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Archives for April 2013

Quick Hits: Managers, Nationals, Angels

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Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com lists the ten MLB managers who are or may soon be on the hot seat this year. His top three to watch are the Phillies' Charlie Manuel, the Twins' Ron Gardenhire, and Clint Hurdle of the Pirates. The list also includes high-profile skippers like the Dodgers' Don Mattingly, the Angels' Mike Scioscia, and the Yankees' Joe Girardi. Elsewhere around baseball:

  • The Nationals attempted to acquire Justin Upton from the Diamondbacks before landing Denard Span from the Twins over the offseason, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com (via Twitter). The club was previously known to have been interested in Justin's older brother, B.J. Upton, to fill the club's center field vacancy. Presumably, Bryce Harper would have stayed in center had the younger Upton gone to the Nats.
  • While the Nationals are off to a solid start, the club has been let down at times by its supposedly improved bullpen, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Instead of replacing set-up man Sean Burnett with a lefty specialist, GM Mike Rizzo added to the top of the bullpen by signing the premier relief pitcher available, closer Rafael Soriano. Yet Soriano has scuffled at times, and the bullpen has collectively sported a 6.34 ERA that is the worst in baseball. Last night, the pen coughed up a lead in a loss to the Nats' most worrisome NL East competitor, the Braves.
  • Another team that came into 2013 with high expectations, of course, was the Angels. Yahoo's Tim Brown wonders what owner Arte Moreno is thinking as the team has struggled out of the gates again. Brown says that, after making yet more big salary investments this offseason, the competitive Moreno must surely be wondering whether there is anything he can do to get the club going, such as replacing the long-tenured Scioscia.

Jays Already Considering Reyes Replacements

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SATURDAY: Toronto may have to wait a week to learn the full extent of Reyes's injury, but may look to add depth up the middle in the meantime, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. According to Rosenthal, the Jays have recalled Kawasaki to take Reyes's spot on the active roster, but could still look to acquire a player like the recently designated Cody Ransom or the Diamondbacks' Josh Wilson. (Links via Twitter.)

Other trade targets could include Mike Aviles, John McDonald, Yuniesky Betancourt, Jonathan Herrera, Ramiro Pena, Cesar Izturis, or even Dee Gordon, writes Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. ESPN.com's Buster Olney offers (on Insider) that McDonald may make sense, since he occupies a limited role with a Pirates club that has other options.

FRIDAY: With Jose Reyes' health in question following a left ankle spain, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (including Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star) that he had already talked to other general managers about possible deals to fill the void if the star shortstop is out for an extended period of time.  Anthopoulos said Reyes' "best case scenario" is a one-month stint on the DL while the worst case scenario would be a three-month injury layoff, though the shortstop will undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine the extent of the damage.

Reyes suffered the nasty-looking ankle injury while sliding into second base in the sixth inning of the Jays' 8-4 win over the Royals on Friday night and had to be carted off the field.  He entered the game hitting .412/.487/.559 in nine games and added another hit and two RBIs against Kansas City. 

This is the biggest blow yet to a Toronto club that has struggled early in the season amidst high preseason expectations.  The Jays are already thin in the infield with Brett Lawrie on the DL and, as a scout told CBS Sports' Danny Knobler, Reyes is the player they could least afford to lose given their lack of depth at shortstop.  For now the Jays will use some combination of Mark DeRosa, Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis at third, short and second  The team's Triple-A infield options with Major League experience include the likes of Andy LaRoche, Munenori Kawasaki, Eugenio Velez, Mike McCoy and Mauro Gomez.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

Angels Sign Kip Wells

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The Angels have signed pitcher Kip Wells to a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Heyman further tweets that the righty worked out for the team yesterday afternoon and had reached agreement by late last night. 

Wells, who turns 36 soon, was reportedly in good form during the spring as he looked to catch on with a club. Once an established member of the Pirates' rotation who posted a 3.28 ERA over nearly 200 innings in 2003, Wells did not appear in a major league game in 2010 or 2011. Last year, he returned with the Padres and tossed 37 1/3 innings of 4.58 ERA baseball in seven starts.  

For the last-place Angels, Wells provides options. The club's rotation has been a serious problem early on, and currently boasts MLB's third-highest composite ERA (per Fangraphs). It does not help that Jered Weaver will be on the DL for the next four to six weeks, leaving the Angels without their ace and straining their rotation depth. 

Orioles, Wieters Still Discussing Extension

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APRIL 13: The Orioles would be willing to give Wieters six years in an extension, reports Buster Olney ESPN.com (on Twitter). Olney further notes, however, that there is no momentum in the long-term extension discussions between the O's and their star catcher.

APRIL 3: The Orioles recently offered a contract extension of at least five years to Matt Wieters, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. However, Heyman adds that there is no evidence that the two sides are anywhere near an agreement. In fact, Wieters (a Boras Corporation client) says that if the O's have made an extension offer to him, then he doesn't know about it, tweets Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Then again, the catcher says that he doesn't want to be briefed on contract talks right now.

Wieters, who can become a free agent following the 2015 season, avoided arbitration with the Orioles this offseason by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $5.5MM. Heyman notes that the bar for catchers has been raised significantly with Buster Posey's extension, but it's safe to say the two aren't exactly comparables. Posey already has a Rookie of the Year, an MVP and two World Series titles under his belt. His .317/.384/.509 batting line from 2010-12 is also far superior to Wieters' .253/.326/.423 performance during that same span.

A look at MLBTR's Extension Tracker shows that catchers with between three and four years of service time have typically signed extensions worth $15-16MM. That's too low for Wieters, whose salary is already north of $5MM. A number closer to Miguel Montero's five-year, $60MM contract with the Diamondbacks could be more reasonable, though Montero was just one year from free agency when he signed that deal.

Heyman asked Orioles GM and executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette how talks between the two sides were going but was simply told, "We'll enjoy him while he's here," in reply. Wieters recently told reporters that he would be open to discussing a long-term deal in Baltimore.

Quick Hits: Tigers, Harvey, Isringhausen, Int’l Money

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The Yankees turned the first 4-6-5-6-5-3-4 triple play in Major League history tonight in the eighth inning of their 5-2 win over the Orioles.  Manny Machado was the unlucky Oriole who put the ball into play and he represented the third out while he was caught between first and second base.

Here are some news items from around the majors as we head into the weekend…

  • Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski has spoken to an opposing GM about a closer within the last week, Dombrowski told Jim Bowden during an interview on MLB Network Radio (Twitter link).
  • The Mets haven't had any internal discussions about offering Matt Harvey an extension, Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal reports, and likely won't do so until after the season at the earliest.  Costa hears from a team of business students who project a four- or five-year deal worth $30-$35MM following the 2014 season as a fair possible extension for Harvey, though Costa wonders if Harvey (and agent Scott Boras) would agree to such a contract.
  • Jason Isringhausen hasn't officially retired since he is open to pitching again in the right situation, but the veteran reliever tells FOX Sports Midwest's Ben Frederickson that "as of last year, I left on my terms. So, if it never happens again, I'm perfectly happy."
  • Now that teams can trade from their pools of international bonus money, Baseball America's Ben Badler looks at which clubs might look to acquire or sell some of their funds this summer.
  • In an ESPN Insider piece (subscription required), Jim Bowden discusses why he thinks a Jurickson Profar-for-Oscar Taveras deal would work for both the Rangers and Cardinals.  Such a swap would be what Bowden calls a "challenge" trade that can shape a franchise, akin to the one he made as Reds GM in 1992 when he dealt Paul O'Neill to the Yankees for Roberto Kelly.  Of course, as Bowden notes, that deal backfired badly for him: "True, that O’Neill-for-Kelly deal will haunt me to my grave, but it was the gutsiest trade I’ve ever made."
  • A Profar-for-Taveras deal wouldn't make sense for the Rangers at this time, ESPN Dallas' Richard Durrett opines.  Rather than deal for another prospect, Durrett argues Texas could move Profar as part of a package for a proven Major League star like David Price or Giancarlo Stanton.  Or, the Rangers could simply keep Profar for themselves and instead move Ian Kinsler to first base or the outfield to make room.

NL West Links: Quentin, Weiss, Upton, Giants

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Everyone knows Jackie Robinson's story but few remember the name of John Wright, the second African-American player to sign with the Dodgers just weeks after Robinson signed his contract.  Baseball America's Ryan Whirty details the brief career of Wright, a right-hander who struggled in the minors in 1946 and was back pitching in the Negro Leagues by 1947.

Here's the latest from the NL West…

  • Major League Baseball has announced the suspensions of Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin for eight games and Dodgers utilityman Jerry Hairston for one game for their parts in Thursday's brawl between the two teams.  Both men are appealing their suspensions, so both could be able to play when the Padres and Dodgers begin a three-game series on Monday, though Yahoo's Jeff Passan (Twitter link) feels MLB and the MLBPA will arrange for Quentin to miss Monday's game.
  • Zack Greinke, meanwhile, will be out of action for around eight weeks following surgery to fix his broken collarbone.  MLBTR's Steve Adams looked at the implications of Greinke's injury earlier today.
  • Rockies owner Dick Monfort talks to Mark Kiszla over the Denver Post about manager Walt Weiss' unusual one-year contract with the club.  Monfort admits the short-term deal was an "oversight" since he values loyalty in employees and usually operates on handshake agreements, and also said that the Rockies management team hired Weiss without first establishing his salary.
  • Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall told Arizona Sports 620 Radio's Doug & Wolf that he felt the Justin Upton trade has worked out for both the D'Backs and Braves.  "I would agree that ‘would he have had the same success here that he's had [in Atlanta] to start off the season, maybe not' sometimes players need a change of scenery for it to happen," Hall said.  "I mean this was just two different teams that had two different needs and it worked out well for both, not to mention we still have four prospects that we're going to be dealing with in the next few years."
  • Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic doesn't agree with Hall's belief that Upton needed a fresh start.  "But even if [Upton] did need a new environment, what happened to the environment here? What does that say about the environment you’re creating if a 25-year-old with his kind of ability can’t succeed in it anymore?" Piecoro asks.
  • While breaking down Tim Lincecum's struggles, Grantland's Jonah Keri noted that the success of the Giants' starting rotation has obscured the team's lack of pitching depth.  The Giants may need to explore a trade for a new starter later this season if Lincecum can't turn things around.  I tabbed 2013 as a Make Or Break Season for Lincecum since he'll need to regain his old form in order to fetch a nice free agent contract this winter.
  • In other NL West news from earlier today, I compiled a set of Padres notes while Steve Adams reviewed the Giants' offseason moves.

Brewers, Marlins, Others Interested In K-Rod

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8:58pm: The Angels aren't interested in signing Rodriguez, MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reports (via Twitter).

7:50pm: Right-hander Francisco Rodriguez is drawing interest from such teams as the Angels, Brewers, Marlins and a few others, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports.  The free agent reliever drew little attention on the open market during the offseason, with only the Mets briefly being linked to Rodriguez, though Scott Boras (Rodriguez's agent) said two weeks ago that he expected his client to soon find a new team.

Rodriguez recorded an even 72 strikeouts in 72 innings with Milwaukee last season, posting a 4.38 ERA and 2.32 K/BB.  It seemed as if a return to the Brewers was unlikely but given how the club's bullpen has struggled early this season, it isn't surprising that the Crew are checking in on a known quantity.  Rodriguez could even find himself in line to become a closer again if he re-signs with the Brewers given that incumbent closer John Axford recently lost his job, though Jim Henderson is slated to receive the lion's share of the save opportunities.

The Angels and Marlins are also in need of bullpen help, owning respective bullpen ERAs of 4.94 (19th in MLB) and 6.31 (28th in MLB) heading into Friday's action.  Angels righty Ryan Madson isn't expected back from elbow surgery for a few weeks while Miami closer Steve Cishek has a 15.43 ERA after three outings this season.

Padres Designate Cody Ransom For Assignment

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The Padres have designated infielder Cody Ransom for assignment, MLB.com's Corey Brock reports (Twitter link).  In a corresponding move, the Padres have purchased the contract of right-hander Thad Weber from Triple-A.

Ransom, 37, posted a .220/.312/.411 line and a career-best 11 homers over 282 PA with the Diamondbacks and Brewers in 2012.  This was by far the most playing time Ransom had ever received in a season, as the veteran chalked up just 383 plate appearances from 2001-2011.  Ransom signed a minor league deal with San Diego in December and was 0-for-11 in limited action with the Padres this season.

Padres Notes: Quentin, Byrnes, Maybin, Roster

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The brawl between the Padres and Dodgers last night left Zack Greinke sidelined for several weeks with a broken collarbone and put Carlos Quentin squarely in the media spotlight for charging the mound.  CBS Sports' Jon Heyman and FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi both feel Major League Baseball should hand Quentin a significant penalty — Heyman suggests a 15-game suspension while Morosi opines that Quentin should be out for at least a month for seeking "vigilante justice" against Greinke.  It may be a while before Quentin misses any action given that the outfielder is likely to appeal any suspension leveled against him by the league.

As the Padres kick off a series against the Rockies at Petco Park tonight, here are some more items out of sunny San Diego… 

  • Padres GM Josh Byrnes seems to have won the favor of the club's new ownership group, Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.  New owners are often apt to bring in their own general managers though in the Padres' case, firing Byrnes would be costly given that he is under contract through the 2017 season.
  • In his weekly chat with fans, Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune notes that Byrnes will likely "blow up the roster" (in the words of one fan) should the Padres fail to match last year's 76-86 record.
  • Also from Center, Cameron Maybin has "no trade value" given his struggles at the plate and the roughly $22.8MM owed to him through the 2016 season.  Maybin signed the five-year, $25MM extension prior to the 2012 campaign but hit just .243/.306/.349 last season and has just two hits in 27 AB to begin this season.
  • From earlier today on MLBTR, the Padres signed first baseman Brandon Allen to a minor league contract.

MLBTR's Steve Adams also contributed to this post

East Links: Harvey, Red Sox, Myers, Zobrist, Marlins

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Matt Harvey has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball this season, and the Mets hurler appeared on the Baseball Tonight podcast with ESPN's Buster Olney to discuss how he could have signed with the Angels out of high school (Harvey appears near the 28:50 mark of this audio link). Here's more from the Eastern divisions…

  • Tim Wakefield is joining the Red Sox as a special instructor and the honorary chairman of the Red Sox Foundation, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
  • We're less than two weeks into the season, but Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times points out that's long enough for the Rays to delay Wil Myers' free agency by a season if they wish to call him up. The team will need to wait until June to prevent him from reaching Super Two status, however.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes that Ben Zobrist is one of the two best players in the game, dating back to 2009, according to WAR. Rosenthal spoke with Baseball-Reference.com founder Sean Forman and Zobrist himself about the statistic.
  • The Marlins TV ratings are at an all-time low, according to Clark Spencer and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Spencer writes that the ratings may see an uptick every five days when rookie Jose Fernandez starts, but the fans are simply too bored with the team to care most days.
  • Denard Span and B.J. Upton of the Nationals and Braves, respectively, will be on the same field for the first of many times in the coming seasons on Friday, writes Amanda Comak of the Washington Times. Comak writes that there's a chance that this outcome could've come about with the pair's jerseys being flipped, had the offseason played out a bit differently.

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