MLBPA Files Grievance For Zambrano
The MLB Players Association has filed a grievance on behalf of Carlos Zambrano, according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. The Cubs placed the right-hander on the disqualified list Saturday after he struggled against the Braves, cleared out his locker and said he was retiring.
Players don't get paid on the disqualified list, so Zambrano would stand to lose about $3MM if the Cubs' decision holds up. The MLBPA aims to lighten the penalty, though there's no timetable for the process at this point, according to Muskat. The Cubs and the union will meet and, if they don't reach an agreement, they'll go in front of an arbitrator.
Players don't get paid or pick up service time on the disqualified list, so Zambrano could lose as much as one sixth of his $17.875MM salary. He is under contract for $18MM next year and his contract includes a $19.25MM vesting player option for 2013.
Pirates, Jose Tabata Nearing Extension
5:32pm: Rojas reports that the total value of the contract would be $37.25MM if the three options are exercised (link in Spanish). Tabata would receive a $1MM signing bonus, and his salary in 2011 would increase to $500K. He would then earn $750K in 2012, $1MM in 2013, $3MM in 2014, $4MM in 2015, and $4.5MM in 2016. That puts the guarantee at six years and $14.75MM, and the value of the three options years at $22.5MM combined.
4:01pm: The Pirates are putting the finishing touches on Tabata's deal, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. An announcement could come as soon as tomorrow.
1:48pm: MLBTR's Tim Dierkes hears that Tabata's deal with the Pirates will include three team options (Twitter link). Denard Span's five-year, $16.5MM deal presumably figured prominently in to the discussions.
12:47pm: The sides are nearing a six-year agreement, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (on Twitter). The deal would run through 2016 and include contract restructuring for 2011, according to Rojas. Such a deal would cover Tabata's three remaining pre-arbitration seasons and his three arbitration seasons.
12:32pm: The Pirates are discussing a multiyear deal with Jose Tabata, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has learned (all Twitter links). The outfielder recently amicably parted ways with ACES, his previous agency. Tabata returned from a stint on the DL with a strained quadriceps this week.
Tabata is in his second MLB season, but he didn't debut until last June, so he doesn't project to be arbitration eligible until after 2013 or eligible for free agency until after 2016. The 23-year-old has a .264/.351/.362 line with 14 doubles, four homers and 14 stolen bases this year.
He finished eighth in National League Rookie of the Year balloting last year and has played all three outfield positions in the Major Leagues. In just shy of 1500 innings, Tabata's outfield defense is league average, according to UZR. The Pirates acquired Tabata, Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen and Ross Ohlendorf from the Yankees for Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady at the 2008 trade deadline.
This post was originally published on August 19th.
GM Candidate: Al Avila
MLBTR’s list of general manager candidates introduced 20 people who were identified by their peers as potential Major League GMs. We’re now going to bring you closer to the candidates with a series of pieces. Today the series continues with Tigers executive Al Avila.
When you consider where Al Avila came from, it’s not surprising that he has an eye for talent. The Tigers assistant GM grew up watching baseball alongside his father, longtime Dodgers scout and executive Ralph Avila, family friend Tommy Lasorda and veteran baseball executive Al Campanis. So Avila had no choice – he watched a lot of baseball growing up.
He played, too, but unlike his son, All-Star catcher Alex Avila, Al didn’t have much of a playing career. Soon after signing as a non-drafted free agent, he moved on to other pursuits, running the Daytona Beach Admirals (a job that included everything from public address announcing to helping the grounds crew) and coaching at St. Thomas University.
Avila, a native Spanish speaker, has extensive experience in Latin America, so he was a fit for the expansion Marlins and joined the club as assistant director of Latin American operations in 1992. Under Avila, who became scouting director in 1998, the Marlins signed Luis Castillo, Alex Gonzalez, Edgar Renteria, Livan Hernandez and Miguel Cabrera (pictured with Renteria) and drafted Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett. It certainly appears that Avila’s early exposure to organized baseball paid off.
“My strength is on the baseball side as far as scouting and player development,” he told MLBTR. “As far as the statistics, I’m not on the computer and creating all the stats, but I do use them. I see them as a tool to help you reach a better decision.”
Avila says he considers numbers while making decisions, but isn’t about to forget his background in scouting and player development. In the draft, for example, the Tigers will take players’ stats into account and ultimately trust the eye of scouting director David Chadd.
Avila and Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, the Marlins' GM from 1991-2001, worked together in Florida, leading the Marlins to their first World Series Championship, before assuming their current roles in Detroit. Avila, who served as the Marlins’ interim GM after Dombrowski left the Marlins for the Tigers, now assists the GM with the Major League roster, the minor league affiliates, pro scouting and amateur scouting.
It’s a broad set of responsibilities that hasn’t gone unnoticed by MLB owners. Avila interviewed for GM jobs with the Reds, Orioles, Mariners and Diamondbacks and became a finalist for the latter two openings. More recently, the Tigers denied the Mets' request to interview Avila this past offseason, but his peers say it won’t be a surprise if Avila ends up in a GM’s office before long.
Photo courtesy Icon SMI.
Trade Candidate: Hideki Matsui
The Phillies are looking for a left-handed bat for the stretch run and they’re surely not the only team interested in adding offense from the left side. Few hitters have been hotter since the All-Star break than Hideki Matsui, who has five homers and a .385/.439/.573 line in 132 second half plate appearances.
Matsui has cleared waivers, which means the A’s can now trade him to any team. He makes $4.25MM this year on a deal that expires after the season and only $960K or so remains on his salary, so interested teams wouldn’t have to make a major financial commitment.
One factor that could limit the Athletics’ interest in moving their DH is his projected Type B ranking. Assuming Matsui finishes the season as a Type B free agent, the A’s could offer arbitration and collect a supplemental first round pick in next year’s draft if the 37-year-old slugger declines the offer and signs elsewhere. The A’s front office might very well prefer an extra draft choice to an extra $960K.
But for the A’s to obtain such a pick, they’d have to be prepared to bring Matsui back in 2012. Despite his hot streak, Matsui has career lows in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage and his season line sits at .263/.336/.403, which is slightly worse than the average American League DH (.264/.342/.422).
Unless the A’s have assurances that Matsui will turn an offer of arbitration down (it wouldn’t hurt him to turn their offer down), they can’t be confident in their ability to end up with a draft pick rather than a positionless 38-year-old whose overall production is in decline. As a result, dealing Matsui might appeal to the small market A’s if they can secure $1MM in salary relief. The cash might help them more than Matsui’s hot bat and the possibility of a draft choice.
Red Sox Designate Randy Williams For Assignment
The Red Sox designated Randy Williams for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Ryan Lavarnway, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter). The club placed Kevin Youkilis on the disabled list in a related move.
Williams, 35, appeared in seven games for Boston this year, most recently on August 5th. He spent most of the season with Boston's Triple-A affiliate and posted impressive numbers with Pawtucket: a 1.44 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 25 innings of work. Williams has also pitched for the White Sox, Rockies, Padres and Mariners in his five MLB seasons.
Orioles Notes: Davis, Gonzalez, Guerrero, Simon
It's unclear how much the Orioles knew about the possibility that Chris Davis had shoulder problems when they acquired him late last month, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun writes. Davis hit the Orioles' 15-day DL not long after joining Baltimore in the deal that sent Koji Uehara to Texas. Here are some more notes on the O's from Zrebiec…
- Mike Gonzalez and Vladimir Guerrero haven’t drawn interest from contenders looking to fortify their rosters for the stretch run, Zrebiec hears. That could change later this month and if it does, it’s likely that Gonzalez and Guerrero would clear waivers.
- Keep track of which players have cleared with our list.
- Orioles officials appear to believe that if Alfredo Simon has a future in Baltimore, it’s in the bullpen. Simon has made some good starts this season, but with Jim Johnson likely headed to the rotation, Baltimore’s bullpen could use some reliable arms in 2012.
Quick Hits: Nationals, Ichiro, Astros, Starling
On this date ten years ago, John Smoltz struck out four batters and picked up his first regular season save. Then, on this date in 2009, the Red Sox released Smoltz, who had an 8.33 ERA at the time. The potential Hall of Famer went on to provide seven solid starts for the Cardinals later that season and hasn't pitched in the Majors since. Here are today's links…
- Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner told Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that GM Mike Rizzo did a "fantastic job" to sign Anthony Rendon, Alex Meyer, Brian Goodwin, Matt Purke and others on Monday night. Lerner believes the Nats now have one of the best farm systems in the game.
- Just because the Yankees signed Derek Jeter to a $51MM deal last winter doesn’t mean the Mariners should extend Ichiro Suzuki, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes. Arguing that Ichiro deserves Jeter-like treatment doesn’t make sense to Baker “for reasons that start on the field and end off of it.” The Mariners outfielder is under contract for $17MM in 2012.
- Jim Bowden of ESPN.com identifies five players we shouldn't give up on, including Pedro Alvarez and Ian Stewart.
- No one at the MLB owners meetings is questioning whether Jim Crane, the incoming Astros owner, is a viable candidate to take over the team, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter).
- Top Royals pick Bubba Starling said at a press conference today that his offense could still improve because he played three sports in high school and hasn't had the chance to devote himself to hitting (Associated Press link via ESPN.com).
NL West Notes: D’Backs, Padres, Uribe
The Diamondbacks and Padres were two of the ten teams that cracked $10MM on draft bonus spending this year, according to Baseball America. Here's the latest on those two clubs and their NL West rivals…
- It's wouldn't be surprising to see the D'Backs look into the possibility of acquiring a shortstop this month, despite Willie Bloomquist's solid play in place of the injured Stephen Drew. But Edgar Renteria? One D'Backs source tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that the Reds "won't move him" (Twitter link).
- Corey Brock of MLB.com tells the story of Drew Cumberland, the 46th overall draft pick in 2007, who had to retire because of a medical condition that disrupts balance in the inner ears. Hearing the news was understandably tough for the 22-year-old former Padres prospect. "Baseball … it's my passion. It's what I love," he told Brock.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness responds to Tim Dierkes’ recent suggestion that the Dodgers could trade Juan Uribe for Carlos Zambrano. The Dodgers don’t have sure things on the infield going forward, so they may prefer to hold onto Uribe to ensure that they have at least one regular they can count on heading in to 2012.
Diamondbacks Release Juan Jaime
The Diamondbacks released Juan Jaime Monday, according to the team’s transactions page. Arizona had designated the right-hander for assignment Saturday to create roster space for Lyle Overbay.
Jaime has not pitched since undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2010. He has a 2.42 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9 in 111 2/3 career minor league innings over the course of four seasons. Arizona claimed Jaime off of waivers from the Nationals last winter.
Angels Designate Reggie Willits For Assignment
The Angels designated outfielder Reggie Willits for assignment, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times (on Twitter). They're calling up journeyman right-hander Jerome Williams, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Times (on Twitter), and optioning Trevor Bell to the minors in a related move.
Willits, 30, placed fifth in the 2007 Rookie of the Year balloting after stealing 27 bases and posting a .293/.391/.344 line for Los Angeles. He hasn't matched that level of productivity since and has just one double and four walks in 28 MLB plate appearances this year. He has spent most of this season in the minors, where he has a .255/.378/.296 line in 305 plate appearances.