Giants, Yanks Swap Chris Stewart For George Kontos
2:32pm: The Yankees have acquired Stewart in exchange for right-hander George Kontos, reports MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (on Twitter).
Kontos, 26, allowed two runs in six innings for New York last September, his big league debut. He pitched to a 2.62 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 89 1/3 Triple-A innings.
2:13pm: Shea hears that Stewart is being traded to the Yankees, but it is not official and the team hasn't announced anything yet (Twitter link).
1:53pm: The Giants will trade Chris Stewart according to John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). The deal is pending at the moment. The backstop is out of options.
Stewart, 30, hit .204/.283/.309 in 183 plate appearances with the Giants last season after Buster Posey's injury. A release from the team says the trade will be announced later today. The details are unknown.
AL East Links: Bailey, Farnsworth, Alvarez, Yankees
It was on this day in 1919 that Yankees outfielder Ping Bodie defeated an ostrich named Percy in a spaghetti-eating contest. The valiant bird made it through 11 plates before finally passing out. We here at MLB Trade Rumors usually stick to reporting transactions, but we promise to provide up-to-the-minute coverage of any modern player vs. bird eating duels.
Here's the latest from the AL East…
- The Red Sox announced that Andrew Bailey will undergo surgery on his right thumb's UCL tomorrow, a procedure that a team source tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald will sideline Bailey for 4-5 months (Twitter link). The Rays look like they'll also be without a closer, as Kyle Farnsworth is expected to start the season on the DL with an elbow issue. To keep tabs on who the Sox and Rays will use in the ninth inning, follow Tim Dierkes on Twitter @CloserNews.
- Red Sox GM Ben Cherington says he is continuing to explore external pitching options since he never feels comfortable about the club's depth, tweets Michael Silverman.
- Blue Jays right-hander Henderson Alvarez has switched agencies and is now being represented by Proformance, reports MLBTR's Tim Dierkes.
- No team claimed either Jayson Nix and Dewayne Wise today so both players will start the season with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network. Any team that had claimed Nix or Wise would've had to put them on their 25-man roster.
- With more teams willing to spend money on signing or extending top pitchers, Joel Sherman of the New York Post feels the Yankees need their young arms to deliver since the Bombers can no longer rely on outspending the competition.
- Rule 5 draft pick Ryan Flaherty will make the Orioles, and thus will have to spend the entire season on the team's 25-man roster or else be offered back to his original team, the Cubs. Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun relates how O's manager Buck Showalter told Flaherty the news in front of the rest of the team.
Minor Moves: Jorge Vazquez
The latest minor moves from around MLB…
- The Yankees have released first baseman Jorge Vazquez, Chad Jennings of the Journal News reports. Vazquez, 30, hit 32 homers with a .262/.314/.516 line at Triple-A last year. However, the Yankees preferred Steve Pearce at Triple-A, according to Jennings.
Minor Moves: Scales, Bulger
We'll keep track of minor Sunday's minor transactions here…
- Bobby Scales has signed a minor league deal with the Mets and will report to Triple-A Buffalo, according to ESPN's Adam Rubin (on Twitter). The 34-year-old has spent most of his career in the minor leagues, but did see 158 plate appearances with the Cubs in the 2009-10 seasons.
- The Yankees have signed Jason Bulger to a minor league contract, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. He'll pitch at Triple-A. After signing a minor league deal with the Twins this winter, Bulger disappointed in Spring Training, allowing 10 earned runs on eight hits and five walks in four innings. He last enjoyed success in 2009 with the Angels.
East Links: Pineda, Michaels, Banks, Larish, Branyan
Happy birthday to Jeff Mathis (29) and Chien-Ming Wang (32). Here's the latest from their respective divisions, the AL East and NL East…
- Michael Pineda is headed to the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis, but John Harper of The New York Daily News says the trade was still the right move for the Yankees even if the right-hander won't pay dividends right away.
- Nationals manager Davey Johnson told reporters (including MLB.com's Bill Ladson) that the team is close to bringing Jason Michaels back. Washington released the outfielder earlier this week.
- The Orioles released a handful of minor leaguers according to Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com (on Twitter). Among those released were former big leaguers Josh Banks and Jeff Larish.
- The Yankees saved about two months of salary by releasing Russell Branyan and re-signing him to a new minor league deal yesterday, reports MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
Minor Moves: Astros, Rivera, Branyan, Igarashi
The latest minor moves from around MLB…
- The Astros released first baseman Jimmy Van Ostrand and right-hander Lance Pendleton, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com tweets.
- The Brewers released catcher Mike Rivera, according to the team (via media relations director Mike Vassallo on Twitter). The 35-year-old appeared in one game with the 2011 Brewers and has experience in nine MLB seasons.
- The Yankees announced that they released Russell Branyan from his minor league contract and re-signed him to a new one. The Yankees appear to save $100K with the maneuver.
- The Blue Jays acquired right-hander Ryota Igarashi from the Pirates for cash considerations or a player to be named later, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports (Twitter links). Davidi suggests the Blue Jays will likely assign Igarashi to Triple-A. The 32-year-old appeared in 45 games for the 2011 Mets, posting a 4.66 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 6.5 BB/9 in 38 2/3 innings.
- The Phillies announced that they traded minor league first baseman Matt Rizzotti to the Twins for cash considerations today. The 26-year-old spent the 2011 season at Double-A Reading and posted a .295/.392/.511 line with 24 home runs, 34 doubles and 79 walks in 587 plate appearances.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Rivas, Tatum
The latest outright assignments around MLB…
- The Brewers outrighted right-hander Amaury Rivas to Triple-A, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. The 26-year-old posted a 4.72 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 150 2/3 innings at Triple-A last year.
- The Yankees announced that they outrighted catcher Craig Tatum to Triple-A. Tatum, a recent waiver claim by the Yankees, has a .223/.291/.264 line in 299 MLB plate appearances and has stopped 21% of stolen base attempts against him. He also has a .249/.316/.377 batting line in eight seasons as a minor leaguer.
Quick Hits: Cain, Hosmer, Team Values, Izturis
Ichiro Suzuki and Yoenis Cespedes are the early stars of this young 2012 season, with the rest of the league waiting until next week to catch up to the Mariners and Athletics. Here's some news from around the majors…
- Matt Cain reiterated to reporters (including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle) that Opening Day is the "cutoff" for contract talks between him and the Giants. Cain said Giants GM Brian Sabean feels the same way. Larry Baer, the team's CEO, discussed the Cain negotiations and more in a live chat with fans earlier today.
- Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer is in no hurry to sign a multiyear contract, he tells Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. "There’s a long time for that coming,” Hosmer said of a possible contract extension. “For me, I haven’t even experienced an opening day yet….I feel like it wouldn’t even be fair to this team to start thinking about that.” Last January, MLBTR's Mike Axisa featured Hosmer as an extension candidate.
- Sports business consultant Marc Ganis tells ESPN New York's Adam Rubin that if the Dodgers are worth $2.15 billion, it greatly raises the ceiling for the prices of baseball's big-market teams. Ganis estimates the Yankees would be worth $4 billion, the Red Sox $2.5 billion and the Mets roughly $1.5 billion. Only the biggest markets would have higher price tags, however, since they offer the most lucrative local broadcasting deals.
- Also from Henry Schulman (Twitter links), Gregor Blanco says he chose the Giants over the Marlins in the offseason since San Francisco hitting coach Hensley Meulens promised Blanco a legitimate chance at a roster spot. It looks like Blanco made the right choice, as he's poised to start the season in the majors after a big Spring Training.
- Alexi Amarista's impressive camp has made him a candidate for a utility job with the Angels, but Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times says Amarista is too inexperienced at the big league level to make Maicer Izturis expendable. Izturis' name has been connected to a few trade rumors this spring as several teams are in the market for infielders.
- Cesar Izturis (Maicer's older brother) has been told he will make the Brewers' roster, says team media director Mike Vassallo (Twitter link). Izturis' minor league deal with Milwaukee allowed him to ask for his release if he wasn't on the 40-man roster by March 30, but now his $875K salary for 2012 is guaranteed.
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (via Twitter) predicts the Indians to make a "big roster reduction" on Saturday as the team starts to pare down its roster from its current 41-player state. Bastian says the Tribe has been "looking at trades" as well, and indeed Cleveland has at least one notable deal reportedly in the works.
- If the Angels cut Jason Isringhausen, the veteran reliever tells MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez that he'll probably retire, though there's a slight chance he'll keep pitching if he gets the right offer. "It depends on who's that team that might call, who they'd be," Isringhausen said.
AL East Links: Rays, Epstein, O’s, Eveland, DePaula
Blue Jays prospect Anthony Gose stole second, third and home all during the eighth inning of the Jays' 3-2 win over the Red Sox today in Grapefruit League action. The young outfielder will begin the season in the minors but he's definitely drawing attention — Baseball America named Gose as baseball's 39th-best prospect in its preseason rankings.
Some news from around the AL East….
- With B.J. Upton and Sam Fuld starting the season on the DL, the Rays are looking for outfield help, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
- The Red Sox and Cubs seemed to have completed the compensation package for Theo Epstein's move to Chicago earlier today, but Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald hears from a team source that the Sox aren't quite satisfied. Chris Carpenter underwent elbow surgery on Wednesday and while the Red Sox believe the Cubs gave up Carpenter with no knowledge of any injury problems, Boston "is weighing its options" about whether the matter should be revisited.
- Dan Duquette told reporters (including Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun) that before Spring Training ends, the Orioles "have a few player contracts we need to resolve in camp, and we have had some tertiary trade discussions.”
- Connelly thinks Duquette will try to trade Dana Eveland (designated for assignment earlier today) if the Orioles think the southpaw will get claimed on waivers. Eveland, for his part, tells Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link) that he will accept a minor league assignment if he clears waivers and the O's wish to keep him.
- Rafael DePaula passed his physical and his Yankees contract is now official, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. The right-hander initially signed a $500K deal with New York in November 2010 but his attempt to get a visa was delayed since DePaula used to play under a false identity and was suspended by Major League Baseball in 2009.
Minor Moves: Bard, Sullivan, Pearce, Michaels
Here are the latest minor moves from around MLB…
- The Dodgers released Cory Sullivan and catcher Josh Bard, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. The pair both signed minor league deals with L.A. in December.
- The Yankees have signed Steve Pearce to a minor league contract, reports Josh Norris of the Trentonian (Twitter link). Pearce, a former well-regarded prospect with the Pirates, signed a minor league deal with the Twins in December but was released on Tuesday.
- The Nationals released outfielder Jason Michaels, the team announced. The Nationals signed the 11-year veteran to a minor league contract in December.
- The Brewers signed catcher Jason Jaramillo to a minor league deal, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. The Cubs released the backstop a couple of days ago after signing him to a minor league deal in January.
- The Red Sox released catcher Max St. Pierre, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (on Twitter). SoxProspects.com first reported the transaction.
- The Brewers released Corey Patterson then re-signed him to another minor league contract, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports (Twitter links). Patterson, who signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee in January, will start the season at Triple-A.
- The Indians announced that they acquired right-hander Jairo Asencio from the Braves for cash. The right-handed reliever led the International League in saves in 2009 and 2011 and posted a 1.81 ERA with 11.5 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 54 2/3 innings at Triple-A last year. Asencio is out of options.
- The Mets have signed infielder Josh Rodriguez to a minor league deal, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. The Pirates selected the 27-year-old in last year's Rule 5 draft, returned him to the Indians in April, and traded for him in June. Rodriguez, who played in seven MLB games last year, posted a .258/.323/.349 line in 330 plate appearances in the upper minors.