Speier to Angels; Cat to Rangers; Soriano to Cubs

Sunday, November 19 2006 @ 12:15 PM EST

A few notable signings today:

• According to Peter Gammons Justin Speier signed a four year deal to join the Angels. Ken Rosenthal has the deal at 4 years and $18 million.
  
• The Cat came back - Ken Rosenthal also reports that Jays OF Frank Catalanotto is close to signing a three year deal with the Rangers.
  
• Cubs sign Soriano for 8 years and $136 million ... coming on the heels of the Mark DeRosa signing, we are left with just one question -- what former Texas Ranger 2B could possibly be in the Cubbie crosshairs next?

Speier and Catalanotto are both 'A' players so the Jays will pick up a sandwich pick for each. They'll also receive a pick from the Angels and Rangers. The Angels pick 24th which is what the Jays would get today, but it's very possible they'll sign another free agent ranked higher than Speier so that could drop. The Rangers select 16th which is the best possible pick another team could receive as compensation. Like the Angels, this could drop if the Rangers sign a higher rated free agent.

It was pretty unlikely that the Jays were going to re-sign either Speier or Catalanotto so picking up a couple draft picks for each is a nice bonus regardless of where the picks end up being. It probably would have been a tough decision for the Jays to offer Catalanotto arbitration. This signing takes the decision away from the Jays.

Soriano's signing makes the market value of Vernon Wells a little more defined. You'd have to believe that the minimum Wells would take at this point is 6 years and $100 million.

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