Rumors

  • Indians DFA Matt Herges

    Dennis Manoloff of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Indians designated veteran reliever Matt Herges for assignment following tonight's game. The move freed up a roster spot for the recently acquired Winston Abreu.

    Herges had been effective for the Tribe, pitching to a 3.55 ERA in 25.1 innings, allowing fewer hits than innings pitched.


  • Aroldis Chapman May Be 26 Years Old

    Jack Curry of the New York Times reports that Cuban lefthander Aroldis Chapman may be 26 years old rather than the 21 he was believed to be.

    "[Chapman's] age was reported Thursday as 21, but reports in March at the World Baseball Classic said he was 26."

    Chapman defected on Wednesday while in the Netherlands, and is considered the best lefthanded pitcher in the world not pitching in the Major Leagues.  Obviously the age issue could affect Chapman's payday.  But he still figures to draw plenty of interest, as did Jose Contreras at age 30.


  • Discussion: Players On One Year Contracts

    Last offseason we watched as many established veterans, some former All-Stars, settled for one year contracts in the tough economic climate. Some players were just holding on for one last year, others were looking to earn themselves a multi-year deal after proving their worth in 2009.

    Let's discuss how these players have performed, and whether or not they've put themselves in position to land that big contract after the season. Here's some players who fit the bill:

    • Bobby Abreu: .299-.399-.441 in 308 plate appearances. The Angels are paying him just $5MM this year, but he'll turn 36 in Spring Training.
    • Rocco Baldelli: .289-.349-.487 in just 83 plate appearances. Still just 27, Rocco's guaranteed only $500k but has an incentive laden contract.
    • Jon Garland: 4.81 ERA in 16 starts. After making $7.25MM this year he has a mutual option worth $10MM in the offseason. He'll turn 30 in September.
    • Orlando Hudson: .294-.362-.425 in 357 plate appearances. He's making $3.38MM this year with bonuses, and will turn 32 in the offseason.
    • Felipe Lopez: .303-.359-.411 in 326 plate appearances. He'll earn $3.5MM in 2009, and is still just 29 years old.
    • Carl Pavano: 5.56 ERA in 16 starts. He's guaranteed $1.5M but has over $5MM in incentives in his contract. He'll turn 34 this winter.
    • Brad Penny: 4.79 ERA in 15 starts.At age 31, he's making $5MM.

    So what do you guys think, have any of these players earned themselves a multi-year contract?


  • Padres To Extend Bud Black

    Tim Brown at Yahoo Sports reports that the Padres intend to extend manager Bud Black's contract in the coming weeks. Black is in the final year of a three year contract he signed prior to the 2007 season. Details of the extension aren't known yet.

    The Padres are 34-44 on the season coming in to tonight, and are 186-217 under Black since '07.


  • Odds & Ends: Boras, Nationals, Bedard, White Sox, Giants, Astros

    Some evening links for those of you who haven't checked out for the long holiday weekend yet.

    • Billy Witz of the NY Times wrote about the relationship between the Dodgers and superagent Scott Boras.
    • The Nationals have agreed to terms with five international players according to Bill Ladson. A formal announcement of the signings will come in a few days.
    • Pete McElroy of MASNsports.com notes that the Nats have signed a pair of draft picks, including fourth rounder AJ Morris.
    • Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times notes that Erik Bedard threw a 54-pitch simulated game today and will start on Tuesday. Teams will have just enough time to evaluate him before the trade deadline.
    • Will Carroll tweets that the Giants and White Sox "want to make a deal quick." He later backs off a bit and says that the two teams won't necessarily made a trade with each other, but both are looking for good deals.
    • Kiley McDaniel has a list of four international players the Astros have signed.
    • Remember, you can get all your rumors instantly via MLBTR's Twitter feed.


  • Baseball's back and all the writers have blogs

    Thanks to everyone who has helped make Hot Stove Report the No. 1 baseball blog in page views over the past offseason. It accounted for more than 80 percent of all MLBlogs Network traffic for most of the winter, and the good news is that (a) baseball is back and (b) all 30 of your favorite MLB.com beat writers now have their own MLBlogs. Here is where to find them, or just refer to the side panel of MLBlogosphere or Jen Langosch's blog. They also are all indexed in the PRO BLOGS drop-down menu on the MLBlogs homepage.
  • Royals sign Jacobs, avoid arbitration

    First baseman Mike Jacobs agreed to a one-year, $3.275-million  contract with the Royals on Tuesday night.
    <p>
    Jacobs asked for $3.8 million, the Royals offered $2.75 million and they agreed on the exact midpoint. An arbitration hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.
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    The signing continued a streak for general manager Dayton Moore, who has never had an arbitration case advance to a hearing in his Royals tenure. Jacobs was the last remaining case for the Royals.
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    This was the first shot at a multi-million dollar salary for Jacobs, who was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Royals this winter with that in mind. The Marlins paid him $395,000 last year.
    <p>
    The Royals previously signed the three other players who exchanged figures in the arbitration process: Pitcher Zack Greinke to a four-year, $38-million contract; infielder-outfielder Mark Teahen to a one-year, $3.575 million contract, and pitcher Brian Bannister to a one-year, $1.7375-million deal.
    <p>
    Five others who were eligible for arbitration also signed one-year contracts: Catcher John Buck, $2.9 million; pitcher Jimmy Gobble, $1.35 million; pitcher Kyle Davies, $1.3 million; infielder Esteban German, $1.2 million, and pitcher Joel Peralta, $640,000.

    -- Dick Kaegel

  • Ankiel, Cardinals settle

    The Cardinals avoided what would have been their first arbitration hearing since 1999 when they reached a last-minute settlement on a one-year contract with outfielder Rick Ankiel on Thursday. Cardinals assistant general manager John Abbamondi confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

    The deal is worth a reported $2.825 million, which is the exact midpoint of the figures submitted by Ankiel and the club last month. Ankiel requested $3.3 million in the last season before he is eligible for free agency, while the club countered with an offer of $2.35 million.

    Ankiel and the Cardinals were literally down to a couple of hours to get a contract done. Their hearing was scheduled for 3 p.m. CT, and the involved parties had all made their way to Arizona to take part.

    St. Louis still has one remaining arbitration-eligible player who has not signed. Ryan Ludwick would have a hearing on Tuesday if no deal can be reached before that time. Ludwick has asked for $4.25 million, while the club has offered $2.8 million.

    --Matthew Leach
  • Brewers claim Angels pitcher

    The Brewers continued to stockpile starting pitchers on Thursday, claiming right-hander Nick Green off waivers from the Angels on the same day club officials expected to finalize a deal with free agent pick-up Braden Looper.

    Green, 24, who was placed on waivers by the Angels on Tuesday to make room for free agent addition Bobby Abreu, was once considered a top Angels pitching prospect but is coming off a so-so season at Triple-A Salt Lake. He was 8-8 with a 5.32 ERA in 28 starts and surrendered 31 home runs in 158 innings.

    He was better in 2007, going 10-8 with a 3.68 ERA in 178 innings for Double-A Arkansas and earning a spot on the Angels' 40-man roster. With Milwaukee, Green, who has Minor League options remaining, will probably join the starting rotation at Triple-A Nashville along with recently-acquired left-hander Chase Wright.

    The Brewers needed a 40-man roster spot for Green so they designated right-handed reliever Luis Pena for assignment. Pena, a power pitcher who struggled in 2008 (6.93 ERA in 52 games at Nashville), had been a Brewers farmhand since 1999, when he signed out of Venezuela.

    The Brewers will have to make another move to clear a spot for Looper, whose one-year contract should be finalized by the end of the day Thursday.

    -- Adam McCalvy
  • Uggla wins arbitration case

    Even before reporting to Spring Training, Dan Uggla has collected a big hit. On Thursday, the Marlins' two-time All-Star second baseman won his arbitration case, meaning he will earn $5.35 million in 2009.

    On Wednesday, Uggla and the Marlins enduring a hearing that lasted between four and five hours.

    Because neither side could agree on a salary figure by the Jan. 20 exchange of numbers deadline, Uggla's salary went to a hearing before three arbitrators in Arizona. Uggla was seeking $5.35 million, while the Marlins countered at $4.4 million. The three arbitrators had to decide which of those two figures the two-time All-Star would make.

    Technically, the Marlins could have kept negotiation with Uggla's agent, Jeff Borris, up until the hearings began. But the team has a policy where they stop contract talks if an agreement isn't be reached by the exchange deadline.

    "You never want to go to a hearing, win or lose," Borris said. "You try to settle, but the Marlins have a policy. ... Bottom line is the team is trying to make the best deal for them, and you can't fault them for that. And the player is looking for the best deal for him, and you can't fault him for that."

    Uggla was still in Arizona on Thursday. Marlins position players are slated to report to Jupiter, Fla., for Spring Training on Feb. 17.

    -- Joe Frisaro

     

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