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Archives for September 2012

Marlins Sign Adam Greenberg

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Barring another unexpected setback, Adam Greenberg will finally get an official at bat in the Major Leagues. Greenberg, who was hit in the head with a pitch when he debuted with the Cubs seven years ago, has signed a one-day MLB contract with the Marlins, MLB announced (on Twitter).

Greenberg, a 31-year-old who bats left-handed, will record his first official at bat on October 2nd against the Mets. It'll be his first plate appearance since July 9th, 2005, when he was hit in the head by a pitch from Marlins pitcher Valerio De Los Santos. Greenberg agreed to donate his salary to the Sports Legacy Institute via the Marlins Foundation, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post.

Quick Hits: Wolf, Taveras, Snider, Padres, Mariners

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The Orioles recalled Bill Hall today, placing Randy Wolf on the 60-day DL to create room on the 40-man roster. The 36-year-old southpaw has a torn elbow ligament, which usually requires Tommy John surgery. Wolf had the procedure back in 2005 and would likely miss all of 2013 if he has it again. Here's the latest from around the league…

  • Outfielder Willy Taveras is trying to get back to the big leagues after a year away from the game, writes MLB.com's Evan Drellich. "I just need a chance to get back in baseball. That's what I love, I love to play baseball," said the 30-year-old speedster.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos approached Travis Snider about a contract extension a few years ago, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. Talks became less of a priority as the team focused on trading Vernon Wells and extending Jose Bautista, however.
  • Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribune looked back at all the contract extensions the Padres handed out this year. Check out our Extension Tracker for the full list.
  • The Mariners have named Tom Allison their new director of pro scouting, the team announced. Allison had previously spent time in the Brewers' and Mets' front offices.

Hoyer: Cubs Will Be Active On Free Agent Market

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The Cubs are on pace to finish with the franchise's worst record in over 30 years, but that doesn't mean they will be passive this coming offseason as they rebuild. GM Jed Hoyer told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat that the club will have financial flexibility and be active on the free agent market this winter.

“We will have financial flexibility,” Hoyer said. “We’ve been diligent to make sure we do have flexibility and we’re efficient going forward. We’ll obviously be active in the free agent market. That’s a big part of our research and work now is evaluating free agents. We have some money to spend and we’ll focus on it heavily.”

Chicago opened the season with a payroll north of $100MM, but pricey commitments to Carlos Zambrano and Marlon Byrd will come off the books this winter. Alfonso Soriano ($19MM) and Carlos Marmol ($9.8MM) figure to remain on the payroll next season, plus Matt Garza is heading into his fourth year of arbitration as a Super Two. He earned $9.5MM this year.

Hoyer and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein figure to seek short-term deals for any free agents, similar to the two-year, $10MM contract given to David DeJesus last offseason. Since they remain in rebuilding mode, any short-term commitments would be considered potential trade bait at next year's trade deadline as well.

Managerial Notes: Guillen, Valentine, Varitek, Rockies

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The 2012 regular season ends one week from today, and a slew of front office and coaching staff changes are sure to follow. It happens every year. Here's the latest managerial news from around the game…

  • The job of Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen "appears to be in serious peril," reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest appears safe, however.
  • "We've talked – not about that … Which makes me think I'm coming back," said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine to WEEI.com's Alex Speier when asked if ownership has given him any indications about next year (Twitter link).
  • While the Red Sox and Jason Varitek are discussing a role in the organization, they are not talking about the manager's position according to Heyman.
  • Heyman hears that the Rockies plan to discuss their managerial position even though Jim Tracy agreed to an "indefinite" contract earlier this year. The club makes is sound like he is safe for the time being, however.

Coonelly: No Changes Coming For Pirates

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Pirates GM Neal Huntington and his front office staff have come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks, as his club is mired in a second straight second half collapse that has them poised for a 20th consecutive losing season. Despite that, team president Frank Coonelly issued a statement endorsing Huntington and his staff on Wednesday. Here is the text, courtesy of Karen Price of The Pittsburgh Tribune Review:

“As soon as we finish this season as well as we possibly can, we will turn our full and total attention to evaluating why were unable to finish the job and what we must do differently to take the next step to becoming a championship team. There will unquestionably be changes made to the way in which we operate as a result of this thorough critical self-evaluation, but we will not be making personnel changes at the very top of our baseball operations department. Neal, [assistant GM Kyle Stark], [assistant GM Greg Smith] and [manager Clint Hurdle] are dedicated and intelligent baseball men in whom I have great confidence.

“Confidence in and support of Neal, Kyle and Greg should not be misunderstood with acceptance of another poor finish at the Major League level. We must understand why the quality of our execution and play deteriorated so markedly in August. Finishing was the focus from spring training but it certainly was not achieved.”

Last week we learned about a military-style training program implemented by Huntington and Stark for the club's top prospects. Few around the game will be surprised if the front office is overhauled, but Coonelly's statement suggests that the current regime will be given a chance to reap the rewards of a strong farm system that includes top pitching prospects Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon.

Huntington has been at the helm in Pittsburgh since the end of the 2007 season. The club has gone 330-561 under his watch with four last place finishes in five full years. Baseball America ranked the Pirates' farm system as the 26th best in baseball when Huntington was hired, and this past winter they had climbed to 11th. Five years is generally considered enough time to evaluate a rebuild though, and patience in the Steel City has certainly begun to wear thin.

NL East Notes: Nationals, Guillen, Phillies

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Congratulations to the Braves, who clinched a postseason berth with a win over the Marlins last night. Though Atlanta still has a shot at the NL East title, they're more likely to play the National League's second Wild Card team in a one-game playoff once the regular season ends. Here are some links from the NL East…

Extension Candidate: Kris Medlen

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It speaks to Kris Medlen's dominance over the last two months that his quality start last night against the Marlins (three runs on five hits over seven innings, eight strikeouts and no walks) was his worst outing of the season.  Medlen's season ERA rose all the way to 1.64 but the Braves' 4-3 victory means that the club has now won 22 consecutive games that Medlen has started, tying the right-hander with Hall-of-Famers Carl Hubbell and Whitey Ford for the longest such streak in the modern era of baseball. 

It's pretty heady company for a guy who didn't even return to the Atlanta rotation until July.  Medlen underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2010, returned to pitch just 2 1/3 innings in September 2011 and began this season in the bullpen as the Braves both wanted to keep his arm healthy and felt they were already set for starting pitchers.  After some of those starters faltered, however, Medlen rejoined the rotation in July and has posted video game numbers since: a 1.04 ERA, 80 strikeouts and almost a 9.00 K/BB rate in 77 2/3 innings over 11 starts.Uspw_6609726

Unless Medlen is a modern-day Sandy Koufax, it's safe to assume that he won't quite keep up this particular level of greatness, though the righty certainly appears to have turned a corner in his pro career.  This hot streak comes at an opportune time for Medlen; not only did it come during a postseason stretch, but Medlen is also due to be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter.  He'll certainly get a nice raise over his $490K salary in 2012 and it's possible the Braves could be so impressed by Medlen's performance that they'll look to get some cost-certainty on their surprise ace for the next few years.

Medlen's case is "tricky" according to Matt Swartz, who calculates arbitration projections for MLB Trade Rumors and believes Medlen will probably be treated as a starter for arb purposes. 

"The way I’ve been separating swingmen into starters and relievers, he would actually be projected as a reliever, but those rules were kind of arbitrary and I’m not sure here," Swartz said.  "The reason it matters is that if we call him a starting pitcher he gets $2.4MM, and if we call him a reliever, he gets $1.3MM. He has a lot more wins per games started than he does saves and holds."

You could argue that the Braves have enough set 2013 rotation starters (Tommy Hanson, Mike Minor and Tim Hudson, as his $9MM option is sure to be exercised) and enough other young arms in their farm system that a Medlen extension is unnecessary for the moment, but I tend to disagree.  As this season has shown, the Braves' pitching depth isn't as sturdy as believed, so Medlen's development is a great boon for the club.  Medlen seems to be able to consistently perform at the Major League level, which is something that can't yet be said about their prospects.

Cost-certainty is also of particular interest to a franchise that has kept a mid-level payroll since being bought by Liberty Media in 2007.  The Braves had a $102MM payroll in 2008 but have since ranged between $86-$93MM, with only $15MM in committed salary for 2013.  If they believe Medlen is the real deal, an extension could save the team millions through Medlen's arb years.  Extending him now would cost maybe $10MM over three years ($2MM in 2013, $4MM in both 2014 and 2015) with perhaps a $6MM club option for Medlen's first free agent year.  

The Braves have a lot of business to attend to this winter, since such major names as Hanson, Jason Heyward and Jonny Venters are also arb-eligible for the first time, Martin Prado is only a year away from free agency and the team is expected to at least attempt to re-sign Michael Bourn.  Given Medlen's injury history and the fact that his arb number may be $2.4MM at the most, Atlanta could be in no rush to pursue a multiyear deal quite yet with the right-hander.  

Medlen will get one (very high-profile) further chance to prove himself as he's scheduled to start for Atlanta in the wild card playoff game.  Just the fact that the Braves would give Medlen this start is a sign that they believe he's more than just a pitcher on a hot streak, so they could also be eager to lock him up while his price is still low.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Shirey/US Presswire

Red Sox Notes: Varitek, Pedro, Lester

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The Red Sox now have a 69-86 record, which means they’re at risk of losing 90 games for the first time in 46 years. The last time they reached the 90-loss threshold, back in 1966, Ben Cherington hadn’t been born, Bobby Valentine was in high school, and Carl Yastrzemski and Tony Conigliaro roamed the Fenway Park outfield. Here’s the latest from Boston…

  • The roles that the Red Sox envision for Jason Varitek and Pedro Martinez “will not be ceremonial,” Peter Gammons of MLB Network reports (on Twitter). Gammons cites Padres executives Trevor Hoffman and Brad Ausmus as possible parallels for the Red Sox.
  • Varitek is "close" to returning to the Red Sox organization. He will likely return as a special assistant to Cherington, Gordon Edes reported yesterday. The switch-hitting 40-year-old retired this spring.
  • Jon Lester discussed the team's "nightmare" year with Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, saying he's looking forward to forgetting about baseball for a while once the season ends. "The offseason for a lot of people hopefully is going to do good," Lester said.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Russell Martin

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Russell Martin has improved his value with a strong offensive second half, but the prospective free agent might have already turned down the largest contract offer he'll see this year. Martin, who homered again last night, is hitting well with weeks to go before his second career appearance on the free agent market.

Russell Martin - Yankees (PW)

The Yankees made Martin a three-year extension offer in the $20MM range this spring, around the time Miguel Montero (five years, $60MM) and Yadier Molina (five years, $75MM) signed multiyear deals. Martin declined, deciding to let the market for catchers establish itself. His numbers have since dropped off compared to his first season in pinstripes. Going into this afternoon's game in Minnesota, the 29-year-old has 19 home runs with a .206/.309/.389 batting line in 458 plate appearances. 

Martin's batting average declined for the fifth consecutive season in 2012, and it’s be unreasonable to count on major improvements from a player whose batting average on balls in play has been below .300 every month of his two-year tenure with the Yankees. Yet he continues to draw walks and hit for some power. Plus, his second half numbers — a .236/.318/.435 slash line with 11 home runs — provide some reason for optimism.

The right-handed hitter has a career line of .272/.386/.448 against left-handed pitching and while he’s not a part-time player at this stage in his career, Martin could be paired with a left-handed hitting backup to great effect. John Jaso or Jason Castro also figure to get regular playing time in 2013, but this kind of player — someone who hits right-handers much better than left-handers — would complement Martin’s offensive skills. 

Still, offensive numbers only reveal so much about a catcher’s value. Martin been durable, catching 120-plus games for the second consecutive season. He has prevented 24% of stolen base attempts so far in 2012, which is approximately league average. According to a pre-season scouting report in The Fielding Bible: Volume III, Martin has re-established himself as an above average defensive catcher. All told, advanced metrics suggest Martin continues adding value (1.3 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference and 2.0 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs), though no longer at the All-Star level he played at in the early part of his career.

In the view of some prominent baseball executives Martin made a mistake when he turned down the Yankees’ extension offer. Three general managers recently suggested to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that Martin will have to settle for a one-year contract this coming offseason. A deal in the $7.5MM range seems appropriate, though a multiyear agreement remains possible, the GMs said.

The last time Martin hit free agency he signed a one-year, $4MM contract with the Yankees. He had just missed a considerable portion of the 2010 season with a hip injury and been non-tendered by the Dodgers. Coming off of a healthy season, the Matt Colleran client figures to obtain a larger guarantee this time, even if he decides to accept a one-year, 'pillow' contract. He could also get multiyear offers given his youth and second half numbers. However, it seems unlikely Martin will see another $20MM offer following a below average offensive season.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

Mets Notes: Davis, Wright, Dickey

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Mets general manager Sandy Alderson offered some insight into the team’s offseason plans in an interview with Gary Cohen and Ron Darling of SNY on last night’s Mets broadcast (transcript via Andrew Keh of the New York Times). Here are the details…

  • Alderson suggested rival teams won't "put a lot of stock in" the report that the Mets are frustrated with Ike Davis’ attitude and lifestyle. The Mets dealt with the matter internally and are not looking to trade Davis, according to Alderson. “For us to trade a guy that’s hit 30 home runs, we better know where the next 30 are coming from,” he said.
  • Alderson repeated that the Mets are interested in extending David Wright and R.A. Dickey this offseason. “Our intent is to work hard to try to keep them both,” he said. The Mets are expected to exercise 2013 options for both players then discuss long-term contracts.
  • The Mets aren’t likely to spend big on outfielders this offseason, Andy Martino reported earlier today.

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