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Archives for May 2009

Frank Coonelly MLB.com Chat

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Once again Pirates president Frank Coonelly chatted with fans on MLB.com.  His team owns a 12-14 record, fifth in the NL Central.  A few highlights from the chat:

  • Coonelly asked how close the Pirates were to signing Adam Dunn.  Coonelly replied, "we never got close to what he was seeking."  The implication is that the Pirates at least inquired, which is news to me.
  • Coonelly named the bullpen as an area that could warrant future moves.
  • The Pirates spent about $9.8MM on the draft last year, and they've got the fourth overall pick in 2009.  According to Coonelly, the Pirates will be "equally aggressive in the draft this year."  The Royals and Red Sox also spent around $10MM last year.

2010 Options: Oakland Athletics

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The A's are faced with just one 2010 option, Jason Giambi.  It's a $6.5MM club option with a $1.25MM buyout.  So the question will be whether Giambi, at age 39, is worth a net of $5.25MM in 2010.  Through 96 plate appearances this year, Giambi is hitting .210/.333/.296.  He's hitting grounders at the same rate as his miserable '04 season.  The silver lining might be that Giambi had a rough April last year as well. 

The A's really need Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, and Matt Holliday to start hitting.  Talking to Joe Stiglich of the San Jose Mercury News, GM Billy Beane indicated the A's are unlikely to bring in reinforcements for their woeful offense.

Odds & Ends: Qualls, Scheppers, Strasburg

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Links for Wednesday…

Vazquez/Young Perception At The Time

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ESPN's Rob Neyer recently posted a mailbag question about the Javier Vazquez–Chris Young trade between the White Sox and Diamondbacks.  On December 14th, 2005, the White Sox sent Young and the unwanted salaries of Orlando Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino to Arizona for Vazquez and cash.  Neyer's reader began his question with:

Kenny Williams was roundly criticized back in 2005 for trading highly regarded 5-tool uber-prospect Chris Young to D-backs for often underachieving Javier Vazquez.

Cue the sound of screeching brakes…was Williams really roundly criticized on December 14th, 2005?  This is where the MLBTR archives come in handy.  It's cool to see how we evaluated trades the day they were made.  Here's the post.  I liked the deal as a win-now move for the Sox.  MLBTR was only a month and a half old, so the post only has 15 comments.  But there was no criticism of Williams.

How about South Side Sox, which opened its doors in April of '05?  They seemed in favor of the deal, as did Ken Rosenthal in an excerpt found here.  Sox Machine also liked the trade, and both blogs noted that Vazquez was a bargain compared to A.J. Burnett's newly-signed five-year, $55MM deal.  Let's get an opinion from the other side with AZ Snakepit, which also started in 2005.  The post's author, Jim McLennan, was "both enthusiastic and somewhat concerned" about the trade.

It seems to me that this trade was mostly properly evaluated when it was made.  The Sox would eventually miss Young, but not in 2006.  I think Neyer's commenter's general point was that Young hasn't been quite as good as advertised, with a career OBP of .301 in two-plus seasons.

Brayan Pena Clears Waivers

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Who wants a 27 year-old switch-hitting catcher who hit .303/.376/.462 at Triple A last year?  No one, apparently.  According to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel, Royals catcher Brayan Pena cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple A Omaha. This marks Pena's fifth trip to Triple A.  In their 2007 Handbook, Baseball America suggested Pena's defense was at least decent.  In a world of $2MM backup catchers, it's surprising Pena wasn't picked up.

Discussion: Free Agent Risers

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The season is about 17% over at this point, and certain 2010 free agents have seen their stock rise dramatically.  A few examples: Jason Varitek, Russell Branyan, Nick Johnson, Orlando Hudson, Andruw Jones, Erik Bedard, and Danys Baez.  In your opinion, which future free agent has done the most to improve his value in the season's first month?

Odds & Ends: O’s, A’s, Milledge, Manny

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Your links for Tuesday…

  • MASN's Buck Martinez believes the Orioles are headed in the right direction as an organization.  "Sit back, relax and watch the organization grow," he writes.
  • Vlae Kershner of the San Francisco Chronicle summarizes the current standing of the Athletics' bid for a new ballpark.  Would a fancy facility in San Jose, the nation's 10th largest city, help boost the team's payroll?
  • Lastings Milledge, who was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse on April 14, told the Washington Post's Chico Harlan that he hasn't kept in touch with the Nationals' front office, and hasn't been paying attention to the club's day-to-day progress.  Sounds like a bad situation that might only get worse.
  • According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, super agent Scott Boras told Playboy magazine in a recent interview that his client, Manny Ramirez, simply didn't like living in the city of Boston.  That, Boras claims, is the reason Manny wanted out.  "It wasn't like Cleveland," said Boras.  And it's not like L.A., apparently.

2010 Options: Los Angeles Angels

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The Angels do not have any 2010 options.  Instead, they're faced with a slew of key free agent situations after the 2009 season:

  • Vladimir Guerrero.  Guerrero played in eight games this year before hitting the DL for a torn pectoral muscle in his chest.  He could return in late May.  Vlad will be 35 when he begins his next contract.  It's hard to envision more than two years, and even matching his '09 salary of $15MM would be questionable.  Guerrero has had an incredible Angels career, but this might become a tricky situation.
  • John Lackey.  Lackey is also a tough one.  He wanted A.J. Burnett money, but he'll make his season debut in mid to late May due to a forearm strain.  If he finishes strong he'll still do well, but will it be with the Angels?
  • Chone Figgins.  Ken Rosenthal wrote about Figgins' future on April 29th.
  • Bobby Abreu.  Abreu is on a one-year deal with a $5MM base salary.  He's hitting .363/.427/.418 in 103 plate appearances, with zero home runs and 11 steals.  It's odd, but it works.  Will Abreu be open to a similar one-year deal again?
  • Kelvim Escobar.  Escobar is looking at a possible June return from shoulder surgery.  Maybe he has a few more 190 inning seasons left in his arm, or maybe he should market himself as a closer.  Like Lackey, Escobar's second half will determine his price tag.

Rosenthal On Mariners, A’s, Putz

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The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

  • The Mariners and A's are not thinking about selling off veterans at the trade deadline.  Both clubs plan to go for it.
  • Tough decision for the Mets after the season: do they exercise J.J. Putz's $9.1MM option for 2010?  Cot's Baseball Contracts says it's an $8.6MM club option with a $1MM buyout.
  • Rosenthal says one GM views the recent DL trips for Dontrelle Willis, Chien-Ming Wang, and Daisuke Matsuzaka as possible abuse of the system.
  • Will Barry Zito continue to be decent this year?  His control and groundball rate have been much improved and his average fastball velocity is up by 1.6 mph.  The .250 BABIP doesn't figure to last though.  Zito is owed $87.5MM for 2009-13, plus he has an $18MM option for 2014 that may vest.

2010 Options: Minnesota Twins

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The Twins do not have any 2010 options.  They do, however, have to start thinking about their course of action for Joe Mauer.  2010 is the last year of Mauer's deal; he'll earn $12.5MM.  From Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe on March 8th:

While the Minnesota native would like to stay in the Twin Cities, he is expected to receive offers in the $20 million- to $25 million-per-year range. The [Red] Sox are expected to be front and center if Mauer is available.

It had been suggested by Charley Walters on March 6th that the Twins had scheduled a meeting with Mauer's agent, presumably to discuss an extension.  Walters had written in December that the Red Sox were "already salivating over Mauer."

Mauer had surgery to remove a kidney obstruction in January, and was initially expected to be ready for the start of the regular season.  However, discomfort lingered into March and he was diagnosed with inflammation of the sacroiliac joint.  Mauer returned to action on May 1st, smacking a home run off Sidney Ponson.  Mauer has also dealt with hamstring and knee issues in the past.  He'll turn 28 in April of 2011 when he begins his next contract.

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