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Mariners Sign Gutierrez To Four-Year Deal

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The Mariners finalized the signing of center fielder Franklin Gutierrez to a four-year, $20.5MM deal with a fifth-year club option today. The contract reflects a growing commitment to run-prevention around the league and specifically in Seattle. GM Jack Zduriencik, who signed defensive wizard Chone Figgins earlier in the offseason, said Gutierrez was "a huge part" of the Mariners' league-leading ERA last year.

Venezuelan reporter Francisco Blavia first tweeted that the deal was "very, very close" and FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal confirmed as much before the Mariners announced the deal this morning. 

Gutierrez is arbitration-eligible for the first time, so the deal buys out all three arb years and at least one free agent year. Though it was signed in March of '06, it seems that Grady Sizemore's contract might have been a comparable. Sizemore received $20.7MM for the same four-year slice of his career. On a deal signed in February of '08, Curtis Granderson will earn $27.25MM for that portion of his career.

Gutierrez, 27 in February, hit .283/.339/.425 in 629 plate appearances for the Ms after coming over from Cleveland in a December '08 trade.  The real story is his defense, as the Mariners employed him as a full-time center fielder and were rewarded with a 27.1 UZR/150. (the best mark in baseball for any position among those with 1,000 innings).

Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Yankees, Cardinals, Delgado

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Some more links for the evening…

Mariners Acquire Casey Kotchman

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The Mariners officially acquired first baseman Casey Kotchman from the Red Sox for Bill Hall, a player to be named later, and cash.  Jason A. Churchill of Prospect Insider says the PTBNL will be a minor league catcher.  Churchill's colleague Chris Crawford first broke news of the Kotchman trade on Tuesday, with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeting the Hall element later.

WEEI's Alex Speier explained that this trade was closely linked to Boston's Adrian Beltre signing, and allowed the Red Sox to add Beltre without raising their luxury tax payroll much.  The Mariners, meanwhile, have their regular first baseman and Russell Branyan replacement in Kotchman.  In recent years Kotchman's defense has been strong, his offense subpar.  He's arbitration-eligible this winter and figures to earn more than $3MM in 2010.

Red Sox Sign Adrian Beltre

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Adrian Beltre left one defense-oriented team for another today and signed with the Red Sox. When he signed a five-year $64MM deal with the Mariners in 2004, Beltre was coming off a 48 homer season. Last year, he hit just eight homers, but his well-deserved reputation as one of the game's elite defenders earned him $9MM for the upcoming season and the chance to make even more in 2011.

Beltre, 31 in April, will earn a $7MM salary in 2010, in addition to a $2MM signing bonus. He has a player option for 2011 that's worth at least $5MM and will reach $10MM if Beltre makes 640 plate appearances this season. There's also a $1MM buy-out for 2011. It's not a lot of guaranteed money, but Beltre and agent Scott Boras could lobby for a long-term deal if Beltre re-establishes his offensive value in Fenway Park this year.

Jon Heyman tweeted that Beltre was close to a deal with the Red Sox and Buster Onley tweeted some details of the agreement before Tim Brown of Yahoo tweeted that Beltre had "reached an agreement" with the Red Sox. Peter Gammons, Peter Abraham, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, WEEI's Rob Bradford and Alex Speier followed up with the details.

According to the Boston Herald's John Tomase, Beltre turned down both a three-year and four-year deal in order to sign with the Red Sox. Rosenthal says Beltre turned down a pair of three-year, $24MM offers this offseason, apparently from the Phillies and A's.  We'll see if he ultimately beats that amount over 2010-12.

The Mariners obtain a supplementary rounder in next year's draft for losing Beltre, who turned down their offer of arbitration.

Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Mariners Sign Chris Woodward

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The Mariners have signed utility player Chris Woodward to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training according to a team press release. 

Woodward, 33, played in 20 games for Seattle last season before being claimed off waivers by the Red Sox in August. Overall, Woodward is a .242/.298/.369 career hitter in the big leagues, and has played every position except pitcher and catcher with varying degrees of success. 

Heyman On Damon, Tejada, Pineiro, Molina

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The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…

  • Heyman believes the Yankees would not go beyond one year and $6MM to re-sign Johnny Damon.  On MLB Home Plate Boras said Damon "would just have to move forward," while not faulting the Yankees for sticking to a budget.  Heyman suggests four alternatives for Damon: the Giants, Mariners, Braves, and Angels.  The Angels would be a tough fit barring a Juan Rivera trade, as their outfield and DH spots are full.  The problem with the Braves is that they're approaching their payroll limit.
  • Despite a report that the Cardinals probably can't afford Miguel Tejada, Heyman sees them as the best fit.  Heyman's $8MM idea seems too pricey though.
  • The Mets debated offering Joel Pineiro a two-year, $15MM Jason Marquis special, but at this point Pineiro seems to be seeking Randy Wolf's three-year, $29.75MM deal.  MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone sees the team landing Jon Garland instead.
  • Heymans says the Mets "seem serious about sticking with an offer of one year and a vesting option" for Bengie Molina.  However, Cerrone "gets the feeling the Mets might have a two-year deal on the table."

Odds & Ends: Tigers, Pineiro, Padres, Giambi

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Here's a round-up of a few news items floating around the baseball world tonight….

  •  MLB.com's Jason Beck reports that Detroit might sit out the bidding for the few remaining closers on the market and instead hope that youngsters Ryan Perry, Daniel Schlereth or a healthy Joel Zumaya are able to pick up some saves.
  • Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated reports (via Twitter) that the Mets "have debated" the merits of offering Joel Pineiro a two-year contract, but Pineiro wants a deal akin to the three-year, $29.75MM contract that Randy Wolf signed with Milwaukee.
  • Corey Brock of MLB.com reports that the Padres will sign an experienced backup catcher "within a few weeks."
  • Dave Cameron of the U.S.S. Mariner blog isn't a big fan of Seattle's trade for Casey Kotchman.
  • The apparent lack of interest in free agent Jason Giambi means that there's a greater chance he ends up back in Colorado, reports MLB.com's Thomas Harding. 
  • With Boston's signing of Adrian Beltre, Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas thinks that the Rangers might have leverage to get a more favorable trade for Mike Lowell, should Texas still be interested.

Odds & Ends: Lowe, Tigers, Halladay, Capps

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Links for Monday…

  • MLB.com's Mark Bowman says the Braves made it known they were willing to eat $9MM of the $45MM owed to Derek Lowe over the next three years, but found no takers.
  • MLB.com's Jason Beck talked to Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, who said nothing has changed in terms of using Scott Sizemore as the second baseman.  Beck points out that if the Tigers wanted a veteran at the position they probably would've offered Placido Polanco arbitration.
  • Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told Murray Chass they he expressed interest in Roy Halladay a couple of times, before the trade deadline and at the Winter Meetings.  It sounds like Halladay's no-trade clause was an obstacle.
  • Chico Harlan of the Washington Post has a Q&A with new Nationals reliever Matt Capps, who agreed to a one-year, $3.5MM deal on Christmas Eve.  MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that Capps' physical is scheduled for Tuesday.
  • Baseball America's Jim Callis gives us a couple of prospect "All-Bust" teams for the 2000s.
  • MLB.com's Todd Zolecki notes that the Phillies have a minor league offer out to Scott Eyre.
  • MLB.com's Mark Sheldon talked to Reds GM Walt Jocketty, who will be looking at minor league deal possibilities.  Sheldon indicated that the Reds' interest in Noah Lowry is now less than minimal.
  • MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan fills us in on the Rangers' offseason plans and potential targets in his mailbag.
  • Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues would like to see the Yankees buy low on Oakland's Travis Buck.  Buck made our list of right field trade candidates back in November.

Odds & Ends: Bay, Byrd, Liriano, Duchscherer

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Some links on the last day of a year we'll remember for Joe Mauer, Albert Pujols and the World Series Champion New York Yankees…

  • Tigers catcher Gerald Laird and his younger brother Brandon Laird, a prospect in the Yankees farm system, were arrested following a brawl at the Celtics-Suns NBA game in Phoenix, Arizona, according to the Associated Press.  Gerald lives in Arizona during the offseason while Brandon played in the Arizona Fall League this past year.
  • Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (via his newly minted Twitter account) that Chan Ho Park's name has come up in the Giants' front office.
  • Alex Speier of WEEI.com hears that Jason Bay was indeed interested in joining the Mets. The two sides didn't go longer than a day without talking once negotiations got started. An interesting note: Speier hears that the Mets never offered Bay a guaranteed five-year deal.
  • Dave Cameron of FanGraphs considers Marlon Byrd an average player, but likes the Cubs' decision to sign him.
  • Cameron tweets that the Mariners are "kicking the tires" on Francisco Liriano.
  • Mike Lowell's thumb surgery was a success, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Lowell appears to be available, but health concerns may prevent the Red Sox from dealing the third baseman and some of his $12MM salary (the D'Backs face a similar challenge with Chris Snyder). 
  • Just because Lowell's still in Boston doesn't mean the Red Sox won't consider other third basemen. Adrian Beltre is one option and R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs doesn't think $10-15MM is an unfair asking price for the Scott Boras client. 
  • Justin Duchscherer tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he returned to the A's because he's comfortable in Oakland and appreciates the club's support through his struggles with depression. Slusser also has details on the incentives in the righty's contract. 
  • Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues wants the Yankees to stay away from free agent outfielder Marlon Byrd. 
  • Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates' failure to sign Dominican prospect Miguel Angel Sano was one of the club's low points this year. As Kovacevic says, "not every signing can be an absolute steal."  

Olney On Gonzalez, Holliday, Dodgers

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ESPN.com's Buster Olney offers some storylines to look for in 2010 and turns up some rumors along the way. Here they are:

  • The Padres will, "in all likelihood," gauge the market for Adrian Gonzalez this summer and deal him before the July 31st trade deadline. The Mets, Mariners and Red Sox could all bid for the slugger, but the list of suitors could change drastically by mid-summer.
  • One GM expects the Mariners to consider offers for Felix Hernandez if they don't lock him up long-term. "They may seriously have to think about trading him," the GM said. Locking Felix up won't be cheap, either. As Olney notes, Hernandez could command C.C. Sabathia-type money ($161MM) if he were a free agent. Luckily for Mariners fans, Felix won't hit the open market until after the 2011 season at the earliest.
  • Olney says the Orioles offered Matt Holliday $70MM or so at one point before moving on. Here's a look at some other offers Holliday has received.
  • Executives tell Olney that the Dodgers' quiet offseason is giving other teams confidence and emboldening them to make more moves. 
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