Free agent outfielder Darin Erstad signed a one-year contract worth $1 million plus incentives with the Houston Astros on Thursday.
The 33-year-old Erstad, a two-time All Star in 11 seasons with the Angels, hit .248 with four home runs and 32 RBIs in 87 games last season for the Chicago White Sox. He is a career .284 hitter with 118 home runs and 657 RBIs.
The Houston Astros signed right-hander Oscar Villarreal to a two-year, $2.85 million contract Friday. The deal, worth $1 million in 2008 and $1.6 million in 2009, includes a $250,000 signing bonus and a $2 million club option for 2010.
The 26-year-old Villarreal was traded by Atlanta for outfielder Josh Anderson last month. He was 2-2 with a save and a 4.24 ERA for the Braves last season.
Villarreal is 23-12 with a 3.71 ERA in a five-year career that started in Arizona. He set an NL rookie record with 86 appearances for the Diamondbacks in 2003, when he was 10-7 with a 2.57 ERA.
Mark Prior and his hometown San Diego Padres agreed to a $1 million, one-year contract on Wednesday, making him the second postoperative pitcher to join the team in less than a month.
Prior, whose once-promising career has been sidetracked by various injuries, missed the 2007 season after undergoing right shoulder surgery on April 24. He last pitched for the Chicago Cubs in 2006, when he made nine starts and went 1-6 with a 7.21 ERA. The 27-year-old right-hander, who was 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA in 2003, can earn another $4.5 million in performance bonuses.
Prior graduated from University of San Diego High School and was the second pick in the June 2001 draft, out of Southern California. He is 42-29 with a 3.51 ERA in five big league seasons.
The Cincinnati Reds agreed Friday to trade outfielder Josh Hamilton to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Edinson Volquez and a minor league pitcher.
The 26-year-old Hamilton batted .292 this year in his first major league season with 19 homers and 47 RBIs in 298 at-bats. His season was interrupted by an inflamed digestive track and a sprained wrist, but he still received 151,000 write-in votes for the All-Star game, the top total in the NL.
Taken by Tampa Bay with the first pick of the 1999 amateur draft, Hamilton didn’t make it above Double-A with the Devil Rays, his career slowed by alcohol and drug addiction.
Volquez, a 24-year-old right-hander, was 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in six starts for the Rangers last season.
Carlos Silva, perhaps the top starting pitcher remaining on the free-agent market, does not figure to be available much longer. The Mariners are in serious negotiations with Silva on a contract that would be worth at least $44 million over four years, according to major-league sources.
For the Mariners, the signing of Silva would put them halfway toward their goal of adding two starting pitchers this off-season. They also are pursuing Orioles left-hander Erik Bedard in a trade. Silva, 28, became a primary focus for the Mariners after they lost Japanese free-agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda to the Dodgers over the weekend.
Silva spent the past four seasons with the Twins, averaging 12 wins, 193 innings and a 4.42 ERA. He was 13-14 with a 4.19 ERA last season, and likely would benefit from a move to Seattle’s pitcher-friendly Safeco Field.
The Houston Astros and right-hander Chad Paronto agreed to a one-year, $500,000 contract on Tuesday. The deal includes incentives that could bring the total value of the package to $675,000, major league sources told FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal.
Paronto, 32, will join a setup corps that also includes right-handers Doug Brocail, Oscar Villareal and Geoff Geary. The Astros acquired a new closer, right-hander Jose Valverde, in a recent trade with the Diamondbacks.
Paronto was 3-1 with a 3.57 ERA in 41 appearances for Atlanta this season. The five-year veteran has also pitched for Baltimore and Cleveland and is 6-11 in his career with a 4.00 ERA.
The Mets bolstered their bullpen Tuesday, agreeing with right-hander Matt Wise on a $1.2 million, one-year contract. Wise was 3-2 with a 4.19 ERA and one save in a career-high 56 appearances for the Milwaukee Brewers this season. He struck out 43 and walked 17 in 53 2/3 innings.
The 32-year-old Wise is 17-21 with a 4.18 ERA and two saves in 201 major league games. He also pitched for the Anaheim Angels from 2000-02.
He joins a Mets bullpen anchored by All-Star closer Billy Wagner and setup man Aaron Heilman. New York also hopes to get right-hander Duaner Sanchez back from a shoulder injury next season. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since July 2006.
Hours after talks broke off with Mike Cameron, the San Diego Padres agreed in principle Friday to acquire center fielder Jim Edmonds and cash from the St. Louis Cardinals for a minor leaguer. The deal was waiting approval from the commissioner’s office because it will involve around $1 million going from the Cardinals to the Padres, according to a source with knowledge of the deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been finalized. The Cardinals will get minor league third baseman David Freese.
As for Cameron, it is possible that he could land in St. Louis if the Cardinals trade Edmonds to San Diego. He also has several other options, according to FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal.
The Reds are trying to move Ryan Freel and Josh Hamilton. The White Sox are still in the market for a center fielder after striking out on free agents Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand. Even the Yankees could emerge as a potential suitor for Cameron if they include center fielder Melky Cabrera in a package for Twins left-hander Johan Santana — a deal that remains possible, Yankees senior vice-president Hank Steinbrenner said Friday.
Edmonds batted .252 with 12 homers and 53 RBIs – his lowest totals since 1999 with the Angels. But heading into the final season of a $19 million, two-year contract, he expects much better production from himself next season.
For the NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks, it’s an extreme makeover. Completing three trades in one day, the Diamondbacks have altered their roster dramatically, acquiring right-hander Dan Haren from the A’s as well as reliever Chad Qualls and infielder Chris Burke from the Astros.
The D-Backs are giving up six prospects to the A’s while acquiring Haren and Class AAA right-hander Connor Robertson. They are sending closer Jose Valverde to the Astros for Qualls, Burke and Class AAA right-hander Juan Gutierrez.
The A’s, beginning their reconstruction, obtained left-handed pitchers Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith, infielder Chris Carter and outfielders Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez for Haren.
According to Baseball America’s latest rankings, Gonzalez was the No. 1 prospect in the Diamondbacks’ system while Anderson was No. 3, Cunningham No. 7 and Carter No. 8.
Haren, the American League starting pitcher in the 2007 All-Star contract will combine with Brandon Webb to give the Diamondbacks a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation — a rotation that also will include Doug Davis, Micah Owings and possibly Randy Johnson. The right-hander set career bests for wins, strikeouts (192) and ERA. His ERA was the third-lowest in the American League.
Haren, 27, is signed for $4 million in ‘08 and $5.5 million in ‘09, and his deal also includes a $6.75 million club option for ‘10 that could become guaranteed if he pitches a certain number of innings. The 2010 option is for $6.75 million with a $250,000 buyout – quite a bargain these days for a pitcher with his pedigree.
The D-Backs’ trade with the Astros also has major implications. By acquiring Valverde, the Astros found their replacement for closer Brad Lidge, whom they traded to the Phillies earlier this off-season.
Valverde, 28, led the majors in saves last season, converting 47 of his 54 chances and making the NL All-Star team. However, the trade of Qualls costs the Astros a valued setup man, and Gutierrez is the fourth young pitcher traded by the team in the past three days.
To replace Valverde, the D-backs likely will turn to either right-hander Brandon Lyon or right-hander Tony Pena, with Qualls remaining in a setup role.
In a lesser deal, the D-backs also acquired right-hander Billy Buckner for infielder Alberto Callaspo.
For the A’s the trade marks the beginning of a rebuilding program as they build toward the opening of a new ballpark in 2011. Haren, the American League’s starting pitcher in the 2007 All-Star Game, likely will not be the last player they trade.
Right-hander Joe Blanton also has been a topic of trade conversations, and will become the most attractive righty available in free agency or trade after Japanese right-hander Hiroki Kuroda makes his free-agent decision. Closer Huston Street is among the other players the A’s will consider moving.
The Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres have emerged as the leading contenders for free-agent outfielder Geoff Jenkins.
The Padres, short on outfielders, also are trying to re-sign free-agent center fielder Mike Cameron, who continues to talk with other clubs.
Jenkins, a left-handed hitter, could fit into a left-field platoon with Scott Hairston. The Padres also have talked about moving their top prospect, third baseman Chase Headley, to left.
The Phillies likely would use Jenkins in a right-field platoon with Jayson Werth. Shane Victorino will take over in center, replacing Aaron Rowand, who signed with the Giants as a free agent.
Jenkins, 33, batted .255 with 21 home runs and 64 RBIs last season for the Milwaukee Brewers, the only team for which he had played before becoming a free agent for the first time.
A veteran of 10 major-league seasons, Jenkins is a career .277 hitter with 212 career home runs. The Tampa Bay Rays showed interest in him before signing free agent Cliff Floyd.