Braves Acquire Wil Nieves
The Braves acquired catcher Wil Nieves from the Brewers for cash considerations, tweets Brewer Nation. The Braves placed backstop Brian McCann on the DL with an oblique injury earlier today.
Nieves, 33, was outrighted to Triple-A Nashville in June after hitting .140/.189/.180 in 54 plate appearances for the Brewers.
Outrighted: Toregas, Hughes, Pucetas, Nieves
Players who cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A:
- The Cubs announced that Brad Snyder has been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa. The outfielder was designated for assignment on the weekend.
- Catcher Wyatt Toregas was outrighted to Indianapolis by the Pirates, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He'd been designated for assignment on Sunday to open a spot for Mike McKenry.
- Lefty reliever Dusty Hughes was outrighted to Rochester to open a 40-man spot with the Twins for infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, according to the team's transactions page. They'd claimed Hughes off waivers from the Royals in January. The Twins will need another spot for Joe Mauer soon.
- Righty Kevin Pucetas, designated for assignment by the Royals on Friday to open a 40-man spot for Mike Moustakas, was assigned outright to Omaha today according to the Royals' Twitter page.
- The Brewers outrighted catcher Wil Nieves to Nashville, writes MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. George Kottaras' contract was selected. The Brewers' 40-man roster count remains at 37. The White Sox are the only other team under 38.
Brewers Sign Wil Nieves
The Brewers officially added depth behind the plate today, signing catcher Wil Nieves to a non-guaranteed deal worth $775K. In addition to the base salary, Nieves can earn $45K in incentives.
The Nationals non-tendered Nieves last week, making him a free agent. Milwaukee has been looking for a backstop to pair with Jonathan Lucroy, though George Kottaras and Mike Rivera may also be in the mix.
Nieves, 33, has spent parts of seven seasons in the majors, posting a .227/.273/.297 line overall. He hit .203/.244/.310 in 172 plate appearances for the Nationals last year and threw out 24% of would-be base stealers, matching his career mark. If the Brewers are thrilled with his performance, they can control Nieves for 2012 as an arbitration eligible player.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first tweeted the Brewers were close to a deal with Nieves, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported (on Twitter) that the sides had an agreement and MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reported the financial details (on Twitter).
Brewers Close To Signing Wil Nieves
The Brewers are close to signing Wil Nieves to a major league deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The Nationals non-tendered the catcher last week, making him a free agent. Milwaukee has been looking for a veteran backstop to pair with Jonathan Lucroy.
Nieves, 33, has spent parts of seven seasons in the majors, posting a .227/.273/.297 line overall. He hit .203/.244/.310 in 172 plate appearances for the Nationals last year and threw out 24% of would-be base stealers, matching his career mark.
National League Non-Tenders
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.
- Rockies: Manny Delcarmen
- Mets: Sean Green Chris Carter, John Maine
- Nationals: Joel Peralta, Wil Nieves, Chien-Ming Wang
- Dodgers: Russell Martin, George Sherrill, Trent Oeltjen
- Giants: Chris Ray, Eugenio Velez
- Pirates: Lastings Milledge, Argenis Diaz, Donnie Veal, Brian Burres
- Diamondbacks: Blaine Boyer, Ryan Church, Augie Ojeda, D.J. Carrasco
- Marlins: Jose Veras, Ronny Paulino
- Padres: Tony Gwynn, Scott Hairston, Matt Antonelli, Luis Perdomo
- Brewers: Todd Coffey, Joe Inglett
- Astros: Sammy Gervacio
- Braves: Matt Diaz
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.
Nationals To Sign Ivan Rodriguez
9:30am: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports notes that this contract "immediately prompted questions within the industry." Scott Boras just has a knack for getting teams to overpay, as you know.
TUESDAY, 12:09am: Ed Price of AOL FanHouse says the deal pays Pudge $2.5-3MM per season.
11:41pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson says it's almost certain that Wil Nieves will be non-tendered now.
11:30pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com reports (via e-mail) that the deal is done, pending a physical.
MONDAY, 11:20pm: The Nationals agreed to sign Ivan Rodriguez to a two-year deal worth $6MM, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown. The Rangers will obtain a supplementary rounder in next year's draft because Pudge signed elsewhere after they offered arbitration.
This is a coup for Scott Boras: a multi-year deal for a 38-year-old catcher in a market filled with comparable options. Pudge hit .249/.280/.382 for the Rangers and Astros last year.
Nationals Content With Catching Depth
It was revealed Tuesday night that Nationals catcher Jesus Flores will miss at least three months, and possibly the entire season, with a stress fracture in his right shoulder. It's terrible news for a Nationals team that has dealt with far too many negatives this season, but, as Zach Berman of the Washington Post writes, don't expect acting GM Mike Rizzo to bring in a catcher from outside the organization.
"Rizzo pledged confidence in the current tandem of Wil Nieves and Josh Bard," writes Berman. "Plus, Flores remains the Nationals' long-term catcher, and it would not be worth sacrificing a prospect for a stopgap during a season that has already gone awry."