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Archives for August 2007

Fernando Cabrera Designated For Assignment

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A news item I missed on the hectic trade deadline day – the Indians designated 25 year-old reliever Fernando Cabrera for assignment.  He’ll be claimed on waivers.  As far as I can figure, Cabrera might as well start looking for an apartment in Tampa Bay – they should have first dibs on him and would have no reason to pass him up.  They can stick him in the Major League bullpen, another advantage.

Cabrera throws in the mid to high-90s and complements that with a nasty splitter.  He was once considered the Indians’ "Closer Of The Future."  That tag seems like a curse – see Craig Hansen, Travis Bowyer, and a host of others. We’ll see if the D-Rays, Rangers, or some other team can pick him up and teach him some control.

Do Yanks Have Room For Damon And Giambi?

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I think Johnny Damon’s comments yesterday have been overblown – he backed off a few hours after he made them.  And when asked point blank if he wanted a trade, he said no.  He did hint that a trade might make sense if he couldn’t play regularly, but calmed down after talking to Joe Torre.

Still, the Yankees will face a roster crunch once Jason Giambi returns to the club to act as the regular DH.  Damon has lingering injuries that will keep him from starting in center field regularly.  Between Giambi and Damon, that’s $34MM in 2007 salary spent on the designated hitter.

It’s not just Damon who could be traded – either player is eligible.  Let’s start with Damon though.  His name first came up on July 26th, with the Braves slightly interested.  Damon’s contract pays him $13MM annually through 2009, so that’s an obstacle.  And he’s owed another $4.4MM this year.  His partial no-trade clause probably isn’t a big problem, because it sounds like he’d rather go elsewhere to play every day.  The Yankees would have to eat some salary to trade Damon, probably around $8-10MM.  Damon at $8MM annually through ’09 isn’t a bad risk.

The Angels were reportedly interested in Giambi back in May, though Bill Stoneman denied it.  If healthy, he’d still supply the Halos a needed dose of OBP and power.  The problem is that he’s still owed about $33MM from now through the 2008 season and has a full no-trade clause.  The Yankees could eat half of the money, but that wouldn’t address a concession for waiving the no-trade.  The other problem is that the Yankees and Angels could be battling for the wild card this year if the Mariners overtake the Halos.

Giambi would be harder than Damon to trade, and I imagine it’d be a pure salary dump.  Chone Figgins was mentioned in the Angels rumor in May, but that’s a stretch and the Yanks have since acquired Wilson Betemit.  Damon might net a better player in return with less salary relief.  Both players would probably pass through waivers unclaimed, and I imagine the Yankees will at least go that far this month.

Prospects could be acquired, though probably in the form of a player to be named later realized after the season.  Getting immediate help back seems unlikely.

Waiver Trade Candidate: Mike Piazza

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Athletics DH Mike Piazza has about $2.83MM left on his contract this year.  Some teams poked around before the deadline – the Twins, maybe the Angels – but there wasn’t much action on him and he didn’t go anywhere.  The question now is whether the A’s will put him on waivers to try to trade him this month.  There’s no harm in just putting him on waivers, for starters.  The Braves placed Andruw Jones on waivers last year.

Now if the A’s do place Piazza on waivers, teams with the worst records in the AL get priority.  So basically the Twins get first dibs if they want him, followed by Seattle.  I have a hard time seeing the Angels get the claim, because that would mean the Mariners, Yankees, and Indians passed.  I imagine at least one of those clubs would put in a claim and get him if the Twins passed. 

Now once a team is awarded the claim, Billy Beane has three options.  One, he can work out a trade with the winning team, where all players involved on the 40-man roster must also go through waivers.  Two, he can just dump Piazza’s salary on that team.  Three, he can pull Piazza back and not trade him.  Offering Piazza arbitration this winter is kind of risky, because he might just accept it and the A’s would be stuck with him.  He’s not looking at a two-year deal this winter anyway.  So a trade to a team that could actually use him – the Twins – makes all kinds of sense.  I don’t understand why competing teams would allow him to get all the way to the Angels though.  Their chance has passed.

Does Johan Santana Want Out?

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Johan Santana’s comments yesterday caused a stir.  He was upset that the Twins made no acquisitions, and doesn’t seem to think management is trying to win.  It certainly sounds like he wants out or expects to leave.

Does that mean it’s time to start up the rumor mill for all of the large-market teams looking for pitching this winter?  I don’t think so.  It sounds like Santana would waive his no-trade clause, but would the Twins really trade him?  Trading the best pitcher in baseball is a huge concession no matter what the return, and I can’t see the Twins giving up on 2008.

More likely they’ll make their usual patchwork acquisitions this winter.  Maybe make a lowball contract offer to Santana before the season starts, and then watch him leave for the biggest payday a pitcher has ever seen.

Of course, it’s still fun to speculate.  It would be cool to see a stacked team like the Devil Rays or Diamondbacks to make a run at him this winter instead of the usual Yankees, Red Sox, etc.

Failed Trades

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Let’s take a look at some deals that almost happened yesterday.

Kyle Farnsworth for Bob Wickman.  This would’ve been fun, reunions with former teams for both players.  However, the Braves wanted the Yankees to pick up all of Farnsworth’s salary, apparently.  Brian Cashman didn’t want to make him go away that badly, and Wickman would probably be a nonfactor back in the AL.

Mariners acquire Mark Loretta.  Eh.  Let’s not overstate the abilities of Loretta.  It sounds like Tim Purpura wanted some kind of legitimate prospect for him.

Rockies send Jeff Baker and others to Tampa Bay for Dan Wheeler.  We can’t really evaluate this one without knowing who else would’ve been involved.  And the Rays don’t really have a place to play Baker; they’re already squeezed finding playing time for Jonny Gomes.  If Rocco Baldelli ever gets healthy they’ll really have a pickle.  I mentioned in a recent interview at D-Rays Bay – Wheeler would probably be one of the ten best relievers available if he was a free agent after the season.  The Rays can pump up his value and get a promising young pitcher next year, as the Royals did with Octavio Dotel.    

Brewers send Tony Gwynn Jr., Zach Jackson, and another minor league for Eric Gagne.  This could’ve been the difference-maker that Scott Linebrink ain’t in a tight NL Central race.  But it doesn’t seem like Doug Melvin got a chance to counter the Red Sox offer, so you can’t really fault him.

Red Sox send Wily Mo Pena and Craig Hansen to White Sox for Jermaine Dye.  Well, there has to be some statistical way to evaluate whether this pair beats two draft picks.  You’d have to know the attrition rates of first/second rounders, and get some scouts on Pena and Hansen to see if they can ever reach their potential.  If I was the Kenny Williams I probably would’ve made the deal.  I think Pena gets docked in value from where he was two years ago, but still has pretty much the same upside if you manage him right.  Who knows, maybe Williams will go after Pena again this winter.

White Sox Talking Extension With Dye

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It sounds like the White Sox will truly entertain a contract extension for right fielder Jermaine Dye, but only if they get him at a discount price once again.  They’ve paid just $16.75MM for Dye to hit .280/.344/.542 for them over 381 games so far since 2005.  Among right fielders, only Vladimir Guerrero has slugged higher from 2005 to present.

Dye says "Something can probably get done."  Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times believes Dye wants three years, but the White Sox are hesistant to even do two.  I get the impression the Sox want to do one year with a reasonable option for 2009, but might guarantee the second year if the price is right.  A decent comparable might be Jim Edmonds’ two-year, $19MM extension.  However, Dye wouldn’t get the no-trade protection Edmonds did.  And the Edmonds contract might actually serve as a cautionary tale for Kenny Williams.

The White Sox will have some offseason alternatives for right field – Kosuke Fukudome, Bobby Abreu, Milton Bradley, Geoff Jenkins, Trot Nixon, and Shawn Green.  They’ll have to weigh those players against Dye.  Teams often pass on the in-house option just to get some fresh blood, even if it’s not logical.  We’ll have to wait and see what the White Sox decide.

Waiver Trade Rules

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The non-waiver trade deadline has passed, but that doesn’t mean trading is done.  I found a helpful old Steve Phillips article explaining the whole August waiver trade thing.  If you don’t feel like checking that out, here’s a summary:

Any player can be put on waivers by his team, and the player does not need to be informed.

Other teams have the chance to make a claim on the player during a 47 hour window.

If the player is claimed, the team that placed him on waivers has the option of pulling him back.  If the team pulls him back they can’t trade him for 30 days.

If his team decides not to pull him back:

Option 1:  His team can work out a trade with the team that claimed him.  Any player involved in the trade who is on a 40 man roster must go through waivers first.

Option 2:  His team can just dump him and his salary on the team that claimed him, getting no player in return.

Option 3:  No one claims him, and his team is free to trade him to any team.

If more than one team places a claim on a player, the winning claim is awarded based on worst record or the league the claiming team is in.   

Makes sense?  I’m sure I’ll be writing a lot this month about waiver trade possibilities.

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