Giants To Hire Lou Piniella
Lou Piniella is joining the San Francisco front office as a consultant, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. Piniella, who retired from managing in August to be closer to his family, will likely evaluate and scout players and advise on player movement from Florida, Shea writes.
Giants GM Brian Sabean knows Piniella from the 1980s, when both were in the Yankees organization. Sabean interviewed Piniella for the Giants’ managerial opening after the 2006 season, before Piniella withdrew his name from consideration.
Minor Deals: Banks, Fiorentino
Mark Hendrickson and Greg Dobbs already agreed to minor league deals today. We'll keep track of some lower-profile agreements right here:
- The Giants signed Josh Banks to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Chris Haft. Banks, a former second round pick of the Blue Jays, has played in the majors every year since 2007, but his only extended taste of the big leagues came in 2008, when he posted a 4.75 ERA in 85 1/3 innings. The 28-year-old right-hander has a 5.66 ERA with 4.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 119 1/3 career innings.
- Jeff Fiorentino is returning to the Orioles on a minor league deal after a year in Japan, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Fiorentino, 27, has appeared in parts of four big league seasons with the Orioles and A's. He made the majors the year after the Orioles selected him the third round of the '04 draft and has since compiled a .270/.341/.324 line in 173 career plate appearances. He has played all three outfield positions, but most of his big league experience has come in center.
West Notes: Young, Rockies, Giants, Napoli
On this day in 1978, the Padres acquired future Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry from the Rangers for left-hander Dave Tomlin and $125K. The trade paid off for San Diego — Perry posted a league-leading 21 wins and captured the NL Cy Young Award. Perry previously won the AL Cy Young in 1972 with the Indians, making him the first man to win the Cy in both leagues.
Some items from the western side of the baseball world…
- The Mike Napoli trade makes it seems like the Rangers are still trying to move Michael Young, argues FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal. The Rockies "still view [Young] as a potential answer at second base," Rosenthal hears from sources. Colorado and Texas discussed Young at the Winter Meetings but talks have been dormant since.
- Rosenthal says the Rangers would have to pay some of Young's salary in a trade with the Rockies, plus take Jose Lopez in return to be their new utility infielder. Troy Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies "love" Young but the Rockies "are tapped out financially this winter." (Twitter links) With this in mind, it's hard to see Colorado acquiring Young unless Texas agrees to cover virtually all of the $48MM Young is owed over the next three seasons.
- The Giants will face a salary crunch next offseason in regards to the rising salaries and arbitration cases of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Brian Wilson, writes MLB.com's Chris Haft. It seems like Wilson would be the clear odd man out of that quartet given how cheaper closing options can be found elsewhere. It's possible the club could arrange to keep all four pitchers since a number of veteran contracts are coming off the books over the next two years — Freddy Sanchez, Miguel Tejada and Mark DeRosa (who combine to make $18.5MM in 2011) are only signed through this season, and Aaron Rowand's deal expires after 2012.
- MLB.com's Lyle Spencer thinks the fact that Napoli was so quickly flipped from the Blue Jays to the Rangers turns the Jays' swap of Vernon Wells to the Angels into "a garden-variety Toronto salary dump." Spencer also thinks Napoli will be unhappy with a potential lack of playing time in Texas. This may be true, but Napoli would've been similarly fighting for at-bats with the Jays, given Toronto's plethora of first base, catcher and DH options.
Giants Sign Marc Kroon To Minor League Deal
The Giants have agreed to terms with right-hander Marc Kroon on a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training according to Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse. He has spent the last six years pitching in Japan and will compete for a bullpen job.
Kroon, 38 in April, was a star closer for the Yokohama Bay Stars and Yomiuri Giants, striking out 12.3 batters per nine innings. He broke his own record for the fastest pitch in Japanese baseball history when he uncorked a 101 mph fastball three years ago. A former second round pick of the Mets, he pitched sparingly for the Padres, Reds, and Rockies in his career, posting a 7.43 ERA in just 26 2/3 big league innings.
The Bronx-born Kroon earned himself more than $13MM during his time in Japan.
NL West Notes: Cantu, Giants, Rockies
We've already caught up on the American League West teams today. Now let's check out the latest news from their counterparts in the Senior Circuit…
- The Padres are in on Jorge Cantu, but would prefer to sign the infielder to a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). San Diego may be a leading suitor for Cantu, as the Braves are not pursuing him.
- Three of the top four Padres prospects on Baseball America's top ten list arrived in the San Diego organization in the Adrian Gonzalez trade. Casey Kelly (1), Anthony Rizzo (2) and Reymond Fuentes (4) figure prominently into the list of promising young Padres.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Giants GM Brian Sabean enters the season in wait-and-see mode. That approach worked out for San Francisco in 2010, when the Giants made key in-season acquisitions and won the World Series.
- Steve Foster of Inside the Rockies expects Mike McKenry, Jose Morales and Matt Pagnozzi to compete to back up Chris Iannetta behind the plate.
Quick Hits: Cashman, Mets, Blanton, Indians, DeRosa
One year ago, the Orioles officially signed Miguel Tejada, bringing him back for his second stint with the club. Unfortunately for the O's, the veteran infielder couldn't match the numbers he'd previously put up in Baltimore, posting a .670 OPS before a July trade sent him to the Padres. While we wait to see what January 23rd will bring this year, here are a few links to browse:
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman would prefer to run a small market team, opines Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, who is beginning to think Cashman may walk away from the Yankees when his contract expires following the 2011 season.
- ESPN's Adam Rubin provides a breakdown of the Mets' 2011 payroll following Jeff Wilpon's statement that the team payroll will be in the $145MM-plus range.
- Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer makes a case for Joe Blanton's value, then says the Phillies need to sell that argument to just one other team. Brookover opines that shedding some money by dealing Blanton could give the Phils a little wiggle room to address other potential areas of need.
- Within a multi-sport mailbag, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer addresses the Indians' third base picture, which could include Jason Donald, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Jared Goedert.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at what the Giants can expect from Mark DeRosa this season. DeRosa is entering the second and final year of the $12MM deal he signed last winter.
- In their newest blog entries, the Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck and MASN's Roch Kubatko each discuss the most recent Orioles rumblings, with a focus on Vladimir Guerrero.
Giants Sign Andres Torres
The Giants have officially signed Andres Torres to a one-year deal "in the $2.1MM range." This is the first time Torres has been eligible for arbitration.
Torres submitted a $2.6MM figure to the club last Tuesday, and the Giants countered with a $1.8MM offer. A $2.1MM settlement would represent a minor win for the Giants in what's been a successful arbitration season for the World Series champs. San Francisco has avoided arbitration with their other six arb-eligible players, as you can follow on the MLBTR ArbTracker.
Torres, who turns 33 on Wednesday, was one of the several unsung players who contributed to San Francisco's World Series title last year. He hit .268/.343/.479 and started 73 games in center field for the Giants, and also contributed a .984 OPS in the Series. Torres earned $426K in 2010.
Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com first reported the agreement while Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News tweeted that it had become official.
Quick Hits: Helton, Hamilton, Danks, Giants
Some links to read as the Rays eye Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero and even Mike Napoli…
- Todd Helton told Troy Renck of the Denver Post that he plans to play for three more seasons. He's under contract through 2013.
- Josh Hamilton isn't under contract for 2011 yet, but he tells Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com that he's bracing himself for an arbitration hearing with the Rangers. The club could look to extend the reigning MVP instead.
- Starlin Castro and Andrew McCutchen are among the players on Jayson Stark's list of the most underrated players in baseball (link at ESPN.com).
- Meanwhile, ESPN.com's Buster Olney includes Jose Reyes and Nate McLouth on his list of players at a career crossroads.
- Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Peter Gammons of MLB Network that he's looking forward to the coming draft, when the Rays will select ten times before the second round. I previewed the Rays' 2011 draft yesterday.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports argues that John Danks would be better off not signing an extension at this point.
- The Giants' 2011 payroll will likely be in the $115MM range, writes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.
Heyman On Fielder, Papelbon, Rays, Giants
Prince Fielder is looking to join the $200MM club and the Red Sox considered trading Jonathan Papelbon to the A's or White Sox, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. Here are the details and the rest of Heyman's rumors:
- Fielder is looking for at least eight years and $200MM or so when he hits free agency after the season, according to Heyman. Not surprisingly, the Brewers don't like the idea of committing that much to their first baseman.
- The Red Sox talked to the A's and White Sox about Jonathan Papelbon. Boston appeared willing to offer Rafael Soriano a one-year deal and make him their closer. If the sides had agreed to a deal, the Red Sox would have sent Papelbon elsewhere, likely to Oakland or Chicago
- The Rays, who are moving toward a deal with Johnny Damon, have also considered Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Russell Branyan and Nick Johnson.
- The Yankees hope to hear from Andy Pettitte soon, but the lefty is still mulling retirement.
- The Giants appear to be nearing a one-year deal with Andres Torres. As our Arb Tracker shows, Torres filed at $2.6MM and the Giants countered with $1.8MM.
- Heyman says there's "scuttlebutt" that the Rangers could look to lock Josh Hamilton up on a multiyear deal.
- Heyman talked to executives about Joey Votto's new deal and arrived at the conclusion I reached after talking to insiders earlier in the week: the Reds didn't appear to gain much from their deal with the reigning NL MVP.
- Heyman points out that Jose Bautista's representatives will have to convince arbitrators to overlook the string of pedestrian seasons that led up to Bautista's mammoth 2010 campaign. For more on Bautista's case, click here.
Giants Sign Jeff Suppan
The Giants have finalized a minor-league deal with Jeff Suppan, tweets Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, who first reported that the sides were close, adds that the deal would pay Suppan $1MM for making the team and includes a late-March opt-out clause (Twitter links).
The 36-year-old will provide the team with insurance in case Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner or Barry Zito got injured.
Suppan posted a 7.84 ERA in 15 appearances with the Brewers before they released him last year. The right-hander then appeared in 15 games for St. Louis and posted a 3.84 ERA for the Cards. Fielding independent pitching stats suggest Suppan's season ERA (5.06) should have been around 5.00. Overall, he logged 101 1/3 innings and posted 4.5 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 40.3% ground ball rate.