Young Red Sox Strike Back
Not every good young player is salivating at the thought of inking a team-friendly multiyear contract. Prince Fielder, Russell Martin, and Casey Kotchman are three who seem fine going year-to-year and maximizing earnings. According to Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald, Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon are two more players "intent on bucking what has become a disturbing trend."
It’s mainly the idea of tossing in multiple team options that bristles the players and their agents. Bradford reports that more experienced agents have voiced their concern about the trend to the Players Association.
Papelbon, for one, knows he’s an elite closer and is prepared to set the bar for stoppers with his service time. You may recall that the Red Sox gave him $775K this year to top Mariano Rivera‘s two-year closer service time record. Though they play different positions, Papelbon’s agent will probably at least reference Ryan Howard‘s landmark $10MM first-year arbitration reward when Papelbon’s time comes before the ’09 season.
White Sox Interested In Figgins?
THURSDAY: Angels GM Tony Reagins says he hasn’t talked to Williams and has no interest in trading Figgins at this time. It may be true that Figgins is on Williams’ wish list, but perhaps that’s where it ended.
WEDNESDAY: Joe Cowley lights up the rumor mill with some rumblings about the White Sox. His source says Kenny Williams is inquiring about leadoff hitters who can play second base, aside from the apparently overpriced Brian Roberts. Williams’ main target may be Chone Figgins; he called Figgins "an interesting name."
Figgins, 30, is hitting .306/.421/.355 in 145 plate appearances. He’s a free agent after the ’09 season. Despite Chicago’s interest, it’s hard to picture the first-place Angels parting with him. Figgins is expected to be activated from the disabled list today after a hamstring strain. The team’s other third basemen have not hit well in his absence.
I’m not sure how well he plays second these days, but Ryan Freel could fit as a Plan B. Freddy Sanchez, Cristian Guzman, Felipe Lopez, David Eckstein are other possibilities (pure speculation on my part).
One other note from Cowley – he’s heard whispers that the Angels will be making a push for Joe Crede this winter. Crede is pretty much the only credible free agent option at third base.
The Catcher Market
As we near June, trade rumors will start to pick up. It’s always fun to try to find teams with matching needs. With that in mind, I’m going to profile available players at each position on the diamond. Today we’ll start with catchers. Let me know in the comments if you have anyone to add.
- Ramon Hernandez, Orioles. The O’s are playing surprisingly well, but Hernandez is not hitting. He makes $7.5MM this year, $8MM in ’09, and has an $8.5MM option for ’10 with a $1MM buyout. I imagine the Orioles would like to move that contract.
- Gerald Laird, Rangers. The Rangers aren’t out of contention quite yet. When they are, it’ll be time for Laird to step aside for Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Laird, a Boras client, is under team control through 2010. He’s having an improved year at the plate.
- Ronny Paulino, Pirates. Once Ryan Doumit returns in June, the Bucs can at least consider moving Paulino.
- Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada, Nationals. Couple of bad signings…if either veteran returns to health he could be traded for scraps.
- Paul Bako and Javier Valentin, Reds. Bako had a nice April and is hitting well above his career norm.
- Yorvit Torrealba, Rockies. With Chris Iannetta seemingly living up to his potential, Torrealba becomes a relatively pricey luxury.
- Bengie Molina, Giants. He’s a solid bat and is signed for ’09 at $6MM.
- Michael Barrett, Padres. Currently on a rehab assignment, Barrett could be one of several veterans purged by the Padres.
Mayo Draft Mania
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo is making a splash today, posting a brand new top 20 mock draft. He’s also conducting a chat that begins right about now (I’m sure the transcript will be up after). Some interesting nuggets from Mayo’s latest mock draft:
- Mayo isn’t so sure the Rays have narrowed it down to Tim Beckham and Buster Posey.
- There’s apparently some buzz that the Nats might consider Zach Collier way up at the ninth pick.
- Mayo replaces his Tanner Scheppers pick with Yonder Alonso for Houston.
Mets Shopping Aaron Heilman?
Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News is hearing buzz from scouts that the Mets are shopping 29 year-old reliever Aaron Heilman. Heilman has a career best strikeout rate in 22.2 innings, but everything else has gone haywire (control, home runs and hits allowed).
Rubin says the Mets are looking for a setup man in return. It seems that the best fit would be with a noncontending team that would switch Heilman back to starting. The Nationals (Jon Rauch), Reds (David Weathers), and Pirates (Damaso Marte, John Grabow) might have decent relievers available. Not sure if they’d have interest in Heilman, though.
Heilman will be arbitration-eligible in 2009 and 2010 and will reach free agency after that.
Odds and Ends: Royals, Cashman, Tavarez
4:45pm: Updating the Tavarez item – the Boston Herald reports that he’s accepted a minor league assignment in order to buy the Red Sox more time in trading him.
10:38am: Here’s today’s link collection.
- MLB.com’s Dick Kaegel hears the Royals are leaning toward an impact bat in the June draft. Baseball America predicted catcher Buster Posey, while Jonathan Mayo went with first baseman Eric Hosmer. First baseman Justin Smoak is another possibility.
- Paul DePodesta tells a story about the gamesmanship of the draft.
- Hank Steinbrenner says there’s a chance Brian Cashman will be the Yankees’ GM next year, if he wants to be. He might be able to find a better situation. If there’s a new GM, his first task might be negotiating with Scott Boras for Mark Teixeira.
- The Rockies still might have mild interest in Julian Tavarez, who will become a free agent today.
- The Marlins, Rockies, and Rangers were the three clubs interested in Edinson Volquez when he was a kid in the Dominican.
Mike Piazza Retires
Catcher Mike Piazza has decided to retire. I thought he had a little bit left in the tank as a possible DH this year, but it seems that teams did not agree.
Piazza finishes with a .308/.377/.545 career line in 19 seasons. He mashed 427 home runs and is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Dodgers or Mets cap? Marlins?
Cardinals Eyeing College Pitcher With 13th Pick
The Cardinals have the 13th pick in the June draft. The team’s VP of scouting and player development, Jeff Luhnow, says "there’s a real possibility that we go college pitcher." MLB.com’s Matthew Leach admits that Aaron Crow will probably be gone. Ditto Brian Matusz. Christian Friedrich or Shooter Hunt remain possibilities.
Leach also suggests the Cardinals could take one of the many first baseman and move him to the outfield (Yonder Alonso, for example). Baseball America’s May 16th mock draft projects the Cards will take Zach Collier, a high school outfielder.
Pirates Likely To Draft Pedro Alvarez
John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times chronicles the Pirates’ recent draft blunders. So many wasted picks. Under different management, the Pirates could have David Wright, B.J. Upton, Carlos Quentin, Tim Lincecum, and Matt Wieters in the organization. Sounds like a fantasy team. Such hindsight cherry-picking is unfair, but the Pirates should have Upton and Wieters right now.
Anyway, the depressing trend of bad picks for the Pirates is likely to change this year. For the first time, the Bucs might give out a Major League contract to a draft pick. That pick would be Pedro Alvarez, who Perrotto believes the Pirates will take at #2. Rumblings do not indicate the Rays want Alvarez. Both Jonathan Mayo and Baseball America believe the Pirates will get their man.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Victorino, Hatteberg, Paul Byrd
The Padres stuff got its own post; let’s see what else Ken Rosenthal has for us today.
- Rosenthal thinks it makes sense for the Phillies to shop Shane Victorino for pitching, since Jayson Werth is playing well. That’d increase reliance on Geoff Jenkins, though. The Marlins expressed some interest in Victorino last year.
- Rosenthal expects the Reds to move Scott Hatteberg and a catcher before they get down to the more serious business of mullling offers for Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr.
- Trading Paul Byrd would make sense for the Indians. Rosenthal says the Brewers, Braves, and Astros "likely would show interest." Byrd sports a 3.61 ERA and 4.4 K/BB.