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Yankees Hire Jim Hendry

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4:00pm: The Yankees announced that they have hired Hendry as a special assignment scout.

11:57am: The Yankees have hired former Cubs GM Jim Hendry as a special assistant, ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine reports. The Cubs dismissed Hendry in August, before hiring Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.

The Cubs won three division titles under Hendry (2003, '07, '08), but finished 71-91 in 2011 despite an Opening Day payroll of roughly $134MM. Overall, Chicago posted a 749-748 record under Hendry from 2002-11. MLBTR's Transaction Tracker details his moves, from the $91.5MM extension for Carlos Zambrano to his bargain signing of Kerry Wood last offseason. 

Current D'Backs GM Kevin Towers worked for the Yankees after his tenure in San Diego ended, so this isn't the first time Brian Cashman has asked a former counterpart to join his baseball operations team. Hendry obtained a multiyear deal from the Yankees.

Minor Moves: Delcarmen, Tolbert, Gonzalez

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The latest minor moves from around MLB…

  • The Yankees signed Manny Delcarmen to a minor league contract, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. The right-hander, who last pitched in the Major Leagues in 2010, owns a 3.97 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 292 2/3 innings over the course of six MLB seasons. Delcarmen spent the 2011 season with the Triple-A clubs for the Rangers and Mariners.
  • The Cubs announced that they signed infielders Edgar Gonzalez and Matt Tolbert to minor league deals that include invitations to MLB Spring Training. Tolbert appeared at short, second and third for the 2011 Twins, posting a .518 OPS in 226 plate appearances. The Twins outrighted him off of their roster in October. Gonzalez, 33, picked up MLB experience with the Padres in 2008-09, but spent last year with San Francisco's top affiliate. He posted a .315/.378/.457 line in 564 Triple-A plate appearances last year.
  • The Cubs also confirmed their deals with Rodrigo Lopez, Manny Corpas, Trever Miller, Jason Jaramillo, Alfredo Amezaga, Bobby Scales and Joe Mather.

Yankees In Serious Talks With Bill Hall

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The Yankees are in serious talks with utility man Bill Hall, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Rosenthal thinks Hall could reprise a 2010 Red Sox-type role, and notes that the 32-year-old works out in the offseason with Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long.  No deal is imminent and Hall is still considering a couple of teams, tweets Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.

Hall began the season as the Astros' starting second baseman, but finished with a .211/.261/.314 line after adding a stint with the Giants.  He received the contract on the strength of his 2010 season, in which he hit 18 home runs in 382 plate appearances.  Hall seems highly likely to sign a minor league deal this offseason.

AL East Notes: Kuroda, Blue Jays, Camp, Selig

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Some news from the AL East…

  • Hiroki Kuroda's one-year, $10MM deal with the Yankees includes a full no-trade clause, reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).
  • Kuroda said he received offers from five or six Major League clubs and he eventually narrowed his choices down to the Yankees and the Hiroshima Carp, his former Japanese team, reports Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.  Kuroda's desire to play for a contender led to his Yankee contract, as he turned down some more expensive offers to sign with New York.
  • MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm doesn't think Manny Ramirez is a fit with the Blue Jays, as the Jays weren't interested in Ramirez last year since they want flexibility with the DH spot.  Toronto did send scouts to see Ramirez hit in an indoor cage earlier this month.  
  • Also as part of Chisholm's fan mailbag, he thinks the Jays' bullpen additions spell the end of Shawn Camp's days with the club, though Camp should find Major League work elsewhere.
  • Commissioner Bud Selig told reporters at the Chicago SoxFest event (including CSNChicago.com's Jim Owczarski) that he would like to get the issue of the Theo Epstein compensation package between the Red Sox and Cubs solved "as expeditiously as possible."  Since the two teams weren't able to settle on compensation, it's now up to Selig.  "It’s in my lap and I have information from both clubs and we’ll take it from there," the commissioner said. 
  • The Red Sox would use any extra payroll space on a player later in the season, rather than spend it now in "a bidding war" for Roy Oswalt or Edwin Jackson, a source tells WEEI.com's Rob Bradford.
  • In case you missed it earlier today, the Rays signed Jeff Keppinger and designated Russ Canzler for assignment to create 40-man roster space.

Yankees Interested In Raul Ibanez

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The Yankees have interest in Raul Ibanez, Kevin Kernan of the New York Post reports. Ibanez has drawn interest from a number of clubs, including the Mets and Tigers, in recent weeks. We heard ten days ago that ACES had contacted the Yankees about Ibanez, but this is the first concrete indication that the interest is mutual.

Ibanez posted a .245/.289/.419 line with 20 home runs in 575 plate appearances as the Phillies' everyday left fielder last year. The 39-year-old could provide the Yankees with an option at designated hitter or in the corner outfield positions. He owns a .286/.351/.488 line against right-handed pitching in 16 MLB seasons. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggested earlier today that Ibanez would be a good fit in the Bronx (Twitter link).

Yankees Sign Hiroki Kuroda

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The Yankees have signed Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year contract, the team announced.  Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported the agreement (Twitter link).  The deal will pay Kuroda $10MM, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  Kuroda is represented by the Octagon agency.

Kuroda

Kuroda was originally looking for a one-year deal worth $13-$14MM for next season, but recently dropped his asking price and was sending feelers out to the Yankees and Red Sox.  Olney reports that Kuroda's salary was an "extra expenditure" approved by ownership, so the club will not have to move a similar salary in order to fit the team's payroll.

Kuroda turns 37 in February and comes to the American League after four years of pitching for the Dodgers.  Kuroda has pitched at least 183 innings in three of his four years in the Majors and his career numbers include a 3.45 ERA, a 3.29 K/BB ratio and a 48.6% ground ball rate that should ease his transition from Dodger Stadium to Yankee Stadium.  (Kuroda's career home/away splits are also virtually identical.)

Between Kuroda and the newly-acquired Michael Pineda, a once-shaky Yankees pitching staff has been overhauled and improved in just one day.  C.C. Sabathia, Pineda, Kuroda and Ivan Nova project as the top four, with Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Yankees, Boone Logan Avoid Arbitration

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The Yankees avoided arbitration with left-hander Boone Logan, the Associated Press reports (via the Boston Herald). The Select Sports Group client will earn $1.875MM in 2013.

Logan, 27, posted a 3.46 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 41 2/3 innings last year, when he earned $1.2MM. He's under team control through 2013. As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, Logan asked for a 2012 salary of $2.1MM, and the Yankees offered $1.7MM. The Yankees have now agreed to terms with all of their arbitration eligible players.

Yankees Designate Kevin Whelan For Assignment

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The Yankees designated right-hander Kevin Whelan for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Hiroki Kuroda, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The 28-year-old debuted with the Yankees in 2011, appearing in two games.

Whelan posted a 2.75 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 52 1/3 innings at Triple-A in 2011. The 2005 fourth rounder owns a 3.23 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in seven minor league seasons.

AL East Links: Red Sox, Jays, Rays, Rivera, Martin

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Who would have guessed that two AL teams would hand out $200MM+ contracts this winter, and neither of them would reside in the AL East? Here's the latest from the only division with three 90-win teams in 2011…

  • The Red Sox have checked in with Edwin Jackson and maintain interest in Roy Oswalt, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). They're also looking at some infielders.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm that he doesn't anticipate a move to upgrade the starting rotation before Spring Training (Twitter links). "I wouldn't expect us to do anything else. Maybe adding a reliever is probably the only thing I think we have a chance at doing," said the GM a few hours before signing Francisco Cordero.
  • In an interview with Jim Duquette and Jeff Joyce of MLB Network Radio, Anthopoulos said that Brandon Morrow's work ethic was one reason why the Blue Jays signed him to an extension. "I haven't been doing this very long … but the mistakes we have made, we haven't necessarily put as much stock into someone's character and the work ethic," he said.
  • Anthopoulos also acknowledged that the Blue Jays would be able to support a high payroll down the road, but they're "not there yet right now."
  • Rays president Matt Silverman told Marc Topkin of The Tampa Times that they haven't found a deal to trade one of their excess starters yet, but that doesn't mean they aren't still looking (Twitter link).
  • Yankees closer Mariano Rivera hinted at retirement during Jorge Posada's retirement press conference today, reports MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "[It's] the same thing; just knowing that it's time to go," Rivera said. "You just have to accept that. I mean, I love the game and I have the passion for the game, but when the time comes and you have to go, you have to go."
  • WEEI.com's Alex Speier wrote about the Red Sox in the wake of the Prince Fielder signing, saying they preferred trading for Adrian Gonzalez last offseason to waiting for this year's crop of free agent first baseman.
  • Prior to avoiding arbitration with a one-year deal, the Yankees and Russell Martin discussed a two-year contract according to WFAN's Sweeny Murti (on Twitter).

Yankees Avoid Arbitration With Russell Martin

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6:37pm: David Waldstein of The New York Times reports (on Twitter) that Martin received $7.5MM with $100K in performance bonuses. In terms of guaranteed money, he settled just below the midpoint of the filing figures.

5:04pm: The Yankees and Russell Martin have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract, the team announced. The Matt Colleran client filed for $8.2MM while the team countered with $7MM, as our Arbitration Tracker shows.

Martin, 28, signed a one-year deal worth $4MM with the Yankees last offseason after being non-tendered by the Dodgers. He hit .237/.324/.408 with 18 homers and eight steals during his first year in pinstripes, and remained under the team's control are an arbitration-eligible player. This is his fourth time up for arbitration as a Super Two, and he's eligible for free agency next winter.

Boone Logan is the Yankees' only remaining unsigned arbitration-eligible player.

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