Royals To Release Guillermo Moscoso
The Royals announced that they have requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Guillermo Moscoso (Twitter link). The Royals now have 39 players on their 40-man roster.
The Royals claimed Moscoso from Colorado in November after he posted a 6.12 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 50 innings for the Rockies last year. The 29-year-old started 21 games for the 2011 Athletics, posting a 3.38 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 128 innings. He also played briefly with the Rangers in 2009-10.
Blue Jays Release David Cooper
The Blue Jays released first baseman David Cooper, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). The CAA Sports client is now a free agent.
Cooper has missed Spring Training with a serious back injury. The injury could lead to a season of rehabbing and might even end his career, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes (on Twitter). Sherman suggests the Blue Jays might try to sign Cooper to a minor league deal with an eye toward a 2014 return and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com confirms that the Blue Jays have interest in re-signing Cooper (Twitter link).
Cooper, 26, appeared in 45 games for the 2012 Blue Jays as a first baseman and designated hitter. He posted a .300/.324/.464 batting line in 145 plate appearances, including four home runs. All six of the left-handed hitter's career home runs have come against right-handed pitching. Cooper, the Blue Jays' first round pick in 2008, has less than one year of MLB service time (136 days).
Tigers Release Brennan Boesch
The Tigers have released outfielder Brennan Boesch, the team announced (on Twitter). The Boras Corporation represents Boesch, who is now on track to become a free agent.
Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said 'a half dozen clubs' asked about Boesch, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports (Twitter links). The Tigers will owe Boesch one sixth of his $2.3MM salary if he's not claimed on waivers, Beck reports. The Mariners had some interest in Boesch in December, but have since added a number of corner outfield/DH types. The Yankees and Braves are among the teams that could consider Boesch.
Boesch appeared in 132 games for the Tigers last year, posting a .240/.286/.372 batting line with 12 home runs in 503 plate appearances. The left-handed hitting 27-year-old agreed to a $2.3MM salary for 2013 and had been on track to remain under team control through 2015.
Chris Iott of MLive.com first reported that the Tigers had released Boesch (Twitter link).
Players Reflect On Arbitration Hearings: Dan Uggla
Braves second baseman Dan Uggla went to arbitration with the Florida Marlins in 2009 after hitting 90 home runs and accumulating 270 RBI during his first three seasons in the big leagues. The Marlins filed at $4.4MM while Uggla requested $5.35MM. Uggla won his case, earning one of the biggest salary jumps ever for a player going through the arbitration process for the first time. Uggla, now a Gaylord Sports Management client, was a Beverly Hills Sports Council client at the time he won his arbitration hearing. He spent a few minutes reflecting on his case with B.J. Rains for MLB Trade Rumors:
“Obviously it’s a very long process. Negotiations are usually never quick. We negotiated all the way up until the time we had to give each other the numbers. My case was a little bit different because with the Marlins, once you submit your number, there’s no more negotiations. Usually in arbitration you can submit your numbers and still come to an agreement but with the Marlins, if you don’t come to an agreement before that then you're going into the room and going to the hearing, so mine was different.
“It made sense for me to go ahead and take that chance and go into the room because there was such a big difference and we were so far apart. I didn’t know it until they put their number in, but they put in $4.4MM and they were offering me $4.5MM or something like that, that was their highest offer, so it made sense for me to go into the room. Plus I believed that I was supposed to earn what I put in for.
“When I was as confident as I was in my case, it was worth every penny to go into the hearing. Say if I thought I was worth $5.35MM and they were coming in offering me $5.1MM, then you have to start weighing your options. If they are offering you $5.1MM and then they drop it down and put their number at $4.4MM, you have to weigh your options and say, ‘Hey, I don’t know if $200K is worth the chance of losing a million,’ but we were never close. We were never close. I had a chance to lose $100K from where they offered me because we never got within $800K or $900K.
“Inside the room, it’s not them truly trying to put you down. It’s a business thing. My side is business and their side is business. They are trying to get me for a certain price and I’m trying to get my salary to a certain price. It’s not necessarily them telling you how bad you are, they are just trying to present a case to where they believe you should earn X instead of Y. I knew that going in. It didn’t bother me at all. It’s just a process, the business side of it. A lot of people would say, ‘Man, I didn’t know I was that bad’ or ‘I can’t believe they would say that about me,’ but you better prepare yourself to hear it because they will say it. It’s not to demise your character or not to put you down in any way, it’s just for them to present a case to win their case, just like we’re presenting a case to say I’m a little better than I actually am.
“I talked to my agents and they’ve been in many cases before and they prepared me the best they could. They have booklets and stuff and I had a book real thick of comparisons and charts and stuff. My agents did a great job of going over everything. Anything and everything you could find it was documented.
“It’s a crapshoot. There’s no guarantee. You can present the best case you can and still get beat. I still have a great relationship with the front office of the Marlins to this day. You have to understand as a player, they aren’t trying to personally attack you. They are trying to get their payroll at a certain point and that’s one of the ways they are trying to do it. It’s the business side of baseball.”
Poll: The Diamondbacks’ Best Offseason Acquisition
No one can accuse Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers of taking it easy this winter. The D'Backs finished with a .500 record in 2012 and made some significant changes in an effort to improve going forward. Arizona first made headlines with a three-team deal in October, but there was plenty that followed. Here's a recap of their most significant moves..
- Arizona landed reliever Heath Bell, infielder Cliff Pennington, and cash considerations in a three-team deal with the Marlins and A's. The D'Backs sent outfielder Chris Young and $500K to the A's in the swap.
- As a part of the three-team Shin-Soo Choo deal, the Diamondbacks acquired shortstop Didi Gregorius, left-handed pitcher Tony Sipp, and first baseman Lars Anderson from the Indians for right-handed pitchers Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers, and Bryan Shaw.
- The Diamondbacks signed right-hander Brandon McCarthy to a two-year, $15.5MM deal. McCarthy missed significant time in 2012 but posted a 3.24 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 111 innings when he was healthy.
- Just before Christmas, the D'Backs signed Cody Ross to a three-year, $26MM deal. The pact includes a club option for $9.5MM that can be bought out for just $1MM.
- The addition of Ross meant that an outfielder had to go and it wound up being Justin Upton. Towers sent Upton and third baseman Chris Johnson to the Braves for third baseman Martin Prado, right-hander Randall Delgado, shortstop prospect Nick Ahmed, right-handed pitching prospect Zeke Spruill, and minor league first baseman Brandon Drury.
Earlier today we learned that the D'Backs are looking to trade veteran John McDonald, but Arizona has pretty much gotten all of their heavy lifting out of the way this offseason. It's your turn to weigh in – what was their best acquisition of the winter?
Which Was Arizona's Best Offseason Move?
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Signing Brandon McCarthy to two-year, $15MM deal 41% (4,636)
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Justin Upton trade 27% (2,993)
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Trading Chris Young For Heath Bell and Cliff Pennington 12% (1,304)
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Signing Cody Ross to three-year, $26MM deal 10% (1,157)
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Trading Bauer, Albers, and Shaw for Gregorius, Sipp, and Anderson 7% (815)
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A different acquisition 3% (362)
Total votes: 11,267
Quick Hits: Giants, Cabrera, Rangers, Rondon, Tigers
Despite reports to the contrary, the Giants never discussed nor offered a deal to Melky Cabrera in the range of $75-85MM prior to the outfielder's 50 game suspension for performance enhancing drugs, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Cabrera was expected to be in line for a major pay day up until that point but a softened market led him to take a two-year, $16MM deal with the Blue Jays over the winter. Here's more from around baseball..
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels told reporters, including Ron Matejko of ESPNDallas.com, not to expect any additions between now and Opening Day. "I would expect the 25 will come out of [the Rangers clubhouse]," said Daniels. "I won't 100 percent rule out an outside acquisition, and we do our due diligence and make our calls, things can come about, but you have to be prepared to go in house."
- Tigers manager Jim Leyland says that it is "possible" that rookie Bruce Rondon will open the season as part of a bullpen by committee, writes MLB.com's Jason Beck. The Tigers have reportedly been looking to acquire a proven closer via trade in recent weeks but using Rondon with other relievers already in-house would be a less-costly middle ground.
- The Pirates released former first-round pick Aaron Poreda, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). Pittsburgh picked up the left-hander in last winter's Rule 5 draft but he made just three Double-A starts for the organization in 2012.
AL Central Notes: White Sox, Hahn, Tigers, Porcello
Here's a look at tonight's links out of the American League Central..
- The White Sox expect to come out strong in 2013 and General Manager Rick Hahn plans on being a buyer this summer, writes MLB.com's Scott Merkin. "Certainly we still do the coverage of the mid- or lower-level prospects, the type you traditionally acquire should you have to unload or sell at the [Trade] Deadline," Hahn said. "Our focus is going to be on adding not selling, hopefully, and we are going to be prepared should we have to shift gears and head down that path."
- There has been a great deal of trade talk surrounding Tigers starter Rick Porcello, but moving the right-hander would leave the club with little depth, writes Chris Iott of MLive.com. If the season started today, either Porcello or Drew Smyly would be left out of the rotation, but moving one would leave the club without a solid insurance policy against an injured starter.
- Michael Bourn signed a four-year, $48MM deal with the Indians in February, shortly after celebrating his 30th birthday. Players whose games are based on speed tend to fade in their 30s, but Bourn says that he has no reason to believe that he will slow down in the years to come, writes Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer.
West Notes: Giants, Pill, Lowrie, A’s, Mariners
Earlier today, we learned that there's sentiment in the Rangers organization that Nolan Ryan will stay with the club. It's still possible that Ryan could jump ship over his altered role, but it won't be to bolt for the newest member of the AL West, the Astros. Here's more out of the Western divisions..
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Sulia) has been asked a possible deal sending the Giants' Brett Pill to the Yankees. While Schulman has learned that the Yankees are not scouting Pill right now, a trade is not the craziest idea given the club's depth at first base. So far, there is no indication that San Francisco is discussing such a deal with any team now.
- When the A's first traded for Jed Lowrie, they didn't have a full-time position for him to play. Now, Oakland has a new problem in that they aren't sure which spot to use him in since they are less-than-thrilled with Hiroyuki Nakajima at shortstop and Scott Sizemore at second base, writes Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. The A's inked Nakajima to a two-year, $6.5MM deal this winter.
- Thanks in part to the July trades of Ichiro Suzuki and Brandon League, the Mariners managed to turn a $5.8MM profit in 2012, writes MLB.com's Greg Johns.
NL East Notes: Santana, Marlins, Phillies
The Nationals won the NL East in 2012, displacing the Phillies atop the division after Philadelphia's five-year run. As impressive as the Phillies' streak of consecutive division titles was, it doesn't compare to the Braves' record of 14 in a row. Here’s the latest from the NL East as the Nationals look to prolong their stay atop the division instead of becoming a one-and-done winner like the 2006 Mets…
- The Mets' relationship with Johan Santana is deteriorating and some liken the situation to the relationship between the Mets and one of their former stars. “This is Carlos Beltran all over again,” one longtime Mets official told Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.
- Jose Reyes said he has "unbelievable memories" from his one year in Miami, Newsday’s David Lennon reports (on Twitter). But the Blue Jays’ leadoff hitter and shortstop doesn’t seem to mind that he’s now playing elsewhere. "I know I don't want to play for the Marlins no more," he said.
- GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com that the bullpen could be a team strength for the Phillies after some offseason changes. "We've got to hope that we're better. We designed our bullpen to be better this year, and hopefully it will be," Amaro said. The Phillies signed Mike Adams to a two-year deal to improve their setup relief options.
Latest On Nolan Ryan, Rangers
There’s sentiment among the Rangers that Nolan Ryan will remain with the organization, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. While it’s possible Ryan will resign, he wouldn’t do so to join Texas’ other MLB team. Nightengale reports that Ryan wouldn’t join the Astros even if dissatisfaction over his role with the Rangers causes him to step down.
Rangers GM Jon Daniels said he continues talking to Ryan about on-field matters regularly and wouldn’t want the Hall of Famer to leave. “It's a really good group, a really good organization, and Nolan is a big part of that," Daniels said. Daniels, the Rangers’ president of baseball operations, now has full autonomy over the team’s baseball moves.
Ryan has had disagreements with Daniels over staffing and player personnel decisions in the past. Under the team’s new management structure, Ryan can continue to make recommendations to Daniels and others. However, he’s not expected to enjoy a role as a 'figurehead' CEO.
Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first reported eight days ago that Ryan could leave the team following the recent front office changes. Rangers co-chairman Bob Simpson said at that time that he wants Ryan to remain with the team long-term.