Free Agents: Olivo joins KC

Miguel Olivo signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals, joining John Buck behind the plate of a young and developing team.

Score again for Dayton Moore, I really like this deal for the Royals. Olivo has experience working with young pitching staffs, and is a very good throwing catcher, ranking 4th in the NL at nailing runners last year. The interesting thing about Olivo is that he’s almost the ideal platoon player. A right-handed hitter, he’s got a career .291/.319/.524 line against lefties. That’s simply amazing for someone with a lifetime .239/.275/.405 in the bigs. Too bad Buck is also right-handed. Still, their catching situation has improved pretty dramatically with this signing.

Free Agents: Prior signs with the Padres

When he was non-tendered by Chicago earlier this month, pitcher Mark Prior elicited a pretty good amount of interest. Everyone wanted the pitcher with the ace stuff and the glass arm as a reclamation project. The San Diego Padres announced a one-year deal with the 26-year old Prior. He is due to earn a base salary of $1M with up to $3.5M in incentives, largely based on the number of starts he makes.

The rich just keep getting richer. Or is it the rich just keep getting pitchers? Sorry, that was bad. Prior is from the San Diego area, and if you’re a pitcher trying to get back on track for a big contract, there’s not a better park to go to than PETCO, I guess. Is that why there are so many recovering pitchers there?

Trade: Texas swaps Volquez for Hamilton

All of baseball was surprised and impressed by Josh Hamilton hitting .292/.368/.554 last season, even if it was only 298 ABs. In an effort to get some stability at center field, Texas GM Jon Daniels made a move yesterday, sending right-handed fireballer Edinson Volquez and reliever Danny Herrera to the Reds.

Hamilton is slightly risky, because he only had 90 minor league ABs since his return to baseball in 2006. To think that what he did last year is a good indicator of this year would be foolhardy, but no one can deny the talent of this former first overall pick. I don’t dislike this move for the Rangers, as they avoided committing big money to a free agent they are not ready to afford. They had to give up a good deal of pitching, however, which has always been their Achilles’ heel.

Volquez was Texas’ top pitching prospect, and he appears to be Major League-ready after posting a 6-1 record and 1.41 ERA at triple-A in eight starts last year. He also pitched six games for the Rangers in 2007, and posted a 4.50 ERA in 34 innings. Team him with Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto, and the Reds rotation looks pretty darn good in a couple of years.

Herrera is a 22-year old power lefty reliever who is not a bad acquisition himself. If he can refine his control a bit, he will be a quality reliever in the bigs.

The departure of Hamilton opens the door for uber-prospect Jay Bruce to have shot at the Majors. Look for the Reds to start him by May; who knows if he can stick at just 21 years old next year?

Free Agents: White Sox land Alexei Ramirez

Kenny Williams continued to add to his cache of middle infielders, signing 26-year old  (wink, wink) Cuban defector Alexei Ramirez to a four year deal worth $4.75M. He will join a very Hispanic-friendly club which features fellow Cuban player Jose Contreras.

Ramirez has been a star for Pinar Del Rio at second base, but can also play shortstop and center field. His versatility makes him a pretty good signing, if he can get up to speed quickly. Ramirez worked out for many other clubs, but perhaps playing for the White Sox appealed to him. He is represented by the same agent as Contreras.

Free Agents: M’s ink Silva for 4 years

You know how you elect a president sometimes and it just seems like forever before he’s out of that office? Try Carlos Silva for four years. The Seattle Mariners signed him to a four-year, $48M contract.
Silva is an extreme control pitcher who pitches to contact. That is a decent fit with Seattle’s home park, but the problem is the money. This is deal is just way too much money for what Silva is, and it’s not as if the M’s really had a problem with too many walks as a staff. I don’t see why they did this, other than they want to demonstrate to their fans that they are trying. They should have tried harder on one of the many other starters they tried to acquire, rather than throw crazy money at Silva, though. Looking at ERA+, he’s basically been a league-average pitcher up to this point, and doesn’t miss enough bats. He had a terrible 2006, and there’s nothing preventing that from happening again in the next four years.

Free Agents: Phillies sign Jenkins

Veteran outfielder Geoff Jenkins has agreed to a two-year, $13M contract with the Phillies. He is expected to split time in right field with right-handed Jayson Werth, while Shane Victorino is moving over to center field.

I like this signing for the Phillies, as Jenkins is generally underrated. Despite a low batting average at times, he’s posted above average OPS+ numbers since 1999 (okay, a lot of those seasons are just barely above average), and plays very good outfield defense. His splits versus right-handers are pretty impressive: .288/.358/.525, and that goes well with Werth, who hits lefties pretty well.

Free Agents: Phillies sign Chad Durbin

Philadelphia added another pitcher as a possible fifth starter, signing veteran Chad Durbin to a one-year, $900k contract. He’ll be competing with Adam Eaton and J.D. Durbin (no relation) for the fifth spot in the Phillies rotation.

If Durbin’s past performances mean anything, he’s about a league-average pitcher, and that might be enough on this Phillies staff. He won’t impress many people, but he will get some outs and grind out a decent year. He’s pitched almost exclusively in the AL, but he’s not a power pitcher, so we’ll see how that translates this year.

Free Agents: Brewers sign Gabe Kapler

The Milwaukee Brewers signed 32-year old muscleman Gabe Kapler, fresh out of retirement, to a non-guaranteed contract. Kapler managed a minor league team for the Red Sox last season, but wants to play again.

He keeps himself in peak physical condition, so not much to worry about there; he’d be good to have in a benches-clearing brawl, anyway. Kapler has been close to league-average in the AL despite playing as a reserve for most of his career, so this could work out well for Milwaukee.

Free Agents: Padres sign Barrett for one year

The San Diego Padres agreed with catcher Michael Barrett on a one-year deal worth $3.5M plus some incentives. The troubled catcher can really hit, but his run-ins with former managers and teammates have really hurt his signability.

GM Kevin Towers couldn’t get much for him in a trade, so they will hang on to him, which is good for the punchless Padres. Barrett can be a very good hitting catcher when all is right (.307/.368/.517 in 375 AB in 2006). However, he is a bit of a risk to draft in a fantasy league, as teammate issues often affect his play and could cause him to be traded to anyone who will take him (usually not a contender).

Trade: Houston gets Valverde

The Houston Astros traded away Dan Wheeler last season, and Brad Lidge this offseason. They completed the dismantling of their bullpen this weekend by trading Chad Qualls, along with Chris Burke and Juan Gutierrez for Jose Valverde.

The 28-year old Valverde had a great season in 2007, notching 47 saves for the Diamondbacks with a 2.66 ERA. Always known to possess the talent, he proved that he can be consistent and have a closer’s mentality. He’s got some pretty filthy stuff, and throws hard. There were some whispers this offseason that Valverde wanted a max contract extension (despite still being in his arbitration years), which he and his agent subsequently denied. To me, this sounds like Arizona taking advantage of this as an excuse to unload a player with a possible attitude problem. It could still work out for Houston, so we’ll table that for now. I do worry a little about Houston’s bullpen going forward.

The Diamondbacks are expected to promote young Tony Pena to the closer’s role in 2008, and having Qualls in there with him certainly can’t hurt. Pena is unproven, yes. But remember that GM Josh Byrnes comes out the sabermetric school of “anyone can close”. Besides, manager Doug Melvin changes the closer every couple of weeks just to keep people on their toes. Burke will provide a good bench presence, and Gutierrez hasn’t embarrassed himself at any level, despite being pretty young.