Odds and Ends: Rauch, Fielder, Braun, Garcia
Some links for you to peruse…
- We suggested on Wednesday that Jon Rauch makes sense for Detroit. That same day, the Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga wrote that the Tigers "will watch Rauch very closely."
- You have to appreciate Matt Morris‘ candor regarding his salary.
- We learned on Saturday that the Brewers made offers to sluggers Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. Today the team’s owner said talks with both are ongoing. Other multiyear offers have been made, though the players are not known. Tom Haudricourt speculates on Corey Hart, Yovani Gallardo, J.J. Hardy, and Rickie Weeks.
- Ken Rosenthal sees Freddy Garcia landing with the Mets later this summer. I’ll stick with the opinion that he’s a nonfactor this year.
Bucs Sign Capps Through ’09
According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates signed closer Matt Capps through the 2009 season. They added $65K to his ’08 salary and gave him $2.35MM for ’09 (his first arb year). They also tossed in a $500K signing bonus. Previously, Kovacevic had said talks with Capps fizzled because of Manny Corpas‘ deal.
Corpas receives $2.75MM for his first arb year, so Capps gets about 85% of that. By that logic, perhaps the Pirates could buy out Capps’ last two arb years (2010-11) for a total of $8.3MM or so. Regardless, this is a nice little move for Neal Huntington. According to Capps, the Pirates made a four-year offer in December and remained persistent until now.
Odds and Ends: Alfonzo, Hill, Kline, Reitsma
Time for a link roundup.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Mets have talked with Edgardo Alfonzo. Alfonzo, 34, came up a Met and snagged MVP votes in 2000 with a .967 OPS.
- Seems like Aaron Hill‘s contract extension may wait until after the season, when his offensive value is more clearly established.
- No interest in Steve Kline yet…teams will probably wait the Giants out so they don’t have to pay his $1.75MM salary.
- If Chris Reitsma doesn’t make a decision soon about heading to Triple A, the Ms could place him on the restricted list.
- Dejan Kovacevic hasn’t heard anything about Adam LaRoche as a trade candidate, even though extension talks fizzled.
- Kevin Goldstein believes shortstop Tim Beckham is the "top talent in the draft."
Pirates Rumors: LaRoche, Duffy
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the latest Pirates hot stove buzz.
- The Pirates and Adam LaRoche have reached an impasse in extension talks. LaRoche is set to reach free agency after the ’09 season; his free agency years have to be worth $10MM each. Kovacevic notes that the Pirates might be permanently done trying to sign LaRoche.
- Kovacevic reports "no recent movement" on a Matt Capps extension. Last time we checked, talks with Capps inexplicably fizzled after Manny Corpas signed a team-friendly deal with Colorado.
- Capps probably isn’t going anywhere, but LaRoche certainly could be traded. The presence of Major League-ready Steve Pearce may not be a factor since Pearce became a full-time outfielder this spring. Pearce is more likely to push Xavier Nady.
- In case you missed it, Kovacevic named his five Pirates most likely to be traded back on March 30th.
- Center fielder Chris Duffy didn’t make that list, but the Braves are still interested in him. He had surgery on his rotator cuff in August of last year and may be game-ready by month’s end.
To Be Dealt: Bay, Nady, Marte, Morris, Wilson
A short but sweet article came out in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette this morning detailing the Pirates’ five main trade candidates. No new or surprising names appear on the list but it’s a handy roundup for those not up to date on their Bucco news. As we head into the ’08 season (tonight!) the Pirates may not be contenders, but they could be difference makers.
Jason Bay – $5.75MM in ’08, $7.5MM in ’09 – I was surprised they didn’t deal him in the offseason, but the Pirates are wisely taking a wait and see approach with Bay. Surely he can’t be as bad as he was last season. Like the Pirates, PECOTA is predicting a moderate bounce back season, but not quite the elite 30 HR seasons of ’05-’06.
Xavier Nady – $3.35MM in ’08, arbitration eligible in ’09 – To make room for blocked prospect Steve Pearce, Nady needs to go; however, there’s enough doubt around the league that he can hit righties well enough to justify an everyday position. The Mets are the only listed suitor as they could use a corner OF/1B.
Damaso Marte – $2MM in ’08 with club option for ’09 – The article’s rhetoric seems to imply Marte is the most likely to be dealt with Yankees and Braves as suitors. When it comes to crafty, lefty relievers, expect a number of teams to come calling.
Matt Morris – $9.5MM in ’08, $9MM club option in ’09 ($1MM buyout) – Morris had a nice first half for the Giants last year(3.55 ERA) before regressing to his struggling ways. His talent should make it hard to trade him out of the NL, and his contract and could make it difficult to deal him to any team not desperate for someone to pickup innings. The Pirates should be crossing their fingers for another strong first half.
Jack Wilson – $6.5MM in ’08, $7.25MM in ’09, $8.4 club option for ’10 – The article notes that the Pirates will need a SS in return for someone on this list before they can comfortably deal Wilson as he’s the only everyday SS in their system. As Tim noted back in August, Wilson just wants out of Pittsburgh and will waive his six team no trade clause.
We’d love to hear from Pirates fans on all of this.
By Nat Boyle
Pirates Acquire Tyler Yates From Braves
10:23am: Byung-Hyun Kim‘s gone, in the accompanying move. So is Jaret Wright, according to RotoWorld.
8:40am: Dave O’Brien was right – the Braves chose Tyler Yates as the out of options reliever to deal. They sent him to the Pirates today for a minor league hurler named Todd Redmond. On Monday, O’Brien said he expected the Braves to trade one of Scott Thorman or Brayan Pena as well.
Yates, a 30 year-old Hawaiin, has a solid 8.3 per nine innings strikeout rate in his 162 inning career. He needs to work on his control though. Yates was drafted by the A’s and dealt to the Mets in the Dave Justice deal. Baseball America says he began ’04 as the Mets’ fifth starter but was shortly converted to relief. He missed the ’05 season with rotator cuff surgery. His acquisition may push Jaret Wright or Byung-Hyun Kim out of Pittsburgh.
Redmond, 23 in May, was ranked as the Pirates’ #27 prospect by Baseball America. They note his "outstanding control" but lack of dominant stuff. BA believes he profiles as a middle reliever in the long term.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Rule 5 Draftees
Last year the Reds selected Josh Hamilton in the Rule 5 draft despite only 23 games above Single-A and only 15 games anywhere since 2002 (actually the Cubs picked Hamilton and traded him to the Reds the same day). Hamilton went on to hit .292-19-47 in 90 games. This year, 18 players were chosen in the Rule 5 draft (14 pitchers). These players must remain on the 25-man roster all season or be offered back to their original club for $25K. By my count, three players (Sergio Valenzuela, Lincoln Holdzkom, Jose Capellan) have already been offered back to their original clubs (Capellan was picked up on waivers by a third team during the process). Hamilton is the rare case of a position player sticking with his new club as it is far easier to hide a developing pitcher and still get him playing time in the bullpen than it is on the bench.While it is rare for position players to stick, we have already learned that the Cardinals may keep Brian Barton as a fifth outfielder. As opening day rosters begin to take shape, let’s take a look at what is being said in the Blogosphere about the chances for the Rule draftees.
- Tim Lahey (RHP, CHC/MIN): Bleed Cubbie Blue sees the Cubs working out a trade with the Twins that would allow them to send Lahey to AAA. In fact, they speculate that Lahey will be the PTBNL in the Craig Monroe deal.
- Evan Meek (RHP, PIT/TB): Bucs Dugout predicts that Meek will at least start the season with the Pirates before being offered back to the Rays.
- Randor Bierd (RHP, BAL/DET): Bird Brain projects Bierd to make the roster and hopes the O’s give him every chance to stick.
- Jose Capellan (LHP, CIN/BOS): Capellan was originally selected by the Giants but was just placed on waivers. The Reds picked him up (Rule 5 rules still apply) and Obsessive Giants Compulsive is surprised the Giants let him go.
- Sergio Valenzuela (RHP, CIN/ATL): Valenzuela was sold back to the Braves after not making a single appearance in a spring game. The Braves then traded Valenzuela to a team in the Mexican League. Which begs the question…Are "future considerations" from the Mexican League worth the $25K the Braves dropped to bring him back? Talking Chop finds the entire situation funny and is not surprised that Valenzuela did not stick with the Reds.
- Brian Barton (OF, STL/CLE): Cardinals GM is predicting Barton to be on the opening day roster with Juan Gonzalez starting the season in AAA.
- R.A. Dickey (RHP, SEA/MIN): Detect-O-Vision is infatuated with the knuckleballer but notes that Dickey "has a looooooooooong way to go".
- Steven Register (RHP, NYM/COL): Mets Fever thinks Register might actually stick by earning the final spot in the bullpen.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Pirates Rumors: Nady, Capps
I always enjoy Dejan Kovacevic’s Q&As for Pirates insight. Let’s take a look at today’s edition.
- Kovacevic suggests that the Pirates’ decision to option Steve Pearce already indicates nothing is cooking on the Xavier Nady trade front. Pearce is a classic blocked prospect, as described in an MLBTR piece by Aaron Shinsano. One blogger isn’t buying Neal Huntington’s comments on the topic of Nady.
- A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I found it odd that the Pirates’ talks with Matt Capps would fizzle because Manny Corpas‘ affordable deal raised the bar. Today Kovacevic adds that he doesn’t expect talks to be revived until after the season.
Snell And Pirates Agree To Three-Year Deal
SUNDAY, 7:13pm: Paul Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette clears things up. It is a guaranteed contract of $8MM for three years, with a $600K signing bonus. The two option years are worth at least $16MM, not including "standard incentive clauses." That’s a great deal for the Bucs, wouldn’t you say?
SUNDAY, 6:23pm: The three-year deal is worth at least $8MM, according to a CBSSports.com wire report.
SUNDAY, 4:22pm: It has just been announced on MLB.com that the Pirates have signed starting pitcher Ian Snell to a three-year guaranteed contract, with club options for 2011 and 2012. Salary amounts have not yet been released, though Tim has surveyed the range of possible contract amounts here and here.
This season is Snell’s last before becoming arbitration eligible. As Tim pointed out earlier, $13-14MM is the the going rate for a talented young pitcher’s arbitration eligible years.
Pirates fans have to be encouraged by this announcement, as Senior VP and GM Neal Huntington has been held out as a reason for true optimism in The Land of the Three Rivers. Additionally, Snell is one of the more talented young starting pitchers in the NL, ranking sixth in strikeouts in the league since the beginning of the 2006 season.
Said Huntington, "This is another example of the organization’s commitment to build a championship caliber club. Retaining talented young players developed in our system will help us achieve our goal of bringing championships back to Pittsburgh."
Blocked Prospects: Steve Pearce
During 2007 Pirates prospect Steve Pearce hit a combined .333 with 31 home runs, 40 doubles, 113 RBI, and a .622 slugging percentage. The soon-to-be 25 year-old was named both Offensive Player of the Year by MiLB.com and the Topps Minor League Player of the Year. He ranks #43 on Kevin Goldstein’s Top 100 Prospects list for 2008 and received a callup last September. Yet, as of Monday he was reportedly sweating it when the team announced several cuts.
Pearce had played first base since he was drafted, but with the Pirates looking to locking up Adam LaRoche long term the team rerouted him to the outfield. The Pirates flirted with the transition late last year, giving Pearce 10 games in right prior to his call-up. Once in Pittsburgh he started 17 games in right field and only two at first. He hit .294/.342/.397 over 68 plate appearances; his bat appears nearly Major League ready.
Jason Bay and Xavier Nady await, each simmering on the hot stove. It’s a poorly guarded secret the Pirates would love to ditch Nady, but a recent chat with the Mets didn’t go anywhere. Bay was also the subject of several trade talks during the offseason and would likely come closer to fetching the young pitching prospects GM Neal Huntington craves (his short list is unlikely to include Scott Schoeneweis).
This all puts Huntington in a fairly comfortable position. He can afford to send Pearce back to Indy to get a few more reps at the new position while he waits for the right deal. But with Pearce’s bat looking to be big league ready, how long are Pirates fans willing to wait?
Aaron Shinsano writes for East Windup Chronicle and can be contacted at eastwindupchronicle@gmail.com