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Re: The MLB Thread
Pirates sign RHP Juan Cruz to minor league / spring invite deal
by AP
PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed right-handed reliever Juan Cruz to a minor league contract and will invite him to spring training.
The 33-year-old Cruz went 5-0 with a 3.88 ERA in 56 relief appearances with Tampa Bay last season. He’s previously pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Kansas City Royals.
Cruz is 37-35 with a 4.13 ERA in 11 seasons.
The Pirates have now invited 20 non-roster players to spring training, which opens on Feb. 19.
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This is another guy I just cannot believe is still around. Yet remains a cheap, quality option for starter injuries, or a bullpen option on a small-market team. He seems like he's been around forever (going on his 12th season), yet he's still only 33.
Re: The MLB Thread
Francisco Cordero agrees to one-year / $4.5 million deal with Blue Jays
by Reuters
Feb 1 (Reuters) - The Toronto Blue Jays continued to bolster their bullpen, agreeing to a one-year $4.5 million deal with veteran reliever Francisco Cordero, the Major League Baseball team said on Wednesday.
A three-time All-Star, Cordero posted a 5-3 record with 37 saves for the Cincinnati Reds last season.
The 36-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic has recorded 30 or more saves in seven seasons.
Over a 13-year Major League career that has also included stints with Detroit, Texas and Milwaukee, Cordero was 44-45 and 327 saves, ranking 12th on the all-time saves list.
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SWEET add by Toronto to lock down that bullpen. Nice price for the quality the Jays should get in return. Cordero has been a solid closer for several seasons now.
I think Cordero thought someone would give him a multi-year deal like Papelbon got. He waited so long, that I think he just signed to get a job after everyone else moved on. He's far better than a one-year deal.
Re: The MLB Thread
Carlos Guillen returns to Mariners on minor league / spring invite deal
by Greg Johns / MLB.com
SEATTLE -- Veteran infielder Carlos Guillen, who began his career with the Mariners from 1998-2003, signed a Minor League deal with Seattle on Wednesday that includes an invitation to Major League camp.
Guillen, 36, was a three-time All-Star while with the Tigers between 2004-11, but played just 28 games last year after sitting out the first three and a half months while recovering from microfracture knee surgery and then missing the end of the season with a wrist injury.
Guillen becomes the 26th non-roster invitee to the Mariners camp, which opens in two weeks in Peoria, Ariz. He figures to compete for time at third base and in the outfield, if healthy.
Of his 1,248 career games playing the field over 14 seasons, 856 have been at shortstop, but he hasn't played there since 2007. He's played 189 games at third base, 84 at second, 71 games at first and 48 in the outfield.
The Mariners' third-base situation remains up in the air, with youngsters Kyle Seager and Alex Liddi competing with Chone Figgins, who struggled last year and will be tried in a utility role this spring.
Guillen is a career .285 hitter with a .355 on-base and .443 slugging percentage, with 124 home runs and 660 RBIs. He hit .232 with three home runs and 13 RBIs last year in 95 at-bats.
Guillen originally came to Seattle in 1998 along with pitchers Freddy Garcia and John Halama as one of three young prospects acquired in the July 31 Trade Deadline deal with the Astros for Randy Johnson.
He was the starting shortstop on the Mariners team that won 116 games in 2001, then was traded to the Tigers in '04 for shortstop Ramon Santiago and Minor League infielder Juan Gonzalez. With Detroit, he was named to the All-Star team in 2004, '07 and '08 and racked up a .297 batting average and .842 OPS over eight seasons.
Re: The MLB Thread
True, but I don't think the Tigers are losing much with Guillen heading back to Seattle.
I'm curious to see how the Tigers plug their offensive holes. Despite adding Prince Fielder they're still kinda... light, for an AL team. Counting Prince probably two big-time 3, 4 hitters in Prince & Miggy. Then a couple more 'good' hitters in Peralta & Avila.
The rest are forgettable. V-Mart is gonna be gone for most of the year and if not the whole year more likely. Their bench is light and no real threats. Ryan Raburn works better as a utility man.
I think Detroit is still one bat short of a solid offensive threat. I think a Vlad Guerrero or Manny Ramirez would fit real nice as a DH option for one-year. Maybe trade for Soriano for DH. Move Cabrera to 3B.
But the Tigers seem to be expressing alot more interest in Yoenis Cespedes. So maybe he's the next piece. But last I checked the Cubs seemed to be the front-runners. I don't think the Marlins have even talked to him.
As for the rest of the AL Central... sorry man but the rest of the division is a non-threat. Twins are better than their last place finish last year, but not more than .500, White Sox might get lucky with that stacked lineup if Dunn has a resurgent year and that rotation can stay healthy. Royals aren't there yet, and the Indians aren't more than a .500 team.
AL Central is probably the weakest division in baseball.
Re: The MLB Thread
Tigers haven't ruled out pursuit of Cuban OF Yoenis Cespedes
by Jason Beck / MLB.com
DETROIT -- The Tigers hit the jackpot as the "mystery team" interested in Prince Fielder at the last minute. Their pursuit of Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has been just the opposite.
At this point, though, it has still ended up a mystery. And the man in charge of it isn't giving away the ending.
Fittingly, while the Tigers were putting the finishing touches on their nine-year, $214 million contract on Fielder on Wednesday, Cespedes was about 1,800 miles away, clearing the most important hurdle left between him and negotiations with Major League teams to realize his dream of playing in the United States. With an official recognition of his residency in the Dominican Republic, Cespedes became the next big free-agent hitter on the market, though he hasn't played a game here at any level.
A day later, Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski was still taking in the elation over Fielder's return to Detroit in the minutes after the formal news conference when someone asked him if the Fielder signing rules out the Tigers on a Cespedes pursuit.
Dombrowski paused, carefully pondering his answer.
"I don't want to say on that," Dombrowski said. "Most likely [out], but you never can tell."
That didn't really clarify their standing. Nor did a tweet from MLB Network Radio host Jim Bowden earlier this week saying that the Tigers are one of "six clubs that have been the most serious in negotiations with Cespedes' agents."
The latter sounded a lot like reports that have trickled out over the past few weeks listing a half-dozen teams with the most intense interest in Cespedes. Earlier this month, the five-tool athlete himself listed the Tigers along with five other clubs with the most interest, though he later gave a nod to the Cubs as the most interested club.
While Cespedes and his agents, led by Adam Katz, are free to talk with teams about his services, he can't officially sign until he clears one more diplomatic hurdle, this one stateside. Until the Office of Foreign Assets Control grants him an unblocking license, he isn't allowed to enter into an agreement. That isn't expected to take nearly as long to resolve as his residency issue did, but it isn't instantaneous, either.
The Tigers have been extremely guarded in their comments about Cespedes, which have almost exclusively been limited to quotes from Dombrowski. The limited remarks are just enough to truly make the Tigers a mystery team in these dealings.
Dombrowski, however, is just a minor part of the mystery. The influence of owner Mike Ilitch is another.
The way the Fielder negotiations unfolded, from interest by the Tigers in a short-term deal to the sudden aggressiveness by Ilitch to go longer than any other team was reportedly offering, changes the Tigers' perception in the market. It's now more difficult to completely rule out the Tigers from a deal for purely financial reasons.
Ilitch has coveted star players, from Fielder to Miguel Cabrera to Magglio Ordonez and Ivan Rodriguez. Cespedes isn't a star, not yet, but he has star talent in the eyes of many scouts, from home run power to basestealing speed to a strong arm in the outfield. At age 26, he's anything but a long-term project, at least not in the Minors.
Opinions are supposedly divided among scouts as to whether Cespedes could go straight to the big leagues, which might depend more on the club that gets him. Even if it's simply for the cultural adjustment to the American lifestyle, many believe he could benefit from even a short stint in the Minors before hitting the Major League spotlight.
Cespedes isn't necessarily a win-now type of signing, but he has the talent to compete now, which explains in part why the field of interested teams reportedly includes the Marlins, Cubs, White Sox and Orioles. And he has the skill set and pure athleticism to help a team like the Tigers by the season's home stretch, if not sooner.
By most accounts, the Tigers have the hitting to win now. They do not have an abundance of speed. If they were to pursue Cespedes, that would be a huge appeal. The chance to add a legitimate offensive prospect on the cusp of the big leagues in a year when the Tigers will again forfeit their first-round Draft pick as free-agent compensation is another potential appeal. The opportunity to finish a process they started long ago might be another.
The Tigers have been watching Cespedes for well over a year, and they sent so many officials to watch him work out in the Dominican that even Dombrowski made a trip to see him first hand. If they get out of the running, it won't be for lack of interest in Cespedes so much as lack of interest in the chase. If they stay in, it won't be an immediate need to fill, but definitely an intriguing one.
Re: The MLB Thread
Micah Owings, Padres agree to one-year / $1 million deal
by AP
SAN DIEGO (AP)—Right-hander Micah Owings and the San Diego Padres have agreed to a $1 million, one-year contract.
General manager Josh Byrnes says Owings is a “proven contributor” as a starter and a reliever. The deal was announced Thursday.
Owings was 8-0 with a career-best 3.57 ERA in 33 games, including four starts, for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011. The Diamondbacks didn’t tender him a contract after last season.
He made his big league debut with the Diamondbacks in 2007, when Byrnes was Arizona’s GM.
Owings can also be used as a pinch-hitter. He is a .286 (58 for 203) career hitter, with nine home runs and 35 RBIs. He has a career .297 (47 for 158) average as a pitcher, tops among all pitchers with 100-or-more at-bats since 2007.
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REAL nice pick up by San Diego. Kinda forgotton, should be a cheap option for them while they're rebuilding, or whatever the fuck they do down there. 
Re: The MLB Thread
Report: Josh Hamilton has relapse with alcohol
by AP
DALLAS (AP)—The Dallas Morning News is reporting Rangers outfielder and recovering drug addict Josh Hamilton had a relapse earlier this week when he drank alcohol at a bar.
The newspaper, citing unidentified “individuals familiar with the episode,” reported Thursday night that Hamilton was at a Dallas area bar Monday.
In a statement to the newspaper, the Rangers said they were “aware of a situation, but we don’t have further comment at this time.”
Hamilton, 31, was suspended for more than three years for drug and alcohol use while in the Tampa Bay organization. He missed the entire 2004-05 seasons. He won the AL MVP in 2010.
This was Hamilton’s second alcohol-related relapse in three years. In January, 2009, he drank to excess in a bar in Tempe, Ariz.
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This guy must be some special kind of dumb. Now maybe he's a recovering addict who can still get drunk, and not go full-blown wino alcoholic.
But considering he's already been suspended by MLB before for substance abuse issues, doing this shit publicly is A) knocking millions off his next contract, B) knocking years off his next contract, C) asking to be suspended perminately from baseball, or D) a combination of those options.
What an epic and incredible dumbass.
Re: The MLB Thread
Pitcher Edwin Jackson reaches one-year deal with Nationals
by Reuters
Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Washington Nationals beefed up their pitching staff by signing All-Star free agent Edwin Jackson to a one-year deal on Thursday, the Major League Baseball team said.
Right-hander Jackson, who went a combined 12-9 with a 3.79 earned run average (ERA) in 2011 for the Chicago White Sox and World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, will complete the move pending a physical.
Financial details were not disclosed but local media estimate the deal to be worth around $10 million.
The much travelled Jackson, 28, will join a Washington pitching rotation that includes Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and Gio Gonzalez.
Acquired by the Cardinals in late July, Jackson went 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA to help St. Louis clinch the National League wild card and then win the World Series in seven games over the Texas Rangers.
In a nine-year career, he has pitched for six major league teams, having had previous stints with the Dodgers, Rays, Tigers and Diamondbacks.
An All-Star in 2009, Jackson pitched a no-hitter for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 25 2010 when he walked eight and struck out six in a 1-0 victory.
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Obviously Jackson didn't get that multi-year deal he was banking on with Boras, because they overplayed their hand too long, but seriously... man, the Nationals just get better and better and better. The new Expos are finally serious about kicking a little ass in the NL East.
Washington is gonna be NL Wild Card contenders for sure this year!
Re: The MLB Thread
Its very saddening to see one of the kindest and most caring players in baseball relaspe. He has struggled with drugs and alcohol throughout a large portion of his life, but has been able to overcome all of it. And to see that he relapsed made my heart sink, my prayers sincerely go out to Josh Hamilton and his family. He has had to deal with a lot including being associated with the Tragic death of Rangers fan Shannon Stone last year when Josh harmlessly threw a ball into the stands and Shannon fell over the railing
