Wren Talks Bourn, Free Agency, Catchers, Hanson
The Braves' season ended in a game that will be remembered for a controversial call last week, as did the likely Hall of Fame career of Chipper Jones. With a feeling that he could only describe as "emptiness," general manager Frank Wren talked with David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the playoffs, his team's upcoming offseason and several of the decisions they'll have to make…
- Wren suggested that he's not a fan of the Wild Card format and that he'd like to see the system amended to give the Wild Card teams a three-game series, beginning with a day-night double-header.
- He also said that it's worth revisiting the trade deadline, which Wren feels is "pretty early for the current system." August 15 would be a more logical date for teams to determine whether or not they want to push for the Wild Card, in Wren's estimation.
- Wren says he's looking forward to a "focused" offseason. The front office recognizes that they have to replace Jones at third base, and they hope to retain Michael Bourn, whose contract expired at season's end. The team would like to address center field and the leadoff position in the same move — a role which Bourn can obviously fill. The Braves contacted Bourn's representatives about an extension in Spring Training but were told to wait until after the season to engage in negotiations.
- Atlanta would love to have David Ross back in the fold in 2013. Wren spoke very highly of his backup catcher to O'Brien.
- The Braves chose not to have Brian McCann undergo an MRI with a dye injection during the season because the recovery is too long. McCann will undergo that test in the near future, which could reveal a need for surgery, but for the time being the Braves believe their catcher needs only rest to recover.
- Jason Heyward could handle center field "for a few days," but Wren and his associates don't view him as a long-term answer in center. Wren said he considers Heyward among the best defensive right fielders in the game and wouldn't want to diminish his defensive value by moving him.
- The Braves have options on McCann ($12MM), Tim Hudson ($8MM) and Paul Maholm ($6.5MM), and they'll address those decisions in the coming weeks.
- It would take a "very, very big piece" to trade Randall Delgado or Julio Teheran this winter. The trade market does figure to be in play for the Braves though, as Wren said he won't be "going outrageous salary-wise" on free agents. The team will be "looking for premium players," but Wren cautions they're not looking to add a player to the team as much as they are looking to add value. If they feel that adding two players can give them more than one premium name, they'll pursue that route instead.
- Jair Jurrjens' situation is different from Tommy Hanson's, in Wren's mind. Wren spoke more definitely of Hanson's future with the team than that of Jurrjens. The Braves "will have a determination" on Jurrjens' future this winter. Jurrjens earned $5.5MM in 2012 and is a non-tender candidate for 2013 in the mind of MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith.
- Wren confirmed that the entire coaching staff will be offered the opportunity to return to the team.
Quick Hits: Braves, Leyland, Soriano, Phillies, Rays
Depending on what happens with Michael Bourn, the Braves could potentially have two major holes to fill in their lineup. Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) offers some suggestions for replacing Bourn and Chipper Jones and notes that the club could have some added flexibility if Martin Prado can be shifted from left field to third base. Ben Revere of the Twins, Peter Bourjos of the Angels, and Chris Young of the Diamondbacks could all be trade targets in center field. There aren't a lot of great third base options on the open market but Atlanta could zero in on guys like Mike Olt of the Rangers, Chase Headley of the Padres, and maybe even the Mets David Wright. Here's more from around baseball..
- Tigers manager Jim Leyland has been telling people in recent days that he has no plans to retire, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. Given his desire to return, it's likely that Leyland will be managing the Tigers in 2013. Leyland's contract expires at the end of the season.
- Even though he has been linked the Marlins opening, Mike Lowell tells Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that he has no interest in managing at this point in his life. The former third baseman is currently working for the MLB Network as an on-air analyst.
- The Yankees' desire to keep their payroll under $189MM in 2014 could complicate their chances to sign Rafael Soriano to a long-term deal once he opts out, writes Heyman. Soriano's three-year, $35MM deal seemed like a stretch last year but it now seems like the Bombers view the possibility of a last year at $14MM more favorably than the right-hander.
- The members of the Philadelphia Daily News staff bring us their suggestions for retooling the club heading into 2013. David Murphy believes that Ruben Amaro & Co. should start by revamping the bullpen while Marcus Hayes writes that the club should stick to making small moves while allowing the younger players to flourish.
- Bill Parker of DRays Bay looks in the rear view mirror to discuss what the Rays could have done differently in 2012. The trade of John Jaso to the Mariners for Josh Lueke was among the missteps highlighted.
NL Notes: Braves, Adrian Gonzalez, Cubs, Cardinals
The Nationals and Cardinals began their NLDS today, 79 years to the day of the last playoff game for a Washington franchise. The series will also feature the largest age gap between two managers facing off in the post-season (27 years and 235 days between 69-year-old Davey Johnson of the Nationals and 42-year-old Mike Matheny of the Cardinals), according to the Elias Sports Bureau via a tweet by ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. Other notes and nuggets from the Senior Circuit:
- It is highly unlikely the Braves will attempt to sign Josh Hamilton because they typically don't pursue top-of-payscale free agents who come with questions, tweets the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's David O'Brien.
- Adrian Gonzalez told Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times that he felt he struggled this season because he was "trying too hard." Gonzalez was even disappointed by his career-high 47 doubles. Also in the profile, the Dodger first baseman discussed the responsibility he feels as a Mexican-American athlete in a heavily Latino city.
- The Dodgers will continue to strengthen their starting rotation which could lead them to target Zack Greinke, writes Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times.
- The Cubs will need to acquire two or three starting pitchers merely to put a representative team on the field, opines Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Wittenmyer adds don't look for the Cubs to sign Greinke or Jake Peavy, as Shaun Marcum and Anibal Sanchez are more in line with the current front-office thinking.
- Jake Westbrook, rehabbing from discomfort in his right oblique, threw a bullpen session this morning and hopes to be available for bullpen duty if the Cardinals advance to the NLCS, reports MLB.com's Jennifer Langosch. The throwing schedule for Westbrook is fluid because he will be leaving the team after Game 2 to be with his wife, who is scheduled to be induced into labor for the birth of their fourth child on Thursday.
- The Cardinals will win the World Series in six games over the Tigers, predicts Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com in his playoff prognostication column.
Braves Notes: Bourn, Hudson, McCann
The latest out of Atlanta, courtesy of David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution..
- Braves General Manager Frank Wren said that he approached Michael Bourn and agent Scott Boras in Spring Training about starting contract talks and Boras said he would wait until after the season, tweets O'Brien.
- No surprise here, but Wren said that the club would like to re-sign the outfielder this winter (Twitter link). The GM added that he would have to see how the market shapes up for Bourn, who figures to be a hot commodity.
- Pitcher Tim Hudson said that he would like to finish his career in Atlanta, even though he knows that's not a given, O'Brien tweets. The Braves hold a $9MM team option on the 37-year-old for 2013 and are expected to exercise it.
- Wren says that the team will target premium players but don't plan to "go outrageous" with any one player in particular. Instead, the Braves are more likely to go for two high-salaried players than one player with an enormous price tag (Twitter links).
- Catcher Brian McCann told reporters that he believes he'll need shoulder surgery and could miss between 2-5 months of action, according to O'Brien (via Twitter). Meanwhile, Wren says that unless an MRI shows something worse than the initial diagnosis, McCann won't require surgery (Twitter link).
- The Braves have asked all of their coaches back for '13 and they are all expected to return, according to O'Brien (via Twitter).
Ben Sheets To Retire
Ben Sheets will retire after he pitches tomorrow, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports (on Twitter). Sheets, who joined the Braves midseason after missing the entire 2011 campaign, said he will never pitch again.
Sheets, 34, made eight starts for the Braves this summer after missing a year to recover from flexor tendon surgery. He posted a 3.54 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 48 1/3 innings for Atlanta this year, re-establishing himself as a legitimate MLB starter.
The Brewers selected Sheets with the tenth overall pick in the 1999 draft and he spent most of his career in Milwaukee. He put together a number of strong seasons with the Brewers, including a memorable 2004 campaign. Sheets posted a 2.70 ERA with 264 strikeouts and just 32 walks in 237 innings that year, finishing eighth in the Cy Young balloting. In ten MLB seasons, Sheets has a 94-96 record, a 3.78 ERA and 1323 strikeouts in 1595 2/3 innings. He has earned more than $52MM as a professional, according to Baseball-Reference.
Extension Candidate: Kris Medlen
It speaks to Kris Medlen's dominance over the last two months that his quality start last night against the Marlins (three runs on five hits over seven innings, eight strikeouts and no walks) was his worst outing of the season. Medlen's season ERA rose all the way to 1.64 but the Braves' 4-3 victory means that the club has now won 22 consecutive games that Medlen has started, tying the right-hander with Hall-of-Famers Carl Hubbell and Whitey Ford for the longest such streak in the modern era of baseball.
It's pretty heady company for a guy who didn't even return to the Atlanta rotation until July. Medlen underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2010, returned to pitch just 2 1/3 innings in September 2011 and began this season in the bullpen as the Braves both wanted to keep his arm healthy and felt they were already set for starting pitchers. After some of those starters faltered, however, Medlen rejoined the rotation in July and has posted video game numbers since: a 1.04 ERA, 80 strikeouts and almost a 9.00 K/BB rate in 77 2/3 innings over 11 starts.
Unless Medlen is a modern-day Sandy Koufax, it's safe to assume that he won't quite keep up this particular level of greatness, though the righty certainly appears to have turned a corner in his pro career. This hot streak comes at an opportune time for Medlen; not only did it come during a postseason stretch, but Medlen is also due to be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. He'll certainly get a nice raise over his $490K salary in 2012 and it's possible the Braves could be so impressed by Medlen's performance that they'll look to get some cost-certainty on their surprise ace for the next few years.
Medlen's case is "tricky" according to Matt Swartz, who calculates arbitration projections for MLB Trade Rumors and believes Medlen will probably be treated as a starter for arb purposes.
"The way I’ve been separating swingmen into starters and relievers, he would actually be projected as a reliever, but those rules were kind of arbitrary and I’m not sure here," Swartz said. "The reason it matters is that if we call him a starting pitcher he gets $2.4MM, and if we call him a reliever, he gets $1.3MM. He has a lot more wins per games started than he does saves and holds."
You could argue that the Braves have enough set 2013 rotation starters (Tommy Hanson, Mike Minor and Tim Hudson, as his $9MM option is sure to be exercised) and enough other young arms in their farm system that a Medlen extension is unnecessary for the moment, but I tend to disagree. As this season has shown, the Braves' pitching depth isn't as sturdy as believed, so Medlen's development is a great boon for the club. Medlen seems to be able to consistently perform at the Major League level, which is something that can't yet be said about their prospects.
Cost-certainty is also of particular interest to a franchise that has kept a mid-level payroll since being bought by Liberty Media in 2007. The Braves had a $102MM payroll in 2008 but have since ranged between $86-$93MM, with only $15MM in committed salary for 2013. If they believe Medlen is the real deal, an extension could save the team millions through Medlen's arb years. Extending him now would cost maybe $10MM over three years ($2MM in 2013, $4MM in both 2014 and 2015) with perhaps a $6MM club option for Medlen's first free agent year.
The Braves have a lot of business to attend to this winter, since such major names as Hanson, Jason Heyward and Jonny Venters are also arb-eligible for the first time, Martin Prado is only a year away from free agency and the team is expected to at least attempt to re-sign Michael Bourn. Given Medlen's injury history and the fact that his arb number may be $2.4MM at the most, Atlanta could be in no rush to pursue a multiyear deal quite yet with the right-hander.
Medlen will get one (very high-profile) further chance to prove himself as he's scheduled to start for Atlanta in the wild card playoff game. Just the fact that the Braves would give Medlen this start is a sign that they believe he's more than just a pitcher on a hot streak, so they could also be eager to lock him up while his price is still low.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Shirey/US Presswire
Tigers Acquire Greg Ross
The Tigers announced that they have acquired right-hander Greg Ross from the Braves (Twitter link). The move completes the August 31st trade that sent Jeff Baker from Detroit to Atlanta for a player to be named later.
Ross, 23, spent the 2012 season with Atlanta's Class A Rome affiliate, posting a 4.60 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 131 innings. The 2011 18th round selection started 21 games, pitching out of the bullpen in four others.
Baker, 31, has appeared in ten games for the Braves this month, mostly as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. He has a career .295/.344/.499 batting line against left-handed pitching.
Marlins To Lower Payroll For 2013
Considerable uncertainty surrounds Miami’s manager and front office with ten days remaining in the regular season, but one thing about the 2013 Marlins is clear: they’re lowering payroll. The Marlins will likely scale payroll back to the $70-80MM range after spending a franchise-record $95MM in 2012, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.
The team lost money this season, Spencer writes. Miami moved into its new stadium after spending aggressively on free agents including Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell only to disappoint on the field (66-86 record so far). The Marlins have committed $67.5MM to next year's team, so their financial flexibility will be limited this coming offseason.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez created a stir by saying Jeffrey Loria, the owner of the Marlins and his former boss, is difficult to please, Spencer reports. “There’s not a manager dead or alive that Jeffrey thinks is good enough," Gonzalez said. "Not Connie Mack, not anyone.” Loria called the comments "classless" and characterized Gonzalez's work with the Marlins as a "colossal failure." Loria fired Gonzalez in June of 2010 after he managed the team for four years.
Rosenthal’s Full Count: Greinke, Dodgers, Pirates
Here's the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, via his Full Count video…
- The Dodgers did not try to acquire Zack Greinke before the trade deadline, but expect them to pursue him as a free agent this winter. They won't shy away from the best starter available despite concerns about his ability to pitch in a big market.
- The Brewers spent roughly $180MM less on Aramis Ramirez than the Tigers spent on Prince Fielder, but Ramirez has provided similar production. The 34-year-old is hitting .299/.363/.536 with 25 homers and an NL-best 47 doubles.
- Few in baseball will be surprised if changes are made to the Pirates front office given the club's second half slide and recent reports of Navy SEALS type training for their top prospects.
- The Braves tried to acquire Greg Dobbs at the deadline, but the Marlins declined because they felt his presence was too important to the clubhouse. That was after the Hanley Ramirez trade, suggesting that other clubhouse issues exist.
Heyman On Hamilton, Upton, Peavy, Victorino
Earlier today, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com checked in with an American League executive to get his predictions on what kind of deals this winter's top free agents might get. Here are some highlights..
- The exec sees Josh Hamilton getting a five-year, $150MM deal, giving him a guaranteed average annual value of $30MM and eclipsing the record set by Alex Rodriguez's ten-year, $275MM pact. The Rangers aren't known for giving out excessively-long deals, meaning that he would likely have to take five years to stay in Texas. One person in the know wondered if the Rangers would even go to five to keep the outfielder.
- Executives believe that the Rays will make the qualifying offer of around $13MM for B.J. Upton as his nice all-around season should net him at least a four-year deal elsewhere. The exec sees $60MM over five years for Upton, but Heyman notes that it's a pretty good center field market with Michael Bourn and Shane Victorino also out there.
- White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy could get a two year deal worth $25-30MM in the opinion of the AL exec. Heyman adds that it isn't hard to see the Dodgers making a play for Peavy after years of watching him dominate for the Padres.
- The executive thinks Dodgers outfielder Shane Victorino could fetch a two-year, $25MM deal and Heyman sees the Nationals, Mets, Braves, Phillies, and Giants as possible fits. However, he'll have to lower his expectations after originally seeking a five-year deal.
- The AL exec sees Angels pitcher Zack Greinke getting $125MM over six years. Nats pitcher Edwin Jackson is in line for a four-year, $55MM deal, according to the exec, though Heyman thinks he'll get less.