Yankees Sign Chad Gaudin
The Yankees signed pitcher Chad Gaudin to a major league deal. He'll join the team tonight for a middle relief role, taking lefty Boone Logan's spot on the 25-man roster. To make room for Gaudin on the 40-man roster, the Yankees designated right-hander Shane Lindsay for assignment.
Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News first reported the agreement.
Gaudin, 27, was acquired by the Yankees from the Padres in August of last year. The arbitration-eligible righty agreed to a non-guaranteed contract after the season, and the Yanks cut him after a rough Spring Training. Gaudin then signed as a free agent with the Athletics, but was released a few days ago after turning down a minor league assignment.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Monday
More 2010 salary agreements are expected in advance of Tuesday's noon deadline for exchanging arbitration figures.
- Chad Durbin has avoided salary arbitration, agreeing to a $2.125MM contract with the Phillies, tweets Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. This marks an increase over the $1.635MM he received by avoiding arbitration last year.
- The Rockies signed Ryan Spilborghs to a two-year deal worth $3.25MM, reports Troy Renck of The Denver Post. The 30-year-old, who was arb-eligible for the first time, could earn an additional $1.15MM in incentives over the course of the deal.
- Arizona agreed to terms with right-handed pitchers Chad Qualls and Aaron Heilman, reports Steve Gilbert of MLB.com (via Twitter). Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated tweets that Heilman gets $2.15MM whereas Qualls will make $4.185MM in 2010. This was the third arbitration-eligible year for both players.
- The Bombers avoided arbitration with their last two eligible players, Chad Gaudin and Boone Logan, according to Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog. This was Gaudin's third arbitration-eligible year and Logan's very first. Marc Carig of the Newark Star Ledger reports that Gaudin will make $2.95MM with incentives while Logan will make $590K.
- The Rangers agreed to terms with pitcher C.J. Wilson on a one-year deal worth $3.1MM, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. The deal represents a $1.25MM raise in base pay for the 29-year-old, who avoided his first potential arbitration hearing this time a year ago.
- The Reds agreed to terms with Jared Burton, their last arbitration-eligible player, reports John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer. This was Burton's first flirtation with the arbitration process.
- The Marlins avoided arbitration with Anibal Sanchez and Renyel Pinto by signing each to one-year deals, according to the Marlins' official twitter page. This is the first go-round in arbitration for both players. Sanchez will earn $1.25MM with up to $100K in bonuses, reports Jon Paul Morosi (via Twitter). Pinto will make $1.075 according to the Associated Press.
- Tony Pena and the White Sox have avoided arbitration, agreeing to terms on a one-year deal, tweets White Sox VP Scott Reifert. Pena will earn $1.2MM, according to Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). This was the 28-year-old's first time being arbitration-eligible.
- Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla settled at $7.8MM, writes MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. It's a $2.45MM raise for the slugger, who was arb-eligible for the second time. He remains a trade candidate. Uggla told Frisaro he was happy to avoid a hearing, even after winning last year.
- The Brewers signed outfielder Jody Gerut for 2010, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. MLB.com's Adam McCalvy pegs the value at $2MM, a $225K raise. This is Gerut's final arbitration year.
- Blue Jays pitcher Shaun Marcum, who missed '09 due to Tommy John surgery, signed for $850K tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. 2010 is Marcum's first arbitration year.
Yankees Acquire Vazquez; Melky To Braves
The Yankees and Braves agreed to a trade that solidifies New York's rotation and gives Atlanta enough payroll flexibility to pursue a bat. The Yankees acquire Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan in exchange for Melky Cabrera, cash (according to ESPN.com) and prospects Mike Dunn and Arodys Vizcaino. We first heard of the trade talks from Buster Olney, Joel Sherman confirmed that the Yanks were after Vazquez and Jon Heyman provided the details. Check out an in-depth chronology of the trade here.
The Yankees re-acquire one of the better, more durable strikeout pitchers in the game. Vazquez has pitched 198 innings or more every year of this decade and he's struck out at least 150 batters in every one of those seasons. You can make the argument that he was one of the best pitchers in the NL last season, whether you like advanced stats (6.6 WAR) or simple ones (2.87 ERA, 238 Ks).
The Yanks also obtain Logan, a 25-year-old lefty who has been hittable so far in his major league career, and the chance for compensation picks after 2010. If Vazquez becomes a Type A free agent (he would have been one this year) and turns down the team's offer of arbitration to sign elsewhere, the Yankees would get two top picks.
As Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says, the Braves obtain a decent outfielder who's getting paid less than what he's worth and a prospect with significant upside (Vizcaino), all while saving $8MM or more (I'm guessing Melky makes $2.5-3MM next season). The Braves dealt from strength and the pitchers they obtained have lots of potential, if you ask MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo.
Javier Vazquez Trade Reactions
The word yesterday evening was that the Braves acquired starter Javier Vazquez and lefty reliever Boone Logan for Tyler Flowers, Brent Lillibridge, Jon Gilmore, and Santos Rodriguez (MLB.com’s Mark Bowman confirms the prospects). Look for the trade to become official tommorrow. Reactions to the deal:
- South Side Sox expects a couple of accompanying moves: the trade of Jermaine Dye for a young starter and the signing of an affordable free agent outfielder. They don’t see the White Sox benefitting from the Vazquez trade in 2009, but at least Ozzie cleared out his doghouse.
- Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune says the Sox will still have power if Dye is dealt. Gonzales also provides info on the prospects received for Vazquez.
- Yahoo’s Tim Brown says the White Sox are also willing to trade Paul Konerko and Jim Thome.
- Sox Machine provides a more in-depth look at the prospects.
- From the Braves’ point of view, J.C. Bradbury sees this as a solid win-now move that won’t affect the ’09 team.
- Ken Davidoff says the Braves will now have less of a need for Jake Peavy or A.J. Burnett. I think, though, that they’ll still aggressively try to acquire one of the two. Most of the rumored packages for Peavy didn’t involve the prospects sent to Chicago, with the possible exception of Flowers.
- Dave Cameron notes Vazquez’s career-long underachievement. This always baffled me when trying to do fantasy baseball projections based on component stats.
Braves To Acquire Javier Vazquez
7:42pm: O’Brien believes Chicago’s return to be Flowers, Lillibridge, third baseman Jon Gilmore, and pitcher Santos Rodriguez.
7:05pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the White Sox will actually receive four players in the deal. They’ll choose from a list of five, with Flowers and Lillibridge their top targets.
5:34pm: Rosenthal says an announcement could come Wednesday or Thursday. He says Lillibridge is in the deal along with a young starter, but it’s not Reyes. Additionally, highly regarded catcher Tyler Flowers might be the third prospect (which would improve the trade quite a bit for the Sox). Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein says Flowers profiles as an offense-first catcher, but there are questions about his ability to stay behind the plate. Dave O’Brien notes that Sox GM Ken Williams saw Flowers play in Arizona and "practically drooled over him."
5:19pm: ESPN’s Peter Gammons says Vazquez is flying to Atlanta tomorrow for a physical; the deal will be finalized then. The White Sox will send Vazquez and lefty Boone Logan to the Braves for Reyes, Lillibridge, and another prospect. I’m wondering – with Reyes and another prospect gone, do the Braves still have the goods to pull off a Jake Peavy trade? With Vazquez added, the Braves should be less desperate if talks for Peavy resume.
4:53pm: Rosenthal now says the Braves are on the verge of acquiring Vazquez.
4:22pm: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Braves are in serious discussions with the White Sox for starter Javier Vazquez. The White Sox could receive as many as three players, with Jo-Jo Reyes and Brent Lillibridge among the names discussed. Vazquez is set to earn $11.5MM in each of the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Acquiring him would definitely take some pressure off the Braves, who aim to add two quality starters to put in front of Jair Jurrjens.