Mets Notes: Murphy, Ticket Prices, Payroll
Some notes on the year's most disappointing team…
- Newsday's David Lennon says Daniel Murphy will not be the Mets' starting first baseman next year. "Period. End of story."
- The Mets will cut their ticket prices next season, according to this press release (via Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post)
- Hubbuch notes that the Mets plan on making trades and signings to improve their club going forward. The team should continue to have one of the game's highest payrolls. They started the year with a payroll of $149MM, according to Cot's. Check out Tim's suggestions for the $35-40MM the club will have to spend this winter.
Ed Wade On Biggio, Bagwell, Matsui, ‘Pen
Astros GM Ed Wade told Houston Chronicle readers that he doesn't expect Craig Biggio or Jeff Bagwell to become the team's next manager. Here are the details from Wade's online chat with fans:
- The Astros are looking for an experienced manager who relates well with players.
- Wade expects Kaz Matsui to be the team's everyday second baseman next year.
- Expect the Astros to be younger next year.
- Wade says he'd "love" to have LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde back next year, but doesn't say whether he thinks the club has a realistic shot at re-signing either free agent-to-be.
- The Astros will probably be working with less than the $107MM they spent this year.
Odds & Ends: Pirates, Drew, Red Sox, Valentine
Some more links to read as we ready ourselves for another Tigers-Twins game…
- The Pirates just added Anthony Claggett to their roster, so he could make his debut with the club tonight, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- The Pirates won't bring back coach Rich Donnelly, but pitching coach Joe Kerrigan will return.
- On the weekend, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported (via Twitter) that the D'Backs will listen to offers for Stephen Drew. Nightengale says the club wants pitching and suggests the Red Sox will likely have interest in Drew.
- Rob Neyer of ESPN.com says it wouldn't make sense for the Red Sox to trade Clay Buchholz to the D'Backs to acquire Stephen Drew. Buchholz, after all, has shown that he can pitch in the AL East. The Red Sox need a shortstop, but Neyer doesn't consider Drew a proven player.
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post reports that Bobby Valentine is "totally committed" to his new job as an ESPN analyst, though the former MLB manager acknowledged that he could manage in the bigs again at some point.
Piniella Hints That Bradley’s A Goner
Cubs manager Lou Piniella hinted on ESPN Radio today that Milton Bradley will not play another game for the Cubs (via ESPN Chicago). The talented outfielder has two years and $21MM remaining on his contract, but Piniella suggested Bradley will spend those two seasons elsewhere.
"Now we try to find somebody else," Piniella said. "I know Jim [Hendry, the team GM] will work very hard at it."
Piniella is hardly the first one to suggest that Bradley will likely continue his career with another team. The Padres could have interest in Bradley, but the Royals won't bite. Ken Rosenthal suggested this weekend that the Giants, Rangers, Rays and Mets could all have interest in the 31-year-old.
The Cubs manager also criticized Bradley for his total of 40 RBIs. Bradley often hit second, so he didn't have as many opportunities to produce runs as some, but he failed to capitalize when given the chance; only eight of the 266 players with at least 300 plate appearances drove home a smaller percentage of runners than Bradley, who brought home just a tenth of those who reached base ahead of him.
The Giants And Freddy Sanchez
SATURDAY: Baggarly got the chance to interview Sanchez on Saturday afternoon about his injury, free agency, and many other topics. He suspects the Giants will attempt to re-sign the second baseman to a two-year contract this winter.
THURSDAY: The Giants expected more from Freddy Sanchez when they dealt highly-regarded pitching prospect Tim Alderson to the Pirates for him in July. Regardless, they will likely try to bring Sanchez back after the season, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. The decision to turn down the second baseman's $8.1MM option will be "almost automatic" for the Giants, but there's still an "excellent" chance that the club will bring Sanchez back on a multi-year deal.
Sanchez started the season well and even represented the Pirates at the All-Star game, but since arriving in San Francisco, knee troubles have limited him to just 25 games and an OPS of .619. It looked like he would pick up the 600 plate appearances it would have taken for his $8.1MM option vest, but a torn meniscus sidelined him. Sanchez will have offseason surgery on his left knee, but the Giants should still have interest in him.
Mets Claim Jack Egbert From White Sox
5:24pm: Just following up, Hubbuch says Egbert will not pitch for the Mets this year, instead he'll just report to Spring Training next year.
3:06pm: The Mets claimed right-hander Jack Egbert off waivers from the White Sox, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post. The 26-year-old only appeared in two games with the White Sox this year and the results weren't pretty. He allowed one run for every out he recorded, so he has a 27.00 ERA to show for his 2.2 innings pitched.
Egbert pitched better at Triple A Charlotte, where he allowed 132 hits and 33 walks in 108 innings. He struck out 78 and finishes his minor league season with a 5.05 ERA.
Padres Are Open-Minded About Milton Bradley
Padres GM Kevin Towers says he's open-minded about the possibility of bringing Milton Bradley back to San Diego, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. Towers hasn't yet spoken with Cubs GM Jim Hendry about the possibility of re-acquiring the 31-year-old, but the Padres have to take chances at times, so Bradley could fit.
"We could be in the market for an outfielder," Towers said. "I'm not saying it's necessarily Milton. But our experience with him was rather a positive one. It wasn't really a negative one."
The Padres' experience with Bradley wasn't without its negative episodes. Bradley injured his knee when manager Bud Black restrained him during an on-field argument. The bizarre turn of events ended Bradley's Padres career, over the course of which he posted an OPS of 1.004 in 42 games.
Earlier in the week, ESPN.com's Buster Olney suggested that the Padres could be a fit for Bradley and Jon Heyman of SI.com echoed the thought this afternoon. One obstacle the Cubs will encounter with any trading partner will be the $21MM remaining on Bradley's contract before the end of the 2011 season.
Odds & Ends: Astros, Girardi, Ricciardi
Time for a round of afternoon links before the regular season's second-last weekend officially begins…
- The Astros signed Korean infielder Chan Jong Moon to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Tom Singer. The 18-year-old high schooler is apparently a high-energy player.
- Peter Abraham of the Journal News wonders if the Yankees would extend Joe Girardi's contract if the Yankees secure a World Series berth this year. Girardi's current deal expires after next season.
- Joe Posnanski doesn't get J.P. Ricciardi, partly because people say wildly divergent things about the GM. Posnanski doesn't expect J.P. to be the person who will turn the Jays around in the tough AL East.
- Tom Verducci of SI.com says it's time to think of Clay Buchholz as a number three starter. Meanwhile, Rob Neyer of ESPN.com wonders if Jon Lester is Boston's new ace.
Heyman On Pujols, Holliday, Acta, Cubs
The Cardinals want to lock up Albert Pujols, but Jon Heyman of SI.com wonders if they can keep him and Matt Holliday. One GM says there's "no chance" the team can keep the two stars, despite owner Bill DeWitt's goal to "lock up both of them." Here are more details on the Cardinals' superstars, along with the rest of Heyman's rumors:
- Heyman says it's illogical to expect Pujols to demand anything less than $30MM per season.
- Holliday is "thought to be interested" in a deal comparable to Mark Teixeira's $180MM pact. No doubt Holliday would have interest in that kind of deal, but would any team consider it? (I doubt it.)
- There are many reasons it makes sense for the Cards to try to lock up Holliday and Pujols. As Heyman says, such an attempt would show manager Tony La Russa, pitching coach Dave Duncan and the fan base that the team wants to win at all costs.
- Heyman hears that the Astros will interview former Nats manager Manny Acta for their managerial opening.
- Indians GM Mark Shapiro is facing pressure to fire manager Eric Wedge, especially now that the club has lost 11 straight.
- Not surprisingly, two GMs consider Alfonso Soriano untradeable. He has $90MM remaining on his contract.
- The Cubs would have to eat a "decent chunk" of Carlos Zambrano's contract if they decide to trade him. A trade doesn't seem likely, however.
- If the Cubs deal Milton Bradley, Heyman considers the Padres a logical fit.
- Execs around the league expect Roy Halladay to be on the trade market again this winter.
Discussion: The Worst Signing Of The Offseason
Look no further than the Toronto Blue Jays or the Chicago Cubs to see the kind of franchise-changing effect a bad contract can have on an organization. Alfonso Soriano and Vernon Wells both signed nine-figure deals that their clubs must be regretting. Though the free agent market was depressed last winter, we saw teams commit to some massive deals.
There doesn't appear to be a Barry Zito–esque clunker among them, but some teams still overspent. Now that the regular season is only ten days away from completion, we have nearly an entire season's worth of information to help decide which move was the worst. (We won't really know how good or bad these deals are until they expire, of course, so we'll simply use the information we have so far.)
If you check out MLBTR's list of last winter's 20 biggest moves, you'll find that last offseason's most lucrative deals appear to have worked out. Where would the Yankees be without Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett? Ryan Dempster pitched well for the Cubs and Derek Lowe and Manny Ramirez added value to their respective clubs. But not every signing looks good. Here are some candidates for last winter's worst free agent signing:
- Oliver Perez - $36MM over three years - He allowed 51 runs in 66 innings for an ugly 6.82 ERA. Knee injuries shortened his season, but he still managed to walk 58 batters, almost one per frame.
- Milton Bradley - $30MM over three years - The volatile outfielder saw his OPS tumble by over 200 points this year. His off-field antics led to a suspension and the Cubs will now try to find a taker for the 31-year-old.
- Edgar Renteria - $18.5MM over two years, plus club option - Those who criticized the Giants for this deal appear to have been justified. Renteria hit just .250/.307/.328 and didn't play good enough defense to make up for his struggles at the plate.
- Jamie Moyer - $16MM over two years - To his credit, Moyer pitched over 150 innings for the defending champs. Still, do the Phils want to pay a hittable 47-year-old $8MM next year? Probably not.
- Pat Burrell – $16MM over two years – It's one thing for the Phillies to mis-spend, but the Rays don't have money to throw around. Andrew Friedman envisioned more than a .382 slugging percentage when he signed Burrell last winter.
So which of these contracts is the worst one? Was $161MM too much for a pitcher? Will Derek Lowe wear down? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments section.