key word being "seeking" Chris Capuano Seeking Two-Year DealBy Steve Adams [January 6 at 4:20pm CST]Free agent left-hander Chris Capuano is seeking a two-year deal and is willing to wait for that opportunity to evolve if it is not currently present, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.Capuano, 35, posted a 4.26 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 46.4 percent ground-ball rate (the best of his career in a full season) over 105 2/3 frames with the Dodgers in 2013. Though his ERA numbers have been up and down over the past four seasons, Sabermetric estimators such as xFIP and SIERA both feel that his skill-set has been that of a 3.60 to 3.97 ERA pitcher in that time.The big factor with Capuano is health -- something he's struggled with throughout his career. Capuano has twice undergone Tommy John surgery, and while he looked to have overcome his injury woes when he threw 186 and 198 1/3 innings in 2011 and 2012, respectively, he was shelved by multiple injuries in 2013. Capuano saw time on the disabled list with a calf strain and a lat strain this past season, and he also threw just 4 2/3 innings in September as he battled a groin injury. He did throw three solid innings of relief and pick up a win in Game 3 of the NLDS, suggesting that he ultimately overcame that injury as well.Capuano has posted excellent strikeout-to-walk ratios since returning from his second Tommy John surgery. From 2011-13, there are just 25 pitchers who have thrown 450 innings or more and posted a better K/BB ratio than Capuano's 3.14. __
Jerry Sands has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Durham by the Rays (Twitter link). The 26-year-old Sands was designated for assignment earlier in the week. twas a time...
Actually that's pretty cool, I go to a Bull's game at least once a year, it's about an hour and 10 minutes from me.
uh, no we already have 4 of's plus joc waiting in the wings if we're going to add to the bench it should be where we're light; up the middle dustin nosler suggested cesar izturis
Giants To Sign Dontrelle Willis By Steve Adams [January 10, 2014 at 11:49am CST] John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that left-hander Dontrelle Willis will sign a minor league deal with the Giants (Twitter link). Willis is a client of Sosnick/Cobbe sports. Willis, who turns 32 on Sunday, initially began the 2013 campaign pitching for the Atlantic League's Long Island Ducks but found himself in the Angels' Triple-A rotation to close out the season. Willis posted a 2.57 ERA in 87 2/3 innings for the Ducks but struggled to a 6.43 ERA in a small, 21-inning sample size with the Halos' Triple-A club. He's consistently battled command issues over the past several seasons and did so again last season, walking 14 batters in his 21 Triple-A innings. "The D-Train" won National League Rookie of the Year honors with the Marlins back in 2003 as a 21-year-old, and two years later he had an NL Cy Young runner-up finish under his belt heading into his age-24 season. Willis regressed a bit in that 2006 campaign, saw his ERA spike over 5.00 in 2007 and was traded to the Tigers that offseason. It's been a struggle for Willis since 2007, as he's posted a 5.65 ERA in 404 1/3 Major League innings in that time. There's virtually no risk in the signing for the Giants, and the upside with Willis is greater than with many non-roster invitees, even if it's been years since he has succeeded at the big league level. This will be his second minor league run with the Giants, as he inked a similar deal prior to the 2010 season that didn't pan out. __
fordie will be so displeased Rod Barajas To Manage Padres' Rookie League TeamBy Jeff Todd [January 14 at 4:00pm CST]Longtime big league backstop Rod Barajas has agreed to manage the Padres' Rookie League club, MLB.com's Corey Brock reports. (Twitter links.) Barajas has apparently not officially retired from his playing career, however, and Brock notes that the 38-year-old has not yet ruled out a return to the diamond.Barajas last saw MLB action in 2012 with the Pirates, serving as the club's primary catcher. After a disappointing campaign -- he posted a .206/.283/.343 line with 11 home runs in 361 plate appearances -- Barajas had his 2013 option declined by Pittsburgh. He signed with the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal, but was ultimately released by Arizona before the start of the season. Over parts of 14 seasons, Barajas has a lifetime .235/.284/.407 triple-slash and 136 career home runs in 3,784 total plate appearances. He caught at least 97 games for eight of nine seasons over 2004-12. __
Extension talks still have yet to begin between Jon Lester and the Boston front office, reports WEEI.com's Rob Bradford. Clayton Kershaw's extension does not necessarily serve as a comparable for Lester's purposes, says Bradford, but his absence from the open market could have an impact. not necessarily? :crazy: lester is a solid starter, but to even suggest he's in the same league as kershaw is both idiotic and blasphemous
Best part of new replay system: Bill Shaikin @BillShaikin 3hMLB highlight for 2014: Fans in ballpark now can see controversial replays on scoreboard, part of instant replay system. Awesome. It was really annoying when I would be at games and there was a close call fans couldn't see.
Royals To Sign Brad PennyBy Jeff Todd [January 16 at 11:50pm CST]THURSDAY: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Penny will earn $1MM if he makes the Major League roster, and his deal has an additional $1.5MM of games started/innings pitched incentives included (Twitter link). Penny can opt out of the deal on April 2 if he is not on the Major League roster.WEDNESDAY: The Royals have reached agreement with pitcher Brad Penny on a minor league deal that includes a Spring Training invite, reports Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com (Twitter links). He will go to camp as a starter, according to Cotillo.Penny, 35, is represented by the Legacy Agency. After sitting out the 2013 campaign, he had reportedly been impressive in workouts over the winter. As Cotillo reported in late November, Penny said he felt refreshed after taking a season off.Penny produced mediocre results in his last two MLB seasons. In 2011, his last run as a starter, Penny put up a 5.30 ERA in 181 2/3 innings. Transitioning to the bullpen in 2012, Penny struggled to a 6.11 ERA in 28 innings for the Giants. He mustered only 3.2 K/9, nearly half his career figure, against a 2.9 BB/9 rate that matches exactly his cumulative mark. In his best season as a pro, 2007, Penny put up a stellar 208-inning, 3.03 ERA campaign for the Dodgers in which he was worth 5.9 rWAR. __
LAD news conference coming up in an hour...MLB Network covering it. not sure if it's Kershaw's presser, but it could be
stay classy braves Braves GM Frank Wren says that his club will take its arbitration case to a hearing with the club's three remaining arbitration-filing players, reports David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). Wren says that the club will not have any further negotiations with closer Craig Kimbrel, first baseman Freddie Freeman, and outfielder Jason Heyward.The Braves are a noted "file and trial" club, and Wren's statements indicate that the club intends to stand by its position. "We have an organization philosophy of the filing date is our last date to negotiate prior to a hearing," said Wren. "We're done." __
All it turned out to be is a question and answer from Stan and Ned and I couldn't even hear the questions and the answers were standard. Was expecting a little more.
