The Blue Jays announced that they designated right-hander Sam Dyson for assignment. The move creates roster space for Mark DeRosa, who signed with the team today.
Dyson, 24, made his MLB debut this past season. He appeared in two games at the MLB level but spent most of the season in the minor leagues. In 74 innings at Class A and Double-A, he posted a 3.04 ERA with 4.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. The 2010 fourth round pick made his pro debut this past season.
The Blue Jays announced that they signed infielder Mark DeRosa to a one-year, $750K contract for 2013. The deal with the CSE client includes a $750K club option for 2014.
Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has said he'd like to add a versatile right-handed hitting player to round out the club's active roster. DeRosa, who turns 38 next month, bats from the right side and has experience at a variety of positions.
He played in 48 games for the Nationals last year, posting a .188/.300/.247 batting line in 101 plate appearances and playing every infield position plus both corner outfield positions. Most of DeRosa's MLB experience comes at third base, second base and right field. In 15 seasons at the MLB level he has a .270/.340/.412 batting line.
Even in a sport known for its analytics, back of the baseball card stats rule for a couple months of the year. MLB arbitrators prefer traditional stats such as wins, saves and RBI, which means those stats take on additional importance each winter when teams negotiate salaries with their arbitration eligible players.
Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos discussed some fundamentals of the arbitration process last week while addressing reporters. Though the Blue Jays have since agreed to terms with all of their arbitration eligible players, their GM’s comments provide insight into the process in general. Here are some details:
On Arbitrators’ Preferred Stats
There’s often a significant difference between what arbitrators value and what front offices value. “The arbitration process is totally different,” Anthopoulos said. “Guys get paid on power, guys get paid on holds out of the bullpen, wins, things like that. Not necessarily the same things you evaluate as a free agent.”
On Interpreting the CBA
Player earnings are based on precedent rather than explicit instructions in the sport’s collective bargaining agreement. “Even though in the CBA it won’t tell you specifically ‘this is what we pay for,’ just look at previous hearings and previous cases, how players get paid.”
On Valuing Relievers
“Relievers are hard,” Anthopoulos said. “Holds can be something more quantifiable to an arbitration panel because it impacts late in the game. It seems to be a stat that for the middle relievers and setup guys can become a really key part of the criteria.” Anthopoulos recalled paying current Blue Jays coach Pete Walker more than Juan Cruz because of Walker’s role, even when Cruz was the more appealing reliever from an objective standpoint. “He had the holds and Juan Cruz didn’t.”
Follow the arbitration process with MLBTR’s Arb Tracker and projected 2013 salaries. Plus, Tim Dierkes recently explained what it means to be a file and trial team and Matt Swartz’s Arbitration Breakdown series offers in-depth insight into some prominent cases. Matt has also explained arbitration salaries for pitchers and hitters.
Alfonso Soriano has been on the pages of MLBTR quite a bit over the last year, but if the outfielder has anything to say about it, he'll remain with the Cubs. "I want to stay here and finish my career here and try to win before I retire," Soriano said, according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. "I signed here to bring a World Series winner to Chicago. It's been a long time since they won a World Series. That's my dream. I hope to stay here, and when they win, I want to be part of that team." Here's more from around baseball..
Dozens of players will agree to terms with their respective teams today and avoid arbitration. We'll have detailed posts on the top earners around MLB, and we'll track more modest agreements — those worth less than $4MM — right here. MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker will have all of the details.
Teams had until 12pm CDT today to exchange filing numbers with their arbitration eligible players. Generally speaking the deadline creates lots of discussion and leads to early deals. Plus, for ‘file and trial’ teams this marks the final chance for negotiations in advance of a hearing. Here are the latest agreements from around MLB…
The Blue Jays have agreed to a two-year, $2.5MM deal with catcher Josh Thole, announced the team. The 26-year-old backstop had been arbitration eligible for the first of four times, as a Super Two player. The Hendricks Sports client will earn $1.25MM in 2013 and the same in 2014, while the Jays hold a club option for 2015. Thole would be arbitration eligible in 2016 before reaching free agency. With this contract, essentially, Thole agreed to not receive a raise in his second arbitration year in exchange for the team guaranteeing that salary early.
Thole, 26, joined Toronto as part of December's R.A. Dickey trade with the Mets.
Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos introduced Jose Reyes in Toronto yesterday, explaining that players of Reyes’ caliber are difficult to find. “He’s electric,” Anthopoulos said. “High energy, smile on his face, just so many things. This is a rare guy to find. Leadoff, shortstop, energy, makeup — check off every single box.” Here are some more notes on the Blue Jays with Spring Training just a month away…
The Blue Jays didn’t set out to trade for Jose Reyes this winter. Instead, they targeted rotation upgrades to recover from a disappointing 89-loss season. Meanwhile, Reyes expected to remain with the Marlins, even after hype gave way to hopelessness in Miami toward the end of the 2012 campaign. Now, as Spring Training approaches, Reyes is officially Toronto's shortstop and there’s an expectation from both sides that the 2013 season will live up to high preseason expectations.
The Blue Jays look at Reyes as a dynamic shortstop who can help them reach the postseason for the first time in 20 years. His skillset rarely becomes available in the view of general manager Alex Anthopoulos.
“I don’t know that we’re going to see another shortstop like this in Toronto for a long time,” the GM said at Reyes’ introductory press conference at Toronto’s Rogers Centre this afternoon. “I don’t know that we could ever think we’re going to draft someone like this or sign someone like this out of Latin America. This is one of the great players to play the game.”
Reyes sounds equally optimistic about his new team. He thought he'd be staying in Miami despite a 69-93 season that cost manager Ozzie Guillen his job. So earlier in the offseason when he and his wife were vacationing he wasn’t expecting to pick up his phone and learn he’d been traded.
“It surprised me a little bit,” Reyes said, “but after that I said ‘you know what, with what the Blue Jays have it’s all about winning and on the field it’s going to be good,' so I can’t wait.”
Judging by Anthopoulos’ comments, the Blue Jays are also eager to get started. The GM described himself as a longtime admirer of Reyes, citing the 29-year-old's energy and multi-faceted game as reasons for his interest. Plus, Reyes provides Toronto with a traditional leadoff hitter, something that Anthopoulos suggested is becoming increasingly rare in today’s game. It's clear that the GM believes there's a lot to like about Reyes.
“He’s probably one of my favorite players in the league to watch,” Anthopoulos said. “He’s the type of guy you want to watch play. He’s electric. High energy, smile on his face, just so many things. This is a rare guy to find. Leadoff, shortstop, energy, makeup — check off every single box.”
Last offseason, when Reyes hit free agency, the Blue Jays weren’t involved in the bidding for the client of the Legacy Agency. At the time they believed that they had ample shortstop depth in Yunel Escobar and Adeiny Hechavarria. One year later, Anthopoulos was prepared to trade both Cuban shortstops to Miami in the blockbuster trade that brought Reyes to Toronto.
“We felt we were pretty deep at shortstop, but we’ve never seen a guy like this,” Anthopoulos said of Reyes. “It’s a rare opportunity to get a player like this and we wanted to make sure we were able to get it done.”
Interestingly, Reyes wasn’t the one the Blue Jays initially targeted. Anthopoulos started talks with the Marlins by asking about Josh Johnson, following up on an inquiry he’d made during the summer of 2012. Talks progressed from there and Toronto ultimately landed Reyes and the remainder of his six-year, $106MM contract. The Marlins faced considerable criticism for moving the contracts of Reyes, Johnson and Mark Buehrle, among others. Yet their former shortstop says trades are part of the game, even when they occur one year into a long-term commitment. Few players get to spend their entire career with one team.
“You have to understand that doesn’t happen sometimes, because this is a business,” Reyes said. “As a player we need to understand that.”
After last year, Reyes understands more than just the business side of baseball. He has seen firsthand that preseason excitement doesn’t necessarily translate into wins on the field. Like this year’s Blue Jays club, last year’s Marlins were tabbed by many as a breakout team. The Marlins never emerged as a postseason threat, and Reyes says he learned from the experience.
“No matter what people say — a lot of people said ‘they’re going to win it all’ — it’s not about what people say.” Reyes said. “I don’t think that’s going to happen here.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jeff Frye, Darren Oliver's agent, was apparently not speaking for his client when Frye said earlier this month that Oliver wanted a raise to return to the Blue Jays or else the veteran southpaw would retire, Oliver said during a conference call with reporters (including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca). "I was out of town when that article was written, and I didn't say those things, that was coming from Jeff Frye," Oliver said. "Obviously if I had something to say, I would have said it a long time ago, not once did I ever demand anything from the Blue Jays or Alex [GM Alex Anthopoulos]." The Jays announced today that Oliver would return to pitch in Toronto in 2013.
Here are some more items from around the AL East…
Manny Ramirez, who is now playing in the Dominican Winter League postseason, wants to continue his MLB career, agent Barry Praver told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Ramirez last appeared in an MLB game in 2011, but the A's did sign him last February. Here are some more links from around MLB…
Zach Links contributed to this post.
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