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MLBTR Looking For Writers

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Would you like to join the MLB Trade Rumors team? We are considering adding a writer. The position pays on an hourly basis. The criteria:

  • Knowledge of all 30 baseball teams, no discernible bias. Knowledge of hot stove concepts like arbitration and free agent compensation.
  • Writing experience is necessary and online writing experience is preferred.
  • Attention to detail – absolutely no spelling errors, especially for player and journalist names.  Ability to follow the MLBTR style and tone.
  • Ability to analyze articles and craft intelligent, well-written posts summing up the news in a few paragraphs.  We need the best of both worlds: quick writing with thoughtful analysis.  You must be able to add value to breaking news with your own insight, numbers, or links to other relevant articles.
  • Ability to use an RSS feed reader such as Google Reader.  Ability to use Twitter.  Both of these are crucial.
  • Strong evening availability – typically 5-10pm CDT shifts.  
  • If you're interested, email mlbtrhelp@gmail.com and take a couple paragraphs to explain how you stand out. Hundreds will likely apply, so we cannot respond to most applications.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Braves, Rangers, Rays, Haren

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The Phillies won their second World Series in franchise history two years ago today, beating the Rays in the first suspended game in series history. Game Five started on October 27th, 2008, and the two clubs played to a 2-2 tie through the first five and a half innings before rain forced the suspension. The game didn't resume until October 29th due to the weather, but when it finallly did the Phillies outscored Tampa 2-1 the rest of the way for a 4-3 final score.

There's no weather-related delay for these links; here's the best from around the web this week…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Twins Pick Up Kubel’s Option, Decline Punto’s

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The Twins exercised Jason Kubel's $5.25MM option for 2011 and turned down Nick Punto's $5MM option, according to MLB.com's Kelly Thesier (on Twitter).

Kubel posted a .249/.323/.427 line this year and his lowest OPS since 2006. He hit 21 homers, spending most of his time at right field and DH. The 28-year-old would have been a Type A free agent, so Minnesota could have obtained draft picks if Kubel had turned down arbitration to sign elsewhere. As we predicted in August, the Twins chose to retain Kubel for another season.

Punto, 33 next month, batted .238/.313/.302 in 288 plate appearances and played short, second and third. As Thesier pointed out earlier this month, the Twins were not expected to pick up Punto's option. He is not a ranked free agent, so the Twins won't get compensation picks if they offer arbitration and he signs elsewhere. An offer of arbitration for Punto seems extremely unlikely. 

Poll: Ozzie Or Stanton

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Ozzie Guillen for Mike Stanton? It's not as outlandish as it sounds. There was some discussion about a trade that would have sent the White Sox manager to Florida for the young Marlins slugger, according to Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Stanton entered the year as the third-best prospect in the game, according to Baseball America. He hit .313/.442/.729 in the minors with 21 homers and followed that up with 22 more long balls and a .259/.326/.507 line in the majors. He's just 20 years old and he's under team control through 2016. They don't come much cheaper or much more powerful than Stanton.

Guillen wouldn't be easy to replace, either. He's charismatic, energetic and vocal – sometimes opinionated enough to make the White Sox uncomfortable. Chicago won the 2005 World Series title under Guillen and the team has a 600-535 regular season record since he took over.

Even if the trade was 'discussed' it doesn't mean both sides seriously considered it, so let's not kid ourselves: this deal isn't going to happen. But we can still ask the question…

Which team would have won the Guillen-Stanton swap?

Click here to vote and here to view the results.

Ortiz Wants Security, Defends Hitting Ability

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David Ortiz says he is still hoping to sign a multi-year deal with the Red Sox and insists that he remains an elite hitter despite the perception that he’s in decline. Big Papi told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that he won’t be pleased if the Red Sox exercise his $12.5MM option for 2011 instead of offering more security.

"I'm not comfortable coming back just for one year because it's going to be the same roller-coaster that I had this year," he said. 

Ortiz’s representatives will meet with the Red Sox next week and Big Papi may drop in for part of the discussions. Ortiz says he wants to stay in Boston and the Red Sox figure to pick his option up even if they don’t offer a multi-year deal, so he’s not going anywhere for now. 

Ortiz considers himself “one of the best hitters in the game” and you can’t deny that he’s still one of the best designated hitters around. The 34-year-old was among the American League leaders in slugging (8th, .529), OPS (8th, .899), home runs (5th, 32) and walks (9th, 82) this year.

“You tell me, how does a guy who is declining finish in the top 10 best hitter in the league,” Ortiz asked. “How does that happen? Put it this way, the past two years I have 60 homers, and I have over 200 RBI. Is that bad?"

It’s quite good, but it may not be enough for the Red Sox to offer an extension. Even though Ortiz is tired of proving himself year after year, the Red Sox can simply exercise his option and postpone discussions about 2012 and beyond until next winter if they aren't completely comfortable guaranteeing more years.

Adrian Gonzalez’s Trade Suitors

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The Padres' surprising 2010 campaign might ensure that Adrian Gonzalez at least starts next season in San Diego, since the club will want to see if they can capture the same lightning in a bottle in 2011.  But if the Padres fall out of contention early (as they were expected to do last year), the simmering Gonzalez trade market will again catch fire.

Don Norcross of the San Diego Union-Tribune recapped the difficulty — or impossibility — that the Padres will have in signing Gonzalez to the expensive, long-term contract that he'll no doubt command when he reaches free agency after the 2011 season.  Norcross named three "favorites" and two dark horses as possible homes for Gonzalez come Opening Day 2012, so let's take a closer look at these options…

  • The Red Sox.  Boston has been at the forefront of Gonzalez rumors for over a year, and there's no question the Sox will be involved in trade talks for the slugger right down to the wire.
  • The Giants.  Norcross somewhat surprisingly adds them to his favorites list, pointing out that Aubrey Huff could be moved to the outfield (if he's re-signed at all) to accommodate Gonzalez at first base.  It's hard to picture San Diego dealing Gonzalez to a division rival, plus San Francisco isn't the kind of big market that could afford A-Gon's future contract.  That said, the Giants are rewriting their own history right now in the World Series.  They might decide to just go for broke and acquire Gonzalez while their window of contention is open.
  • The Angels.  As Norcross notes, L.A. is close to home for the San Diego-born Gonzalez, and the Halos will pay the money for top talent.  Kendry Morales is relegated to the outfield or the DH spot in Norcross' scenario, but Morales could also be the centerpiece of the Angels' trade package to San Diego.
  • The Dodgers.  One of the darkhorse contenders depending on if a new owner takes control of the team and wants to make an instant impact.  Gonzalez could be in a new uniform well before the Dodgers' ownership situation is settled, so we can probably write off at least one L.A. team.
  • The Cubs.  Gonzalez himself has shown some interest in playing in Chicago, but the Cubs might be looking to add Adam Dunn to play first base this winter.

Besides these five teams, a number of other clubs can and will arise in the market depending on how this offseason pans out.  The White Sox might need first base help if Paul Konerko departs, and could be interested in a long-term answer at first anyway given Konerko's age.  Texas might try to undo their infamous Gonzalez/Chris Young for Adam Eaton/Akinori Otsuka swap in 2006 and make a play for the first baseman.  Teams like Toronto, Baltimore, Washington or Seattle don't seem like candidates now, but could dive into the free agent market next winter if they think they're close to contention.  Even St. Louis could be considered a possibility if they're unable to come to terms on an extension for Albert Pujols.

Odds & Ends: Gammons, Braves, Hurdle, Marlins

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As we hope for Wilson and Cain rather than clouds and rain in San Francisco tonight, here are a few news items…

  • In an appearance on WEEI's The Big Show this afternoon, Peter Gammons predicted that Cliff Lee will re-sign with Texas and Victor Martinez will sign a four- or five-year contract with Detroit since "I don't think anyone else is going to give him four or five years."  Gammons also reiterated that the Red Sox have a big interest in Carl Crawford this winter.  WEEI's Kirk Minihane has a partial transcript here.
  • The Braves have signed Beau Torbert to a minor league contract, according to the Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants, Torbert's American Association team.  Torbert, a 17th-round pick of the Astros in 2004, was Baseball America's Independent Player Of The Year for 2010.
  • The Pirates haven't interviewed a managerial candidate in two weeks, but FOXSports.com's Tracy Ringolsby believes the Bucs are waiting to speak to Clint Hurdle, who is "a serious consideration" for the job.  Pittsburgh has to wait until the World Series is over to interview Hurdle, the former Rockies manager and current Rangers hitting coach. 
  • The Marlins hope to settle on a manager by next week, tweets Newsday's Ken Davidoff.  Edwin Rodriguez is "still in the mix" according to Davidoff, which coincides with news earlier this week that the Fish were "leaning toward" keeping their current manager.
  • Pedro Martinez is "looking for motivation to come back," tweets Enrique Rojas of ESPN.  Martinez is training with the Dominican League's Licey Tigers, whose pitching coach is Pedro's brother (and former major league pitcher) Ramon.  
  • Andy MacPhail tells MASN.com's Steve Melewski that the Orioles aren't likely to re-sign any of their pending free agents before the deadline.
  • Tom Gage of the Detroit News implies that Jim Thome could be the Tigers' backup plan if the team fails to sign any bigger-name free agents.
  • We had heard that John Gibbons wasn't a managerial candidate in New York, but Jack Curry of the YES Network reports that the Mets have already contacted other teams for infomation about the Royals bench coach.  Curry says the Mets haven't contacted Gibbons himself, but will probably do so once Sandy Alderson officially takes over as GM. (All Twitter links)
  • Hoping your team can unload a bad contract this winter, or at least trade one for another team's problem?  ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin has a rundown of each team's most unwieldly financial commitments.

Jose Guillen Tied To HGH Investigation

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Jose Guillen has been linked to a federal investigation involving shipments of human growth hormone sent to Guillen's wife, reports Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times.  Guillen's involvement was brought to the attention of Major League Baseball before the playoffs began, and after the commissioner's office conducted an investigation of its own into the matter, it was suggested to the Giants that Guillen be left off of San Francisco's postseason roster.  His absence obviously hasn't hurt the club thus far; in fact, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle points out in a tweet, Guillen "might've played over [Cody] Ross."

The Giants acquired Guillen from the Royals in August.  In 139 plate appearances, the outfielder contributed a .266/.317/.375 line to San Francisco's push to the NL West crown.  Guillen wasn't likely to draw much interest on the free agent market this winter given his declining production, increasingly terrible defense and history of attitude problems, but the spectre of this investgation might drop his chances of a 2011 contract from slim to none.    

Padres Sign Edwin Moreno

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The Padres have signed 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Edwin Moreno, reports Baseball America's Ben Badler.  The contract is worth $500K.

Moreno was described as a "left-handed outfielder with pop and a strong body" by Blake Bentley on his list of the top 10 Dominican prospects leading up to the opening of the international signing deadline last July 2.  Moreno wasn't signed, however, due to failing a drug test administered to 40 prospects who registered with Major League Baseball last May.  As Badler notes, Moreno won't face a 50-game suspension since he wasn't signed to a contract when he failed his test.

 

Free Agent Stock Watch: Jon Rauch

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Twins fans feared the worst when Joe Nathan underwent Tommy John surgery last spring, but Jon Rauch's ability to close games was a big reason why Minnesota won the AL Central.  Though Rauch lost the closing role to Matt Capps in July, the 6'11" right-hander still went 21-for-25 in save opportunities, posted a 3.12 ERA in 59 appearances and had an impressive 3.29 K/BB ratio.

Let's see how Rauch stacks up on the free agent market this winter…

The Pros

  • Rauch is a Type B free agent, so a team can sign him without losing a compensatory draft pick.
  • Rauch might be eager to get away from Target Field.  His ERA in 30 home games last season was 4.45, compared to just a 1.84 ERA in 29 road games.
  • He's pretty solid against hitters on both sides of the plate.  He's obviously better against right-handed hitters (holding them to a .238/.280/.372 career slash line) but Rauch has also done well against left-handed bats — .255/.328/.417.

The Cons

  • Rauch lost the stopper's job both last year and in Arizona in 2009.  Teams looking for a closer could be worried by the fact that Rauch has yet to show he can handle the job for a full season.
  • Rauch tends to make things interesting at the end of games.  His H/9 rate was a career-high 9.5 last season.
  • After averaging 80.5 appearances per season from 2006 to 2009, Rauch pitched in just 59 games last year due to a variety of minor injuries.  He turned 32 last month.

The Verdict

Rauch is more likely to be signed as a set-up man than as a closer, and his solid career track record makes him a candidate for a multi-year deal in the neighborhood of two years and $7MM.  Teams looking for closing help this winter include the Diamondbacks, White Sox, Angels and Rays, so Rauch could get a look from those clubs to be at least part of a closing committee.  Rauch could also be signed by a team like Atlanta or Washington as an experienced backup option should their young closers (Jonny Venters and Drew Storen, respectively) falter.   

It's possible the Twins offer Rauch salary arbitration.  He'll get a raise from his $2.9MM salary last season, but if he can't find more than that on the open market, he could accept arbitration and then work out a contract to stay in the Twin Cities.  The Twins would be giving up the sandwich pick they'd receive if Rauch signed elsewhere, but with so many free agent relievers in their bullpen, Minnesota will still be in line for other compensation picks.  The Twins themselves are one of the clubs looking for closing depth if Nathan isn't fully recovered or back in form after his surgery.

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