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Pirates Sign Jeff Clement

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Here's where we'll keep track of today's minor moves…

  • The Pirates announced that they have signed first baseman Jeff Clement to a minor league contract. Clement, 28, posted a .201/.237/.368 line for the 2010 Pirates, but didn't appear in the Major Leagues in 2011. The former third overall pick spent this past season in Pittsburgh's minor league system, where he posted a .733 OPS in 106 plate appearances.
  • The Giants have signed right-hander Eric Hacker to a minor league deal, according to the player's agency, Sosnick Cobbe Sports (Twitter link). Hacker spent 2011 in the Twins organization, starting 25 games with Triple-A Rochester and making two relief appearances with Minnesota.
  • The Nationals announced nine minor league signings today.

Pirates Sign Ryota Igarashi

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The Pirates announced that they signed right-handed reliever Ryota Igarashi to a minor league deal. Igarashi, who spent the past two seasons with the Mets, is a Wasserman Media Group client. 

Igarashi posted a 4.66 ERA with 9.8 K/9, 6.5 BB/9 and a 45.6% ground ball rate in 38 2/3 innings for the Mets in 2011. New York released the 32-year-old after the season to allow him to pursue other MLB jobs. He signed a two-year, $3MM with the Mets before the 2010 season, but owns just a 5.74 ERA in 79 career appearances. Jiji Press first reported the agreement.

Quick Hits: Reds, Dodgers, Hanrahan, Chavez

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On this day one year ago, the Brewers recieved Zack Greinke, Yuniesky Betancourt, and cash from the Royals for Jake Odorizzi, Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, and Jeremy Jeffress.  Here's are a few links for Sunday evening..

Huntington “Optimistic” About McCutchen Extension

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Talks about a long-term contract extension between the Pirates and Andrew McCutchen didn't progress much this summer, but GM Neal Huntington told fans that he's "optimistic" about reaching an agreement with the star outfielder at PirateFest yesterday, reports Bill Brink of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"When you enter a negotiation, you're at X, the player's at Z and you work awfully hard to try to find Y," said Huntington. "There has to be a compromise, there has to be a shared risk on both sides."

Back in May we heard that the team wants at least five years in a McCutchen extension, meaning they want to buy out at least one year of free agency. The 25-year-old is a .276/.365/.458 career hitter in his two-plus big league seasons, which is comparable to the .272/.350/.485 line Justin Upton owned when he signed his six-year, $52.25MM deal prior to the 2010 season. A contract along those lines is reasonable for McCutchen, a first-time All-Star in 2011.

Quick Hits: Beltran, Vizquel, Pirates, Gio

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Happy birthday to Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, who turns 33 on December 17.  Utley is looking to rebound from his most disappointing full season in the majors, as he posted just a .769 OPS and didn't play until May 23 due to an unusual knee injury.

Some news from around baseball as we head into the weekend…

NL Central Notes: Reyes, Astros, Molina, Pujols

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The Cardinals not only won the World Series, but they've also been named Baseball America's 2011 Organization Of The Year.  This is the first time the St. Louis organization has taken top honors since Baseball America instituted the award in 1982. 

Here's some other news from around the NL Central….

  • The Pirates are talking to southpaw Jo-Jo Reyes about a minor league contract, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link).  Reyes posted a 5.57 ERA in 29 games with the Blue Jays and Orioles in 2011 and was non-tendered by the O's earlier this week.
  • The Astros will give several of their young arms a shot at the closer's job in Spring Training, reports MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.  Houston also has Brandon Lyon returning to provide some veteran closing experience.  Stay tuned to Closer News for the latest on the Astros' late-game situation.
  • Yadier Molina's contract is up after 2012 and Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders if Molina's friendship with Albert Pujols could make the catcher less inclined to re-sign with the Cardinals.  Molina would be one of the most-sought after members of the 2013 free agent class if he and the Cards don't agree on a new deal.  Miklasz suggests the Angels could target Molina this winter if he hits free agency, but I'd think such a move would only happen if Chris Iannetta is a big disappointment behind the plate in Anaheim.
  • Tony La Russa tells Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Pujols was "conflicted' about leaving the Cardinals to sign with the Angels.  "I know it was a painful decision and it pains him now," La Russa said. "He deserves what he got. He earned it. There's no bad guy here."  La Russa also felt the situation was "unavoidable" and that Pujols "was disappointed there wasn't more enthusiasm from the Cardinals" when the Angels and Marlins made big pushes to sign the superstar at the Winter Meetings.

Minor Moves: Rangers, Lindsay, Texeira, James

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Here's where we'll track today's minor moves, most of which were reported by Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus on Twitter…

Quick Hits: Varitek, A’s, Braves, Cordero, Lee, Pujols

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Some links as Tuesday turns into Wednesday…

  • The Red Sox have not yet made catcher and captain Jason Varitek a contract offer, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Boston added Kelly Shoppach to Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway on Tuesday, a move that likely spelled the end of Varitek's time with the Sox.
  • There are clubs with interest in trading for both Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey and others with interest in both Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado, but Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Athletics and Braves are likely to deal their players separately to maximize the return.  Rosenthal and Morosi note that the Braves and Orioles have discussed a deal that included both Jurrjens and Prado.
  • Interest in free agent closer Francisco Cordero has slowed down, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). His market could hinge on how clubs fill their other roster holes.
  • The Pirates still have interest in first baseman Derrek Lee even after trading for Casey McGehee, reports CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman (on Twitter). Bringing Lee back at first base would allow them to use McGehee at the hot corner with Pedro Alvarez.
  • Heyman hears that the Angels put a deadline on their ten-year, $254MM offer to Albert Pujols (Twitter link). The deal did seem to come together very quickly Wednesday night into Thursday morning last week.
  • The Rockies do have some money to spend according to Heyman (on Twitter). In addition to Carlos Beltran and Michael Cuddyer, they also have interest in Hiroki Kuroda, Joe Saunders, and various trade targets.
  • Morosi says (on Twitter) that Andruw Jones could also be an option for the Rockies if Beltran and Cuddyer sign elsewhere.
  • The Cardinals' interest in pitching upgrades is "understated," reports Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). Both Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook remain on the trade block.
  • The Yokohama Bay Stars have released right-hander Hiroki Sanada so that he may pursue a deal in MLB according to a report passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. No teams bid on Sanada when he was posted last week.
  • The Astros and Rays are possibilities for Ivan Rodriguez, according to Heyman (on Twitter). Though the Mets have discussed Rodriguez, they’re leaning toward relying on Mike Nickeas as their backup to starter Josh Thole.
  • MLBPA executive director Michael Weiner says the Joint Drug Agreement should provide Ryan Braun with privacy and fair proceedings. “I urge all to reserve judgment on this matter until the JDA's process has played itself out," Weiner said in a statement.

National League Non-Tenders

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Here are this year's National League non-tenders. You can also keep track of all teams with our non-tender tracker and check out our list of non-tender candidates:

Players To Avoid Arbitration

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Tonight is the deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration eligible players. Many teams will agree to terms with players before the deadline and we'll keep track of them here:

  • The Orioles have agreed to terms with Dana Eveland on a one-year, $750K deal for 2012, MLBTR has learned.
  • The Giants have agreed to terms with Mike Fontenot on a one-year deal for 2012, avoiding arbitration, MLBTR has learned. It's a $1.05MM deal, according to the Associated Press.
  • The Red Sox announced that they re-signed Matt Albers. He'll earn $1.075MM, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
  • The Padres agreed to terms with Chris Denorfia on a one-year deal, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (Twitter link). The deal is worth $1.165MM, according to Ronald Blum of the AP
    The Pirates agreed to terms with Jason Grilli on a one-year, $1.1MM deal for 2012, MLBTR has learned.
  • The Rockies agreed to terms with Kevin Slowey on a one-year deal, the team announced (on Twitter). Slowey obtains $2.75MM from the Rockies, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link). MLBTR had projected a $2.7MM salary.
  • The Blue Jays agreed to sign Jeff Mathis to one-year deal that guarantees the backstop $1.5MM in 2012, MLBTR has learned. The Blue Jays have since confirmed the move.
  • The Blue Jays have avoided arbitration with Jesse Litsch (one-year, $975K) and Dustin McGowan (one-year, $600K) according to a team press release.
  • The Dodgers have signed outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. to a two-year deal.
  • The A's announced that they agreed to terms with Landon Powell, Daric Barton and Adam Rosales on one-year deals for 2012. The A's aren't non-tendering any arbitration eligible players this offseason. Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group hears Barton will earn $1.1MM in 2012 (Twitter link). Rosales will earn $600K and Powell will earn $620K, according to Ronald Blum of the AP.
  • The Marlins signed Donnie Murphy to a contract for 2012, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (Twitter link). He'll earn $560K, according to Ronald Blum of the AP.
  • The Brewers announced that they signed George Kottaras to a one-year deal, avoiding arbitration. He'll earn $700K, according to Ronald Blum of the AP.
  • The Astros avoided arbitration with Humberto Quintero, signing him to a one-year deal worth $1MM, according to the team. MLBTR had projected a $1.2MM salary for Quintero.
  • The Angels agreed to terms with right-hander Jerome Williams on a one-year deal, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times (on Twitter). Williams agreed to sign for $820K with $120K in incentives, according to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (on Twitter).
  • Skip Schumaker is nearing a two-year deal with the Cardinals.
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