Players To Avoid Arbitration: Tuesday
Noon ET today was the deadline for both the team and player to submit their salary figures for arbitration, however the two sides can come to an agreement at any point before the actual hearing. The hearings are scheduled for the first week of February.
We'll keep track of the players who avoid arbitration today by agreeing to deals here. Make sure you check back in for updates, and be sure to click the "Continue Reading" link to see today's full list of settlements. Yesterday's list can be found here.
- Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Angels avoided arbitration with Mike Napoli and Reggie Willits by signing the duo to one-year deals. Napoli will earn $3.6MM in 2010 with a $100K bonus if he makes 120 starts. Willits' contract is worth $625K.
- Zach Duke's one-year contract with Pittsburgh is worth $4.3MM with no performance bonuses, tweets Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- The Padres and reliever Mike Adams have agreed to a contract, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock (via Twitter). Brock's follow-up tweet says Adams' deal is worth $1MM, virtually splitting the difference between San Diego's $875K offer and Adams' $1.2MM demands.
- Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets that the Twins have agreements in place with all eight of their arbitration eligible players. In a follow-up tweet, Christensen reports that Francisco Liriano agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.6MM and Jesse Crain agreed to a one-year contract worth $2MM.
- Marc Carig of the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that the Mets avoided arbitration with reliever Sean Green (via Twitter). The one-year deal was worth $975K, according to the New York Daily News' Anthony McCarron.
- The Tigers avoided arb with Gerald Laird and Zach Miner as well according to James Jahnke of The Detroit Free Press. MLB.com's Jason Beck tweets the details on the one-year contracts: Laird will earn $3.95MM, Miner will earn $950K.
- Christensen tweets that the Twins avoided arb with Brendan Harris, signing him to a two year deal worth $3.2MM with another $650K in possible incentives.
- The Tigers and Bobby Seay avoided arbitration according to MLB.com's Jason Beck (via Twitter), agreeing to a one year deal worth $2.475MM.
- Thesier tweets that Matt Guerrier agreed to a one year deal worth $3.15MM with the Twins, avoiding arb.
- Amalie Benjamin of The Boston Globe tweets that the Red Sox have avoided arbitration with Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen, with Delcarmen getting $905K plus incentives according to Joe McDonald of The Providence Journal. Boston avoided arb with Jonathan Papelbon as well.
Players Tendered Contracts
Midnight ET is the non-tender deadline, so we'll keep track of all the players who are offered and/or agreed to contracts today in this post. Keep coming back throughout the day for updates.
- Washington tendered contracts to Josh Willingham, Jesus Flores, Wil Nieves, Jason Bergmann, and Sean Burnett.
- Zach Duke was tendered an offer by the Pirates.
- The Marlins reached an agreement with Ronny Paulino. The deal will be for one-year, $1.1MM.
- The Royals avoided arbitration by reaching one year deals with Brian Bannister ($2.3MM) Roman Colon ($660K), and Kyle Davies ($1.8MM).
- Dioner Navarro will remain with the Rays on a one-year deal worth $2.1MM.
- The White Sox will offer contracts to Bobby Jenks, John Danks, Carlos Quentin, and Tony Pena.
- Milwaukee will tender offers to six players: Dave Bush, Carlos Villanueva, Todd Coffey, Jody Gerut, Corey Hart, and Carlos Gomez.
- Toronto will tender an offer to Jeremy Accardo.
- Kevin Correia will remain with the Padres for one-year, $3.6MM.
- The Rangers have signed Esteban German to a 2010 contract. He'll earn $600K in the majors and $200K in the minors. They offered contracts to their other arbitration-eligible players including Scott Feldman, Chris Ray, Frank Francisco, C.J. Wilson, Dustin Nippert, Brandon McCarthy, and Josh Hamilton.
- Tampa Bay avoided arbitration with Lance Cormier by inking him to a one-year deal. The contract will pay Cormier $1.2MM.
- The Twins will tender contracts to all 30 unsigned players on their 40-man roster. That means Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, J.J. Hardy, Brendan Harris, Francisco Liriano, Pat Neshek, Delmon Young, and many more figure to be in the Twins' plans in 2010.
- The following eight Cubs will receive offers from the team: Carlos Marmol, Ryan Theriot, Jeff Baker, Angel Guzman, Sean Marshall, Koyie Hill, Tom Gorzelanny, and Mike Fontenot.
- Atlanta tendered offers to relievers Peter Moylan and Boone Logan.
- The Marlins will tender offers to almost all of their arbitration-eligible players – Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu, Ricky Nolasco, Cody Ross, Josh Johnson, Leo Nunez, and Renyel Pinto.
- The Astros will tender offers to all remaining arbitration-eligible players. This means Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, Wandy Rodriguez, Matt Lindstrom, Tim Byrdak, Chris Sampson, Jeff Keppinger, and Humberto Quintero are invited back.
- Matt Albers and Cla Meredith have agreed to terms with the Orioles. Albers' deal is worth $.68MM for one-year. Meanwhile, Meredith will recieve $.85MM in 2010.
- Randy Choate agreed to a one year deal. Terms of the deal are one-year, $700K.
Odds And Ends: Volquez, Hamilton, Pirates
Time for some afternoon links…
- Over at SI.com Jonah Keri looks back at a win-win trade that lost its luster. Josh Hamilton and Edinson Volquez seemed like perfect fits for their new teams just last year, but injuries have shelved both.
- In his MLB.com chat, Pirates president Frank Coonelly defended the organization's choice to flip Jason Bay for prospects last summer. FanGraphs values Andy LaRoche's 2009 performance more than Bay's, believe it or not.
- Coonelly says the Pirates are the only club to have offered Miguel Angel Sano "significant dollars." Don't expect Sano to sign until the investigation into his age is complete, however.
- Brandon Phillips would consider playing short if the Reds want him to, according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Odds And Ends: Hamilton, Vizquel, Draft
Why not rattle off a few more links to wrap up this Monday afternoon…
- As MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports, Josh Hamilton will miss 4-6 weeks to repair a partially torn abdominal muscle.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports believes the Rangers are for real.
- He says Jon Daniels is not looking to trade Omar Vizquel.
- ESPN.com's Keith Law believes Stephen Strasburg will sign this year. He could be in line for a September debut, perhaps as a reliever.
- Law's high on Tyler Matzek, a polished high schooler who should go early in the first round.
- As Baseball America's J.J. Cooper reports, Tanner Scheppers boosted his draft stock by pitching in the upper 90s in his final start for the St. Paul Saints.
- Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post says the Marlins could go after pitching with their first round pick, especially since the draft is pitching-heavy early on.
- MLB.com's Corey Brock says the Padres will take Dustin Ackley if the Mariners don't.
- Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says Josh Fields found his recent demotion "hard to swallow."
Odds And Ends: Eyre, Michael Taylor, Borkowski
Tonight all eyes will be on Randy Johnson as he goes for his 300th win. Here are some links to keep you going until then…
- Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the Phillies are in no hurry to deal prospect Michael Taylor, who's slugging over .600 at Double A. Taylor understands that, as a corner outfielder, there's not much room for him in Philly. Could Taylor be a trade chip as the Phillies look to add pitching?
- Andy Martino of the Inquirer reports that Scott Eyre says he's "more than 90 percent" sure he'll retire after this year. Eyre, 37, has pitched for five teams in 13 seasons.
- Roy Halladay threw 133 pitches last night and ESPN.com's Rob Neyer hopes for Halladay's sake that it isn't the beginning of a trend though he doesn't criticize Cito Gaston's decision to let Doc pitch.
- Baseball America has more minor league transactions. Dave Borkowski was released by the Astros after he was designated for assignment.
- John Fay of the Cincinnati Inquirer revisits the Josh Hamilton for Edinson Volquez deal and asks Reds fans whether they like the deal for their team.
Rangers Make Contract Offer To Hamilton
THURSDAY, 8:46am: Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a bit more. He says the Rangers are aiming to buy out at least one year of free agency, and will probably use the contracts given to Ian Kinsler and Hank Blalock as guidelines.
WEDNESDAY, 4:36pm: According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, the Rangers presented a contract offer to Josh Hamilton and his agent. Hamilton was "disappointed" with the proposal.
Sullivan notes that Hamilton is already under team control through 2012, and is believed to be seeking "a deal in the 4-6 year range with possible options." Hamilton will be arbitration-eligible for the first time after this season.
Rangers Working On Extending Hamilton
According to Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram, the Rangers are expected to begin moving toward a long-term contract extension for Josh Hamilton and could have something done by the end of spring training. The Rangers have been discussing this for over a month.
For how much or how long remains to be seen. Hamilton has 3 years of arbitration remaining after this year before becoming eligible for free agency in 2012. Wilson thinks Texas will want to cover 2 years of free agency. The Rangers signed Ian Kinsler to a 5-year, $22MM deal in February 2008 so a five-to-six year deal similar to the Kinsler deal, or recent deals signed by Dustin Pedroia (6 years), Troy Tulowitzki (6 years), Evan Longoria (6 years), or Ryan Braun (8 years), could be expected for Hamilton.
T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com says the Rangers are expected to make a proposal to Hamilton's agent, Michael Moye, early this week.
Heyman On Pudge, Pedro, Catalanotto
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up; let’s take a look.
- Heyman says Oakland’s "win now" mandate this winter came from owner Lewis Wolff.
- The Astros and Marlins are interested in Ivan Rodriguez, "no matter what they say publicly."
- Heyman says Pedro Martinez is "talking up a Dodgers reunion." So far, there’s been no indication the Dodgers are entertaining it.
- Edgar Renteria‘s agent was initially asking for a three or four-year deal.
- It’s no surprise that Frank Catalanotto is available, but the $6MM owed to him is an obvious impediment.
- According to Heyman, Andruw Jones told Rangers brass he’s flexible on the March 20th decision date in his contract.
- Heyman describes the Josh Hamilton extension talks as "just getting going" and believe the John Lackey discussions have only been preliminary.
Rangers Sign Hamilton, Eight Others
According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers signed all nine of their pre-arbitration players Wednesday.
Josh Hamilton, who will become eligible for arbitration after the 2009 season, is the most notable name on the list. He inked a one-year deal worth $555K. The club is still expected to explore a long-term deal with the 27-year-old slugger later this spring.
Rangers, Hamilton Planning Extension Talks
According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers plan to embark on long-term contract discussions with Josh Hamilton‘s agents later this spring.
Tim suggested last week that Dustin Pedroia‘s six-year, $40.5MM extension could be a model for the Rangers and Hamilton’s representatives, as both players have two years of MLB service time. Hamilton, 27, went nuts last season, finishing with a line of .304/.371/.530. He also blasted 32 home runs and racked up 130 RBI.