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Masahiro Tanaka Rumors: Sunday

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Masahiro Tanaka will reportedly command a contract in the neighborhood of $120MM over six years (plus the expected $20MM posting fee) and is said to have received such an offer from the Diamondbacks. Here's the latest with five days remaining before Tanaka's posting period expires Friday at 4pm CT:

  • The Cubs' convention this weekend was rather quiet, but that might have been different if Tanaka's deadline had been a week earlier, Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago writes. One source told Rogers that the Cubs would be willing to sign Tanaka for up to six to eight years at $25MM per year, while another told him the Cubs would be willing to go with that time frame, but at a lower price.
  • Tanaka's decision should come Tuesday or Wednesday to allow time for further medical exams to take place prior to the Friday deadline, an AL scout tells David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com (via Twitter).
  • Kaplan tweets the same scout tells him the Cubs' current state is the biggest drawback in their landing Tanaka. Yesterday, we learned the Cubs made a formal offer to Tanaka, but are considered a long shot to win the bidding. 
  • The White Sox, who also have reportedly have made a formal offer to Tanaka, are in the same boat as the Cubs, tweets Kaplan.
  • The Mariners may have been priced out of contention for Tanaka or the 25-year-old's interest in Seattle wasn’t as high as some thought, reports the Seattle Times' Geoff Baker. 

Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

West Notes: Astros, Dodgers, Mariners, Rangers

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A source tells MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo that the Astros haven't discussed a long-term extension with Jason Castro yet. The 26-year-old appears to be a candidate for a long-term deal after a 2013 breakout campaign that saw him slug 18 home runs and generate 4.3 fWAR, tops among AL catchers not named Joe Mauer. However, he's now eligible for arbitration, and could become expensive quickly if he's not interested in an extension. As FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal observed recently, teams appear increasingly willing to trade players who resist being locked up. Here's more from baseball's Western divisions:

Tony La Russa Doubts He’ll Get Mariners Job

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Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa doesn't think he'll be selected as the Mariners' next president, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. "It’s likely I won’t even get an interview," La Russa told fans at a Cardinals event today. "I’ve heard they’ve got a couple of good guys in house. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity and I would love to put my two cents in as to what contribution I could make. But I don’t think it’s going to happen."

The Mariners are looking for a new president to replace Chuck Armstrong, who is departing at the end of the month. A report last week indicated that the Mariners might consider La Russa if they expanded their search beyond in-house candidates, but it now appears likely that they'll hire their new executive from within.

Minor Moves: Joe Beimel, Logan Kensing, Manny Pina

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There were a few minor moves from earlier today that got lost in the arbitration shuffle:

  • Seattle has also inked southpaw Joe Beimel, tweets Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports. The 36-year-old last pitched in the bigs in 2011, but Brown says his velocity has returned after making a full recovery from Tommy John surgery.
  • The Mariners have signed righty Logan Kensing and catcher Manny Pina to minor league deals with Spring Training invites, according to the club's non-roster invitee page. Kensing, 31, has a 5.79 ERA in 161 2/3 MLB innings. He made one appearance last year for the Rockies, but last saw the show in 2009. Pina 26, has had two brief cups of coffee with the Royals. At Triple-A last year for the Kansas City organization, he put up a .228/.274/.359 triple-slash in 325 plate appearances.
  • Only one player remains in DFA limbo at the moment, per MLBTR's DFA Tracker: Carlos Peguero of the Mariners.

Mariners Sign John Buck

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The Mariners announced today that they've added to their catching depth by inking veteran backstop John Buck to a one-year contract. Buck's contract is a Major League deal that is reportedly worth $1MM and should make him the favorite to serve as Seattle's backup catcher. The 33-year-old is a client of the ACES agency.

Buck

Buck, an All-Star back in 2010, got off to a hot start last season for the Mets. He ended April with a .844 OPS and 9 home runs, but faded over the course of the year. Buck ended up with a composite .219/.285/.362 line in 431 plate appearances for the year, though he did swat 15 home runs. His overall numbers line up with the figures he posted over the previous two seasons, falling well shy of his two best seasons: 2009 (.247/.299/.484) and 2010 (.281/.314/.489, 20 home runs).

Buck has appeared in at least 100 games in eight of the last nine seasons, making him a durable option. He has rated positively in terms of blocking pitches in the dirt, but has been ranked among the worst pitch framers in the game. Indeed, according to StatCorner (hat tip to Dave Cameron of Fangraphs), Buck came in dead last among all catchers in framing last year, costing the Mets over 20 runs.

Buck inked a three-year, $18MM contract with the Marlins after those big 2009-10 campaigns, but — depending upon how one values catchers, in particular — never quite lived up to the deal. Fangraphs figures his value at 4.1 WAR over the life of the deal, while Baseball Reference pegs it at just 1.1. And further downward adjustment could be warranted to account for Buck's poor framing metrics. He was ultimately dealt three times over the life of the contract: first to the Blue Jays, then to the Mets, and then to the Pirates. Hitting the open market for a third time, Buck ultimately settled for a relatively modest guarantee this time around.

Young catcher Mike Zunino figures to be the Seattle's primary catching option for 2014 (and beyond), but Buck will presumably leapfrog 25-year-old Jesus Sucre and veteran Humberto Quintero on the depth chart. As MLBTR's Aaron Steen has noted, the unseasoned Zunino could probably stand to spend more time in the minors or in a reduced role. With Buck's long history as a starter, however, he is a plausible candidate to see significant time behind the big league dish.

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported that the two sides were nearing a deal, and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported (on Twitter) that the two sides had reached a $1MM agreement.

Steve Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mariners Designate Carlos Peguero For Assignment

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The Mariners announced that they have designated outfielder Carlos Peguero for assignment in order to clear a roster spot for the recently signed John Buck.

The 26-year-old Peguero offers tremendous left-handed power but struggles against left-handed pitching and has long had a serious problem with strikeouts. He batted .260/.321/.460 in 505 Triple-A plate appearances last season and boasts a career .230 ISO (slugging minus batting average) in the minor leagues. However, Peguero has batted just .195/.242/.380 in the Majors.

Baseball America ranked him among Seattle's Top 30 prospect four times, twice placing him as high as No. 11. In their most recent write-up, they noted Peguero's freakish athleticism and surprising speed for a 6'5", 247-pound player, stating that he could be an average defender at a corner outfield spot. However, they also noted that he's likely a platoon player that will always post troubling strikeout numbers due to an inability to recognize breaking pitches.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Wednesday

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Click here for background on the upcoming arbitration schedule and how MLBTR will be covering it. You can also check in on our Arbitration Tracker and look at MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz's arbitration projections. We'll use this post to keep tabs on players avoiding arbitration today:

  • Josh Outman, who avoided arbitration with the Indians last night, will earn a $1.25MM salary in 2014, the Associated Press reports (via ESPN).
  • The Rockies have avoided arbitration with lefty Franklin Morales, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com (via Twitter). Morales was recently picked up from the Red Sox in exchange for Jonathan Herrera, and was projected to earn $1.8MM by Swartz. His salary comes in just below that mark at $1.7125MM, according to a tweet from the Denver Post's Troy Renck. 
  • Burke Badenhop has settled on a one-year deal with the Red Sox, the club announced in a press release. The right-handed reliever, who was acquired from the Brewers back in November, came with a projected $2.2MM price tag and will in fact earn $2.15MM, according to a tweet from WEEI.com's Alex Speier. Badenhop's last two seasons have been uncannily similar. In both 2012 and 2013, Bandenhop threw 62 1/3 innings, registered 42 strikeouts (6.1 K/9) against 12 walks (1.7 BB/9), and surrendered six home runs. He allowed just one less hit (62) last year than in 2012, though his ERA rose from 3.03 to 3.47 due to a drop in his strand rate.
  • The Mets have reached agreement with infielder Ruben Tejada on a 2014 contract, the club announced on Twitter. He will earn a $1.1MM salary in his first year of arbitration eligibility, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, which is in line with his $1MM projection. Tejada struggled to a .202/.259/.260 mark in 227 plate appearances last year, but is still only 24 years old. He will have three more years of arb eligibility since he qualified as a Super Two player.
  • The Rangers have reached agreement on a one-year deal to avoid arbitration with southpaw Neal Cotts, the club announced via press release. The deal will pay Cotts $2.2MM, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Cotts will earn $700K over Swartz's projection.
  • Outfielder Michael Saunders has reached agreement with the Mariners on a deal to avoid arbitration, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). The 27-year-old will earn $2.3MM (plus incentives) in his first arb-eligible season, Divish tweets, which comes in just above the $2MM projection from Swartz.

Mariners Close To Deal With John Buck

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TUESDAY, 4:20pm: Seattle is expected to give Buck a major league contract, Morosi tweets.

MONDAY, 11:25pm: The Mariners are close to a deal with free agent catcher John Buck, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Buck, 33, is represented by the ACES agency.

The backstop played out the last year of a three-year, $18MM contract last season. After originally signing that deal with the Marlins, Buck was dealt from the Blue Jays to the Mets, and then to the Pirates. Buck raced out to a hot start in 2013 — he had a .844 OPS and 9 home runs in April — but faded over the course of the year. He saw only 24 plate appearances in his late-season stint in Pittsburgh, and ultimately ended the 2013 campaign with a .219/.285/.362 line and 15 home runs over 431 plate appearances. Buck has appeared in at least 100 games in eight of the last nine seasons and has a lifetime .701 OPS.

As things stand for Seattle, young catcher Mike Zunino figures to be the club's primary catching option for 2014 (and beyond), with 25-year-old Jesus Sucre and veteran Humberto Quintero also in the mix. At first glance, Buck would presumably fit in as Zunino's backup if a deal is consummated. On the other hand, as MLBTR's Aaron Steen has noted, the unseasoned Zunino could probably stand to spend more time in the minors or in a reduced role, and Buck's long history as a starter makes him a plausible candidate to see significant time behind the big league dish.

Brewers Notes: Aoki, Melvin, Loney, First Base

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The trade of Norichika Aoki to the Royals for southpaw Will Smith was "was coaxed primarily by Aoki's agent to assure more playing time," Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.  Khris Davis' impressive rookie season put him in line for a starting job in 2014, and with Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez locked into the other two starting outfield spots, Aoki was looking at a reduced role with the Brewers next season.

Here's some more Brewers news from Haudricourt's chat with Brewers GM Doug Melvin…

  • Melvin reiterated his stance that the Brewers' lack of major offseason moves is due to the belief that the team will improve simply with the continued development of young players and the returns of suspended or injured stars like Braun or Aramis Ramirez.
  • The Brewers pursued James Loney, who instead re-signed with the Rays for a three-year, $21MM contract.  "We knew if he had the same deal he was probably going to go back to Tampa," Melvin said.  Indeed, Loney said that he chose the Rays' contract over similar offers from not just the Brewers, but also the Pirates and Astros.
  • Melvin cited some interest in Justin Morneau, who signed with the Rockies last month, but the GM sounded as if he wasn't particularly enamored with the free agent options at first base.  "The list wasn't very good. It's one of those years where the position we needed, there were fewer opportunities to get someone," Melvin said.
  • In also noting that the trade market for first baseman was thin, Melvin acknowledged he had at least had discussions with the Rangers and Mariners.  "There just aren't available guys. Texas, at this point, is not willing to talk about [Mitch] Moreland. Seattle is not interested in moving their guys. So, there aren't a lot of choices."
  • The Brewers didn't have much available payroll space this offseason but extra money would've been there if the situation warranted.  "We haven't increased it that much, but if the right player was there I would go to (team owner) Mark (Attanasio) and say it's the right player," Melvin said.  "When it comes to payroll, we're always guarded to make sure that we don't put ourselves in a hole or a bind that we can't get out of two years from now or three years from now. Our payroll will be in a much better position next year in that regard."  The Brewers have only $39.1MM committed for 2015 as Ramirez, Yovani Gallardo and Tom Gorzelanny all come off the books next winter, plus Rickie Weeks seems unlikely to receive the 600 PA he needs this season to trigger his $11.5MM vesting option for 2015.

Mariners Likely To Hire New President From Within

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The Mariners will likely choose a new president from among their internal candidates, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. A report yesterday indicated that the Mariners could consider Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, but that may not be the case. The team will interview two internal candidates next week.

It's unclear which internal candidates the Mariners might consider, but Johns suggests that the possibilities could include executive vice president of business operations Bob Aylward, executive vice president of finance Kevin Mather, executive vice president of legal affairs Bart Waldman and vice president of marketing Kevin Martinez. Departing president Chuck Armstrong will finish working at the end of the month, and the Mariners plan to have a replacement ready by then.

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