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Archives for April 2014
Mariners Release Ramon Ramirez
The Mariners have released right-hander Ramon Ramirez from their Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto reports (on Twitter). The 32-year-old Ramirez allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings with the Rainiers prior to his release.
Ramirez has a good deal of Major League success under his belt, as he was a key member of the bullpen for the Royals, Red Sox and Giants from 2008-11 when he posted a combined 2.77 ERA in 279 1/3 innings.
Prior to the 2012 season, he Giants dealt Ramirez to the Mets along with Andres Torres in exchange for Angel Pagan in what proved to be an ill-fated deal for New York. Ramirez was serviceable in Queens, registering a 4.24 ERA in 63 2/3 innings, but he walked a career-worst 4.9 hitters per nine innings. Last season, Ramirez was back with the Giants but allowed seven runs in 5 2/3 innings. He finished the season with Tampa’s Triple-A affiliate and enjoyed success at the Triple-A level in 2013.
Blue Jays Release Mickey Storey
The Blue Jays announced that they have released right-hander Mickey Storey in order to clear room on the 40-man roster for infielder Chris Getz, who has been promoted from Triple-A Buffalo. Toronto announced last night that struggling infielder Ryan Goins had been demoted to Buffalo.
The 28-year-old Storey got off to a poor start at Buffalo this season, allowing four runs on seven hits and five walks in just 3 1/3 innings, but he was excellent at that level in 2013. Last year, Storey posted a 2.56 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 59 2/3 innings of relief for the Bisons — numbers that line up fairly well with his excellent career numbers in Triple-A.
Storey also has Major League experience, as he’s totaled a 4.19 ERA with a strong 40-to-11 K/BB ratio in 34 1/3 innings of work between the Astros and Blue Jays. One knock against Storey could be that his fastball averages between 89 and 90 mph, but that hasn’t prevented him from missing bats at any level.
AL East Notes: Goins, Jays, Rays, Pearce, Bogaerts
The Blue Jays announced last night that they have optioned the struggling Ryan Goins to Triple-A, and Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports that Chris Getz will get the call to take his place. However, as Getz isn’t on the 40-man roster, a corresponding move will have to be made prior to today’s game. Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star wonders if Moises Sierra will lose his spot on the 40-man.
More out of the AL East…
- Rays manager Joe Maddon isn’t sweating his team’s rough start and is in good spirits despite losing Matt Moore, Alex Cobb and Jeremy Hellickson to injuries, writes MLB.com’s Phil Rogers. Maddon said his experience as a minor league manager prepared him by giving him the right attitude in these situations: “A lot of times, when you work in the Minor Leagues, manage in the Minor Leagues, there are times you don’t have the best team out there on a nightly basis, but you still believe you’re going to win somehow.”
- The Baltimore Sun’s Dan Connolly expands on the technicality he reported yesterday that could allow the Orioles to re-sign Steve Pearce (whom they released on Sunday) and immediately add him to the 25-man roster. While clubs that re-sign a released player normally have to wait 30 days to add him to the active roster, that can be avoided if the “club has had less than the full complement of active players at all times from the date of the waiver request to the date [the] player is re-signed.”
- The Red Sox aren’t concerned with the defensive struggles of Xander Bogaerts, writes Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com. Edes spoke with Sox assistant general manager Mike Hazen, who said the team anticipated that there would be “challenges,” and that they could look glaring when compared to the excellent play Boston received at shortstop last year from Stephen Drew. Edes also spoke to a Major League scout who shook his head at any who disparage Bogaerts based on his glove. That scout told Edes that any of his peers that scouted Boston’s system in 2013 said Bogaerts was the best player they saw in Minor League Baseball.
Offseason In Review: Seattle Mariners
The Mariners made the offseason’s biggest free agent splash by issuing the third-biggest contract in Major League history, but they fell oddly silent in the months that followed.
Major League Signings
- Robinson Cano, 2B: 10 years, $240MM.
- Fernando Rodney, RHP: Two years, $14MM.
- Corey Hart, 1B/OF: One year, $6MM (plus another $7MM worth of incentives).
- Willie Bloomquist, INF/OF: Two years, $5.8MM.
- Chris Young, RHP: One year, $1.25MM.
- Total Spend: $267.05MM
Notable Minor League Signings
- Endy Chavez, Humberto Quintero, Scott Baker (released), Randy Wolf (released), Zach Miner
Trades and Claims
- Acquired 1B/OF Logan Morrison from the Marlins in exchange for RHP Carter Capps.
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Kendrys Morales, Raul Ibanez, Franklin Gutierrez, Joe Saunders, Aaron Harang, Oliver Perez, Carter Capps
Needs Addressed
With Eric Wedge out of the picture, the Mariners began the offseason by looking for a new skipper. After many interviews — some with old-school managers and some with younger, less traditional candidates — Seattle decided on former Tigers hitting coach and Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon. He fits into the old-school category, but Seattle clearly preferred some experience as opposed to a rookie hiring such as the ones made by the Cubs (Rick Renteria) and Tigers (Brad Ausmus).
With that out of the way, the Mariners sought to address the club’s collective .237/.306/.390 batting line of a year ago. Specifically, Mariners second basemen combined to bat .229/.299/.340 and play sub-par defense in 2013, resulting in a total of -0.1 wins above replacement (per Fangraphs). That glaring flaw set the stage for an ongoing pursuit of the offseason’s premier free agent in Cano. The Yankees showed interest in retaining Cano, but in the end they never came close to matching Seattle’s offer, and it doesn’t seem like anyone else did either. The Mariners reportedly topped the Yankees’ best offer by as much as $65-70MM, and they even went above and beyond their initial comfort levels. Reports on the day of the signing indicated that talks had disintegrated after the two sides were said to be in agreement on a nine-year, $225MM contract. Apparently, agents Brodie Van Wagenen and Jay-Z then upped the asking price to 10 years and $252MM, which caused a breakdown. The exact details of the negotiation will never be known, but the two sides overcame any obstacles and agreed to a $240MM middle ground that tied Albert Pujols for what was then the third-largest deal ever. (Cano’s deal trailed Alex Rodriguez’s two separate 10-year deals of $252MM and $275MM, and Miguel Cabrera has since surpassed his total commitment.)
Not long after the Cano signing, the Mariners added a pair of wild-card bats in the form of Hart and Morrison. Hart didn’t play in 2013 after undergoing surgeries on both knees, while Morrison’s own knee issues have dampened what looked to be a promising start to the former top prospect’s career. Hart batted .279/.343/.514 and averaged 29 homers per season in a three-year stretch from 2010-12 — his most recent big league action. Morrison, still just 26 years old, batted .259/.351/.460 with 25 homers in his first 185 games in the Majors. If either one were to return to his peak form, that bat would represent a significant upgrade for the Mariners.
Jack Zduriencik’s second-largest signing of the offseason was made with an eye toward solidifying the ninth inning while allowing Danny Farquhar — who emerged as Seattle’s best reliever last season — to continue to get important outs in high-leverage situations in the seventh and eighth inning. Rodney was written off by many before signing with the Rays and rejuvenating his career with a historic 2012 season. His command regressed in 2013, but he still shot off 37 celebratory (imaginary) arrows and posted a strong 3.38 ERA with 82 whiffs in 66 2/3 innings. He’s been a part of a solid Mariners bullpen to this point.
Questions Remaining
For all of the money the Mariners spent, how much has their offense truly improved? Even if Hart hits reasonably well, he wouldn’t be a significant upgrade over Morales, who left via free agency (and is still looking for a job). Cano will be a huge boost at the keystone, and they’ll have a full season of Brad Miller after watching Brendan Ryan toil away for much of 2013. Still, the Mariners have been going with Abraham Almonte in center field along with familiar faces like Dustin Ackley and Justin Smoak in the lineup. Almonte has struggled all season, and while Ackley and Smoak started hot, each has come back down to Earth. Mike Zunino has shown some improvement and could be an above-average bat behind the dish, but the team’s offensive output to this point has actually been worse than it was in 2013.
Injuries have run rampant through Seattle’s rotation, as both Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker opened the season on the disabled list. That duo was joined shortly thereafter by promising young lefty James Paxton, and Seattle has scrambled to cobble together a rotation with that trio on the shelf. Cuban rookie Roenis Elias has been an unexpected godsend for the club to this point, making five starts and posting a 3.54 ERA in the process.
Still, the Mariners knew full well that they’d open the season with 40 percent of their rotation on the disabled list, and they were already counting on an inexperienced group beyond Felix Hernandez and Iwakuma (with the possible exception of minor league signee Scott Baker, whom the team released in Spring Training).
All the while, Ervin Santana sat on the free agent market looking for a team, ultimately settling for a one-year, $14.1MM deal with the Braves. Santana seemed set on inking a one-year pact by the time he signed — the Twins had reportedly offered three years and about $33MM in Spring Training — and was said to prefer the National League, but could he have been persuaded by an offer in the $16-17MM range from Seattle? Cano was outspoken in his desire for his new team to sign Santana (and to re-sign Morales), but instead Santana is dominating early in Atlanta, while the M’s have turned to Young and questionable arms such as Blake Beavan, Brandon Maurer and Erasmo Ramirez. Maybe Santana never would have signed in Seattle, but it was curious that the bidding was said to be down to the Orioles and Blue Jays at around $14MM before the Braves emerged as late suitors due to injuries to Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy.
One alternative for the Mariners to bolster the offense or the starting rotation could have been to trade displaced top prospect Nick Franklin, who looks to be out of a job with Miller and Cano manning the middle infield. However, Seattle hung onto the 23-year-old and started him off in Triple-A. It’s possible that the decision was made in hopes that Franklin would improve his trade value after a disappointing rookie campaign. Franklin has mashed at Triple-A to start the season, though he struggled in a brief call-up to the Mariners in which he didn’t receive consistent playing time.
One trade that was oft-discussed in the early stages of the offseason was an acquisition of David Price, but the Rays never showed that much of an inclination to trade the former Cy Young winner, and Price’s agent stated in December that his client wouldn’t sign an extension in Seattle were they to make a trade for him. One would think that a package headlined by Franklin and Walker would have piqued Tampa’s interest, but Zduriencik never wanted to part with Walker in a deal, which could be been the reason that talks never really got off the ground.
If money was truly too tight to pursue Santana or a significant bat like Nelson Cruz (to whom they were heavily linked as well), then the Mariners’ modest deal for Bloomquist strikes me as a particularly questionable allocation of funds. Bloomquist has essentially been a replacement-level player throughout his career, yet the Mariners saw fit to guarantee him multiple years (two years, $5.8MM). His $2.8MM salary in 2014 isn’t exactly crushing, but it does make up about three percent of Seattle’s payroll. Meanwhile, the division-rival A’s signed the defensively superior Nick Punto for half that guarantee, and the Pirates inked defensive specialist Clint Barmes for just a $2MM guarantee.
From a defensive standpoint, the Mariners will likely be giving plenty of time in the outfield to Hart and Morrison, which could prove to be a liability. The infield defense should be improved by the addition of Cano and with the definitive decision to place Brad Miller at shortstop over Franklin, who many scouts feel is better suited for second base.
Deal of Note
The news that Cano was signing in Seattle ignited and energized a fanbase that has been starved for quality hitters (while also enraging a great number of Yankee fans). The addition of Hart was a nice followup, as he figured to be a semi-risky but high-reward addition that could be an upgrade at first base or at least a replacement for Morales. Fans were disheartened in the months that followed to hear that the team may not have additional money to spend, though.
With that looking to be the case, it’s now fair to wonder multiple things about the Cano deal. If Seattle was truly spending the overwhelming majority of its offseason budget on Cano, would the resources have been better off divided among multiple assets? That type of money could have, in theory, netted both Santana and Matt Garza while still leaving enough money to add Shin-Soo Choo. That type of second-guessing can always be applied to a significant offseason addition such as this one, but Cano-type deals are usually accompanied by additional, significant moves. That wasn’t exactly the case in this instance, which has led many to ask why a team that needed so much work to contend would spend so wildly on one asset while improving the rest of the team very little.
Additionally, the question has been raised as to who else was a serious player for Cano. While many teams showed some interest, and there was speculation regarding the Rangers following the Prince Fielder/Ian Kinsler swap, no team was publicly linked to Cano at the same price level of the Mariners. As I said before, we’ll never know exactly how negotiations panned out, but it seems hard to believe that Seattle had to top the runner-up bidder by $65-70MM. Was another team involved, or did they simply outbid themselves? It’s been speculated that this was the work of a GM who knew his job was in danger and needed to make a splash, but the move required ownership approval as well, and it’s hard to imagine Zduriencik fancied Cano as a cure-all for the team’s many ailments.
Overview
While the club hasn’t hit as well as expected in the early-going, the offense should still be improved over 2013’s weak performance. The rotation, too, could be a solid group if Iwakuma, Walker and Paxton are able to return at full strength. However, it was surprising to see Seattle sit on its hands, even after division rivals such as the Rangers (Derek Holland) and A’s (Jarrod Parker) suffered significant setbacks in their rotations.
The Mariners made one of the most significant moves in baseball history but then followed that up with the type of risk/reward moves one might expect from a rebuilding club (buying low on a former top prospect in Morrison, signing a tradeable veteran to a one-year deal in Hart). Perhaps the club placed too much of a belief in its ability to land Price and didn’t much care for any of the fallback options. Perhaps they looked at the pitching-rich free agent class of 2014-15 and thought they were better served by waiting for a year and adding a James Shields or Justin Masterson over Santana. Or, perhaps Zduriencik and his staff still saw enough promise in the young core they thought they acquired when drafting Ackley and trading for Smoak.
In the end, the offseason sent a confusing message to fans and Seattle’s own players alike. The Mariners don’t look like a playoff team right now, and their fans aren’t the only ones confused by what transpired this offseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NL West Notes: Williamson, Rockies, Gordon, D’Backs
There have already been a pair of headlines coming out of the NL West tonight, with the Padres outrighting Alex Castellanos and the Diamondbacks acquiring Lucas Harrell from the Astros. Here’s a look at some more happenings from that division…
- The Giants will lose one of their top prospects to Tommy John surgery, but it’s not a pitcher; Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that top hitting prospect Mac Williamson will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow and miss the 2014 season. Baseball America ranked Williamson as San Francisco’s No. 5 prospect heading into the year, and MLB.com ranked him ninth. The 23-year-old hit .292/.375/.504 with 25 homers at Class-A Advanced last season.
- The latest notes column from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports highlights multiple storylines within the NL West but leads by discussing the dividends Colorado is already seeing from the offseason’s trade of Dexter Fowler. Not only are Jordan Lyles and Brandon Barnes both contributing nicely to this point, the trade paved the way for regular playing time for Charlie Blackmon. While Blackmon, of course, is due for some regression, he’s also shedding the “tweener” label that some had applied to him, Rosenthal writes.
- Rosenthal also discusses Dee Gordon’s progress at second base, writing that the infielder worked hard on learning the position this winter after a “reality check” conversation with GM Ned Colletti last fall. Colletti told Gordon that Hanley Ramirez was going to be the club’s everyday shortstop, and the team hadn’t received any trade offers for Gordon that he felt made sense.
- While a lot has been made about Archie Bradley, Rosenthal points out the top prospect’s 8.76 ERA over his past three starts — none of which has been more than five innings long. The D’Backs have drawn some ire for not promoting Bradley despite the team’s pitching needs, but GM Kevin Towers has maintained it’s strictly due to developmental reasons, and Bradley’s recent skid could speak to that.
- Harrell spoke with MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and said: “I kind of got what I deserved because you don’t pitch well you don’t get an opportunity to stay.” Harrell thanked the Houston fans and said he is looking forward to a new start with Arizona.
Padres Outright Alex Castellanos
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- Alex Castellanos has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A El Paso, according to the Padres’ official transactions page. The 27-year-old was designated for assignment last week. Though he’s been DFA’ed numerous times before, this was the first instance of Castellanos actually clearing waivers, meaning that he didn’t have the opportunity to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. Castellanos owns a career .284/.377/.511 batting line in 916 plate appearances at Triple-A but has yet to get an extended look in the Majors despite that strong production.
Diamondbacks Acquire Lucas Harrell
The Diamondbacks announced that they have acquired right-hander Lucas Harrell from the Astros in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Harrell will be assigned to Triple-A Reno.
Harrell, 28, was designated for assignment by the Astros last week. Formerly a key member of Houston’s rotation that was considered to have at least somewhat comparable trade value to Bud Norris, Harrell has seen his stock tumble since the beginning of the 2013 season.
After posting a 3.76 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 57.2 percent ground-ball rate in 193 2/3 innings in 2012, Harrell slumped to a 5.86 ERA in 153 2/3 innings last season. Command issues were central to Harrell’s decline, as the 88 walks he issued (5.2 BB/9) led the American League and fell just one shy of the amount of strikeouts he picked up (89). Harrell’s ground-ball rate also dropped (51.5 percent), and neither problem seemed to be corrected in his brief 2014 sample of work. Harrell walked nine batters in 12 1/3 innings en route to a 9.49 ERA with Houston this season.
Should the D’Backs be able to restore Harrell’s command, his ground-ball ways would be an excellent fit for the homer-friendly Chase Field. Arizona’s need for pitching depth has been well documented already, as the team has lost top starter Patrick Corbin to Tommy John surgery and received an unacceptable 6.15 ERA from its starting rotation to date.
Bryce Harper To Miss At Least Two Months Due To Thumb Surgery
The Nationals have been plagued by injuries in 2014, and ESPN’s Keith Law reports that their luck isn’t getting any better. Multiple sources tell Law that Bryce Harper will undergo surgery tomorrow to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and be sidelined until “at least early July.” Harper injured the thumb while sliding into third base against the Padres on Friday night.
Harper’s injury is just the latest on a long list of DL-related woes for the 2014 Nationals. Offseason acquisition Doug Fister opened the season on the disabled list, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is on the shelf through late May with a broken thumb of his own, and Wilson Ramos is also on the disabled list after undergoing surgery to repair the hamate bone in his left wrist. Washington has also already seen Denard Span miss a chunk of games as well, as he spent just over a week on the seven-day DL with a concussion.
Harper’s injury is the same injury that sidelined Josh Hamilton earlier in the month and the same injury that led to offseason surgery for Dustin Pedroia, and as Law points out, all three players suffered the injury while sliding into a base. Harper’s injury likely means that offseason acquisition Nate McLouth, who signed a two-year, $10.75MM contract with the Nats, will see a significant increase in playing time.
AL West Notes: Arencibia, Baker, Astros, Johnson
MLBTR is pleased to report that the missing portion of our archives that was lost when switching to WordPress following our DDoS attack has been restored. Previously, posts from mid-March through mid-April weren’t viewable, but everything is up to speed now. So, if you missed the details on Joel Hanrahan’s audition for 20 teams, Sean Doolittle’s contract extension, or George Springer’s promotion to the Majors, all of that info is once again available. Speaking of Doolittle and Springer, here are some notes pertaining to their division…
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wonders how much longer the Rangers can carry J.P. Arencibia on their roster. The 28-year-old is hitting jus .094/.171/.156 without a homer this season, leading Grant to believe that Texas could be talking with the Padres about one of their catchers. San Diego is reportedly in active trade talks regarding Nick Hundley.
- Rangers right-hander Scott Baker is pitching well in Triple-A (2.81 ERA in 32 innings) and has received interest from several other teams as his May 1 opt-out date approaches, reports MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter links). Baker would only opt out of his current deal if it led to a Major League opportunity with another club, he adds. Baker’s former club, the Twins, isn’t interested in a reunion, according to reports from this past weekend.
- The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron reports that United States Bankruptcy Judge Mavin Isgur will rule within two weeks whether he has subject matter jurisdiction to hear Astros owner Jim Crane’s lawsuit against Comcast, NBC Universal and former owner Drayton McLane. Comcast took the case federal last November because of its ties to CSN Houston’s own bankruptcy case, though Crane would like it to remain a matter for the state courts.
- Athletics righty Jim Johnson pitched poorly enough to open the season that he lost his role as closer, but scouts expressed to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend that Johnson looks much better than he did early in the season. One scout on Sunday told Slusser that Johnson’s sinker is as good as anyone in the game right now. With Doolittle and Gregerson failing to run with the closer’s role, Johnson could find himself back in the ninth. Fantasy baseball players can, of course, keep up with Johnson’s status and other closer-related news by following MLBTR’s @closernews on Twitter.