The Cincinnati Reds are
close to signing left handed pitcher Jeff Francis to
a minor league deal, according to Ken Rosenthal. Jon Heyman is now reporting
the deal is official. Numbers have not been released yet. Francis, 31, enters
his 8th season with a career 4.78 ERA. He spent his first six seasons with the
Colorado Rockies, but was out for the entire 2009 season following a surgery on
his left shoulder (that's the important one!). While he's no Edwin Jackson,
he's good for 180+ innings when healthy -- striking out 6 and walking 3 per
game. He spent 2011 with the Kansas City Royals, going 6-16 with a 4.82 ERA. http://www.mlbdailydish.com/2012/1/25/2735489/cincinnati-reds-to-sign-jeff-francis
Here's a look at Wilson
Valdez' numbers from the past two seasons with the Phillies: 2010 - 20 GIDP -
363 PA (5.5% of all plate appearances ended in 2 outs.) 2011 - 13 GIDP - 300 PA
(4.3%) During those two years, Baseball's top GIDP victims were Billy Butler
(32 in 2010) and Albert Pujols (29 in 2011). Had Wilson Valdez reached the same
plateau of PAs in each season, in 2010 he would have set a new Major League
Baseball record for GIDPs in a season with 37.35. We're talking about a sport
that's been around for 140+ years and Wilson Valdez would have been the all
time season leader in grounding into DPs had he been an every day player! In
2011, had he reached Pujols' PA numbers he would have been a close second in
all of baseball with 28.21. Unfortunately, Valdez can't support his GIDP
numbers with the same OPS numbers that Pujols puts up! http://www.droppedstrikethree.com/2012/01/saying-goodbye-to-double-play-machine.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
I think Jesus Montero could struggle at the major league level
in 2012, particularly if he continues to tinker with his setup and swing
mechanics, as finding consistency and rhythm is vital to execution at that
level; advanced arms can feast on hitters who are out of sync; hitters who are
constantly altering their stance or setup. I think he’s capable of making
adjustments, and his gifts with the bat (bat control, hand-eye coordination,
etc.) should keep his head above water even in the event of mechanical setback.
The end result will please fans of the Mariners for years to come, and Yankees
fans can pine for their former flame from afar while they erect shrines to
Michael Pineda, a pitcher so promising that I would consider having his
children as well http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15916
The Yankees settled
their final salary arbitration case, agreeing with left-hander Boone Logan on a one-year contract worth $1,875,000. The
agreement Thursday was just below the midpoint between the $2.1 million he had
asked for last week in arbitration and the $1.7 million New York had offered.
But Logan can earn a $25,000 bonus if he appears in 55 games this season. Logan
was 5-3 with a 3.46 ERA in 64 games last year and earned $1.2 million http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/01/26/boone-logan-and-yankees-agree-at-1875000/
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