Archives for August 2009

Report: Chris Carter Claimed By Yankees

By Howard Megdal | August 27, 2009 at 6:08pm CDT

7:07pm: Buster Olney has some more color to this "he claimed, she claimed" story.

Olney writes in ESPN the Magazine, "The rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox burns strongly even when it comes to waiver claims.

"When the Mets and Red Sox worked out a trade for left-hander Billy Wagner earlier this week, Chris Carter, an outfielder-first baseman currently playing for Class AAA Pawtucket, became part of the deal as a player to be named headed to Boston. In preparation for the deal, the Red Sox placed Carter on waivers, with the intention of moving him on to the Mets.

"But the Yankees placed a claim on Carter — perhaps to create some 40-man roster discomfort for the Red Sox. In order to complete the Mets trade, the Red Sox are now pulling Carter back from waivers — and for the rest of the year, they must carry him on their 40-man roster.

"And Boston may struggle to squeeze bodies onto its 40-man roster in September. When Paul Byrd was a free agent, he informed teams that as a condition for signing him, he wanted a guarantee that he would be added to the 40-man roster for the final month. If Boston has made that same concession, the Carter claim by the Yankees might have made that just a little more difficult."

5:50pm: In what should come as a surprise to no one, Amalie Benjamin clarifies that the Red Sox have pulled Carter back, and will deal him in the offseason.

5:30pm: Because it wouldn't be a normal day without some bad news for the Mets, Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe reports on her Twitter account that Chris Carter, the more significant of the two players rumored to be headed to the Mets in exchange for Billy Wagner, has been claimed by the New York Yankees.

It isn't clear that this hurts the Red Sox any, since the trade is not dependent on Carter passing through waivers. Instead, the claim prevents the Mets from getting a first-hand look at Carter until after the season. Presumably, the Red Sox will pull him back, though they also have the option of working out a deal with the Yankees (not likely) or letting the Yankees have him for nothing (see previous parenthetical statement). So much for city unity.

Worth noting: the Yankees have the best record in the American League, meaning that 1) no one else in the AL claimed Carter, 2) if they hadn't claimed Carter, the Red Sox could have traded him to the Mets without any problem had the National League followed suit, and 3) the Yankees, apparently, weren't willing to show pity upon their injury-shattered New York brethren.

Odds And Ends: Mahay, Hudson, Wagner

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 27, 2009 at 5:05pm CDT

Some links to distract you from the Brad Penny rumors…

Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune hears indications that the Twins could consider dealing for Ron Mahay, who the Royals just designated for assignment.
ESPN passes along an AP report informing us that Tim Hudson will make his 2009 season debut on Monday. It would be a surprise if the Braves turned out to be the team that claimed Rich Harden given their pitching depth.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff points us to an interesting wrinkle in the rulebook. Teams that offer their free agents arbitration don't have to offer them anything close to the salary they made the previous season. So if the Red Sox decide they want to offer Billy Wagner less than $8MM next year, they can do so. This is not the case for players who don't yet have six years of service time.

Hernandez Hopes To Stay In Washington

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 27, 2009 at 4:18pm CDT

The Nationals just signed Livan Hernandez and now that he's back in Washington, he wants to stay. Hernandez tells Chico Harlan of the Washington Post that he would consider returning to the Nats when he becomes a free agent after the season.

"That's what I want. I'd love to be here next year," Hernandez said. "It's something I've been waiting for, coming to D.C., the last three years."

The Nats are searching for veteran arms to prepare themselves for next year. Hernandez could be a fit, but he has struggled since 2005, when he says he pitched through constant pain to compete. Through 2005, Hernandez had a 4.11 ERA and was striking out 6.1 batters per nine innings. Since then, his strikeout rate has fallen, his homer rate has risen and he has pitched to an ERA of 5.26.

Transactions Calendar

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 27, 2009 at 3:35pm CDT

Here are some of the most important dates for baseball transactions:

January – Players file for arbitration and exchange figures with teams. This process took place from January 5th-20th this year.
February – Salary arbitration hearings take place.
March – Clubs can renew the contracts of unsigned players who aren't yet eligible for arbitration.
June – The first year player draft takes place in early June (it was June 9th this year).
June 16th – Before June 16th, teams can't deal newly-signed free agents without their permission.
July 2nd – The International Signing Period begins.
July 31st – Teams have to put players on waivers to deal them after July 31st, which is why we typically see a flurry of trades before the July 31st deadline.
August 15th – The deadline by which teams have to sign their first round draft picks or lose the rights to their selections. Some players, like Aaron Crow, are exceptions to the rule. Some years are exceptions, too; the 2009 deadline fell on August 17th because August 15th was a Saturday.
August 31st – For a player to be eligible for his team's postseason roster, he has to be in the team's organization at the end of August. As a result, August 31st is the last day for teams to acquire players through waiver trades if they want to have them for the postseason.
September 1st – Rosters expand from 25 to 40.
October – For 15 days after the World Series ends, teams have exclusive rights to their own free agents. Players can talk with other teams, but only in general terms.
November – The GM Meetings take place. This year, the GMs will meet from November 9th-11th in Chicago.
December – Clubs have to offer arbitration to ranked free agents in early December to be eligible for compensation picks if they sign elsewhere. Players have to decide whether to accept their team's offer within a week.
December – Clubs set their 40-man rosters and take part in the Rule 5 Draft.
December – The Winter Meetings take place in December and major trades and signings usually go down. This year, the meetings take place in Indianapolis from December 7th-10th.
December – Teams must offer contracts to unsigned players by mid-December (this year, it's December 12th).

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Stark On Holliday, Lee, Yankees, Hoffman

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 27, 2009 at 2:13pm CDT

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports that the Cardinals and Phillies may be better off letting their respective deadline acquisitions walk once they hit free agency. Here are the details and the rest of his rumors:

We know that Matt Holliday's interested in staying in St. Louis. But one AL exec doubts the Cards can afford to tie up $40-50MM per year in Holliday and Albert Pujols. It could work short-term, but could prevent the Cardinals from keeping Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. Plus, the pair of sluggers may not be worth a combined $50MM in a few years.
One team official believes Cliff Lee's agent will be looking for a $100MM payday once the lefty hits free agency after next season (assuming the Phils pick up his 2010 option). The official says the Phillies should consider letting Lee walk after next year, instead of committing long-term to him.
The teams that considered dealing for Johan Santana after the 2007 season aren't surprised to hear that he's having elbow trouble now, though it's not something they anticipated with any sense of certainty. However, Mets assistant GM John Ricco says he doesn't regret the way the team handled its ace.
There are increasing indications that the Yankees don't plan on being big buyers in the free agent market this offseason. The Yankees seem more likely to keep Johnny Damon and let Austin Jackson grow into a full-time player than pursue Matt Holliday or Jason Bay.
Stark hears that the Red Sox were the only team to claim Billy Wagner. We heard the Angels had interest, but apparently they never made a claim.
One executive believes AL teams would have very little interest in Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman has value because of his status as a Type A free agent, which could factor in to teams' claims.
Rival clubs expect the Blue Jays to try dealing Edwin Encarnacion after the season. He makes $4.75MM in 2010, so it won't be easy.
The Royals are still trying to deal Ron Mahay and at least one scout expects a team or two to have interest in ther veteran lefty.

Odds And Ends: Cordero, Schmidt, Griffey

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 27, 2009 at 1:06pm CDT

Another round of links…

Reds GM Walt Jocketty tells MLB.com's Mark Sheldon that no team has inquired on Francisco Cordero.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports has a series of predictions for the season's final month. He doesn't expect Jake Peavy to win more than a single game for the White Sox.
MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports that Jason Schmidt's season is over. Schmidt, who won three games in as many seasons for the Dodgers, hinted he may retire.
Ken Griffey Jr. tells C. Trent Rosecrans of CNati.com he's having the time of his life back in Seattle. He's open to staying with the Mariners, but says he understands if the team decides to move on. Check out the entire interview – it's a great read.
Roy Oswalt says there's "a dead feeling" in the Astros clubhouse, according to Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle. Justice argues that "the people in charge have screwed up the franchise."
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe reports that the Red Sox evaluated Billy Wagner in depth before trading for him.

Holliday Interested In Extension With Cardinals

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 27, 2009 at 11:37am CDT

Matt Holliday's first month as a Cardinal could hardly have gone any better. The team's 20 games over .500 and 9.0 games ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central, largely because of Holliday's hot hitting. He has a .386/.448/.667 line with six homers in his first month back in the National League. Today, Holliday said on the Team 1380 in St. Louis that he hopes his stay in a Cards uniform lasts more than a couple months (You can listen in here).

"That would be really exciting for me to get a chance to be here and play next to Albert [Pujols] along with the rest of these guys and to do some special things over the next however many years," Holliday said. "Hopefully this will be a long-term relationship."

He hasn't begun negotiating an extension with the team, but says there's a chance he signs one before the season's over.

"Hopefully there'll be some progress and hopefully I'll be able to stick around here for a long time."

Holliday, who will turn 30 this offseason, makes $13.5MM this year. His improved offensive stats and strong outfield defense will likely make him one of most highly coveted free agents after the season if he doesn't sign an extension first.

Marlins Interested In Brad Penny

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 27, 2009 at 11:07am CDT

Like their expansion cousins, the Marlins are interested in adding Brad Penny, according to the Miami Herald. The Marlins will face competition, since the Rockies, White Sox, Rays and Rangers are also "thought to have interest" in the power righty. Penny pitched with the Marlins for five years at the beginning of his career, so he's familiar with the organization.

However, Buster Olney suggested this morning that Penny probably assured the Red Sox he wouldn't sign with an AL contender. Otherwise, the Red Sox could have kept him around long enough to prevent him from gaining post-season eligibility with an American League rival.

Rangers DFA Jason Jennings

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 27, 2009 at 10:39am CDT

The Rangers designated pitcher Jason Jennings for assignment to make room for Pedro Strop, according to Anthony Andro of the Dallas Morning News. Jennings has allowed 67 hits and 28 walks in 61 innings out of the Rangers' 'pen this year, striking out 44. He's struggled since the All-Star break, however. Opponents have combined for a 1.122 OPS against Jennings in the second half.

Jennings, who turned 31 last month, makes $800k this year.

Odds And Ends: Chavez, Arroyo, Thome, Millwood

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 27, 2009 at 10:33am CDT

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