Manny Corpas Rumors
Quick Hits: Rangers, Harrison, Corpas, Schuerholz
The Rangers remain in the market for pitching, but FOXSportsSouthwest.com's Anthony Andro reports the team will bring Robbie Ross to camp as a starter if they don't make any more additions this winter. Texas currently has Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, and Alexi Ogando slated for the rotation with Colby Lewis due to return at midseason.
Here's the latest from around the league as Friday turns into Saturday...
- "There are still some players that in the right scenario that could be fits for us ... There is a reasonable chance that we could add somebody from outside," said Rangers GM Jon Daniels to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, though he also said it could just be a player on a minor league contract. Ownership is willing to add payroll "within reason."
- "We're definitely still talking ... We'll see where that goes," said Harrison to Andro. The southpaw and the Rangers were reportedly discussing an extension earlier this offseason.
- Manny Corpas will earn $800K in the big leagues as part of his minor league deal with the Rockies, reports Troy Renck of The Denver Post. The right-hander will earn $14K per month in the minors.
- Ken Davidoff of The New York Post spoke to Braves president (and former GM) John Schuerholz about his team, including the performance of the front office staff.
- Zack Meisel of MLB.com wrote about under-the-radar bargains, something every team tries to find throughout the offseason. Low-risk deals are commonplace in the weeks leading up to Spring Training.
- In an Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Jim Bowden listed the best fit for unsigned big-name free agents like Michael Bourn, Rafael Soriano, and Kyle Lohse.
Minor Moves: Tanaka, Corpas, Mann
We'll track Wednesday's minor moves here...
- The Giants signed second baseman Kensuke Tanaka to a minor league contract with an invitation to MLB Spring Training, reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The former Nippon Ham Fighters star will be given an opportunity to compete for a utility spot on the big league roster.
- The Rockies signed right-hander Manny Corpas to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp, writes Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The veteran reliever served as the closer for Colorado in 2007 when the team reached the World Series for the first and only time in franchise history. The 30-year-old made 48 appearances for the Cubs in 2012, but became a free agent at the end of the season when he refused an outright assignment to the minor leagues.
- The Nationals signed left-hander Brandon Mann to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, reports Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com (via Twitter). Mann, 28, has spent the past two seasons pitching in Japan for the Yokohama Bay Stars where he posted a 4.27 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 92.2 innings.
Manny Corpas Elects Free Agency
Right-hander Manny Corpas has elected free agency after being outrighted off of the Cubs' 40-man roster, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports (on Twitter). The arbitration eligible 29-year-old had been a non-tender candidate with a projected salary of $1.4MM.
Corpas made 48 relief appearances in 2012, posting a 5.01 ERA with 5.4 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 46 2/3 innings. In six seasons with the Rockies and Cubs he has a career 4.09 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9. Corpas' fastball averaged 89.2mph this past season, down from his career average of 91.5mph. O'Connell Sports Management represents Corpas.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Manny Corpas
Here's today's list of outrighted players:
- The Cubs outrighted Manny Corpas off of their 40-man roster, Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald tweets. The right-hander will attend Spring Training as a non-roster player. Corpas, 29, last pitched in the Major Leagues in 2010, when he posted a 4.62 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 62 1/3 innings for the Rockies. He underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2010 and spent the entire 2011 season recovering.
Quick Hits: Beltran, Corpas, Dickey, Ross
Six years ago today, the Diamondbacks officially traded third baseman Troy Glaus and shortstop prospect Sergio Santos to the Blue Jays for righty Miguel Batista and second baseman Orlando Hudson. Josh Byrnes and J.P. Ricciardi were the respective GMs. Glaus' retirement came with little fanfare despite 320 career home runs and four All-Star Game appearances. Santos eventually found his way to the White Sox, who helped him become a successful reliever and recently traded him back to Toronto. Batista is a 40-year-old free agent with 101 career wins to his name. Hudson, a four-time Gold Glove winner, is a trade candidate for the Padres, the team Byrnes now heads up. Ricciardi now serves as a special assistant to Mets GM Sandy Alderson, who appears to have interest in re-signing Batista.
MLBTR was less than two months old at the time of the Glaus trade; you can read my paragraph on it here. Back then the site was a one-man show with gray text against a black background, and Twitter did not exist. We've come a long way! On to today's links...
- Carlos Beltran offered to sign with the Yankees for the same two-year, $26MM deal he ultimately signed with St. Louis, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Adds Heyman, "Like seven years ago, they declined."
- Reliever Manny Corpas, who agreed to a non-guaranteed split contract with the Cubs, has a $1MM base salary while in the bigs with another potential $1MM in incentives, tweets Heyman.
- The Mets sent R.A. Dickey's agent a letter to warn that they can void his contract if he's injured climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in January, writes Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal. As GM Sandy Alderson noted, that hasn't dissuaded the 37-year-old knuckleballer.
- The Rockies' interest in Cody Ross is based on whether they trade Seth Smith, writes ESPN's Buster Olney.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan looks at the 2012-13 free agent class, writing, "What the class lacks in breadth up top it makes up for in depth." We've got the full list here. The potentially available young starting pitching looks deep in theory, but we'll see which of Matt Cain, Cole Hamels, Zack Greinke, Anibal Sanchez, and Brandon McCarthy are extended.
Cubs Sign Manny Corpas
The Cubs have signed right-hander Manny Corpas to a one-year deal, reports Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago. Corpas underwent a physical today in Chicago and FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) reports the contract is a Major League deal.
Corpas underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2010 and missed the entire 2011 season while recovering, though the Rangers signed him to a minor league pact last April. Texas also offered Corpas a Major League contract this winter, according to CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman (via Twitter).
Corpas, 29, enjoyed a superb 2007 season and emerged as the Rockies' closer during the team's run to the National League pennant. Corpas' success led Colorado to sign him to a four-year, $8.025MM extension, but Corpas failed to maintain his good form, posting a 4.82 ERA, a 10.4 H/9 and a 6.2 K/9 over the next three seasons. The Rockies released him after the 2010 campaign, eating the $3.75MM remaining on Corpas' contract.
Dead Money: Paying Players To Play Elsewhere
Eating money in trades or by releasing players is far from an ideal business practice, but sometimes it's a necessary evil. The Mets believe they are better off paying Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo a combined $18MM not to be on their team this year, and released the two just last month. David Wharton of The Los Angeles Times wrote about the concept of "dead money" today, speaking to Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, sports economist J.C. Bradbury, and Scott Boras.
With some help from Cot's Baseball Contracts, let's look at the teams that are paying players to be anywhere but on their roster this season...
- Angels: Gary Matthews Jr. ($11.4MM)
- Astros: Roy Oswalt ($7MM)
- Blue Jays: Vernon Wells ($5MM)
- Cubs: Carlos Silva ($7.25MM, plus $2MM in 2012)
- Diamondbacks: Chris Snyder ($3MM)
- Dodgers: Manny Ramirez ($8.33MM per year through 2013), Andruw Jones ($3.2MM per year through 2014), Juan Pierre ($3.5MM)
- Mariners: Carlos Silva ($5.5MM), Yuniesky Betancourt ($1MM), Josh Wilson ($179K)
- Mets: Oliver Perez ($4MM), Luis Castillo ($6MM), Gary Matthews Jr. ($1MM)
- Rockies: Manny Corpas ($3.55MM, $250K in 2012)
- Royals: Yuniesky Betancourt ($2MM)
- Twins: Brendan Harris ($500K)
- White Sox: Scott Linebrink ($3.5MM)
This doesn't include money the Braves owe Kenshin Kawakami ($7.4MM) or the Yankees owe Kei Igawa ($4MM). Both Japanese imports remain in the organization, but they've since been banished to the minor leagues. It also doesn't include all the money the Mets famously owe Bobby Bonilla for the next two decades.
Yuniesky Betancourt is the only player collecting paychecks from three different big league teams at the moment, but Carlos Silva could join him if he's called up by the Yankees. Gary Matthews Jr. could also be in that mix if he catches on somewhere this summer.
Rangers Sign Manny Corpas
The Rangers signed Manny Corpas to a minor league deal, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). The Rockies released Corpas this November, two months after he underwent Tommy John ligament replacement surgery. Corpas probably won't pitch in 2011, while he recovers.
Corpas posted a 4.62 ERA with 6.8 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 42.5% ground ball rate in 2010. Defense independent pitching stats suggest his ERA should have been lower last year, and he was one of the youngest free agents available.
Youngest Remaining Free Agents
We're weeks into Spring Training now, so few notable free agents remain. But some players (min. 50 PAs) and pitchers (min. 20 IP) remain unsigned. Here's a look at the remaining free agents who will play the 2011 season while no older than 32:
- Willy Aybar (28) - The Rays declined Aybar's option and non-tendered him, but he can play first, second and third and has a career .341 OBP. He wouldn't be in line for more than a minor league deal if he signs.
- Jeremy Bonderman (28) - Bonderman may sit the season out, but you have to think he can help someone (the Cardinals?) despite the 5.53 ERA he posted in 171 innings last year. He's only 28 and he has recovered from shoulder surgery.
- Manny Corpas (28) - Corpas will miss the 2011 season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. He posted a 4.62 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 62 1/3 innings last year, and defense independent pitching stats suggest his ERA should have been lower, so he would have drawn interest if healthy.
- Hank Blalock (30) - Blalock averaged 29 homers per season from 2003-05, when he made two All-Star teams. That power was nowhere to be seen last year, when he posted a .254/.319/.349 line in 69 plate appearances for the Rays. Blalock just turned 30 last fall, but he probably needs to rebuild value in the minor leagues to make a complete comeback.
- Bobby Crosby (31) - Three teams were interested in the former AL Rookie of the Year earlier in the winter, but he remains on the open market. In 189 plate appearances for Pittsburgh and Arizona last year, Crosby hit .220/.294/.298 and played all four infield positions.
- Ryan Church (32) - Church, who was traded with Crosby from Pittsburgh to Arizona last summer, also struggled in 2010. He posted a .201/.265/.352 line, though he had 59 extra base hits as recently as 2007.
- Ben Sheets (32) - If he wasn't going to miss the season with flexor tendon surgery, Sheets would likely have found a team by now. He won't sign this year.
Rockies Release Manny Corpas
The Rockies released reliever Manny Corpas, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Corpas, 27, had Tommy John surgery in September. He'd also undergone surgery to remove bone chips in that elbow in July of '09. $3.75MM remains on his contract, which he signed in February of '08.
This year Corpas posted a 4.62 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 1.0 HR/9 and 42.5% groundball rate, picking up ten saves. The Rockies locked him up after his best season, several years before he would have been arbitration eligible. It was just unnecessary.
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