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West Notes: Santana, Garza, Gutierrez, Padres

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A look at the AL and NL West..

Astros Acquire Jesus Guzman

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The Padres have traded outfielder/first baseman Jesus Guzman to the Astros for infielder Ryan Jackson, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com (on Twitter).  

San Diego got interest in Guzman in late July, but he wound up staying put for the rest of the season.  The 29-year-old took a step back from his previous two seasons with the Padres in 2013, hitting just .226/.297/.378 in 318 plate appearances.  Prior to that, Guzman had a .277/.342/.446 slash line through 592 PAs in 2011 and 2012.

Jackson, 25, saw time in 20 big league games for the Cardinals from 2012-13 before being waived in the fall and picked up by Houston.  Jackson spent the bulk of 2013 with the Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate in Memphis.  Over the last two years in Memphis, Jackson has a .275/.343/.371 slash line with the better results coming in 2012.  The Padres put a claim in on Jackson when he was up for grabs, but the Astros were able to get him instead, Brock tweets.

Talks Heating Up Between Benoit, Padres

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Talks are heating up between right-hander Joaquin Benoit and the Padres, reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter).

Reports last week indicated that the Padres and Indians were competing for Benoit's services on a two-year deal in the $14MM range. Since that time, Cleveland has inked John Axford, so it's unclear if they're still in on Benoit. The 36-year-old Benoit posted a 2.01 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 with 24 saves in 67 innings for the Tigers in 2013. He's also drawn interest from the Rockies, but he was said to be too expensive for Colorado's tastes, as he's seeking $7-10MM annually.

West Notes: Dodgers, Giants, Astros, Benoit

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The Dodgers' total player expenditures last season – including payroll for a 40-man roster, incentive bonuses, benefits and tax payment, comes out to $248MM, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The Dodgers were assessed $11.4MM under baseball's luxury-tax system, according to a person familiar with the matter. More out of the AL and NL West..

  • Giants GM Brian Sabean says the club is probably done with major league deals, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Because it would be tough to make additions to the big league roster, he's not looking at minor league invites.
  • After losing Jose Veras to the Cubs earlier this evening, Astros GM Jeff Luhnow says he's looking into other pitchers, writes MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. "We're still talking to other relievers," Luhnow said. "Again, the closer role is really going to be determined during Spring Training, and from the standpoint of Josh Fields, Chad Qualls, and Matt Albers, they all have the arm strength and pitches to pitch in the ninth inning. We'll just kind of see what develops. We're not necessarily done on pitching. We're still talking to some pitchers, and we'll see what happens."
  • Corey Brock of MLB.com (on Twitter) gets the sense that Joaquin Benoit is very much in play for the Padres as they're still willing to add a difference maker in back end.

Padres Sign Alberto Gonzalez

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The Padres have signed infielder Alberto Gonzalez to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, per the team's Transactions page. The deal was first reported a week ago by Hely D. Rodriguez of the Venezuelan newspaper El Siglo (Twitter link).

The 30-year-old batted a combined .193/.217/.281 in 60 plate appearances between the Cubs and Yankees in 2013. In parts of seven Major League seasons, the Venezuela native has a .239/275/.315 batting line with four homers. He has more than 400 innings of experience at shortstop, second base and third base, and he's also made brief appearances at first base and each of the outfield corners.

Padres, Indians Competing For Joaquin Benoit

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4:59pm: An official with knowledge of the talks tells ESPN's Buster Olney that the Padres are in the lead for Benoit (Twitter link).

2:05pm: The Padres and Indians are both in on Benoit at two years and $14MM or more, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Padres' offer may include a third-year option, he adds.

12:01pm: The Padres are making a strong push for free agent right-hander Joaquin Benoit, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link).

The move would come as somewhat of a surprise, given GM Josh Byrnes' previous aversion to multiyear pacts for relief pitchers. Huston Street is the only reliever to sign a significant multiyear deal with the Padres during Byrnes' tenure.

Benoit, 36, posted a 2.01 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 with 24 saves in 67 innings for the Tigers in 2013. He's drawn interest from the Rockies, but he was said to be too expensive for Colorado's tastes, as he's seeking $7-10MM annually. Reports yesterday indicated that the Padres were one of the most likely landing spots for Benoit, along with the Indians, Cubs,  Yankees and Mariners.

Padres Acquire Patrick Schuster To Complete Anthony Bass Trade

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The Padres have acquired left-hander Patrick Schuster from the Astros to complete yesterday's Anthony Bass trade, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The Astros will also receive cash considerations from the Padres, according to a team press release.

Houston selected Schuster out of the Diamondbacks organization with the first overall pick in this morning's Rule 5 Draft. The 23-year-old posted a strong 1.83 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 44 innings at Class-A Advanced last season. He held both left-handers and right-handers to an identical .533 OPS.

The Padres have been said to be on the lookout for left-handed relief help this offseason, so perhaps if GM Josh Byrnes and his staff feel that Schuster can succeed in a lefty specialist role at the Major League level, he can stick on the roster all season. Otherwise, San Diego will have to work out a trade with the Diamondbacks in order to keep Schuster in the organization.

Overnight Links: Padres, Rule 5, Rockies, Iglesias

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MLBTR's 24/7 coverage of the 2013 Winter Meetings rolls on, with a few late night (or is it early morning?) links….

  • When the Astros and Padres both included players to be named later in Wednesday's Anthony Bass trade, our Steve Adams suggested the move was related to Thursday's Rule 5 draft, and Jim Callis of Baseball America confirms as much. According to Callis (Twitter links), the Astros and Padres have switched spots in the draft, with San Diego likely to select a pitcher first overall.
  • Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News tweets that the Yankees expect to lose players in Thursday's Rule 5 draft, naming Tommy Kahnle and Danny Burawa as two pitchers who could be selected.
  • The Rockies are looking to add a left-handed reliever and have the money to be flexible, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
  • While they've been linked to major trade candidates like David Price and have one of their own in Matt Kemp, the Dodgers expect to leave Orlando without having completed a major deal, GM Ned Coletti said Wednesday, according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
  • A number of scouts are going directly from the winter meetings to Mexico to watch a showcase for Cuban right-hander Raicel Iglesias, tweets Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports. The workout is scheduled for Friday.
  • The Rangers can afford to approach the free agent and trade markets with patience, says Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com, writing that Texas isn't necessarily under any pressure to make another big move.

Free Agent Rumors: Cruz, Benoit, Valverde, Giants

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As Day Three of the Winter Meetings in Orlando comes to a close, plenty of free agents are still seeking new teams. Here are the latest updates on a few of them:

  • Rockies people tell Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link) that nothing has changed with Nelson Cruz. There's interest in the free agent outfielder, but it's not being characterized as serious at this point.
  • The Mariners have been ardent Cruz pursuers from the start of the winter, and one baseball source tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com they'll continue to be in the mix for him even after adding Robinson Cano, Corey Hart, and Logan Morrison.
  • Teams believe reliever Joaquin Benoit's likeliest destinations are the Indians, Padres, Mariners, Cubs, or Yankees, tweets Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.
  • Agent Scott Boras says client Jose Valverde, who turns 36 in March, intends to continue his big league career and has drawn interest from two big league teams, writes James Schmehl of MLive.com. The Tigers released their former closer in August after his Triple-A reboot didn't go as well as he hoped.
  • Earlier in the evening, assistant GM Bobby Evans expressed optimism that San Francisco would find a left fielder by trade or free agency by the day's end, with Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com naming Franklin Gutierrez as a candidate. However, the Giants no longer expect resolution on their left field situation tonight, says Baggarly (via Twitter). The CSN Bay Area scribe also takes a more in-depth look at some of the club's options.
  • Catcher Kurt Suzuki is talking with the Rockies, Cubs, and Twins, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Astros Acquire Anthony Bass

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The Astros have acquired Anthony Bass and a player to be named later or cash considerations from the Padres in exchange for a PTBNL or cash, the Padres announced on Twitter. The reasoning behind the PTBNLs on each side seems likely to be related to tomorrow's Rule 5 Draft.

The 26-year-old Bass has a 4.08 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a solid 46.9 percent ground-ball rate in 187 1/3 career innings at the Major League level. In 98 innings at the Triple-A level, Bass has a 5.42 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9.

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