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Archives for April 2012

Rosenthal On Hamels, Greinke, Cain, Kinsler

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The season is underway and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (video link) is back with Full Count..

  • Cole Hamels didn't set an Opening Day deadline in his contract talks, but if the Phillies want to hammer out a deal mid-season they'll have to make him a bold and aggressive offer.  Otherwise, the pitcher likely wouldn't listen midseason.  Matt Cain's new deal is the baseline for Hamels and unless they'll venture into Cliff Lee territory (five-years, $120MM), they probably shouldn't bother restarting the talks.
  • The Cain deal also puts the Brewers in a tough spot with Zack Greinke.  Cain has been much more consistent than Greinke in the last five years but he's seen a bit of a drop over the last two seasons.  The Brewers might want to wait to see more before offering $100MM+ plus, though his second-half last season was a sign of great things to come.
  • For the Giants, the Cain signing is a buffer against potentially losing Tim Lincecum.  Lincecum could cost the Giants upwards of $25MM a year, but Rosenthal says to keep two factors in mind.  First, the contracts of Aaron Rowand and Barry Zito will be off the books by the time Lincecum's next deal begins.  Secondly, the club's annual debt payments on AT&T Park – roughly $20MM a year – end after the 2017 season.
  • The Rangers have discussed four- and five- year deals with Ian Kinsler but aren't eager to give him free agent money when he's under control for two more years.  The danger for Texas is that the Yankees could potentially sign Robinson Cano to a monster deal, effectively raising Kinsler's price.  Both players are eligible for free agency after the 2013 season.

West Links: Lincecum, Giants, Rangers, Moyer, Angels

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Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics is the current MLB home run leader with … two. He hit this mammoth shot against Jason Vargas and the Mariners last night. Here's the latest from baseball's two West divisions…

  • The Giants’ ability to hold on to Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner down the line depends largely on having prospects work out as low-cost, high-impact players, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels expressed some concern about his team's bench when speaking to Calvin Watkins of ESPN Dallas yesterday. "Listen, no club is flawless," he said, "and not to suggest that's our only one, [but] we got some guys on the bench that have some ability … if it's something we need to address we've shown in the past we will."
  • Jamie Moyer will start for the Rockies today, but GM Dan O'Dowd told Troy Renck of The Denver Post that having the 49-year-old left-hander on the roster is about more than on-field production. "He brings a set of intangibles that will really benefit our club and our pitching staff. He loves to share information," said the GM.
  • The Angels could make the playoffs without Albert Pujols, says Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. He says the club has enough talent "that even a slow start by their superstar won’t doom them."

Outrighted To Triple-A: Luis Valbuena

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Let's keep track of the day's outright assignments right here…

  • The Cubs have outrighted Luis Valbuena to Triple-A, the team announced. Chicago claimed the 26-year-old infielder off waivers from the Blue Jays earlier this week. Valbuena hit .302/.372/.476 with 17 homers in 472 plate appearances for the Indians' Triple-A affiliate last year.

Mets Extend Jon Niese

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The Mets have officially signed left-hander Jonathon Niese to a five-year extension with two club options, the team announced. The deal is worth $25.5MM, and the two options could push the total value to $46MM. Niese is an O'Connell Sports Management client.

The deal cover Niese's final pre-arbitration season, his three arbitration seasons and at least one season of free agency. He will earn $1.02MM this year, $3MM next year, $5MM in 2014, $7MM in 2015, and $9MM in 2016. The pair of club options offers the Mets the opportunity to keep Niese in New York for two additional free agent years.

Niese, 25, has a 4.39 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 370 2/3 career innings. He posted career-best strikeout (7.9 K/9) and walk (2.5 BB/9) rates during a promising 2011 campaign, but didn't pitch after enduring an intercostal strain on August 23rd.

This extension represents the biggest contract the Mets have agreed to under GM Sandy Alderson. It resembles deals signed by starters Derek Holland, Clay Buchholz and Trevor Cahill. However, Niese obtains less guaranteed money than Buchholzand Cahill, who had considerably lower career ERAs when they signed.

ESPN New York's Adam Rubin first reported that the two sides agree to the deal and later added details (on Twitter). Newday's David Lennon provided the annual breakdown (on Twitter). Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Poll: Baseball’s Most Improved Team

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This past offseason was a historic one, at least in terms of the contracts signed. We saw two players change teams thanks to $200MM+ contracts and a total of eight deals worth $100MM+ handed out. A number of young pitchers changed addresses in blockbuster trades, and the new collective bargaining agreement drastically changed free agent compensation and the amateur talent markets.

Now that all 30 clubs have officially opened their season, let’s take a second to look back at the offseason to see which teams helped themselves the most. Our various trackers – Transactions, Free Agents, Extensions, Arbitration — are at your disposable with all sorts of filters to help narrow your search.

Which team improved the most this offseason?
Angels 29.14% (3,748 votes)
Marlins 15.19% (1,953 votes)
Another team not listed 14.26% (1,834 votes)
Nationals 11.11% (1,429 votes)
Reds 8.13% (1,045 votes)
Tigers 7.41% (953 votes)
Cardinals 3.96% (509 votes)
Yankees 3.05% (392 votes)
Rangers 1.47% (189 votes)
Phillies 1.46% (188 votes)
Diamondbacks 1.39% (179 votes)
Brewers 1.30% (167 votes)
Rays 1.29% (166 votes)
Red Sox 0.85% (109 votes)
Total Votes: 12,861

Lucchino: Red Sox Willing To Add Payroll

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The Red Sox opened the season with the third largest payroll in baseball according to USA Today, but they are open to going to even higher under the right circumstances. Team president Larry Lucchino told Jim Duquette and Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio that they're willing to add payroll to improve the pitching staff even if it takes them over the luxury tax threshold.

"I don’t think there’s any question about that," said Lucchino. "We’ve been above the threshold the last couple of years … Our goal is to field a team with more homegrown players, fewer free agents, and to have a more manageable payroll down the road. But if you’re asking about this year, we understand that each year has to be taken on its own and this year our payroll is going to be, I’d hate to make a guess, but it’ll be well over the $178 million dollar threshold."

Boston opened the season with a payroll just north of $173MM, but that number only includes the 25-man active roster and players on the disabled list. The full 40-man roster and player benefits are counted towards the luxury tax.

"It’s important to us to get under the threshold when we can, depending on when the circumstances will allow us to do so," added Lucchino. “Ultimately we’d love to field the team we need to field with fewer dollars, if that’s possible at the major league level. We’re always going to invest a tremendous amount of money into scouting and player development because that’s the secret."

The Yankees have also spoken about getting under the luxury tax threshold in the coming years, a move that would reset their luxury tax rate and qualify them to receive a rebate of a portion of their revenue sharing payments. The Red Sox would receive the same benefits by getting under the threshold.

The obvious target for pitching help would be Roy Oswalt, who remains a free agent. The Red Sox could also absorb money in a trade once the market begins to develop in a few weeks. An impending free agent like Jeremy Guthrie or Ryan Dempster could become a target, but that is just my speculation.

East Notes: Hamels, Nationals, Detwiler, Orioles

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While the Phillies have some interest in locking Cole Hamels up long-term, but it would appear that Matt Cain’s $112.5MM extension complicated things for them earlier this week.  Where do things stand now between the Phillies and the left-hander?  More on that and other items out of the Eastern divisions..

  • Thirty days have passed since the Phillies last had contract talks with Hamels, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter).  The club tried to lock the left-hander down to a deal similar to Jered Weaver’s late last season (five-years, $85MM) but were rebuffed.
  • MLB.com’s Bill Ladson wasn’t surprised to see the Nationals demote John Lannan to Triple-A Syracuse while keeping Ross Detwiler on the 25-man roster.  Just two days after the Nats traded for Gio Gonzalez, a baseball source told Ladson that the club wanted to move Lannan as they felt that Detwiler was ready to breakout.
  • Orioles’ 2006 first-round pick Billy Rowell has agreed to give pitching a try after spending six seasons in the minors as a corner infielder, tweets Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com (via Twitter).  The former ninth-overall pick hit just .227/.304/.244 in 41 games with the O’s Double-A affiliate last season.

NL West Notes: Giants, Villalona, Padres, Dodgers

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After getting caught up on the details of the Dodgers sale earlier this evening, let's take a look at other news out of the National League West..

  • Giants Vice President Bobby Evans says that Angel Villalona is once again on the restricted list, according to Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com (via Twitter).  This leaves San Fran with 39 player on the 40-man roster, making things easier if they need to purchase Joaquin Arias' contract or tack on a pitcher (Twitter link).  Villalona, 21, is facing legal issues in his native Dominican Republic.
  • A source familiar with negotiations told Dan Hayes of the North County Times (via Twitter) that the Padres' stake in FOX Sports San Diego is 20%, not the 51% figure that has been previously reported. A deal will likely be announced next week between Tuesday and Thursday.
  • Scouts have told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (video link) throughout Spring Training that the Dodgers are a sleeper team in 2012.  With new ownership, many believe that they'll be able to address their team needs with a deal prior to the trade deadline.  Rosenthal also gives the Giants a thumbs-up for their extension of Matt Cain.

Latest On Dodgers Sale

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More details have surfaced about the term of the Dodgers' sale to a group of investors including basketball legend Magic Johnson.  All news is courtesy of Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, via Twitter..

  • The final purchase price of the Dodgers amounts to $1.588 billion in cash with $412MM in debt assumption, Shaikin tweets.  CFO Peter Wilhelm says that the new group will assume no debt beyond that $412MM figure (Twitter link).
  • Ned Colletti is listed as the club's General Manager in the sale documents (link).  For the time being, Wilhelm is staying as treasurer and CFO (link).
  • Former owner Frank McCourt and vice chairman Jeff Ingram will resign, while language in the deal forbids buyers from "speech that disparages, criticizes or is injurious to the reputation of" McCourt.(Twitter links).
  • In filing, Dodgers attorneys called the sale "a remarkable outcome."  The team filed for bankruptcy on June 27th as they declared that they were short of cash to make payroll on June 30th, Shaikin tweets.
  • The Blackstone Group, the global investment firm that handled the sale for McCourt, says that 15 parties submitted bids for the team (via Twitter).

Rangers Re-Sign Brad Hawpe

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The Rangers re-signed Brad Hawpe to a minor league contract, Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com reports (Twitter link). Hawpe, who was released by the Rangers last week, will open the season with Double-A Frisco.

Hawpe posted a .231/.301/.344 line in 216 plate appearances with the Padres in 2011, playing first base and right field. The 32-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow last June. He owns a .284/.380/.493 line in 2,678 career plate appearances against right-handed pitching, so he's a possible weapon against righties.

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