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Coaching Links: Mariners, Tigers, Braves

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Here's today's look at the various coaching hirings from around the league…

  • The Mariners announced nearly their entire coaching staff today. Former big league slugger and Mets coach Howard Johnson will serve as the team's hitting coach. Former Tigers bullpen coach Mike Rojas will reprise that role with the 2014 Mariners. Former big league catcher John Stearns will serve as the team's third base coach — a role he's filled with the Mets in the past. Andy Van Slyke, the former Tigers first base coach and a three-time All-Star as a player, will serve as the first base coach. Rick Waits, who has served as the team's minor league pitching coordinator for three seasons and enjoyed a 12-year playing career, will be the pitching coach. Lastly, recently retired infielder Chris Woodward will serve as an infield coach after spending 2013 as a minor league infield coordinator for the Mariners. 
  • The Tigers announced today that Darnell Coles will serve as their assistant hitting coach. Coles was originally slated to manage the Brewers' Triple-A affiliate in Nashville before accepting the position. Coles served as a manager at the Double-A level from 2012-13 and has eight years of minor league coaching experience.
  • David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Braves have hired former Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee as their minor league pitching coordinator. He also reports that former Reds assistant hitting coach Ronnie Ortegon will become the Braves' minor league hitting coordinator (Twitter links).

Chad Durbin Retires

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Longtime MLB reliever Chad Durbin has retired, ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick tweets. Soon to be 36, Durbin made 16 appearances for the Phillies last season before being released at the end of May.

Over the course of fourteen years of full or partial big league pitching, first as a starter and then as a reliever, Durbin netted 836 1/3 innings and compiled a 5.03 ERA. He was more effective from the pen, however, as his career ERA drops to 4.29 when only relief innings are considered. Durbin's best season came at an opportune time: he solidified the World Champion Phillies' bullpen in 2008 with a career-high 87 2/3 innings at a career-low 2.87 earned run average. 

Dodgers Sign Dan Haren

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A down-and-up 2013 season did not prevent Dan Haren from landing an eight-figure guarantee, as the hurler has officially agreed to a one-year, $10MM deal with the Dodgers. The contract includes a $10MM option for 2015 that vests if Haren throws 180 innings. Haren is represented by Greg Landry of CAA Sports.

USATSI_7409866_154513410_lowresBoth the guaranteed and the option year base salaries could be boosted significantly by incentives. Haren can make up to $3MM in added cash in 2014 based upon games started and innings pitched, beginning at 24 starts and 150 innings pitched. 

Haren, 33, posted a 4.67 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 2013. His peripherals indicated that he deserved better than his ERA indicated, with an xFIP a run lower. Given that Haren isn't particularly old and that he's pitched at least 169 2/3 innings in every season since 2005, $10MM seems like a somewhat low total, particularly in an offseason in which Tim Lincecum got two years and $35MM and Jason Vargas got four years and $32MM. Still, MLBTR's Steve Adams had Haren pegged at one year and $10MM exactly, noting that Haren has already made $61MM in his career and might be willing to take less to stay near his family on the West Coast. Haren made $13MM last season as a member of the Nationals.

On Wednesday, we learned that Haren was talking to the Dodgers. He will join a Dodgers rotation picture that includes Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Josh Beckett and Chad Billingsley, though Billingsley had Tommy John surgery in April, and Beckett's health is also in question. Indeed, Dodgers' GM Ned Colleti says he is still considering adding another arm to the club's mix of starters.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter) first reported the deal. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported via Twitter the vesting and incentive mechanisms. Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times tweeted the deal's finalization and final terms.

Charlie Wilmoth and Jeff Todd contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mariners President And COO Chuck Armstrong To Retire

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Longtime Mariners president and COO Chuck Armstrong will retire effective January 31 of next year, the team announced via press release. The 71-year-old has served as president for 28 of the last 30 seasons, the club noted.

"Thanks to our outstanding ownership, the franchise is stable and will remain the Northwest's team, playing in Safeco Field," said Armstrong. The only regret, said Armstrong, was that the club never achieved a championship during his tenure. Seattle will now begin the process of finding a replacement and transition responsibilities, the club added in its release. 

Tigers Moving Toward Deal With Brian Wilson

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The Tigers are moving toward a deal with free agent, right-handed reliever Brian Wilson, Lynn Henning of the Detroit News reports, though a deal has not yet been reached. Wilson and agent Dan Lozano met on Sunday in Los Angeles with new Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, Henning adds.

With Joaquin Benoit and Jose Veras now on the open market after working from the back of the Detroit pen in 2013, the Tigers have been expected to be among the most active buyers of late-inning relievers. Wilson, who will turn 32 in March, returned from his second Tommy John surgery late last year with the Dodgers, posting a 0.66 ERA in 13 2/3 innings. He registered 8.6 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in that stretch. Wilson checked in at 47th on MLBTR's Tim Dierkes's list of the top fifty free agents.

Orioles Will Tender All Arb-Eligibles; Have Yet To Talk Extension With Wieters, Davis

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Orioles GM Dan Duquette spoke with reporters today about the latest in Birdland. As reported by Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, Duquette said that the club is planning to tender contracts to each of the nine Orioles players that are eligible for arbitration.

Here is the slate of players who stand to receive a tender, along with the salaries projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz: catcher Matt Wieters ($7.9MM); first baseman Chris Davis ($10MM); outfielders Nolan Reimold ($1.2MM) and Steve Pearce ($1.1MM); relievers Troy Patton ($1.2MM), Brian Matusz ($2.1MM), Tommy Hunter ($3.1MM), and Jim Johnson ($10.8MM); and starter Bud Norris ($5MM). In total, Swartz projects a $42.4MM tab for the group.

As MLBTR's Tim Dierkes explored in reporting Swartz's projections, Reimold in particular had been a questionable tender recipient. As MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko notes on Twitter, the decision on Reimold was made after receiving positive updates on his health status as he rehabs from another neck surgery. "He's coming along pretty well," Duquette relayed. "He's ahead of where he was at the same time in 2012." As Connolly explained, the O's feel that he has been good when healthy and expect him to be ready for the spring. Per the analysis of Dierkes and Kubatko (via Twitter), Johnson, Patton, and Pearce all were also possible non-tender candidates. 

The two least surprising members of the list of Orioles set to be tendered — Wieters and Davis — are also, of course, the two major Baltimore extension candidates. Duquette said that the club is focused on making additions to the club at present, and has yet to enage agent Scott Boras (who represents both players) in off-season contract talks.

Dioner Navarro Moving Toward Deal

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Catcher Dioner Navarro is "moving to resolution" with a team, according to Peter Gammons of the MLB Network (on Twitter). Gammons doesn't have the name of the front-runner yet, but he adds that the Red Sox are not in pursuit.

Navarro, who turns 30 in February, enjoyed a strong rebound campaign with the Cubs in 2013, batting .300/.365/.492 with 13 home runs in 89 games (266 plate appearances). The Marlins are the main team to have expressed interest in Navarro so far, though the Red Sox did apparently express some interest as a fallback option should their top targets fall through.

The Blue Jays have been said to be in the market for a catcher, as have the Twins, in light of the news that Joe Mauer's days behind the plate are done and he will be a first baseman going forward. The Rays don't figure to be in the mix after reaching an agreement with Jose Molina over the weekend.

Breaking Down The Jhonny Peralta Signing

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While many pundits expected a few deals in the four-year, $50-55MM range to be issued this offseason, few thought that Jhonny Peralta would be on the receiving end of such a lavish payday. Yet that's exactly what took place over the weekend, with the Cardinals agreeing to a four-year, $53MM contract with the former Tiger and Indian.

At first glance, Peralta's contract appears to be an alarming overpay, however that's more due to the fact that there was clearly a disconnect between his market value and the media perception of his worth. This isn't said to pat myself on the back by any means (I was off by $17MM on the total value of his contract, after all), but my own projection of three years and $36MM for Peralta was among the most aggressive numbers I saw around the baseball sphere when looking at other predictions. News that Peralta was seeking $56-75MM late last week was widely scoffed at by MLBTR readers both on Twitter and in the comments section of the post.

Reports have indicated that the Mets believed, initially, that they would be able to land Peralta on a two-year contract. They weren't the only ones thinking along those lines, as ESPN's Jim Bowden pegged him at two years and $20MM. Meanwhile, over at CBS Sports, Jon Heyman spoke to an agent and an unnammed GM, and that trio pegged Peralta in the two-year, $16-21MM range. When I presented my own three-year, $36MM prediction to MLBTR's Tim Dierkes as we were discussing the free agent profile series, he was struck by its aggressive nature.

As it turns out, I, like many others, failed to properly weigh three key components that played a vital role in Peralta's contract:

  • The middle infield and third base markets offered little to no competition. Even with a limited number of teams looking to spend big on a free agent shortstop, the bar was set higher than any of us imagined, as the floor for Peralta appears to have been three years and $45MM.
  • Teams' strong desire to hang onto draft picks is likely greater than any of us have taken into account. Stephen Drew, who is connected to draft pick compensation after rejecting a qualifying offer, represents the only true everyday alternative to Peralta on the open market. The amount for which he signs will be one of the most interesting stories of the offseason from this point forth.
  • Teams may not be as hesitant to sign players connected to performance enhancing drugs as we would initially think. If this is the case, it's good news for Nelson Cruz and Bartolo Colon as they look to maximize their free agent paydays. I predicted three years and $39MM for Cruz and one year at $10MM for Colon in their respective free agent profiles — two projections that are feeling a bit light given the early direction of the free agent market.

From a performance standpoint, Peralta is a solid player that's probably deserving of a $13MM AAV. I won't rehash the fine work done by Eno Sarris and Dave Cameron over at Fangraphs in illustrating why a slightly above-average hitter (relative to the rest of the league, that is; Peralta dwarfs the average shortstop in terms of offensive prowess) and a reliable defensive shortstop is worth such an investment, or why this is the going rate for such players.

While many will be quick to label this contract an "overpay," we need to be more mindful of what that term really means. Should an "overpay" be defined by our own expectations, or should it be defined by the possibilities within the structure of a given free agent market? Each free agent market is its own animal, unique in nature and unlikely to be repeated. In this instance, a three-year deal likely wasn't happening, and there are even reports that have indicated Peralta left money on the table to join a stacked Cardinals organization. If that's the case, Peralta's signing is likely a bargain relative to the realm of realistic possibilities, even if it's an eye-popping number for which most of the world was ill-prepared. Kudos to agent Fern Cuza of SFX for dissuading teams from the media's perception of his market and more than doubling most prognosticators' expectations in terms of years and dollars.

Minor Moves: Irving Falu, Tyler Robertson

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Here are today's minor moves from around the league…

  • The Royals have requested unconditional release waivers on second baseman Irving Falu, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. The 30-year-old switch-hitter has an impressive .337/.366/.427 batting line in an admittedly tiny sample size of 95 plate appearances. He's been solid but less spectacular at the Triple-A level, hitting .283/.342/.365. He received just four big league plate appearances in 2013.
  • The Nationals announced that southpaw Tyler Robertson, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse. The soon-to-be 26-year-old began the 2013 campaign with the Twins but was claimed off waivers by the Nationals in June. Robertson posted a strong 3.04 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 47 1/3 Triple-A innings. He yielded a .296/.376/.407 batting line, however, and has yielded a .273/.415/.455 batting line to opposing right-handers in his brief time as a Major Leaguer.
  • As can be seen in MLBTR's DFA Tracker, eight players are currently in DFA limbo.

Aaron Crow, Tim Collins “Very Available” In Trades

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The Royals boasted one of Major League Baseball's best bullpens in 2013, and they have no shortage of in-house replacements in the event of a trade. That surplus is one of the reasons that rival executives have told Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star that right-hander Aaron Crow and lefty Tim Collins "are very available" in trades. Said one official:

"Those are the guys they’d like to trade because they’re going to start to make a little bit of money. But the key thing for them is they have a lot of other guys ready to step in…guys who might be even better."

The Royals are also willing to at least entertain the thought of parting with prized closer Greg Holland, though according to Dutton they would need a "major" return for their ninth-inning man and aren't too keen on parting with him. One club official said to Dutton: "Are we actively looking to move Holland? No. But we’ve got to be open-minded to everything."

Both Crow and Collins are headed into the first year of arbitration eligibility. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected them to earn $1.9MM and $1MM, respectively. While neither salary is prohibitive (to say the least), the Royals currently project for an $87MM payroll, GM Dayton Moore has said he expects the 2014 payroll to mirror 2013's mark of $85MM. As Dutton points out, three years of either Crow or Collins would figure to fetch a nice haul on the trade market when pitchers like Joe Smith are signing for three years and $15.75MM.

Dutton writes that right-hander Wade Davis is expected to get a chance to work his way back into the rotation in Spring Training but may end up in the bullpen again. The bullpen seems to suit Davis much better, as he has a career 2.24 ERA as a reliever and 4.57 mark as a starter (5.67 in 2013). Given his $4.8MM guaranteed salary in 2014, I'd expect that Davis is a trade candidate as well, though the Royals may value his three cheap club options too highly to part with him.

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