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Olney On Blue Jays, Epstein, Dodgers, Padres

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The Blue Jays have J.P. Arencibia catching at the Major League level and top prospect Travis d'Arnaud could be MLB-ready within the year. It seems like a good problem to have for Toronto, but other teams view the Blue Jays’ depth as a possible opportunity, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports… 

  • Teams have asked about Arencibia and d’Arnaud in trade talks, Olney writes. However, it’s very possible that the Blue Jays will keep both unless they’re completely overwhelmed by an offer. D’Arnaud is slated for more minor league seasoning while Jeff Mathis backs Arencibia up, so the Blue Jays don’t have to make a decision any time soon.
  • Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has a bonus in his contract that resembles the conclusion bonus he had with the Red Sox, Olney writes. Epstein also has standard bonuses for team success.
  • Steve Cohen made an impressive presentation in his bid for the Dodgers, Olney hears.
  • The Padres love what they see in outfield prospect Rymer Liriano.

Offseason In Review: Cincinnati Reds

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The Reds are going for it in 2012 after acquiring Mat Latos, Ryan Madson and Sean Marshall this past offseason.

Major League Signings

Notable Minor League Signings

Brett Tomko, Jeff Francis, Willie Harris, Dioner Navarro, Ron Mahay, Clay Zavada, Kanekoa Texeira, Sean Gallagher, Chad Reineke.

Trades and Claims

Extensions

Notable Losses

When the offseason began, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes identified GM Walt Jocketty’s primary challenge as “trading for an affordable front-line starter.” Mission accomplished. 

The Reds obtained Mat Latos in a five player trade than sent Yonder Alonso, Edinson Volquez, Brad Boxberger and Yasmani Grandal to San Diego and it’s hard to imagine a better fit for Cincinnati. Though he just turned 24, Latos has already completed a pair of standout seasons with the Padres. He isn't yet arbitration eligible and will remain under team control through 2015.

Jocketty didn’t stop there, either. He added lefty reliever Sean Marshall in a deal that looks equally promising for both the Cubs and the Reds. And when the market for Ryan Madson caved in, Jocketty struck, obtaining the reliever’s services with a one-year, $8.5MM deal. Madson’s contract looks like a bargain in light of Jonathan Papelbon’s deal and, best of all, there's no chance it will handcuff the Reds long-term.

However, Jocketty locked up Marshall, Nick Masset and Jose Arredondo on multiyear extensions, so he doesn't seem to mind committing to relievers. The Marshall deal is understandable — he’s about as good as they get from the left side and could be closing games by 2013 — but the upside on the latter two contracts is limited. The Reds took on additional risk without obtaining free agent seasons or option years, so I much prefer these deals from the perspective of Masset and Arredondo.

It’d be difficult to fault Reds fans for lamenting the unresolved contract statuses of Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto. Phillips, who hits free agency after the 2012 season, says he's open to a long-term deal and the Reds have interest in extending Votto, who is on track to hit free agency (and obtain a Prince Fielder-like mega-contract) two offseasons from now. Votto's one of the game's top hitters, but in a market the size of Cincinnati, accommodating a $23-24MM player would require creative accounting and roster construction.

The long-term uncertainty surrounding the Reds' two most recognizable players shouldn’t diminish the optimism in Cincinnati. Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder left the NL Central for the American League, and suddenly the division is up for grabs. 

Offense wasn't a problem for the 2011 Reds; the World Champion Cardinals were the lone NL team to outscore Cincinnati a year ago. Most of their top position players are back, though Ramon Hernandez signed a free agent contract with the Rockies. If all goes according to plan, production at catcher won’t drop off this year, when highly-touted rookie Devin Mesoraco will get most of the reps behind the plate. There's room for improvement on defense, since Hernandez is viewed as below-average with the glove.

Though Chris Heisey has 26 homers in 534 career plate appearances, the Reds brought in the right-handed hitting Ryan Ludwick and the left-handed hitting Willie Harris to provide depth and competition. Heisey's ability play all three outfield positions enabled the Reds to send Dave Sappelt to the Cubs without having to worry about backing up Stubbs. No one's counting on Ludwick to hit 37 home runs again and if he provides some offense against left-handed pitching in a part-time role, he'll meet expectations.

The club let Edgar Renteria leave as a free agent, content to rely on the sure-handed Paul Janish and rookie Zack Cozart at shortstop. Given the cost of the few available free agent shortstops who would have represented an upgrade for the Reds, standing pat at short made sense. Most contenders won't be relying so heavily on rookies at up-the-middle positions, however.

After parting with Wood and Volquez in trades, the Reds found themselves short on MLB-caliber starters. The signing of Jeff Francis topped MLBTR's list of the offseason's best minor league deals. He's no front-of-the-rotation starter, but the southpaw adds balance to a righty-heavy rotation at minimal risk. In fact Jocketty minimized risk throughout the entire offseason, preferring one-year contracts and minor league invites to the multiyear deals that threaten to become albatrosses.

On paper, the Reds strengthened their big league team over the course of the winter. Jocketty added a frontline starter, two of the game’s best relievers and a collection of complementary pieces, improving their chances of winning a weakened NL Central in the process. Team-friendly extensions for Phillips and Votto would have capped the offseason off perfectly, but the coming season promises to be an exciting one nonetheless. The Reds can legitimately hope to reclaim the NL Central title in 2012.

Quick Hits: Cain, Hamels, Aybar, K-Rod, Escobar

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Happy birthday to Kevin Youkilis (33), Jon Jay (27) and Leo Nun…er, make that Juan Oviedo (30).  This is the first time Oviedo has been able to publicly celebrate his actual birthday in several years, as he kept a listed birthday of August 14, 1983 while living under the Leo Nunez identity.

Here's some news from around the major leagues as we head into Friday…

  • Matt Cain's agent Rick Landrum tells John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle that "we'll never give up hope" that Cain and the Giants can work out a contract extension before Opening Day.  There hasn't been much progress in recent negotiations but the two sides "remain open for business," as Shea writes.
  • In addition to Cain, there have been no new developments over the last week in Cole Hamels' extension talks with the Phillies, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
  • Also from Olney (via Twitter), he hears from evaluators that there isn't much trade talk overall around the majors.  Olney predicts things will probably pick up in 10 days or so, once teams start to sort out their needs for their Opening Day rosters.
  • Angels GM Jerry Dipoto has had at least two face-to-face meetings since Monday with Erick Aybar's representatives, reports Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles.  Aybar is believed to be looking for an extension of at least five years.  Dipoto recently said that he thought an extension with Aybar was possible, if not necessarily by Opening Day.
  • The Padres were discussing a one-year, $9MM contract with Francisco Rodriguez over the winter before the club saw an opportunity to acquire Huston Street, reports Scott Miller of CBS Sports. San Diego also talked to free agent Frank Francisco and asked the Athletics about Andrew Bailey.
  • The Royals' extension with Alcides Escobar is the team's latest step in locking up its young talent, reports MLB.com's Dick Kaegel.  "[Owners] Dan and David Glass are determined to keep as many of these young players together as we can, knowing full well that it has to fit within our salary structure and our payroll going forward," Moore said. "It's going to get a little sticky for us, it's going to get a little hairy as we get into 2014-15-16."  Moore declined to comment on the progress of contract talks with another of Kansas City's young stars, Alex Gordon. 
  • The well-traveled Octavio Dotel shares some of his road stories with ESPN's Jayson Stark.  Dotel will set a new Major League record once he plays his first game for the Tigers this season by becoming the first player to suit up for 13 different teams.
  • "I feel comfortable we finally got to a level [where we] can be competitive every single year," Tigers owner Mike Ilitch told media (including MLB.com's Jason Beck) during a visit to Spring Training today.  "That's always been my goal. I feel good about that. It would be hard to screw that up once you get there. You tell yourself you want to stay there now."
  • The Orioles could be looking for backup catching help if Taylor Teagarden's back injury lingers into the season, reports CSN Baltimore's Rich Dubroff.  Veteran Ronny Paulino is Matt Wieters' backup for now, but Paulino only just arrived in camp due to a visa issue.

NL East Notes: Reyes, Utley, Vizcaino, Perez

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Here's the latest from the NL East…

  • Jose Reyes told reporters (including WFUV's Amit Badlani) that he signed with the Marlins because of the team's potential to contend, not just because of the money, as recently stated by Marlins president David Samson.
  • Chase Utley's chronic right knee tendinitis "is not going away.  More than likely, it might never go away," says Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told reporters, including CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury.  Utley has yet to play during Spring Training and the Phillies are known to be looking for infield depth for not only Utley, but also Ryan Howard and Placido Polanco.  Prospect Freddy Galvis has seen a lot of time at second this spring, and Manuel thinks he could potentially handle the position should Utley miss significant time during the season.
  • Braves right-hander Arodys Vizcaino will visit with Dr. James Andrews on Monday, reports MLB.com's Mark Bowman.  Vizcaino has been suffering from ulnar neuritis in his right elbow and could potentially face Tommy John surgery if Andrews feels the ailment is serious enough.  Vizcaino is one of Atlanta's several top-tier pitching prospects and was recently ranked as the 40th-best prospect in the sport by Baseball America.
  • The Nationals optioned Eury Perez to Double-A today but some front office officials think he could be eventually be their answer in center field, reports Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.  Adam Jones, B.J. Upton and Gerardo Parra are just a few of the many names that have been connected to Washington's search for a long-term center fielder.  The 21-year-old Perez is coming off a .283/.319/.321 season for Class A Potomac in 2011 but he turned a lot of heads with an impressive Spring Training performance.
  • For more Nationals news, check out this collection of Nats links from earlier today.

NL Central Notes: Chapman, Francis, Punto, Heredia

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Let's continue our tour of the divisions with news from the NL Central…

  • "The Reds’ handling of Aroldis Chapman is beginning to resemble Joba Chamberlain 2.0," writes Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan.  Cincinnati is leaning towards using Chapman as a reliever this season but Passan argues that a pitcher with Chapman's potential should be given the chance to start and not worry about being shuttled between the rotation and the bullpen.  Another note from the piece is that Chapman's velocity is down to the 92-95 mph range this spring, but Chapman has been pleased with his improved command and his new pitch, a splitter.
  • Like Chapman, Jeff Francis has pitched well this spring but may not find a spot in the Reds rotation, prompting ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter) to consider Francis an "affordable alternative for teams in the John Lannan hunt."  Francis signed a minor league deal with the Reds that contains an opt-out clause for March 28 that he could exercise if he doesn't think he'll find a job in Cincinnati.  (In regards to Lannan, he could be off the trade market altogether given Chien-Ming Wang's hamstring injury today.)
  • Nick Punto told reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) that his top two offseason options were the Cardinals and Red Sox, but the Cards never made him a contract offer.
  • Astros minor leaguer Angel Heredia has been suspended for 50 games following a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs, reports The Associated Press.  Heredia, a right-handed pitcher, played for Houston's Dominican Summer League team.

Red Sox Links: Oswalt, Blanton, Beltran

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It was on this day in 2000 that six Boston pitchers (including starter Pedro Martinez) combined to throw a perfect game against the Blue Jays in a Spring Training matchup.  While perfect games in the spring obviously aren't nearly as prestigious as those during the regular season, it was still an opportunity for Martinez to finally be involved in a recognized perfecto.  Martinez threw nine perfect innings against the Padres on June 3, 1995 but his performance isn't considered a perfect game by MLB rules since (shades of Harvey Haddix) the 0-0 game went into extra innings and Martinez allowed a hit to the first batter of the 10th inning.

Here's the latest from Fenway….

  • The Red Sox have "their radar up on Roy Oswalt," writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe as part of a reader mailbag.  Carfardo thinks if Oswalt wants to pitch for Boston, the club will sign him.  Oswalt was reportedly holding out for a team closer to his Mississippi home but recently said he's willing to pitch anywhere, though perhaps not until midseason.  Also in Cafardo's piece, he says the Sox aren't going to make a move for a pitcher until they see what they have in Daniel Bard and internal fifth starter candidates like Felix Doubront.
  • Scouts from the Red Sox and Orioles have joined the contingent of scouts at Joe Blanton's spring starts, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.  The Phillies are reportedly willing to pay up to $2MM of Blanton's $8MM salary as part of a trade, but Boston makes another move, even $6MM might be too much for the Sox, who are trying to keep payroll down to avoid a big luxury tax hit.
  • Carlos Beltran was interested in joining the Red Sox this winter, reports Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal, but ultimately signed with the Cardinals since Boston's focus was on working out a deal with David Ortiz.  "We talked a little bit, and they had interest," Beltran said. "They were trying to get something done first with David. At the end of the day, I wasn't going to wait until they got that done."  As MacPherson points out, it may have been a moot point since the Sox wouldn't have been able to afford Beltran once Ortiz accepted salary arbitration.

NL West Notes: Dodgers Ownership, Moorad, D’Backs

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The Giants were the first NL West team up in MLBTR's 2011-12 Offseason In Review series.  Tim Dierkes examined the Giants' winter moves earlier today as we continue to review every club's offseason in the weeks leading up to Opening Day.

Here's the latest from the NL West…

  • Steve Cohen may be the favorite to take ownership of the Dodgers, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.  Cohen and fellow bidder Stan Kroenke are the richest of the four remaining ownership groups bidding for the team, though Cohen has seemingly made more connections within MLB and Kroenke's bid "could be complicated by [a] cross-ownership rule from another sport" since he also owns the NFL's St. Louis Rams, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and the NBA's Denver Nuggets.
  • Perhaps as a way of combating Cohen and Kroenke's cash-on-hand advantage, the Dodgers ownership group led by Magic Johnson has added Peter Guber to its rank, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.  Guber co-owns the NBA's Golden State Warriors and his Mandalay Entertainment group owns and manages seven minor league baseball franchises.
  • Jeff Moorad's attempt to buy the Padres is an "uphill battle," a source tells Jon Heyman.  As per Moorad's deal with current Padres owner John Moores, Moorad has two years remaining to try to complete the purchase but may not be able to win the votes needed from other owners.  White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick are rumored to be against Moorad's bid.
  • Dennis Tankersley hasn't pitched in the majors since 2004 and hasn't played any pro ball since 2008 but is attempting a comeback with the Padres this spring, writes MLB.com's Corey Brock.
  • Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) that he is still looking to add depth at the middle infield and catcher positions.  Towers also said that teams have expressed an interest in Gerardo Parra via their scouts talking to Arizona's scouts, though Towers reiterated that he doesn't want to trade the outfielder.  In January, I outlined why the D'Backs want to hold to Parra even though the Jason Kubel signing pushed him out of their lineup.

Cubs Notes: Epstein Deal, Garza, Jackson, Wood

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The Cubs made some cuts today, sending Jason Jaramillo to minor league camp and optioning Alberto Cabrera, Jeff Beliveau, John Gaub, Josh Vitters, Junior Lake and Matt Szczur to the minors. Here are some Cubs-related news items as the countdown to Opening Day continues…

  • Right-hander Aaron Kurcz has been told that he is going to the Red Sox as part of the Theo Epstein compensation package, reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).  Kurcz, an 11th round pick in the 2010 amateur draft, posted a 3.28 ERA and a 9.9 K/9 rate in 32 games for Class A Daytona last season.  After months of negotiation, the Cubs and Sox agreed to righty Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later (Kurcz) as the price for the year remaining on Epstein's Boston contract.  The Red Sox still need to send a player to the Cubs to complete the deal.
  • The Cubs will take the time to get to know Matt Garza before determining whether to sign him long-term or trade him, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. The right-hander's on track to hit free agency following the 2013 season.
  • There's no everyday job for Cubs outfield prospect Brett Jackson, but he has impressed his new manager nonetheless, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. "It’s been pretty impressive, every part of his game," manager Dale Sveum said. Jackson figures to open the season in the minors and work on his approach at the plate.
  • Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune wonders what the Cubs will do with left-hander Travis Wood if he doesn't make the rotation. The Cubs could put Wood in the bullpen or send him to the minor leagues. 
  • Sveum added that Rule 5 selection Lendy Castillo has been "throwing great," Sullivan writes.

Rangers Notes: Ogando, Profar, International Signings

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The Rangers made a minor trade earlier today, sending Kelvin De La Cruz to the Indians in exchange for cash considerations.  De La Cruz was a Ranger for less than a month, as he was originally acquired by Texas in another deal with Cleveland on February 21.

Some more news from the two-time defending AL champions…

  • In an interview Ben & Skin of ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM radio, Jon Daniels said that the Rangers are better served by having Alexi Ogando in the bullpen, though the GM admitted that Ogando probably deserves a starting job after his solid performance in the rotation last year.  No firm decision has yet been made, however, about Ogando's status.  ESPN Dallas' Richard Durrett collects some of the notable topics in Daniels' interview.
  • Shortstop prospect Jurickson Profar may see some time playing second base, Rangers director of minor league operations Jake Krug tells Bryan Dolgin of the Rangers Magazine radio show.  The 19-year-old Profar was ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the game by Baseball America's 2012 minor league rankings.  Giving him time at second base would give Texas a possible option if Ian Kinsler can't be signed to an extension, though it seem a waste of Profar's defensive skills to move him away from short.
  • The Rangers spent the most on any team on international bonuses last year, according to a report by Baseball America.  The Rangers spent an estimated $12.83MM (not counting Japanese professionals or Cuban defectors) on international signings, more than $5MM ahead of the second-place team on the list, the Blue Jays. 
  • Texas accounts for the top two spots (Nomar Mazara and Ronald Guzman) on another Baseball America list, chronicling the top 30 international bonuses from last year.
  • Brad Hawpe and Conor Jackson are both trying to keep their Major League careers going in the Rangers camp, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.  Hawpe and Jackson are both signed to minor league deals and are fighting for jobs on the Rangers' bench.  "It's hard to imagine either player going to Triple-A," Sullivan writes, so Hawpe and/or Jackson could find themselves waived by March 30.

Royals Looking For Veteran Catching Depth

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With Salvador Perez and Manny Pina both sidelined by knee injuries, the Royals are in the market for a veteran catcher, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  Dutton hears there is "growing urgency" to find a catcher to play alongside Brayan Pena (the only healthy catcher on the team's 40-man roster) until Perez is able to return to action.

Ivan Rodriguez, Craig Tatum, Corky Miller and Wil Nieves are cited as Dutton as potential targets.  All are right-handed hitters who could pair with the switch-hitting Pena (who hits better against righties, only still at only a .676 OPS) behind the plate, though clearly defense and game-calling would be the Royals' focus rather than trying to find a big bat.

Perez, who recently signed a five-year extension with Kansas City, suffered a meniscus tear on Tuesday and will undergo surgery tomorrow to determine the severity of the injury.  Pina will be out until the middle of May after tearing cartilage in his right knee in February.

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