AL West Notes: Tomko, Felix, Robertson
The Rangers are asking for top prospects in exchange for Michael Young and there's lots more going on in Texas and around the AL West. Here's the latest…
- Brett Tomko can opt out of his contract with the Rangers on June 1st, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The clause presumably exists in case Tomko is still in the minors at that point.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports argues that the Mariners should call the Yankees and see exactly how much they'd give up for Felix Hernandez. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner is under contract through 2014 for a total of $68MM.
- Nate Robertson will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow and miss at least four weeks. As MLB.com's Greg Johns points out, that leaves Michael Pineda, Luke French and David Pauley as the primary candidates for the Mariners' fifth rotation spot.
- Johns reports that the Mariners turned a $1.7MM profit in the fiscal year ending on October 31st, 2010.
The Asking Price For Michael Young
It's not easy to find teams with $16MM to spare in mid-March, when most GMs have exhausted their offseason budgets. The number of potential takers for $16MM players shrinks even more when the trade candidate earns $16MM annually through 2013 and has no-trade protection.
That's why the Rangers aren't going to have a simple time trading Michael Young, who requested a trade, saying that he has been "misled and manipulated." Young can veto trades to 21 teams and he'll have a full no-trade clause in May when his 10-and-5 rights kick in. ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that the Rangers are still asking for top prospects in return for Young, so Texas' asking price first seems unrealistic given all of the obstacles in place.
But former Indians GM Mark Shapiro traded similar players for top prospects in 2008 and 2009, so there's some hope for Jon Daniels, Nolan Ryan and the rest of Texas' front office.
Shapiro sent Casey Blake and cash to the Dodgers for Carlos Santana and Jon Meloan in 2008. At the time, Blake was in his age-34 season and had a .289/.365/.465 line as a utility player for the Indians. The next year, the Tribe sent Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals for Jess Todd, now the Indians' 27th-ranked prospect, and Chris Perez, who has become the team's closer. DeRosa, another utility player, was also in his age-34 season and at the time he had a similar line to the one Blake had in 2008: .270/.342/.457.
Young is coming off of a comparable year; he hit .284/.330/.444 for Texas in 2010. Now a utility player himself, Young resembles Blake and DeRosa to a considerable extent. He's in his age-34 season and has 20 homer pop and the versatility to play multiple positions.
There are significant differences, of course. Blake and DeRosa were not franchise players like Young, the longest tenured Ranger. Plus, Blake ($6.1MM) and DeRosa ($5.5MM) were making about $10MM less than Young will earn in 2011. Young's pedigree includes six All-Star Game selections, a Gold Glove and a batting title, but that doesn't make up the $10MM gap between him and the others.
The Rangers face obstacles that the Indians weren't up against in 2008-09, but Shapiro's trades should give the Rangers some hope. Though Texas may not be able to unload Young's entire contract or close to it, there is some precedent for turning comparable players into top prospects.
Photo courtesy Icon SMI.
Blue Jays Sign Chris Woodward
The Blue Jays have signed Chris Woodward to a minor league deal, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (on Twitter). The former Blue Jay will fill in on the infield and postpone his plans to become an agent, according to Griffin.
The Blue Jays selected Woodward 17 years ago, in the 54th round of the 1994 draft. He was in the majors five years later and played for the Blue Jays from 1999-2004 as a backup infielder. The 34-year-old appeared in eight games for the Mariners last year and also has big league experience with the Mets, Braves and Red Sox.
Woodward, who has played every position but pitcher and catcher in the Major Leagues, has spent most of his career at short, second and third. He has a .241/.298/.362 line in 1886 MLB plate appearances over the course of 11 years.
Padres Return George Kontos To Yankees
The Padres announced that they returned Rule 5 draft pick George Kontos to the Yankees.
The 25-year-old split the 2010 season between Class A, Double-A and Triple-A, posting a 3.60 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 45 innings. It was his first action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July of 2009 and his first extended stint as a reliever. Baseball America ranked Kontos 27th among Padres prospects this offseason and suggested that his future is in the 'pen, since he hasn't developed a quality change-up and struggles to throw strikes at times.
Kontos has appeared in 97 minor league games (73 starts) since the Yankees selected him in the fifth round of the 2006 draft. Overall, he has a 3.47 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in the minors. The right-hander posted a 9.82 ERA in three spring appearances.
Phillies Sign Ruben Amaro Jr. To Extension
Now that they've locked their manager up, the Phillies have moved on to the front office. The Phillies and GM Ruben Amaro Jr. have finalized a four-year contract extension, according to a team press release.
The Phillies promoted Amaro to GM after Pat Gillick retired following the team's 2008 World Championship. Amaro, a seven-year veteran of the major leagues, spent ten years as an assistant GM before his promotion (1999-2008). You won't find anyone with deeper ties to the Phillies; Amaro was a batboy for the team and he and his father both suited up for the Phils at the Major League level.
Amaro has traded for Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt since taking over the team and later signed Lee as a free agent. The Phillies won the NL East in both 2009 and 2010, making it to the World Series in '09 and to the NLCS in '10. As MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows, Amaro has been aggressive with extensions, locking eight players up in two-plus seasons on the job.
Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News reported yesterday that the extension was "virtually done" and that the two sides were putting the "finishing touches" on the agreement. Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) reported that a deal was finalized.
Kyle McClellan’s Role In St. Louis
After spending three years in the Cardinals' bullpen, Kyle McClellan has become the favorite to win the fifth starter's job in their rotation. The 26-year-old entered the spring as a setup man, started auditioning for a rotation spot when Adam Wainwright injured his elbow and has pitched well enough to have a realistic chance of becoming a starter for the first time in his MLB career.
McClellan started 51 minor league games, then moved primarily to the bullpen after undergoing the same operation as Wainwright – Tommy John surgery – in 2005. The transition worked well for the right-hander, who thrived in the bullpen for three years, averaging 73 innings, a 3.23 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 from 2008-10.
Though McClellan has never started a major league game, the Cardinals have stretched him out at times. He worked 19 outings of at least four outs last year and logged at least two innings ten times.
As a reliever, McClellan has used either his fastball or his curveball 77% of the time, but he does have a change-up and a slider to complete the traditional four-pitch mix. It's possible that hitters will adjust to McClellan's repertoire when they see him for the second or third time in a game and at this point it looks like the Cardinals are willing to take that risk.
Moving McClellan to the rotation would weaken the Cardinals' bullpen and could motivate a trade for bullpen help at some point this summer. The Yankees, Blue Jays, Athletics and Rockies come to mind as teams with deep bullpens, but St. Louis may not be interested in striking a deal and the market for relievers can shift quickly.
The Cardinals were never going to replace Wainwright, one of the top pitchers in the league, but McClellan and his 50% ground ball rate could make the loss more bearable by becoming a passable fifth starter. If not, the Cardinals can move him him back to the bullpen and use the trade chips or cash they otherwise might have saved to trade for or sign a starting pitcher such as Kevin Slowey or Kevin Millwood.
Quick Hits: Rangers, Bumgarner, Crawford, Stanton
Links for Friday, as teams continue trimming their rosters down…
- Chuck Greenberg will no longer be part of the Rangers organization, but he leaves with $20-25MM in profit, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter)
- The Giants renewed Madison Bumgarner's contract for 2011, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). That means the sides did not agree to terms on a deal, but it doesn't change the timetable for Bumgarner's arbitration or free agency.
- As Alex Speier of WEEI.com explains, the only two outfielders ever to sign free agent contracts with an average annual value of $20MM have opposite styles of play. The Red Sox signed Manny Ramirez for his power, and they signed Carl Crawford for his overall offensive output, baserunning and defense.
- Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton has a creative approach to addressing weaknesses in his swing, as Yahoo's Steve Henson explains.
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post offers up a must-read profile of Nationals phenom Bryce Harper.
NL Central Notes: Brewers, Cubs, Hendry, Pujols
Notes from the NL Central as we wish the best of luck to all those affected by the earthquake in Japan…
- Brewers reliever Takashi Saito won't have to return to Japan, since his family has been safely accounted for, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy (on Twitter).
- Outfielder Brett Jackson headlines MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo's list of the top 10 prospects in the Cubs organization.
- Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times shows that the Cubs–White Sox rivalry doesn't seem fierce now, since White Sox GM Kenny Williams supports the Cubs and Cubs GM Jim Hendry has nice things to say about the White Sox.
- Baseball writers at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch weigh in on the following question: will Albert Pujols play even better than usual in 2011? The Cardinals slugger is months away from hitting free agency for the first time in his career.
AL East Clubs Face Varied Challenges In 2011 Draft
When you hear talk of disparity in baseball, people often point to the AL East, home to two of the biggest spenders in MLB and one of its poorest teams. But as the Rays have shown, small market clubs can offset uneven payrolls by drafting and developing players successfully.
After an offseason in which Tampa Bay saw one ranked free agent after another sign elsewhere, including Boston and New York, the Rays face what could be the most critical amateur draft in their franchise's history. This June, the Rays have an unprecedented number of early picks – they select 12 players in the first two rounds (90 picks). The challenge for executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and scouting director R.J. Harrison will be selecting future major leaguers with those picks.
Though the Red Sox and Blue Jays aren't close to matching the Rays' record total, they have considerably more picks than average. The Blue Jays have seven picks before the third round and the Red Sox have five, so they face a similar challenge to the one the Rays do: convert their extra picks into potential major leaguers.
Tampa and Boston are two of the six teams (along with the D'Backs, Nationals, Padres and Brewers) that have multiple first round picks, which means seven of the draft's first 33 selections will head to what's arguably baseball's best division.
The Yankees, on the other hand, are one of four clubs that don't select before the supplementary first round (along with the White Sox, Phillies and, last but not least, the Tigers, who don't select until 75 players are off the board). The Orioles select fourth overall, but, like the Yankees, only have two picks in the first two rounds.
That's not to say that the O's and Yankees can't acquire young talent, however. They can, in theory, spend more money on fewer players in an attempt to lure a select number of top amateurs to their organization. Or they can sign players on the international market and build their farm systems with an aggressive approach abroad (the Yankees recently committed supplemental round money to Dominican righty Juan Carlos Paniagua).
The Rays, Blue Jays and Red Sox will select 24 of the first 90 players in this year's draft (27%). That doesn't mean they'll have productive drafts or that the Yankees and Orioles won't. But for at least a couple of days this June, the Yankees will watch and the Rays will be the ones with the power to acquire top players.
Nationals Release Cla Meredith
The Nationals announced that they have released Cla Meredith. The Nationals signed the 27-year-old right-hander to a minor league deal in February and he underwent Tommy John surgery last week.
Meredith posted a 5.40 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 21 relief apppearances for Baltimore last year. He was a key member of the Padres' bullpen from 2006-09, when he posted a 3.26 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 237 1/3 total innings.
Meredith, a sixth round selection of Boston's in the 2004 draft, reached the majors the following season when he made a three-appearance cameo with the Red Sox. He has appeared in the big leagues every season since his 2005 debut, averaging 57 outings per year and a 3.43 ERA in that time.