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AL East Notes: Byrd, Bowden, Hall, Valentine, Pettitte

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In lieu of their game tonight, here's a look at items on the Yankees and Red Sox..

  • With the Cubs in rebuilding mode, Marlon Byrd expected to be traded but was surprised by the timing, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
  • Former Red Sox pitching prospect Michael Bowden might be able to find his groove with the Cubs, writes Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal.  Bowden was sent to Chicago as part of the Byrd deal and should finally be given the chance to pitch consistently at the major league level.
  • Veteran Bill Hall told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that teams assume that he will not play in Triple A because he elected free agency after failing to make the Yankees’ Opening Day roster.  In actuality, the utility man says that he opted out because of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's strange schedule in 2012.  Because of ballpark renovations, they will be playing "home" games in six different cities this season.  The 32-year-old says that he's willing to play in the minors and get started right away.
  • Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) writes that manager Bobby Valentine is not to blame for the Red Sox's poor start.  Olney expects the club to comb the trade market early and wouldn't be surprised to see pitcher Aaron Cook called up to the varsity squad prior to his opt-out date.
  • Meanwhile, Valentine is rather critical of his own performance, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
  • Andy Pettitte's comeback quickly went from an interesting story to a necessity for the Yankees, opines Mike Bauman of MLB.com.  

Quick Hits: Red Sox, Angels, Garcia

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A few odds and ends as a rather eventful Saturday in MLB winds down …

  • Red Sox GM Ben Cherington offered embattled manager Bobby Valentine a vote of confidence following this afternoon's disheartening loss. Cherington told reporters, such as CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler, that he's "very satisfied" with Valentine's performance, noting that the skipper is doing the best he can with the current roster (Twitter link).
  • To that end, Cherington did allow that the team's sluggish 4-10 record "does increase the urgency" to find solutions for a battered pitching staff, tweets Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
  • The money saved in the acquisition of Marlon Byrd will not affect the Red Sox's luxury-tax calculation, according to Speier, a loophole MLB recently closed (Twitter links).
  • Touted Angels infield prospect Jean Segura's future with the club may be in question now that the Halos have locked up shortstop Erick Aybar and second baseman Howie Kendrick to long-term contracts, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.
  • The Halos have not fared particularly well in signing relievers to multiyear contracts of late, writes Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, a trend that GM Jerry Dipoto is trying to rectify by piecing together a cheap but effective bullpen of undervalued types. The Angels' list of relief flops includes the likes of Brian Fuentes, Justin Speier and Fernando Rodney.
  • Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he still has faith in Freddy Garcia when asked whether the right-hander was "running out of time," according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. Garcia has gotten off to a poor start, including an ugly outing today, and is a candidate to be moved (either to the bullpen or perhaps elsewhere) when Andy Pettitte is called up from the minors.

No More Personal Service Deals & Milestone Bonuses

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Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have agreed to put an end to personal service deals and milestone bonus clauses, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports. Existing contracts with these deals or bonuses won’t be affected by the changes, which were agreed to this month.

Albert Pujols and Ryan Zimmerman recently signed long-term contracts which include personal services provisions and Alex Rodriguez has milestone bonuses associated with his contract. However, MLB and the union say these bonuses violate baseball’s collective bargaining agreement. The sides have agreed that the CBA doesn’t allow players to agree to deals that include obligations beyond their playing careers.

MLB is trying to prevent teams from finding loopholes that enable them to evade the luxury tax, Stark reports. Personal service deals and milestone bonuses aren’t considered guaranteed money and therefore don’t count against the luxury tax.

AL East Notes: Nunez, Valentine, Hutchison

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Believe it or not, Rays left-hander Matt Moore has never started a game at Tropicana Field. The 22-year-old left-hander will take the mound at home against the Twins tonight for his first Tampa Bay start. Here are today's AL East links…

  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests the Yankees should use Eduardo Nunez as their primary left fielder while Brett Gardner's on the disabled list. Nunez could be part of the Yankees' future, while veterans like Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez won't be, Sherman argues.
  • It's too early to bet against Boston manager Bobby Valentine, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. Some rival executives say Red Sox president Larry Lucchino tried to regain power by hiring Valentine, according to Rosenthal.
  • Ben Badler of Baseball America introduces readers to right-hander Drew Hutchison, who will make his MLB debut for the Blue Jays tomorrow. The 21-year-old could use some more minor league seasoning, but he's quite polished for his age and could fit in as a back-of-the-rotation starter not unlike Henderson Alvarez. The Blue Jays decided to rely on internal starting pitching options this offseason instead of completing trades or free agent signings.

Yankees Sign Nelson Figueroa

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The Yankees have signed right-hander Nelson Figueroa to a minor league deal, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Mike Silva first reported that the Yankees had a deal with ACES client.

The Blue Jays signed the 37-year-old to a minor league deal in January, but appear to have released him since. Figueroa started the 2011 season in Houston's rotation, but the Astros released him in August after he posted an 8.69 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 29 innings. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted a 6.05 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 99 2/3 innings.

Quick Hits: Lannan, Martin, Nationals, Orioles

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Giants closer Brian Wilson will undergo his second Tommy John surgery tomorrow. Over the weekend we heard that his season was over and that another elbow procedure was likely. Make sure you follow @CloserNews on Twitter for all your fantasy bullpen needs. Meanwhile, here's the latest from around the league…

  • Nationals southpaw John Lannan is still not drawing trade interest according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. His $5MM salary continues to be a problem, with one executive saying "teams would rather use a low-paid Minor Leaguer for the fifth spot before dealing with Lannan's money."
  • The Yankees have no plans to talk to Russell Martin about a contract extension soon, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Martin will become a free agent after this season, and the two sides briefly discussed a multi-year deal this past offseason.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that a panel of baseball officials will help resolve a local television revenue dispute between the Nationals and Orioles. The two clubs share ownership of MASN, but the O's hold a substantially larger stake. The current deal was hammered out when the Nats moved to Washington in 2005.

Quick Hits: Marlins, Jeter, Lincecum, Chisenhall

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In a piece inspired by early-season injuries to key relievers Tom Verducci of SI.com points out that closers tend to be inefficient investments. "No one wants to admit it," he writes, "but the modern bullpen is a failure." Here are the rest of today's links…

  • Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that he likes what he has seen from manager Ozzie Guillen despite last week's controversial remarks. “He’s very good for here," Loria said. "Excellent. Not only for here, for any team."
  • When the Yankees signed Derek Jeter to a three-year, $51MM contract two offseasons ago, they felt it was an overpay, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. But the shortstop played tremendously down the stretch in 2011 and has started the 2012 season well.
  • ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests the Giants will likely want to see Tim Lincecum rebound from his early-season struggles before offering him an extension at market value.
  • Indians manager Manny Acta told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio that top prospect Lonnie Chisenhall remains Cleveland's future third baseman and won’t become trade bait this summer (Twitter link, audio here).

Cafardo On Greinke, Marcum, Damon, Indians

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Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wonders how the Red Sox will approach Jacoby Ellsbury, now that he is injured for the second time in three years?  The Sox could be thinking longer-term with players like Daniel Bard, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Andrew Bailey but Ellsbury's health is a concern.  However, it might not make a big difference one way or another as Ellsbury is a Scott Boras client.  Here's more from Cafardo..

  • The Brewers took a hit when they couldn’t retain Prince Fielder, and owner Mark Attanasio is very competitive.  That could spark the club to get a deal worked out with right-hander Zack Greinke, even though the two sides recently put discussions on hold.  Greinke, however, needs to have a strong season and show consistency from one year to the next to get the big-money deal he’s after.  Greinke could be after a Matt Cain-type deal (six years, $127.5MM) but the numbers may not support that.
  • There hasn't been much talk between the Brewers and Shaun Marcum either, but Milwaukee should have extra incentive to get a deal done after giving up Brett Lawrie to land him.
  • Could the Indians slow offensive start have sparked them to sign Johnny Damon?  Cafardo writes that GM Chris Antonetti came to the conclusion that the Tribe could use Damon, especially after the club hit .176 on its opening five-game homestand.
  • Scouts seem to have split opinons on Alex Rodriguez as some say that his bat has slowed down significantly and others believe that he looks as physically sound as he has in three years.  Cafardo agrees with the latter.  Including this season, Rodriguez has six years remaining on his ten-year, $275MM deal.

Quick Hits: Royals, Teixeira, Wright, Rockies, Royals

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On this day in 2000, the (Devil) Rays purchased Dwight Gooden from the Astros.  Doc made eight starts with Tampa Bay before being released in May, allowing him to finish out his career in New York with the Yankees.  Gooden obviously didn't replicate the numbers of his prime in this final season but did post a 4.71 ERA with 4.7 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 for the three teams.  Here's a look at tonight's links..

  • The Royals have hope for the first time in a long time but they'll have to ramp up the spending to truly contend, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.
  • Teams continue to sign first basemen to long, expensive agreements despite mounting evidence that such deals are not very good ideas, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.  It looks as though Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira is in decline in the middle of his monster deal and even Todd Helton's team-friendly pact with the Rockies wound up looking like an overpay.
  • In a piece for CapitalNewYork.com, Howard Megdal wonders if the Mets might be laying the PR groundwork to let David Wright walk at the end of this season.  The Mets hold a $16MM option on the third baseman for 2013.
  • Mike Fontenot could replace Pete Orr on the Phillies' bench as the utility man, but don't expect him to replace Freddy Galvis, writes David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News.  The Phillies signed the 31-year-old infielder to a minor league deal earlier today.
  • Mike Cameron signed a one-day deal with the Mariners today in order to retire with the club and though he may look to be a coach or instructor he vowed to never pursue a managerial career, tweets John Hickey of SportsPressNW.com.

Yankees Notes: Kuroda, Rodriguez, Sabathia, Cano

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In the eyes of people like Derek Jeter, the season doesn't truly begin until the Yankees play their first home game. Here are some Yankees-related notes as the Bronx Bombers prepare to host their first game of the season…

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