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.
Padres Sign Jerry Hairston Jr.
Let the brotherly tradition continue – the Padres signed Jerry Hairston Jr. to a one-year, $2.125MM deal a few days after re-acquiring Jerry's sibling Scott.
Jerry Hairston began the 2009 campaign with the Reds, and was acquired by the Yankees at the trade deadline in exchange for minor leaguer Chase Weems. For the year, Hairston Jr. posted a line of .251/.315/.394, and earned a World Series ring while playing plus defense in small samples at left field, shortstop, and second base. Hairston Jr. also appeared at third base, center field, and right field.
The near-agreement was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports on Sunday, with MLB.com's Corey Brock adding the salary today.
Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
Athletics Acquire Kevin Kouzmanoff
The A's acquired Kevin Kouzmanoff and Eric Sogard from the Padres for Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham. Oakland GM Billy Beane dealt from outfield depth to add certainty at third base, while San Diego GM Jed Hoyer strengthened his outfield with a former Padre.
Kouzmanoff, 28, hit .255/.302/.420 in 573 plate appearances for the Padres last year. He's arbitration-eligible for the first time. His glovework grades out as slightly above average, according to UZR/150.
Baseball America ranked Sogard as San Diego's 17th best prospect coming into the 2009 season, before he hit .293/.370/.400 with more walks (58) than strikeouts (47) in Double-A.
Former Padres GM Kevin Towers dealt Hairston to the A's in July. Now the 30-year-old heads back to San Diego. He hit well with the Padres last year but struggled with the A's. He's arbitration-eligible for the second time.
Cunningham, 24 in April, spent most of '09 at Triple A where he hit .302/.372/.479. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick mentions in a tweet that Cunningham recently underwent surgery for a sports hernia. This is Cunningham's third time being dealt.
MLBTR first reported the trade, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle naming the players involved and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports pointing to the deal's completion.
Our apologies for initially naming Gio Gonzalez as part of this deal.
Padres Avoid Arbitration With Heath Bell
The Padres have officially avoided arbitration with their closer, agreeing to terms on a $4MM salary with Heath Bell, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock. It's a substantial raise over the $1.255 salary Bell made last year, but the righty had an All-Star season.
Brock tweets that the Padres don't have plans to offer Bell or Kevin Kouzmanoff multi-year deals. Both players could be trade bait this summer.
Odds & Ends: Draft, Kouzmanoff, Lincecum, Street
A few Saturday links…
- Via Twitter, Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun spoke to a scouting director who indicated that a committee was forming to work on instituting a world-wide draft and slotting system. "This time it has a chance," said the scouting director.
- Athletics Nation gives A's fans four reasons why they should approve of the Kevin Kouzmanoff–Scott Hairston swap.
- MLB.com's Doug Miller says that whispers of a $20MM arbitration award for Tim Lincecum have "echoed loudly throughout baseball." Obviously, that would be an unprecedented award and break every arbitration record known to man, but it would also make Lincecum the third highest paid pitcher in baseball next season, behind C.C. Sabathia and Johan Santana.
- In a mailbag piece at MLB.com, Thomas Harding says that Huston Street could be a trade candidate if the Rockies drop out of the race and are unable to sign him to an extension. Colorado offered Street a three-year deal earlier this offseason.
- The 30-day exclusive negotiating window between the Hicks Sports Group and the Chuck Greenberg/Nolan Ryan group expired yesterday without the Rangers being sold. Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball has the joint statement released by the two parties, which indicates that they are on the verge of an agreement.
- Tommy Rancel at DRays Bay estimates some arbitration values for Tampa's four remaining arb-eligible players.
Odds & Ends: Hairston, Brewers, Reds, Salazar
Some links for Friday…
- In an interview with 619 Sports out of San Diego, Scott Hairston said he found out he got traded back to the Padres by reading MLBTR. Cool!
- The Brewers will wait until next month before they consider making an offer to Mark Mulder, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
- John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer runs down the Reds' arbitration history.
- The Orioles have signed outfielder Jeff Salazar to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, reports Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.
- The Brewers are still in touch with Mark Mulder and Doug Davis, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- The Yankees offered Jesus Montero straight up for Roy Halladay, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (Hat Tip: River Ave. Blues).
- The Rockies watched Derrick Turnbow throw today, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
- The Nationals are still in the mix to sign Orlando Hudson, who hopes to sign soon (MLB.com's Bill Ladson reporting).
- Pete Caldera of NorthJersey.com hears of some mutual interest between the Yankees and Rocco Baldelli.
- The Rangers avoided arbitration with Brandon McCarthy, agreeing to a $1.32MM deal for 2010, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels tells Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas that he'd like to add a catcher, but he's not about to rush. "We have some time," the GM said.
- Ryan Theriot tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune that he'd like the Cubs to sign Ben Sheets.
- The Mets signed Jolbert Cabrera to a minor league deal, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse (via Twitter).
- Writing for FanGraphs, Patrick Newman explains what the Rangers can expect from new signing Colby Lewis.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted last night that the Mets contacted Jerry Hairston Jr..
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney says some people within the Mets organization believe Omar Minaya will be fired the first time his club slumps badly.
- Olney also notes that Adam LaRoche will be up against a crop of free agent first basemen that could include Carlos Pena, Lance Berkman and Derrek Lee after the season.
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post says the Giants, Padres, Rangers and Mariners have all called about Yorvit Torrealba.
- The Pirates aren't close to agreeing to terms with Zach Duke on his 2010 salary, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Duke made $2.2MM last year in his first season as an arbitration-eligible player.
- The Cardinals will watch Derrick Turnbow throw today, according to Rob Rains of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
- The Cards signed knuckleballer Charlie Zink to a minor league deal, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. After eight years in the Red Sox organization, the 30-year-old will try to break camp with St. Louis.
- Bill James tells Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that he's curious to see how much better the Red Sox are on defense this season.
Five Teams Pursuing Jose Contreras
At least five teams - the Cubs, Cardinals, Rockies, Phillies, and Padres - are named as suitors for free agent righty Jose Contreras in a tweet from Newsday's Ken Davidoff.
Perhaps Contreras' stuff will play up in the NL. The 38-year-old posted a 7.2 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, and 4.92 ERA in 131.6 innings for the White Sox and Rockies last year. He whiffed a batter per inning in his Rockies stint, though we shouldn't read into 17 innings. Contreras averaged 92 mph on his fastball last year, so it appears something is left in the tank. Swingman candidate D.J. Carrasco just got a $950K minor league deal with the Pirates; maybe Contreras will sign a similar deal.
Padres, Cubs Eyeing Jermaine Dye
THURSDAY, 8:06am: MLB.com's Corey Brock has a source saying a Dye deal is "low on likelihood" for the Padres. More likely would be Randy Winn or Jerry Hairston Jr., to whom the Padres have made offers. Another mild possibility for Dye is the Cubs. The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan says they're looking at him for a platoon/backup/DH role.
WEDNESDAY, 11:02am: The Padres are showing interest in free agent outfielder Jermaine Dye, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. However, Morosi believes the Padres would have to trade a veteran to be able to afford him. He names Heath Bell and Kevin Kouzmanoff as trade candidates.
Dye isn't a great fit for a National League club, given his outfield defense. And he's not the type of free agent you make other moves to accomodate. Given the limited interest, I can't see him getting much more than $3MM.
Odds & Ends: Marlins, Chapman, Royals, Padres
Links for Tuesday…
- Talking to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, Rays manager Joe Maddon indicated he'd like to bring in additional players to compete at second base and in the bullpen.
- Derek Lowe told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the Braves' failed attempt to trade him is now an "absolute non-issue."
- According to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, MLB and the players' union expressed concern that the Marlins "have not been spending proceeds from revenue sharing on payroll as required in the Basic Agreement." Look for a slight payroll increase in 2010, and a much bigger one in 2012 when the new ballpark opens.
- John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer passes along Aroldis Chapman contract details from the AP. There are scenarios where Chapman can choose to go to arbitration if he's eligible after the 2012 or 2013 seasons. Meanwhile, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon chronicles the Reds' involvement on Chapman dating back to March.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the Mariners have thought about Jonny Gomes this winter, though he's no longer a great fit.
- MLB.com's Corey Brock tweets/passes along an XX 1090 appearance by Padres GM Jed Hoyer. Hoyer said he has offers out to three free agents.
- MLB.com's Adam McCalvy says Mark Mulder's sit-down with the Brewers is scheduled for Thursday. A minor league agreement is possible.
- Jack Moore of FanGraphs says Aubrey Huff is not an upgrade for the Giants.
Padres Have $5-8MM Left To Spend
A source has indicated that the Padres have about $5-8MM left to spend this offseason, according to Dan Hayes of The North County Times. The team is expected to enter 2010 with a payroll around $40MM.
"There's no question there's good value out there," said (GM Jed) Hoyer, who declined to comment on which players the Padres have targeted. "Certainly we have money to spend. We're going to spread it around to some of our needs. There's a lot of good players."
Hayes says the club's biggest needs are a veteran pitcher, a righty hitting outfielder, a utility player, and a veteran catcher. We've already seen them connected to Mike Redmond, Ramon Castro, Brad Ausmus, Jerry Hairston Jr., Randy Winn, and Reed Johnson, while Hayes throws Josh Fogg's name into the mix.