Non-Tenders Contributing With New Teams
Most non-tenders don’t come back to haunt their former clubs, but they definitely have the potential to do so. Valuable players such as Alfredo Aceves, Russell Martin and Edwin Encarnacion have been non-tendered in recent years, to name a few.
Every winter teams non-tender players for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the clubs would rather risk losing the players to rival teams than go through the potentially expensive arbitration process. In other cases, teams don't have 40-man roster spots to spare or they view players as injury risks.
Teams non-tendered 29 players last offseason and a handful of them have added value for their current organizations. Here’s a look at some 2011 non-tenders who are contributing so far in 2012 (minimum 10 innings pitched or 25 plate appearances):
- Jose Mijares, Royals (non-tendered by the Twins) – The 27-year-old has a 2.45 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 14 2/3 innings for the Royals. Mijares could become a midseason trade candidate, as teams are sure to be seeking left-handed relievers this summer.
- Luke Scott, Rays (non-tendered by the Orioles) – You can't fault the Orioles for non-tendering Scott, who struggled through shoulder problems in 2011 and would have earned $6.4MM or more through arbitration. But the Rays are enjoying his power: seven homers and a .238/.296/.514 batting line.
- Joe Saunders, Diamondbacks (non-tendered by the Diamondbacks) – The Diamondbacks non-tendered Saunders, then re-signed him to a one-year deal. He has rewarded them with a 3.43 ERA through 44 2/3 innings.
- Mike Baxter, Mets (non-tendered by the Mets) – The Mets removed Baxter from the 40-man roster at the non-tender deadline before re-signing him to a minor league deal a few days later. He has a .990 OPS as a corner outfielder through his first 31 plate appearances of the season.
- Jeff Keppinger, Rays (non-tendered by the Giants) – The versatile Keppinger has appeared at first, second and third base while posting a .291/.321/.405 batting line with his new team. Manager Joe Maddon finds playing time for Keppinger when the Rays are up against left-handed pitching.
Quick Hits: Balfour, A’s, Twins, Plouffe, Cardinals
Links as the weekend comes to a close..
- A's reliever Grant Balfour is less than thrilled about losing his job as closer, writes Jeff Fletcher for MLB.com. Balfour has drawn considerable interest from teams around baseball this season and Ben Nicholson-Smith recently looked at what Balfour could net Oakland in a trade.
- Twins utility man Trevor Plouffe has been struggling as of late and could wind up as a roster casualty if things do not pick up, writes Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com. Chris Parmelee is also struggling at the plate but has minor league options remaining, unlike Plouffe.
- Alyson Footer of the Astros (via Twitter) felt that the Cardinals dodged a financial bullet when Albert Pujols signed with the Angels.
Mets Likely to Offer Wright A Long-Term Deal
The Mets are quietly preparing to offer David Wright a long-term contract extension at some point this year, perhaps as soon as this summer, a baseball official briefed on the Mets' thinking told Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal. Three weeks ago, the third baseman told reporters that he has yet to discuss a contract extension with the club.
Wright, 29, is making $15MM this season and has a club option for 2013 worth $16MM. General Manager Sandy Alderson declined to comment on any potential negotiations but did say that Wright would not be on the trading block this year.
"I certainly do not foresee, under any circumstances, David being a topic of discussion at the trade deadline," the GM said.
Even though Wright is off to a blazing start, the club doesn't feel as though there is an rush for them to begin discussing an extension with his representatives. However, the official told Costa that they are likely to do so before next winter because if they cannot reach an agreement, the club would have to consider trading him in the offseason.
While the Mets always believed that Jose Reyes would sign with whichever club offered him the most money, the club believes that they can sign Wright at a discount because of his affinity for playing in New York.
This Date In Transactions History: Rickey Henderson
In 1999, Rickey Henderson hooked on with the Mets and turned in yet another strong campaign. The 40-year-old hit .315/.423/.466 in 121 games and racked up 37 steals to go with it. However, production isn't always everything and, shockingly, Henderson proved to be difficult to work with. The veteran found himself as fodder for the tabloids when he allegedly left the Mets' dugout to play cards with Bobby Bonilla during the team's season-ending loss in the NLCS to the Braves. The friction between Henderson and the front office would carry over in to the 2000 season when the leftfielder openly complained about his $1.9MM salary and demanded a raise during Spring Training which he never received. On May 13th, 2000, Henderson's time in Queens would come to an end.
In an afternoon game against the Marlins at Shea, Henderson belted a shot that he felt was certain to clear the fence. Henderson opted to watch the ball in flight only to see it fall short. The outfielder wound up with what amounted to a 355-foot single and didn't feel the need to apologize for it. "I didn't cause them to lose. Look someplace else," said Henderson following the 7-6 loss, according to the Associated Press. It turns out that the future Hall of Famer would be the one who was someplace else as he went unclaimed on waivers before finally being released. Agent Jeff Borris wasn't fazed by the news.
"I don't anticipate having a problem finding him a place to play," said Borris. "A lot of people think Rickey has a lot of baseball left in him. Rickey has had a spectacular career, and it would be a blemish if it ended this way. There are a couple of major milestones that he still wants to achieve."
Borris was right as the legendary illeist wasn't without employment for long. Henderson quickly hooked on with the Mariners and finished out the year hitting .238/.362/.327. While that was the end of Henderson's time playing for the Mets, he would once again don orange-and-blue as a special instructor and later on as the team's first base coach in 2007.
MLBTR Originals
A look back at the original reporting and analysis from the MLBTR team this week..
- MLBTR was the first to learn that the Royals signed 36-year-old left-hander Doug Davis to a minor league deal.
- Ben Nicholson-Smith profiled some potential heirs to Bud Selig’s throne.
- It’s a Make Or Break Year for Kevin Youkilis, Mike Axisa writes.
- I looked back at the trade that sent Dave Winfield from the Yankees to the Angels. The veteran outfielder had ten-and-five rights and used his leverage to extract a new contract out of the Halos.
- The Rockies, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, and Padres were profiled in our 2013 Contract Issues series.
- This season will be telling for Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, writes Mark Polishuk.
- Goodness gracious, it’s been five years since Roger Clemens returned to the Yankees.
- Mike compiled the best of the web in this week’s installment of Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
- Ben had the wheel this week for our chat.
Week In Review: 5/6/12 – 5/12/12
Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there reading this (including my own)! Let's take a look back at the week that was here on MLBTR…
- The Brewers officially announced extensions for both GM Doug Melvin and manager Ron Roenicke. Melvin will be promoted to president of baseball operations, and his contract runs through 2015. Roenicke's new deal runs through 2014 and contains a club option for 2015.
- The Blue Jays signed Vladimir Guerrero to a minor league contract. Vlad will earn the pro-rated portion of $1.3MM if he plays with the big league club, but will report to extended Spring Training for now.
- Elsewhere in the AL East, the Orioles also signed a former AL MVP of their own, inking Miguel Tejada to a minor league deal. Like Guerrero, he reported to extended Spring Training.
- The Rangers are still working to extend Josh Hamilton, who had one of the best weeks you'll ever see out of a Major League hitter. Hamilton clubbed nine homers, including four in one game.
- The Diamondbacks are open to discussing a contract extension with Miguel Montero during the season, though GM Kevin Towers said the talks would be confidential.
- Starlin Castro, on the other hand, will not discuss an extension with the Cubs during the season. Ditto for Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers.
- The Red Sox acquired Scott Podsednik from the Phillies in exchange for cash and assigned him to Triple-A. The BoSox are currently starved for outfield depth thanks to a slew of injuries.
- The Pirates acquired Jeff Larish from the Red Sox, also for cash. Just as the Sox did with Podsednik, the Buccos assigned Larish to Triple-A.
- The Orioles acquired minor league left-hander Mike Belfiore to the Diamondbacks to complete the Josh Bell trade.
- The Yankees claimed lefty reliever Justin Thomas off waivers from the Red Sox.
- Peter Bourjos has seen his playing time disappear after a slow start and the arrival of Mike Trout, but the Angels aren't actively shopping the defensive wizard.
- The Blue Jays contacted the Phillies in regards to Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino. The Phils reportedly called around the league saying they'd entertain offers for the pair of stars.
- Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said the team will consider every possibility when it comes to trades of veteran players this summer. Presently, however, he's not in a rush to move players like Brett Myers, Carlos Lee, Wandy Rodriguez, and Brandon Lyon.
- Dontrelle Willis has dropped his grievance against the Orioles.
- Brad Penny was released by the Softbank Hawks after just one start. Penny is weighing options from Major League teams, some as a reliever and some as a starter.
- After appearing in parts of 13 Major League seasons, Casey Blake has decided to retire. Congratulations on a nice career, Casey.
Indians Designate Dan Wheeler For Assignment
The Indians have designated right-hander Dan Wheeler for assignment, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (Twitter link). No corresponding roster move has been announced by the Tribe as of yet.
Wheeler was tagged for six earned runs in an inning of work today, ballooning his ERA to 8.76 in 12 1/3 innings of work. The 34-year-old seemed to have lost the ability to miss bats this season, as he struck out only two hitters during that time. After walking just eight batters in all of 2011, he walked seven in his short Cleveland tenure and his average fastball dropped from 89.2mph to 88.3mph.
Wheeler signed a one-year, minor league deal with the Indians this offseason and has appeared for the Astros, Rays, Mets, and Red Sox in his 13-year Major League career.
Quick Hits: Quentin, Nationals, Hamilton, Phillies
This morning, the Nationals learned that catcher Wilson Ramos will miss most, if not all, of the 2012 season. It was an unfortunate piece of news for the club, but it did create an opportunity for 23-year-old catcher Sandy Leon, who was promoted to support Jesus Flores behind the plate. When Leon found out, he called his parents to let them know that he was Washington-bound, tweets Bill Ladson of MLB.com. The catcher, who was previously with the club's Double-A affiliate, said it was the best Mother's Day gift that he could possibly give to his mom. Here are some links from around baseball..
- The San Diego Union-Tribune's Sharon Annie Heilbrunn conducted a Q&A with Carlos Quentin. The new Padres outfielder discussed what it was like to be traded to his hometown team and how he's grown through the trades he's been a part of.
- As of right now, there is no talk of the Nationals bringing Ivan Rodriguez in as the backup catcher, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com (via Twitter). The 40-year-old announced his retirement from baseball last month.
- Some believe that the Rangers' knowledge about Hamilton's history would make them less likely to sign him than other clubs, but Buster Olney of ESPN.com believes that it makes them more likely to sign him. The Rangers know the ins-and-outs of the outfielder's past and have an idea of how to best support him.
- Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer wants to see Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro channel Pat Gillick in order to turn things around.
- Steven Cohen, hedge-fund billionaire and runner-up in the bidding for the Dodgers, is thought to be one of at least five potential buyers scoping out the Padres' financial data, writes Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The O'Malley family is also interested in buying the club.
Giants Designate Travis Blackley For Assignment
The Giants have designated left-hander Travis Blackley for assignment, according to Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area (on Twitter). In corresponding moves, Jeremy Affeldt has been activated from the disabled list, Conor Gillaspie has been optioned to Triple-A, and Charlie Culberson has been recalled.
The 29-year-old native of Australia signed a minor league deal with the 2010 World Series champions this past February and appeared in only four games. Blackley totaled five innings and allowed five earned runs, walking two and striking out two as well.
Originally signed by the Mariners as an international free agent in 2000, Blackley has just 39 2/3 innings of Major League experience. He's struggled in the big leagues, amassing a 9.30 ERA, 6.6 BB/9, and 5.2 K/9. He's fared better in the minors, where he has a 4.54 ERA over 589 Triple-A innings. The San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman tweets that Blackley likely will stay in the organization.
Orioles Designate Matt Antonelli For Assignment
The Orioles have designated infielder Matt Antonelli for assignment, according to Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). The move made room on the 40-man roster for the O's to promote Xavier Avery from Triple-A Norfolk.
Antonelli, 27, hooked on with the O's in November and was hitting .204/.351/.280 in Norfolk. Antonelli was taken with the 17th overall in the 2006 draft by the Padres and was thought to be in line for significant playing time at third base for Baltimore this year.