Jason Heyward Rumors

NL East Notes: Zimmermann, Marlins, Heyward

Players with zero to three years of service time are under team control and don't have the power to negotiate their salaries. Most of these players agree to terms with their clubs on deals worth $400-500K, but some don't agree to terms and their clubs renew their contracts instead (it doesn't affect the player's timeline for arbitration or free agency). Here's the latest on the NL East, including news on some contract renewals:

• The Nationals announced that they have renewed the contracts of right-handers Tyler Clippard and Jordan Zimmermann. 
• The Marlins renewed the contracts of four of their own players, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (on Twitter). The team did not agree to terms with Logan Morrison, Gaby Sanchez, Mike Stanton or Ryan Webb.
• Yahoo's Jeff Passan shows that Jason Heyward is uncharacteristically mature for a 21-year-old. The Braves right fielder tells Passan that he can improve upon his standout rookie season, something that would please new manager Fredi Gonzalez.

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Odds & Ends: Miner, Gorzelanny, Heyward, Twins

Links for Wednesday, as the lights go out at Wrigley Field...

• Tigers pitcher Zach Miner will undergo Tommy John surgery, writes MLB.com's Jason Beck.
• The Tigers are better-known for developing power arms, but as Beck shows, the Tigers have successfully developed some position players, too.
• Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Cubs don't appear to be involved in serious talks to trade Tom Gorzelanny, but wonders if clubs like the Tigers and Rangers could inquire if the lefty becomes available.
• You knew Jason Heyward was good, but Dave Cameron of FanGraphs puts the outfielder's amazing start in perspective, saying he's on his way to "one of the great rookie seasons of all time."
• Meanwhile, Cameron wonders if the Rays should deal B.J. Upton to a team looking to capitalize on talent. It would save the Rays money and improve their chances of keeping Carl Crawford around.
• One AL assistant GM told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that he doesn't expect the Twins to trade for a reliever this summer.
• 2010 draft prospect and Arlington native Michael Choice tells Chris Cox of MLB.com that it would be "a dream come true" to play for the Rangers, who pick 15th this year. Jonathan Mayo, Frankie Piliere and Keith Law all predicted Choice would be selected before that in their most recent mock drafts.

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Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Piniella, Ely, Marlins

Jamie Moyer, we are all witnesses.  Some quick notes as we finish up the work week....

• Stephen Strasburg allowed just one hit and one walk over six shutout innings in his debut for Washington's Triple-A affiliate, reports The Associated Press.
• Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com predicts the Cubs' woes may drive Lou Piniella into retirement when his contract is up after this season.
• The Los Angeles Times' Steve Dilbeck thinks the Dodgers erred in sending rookie right-hander John Ely back down to the minors so quickly.
• Clark Spencer of The Miami Herald has some details of Florida owner Jeffrey Loria's chat with reporters today.  Loria dismissed any problems between him and manager Fredi Gonzalez, though Spencer notes that Loria "never exactly came out and said Gonzalez's job was 100 percent secure."  Loria was vague about when Mike Stanton would be called up to the majors, but the owner noted that the Marlins "don't want him to come and fail. If he's going to come here, he's going to come here to stay."
• Speaking of Stanton, his name came up more than once during Baseball America's J.J. Cooper's chat with fans today.  When asked if he'd rather have Stanton or Jason Heyward for the next 10 years, Cooper's answer was "Heyward and it didn't really take any time to think about it," though that's more of a nod to Heyward's limitless potential than a slight towards Stanton.
• Brian McCann revealed today that he is having more vision problems, and he will again start wearing glasses in the field, reports David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• ESPN's Buster Olney reports (via Tweets here and here) that the Mariners will still be paying Milton Bradley while he is on the team's restricted list.
• Jean-Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Morning News writes that of all the catcher possibilities the Rangers looked at over the winter, little-regarded Matt Treanor became the team's "savior" due to his solid defensive and game-calling skills.  (Probably on purpose, Taylor doesn't mention Treanor's .619 OPS.) 
• Aaron Rowand, like Barry Zito, is also starting to live up his big Giants contract, writes Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com.  Urban notes that Rowand's early-season success may be due to a better offseason fitness regiment and a total swing overhaul.

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Odds & Ends: Antonetti, Harper, Embree

Links for Wednesday...

• ESPN's Jerry Crasnick looks at nine revolving door positions for various teams, such as Red Sox shortstop and Braves' left fielder.
• RotoAuthority looks at a few potential buy-low candidates on the young fantasy season.
• Murray Chass takes USA Today to task for publishing inaccurate salary data.
• Jim Callis ranks Baseball America's #1 prospects from the last ten years, putting Jason Heyward behind only Matt Wieters and Josh Beckett.
• MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince looks at the background of the Indians' GM-in-waiting, Chris Antonetti.
• ESPN's Keith Law agrees with Ben Goessling of MASN, saying the Nationals have "more or less settled on Bryce Harper."  Law says the Nats would be nuts to take someone else.
• MLB.com's Ian Browne tweets that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has been in touch with Alan Embree's agent, perhaps regarding the lefty's April 15th out-out date.
• Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star notes that the Blue Jays have to place Adeiny Hechavarria on the 2013 25-man Opening Day 2013 roster, or else place him on waivers.
• SI's Melissa Segura tweets that the Twins were impressed by outfielder Vicmal de la Cruz, "perhaps the jewel of the 2010 July 2 class."  Click here to view Kiley McDaniel's video of the kid. 

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Odds & Ends: Britton, Beckett, Crawford, Blue Jays

Links for Friday...

• If you play fantasy baseball, follow @closernews on Twitter as your guide to all things saves-related.
• Righty reliever Chris Britton has signed with the Lincoln Salt Dogs of the independent American Association according to a team press release. The 27-year-old last appeared in the big leagues with the Yankees in 2008, and spent last season in the Padres' minor league system. 
• WEEI.com's Ethan Landy provides a transcript of Peter Gammons' appearance on The Big Show earlier today. Among other topics, he discussed how quickly the Josh Beckett deal came together.
• Satchel Price at Beyond The Box Score looks at some players making big money who are candidates to be released.  MLBTR covered the same topic about a month ago.
• Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports considers possible suitors for Carl Crawford once he reaches free agency.
• Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos comments on his hire of stat expert Tom Tango, in this article by Colby Cosh of Maclean's.
• MLB.com's Peter Gammons analyzes Jason Heyward's impact on the city of Atlanta.
• Yahoo's Alex Remington presents the Tommy John All-Stars, comprised of pitchers who had success after the elbow surgery.

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Looking At The Needs Of Some Contenders

With Spring Training wrapping up around the country, teams are finalizing their rosters and picking the 25 players they'll start the season with. There's always room for improvement, but some contenders have some very obvious weak spots on their rosters. Here's a look at some of them, which may need to be addressed during the season...

• Angels, third base: Brandon Wood and Maicer Izturis will get the first cracks at replacing Chone Figgins, but if neither is up to par, the Halos might be looking for a fill-in at the hot corner.
• Braves, outfielder: Superstar in training Jason Heyward will start the year in right, but incumbent centerfielder Nate McLouth had a brutal spring (6-for-51), which may push Melky Cabrera into full-time duty.
• Rays, setup man: With J.P. Howell on the shelf due to a bum shoulder, the team has no obvious candidate to hand the ball off to new closer Rafael Soriano. Dan Wheeler and Grant Balfour represent solid options, but if Howell misses more time than expected, the Rays might be looking to add a reliever.
• Twins, closer: This is the most obvious hole of them all. Joe Nathan is out for the season after having elbow surgery, and Jon Rauch will get the first chance to replace him. 
• Yankees, left field: The team is breaking camp with Brett Gardner, Randy Winn, and Marcus Thames set to share time in left, but we've already seen a scenario laid out in which they might need help sooner rather than later.

That doesn't include all of the clubs that could very well be looking to add a starting pitcher at some point, like the Mariners, Mets, Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers. Some other holes aren't so obvious though. Maybe the Red Sox could use another reliever (who couldn't?), or perhaps Seattle will go looking for a big bat that fits into their extreme run prevention plan. 

What other areas of need to do you see out there for contenders?

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Odds & Ends: Gaudin, Stairs, Lowell, Darvish

Links for Monday...

• FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi spoke to one executive who thinks the lack of open 40-man roster spots is inhibiting trades. There are only 28 open spots across the league, and more than half of the teams are maxed out.
• Chad Gaudin said he considered "a couple" of other teams before deciding to rejoin the A's, reports MLB.com's Jane Lee.
• MLB.com's Corey Brock reminds us that the Padres will have to remove someone from their 40-man roster before Opening Day to make room for Matt Stairs. 
• The Rangers have a scout on hand to watch Mike Lowell play third base tonight, tweets ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes. This deal has to get done eventually, right? 
• The Braves were concerned the Marlins would take Jason Heyward at #12 in the 2007 draft, writes Yahoo's Jeff Passan.
• Yu Darvish hinted for the first time that he might be willing to come to MLB, says Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker.  Newman passes along a Sponichi report in which Darvish said, "Well, I’m planning on climbing the ladder, step by step," when asked about moving to MLB one day.  Newman notes that Darvish isn't close to free agency, so the Nippon Ham Fighters would have to post him.
• SI's Jon Heyman writes that the Mariners and Jarrod Washburn "are believed to remain apart on the dollars for a new deal."
• Brian Cashman and Johnny Damon met in person for the first time since Damon left the Yankees, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
• MLB.com's Peter Gammons names six clubs that might be better than you think.

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Odds & Ends: Giants, Harper, Heyward, Padres

Some links as the weekend draws closer...

• In his organizational rankings, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says it's a good time to be a Brewers fan and explains why 2010 is a critical year for the Angels. 
• Don't expect the Giants to sign an outfielder. GM Brian Sabean told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that the club's right fielder will come from within the organization (Twitter link).
• The Giants have yet to announce the extensions for Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson, so Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders (via Twitter) if Matt Cain will get an extension of his own soon.
• MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo offers an extensive scouting report for Bryce Harper, the 17-year-old slugger whose power is "off the charts" according to one scout.
• Jason Heyward made the Braves, according to Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They're going for it in Bobby Cox's last season in Atlanta.
• Chipper Jones would not be surprised to see the Braves lock Heyward up after the season, according to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (via Twitter).
• The Cardinals released ten minor leaguers, including knuckleballer Charlie Zink, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• Bill James tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he thinks players peak defensively around the age of 25.
• Jeff Moorad assured Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune that his partnership will be able to complete its purchase of the Padres without trouble.
• MLB.com's Bill Ladson reminds us that Cristian Guzman has ten and five rights.

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Will Jason Heyward Make The Braves' Opening Day Roster?

David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution makes a prediction: "Jason Heyward is going to be the Braves' right fielder on opening day."  Heyward, the top prospect in baseball, is impressing observers in every way possible this spring.  Still, he is only 20 years old and has just 50 games experience above A ball.

Projection systems, looking only at Heyward's minor league stats and not the scouting reports, call for something around a .330 OBP and .425 SLG from Heyward in the Majors in 2010 (CHONE, ZiPS).  A computer would give Heyward more minor league seasoning, under the theory that he's a lateral move from Matt Diaz, Melky Cabrera, and Eric Hinske.  Keeping Heyward in the minors for even two weeks would buy the Braves another year of control, similar to what the Rays did with Evan Longoria in 2008.  If the Braves really wanted to save money, they could hold Heyward in the minors until mid-May to avoid Super Two status.

The Braves may feel, however, that Heyward is likely to exceed automated projections.  They may consider intangibles such as the potential fan reaction to sending Heyward down.  They may simply decide that winning is the only priority, and a full season of Heyward gives them the best chance to win.  O'Brien has heard nothing about service time manipulation from Braves officials, "publicly or privately."

O'Brien brings up an interesting point: maybe the Braves already have designs to "make a multi-year contract offer well before [Heyward] hits arbitration," reducing the importance of Heyward's service time.  Longoria certainly didn't take offense to the Rays' approach; he inked his team-friendly extension less than a week after his big league debut.

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Odds & Ends: Chapman, Upton, Mets, Gallardo

Some links as Spring Training games get started...

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