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Nationals Release Chris Snyder

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The Nationals announced that they have granted catcher Chris Snyder his unconditional release (Twitter link). The LSW Baseball client is now a free agent.

Snyder's contract included a clause that allowed him to request his release if he wasn't on the MLB roster by March 24th. A trade seemed likely as recently as yesterday, with teams such as the Angels, Pirates, Phillies and Rays seeking catching depth. Presumably some or all of those clubs will express interest in signing Snyder.

The 32-year-old appeared in 76 games for the Astros this past season. He posted a .176/.295/.308 batting line in 258 plate appearances, adding seven home runs. The Astros declined a $4MM option on Snyder after the regular season, choosing a $500K buyout instead.

Nationals Discuss Pre-Arbitration Extensions

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The risk and reward that comes with signing an extension before or during a player’s first year of arbitration can be a tricky one. Players can take the guaranteed money and set themselves up for life or play out the arbitration years and try to cash in with a bigger payday down the road.  Washington’s Denard Span, Kurt Suzuki and Gio Gonzalez all signed early extensions and talked to MLBTR about their decisions.

Outfielder Denard Span (Signed a five-year, $16.25MM deal with Minnesota in March 2010):

“It was after my first full season in the big leagues, after the '09 season. It took me a little bit of time to get to the Major Leagues, I didn’t get there at 20 or 21 years old, so at the time the Twins came to me about the extension, it just made sense for me and my family. We realized what we possibly were leaving on the table if I had good years but we also thought about the risk of if I got hurt or anything like that. It just made sense for my situation.

“My agent set out numbers and I remember after my best year in '09, he said if you just do this for the next two, three years and don’t take this contract, this is what you would get in arbitration so we compared the numbers and it was a little bit of a discount to take the contract at the time and he put that out there, but the decision was ultimately my decision.

“I’ve been on the DL the past few years so I’d like to think it worked out fine but there’s so many unknowns and that’s the risk you take when you're dealing with any kind of guaranteed contract, whether to take it or play your cards and wait for that big payday.

“I wouldn’t say it was an easy decision. It was something that me and my family had to pray about. It was a situation where we felt like if I were to get hurt and never play again, at least all the hard work that I’ve put forth in this game, I’d at least have something to walk away from. That was one of the determining factors. I realized that when this contract is up, I wouldn’t be naturally young but I wouldn’t be old. I’m going to be 31, lord willing when I’m a free agent, so what I didn’t get in the beginning, I believe that I’m going to get at the end.”

Catcher Kurt Suzuki (Signed a four-year, 16.25MM deal with Oakland in July 2010):

“It’s a tough decision obviously. At the time you work so had to get to a point to where you're starting to get paid I guess and I think I was signed during my last season before arbitration, so it was the year leading up to arbitration, and obviously I knew I was going to arbitration next year but the multi-year deal, to have the security for your family, it was hard to look that much money in the mirror and say I don’t want it, I’m going to wait. You get security for your family. It’s a pretty good chunk of change. It was hard to turn down. Some guys take that route and some guys don’t. I thought it was a deal where I felt it was enough security for my family and I. I was married at the time.

“Obviously if you sign a long term deal before arbitration years, you’re going to have to take a discount because you’re obviously not in line to make the money yet. You’re kind of predicting the future so you have to take a little bit of a discount but at the same time, how much of a discount you want to take, you have to ask yourself and what are you happy with. After deciding with my wife, we felt OK with taking the deal and having that security.

“You break it down and you have comparables. My case was a little different because they said I didn’t have many comparables. I don’t know, they just said there wasn’t many people to compare me with that signed multi-year deals so like Russell Martin was a comparable but he didn’t sign a multi-year deal so it was kind of hard to gauge off somebody for a deal.

“There’s a risk. It was an amount that my wife and I felt comfortable with and it was worth taking. Later on I might have been looking to make more, obviously if I went year to year, but at the same time, we felt that money was sufficient enough to take the deal. I’m happy with how it worked out. Obviously there’s a chance you could have made more money but at the same time, with how things [worked] out I think it was a good deal.

“Denard and I talk about it all the time. He comes from Minnesota who has the similar philosophies as Oakland to try and lock players up long term before their arbitration years and we talked about giving up money but we also talked about how its hard to turn that much money down because you’re making a really good amount of money. The Major League minimum is a really good amount, but when you’re talking millions of dollars, to turn that down is tough to do. When you get offered that much money in your face, what are you going to do?”

Pitcher Gio Gonzalez (Signed a five-year, $42MM deal with Washington in January 2012, a record at the time for a first-year arbitration eligible pitcher. He was traded from Oakland just a month earlier): 

“I looked at as you know what? The organization gave me a chance to play and Mike Rizzo (Nationals GM) believed in me from the beginning and he gave me something that I felt was reasonable and gave me an opportunity and I said why not? The only way to keep getting up there and is keep improving and try to make the best of it.

“You also look at the team and the guys that were coming up, you had Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper, you had all these guys and the pieces they were putting together, I felt like that rotation was going to get better and better and I was like why not be a part of it?

“I think it was just me wanting to play baseball and I think it helped secure my family and me and it almost was to the point where it was like, you can roll the dice and see what happens, but you can never promise tomorrow. I was more excited to play here than anything. It was a new team, new uniform, I think the thing that really drove me to want to play here more was the fact that ‘Rizz’ believed in me from the beginning. He didn’t question anything and he gave me a opportunity and I felt like he gave me a great price for what was reasonable. He didn’t skyrocket me but he got me right where I needed to be to go out there and prove my performance.

“I liked it. Like I said, nothing is promised tomorrow. I think what ‘Rizz’ did was more than reasonable. He thought it was fair, I thought it was fair. We worked both sides out with no complaints. I was ready to grab a baseball and start pitching. Trust me, I was thinking way beyond the money. I was thinking more like World Series. Let’s go. Great rotation, great offense and defense. I was more than happy to play for them.”

Quick Hits: Martin, Yankees, Tigers, Dodgers

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Pirates catcher Russell Martin thought he would be returning to the Yankees this offseason, Chad Jennings of the Journal News reports. "I thought I was going to be in pinstripes. I thought I was going to be penciled in there, but shows how much I know," Martin says. "There’s really no hard feelings or anything like that. I see it as a business move, and that’s it, really." After catching for the Yankees in 2011 and 2012, Martin agreed to a two-year deal with Pittsburgh in late November. Here are more notes from around the majors.

  • Martin also says the Yankees' current catchers, Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart, are well-equipped to replace him, particularly on defense. "Both those guys can catch," Martin says. "I learned some stuff from Stewart last year just on how quick he is, first of all. Just throwing the ball to second base, and how quick his hands are. His game calling is really good. His receiving’s really good. So defensively, both those guys have got a lot of upside."
  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski has to figure out what to do with the team's two players from the Rule 5 Draft, pitcher Kyle Lobstein and second baseman Jeff Kobernus, MLB.com's Jason Beck writes. It might be possible for Dombrowski to work out a trade with the Rays to keep Lobstein and send him to the minor leagues, Beck suggests, but swinging a deal with the Nationals to keep Kobernus will be more difficult.
  • The Dodgers have signed four international players, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports. Three of those players, shortstop Dennis Santana, shortstop Carlos Aquino and left-handed pitcher Cesar Romero, are from the Dominican Republic. The fourth, Dashenko Ricardo, is from Curacao and played catcher for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. Ricardo had previously played in the Orioles and Giants organizations. The Giants released him in January.

Rosenthal On Lohse, Royals, Porcello, Dodgers

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Kyle Lohse is starting to get "antsy" about not yet having a contract, says Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Much of Rosenthal's item on Lohse focuses, however, on the possibility that the Cardinals won't get a compensation pick for Lohse, which would happen if Lohse doesn't sign with a new team before the draft in June. Rosenthal writes that Lohse's situation might encourage MLB to allow sign-and-trades, which would give teams who don't wish to lose draft choices more flexibility to sign players who have declined qualifying offers. Here's more from Rosenthal …

  • Rosenthal reports that the Royals are looking for an outfielder they can use in place of Jeff Francoeur against good right-handed pitching.
  • The Padres like Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello, Rosenthal notes, but are unwilling to part with a "top reliever." The Angels might make sense as a destination for Porcello, but the Angels are currently more concerned with finding a backup catcher and a relief pitcher.
  • The Dodgers still appear likely to deal either Chris Capuano or Aaron Harang.
  • Chris Snyder of the Nationals is almost certain to be dealt before the season begins, Rosenthal says.

Colletti On Dodgers’ Payroll, Rotation

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The Dodgers' situation has changed radically in the past year, with new ownership and a much larger payroll, and the magnitude of those changes isn't lost on GM Ned Colletti, Mike Bauman of MLB.com reports.

  • Colletti says the team's much-larger payroll wouldn't be considered a "big deal" if the team's previous payrolls weren't so small. Colletti says that the team's opening day payroll of approximately $90MM in 2012 was low compared to those of the Red Sox and Phillies, and if the Dodgers had had a high payroll in 2012, their enormous 2013 payroll would not have been such a big story. "If that's where we were, if that's where we should have been, is [an increase to over $200 million] a big deal? No, it's not a big deal," Colletti says. "The big deal to me is not that we're at $200 [million] it's that we were at $90 [million]."
  • Colletti adds that the Dodgers' change in ownership forced him to build "two teams at one time," with one team that was created under the Dodgers' earlier, smaller payroll, and another that was created under the team's new ownership. "So you're going to have a little bit of combinations that you have to work through," says Colletti. "And we also have $55 million coming off next year. So we'll be in a different spot where we'll be able to smooth this out a little."
  • Colletti doesn't mind the fact that the Dodgers currently have three more starting pitchers than rotation spots. "'We've got some situations that are a little bit unorthodox, having, quote, 'eight starting pitchers in camp,'" Colletti says. "I like that far better than when we had three starting pitchers in camp, or two starting pitchers in camp."

Giants Outright Yusmeiro Petit

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Pitcher Yusmeiro Petit has been outrighted off the Giants' 40-man roster, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area's Andrew Baggarly reports (on Twitter). Petit, 28, spent most of the 2012 season with Triple-A Fresno, posting a 3.46 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 166 2/3 innings. He pitched 4 2/3 innings in the majors in 2012, allowing two runs while striking out one and walking four. Baggarly reports that Petit will decide on Monday whether to accept an assignment to Fresno or become a free agent.

Poll: The Most One-Sided Trade Of The Last Decade

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Yankees GM Brian Cashman spoke last week about how his team nearly traded Mariano Rivera to the Mariners for Felix Fermin in 1996. As some commenters pointed out, that wouldn't have been the first time Fermin was involved in a one-sided trade. The Indians traded Jay Bell to the Pirates for Fermin (and another unspectacular player, Denny Gonzalez). Cleveland then made good on its own bad trade by shipping Fermin and Reggie Jefferson to Seattle for Omar Vizquel.

One-sided trades on that scale are probably somewhat less likely now than they were 20 years ago, but they still happen. So what's the most one-sided trade of the past ten years? Here are some contenders. Keep in mind that and the Rangers' swap of Travis Hafner and Aaron Myette for Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese happened in 2002, just outside the ten-year window, and so did the Expos' infamous trade of Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips and Lee Stevens for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew.

Also, this list doesn't include many trades from the past few seasons, since the players involved haven't had the chance to create value for their new teams. For example, many fans thought the Royals' trade of Wil Myers and other prospects for James Shields and Wade Davis was one-sided, but Myers and company haven't had the opportunity to prove that yet.

Pirates trade Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton to Cubs for Jose Hernandez, Bobby Hill and Matt Bruback (2003). Dire financial straits forced the Pirates to deal the 25-year-old Ramirez for virtually nothing. Hernandez left for Los Angeles after the 2003 season, Hill played for a couple years as a spare infielder, and Bruback never made it to the majors. Ramirez, meanwhile, hit 25 or more home runs seven times for the Cubs, and Lofton hit well down the stretch in 2003 to help Chicago make the playoffs.

Giants trade Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser to Twins for A.J. Pierzynski (2003). Pierzynski only played one season for the Giants, while Nathan blossomed into one of the best closers of his generation. Liriano became one of the best pitching prospects in baseball soon after the trade. He never quite lived up to his billing, but if he had, this trade probably would have been the most one-sided on this list.

Diamondbacks trade Jorge de la Rosa, Chris Capuano, Lyle Overbay, Craig Counsell Junior Spivey and Chad Moeller to Brewers for Richie Sexson, Shane Nance and Noochie Varner (2003). The Diamondbacks dealt a number of useful players for one year of Richie Sexson, whose tenure in Arizona quickly went south when he got hurt. The Diamondbacks had just acquired De la Rosa, along with Casey Fossum and Brandon Lyon, when they dealt Curt Schilling to the Red Sox, another poor trade.

Mariners trade Carlos Guillen to Tigers for Ramon Santiago and Juan Gonzalez (2004). That's not Juan Gonzalez the power hitter — this Juan Gonzalez never made the majors. Two of Bill Bavasi's first big moves as Mariners GM were to deal Guillen (a perfectly functional young shortstop) and replace him with free agent Rich Aurilia, who was already on the downslope of his career. Aurilia was a bust with the Mariners, and Santiago did next to nothing for them. Meanwhile, Guillen suddenly emerged as a fearsome hitter in Detroit and was named to three All-Star teams as a Tiger.

Mets trade Scott Kazmir and Joselo Diaz to Devil Rays for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato (2004). The Kazmir trade might not have had the same impact as some others on this list (although Kazmir certainly had a strong career in Tampa), but it stood out as being a poor idea for the Mets at the time, and it didn't get any better with age. Zambrano had led the AL in walks in 2003, and managed to do it again in 2004 despite being shipped to the NL in July. The Mets couldn't fix him, and Kazmir almost immediately turned into the strong starting pitcher that Zambrano never had much chance of becoming.

Athletics trade Tim Hudson to Braves for Juan Cruz, Dan Meyer and Charles Thomas (2004). The Tim Hudson trade was nearly as bad for the A's as the Mark Mulder trade, below, was good. Cruz pitched horribly in Oakland before reestablishing himself in Arizona. Meyer, the key prospect in the deal, immediately stalled out in Triple-A. And Thomas never made an impact. Hudson remains productive eight years after the deal, although perhaps not at salaries the A's would prefer to pay.

Cardinals trade Dan Haren, Kiko Calero and Daric Barton to Athletics for Mark Mulder (2004). Mulder was an enormous disappointment in St. Louis, putting up only one productive season before his career was undone by injuries. Haren, meanwhile, became exactly what the Cardinals probably hoped Mulder would be, pitching 216 or more high-quality innings in seven straight seasons. Calero also added two good years out of the Oakland bullpen, and while Barton's career never really took off, he did have a strong season in 2010.

Athletics trade Andre Ethier to Dodgers for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez (2005). Bradley was as injury-prone as he was talented and angry, and he couldn't stay on the field with the A's, who ultimately sent him to the Padres for Andrew Brown. Ethier, meanwhile, became exactly the sort of cost-controlled, effective player the A's love, but he did it for Los Angeles.

Rangers trade Adrian Gonzalez, Chris Young and Terrmel Sledge to Padres for Adam Eaton, Akinori Otsuka and Billy Killian (2006). Gonzalez was blocked by Mark Teixeira in Texas, but the San Diego native immediately blossomed into a hometown star with the Padres. Young, an extreme fly ball pitcher, proved to be a perfect fit in home-run-stifling PETCO Park, putting up good numbers for his first two years there before succumbing to injuries. Otsuka put in two good seasons in the Texas bullpen. Eaton had always been a frustrating pitcher and little more, and his career quickly went downhill after the trade. Killian never made it to the majors.

Indians trade Brandon Phillips to Reds for Jeff Stevens (2006). Phillips and Cliff Lee were both a part of perhaps the most lopsided trade of the millennium, and they both continued to be involved in one-sided trades after that. None of the four teams that have traded Lee have gotten good value for him, and the Indians got very little for Phillips when they shipped the then-frustrating former top prospect to Cincinnati, where he promptly became one of baseball's best second basemen.

Mariners trade Shin-Soo Choo and Shawn Nottingham to Indians for Ben Broussard (2006). Choo became a fixture in the Cleveland outfield after breaking out with a .309/.397/.549 performance in 2008, while Broussard had two middling seasons as a part-time player in Seattle.

Phillies trade Gio Gonzalez and Gavin Floyd to White Sox for Freddy Garcia (2006). Garcia pitched 58 poor innings with the Phillies before departing via free agency. Floyd developed into a solid starter, while the several teams who traded Gonzalez probably all wish they hadn't.

Braves trade Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, Neftali Feliz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Beau Jones to Rangers for Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay (2007). It's tough to acquire a player as good as Mark Teixeira and still be the victim of a lopsided trade, but that's exactly what the Braves did, as Andrus and Harrison became minor stars in Texas, and Feliz became a dominant closer (for two years, at least), all at low prices. The Braves later dealt Teixeira to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and minor-leaguer Steve Marek, receiving pennies on the dollar for their initial investment.

Twins trade Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and Eduardo Morlan to Rays for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie (2007). At the time, this looked like a reasonable, albeit risky, exchange of talent for both teams. Young had batted .288/.316/.408 as a 21-year-old the previous year, and was less than five years removed from being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft. He never blossomed in Minnesota, though, and both Garza and Bartlett became key parts of the first-ever winning Rays team.

Padres trade David Freese to Cardinals for Jim Edmonds (2007). Freese had posted excellent numbers in the Padres' minor-league system, and the Cardinals helped him become one of the league's better third basemen. Edmonds, meanwhile, played horribly for the Padres, who released him after only 103 plate appearances.

Mariners trade Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, George Sherrill, Kam Mickolio, and Tony Butler to Orioles for Erik Bedard (2008). When healthy, Bedard pitched well in Seattle, but he started more than 16 games for the Mariners only once before being shipped to Boston. Meanwhile, Jones now looks like an emerging superstar, and Tillman, still just 24, is coming off a good half-season in the Orioles rotation.

Pirates trade Jose Bautista to Blue Jays for Robinzon Diaz (2008). The Pirates were in rebuilding mode in 2008 when they shipped Bautista north in exchange for an obscure minor-league catcher. In Pittsburgh, Bautista had been a poor defensive player who couldn't hit for average and didn't have much to recommend him except his ability to draw walks. In Toronto, he unexpectedly became one of baseball's best power hitters. Diaz got a grand total of 144 plate appearances in Pittsburgh.

White Sox trade Nick Swisher and Kanekoa Texeira to Yankees for Wilson Betemit, Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez (2008). One can hardly blame the White Sox for feeling frustrated with Swisher, for whom they'd traded Gio Gonzalez the previous offseason. But after a down year in Chicago, the White Sox sent him to New York for Wilson Betemit and … well, not much.

Phillies trade Cliff Lee to Mariners for Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies and J.C. Ramirez (2009). This is arguably the second-worst of the Cliff Lee trades, in that the Phillies didn't get anyone who looked like an impact player, even at the time.

Angels trade Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera to Blue Jays for Vernon Wells (2011). Even putting aside Napoli's brilliant 2011 season with the Rangers, this was a remarkable trade, in that the Jays only paid $5MM of the remaining $86MM on Wells' contract, despite Wells' uneven performances in the past. Wells has yet to post an OPS north of .682 in Anaheim.

MLBTR Originals

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A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR this past week:

Week In Review: 3/10/13 – 3/16/13

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Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone. Let's catch up on the week that was here at MLBTR …

NL Notes: Chapman, Stewart, Rockies, Braves

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St. Patrick's Day is as much of a baseball holiday as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, or Labor Day thanks to former Reds GM Dick Wagner. Tom Singer of MLB.com chronicles how the baseball tradition of wearing the green came about 35 years ago. Elsewhere from the Reds and the rest of the National League:

  • Reds GM Walt Jocketty expects a decision in the next few days on whether Aroldis Chapman will pitch out of the bullpen or be moved into the starting rotatation, reports MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. Chapman stated publicly he wants to close, which didn't sit well with Jocketty. "We don’t let every player tell us how they want to be used," the GM told MLB.com.
  • Ian Stewart's lingering left quad injury could affect his chances at making the roster and how the Cubs build their bench, writes MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Brent Lillibridge, Luis Valbuena, Edwin Maysonet, and Alberto Gonzalez are competing to fill that void while manager Dale Sveum mentioned Steve Clevenger could be an interesting option and added the team is watching all the waiver wires. 
  • The Rockies are giving serious consideration to making Nolan Arenado their starting third baseman with one club official telling Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com "it’s a tough call." If Arenado receives the nod, Rosenthal believes incumbent third baseman Chris Nelson could be used to acquire a veteran starting pitcher.
  • Within the same piece, sources tell Rosenthal the Rockies want to move Ramon Hernandez and are willing to assume some of his $3.2MM salary to facilitate a trade.
  • Don't expect the Braves to have any interest in the recently released Matt Diaz because there isn't a need right now, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  • The Marlins have returned Rule 5 selection Braulio Lara to the Rays, reports Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post. The left-hander appeared in four games for the Marlins this spring throwing four innings allowing two earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

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