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Archives for March 2011

The Next Steps For Oliver Perez

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9:02am: Perez will not be released today, a source tells Martino (Twitter link).  Instead, he'll get two bullpen appearances and will be released if they are not stellar.

8:03am: "The end is drawing closer" for Oliver Perez and the Mets, writes Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.  Perez's Spring Training starts were "mere theater," writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Now, Mets GM Sandy Alderson, manager Terry Collins, and pitching coach Dan Warthen will meet today to decide between giving Perez a shot at relief or releasing him immediately, according to Martino.

Why are the Mets going through these motions with Perez?  Some in the organization really want to see him audition for the bullpen, tweets Martino.  Otherwise, Sherman has two theories.  One is that the new administration must "put on a show" for ownership before cutting Perez.  The other is that ownership is aiming to release Perez and Luis Castillo closer to the season, to "get the most positive bump" with fans before Opening Day.

Releasing Perez and Castillo will require the Mets to eat $18MM.  Click here for my list of other candidates to be released this month.

Brendan Donnelly Retires

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Brendan Donnelly is hanging up his goggles.  The 39-year-old is retiring, unable to find a minor league deal this offseason after being released by the Pirates in July of last year.  MLB.com's Doug Miller has the story.

Donnelly, a 30-year-old rookie for the Angels' '02 World Championship team, finishes with a 3.22 ERA and 369 strikeouts over 385 1/3 innings for the Angels, Red Sox, Indians, Marlins, and Pirates.  He's best known for his time with the Halos, highlighted by strong pitching in the World Series in '02 and an All-Star game win in '03.  Donnelly finishes his career with about $5MM in the bank and is now about to experience the joys of fatherhood for the first time.

Melvin: Greinke Did Not Violate Contract

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Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Zack Greinke did not violate his contract by cracking a rib while playing basketball. Greinke’s contract prevents him from playing competitive basketball, but doesn’t prohibit pickup games, so the Brewers won’t discipline him and he’ll earn his entire $13.5MM salary.

The front office hopes Greinke will miss just two or three starts and is considering rookies such as Wily Peralta, Amaury Rivas and Mark Rogers as possible placeholders for the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner. As I explained earlier tonight, the Brewers can likely get by with pitchers already in the organization.

The Brewers are eyeing rival pitchers in case a possible fit becomes available. But Melvin says a trade or claim probably doesn’t make sense. "The problem with getting somebody else is what do you do with him when Zack comes back?" Melvin asked.

Two Ways Of Building An Elite Rotation

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The Giants wouldn't have won last year's World Series without their formidable rotation, but manager Bruce Bochy said last month that Philadelphia – the team San Francisco defeated in the 2010 NLCS – has "the best staff in baseball." Whether you believe the best starting staff in the game belongs to the Phillies, the Giants or someone else, this much is certain: the last two NL Championship teams have built their rotations in noticeably different ways.

Giants GM Brian Sabean has relied primarily on the draft to build his rotation. He spent big ($126MM over seven years) on Barry Zito, but the rest of the team’s rotation is homegrown. About six months before Sabean signed Zito, he drafted Tim Lincecum tenth overall in the 2006 draft. The next year, the Giants made Madison Bumgarner their first round selection (tenth overall). Lincecum, Bumgarner and Zito join two other Giants draftees, Matt Cain (first round, 2002) and Jonathan Sanchez (27th round, 2004) in Bochy's rotation.

Bochy's counterpart, Charlie Manuel, will trot out an equally impressive rotation in 2011, but his starters arrived in Philadelphia because of GM Ruben Amaro Jr.'s knack for acquiring big-name starters in trades. Pat Gillick traded for Joe Blanton in 2008, before Amaro took over the Phillies and the new GM has picked up where his predecessor left off, acquiring Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt in a series of blockbusters.

The Phillies had to bid for Lee on the open market to lure him back to Philadelphia, but the initial swap was crucial for the Phillies, who signed Lee for less than the Yankees or Rangers were offering. Amaro isn't all about trades, though – Cole Hamels fills out the team's rotation and Kyle Kendrick, another Philadelphia draft pick, provides the club with depth. 

I am not suggesting that the Phillies are all about trading or that the Giants are all about drafting. The Phillies used nine of their first 12 draft picks on pitchers last year, so they clearly see the value in drafting arms, even if they often seem to trade them away before long (they have dealt J.A. Happ, Gavin Floyd, Kyle Drabek and others for more established pitchers in recent years). Similarly, the Giants would no doubt consider acquiring starting pitching through trades or free agency. But for one year at least, baseball's two most impressive rotations have wildly different origins.

Blue Jays Appear Interested In Kevin Slowey

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The Blue Jays like Kevin Slowey, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (on Twitter). Christensen hears that the Blue Jays have relievers to spare and had three scouts watching Slowey pitch in a 'B' game against the Pirates this morning. The right-hander logged three innings without allowing a hit or a run, striking out three.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney reported on Sunday that the Twins are "very much willing" to discuss trading Slowey. The Blue Jays are not desperate for pitching help; Jo-Jo Reyes, Jesse Litsch, Marc Rzepczynski and Kyle Drabek are battling for two rotation spots and Zach Stewart, Brad Mills and Scott Richmond are also in the mix for jobs.

Toronto does have lots of relief depth, particularly from the right side. Frank Francisco, Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch and Jason Frasor all have closing experience and Shawn Camp and Casey Janssen are coming off of strong seasons. Throw in two more right-handers, Carlos Villanueva and Josh Roenicke, and it's easy to see why teams might ask the Blue Jays about potentially available arms. 

Slowey posted a 4.45 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 155 2/3 innings last year. The 26-year-old has never posted a walk rate above 1.7 per nine or a strikeout rate above 6.7 per nine in four big league seasons. He'll earn $2.7MM this year and is under team control through 2013.

Greinke Hurt; Brewers Appear To Have Enough Depth

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Like their division rivals, the Brewers lost a top starter to injury before the season even started. But unlike the Cardinals, the Brewers have reason to expect their ace back before long. As a result, it appears that Milwaukee has the depth to get by without making external additions.

Zack Greinke cracked a rib playing basketball and will start the season on the disabled list, so the Brewers will begin the eagerly anticipated 2011 campaign without their most accomplished starter. Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson should provide rookie manager Ron Roenicke with a strong front four and the team doesn't expect to need an extra starter very often; GM Doug Melvin told MLB.com's Adam McCalvy that the Brewers will only need a fifth starter three times in April.

Parra

Though the Brewers have a thin farm system – Baseball America ranked it 30th among the 30 MLB organizations – top prospect Mark Rogers started two games for the club last year and could be an option this spring. Rogers, a raw 25-year-old, has an upper-90s fastball and a potentially devastating curve, according to Baseball America. Those tools helped him post a 3.65 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in the minors last year after missing 2007 and 2008 with shoulder operations. The right-hander has encountered some shoulder issues again this spring, however, so he's no sure thing.

But the Brewers don't have to push Rogers to the major leagues, since Manny Parra (pictured) is available, as long as his back stiffness passes, as he expects it to. The left-hander has averaged 24 starts over the course of the past three seasons, including 16 starts in 2010. He posted a 5.02 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 as a swingman last year, logging 122 innings.

Roenicke recently told McCalvy that he considers Tim Dillard, Wily Peralta and Amaury Rivas potential starters as well. The team's current options don't compare with Greinke, but Parra, Rogers or someone else should be able to provide the Brewers with a handful of solid starts as their ace recovers.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

Red Sox Notes: Buchholz, Beckett, Wakefield

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The Red Sox beat the Cardinals in Florida today even though they allowed seven runs. Here are the latest updates on the BoSox, with an emphasis on the team's pitching staff…

Big Year Ahead For Rangers First Basemen

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To call 2011 a make or break year for Mitch Moreland and Chris Davis wouldn't technically be right. They aren't even arbitration eligible yet, so they can't really 'make it' the way prospective free agents can. But this season will undoubtedly be crucial to determining the future of the two first basemen and whether they stay in Arlington.

Davis arrived in the majors two years before Moreland as a highly-touted prospect. His .311/.370/.569 minor league line has yet to translate to the majors, however; the 24-year-old has hit just .248/.300/.459 as a major leaguer. Southpaws have held Davis to a .666 OPS, but he has shown power overall, hitting one homer per 20.7 at bats.

Moreland

Moreland (pictured), who's a year older than Davis, debuted last year and posted a .255/.364/.469 line in 173 plate appearances before posting a .900 OPS in the postseason. Like Davis, he's a left-handed hitter who struggles to hit southpaws (.604 OPS last year). He's the favorite to win the starting job and has impressed GM Jon Daniels, who told MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan that "our guys viewed him as one of the best workers and makeups [around]."

Neither player has any guarantees from the Rangers, who are in win-now mode and aren't in a position to be overly patient with developing players. Davis has drawn trade interest in the past, so the Rangers could consider dealing him if he doesn't produce more or becomes redundant. Moreland has done everything the Rangers have asked him to do, but he's just 224 plate appearances into his MLB career, even if you count the playoffs. Let's not assume that he can be a cog at first base.

Next year's free agent class features Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, two sluggers who figure to be looking for deals worth $180MM-plus. It's not hard to imagine Texas pursuing Fielder or Pujols next winter if the Rangers continue winning and the new ownership group decides its new TV deal allows for expanded payroll.

Even if the Rangers don't go after the most intriguing and expensive free agent first basemen, others, such as Derrek Lee and Carlos Pena, will be available (or the Rangers could opt to make Michael Young their everyday first baseman). Whether second tier first basemen like Lee and Pena appeal to the Rangers front office depends in large part on how Moreland and Davis perform over the course of the next six months.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

Astros Sign Robinson Cancel

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Thin behind the plate after Jason Castro's injury, the Astros added a former big league catcher to the organization today. They signed Robinson Cancel to a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). He'll report to minor league camp, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart (on Twitter).

The 34-year-old native of Puerto Rico last appeared in the majors in 2009 as a member of the Mets. In 102 career MLB plate appearances, the right-handed hitter has a .213/.260/.287 line. Cancel's minor league resume is extensive, as he has played in 1134 minor league games since the Brewers selected him in the 16th round of the 1994 draft. He has a .263/.327/.376 line in 16 minor league seasons.

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