Who Could Use Adam LaRoche?
When we spoke to executives in March, Adam LaRoche's name came up as one of the best free agent signings of the offseason. Power is typically expensive on the free agent market, but the Diamondbacks signed LaRoche in January to a one-year, $6MM deal with a mutual option for 2011. LaRoche had reportedly turned down a better proposal from the Giants, but the first baseman qualified that offer by explaining "It was two years with three- or four-year options."
LaRoche is off to a .255/.367/.480 start for Arizona in his first 120 plate appearances. He answered a long-time criticism by hitting well in the season's first month, though he'd done that in '09 too. LaRoche has also mashed left-handed pitching in a tiny 32 plate appearance sample; that deficiency may also have been overstated.
On April 22nd, ESPN's Jayson Stark named LaRoche as a potential midseason trade candidate. Stark suggested LaRoche's mutual option could be a complication, as it increases by $2MM if he's traded. I don't think that will be a concern, though, as mutual options are rarely exercised by both sides.
Which contenders could use a boost at first base? The Rangers might consider a rental, depending on how Justin Smoak performs over the next few months. The Mariners could find LaRoche to be an upgrade over Casey Kotchman, which would be interesting since the two were traded for each other last year. The Marlins could take LaRoche for a few months, as they did with Nick Johnson last year. LaRoche may join Brandon Webb, Chris Snyder, and Chad Qualls on the trade market if the D'Backs become sellers later this year.
D’Backs Reach New Agreement With Socrates Brito
May 10th: Brito has reached a new agreement with the Diamondbacks for less money, tweets SI's Melissa Segura. The contract is pending MLB approval.
April 26th: MLB.com's Steve Gilbert is reporting that Arizona has voided the contract of 17-year-old prospect Socrates Brito following the outfielder's 50-game suspension for PED use. This doesn't necessarily mean that Brito's days as a Diamondback are over, as assistant GM Peter Woodfork said the team "will attempt to renegotiate new contract terms" with the Dominican teenager.
Brito signed with the club in February for a contract worth $190K. D'Backs director of Latin American operations Junior Noboa told The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro that Brito bore some similarties to "a young Bernie Williams." Brito wasn't expected to make his debut in North American pro ball until the 2011 season.
Odds & Ends: Huff, Posey, Lewis, Yankees, Johnson
Congratulations to Dallas Braden on throwing the 19th perfect game in MLB history. Let's check out some links from around the web..
- Aubrey Huff is playing well defensively, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Catcher Buster Posey remains in Triple-A Fresno because Giants officials are not convinced that he is ready to catch in the majors, GM Brian Sabean told Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News. Sabean insists that the decision has nothing to do with service-time concerns. MLBTR's Luke Adams led a discussion post that touched on the issue over the weekend.
- Jordan Bastian of MLB.com tweets a quote from Fred Lewis, who says that he's happy to be on a team that never quits. Lewis was traded from San Francisco to Toronto roughly three weeks ago.
- Steve at River Ave. Blues takes a look at the Yankees' offseason targets and how they've fared in the early stages of the 2010 season.
- Cue the scary organ music. Jeff Zrebiec tells us that Orioles reliever Jim Johnson was placed on the disabled list with a strained ulnar collateral ligament and is seeking a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews. MLB.com's Britt Ghiroli has comments from O's president Andy MacPhail and manager Dave Trembley.
- According to a team press release, the Mariners have relieved hitting coach Alan Cockrell of his duties. Alonzo Powell has been promoted from Triple-A Tacoma in his place.
- In his latest mailbag, Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News writes that the Reds' next manager will not be a high-priced guy with star power. That includes Lou Piniella, who plans on making Chicago his last stop as a manager.
- David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution points out that ex-Braves Kelly Johnson and Adam LaRoche are mashing in Arizona.
- Jason Marquis could be as little as two rehab assignments away from rejoining the Nationals, tweets Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Marquis inked a two-year, $15MM deal with the club this offseason but was sidelined after three outings in April.
- Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post implores the Rockies to make a big trade.
D’Backs Wary About Making Bullpen Moves
It's becoming conventional wisdom around baseball that it's foolish to commit too much money to closers and/or set-up men since most relievers see their effectiveness vary wildly from year to year. While this logic may be sound, it can also leave a team's hands somewhat tied (and its fans frustrated) when the present bullpen isn't producing.
Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic spoke to Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes about the Snakes' relief woes. Going into Friday's play, Arizona's staff ERA from the seventh inning on stood at an NL-worst 5.71 in such situations, and right-hander Esmerling Vasquez is the only D'Backs reliever with an ERA under 4.63. Most of the attention has focused on closer Chad Qualls, who has blown two saves already and has a 7.36 ERA in 13 appearances.
Byrnes said changes could be made if things become dire, be it calling up "guys in the minors; [or] maybe we make a trade." But Byrnes also preached patience, noting that "it's hard to stay the course with it, but sometimes that's the best thing to do."
Byrnes told Piecoro that "as far as major trade or a major expenditure [for a reliever], [it's] probably something we want to be very careful about." Piecoro notes that the club considered acquiring the likes of Matt Capps, Rafael Soriano and former D'Backs closer Jose Valverde over the winter, but the price for Soriano and Valverde was judged to be too high, while Capps would only sign if he was guaranteed the closer's job. The Diamondbacks instead picked up Bob Howry and Aaron Heilman, which MLBTR's Tim Dierkes was "not enthused" about, and chose to keep Qualls as the closer after his solid 2009 season (24 saves and a 3.65 ERA in 51 appearances). These moves look ripe for second-guessing at the moment given that Qualls, Howry and Heilman have all tough starts while Capps, Soriano and Valverde have pitched extremely well.
Arizona has a 14-15 record but is just four games behind the division-leading Giants. Given that a hot two weeks can put a club on top of the tightly-stacked NL West, Byrnes might be forced to roll the dice on another reliever should his club still have a shot at first place come the summer. D'Backs fans demanding that the Snakes blow up their bullpen and bring in reinforcements, however, should be careful what they wish for. The team's last midseason deal for a reliever saw them pick up Jon Rauch in July 2008 and he subsequently put up a 6.56 ERA for Arizona that season.
Stark On Gordon, Dunn, Lowell
The five most untradeable contracts in baseball? ESPN's Jayson Stark's poll of baseball executives say it's Alfonso Soriano, Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner, Carlos Lee, and Barry Zito. Hard to argue; check out our Bad Contract Swap Meet from last year for a look at other ugly deals. It was interesting to see Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kosuke Fukudome nab honorable mentions in Stark's poll. On to his other rumblings…
- Stark's conversations led to repeated mentions of the new collective bargaining agreement, which will go into effect in December of 2011. The uncertainty will have an impact – will 2011 draftees lack leverage, knowing that a slotting system could be installed the following year? Does it make sense to worry about Super Two status for Mike Stanton now, when that provision might not exist in 2012?
- Teams have kicked the tires on Alex Gordon, but the Royals have no interest in trading him. MLBTR's Luke Adams led a discussion post on Gordon yesterday.
- The Dodgers are scouring the trade market for starting pitching, while the Royals and Phillies seek bullpen help. The Mariners and Braves are trying to add offense. The Diamondbacks are actually more interested in starting pitching than relief, and are expected to have Chris Snyder available once Miguel Montero returns.
- A "baseball man familiar with the Nationals' thinking" expects Adam Dunn to return in 2011, though not necessarily via an in-season extension.
- A friend of Mike Lowell tells Stark the third baseman would love to play for the Twins or Angels if the Red Sox plan to trade him.
- The Phillies have recently adopted a stance against full no-trade clauses, which is reflected in the Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard extensions.
Capps, Kelly Johnson Under Team Control For 2011
Matt Capps and Kelly Johnson signed one-year deals during the offseason, yet they're both under team control for 2011 as well. How did that happen? It's the beauty of signing a non-tendered player who has fewer than five years of service time. Both players will be arbitration-eligible after the 2010 season.
Capps, closing for the Nationals, was named MLB's Delivery Man of the Month for April after saving ten games with a 0.68 ERA. The Pirates non-tendered Capps after the '09 season, signing Octavio Dotel for the same $3.5MM. The Bucs have a $4.5MM club option on Dotel, so they've got two years of control for their new closer. The difference is that Dotel's option becomes mutual if he's traded. Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette feels that the Pirates could've signed both pitchers, and a comparison of the two misses the point.
Johnson is off to a blazing .301/.389/.677 start in 108 plate appearances, his nine home runs already exceeding last year's total. Much like Capps, the Braves couldn't find a trade suitor and cut Johnson loose for nothing. They're happy with Johnson's replacement Martin Prado, who's off to a .337/.397/.452 start. In hindsight, could the Braves have moved Johnson back to left field and thrown him into the mix? Melky Cabrera and Matt Diaz looked like solid options heading into the season.
Injured pitchers Chien-Ming Wang and Jose Arredondo were also non-tenders. The Nationals can control Wang for 2011, while the Reds can keep Arredondo through 2014.
Diamondbacks Acquire Carlos Rosa
The Diamondbacks have acquired righthander Carlos Rosa from the Royals in exchange for shortstop Rey Navarro, tweets David Holtzman, the director of media relations for the Royals.
Rosa, 25, posted a 4.56 ERA, 10.1 K/9, and 4.1 BB/9 in 71 Triple A innings last year. Early in 2010, his peripherals have moved in the wrong direction. Baseball America notes that Rosa was originally part of the Mike Jacobs trade in October of '08, but elbow concerns prompted the Royals to send Leo Nunez to Florida instead. BA writes that Rosa, who was converted to relief last year, had the best fastball in the Royals' farm system. However, his secondary pitches need work.
Navarro, 20, was promoted to High-A Visalia for the 2010 season. In 2009, the switch-hitter hit .262/.308/.339 for Single-A South Bend. BA sees him as a plus defender capable of playing a variety of positions.
Odds & Ends: Smoltz, D’Backs, Kemp, Howard
Links for Wednesday, as the Brewers wonder how to fix Trevor Hoffman…
- GM Frank Wren says not to expect any trades to upgrade the Braves' offense this early in the season, writes David O' Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests the Giants ought to monitor the potential availability of Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez.
- John Smoltz isn't throwing, but he also won't say he's officially retired, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. We looked yesterday at a couple teams that could be fits for Smoltz, if the 42-year-old decides to pitch again.
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince writes that the Indians will have to decide on the future of Rule 5 pick Hector Ambriz next week. Ambriz's rehab assignment expires on May 8th.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic talked to Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes, who said he doesn't want to overreact to the team's bullpen struggles. Byrnes seems to want to hold on to his trade chips for now.
- Asked about Matt Kemp by KABC's Peter Tilden, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti expressed his dissatisfaction with the center fielder's baserunning and defense. Said Colletti: "Why is it? Because he got a new deal? I can't tell you." Regarding acquiring pitching, Colletti said it's too early to get into trade talk.
- Joe Posnanski wonders when age will catch up with Ryan Howard.
- Designated hitter is supposed to be an easy position to fill, but ESPN's Jerry Crasnick finds nine teams struggling for offense out of the spot.
D’Backs, Marlins Unlikely To Pursue Juan Cruz
The Diamondbacks don't appear to have interest in bringing back reliever Juan Cruz, tweets MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, while Juan C. Rodriguez of The Sun Sentinel says not to look for the Marlins to have interest either. They'll be getting Brian Sanches back from the disabled list soon, and Florida hopes he can shore up their setup corps.
The Royals released the disappointing Cruz last week as part of a bullpen makeover, eating the $3.25MM he's owed this year plus the $500K buyout for his 2011 option. Any team can sign Cruz for the pro-rated portion of the Major League minimum. The 31-year-old posted a 5.50 ERA with a 7.3 K/9 in 55.2 innings for Kansas City.
The Latest On The Unsigned Starting Pitchers
According to talent evaluators that spoke to ESPN.com's Buster Olney recently, this year's starting pitching trade market may not take shape for another couple months. For pitching-desperate teams that don't want to take on a salary dump, that means the few remaining arms on the free agent market might be their best bet. Let's take a look at the latest news on some of the more notable pitchers still available….
- Jarrod Washburn: The Diamondbacks were rumored to have a passing interest in Washburn, but not at his asking price. The last we heard from agent Scott Boras was that as many as five teams were after the 35-year-old, though that was nearly three weeks ago. It seems that Boras and Washburn still have a vastly different perception of the left-hander's worth than most GMs do. Could the Dodgers be a possibility? According to Sirius XM Radio's Jim Bowden (via Twitter), GM Ned Colletti is still looking for a pitcher at the right price.
- Pedro Martinez: It's looking increasingly likely that Pedro will once again only pitch a half-season. The Mets are considered a potential landing spot for the righty, but the Phillies might be the favorites. Martinez had a successful stint with in Philadelphia in 2009, and the two sides have been keeping in touch this year. The Dodgers could be in the mix too, though the 38-year-old still harbors bad feelings toward the organization, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- Braden Looper: Although the 35-year-old righty threw for the Cubs recently, they're not expected to sign him. Looper is probably most valuable as an innings-eater starter, while the Cubs are in need of a setup man. There hasn't been a lot of concrete news about Looper lately, but the Rockies could potentially be a fit. Tracy Ringolsby of Inside the Rockies opined three weeks ago that Looper-to-Colorado would be a logical match, and if both Jorge de la Rosa and Jason Hammel head to the disabled list, the Rockies would be missing two crucial starters.
- John Smoltz: He may be a TBS analyst for now, but Smoltz still hasn't ruled out pitching this season. The Phillies were rumored to be interested, though you'd have to think it'd be a case of either Martinez or Smoltz for Philadelphia, rather than both. Like Pedro, the 42-year-old is more likely to pitch for a National League club if he returns, so once again the Dodgers make sense as a potential suitor.
For a full rundown of all the arms still available, check out our list of remaining 2010 free agents.