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Archives for January 2014

Josh Donaldson Changes Agencies

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Third baseman Josh Donaldson of the Athletics has switched representation, moving from the Bledsoe Brothers to Dan Lozano and MVP Sports, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week (via Twitter). The 27-year-old enjoyed a breakout campaign last year in his first season of full-time MLB duty.

Unless Oakland GM Billy Beane wants to talk about an early extension, Donaldson's new agency will see its first real action before the 2015 season, when Donaldson is likely to reach arbitration eligibility as a Super Two. After landing fourth in the American League MVP voting in 2013, Donaldson will not qualify for free agency until 2019, leaving the A's with plenty of cheap team control. 

As always, you can visit MLBTR's Agency Database for information on player representation.

Twins Again Kicking Tires On Matt Garza

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The Twins are once more kicking the tires on free agent starter Matt Garza, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. Though the club has already committed $84MM to three free agent starters, it apparently remains active on the open market. (Wolfson tweets that the club is "still circling" on Bronson Arroyo, and he recently reported interest in Masahiro Tanaka.)

In mid-December, Wolfson reported that the Twins "know the price" for Garza. But if Garza has made his terms clear, so too have the Twins. Minnesota's position seems to remain the same, according to Wolfson: the club will put a lot of money on the table, but still will not commit to a lengthy term. 

It will certainly be interesting to see whether Twins GM Terry Ryan ultimately adds a fourth multi-year starting pitching contract. As MLBTR's Steve Adams has explained, obtaining quality innings was the most important task facing Ryan before the 2014 season. But the deals given to Ricky Nolasco (four years, $49MM), Phil Hughes (three years, $24MM), and Mike Pelfrey (two years, $11MM) already constitute a huge investment in the team's rotation. Adding another substantial contract would make for a virtually complete overhaul of the staff for the foreseeable future.

Blue Jays’ 2015 Option On Gibbons Is Now Guaranteed

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The 2015 option in the contract of Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is now guaranteed, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca, by operation of a unique clause in his deal. Designed to avoid a "lame duck" situation, the clause guarantees Gibbons' option because he was not fired before the start of the new year.

As the clause further provides, Toronto also acquires a 2016 option to retain Gibbons. In essence, as Nicholson-Smith explains, the contract is something of a "perpetual two-year deal": should Gibbons hold on through January 1, 2015, the same clause would again be triggered in like manner.

Under Gibbons last year, the Jays disappointed with a 74-88 record. The once-and-current Toronto skipper says he hopes to have his club prepared for a fast start to the season coming out of Spring Training. Last year, he noted, the team was "buried" in the division early on. 

Orioles Notes: Morales, Free Agents, Hardy

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The rumor mill is slowly beginning to turn again with the end of what MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko calls "baseball's dead zone" — the period of general inactivity between Christmas and New Year's Day. For Orioles fans, that means a return to clamoring for the club to make some impactful additions to its roster. (Baltimore's most expensive addition to date has been reliever Ryan Webb, who was non-tendered by the Marlins.) But, as Kubatko notes, there are a good number of high-quality players still available on the open market, many of whom have been linked to the O's in some manner. Here's more from the O's:

  • The Orioles could be a legitimate landing spot for Kendrys Morales, Kubatko suggests. Baltimore is not concerned with his fielding, and is less hesitant to give up a draft pick than in years past, according to Kubatko.
  • One other avenue for landing a bat, of course, is via trade. Kubatko says he has heard "rumblings" that executive VP Dan Duquette is working on a deal that could be nearing the stage of reviewing medicals.
  • The O's have not made a sizeable free agent investment to date, though the club figures to be in on several remaining players, writes Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Morales, a starter such as Bronson Arroyo or A.J. Burnett, or a closer like Fernando Rodney remain realistic possibilities to land in Baltimore. Yet it remains fairly likely that the club will not ultimately add any of the better players left on the open market, Connolly opines. 
  • Otherwise, Duquette could focus on addressing the team's own players. J.J. Hardy is the most likely current player to land an extension in Connolly's estimation. 

Minor Moves: Joe Benson

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Here are today's minor moves from throughout baseball.

  • The Marlins have agreed to terms with outfielder Joe Benson on a minor-league contract and spring training invite, Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish tweets. Benson played the 2013 season in the Twins and Rangers systems, hitting a combined .215/.294/.362 in 345 plate appearances, most of them at Double-A and Triple-A. He collected 74 plate appearances with the Twins in 2011, the only season in which he's appeared in the Majors.

Quick Hits: Brewers, Twins, Mulder, Angels, Red Sox

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It wouldn't make sense for the Brewers to move Rickie Weeks or Ryan Braun to first base, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy writes. The Brewers have been connected to Corey Hart, Ike Davis and other first basemen this winter, but they haven't landed any of them. Scooter Gennett figures to be the Brewers' second baseman next season, leaving no obvious spot for Weeks. Weeks doesn't have an ideal bat for first base, and the Brewers could try to trade him, if they can find a taker. Milwaukee sees Braun as a long-term fix in right field, McCalvy notes. (Also, we might add that Braun's performance at third base in 2007 very persuasively suggests that he stay in the outfield.) Here are more notes from around the Majors.

  • McCalvy also notes that Rule 5 pick Wei-Chung Wang's chances of sticking with the Brewers are "very slim," noting that the Brewers haven't kept a Rule 5 pick for an entire season since 2004 with reliever Jeff Bennett (who, like Wang, was selected out of the Pirates organization). Wang has also never pitched above the Gulf Coast League. McCalvy does point out, however, that there will be chances to stick in the Brewers' bullpen, particularly if they use lefty Will Smith as a starter.
  • The Angels want to keep their first-round pick in this year's draft, MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez writes. They're still looking for pitching, though, and if they don't want to surrender their pick, then signing Ervin Santana or Ubaldo Jimenez, who each rejected qualifying offers, won't be possible for them. That limits them to Masahiro Tanaka, Matt Garza, and Bronson Arroyo, followed by less-desirable options like Paul Maholm, Jason Hammel and Chris Capuano.
  • The Twins had "some interest" in Mark Mulder, 1500ESPN.com's Darren Wolfson tweets. Mulder was not interested in signing with Minnesota, however, and he ended up heading to the Angels instead.
  • Mulder says he's open to pitching in the minors if he feels like he's on a path back to the big leagues, but he doesn't want to stay in the minor leagues the whole season, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets.
  • It looks more and more likely that the Red Sox will re-sign Stephen Drew, and if so, that doesn't mean they'll necessarily trade Will Middlebrooks, writes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. A number of potential suitors, including the Mets, Pirates, Twins and Yankees, appear content to go with internal options rather than signing Drew and losing a draft pick, which could leave the Red Sox as the only team standing. Boston currently figures to head into the season with Xander Bogaerts at shortstop and Middlebrooks at third, but if they re-signed Drew, Bogaerts would head to third and Middlebrooks wouldn't have a place to play. The Red Sox could then keep Middlebrooks for depth. MacPherson points to the example of Mike Carp, who demonstrated last year that a player need not have an obvious starting role to be helpful — perhaps Middlebrooks could follow in his footsteps.

Dennis Gilbert Reflects On His Career As Top Agent

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Scott Boras may have the most impressive client list of any agent in baseball today, but it wasn’t long ago that he shared that title with Dennis Gilbert.  From the early 80s until his retirement in 1999, Gilbert was in charge of negotiations for some of the biggest names in the game, from George Brett to Jose Canseco to Barry Bonds.  He built a reputation for getting top dollar for his players and churned out record-smashing deals for his top clients.  Ultimately, however, Gilbert sold his powerful Beverly Hills Sports Council at a young age, then got back into the game a couple years later as a special assistant to White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.

Throughout his career, there’s been one constant for Gilbert: the life insurance business.  When a friend of his who worked as a baseball agent passed away unexpectedly, Gilbert took over for some of his clients and quickly built his business from there.  Still, he never left the insurance industry and juggled both by surrounding himself with the right people in both worlds.  It was an impressive feat, given the amount of attention and hours that being a baseball agent requires.

In 1993, Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated wrote a tremendous piece comparing Boras and Gilbert when they were both at the top of the business.  The consensus from around the game was that the two men achieved their success quite differently.  “One guy’s a salesman, and the other’s a warrior,” Reinsdorf told Verducci. “Dennis is smooth. While he’s taking your money, he makes you very happy.”

It may be a cliche, but Gilbert is one of a kind.  He still greets people with warmth and a few card tricks, and he tends to make lasting impressions.  There was no one in his field in the 1980s or ’90s who had a comparable demeanor, and there’s no one now either, nearly 15 years after he transitioned out of the business.

“I don’t have a ton of interaction with agents on a daily basis, but I don’t think any of them do.  My approach was unique and I built some strong relationships during that time,” Gilbert tells MLBTR.

Gilbert had a strong rapport with executives around the league, but he had more than one client who rubbed folks the wrong way.  Canseco was viewed as a brash and arrogant; Bonds’ rep was as a standoffish individual who didn’t care for the media.  Of course, the stain of steroids didn’t help either player’s image.  To hear Gilbert tell it, most people didn’t have a full idea of what either man was about and chose only to zero in on the more odious aspects of their personalities.

“The part of Jose that I know about was when he had money he gave his money to his father, mother, sister, brother and a lot of friends around him and he just took care of a lot of people.  He had a very big heart and I think that’s a part that people never saw,” Gilbert says.  “Barry did a lot of things under the radar also. Going to children’s hospitals, signing dozens of bats every year and handing them out and doing a lot of things that people weren’t cognizant of.  They both had soft sides to them.”

Gilbert’s relationships with certain people in baseball continued even after he sold off the BHSC.  He was Mike Piazza’s agent during much of his Dodgers prime, and even though Gilbert was no longer representing the catcher towards the end of his stay there, he was “in the room” around the time when Piazza was traded to the Marlins.  Once again, in Gilbert’s mind, public perception didn’t quite match reality.  As most Dodgers fans understand it, the new FOX ownership group was reluctant to pay the All-Star catcher fair market value on his next contract, necessitating the trade to Florida.  On the contrary, Gilbert says that Rupert Murdoch’s baseball arm did everything it could to make things work.

Today, he’s on call for “anything that Jerry Reinsdorf needs” in his role with the White Sox and says that he’s optimistic that the club will have a quick turnaround after a down 2013.  He’s considered team ownership, with exploratory talks to purchase the Rangers and, most recently, the Dodgers.  One might think that he’s wistful for his days as one of the very top agents in the game, but that’s not exactly the case.  Gilbert says that he enjoyed negotiating the contracts and “the baseball part” but isn’t wild about some of the outside stuff the job also calls for.  His future could take him in a number of directions, but it’s safe to say that he won’t be sitting opposite of Reinsdorf at the negotiating table again.

Poll: When Will David Price Be Traded?

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At the outset of the offseason, it seemed highly likely that the Rays would deal ace David Price. Presumably, Tampa hoped to bring in the kind of haul that James Shields commanded last year. (That trade brought back a return that included AL ROY Wil Myers and top prospect Jake Odorizzi.) As with Shields at the time he was dealt, Price comes with two more years of team control, making now a seemingly opportune moment to maximize his return.

But the market for Price has apparently been slow to develop. Last we've heard, the club may be considering holding onto the 2012 AL Cy Young winner, at least to start the season. Though a trade may still be the most likely result, its timing is now in question. Indeed, there have not been any recent reports of traction in talks.

So, MLBTR readers: when do you think Price will finally be dealt — if at all?

When Will David Price Be Traded?
Between Opening Day and the Trade Deadline 37.81% (7,508 votes)
After the 2014 Season (if at all) 31.70% (6,296 votes)
Before Spring Training 21.90% (4,350 votes)
Between Spring Training and Opening Day 8.59% (1,705 votes)
Total Votes: 19,859

West Notes: GMs, Tanaka, A’s DH, Cruz

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The annual "Black Monday" NFL head coach firing day does not have an analog for baseball GMs, who have enjoyed much better job security than either those coaches or MLB managers, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Since 2011, only Larry Beinfest (the Marlins' former president of baseball operations) has been canned amongst top baseball operations men. Ten GMs have been in place since at least 2006, while only nine of the remaining twenty teams have undergone what Piecoro classifies as "full regime changes." Though several elements — such as baseball's long player development timeline — may support this phenomenon, Piecoro says that we could see more front office shakeups in the near future. He lists several GMs who could be on a short leash, many of whom represent western division clubs: Kevin Towers of the Diamondbacks, Dan O'Dowd of the Rockies, Jack Zduriencik of the Mariners, Ruben Amaro Jr. of the Phillies, and Jerry Dipoto of the Angels.

Here's more from the National and American League West:

  • D-Backs fans should temper their expectations about the possibility of the club landing Masahiro Tanaka, writes MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Though Arizona has been prominently connected to the hurler, Gilbert says that the commitment needed to beat the market on Tanaka would be "very tough" to cram into the club's payroll space.
  • The Athletics are likely to employ John Jaso as the club's primary designated hitter rather than adding salary to put a new bat in the lineup, says Jane Lee of MLB.com. Yoenis Cespedes and Coco Crisp could also see time in the DH slot to reduce their wear and tear in the outfield, Lee notes. Meanwhile, Lee notes, the club is highly unlikely to trade away Cespedes (unless it gets a huge offer) and does not seem to be in play for free agent Nelson Cruz.
  • The Astros made a surprising addition to the club's 40-man roster recently, protecting unheralded 23-year-old Luis Cruz from the Rule 5 draft. As Jose De Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle writes for Baseball America (subscription required), Cruz exploded last year and caught the attention of GM Jeff Luhnow. "We promoted him to Double-A not really expecting him to do what he did," said Luhnow. "He went out and dominated." Though Cruz threw only 17 innings at that level, he also notched 10.2 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 across 113 1/3 innings  in High-A (though his 5.16 ERA was less promising). "The fact is that he is lefthanded, he profiles as a starting pitcher and has dominant stuff," Luhnow explained.
  • The American League West race gets its own spot on ESPN.com's Buster Olney's top storylines of 2014 (Insider link). The division features big money additions to the Rangers and Mariners, as well as numerous interesting newcomers to the rosters of the A's, Angels, and Astros. As Olney explains, the results of the division's arm race — and the fallout for those teams that fail to meet expectations — promises to be great baseball theater.

Olney On Selig, MLBPA, Key Contract Situations

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In Buster Olney's New Year's Day column (Insider link), the ESPN senior writer covered his ten top MLB storylines for the coming year. While I recommend a full read of the piece, here are a few of Olney's notes that are of particular interest from a transactional perspective:

  • Both MLB and the MLBPA face leadership questions owing to the announced retirement of commissioner Bud Selig and the untimely death of union chief Michael Weiner. Olney says that he has heard three possible scenarios regarding the commissioner's chair: first, that Selig could be enticed to stay on; second, that COO Rob Manfred will be the hand-picked successor; and third, that a new leader has yet to be chosen (and could be the subject of disagreement due to increasing unrest from middle- and small-market clubs). On the union side, Olney says that much remains unknown about how the leadership transition to Tony Clark will impact the organization's power structure and approach.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman is only under contract through the 2014 season, and Olney hints that his fate could be tied to the club's transition as it faces a "crossroad season" with aging star Derek Jeter. Across the country, a veritable "cold war" between the Dodgers and manager Don Mattingly will also be worth close attention, says Olney.
  • Meanwhile, several front offices are dealing with financial pressures and high expectations that could result in major changes if things don't break right. Olney lists the Phillies, Royals, Diamondbacks, Orioles, and Blue Jays as clubs that are facing high-stakes seasons.
  • Several key contract situations are reaching points of decision around the game. Clayton Kershaw and Hanley Ramirez of the Dodgers have been the subject of extension rumors. The Rays still have to decide how to proceed with ace David Price. And extension speculation is set to ramp up for the Tigers, who have cleared future payroll space but will soon need to chart a path on two of their best players in Max Scherzer and Miguel Cabrera. Finally, says Olney, Braves closer Craig Kimbrel is set to reach new heights in arbitration salary — indeed, his unique statline has already busted MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz's arbitration model — that could force Atlanta to consider a trade.

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