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Kelly Shoppach Signs Two-Year Deal

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3:20pm: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times says Shoppach is guaranteed $5.55MM – $2.25MM in '10, $3MM in '11, and a $3.2MM club option with a $300K buyout for '12 (the option year has incentives).

10:30am: Rays catcher Kelly Shoppach signed a two-year, $5.5MM deal to avoid arbitration, writes ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.  Crasnick says the deal also includes a club option on Shoppach's first free agent season, 2012.  Shoppach was acquired by the Rays with cash from the Indians on December 1st; the Rays ended up sending pitcher Mitch Talbot to Cleveland.

For what it's worth, Shoppach's top Baseball-Reference comparable is Colorado's Chris Iannetta.  Iannetta will earn $6.1MM for his last two arb years, writes Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.  Other comparisons: Chris Snyder earns $7.75MM over his last two arbitration years and Ryan Doumit gets $8.65MM.  It's a reasonable price for the Rays, but they lose the advantage of going year-to-year with Shoppach.

Odds & Ends: Rincon, Calero, Rangers, Encarnacion

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Here are some links to kick off the weekend…

  • Troy Renck of The Denver Post provides the details on Juan Rincon's contract with the Rockies. He'll earn $800K plus incentives in the big leagues, or $20K per month in the minors.
  • Satchel Price at Beyond The Box Score wonders why we haven't heard more about Kiko Calero this offseason. The Cubs and Giants were interested in the righthander at various times this offseason.
  • Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas reiterates what we heard yesterday: the Rangers are seeking a veteran catcher. He mentions that they've shown interest in both Rod Barajas and Dioner Navarro.
  • Edwin Encarnacion suffered burns to his face in a fireworks accident according to ESPN Deportes' Enrique Rojas. He will not require surgery, and will be ready to go in Spring Training.
  • Jeff Passan at Yahoo! Sports lists ten players we should keep an on eye to see how their market develops during the remainder of the offseason. His list is led by Matt Holliday and Aroldis Chapman.
  • MLB.com's Matthew Leach notes that if the Cardinals felt they weren't in a good position to re-sign Holliday, they would have moved on to other targets by now. 
  • Dick Kaegel of MLB.com says that "it would take a calamitous showing" for Royals' manager Trey Hillman to lose his job this season given his relationship with GM Dayton Moore.
  • Steve Slowinski at DRaysBay goes back in time to evaluate the Danys Baez and Lance Carter for Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany trade.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pirates, Twins, Beltre, Giants

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On New Year's Day 49 years ago, the stadium on the corner of Michigan Ave. and Trumbull Boulevard in Detroit was officially renamed Tiger Stadium. The then 49-year-old park had previously been known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium. Tiger Stadium would serve as the home of Detroit's ball club until the 2000 season, and was demolished completely in 2009.

Here's a look at what's being written around the baseball blogosphere…

  • Bucco Fans takes a look at what could have happened if the Pirates had kept their 2008 roster together.
  • Twins Overlook runs down Minnesota's top seven prospects, led by outfielder Aaron Hicks.
  • Meanwhile, Nick's Twins Blog examines the current state of the Twinkies' starting rotation.
  • The Bottom Line looks at how signing Adrian Beltre could affect the big picture in Boston.
  • DRaysBay compares Matt Joyce to Matt LaPorta, and finds that the gap between the two may not be as big as you think.
  • Jorge Says No! looks at the potential risk and reward of the Mark DeRosa signing.
  • El Lefty Malo guesses that the Giants will wait to see how Jonathan Sanchez's arbitration case turns out before deciding on whether or not to move a starter for a bat. 
  • Pinstripes Published suggests David DeJesus as a possible left field solution for the Yankees. 

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Discussion: Pat Burrell

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Pat Burrell's move to the American League did not go as smoothly as he or the Rays hoped.  Burrell left the World Series-winning Phillies to sign a two-year, $16MM free agent contract with Tampa Bay last January, and then suffered through a season's worth of injuries and inconsistency to finish with a career-worst .682 OPS (.221/.315/.367) in 476 plate appearances.

With $9MM due to Burrell in 2010, the Rays have been openly shopping the slugger this winter.  Rumors of a deal of Burrell-for-Milton Bradley swirled for months before the Cubs dealt Bradley to Seattle last week.  With seemingly their best trade option gone, it appears as if Tampa Bay will go into next season with Burrell back in the DH spot — which, if 2009 was just an aberration, might not be a bad option given Burrell's 251 homers and .852 OPS over his first nine years in Philadelphia.

If the Rays still want to move Burrell and save some cash, however, here are a few of the clubs that are in need of a DH/LF type and might have the payroll flexibility to absorb some or all of Burrell's contract.

  • The Mets.  Should they give up on signing Jason Bay (or lose him to the Red Sox), New York would still have a hole to fill in left field.  The downside of Burrell going to a National League team, however, is his glove.  He played just two games in the outfield last season, and according to Fangraphs, his defense ranged from mediocre to terrible (a -25.2 UZR/150 in 2007) over his last four years in Philadelphia.
  • The Cardinals.  Just as Burrell is a backup plan for the Mets if they don't sign Bay, he can also be a backup plan for St. Louis if they don't sign Matt Holliday.
  • The Braves.  Atlanta's biggest offseason need was a right-handed power hitter.  While they are close to a deal with Troy Glaus, Glaus made just 32 plate appearances in 2009 after undergoing shoulder surgery last January.  Burrell is perhaps a more reliable option, and may regain his batting stroke back in the NL East.  
  • The White Sox.  Ozzie Guillen likes the idea of a rotating designated hitter, but GM Kenny Williams didn't close the door on the possibility of picking up an everyday DH if the right opportunity presented itself.
  • The Giants.  Mark DeRosa may be coming in as San Francisco's new left fielder, but Burrell could be an interesting alternative should DeRosa not accept the Giants' offer.  Or, the power-starved Giants could acquire Burrell to play in left, and then sign DeRosa to play third base, thus moving Pablo Sandoval over to first.  (Or, Sandoval plays 1B, DeRosa plays 2B and Freddy Sanchez moves over to 3B.)  If the Rays pay some of Burrell's contract, then he is a much cheaper option for San Francisco than Johnny Damon.

Four Team Salary Dump Trade Fell Through

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Well here's an interesting deal that never came to be. According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, a four-team trade involving Milton Bradley, Pat Burrell, Luis Castillo, and Gary Matthews Jr. fell apart at the winter meetings for an undisclosed reason.

According to a source, the deal would have sent Bradley to the Rays, Burrell and Castillo to the Cubs, and Matthews Jr. to the Mets. Burrell would have then been spun off elsewhere. No word on what the Halos would have received, though getting rid of Sarge Jr. and presumably at least part of his contract would have been a win.

Indians Get Mitch Talbot In Kelly Shoppach Trade

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Righty Mitch Talbot is the player to be named later from the Kelly Shoppach trade, writes MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince.  The Indians traded Shoppach to the Rays on December 1st.  The Rays also received cash in the deal, according to a team press release.

Talbot, 26, pitched mostly at Triple A this year.  He posted a 4.47 ERA, 6.6 K/9, and 3.0 BB/9 in ten starts.  He missed a few months with an elbow injury, so the Rays had him make six starts in the Arizona Fall League to get more work.  He's out of options, so he'll presumably compete for a spot in the Indians' rotation.  Heading into the season, Baseball America had this scouting report on Talbot:

Talbot has an 89-91 mph fastball with good movement, a hard slider with impressive late cutting action and a changeup that continues to show better fade and depth.

Shipping Aubrey Huff to the Astros in July of '06 really paid off for the Rays.  They received Talbot and eventually spun him into Shoppach.  They also received Ben Zobrist, who was immensely valuable this year.

Odds & Ends: Fehr, Indians, Swisher

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Sunday night links…

  • Former MLBPA head Donald Fehr talked to Daniel Barbarisi of The Providence Journal.  Amongst other things, Fehr says that with the current agreement expiring in 2011, he hopes the owners remember the brutal work stoppage of 1994.
  • Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (via Twitter) says that we can expect to find out what Rays player will be shipped to the Indians as part of the Kelly Shoppach deal.  The Cleveland press release announcing the trade a few weeks ago had said that the "player to be named later" would be revealed today, December 20th.
  • While some Yankees fans have talked about the possibility of trading Nick Swisher, Chad Jennings of The Journal News defends the eccentric outfielder, citing his 29 HRs and .371 OBP.  Dealing Swisher probably made sense when the club still might have re-signed Johnny Damon.  At this point, unless the Yanks plan on signing Matt Holliday, can anyone think of a good reason why they should move Swisher?

Odds & Ends: Gonzalez, Bradley, Hamels

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Let's have a look at some miscellaneous Sunday links….

  • The Tigers purchased the contract of catcher Andy Bouchie from the Long Beach Armada. Bouchie, 24, was a seventh round pick by the Brewers after his junior season at Oral Roberts University, but was released due to catching depth in the Milwaukee system. He hit .290 with 7 home runs and 45 RBI in 59 games in the Golden Baseball League this year.
  • Jon Paul Morosi explains why the Padres should wait until July 31 to trade Adrian Gonzalez.
  • Larry Stone offers some optimism for Seattle fans with concerns about newly-acquired Milton Bradley in a nice article, reminding us that Bradley has had non-problematic stops over the course of his career. Stone quotes Eddie Guardado, Bud Black, and Ken Macha, all of whom support Bradley.
  • Scott Lauber writes that amidst the Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee pandemonium, it's easy to forget about Cole Hamels, but the Phillies haven't. They still see Hamels as a top-of-the-rotation arm and are confident in his ability to rebound from a forgettable 2009.
  • ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes that Oakland's potential deal with Coco Crisp reflects the value the A's place on defense.
  • In his usual lengthy Sunday column, the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo focuses primarily on the Red Sox' moves, past, present, and future. He provides at least one interesting hot stove note though: Mark DeRosa's asking price has come down, and Cafardo wonders if the Mets could sign the infielder and play him at first base.
  • Cafardo also mentions that, while plenty of teams are interested in Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees hope to match any final offer the right-hander receives.
  • Newsday's Ken Davidoff can't see any other teams taking a chance on Mike Lowell unless he exhibits good health in Spring Training.
  • In a separate article, Davidoff examines the next move for Johnny Damon. Davidoff lists the Braves, Rays, Cubs, and Mets as possible destinations, but concedes there are roadblocks in each case.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports looks at the remaining names on the closing market, concluding that there are too many arms and not enough teams in need of a closer.
  • Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun says there's nothing wrong with any of the Orioles' recent signings, but that they aren't the big splashes fans may have hoped to see.

Odds & Ends: Treanor, Barton, Damon, Kelly Johnson

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More links as the weekend draws closer…

Rays Sign Ryan Shealy, Joe Dillon

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The Rays signed Ryan Shealy to a minor league deal and invited him to Spring Training, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The 30-year-old first baseman has a .271/.335/.429 line in 591 career plate appearances with the Rockies and Royals. Shealy, who didn't play at all last year, is a right-handed hitter, but hits oddly well against righties (.843 career OPS). 

The Rays also signed Joe Dillon, according to MLB.com's Bill Chastain. The Rays acquired the 34-year-old  for Adam Kennedy this year, and used him in 15 games.

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