Orioles Release Randy Winn
Outfielder Randy Winn asked for and was granted his unconditional release, according to an Orioles press release. Winn was one of eight cuts made today, as Nolan Reimold was optioned to Triple-A while Clay Rapada, Mark Hendrickson, David Riske, Ryan Drese, Pat Egan, and Nick Green were assigned to minor league camp. As previously noted, Hendrickson and Riske can opt out. The Orioles currently have 39 players on their 40-man roster and 28 in camp.
Winn, 36, hit .239/.307/.356 in 233 plate appearances for the Yankees and Cardinals last year, tallying 401 outfield innings. He signed a minor league deal with the Orioles in early February.
Royals Acquire Matt Treanor
The Royals acquired catcher Matt Treanor from the Rangers for cash considerations, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. The acquisition fills up the Royals' 40-man roster, a press release notes.
Treanor, 35, hit .211/.287/.308 in 272 plate appearances for the Rangers last year, leading the team with 614 2/3 innings caught. He re-signed for $850K in December to back up Yorvit Torrealba, but the Rangers acquired Mike Napoli in late January. The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for the Rangers and also a 25-man spot, which makes it easier to retain Rule 5 pick Mason Tobin or Chris Davis.
The Royals' Treanor acquisition comes two days after veteran Jason Kendall told MLB.com's Dick Kaegel his tentative return date from September shoulder surgery is now late April. Brayan Pena and Lucas May, both out of options, have been battling for Opening Day catching spots. Treanor, by the way, was originally drafted by the Royals in 1994.
Orioles Moves: Hendrickson, Riske, VandenHurk
The Orioles are paring down their roster today; here's the latest:
- Lefty Mark Hendrickson is among the team's cuts, tweets MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. Hendrickson can opt out rather than report to the minors. Given his success against lefties, he should be able to find work in the big leagues.
- Reliever David Riske is also one of today's cuts, reports Ghiroli. She says Riske left camp for personal reasons, and the team isn't sure whether he'll join them in Triple-A. He too has the ability to opt out.
- Righty Rick VandenHurk has been cut, reports Ghiroli. Since the Dutchman is out of options, he'll have to clear waivers to remain with the organization. The O's snagged VandenHurk at last year's trade deadline in the Will Ohman deal.
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Showalter, Sabathia
Among AL East clubs, only the Yankees will play on the season's first day Thursday. Here's the latest from the division…
- Relievers Dennys Reyes and Matt Albers made Boston's 25-man roster, reports WEEI's Alex Speier. Hideki Okajima and Alfredo Aceves were optioned to Triple-A. GM Theo Epstein explained to reporters that the choices were about "preservation of pitching depth," since he would have lost Reyes and Albers if they didn't make the team. Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald has quotes from Okajima's agent Joe Rosen on the decision.
- Orioles manager Buck Showalter stirred the pot in this Men's Journal interview with Paul Solotaroff, saying, "I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll." Epstein has already accepted an apology from Showalter on the comments, tweets Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.
- Red Sox 2010 second-round pick Brandon Workman changed agents from Kevin Hubbard to Jeff Berry of CAA Sports, reports Speier. Workman had signed for $800K, about $165K over slot. Track all the latest in our Agency Database.
- Another strong year might make C.C. Sabathia the Yankees' best free agent signing ever, suggests Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The contract could end up being a three-year, $60MM deal if the lefty opts out after the season.
Offseason In Review: New York Yankees
The Yankees are next in our Offseason In Review series.
Major League Signings
- Derek Jeter, SS: three years, $51MM.
- Rafael Soriano, RP: three years, $35MM.
- Mariano Rivera, RP: two years, $30MM.
- Pedro Feliciano, RP: two years, $8MM.
- Russell Martin, C: one year, $4MM.
- Andruw Jones, OF: one year, $2MM.
- Total spend: $130MM.
Notable Minor League Signings
- Kevin Millwood, Ronnie Belliard, Eric Chavez, Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Brian Anderson, Buddy Carlyle, Mark Prior, Neal Cotts, Warner Madrigal, Luis Ayala, Andy Sisco
International Signings
- Juan Carlos Paniagua, Yadil Mujica, Freiter Marte, Wilmer Romero
Trades and Claims
- Acquired SP Scott Allen from Diamondbacks for 1B Juan Miranda
- Acquired OF Cody Johnson from Braves for cash considerations
- Claimed OF Jordan Parraz off waivers from Red Sox
- Acquired OF Justin Maxwell from Nationals for RP Adam Olbrychowski
- Acquired OF Chris Dickerson from Brewers for SP Sergio Mitre
Notable Losses
- Marcus Thames, Lance Berkman, Austin Kearns, Nick Johnson, Juan Miranda, Adam Olbrychowski, Kerry Wood, Javier Vazquez, Andy Pettitte, Dustin Moseley, Alfredo Aceves
Summary
Only the Yankees can spend $130MM on free agents and have it seem like they didn't do much during the offseason. Cliff Lee spurned the team's huge offer, but they were able to retain future Hall of Famers Jeter and Rivera while improving the bullpen.
The Yankees ended up paying about twice what Jeter is probably worth in a strictly baseball sense, after a few unnecessary verbal jabs from both sides. I don't have a problem with it; they can afford to overpay, and they didn't have a superior alternative at shortstop. The price to keep Rivera was steep as well, yet he remains among the game's best relievers into his 40s. Perhaps the Yankees found it reassuring that multiple teams were willing to offer Rivera three guaranteed years, which suggests they weren't forced to overpay just for being the Yankees.
The mystery team actually signed Lee, with the Phillies inking him to a five-year, $120MM deal in mid-December. At $148MM over seven years, the Yankees offered Lee more guaranteed money than the Rangers or Phillies. Still, the Phillies seemingly offered the biggest salary at $24MM a year. Had the Yankees extended themselves to $150MM over six years, they might have gotten their man – even if they represented his second or third choice. With Pettitte's status an unknown at the time, going the extra mile for Lee still would have been the right move. The Yankees cannot buy or trade for high-quality starting pitching if it just isn't there, and I'm not convinced this year's trade market will feature even a #2-type starter.
Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth were already off the board by the time Lee signed, and Adrian Beltre would have been an even tougher fit, so there weren't any big names left for the Yankees to pursue. The starting pitching market was especially bleak at that point, but credit GM Brian Cashman for setting aside a potential fan backlash and exploring a reunion with Carl Pavano.
Cashman chose not to pursue Zack Greinke, who secretly met with the GM during the Winter Meetings to try to convince him he'd thrive in New York. Jon Heyman's article implies Cashman bowed out mainly because he thought Greinke wasn't a good fit with the club, rather than balking at the Royals' asking price. If true, it's interesting that Cashman felt Greinke was a bad fit but Pavano was a good one, but of course the stakes were higher with Greinke.
Assuming a Matt Garza trade would have made both the Rays and Yankees uneasy, Cashman was out of options on starting pitching. His plan at that point was apparently to toss a mere $14MM at complementary pieces Feliciano, Martin, and Jones. There's something to be said for committing two years to Feliciano instead of three, and the Yankees will need a strong bullpen if their fourth and fifth starters consistently fail to go deep into games. Even if Cashman wasn't on board, the Soriano signing certainly gives the team a much stronger bullpen. The dual opt-outs are the smallest concern with that contract, which I explained in a separate post.
The Yankees' minor league signings include former big names Chavez, Colon, Garcia, Millwood, and Prior. There are spring indications that several of them can have positive contributions for the big league club in 2011. The main goal may be to wring a couple of good months out of the rotation candidates.
Most likely we'll hear the Yankees connected to every starting pitcher with a pulse throughout the season, after which the team's rotation could be further depleted if C.C. Sabathia opts out. Problem is, it's hard to identify even one front-end starter who projects to be available in July. The Yankees may need one or two of their in-house starters to exceed expectations if they are to go deep into the playoffs this year.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
MLBTR Originals: 3/20/11 – 3/27/11
The 2011 regular season is now less than 90 hours away, so let's kill some time and recap MLBTR's original content from the last seven days…
- Ever wonder what Major League Baseball's Uniform Player's Contract looks like? Well we got our hands on one, so have a look. All of the identifying details have been removed.
- Tim Dierkes explained why prospects Brandon Belt and Zach Britton have different service time cutoff dates. He also looked at the best arbitration-eligible pitchers and position players without contract extensions, and listed the players that will be arb-eligible for the first time after the season plus the average free agent prices by position.
- Ben Nicholson-Smith found an interesting comparison for Scott Kazmir and noted that contract extensions for three young pitchers are going well so far. He also dug up some third base options for the Marlins and some potentially available starters. Ben looked ahead to Clayton Kershaw's first arbitration payday and wrote about the lack of elite shortstops as well.
- The offseason in review series marched along with the Mets.
- This week's poll question asked if Carlos Silva was tradeable.
- The best the blogosphere had to offer can be found in this week's Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
- This week's chat transcript can be found here.
- Don't forget to check out our Agency Database or our spanish-language sister site Rumores de Béisbol. There's also our team and transactions-only feeds.
Quick Hits: Rangers, Angels, Indians, CBA, Slowey
Some links to browse through during your Sunday evening…
- Add the Rangers to the list of clubs that are not interested in recently released Carlos Silva, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan (on Twitter). The Yankees and Cardinals are also out.
- The Angels can opt out of their stadium lease in 2016, but owner Arte Moreno told Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times that the team has not begun exploring the possibility of building a new stadium. That process would have to start at least four years before the planned opening date.
- Indians manager Manny Acta told MLB.com's Jordan Bastian that there are likely to be roster moves made on Monday when the 25-man roster is finalized (Twitter link).
- Tom Krasovic spoke to several scouts about teams and players from all around the game.
- In regard to CBA talks, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that the "general consensus is that a hangup or even the slightest threat of a work stoppage would be shocking."
- Within the same piece, Cafardo says the Twins aren't as willing to deal Kevin Slowey as it may seem. One scout opined that the right-hander is "throwing too well for them to deal him."
- The Rockies continue to receive calls about their middle-infield depth, but the club isn't looking to move either Eric Young Jr. or Alfredo Amezaga, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
- Dave Bush earned a spot in the Rangers' bullpen as a long man, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Bush would have opted out of his contract today if he didn't make the team.
- The Red Sox' bullpen depth has drawn interest from other teams, a source tells Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
MLBTR's Luke Adams & Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
Royals Release Pedro Feliz
9:32pm: Juan C. Rodriguez of The Sun Sentinel hears from a source that Feliz to the Marlins "probably won't happen" despite his sudden availability (Twitter link).
8:59pm: The Royals have granted Pedro Feliz his release according to Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter). The veteran third baseman could have opted out of his contract tomorrow if he didn't make the club.
Feliz, 36 next month, hit .167/.286/.375 in 24 at-bats this spring after hitting just .218/.240/.293 in 429 plate appearances for the Astros and Cardinals last season. It's been speculated that he could be a fit for the Marlins now that top prospect Matt Dominguez will begin the season in the minors, but we've heard that they're not sure Feliz represents an upgrade over their internal options.
NL Central Notes: Pendleton, Rodriguez, Pujols, Silva
Let's take a look at what's happening around the NL Central on this fine Sunday afternoon…
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports that the Astros tried to work out a trade for right-hander Lance Pendleton before the Rule 5 Draft pick was returned to the Yankees earlier today. The two sides just couldn't find a match.
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Rule 5 pick Josh Rodriguez has made the team (Twitter link).
- Albert Pujols is at peace with his current contract situation and has no hard feelings toward the Cardinals after failing to work out an extension, writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Pujols said he still hopes something can be worked out following the season.
- Strauss also tweets that the Cardinals aren't interested in the recently released Carlos Silva.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets that Brewers infielder Luis Cruz cleared waivers and will be assigned to Triple-A.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart opines that the addition of Joe Inglett to the Astros means Jason Bourgeois will make the team and helps Tommy Manzella's chances to start at shortstop (Twitter link).
Twins Trying To Work Out Deal To Keep Diamond
The Twins announced their 25-man Opening Day roster today, and one player who didn't make the cut was left-hander Scott Diamond. Manager Ron Gardenhire told MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger that they're now trying to work out a deal with the Braves to keep the Rule 5 Draft pick in the organization (Twitter link).
Diamond, 24, allowed one run in six innings this spring, but he walked six and struck out just two. Baseball America ranked him as the 29th-best prospect in the Twins' system in the 2011 edition of their Prospect Handbook, saying Diamond throws four pitches but has the ceiling of a fourth or fifth starter. They predicted that he'd fill a long relief or lefty specialist role had he made the club.
Atlanta originally signed Diamond as an undrafted free agent back in 2007. If the Twins are unable to work out a trade to keep him, he would have to first clear waivers and be offered back to the Braves before he could go to the minors.