankees signing Brian Wilson after his agent told the team he won't shave his beard.  While you ponder that, here's the latest on Wilson..

  • Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) hears that the most interested teams are the Giants, Dodgers, Indians, Tigers, Rockies, Mariners, and Red Sox.  The Reds could also jump in, depending on whether Aroldis Chapman moves to the rotation.
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