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Arbitration Eligibles: Oakland Athletics

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The Athletics are next in our arbitration eligibles series.

This entire group could reasonably be tendered contracts.  It's possible someone like Rosales, a potential Super Two, would be cut loose even though his projected salary is only $600K.  Powell, another likely Super Two, also failed to produce in the bigs but could be retained affordably.

Gonzalez should land the biggest salary at an estimated $3.6MM, as he'll be arbitration eligible as a Super Two.  Braden should stay around $3.3MM after missing most of the season.  Bailey could get $3.4MM for his first time through, while the A's can enjoy McCarthy cheaply for one more season at around $2.6MM.

Barton, Sweeney, and Breslow should fall in the $1.6-1.8MM range.  It was a lost season for Barton culminating in shoulder surgery, but it's still a reasonable price to retain him.  The A's also have Devine checking in around $900K.

In total we estimate $19.5MM for the Athletics' nine arbitration eligibles.  Assuming Michael Wuertz's option is exercised, the A's are looking at a commitment of maybe $44MM plus minimum salary players.  That'd put them $23MM short of this year's Opening Day payroll.

Matt Swartz contributed to this post.

Marlins Release Mike Cameron

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The Marlins released center fielder Mike Cameron after last night's win in Atlanta, tweets Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.  The move drops the team's 40-man roster to 39, though it'd fill back up if Scott Cousins is activated from the 60-day DL.

Cameron, 38, hit .239/.333/.423 in 163 plate appearances after being acquired from the Red Sox on July 5th.  The Red Sox paid the majority of Cameron's salary, having designated him for assignment a week prior.

Talking to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post this month, Cameron hinted at retirement, saying, "I may be too young to quit, but my body’s telling me different. My body’s 45."  Perhaps he'll change his mind once his body heals up, but if Cameron does call it quits he'll finish with a .249/.338/.444 batting line, 278 home runs, and over 15,000 innings of strong center field defense for the White Sox, Reds, Mariners, Mets, Padres, Brewers, Red Sox, and Marlins.

Quick Hits: Indians, Iannetta, Mariners

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The Tigers extended their winning streak to ten games tonight with a 14-4 victory over the White Sox. Here's the latest from around MLB…

  • Deadline deals played a significant role in this year's AL Central race, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. The Tigers and Indians were both aggressive on the trade market in July and August, as our Transaction Tracker shows.
  • Chris Iannetta told Thomas Harding of MLB.com that he hopes to remain with the Rockies, though he has lost playing time to rookie backstop Wilin Rosario in recent weeks.
  • The Mariners announced that they promoted Roger Hansen, who is now a special assistant to GM Jack Zduriencik. The 50-year-old Hansen spent 18 years working for the Mariners in player development, most recently as the organization's minor league catching coordinator.
  • As Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal shows, Jose Reyes of the Mets has raised his on-base percentage to .375 with a counter-intuitive method.

NL Central Notes: Berkman, Samardzija, Jocketty

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Aramis Ramirez, whose solo homer helped the Cubs beat the Reds tonight, will be looking for a multiyear deal this offseason. Here’s the latest from his division, with updates on his current club and the team that first signed him… 

  • There's no guarantee that Lance Berkman will be back in St. Louis next year, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes (on Twitter). Berkman has leverage, so a new deal is not a "slam dunk."
  • For more on the Cardinals’ offseason plans, click here.
  • The Cubs have held internal discussions about Jeff Samardzija as a candidate for the starting rotation, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. The Cubs have less rotation depth than they did earlier this year, as Wittenmyer explains. The right-hander has started five MLB games, but all 69 of his 2011 appearances have been in relief.
  • Reds GM Walt Jocketty told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com that he doesn't want to discuss his contract, which expires after the 2011 season. "It's not for public consumption,” he said. “It's not worth commenting on it."
  • MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes discussed the free agent prospects of Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez earlier today.
  • The Pirates have notified their Venezuelan academy that they're going to end their lease and stop participating in the Venezuelan Summer League, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Pittsburgh will field two teams in the Dominican Summer League next year, however.

Aramis Ramirez Seeks Multiyear Deal

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Aramis Ramirez might be the best third baseman available this offseason and he knows it. The 33-year-old told Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com that he’ll be looking for more than the $16MM option that’s on his current contract.

"If I hit the marketplace I should end up with a two or three-year deal," Ramirez told Levine. "The reason is, there aren't a lot of third baseman available this offseason. But if [the Cubs] approach me, I'm sure we can get something done. But probably not for one year."

Ramirez repeated that he wants to stay with the Cubs, who have a $16MM option for 2012. If they choose the option over a $2MM buyout, Ramirez will have to choose whether to accept the option or decline and become a free agent. Since the Cubs don’t have a permanent GM at the moment, it’s difficult to predict how they’ll approach the option or whether they'll have interest in a multiyear extension.

Ramirez hit his 25th home run of the season tonight, joining Billy Williams as the only players in Cubs history with 30 doubles and 25 homers in six different seasons. Earlier in the month, agent Paul Kinzer said Ramirez will seek a multiyear deal and suggested a return to Chicago would have been more likely if Jim Hendry had remained the Cubs' GM.

Sternberg On Maddon, Friedman, Payroll

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Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg discussed his team’s "wonderfully improbable” playoff run with reporters tonight and Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times has the details, plus some personnel and payroll notes on the team:

  • Sternberg says he expects manager Joe Maddon to return to Tampa Bay after his contract expires in 2012.
  • No teams have asked permission to talk to Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman about job opportunities elsewhere, according to Sternberg. “Andrew is a partner here, he’s a partner of mine,” he said. “And he treats this organization even better than I possibly can. There's nothing to report on that.” 
  • Sternberg didn’t expect the Rays to be last in attendance, so there’s no guarantee payroll will rise above $41MM in 2012. "I don't know, but we’ve clearly fallen short on our financial projections,” he said.
  • There’s nothing new in terms of the Rays’ quest for a new stadium.

Cardinals Links: Carpenter, Furcal, Berkman

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The Cardinals have won five in a row and come into the day just 4.5 games back of the Braves for the NL Wildcard, making things unexpectedly interesting in the season's final weeks. Let's round up the latest from St. Louis…

NL East Notes: Nationals, Beato, Braves

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Ruben Amaro Jr. of the Phillies (#2) and Frank Wren of the Braves (#9) both make Jon Heyman's list of top GMs of the year at SI.com. Here are the latest notes from the NL East…

  • Davey Johnson will return as the Nationals' manager in 2012 unless he changes his mind, Heyman reports. The team is required to conduct a full offseason search, however.
  • Former Mets GM Omar Minaya expects to join a new team before the Winter Meetings, according to Heyman, who suggests the Indians and Rays are possibilities.
  • As Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com explains, Rule 5 pick Pedro Beato is destined to finish the season with the Mets and become the team's official property. 
  • The Braves' rotation is limping to the finish line, as Jon Paul Morosi writes at FOXSports.com. Atlanta probably didn't expect Mike Minor, Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado to start consecutive games in a pennant race.
  • I examined the free agent stock of Marlins starter Javier Vazquez earlier today.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Javier Vazquez

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Javier Vazquez’s season ERA is an unremarkable 4.13. But consider that it was over 7.00 midway through June and the ERA seems outstanding.

It took a dominant second half for Vazquez to recover from his early-season struggles. Since the beginning of July he has a 2.45 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 84 1/3 innings. In other words, he has resembled the pitcher who finished fourth in the Cy Young voting two years ago, not the one who posted a 5.32 ERA in a disappointing return to the Bronx in 2010. 

Javier Vazquez

Vazquez’s season numbers are better than they were a year ago. He has pitched 167 2/3 innings with encouraging peripherals: 7.5 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 4.00 xFIP and an average fastball velocity of 90.3 mph, up from 88.7 mph a year ago.

Durability hasn’t been an issue for Vazquez, who has started at least 25 games and logged at least 150 innings every season since 1997. He’s the active leader in strikeouts with 2,514 and remains a viable option for teams looking to add depth to their rotations.

Not every team is a fit for Vazquez, though. He has preferred East Coast teams for their relative proximity to his native Puerto Rico, so clubs like the Padres and Dodgers are at a significant disadvantage. Vazquez appears to be considering retirement seriously, so it’s hard to imagine him returning for a 15th season unless it’s the right fit.

At this point in his career, Vazquez is an extreme fly ball pitcher – only four pitchers with 100 innings pitched or more have a lower ground ball rate than Vazquez’s 33.1%. He has always been homer-prone, so the jump in fly balls suggests teams with cozy stadiums should steer clear of Vazquez despite his recent dominance.

The Mets and Marlins, two East Coast clubs, play in parks that suppress home runs (according to ESPN’s park factors), but the Marlins move into a new stadium next year and it’s unclear how pitcher-friendly their new home will be. The Florida front office could offer Vazquez arbitration after the season, but draft pick compensation won’t be a factor, since the 35-year-old doesn’t project as a ranked free agent. 

Given Vazquez’s age and interest in retirement, another one-year deal seems likely for the ACES client. His summer surge has seemingly eliminated the possibility that he’ll have to settle for a minor league deal and it may have set him up for another contract in the $7MM range.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

Revisiting The Felipe Paulino For Clint Barmes Trade

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One month into the season, it looked like the Felipe Paulino–Clint Barmes trade would go down as a lose-lose deal. Paulino struggled through his first month with the Rockies and Barmes spent the first four weeks of the season on the disabled list while he recovered from a fractured left hand. 

But Paulino has put together his best season yet and Barmes recovered from his hand injury on his way to a strong campaign in Houston. Win-win trade? Not quite. The Rockies gave up on Paulino after 14 2/3 ugly innings, so the Royals are the ones who benefitted from the 27-year-old’s turnaround.

Paulino, who struck out 11 without walking a batter in seven innings of work on Saturday, has a 4.10 ERA in 107 2/3 innings since the Royals acquired him in late May. His fastball clocks in over 95 mph, just as it has every season of his career, and his peripheral stats are strong: 8.3 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 45.1% ground ball rate, 3.81 xFIP.

Considering that Kansas City only gave up cash considerations, the Paulino move looks especially favorable for the Royals. They need the pitching and can pencil the Dominican right-hander into their rotation going forward. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes estimates a raise from $790K to $1.6MM in 2012, so Paulino will remain affordable next year.

The Astros could use the pitching, but Paulino had his chances in Houston and the Astros needed a shortstop. For $3.925MM, Barmes has hit .249/.323/.388 with ten home runs. FanGraphs’ UZR suggests the 32-year-old plays above-average defense and their version of wins above replacement has Barmes as the 11th most productive shortstop in baseball this season (3.1 WAR).

He’ll hit free agency after the season and doesn’t project as a ranked free agent, so this may be all Houston gets out of Barmes. Even if he departs for nothing this offseason, the Astros will have done significantly better than the Rockies in this trade. It’s not that Colorado was necessarily going to keep Barmes – he was a non-tender candidate in the offseason – but the Rockies are the only team that didn’t profit from last November’s trade. The Royals ended up with a cheap, productive arm, the Astros got an affordable everyday shortstop and all the Rockies got was 14 2/3 innings of 7.36 ERA ball.

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