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Archives for April 2010

Odds & Ends: Anderson, Smoltz, White Sox, Ripken

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Links for Saturday..

Top Trade Chips: AL East

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Let's finish off our series with the toughest division in baseball…

  • Blue Jays: The Jays already traded away most of their top pieces, but they still have three desirable relievers in Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, and Kevin Gregg. All three can become free agents after the season. There might be some interest in first baseman Lyle Overbay, who will also hit the open market after the season. 
  • Orioles: Considering how poorly he pitched before landing on the DL, I'm sure a large part of the Baltimore faithful wouldn't mind seeing Mike Gonzalez go. Alas, that won't happen anytime soon. There always seems to be interest in Luke Scott, who still has two more years of team control left. If they decide to sell at mid-season, Kevin Millwood and Jeremy Guthrie could find their way onto the block. 
  • Rays: The Rays are a player development machine, and they have enough young players to get get pretty much anyone they want. They have enough depth that they could trade one of Reid Brignac or Sean Rodriguez plus one of Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis, or Jeremy Hellickson and not miss a beat. If they fall out of it and decide to sell, it doesn't get much better than Carl Crawford, Rafael Soriano, and Carlos Pena. I believe the term is "stacked."
  • Red Sox: Boston has held onto Clay Buchholz for this long, but with his name appearing so frequently on the rumor circuit, it really wouldn't be surprising if they moved him for a big time player. They might still be able to find a taker for Mike Lowell, and there would be interest in Manny Delcarmen if he were made available. They did lose a valuable chip when Junichi Tazawa went down with Tommy John surgery. 
  • Yankees: They seem unwilling to trade either Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain, so their best chip is the semi-blocked Jesus Montero. Of course, the Yankees have the ability to absorb even the ugliest of contracts, so maybe we should consider that their biggest trade chip.

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Lowell, D’Backs

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FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up, so let's dive in…

  • If the Red Sox decide to give Mike Lowell more at-bats at the expense of David Ortiz, don't be surprised if it happens soon. Just six of their next 26 games are on the road, and Lowell is a .303/.361/.513 career hitter at Fenway. Yesterday we heard that the Sox would probably release Ortiz before keeping him on the bench.
  • Should the Orioles decide to part ways with manager Dave Trembley, Rosenthal calls Greg Maddux an outside the box replacement candidate. Andy MacPhail has long admired Maddux's baseball smarts, and thinks he could succeed in any role. Keep in mind that the 355 game winner is currently working for Cubs GM Jim Hendry, and his only tie to the O's is MacPhail, his former GM with Chicago.
  • The Diamondbacks' rotation depth remains an issue, but they have minimal interest in Jarrod Washburn. They only have so much money to spend, and Washburn is coming off knee surgery and hasn't been through Spring Training. Arizona believes they're better off waiting until other teams fall out of the race and the trade market begins to develop.
  • The concern in Atlanta is about Bobby Cox's bullpen management. The 38-year-old Billy Wagner and 40-year-old Takashi Saito have been worked hard in the early going.

Ramon A. Ramirez Clears Waivers

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BoSox reliever Ramon A. Ramirez cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.  The move leaves 39 men on Boston's 40-man roster.

Ramirez has just 16 big league games to his credit, but pitched decently while with the Reds' Triple-A affiliate.  In 31 appearances last season (20 of which were starts), Ramirez posted a 4.03 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.  His 39.1 innings pitched in the majors yielded a 2.97 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9.

The move also clears up confusion within the Boston clubhouse as they have another reliever by the name of Ramon Ramirez.  He was acquired in 2008 when Theo Epstein & Co. sent Coco Crisp to the Royals.  As they said in the Highlander, there can be only one.

Embree Doesn’t Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract

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SATURDAY, 3:17pm: Embree has agreed to push his opt-out date back from April 15th to April 30th, a team source tells Rob Bradford of WEEI.  If the 40-year-old is not on the 25-man roster by that date, he is eligible to become a free agent.

The lefty reliever told Pawtucket Red Sox broadcaster Dan Hoard that he will "go home" if he is not promoted by the Red Sox or presented with another enticing opportunity.  Under his minor league deal with Boston, Embree can earn up to $1.1MM if he is brought up to the big show.

Embree had appeared in more than 60 games for ten straight seasons before a freak injury ended his 2009 campaign prematurely.  He has been less-than-stellar with Pawtucket, though 3.1 innings is hardly a fair sample size.

THURSDAY, 9:43pm: Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe reports (via Twitter) that LHP Alan Embree won't yet exercise the opt-out clause in his Red Sox contract.  Embree was eligible to opt out as of today since he isn't on the major league roster.  WEEI's Alex Speier adds that Embree will spend "a few more weeks" in Triple-A Pawtucket before deciding his next move.

The 40-year-old reliever didn't sign with Boston until March 21, so it's likely he's using his time in the minors as an extended spring training to work himself into proper game shape.  Delaying the opt-out clause also gives Embree more time for agent Chris Leible to search the market for a new contract.  Embree could join these relievers as possible pick-ups for a team in need of bullpen help.


Largest Contracts In Team History

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We've already looked at the largest contracts by service time and position, so let's now dig up the largest contracts ever given out by each of the 30 teams. These are in terms of guaranteed money only, but some could end up being even larger because of incentives and option years.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Olney’s Latest: Smoak, Davis, Ripken, Mathis, Lowell

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In today's blog post at ESPN (Insider required and recommended), Buster Olney writes that Rangers' first base prospect Justin Smoak is off to a strong start in Triple-A and could push Chris Davis either out the door or onto the bench. Smoak is hitting .300/.475/.567 with two homers in 40 plate appearances so far this year, while Davis is off to a .194/.265/.290 start with 10 strikeouts in 34 plate appearances.

Here's the rest of Olney's rumors…

  • A possible reason why Orioles owner Peter Angelos declined to hire Cal Ripken Jr. is because of "concern about whether the addition of the legend would lead to office politics and ugly fallout." 
  • With the Angels carrying three catchers, Olney speculates that Boston could be a trade match for Jeff Mathis, and wonders if the talks could be expanded to include Mike Lowell given the Halos' troubles at the hot corner. Red Sox catchers have thrown out just one of 17 base stealers this season, and Mathis has thrown out 23% of would-be base stealers in his career.

Top Trade Chips: AL Central

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Let's continue our look at each club's top trade chips today with the AL Central…

  • Indians: The Tribe have dealt their Opening Day starter in each of the last two seasons, and there's a good chance they'll do it again with Jake Westbrook in 2010. The 32-year-old righty will earn $11MM this season, the last one on his contract. After dumping Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez in cost-cutting moves last year, expect them to shop Westbrook around for prospects this summer.
  • Royals: All four of Kansas City's outfielders come off the books after this season (assuming some options are bought out for six figures), so Rick Ankiel, David DeJesus, Scott Podsednik, and even Jose Guillen could be moved in a deal for a young player. The team would obviously have to eat a lot of money to move Guillen. The contracts of relievers Juan Cruz and Kyle Farnsworth also expire after the season, so there might be some interest in them.
  • Tigers: Detroit isn't going to move any of their young power arms, but if they eat a large chunk of salary like they did with Nate Robertson, there might be interest in Jeremy Bonderman and/or Dontrelle Willis. Young backstop Alex Avila could make Gerald Laird expendable as well. The Tigers have four lefty relievers on their 40-man roster (Phil Coke, Fu-Te Ni, Daniel Schlereth, and Brad Thomas), and that demographic is always in demand.
  • Twins: Minnesota has one of the best trade chips in the league, blocked catching prospect Wilson Ramos. Lefty Glen Perkins is pitching in Triple-A and seems to have fallen out of favor with the club after filing a grievance, so he could be made available as well. He has four years of team control left.
  • White Sox: GM Kenny Williams isn't shy about emptying out the farm system in a trade for an established big leaguer, which has left him with little minor league ammo. Their best young prospects are catcher Tyler Flowers and starter Daniel Hudson, who would seem to have a future with the club, but I'm not going to put anything past Williams. Flowers could make A.J. Pierzynski or Ramon Castro expendable, ditto Hudson and Freddy Garcia. Gordon Beckham should be untouchable, obviously.

Odds & Ends: Ripken, Angels, Athletics, Lewis

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Rounding up some Friday night links….

A’s Extend Brett Anderson

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The A's signed lefty Brett Anderson to a four-year contract extension, the team announced (via Twitter). The deal runs from 2010-2013 and includes club options for 2014 and 2015. The extension buys out Anderson's last two pre-arbitration seasons and his first two arbitration years. The options cover Anderson's final arb year and his first year of free agency. 

As the Associated Press reported (via ESPN.com), Anderson will earn $500K in 2010, $1MM in 2011, $3MM in 2012, and $5.5MM in 2013. The options are for $8MM in 2014 and $12MM in 2015, with a $1.5MM buyout for each year. Anderson will also receive a $1MM signing bonus, paid in four equal installments between now and November 2011. Overall, the deal will guarantee the left-hander $12.5MM and could be worth as much as $31MM over six years.

In comparison, Brandon Webb signed a $7.5MM extension covering the same four-year chunk of his career in 2004. The Anderson contract overwrites the 2010 deal worth $410K that the A's re-signed him to last month.

The 22-year-old lefty pitched to a 4.06 ERA in 175.1 innings last year with 7.7 K/9 and 2.3BB/9. He has pitched similarly well in his two starts this season. Baseball America ranked Anderson the seventh-best prospect in the game going into the 2009 season.

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