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Phillies Acquire Ty Wigginton From Rockies

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The Phillies have acquired utility man Ty Wigginton from the Rockies in exchange for a player to be named or cash, Colorado announced on its official Twitter feed (link).

The teams will split Wigginton's $4MM 2012 salary, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, and the Rox can recoup another player or $100K in cash if the Phils exercise Wigginton's $4MM 2013 option. If the Philly declines Wigginton's 2013 option, the Rockies will pay a portion of the $500K buyout, Renck adds. The player to be named or cash will switch hands within six months, tweets Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.

Wigginton, who turned 34 last month, owns a .265/.325/.443 career line in 10 seasons with the Mets, Pirates, Rays, Astros, Orioles and Rockies, though he's been better against lefties (.274/.353/.461) than righties (.261/.313/.437) by a healthy margin. Wigginton has primarily played third base but has seen action at first base and even logged time at second and in left field.

The Phils had reportedly been pursuing free agent utility man Michael Cuddyer, so it's fair to infer that the acquisition of Wigginton means they're out of the Cuddyer bidding. Cuddyer and Wigginton are roughly comparable players in terms of their positional profiles and age, although Cuddyer, 33 in March, has posted a better offensive line in his career: .272/.343./.451. Wigginton, though, should prove a significantly cheaper addition.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said he regards Wigginton primarily as a corner infielder and occasional outfielder, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter), who adds that Wiggy will be insurance for Placido Polanco and Ryan Howard. The latter suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the Phils' postseason-ending loss to the Cards in the NLCS, so there's some concern over whether he'll be ready on Opening Day.

Wigginton's departure from Colorado should open the door for catcher/first baseman/third baseman Jordan Pacheco, who played well during a late-season cup of coffee in 2011, to fill a similar role in 2012, tweets Renck.

Quick Hits: Infielders, Young Jr., Scott, Red Sox

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On this day in 2006, the Cubs signed Alfonso Soriano to an eight-year, $136MM deal.  In five seasons with Chicago, Soriano has a slash line of .266/.320/.498 and has averaged 129 games per year.  Here are some links for Sunday afternoon..

  • Mark Townsend of Yahoo! Sports is surprised at what teams are paying for sure-handed middle infielders. Specifically, he says the Twins and Dodgers paid role players like final pieces to the puzzle and are counting on them for too much (referring to Jamey Carroll and Mark Ellis, respectively).
  • Eric Young Jr. decided to play in Venezuela this offseason in order to gain more experience playing second base, writes Rafael Rojas Cremonesi for the Denver Post. Young played second base just seven times for the Rockies last season, and is 6-for-20 with three steals in his first six games.
  • Luke Scott would be open to negotiating a new deal with the Orioles if he's non-tendered, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.  Scott is projected to earn $6MM in arbitration.
  • Bobby Valentine expects to meet with Red Sox GM Ben Cherington on Monday and could emerge as the favorite for the job if his meeting goes well, a source tells Jeff Passan of Yahoo (via Twitter).
  • Astros owner Jim Crane is prepared to make a swift decision on the futures of president Tal Smith and GM Ed Wade, writes Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle.
  • There are team executives who are furious with aspects of the new labor agreement, writes ESPN.com's Buster Olney.  Some believe that MLB's new draft structure hurts the league's small-market and mid-market clubs.  One GM told Olney that the changes don't solve any problems and actually make some worse.

East Notes: Ortiz, Braves, Soler, Sizemore, Yankees

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The Red Sox traded Coco Crisp to the Royals for Ramon Ramirez three years ago today, and four years prior to that the Nationals traded Maicer Izturis and Juan Rivera to the Angels for Jose Guillen. Here's the latest from baseball's two East divisions…

  • Infielder Matt Antonelli will undergo a physical on Monday to finalize his major league deal with the Orioles, tweets Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.
  • Orioles GM Dan Duquette didn't sound terribly interested in signing a high-priced DH such as David Ortiz during an interview on WEEI (audio link, 9:00 mark).
  • If Liberty Media decided to sell the Braves, Mark Cuban wouldn't pursue the franchise, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  A recent AJC poll showed 95% of readers would like Cuban to buy the team but the eccentric owner told O'Brien that he would prefer to buy a team that is in need of a lot of help.  Liberty Media has the right to sell the team after the current CBA expires on December 11th, but there's no evidence that a sale is imminent.
  • The Marlins have already scouted Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. The 19-year-old has been working out for teams in the Dominican Republic, and yesterday we heard that the Rangers have scouted him as well.
  • The Indians and Grady Sizemore are in "serious discussions" about a reunion, but the Phillies had interest in the outfielder according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Current GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and former GM Pat Gillick visited Sizemore in Arizona on the first day of free agency.
  • “The free agent guys haven’t made me any offers,” said Yankees GM Brian Cashman to Dan Martin of The New York Post. “The free agent [market] is moving at a glacial speed. And the category I’m shopping in, I don’t believe guys are jumping off the board this week. The players I’m interested in won’t be coming off the board anytime soon."

Added To 40-Man Roster: Giants, Dodgers, Pirates

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Today is the deadline for teams to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from next month's Rule 5 draft. Here's more on which players need to be protected and here are the details on which players have had their contracts selected to the 40-man roster:

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NL East Links: Hamels, Mets, Marlins, Hanley

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A few stray items out of the NL East to share …

  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said he's not looking to trade lefty Cole Hamels, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. That Hamels remains unsigned entering his final year of team control is not indicative of the Phillies' plans for him, according to Amaro: "Cole is homegrown," Amaro said. "He's a guy we would like to keep. We're not up against it right now. We have time to deal with it. Cole is a priority, but we have time to deal with it."
  • The Mets have commitments from investors to buy roughly seven shares of the franchise at $20MM apiece, a source tells Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. That's about $140MM of the $200MM the Mets were hoping to raise, although Rubin reports the Mets will be content with what they've sold so far if no further deals come to fruition.
  • Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria asserts that he is serious about bidding for high-priced free agents like Albert Pujols and Jose Reyes, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com: "All you have to do is look at (new) ballpark and you won't even ask those questions." However, based on their bid for Pujols, Jon Heyman of SI.com continues to hear that Miami is not considered a serious player for the prize of this offseason's free agent class (via Twitter).
  • Also, Loria is confident that shortstop Hanley Ramirez would move to another position if the Marlins were to acquire another shortstop, tweets Rosenthal.

Phillies To Sign Brian Schneider

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The Phillies have agreed to sign catcher Brian Schneider, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). The deal, which Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports caught wind of yesterday, is pending a physical. Schneider gets a base salary of $800K and could earn another $200K in incentives, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).

Schneider, 34, spent the past two seasons as the Phillies' backup catcher. He struggled at times in 2011, posting a .176/.246/.256 line in 139 plate appearances and preventing just three of 23 stolen base attempts against him. Schneider has spent his entire 12-year career in the NL East with the Expos, Nationals, Mets and Phillies.

Minor Moves: Kimball, Corporan, Rottino, Pascucci

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Today's minor moves…

  • The Twins re-signed left-hander Phil Dumatrait, according to the Sosnick Cobbe Twitter page. Dumatrait appeared in 45 games for the Twins last season, posting a 3.92 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9.
  • The Blue Jays claimed right-hander Cole Kimball off of waivers from Washington, according to the Nationals' official Twitter feed.  Meanwhile, the Nats outrighted outfielder Corey Brown to Triple-A Syracuse.
  • Astros catcher Carlos Corporan cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City, tweets Alyson Footer of the Astros.  Corporan has the right to elect free agency due to previously being outrighted.
  • The Mets signed catcher/left fielder/first baseman Vinny Rottino and first baseman/DH Val Pascucci to minor league deals, reports ESPN's Adam Rubin.  Both players saw their first big league action in several years in 2011.
  • Eric Duncan, drafted in the first round by the Yankees in 2003, has signed with the Royals, tweets Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.  The 26-year-old played mostly first base, second base, and left field this year for the Cardinals' Double-A affiliate, hitting .274/.322/.527 in 385 plate appearances.
  • The White Sox re-signed Leyson Septimo, tweets Goldstein.  The Sox claimed the hard-throwing 26-year-old southpaw off waivers from Arizona in June but removed him from their 40-man roster in October.
  • The Giants signed center fielder Gregor Blanco, according to his agency (via Matt Eddy of Baseball America on Twitter).  The 27-year-old spent the year with the Triple-A affiliates of the Nationals and Royals, hitting .201/.350/.327 in 252 plate appearances.
  • The Phillies acquired righty Adam Worthington from the Diamondbacks to complete the September Mike Zagurski trade, tweets Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.  Worthington, 24, posted a 4.48 ERA, 10.0 K/9, 4.6 BB/9, and 0.6 HR/9 in 62 1/3 High-A relief innings this year.
  • The Yankees signed lefty reliever Mike O'Connor, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  The 31-year-old appeared briefly in the Majors for the Mets this year, also posting a 5.22 ERA, 9.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, and 1.0 HR/9 in 60 1/3 Triple-A innings.

Cole Hamels Reiterates Desire To Stay With Phillies

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Signing Cole Hamels to a contract extension is "not a pressing need," GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, "but it's something we're absolutely on top of."  Amaro has explained the timetable to Hamels and his agent, John Boggs.  Gelb says the Phillies do not want to trade Hamels.

Hamels commented last night to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, "It's not really on my mind because I'm still locked in with the team, which I'm happy about.  It'll work its way out. I'm just going to go out there and focus on pitching. I feel like I have a really good agent, [John Boggs]. I hope he has a good relationship with [general manager] Ruben [Amaro Jr.] and they'll be able to work well together."  Hamels later added, "You don't really think the grass is greener on the other side.  This is the organization I've come up with. We're winning. Why would you ever want to leave? You want to be on a winning team, and the team wants to win."

Hamels could earn $14MM or more in 2012, his last year of team control before hitting free agency.  He expects to be ready for Spring Training following an October elbow procedure to remove loose bodies.  In general, Hamels noted that he feels no need to sign quickly due to fear of failure or injury, having come back from a broken arm in high school.

Who’s Met With Bob Garber?

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1:05pm: Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. is talking with Garber today, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

11:53am: As the agent for top free agent starters C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt, Bob Garber of Select Sports Group has been popular so far at the GM Meetings.  He's met or plans to meet with the Marlins, Yankees, Royals, Angels, Nationals, Rockies, and Rangers, according to reports, and tells me he has at least three more new meetings today.

Brian Schneider Nearing Deal With Phillies

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The Phillies are close to re-signing catcher Brian Schneider, according to Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).

Schneider, 34, has served as the Phillies' backup catcher since signing a two-year, $2.75MM deal prior to the 2010 season. His production at the plate dropped off significantly in 2011, with his .502 OPS bringing his overall slash line in Philadelphia down to .208/.297/.320 in 286 plate appearances.

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