Correia: The Forgotten Padre?
While nearly all of the national attention on the Padres this year has focused on either A) Adrian Gonzalez or B) the astonishing lack of talent around Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Correia has quietly been one of the best pickups of last offseason, as Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune points out.
Correia signed a one-year, $750K minor-league deal with the Padres last winter. All he's done in 2009 is manage a 3.89 ERA, 138 strikeouts and 63 walks in 192 innings.
For a little contrast: Derek Lowe has pitched to a 4.55 ERA this season- in the first year of a four-year, $60MM contract.
Correia will be trying to reach 200 innings for the first time in his career Friday night. He's got a streak of 20 1/3 scoreless innings going, and in his last ten starts, has a 2.31 ERA.
All of which means he'll be much more expensive this winter. The Padres can offer arbitration and expect a significant raise will be forthcoming.
So what should San Diego do? Let a consistent pitcher who has finished particularly strong reach free agency as a non-tender? Or pay big bucks for a pitcher just a year removed from a 6.05 ERA?
Sabean, Bochy To Return, Payroll To Increase
The San Francisco Giants will bring both General Manager Brian Sabean and Manager Bruce Bochy back for the 2010 season, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Sabean is completing his thirteenth season at the helm, while Bochy has been skipper for three seasons. Both have been the subject of rumors, but the unexpected challenge by the Giants for the Wild Card has likely been their savior.
Giants' Managing General Partner Bill Neukom also said he expected San Francisco's payroll to rise in 2010.
The Giants have about $28MM coming off the books for 2010, between Dave Roberts, Bengie Molina, Randy Winn and Randy Johnson. Of course, the arbitration eligibility of Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson will eat into that number significantly.
Odds & Ends: Padres, Molina, Cubs, Unit
Another round of links for the afternoon…
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer would like to see big market teams share more revenue with their small market rivals. Still, he says MLB has been competitive compared to football, basketball and hockey.
- Padres CEO Jeff Moorad was non-committal about GM Kevin Towers' future on XX 1090 in San Diego, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock (via Twitter). Moorad said Towers is the GM now, and added that the Padres are evaluating all levels of the organization.
- Towers said in no uncertain terms that he wants to be in San Diego.
- Bengie Molina's agent tells the AP that his client wants to return to San Francisco (via ESPN). We heard in late August that Molina wants to sign a two-year deal. ESPN.com's Keith Law says the Giants should pass.
- Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball notes that the Cubs have drawn three million fans for the sixth straight season. Along with the Cubs, only the Angels, Dodgers, Yankees and Cardinals have accomplished the feat.
- Randy Johnson tells the AP (via the East Valley Tribune) that he's in no rush to decide on his future.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hands out his postseason awards and issues a number of apologies to people around the game.
Odds & Ends: Padres, Molina, Cubs, Unit
Another round of links for the afternoon…
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer would like to see big market teams share more revenue with their small market rivals. Still, he says MLB has been competitive compared to football, basketball and hockey.
- Padres CEO Jeff Moorad was non-committal about GM Kevin Towers' future on XX 1090 in San Diego, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock (via Twitter). Moorad said Towers is the GM now, and added that the Padres are evaluating all levels of the organization.
- Towers said in no uncertain terms that he wants to be in San Diego.
- Bengie Molina's agent tells the AP that his client wants to return to San Francisco (via ESPN). We heard in late August that Molina wants to sign a two-year deal. ESPN.com's Keith Law says the Giants should pass.
- Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball notes that the Cubs have drawn three million fans for the sixth straight season. Along with the Cubs, only the Angels, Dodgers, Yankees and Cardinals have accomplished the feat.
- Randy Johnson tells the AP (via the East Valley Tribune) that he's in no rush to decide on his future.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hands out his postseason awards and issues a number of apologies to people around the game.
Gammons On Wedge, Halladay, Giants
ESPN.com's Peter Gammons describes how hard it is to win when there's no room for error. It's tough for small-market teams like the Indians and Blue Jays to win when every mistake and injury costs them. Here are Gammons' latest rumors:
- Indians GM Mark Shapiro never felt that the club's disappointing season was manager Eric Wedge's fault, but someone had to go. Shapiro still fired Wedge, but could any manager have done much better with a team that traded its veterans (most notably Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee) and endured an injury-plagued season from its best player (Grady Sizemore)?
- If the Blue Jays can't sign Roy Halladay long-term, they can expect to get 60% of what J.P. Ricciardi could have obtained if he had dealt the Jays' ace within the AL East back in July.
- Gammons finds it hard to believe that there are questions remaining about Giants GM Brian Sabean, whose future in San Francisco remains uncertain. In spite of some over-zealous spending (Aaron Rowand and Barry Zito come to mind), there's a lot to like about the Giants.
- Mets ownership doesn't like the team to spend above-slot on its draft picks, which weakens the team's minor league system. Gammons says their system has become deeper, however.
The Market For Hank Blalock
Hank Blalock will become a free agent after the season, and there's no guarantee that the Rangers will want him back. They paid Blalock $6.2MM this year, but they have uncertain payroll flexibility going forward and an abundance of talented position players.
Michael Young should combine with Chris Davis and Justin Smoak to man the corner infield positions. Josh Hamilton, Julio Borbon, Nelson Cruz and David Murphy give manager Ron Washington four outfielders for three positions. Marlon Byrd wants to stay in Texas and Andruw Jones could conceivably return, too.
If Blalock hits the market, as expected, he won't be a ranked free agent, so teams won't have to hand over a draft pick to sign him. He can play either corner infield position; the 28-year-old was sharp in about 550 innings at first this year, according to UZR, but played just one game at the hot corner.
But Blalock has made his name at the plate ever since he broke in with a 29 homer season as a 22-year-old. He hit 19 homers in the first half this year, putting up an .854 OPS. Since the break, he's managed just six long balls and his second-half OPS is only .590.
The late summer slump will hurt Blalock this offseason, but some teams should still have interest. The Angels, Mariners, Twins, Orioles and Cardinals could all have openings at third this offseason; the Mets and Braves will need to sign first basemen and the Jays and White Sox are among the teams that could be looking for a DH.
Mets Notes: Murphy, Ticket Prices, Payroll
Some notes on the year's most disappointing team…
- Newsday's David Lennon says Daniel Murphy will not be the Mets' starting first baseman next year. "Period. End of story."
- The Mets will cut their ticket prices next season, according to this press release (via Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post)
- Hubbuch notes that the Mets plan on making trades and signings to improve their club going forward. The team should continue to have one of the game's highest payrolls. They started the year with a payroll of $149MM, according to Cot's. Check out Tim's suggestions for the $35-40MM the club will have to spend this winter.
Odds & Ends: Mariners, Marlins, Orioles
Time for your afternoon snack (naptime optional):
- The question isn't so much if all the Marlins will return, Joe Capozzi writes in the Palm Beach Post, but which Marlins will be dealt. The $36.8MM payroll would expand to around $43MM next season with the current roster.
- Geoff Baker writes in the Seattle Times that the Mariners can't expect the same group to win as many games in 2010.
- The Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck says that Dave Trembley's job status will be determined "in the next 4 or 5 days."
- A front office person tells Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus that Miguel Angel Sano has incredible power for a 16-year-old. The "sky is the limit" for the Dominican infielder.
- Goldstein reports that plenty of teams are doing their "digging" on Dominican outfielder Wagner Mateo. The Cards voided Mateo's contract last month after agreeing to a $3.1MM deal with him in July.
- MLB.com's Bryan Hoch says the Yankees still expect Phil Hughes to develop into a starter.
- ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. explains that Hanley Ramirez couples impressive work habits and awesome talent with a dismissive and distant demeanor.
Discussion: Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a series of contradictions, as Thomas Boswell points out in this terrific Washington Post piece. They are a large market, but spend like a small-market team. They have great young talent and more than 100 losses. The future is bright (Stephen Strasburg) and not-so-bright (if they don't put talent around him).
"We are tremendously excited. The next big step is right there to be taken," President Stan Kasten, who speaks for the team, told Boswell. "This is not a great year if you want a [free agent like CC] Sabathia or Mark Teixeira. But the players who are available are just what we need: a veteran starter in the rotation, two more arms in the bullpen and a middle infielder who helps our defense."
So who should Washington look to acquire? How close are they, really, to that next step? And if the team has more than 100 losses, isn't the next step more like 90 losses?
Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Indians, Braves
Who says October is just for postseason?
- Victor Martinez will face his former team, the Indians, this weekend. How's that trade working out for Boston so far? V-Mart is .332/.402/.492 as a member of the Red Sox, so pretty well.
- Speaking of Red Sox-Indians, with Cleveland manager Eric Wedge now former Cleveland manager Eric Wedge, speculation is focused on Boston's pitching coach John Farrell as a possible replacement. Farrell has a clause in his contract that doesn't allow him to become a manager until 2011, but as a league official told the Boston Globe, “All it does is create a compensation opportunity for the Red Sox."
- David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that the Braves are serious about acquiring a right-handed power bat.