Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Phillies, Cuban, Kazmir
Three years ago today, the Mariners fired GM Bill Bavasi after five years at the helm. Seattle was an MLB worst 24-45 at the time, and they went on to become the first team in history to lose 100 games with a $100MM payroll. Current GM Jack Zduriencik took over after the season and immediately went to work rebuilding the team around Felix Hernandez and Ichiro Suzuki.
Here are this week's links as we draw closer to the trade deadline…
- Crashburn Alley says the Phillies should proceed with caution if they pursue Josh Willingham in a trade.
- Cracked Bell Sports makes a case for Philadelphia letting Ryan Madson walk after the season.
- Brotherly Glove bids farewell to J.C. Romero.
- The Blog That Boredom Built explains why the Twins need to update their evaluation methods.
- The Cub Reporter looked ahead to the Cubs roster and payroll obligations going into the 2012 season.
- Bleacher Nation tells us what Cubs owner Tom Ricketts' vote of confidence in GM Jim Hendry really means.
- Lasorda's Lair says that Mark Cuban's next project should be to save the Dodgers.
- From The Upper Deck evaluated Pirates GM Neal Huntington's trades.
- Bay City Ball wrote about the Giants' unlikely aces.
- Camden Crazies praised Orioles' shortstop J.J. Hardy.
- SF Giants Rumors spoke to Baseball America's Jim Callis about the Giants' top two draft picks.
- Beer Leaguer refutes Ozzie Guillen's claim that Paul Konerko is a Hall of Famer.
- FanSpeak says the Nationals need to trade Tyler Clippard.
- Two Guys And A Sports Blog explains why MLB needs Bryce Harper.
- That's The Bottom Line thinks the Mets should trade David Wright instead of Jose Reyes.
- Rising Apple lists ten players the Mets should trade before Wright or Reyes.
- River Ave. Blues explored the concept of restructuring the Yankees' front office.
- Bronx Bombers Report wonders if the Yankees should pursue Scott Kazmir.
- D'Backs Central, meanwhile, wonder if the Diamondbacks should go after Kazmir.
- Call To The Pen looked at two breakout players from the 2005 Devil Rays that were cut this week.
- Tomahawk Chop tries to figure out what the Braves will do once Nate McLouth is healthy.
- The Hardball Times tackled the myth of Dan Haren, with a fantasy twist.
- MLB Reports makes a case for expanding and changing the MLB playoffs.
- Baseball Nation matches up some baseball players with their representative volcanoes.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
How Are Free Agent Relievers Doing?
During the 2010-11 offseason, 42 relievers signed Major League free agent deals. From Rafael Soriano at $35MM to Taylor Buchholz at $600K, almost $253MM was invested in these relievers. How are they doing so far?
Numbers for the average American League reliever: a 3.86 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, and 0.88 HR/9. AL teams threw around much of the relief cash during the offseason, accounting for more than 81% of the total spend. The 26 signees have totaled 576 1/3 innings, from Joel Peralta at 33 1/3 to Pedro Feliciano at zero. The average reliever in this group has 22 innings. The results for the free agents: a 4.09 ERA, 7.6 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, and 1.00 HR/9 – pretty close to league average. Though he's allowed five home runs, Koji Uehara has probably been the best investment.
The average National League reliever has a 3.54 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, and 0.74 HR/9. NL teams invested only $48MM in relievers, as compared to $204MM for the AL. The 16 NL signees have totaled 306 1/3 innings, or about 19 each. Chad Qualls has been the workhorse at 35 innings, while Takashi Saito has registered only two frames. As a whole the group has a 3.64 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, and 0.85 HR/9, also pretty close to league average. With almost everyone in the group costing $5.5MM or less in total, there are plenty of bargains such as Qualls, Randy Choate, Todd Coffey, George Sherrill, and Buchholz (though he's currently injured).
My apologies for the lack of a groundbreaking conclusion here. The 2010-11 free agent relief class has performed around league average. The American League's heavy spending (36% of which came from the Yankees) has not paid off when compared to the National League bargain shopping.
If The Marlins Become Sellers
The Marlins have lost seven in a row, and they're now 6.5 games out in the wild card. It's time to think about selling.
- Closer Leo Nunez (pictured) has battled a stiff back lately and endured a few rough outings in the last month or so. His numbers remain strong overall and he's under team control through 2012, so a quality prospect or two could be extracted.
- The Marlins don't have impending free agents in their bullpen, but I could picture a few arbitration eligible types being available. That might mean Clay Hensley if he returns strong in July, or Brian Sanches and Edward Mujica. Don't expect the Marlins to go overboard dismantling their pen though, as improving it was a major focus of last offseason.
- Omar Infante, a big part of the Dan Uggla trade, has struggled to a .253/.297/.306 line on the season. If he picks it up a bit there could be mild interest in the versatile 29-year-old.
- Bench players Wes Helms and Greg Dobbs could become available. Dobbs' bat was quite useful in the first two months of the season.
- I liked the Javier Vazquez signing at the time, but he has a 6.85 ERA to date and hasn't shown much in the way of improvement. At $7MM, a release is more likely than a trade.
- Check out other potential sellers posts here.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Cubs Rumors: Zambrano, Dempster, Soriano
A few Cubs rumblings from ESPN's Bruce Levine…
- Yankees scouts watched Carlos Zambrano pitch on the Cubs' recent road trip, writes Levine. Levine notes that these were not advance scouts, but rather top advisers to GM Brian Cashman. Hopefully they saw his start against the Cardinals rather than the Phillies. Levine is of the opinion Zambrano would waive his no-trade clause, as a friend of the pitcher told him earlier this month, "At this point Carlos would probably let the Cubs trade him to Siberia." As a 4.50 ERA guy in the National League with clubhouse concerns and over $28MM remaining on his contract through 2012, Zambrano would be a tough sell for any team.
- Some of the Yankees top evaluators have more interest in Ryan Dempster, reports Levine, as you might expect. They'll get a look at him Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Dempster has $7.7MM remaining on his contract this year, as well as a $14MM player option for 2012. He also has full no-trade rights and strong ties to Chicago.
- Alfonso Soriano told Levine he expects to stay with the Cubs (he's signed through 2014), but if the team wants to trade him he wouldn't stay. Soriano, who is owed about $64MM through '14, has a full no-trade clause.
- I tackled the possibility of the Cubs becoming sellers earlier this month. They're ten games out in the NL Central and the wild card.
Minor Moves: Carter, Ramirez, Dopirak, Redding
The latest minor moves…
- Baseball America's Matt Eddy posted a comprehensive list of recent minor league transactions, including a swarm of draft pick signings and undrafted free agent pickups from the last week.
- The Rays released Chris Carter according to the Triple-A International League transactions page. The 28-year-old hit .270/.309/.460 with ten homers in 233 plate appearances.
- The Astros released catcher Max Ramirez and first baseman/DH Brian Dopirak, tweets Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle. The Astros had signed Ramirez in May after he'd been released by the Cubs. Dopirak was added in December. Both players had OBPs under .290 in their brief Triple-A stints.
- The Phillies signed righty Tim Redding to a minor league deal, tweets MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. The 33-year-old posted a 6.59 ERA in 13 starts for the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate this year.
- The Angels inked righty Jerome Williams for their Triple-A rotation, tweeted his agency Full Circle Sports Management. The 29-year-old was drafted 39th overall by the Giants back in '99, one pick after the Rangers grabbed Colby Lewis. Williams hasn't pitched in the bigs since '07.
Quick Hits: Rays, Pena, Phillies, Dodgers, Royals
Dustin Ackley will make his debut tomorrow, but Blue Jays righty Zach Stewart got his first taste of The Show today against the Orioles. Stewart, acquired by former Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi in the July '09 Scott Rolen deal, ranked 44th on Keith Law's preseason top 100 prospects list for ESPN. On to today's links…
- Baseball America's Jim Callis reports that the Rays are on the verge of signing supplemental first round picks Jeff Ames and James Harris. The team signed two other supplemental first rounders earlier today.
- Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe hears that the Diamondbacks are considering calling up Wily Mo Pena for interleague play (on Twitter). Pena has not been in the big leagues since 2008, but he's hitting .356/.431/.736 with 21 homers for Arizona's Triple-A affiliate, and he could DH in AL parks.
- Andy Martino of The New York Daily News speculates about the possibility of Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran winding up with the Phillies at the trade deadline.
- The Phillies "are making inquiries on established and pricey veterans" as they search for a right-handed hitting outfielder, reports ESPN's Buster Olney. We covered this topic on Monday, under the impression that pricey players were not a fit. If the Phillies do have these types on the radar, players like Michael Cuddyer and Ryan Ludwick could enter the mix in my opinion.
- MLB is interviewing former Dodgers executives as its investigation nears its conclusion, reports Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.
- The first player from the 2011 draft class could be the Diamondbacks' Trevor Bauer, in the opinion of ESPN's Jason Churchill and Keith Law, assuming they sign him (Insider required).
- I talked Royals with Nick Wright of 610 Sports yesterday; download an mp3 of the audio here.
Outrighted: Poreda, Patterson, Dinkelman
Outrighted to Triple-A today:
- The Padres announced that both Aaron Poreda and Eric Patterson have cleared waivers and accepted their assignments to Triple-A, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock (on Twitter). Patterson was designated for assignment last week, Poreda earlier this week.
- The Twins outrighted second baseman/corner outfielder Brian Dinkelman to open a 40-man spot for Joe Mauer, according to the team. The move also cleared room on the active roster for Mauer.
Cardinals Will Look Into J.C. Romero
The Cardinals had interest in J.C. Romero over the winter, and now a source tells Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that they will look into picking him up after he was designated for assignment by the Phillies earlier today. Earlier this week we heard the Cardinals have the money to make a midseason pickup.
St. Louis has two lefties in the bullpen at the moment: Trever Miller and Brian Tallet. Miller has done the job (2.92 ERA in 12 1/3 innings), but Tallet's 7.15 ERA in 11 1/3 innings is an eyesore. Romero spent time on the disabled list with a calf injury earlier this year, and he has a 3.86 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 6.6 BB/9, and 52.9% groundball rate this year in 16 1/3 innings.
Rays Sign Draft Picks Blake Snell, Kes Carter
7:06pm: MLBTR has learned that Snell has signed for $684K, exactly slot money. He is represented by Adam Karon and Tripper Johnson of Sosnick Cobbe Sports. Baseball America's Jim Callis tweets that Carter signed for $625K, which is slightly below slot.
5:25pm: The Rays have signed supplemental first round draft picks Blake Snell and Kes Carter, reports Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter). No word on either player's signing bonus, but MLB's slot recommendation for the 52nd and 56th overall picks is approximately $684K and $644K, respectively.
Snell, a high school left-hander from Washington, was the 52nd overall selection, taken with the pick Tampa Bay received as compensation for losing Joaquin Benoit. Baseball America's Advanced Draft Database (subs. req'd) notes that he throws 88-92 with a curveball and changeup that are "just average at best."
Carter, an outfielder from Western Kentucky, was the 56th overall selection and was taken with the pick the Rays received for losing Randy Choate. Baseball America says he flashes all five tools with a smooth lefty swing and good plate discipline. They note that his health and struggles against left-handed pitchers are a concern.
Angels Unable To Spend More Money In 2011
The Angels have lost seven of their last ten games and sit three games back of the Rangers in the AL West, but owner Arte Moreno has told GM Tony Reagins not to spend any more of his money this year according to Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. This will obviously limit the team's ability to make a splash at the trade deadline.
The Angels released Scott Kazmir yesterday, eating the $9.5MM left on his contract. They are also paying Gary Matthews Jr. $11.4MM to play for the Reds' Triple-A affiliate this year. Reagins was able to add Russell Branyan for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum last month, but he's hitting just .161/.229/.161 in 35 plate appearances since signing.
As Saxon notes, the team doesn't have much immediate help sitting in Triple-A, with the best of the bunch being veterans Paul McAnulty and Jeff Baisley. He wonders if teams would have interest in Joel Pineiro ($8MM salary), Fernando Rodney ($5.5MM, but currently on the disabled list), or Bobby Abreu ($9MM, but his 2012 option is close to vesting), which could potentially free up some cash via trades. Either way, Reagins is going to have to get creative to upgrade his team this summer.