Tigers Acquire Francisco Martinez, Designate Berry
The Tigers announced that the club has acquired outfielder/third baseman Francisco Martinez from the Mariners in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations by June 15. To make room for Martinez on the roster, the club has designated Quintin Berry for assignment.
Martinez, 22, was sent to the Mariners as part of the six-player trade that brought Doug Fister to the Tigers around the 2011 trade deadline. Martinez, who has hit .255/.309/.355 in parts of three seasons at Double-A, will report to Single-A Lakeland.
Berry, 28, has been with Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate this season with a slash line of .168/.278/.234. The former fifth-round choice had 330 plate appearances for the Tigers last season and hit .258/.330/.354 with two homers.
Cafardo On Lee, Papelbon, Sizemore, Rios
In today's column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wonders if George Brett is being groomed to be the Royals' next manager now that he has committed to being with the team every day as hitting coach. Dennis Gilbert, who represented Brett as an agent and who has fallen short in bids to purchase the Dodgers, Padres, and Rangers, would have installed Brett as manager had he landed one of those clubs. Brett could very well be Ned Yost’s eventual replacement if he boosts Kansas City's offense, but there’s also a lot of sentiment for Jim Fregosi, who has ties to GM Dayton Moore. Here's more from today's column..
- Cafardo spoke to a couple dozen executives, scouts, and players over the past few days about who the top player on the trade block will be and the consensus was Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee. The Red Sox, Orioles, Indians, Angels, and Rangers would really like to have Lee and there are many more clubs who could be in the mix, including the Dodgers and the Yankees, who say they can’t swing it but have the means to do it. One American League exec indicated there would be 20 teams lined up for Lee. Lee might be the last guy Ruben Amaro Jr. wants to trade, but he'd yield the greatest return.
- The Phillies have another interesting piece in Jonathan Papelbon and if they decide they are retooling, they probably don’t need a top closer. Several baseball people say the Tigers would be a tremendous fit for Papelbon since pairing him with that starting rotation would be rather formidable. He would also be an option for the Angels and Red Sox, but the Sox want to give Andrew Bailey every chance to do the job. The Indians would also be a possibility.
- It shouldn’t be long before a long list of teams start to inquire about free agent Grady Sizemore. Sizemore has begun baseball activities after being sidelined by knee surgeries and so far he’s had no setbacks. Cafardo suggests the Mets could be a fit as they are in need of outfield help.
- The White Sox, Blue Jays, and Twins might hold some of this year's top trade chips. “Alex Rios, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and you can add Justin Morneau, are definitely the major guys scouts are focusing on,” said one AL GM.
- After Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury stole five bases Thursday night against the Phillies, it started to dawn on people — including some in the Philadelphia organization — that Ellsbury would be a nice piece in the Phillies’ lineup next season. However, he also hurt his groin during the game, and the injury question popped up.
Orioles Sign Jon Rauch
9:10pm: Rauch has a June 18th opt out with the O's, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Baltimore will then have 48 hours to respond to the veteran's request at that date.
1:03pm: The Orioles announced that they have agreed to a minor league deal with pitcher Jon Rauch. The right-hander, who is represented by Turner Gary Sports according to the MLBTR Agency Database, will report to Triple-A Norfolk.
Rauch was designated for assignment by the Marlins earlier this month in order to create room on the 40-man roster for Duane Below. Rauch signed a one-year, $1MM deal with the Marlins in February and posted a 6.89 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 15 and 2/3 innings. The 34-year-old owns a career 3.88 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 over 594 big league innings.
Rosenthal On Hughes, Gallardo, Kershaw, Pirates
Here’s a look at some highlights from the latest edition of Full Count from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports..
- At the age of 27, Phil Hughes will be the youngest pitcher on the open market by far. The Yankees hurler figures to be more in demand that one might think thanks to his high strikeout rate, low walk rate, postseason experience, and his ability to survive – and sometimes thrive – in New York. Hughes’ biggest flaw is giving up a lot of home runs, but a more forgiving ballpark could help correct that. Rosenthal suggests that he would do well in the pitcher-friendly parks of the Mets, Padres, Mariners, and Tigers.
- The trade market for starting pitchers doesn’t look very attractive at this point, but Yovani Gallardo is one player to keep an eye on. Gallardo hasn’t done especially well this season for the Brewers and his fastball velocity is trending downward, but he might be better than any other starter on the block. He’s also relatively affordable as he makes $7.75MM this season and $11.25MM next season with a $13MM option for 2015.
- The Dodgers might not be in as strong of a position for Robinson Cano as they initially appeared. Clayton Kershaw is going to go for ~$200MM and the team might not be able to take another contract in that range. As Josh Kosman and Mark DeCambre of the New York Post reported earlier this week, the club will have to commit a greater percentage of their deal to revenue sharing than the originally thought. That could cost them more than $1B over 25 years and that could affect their ability to maintain skyhigh payrolls.
- Much has been made of the workloads of the Pirates‘ top relievers, triggering speculation that they’ll have to trade for relief help at the deadline. That could happen, but team officials note that Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon both have been quite efficient while Justin Wilson has gone back-to-back just twice in his multi-inning role this season. The club also has a number of intriguing options waiting in the wings in Triple-A, most notably Ryan Reid and Jared Hughes.
2014 Vesting Options Update
With two months of baseball in the books, here's a look at the players who have vesting options for the 2014 season..
- Kurt Suzuki, Nationals: $9.25MM option vests with 113 starts in 2013. Suzuki was slated to split time behind the plate with Wilson Ramos this season, but Ramos' hamstring has forced the club to give the veteran catcher 39 starts thus far (counting tonight's game). The most recent update on Ramos, courtesy of the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore, says that he'll be sidelined until around July 1st. If Ramos heals up and takes starts away from Suzuki, it will be a club option worth $8.5MM with a modest $650K buyout.
- Jamey Carroll, Twins: $2MM option vests with 401 plate appearances. Carroll has 105 PAs in 27 games this season. The veteran has had more than his needed total in each of the last three seasons with 500+ plate appearances in each of the last two years.
- Wilson Betemit, Orioles: $3.2MM option vests with 324 plate appearances (combined 700 between 2012 and 2013). Betemit underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on March 26th and a late May update (from Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) indicates that he still hasn't been cleared for baseball activities.
- Lance Berkman, Rangers: $13MM option vests with 550 plate appearances. So far, Berkman has 199 plate appearances to his credit and is on pace to lock in his 2014 option with ease. In 2011, his last full season, the slugger racked up 587 PAs.
- Roy Halladay, Phillies: $20MM option vests with 259 innings pitched (combined 415 innings pitched between '12 and '13). This was a longshot to begin with, but shoulder surgery earlier this month makes this one impossible.
- Brett Myers, Indians: $8MM option vests with 200 innings pitched in 2013 and a passed physical after the season. After logging 21 and 1/3 innings in 2013, Myers was sidelined with tendinitis and a mild ligament sprain in his right elbow and has yet to return. When he does come back, it's possible that the Tribe will move him to the bullpen.
- Barry Zito, Giants: $18MM option vests with 200 innings pitched. Zito has racked up 62 and 2/3 innings through eleven starts this season. It's far from a lock, but as it stands the veteran still has a chance at securing his 2014 salary. His numbers are strong as he has a 3.88 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9.
- Johan Santana, Mets: His $25MM option could have vested with 215 innings pitched or winning the 2013 Cy Young Award, but he won't have a chance at that thanks to a season-ending tear in his pitching shoulder.
It's also worth noting that Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano has a $8MM club option for 2014, but it can vest at any of three levels – $5MM, $6MM, or $8MM – based on the number of days he is not on the DL this year with a recurrence of his right arm injury. It's not known how many days the hurler must steer clear of right arm trouble in order to trigger each level of his option, however. The left-hander made his season debut on May 11th.
David Huff Clears Waivers
David Huff has cleared waivers and accepted the Yankees' assignment to Triple-A Scranton, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has learned. The Bombers designated Huff for assignment earlier this week to clear room on the roster for the return of Joba Chamberlain.
Huff has been moved around quite a bit in recent days as he was designated for assignment by the Indians on May 23rd and claimed by the Yankees two days later. The 28-year-old has a 5.40 ERA with 5.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 across 52 career big league starts and six relief appearances. Huff, who was drafted 39th overall in 2006 by the Indians, made just three relief appearances for the Tribe in 2013.
Phillies Notes: Brown, Draft, Smith
While some people were down on Domonic Brown, who had just 12 career Major League homers entering the season and hit .233/.309/.372 this April, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel believed that he could put together a streak of success at the plate, writes MLB.com’s Stephen Pianovich. “I’ve made statements about guys like Jim Thome, Brian Giles, guys like that,” Manuel said. “And I’ve had guys in meetings say ‘I’m going to tell you to shut up.’ By the end of the year, they don’t tell me to shut up. Seriously, I can name you a lot of guys. That’s part of loving the game. That’s also part of stand up and put what you see.” Here’s more out of Philly, courtesy of Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer..
- The Phillies are likely to grab a position player with the 16th overall pick in the draft, according to Brookover. Assistant GM Marti Wolever admitted that he likes first baseman Dominic Smith who comes from the same high school in Northern California that produced Barry Bonds, Jim Fregosi, and Gregg Jefferies.
- The Phillies can look to the rival Braves and Nationals for a reminder of how important the draft is, writes Brookover. The Nats have eight players on their 25-man roster that they drafted from 2007-2011 while the Phillies have just four in Justin De Fratus (rd. 11, 2007), Michael Stutes (rd. 11, 2008), Tyler Cloyd (rd. 18, 2008), Joe Savery (18th overall, 2007).
- More from Brookover, who writes that the outfield is an issue in the club’s farm system. Meanwhile, Brown is an example of a draft risk on an outfielder that paid off. “I know they picked him in the 20th round, but everybody thought he was going to play football and they gave him a lot of money,” the scout said. Brown got a $200K bonus from the Phillies, which was quite high for a player taken that late in the draft.
Beltway Notes: Strasburg, Orioles, Nats, Rauch
Here's a look at the latest on the Nationals and Orioles..
- It makes no sense to question the Nationals' decision last year to put an innings limit on Stephen Strasburg's arm last year due to his current troubles, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Strasburg's is dealing with an oblique injury while last year's move was made in order to protect his arm.
- Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com (Twitter link) asked Dan Duquette if Jon Rauch has an opt out clause in his deal but the Orioles GM didn't answer. That leads Ghiroli to surmise that he probably has one in his contract. The O's signed the veteran hurler to a minor league deal earlier today.
- Duquette says that Rauch replaces the veteran experience of Luis Ayala, Ghiroli tweets. The Orioles shipped the reliever to the Braves back in April for minor league lefty Chris Jones.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link) notes that the Orioles had interest in Rauch over the offseason before he signed with the Marlins. The 34-year-old got a $1MM deal with incentives from Miami.
Cubs Designate Alex Burnett For Assignment
The Cubs have designated right-hander Alex Burnett for assignment, the club announced via press release. After he was claimed off of waivers five days ago, the right-hander made one scoreless appearance for Chicago. Burnett's designation will make way for fellow righty Blake Parker, who will join the Cubs from Triple-A Iowa and be available to pitch tonight.
Burnett, 25, has bounced around quite a bit early in 2013, but has only logged 2 1/3 big league innings. Over 12 minor league innings this season with the Orioles' and Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliates, he has put up a 1.50 ERA. Burnett did have a productive 2012, making 67 appearances for the Twins and registering a 3.52 ERA in 71 2/3 innings.
Alvarez, Pirates Open To Extension
Both Pedro Alvarez (via agent Scott Boras) and the Pirates have expressed interest in exploring an extension for the 26-year-old third baseman, reports Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The team expects Alvarez to become arbitration eligible after this season, which would void a $700k team option for 2014 but leave him under team control through the 2016 season.
Boras said that the Alvarez camp was "open to the idea" of discussing a long-term deal over the coming offseason. Of course, he gave no indication that such a contract would come at a discount. Boras noted that Alvarez's "combination of 20 to 30 [home run] power and quality defense at third base" was a valuable commodity, and predicted that "his best years are yet to come." Alvarez smacked 30 home runs last year for the Pirates in his first full season as a regular, and posted a .244/.317/.467 slash line. He has continued to hit the long ball this year, though he has struggled to get on base (.200/.257/.406). As the second overall pick in the 2008 draft, Alvarez already netted one substantial payday when he signed a four-year, $6.355MM deal (and had his 2013 option exercised at $700k).
From the perspective of the Pirates, team president Frank Coonelly also expressed a willingness to talk, saying: "Open minds often lead to common ground and, ultimately, to agreement. We also have an open mind on these issues and will continue to evaluate seriously the merits of a long-term agreement with Pedro, just like we do with all of our young players." He did note that the team's philosophy required that free agent years be included in any such deal: "We are proponents of multiyear deals for our core players. For us, buying out free-agent years is very important. To do otherwise doesn't make much sense."
While there is much for Alvarez to prove before he earns an extension, Pittsburgh's expressed interest makes it worth a look ahead to see what Alvarez could potentially garner if he has a strong end to his 2013 season. MLBTR's Extension Tracker reveals three recent extensions for power-hitting, young third-basemen on the cusp of arbitration eligibility. Before the 2012 season, the Giants agreed to a deal with then-25-year-old third baseman Pablo Sandoval that bought out his three arbitration-eligible seasons but did not include any free agent years. The three-year deal was worth a total of $17.15MM plus incentives. Likewise, Mark Reynolds signed a three-year, $14.5MM deal with the Diamondbacks that bought out his first two arbitration years (along with one pre-arb season) and included a $11MM option on his final year of arbitration eligibility. (The Orioles did not exercise that option and declined to afford Reynolds arbitration by not tendering him a contract, making him a free agent.) The Nationals locked up Ryan Zimmerman for five years and $45MM just weeks into the 2009 season, after previously agreeing to avoid arbitration in his first season of eligibility. Effectively, the deal covered three arbitration years and two free agent seasons.
Certainly, Alvarez has not demonstrated the level of performance of Sandoval, Reynolds, and Zimmerman at the time their deals were signed. (Sandoval was coming off of a .315/.357/.552 slash with 23 home runs. Reynolds had just posted a .260/.349/.543 line with 44 homers and 24 steals. Zimmerman was just 24 and had already put up three seasons of stellar defense and strong power/on-base numbers, though he was coming off of an injury-shortened 2008.) And the Sandoval and Reynolds models seem to be non-starters if the Pirates insist on buying free agent years. Nevertheless, they could provide something of a guide for the value of Alvarez's arbitration seasons, as his big power totals and consistent playing time figure to play well in that setting.
While Zimmerman's deal is somewhat outdated at this point, it would presumably set an upper bound on what Alvarez could look for in a five-year pact. Looking outside of third baggers, the four-year, $30MM deal that the Royals gave to Billy Butler before the 2011 season could be a target for Alvarez. Kansas City also picked up a $12.5MM team option for another year. That contract covered three arbitration seasons and one year of free agency. While Butler was undoubtedly a more accomplished hitter, his DH status limited his value. (For reference, Butler was worth 1.9 fWAR in 2009 and 2.6 fWAR in 2010. Manning third, Alvarez logged 2.3 fWAR last year.)
Of course, this set of comparable players is relatively heady territory for a player with Alvarez's somewhat spotty track record. His slow start at the plate this year has been accompanied by eight errors and a .938 fielding percentage, though advanced fielding metrics peg him as above average thus far. And the Pirates have handed out only one deal to a player (Andrew McCutchen) with between two and five years of service time since their 2009 deal with Nate McLouth.