West Notes: Chavez, Astros, Angels, Mattingly
The impending return of Franklin Gutierrez from the disabled list could lead the Mariners to designate Endy Chavez for assignment, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes. The M's have no plans to carry six outfielders, and Baker thinks they won't drop Jason Bay or Raul Ibanez, since they've been hitting well. That leaves Chavez without a chair. Chavez has hit .282/.288/.310 so far this season. Here are more notes from the two West divisions.
- Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and owner Jim Crane are in Chapel Hill today to watch a draft prospect, Mark Berman of FOX 26 reports (on Twitter). That would likely be UNC third baseman Colin Moran, who the Astros could be considering selecting with the top overall pick.
- The Angels could form a good team of players they've traded, let go or left unsigned, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times argues. That includes Matt Harvey, who rejected their $1MM offer and went to UNC after the Angels drafted him in the third round in 2007. DiGiovanna writes that Harvey, Patrick Corbin, Zack Greinke, Ervin Santana and Dan Haren would form a very strong non-Angels rotation. The Angels' 15-27 record naturally leads to second-guessing.
- Dodgers president Stan Kasten says he assumes Don Mattingly will remain the team's manager for the rest of the season, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports. Nonetheless, Kasten doesn't exactly offer a ringing endorsement of Mattingly. "I assume so because I assume we're going to play the rest of the year even better than we've played so far and I like the way the ballclub is set up," Kasten says. The Dodgers are currently 17-23.
- Kasten sounds more enthusiastic about about the Dodgers' international scouting efforts. "With this recent group of hirings, we made sure to cover not just Japan and not just the Dominican Republic, but also more in Venezuela and even other countries in South America," Kasten says, noting that the Dodgers are also hunting for talent throughout Europe. Hernandez reports that the Dodgers are also planning to renovate their Dominican facility.
Rosenthal On Cubs, Brewers, Marlins
Ken Rosenthal's new video for FOX Sports offers a variety of trade tidbits on the Cubs, Brewers and Marlins.
- Matt Garza of the Cubs makes an intriguing trade candidate, but Rosenthal says that one can't rule out the possibility that the Cubs will keep Garza and extend him a qualifying offer at the end of the season, hoping to collect draft-pick compensation. Scott Feldman might also be traded, but Rosenthal notes that his peripherals indicate he has been lucky so far.
- Alfonso Soriano has only one year left on his eight-year, $136MM contract, which could make him a more attractive trade target than in years past, Rosenthal notes, but Soriano also has a no-trade clause, allowing him to control his destination.
- The Brewers, meanwhile, have fewer trade options, Rosenthal argues. Corey Hart is hurt, Rickie Weeks is in the midst of a poor season, and Aramis Ramirez is owed $16MM in 2014 and has a $4MM buyout on his mutual option the following season. The Brewers will be "reluctant" to trade Yovani Gallardo, whose contract carries him through next season and gives the Brewers an option on his services in 2015.
- The Marlins have received calls on relievers Steve Cishek, Ryan Webb and Mike Dunn, Rosenthal reports.
Athletics Designate Daric Barton For Assignment
The Athletics have designated first baseman Daric Barton for assignment, the team reports (on Twitter). The move clears roster space for outfielder Chris Young, who had been on the disabled list. Young's return allows the Athletics to move Brandon Moss from the outfield back to first base.
The A's had previously designated Barton for assignment in late March, but he cleared waivers and stayed in the organization, then made his way back to the 40-man roster when the A's purchased his contract March 8. He has received 21 at bats with the A's since then, hitting .143/.217/.286. Barton has hit .248/.359/.370 in his career.
Angels Claim Chris Nelson, Designate Scott Cousins
The Angels have claimed infielder Chris Nelson off waivers from the Yankees and designated outfielder Scott Cousins for assignment, the Angels report (on Twitter). The Yankees designated Nelson for assignment two days ago.
Nelson hit .222/.243/.278 in ten games with the Yankees, who acquired him for a PTBNL or cash two weeks ago after the Rockies designated him for assignment. He was the ninth overall pick in the 2004 Draft.
Cousins has hit .179/.230/.285 in 179 career at bats with the Marlins and Angels. He had appeared in seven games with the Angels so far this year, but received only five plate appearances.
Cubs Extend Anthony Rizzo
The Cubs have a new face of the franchise, and his name is Anthony Rizzo. The team announced today that it has officially signed the 23-year-old first baseman to an extension covering the 2013-19 seasons, which is reportedly worth $41MM.
The new deal overrides Rizzo's existing 2013 contract, and is therefore essentially a six-year extension. Rizzo will reportedly receive a $2MM signing bonus and earn $750K in 2013. He'll make $1.25MM in 2014, $5MM in 2015-16, $7MM in 2017-18 and $11MM in 2019. The two options are worth $14.5MM each. Rizzo is a client of Sports One Athlete Management.
Rizzo's contract contains escalators could drive the total value of the deal to $73MM. The contract does not contain a no-trade clause, though Rizzo may be able to void the 2021 option under certain conditions if he is traded.
Last August, the Cubs signed shortstop Starlin Castro, their other key young offensive player, to a seven-year deal that also contained guaranteed money through 2019. Rizzo, 23, is currently hitting .288/.361/.554, and he has a line of .255/.333/.437 for his career. The Cubs acquired Rizzo and a minor-leaguer from the Padres before the 2012 season for Andrew Cashner and Kyung-Min Na.
Without the extension, Rizzo would have been eligible for Super Two status after the 2014 season, Rosenthal notes. Rizzo would have been arbitration-eligible four times, and could not have become a free agent until after the 2018 season, so this deal buys out one year of free agency eligibility and gives the Cubs the rights to two more.
Rizzo's deal tops the five-year, $32MM extension for Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, to which the two sides agreed shortly before the start of the season. Like Rizzo, Goldschmidt would have been eligible for arbitration after the 2014 season, although Goldschmidt was scheduled to become a free agent a year earlier. Significantly, however, Rizzo is two years younger than Goldschmidt, and would have been eligible for free agency heading into his age-29 season. With the two team options, Rizzo's extension ensures the Cubs can keep him under control through 2021, after which he will be 32.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports was the first to report the seven-year agreement. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that the contract contains a pair of options but does not include a no-trade clause He also added the contract breakdown (All Twitter links). Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago added that Rizzo could be able to void the 2021 option if traded (Twitter link).
Steve Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Extension Candidate: Starling Marte
Starling Marte has arguably been the biggest key to the Pirates’ 21-16 start, and at 24, the outfielder looks like an emerging star. This weekend on Twitter, Pirates bloggers and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Travis Sawchik discussed the merits of a possible contract extension for Marte. Given Marte’s skimpy big-league track record — he has just 341 career plate appearances — a long-term deal might seem a bit ambitious right now. But if Marte’s productivity continues, the Pirates will surely consider offering an extension at some point, and there may be a case for offering one sooner rather than later.
According to MLBTR’s Extension Tracker, there have been only three recent extensions for players with less than one year of service time: the Royals’ 2012 pact with Salvador Perez, and the Rays’ deals with Matt Moore in 2011 and Evan Longoria in 2008. All three contracts included three team options, and all gave their teams the rights to multiple free agent years. 
There would be little point to the Pirates signing Marte to an extension without such team-friendly terms, since a good portion of Marte’s value will likely come from his superior defense and baserunning, which aren’t likely to win him huge arbitration salaries. Whether he’ll continue to post gaudy offensive numbers is less certain. Marte could still be very productive without big counting stats, but without them, he isn’t likely to make huge sums in arbitration.
Therefore, from the Pirates’ perspective, the point of an extension would be to buy the rights to some of Marte’s free agent years while ensuring that the prices of his arbitration-eligible seasons remain low. Any multi-year contract would set Marte for life, and Marte only received an $85K bonus as an amateur, so there would be reason for the Legacy Agency client to consider a deal, even at terms somewhat favorable to the Pirates.
Projecting what Marte might make in arbitration is just about impossible this early in his career. His current line of .336/.399/.517 is likely unsustainable, due to a .422 BABIP. But his speed and minor-league history (he batted .312 in his minor-league career) make him a good bet to continue hitting for average. Scouts also like his power potential. His Achilles heel, if he has one, will likely be his lack of plate discipline — he has just 15 walks in 341 career plate appearances. Even if he struggles as National League pitchers begin to adjust to his tendency to swing at pitches outside the zone, he should provide plenty of value with his defense, but his career could still range anywhere from “superstar” to “Jeff Francoeur.”
Nonetheless, an extension is a risk that the Pirates probably ought to consider. A speculative extension for a largely-unproven player has downside, as the Bucs are finding with their six-year, $15MM deal for now-fourth outfielder Jose Tabata. But it’s difficult for the Pirates to find stars through other means, so it behooves them to lock up their best young players early and cheaply. It’s no accident that the Royals and Rays, whose payrolls are typically somewhat similar to those of the Pirates, are the teams experimenting with early-career contracts for Perez, Longoria and Moore.
Perhaps the best precedent for a Marte extension, though, would be the Twins’ five-year, $16.5MM deal with Denard Span. Span doesn’t have Marte’s power, but like Marte, he generates plenty of value through defense and baserunning. The Twins signed Span before the 2010 season, when he had one year and 111 days of service time. A five-year deal that begins in 2014, when Marte himself will be between one and two years of service time, would put Marte on a similar track. Marte’s potential for big arbitration payouts might actually be somewhat higher than Span’s, due to Marte’s power, so a slightly higher dollar figure might be in order. Span’s contract has one option year; the Pirates could attempt to wrangle at least one additional option year from Marte to help compensate for the risk of signing him so early in his career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Week In Review: 5/5/13 – 5/11/13
Here's a look back at the week that was at MLBTR.
- The Astros signed pitcher Edgar Gonzalez to a Major League contract and designated Philip Humber for assignment. The Blue Jays had previously designated Gonzalez for assignment.
- The White Sox claimed first baseman Mike McDade off waivers from the Indians.
- The Padres designated pitcher Fautino De Los Santos for assignment.
- The Reds outrighted catcher Corky Miller to Triple-A Louisville after designating him for assignment.
- The Cubs outrighted infielder Ian Stewart after designating him for assignment.
- The Astros released outfielder Rick Ankiel after designating him for assignment.
- The Pirates released pitcher Jonathan Sanchez after he cleared waivers.
- The Astros also designated outfielder Fernando Martinez for assignment, then outrighted him to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
- The Indians designated outfielder Ezequiel Carrera for assignment.
- The Marlins outrighted infielder Nick Green to Triple-A New Orleans.
- The Orioles outrighted pitcher Zach Clark to Double-A Bowie.
- The Yankees outrighted pitcher Cody Eppley to Triple-A Scranton.
- The Athletics released lefty Jordan Norberto.
- The Royals released reliever Dan Wheeler.
- The White Sox released infielder Josh Bell.
- The Cubs released pitcher Cory Wade.
- The Blue Jays released pitcher Trystan Magnuson.
- The Braves released lefty Dusty Hughes, outfielder Jordan Parraz and righty Mark Pope.
- The Mariners released righty Tyler Blandford.
- The Braves signed reliever Kameron Loe to a minor-league deal after the Cubs released him.
- The Phillies signed pitcher Greg Smith to a minor-league deal and released outfielder Ronnie Welty.
- The Padres signed pitcher Trevor Holder and outfielder Kalian Sams to minor-league deals.
- The Braves signed reliever Juan Cedeno and outfielder Brandon Boggs to minor-league deals. The Twins had released Boggs.
- The Yankees acquired infielder Alberto Gonzalez from the Cubs for a PTBNL or cash.
- The Orioles acquired infielder Brandon Wood from the Royals for cash considerations.
- Red Sox minor-league reliever Kyle Kaminska retired.
- Carlos Zambrano signed with the independent-league Long Island Ducks.
Minor Moves: Mendonca, Holder, Cedeno
We'll keep track of today's minor moves here.
- The Phillies have signed infielder Tommy Mendonca, Chris Cotillo of CLNS Radio notes (on Twitter). Mendonca, a former second-round pick by the Rangers, had been playing in the Atlantic League. The 25-year-old has a career line of .260/.322/.435.
- The Padres have signed pitcher Trevor Holder, according to MLB.com's transactions page. Holder, 26, was a third-round pick by the Nationals in 2009. He made seven appearances at Double-A Harrisburg this season, pitching 18 2/3 innings with a 2.89 ERA, 6.27 K/9 and 1.93 BB/9. The Nationals released him earlier in the week.
- The Braves have signed lefty reliever Juan Cedeno to a minor-league contract, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (on Twitter). Cedeno, 29, pitched for Triple-A Scranton in the Yankees organization in 2012, posting a 2.81 ERA with 8.02 K/9 and 2.95 BB/9. He made ten appearances with Scranton in 2013 before being released.
Quick Hits: Astros, Middlebrooks, Peavy, Rodriguez
Matt Harvey posted a game score of 97 while taking a perfect game into the seventh, striking out 12, and walking none over nine innings against the White Sox Tuesday night, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports notes (on Twitter). Only 40 outings of nine innings or fewer since 1916 have earned a higher game score. Here's a collection of notes from around the majors.
- The nine Asian-born pitchers who have pitched in the big leagues this year have combined to post numbers similar to a typical Justin Verlander season, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says. Those nine pitchers have 241 1/3 innings pitched so far in 2013, with a 2.91 ERA, 9.6 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. Yu Darvish has been a big part of that, of course, but Hyun-Jin Ryu, Hisashi Iwakuma, Hiroki Kuroda, Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara have also pitched well. The past struggles of pitchers like Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Irabu have allowed today's Asian-born pitchers to fly under the radar somewhat, Cameron argues, and he wonders whether pitchers from overseas leagues might be undervalued in the market. Specifically, he says, emphasis on fastball velocity and breaking balls may cause teams to undervalue pitchers with great splitters or changeups.
- Free agency has become "a used car lot cluttered with lemons," with only a few bargains to be found, Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated argues, citing the examples of Josh Hamilton (Angels), B.J. Upton (Braves) and Zack Greinke (Dodgers). Thus far, Hamilton and Upton have failed to produce with their new teams, and Greinke is hurt. In the past four seasons, Verducci notes, there have been 24 free-agent contracts worth $35MM or more. Most of those have turned out badly, and some (such as Jason Bay's deal with the Mets) have looked bad almost immediately. That means that "win[ning] the winter" by signing the biggest-name free agents isn't all it's cracked up to be, as the 2012 Marlins can attest. This year's Angels and Dodgers have struggled out of the gate, and so have the Blue Jays (who had a big offseason mostly driven by trades).
- The Astros' decisions to designate Rick Ankiel and Fernando Martinez for assignment made their outfield more athletic, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart says. Robbie Grossman, Brandon Barnes and Jimmy Paredes started in the outfield for the Astros Tuesday night. "We went out to get more athletic, get more guys who have the ability to mishit the ball and still have a possibility of getting on base because of their athletic ability," says manager Bo Porter.
- Will Middlebrooks and David Ross left the Red Sox's game against the Twins Tuesday night after they collided. There is no indication yes that Middlebrooks will miss significant time. But after Middlebrooks, the Red Sox have little depth at third base, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports. Utility infielder Pedro Ciriaco "isn't the answer," MacPherson says, and the choices at Triple-A Pawtucket aren't thrilling. Minor-league veteran Justin Henry, who was acquired in the offseason for Rule 5 pick Jeff Kobernus, may be the best option there. Brock Holt, who arrived from the Pirates with Joel Hanrahan in the offseason, is another possibility. Of course, Middlebrooks himself has struggled this year, hitting just .195/.232/.281.
- Jake Peavy does not have a no-trade clause in his new contract with the White Sox, and he doesn't need one, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. "I told (GM) Rick Hahn that if he didn’t trade me before spring training was over, that was good enough for me," says Peavy, pointing out that it's unlikely he will be traded if the White Sox are contending.
- Rosenthal also notes that Madison Bumgarner's contract with the Giants could be one of the most team-friendly in baseball. Bumgarner, 23, would have been eligible for free agency after the 2016 season, but his new deal contains cheap team options that can allow the Giants to carry him through 2019.
- The Brewers have assigned Francisco Rodriguez to Class A+ Brevard County, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes. Rodriguez will make three relief appearances there, then head to Triple-A Nashville. The Brewers must promote Rodriguez to the majors by May 17, or he can become a free agent. Rodriguez posted a 4.38 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 78 appearances with the Brewers in 2012.
- Diamond Mines' new database provides a fascinating look at old scouting reports, including many in the scouts' own handwriting.
NL Notes: Pence, Rockies, Lutz
Hunter Pence felt guilty after being traded from the Phillies to the Giants last season, Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News reports. "To be honest with you, I felt really guilty," says Pence. "I was heavily invested in bringing the Phillies back, and it felt like… I felt guilty. I felt like it was my fault that it fell apart." Pence hit .271/.336/.447 for the Phillies in 2012, and the team was 45-56 when it dealt Pence near the end of July. Here are more notes from around the National League.
- The Rockies are off to a surprising start, but Jeff Francis and Juan Nicasio haven't been positive parts of it, and it remains to be seen how long they'll be in the rotation, the Denver Post's Troy Renck writes. Francis has a 7.27 ERA thus far, and Nicasio has only lasted longer than five innings once this season.
- The Rockies might have payroll flexibility to take on salary in a trade for a starter at midseason, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. But that payroll flexibility will be tied to increased revenue, a club official says.
- Outfielder Donald Lutz of the Reds, who made his big-league debut last week, is likely the first German-raised player in MLB history, says Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Lutz was born in the U.S., and his father is American, but his mother is German, and Lutz moved to Germany as a baby. Morosi points out that Germany lags behind the Netherlands and Italy in its development of baseball players, but that could easily change, since Germany is so populous.