Discussion: What’s Next For The Rockies?
Colorado's season ended in heartbreaking fashion last night, when the normally reliable Huston Street lost his second game in as many days for the first time in his career. Now the front office will focus on trying to improve a team that went 72-38 after July 3rd this season.
The club has several young players (like Ian Stewart, Dexter Fowler, and Carlos Gonzalez) estabishing themselves in the bigs, but they also have a couple players coming up on free agency, including Jason Giambi, Jose Contreras, and Jason Marquis. The team also holds a $4MM option for catcher Yorvit Torrealba and a $5.4MM option for setup man Rafael Betancourt for 2010, although the biggest free agent is GM Dan O'Dowd.
So what do MLBTR's readers think is the next step for the Rockies? Should they non-tender Garrett Atkins, trade Brad Hawpe? What else?
Odds & Ends: Tigers, Clark, Duncan, Beltran
Wait, what do you mean "there are no baseball games tonight?!?"
- James Schmehl of MLive.com says that during the Tigers' annual season-ending meeting, GM Dave Dombrowski acknowledged "that payroll limitations this offseason will prevent the Tigers from keeping every free agent." Detroit's double play combo of Placido Polanco and Adam Everett will be free agents, as will their setup man-closer tandem of Brandon Lyon and Fernando Rodney.
- Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports that Braves scouting director Roy Clark "told the Braves on Tuesday that he's leaving the organization to become an assistant general manager with the Nationals." Clark will have a similar role with the Nats, overseeing player development and the scouting department. He had been Atlanta's scouting director since 2000, drafting such players as Brian McCann, Yunel Escobar, and Jason Heyward.
- Cardinals' pitching coach Dave Duncan said he's going to wait and see what manager Tony La Russa does before making a decision about his future, according to FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi.
- In a mailbag at MLB.com, Marty Noble says the Mets are "boxed in" when it comes to Carlos Beltran because not many clubs can assume the $37MM he's owed the next two years, not to mention concerns about his physical condition.
Red Sox Rumors: Bay, Baldelli, Papelbon
Boston's season may have ended prematurely, but that just means the New England hot stove fires up sooner. Here's some notes from Amalie Benjamin of The Boston Globe and Joe McDonald of The Providence Journal:
- To no one's surprise, Jason Bay indicated that he'll dip his toe in the free agent waters, saying he'd be doing himself "a disservice" if he didn't look around.
- Alex Gonzalez's $6MM club option "might be a little rich for the Sox," so the two sides are likely to sit down and find a more palatable number. Nick Green could also come back, though it would strictly be a depth signing.
- Unless Boston attempts to rekindle talks with the Mariners about Felix Hernandez, their 2010 rotation looks fairly settled.
- As Benjamin notes, Boston's farm system doesn't offer much at the upper levels of the minors, so instead the team is "faced with re-signing their players, checking out a less-than-stellar free agent market, or going the trade route."
- Rocco Baldelli's future with the club is up in the air, as GM Theo Epstein said they'll "sit down and talk about what the fit looks like next year –– if there is one."
- In a radio appearance this morning, ESPN's Steve Phillips said he expects Boston to dangle Jonathan Papelbon, perhaps for an impact bat, according to WEEI's Alex Speier. The free agent market for closers isn't great, and at least Papelbon offers two years of club control. Those will be two expensive years, though.
Free Agent Market: Righty Relievers
The last entry in our Free Agent Market series: righty relievers. Click here for a look at the full 2010 free agents list.
- Lowest ERA: Brendan Donnelly, Kiko Calero, Takashi Saito, and Rafael Betancourt. XFIP leaders: Betancourt, Donnelly, and LaTroy Hawkins.
- Best strikeout rates: Octavio Dotel, Calero, Betancourt, Russ Springer, and Donnelly.
- Best control: Josh Banks, Matt Herges, and Springer.
- Toughest to hit: Calero, Josh Fogg, Brandon Lyon, and Elmer Dessens.
- Lowest home run rate: Calero, Julian Tavarez, J.J. Putz, and Donnelly.
- Best groundball rate: Danys Baez and Jamey Wright.
- Innings leaders: Wright, Lyon, Aaron Heilman, Baez, and Miguel Batista.
- If you're a holds fan, Batista, R.A. Dickey, and Wright are your leaders.
- Highest average fastball velocity: Hawkins, Guillermo Mota, Putz, and Baez.
- Chad Cordero is the only guy who will be under 30 in 2010.
- Marlins scrap-heap pickups Calero and Donnelly are intriguing. But Calero spent time on the DL with shoulder inflammation, while Donnelly had calf, shoulder, and back problems.
- The following righty relievers had strong 2008s: Joe Nelson, Chad Bradford, and Geoff Geary.
- Chan Ho Park was excellent in relief this year: a 2.52 ERA in 50 innings with 52 strikeouts and 16 walks.
- Joaquin Benoit, Kelvim Escobar, and Putz make for interesting post-injury signings.
- Projected Type A free agents: Betancourt, Dotel, and Hawkins. Type B: Doug Brocail, Calero, Bob Howry, Lyon, Mota, Park, Springer, and David Weathers.
- Club options: Betancourt, Brocail, Putz, Saito, and Weathers.
Giants Re-Sign Bochy, Sabean
The Giants re-signed manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Both deals are for two years with an option for 2012. According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, Bochy and Sabean have incentives but it is not a vesting option.
Bochy and Sabean chatted at length about 2010 about a week ago, so this was expected. Read about the Giants' offseason plans here.
Luis Rodriguez, Eliezer Alfonzo Elect Free Agency
The Padres outrighted the contracts of Josh Geer, Drew Macias, Luis Rodriguez, and Eliezer Alfonzo to Triple A today, according to the AP. Rodriguez and Alfonzo elected free agency.
Rodriguez, 29, hit .202/.319/.260 in 251 plate appearances this year while playing shortstop and second base. His defense graded poorly, based on UZR. Alfonzo, 31 in February, hit .175/.197/.254 in 117 plate appearances. He logged 255.3 innings behind the plate.
Odds & Ends: Pujols, Holliday, Mauer, Reyes
Links for Tuesday…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt believes it's possible to negotiate huge deals simultaneously with Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Still, Strauss says the Cards' Monday meeting "touched on contingencies if Holliday defects."
- Joe Mauer "thinks things will work themselves out" regarding his next contract, according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
- In a Sunday article, David Waldstein and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times dug into the rift between the Mets and Dodgers regarding Jose Reyes' injury.
Odds & Ends: Pujols, Holliday, Mauer, Reyes
Links for Tuesday…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt believes it's possible to negotiate huge deals simultaneously with Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Still, Strauss says the Cards' Monday meeting "touched on contingencies if Holliday defects."
- Joe Mauer "thinks things will work themselves out" regarding his next contract, according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
- In a Sunday article, David Waldstein and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times dug into the rift between the Mets and Dodgers regarding Jose Reyes' injury.
Offseason Outlook: Oakland Athletics
Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Athletics. Their likely commitments for 2010:
C – Kurt Suzuki – $410K
C – Landon Powell – $400K
1B – Daric Barton – $410K
2B – Mark Ellis – $5.5MM
SS – Cliff Pennington – $400K
3B – Eric Chavez – $12MM
IF – Gregorio Petit – $405K
LF – Scott Hairston – $1.25MM+
CF – Rajai Davis – $410K
RF – Ryan Sweeney – $410K
OF – Travis Buck – $410K
DH – Jack Cust – $2.8MM+
IF/OF – Eric Patterson – $405K
SP – Dallas Braden – $410K
SP – Brett Anderson – $400K
SP – Trevor Cahill – $400K
SP – Gio Gonzalez – $405K
SP – Vin Mazzaro – $400K
RP – Mike Wuertz – $1.1MM+
RP – Brad Ziegler – $405K
RP – Andrew Bailey – $400K
RP – Joey Devine – $410K+
RP – Craig Breslow – $422K
RP – Jerry Blevins – $405K
RP – Brad Kilby – $400K
Non-tender candidates: Jack Cust, Santiago Casilla
Other commitments: Jason Giambi – $1.25MM
The A's have about $30.8MM committed before arbitration raises to Hairston, Cust, Wuertz, Casilla, and Devine. Cust and Casilla are non-tender candidates, so we'll estimate a mid-$30MM commitment for 2010. According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, the A's entered 2009 with a $62.3MM payroll. There hasn't been any indication that the A's plan to be big spenders this winter, but if payroll is held steady GM Billy Beane would have roughly $25MM to work with.
The 2009 A's ranked 11th in the AL with a .328 OBP and last with a .397 SLG. The offense had more of a middle-of-the-pack performance in the second half, with Davis, Sweeney, Cust, and Barton leading the way. Despite the improvement, the most obvious area for improvement in 2010 is the offense.
The rebuilding thing to do would be to give Barton one more chance to prove he can hit outside of the month of September. Powerful prospect Chris Carter is another option. But there would be little harm in adding a 2010 stopgap, someone like Russell Branyan, Carlos Delgado, or Nick Johnson.
Third base is a similar situation – Brett Wallace may not be ready yet, and the A's can't count on Chavez. Why not entertain signing Adrian Beltre or Troy Glaus? Shortstop frontrunner Pennington is also unproven, but the free agent market isn't terribly appealing.
With Davis and Sweeney taking outfield spots, DH and left field are other possible areas to upgrade. MLB.com's Mychael Urban feels Beane is leaning toward tendering a contract to Cust, whose 25 home runs led the team (his .417 SLG was less inspiring). If Beane decides to make a change, he can choose from plenty of free agent DH candidates for the same $3-4MM Cust would make. We haven't heard anything about Hairston being a non-tender candidate, though he was awful in Oakland.
The A's have a stacked bullpen, especially if Devine comes back strong. One veteran free agent play for the rotation would make sense, someone like Erik Bedard, Justin Duchscherer, Randy Johnson, or Ben Sheets.
Though Oakland's veteran additions for 2009 didn't work out, fans presumably appreciated them taking a shot at contention. I think Beane should make a similar attempt to supplement the club for 2010; he could again do so without harming the long-term health of the franchise.
Offseason Outlook: Oakland Athletics
Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Athletics. Their likely commitments for 2010:
C – Kurt Suzuki – $410K
C – Landon Powell – $400K
1B – Daric Barton – $410K
2B – Mark Ellis – $5.5MM
SS – Cliff Pennington – $400K
3B – Eric Chavez – $12MM
IF – Gregorio Petit – $405K
LF – Scott Hairston – $1.25MM+
CF – Rajai Davis – $410K
RF – Ryan Sweeney – $410K
OF – Travis Buck – $410K
DH – Jack Cust – $2.8MM+
IF/OF – Eric Patterson – $405K
SP – Dallas Braden – $410K
SP – Brett Anderson – $400K
SP – Trevor Cahill – $400K
SP – Gio Gonzalez – $405K
SP – Vin Mazzaro – $400K
RP – Mike Wuertz – $1.1MM+
RP – Brad Ziegler – $405K
RP – Andrew Bailey – $400K
RP – Joey Devine – $410K+
RP – Craig Breslow – $422K
RP – Jerry Blevins – $405K
RP – Brad Kilby – $400K
Non-tender candidates: Jack Cust, Santiago Casilla
Other commitments: Jason Giambi – $1.25MM
The A's have about $30.8MM committed before arbitration raises to Hairston, Cust, Wuertz, Casilla, and Devine. Cust and Casilla are non-tender candidates, so we'll estimate a mid-$30MM commitment for 2010. According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, the A's entered 2009 with a $62.3MM payroll. There hasn't been any indication that the A's plan to be big spenders this winter, but if payroll is held steady GM Billy Beane would have roughly $25MM to work with.
The 2009 A's ranked 11th in the AL with a .328 OBP and last with a .397 SLG. The offense had more of a middle-of-the-pack performance in the second half, with Davis, Sweeney, Cust, and Barton leading the way. Despite the improvement, the most obvious area for improvement in 2010 is the offense.
The rebuilding thing to do would be to give Barton one more chance to prove he can hit outside of the month of September. Powerful prospect Chris Carter is another option. But there would be little harm in adding a 2010 stopgap, someone like Russell Branyan, Carlos Delgado, or Nick Johnson.
Third base is a similar situation – Brett Wallace may not be ready yet, and the A's can't count on Chavez. Why not entertain signing Adrian Beltre or Troy Glaus? Shortstop frontrunner Pennington is also unproven, but the free agent market isn't terribly appealing.
With Davis and Sweeney taking outfield spots, DH and left field are other possible areas to upgrade. MLB.com's Mychael Urban feels Beane is leaning toward tendering a contract to Cust, whose 25 home runs led the team (his .417 SLG was less inspiring). If Beane decides to make a change, he can choose from plenty of free agent DH candidates for the same $3-4MM Cust would make. We haven't heard anything about Hairston being a non-tender candidate, though he was awful in Oakland.
The A's have a stacked bullpen, especially if Devine comes back strong. One veteran free agent play for the rotation would make sense, someone like Erik Bedard, Justin Duchscherer, Randy Johnson, or Ben Sheets.
Though Oakland's veteran additions for 2009 didn't work out, fans presumably appreciated them taking a shot at contention. I think Beane should make a similar attempt to supplement the club for 2010; he could again do so without harming the long-term health of the franchise.