Rangers Notes: Napoli, Payroll, Hamilton
Yesterday, the Rangers avoided arbitration with Mike Napoli, agreeing to a one-year, $9.4MM contract for 2012. The 30-year-old obtained the second-highest raise for any third or fourth-time eligible position player, trailing only Prince Fielder. Here's more on the Rangers..
- After signing Napoli, GM Jon Daniels said that the Rangers are now over budget and not likely to add any other free agents this off-season, writes Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram. Daniels won't shut the door on either Roy Oswalt or Mike Gonzalez but he says that it's hard to envision signing either player with their current payroll situation.
- Daniels added that there haven't been extension talks with Josh Hamilton as the outfielder is focusing on his health and family, Wilson tweets.
- Napoli settling below the midpoint of the two offers makes revisiting multi-year deal more realistic, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
Rangers, Mike Napoli Avoid Arbitration
The Rangers have avoided arbitration with Mike Napoli, agreeing to a one-year, $9.4MM contract for 2012, MLBTR has learned. Agent Brian Grieper of Paragon Sports International represents Napoli.
Napoli had filed for $11.5MM, while the Rangers countered with $8.3MM, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows. Napoli, 30, earned $5.8MM in 2011 and obtains the second-highest raise any third or fourth-time eligible position player has obtained (trailing just Prince Fielder). He is the fourth catcher in baseball history to average 20 home runs per year in his first six MLB seasons, joining Roy Campanella, Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza. The Rangers have now agreed to terms with all of their arbitration eligible players.
West Notes: Villalona, Darvish, Mariners
A few notes to pass along out of baseball's West divisions …
- Former Giants top prospect Angel Villalona is expected to report to Spring Training after missing the entirety of the past two seasons while dealing with legal issues in his native Dominican Republic, writes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Villalona, a first baseman, has been on the Giants' 40-man roster since last fall. He's 21 now, so he's hardly beyond old, but he'll have plenty of catching up to do.
- The Rangers have a plan in place to ease Yu Darvish's transition from NPB to MLB, writes Tom Verducci of SI.com. Essential to their strategy is to ween Darvish off the high-pitch-count outings he frequently posted in Japan in favor of more efficient pitch counts. As well, the Rangers will limit Darvish's exposure to AL West opponents during Spring Training, and they could skip a couple of his starts in the second half.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times has a look at how the Rangers and Angels positioned themselves shrewdly for their recent TV contracts, and cautions that it won't necessarily play out the same way for the Mariners — or other teams, for that matter.
Quick Hits: Oswalt, Renteria, Pirates, Indians
Links for Friday…
- ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says Roy Oswalt is not going to sign with the Rangers or Phillies. The right-hander could end up in Boston, where he doesn't seem to want to play, or with the Cardinals, who are interested if Oswalt agrees to their terms.
- Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com suggests the Brewers, Cubs and Astros are all fits for Edgar Renteria, who intends to play in 2012 (Twitter link).
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review discusses the difficulty of luring free agents to Pittsburgh and points out that the Pirates have never signed a free agent for more than $10.5MM, which is what Clint Barmes obtained earlier in the offseason.
- The Indians don't have any guaranteed contracts on the books beyond 2012, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian points out (on Twitter).
- Keith Law lists sleeper prospects for all 30 teams at ESPN.com.
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the complete minor league transactions for February 2nd-7th.
AL East Notes: Uehara, Reyes, Red Sox
The Yankees are discussing a possible A.J. Burnett trade with Pittsburgh and the Orioles agreed to terms with Luis Ayala on a one-year deal earlier today. Here are some more AL East updates…
- The Orioles maintain interest in Koji Uehara of the Rangers, even after adding Matt Lindstrom and Ayala this week, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.
- Ayala and Dennys Reyes grew up together in a small town in Mexico, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets. Both Paragon Sports International clients signed with the Orioles this offseason.
- The Red Sox have not avoided arbitration with David Ortiz, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney clarified this morning (Twitter link).
- ESPN.com's Jayson Stark suggests the Red Sox are still in play for Roy Oswalt, even though the right-hander doesn’t seem to want to sign in Boston.
A’s Notes: Ramirez, Ordonez, Matsui, Uehara
The A's agreed to extend GM Billy Beane through 2019 this week, but the offseason hasn't quite ended, so it's time to look ahead to Beane's next move. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and others have the details on the team's plans…
- Beane said he's looking to sign a DH for the middle of the lineup, Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group tweets. The GM added that it's not easy to find a cleanup hitter right now.
- A's scouts saw Ramirez work out recently and they're interested, ESPN.com's Buster Olney confirms (Twitter link). A final decision on whether to try to sign him is expected within the next week.
- The A's continue pursuing Manny Ramirez and they're much more interested in him than Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez's health is more of a concern, Slusser writes. Signing Ramirez would be the last thing the A's do before starting Spring Training, and a deal could be reached after camp opens.
- People in the A's organization are intrigued by Kila Ka'aihue's power and if the A's sign Ramirez, Ka'aihue would likely get the chance to DH while Ramirez sits out his 50-game suspension.
- The A's have some interest in free agent DH Hideki Matsui, but he's a "real long-shot," Slusser reports. They've had some talks about Johnny Damon, who might be out of the team's price range.
- The A's are considering Koji Uehara, Slusser confirms. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney says “nothing is close” regarding Uehara and that the Rangers are looking to obtain a good return in talks with Baltimore (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal reported Oakland's interest over the weekend.
NL West Notes: Rockies, Padres, Ayala
Matt Kemp's $160MM extension stands out as the largest financial commitment made by any NL West team so far this offseason and Michael Cuddyer's three-year, $31.5MM contract with the Rockies checks in as the biggest free agent deal signed by one of the NL West teams. Here are the latest links from the division…
- Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd told Troy Renck of the Denver Post that he expects his club to improve in 2012, but doesn’t expect any one player to radically alter the team’s chances of winning. “Overall, we don't think anyone we signed or traded for is going to sprinkle pixie dust on our issues or make them go away,” O’Dowd said. “That has to happen internally with us doing things the right way consistently."
- Padres president Tom Garfinkel said on XX1090 in San Diego that the reported terms of the team’s upcoming TV deal are too high, MLB.com’s Corey Brock tweets. USA Today reported yesterday that the Padres are poised to sign a 20-year deal worth $75MM annually.
- Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN.com adds the Giants and Rangers to the list of teams that had interest in Luis Ayala before the right-hander agreed to terms with the Orioles (Twitter link).
West Links: Cruz, Mota, Padres, Abreu, Angels
We've already rounded up notes from the east and central divisions, now let's head out west…
- The Rangers and Nelson Cruz avoided arbitration by agreeing to a two-year, $16MM deal earlier today, and the outfielder told Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthWest.com that a long-term deal is still possible (Twitter link).
- The AP (via ESPN) reports that the Giants and Guillermo Mota have finalized their one-year, $1MM agreement. The two sides agreed to the contract in December. San Francisco's 40-man roster is now full.
- The Padres are poised to sign a new television contract with FOX Sports that will guarantee them $75MM annually for the next 20 years, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The deal is pending MLB's approval.
- ESPN's Jayson Stark listed five players that could get traded in Spring Training, including Bobby Abreu of the Angels. One executive told Stark: "There's no team in baseball more likely to make a deal this spring than the Angels."
Rangers, Nelson Cruz Agree To Two-Year Deal
Nelson Cruz passed his physical, and his two-year deal with the Rangers is worth $16MM plus incentives, MLBTR has learned. The ACES client had an arbitration hearing scheduled for next week.
Cruz, 31, hit .263/.312/.509 with 29 home runs in 513 plate appearances last year, adding eight more homers in 70 postseason PAs. The right fielder's arbitration case seemingly had some bearing on those of Adam Jones and Alex Gordon, who remain unsigned.
Cruz will be eligible for free agency upon the completion of his two-year deal. His .540 slugging percentage since 2008 ranks sixth in MLB among those with at least 1500 plate appearances. Health has been the only obstacle for the late-blooming Cruz, who has averaged 120 regular season games over the past three years.
The Rangers extended shortstop Elvis Andrus yesterday, so Mike Napoli is their only remaining unsigned arbitration eligible player. Napoli's hearing is scheduled for Wednesday of next week, with a $3.2MM salary spread.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Contract Details: Pierre, Belisle, Andrus
Juan Pierre, Matt Belisle and Elvis Andrus recently agreed to new deals; here are details on their respective contracts:
- Pierre would earn $800K on the Major League roster and he could earn additional incentives based on plate appearances, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The outfielder signed a minor league deal with the Phillies last week.
- Belisle will earn $4.1MM in 2013 and his extension includes a mutual option worth $4.25MM for 2014, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. If Belisle accepts his half of the option, the Rockies can still decline for $250K. The deal includes $450K in incentives for games finished.
- Andrus gets a signing bonus of $750K, $2.375MM in 2012, $4.8MM in 2013, and $6.475MM in 2014, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets.