June 2018 - Seattle Mariners Wiretap
Nelson Cruz has agreed to sign a one-year, $14.3 million deal with the Minnesota Twins.
The deal also features a $12 million team option for 2020, according to the source.
Cruz made $14.725 million in the final year of his four-year, $64 million contract that he signed in 2015.
In 14 major league seasons, Cruz, a former outfielder, has 360 home runs, 1,011 RBIs, 838 runs and a .274 batting average.
The Seattle Mariners acquired outfielder Domingo Santana from the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday in exchange for outfielder Ben Gamel and minor-league pitcher Noah Zavalos.
The Seattle Mariners will play at T-Mobile Park starting next season under a new 25-year naming rights deal.
The agreement takes effect Jan. 1 and runs through December 2043.
The Mariners' ballpark has been known as Safeco Field since it opened in 1999 as part of a 20-year agreement. Safeco Insurance and the Mariners announced in June 2017 that the agreement wouldn't be renewed following the 2018 season.
The Seattle Mariners have acquired Edwin Encarnacion from the Cleveland Indians.
Carlos Santana is going back to the Indians as part of the three-team deal, which also includes the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Indians will receive Jake Bauers from the Rays, while Tampa Bay will get Yandy Diaz from Cleveland.
Tampa Bay will send $5 million to Seattle, and the Mariners will pay $6 million to Cleveland.
The Indians also are sending minor league pitcher Cole Sulser to the Rays and the 77th pick in the 2019 competitive balance draft to the Mariners.
Jerry Dipoto was released from a hospital Thursday, hours after completing a trade from his bed during baseball's winter meetings.
The Seattle Mariners general manager began feeling ill earlier in the week.
The ciub said Dipoto was driven to an area hospital by Mariners officials Wednesday "out of an abundance of caution." Dipoto made improvements into Thursday and was released later in the day, the team said. He was expected to fly home to Seattle on Friday.
Despite being sick, the 50-year-old Dipoto dealt Carlos Santana to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Edwin Encarnacion on Thursday.
The Seattle Mariners, who have made a number of trades this offseason, are interested in Japanese left-hander Yusei Kikuchi.
"We've done a lot of our business," Jerry Dipoto said. "We do still have a couple open-ended conversations regarding potential for trades, but I would say nothing that is imminent or even likely at this point. And our free-agent discussions are geared more toward giving opportunity to players to come in and re-establish what they were or, maybe in the bullpen, players who can come in and make an impact now."
Dipoto admitted that Kikuchi fits Seattle's timeline.
"Sure, he's 27," Dipoto said. "I don't know what his interest level is in playing in Seattle just yet, but we are interested and he does fit our timeline. By the time we feel like we get to our next window, he's 29 years old."
If the Seattle Mariners decide to trade Carlos Santana, the Colorado Rockies are expected to be in the mix.
Santana just joined the Mariners in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies this month.
He is guaranteed $35 million over the next couple of years.
The New York Mets aggressively pursued Edwin Diaz in part to "block" the Philadelphia Phillies from trading for the closer, says Jeff Wilpon.
The Mets acquired Diaz, Robinson Cano and cash considerations from the Seattle Mariners on Monday for Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak and prospects Jarred Kelenic, Justin Dunn and Gerson Bautista.
Wilpon, New York's COO, told reporters the Mets believed if they failed to acquire Diaz, the Phillies would ultimately trade for him.
The Philadelphia Phillies are nearing a trade with the Seattle Mariners that will send Jean Segura to the National League, according to multiple reports.
The deal will include multiple players and Segura will need to waive his no-trade clause.
Segura agreed to a five-year, $70 million contract with the Mariners in June 2017 that runs through 2022. The deal has a $17 million option for 2023, with a $1 million buyout.
A blockbuster trade that gained momentum throughout the week has been completed, as the Seattle Mariners have agreed to deal All-Star closer Edwin Diaz and veteran second baseman Robinson Cano to the New York Mets, according to multiple reports.
In return, the Mariners reportedly will receive veteran right fielder Jay Bruce and several prospects -- right-handed pitcher Justin Dunn, a first-rounder in 2016; outfielder Jarred Kelenic, the sixth overall pick in 2018; right-handed reliever Anthony Swarzak and right-handed pitcher Gerson Bautista.