Hot Stove Digest: A's reach two-year agreement with Santiago Casilla
Welcome to The Stew’s Hot Stove Digest, our daily rundown of MLB news, rumors and gossip for Hot Stove season. Here you’ll find a quick recap of all the day’s action and other fun stuff from around the internet that we think is worth your time.
DONE DEAL: Veteran reliever Santiago Casilla is back with the Oakland A’s after agreeing to a two-year, $11M deal on Wednesday.
Casilla was first signed by Oakland as an amateur free agent in 2000. He would appear in 152 games with the A’s between 2004-2009, posting a 5.11 ERA, before signing with San Francisco Giants prior to the 2010 season. Of course, he went on to become a big part of San Francisco’s bullpen, pitching for three World Series championship squads. In his seven seasons with San Francisco, he posted three sub-2.00 ERA seasons and recorded 127 saves.
Casilla, 36, was not quite as good in 2016, posting a 3.57 ERA. He ended up losing the confidence of the fans and manager Bruce Bochy, leading to him losing his closer’s gig. Still, his experience will be welcomed in Oakland. [@JesseSanchez]
THAT’S NOT ALL: FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports the Oakland A’s and free agent infielder Trevor Plouffe have agreed to a one-year deal, pending a physical. The deal is worth $5M guaranteed, according to FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman, but will also include undisclosed incentives. Plouffe, 30, is expected to serve as Oakland’s regular third baseman. He hit .260/.303/.420 with 12 home runs and 47 RBI over 84 games in 2016. [@Ken_Rosenthal]
DIPOTO STRIKES AGAIN… AND AGAIN: Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoio made his 10th and 11th trades of the offseason on Wednesday, ultimately ending up with left-hander Drew Smyly from the Tampa Bay Rays. Read the full details of both deals right here. [Big League Stew]
SEEKING SECURITY: Former Royals closer Greg Holland is looking to land a two-year deal with an opt-out after the first year. Such a deal would give him both security and the possibility to cash in should he come back with a big year in 2017. He’s drawing interest from several suitors, including the Dodgers and Nationals. [FanRag Sports]
INNER MONOLOGUE: The Angels have reportedly had internal talks about free agent catcher Matt Wieters. The extent of their interest is unclear. There’s no word if they’ve even reached out to Wieters’ representatives or vice versa, but we do know they’re seeking an offensive upgrade. Wieters would provide that over the Angels current catching duo of Carlos Perez and Martin Maldonado despite hitting just .243/.302/.409 with 17 home runs and 66 RBIs last season. [FanRag Sports]
PANDA BOXING?: It appears Pablo Sandoval had added some boxing elements to his intense offseason workouts.
A video posted by Pablo Sandoval (@kfp48) on Jan 11, 2017 at 10:49am PST
AVOIDING ARBITRATION: The Mets and right-hander Zack Wheeler avoided arbitration on Wednesday, agreeing to an $800,000 salary for the 2017 season. Wheeler has not pitched in the big leagues since 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and suffering several setbacks. The Mets remain hopeful that he will contribute in 2017. [@Jon_Heyman]
TWIN DEALS: The Minnesota Twins have signed veteran pitchers Ryan Vogelsong and Nick Tepesch to minor-league deals with an invitation to spring training. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]
NO GO FOR TEBOW: It’s not a great surprise, but Tim Tebow was not among the minor leaguers invited to Mets spring training camp. [@Mets]
FAME GAME: The Stew’s Chris Cwik takes a look at Manny Ramirez’s complicated Hall of Fame case. [Big League Stew]
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
