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Mets Still Want To Trade Ike Davis

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The Mets still see dealing first baseman Ike Davis as their "likely endgame," Andy Martino of New York Daily News tweets. They would still like to receive a good return for him, however. Martino had previously reported that the Mets would give Lucas Duda an extended tryout at first base, leaving Davis without a position. Martino writes in a follow-up piece that the Orioles once offered offered Zach Britton for Davis, although that offer is no longer pending.

The Pirates, who tonight will start Travis Ishikawa at first base for the fourth straight game to start the season, remain an obvious potential trade partner if the Mets do decide to trade Davis. Trade rumors surrounding Davis decreased in volume this spring after he spent much of March working through a calf injury. Davis, 27, hit a disappointing .205/.326/.334 in 377 plate appearances for the Mets last season, although he hit .286/.449/.505 in the second half.

Blue Jays Players Were Willing To Defer Salary To Land Santana

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5:43pm: Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Reyes, Jose Bautista, Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey were the five players who would have been willing to defer salary to sign Santana, SportsNet.com's Shi Davidi reports. Those are the five highest-paid players on the Jays' roster this season. The deferrals raise "very troubling questions" about the direction of the franchise, Davidi writes, wondering why the Jays did not come up with the money themselves.

10:50am: Ervin Santana certainly looked to be headed to the Blue Jays at one point this offseason, but late injuries to Braves right-handers Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy prompted Atlanta to swoop in and sign him to a one-year, $14.1MM contract (the same figure Toronto had offered). According to the latest report from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Blue Jays players were willing to defer their salaries in order to allow the club to sign Santana. Rosenthal adds that discussions never got past the "conversation" stage, however.

One agent told Rosenthal that he never took the situation that seriously, as the MLBPA wouldn't have allowed players to merely defer their salary without receiving some form of additional financial compensation. Still, as Rosenthal points out, the discussions raise some questions about the Jays' payroll flexibility for the 2014 season.

Two agents told Rosenthal that they heard talk of deferral from their players but were never approached by GM Alex Anthopoulos. While Anthopoulos declined comment to Rosenthal, team president and CEO Paul Beeston admitted to Mark Galloway of CBC Radio that there were some discussions about deferring salary for current players to accomodate Santana (Audio link). Said Beeston:

"Well, there was discussion about that, Matt. And to be very honest with you, I think if it would've gone that way, that would've been fine. But we are at $140MM right now. One thing that we do have is a very generous owner from the point of view of what they have committed to try to build the team."

Beeston was somewhat vague when asked by Galloway if ownership had capped spending at that $140MM mark, replying, "Well, we're a business. So the answer to that is we have a budget. So the answer is it's not a cap, because I think if we can increase our revenue, we can increase our expenses. But we run it as a business."

Beeston added that if money gets to the point where ownership isn't comfortable, other avenues such as trades or the farm system become avenues to improve the team. He offers high praise for Top 100 prospects Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, noting that they're excited to introduce them to the Major League fanbase and will need a combination of cost-controlled players to pair with the team's more expensive stars. 

Mariners Designate Hector Noesi For Assignment

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The Mariners announce that they have designated pitcher Hector Noesi for assignment. The move clears space to add reliever Dominic Leone to the 25-man roster. The Mariners used six pitchers, including Noesi, to get through six innings of relief in a 12-inning game yesterday. (Noesi took the loss, giving up a walk-off home run to Coco Crisp.) Leone provides the Mariners with an extra arm in their bullpen.

Noesi, 27, has a 5.64 career ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 191 1/3 innings, some of them as a starter. He pitched just 27 1/3 innings with the Mariners in 2013, spending much of the season in the minors. The Mariners acquired him from the Yankees in the Jesus Montero / Michael Pineda trade in early 2012.

Reactions To The Chris Archer Extension

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Chris Archer's new six-year extension with the Rays represents an indication that the league will continue its overall good health over the coming years, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. With plenty of money to keep both owners and players happy, Rosenthal opines that the coming expiration of the CBA (following the 2016 season) should not result in a work stoppage. Here are more notes on Archer's extension.

  • Rosenthal also offers that players should, perhaps, be doing better. He takes a look at the agencies that have agreed to extensions like Archer's, noting that pre-arbitration deals with multiple options are almost exclusively the domain of small- or mid-level outfits. (SFX/Relativity was the only larger agency to enter such a deal since 2000, with five to its credit.) With smaller firms concerned about losing clients, the union as a whole must exercise diligence in avoiding a loss of bargaining power as against ownership.
  • Archer's contract bears a strong resemblance to Jose Quintana's deal with the White Sox, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs writes. This isn't the first time two players have received very similar extensions — as MLBTR's Steve Adams noted this morning, Jason Kipnis' new deal mirrors Matt Carpenter's, which mirrors Andrew McCutchen's, which mirrors Jay Bruce's and Justin Upton's. Cameron also points out that the Archer extension reflects the reality of pitcher attrition — pre-free-agency extensions make sense for pitchers, even very promising pitchers, in part because their careers are so uncertain. Meanwhile, deals like Archer's are cheap enough that teams can absorb that risk.
  • Archer is only the fourth player to whom the Rays have given a contract worth over $20MM total, R.J. Anderson of Baseball Prospectus points out (subscription-only). Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and Scott Kazmir are the others. Kazmir, of course, enjoyed a terrific comeback season with Cleveland in 2013, but Anderson writes that his case illustrates the pitfalls of signing a young pitcher like Archer long term.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

Nationals’ Payroll “Beyond Topped Out”

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The Nationals are expected to contend for a playoff spot this season, but don't look for them to add much payroll at this year's trade deadline. Principal owner Mark Lerner told reporters today, including Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, that the club's payroll is "beyond topped out." Kilgore writes that there won't be any in-season salary added to the club's $134.7MM payroll (figure via the Associated Press), which ranks ninth in the Majors and represents a $25MM increase from 2013.

As Kilgore writes, the Lerner family purchased the Nationals in 2006, which came with a $611MM investment from the city that was dubbed a "public trust." At the time, the family said it wouldn't take any profit from the organization for 10 years. Forbes recently reported that Ted Lerner (Mark's father) has a net worth of $4 billion, but that doesn't mean the Nats will simply spend as freely as possible: "We went into this thing, it’s a business," said Mark Lerner. "We’ve got to run it smartly. We’re not going to do something where we’re losing tens of millions of dollars a year."

The Nationals' future revenue and payroll is heavily dependent on the dealings with MASN Sports, the television network which airs their games but is shared with the Orioles and owned by Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Though the Nationals have fought to receive a bigger cut from the network, their request has been denied to this point. Lerner is quoted: "If we get a better contract one day, and we can use those funds to do more things, great. Right now, we don’t have anything other than what we’re currently getting, and we’re budgeting accordingly."

One way to increase revenue for the club, Kilgore adds, would be to sell the naming rights to Nationals Park, which could bring in an estimated $10MM in annual revenue. However, now "isn't the time to start looking" for a buyer, said Lerner.

The Nationals will have some contracts coming off the books following the 2014 season, as Rafael Soriano's $14MM club option seems likely to be declined and Adam LaRoche ($15MM mutual option) could potentially hit the open market as well. Scott Hairston's $2.5MM salary will also be off the books. However, they're also facing built-in raises to Jayson Werth, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond that total $17MM as well as arbitration raises to Doug Fister, Stephen Strasburg, Tyler Clippard, Ross Detwiler, Wilson Ramos, Craig Stammen, Danny Espinosa, Jose Lobaton and Jerry Blevins.

Diamondbacks Claim Roger Kieschnick From Giants

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The Diamondbacks have claimed outfielder Roger Kieschnick off waivers from the Giants, Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area reports (via Twitter). The Diamondbacks have since officially announced the move via press release, adding that they've optioned Kieschnick to Triple-A Reno and placed Patrick Corbin on the 60-day disabled list to create a spot on the 40-man roster.

Kieschnick, who was designated for assignment at the end of Spring Training, going just 5-for-29 without an extra base hit in 34 plate appearances. He did draw five walks, but he also whiffed 13 times. Kieschnick, 27, hit .202/.295/.226 in 95 plate appearances after making his Major League debut last season.

Baseball America ranked Kieschnick 29th among Giants prospects this offseason, praising his strong arm in right field. However, BA notes that he's never produced the power the Giants and others expected him to after being selected in the third-round of the 2008 draft. He's ranked among San Francisco's Top 30 prospects in each of the past six seasons, per BA, twice cracking the Top 10. A career .275/.331/.485 hitter (with even better numbers at Triple-A), BA notes that Kieschnick has been slowed by a recurring back injury and a stress fracture in his shoulder suffered after crashing into an outfield wall.

Central Notes: Braun, Cubs, Masterson, Kipnis, Gomes

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Brewers right fielder Ryan Braun is again dealing with a thumb injury that hampered his swing in 2013, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Braun and the team's doctors thought the extended rest between his suspension and the offseason would heal his thumb. That was the case early in Spring Training, as he was pain-free, but as spring wore on, Braun began to again experience numbness in his right thumb. Because he cannot feel the thumb, he's unable to tell how tightly he is gripping the ball when throwing, leading to bruising and blisters on the digit. The root of the problem appears to be a damaged nerve, which can be corrected via surgery, but Braun says he doesn't want to think about that alternative now, as the recovery would not be quick.

More links pertaining to baseball's Central divisions as we gear up for a weekend of baseball early in the 2014 campaign…

  • The Cubs are exploring the idea of selling minority ownership shares as a way to help finance the stadium renovation, multiple sources tell Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com. The team is looking at selling a non-controlling interest, though no official decision has been reached. The potential sale wouldn't impact president of business operations Crane Kenney or president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, who are both locked into long-term contracts. While the deal may be perceived negatively by some, Mooney points out that the Giants and Cardinals list 30 principal owners while the Cardinals have 15 investors, and both are considered to be well-run franchises. Any sale would need to be approved by Major League Baseball, Mooney adds.
  • Earlier today, the Indians signed second baseman Jason Kipnis to a six-year, $52.5MM extension. At the press conference, GM Chris Antonetti told reporters that there's no "either/or" situation with Kipnis and Justin Masterson (MLB.com's Jorda Bastian reporting on Twitter). The club still has the financial flexibility to make something happen with Masterson, should talks re-ignite. The similarity between Kipnis' guarantee and Masterson's reported three-year, $51MM proposal may have led to some speculation prior to Antonetti's comments.
  • Bastian also tweets that the Indians have been trying to extend Kipnis since he had just 69 days of service time; in other words, Cleveland has been pursuing an extension for their second baseman since the completion of the 2011 season. Kipnis batted .272/.333/.507 with seven homers and five steals in 150 plate appearances in his big league debut that year. The deal was wrapped up on Sunday but not announced until today, he adds.
  • Fangraphs' Jason Collette looks at how Yan Gomes went from being "the other guy" in the trade that netted the Indians Mike Aviles to becoming the recipient of a six-year, $23MM extension. Gomes was never afforded a chance to catch everyday in the Blue Jays' minor league system because of their depth at the position. Collette calls the contract the "inverse of all free agent deals" as it rewards Gomes for his future production rather than past laurels. He also wonders if the new rules regarding home-plate collisions made the extension more palatable, as there is now less long-term risk with catcher extensions.

Offseason In Review: Houston Astros

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As their lengthy rebuild continued, the Astros added several veteran pieces and beefed up a payroll that had just one player earning $1MM or more at the end of the 2013 season.

Major League Signings

Notable Minor League Signings

Trades and Claims

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

Needs Addressed

The Astros have finished with the game's worst record in each of the past three seasons, but despite that gloomy reality, they didn't enter the offseason with as many needs as one would think. Altuve and 2013 breakout catcher Jason Castro are locked into the lineup for the foreseeable future, and Jonathan Villar will get the opportunity to prove himself at shortstop while Houston awaits the arrival of former No. 1 overall pick Carlos Correa. At third base, Matt Dominguez is certainly a player that the team likes (more on him in a bit), and a number of top prospects are nearing the Majors.

Fowler-Dexter-Astros

Houston entered the offseason with a clear need in the rotation, however, as none of its top pitching prospects are MLB-ready at the beginning of 2014. As such, GM Jeff Luhnow made a relatively large splash on the free agent market, adding Feldman on a three-year deal that exceeded my own expectations for the underrated right-hander. Feldman's career has been slowed by injuries — namely microfracture surgery on his right knee — but he's posted solid ground-ball rates and walk rates when healthy throughout his career. Paying him $10MM annually for his age-31 to age-33 seasons raised some eyebrows, but Feldman has the talent to make that look like a bargain if he can remain healthy.

Feldman will be trailed in the rotation by Jarred Cosart, Brett Oberholtzer, Lucas Harrell and Dallas Keuchel, but Luhnow and his staff also added some insurance by snatching up Williams after he was somewhat curiously non-tendered by the division-rival Angels. His modest $2.1MM salary wouldn't be detrimental to any club, and Williams can absorb some innings throughout the season as Houston looks to limit the workload of its young quartet of starters. Brad Peacock could also see some starts at some point this season, as he finished the 2013 campaign quite well as a part of the rotation (3.64 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings) and is a former Top 100 prospect with the A's.

The additions of Feldman and Williams should help a revamped bullpen lessen its workload, although the added quality to the relief corps could make the thought of overusing the 'pen in Houston a bit more tolerable. Last season, the Astros had the worst bullpen in the Majors, and no team was particularly close to their collective 4.92 ERA (the Mariners were second-worst at 4.58). If you think that's bad, their 5.09 FIP suggests things could've been even worse, and their 4.64 xFIP was 30 points higher than the next-worst unit (the Cubs). Qualls and Albers add veteran stability and a glut of ground-balls to the mix. Crain was one of baseball's best relievers in 2013 prior to getting hurt and could be a power arm to add to the closer mix when he returns from the DL in late April. Houston also pursued a reunion with former closer Jose Veras, though he ultimately signed with the Cubs. They may not have one of the best bullpens in the league, but there's no question that this group is improved.

Fowler's addition gives the club a productive veteran to slot at the top of an improving lineup, and he'll be controlled through the 2015 season via arbitration. He's not cheap ($7.35MM in 2014 plus one final arbitration raise next winter), which will lead some to speculate that he could become trade fodder with a solid performance in the season's first half. His career 12.3 percent walk rate and .365 OBP are attractive assets, even if one has to wonder how well he can handle Tal's Hill in center field at Minute Maid Park (defensive metrics regularly peg his glove in center as below average).

While the Astros didn't complete any extensions this offseason, it certainly wasn't for lack of trying. Houston is still said to be working on long-term deals for Dominguez as well as left fielder Robbie Grossman, and the team made an eye-popping seven-year, $23MM contract offer to top prospect George Springer before he even set foot on Major League soil. Somewhat controversially, Springer was optioned to Triple-A to open the season, prompting many to criticize baseball's service time structure and prompting Springer's agents to consider a grievance. The question of course being: If Springer is good enough to merit a $23MM contract offer, why then, is he not good enough to open the season with the team? (The obvious answer is to gain additional years of team control by stashing him in the minor leagues, thereby delaying his service clock.)

Questions Remaining

For a team that accomplished quite a bit this offseason, there are still plenty of questions remaining. Such is the nature of existence as a team that could improve by 11 wins in 2014 and still lose 100 games. Not all of Cosart, Peacock, Harrell, Oberholtzer and Keuchel are going to be long-term fits in Houston's rotation; Mark Appel and Mike Foltynewicz are on the fast track to the Majors, and they'll look to claim two of those rotation spots, possibly as soon as this season. Cosart may have the inside track due to his former prospect status and strong finish in 2013, but the same could be said about Peacock, and Oberholtzer was also impressive down the stretch.

The Astros prioritized first base this winter but came up empty despite making a reportedly solid offer to James Loney, heavily pursuing Jose Abreu and Mike Morse while also expressing interest in names like Mike Carp on the trade market. Instead, the club is going with a patchwork solution at first, using a combination of Guzman, Chris Carter and Marc Krauss. That's not an inspiring trio, but they figure to be merely keeping the seat warm for top prospect Jonathan Singleton. He, however, will have to hit his way to the Majors after slumping in 2013 and struggling with substance abuse issues.

Mid-season extension talks clearly don't bother the Astros, as they hammered out a long-term deal for Altuve last summer. As such, they could look to do the same in 2014, continuing their negotiations with Dominguez, Grossman and Springer. Could they look to lock up Castro before he begins to become too expensive? I'd wager that they're interested in doing so after last year's breakout.

Also of critical importance to the Astros is their failing television deal with Comcast SportsNet Houston. Owner Jim Crane has filed a lawsuit against former owner Drayton McClane, Comcast and NBC, accusing the trio of fraud and civil conspiracy. The lawsuit also accuses McLane of selling "an asset (the network) they knew at the time to be overpriced and broken" and claims that Crane was provided with "knowing misrepresentations" and "falsely inflated subscription rates" prior to agreeing to the purchase. CSN Houston is available to only about 40 percent of Houston-area homes, thereby limiting the earning potential and hampering the Astros' future financial outlook. In February, a federal judge placed CSN Houston's parent company under federal bankruptcy protection.

Deal of Note

The Fowler trade was surprising to a number of people for a number of reasons. For one, it was strange to see a rebuilding team such as the Astros swing a deal for a pricey veteran center fielder with only two years of team control remaining. On the other side of the coin, many felt that the Rockies didn't receive much of a return on Fowler and should've cashed in that trade chip a year earlier with Fowler coming off of a monster 2012 season.

The key piece traded for Fowler was Lyles, a former supplemental-round draft pick that was rushed to the Majors at the age of 20 despite having fewer than 100 innings at Triple-A under his belt. Houston likely felt that it had the pitching depth to move Lyles, especially considering the fact that his strange handling will likely lead to Super Two status. thereby driving up his price tag.

If the Astros trade Fowler fora greater return or sign him to a long-term extension, the deal will make more sense. As it stands, it's a bit curious for a team in their position to trade away controllable assets for two years of an expensive veteran when the team is likely more than two years away from contention. While Lyles' prospect star has clearly fallen from the time when he was Baseball America's No. 42 prospect heading into the 2011 campaign, he's still posted a 2.24 K/BB ratio and 48.8 percent ground-ball rate in his career, and he's also seen his average velocity rise each season in the Majors (his fastball averaged 92.2 mph in 2013).

Overview

Overall, the biggest question for the Astros at this point is simply: When do the kids arrive? In Correa, Appel, Springer, Singleton and Foltynewicz (among others), Houston has an enviable crop of prospects that are nearly MLB-ready and could take the Lone Star State by storm in the near future. An arduous rebuild could be drawing close to an end, but while there's a light at the end of the tunnel, the Astros will be hard-pressed to climb out of the cellar in 2014. At the very least, they could be positioned for another No. 1 overall pick in 2015, giving them an unprecedented four consecutive No. 1 picks.

Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports Images.

Indians Extend Jason Kipnis

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The Indians announced that they have signed second baseman Jason Kipnis to a six-year extension that runs through the 2019 season and contains a club option for the 2020 campaign. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (via Twitter) that Kipnis is guaranteed $52.5MM over the life of the deal. Hoynes was the first to catch wind of the fact that a deal was close, breaking that news at roughly 3am ET.

Kipnis-Jason

According to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (on Twitter), the Beverly Hills Sports Council client receives a $1MM signing bonus and annual salaries of $2MM (2014), $4MM (2015), $6MM (2016), $9MM (2017), $13.5MM (2018) and $14.5MM (2019). The option, according to Bastain, is worth $16.5MM and contains a $2.5MM buyout.

Kipnis entered the 2014 season with two years, 69 days of service time, meaning he would have been under team control through 2017 without an extension. The new contract buys his final pre-arbitration season, all three arbitration years and a pair of free agent campaigns with an option for a third. His contract is worth $500K more than fellow breakout, All-Star infielder Matt Carpenter, who inked a six-year, $52MM contract with the Cardinals in Spring Training (Carpenter had two years, 12 days of service at the time of his deal). However, if the options are exercised on each deal, Carpenter's $68.5MM would top Kipnis' $66.5MM.

As shown in MLBTR's Extension Tracker, the deal is also comparable to the six-year extensions signed by Andrew McCutchen ($51.5MM), Justin Upton ($51.25MM) and Jay Bruce ($51MM) — each of which came when the player had two to three years of MLB service under his belt.

Kipnis, who turned 27 yesterday (talk about a birthday present), made his first All-Star team and finished 11th in the American League MVP voting on the heels of a stellar campaign in which he batted .284/.366/.452 with 17 homers and 30 stolen bases in 658 plate appearances. Defensive Runs Saved pegs him as an average defender to this point in his his career, while UZR/150 feels he's been slightly below (-4.2). Both metrics feel that he was above average in 2012.

Kipnis' contract falls a bit shy of Travis Hafner's four-year, $57MM extension, which is the largest in club history. It also marks the third contract extension that Cleveland has been able to strike in the past few months; Michael Brantley signed a four-year, $25MM extension in February, and Yan Gomes inked a six-year, $23MM deal last week. The Kipnis deal will likely lessen blow for some Indians fans who are still stinging over the club's inability to extend top starter Justin Masterson, even after he offered to take a discount of roughly two years and $35MM or three years and $51MM.

Talks between Kipnis and the Indians first surfaced in Spring Training of 2013, but both sides agreed to table the discussions when no deal was close on Opening Day. Talks resumed this spring, and while it looked as if they would once again be placed on hold with the season starting, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports recently reported that the two sides could continue talking early in the year.

Photo courtesy of Robert Stanton/USA Today Sports Images.

MLB Daily Fantasy Big Score: $100,000 Guaranteed Payout

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One-day leagues are one of the most exciting ways to play fantasy baseball.  For any given day of the MLB schedule, you can create a fantasy team and win huge cash prizes.  If you have $22 and love Major League Baseball, draft a one-day fantasy baseball team at DraftStreet.com for the games this Friday.  You could win a share of $100,000 with a massive first place prize of $20,000.

750 players will win cash on Friday and you can be one of them.  Simply pick a roster that includes 12 players and stay under the $100,000 salary cap.  Score the most fantasy points and find out if you win after the end of the Mariners-Athletics game.

During the 2013 DraftStreet Baseball Championship, a player named maxdalury won $100,000 cash with this roster:

Image1

 How to Enter the $100,000 MLB BIG SCORE one-day fantasy contest:

  1. Sign up at DraftStreet.com.
  2. Enter the $100,000 BIG SCORE League for $22.
  3. Save your MLB team by 12:55pm eastern time, Friday, April 4th.

Finish in the top 750 and you'll double your money.  First place wins $20,000!  If this is your first time depositing at DraftStreet you will receive a 100% deposit bonus, up to $200 free.

Here's what my roster might look like:

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Friday April 4th MLB Eligible Schedule

Braves @ Nationals – 1:05pm EST
Orioles @ Tigers – 1:08pm EST
Brewers @ Red Sox – 2:05pm EST
Phillies @ Cubs – 2:20pm EST
Twins @ Indians – 3:05pm EST
Giants @ Dodgers – 4:10pm EST
D'Backs @ Rockies – 4:10pm EST
White Sox @ Royals – 4:10pm EST
Cardinals @ Pirates – 7:05pm EST
Yankees @ Blue Jays – 7:07pm EST
Reds @ Mets – 7:10pm EST
Padres @ Marlins – 7:10pm EST
Rangers @ Rays – 7:10pm EST
Angels @ Astros – 8:10pm EST
Mariners @ Athletics – 10:05pm EST

Draft your team now!

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