Discussion: Livan Hernandez
According to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com's Twitter page, "Livan Hernandez's agent says his client 'would be interested in returning to the Nationals.'"
Hernandez's agent said the Nationals also like Hernandez.
It does raise the question: should they?
Hernandez got off to a strong start with the Mets in 2009, but was released after tossing 135 innings with a 5.47 ERA. Picked up by Washington, his ERA was only slightly better, at 5.36.
Over the past two seasons, Hernandez has thrown 363 2/3 innings- and has a 5.74 ERA to show for it.
On the plus side, he eats innings- hit-filled, run-scoring innings.
So would you bring him in? Is the ability to stay healthy valuable enough to make up for his performance?
Odds & Ends: Orioles, Rangers, Nationals
Let us entertain you between World Series games…
- Pitcher Rich Hill, outfielder Jeff Fiorentino and catcher Guillermo Rodriguez all rejected a minor league assignment by the Orioles and elected free agency instead. Alfredo Simon, who was also removed from the 40-man roster last week, accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. Hill could draw some interest this winter.
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports that former Colorado manager Clint Hurdle is likely to be the next hitting coach of the Rangers.
- Don Mattingly passed on a chance to interview for Washington's managerial opening, according to Alden Gonzalez and Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
Red Sox To Meet With Beckett
According to WEEI.com's Rob Bradford, Josh Beckett plans to meet with the Red Sox in the coming weeks to discuss a contract extension.
Beckett's 2010 option for $12.1MM vested when he made 28 starts for Boston in 2009. However, without a new contract, Beckett would be a free agent following the 2010 season.
Alex Speier of WEEI.com had Theo Epstein's take on Beckett. epstein also stressed the importance of bringing back free agent Jason Bay.
“It’s been really fun for us to watch him mature on and off the field during his time in Boston,” Epstein said of Beckett. “He’s put himself in a position to be valued very highly by us. He’s someone we’d obviously like have to be a part of our future. Those things have a way of taking care of themselves. … We’ll see what happens.”
Epstein said he will wait for the last possible day before making a move on Tim Wakefield's option, but that medical reports on the pitcher were positive.
Rays Deal Iwamura To Pirates For Chavez
6:15pm: The deal is official, as per a press release by the Pirates. The deal is Chavez for Iwamura straight-up.
4:34pm: ESPN's Buster Olney tells us the Rays will receive reliever Jesse Chavez in return. Chavez, 26, posted a 4.01 ERA in 67.3 innings this year as a rookie, with a 6.3 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9. He throws hard – his average fastball was 94.5 mph. Chavez is under team control through 2014.
Kovacevic believes the Pirates "will probably get another player in the Iwamura deal." He notes that Iwamura would be the Pirates' highest-paid player.
3:35pm: Topkin says Iwamura is headed to the Pirates, and the deal will be announced tonight. MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch does not believe the Bucs will surrender an established player. I'm a bit surprised they're willing to take Iwamura on at that salary, not that he's bad value.
3:04pm: Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that he's hearing the Pirates are part of the Iwamura trade talks. MLB.com's Joe Frisaro believes the Marlins would have interest, but not if they had to assume Iwamura's entire contract.
2:41pm: Roger Mooney of the Bradenton Herald believes Iwamura is headed to an NL club.
12:45pm: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times hears that the Rays are on the verge of trading Akinori Iwamura. Topkin's source, who's not with the Rays, says the team close to acquiring Iwamura is not the Dodgers or Cubs.
The Rays have until one day after the end of the World Series to pick up Iwamura's $4.85MM option or buy him out for $550K. The Rays don't need Iwamura thanks to Ben Zobrist's emergence, but it's not surprising that other teams have interest in the Japanese infielder. The 30-year-old has a career line of .281/.354/.393 and he plays a solid second base, according to UZR/150.
Blue Jays Claim Hoffpauir From Cardinals
The Toronto Blue Jays claimed infielder Jarrett Hoffpauir off of waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals. Left-handed pitcher Bill Murphy was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Hoffpauir.
Hoffpauir, 26, is an intriguing pickup. He posted a .291/.357/.486 batting line in 402 plate appearances for Triple-A Memphis, and also held his own in 16 plate appearances with St. Louis. In other words, he's right around the same part of his career Marco Scutaro was when Oakland gave him a chance to play every day.
One wonders if this is a sign that Toronto doesn't plan to bring Scutaro back. For what it's worth, Hoffpauir has played 10 games at shortstop in the minor leagues, while Aaron Hill, Toronto's second baseman, came through the minor leagues as a shortstop.
Murphy, 28, had posted a 7.59 ERA in Triple-A, so this move can't be considered much of a surprise.
Trade Market: Center Fielders
Next up in our Trade Market series, center fielders. We discussed free agents at the position here.
- Curtis Granderson, Tigers. Granderson, 29 in March, slipped to .249/.327/.453 in 710 plate appearances this year, but he did hit 30 home runs with 72 walks. David Golebiewski of FanGraphs considers Granderson's slash line misleading. Granderson struggled mightily against lefties; last year's .739 OPS against them was the only decent showing of his career. He's owed $25.75MM for the next three seasons and is well worth it. As far as trade speculation, it stems entirely from Lynn Henning of the Detroit News.
- Cody Ross, Marlins. Ross is here simply because he's an arbitration-eligible Marlins player. He turns 29 in December and is coming off a .270/.321/.469 performance with 24 home runs. He plays center and right field; his defense is hard to judge statistically.
- Aaron Rowand, Giants. We're guessing the Giants wouldn't mind unloading the $36MM owed to Rowand for the next three seasons. The 32-year-old has a limited no-trade clause.
- Gary Matthews Jr., Angels. With two years and $23MM remaining on his contract, Matthews wants a trade and an everyday role. Good luck with that.
- Vernon Wells, Blue Jays. With $107MM coming over the next five years and a full no-trade clause, Wells' brutal contract puts Rowand and Matthews to shame. Hopefully Wells can bounce back in 2010; he's having wrist surgery soon.
- B.J. Upton, Rays. Golebiewski analyzed Upton's struggles this year and wondered if poor health was to blame. The 25-year-old at least continued to play a fine center field. He's arbitration-eligible for the first time, and I'd be surprised to see the Rays sell low on him.
- Jody Gerut, Brewers. Gerut is a non-tender candidate after a .230/.279/.376 showing, but the Brewers may need him if they don't re-sign Mike Cameron.
- Willy Taveras, Reds. Taveras was non-tendered a year ago, and now the Reds may release him with $4MM remaining on his contract.
- Felix Pie, Orioles. The O's may prefer to keep Pie around to see if his scorching August was a sign of things to come. Then again, the 24-year-old may have more value to another team since the O's can use Nolan Reimold in left field and have Adam Jones entrenched in center.
Heyman On Damon, Scutaro, Red Sox
The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…
- The Yankees are interested in re-signing Johnny Damon, and may be willing to offer two years and $16MM. Heyman believes the White Sox and Giants will be among the other suitors.
- Heyman says the Reds "could do worse" than Marco Scutaro at shortstop. The Reds first-round pick (#12 overall would be protected), but they probably don't have the payroll space to add Scutaro unless they subtract a big salary.
- The Red Sox could look to trade Mike Lowell or David Ortiz, if they acquire two hitters this winter.
Odds & Ends: Schueler, Dunn, Yankees, Strasburg
Some links for Tuesday…
- The Nationals hired former White Sox GM Ron Schueler as a special assistant to Mike Rizzo, according to a team press release.
- Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos must decide in the coming days whether to proceed with a payroll of about $80MM or ask ownership for more money, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
- Phil Wood of MASN.com doesn't think it makes sense for the Nats to trade Adam Dunn away.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer says the Yankees will probably want to become younger this offseason, even if it's just a marginal change.
- Former Rockies assistant GM Chris Rice tells Irv Moss of the Denver Post how "exciting and tense" the expansion draft was before the team's inaugural season.
- As Danny Knobler of CBSSports points out, the Phillies' decision to go after Cliff Lee instead of Roy Halladay looks smart right now.
- Harry Pavlidis of The Hardball Times looks at Stephen Strasburg's performance in the Arizona Fall League and says the top pick "is proving to be everything he was hyped to be."
- MLB.com's Matthew Leach guesses that Matt Holliday will not return to the Cardinals in 2010.
- Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com reports that the Rangers could decide today whether Thad Bosley, Rusty Greer, Clint Hurdle or Gerald Perry will become the team's next hitting coach.
- Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Twins outrighted Brian Buscher to Triple A. He can become a minor league free agent 16 days after the World Series. Aaron Gleeman doesn't expect Buscher to remain in the organization.
Trades Of The Decade: Pierzynski For Nathan, Bonser, Liriano
Trading A.J. Pierzynski made sense. Joe Mauer was thriving in the upper minors, so the Twins had a cheap, young catcher ready to contribute. They had even less payroll flexibility than they do now, and Pierzynski was about to become expensive.
Twins GM Terry Ryan obtained prospects Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano for Pierzynski, but as Ryan told the Minneapolis Star Tribune at the time, Joe Nathan was the centerpiece of the trade.
"We feel good about Nathan coming back," Ryan said. "He's a major league guy who has been tested and who is talented."
The Giants called on Nathan 78 times in 2003 and he responded with a big year. The righty struck out 83 batters in 79 innings, allowing just 51 hits and 33 walks for a 2.96 ERA. Nathan's tenure with the club ended badly, however. He allowed three runs to the Marlins in the NLDS before storming off the mound.
Some thought Nathan had closer potential, but Sabean wasn't convinced.
"Whether someone is going to be a closer or a front-line starter is a lot of speculation," Sabean told the San Francisco Chronicle. "That is not necessarily the organization's view of the world."
The Giants had Yorvit Torrealba around, but they admired Pierzynski's play so much they couldn't pass up the chance to make a trade.
"It's not often you can send a reliever and two prospects away for a front-line, All-Star, left-handed hitting catcher," Sabean said.
That left-handed hitting catcher interested a variety of clubs. The Cubs, Padres and Orioles were among the teams who saw lots to like in the backstop. At 26, Pierzynski had a lifetime average of .301 and a career OPS of .788. He had just established career highs in every offensive category of consequence and was under team control for three more seasons.
Pierzynski hit .272/.319/.410 with 41 extra base hits for the Giants in 2004, but he didn't fit in with his new club. An anonymous teammate called him a "cancer" and a number of Giants told the Oakland Tribune that they wouldn't mind seeing him traded. Pierzynski remained on the team for the rest of the season, but his tenure by the Bay ended months later when the Giants non-tendered him.
In 2006, when Liriano seemed capable of replacing Johan Santana atop the Twins' rotation and Bonser looked like a solid starter, too, this trade seemed even more lopsided that it does today. Liriano had just struck out 144 batters in 121 innings en route to a 2.16 ERA. Bonser, a 2000 first rounder, had just pitched 100 innings of 4.22 ERA ball.
But Liriano underwent Tommy John surgery in 2006 and he hasn't matched his initial success since. Bonser's performance fell off in 2007, he was bumped from the rotation in 2008 and he missed 2009 because of shoulder surgery.
Meanwhile, Nathan has improved in Minnesota. He has never had an ERA above 2.70 or saved fewer than 36 games with the Twins. He's made three All-Star appearances since Sabean sent him to the AL and has kept his WHIP below 1.00 in five of his six seasons in the Junior Circuit.
At the time of the trade, Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "Giants fans won't miss Joe Nathan," calling the deal a "steal" for Sabean. Nothing seems further from the truth now, but the deal didn't appear lopsided in 2003. The Giants gave up a reliever with a history of shoulder problems and two unproven, but promising prospects for an affordable catcher who should have been entering his prime.
Still, the deal is a blemish on Sabean's record and a major reason the Twins have won three division titles since.
Ortiz Wants To Play Three Or Four More Years
David Ortiz thinks he can be the offensive "force" Theo Epstein wants him to be and he hopes to prove it for years to come. Big Papi told John Tomase of the Boston Herald that he has "another three or four good years" in him and he wants to spend them in a Red Sox uniform.
As much as he'd like to remain in Boston, Ortiz, who could be a free agent as soon as next winter, says he understands it might not be possible.
"If you don’t sign with somebody, someone else will sign you," he said. "That’s how it goes.”
The Red Sox have a $12.5MM option for Ortiz's services in 2011, but they will presumably look for more production before committing that kind of money to a player who will be 35 for the 2011 season. (FanGraphs values Ortiz's 2009 production at $3.2MM.)
Big Papi hit 28 homers and drove in 99 last year, but he hit just .238/.332/.462. He says his wrist will continue to grow stronger this offseason so he's confident he can live up to Epstein's standards in 2010.