Friedman: Rays Will Reallocate Garza Money
Now that Matt Garza is officially a Cub, his former team has a little extra money burning a hole in its pocket. The right-hander earned $3.35MM in 2010 and was due a raise in his second trip through the arbitration process, perhaps into the $5-6MM range. Rays GM Andrew Friedman told Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times that the club will now reallocate that money, and look to add one or two hitters and one or two relievers (Twitter link).
Tampa's offseason has been more about subtraction than addition to this point. In addition to Garza, shortstop Jason Bartlett was traded away, while Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Randy Choate, and Dan Wheeler all left via free agency. Rafael Soriano, Chad Qualls, and Grant Balfour remain unsigned as well. It's possible that Qualls and/or Balfour (a Type-A free agent) could return now that the team has some extra money, but it would be an upset if Soriano came back. Right-hander Joel Peralta has been their only significant signing so far.
The Rays could look to add a bat at first base, DH, or in the outfield. They're said to have interest in Vladimir Guerrero as well as Johnny Damon, and we can't discount Jim Thome or Manny Ramirez. Fred Lewis' name has popped up as well. On the relief pitcher front, they've been connected to both Manny Delcarmen and Brian Fuentes recently, but plenty of other free agent options still remain.
Tampa only has $18.43MM tied up in 2011 payroll right now (according to Cot's), though arbitration raises to B.J. Upton and Andy Sonnanstine are still to come, ditto quite a few pre-arbitration signings. Principal owner Stuart Sternberg has indicated that payroll will dip below $60MM next season, but right now they appear to be well below that.
Phillies Designate Sergio Escalona For Assignment
The Phillies have designated Sergio Escalona for assignment, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com (via Twitter). The left-hander was DFA'd to make room on the 40-man roster for J.C. Romero, who was officially re-signed on Thursday.
Escalona spent 2010 with the Phillies' Double-A affiliate, turning in a 3.81 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 across 54.1 innings of work. The 26-year-old has 14 major league appearances to his credit, all of which came in 2009 for the Phillies.
Yankees Still In On Soriano
Despite Yankees GM Brian Cashman's insistence that the club will not surrender a first-round pick to sign any of the currently available Type A free agents, they are still in on Rafael Soriano, according to Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter). Scott Boras, who represents the 31-year-old, recently said that his client would be open to a set-up role with the Yanks.
Meanwhile, Heyman says that the Angels could make a play for the right-hander, though the club needs to prioritize hitting over pitching. The White Sox have also been linked to Soriano but they are unlikely to pursue him unless his price drops significantly. We can also cross the Cardinals off of the list of potential suitors for Soriano as the club is said to be confident in both Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte.
Athletics Acquire Guillermo Moscoso, DFA Humber
12:27pm: The A's designated Phil Humber for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Moscoso, according to the team. Humber was claimed off waivers from the Royals last month.
11:44am: The Athletics have acquired Guillermo Moscoso from the Rangers, reports Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (on Twitter). Oscar Prieto Rojas first reported the deal (on Twitter). Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News tweets that Texas will receive minor league right-hander Ryan Kelly.
The 27-year-old Moscoso was designated for assignment just yesterday. He spent the majority of 2010 pitching for Texas' Triple-A affiliate, posting a 5.18 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 123 1/3 innings. He has a 3.46 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in parts of six minor league seasons, and his brief major league career features a 4.30 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 in 11 appearances. The Rangers originally acquired Moscoso from the Tigers in exchange for Gerald Laird.
Oakland acquired Kelly from the Pirates in exchange for Corey Wimberly just last month. The 23-year-old had a 4.20 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 75 innings for Pittsburgh's Single-A affiliate in 2010, almost all in relief.
Fewer Strikeouts But At What Cost?
The Arizona Diamondbacks were baseball's preeminent strikeout team last year, and I'm not talking about their pitchers. D'Backs hitters led the majors with 1,529 strikeouts in 2010, 154 more than the second place Marlins. They became the first team in history to have four players with 140 or more strikeouts, and they tacked on a fifth such player for good measure. Clearly, so many unproductive plate appearances is a problem.
Unsurprisingly, new GM Kevin Towers made cutting down on whiffs a priority when he took over earlier this offseason. "There's some nice hitters on this ballclub, but the strikeouts are somewhat alarming," he said. "That's something we certainly need to cut back. I like to see breaking records for walks more than strikeouts."
Olney’s Latest: Garza, Angels, Delgado, Yankees
In today's blog post at ESPN (Insider req'd), Buster Olney solicited the opinions of various talent evaluators about yesterday's Matt Garza trade. The general consensus is that the Cubs made the move with the idea of contending in 2011 while the Rays made the move geared towards reloading for the future, somewhat acknowledging that the upcoming season "will be very difficult."
Here are the rest of Olney's rumors…
- Two sources tell Buster that the Angels' final offer to Adrian Beltre was $77MM guaranteed, or $3MM less than the guarantee he got from Texas.
- Carlos Delgado wants to come back, but it'll be very tough to do so when the free agent market features plenty of healthier DH-types.
- The Yankees are seeking a capable back-of-the-rotation innings-eater, but there are very few pitchers that fit that description available.
Poll: Greinke Or Garza?
As the reactions to yesterday's Matt Garza trade poured in, ESPN's Keith Law said he believes the Rays received more in return for their young right-hander than the Royals did when they traded Zack Greinke to the Brewers. He explained that Tampa "focused less on position and more on overall value" after saying the exact opposite about the deal Kansas City made (Insider req'd for the last link).
Obviously, the trades are not equal in a number of ways. The Cubs are receiving two young players in addition to Garza, one being Fernando Perez. Greinke, however, is a former Cy Young Award winner and according to WAR, his last three seasons were all better than Garza's best season (2009) by a considerable margin. He does lack Garza's postseason experience though. The pitchers were born less than a month apart, but the Cubs will get three years of Garza while the Brewers get just two of Greinke (at a higher salary).
So, knowing what we know about the players, do you prefer the package of Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi or the package of Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer,Robinson Chirinos, Hak-Ju Lee, and Sam Fuld?
Which team got a better return for their young right-hander?
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Rays 59% (9,185)
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Royals 30% (4,620)
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The packages are about equal 12% (1,817)
Total votes: 15,622
Danks, Quentin Declined Extensions Last Winter
John Danks and Carlos Quentin both turned down four-year contract offers from the White Sox last offseason, reports Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com. Both players were entering their first arbitration year and rather than take the long-term contracts, each agreed to a one-year pact (Danks for $3.45MM, Quentin for $3.2MM).
As it turned out, Danks and Quentin illustrated both sides of what can happen when a young player takes a risk and passes up a long-term guarantee. Danks turned down a four-year, $15MM offer, and thus essentially made a $11.55MM bet on himself heading into the 2010 season. The risk paid off — after a strong performance (3.72 ERA, 2.31 K/BB ratio, 213 IP), Danks has put himself in line for a much larger contract. We heard in November that the Sox were again looking to extend Danks, and such an extension will pay the southpaw a lot more than $11.55MM over the next three seasons.
For Quentin, however, 2010 was a struggle. We don't know how much his four-year offer was worth, and it's possible he was justified in rejecting it if Chicago made a lowball offer to try and capitalize on Quentin's down numbers in 2009. Still, Quentin's .821 OPS last season was far removed from his MVP-caliber season in 2008, he struggled badly in the field and his name has come up in trade rumors since the summer.
"The White Sox still don’t seem convinced that Quentin can stay injury- or stress-free over a full season," Padilla writes. He wonders if the Sox might again try to make a long-term offer to Quentin (at an even lower price) to keep him under control if he breaks out for another big season that would drive up his arbitration price next winter and his eventual free agent price after the 2012 season.
Quick Hits: Garcia, Delgado, Nationals, Rockies
Happy birthday to the Big Cat, Johnny Mize! The Hall-of-Famer was born on January 7, 1913 in Demorest, Georgia. Other notable players born on this day include Jon Lester, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Gagne and Francisco Rodriguez.
Onto the news items….
- A reunion between Freddy Garcia and the Tigers is "possible, though unlikely at this point," writes MLB.com's Jason Beck. Garcia, who made three starts for Detroit in 2008, "is believed to be open" to the idea and Tigers officials at least discussed the prospect, Beck reports. The right-hander appears to be behind at least Jeremy Bonderman and Brad Penny on the club's list of veteran depth options for the rotation.
- Carlos Delgado is recovering from his third hip surgery but still hasn't ruled out a Major League comeback, writes Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.
- The Nationals are counting on a much-improved defense to help them in 2011, reports Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post.
- While the Rockies haven't made any huge additions, their moves to keep their young core players gave them the most successful offseason in the NL West, writes Tracy Ringolsby of FOXSports.com.
- Ed Wade says the Astros might consider acquiring a replacement for Jeff Keppinger if none of their young infielders can fill the backup role in Spring Training, reports Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.
- Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com says the Indians need to start seeing some production in 2011 from the young players the team received in the Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia trades.
- Frank McCourt met with executives from the comissioner's office to outline his plans for keeping control of the Dodgers amidst his divorce proceedings, reports the Los Angeles Times' Bill Shaikin.
AL West Notes: Young, Sweeney, Angels
Some news items from the western side of the American League…
- Michael Young has said he's open to being a primary DH in the wake of the Rangers' acquisition of Adrian Beltre, but ESPNDallas.com's Jeff Caplan wonders if the career infielder will get "bored" from not playing in the field. Caplan talks to Lance Berkman, who signed with St. Louis in part because he disliked being a designated hitter, about the transition away from fielding.
- As part of an MLB.com mailbag, Greg Johns reports the Mariners ended up receiving cash from the Phillies in the Mike Sweeney trade last August, rather than a player to be named later. From the same piece, Johns also shoots down the idea of Seattle trading Felix Hernandez or signing Jermaine Dye.
- In regards to the Angels' lack of major free agent signings, manager Mike Scioscia said "These contracts just ran away from what our team can do," during an interview on 710 ESPN Radio's Mason & Ireland Show (as reported by ESPNLosAngeles.com's Mark Saxon). Scioscia noted the club might have "some other minor things" in the works.
- Eric Denton of LAAngelsInsider.com wonders if the Angels would be better served by rebuilding and putting "some long term pieces in place for the Mike Trout era."