Week In Review: 12/22/13 – 12/28/13
Here's a look back at this week at MLBTR:
- The Rakuten Golden Eagles have posted pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.
- The Dodgers re-signed infielder Juan Uribe to a two-year deal.
- The Dodgers agreed to sign reliever Chris Perez to a one-year deal.
- The Angels signed OF/DH Raul Ibanez to a one-year deal.
- The Twins signed catcher Kurt Suzuki to a one-year deal.
- The Dodgers signed pitcher Jamey Wright to a one-year deal.
- The Orioles claimed pitcher Liam Hendriks off waivers from the Twins.
- The Blue Jays claimed infielder Brent Morel off waivers from the White Sox.
- The White Sox claimed pitcher Eric Surkamp off waivers from the Giants.
- The Rays claimed outfielder Jerry Sands off waivers from the Pirates.
- The Rangers claimed outfielder Alex Castellanos off waivers from the Red Sox.
- The Cubs claimed pitcher Brett Marshall off waivers from the Yankees.
- The Mets claimed pitcher Ryan Reid off waivers from the Pirates.
- The Rangers designated first baseman Chris McGuiness for assignment.
- The Padres designated pitcher Adys Portillo for assignment.
- The Indians outrighted pitcher Trey Haley.
- The Mariners outrighted pitcher Chance Ruffin.
- The Brewers outrighted pitcher Michael Olmsted.
- The Astros outrighted pitcher Rhiner Cruz.
- The Blue Jays re-signed infielder Munenori Kawasaki to a minor-league deal.
- The Rays signed reliever Jordan Norberto to a minor-league deal.
- Reliever Guillermo Moscoso signed with the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan.
- Starter Chris Narveson signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Japan.
- The Rays released first baseman Leslie Anderson to allow him to play in Asia.
- The Angels released pitcher Chris Volstad to allow him to pitch in Korea.
Quick Hits: Braves, Tanaka, Rangers
The Braves, who have lost Brian McCann and Tim Hudson and done little to replace them, but it's not too late for them to recover this offseason, Mike Petriello of ESPN.com writes (Insider-only). They can start by signing young players like Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman to extensions, Petriello suggests. Another fix might be acquiring a new second baseman to supplant Dan Uggla, and one possibility might be dealing for Howie Kendrick of the Angels, who need young pitching. Here's more from around the Majors.
- A "perfect storm" of factors will allow Masahiro Tanaka to land a huge contract, MLB.com's Tracy Ringolsby writes. Those factors include the revamped posting system, which limits the amount of money a player's old team receive, along with a huge bump in national television revenue and limits on spending in the draft and on Latin American amateurs.
- Tanaka's workload is a serious concern, writes Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. Before even beginning his age-25 season, Tanaka has thrown 1,315 innings, a workload completely unlike those of most young big-league pitchers, at least in the last few decades. "Everyone is acting like it's a no-brainer all-in just because he's 25," said an executive for an MLB team. "He's still a pitcher and he's still got serious miles on him. [Tanaka is a] very attractive player nonetheless but a real risk … as with basically all pitchers."
- Signing Shin-Soo Choo and acquiring Prince Fielder will only be decisive for the Rangers if they have a core of very productive players who are much cheaper, argues Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. "We’re a larger market team, and we’ve operated from a higher payroll for the last couple of years," says Rangers GM Jon Daniels. "But everybody has limits. … When you talk about making an investment of this nature, you don’t make it without confidence in your people and your system. We have a lot of confidence in that." The Rangers' rotation offers a template, Grant says — Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, Martin Perez and Alexi Ogando all at least began as cheap players, but the Rangers added to that group by making a big investment in Yu Darvish.
Twins Have Interest In Masahiro Tanaka
Add the Twins to the list of teams that have interest in Masahiro Tanaka, 1500ESPN.com's Darren Wolfson reports (via Twitter). Wolfson does, however, quote a Twins official who says Tanaka's posting is a "long process" and it's "difficult to know where it stands."
The Twins have already spent heavily on pitching this offseason, signing Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes to multiyear deals and re-signing Mike Pelfrey. Even the Nolasco move was uncharacteristically splashy for them, so it would be very surprising if they managed to outbid teams like the Yankees and Dodgers for Tanaka.
Nonetheless, Tanaka would, obviously, be an attractive target for Minnesota. He's relatively young and he wouldn't require the loss of a draft pick, and the rotation still arguably represents an area of need even after the Nolasco and Hughes additions. The Twins also continue to be connected to free-agent starter Bronson Arroyo.
Tanaka Notes: Posting Fee, Dodgers, Astros
MLB is concerned about "back-channeling" when Japanese players are posted, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports. That would be a situation in which an MLB team and a Japanese team circumvent the $20MM posting fee limit by agreeing to pay a significant amount of money on a lesser player posted later. "A club could guarantee to pay $20 million for the next guy — or the next two guys, for that matter," says a big-league executive. MLB is also concerned about Masahiro Tanaka (or any other player) donating to his old team, although Rosenthal notes that doing so would be inefficient, in that the player would be taxed for his income, and then the team would also be taxed on the donation. Here's more on Tanaka.
- ESPN's Jim Bowden compares Tanaka to prime Dan Haren, noting his command and great split-finger fastball (via Twitter).
- The Dodgers, who have plenty of money and have had a relatively quiet offseason, appear to be the favorites to land Tanaka, SB Nation's Grant Brisbee writes. The Yankees need him more, however. Brisbee also points out that the Astros could (not will, but could) be an interesting dark-horse candidate to sign Tanaka, given that they have few large payroll commitments. They would therefore be better-equipped to compete against a team like the Dodgers than some rich teams would. The Mariners' lack of big payroll commitments is how they ended up with Robinson Cano, Brisbee suggests. Tanaka's talent would obviously be appealing to the Astros, and so would his youth.
MLB To Prevent Tanaka From Donating To Old Team
Major League Baseball will make sure Masahiro Tanaka's Japanese team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, does not receive more than its $20MM posting fee as a result of Tanaka's departure to the US, Bill Shaikin and Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times report. That means that Tanaka cannot donate money to Rakuten.
Rakuten's president, Yozo Tachibana, had previously said that Tanaka intended to give money to Rakuten to improve its stadium. Rakuten has reportedly investigated adding a dome. Tanaka would, according to Tachibana, "cooperate and donate . . . starting with improving the environment for the players and to make sure it’s the kind of stadium that can be loved by [local] fans."
Such a donation would violate the agreement between MLB and NPB, which forbids NPB teams from receiving any money beyond a player's posting fee. "We are intent on enforcing all the provisions of the agreement," says MLB spokesperson Pat Courtney.
Quick Hits: Rangers, Tanaka, Davis, Orioles
Rangers owner Bob Simpson is happy to leave the baseball decisions to his staff, Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas writes. Simpson doesn't want to be a general manager like Cowboys counterpart Jerry Jones. "I don't and for the reasons everyone else wishes he wasn't," says Simpson. "I like Jerry, but we've got great people, so leave it to them." Simpson also notes that, with the signing of Shin-Soo Choo, the Rangers' projected payroll is between $130MM and $135MM for 2014. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.
- Simpson says signing Masahiro Tanaka would be "a tough thing," MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports. "We aggressively went after Yu [Darvish], who we are fortunate to have. I guess I should never say never, but at the moment, we're more interested in just rounding out our team than marquee players," Simpson says. The Rangers have already added Choo and Prince Fielder this offseason.
- Earlier today, a report indicated that the Mets were trying to get the Orioles to trade lefty pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez for first baseman Ike Davis, but that, so far, the Orioles had refused to do so. Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun now tweets that the O's would have to be "blown away" to deal Rodriguez. MLB.com ranks Rodriguez the Orioles' third-best prospect.
Angels Could Soon Sign Mark Mulder
8:24pm: Mulder has offers from "several" teams and has not yet decided who he'll sign with, agent Brian Charles tells Fletcher (via Twitter).
8:00pm: Mulder and the Angels have not yet agreed to terms, but if they do, it will be on a minor-league deal, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets.
5:17pm: The Angels appear to be the favorites to sign free-agent pitcher Mark Mulder, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets. Cafardo reports that the Angels could soon sign Mulder to an incentive-laden contract.
Mulder, 36, is trying to make a comeback after retiring in 2010. He has not appeared in the Majors since 2008, and has only appeared in six games since 2006, having spent the last few years of his career struggling through shoulder injuries. He threw for three teams in November. Giants GM Brian Sabean recently said Mulder was looking for a big-league contract. Given his history, though, it would be surprising if he got one.
Mets’ Ricciardi On Ruben Tejada, Draft Picks
The Mets are happy with Ruben Tejada as their starting shortstop, special assistant J.P. Ricciardi tells WEEI's Rob Bradford and John McDonald (yes, that John McDonald). "I think in Ruben’s case, he got a lot early in his career and I think he’s starting to realize that he has to work a lot harder than he has in the past, and he has," Ricciardi says. "I think next year he’s going to be a better player than he was this previous year."
Stephen Drew remains a free agent and would provide an immediate upgrade at shortstop. While Ricciardi doesn't go into details about Drew in particular, he makes clear that the shortstop market is not what the Mets would like it to be. "I think in this case there’s a lot of shortstops that are already in place," says Ricciardi.
Last week, Mets GM Sandy Alderson said the Mets were also exploring trade possibilities at the position, but that there was a greater chance than there was at the beginning of the offseason that Tejada would open 2014 as the team's starting shortstop.
While it doesn't necessarily sound like the Mets will be big players for Drew, who rejected a qualifying offer from the Red Sox, Ricciardi notes that, in general, he thinks the issue of draft pick forfeiture is only a minor consideration. The Mets' first-round pick in 2014, No. 10 overall, is protected, but the team already gave up its second-round pick to sign Curtis Granderson. "One of the things that is happening in baseball right now, that I scratch my head with [is that] young players are so overvalued right now, and I think falls in with the draft picks, too," Ricciardi says. "No one builds through the draft. You add through the draft." Ricciardi says that, to him, proven big-league players are more valuable.
Tanaka Notes: McGehee, AL West, Phillies
Here are a few notes on Masahiro Tanaka, who MLB front office types say (via USA Today's Bob Nightengale on Twitter) will cost at least $17MM per season:
- New Marlins infielder Casey McGehee, who played with Tanaka for Rakuten last season, tells Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel that Tanaka is worth the hype. "His forkball is the best one I’ve seen. … He was really special with that pitch," says McGehee. "Whoever gets him…it’s going to be money well spent."
- The Athletics will be monitoring Tanaka's situation, but mostly because of the chance that he could go to another AL West team, InsideBayArea.com's John Hickey writes. The A's can afford the $20MM posting fee, but don't typically pay the enormous sums of cash necessary to sign free agents of Tanaka's status.
- The Phillies are unlikely to do more than "take a flyer" on bidding for Tanaka, suggests Justin Klugh of Philly.com. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. seems "calm and confident in the 2014 Phillies for some reason," so it's unlikely he would make a big move for a top free agent. Also, the Phillies would have little to offer Tanaka, since they don't have a great shot of contending in the near future.
Minor Moves: Matt Daley, Chris Narveson
Here are today's minor moves from around baseball.
- After non-tendering Matt Daley in early December, the Yankees have agreed to a new minor league deal with the 31-year-old right-hander, per the team's transactions page. Daley pitched well in six innings for the Yankees in 2013 and owns a career 4.38 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 86 1/3 big league innings.
- Lefty Chris Narveson has signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, the Japan Times reports. Narveson pitched in the Brewers' rotation in 2010 and 2011, but missed much of the 2012 and 2013 seasons due to injury. He pitched well this winter for Licey in the Dominican. He will reportedly make $850K plus incentives.