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Archives for September 2009

Free Agent Market: Catchers

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Today let's take a look at the free agent market for catchers.  As usual, plenty of backups will be eligible for free agency after the season.  As far as those who have been used as starters in recent years, we have Rod Barajas, Josh Bard, Ramon Hernandez, Jason Kendall, Bengie Molina, Miguel Olivo, Ivan Rodriguez, Brian Schneider, Yorvit Torrealba, Jason Varitek, and Gregg Zaun.  It's safe to assume Boston will exercise Victor Martinez's $7.7MM club option for 2010.

  • Looking for OBP?  Zaun is your best bet at .355 this year.  After that you get to Kendall, Hernandez, and Varitek in the .330 range.
  • Power?  Olivo is slugging .467, though his OBP is just .276.  Bengie Molina and Barajas have similar numbers.
  • Durability?  Bengie Molina's played 114 games this year (though he's hurting currently), Kendall 112.
  • Olivo (31), Bard (32), and Torrealba (31) are the youngest free agent catchers.
  • In shutting down the running game, Pudge leads with a 32.7% caught stealing rate.  Barajas is next at a 29%.  Bengie Molina leads in volume with 23 runners cut down.  Ramon Castro and Henry Blanco have strong rates in limited playing time.
  • Zero passed balls for Varitek, with Kendall and Bengie Molina allowing only three.
  • Here's an interesting attempt to measure catcher defense that puts Pudge at the top of the free agent list.  And in The Fielding Bible II, John Dewan's top defensive catchers who are also free agents are Jose Molina, Kendall, Barajas, Bengie Molina, and Pudge in that order.
  • Possible free agent compensation: Varitek, Pudge, Barajas, Olivo, Hernandez, Kendall, and Schneider project as Type Bs (Varitek, Olivo, and Hernandez have options).  Aside from V-Mart, Bengie Molina projects as the lone Type A.  He earned $6MM this year.

Odds & Ends: Astros, Royals, Abreu

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Let's kick off the day with links…

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Scott Kazmir

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On this date 34 years ago, Rod Barajas was born. Barajas has played 11 seasons with four different franchises, hitting .241/.286/.411. This year, he is in the final year of a two-year deal that pays him $2.5MM this season. With less than a month remaining in the season, many others will see their contracts expire and look forward to free agency. Let's take a look at what is being written in the blogosphere…

  • The Hardball Times says Scott Kazmir may be injury-prone moving forward, but he still has the arm to be an Ace.
  • Rays Revolutionary has no problem with trades that help the Rays budget, but are upset at the timing of the Kazmir deal.
  • The Rays Party looks at what the Kazmir deal means for the Rays now and down the road.
  • Jorge Says No! is not a fan of the timing of the Kazmir trade, but says the Rays got a good package, and in the end, it is Pat Burrell's fault.
  • The Bottom Linewonders why the Red Sox did not claim Kazmir and block his move to the Angels, a potential playoff opponent.
  • UmpBump says the Kazmir deal makes sense, but maybe the Rays should have waited until the off-season.
  • The Baseball Opinion likes the Kazmir deal for the Rays noting they dumped the salary and that there is likely more wrong with his arm than we know.
  • Around the Majors loves the Kazmir deal for the Rays, noting that Kazmir no longer has a fastball to live up to his reputation.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

Griffey Open To Return To Mariners In 2010

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Ken Griffey Jr. told The Associated Press that he would be open to playing another year in Seattle "if the situation is right for both himself and the club." The future Hall-of-Famer would not admit to leaning toward a return, but he seems to be keeping the option open.

In his first year back with Seattle, Griffey has a .221/.329/.399 line with 14 home runs and 43 RBI in 377 plate appearances. He has been the DH for 74 games and played 11 games in the outfield.

Discussion: Managers On The Hot Seat

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Scott Miller of CBSSports.com writes that some managers around the league might be fearing for their jobs as their teams play out the string. Managers who "are thought by some to be" on the hot seat, with relevant quotes from Miller, include:

  • Baltimore's Dave Trembley – "in imminent danger"
  • Houston's Cecil Cooper – "appears a goner"
  • Cleveland's Eric Wedge – his "future is very questionable"
  • The Mets' Jerry Manuel – "forget it. He stays."

Miller also discusses the situation in Washington, D.C., where the Nationals must decide whether to retain interim manager Jim Riggleman.

Also of interest is Miller's mention of Bobby Valentine, who is about to leave Chiba Lotte in Japan after seven years. Miller says that Valentine is "the name to watch" on the managerial front. 

Who better to sort all of this out than our readers? First of all, who deserves to be out of a job when the 2010 begins? What should the Nats do with Riggleman? Where might Valentine find a job? Who will keep their managing job unjustly? Let's get at it in the comments section.

Williams Discusses Thome and Contreras Trades

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ESPN's Peter Gammons has a long-awaited interview with White Sox GM Ken Williams about the trades that sent Jim Thome and Jose Contreras packing. Williams argues that the trades did not amount to "a raising of the white flag" and says he was trying "to do right by players who certainly did right by us."

Williams says that he assured Thome that he would not be traded against his wishes. "He told me he was more interested in winning another ring than hitting 600 homers," the GM said. "We wanted to accomodate [him] so that he could finish the season the way he wanted."

Regarding Contreras, Williams says that manager Ozzie Guillen was not planning to start the pitcher down the stretch. "I thought this was a way to give him the opportunity to start and rebuild his value in the free-agent market," Williams said. 

According to Gammons, Rockies manager Jim Tracy, who "dealt with" Brad Penny when both were with the Dodgers, did not want the veteran starter on his staff although GM Dan O'Dowd had interest. So, O'Dowd turned to the White Sox for the starter he needed.

Odds & Ends: Johnson, Peavy, Nelson

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Links for Thursday…

Rangers Acquire Danny Gutierrez

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The Rangers acquired pitching prospect Danny Gutierrez from the Royals for catcher Manuel Pina and outfielder Tim Smith, according to Greg Schaum of 610 Sports in Kansas City (via Twitter).

Gutierrez, a 22 year-old righty, has a 1.65 ERA in 27.3 High A ball innings this year.  Coming into the season he was ranked the Royals' #7 prospect by Baseball America and #6 by Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.  Why has Gutierrez pitched so little this year?  In part due to a shoulder injury, and in part due to off-field issues and a disagreement with the Royals (Schaum tells me).

Pina is a Double A catcher with a .259/.313/.393 line, while Smith hit .309/.380/.439 at the same level.

Rosenthal On Cameron, Penny, Dye

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Time for a look at the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

  • The Yankees and Brewers discussed a Mike Cameron trade (again) in August, but never came close to a deal.  We learned earlier today from ESPN's Jayson Stark that the Marlins were also interested.  Cameron, however, hopes to remain with the Brewers past this season.
  • The Yankees had "serious interest" in Brad Penny as well, but the big righty preferred the NL and the Giants' ballpark.  Penny recently said he'd be willing to return to the AL East, but the smart money's on him signing in the NL after the season.
  • Rosenthal learned that Jermaine Dye had the right to convert his $12MM mutual option into a player option if traded.  That was probably one of several reasons the Giants did not pursue him.  We learned from Stark that the White Sox "wanted something good" for Dye.
  • Rosenthal expects Astros manager Cecil Cooper to be fired even though he's under contract through next year.  He believes former Phillies manager Jim Fregosi could be a candidate to replace him.

Discussion: AL Cy Young

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Next up in our awards discussion, the AL Cy Young.  The candidates: Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez, C.C. Sabathia, Roy Halladay, Edwin Jackson, and Justin Verlander.  Jon Lester could enter the mix with a huge September.  Mariano Rivera is another name to consider, if you like closers for this award.  Here's the question: can you make a legitimate argument for anyone other than Greinke, without bringing up win totals?

The last few AL Cy Young winners: Cliff Lee, Sabathia, Johan Santana, and Bartolo Colon.

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