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Scott Hairston

Quick Hits: Giambi, Young, Hairston, Wakefield

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While a couple more arbitration hearings were averted Thursday, here's a few tidbits of note:

  • The Rockies have a uniquely structured minor-league deal with Jason Giambi, blogs Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Giambi will earn a salary of $850,000 this season or a $250,000 buyout if he's cut during Spring Training (which is unlikely, according to Renck). There's also a mutual option for 2012 worth $1MM with a $150,000 buyout. Finally, Giambi can request that he be released on two separate dates (March 31 and June 1) if he's not on the 25-man roster at those times.
  • The Mets' incentive-laden, one-year deal with Chris Young is structured such that the right-hander will earn bonuses for a variety of benchmarks, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. On top of his $1.5MM base salary, Young can earn as much as $1,525,000 for starts Nos. 10-31 and $1,875,000 for innings 70-180.
  • The Mets' one-year pact with Scott Hairston is a Major League deal, contrary to some earlier reports, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and is worth $1.1MM in base salary and $400,000 in incentives.
  • Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox's 44-year-old knuckleballer, says he hasn't ruled out the possibility of pitching beyond 2011, writes Ian Browne of MLB.com. Wakefield, entering his 16th season with Boston, is in the final year of a two-year deal he signed prior to the 2010 campaign. It's far too soon to guess whether Wakefield would pitch for another team or if one would be interested in him after 2011, but because the knuckleball is relatively easy on the arm, it stands to reason someone might take a flier on him to eat innings in a swing role.

Mets Sign Scott Hairston

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The Mets have officially signed Scott Hairston, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo (on Twitter). Like his brother Jerry, who signed with the Nationals yesterday, Scott is a CAA client.

Hairston spent the 2010 season in San Diego, where he hit .210/.295/.346 in 336 plate appearances. The 30-year-old, who played all three outfield positions last year, has a .278/.331/.498 line against left-handed pitching in his career. Willie Harris and Hairston should provide manager Terry Collins with alternatives to Carlos Beltran, Angel Pagan and Jason Bay in the outfield.

Dodgers In Contact With Three For Left Field

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At this time last season, the Dodgers were ready to start the season with a future Hall of Famer roaming left field. Now they're still trying to find someone for the job after Scott Podsednik declined his half of a mutual option. They had some interest in Bill Hall, but he decided to sign with the Astros. The Dodgers have now turned their attention to three other left field candidates according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick, making contact with Marcus Thames and the brothers Hairston: Scott and Jerry Jr.

Thames, 34 in March, hit .288/.350/.491 in 237 plate appearances for the Yankees in 2010, his best offensive season since 2006. He's a disaster defensively, with a -27.4 UZR/150 in left over the last three seasons. Jerry, the older of the two brothers, played primarily shortstop for the Padres last year, hitting .244/.299/.353 in 476 plate appearances. He dealt with a stress fracture in his tibia at the end of the season. His brother hit .210/.295/.346 in 336 plate appearances for San Diego while battling hamstring issues.

Both Thames and Scott excel at punishing left-handers, with .264/.333/.505 and .278/.331/.498 career batting lines against southpaws, respectively. That would be useful in a division that features lefties Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez, Joe Saunders, and Clayton Richard, among others.

Stark On Crawford, Beltre, Lee, Greinke, Bartlett

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In his latest piece for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark discusses the ripple effect that Jayson Werth's $126MM deal will have on the remaining free agents. One AL official opines that it raises Carl Crawford's price in a "big, big way": "He's looking at maybe eight years, $180 million now, maybe 10 years, $190 million." Here are the rest of Stark's hot stove notes:

  • Crawford is the clear top target for the Angels, but in the past they've tried to avoid going as high as eight years for any player, let alone ten.
  • Despite getting Werth's contract done already, Scott Boras often drags out negotiations for his top clients. Stark polled a dozen people across baseball on when Adrian Beltre would sign, and many predicted it wouldn't happen until Christmas or later.
  • Neither the Yankees or Rangers have made a formal offer to Cliff Lee yet, but many of those baseball people polled by Stark expect a deal to get done within the next week.
  • There's good news and bad news for the Royals and Zack Greinke's trade value: with many free agent arms coming off the board already, Greinke has become more valuable in a pitching-thin market. However, according to one AL source, "Greinke has been trying to convince the Royals that it's not a great idea if he's there next year," which reduces Kansas City's leverage.
  • The Diamondbacks haven't totally ruled out trading Justin Upton, though it appears unlikely. Kevin Towers tells Stark "it's going to take somebody a little on the crazy side" to get anything done.
  • There's a sense that Jason Bartlett is the player most likely to be traded this week. However, Stark has trouble finding a team in need of a shortstop that matches up well with the Rays, who would like a late-inning reliever in return.
  • With Werth off the market, the Phillies will look to replace him with a complementary player rather than a big name. Stark lists Scott Hairston, Jeff Francoeur, and Matt Diaz as a few possible targets. Philadelphia has also been trying to find a taker for Raul Ibanez, but would likely have to eat a good chunk of salary to do so.

National League Non-Tenders

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This post will list all the National League players non-tendered today, but the best place to track all 200+ arbitration eligible players is our new non-tender tracker.

Padres Notes: Denorfia, Gwynn, Hairston

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The Padres have agreed to terms with Chris Denorfia on a one-year deal worth $800K, but two of San Diego's other outfielders may find themselves on the open market before long. MLB.com's Corey Brock hears that the Padres will non-tender Tony Gwynn Jr. and Scott Hairston (Twitter links).

Both Gwynn and Hairston showed up on Tim Dierkes' revised list of non-tender candidates after they were identified as such earlier in the year. Check out our new non-tender tracker here.

Non-Tender Candidate: Scott Hairston

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As we discussed on the weekend, the four-player January trade between the Athletics and Padres included at least one 2010 non-tender candidate, in Kevin Kouzmanoff. For their part though, the A's gave up a player who appears even likelier to be non-tendered this offseason: Scott Hairston.

When the Padres re-acquired Hairston last winter, he was coming off one of his finest seasons in the bigs. Splitting time between San Diego and Oakland, who traded for him last July, Hairston hit .265/.307/.456 overall, with the better half of his season coming in San Diego (.299/.358/.533). Unfortunately for Hairston and the Padres, his second stint with the club hasn't been as successful. The 30-year-old battled a hamstring injury earlier in the season, and has hit just .215/.298/.353 in 329 plate appearances. Hairston's struggles can't be blamed on his pitcher-friendly home park either; he has an ugly .193/.283/.320 slash line on the road.

Hairston is earning $2.45MM this year and has seen the Padres' outfield get a little more crowded with the acquisition of Ryan Ludwick. Both players will enter their final season of arbitration eligibility in 2011, and Hairston's chances of being tendered a contract might depend in part on what the Padres do with Ludwick. Given Ludwick's larger 2010 salary ($5.45MM) and the fact that his production for the Padres (.239/.330/.368) hasn't been much better than Hairston's, it's conceivable that the team could decide to part ways with the former Cardinal.

Even with Ludwick out of the picture, however, Hairston would be lucky to be tendered a contract. The Padres may prefer to turn to a cheaper outfield option rather than spending $2.5MM+ to retain Hairston for another year. Click here to vote on the Padres' decision, and click here to view the results.

Odds & Ends: Mauer, Hairston, Buck, Benson

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Links for Tuesday…

Odds & Ends: Mora, Edmonds, Nelson

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Saturday linkage…

  • With Orlando Cabrera "leaning towards" accepting an offer from Cincinnati, Troy Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies are "a finalist" in the hunt for Melvin Mora.  Renck reports that Colorado, Texas and Seattle are the most interested parties.
  • Jim Edmonds tells MLB.com's Adam McCalvy that Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told Edmonds on Wednesday that "he didn't see a fit" for the outfielder in St. Louis.  Edmonds signed with Milwaukee a day later.
  • Righty Joe Nelson is attracting interest from the Dodgers, Nationals, and Red Sox, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  The journeyman reliever broke through with the Marlins in 2008, posting a 2.00 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 54 innings.  His 2009 with the Rays was less than spectacular, but the 35-year-old points to his performance outside May, as he had a 2.38 ERA in the 10 games prior and a 1.40 ERA in 20 games after.
  • Jonny Gomes and the Reds are close to agreeing to a deal, according to ESPN.  Yesterday, GM Walt Jocketty confirmed that the club offered a minor league deal to the 29-year-old outfielder.  Gomes proved to be one of the best minor league signings of 2009, hitting .267/.338/.541 with 20 HRs in 98 games.
  • The Padres have set an arbitration date with outfielder Scott Hairston, though they hope to reach an agreement beforehand, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com (via Twitter).  Brock writes that the two sides could come to terms next week.
  • ESPN's Jorge Arangure (via Twitter) gets the feeling that Cuban prospect Jose Julio Ruiz may sign this week or shortly thereafter.  Ruiz – who has reportedly garnered interest from the Red Sox and Tigers – was "unblocked" by the Office of Foreign Asset Control yesterday, allowing him to sign with a major league club.
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