Pirates Claim Garrett Olson
The Pirates claimed Garrett Olson off of waivers from the Mariners, the teams have announced.
Olsen, 27, posted a 4.54 ERA with 7.4 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 37.1% ground ball rate in 37 2/3 innings of relief for the Mariners last year. It was his second season in Seattle after two seasons with the Orioles, the organization that drafted him in the first round of the 2005 draft.
Olson figures to compete with Joe Beimel and Scott Olsen for left-handed relief jobs in manager Clint Hurdle's bullpen once he arrives in Pirates camp. Kirby Arnold of the Daily Herald first reported the claim.
Leon’ys Martin Hits Free Agency, Talks To MLB Teams
Cuban outfielder Leon'ys Martin is now a free agent and has started negotiating with MLB teams, according to Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (Twitter links). The Cuban defector is now in Mexico.
Earlier in the month, Baseball America's John Manuel reported that Martin's best tools are his speed and defense. The 22-year-old prospect was a bench player for Cuba in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and is "considered an elite prospect," according to ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr.
Scot Shields To Retire
Longtime Angels setup man Scot Shields will officially retire today, according to Scott Miller of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
Shields said he was likely to retire last fall, but remained undecided as recently as January. He told Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times that he would play only if "a good deal in a good place" presented itself. Instead, the 35-year-old is ending his decade-long playing career.
Shields had consecutive disappointing seasons in 2009-10. He dealt with a sore elbow, underwent knee surgery and posted a 5.65 ERA in 63 2/3 innings over the course of his final two seasons. At his best, Shields helped define the Angels bullpen. He averaged 85 innings per season from 2004-08 with more than a strikeout per inning and a 3.11 ERA in that five-year stretch.
Longtime Angels Garret Anderson and Brendan Donnelly also retired this offseason.
Extension Candidate: C.J. Wilson
C.J. Wilson is not going to sign for Cliff Lee money when he hits free agency this offseason. Nine-figure deals are out of reach to any pitcher who doesn’t threaten to win the Cy Young every year, so Wilson can forget about matching the contract his former rotation-mate signed.
But Wilson is likely due for a raise next year, whether the Rangers give it to him or someone else does. The left-hander will hit free agency for the first time in his career and though the Rangers are open to extending him before the season ends, it’s starting to look like Wilson will hit the open market.
In the last year-plus, comparable left-handers including Wandy Rodriguez, Ted Lilly, Jorge de la Rosa and Randy Wolf have signed deals that pay them an average of just over $10MM per free agent season. That appears to be the going rate for those who have proven themselves as number two or three starters.
Wilson had a breakout 2010 season in which he pitched like a top-of-the-rotation starter. He led his team, the eventual AL Champions, in ERA (3.35), ground ball rate (49.2%), starts (33), wins (15), complete games (3) and innings (204) and placed in the top ten in the American League in ERA, wins and opponents’ average
Those numbers are impressive, but Wilson also placed among the league leaders in some other categories. He led the league in walks (93) and placed sixth in the league in hit batsmen (10). Opponents hit just .266 against him on balls in play last year, sixth-lowest among AL starters. That figure suggests he could be due to regress in 2011, as does his tough-to-sustain home run to fly ball rate of 5.3%.
The Rangers are taking a risk either way. Either they take it now and invest tens of millions in a pitcher who could regress and has just one year of experience as a starter. Or they postpone the risk until after the season and hope to do what they couldn’t do when Lee hit the market: convince the free agent left-hander to choose Texas over his other suitors.
Photo courtesy Icon SMI.
Introducing Rumores de Béisbol
We are proud to announce the official launch of a new website, Rumores de Béisbol. RDB provides timely Spanish translations of MLB Trade Rumors posts. We created Rumores de Béisbol because we know baseball has a huge following among Spanish speakers both in the U.S. and in countries around the western hemisphere. It's an international pastime. MLBTR is already the number one destination on the Internet for up-to-the-minute trade and free agent news and analysis. With such detail-oriented information, much is lost through automatic translation tools. That's why we've hired real bilingual people to properly translate MLB Trade Rumors to Spanish. Bookmark Rumores de Béisbol today, and tell your friends! Si se susurra, lo oímos.
Mets Release Luis Castillo
Unable to delay the inevitable any longer, the Mets have released Luis Castillo. The team has confirmed the move via press release.
“This was [a] baseball decision,” GM Sandy Alderson said. “I met with Terry [Collins] and made a recommendation to Jeff [Wilpon] and Jeff approved on behalf of ownership.”
Luis Hernandez, Daniel Murphy and Brad Emaus remain in competition for the Mets' second base job. Earlier in the week it appeared that manager Terry Collins preferred Hernandez, but there's no clear-cut favorite.
Castillo hit .235/.337/.267 in 299 plate appearances last year and spent 47 days on the DL recovering from a left foot injury. The 35-year-old is entering the final season of the four-year, $25MM deal he signed after the 2007 season. Castillo impressed after the Mets acquired him in a mid-2007 trade with the Twins, hitting .296 and stealing 10 bases in a third of a season. That strong finish led to a $25MM guarantee from then-GM Omar Minaya.
Now a free agent, Castillo is available for the league minimum. The Mets will be responsible for his entire $6MM salary if he remains a free agent and they'll save just over $400K if he signs elsewhere.
Castillo Hopes To Sign With Another Team
Luis Castillo told Newsday's Jim Baumbach that he intends to play Major League Baseball in 2011 (all Twitter links). The Mets released him this morning, but he plans to sign elswhere.
"I'm going to wait, go home and hope to catch on with another team," Castillo said.
Castillo told Baumbach that he's frustrated the Mets didn't use him more. However, Castillo says he'll be "fine," since he has accomplished a lot as a major leaguer. The Phillies and Tigers have dealt with injuries at second base this spring, but there's no indication that either team is interested in Castillo.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Greenberg, Sandoval, Pineda
On this date last year, the Diamondbacks inked Mark Reynolds to a three-year contract worth $14.5MM, buying out his first three years of arbitration-eligibility plus a club option for his fourth (Reynolds qualified as a Super Two). The 27-year-old hit .260/.349/.543 with 44 homers in 2009 but slumped down to .198/.320/.433 with 28 homers last season. He also struck out 200+ times for the third straight year. New GM Kevin Towers traded Reynolds to the Orioles for a pair of relievers in December, just nine months into his new deal.
These links are the best the blogosphere had to offer over the last seven days, so enjoy…
- Bless You Boys interviewed Tigers' radio announcer Dan Dickerson (part one, part two).
- Beyond The Box Score ranks the 30 best now-defunct MLB logos.
- MotionData created an interactive chart showing MLB team payrolls from 1991 through 2010.
- Baseball Time In Arlington muses about Chuck Greenberg's departure from the Rangers.
- Sports Perspective also checks in on Greenberg's departure.
- Bay City Ball comes up with some comparisons for Pablo Sandoval.
- Paapfly, meanwhile, isn't certain that a lighter Sandoval equals a better Sandoval.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness wants to know how many problems Tony Gwynn Jr. can solve.
- U.S.S. Mariner says that Michael Pineda isn't ready for the big leagues.
- Royals Review wonders if Mike Aviles will ever earn $1MM in a season.
- Camden Crazies looks at the Orioles' lineup with platoon splits.
- The Shea Faithful asks if the Mets should be worried about Jason Bay.
- Blue Jays Rant speculates about whether or not the Blue Jays will exercise Aaron Hill's options after 2011.
- Twins Territory Talk muses about a Kevin Slowey for Joba Chamberlain trade.
- MiLB News provides an update on some top prospects fighting for jobs this spring.
- Wahoo Blues came up with a better way to measure a player's power.
- Dock of the Rays applies Sean Rodriguez's minor league platoon splits to his 2011 projections.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
Phillies Notes: Utley, Polanco, Knapp
The latest on the Phillies, before they take on their intra-state rivals far from Pennsylvania…
- The Phillies' goal with Chase Utley is to avoid surgery at all costs, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- As Olney points out in a column at ESPN.com, this is the point in the spring where injuries have a good chance of impacting Opening Day rosters.
- The Phillies say they aren't worried about Placido Polanco, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The infielder, who is dealing with a hyperextended elbow, practiced yesterday and won't play in a game for at least two days.
- Former Phillies prospect Jason Knapp tells Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he was healthy when Philadelphia sent him to Cleveland as part of the summer 2009 Cliff Lee trade. Knapp, still just 20, has recovered from shoulder problems to re-establish himself as one of Cleveland's top prospects.
Rangers, Wilson To Table Extension Talks For Now
The Rangers and C.J. Wilson’s agent have discussed a multiyear deal that would keep the left-hander in Texas after the 2011 season, but the sides don’t appear likely to continue discussions once the season starts, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Agent Bob Garber and Rangers executives Jon Daniels and Thad Levine discussed ways of extending Wilson’s tenure with the Rangers without making significant progress.
Wilson, who is set to hit free agency after the season, says “it doesn't look like a deal is going to get done” before Opening Day. And once the season starts, Wilson says he prefers to focus on pitching, not contract negotiations.
The Rangers negotiated with Wilson throughout the winter, even after they avoided arbitration and agreed to a one-year, $7MM salary for 2011. Daniels says he values Wilson and is “not going to close the door on anything."