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Archives for October 2010

Heath Bell Hopes For Three-Year Deal

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Heath Bell’s good at what he does and he’d like some job security. The Padres closer, who received MLB's Delivery Man of the Year award this week, told Dan Hayes of the North County Times that he’d like a multi-year deal from the Padres this offseason.

"Three years is perfect," Bell said. "I don't expect more because I'm an older guy."

Bell, who earned $4MM this year, hits free agency after next season. The subject of near-constant trade rumors, Bell says he’s “optimistic” that Padres GM Jed Hoyer will hold onto him. The Padres can keep Bell for 2011 even if they don't offer him an extension.

If the Padres decide to part with the big 33-year-old, they’d likely find a number of suitors. Bell posted a 1.93 ERA with 47 saves last year and made the All-Star team for the second consecutive season. Armed with a mid-90s fastball and a curve, Bell posted 11.1 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 last year, anchoring the Padres’ strong ‘pen.

Hermida, Wolf Elect Free Agency

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Jeremy Hermida and Ross Wolf elected free agency today after the A’s outrighted them to Triple-A, according to the team. Left-hander Brad Kilby was also outrighted, but he did not elect free agency.

The A’s signed Hermida to a minor league deal in September, after he spent most of the season in the Red Sox organization. The 26-year-old posted an overall line of .216/.268/.351 in 239 plate appearances this year. Five offseasons ago, Baseball America ranked him fourth among all prospects, but Hermida has yet to be an impact player for a full major league season. He posted an .870 OPS in 123 games for the 2007 Marlins, but has struggled to match that level of production since.

The A’s acquired Wolf from the Orioles for Jake Fox in June. Wolf turns 28 next week and is coming off a season in which he threw just 12.2 major league innings. The righty posted a 4.26 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 this year. In the minor leagues, Wolf posted a 2.62 ERA with twice as many strikeouts as walks, so he appears to have some value as an organizational arm.

Odds & Ends: Twins, Izturis, Rangers, Yankees

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Seven years ago today, Luis Castillo popped a ball up into the stands at Wrigley Field and a fan caught it, even though Moises Alou was right there. The Cubs were five outs away from clinching a World Series berth, but they ended up losing the 'Steve Bartman game' and the 2003 NLCS. Here are your links for Thursday…

Braves Prefer To Keep Arms, Hope To Add Bat

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The Bobby Cox era is over and the Braves are preparing for their first season under Fredi Gonzalez. GM Frank Wren says Gonzalez is "perfect" for the team, but the precise composition of next year's roster has yet to be determined. 

Some, myself included, have speculated that the Braves could deal a starting pitcher away to address other needs, but Wren told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he'll be reluctant to trade pitching depth. Kenshin Kawakami and Derek Lowe would be potential trade chips if the Braves decided to change their stance and Jeff Schultz of the Journal-Constitution wonders if the Braves would deal Jair Jurrjens.

The Braves would like to add a right-handed hitting bat to the outfield this offseason. While Wren didn't rule out free agents Jayson Werth (bats right) or Carl Crawford (bats left), he noted that both are likely to be expensive. Wren also noted that the Braves are considering many candidates as they search for a new hitting coach (all links from Twitter).

Experts Predict Jose Bautista’s 2011 Home Run Total

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Ben Nicholson-Smith wrote a compelling piece yesterday for MLBTR examining Jose Bautista's upcoming arbitration case.  Today at RotoAuthority.com, we attempt to predict Bautista's 2011 home run total through the wisdom of ten top baseball writers, including Peter Gammons, Ken Rosenthal, Jon Heyman, and Buster Olney.  Click here to see their predictions.

What They Were Saying: NL East GMs

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Three of the National League East general managers got their start in the Expos/Nationals organization. Two of the GMs began their careers with the unenviable task of following up Pat Gillick. Here's how the five NL East GMs were perceived when they landed their first permanent general manager jobs.

Note that Beinfest was interim GM of the Expos before landing a permanent job with the Marlins and that I looked back at Omar Minaya since the Mets don’t have a GM.

Mike Rizzo

“When he was a kid, Mike Rizzo wanted a job in the majors. As a player, not an executive. When it was clear that wasn't going to happen, when he was released after a four-year stint as an infielder in the minors with the California Angels organization in the early 1980s, the question was: What now?

Rizzo sat down for a talk with his father, a baseball scout whose advice was to stick with the sport, but to switch his focus.

‘He said, 'Mike, you could be a minor league bum your whole life. You're not going to play in the big leagues. You're not talented enough for that,'’ Rizzo recalled Thursday.

Instead, Dad suggested, be a scout, coach, manager or general manager.” – Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press, August 21st, 2009

Ruben Amaro Jr.

“Amaro seemingly was groomed for the GM's job since he joined the front office. Son of Ruben Amaro Sr., a former shortstop and coach for the Phillies, the younger Amaro was involved in contract negotiations with players on the 40-man roster, as well as with free agents.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 3rd, 2008. Amaro replaced Gillick as Phillies GM.

Larry Beinfest

“The man the Marlins introduced as their new general manager Thursday at Pro Player Stadium was wearing a crisp navy suit. It might as well have been a slick cellophane wrapper. Larry Beinfest looks Wonder bread fresh. He's wholesome enough to be chewed up and spit out by baseball's ravenous carnivores.

It's hard to imagine Beinfest – so prim, trim and brimming with enthusiasm – doing lunch with baseball's uber agents. Being lunch, maybe. Yes, it's easy to picture Scott Boras or Jeff Moorad picking pieces of Beinfest out of their teeth.

The 37-year-old could pass for the Marlins' new senior staff accountant. Listening to Beinfest talk, you'd never guess that he's Dave Dombrowski's successor.

A friend of Beinfest who lives in L.A. called him the other day and asked what kind of general manager he plans to be. A typhoon, blowing in and making wholesale changes? A tinkerer?

‘I don't know," came Beinfest's honest reply. "I haven't done it before.’

You sigh. You're sure the truth shall set the Marlins reeling.” – Karen Crouse, The Palm Beach Post, February 15th, 2002

Omar Minaya

“Omar Minaya always has made it a practice to see hidden possibilities. Once, when he was a scout, he saw something in a small, inexperienced, 16-year-old who had an awkwardly long swing and a cut-off milk carton for a glove. Yes, Minaya was the one who signed Sammy Sosa.

By the same token, Minaya has decided to leave the security of his comfortable job with his hometown Mets to be general manager of the Montreal Expos, who might not exist this time next year. He officially accepted his new post yesterday, confident of the possibilities for his own career and for other people.

The 43-year-old became the first Hispanic general manager in baseball history.” – Mark Herrmann and Steve Zipay, Newsday, February 13th, 2002.

Frank Wren

“A former minor-league outfielder, coach and assistant scouting director in the Montreal Expos' organization, Wren served under Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski for seven years. According to Foss, Wren had the most impressive resume of scouting, which includes a specialty in Latin America, as well as computer expertise, to win a competition that also included Chicago White Sox assistant Dan Evans, Cleveland Indians assistant Dan O'Dowd and Atlanta Braves assistant Dean Taylor.” – Kevin Seifert, The Washington Times, October 24th, 1998. Wren replaced Gillick as Orioles GM.

 

Mutual Interest Between Francis, Rockies

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The Rockies have interest in bringing Jeff Francis back next year and the left-hander would like to re-sign in Colorado, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. The Rockies, who are expected to decline their $7.5MM option for Francis, told his agent they still want to work out a deal.

"They have made it clear they want Jeff to stay," Jim Lindell said. "Jeff loves Denver, loves the guys in the clubhouse. And if everything's equal, Jeff would love to be back."

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark recently heard indications that the Rockies won’t offer Francis more than a modest one-year deal with incentives. The team’s pursuit of Francis could depend, in part, on negotiations with another Rockies lefty. Jorge de la Rosa hits free agency this offseason and he may have started discussing a contract with Colorado.

Regular MLBTR Features

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If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:

  • MLBTR Chats – Come by every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the major leagues.
  • Baseball Blogs Weigh In – Every Friday morning, Mike Axisa directs you to some of the best writing on baseball blogs around the web. Whether it's opinion, stats or something else entirely, you can connect to the best of the blogosphere once a week on MLBTR. If you want to send Mike a post of yours, reach him at: mike@riveraveblues.com.
  • Week In Review – It's amazing how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, we summarize the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
  • MLBTR Originals – We gather all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.

Jack Of All Trades: Nelson Cruz

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To many casual baseball fans, Nelson Cruz still isn't a household name. Never mind that he hit 33 home runs last year and posted a ridiculous .318/.374/.576 line this season- respect has been hard to come by for the 30-year-old Cruz.

This is nothing new, incidentally. Cruz has been traded three times in his career, an astonishing total for a player with a good reputation and off-the-charts power. What's more interesting still is how little he's commanded in return. Let's relive the uneven goodness, shall we?

Cruz originally signed with the New York Mets as a free agent in 1998 out of the Dominican Republic. After three years in the Dominican Summer League, the Mets traded Cruz on August 30, 2000 to the Oakland Athletics for infielder Jorge Velandia. The Mets desperately needed another backup infielder who could handle shortstop, and Velandia was certainly a desperation move- he hit a cool .000 in both his 2000 and 2001 trials with the Mets, before rallying to .190 in his third and final stint with New York in 2003.

It took Cruz even longer to find his hitting stroke. He finally turned his power tool into a skill in 2003, popping 20 home runs for Single-A Kane County, but hit just .238. Finally, in 2004, his line improved dramatically; he hit a combined .326/.390/.562 at Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A. That convinced the Milwaukee Brewers to deal their starting second baseman, Keith Ginter, to Oakland on December 16, 2004 for Cruz and pitcher Justin Lehr.

Once again, however, the booty for Cruz turned out to be unimpressive. Ginter had hit .262/.333/.479 in 2004 for Milwaukee, but slumped to .161/.234/.263 in 2005 for Oakland. He never played in the major leagues again.

Cruz, meanwhile, kept on hitting, but in the minor leagues – Milwaukee gave him just seven plate appearances during two seasons in the organization. (For reference, Brady Clark received 1,093 plate appearances during those same seasons.)

Finally, Milwaukee traded Cruz to the Texas Rangers, but the Rangers were actually after Carlos Lee, who also came to Arlington in the July 28, 2006 deal. The Brewers received Francisco Cordero, Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix and minor leaguer Julian Cordero.

Of all the players dealt for Cruz, Francisco Cordero actually produced for his new team, with 60 saves and a 11.6 K/9 ratio over his season-and-a-half in Milwaukee. Mench never hit in Milwaukee the way he had in Texas, Nix disappointed as well, and Julian Cordero never climbed above Single-A.

Lee hit .322/.369/.525 in his half-season with Texas before signing an immense contract with Houston that still has two years and $37MM left on it.

Cruz struggled mightily to get his major league OPS over .700 in 2006-2007, but he absolutely murdered the ball at Triple-A. Finally, in 2008, Cruz hit .330/.421/.609 in a big-league trial, and was in the major leagues to stay. From 2008-2010, Cruz has hit .292/.360/.555 in 1,093 plate appearances- the same exact number Brady Clark received from Milwaukee while Cruz languished in the minors.

Rest assured, the next time Nelson Cruz is traded, the package coming back will be significant.

Mets Rumors: GM, Manager, Takahashi

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The Mets intend to hire a general manager by the World Series, but it may take significantly longer for the organization's choice to turn the team into a contender. After three days of conversations with GM candidates, Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon told Dan Martin of the New York Post that top executives believe the team needs some work.

"They all know the reality of where we are," Wilpon told reporters. "It's not a bad perception, but they understand the reality."

The Mets don't have a manager under contract for 2011, but they'll wait to hire a GM before choosing a skipper. Once Wilpon and other Mets executives decide between Allard Baird, Rick Hahn, Josh Byrnes, Sandy Alderson, Logan White and others, selecting a manager will become a priority.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that Alderson has an excellent relationship with owner Fred Wilpon and definitely wants the Mets to hire him (Twitter links).

The new GM will also have to determine whether to pursue Hisanori Takahashi, who can become a free agent at the end of the month. Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes on a Japanese report indicating that Takahashi seeks a two-year deal and would prefer to remain with the Mets (Twitter link). MLBTR's Tim Dierkes suggested last month that Takahashi could seek a two-year deal worth $2.5MM per season plus incentives.

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