Archive for November, 2006

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Carlos Lee, Astros agree on six-year $100M deal

Friday, November 24th, 2006

The Houston Astros, the NL’s worst hitting team, signed outfielder Carlos Lee and right-hander Woody Williams on Friday.

The deal includes a full no-trade claus for the first four years and limited no-trade protection for the final two.

Last season with the Brewers and Rangers, Lee hit 37 home runs, batted in 116 runs, hitting .300 while playing in 161 games. Over his eight-year career, Lee has 221 home runs while batting .286.

Williams, who grew up in Houston and was a college star there, is a 14-year veteran who was 12-5 with a 3.65 ERA last season with San Diego, his best ERA since 2002 with St. Louis.
Williams is 124-101 with a 4.09 ERA in 391 career games, including 299 starts.

The Astros’ staff is anchored by right-hander Roy Oswalt, who signed a five-year, $73 million contract in August. Both Clemens and Pettitte are free agents and haven’t said whether or where they want to play next year.

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Angels sign Gary Matthews Jr. for $50 million

Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006

The Angels have reached agreement with center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. on a five-year, $50 million contract. The 32-year-old Matthews, who still must pass a physical, is coming off a breakout season in which he batted .313 with 19 homers and 79 RBIs and played stellar defense for the Rangers. He likely will bat leadoff for the Angels and give them increased athleticism in center field, reducing the defensive burden on right fielder Vladimir Guerrero and left fielder Garret Anderson.

Prior to last season, Matthews was a career .249 hitter who had played for six teams in seven major-league seasons

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Mets finalize $8.5M deal with Alou

Tuesday, November 21st, 2006

Moises Alou gives the New York Mets a proven right-handed hitter to play left field – and another aging regular. The 40-year-old slugger finalized an $8.5 million, one-year contract on Monday with the NL East champions, who also declined their $14 million option on left-hander Tom Glavine and swapped young pitchers with the Florida Marlins in a four-player trade.

New York also brought in 37-year-old backup infielder Damion Easley, adding him to a bench that already includes 48-year-old Julio Franco.

The Mets did add a pair of young pitchers Monday, acquiring left-handers Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick from Florida for hard-throwing prospects Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom.

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Dodgers, Garciaparra agree on 2-year deal

Tuesday, November 21st, 2006

Six-time All-Star Nomar Garciaparra and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed Monday to an $18.5 million, two-year contract. The 33-year-old Garciaparra, the NL comeback player of the year, will get a $2.5 million signing bonus, a salary of $7.5 million next season and $8.5 million in 2008. His deal also contains performance bonuses and a no-trade provision.

A two-time AL batting champion, Garciaparra shifted to first base with the Dodgers last season, his first with the team. He hit .303 with 93 RBIs and 20 home runs.

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Mussina, Yankees reach preliminary agreement

Tuesday, November 21st, 2006

Mike Mussina and the New York Yankees reached a preliminary agreement Monday on a $23 million, two-year contract.

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Dodgers, CF Pierre agree to five-year deal

Monday, November 20th, 2006

Free agent center fielder Juan Pierre has agreed to a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a source told ESPN.com on Monday. The deal is believed to be worth $44-45 million.

The San Francisco Giants were also interested in Pierre, and had offered him a four-year deal in the $32-34 million range, a source said.

This could pave the way for free-agent outfielder Dave Roberts to sign with the Giants, Brewers or Rangers.

The Orioles are on the fringes of the Roberts sweepstakes but they are also pursuing free-agent left fielder Carlos Lee, sources say.

Pierre, 29, has had over 200 hits in three of the last four seasons. Pierre, who hasn’t missed a game over the last four seasons, hit .292 in 2006 with the Cubs. He won a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 2003.

Roberts, who spent the last two seasons with the San Diego Padres, is most known for his speed on the basepaths. He stole 49 bases in 2006 and his career stolen-base percentage is better than 80 percent. Roberts, a career .270 hitter, won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004.

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Reds agree to deal with lefty reliever Stanton

Sunday, November 19th, 2006

ESPN’s Peter Gammons is reporting that Cincinnati and left-handed reliever Mike Stanton have agreed to a two-year contract. ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reports that the contract also contains a vesting option for a third season.

The 39-year-old Stanton was 7-7 with eight saves and a 3.99 ERA in 82 appearances with the Nationals and Giants last season.

The Reds’ closer situation is unsettled with Eddie Guardado out for next season following elbow surgery and club saves leader David Weathers a free agent. Stanton is a possibility to fill that role.

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Angels to add Jays’ Speier to already deep bullpen

Sunday, November 19th, 2006

The Angels are set to add another arm to their already deep bullpen Sunday.
Los Angeles agreed to a four-year contract with Justin Speier, formerly of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The right-handed Speier, 33, was 2-0 with a 2.98 ERA in 58 appearances with Toronto last season. He joins a talented Angels bullpen that will set up for Francisco Rodriguez, who led the American League with 47 saves in 2006.

Speier is 27-20 with 17 saves and a 4.02 ERA in his nine-year career.

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Cubs agree to $136M deal with Soriano

Sunday, November 19th, 2006

The Astros, Phillies and Angels also had been pursuing Soriano.

The Cubs have pursued free-agent center fielder Gary Matthews and pondered the notion of signing free-agent infielder Julio Lugo to play center. Both are leadoff hitters.

Soriano’s deal would be the fifth-largest total package given to a major league player, behind Alex Rodriguez ($252 million for 10 years), Derek Jeter ($189 million for 10 years), Manny Ramirez ($160 for eight years) and Todd Helton ($141.5 million for 11 years).

Soriano, who could play center field and give the Cubs a leadoff hitter with a combination of speed and power, had 46 homers and 41 stolen bases last season with the Washington Nationals. He batted .277, had 95 RBI and had 41 doubles.

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Gonzalez, Reds agree to three-year, $14 million deal

Sunday, November 19th, 2006

Free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez has negotiated a three-year, $14 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds, pending a physical, Gonzalez, a slick-fielding shortstop who replaced Edgar Renteria in Boston, is a nine-year veteran who batted .255 with 99 hits and 50 RBI last season for the Red Sox. He had a .985 fielding percentage in 111 games at shortstop in 2006.

He played in Boston under a one-year deal he signed after spending the first eight years of his big-league career with the Florida Marlins. He has a career batting average of .246 and a career fielding average of .970.

The Reds, who have been looking to upgrade their defense, started 2006 with Felipe Lopez at shortstop and ended with veteran Royce Clayton at short. Lopez was dealt to the Washington Nationals on July 13 as part of an eight-player trade that also sent Austin Kearns and Ryan Wagner to D.C. and brought back Clayton, Bill Bray, Brendan Harris and Gary Majewski.

The Reds had a .979 fielding percentage and committed 128 errors in 2006 — second-worst in the NL behind the Nationals in both categories.

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