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Archives for November 2010

Bonser Elects Free Agency; Brewers Claim James

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The A’s lost one right-hander to free agency and another one to a waiver claim, according to the team. Boof Bonser elected free agency after the A’s outrighted him to Triple-A, and the team lost Justin James when the Brewers claimed him on waivers. The A’s also outrighted outfielder Matt Carson to Triple-A, but Carson agreed to terms on a contract with the team.

Bonser logged 25 innings with the A's and Red Sox this year. The 29-year-old posted a 6.12 ERA, but his strikeout (6.1 K/9) and walk (2.9 BB/9) rates weren't bad.

James, also 29, made his big league debut with the A's in 2010. He pitched just 4.0 innings in the majors, but logged 39.1 impressive frames in the upper minors. James posted a 1.83 ERA with 11.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 between Double-A and Triple-A this season.

Brewers Decline Options For Zaun, Hoffman, Davis

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The Brewers declined their 2011 options for Gregg Zaun, Trevor Hoffman and Doug Davis, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Milwaukee paid a total of $2MM in buyouts. Zaun got $250K instead of a $2.25MM salary; Hoffman got $750K instead of a $7MM salary and Davis got $1MM instead of a $6.5MM salary. All three moves were expected.

Zaun, who tore the labrum in his right shoulder this summer, has said he would like to play in 2011, but it probably won't be in Milwaukee. The Brewers have Jonathan Lucroy, George Kottaras and Mike Rivera behind the plate. Davis made just eight starts in 2010 because of injuries.

Hoffman picked up his 600th career save this year, but struggled early in the season, lost the closer's job to John Axford and pitched to a 5.89 ERA overall. In the highly unlikely event that the Brewers offer arbitration and Hoffman turns it down to sign elsewhere, the team would obtain a compensatory pick in next year's draft for losing a Type B free agent.

 

Mets Hire J.P. Ricciardi

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The Mets hired J.P. Ricciardi as a special assistant to new GM Sandy Alderson, according to a team press release. The former Blue Jays GM (2001-09) had been working as an analyst for ESPN. 

Alderson, who worked with Ricciardi for more than a decade in Oakland, says the 51-year-old is “a superb talent evaluator” who will assist in all aspects of baseball operations.

Braves Exercise Options For Gonzalez, Infante

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The Braves exercised their 2011 options for Alex Gonzalez and Omar Infante, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter). The team also signed reliever Scott Proctor to a one-year deal. MLB.com's Mark Bowman reported earlier today that the reliever will likely earn a base salary of $750K or so in 2011. Proctor, who was arbitration eligible, will likely have the chance to earn more through incentives.

The options for Gonzalez and Infante cost just $2.5MM each – a reasonable price to pay for two infielders who exceeded expectations in 2010. Gonzalez, who arrived in the Yunel Escobar trade, batted .250/.294/.447 with 23 hom runs in 2010. He hit most of his homers in Toronto, but added six in Atlanta. The 33-year-old is a good defender with some pop who has a sub-.300 on base percentage in his 12-year MLB career.

Infante, 28, batted .321/.359/.416 this year and made his first All-Star team. He finished third in the league in batting average and played second, third, short, left and right, so picking up his option was just a formality; the Braves weren't about to let him hit free agency.

Not Quite Non-Tender Candidates

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85 players made our list of non-tender candidates, but a few fell short of our subjective 25% chance cutoff.  These are guys we can't quite envision being cut loose on December 2nd, but we can picture trades if the player's old team isn't keen on paying up.

  • Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox.  Papelbon might be looking at $12MM in his final arbitration year.  Most likely the Red Sox will just overpay a bit and keep their closer.  But if they decide to go in a different direction they might find an interested club or two, if the price in players is low.
  • Mike Napoli, Angels.  The Red Sox claimed him in August; certainly there will be trade interest.  We used Napoli's arbitration case as an example in this post; he could shoot for $6-7MM.
  • Rajai Davis, Athletics.  The A's could employ a low-power outfield of Davis, Coco Crisp, and Ryan Sweeney, or they could shop Davis to a team seeking a center fielder.
  • Carlos Gomez, Brewers.  The Brewers could turn to Lorenzo Cain and Chris Dickerson in center, making Gomez expendable.
  • Leo Nunez, Marlins.  Clay Hensley might be able to close for the Marlins in 2011 at several million less than Nunez.  Though Nunez had eight blown saves this year, he had appealing peripheral stats.
  • Jesus Flores, Nationals.  Flores will remain cheap despite being arbitration eligible, but Wilson Ramos may have pushed him aside.
  • Josh Willingham, Nationals.  As Willingham's salary continues to climb, the Nationals could try to get more athletic in an outfield corner with Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth.  If they feel comfortable trying Mike Morse and/or Roger Bernadina in the other corner, Willingham could be trade bait.
  • Lastings Milledge, Pirates.  He could be a quality fourth outfielder for the Pirates or another team.
  • Jason Bartlett, Rays.  Trading Bartlett would save the Rays millions, and they could use Reid Brignac or Sean Rodriguez at shortstop.  Bartlett would definitely draw interest on the trade market.
  • Carlos Quentin, White Sox.  Certainly there are teams willing to tender Quentin a contract for 2011.  Similar to the Willingham situation, the Sox could look for more athleticism in right field.

Yankees Outright Chad Gaudin, Royce Ring

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The Yankees outrighted pitchers Chad Gaudin and Royce Ring to remove them from the 40-man roster, tweets Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger.  Gaudin elected free agency.  Outfielder Melky Mesa was added to the 40-man.

Gaudin, 28 in March, was named by MLBTR as a non-tender candidate earlier today.  He didn't make it that far after posting a 5.65 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 2.2 HR/9, and 39.2% groundball rate in 65.3 innings for the Yankees and Athletics this year.

Ring, a lefty reliever, turns 30 in December.  He spent most of the season at Triple-A, posting a 1.93 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, and 0.4 HR/9 in 42 innings.

White Sox Re-Sign Omar Vizquel

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The White Sox re-signed infielder Omar Vizquel to a one-year deal, according to the team's Twitter feed.  The deal is worth $1.75MM, tweets MLB.com's Scott Merkin.

Vizquel, 44 in April, hit .276/.341/.331 in 391 plate appearances for the White Sox this year while earning $1.375MM.  The 14-time Gold Glove winner logged innings at second base, shortstop, and third base.

Braves Notes: Hinske, Gonzalez, Infante, Proctor

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The Braves have three free agents and three option decisions; MLB.com's Mark Bowman has the latest.

Padres Exercise Option On Adrian Gonzalez

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The Padres announced today they've exercised their $6.2MM club option for 2011 on first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.  The option reached that amount due to incentives, tweets MLB.com's Corey Brock.  Given Gonzalez's production, this was an obvious decision.

Gonzalez, 28, hit .298/.393/.511 with 31 home runs this year in 692 plate appearances.  He'll earn over $100MM as a free agent after the 2011 season, but the Padres' willingness to trade him this winter might be affected by their unexpected success in 2010.

Red Sox Hire Curt Young As Pitching Coach

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The Red Sox hired Curt Young as their new pitching coach, according to WEEI's Alex Speier.  The team already made a formal announcement.  Young, formerly of the Athletics, replaces John Farrell.  Farrell is now manager of the Blue Jays.  A few other Red Sox notes from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe…

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