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Blue Jays, Mariners Talked Pineda For Lawrie Swap

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Alex Anthopoulos hinted last night that some young Blue Jays drew trade interest this offseason, and Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail has the details on some talks that never materialized. The Blue Jays and Mariners discussed Michael Pineda, but the Blue Jays balked when the Mariners wanted Brett Lawrie in return for the right-hander, according to Blair's sources.

Instead, the Yankees obtained Pineda for Jesus Montero last month and the Blue Jays held onto Lawrie. The 22-year-old British Columbia native made his MLB debut in 2011, posting a .293/.373/.580 line in 171 plate appearances. Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik selected Lawrie in the first round of the 2008 draft when he was Milwaukee's scouting director. Meanwhile, Pineda posted a 3.74 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 171 innings as a rookie last year.

AL West Notes: A’s, Oswalt, Hamilton, Mariners

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The Athletics signed future Hall of Famer Goose Gossage on this date 20 years ago. The right-hander spent two seasons in Oakland, though he's better known for stints with the Yankees, White Sox and Padres. Here are the latest notes and rumors from the AL West…

  • Athletics owner and managing partner Lew Wolff said the team made a $370K profit in 2011, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. That figure takes into account $32MM from other clubs via revenue sharing. The A’s may move to San Jose in the relatively near future, but at least they’re staying afloat in the meantime.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels said on The Ben and Skin Show on ESPN Dallas that he’d love to add pitching depth such as Roy Oswalt if it makes sense in the context of the team's entire roster. "The flip side we’ve got to consider is what if that doesn’t happen? How does it all fit together? We've spent a lot of time and resources developing this younger group,” Daniels said, according to Richard Durrett.
  • Daniels also explained on The Ben and Skin Show that he plans to have extension talks with Josh Hamilton’s representatives before Spring Training (quotes via Durrett).
  • GM Jack Zduriencik and some rival executives from around the league check in with ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick about Ichiro Suzuki and the rest of the 2012 Mariners.

Minor Moves: Sweeney, Tuiasosopo, Redding, Cabrera

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The latest minor league deals…

  • The Mariners signed former MLB reliever Brian Sweeney to a minor league contract, MLB.com's Greg Johns reports. Sweeney spent the 2011 season with the Mets' top affiliate and last appeared in the Majors with the 2010 Mariners.
  • The Twins signed left-hander Luke French, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports (Twitter links). French owns a 4.99 ERA with 4.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 155 Major League innings.
  • The Mets signed infielder Matt Tuiasosopo, who picked up MLB experience with the Mariners from 2008-10, Eddy reports.
  • The Blue Jays signed right-hander Tim Redding and left-hander Bill Murphy, according to Eddy. Redding has substantial MLB experience as a starter for the Astros, Nationals and Mets.
  • Eddy reports that four catchers signed minor league deals: Mitch Canham joined the Rockies, Orlando Mercado agreed to terms with the Marlins, Kyle Phillips caught on with the Blue Jays and Max St. Pierre signed with the Red Sox. Phillips appeared in 36 games for the 2011 Padres and St. Pierre made his debut with the 2010 Tigers after 14 minor league seasons.
  • Former MLB starter Daniel Cabrera signed a minor league deal with the Pirates, Mario Rojas of CandelaDeportiva reports. Cabrera, 30, was a fixture in Baltimore's rotation from 2004-08, but hasn't pitched in MLB since 2009.
  • The Cubs re-signed infielder Bobby Scales, who started the 2011 season in Chicago before going to Japan, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus tweets.
  • The Phillies re-signed former Tigers outfielder Brent Clevlen, Goldstein tweets.
  • The Orioles signed 18-year-old outfielder Andres Aguilar, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. The speedy Guatemala native has a strong throwing arm.

AL West Notes: Uehara, Ichiro, Manny, Cardenas

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A few items of note to share from the AL West …

  • There's a "good chance" the Rangers will trade reliever Koji Uehara, sources tell T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. On Tuesday we heard that Uehara vetoed an agreed-upon trade between the Rangers and Blue Jays, so it's not too surprising to hear that Texas is still shopping the right-hander. There are a number of teams interested in Uehara, according to Sullivan, and the Rangers "like what they are hearing" in terms of potential return.
  • The Mariners and Ichiro Suzuki have agreed to table extensions talks, perhaps till after the 2012 season, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, meaning the 11-year veteran, who's spent his entire career to date with the M's, could enter free agency for the first time.
  • Athletics managing partner Lew Wolff said he would be OK with signing Manny Ramirez, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, although the decision is ultimately up to GM Billy Beane (Twitter links). Said Wolff: "I wouldn't want to not have a player because he made a mistake and paid the price for it …"
  • The A's hope Adrian Cardenas clears waivers so they can retain him, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Cardenas was designated for assignment earlier today.

Reactions To The Prince Fielder Signing

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Scott Boras did it again. Just when it looked like the market for Prince Fielder had slowed late in the offseason, Boras got his prized client the fourth richest contract in baseball history. The Tigers agreed to sign the slugger to a nine-year contract worth $214MM today, giving them the most devastating 3-4 lineup tandem in the game. Here's a recap of what's been said about the deal…

  • "In some sense, I'm glad he got a good contract that he's satisfied with. We knew early on that we probably weren't going to be in it. I think Prince probably knew that, too," said Brewers GM Doug Melvin to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Melvin confirmed they hadn't had serious extension talks with Fielder since Spring Training of 2010, and he credited the slugger with helping the team get back to being contenders.
  • Rival executives told Joel Sherman of The New York Post that they think the signing came from ownership, not GM Dave Dombrowski (Twitter link). He says deals for other Boras clients — Johnny Damon, Ivan Rodriguez, and Magglio Ordonez — happened the same way. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports heard that owner Mike Illitch influenced the signing "100%" (Twitter link).
  • The Nationals and a mystery team were strongly in on Fielder, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). The Mariners, meanwhile, told teams they didn't have money to spend on a hitter of Prince's caliber, which is why they traded for Jesus Montero according to Sherman.
  • Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News says (on Twitter) that the Giants were never really in on Fielder.
  • ESPN's Keith Law, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs, and SI.com's Cliff Corcoran agree that Fielder will improve the Tigers in the short-term, but the last few years of the contract could be messy.

Mariners Sign Kevin Millwood

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The Mariners have signed Kevin Millwood to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, the team announced. Richard Walker of Millwood's hometown newspaper, the Gaston Gazette, first reported the news and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports confirmed it (Twitter links).

“Kevin brings a great deal of experience as a veteran pitcher and will compete for a spot in our starting rotation,” GM Jack Zduriencik said in a statement. “His leadership and experience will be a benefit for our young pitchers and we look forward to seeing him in Spring Training.”

Millwood, who turned 37 recently, pitched 54 1/3 innings of 3.98 ERA ball for the Rockies in 2011, with a 6.0 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 with a 42.2% groundball rate. He reportedly declined a $1MM contract offer from the Rockies prior to the Winter Meetings in hopes of securing a $3MM guarantee.

Millwood signed a five-year, $60MM contract with the Rangers prior to the 2006 season, and has spent exactly 1,000 innings since that date calling a hitter-friendly ballpark his home (he also pitched at Camden Yards for the Orioles and Coors Field last season). A pitchers' haven like Safeco Field in Seattle will likely benefit the veteran right-hander in 2012.

Millwood, who is represented by Scott Boras, will provide depth in a Mariners rotation that lost Michael Pineda in the Jesus Montero trade. Felix Hernandez, Jason Vargas, and Hisashi Iwakuma figure to be locks for the rotation, while Millwood, Hector Noesi, Blake Beavan, and Charlie Furbush are also candidates. Heyman feels that Millwood has a "good chance" to make the team, and notes that he played for manager Eric Wedge and pitching coach Carl Willis during his Cleveland days.

Mariners, Yankees Swap Pineda For Montero

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The Mariners needed hitting, the Yankees needed pitching.  The two teams addressed each other's needs in a blockbuster trade of young stars, as right-handers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos will go to the Bronx in exchange for catcher/DH Jesus Montero and righty Hector Noesi.  Both teams confirmed the trade this afternoon.

Pineda

The Yankees re-signed C.C. Sabathia and Freddy Garcia this winter, but those moves amounted to just standing pat with a rotation that (after Sabathia) contained several question marks.  In Pineda, however, the Yankees now have one of the top young arms in the game and one who has already showed he can perform at the Major League level.  Pineda (pictured) posted a 3.74 ERA, a 3.15 K/BB ratio and a 9.1 K/9 rate in 28 starts last season, earning an All-Star appearance and a fifth-place finish in the AL Rookie Of The Year vote.  Pineda recently turned 23 and is under club control through 2016.

Campos, 19, is another intriguing young arm.  John Sickels of Minor League Ball ranked Campos as the fifth-best prospect in Seattle's system going into 2012, noting that while Campos' secondary pitches need some polish, "his upside is very high, he throws hard, and already throws strikes."  Campos is coming off a dominant campaign in low Class-A ball in 2011, posting a 2.32 ERA and a whopping 6.54 K/BB in 14 starts.  Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears from an NL executive that if Campos was in this year's amateur draft, "he is [a] no-doubt top-10 pick" (Twitter link).

Montero was a top-four prospect in both 2010 and 2011 according to Baseball America and the 22-year-old showed why when he posted a .996 OPS in 69 September plate appearances.  Montero was drafted as a catcher but questions about his defensive capabilities had several pundits projecting his long-term future to be at designated hitter or first base.  In New York, these spots will be blocked by Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez for the next several seasons, but the bat-starved Mariners have plenty of room in the lineup.  Montero immediately projects as Seattle's probable #3 hitter, splitting time between DH and catcher, and it's easy to see Montero hitting behind Dustin Ackley for years to come.

Montero was very nearly a Mariner in July 2010, as he headlined a prospect package the Yankees were ready to send to Seattle for Cliff Lee.  The M's, however, pulled out of that trade and ended up dealing Lee to the Rangers.  Yankees management was reportedly upset that the Mariners pulled out of the deal at the last minute, but whatever hard feelings existed between the two clubs clearly weren't enough to keep them from doing business 18 months later.

Noesi appeared in 30 games for New York last season (two of them starts), posting a 4.47 ERA and a 2.05 K/BB ratio.  Noesi turns 25 later this month and amassed impressive numbers over six seasons in the Yankee farm system.  Noesi should get a shot at filling Pineda's rotation spot in Seattle and could blossom at pitcher-friendly Safeco Field. 

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com was the first to announce the trade as official, with MLB.com's Greg Johns adding Campos and Noesi's involvement.  ESPN's Jerry Crasnick first heard of a "significant trade" involving a "young impact hitter" coming to the Mariners earlier today, and Larry Stone of the Seattle Times was the first to cite Pineda and Montero in the deal, as he had heard "rumblings in that direction."

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Quick Hits: Millwood, Rockies, Ordonez, Eckstein

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One year ago today, the Royals and Billy Butler agreed to a four-year, $30MM extension. Butler responded with another strong season, batting .291/.361/.461 with 19 homers and racking up more than 670 plate appearances for the third straight season. Let's take a look at some news from around the league on a less-eventful January 22…

  • On its face, it’s hard to argue with the Mariners bringing in Kevin Millwood to add pitching depth at a minimal cost, writes Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner.  Like with every other move the M's have made this off-season, Cameron writes, the veteran is a nice role player at a good price.
  • The Rockies were willing to give Millwood a guaranteed deal during the winter meetings, tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post.
  • The market for Magglio Ordonez should pick up once he's medically cleared for full activity, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi says that could happen in two weeks' time.
  • David Eckstein, who decided to retire according to the Boston Globe, had a chance to play with the Mariners in 2011 but didn't take it, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
  • John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times looks at the Rays' stadium situation in light of a recent meeting between owner Stuart Sternberg and Tampa Bay mayor Bill Foster. Romano writes that Sternberg wants to begin looking for new locations now, while Foster doesn't want the Rays to leave St. Petersburg on his watch.

AL East Links: Red Sox, Scutaro, Mortensen, Montero

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The Red Sox sent Marco Scutaro to the Rockies for Clayton Mortensen and avoided arbitration with Daniel Bard earlier this evening, but now let's round up the latest from the AL East…

  • The Scutaro trade freed up approximately $6MM for the Red Sox to use on an "aggressive bid" for a starting pitcher, says ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald confirmed that the trade was made trade strictly for salary relief. Earlier tonight we learned that the Sox have intensified their pursuit of Roy Oswalt.
  • The Red Sox are comfortable with a Nick Punto/Mike Aviles platoon replacing Scutaro, but WEEI.com's Alex Speier hears they will continue to pursue an upgrade at any position, not just shortstop.
  • Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal confirmed that Mortensen does have a minor league option remaining, so the Red Sox can send him to Triple-A if they choose (Twitter link)
  • Jesus Montero has arrived in Seattle following a visa/passport issue, reports MLB.com's Greg Johns. He underwent his physical today, but a formal announcement of the trade sending him from the Yankees to the Mariners isn't expected until Monday.
  • We posted some Orioles notes earlier today, including a quote from GM Dan Duquette about the possibility of adding Prince Fielder.

Quick Hits: Lincecum, Red Sox, Gordon, Francis

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Friday night links..

  • The Giants and the agent for Tim Lincecum have made significant progress since exchanging arbitration figures and both sides are confident that a resolution can be reached before a hearing would be scheduled, writes Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News.
  • The Reds could look to land an infielder via trade, writes MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
  • It appears that talks between the Rockies and Red Sox regarding Marco Scutaro are dormant, but Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes that Boston's possible motivation for a move involving Scutaro would be to free up payroll.  The club has reportedly expressed interest in White Sox starter Gavin Floyd and free agent outfielder Cody Ross, but neither move could be made unless a trade was made to offer budgetary relief according to a source.
  • The Royals and Alex Gordon aren't particularly close on a deal but talks remain cordial and both sides want to get something done, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
  • Left-hander Jeff Francis is starting to attract more interest from teams in the market for a starting pitcher including the Mariners, Reds, Blue Jays, and Mets, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter links)
  • Jesus Montero has dealt with his visa issue and is scheduled to travel from Florida to Seattle today for his Mariners physical, tweets Ken Davidoff of Newsday.
  • Braves GM Frank Wren doesn't believe that his club has a major personnel need, writes Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Wren also believes that this year's bullpen figures to be even deeper that last year's.
  • Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post (via Twitter) is told that the Marlins have no interest in bringing Ivan Rodriguez back.
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