Trade Candidate: Jo-Jo Reyes
The Blue Jays have four out of options players with less than five years of big league service time, according to MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm: Rajai Davis, Dustin McGowan, David Purcey, and Jo-Jo Reyes. Davis and Purcey are expected to make the team and McGowan will start the year on the DL, leaving Reyes as the one member of this group who is on the bubble for Toronto.
As Chisholm explained on February 28th, Reyes is currently part of a four-man battle for the last two spots in the Blue Jays' rotation, along with Jesse Litsch, Marc Rzepczynski and Kyle Drabek. Reyes could wind up in the bullpen instead. The Blue Jays risk losing Reyes if they can't find a spot for him on the 25-man roster, as he's out of options. Reyes struggled in his first Spring Training appearance, but pitched well on Saturday with three scoreless innings.
Reyes, 26, was acquired by the Blue Jays from the Braves in the July Yunel Escobar trade. Baseball America regarded him as the Braves' eighth-best prospect heading into the 2007 season, calling him a "thick-bodied lefthander who does a good job of keeping hitters off balance." Reyes has only 194 big league innings to his credit, as he's dealt with injuries and command and control problems.
One team exec I spoke to feels that Reyes would not clear waivers, as a lefty with decent stuff. He doesn't think it will come to that, as the Blue Jays can probably find a trade partner if they don't have a spot for the southpaw.
Madson Hopes To Remain With Phillies
Scott Boras clients don't always chase the last dollar on the open market, as evidenced by reliever Ryan Madson's three-year, $12MM extension signed in January of 2009. Madson was entering his walk year after turning in 82 2/3 innings of 3.05 ball for the Phillies in 2008, and Boras was reportedly in favor of Madson taking the deal to provide security for his family.
Madson remains one of the best set-up men in the game, posting perhaps the best numbers of his career in 2010 despite missing time for a broken toe suffered after kicking a chair. He'll earn $4.5MM plus incentives in the final year of his contract. At 31 years old in August, you'd expect a Scott Downs-type offer being required just to start the conversation with Boras about Madson.
Madson has a couple of goals, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer: he wants to finish his career with the Phillies, and he'd like an opportunity to close. Gelb believes there is probably room in the Phillies' payroll for Madson and Brad Lidge, but not both, after this season. Regarding Madson's career success rate of 45% in converting save opportunities, GM Ruben Amaro said, "He hasn't proven it yet. We think he has the stuff to do it."
The Phillies have not been shy about taking care of business ahead of time, so perhaps Madson is a candidate for a $6MM a year extension along the lines of Matt Thornton. Thornton, however, is four years older than Madson, so there's a case for the latter to get at least three guaranteed years.
Jays, Brewers Head List Of Dominican Signings
The Dominican Prospect League has announced several more signings:
- The Blue Jays signed 17-year-old outfielder Francisco Tejada for $150K. With the move, all 30 teams have signed a player out of the DPL. The press release refers to Tejada's "high athletic ceiling," citing his speed and arm.
- The Brewers inked 17-year-old third baseman Estervin Matos for $100K after a strong offensive performance in the DPL.
- Additionally, the Mets signed righty Miguel Angel Bautista for $10K, the Nationals signed righty Deury Vazquez for $30K, and the Diamondbacks signed American-born middle infielder Jesse Liriano for $10K.
Mariners Sign James Paxton
It took a year and a half, but James Paxton finally got paid. The Mariners announced the signing of the 2010 fourth round pick and, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America, the deal is worth $942.5K (Twitter links)
The Blue Jays selected Paxton 37th overall in the first round of the 2009 draft, but didn't sign him. The left-hander turned down slot money (approximately $874K), according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun (on Twitter). Paxton spent the 2010 season with the Grand Prairie AirHogs of the independent American Association after the NCAA ruled that he wasn’t eligible to resume his college career at the University of Kentucky.
Though most draftees have to sign by the middle of August, the deadline doesn’t apply to college seniors or players drafted out of independent leagues. ESPN.com's Keith Law first reported that the sides were close to a deal and Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times first reported the agreement.
Quick Hits: Choice, Royals, Feliz, Posey, Lawrie
If you're a fan of top prospects and rookies, then this Quick Hits post is for you. Here are today's links…
- Oakland's 2010 first rounder, Michael Choice, is wowing scouts in Arizona, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Peter Gammons of MLB Network hears from a trusted scout that Choice has the bat speed, strength and athleticism to become a "monster" (Twitter link). Baseball America ranked the 21-year-old third among Oakland's prospects heading into the season.
- One GM says the Royals are so deep in talent that they can still be in it in 2013 if a couple of their top prospects miss, according to Gammons (on Twitter).
- Neftali Feliz has said he's most comfortable closing games, but Rangers GM Jon Daniels says he'll continue stretching the 2010 AL Rookie of the Year out to see if he can make it as a starter, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort-Worth Star Telegram (on Twitter).
- The Giants and last year's NL Rookie of the Year, Buster Posey, agreed to a one-year deal, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. He tweets that the deal is worth $575K. That's about $150K more than the Giants had to give him.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos tells Sportsnet.ca's Shi Davidi that Brett Lawrie has looked “very good.” The Blue Jays, who acquired Lawrie for Shaun Marcum over the winter, like the infielder’s work ethic, tools and drive.
Starting Pitchers Linked Entering 2011
Jeremy Guthrie, Matt Garza, Chad Billingsley and John Danks all went to arbitration for the first time before last season and all settled for contracts in the $3-4MM range. The four pitchers went to arbitration again this offseason and settled for contracts within the $5.75-$6.3MM range. A year from now, they will become points of reference for the class of pitchers just behind them (those currently entering their first seasons as arbitration eligible players). Here's a list of pitchers who could be compared to the quartet above after the 2011 season:
- Mike Pelfrey, $3.925MM in 2011 - Pelfrey already has a tremendous amount of big league experience and a fourth consecutive season of 30-plus starts could push his 2012 asking price past the $6.28MM Billingsley will earn in 2011, especially considering Pelfrey's high 2011 salary. Pelfrey doesn't have particularly impressive strikeout numbers or ERAs, however, which will help the Mets keep the right-hander's salary in check.
- Dallas Braden, $3.35MM in 2011 - Garza was working from the same base salary in 2010 and he earned a $2.6MM raise after logging 204 2/3 innings of 3.91 ERA ball in the AL East with a 2.4 K/BB ratio. If Braden wants to match Garza's raise, he'll have to earn it with another big year.
- Jair Jurrjens, $3.25MM in 2011 - Jurrjens is well-positioned to ask for a salary in the $6MM range next year if he returns to his 2008-09 level of productivity.
Guthrie, Garza, Billingsley and Danks all had relatively healthy, productive seasons in 2010, which kept their 2011 salaries within a $600K range. A poor performance would have disrupted the pattern and the same applies to this year's class. They have to pitch well and stay healthy to earn raises to the $6MM range. Meanwhile, others will have the chance to prove they belong in the same discussion as Pelfrey, Jurrjens and Braden if they have big years.
- Phil Hughes, $2.7MM in 2011 - Hughes, who has just one full season as a Major League starter, is starting from a lower base salary than the others, so he'd likely need a standout season to approach $6MM in 2012.
- Brandon Morrow, $2.3MM in 2011 - Morrow doesn't have the bulk numbers his peers do, so he's at a disadvantage. But he has flashed dominant stuff and if he continues pitching the way he did from June on last year, he could justify asking for a larger-than-usual raise.
Other starters, including Edinson Volquez and Kevin Slowey, are also entering their first seasons as arbitration eligible pitchers, but raises to the $6MM range seem extremely improbable given their current salaries and career numbers. The same goes for super two players Armando Galarraga, Kyle Kendrick, Ross Ohlendorf and Luke Hochevar.
Padres Express Interest In Bengie Molina
7:24pm: Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News spoke with Molina today and heard that he's definitely not retired (Twitter link). However, he won't play unless he gets a guaranteed deal at a respectable salary.
6:55pm: The Padres inquired on Molina and heard that he is retired, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (on Twitter).
6:23pm: Gregg Zaun retired mere hours ago, and the Padres are already after a former platoon partner of his. The San Diego front office reached out to Bengie Molina, according to Marty Caswell of XX 1090 in San Diego (on Twitter). However, Molina said he's not inclined to play and sounds retired.
Molina was talking to a couple of teams a month ago, though at the time he was unsure whether to accept their offers. “They're not offering what we want, for sure. I don’t know right now what’s going to happen," Molina told Newsday's Ken Davidoff. Molina is looking for significant playing time and $4MM or so in salary, which could be problematic since the Padres intend to make Nick Hundley their primary catcher and have less financial might than most teams.
The Astros just lost Jason Castro to injury so Molina has had a couple of potential destinations emerge this spring. MLBTR's Mark Polishuk took a close look at the Astros' catching options last week.
Felix Hernandez Remains Unavailable
Though the Mariners field occasional inquiries about the availability of their ace, GM Jack Zduriencik told Jon Heyman of SI.com that he has no interest in trading Felix Hernandez.
"He's not going anywhere,'' Zduriencik said. "We've got him. We'll keep him. We're not going to move him.''
Zduriencik says the Mariners are not about to consider trading Hernandez, since they’re trying to build a winner around their top starter. Hernandez, who allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings in his spring debut today, can block trades to ten teams and says he hopes to continue his career in Seattle (his no-trade list is composed of high-revenue teams to boost leverage). The 24-year-old is under team control through 2014 and will earn a base salary of $68MM over the course of the next four years.
The Yankees are on the right-hander’s list, though he appears to be open to playing for them. GM Brian Cashman called to express interest earlier in the winter, but Zduriencik said the sides haven’t talked about a Hernandez trade in months. “We'd be foolish to move him,'' Zduriencik said.
Cardinals Inclined To Pursue Bullpen Help
They just lost one of the best starters in the National League, but the Cardinals are eyeing relievers as they aim to restore pitching depth, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). The Cardinals, who lost Adam Wainwright to season-ending Tommy John surgery, are now more inclined to pursue a reliever than a starter.
GM John Mozeliak has said that he'll evaluate in-house options before pursuing pitching and maintained that talk of trades or signings is "still a little premature." The Cardinals' need for pitching became more pronounced when Chris Carpenter's hamstring started acting up last week. There's no timetable for his return at the moment.
MLBTR's Mike Axisa listed some potentially available starting pitchers last month.
The Oldest $100MM Players
Kevin Brown signed the first nine-figure deal in baseball history after the 1998 season. 33 at the time, Brown had just logged 257 innings for the NL Champion Padres, striking out 257 and posting a 2.38 ERA (164 ERA+). Brown provided the Dodgers with some elite seasons before moving to New York, where he disappointed in pinstripes.
In the decade-plus since Brown finalized his record deal, all 25 players to sign for $100MM or more have been younger than he was. Here's the complete list of $100MM players sorted by age, courtesy of MLBTR's Transaction Tracker:
- Kevin Brown, 33, signed a seven-year, $105MM deal on 12/12/1998.
- Alex Rodriguez, 32, signed a ten-year, $275MM deal on 12/13/2007.
- Cliff Lee, 32, signed a five-year, $120MM deal on 12/13/2010.
- Jayson Werth, 31, signed a seven-year, $126MM deal on 12/05/2010.
- Ken Griffey Jr., 30, signed a nine-year, $116.5MM deal on 2/11/2000.
- Jason Giambi, 30, signed a seven-year, $120MM deal on 12/18/2001.
- Alfonso Soriano, 30, signed an eight-year, $136MM deal on 11/20/2006.
- Carlos Lee, 30, signed a six-year, $100MM deal on 11/24/2006.
- Ryan Howard, 30, signed a five-year, $125MM extension on 4/26/2010.
- Matt Holliday, 29, signed a seven-year, $120MM deal on 1/7/2010.
- Carl Crawford, 29, signed a seven-year, $142MM deal on 12/8/2010.
- Mike Hampton, 28, signed an eight-year, $121MM deal on 12/12/2000.
- Manny Ramirez, 28, signed an eight-year, $160MM deal on 12/19/2000.
- Vernon Wells, 28, signed a seven-year, $126MM deal on 12/20/2006.
- Barry Zito, 28, signed a seven-year, $126MM deal on 12/29/2006.
- Johan Santana, 28, signed a six-year, $137.5MM deal on 2/2/2008.
- C.C. Sabathia, 28, signed a seven-year, $161MM deal on 12/20/2008.
- Mark Teixeira, 28, signed an eight-year, $180MM deal on 1/6/2009.
- Todd Helton, 27, signed a nine-year, $141.5MM deal on 3/1/2001.
- Carlos Beltran, 27, signed a seven-year, $119MM deal on 1/13/2005.
- Derek Jeter, 26, signed a ten-year, $189MM deal on 2/1/2001.
- Joe Mauer, 26, signed an eight-year, $184MM deal on 3/21/2010.
- Troy Tulowitzki, 26, signed a six-year, $119MM deal on 11/30/2010. For more on Tulo's deal click here.
- Alex Rodriguez, 25, signed a ten-year, $252MM deal on 12/1/2000.
- Albert Pujols, 24, signed a seven-year, $100MM deal on 2/19/2004.
- Miguel Cabrera, 24, signed an eight-year, $152.3MM deal on 3/24/2008.