Here are some notes from around the majors as we head into Friday evening…
- ESPN's Jayson Stark looks back at the offseason, surveying 20 baseball personnel people about which teams made the best and worst moves of the winter. A sample: the Phillies' deal with Jonathan Papelbon was judged to be the offseason's worst free agent signing.
- About 10 scouts attended Scott Kazmir's workout session today, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter links). The southpaw threw between 86-89 mph, with his top pitch reportedly hitting 91 mph by one scout's measurements.
- The Mets aren't interested in Kazmir "at this time," a source tells Newsday's David Lennon. According to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, the Mets didn't send a scout to see Kazmir throw, though on Wednesday a "high ranking person" with the Mets said they would have someone in attendance (both Twitter links).
- The Braves haven't begun extension talks with catcher Brian McCann, reports David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2012 is McCann's last season under contract, though Atlanta holds a $12MM option on him for 2013 that looks like a strong bet to be exercised. O'Brien thinks the Braves could wait until next winter to begin negotiations.
- Padres owner Jeff Moorad and GM Josh Byrnes are both very pleased with the club's offseason, reports Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
- The Athletics seem focused on acquiring young talent this offseason, but Casey Tefertiller of Baseball America notes that some of these prospects are being blocked by Oakland's veteran signings.
Maybe Kazmir could become a knuckleball pitcher.
we’re hoping Wakefield will take a “consultant” job with us and teach Zito the knuckler…
*contract
The A’s did just pick up Cespedes (young talent), and they always seem to do that.. and then trade them away. Granted the AL West isn’t easy to compete in with the Rangers and Angels.
“with his top pitch reportedly hitting 91 mph by one scout’s measurements.”
From what I heard about Kazmir before today, I think that scout needs to recalibrate his radar gun.
another had him at 86-87 topping at 89 which is still up from where it was
Charlie O’Finley had some terrific quotes when he owned the A’s and one of his best was regarding ex-FB pitcher Joe Coleman when Oakland acquired him in ’79.. Joe was a serious power pitcher in the late 60’s and early 70’s, but had burned his arm totally out by the time Oakland had gotten him and couldn’t throw at all hardly.. Sound familiar?
Anyway.. O’Finley grew so tired of seeing Coleman getting rocked each time he took the mound, he stated in the press “He couldn’t break a pane of glass with his fb” and Kaz is in the same situation here. Coleman had had a pretty good career up to that date and thrown well over 2k IP, even won 20 games a couple of times.
Kaz just has serious problem and it’s time to retire, or learn to live throwing rubbish.. The days of being a power pitcher (slider/fb) are gone.
i can’t wait until yankee fans start talking about McCann the way they did Mauer
As a braves fan I have to say he wont be a career Braves unless he gets injured
i think he will be a career brave. i can’t imagine him on another team
“He will be a Career Brave because I can’t imagine him on another team”. Yeah That makes sense, Pujols says “hi”.
Don’t get me wrong, Now that I live in Georgia, I would love for McCann to stay with the Braves. But my first team will always be the Yankees, so I kinda like the idea :)
Its tough to see him with another team but I could see Atlanta offering him a 3 year deal for like $15M each year. After that Bethancourt should be ready and since he is significantly younger will probably force Mac out.
Bethancourt is on the road to being ready to take over for the 2014 season…the same year that Mac isn’t under contract anymore at the moment.
Why would McCann take that deal? Forget that he’s a C and look at his offensive numbers. BOS/NYY would easily outbid that contract and make him a DH.
Like others have already posted, he may be willing to give a discount to the Braves. 3/45 wouldn’t cut it though, I agree.
Assuming Bethancourt’s bat continues to progress but is still a year or two away, I can see McCann accepting a one or two year extension though.
Yeah the braves wont be able to keep. With one of the top catching prospects in there minor league system, I will say that 2013 will be his last season with the braves. #bravesfan
Top 10 catcher, yes but not top 5. He’s similar to Valle of Phils.
Bethancourt’s only question is his bat. He has started showing his bat recently though too.
Offensive catchers are so rare.
So are catchers living up to $80-100M contracts.
Hasn’t there only been one catcher to get a contract like that?
Before Mauer, I think Posada’s 52 million dollar deal was most expensive.
the guy hasn’t been to AA yet. Everyone knows that Double A is a huge transition and can make or break a player. Remember Cody Johnson? I rest my case lol
I don’t know which young players are truly being blocked in Oakland. Cepedes is 26/Reddick 24. Their AAAA failures (to date) Carter 25, Taylor 26, Barton 26, Kila, 27 and Allen aren’t in the future plans and all but Taylor have a chance to compete with the Barton at 1B. It just sounds like more of the usual whining and not understanding what the Beane is doing.
reddick is blocked (unless they give him a starting job over smith/gomes), same with green, cowgill, taylor, and possibly choice.
he may also mean in the rotation with the signing of colon, but in that case, being blocked is a good thing because all of our acquisitions except milone still need a little more time to develop
also, as of right now, there’s no long term solution at first base in our minor leagues, so barton, kila, and allen are in the future plans
edit: i also forgot, an under the radar prospect, cedric hunter, who still has plenty of potential
Moorad is NOT the owner of the Padres. If I was John Moores I’d get rid of Moorad and auction the team like McCourt. Take your billion on the auction block and kick Moorad out.
At this point, Kazmir’s mom wouldn’t even show up to watch him pitch.
If McCann played a position besides catcher I think he would be a lock for career Bravesdom, but I could see him spending several years of his 30s as a DH in the AL. That said, I would love to see the Braves lock him up long term. I don’t think any players in baseball identify with the team they play for more than Brian McCann. I would be surprised if he didn’t join the club in some other capacity (possibly as manager — I think he would be great at it) once his playing career is over.
I love McCann, but he’s in line for a big pay day, and as you point out, his talents could be maximized in the AL, especially knowing Bethancourt is proving like a great replacement by the time he goes to free agency.
I wish him the best of luck, but in my opinion, it’s in the Braves best interest to let him walk if he wants market value — and he deserves market value. There’ll always be a place for him to coach in some capacity, but he’s got a lot of playing let in him.
I’m just looking forward to a catcher that can throw out more than 25% of base stealers.
Can’t say I’m shocked that contract extension talks haven’t started with McCann. They haven’t even started talks with Bourn who will be a FA at the end of this year and the most likely candidate to replace him is further off than McCann’s (if he didn’t re-sign) and won’t be ready until probably the 2015 season (ala Matt Lipka).
Kazmir didnt hit 90 in that session. Topped out at about 89. Sat about 86-87. Encouraging compared to his velocity in the past, but by no means good.