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AL East Notes: Red Sox, Nakajima, Martin, Ortiz

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Alex Rodriguez signed the largest contract in baseball history on this date four years ago, going back to the Yankees for $275MM over ten years. He did help the Yankees to a World Championship two seasons ago, but it's tough to see that deal having a happy ending. Here's the latest from the AL East…

  • The Red Sox are expected to exceed the $178MM luxury tax threshold next season according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier. The team will try to stay close to the threshold to minimize the penalty, however.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman told David Waldstein of The New York Times that he has continued to negotiate with the agent for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, but the two sides aren't close to a deal. The Yankees won Nakajima's negotiating rights last week.
  • Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com says (on Twitter) that people with the Orioles have given him the impression they were unwilling to offer David Ortiz a two-year contract before he accepted the Red Sox's offer of arbitration.
  • “We will see, I couldn’t say because it hasn’t been discussed," said Cashman to George A. King III of The New York Post when asked if a multi-year deal for Russell Martin was possible. The Yankees tendered all of their eligible players contracts yesterday, including Martin, who is arbitration-eligible for the fourth time as a Super Two.

Minor Moves: Yankees, Jeroloman, Carpenter

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Today's minor moves…

  • The Yankees outrighted Colin Curtis to Triple-A and announced that Greg Golson is now a free agent, according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger (on Twitter).
  • The Twins confirmed the loss of Jim Hoey, adding that they outrighted recently-claimed shortstop Pedro Florimon to bring their 40-man roster count to 38.
  • The Blue Jays also confirmed the claim of Jim Hoey today, also noting they've outrighted catcher Brian Jeroloman and righty Drew Carpenter.  Their 40-man roster is now full.
  • The Brewers announced they've signed first baseman Travis Ishikawa to a minor league deal, and also confirmed their signing of Mike Rivera.  Ishikawa was designated for assignment by the Giants in March, and after clearing waivers went on to hit .251/.368/.383 in 211 Triple-A plate appearances.  Ishikawa injured his non-throwing shoulder in June while playing right field and had surgery that month.  His agent Jim McDowell tells MLBTR Ishikawa was cleared for baseball activities two months ago and will be at full strength for 2012.

Yankees Win Rights To Hiroyuki Nakajima

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Saturday, 2:41pm: Nakajima spoke to Nikkan Sports (Japanese link) about the Yankees submitting the top bid.  "I thought 'whoa!'. I got a bid from a great team," said the shortstop before adding that he doesn't know how everything will turn out.  Thanks to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker for the translation.

Thursday, 6:18am: ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the question is being explored as to whether or not the Yankees will trade Nakajima, as they don't really have a role for them on their club.

Wednesday, 6:43pm: Given the low salary Nakajima figures to receive, the Yankees aren't confident they'll sign the infielder, tweets Heyman. Nakajima could decide to stay in Japan.

11:34am: The Yankees won the bid for about $2MM, tweets Jon Heyman.  Noting Nakajima's preference to play for a West Coast team, Rosenthal wonders if he'll be willing to be a utility player for the Yankees.  

11:18am: The Yankees won the rights to negotiate with Nakajima, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  They now have 30 days to work out a deal with him.

11:08am: The Yankees submitted a posting bid on Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima with an eye on using him in a utility role, tweets David Waldstein.  One person believes the Yankees won the bid, but Waldstein has not yet confirmed that.  The Seibu Lions should announce the winning bidder today.

King’s Latest: Yankees, Fielder, Rangers, McGehee

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Here are some notes from George A. King III of The New York Post…

  • “I am ready to rock and roll," said Yankees GM Brian Cashman while acknowledging that he still isn't optimistic about making a major pitching addition. "The Yankees are open for business."
  • An NL executive heard that the Rangers have interest in signing Prince Fielder and trading Mitch Moreland to the Rays for Wade Davis. A person with knowledge of Texas' plans say neither scenario is close to being done, however. The Rangers checked in with Scott Boras about Fielder during the winter meetings.
  • The Rangers also have interest in Casey McGehee of the Brewers to play first base, which would still allow them to make the Moreland-for-Davis swap. Matt Moore's new extension means the Rays won't have to send him down to the minors for service time reasons, giving them six starters (David Price, James Shields, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, Moore, and Davis) for five spots.

Minor Moves: Bianchi, Threets, Gallagher, Atilano

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Here are some of the day's minor transactions…

  • The Cubs have acquired minor league infielder Jeff Bianchi on a waiver claim, the team announced.  Bianchi was designated for assignment by the Royals last week to make room for Jonathan Broxton on their 40-man roster.  Bianchi was a second-round pick for K.C. in the 2005 draft and has yet to reach the majors, though he missed close to two full seasons recovering from a torn labrum (2006) and reconstuctive elbow surgery (2010).
  • The Athletics have signed left-hander Erick Threets to a minor league deal, tweets Matthew Eddy of Baseball America.  Threets, 30, last pitched in the Majors in 2010, throwing 12.1 scoreless relief innings for the White Sox.
  • The Reds signed right-handers Luis Atilano and Sean Gallagher to minor league deals, reports Eddy.
  • The Brewers have signed catcher Mike Rivera to a minor league contract, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.  The deal includes an invitation to the Brewers' big league spring training camp and is worth $500K if Rivera makes the Major League roster.  Rivera, 35, has spent five of the last six years in the Brewers' organization and will provide the club with extra catching depth.
  • The Rangers signed Alberto Gonzalez to a minor league contract with an invite to the Major League spring training camp, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.  Gonzalez was released by the Padres last month.  The utility infielder has a career .242/.281/.317 line in 908 Major League plate appearances over five seasons with the Padres, Nationals and Yankees.
  • The Yankees have designated Colin Curtis for assignment, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.  The move creates space on New York's 40-man roster for Freddy Garcia, whose signing was made official today.  Curtis, a fourth-round draft pick in 2006, has 64 Major League plate appearances to his name.

Sherman On Darvish, Buehrle, Fielder, Jones

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Joel Sherman of the New York Post shares a few Yankees items and more from around baseball…

  • The Yankees have a number of concerns about Yu Darvish and team officials "sounded pessimistic about making a significant posting bid, if they submit one at all."  Given how the Yankees have been linked to Darvish for months, it's hard to believe they won't be bidding on the star pitcher, so this could well be some misdirection on the Bombers' part.
  • The Yankees were interested in Mark Buehrle but wouldn't offer the veteran more than a two-year contract.  This clearly wasn't going to get it done given the large market for Buehrle, who signed a four-year, $58MM pact with the Marlins.
  • After "canvassing executives," Sherman finds the consensus is that Prince Fielder will sign with the Cubs.  The belief is that Theo Epstein won't pass up the chance to acquire a slugger like Fielder given the lack of power hitters coming onto the market, and Epstein wants to make "a statement sign" in his first year in Chicago.
  • Andruw Jones is likely to re-sign with the Yankees but the team will see if they can address starting pitching before taking care of their backups.  Jones, for his part, plans to compete for a starting job this spring.

Yankees Sign Freddy Garcia

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The Yankees have signed Freddy Garcia to a one-year deal, the club announced today.  Garcia, a Peter E. Greenberg & Associates client, will obtain a guarantee of $4MM plus incentives.

Garcia, 35, signed a minor league deal in February and delivered a surprisingly strong 3.62 ERA in 146 2/3 innings. The 13-year veteran posted 5.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 36.4% ground ball rate for the Yankees, spending part of August on the disabled list with an index finger injury.

Though the Yankees have locked up C.C. Sabathia, their search for starting pitching continues. Sabathia and Garcia will join A.J. Burnett, Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes in the team's projected 2012 rotation.

David Waldstein of the New York Times tweeted the sides were nearing agreement on November 23. ESPN.com's Buster Olney was the first to report the two sides had agreed to terms on November 24, with Jon Heyman of MLB Network (on Twitter) adding the contract details.

Yankees Haven’t Made Offer To Hiroki Kuroda

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9:59am: While no offer has been made, the Yankees indeed "like Kuroda very much," according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). 

8:55am: The Yankees haven't made Kuroda an offer, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.

8:13am: The Yankees have offered Hiroki Kuroda a one-year contract worth approximately $12MM in U.S. dollars, reports Japanese news outlet Sponichi (passed on by Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues).  The Yankees were one of several teams known to have an interest in Kuroda and as Axisa points out, the presence of Kuroda's old battery-mate Russell Martin could be a factor that only the Yankees could offer the right-hander.

If signed, Kuroda would join a rotation that features C.C. Sabathia and four relative question marks in Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia and A.J. Burnett.  On paper, Kuroda would be the No. 2 starter, though it remains to be seen how the 36-year-old would fare pitching in the AL East as opposed to pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium.

Quick Hits: Wilson, Jays, Rule 5, Pudge, Ekstrom

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Let's round up a few Winter Meetings leftovers…

Bidding For Yu Darvish Ends Wednesday

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6:22pm: The Nationals have interest in Darvish, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. GM Mike Rizzo didn't divulge whether the Nats plan to bid, but his refusal to comment suggests to Kilgore that they will.

4:50pm: Now that Darvish has been posted, teams will have until 4:00pm CST on December 14th (four business days) to submit bids, tweets Buster Olney.

12:40pm: The Yankees are unsure about whether they'll bid on Darvish, tweets Buster Olney.  He considers their interest lukewarm.  I think everyone's playing coy at this stage; we'll see where the bids were when the dust settles.  By the way, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said this week he will not be bidding on Darvish, according to Jason Beck.

11:07am: The Dodgers won't be bidding on Darvish, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, but A's assistant GM David Forst wouldn't rule it out in talking to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News hears the Rangers aren't willing to gamble $100MM on Darvish.  The Red Sox will discuss Darvish but feel pretty good about the front end of their rotation already, GM Ben Cherington told reporters.

4:56am: Following the announcement last night that the Nippon-Ham Fighters will post ace Yu Darvish, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports write that the Rangers, Blue Jays, and Yankees are all expected to bid on the Japanese righty. ESPN's Buster Olney also tweets that rival executives are expecting both the Rangers and Blue Jays to bid big Darvish, with the Rangers fueled by the expected loss of C.J. Wilson to the Angels or Marlins.

Rosenthal and Morosi write that the Red Sox could be a wild card for a big Darvish bid, as new manager Bobby Valentine, who saw Darvish first-hand many times as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines from 2004-2009, is said to "love" the 25-year old. FOX's duo also note that both Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and Rangers GM Jon Daniels saw Darvish pitch in Japan last season.

The posting period will last four days, and the winning team will have a 30-day exclusive negotation period with Darvish and his representatives Don Nomura and Arn Tellem. If a contract agreement cannot be reached between Darvish and the winning team, that team will be refunded the total of the posting fee.

Tim Dierkes and Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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