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Omar Infante

Braves Sign Omar Infante To Extension

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According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves signed Omar Infante to a two-year deal with a club option.  Troy Renck says the deal is worth $4.325MM.  The club 2011 club option is for $2.5MM with a $250K buyout.  The deal buys out one free agent year with an option on a second.

Infante, 27, hit .293/.338/.416 in 348 plate appearances in ’08 while playing second base, shortstop, third base, left field, and center field.  The Braves acquired Infante and Will Ohman a year ago from the Cubs for Jose Ascanio.

Cubs Send Infante and Ohman To Braves

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UPDATE: 12-4-07 at 10:05am: Rosenthal confirms this baby, noting that the Cubs freed up a few mil for other pursuits.

FROM 12-4-07 at 9:23am:

According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio 1000, the Cubs have sent lefty reliever Will Ohman and infielder Omar Infante to the Braves for righty reliever Jose Ascanio.  Ascanio closed a bit for the Braves’ Double A affiliate last year; he turns 23 in May.  He seems to have strong groundball tendencies.

Infante (acquired for Jacque Jones) and Ohman were a bit redundant on the Cubs’ roster.  They already had Scott Eyre and perhaps Sean Marshall coming from the left side out of the pen. And they’ve got plenty of middle infielders in Ronny Cedeno, Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot, and Ryan Theriot.

Who knows how this one will play out, but the Braves filled a couple of needs more cheaply than they might’ve on the open market.  Ohman makes $1.6MM next year; Infante should be under $2MM.

Cubs Send $2MM To Tigers With Jones

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Turns out the Cubs added a nice bonus for the Tigers to take Jacque Jones off their hands: $2MM in cash.  So let’s see here.  Omar Infante will be up around $1.5MM in ’08, and the Cubs tossed in $2MM.  Jones makes $5MM in ’08, though I’m not sure which team pays out the final chunk of his $4MM bonus.  But I think it’s fair to say that this "salary dump" saved the Cubs about $1.5MM.  The Tigers got Jones pretty cheaply.

So the Cubs didn’t clear much payroll, but they do have a clear vacancy in right field now.  Kosuke Fukudome, as a left-handed hitting right fielder, is a perfect fit.  I think the Cubs are on the right track with that one.  Other considerations could include Ryan Church or J.D. Drew, in my opinion.

Gordon Wittenmyer notes in the above-linked article that the next order of business for Jim Hendry is re-signing Kerry Wood.  This will be a good test of Wood’s loyalty, as some team is liable to come in with some kind of two-year, $15MM type offer.

Jacque Jones Traded For Omar Infante

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UPDATE: The deal is done; the Tigers also get cash considerations.

According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers and Cubs are finalizing a Jacque Jones for Omar Infante swap.  ESPN 1000’s Bruce Levine called this one when no one else had it.

The Tigers would use Jones in left field, maybe sitting him against lefties in favor of Ryan Raburn.  Jones played pretty solid center field defense for the Cubs last year; his ability to play that position was actually making him look like an asset at $5MM in ’08.  The Cubs may be ready to try Felix Pie in center next year, though they have been connected to Mike Cameron.  Many consider the trade of Jones to be a salary dump.  When the Cubs tried to trade him to the Marlins they were set to pay almost all of Jones’ salary.

Infante has shown flashes of offensive ability with the Tigers, but hasn’t hit for the most part.  It would be interesting if the Cubs tried the 26 year-old at shortstop.  He was once a top prospect, beginning 2003 as the Tigers’ starting shortstop at age 21.  He wasn’t up to the task, getting benched by Alan Trammell for lack of hustle before being sent down.  His arm strength as a shortstop has been questioned, and he’s battled through shoulder and other injuries.  Infante may be able to dabble in center field, aside from second base and shortstop.  Or the Cubs could flip him to another team. 

In other Tigers news, Danny Knobler says the team has stepped up their efforts to re-sign Todd Jones before midnight.  At that point Jones would be able to negotiate with other teams.

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