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Red Sox Sign Brian Shouse, Six Others

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FRIDAY: The Red Sox signed six others to minor league deals with invitations to Spring Training, according to a team press release. Fernando Cabrera, Edwin Moreno, Jorge Sosa, Angel Sanchez, Gil Velazquez, and Darnell McDonald will all join the Red Sox organization. Sosa is perhaps the most recognizable addition of the bunch. The eight-year MLB veteran pitched in 18 games for the Nats last year.

THURSDAY: Brian Shouse signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox on January 4th, according to the club's transactions page.  Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald confirmed the deal today, noting that more minor league signings for the Red Sox should be revealed soon.

Shouse, 41, posted a 5.5 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, and 4.50 ERA in 28 innings for the Rays last year, missing a chunk of the season with an elbow strain.  He's quietly been a force against left-handed hitters the last few years.  On December 7th, the Type B free agent declined arbitration from the club.  Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times writes that Tampa Bay will not receive compensation for the reliever, as he did not ink a major-league contract.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Rolen, Sweeney, Twins

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On this date in 1990, the Tigers signed free agent Cecil Fielder after he hit 38 homers as a member of the Hanshin Tigers the year before. Fielder went on to lead the league with 130 HR and 389 RBI over the next three years, landing a five-year, $36MM contract that made him the then-second-highest paid player in baseball history behind Barry Bonds. Believe it or not, Prince is already more than halfway to his father's career total of 319 homers despite having fewer than half as many plate appearances.

Let's see what's being written around the baseball blogosphere…

  • The Phrontiersman goes back in time to see how things would have played out for the Phillies if Scott Rolen signed a contract extension and was never traded away.
  • DRays Bay wonders if Matt Sweeney could take over first base for the Rays if Carlos Pena leaves as a free agent after 2010. Sweeney was acquired in the Scott Kazmir trade.
  • Fack Youk compares Vladimir Guerrero to Hideki Matsui to Nick Johnson, the three biggest DH signings of the offseason.
  • Lookout Landing says the Mariners did just fine to acquire Casey Kotchman, even though Adam LaRoche agreed to a relatively cheap deal yesterday.
  • Meanwhile, Jorge Says No! thinks the Mets may have made a mistake by not signing LaRoche.
  • Nick's Twins Blog wonders if Michael Cuddyer or Joe Nathan could be expendable as Minnesota's estimated payroll will approach nine-figures in 2011.
  • AdamAdkins.net thinks the Tigers will regret signing Jose Valverde.
  • Pinstripes Published takes a look at the market for Johnny Damon, or lack thereof.
  • TurnTwo looks at all the movement going on with the Giants' defensive alignment.

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

Odds & Ends: Marlins, Chapman, Royals, Padres

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Links for Tuesday…

Rays Sign Dan Johnson

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The Rays signed first baseman Dan Johnson to a one-year, Major League deal worth $500K, writes Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.  The Rays sold Johnson's rights to the Yokohama BayStars about a year ago, and the 30-year-old hit .215/.330/.462 in 382 plate appearances in Japan in 2009.  He's got a career line of .248/.343/.420.  Most his big league time came with the A's from 2005-07.

Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Holliday, Yankees

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Some Saturday links…

  • Red Sox GM Theo Epstein expanded a bit on his "bridge year" comment from the Winter Meetings, writes Dan Duggan of The Boston Herald.
  • FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Players' Union calculates the present day value of Matt Holliday's deal at $113.6MM, or $16.2MM per year. The Cardinals, however, see the present day value as lower because they use a different discount rate. ESPN's Buster Olney has a breakdown of the award based incentives.
  • Chad Jennings of The Journal News has some more utility player candidates for the Yankees.
  • Tommy Rancel at DRaysBay wonders if Franklin Gutierrez's contract extension could be used as a blueprint for a potential B.J. Upton extension.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Bay, Holliday, Front Offices

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On this date nine years ago, the A's, Royals, and Devil Rays pulled off a three-team trade that included seven big leaguers. Oakland acquired Johnny Damon, Mark Ellis, and the late Cory Lidle while Kansas City received Angel Berroa, A.J. Hinch, and Roberto Hernandez. Tampa Bay picked up just Ben Grieve. Even though Berroa went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in 2003, Billy Beane's club walked away as the clear winner of this blockbuster.

Let's take a look at what's being written around the baseball blogosphere as Spring Training inches closer…

  • Fenway Nation thinks the Red Sox made a mistake by not re-signing Jason Bay, and wants to see the club atone for it by trading for Adrian Gonzalez.
  • Simon On Sports interviewed a blogger from each team about their squad's offseason.
  • At Home Plate says the Cardinals overpaid for Matt Holliday not because he isn't worth the money, but because no one else was bidding for his services.
  • Athletics Nation graded the front offices of the last decade.
  • U.S.S. Mariner calls Franklin Gutierrez's contract extension a major bargain, and notes it's similarities to the deal Mike Cameron signed with Seattle a decade ago.
  • DRays Bay wonders if the Rays could use Alfredo Amezaga.
  • Phillies Nation takes a look at some of the cheaper free agent pitching options that could entice the two-time defending NL Champs.
  • Twins Overlook examines the progression of Delmon Young since arriving in Minnesota.
  • River Ave. Blues ranked the $100MM contracts given to position players.
  • More Hardball has some New Year's resolutions for various people and teams in the game.

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

GM Trade Histories: AL East

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Brendan Bianowicz has more updates to the GM Trade History series.  Today he covers the AL East.  Check out the Excel spreadsheets below to see trades, free agent signings, and notable draft picks for each GM.

Odds & Ends: Phillies, Iannetta, Braves

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Links for Tuesday…

  • Phillies' GM Ruben Amaro said a lefty reliever and another starter are still on his wish list, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
  • Troy Renck of The Denver Post provides the details of Chris Iannetta's contract extension. The backstop can void the $5MM club option for 2013 if he is traded anytime before then.
  • Braves' GM Frank Wren said he's looking for just "one more small piece" to fill out his club's offensive needs, tweets MLB.com's Mark Bowman. Bowman notes that the Braves need a primary pinch hitter.
  • Adrian Beltre will take his physical on Thursday, tweeted Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports.
  • Joel Sherman of The New York Post provides some thoughts on the Mets' deal with Jason Bay. He notes that the team's scouts "contend Bay is a better defender than (Matt) Holliday," despite what the metrics and people outside the organization say.
  • The Giants designated defensively-skilled shortstop Brian Bocock for assignment to make room for Juan Uribe, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • ESPN's Keith Law sees "very little downside" for the Red Sox with the Adrian Beltre deal.  He notes that Boston's defense should be terrific this year.  Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says Beltre is "in the conversation of the best defensive third baseman of all time."  WEEI's Rob Bradford says the Red Sox considered signing Beltre after the '04 season, and even discussed trying him at shortstop.  Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe says Beltre is, at the least, an upgrade over Casey Kotchman.
  • Ken Davidoff of Newsday feels the Mets could raise payroll in 2011, so they won't be limited because of Jason Bay's contract.  By the way, Bradford has the transcript from Bay's press conference today.
  • Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball notes that the ten-day arbitration-filing period begins today.  MLB.com's Doug Miller highlights the biggest eligible names.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney suggests the Giants and Mets have been the slowest to adapt to advanced stats.  He also notes that the proliferation of better defensive metrics could greatly benefit Carl Crawford as a free agent next offseason.
  • MLB.com's Brian McTaggart talked to Astros GM Ed Wade, who said the trade market isn't great because of all the remaining free agents.  Also, Wade is focused on one-year deals for arbitration-eligible players such as Michael Bourn, Wandy Rodriguez, and Hunter Pence.
  • With Matt Holliday inching toward a large contact with the Cardinals, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at other $100MM deals given to outfielders.
  • MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone has a summary of Peter Gammons' appearance on WFAN this morning.
  • R.J. Anderson of DRays Bay interviewed Dan Feinstein, the Rays' Director of Baseball Operations.

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.
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