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Outrighted To Triple-A: Lopez, Carroll

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Here are the latest outright assignments from around MLB…

  • Rodrigo Lopez cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Iowa, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com tweets. The Cubs designated the veteran right-hander for assignment yesterday.
  • The Nationals announced that they outrighted outfielder Brett Carroll to Triple-A (Twitter link). Carroll, who was designated for assignment earlier this month, has accepted the assignment to Syracuse. The 29-year-old has a .201/.280/.319 line in 324 MLB plate appearances and experience at all three outfield positions.

Minor Moves: Negrych, Haughian

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We'll keep track of the minor transactions around the league this Sunday in this post…

  • The Nationals have signed infielder Jim Negrych to a minor league contract, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson (Twitter link). The 27-year-old has appeared primarily at second and third base in the minors, but didn't reach Triple-A until he was 25 years old in 2010. A sixth round pick by Pittsburgh in 2006, Negrych is a career .302/.377/.402 hitter in six minor league seasons.
  • Orioles minor league lefty Nicholas Haughian asked for his release and was granted it, tweets Steve Melewski of MASNsports. The 25-year-old Haughian was Baltimore's ninth round pick in 2008, but has yet to advance past High-A Frederick. He has a career 3.76 ERA, 7.1 K/9, and 3.1 BB/9.

Stark On Nationals, Trumbo, Abreu, Orioles

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Earlier today, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported that MLB and the MLBPA have agreed to stop including personal services deals and milestone bonus clauses in player contracts. He offers some reaction and detail in today’s column to go along with more rumors from around the league. Here are the highlights:

  • One prominent agent says the aforementioned changes more make it more difficult to add dollars to contracts without counting them against the luxury tax.
  • The Nationals still want to move John Lannan, but his slow start at Triple-A (7.50 ERA in three starts) is limiting his trade value.
  • The Nationals aren’t trying to trade Roger Bernadina, Stark reports. Right now Washington is thin on outfield depth, so they’re probably not in a position to trade outfielders away.
  • Some teams wonder if the Angels should shop Mark Trumbo for a controllable reliever. There’s no indication the Angels are looking to trade Trumbo, but they’re “trying feverishly” to move Bobby Abreu, Stark reports.
  • Scouts say the Orioles would “do anything” to trade third baseman Mark Reynolds and right-handed reliever Kevin Gregg.

No More Personal Service Deals & Milestone Bonuses

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Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have agreed to put an end to personal service deals and milestone bonus clauses, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports. Existing contracts with these deals or bonuses won’t be affected by the changes, which were agreed to this month.

Albert Pujols and Ryan Zimmerman recently signed long-term contracts which include personal services provisions and Alex Rodriguez has milestone bonuses associated with his contract. However, MLB and the union say these bonuses violate baseball’s collective bargaining agreement. The sides have agreed that the CBA doesn’t allow players to agree to deals that include obligations beyond their playing careers.

MLB is trying to prevent teams from finding loopholes that enable them to evade the luxury tax, Stark reports. Personal service deals and milestone bonuses aren’t considered guaranteed money and therefore don’t count against the luxury tax.

Quick Hits: Marlins, Galarraga, Rays, Rodriguez

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Here's the latest from around the majors as the Rangers and Tigers start a four-game set in Detroit..

Quick Hits: Lannan, Martin, Nationals, Orioles

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Giants closer Brian Wilson will undergo his second Tommy John surgery tomorrow. Over the weekend we heard that his season was over and that another elbow procedure was likely. Make sure you follow @CloserNews on Twitter for all your fantasy bullpen needs. Meanwhile, here's the latest from around the league…

  • Nationals southpaw John Lannan is still not drawing trade interest according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. His $5MM salary continues to be a problem, with one executive saying "teams would rather use a low-paid Minor Leaguer for the fifth spot before dealing with Lannan's money."
  • The Yankees have no plans to talk to Russell Martin about a contract extension soon, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Martin will become a free agent after this season, and the two sides briefly discussed a multi-year deal this past offseason.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that a panel of baseball officials will help resolve a local television revenue dispute between the Nationals and Orioles. The two clubs share ownership of MASN, but the O's hold a substantially larger stake. The current deal was hammered out when the Nats moved to Washington in 2005.

Nats Considering Extension For Jordan Zimmermann

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The Nationals have "dabbled in preliminary conversations" with SFX, the representatives for Jordan Zimmermann according to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post. The team has not yet reached out to the right-hander about a long-term deal, but he would be open to one.

“I haven’t talked to the Nationals about it,” Zimmermann said. “I’d be interested. I’ll just play it out and see what happens. I’m just going to go out and pitch the way I can pitch. Everything will take care of itself.”

Zimmerman, 25, can not become a free agent until after the 2015 season. He was arbitration-eligible for the first time as a Super Two this offseason, and will make $2.3MM this year. Zimmerman missed most of 2010 with Tommy John surgery, but he returned to post a 3.18 ERA in 161 1/3 innings last season. Back in February I suggested that a four-year deal worth $22-25MM could work for both sides.

The Nationals signed Gio Gonzalez (five years, $42MM) and Ryan Zimmerman (eight years, $126MM) to long-term deals this winter.

Minor Moves: Fossum, Johnson, Wells, Buschmann

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We'll keep track of today's minor moves right here…

  • The Orioles released left-hander Casey Fossum and catcher Josh Johnson, tweets Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com.  Both players were at Baltimore's extended Spring Training camp on minor league contracts.
  • The White Sox have parted ways with Kip Wells, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets. The White Sox had signed the right-hander to a minor league deal ten days ago.
  • The Rays acquired right-hander Matt Buschmann from the Nationals for cash and assigned their new acquisition to Double-A, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The 28-year-old posted a 6.16 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 134 1/3 innings with the Padres' top affiliates last year. Buschmann has started 116 minor league games in six pro seasons.

Quick Hits: Twins, Thomas, Damon, Nationals, Rays

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Saturday afternoon linkage..

  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter) notes that the Twins finally got Clete Thomas, years after they drafted him but were unable to sign him.  Minnesota claimed Thomas off of waivers from the Tigers earlier today. 
  • Matt Klaassen of Fangraphs examines whether Johnny Damon is worth it for the Indians.
  • Nationals manager Davey Johnson pushed for major changes to the bench this year and is happy with the outcome, writes MLB.com's Bill Ladson.  This year's bench is clicking so far with the likes of Chad Tracy, Xavier Nady, and Mark DeRosa.
  • The Rays signed Dominican shortstop Christian Toribio for $65K, according to a press release from the Dominican Prospect League.  The DPL categorizes Toribio as an above average runner and a solid defender with enough arm strength and range to stick at the position.

Rosenthal On Lannan, Greinke, Cardinals, McCann

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Highlights from the latest edition of Full Count from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports..

  • The Nationals continue to look for a taker for John Lannan but his $5MM salary is only part of the problem.  A rival exec points out that any team that gets Lannan might prefer to let him go this offseason rather than go to arbitration with him, further diminishing his value.
  • A rival executive says that Joey Votto's ten-year, $225MM contract with the Reds could affect Zack Greinke's talks with the Brewers.  In the past, a team like Milwaukee could claim that a small market team could never afford such a deal, but that no longer seems like a fair argument.
  • The Cardinals talked about trading Kyle Lohse or Jake Westbrook to free up space for Albert Pujols but it now looks like they made the right decision to hang on to both.  While the two pitchers will earn a combined $20MM+ this season, both reported in excellent condition this season and are off to strong early starts.
  • The Braves are locked into their local TV deal for the next 20 years – a deal that could soon become the worst in the sport.  Meanwhile, their payroll is stagnant and while the farm system is deep in pitchers and shortstops, it's not terribly deep in other areas.  Rosenthal can't imagine that the future looks promising for catcher Brian McCann as he is two years away from free agency.
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