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Six Clubs Offer Jose Veras Minor League Deals

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The Giants, Rockies, Twins, Marlins, Rays and Pirates have all offered Jose Veras minor league deals and invited him to Spring Training, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes (on Twitter). The 30-year-old right-hander will likely decide on a team soon.

Veras posted a 3.85 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in 48 innings for the Marlins last year, before they non-tendered him. Veras has been tough to hit throughout his five-year MLB career, but he has always allowed plenty of walks (5.0 BB/9 in his career). His mid-90s fastball (94.4 mph last year) has helped him strike out 8.7 batters per nine in his career.

Rays Sign Kyle Farnsworth

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The Rays have officially signed Kyle Farnsworth to a one-year deal, according a team press release.  The agreement was first reported by Steve Slowinski of DRaysBay and confirmed by ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter links). The deal will pay the Barry Meister client $3.25MM in 2011 and could be worth $6MM over two years, since there's an option for 2012. 

Farnsworth posted a 3.34 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 64 2/3 innings for the Royals and Braves last year. The 34-year-old's 41% ground ball rate is unremarkable, but it's higher than it was earlier in his career, when he was more of a fly ball pitcher. Farnsworth doesn't throw quite as hard as he once did, but his average fastball was still 94.9 mph last year. That was enough to place Farnsworth at the top of MLBTR's list of the hardest throwing free agent relievers.

The Rays have added bullpen candidates Adam Russell, Cesar Ramos, Joel Peralta, Chris Archer, Cory Wade, J.P. Howell and R.J. Swindle this offseason. That's a promising group of players, but Andrew Friedman's acquisitions are considerably less established than the collection of Rays relievers that hit free agency after the season. 

As MLBTR's Free Agent Tracker shows, former Rays relievers Rafael Soriano, Grant Balfour and Chad Qualls are among the remaining unsigned arms.

It's been a publicly quiet offseason for Farnsworth since the Braves declined his $5.25MM option for 2011 at the beginning of November.

Quick Hits: Garza, Rays, Aardsma, Iwakuma

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On this day last year the Rangers agreed to sign Vladimir Guerrero to a one-year, $5MM deal.  In 2011, the veteran continues to look for a home with the Orioles, Angels, and Rays said to be interested.  Let's take a look at the batch of links for tonight..

  • Jamey Newberg of The Newberg Report is glad that the Rangers didn't overpay to land Matt Garza.  The right-hander was shipped to the Cubs in an eight-player deal.
  • Speaking of the Garza deal, Dave Cameron writes in a piece for Fangraphs that there's a good chance that the Rays got better in the short term by making the trade.
  • Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times that David Aardsma's hip surgery was more extensive than first thought and the hurler might not be ready by Opening Day.  The M's were shopping the 29-year-old for quite some time but now they'll wait even longer to move him.
  • In an interview on 1500-ESPN, Twins GM Bill Smith revealed that the club finished a distant second in the bidding for Japanese starter Hisashi Iwakuma (information passed along by Aaron Gleeman).  Minnesota offered $7.7MM for the hurler while the Athletics won the bidding with $19.1MM.  Ultimately, Iwakuma and the A's couldn't agree to terms.

New York Notes: Castillo, Choate, Garza, Soria

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In his Insider-only ESPN.com blog, Buster Olney writes that the Mets have internally discussed the possibility of simply releasing Luis Castillo. The team has repeatedly tried to free up some money by trading the second baseman, but has yet to find a taker. Olney indicates that it's possible the Mets could drop both Castillo and Oliver Perez before Opening Day. Here are this morning's other New York-related notes:

  • The Mets were one of the teams pursuing Randy Choate before the southpaw signed with the Marlins, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff. Davidoff says the Mets made Choate a one-year offer worth about $1.4MM, but the veteran lefty accepted more years and more guaranteed money from Florida. If the Mets still intend to add a Pedro Feliciano replacement, Davidoff continues, it'll probably be someone on a minor-league deal, since the market is thinning.
  • Brian Cashman told Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News that he felt the asking price for Matt Garza was too high to seriously pursue a trade with the Rays. "We never got off the dime, but strong impressions were that it would be something that would cost us more because we are in the division, kind of like Roy Halladay," said the Yankees GM.
  • Considering Andrew Friedman's comments about using the money saved in the Garza deal to sign other players, Chad Jennings of the Journal News wonders if the Rays' targets could overlap with the Yankees'.
  • The Royals have told interested clubs that Joakim Soria will not be traded, a stance which Bill Madden of the New York Daily News finds puzzling. Madden suggests the Yankees were willing to part with Jesus Montero and Eduardo Nunez for Soria.
  • In his blog entry linked above, Olney disagrees with Madden's argument that the Royals need to trade Soria. According to Olney, Soria's contract is so team-friendly it makes it nearly impossible for the Royals to get equal value from the Yankees or anyone else at the moment.

Quick Hits: Liz, Rangers, Cubs, Nationals, Gonzalez

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Links for Saturday evening…

Cubs Acquire Matt Garza

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Eight player trades don't come along very often, but the Rays and Cubs finalized one today. Tampa sent Matt Garza, Fernando Perez, and minor leaguer Zach Rosscup to Chicago in exchange for Sam Fuld and prospects Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer, Robinson Chirinos, and Hak-Ju Lee.

Garza, 27, posted a 3.91 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 35.8% ground ball rate in 204 2/3 innings for the Rays last year. He heads to arbitration for the second time this winter and is set to receive a raise from the $3.35MM salary he earned in 2010.

Garza joins Ryan Dempster, Tom Gorzelanny, Randy Wells, Carlos Zambrano and Carlos Silva in a crowded Chicago rotation. It wouldn't be surprising to see Cubs starters appear in trade rumors before long. If any team could afford to spare a starter, it was the Rays, who still have David Price, James Shields, Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson. The return from the Cubs doesn't impact Tampa's Opening Day roster, but it adds depth to the Rays' already impressive farm system.

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Friedman: Rays Will Reallocate Garza Money

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Now that Matt Garza is officially a Cub, his former team has a little extra money burning a hole in its pocket. The right-hander earned $3.35MM in 2010 and was due a raise in his second trip through the arbitration process, perhaps into the $5-6MM range. Rays GM Andrew Friedman told Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times that the club will now reallocate that money, and look to add one or two hitters and one or two relievers (Twitter link).

Tampa's offseason has been more about subtraction than addition to this point. In addition to Garza, shortstop Jason Bartlett was traded away, while Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Randy Choate, and Dan Wheeler all left via free agency. Rafael Soriano, Chad Qualls, and Grant Balfour remain unsigned as well. It's possible that Qualls and/or Balfour (a Type-A free agent) could return now that the team has some extra money, but it would be an upset if Soriano came back. Right-hander Joel Peralta has been their only significant signing so far.

The Rays could look to add a bat at first base, DH, or in the outfield. They're said to have interest in Vladimir Guerrero as well as Johnny Damon, and we can't discount Jim Thome or Manny Ramirez. Fred Lewis' name has popped up as well. On the relief pitcher front, they've been connected to both Manny Delcarmen and Brian Fuentes recently, but plenty of other free agent options still remain.

Tampa only has $18.43MM tied up in 2011 payroll right now (according to Cot's), though arbitration raises to B.J. Upton and Andy Sonnanstine are still to come, ditto quite a few pre-arbitration signings. Principal owner Stuart Sternberg has indicated that payroll will dip below $60MM next season, but right now they appear to be well below that.

Poll: Greinke Or Garza?

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As the reactions to yesterday's Matt Garza trade poured in, ESPN's Keith Law said he believes the Rays received more in return for their young right-hander than the Royals did when they traded Zack Greinke to the Brewers. He explained that Tampa "focused less on position and more on overall value" after saying the exact opposite about the deal Kansas City made (Insider req'd for the last link).

Obviously, the trades are not equal in a number of ways. The Cubs are receiving two young players in addition to Garza, one being Fernando Perez. Greinke, however, is a former Cy Young Award winner and according to WAR, his last three seasons were all better than Garza's best season (2009) by a considerable margin. He does lack Garza's postseason experience though. The pitchers were born less than a month apart, but the Cubs will get three years of Garza while the Brewers get just two of Greinke (at a higher salary).

So, knowing what we know about the players, do you prefer the package of Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi or the package of Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer,Robinson Chirinos, Hak-Ju Lee, and Sam Fuld?

Which team got a better return for their young right-hander?
Rays 58.80% (9,185 votes)
Royals 29.57% (4,620 votes)
The packages are about equal 11.63% (1,817 votes)
Total Votes: 15,622

Reaction To The Matt Garza Trade

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The Cubs and Rays agreed today on an eight-player swap headlined by right-hander Matt Garza.  Here's some early reaction and analysis of the big deal, including news of another team that had an offer for Garza on the table…

  • ESPN's Keith Law (Insider subscription required) loves the trade for the Rays: "they got more for Garza than Kansas City did for Zack Greinke although their package of players is, collectively, further away than what the Royals got."  Law had Hak-Ju Lee ranked as the top prospect in Chicago's system and calls the 20-year-old shortstop "the star of the deal" for Tampa Bay.
  • The trade is a "slight overpay" for the Cubs, writes Fangraphs' Joe Pawlikowski, but overall he likes the deal.  Pawlikowski also cites concerns about how Garza will fare at Wrigley Field given Garza's propensity for giving up fly balls.
  • Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo Sports has no problem with the trade itself, but calls Garza just a "Band-Aid" on the Cubs' problems since he doesn't think Chicago is close to contending.
  • Tampa Bay fans won't be pleased to see Garza go, but Erik Hahmann of the DRaysBay blog notes that Andrew Friedman has had success with past unpopular trades.
  • Mike Bauman of MLB.com writes that the Rays organization is strong enough to recover from the losses of Garza, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena and Jason Bartlett this winter.
  • The Rangers made Tampa Bay an offer for Garza that offered "more 2011 impact," tweets Peter Gammons.  The Cubs' prospect package, however, has a "higher longterm ceiling."
  • A high-profile trade naturally invites some questions from fans wondering why their clubs didn't make a move for the star player in question.  Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that neither the Yankees or Mets contacted the Rays about Garza.  Meanwhile, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post hears from Baseball America's Jim Callis that the Nationals simply didn't have the minor league depth to match Chicago's package.

Orioles, Angels, Rays Interested In Vladimir Guerrero

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The Orioles, Angels and Rays have shown different levels of interest in Vladimir Guerrero, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com. Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles heard this week that the Halos weren’t talking to the DH, but a return to Anaheim remains possible for the longtime Angel.

A return to Texas is no longer a possibility, as Rangers GM Jon Daniels said the team is not pursuing Guerrero. Vlad, who turns 36 next month, hit .300/.345/.496 with 29 homers last year. He made his ninth All-Star team and earned his eighth Silver Slugger, finishing 11th in MVP balloting.

The Orioles would have to play Luke Scott in the outfield if they were to sign Guerrero. That would create a logjam with Scott, Felix Pie and Nolan Reimold battling for one outfield spot (assuming Adam Jones and Nick Markakis play every day). The Angels would have to play Bobby Abreu or Juan Rivera in the outfield on a daily basis if they sign Guerrero instead of a player who can patrol the outfield. The Rays could offer Guerrero a full-time DH job and they appear to be a better fit than the O's or Angels.

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