The Mariners make sense as a suitor for Nelson Cruz, but their organizational philosophy regarding players who have been suspended for PED could be an issue, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports writes. There are conflicting details regarding whether the Mariners might have a policy in place preventing them from signing PED players and whether Mariners chairman Howard Lincoln refused to approve a deal for Cruz last winter. If they team does have such a policy, however, it could have a significant impact on their offseason, given that both Cruz and Melky Cabrera, who play positions the Mariners could try to upgrade, have PED suspensions in their pasts. A source within the Mariners tells Morosi that the team does not have a policy against PED players, and, further, that the team has spoken to Cruz and his agent this offseason. Here are more notes from the West divisions.
- Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano fractured his toe while playing in Japan Saturday and will miss the rest of the Japan series, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. Cano will only be out three to four weeks, however, and should easily be ready for spring training.
- Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart is a big fan of new acquisition Jeremy Hellickson, Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona writes. “He is going to be outstanding here,” says Stewart. “He is going to pitch well. This is one guy I believe is really going to help our rotation.” The Hellickson deal, which sent two prospects to Tampa, became official last night. The Diamondbacks will continue to search for starting pitching, Magruder adds, with Kenta Maeda or Chad Billingsley (a former client of Stewart’s when he was an agent) as possibilities.
- The Rangers‘ recent extensions for GM Jon Daniels and assistant GM Thad Levine help provide continuity and stability throughout the organization, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. “We want to build from within and keep the group together,” says Daniels. “Thad and I are the ones mentioned in the press release, but [ownership] has allowed us to do good things for others.” Daniels adds that Levine is likely to one day be a GM, perhaps in Texas.
I don’t know if I want the Orioles to re-sign Cruz or not. If he doesn’t take 4 years tell him to enjoy his time somewhere else. I still think 4 years is a bit of a stretch. He’s going to get overpaid.
i think nelson will try at 4 years and $60-75mm after what victor got,he can start victors money as his base point saying he still has youth and power on his side and power bats have always gone at a premium price so he will for sure get 75mm or more and might even get a option for 5th year!
I’d still like to see my O’s stay away. I’d much rather them give that money to someone like Moncada or Tomas.
Um, Nelson Cruz is 34 (will be 35 July 1st) so there isn’t much youth (if any) there. He put together a season that was not as good as what Martinez put together. Plus he has the PED history (second suspension will be 100 games?). So there is some risk there. I doubt he gets an option for a 5th year. Any team that gives him a 4th year will be really sorry i think.
Yeah he has a PED history but teams are not hesitant to give them deals(see melky,colon,peralta) there is always a demand for power bats(one of the reason a guy who has never faced a mlb level pitch is in line for 100mm:Yasmany Tomas). So I think a team will fall for giving a 5th year as an option though they will end up regretting it anyways!
Hard call. I wouldn’t want Cruz on more than 4 year 56 deal. Power can be quick to decrease. Replace him with a guy like Morse for lot less money.
I’d much rather them try to get Tomas and extent Tilly and Machado
If the Mariners have a policy I assume it only applies to players who are coming back from a suspension the next season. They’ve employed a lot of players with PEDs in their history and continue to do so. Off the top of my head Michael Morse and Jesus Montero are both examples of players that have appeared in an M’s uniform after having been suspended for PED’s. I think Cruz is a likely signing (for better or worse) in spite of the suspension.
The Rangers biggest problem is not the injuries, it is the contracts that John Daniels himself handed out.
Andrus, Fielder, Choo, and even Kinsler, we’re all terrible contracts. Unless Daniels admits his error in philosophy, the Rangers are going to get more expensive without improving.
Darvish was a great contract handed out…………….
So far Darvish has been a winner.
But remember it was a long long contract, you can opt out of it within another year or two, and the jury is still out on whether the increased MLB workload will cause him problems.
His contract has been the most successful so far, but we’re not even a third of the way through it.
And even if it turned out to be perfect, one Among several is not a very good track record of success when the bad ones are so incredibly bad
I was somewhat surprised that the Rangers extended Daniels’ to tell you the truth, but I guess many consider him to be a pretty good GM and, they’re probably isn’t many good ones available. I’d just figure they’d wait out his contract and evaluate him by the end of that tenure. And as for the contracts he has handed out, I do agree that most of them have been bad. One that I think was good, however, is Kinsler’s. He has provided a lot of value on that deal and, he is getting paid below market-value during some of his best years. You could argue he has been worth the extension already, and the rest is just icing on the cake. He should have a couple more really good years ahead of him.
Choo didn’t play at 100% last year. It’s easy to say that was a bad contract because he’s making a lot of money and wasn’t great last year, but he still has time to turn it around. With the added fact the Rangers season was essentially over before it started, you can’t blame a guy for having a down year especially with no protection in the line-up.
And who knew Andrus would fall off like he has? You couldn’t have predicted it. Elvis is still so young that you can’t say it is a bad contract yet. Look at the market, in context these contracts really aren’t that bad.
The Andrus contract is 120 million. The Rangers are already trying to dump him, so they are tacitly admitting that it was a bad deal.
The Choo contract is 5 years or 7? All long term contract offer bad value at the end.
Even if Choo comes back strong, he can’t be expected to offer value in the last few years.
Long term contracts in general are bad ideas, that’s my point.
It’s a 7/130 million dollar deal for Choo. So basically, they’re paying a guy 18.57 million dollars a year who isn’t great on defence (got a cannon though) and, hits lefties at a bad rate. There is no way they get enough value out of that deal. The Rangers are gonna be the 2nd coming of the Philadelphia Phillies IMO once all these guys get old, which isn’t too long away.
You aren’t breaking any news here by saying long term contract are bad ideas. Everyone, including the player and team, knows that. However, in order to sign a player through his peak years, you most likely have to include the bad years at the end.
Or else you lose the player to some other team that is willing to add on extra years at the end.
But some of the deals Daniels’ done have been awful, such as the Choo deal. I doubt anybody was going to pay Choo that kinda money for 7 years given his age of 31 at the time, and his struggles versus lefties. The most I think anybody would’ve done over 7 years would’ve been 112 million, so an AAV of 16 million. The HUGE overpay just didn’t make any sense, the Rangers shouldn’t been WAY out if that was the money involved or being talked by other teams. Like I said, they’re the 2nd coming of the Phillies.
GM’s are on the inside people. They know a lot more about the market than we do. Daniels didn’t just go whatever, and throw Choo the 7 year deal. There was competition for him, ala why it got to 7 years at the aav it happens to be at. It’s one year in, if he turns it on, 6 years down the road ya’ll are going to say how good of a contract it was.
The Rangers have a top ten farm system though.
Kinsler wasn’t a bad deal ether is Andrus you look at the market now a days those are great deals. If you wanna see bad contracts look at Verlander, Fielder, Howard, B.J Upton. You must forget prices keep going sky high and 120 million isn’t high when were starting get 300 million contracts.
Aye who would you rather have Choo or Hamilton they got the same contract…..
Neither one, they were better off going after someone cheaper, who still had upside.
Correct. Neither.
Good GMs get players inexpensively, and when they get expensive, cut them loose.
Oakland and Baltimore have been inexpensive and successful.
Hamilton and Choo are flawed, despite their virtues, and we’re terrible signings.
Ask the Angels and Rangers if they’d like a do-over.
Daniels is going to ruin the Rangers if he thinks that long term contracts are ever wise.
Name names or it doesn’t count. And no hindsight being 20/20.
In 2012, Hamilton was the clear cut, best hitter available in free agency. And the Angels did well by signing him just for 5 years by guaranteeing a higher AAV. After Hamilton, the next best free agent OF was BJ Upton. Then Swisher and Bourn and others. But Hamilton was a cut above the rest. Oh, and PED Melky.
In 2013, Choo was the best OF available, despite his shortcomings. Would you rather have given less money and/or years to Granderson or Beltran? The only one you can make a case for is Ellsbury, and it’s a toss up. Personally, I prefer Choo. Or perhaps sign a reclamation project like Grady Sizemore for cheap? Or the PED Cruz.
It’s easy to point fingers at long contracts, but when your team needs an obvious upgrade, you have to go for what’s available. The other names (besides Ellsbury) all came with a lot more question marks, be it age, high Ks, health, etc…
High Upside is a joke. It’s called risk. And it could just as easily become a sunk cost with no production. Ask Grady Sizemore. You can’t be a WS contender and rely on that high of a risk panning out. It just doesn’t make sense.
So you believe that the Rangers should just go out and sign the best players available to albatross contracts? That’s not the proper way to build a team, unless your the Dodgers or Yankees. For their OF last year, they should’ve targeted guys who, like you said, were risks. Sure, it might’ve been a lot of money to sign these guys but, a one or two year deal doesn’t look too bad, even if the player ends up being a bust. Some guys that they could’ve targeted could’ve been Cruz, Byrd, McClouth, and Davis. Plus, there was the trade market. Sure, I admit that the crop of decent OFs last year weren’t great but, that isn’t a reason to spend. The terrible contracts of Andrus, Choo, and Fielder will cripple them eventually, though it may not be next year, or the year after.
Choo has very good on-base skills. Just saying, guys like that age better than most.
You could be right, but I wouldn’t say they’re tactically admitting it was a bad idea, I think they are trying to see if dealing him will make them a better team now and in the future. If it does they’ll trade him, if not, he stays.
Kinsler wasn’t a bad contract. Andrus shouldn’t have regressed so bad but I agree it was a bad contract (the opt out made it bad), and Fielder was acquired in a trade that made sense at the time.
Choo seemed like overkill with their pitching needs but without the injuries last year I think they could have been a Wild Card contender easily.
Solid move by the D-backs. They needed to add rotational depth and they did it without breaking the bank or depleting too much. At 28 years old, Hellickson is still in the midst of his prime and backed by his 2011-12 numbers, has some upside. Obviously they can’t bank on him to be their sole answer for contention, but it’s a darn good start.
Man I hope the M’s don’t overpay and sign Cruz. I think a better option is to improve via the trade market. The Braves have some extra outfielders and we match up pretty well.
Also Butler is available and he could be had for something like a 3 year deal at 10-12 million per year.
Mariners really need another bat, Rimirez, Cruz, or Cabrera.
And that would still be an overpay for Butler. He’s a bat-only player with no bat. His power vanished two seasons ago and his walk rate plummeted last season.
The Braves outfielders will be purely one year rentals. Both Upton and Heyward are hitting free agency after 2015, which is why Atlanta is considering trading them.
Signing Cruz gives the Mariners some stability for a few years. If he can get 550-600 PAs, there’s no reason not to think he’ll be good for an .800 OPS and SLG around .500. Bring it on!
I understand that, but the M’s have a couple very good OF prospects that should be ready in a year. The M’s also have the money to potentially extend anyone they acquire via trade as they have plenty of money to spend and can support a payroll of about 150-160 million.
The Mariners don’t like to have guys who have been suspended for PEDs, but yet they refuse to ship out Jesus Montero… Is it just signing guys or having those guys in general?
Yanks and Cashman got the best of that deal!
I really don’t want the Mariners to sign Cruz, but I get the sinking feeling that it’s just too good of a match in Zduriencik’s eyes. If we do get stuck with him, I’m hoping for a two year guarantee. And here’s why:
2011: 29 home runs, .312 OBP
2012: 24 home runs, .319 OBP
2013: 27 home runs, .327 OBP
2014: 40 home runs, .333 OBP
That’s a good trend for a 25 year old, not a guy who will play 2015 at 34-35. Bad defense means he should only DH, and cold air and a large ballpark make me think that Cruz won’t be repeating 2014 should he sign here. Two years, I’d hate, but I could stomach. I can’t fathom guaranteeing this guy 4 years based off his home run spike at 34 years old.
Dead on with your speculations. Bold prediction: Whomever signs Cruz if it is in fact a 4-year deal, is getting the biggest bust of the offseason. Just a side-note, he’s played his entire career in hitters ballparks.
Cruz has had a hard time staying healthy before 2014, Being the DH half the time has helped him stay healthy no doubt and last year he was bound to get 30-35 homers before his suspension.
If he stays in the AL East and DH’s half the time, I expect him to perform in 2015 at the very least. Him going to Seattle sounds like a horrible move, everyone who knows it’s hard to hit the ball on the West Coast knows it’s death for RHBs.
One year as a DH maybe. But not in the OF and not long term. And his big season in Camden Yards has caused many to forget the home/road splits in Texas and his inability to play full seasons. Sure he did it all last year but can he again? I doubt it. Also many of his road home runs last year were hit in hitter friendly parks. He sure would not have hit 40 playing in the AL West and at home in Safeco.