NL West Notes: Penny, Hudson, Diamondbacks
NL West teams have been busy of late tinkering with their last few 40-man roster spots. A look at MLBTR's DFA Tracker shows a disproportionate number of NL West names over the last two months. The Giants and, in particular, the Padres have been quite active in sending players to DFA limbo. As you digest this fascinating observation as a warmup for your turkey, we'll take a look at a few other relatively minor notes from out west:
- Two-time All-Star hurler Brad Penny — who was, most recently, a reliever with the Giants in 2012 — will look to make a MLB comeback, according to a report from Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. "I just needed a year off to get my body back," said the 35-year-old. "It wasn't anything serious, just my shoulder was tired." Penny only lasted 28 innings in San Francisco, mustering only 3.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 and putting up a 6.11 ERA. But, he says, he has been building strength with an aggressive weightlifting regimine. "I think if I get an opportunity to pitch in spring training, healthier, I'm pretty confident that I can make a team," said Penny.
- The Diamondbacks are talking with two-time Tommy John patient Daniel Hudson about working out a deal to avoid arbitration, reports Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. "Hopefully we'll get something done in the next few days or over the weekend," said Hudson. "I'd like to have a long career with the Diamondbacks." Hudson has shown plenty of promise when healthy. The question, really, is how much cash Arizona wants to dole out to take a chance on the 26-year-old making the difficult comeback from a second UCL reconstruction. GM Kevin Towers has said that his front office has "tried to come up with creative ways that we can do it." MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $1.1MM arbitration award for Hudson, and the team will have until Monday to work something out or reach a decision on tendering the righty a contract.
- Meanwhile, Arizona has decided on the coaches that will guide its pitching staff next season, writes Gilbert. Mike Harkey, recently the Yankees' bullpen coach, will become the pitching coach. And one-time Diamondbacks pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. will take over the bullpen for manager Kirk Gibson. Recent D-Backs front office addition Dave Duncan, a renowned molder of arms during his decades as a member of Tony LaRussa's staff, reportedly was involved in the hirings.
Phil Hughes In Line For Two-Year Deal
11:36am: After adding Ricky Nolasco, the Twins are likely to turn their attention to Hughes, a source tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
10:00am: As former Yankees starter Phil Hughes ventures out from the Bronx for the first time in his career, he is expected to be able to find a multi-year deal, reports George A. King III of the New York Post (hat tip to ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin). That, in turn, means that the Mets are likely out of the running, with King saying that the club was interested but only on a one-year deal.
A scout that King spoke with said that it would not be shocking to see Hughes land a $15MM guarantee on a two-year pact. Unlike Josh Johnson, whose agent specifically said he was seeking a one-year contract to rebuild value, Hughes is seemingly looking to max out years and earnings. According to King, teams with current interest in Hughes include his hometown Angels as well as the Twins, Mariners, and Royals. Indeed, as frustrating as Hughes has been at times, his youth, durability, and arguable upside — combined with the scarcity of pitching available — should bolster his market.
In his profile of Hughes, MLBTR's Steve Adams predicted a one-year, $8MM deal while noting that Hughes could instead probably get a second year if he wanted to increase his guarantee. As Adams observed, Hughes would still hit the market again at under thirty years of age if he lands a second season.
Minor Moves: Adam Russell
We'll keep tabs on any Turkey Day minor moves right here …
- The Diamondbacks have signed 6'8 righty Adam Russell, the thirty-year-old reliever tweeted (hat tip to Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com). Contract details are not yet known. Russell last appeared in the bigs in 2011 with the Rays, logging 32 2/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball, though it came with a 0.65 K:BB ratio. He did, however, flash over 10 K/9 in two prior stints with the Padres. Last year, throwing for the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, Russell put up a 2.37 ERA in 60 2/3 innings pitched, on the back of 8.8 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9.
- The MLBTR DFA Tracker shows the following players in limbo: J.C. Gutierrez, Johnny Monell, Francisco Peguero, Derrick Robinson, Tyler Cloyd, Garrett Jones, and Kyle McPherson.
East Notes: Jays, Saltalamacchia, Drew, Cano, Nats
It's offically Thanksgiving day on the east coast, so let's take a look at a few notes from the eastern seaboard:
- The stage is set for the market to pick up after the Thanksgiving holiday, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca, even if it isn't celebrated in the same time or manner by our neighbors to the north. While things have been relatively quiet for many clubs, including the Blue Jays, that could change with Monday's non-tender deadline and movement in top-of-the-market situations around the league (including the Japanese posting system and its implications for Masahiro Tanaka, increasing activity on the Robinson Cano front, and the Yankees' apparent decision to begin spending).
- Could a problem with Red Sox free agent Jarrod Saltalamacchia's medicals be the cause of a seemingly slow market for the backstop's services? In an appearance on WEEI's Mut & Merloni (writeup via WEEI.com), ESPN's Buster Olney suggested that possibility, while acknowledging that he has no specific knowledge of Salty's file. But Jim Munsey, the 28-year-old backstop's agent, flatly denied that speculation in comments to WEEI.com's Alex Speier, saying "there are no medical issues hindering [Saltalamacchia's] market."
- Interestingly, Munsey did note that the Cubs — the team that Olney mentioned by name with respect to Saltalamacchia — had decided not to pursue the backstop in part because they "don't believe they could compete for what is believed to be Salty's market." More generally, he expressed that things were going just fine for his client: "Some agents prefer to perform their responsibilities outside of the media spotlight. Just because you're not hearing it doesn't mean it's not happening."
- Another player who has yet to see a full slate of bidders, according to Olney, is another Boston free agent: shortstop Stephen Drew. Olney says that he believes Drew's decision to reject the club's $14.1MM qualifying offer was a mistake. He reasons that it is looking worse by the day, with the Cardinals now out of the market and the Mets seemingly hesitant to give up a pick to sign him at that level of value.
- As for the aforementioned Cano, Olney says (in an Insider piece) that the big question facing the star second baseman and the Yankees is what other teams might get seriously involved. While there is no obvious alternative suitor at this point, Olney's trip around the league leaves him with a list of the teams that are most likely to have the financial and roster flexibility to make a real run.
- Atop Olney's list of theoretically viable Cano landing spots, along with the Tigers and Rangers, is the Nationals. The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore recently laid out the case for the club to chase Cano. While he says the club lacks a pressing need to tinker with its infield, and GM Mike Rizzo has not shown a particular desire to do so, the fact remains that Cano is unquestionably the best player on the market and the Nats have the pockets to bring him in. Though Anthony Rendon has plenty of upside and cheap team control, he is young enough to serve in a reserve capacity or could be cashed in with a corresponding win-now move.
- Meanwhile, the recent signings of Javier Lopez and Manny Parra have taken away two major possible left-handed relief targets from the Nats, Kilgore writes. Other targets certainly remain, with Kilgore saying the team is continuing to talk with Boone Logan and noting others like J.P. Howell, Eric O'Flaherty, Scott Downs, Matt Thornton, and Michael Gonzalez. Of course, even after parting with Fernando Abad, the club could still rely on remaining internal options like Ian Krol and Xavier Cedeno, and could move starters like Ross Detwiler and Sammy Solis to the pen.
- From my perspective, it is worth noting Rizzo's recent history with southpaw relievers. Over the last three years, the club has received its greatest contributions from hurlers like Tom Gorzelanny, Mike Gonzalez, Sean Burnett, Zach Duke, and the previously noted Abad, Cedeno, and Krol. Each of these players was either picked up as a minor league free agent or in a relatively minor trade (or, for Krol, as the last piece of a somewhat significant trade). After letting Burnett walk for a seemingly reasonable price last year and declining to outbid the early market on Lopez and Parra, Rizzo may still prefer to avoid utilizing significant resources to add lefties.
Giants Sign Erik Cordier; Designate Monell, Peguero
The Giants have designated catcher Johnny Monell and outfielder Francisco Peguero for assignment to clear two 40-man roster spots, reports Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. As Schulman explains, the slots were needed to make room for the club's claim of lefty Jose De Paula and the previously unreported signing of righty Erik Cordier, who has been added to the 40-man. (Twitter links.)
Monell, 27, has spent his entire career in the San Francisco organization but has seen just nine MLB plate appearances. In his first full season at Triple-A last year, Monell supplied a pleasing .275/.364/.494 line in 481 plate appearances. He did not appear among Baseball America's ranking of the organization's top thirty prospects.
Peguero, on the other hand, opened the 2013 campaign at eighth on that list, with BA saying he had "the most exciting combination of speed and power in the system" while explaining that he still needed to translate his raw power to game action and improve his strike zone awareness. Now 25 years of age, the Dominican native has seen very sparse big league action but played both of the last two years at the highest minor league level. After a meager .691 OPS campaign in 2012, he managed to bump his slash up to a .315/.350/.416 level in 314 plate appearances in 2013. He only contributed four long balls and three steals, however, and took 53 strikeouts against just 13 walks (though that was an improvement over the 82 K to 15 BB ratio he put up in his first season of Triple-A ball).
Meanwhile, Cordier, who will turn 28 before the start of the 2014 season, has been a fixture in the upper minors for the last several seasons but has yet to break into the bigs. A starter for most of his career after being drafted in the 2nd round back in 2004, Cordier worked out of the pen last year for the Pirates' top affiliate. He notched 11.0 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9 but allowed nearly a hit per inning, resulting in a 4.58 ERA in 53 innings. He had never previously flashed that kind of strikeout potential while working in the Royals and Braves systems, which could be the reason that San Francisco saw fit to trust him with a valuable roster position.
NL Notes: Guerrero, D’backs, Rockies, Peralta, Nats, Marlins
For the latest on negotiations between MLB and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball on the posting fee arrangement — which has major implications, in particular, for highly-regarded starter Masahiro Tanaka — check out this update from Ben Badler of Baseball America. We'll round out the evening with a variety of links from around the National League:
- Alexander Guerrero is dealing with a hamstring injury in his Dominican Winter League stint, tweets Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, and GM Ned Colletti indicated that the missed time could postpone the Dodgers' decision as to whether he'll play short or second next year. That decision — or, potentially, the inability to make it — could seemingly have an impact on Los Angeles' off-season shopping list.
- The Diamondbacks are down on the free agent market, reports MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. "I've spoken a little to our own free agents," said GM Kevin Towers. "But from the looks of where this free agent market is right now and where it's headed, it's not a place where I want to do a lot of business." Gilbert notes that the club has made an offer to infielder Eric Chavez, but that he is still mulling interest from other landing spots.
- The Rockies are implementing a new player development structure, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. In lieu of roving instructors, the standard in baseball, Colorado will employ "developmental directors" who will each be responsible for a given team and look to prioritize skill development rather than minor league game outcomes.
- Discussing the club's recent signing of Jhonny Peralta, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak explained that a thin shortstop market left Peralta as the best fit for the club. While he said the club considered his PED suspension, he opined that "I don't think it's the Cardinals' responsibility necessarily to be the morality police on potentially future employment." As Peralta admitted his violation of the league's policy and paid his penance, said Mozeliak, "at this point in the game, there's nothing that says he can't go play or isn't free to go sign with another club."
- Mozeliak also said that the club looked around at possible trades, but found the cost prohibitive, tweets Stan McNeal of FOX Sports Midwest.
- In a well-argued set of responses to fan questions, Adam Kilgore and James Wagner of the Washington Post took stock of a wide range of issues facing the Nationals. Among the thoughts offered relate to the second base position. The Nats are well-situated to add Robinson Cano, says Kilgore, and the move makes some sense. But Kilgore explains that such a scenario remains largely unlikely. Meanwhile, fallen keystoner Danny Espinosa has relatively minimal trade value, Wagner offers. His value to the organization, in terms of upside and as a competitor/backup option to Anthony Rendon, probably outweighs what he'd return.
- The Marlins are mulling over a minor league offer to infielder Scott Sizemore, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel. Certainly, Miami would figure to have the inside track on players looking for a legitimate chance to see big league time at second or third.
- Miami has not only lured "superscout" Jeff McAvoy away from the Rays, but sources tell Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports that the club will add Mike Berger from the Diamondbacks in a vice president role (Twitter links). This makes for a quiet but outstanding off-season, opines Passan, who notes that the organization could look quite different if owner Jeffrey Loria gives new GM Dan Jennings more authority than was afforded predecessor Larry Beinfest.
Twins Remain Interested In Signing Bronson Arroyo
10:23pm: Minnesota has yet to make an offer to Arroyo, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports via Twitter. He opines that the club will need to go to three years to entice Arroyo.
The club has also not extended offers to fellow free agent starters Ricky Nolasco, Matt Garza, or Phil Hughes, Wolfson further tweets.
6:18pm: The Twins "remain very high" on Bronson Arroyo, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes reports via Twitter. It may still be possible for Minnesota to bring him in on a two-year pact, Dierkes adds.
We heard a few weeks back that the Twins were very much in on Arroyo, and today's news confirms that they are still in active pursuit. The club is reportedly looking to add two veteran arms to its starting mix, and has already seen possible options like Dan Haren, Jason Vargas, Tim Hudson, and Josh Johnson reach deals elsewhere. It makes sense, then, that Arroyo is in play, especially since he is one of just a few viable, quality options that is expected to be had on a relatively short-term contract.
Set to begin the 2014 season at 37 years of age, Arroyo remains baseball's prototypical innings eater, having made at least 32 starts in every campaign for the last decade. Arroyo logged exactly 202 innings in both 2012 and 2013, posting near-identical 3.74 and 3.79 earned run averages.
Red Sox Notes: Short/Third, Starters, Catchers, Napoli
Here's the latest out of Beantown, with plenty of information straight from Red Sox GM Ben Cherington and club CEO and president Larry Lucchino:
- Cherington touched on a range of issues in comments to the media today, as reported by Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Boston feels confident improved production from the left side of its infield with in-house options like Will Middlebrooks and Xander Bogaerts, says Cherington. But he said the club will look to add "at least somebody on the left side of the infield. Whether that's more in the form of an everyday player or depth, whatever that is, it just depends on how the rest of our offseason unfolds."
- With an attractive set of starting pitchers under contract, Cherington acknowledged that the team has received interest. "We've had a number of conversations and I think it's no secret, one area we have a little bit of depth in is the rotation," he said, adding that it remains to be seen "what that means for [the Red Sox]" since the club is wary of leaving itself too thin in the event of an unexpected injury.
- The club will be "a little choosy, a little selective" about addressing its catching need, said Cherington, given its "pretty strong position long-term with the young catching we have in the organization."
- On the overall market, also via Speier, Lucchino sums things up succinctly: "everyone is expecting [the market] will go up because nothing ever goes down and because there's new television money available." While the club would like to keep down its long-term commitments, he says, and "still value[s] the draft picks enormously," he acknowledged that a "diverse portfolio of contracts" will include some that are "longer than you want."
- Ultimately, according to Lucchino, the Red Sox "are not going to be a stand-pat team." Explaining that he "learned a long time ago that you can't fall in love with your veterans," Lucchino said that each the club "will have a different personality, composition as well as personality."
- One free agent that has obviously been tied to Boston is last year's first baseman, Mike Napoli. Opining that a reasonable projected value for Napoli (using various WAR projections and dollars-per-win figures) could reach as high as $80MM total over the next four years, SI.com's Jay Jaffe ultimately settles on predicting an eye-popping four-year, $68MM deal for the slugger.
Pirates Notes: First Base, Furcal, Burnett, Trade, Jones
Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review relays a host of updates on the Pirates (all links to Twitter):
- One area where GM Neal Huntington hopes to make a move is at first. Though the club believes that Gaby Sanchez can increase his production against same-handed pitching, he is still in need of a platoon partner to hit righties.
- The Pirates have joined seven other clubs in reaching out to shortstop Rafael Furcal, his representatives at Kinzer Management Group told Sawchik.
- Turning to the still-unresolved situation of free agent starter A.J. Burnett, Huntington said he was hoping to see some movement. "It has not inhibited our abiity to do things at this point in time," said Huntington, "but there is no question it is something we would like to see move forward if it's possible. If not, we'll have to operate as we see fit." The GM had more pointed words as well, telling MLB.com's Tom Singer that, "if he or others want a market-value deal, they'll sign elsewhere." As Singer notes, there must be at least some temptation for Burnett to look outside the Pittsburgh market given the money promised recently to mid-to-late 30's starters like Dan Haren ($10MM, one year) and Tim Hudson ($23MM, two years).
- On the club's acquisition today of outfielder Jaff Decker and righty Miles Mikolas, Huntington noted that Decker can play anywhere in the outfield and has a realistic shot at making the team's active roster out of Spring Training. Huntington also indicated that Decker has appeal both from an analytic and a scouting perspective. As for Mikolas, Huntington indicated that his groundball inducing abilities were the primary draw.
- Meanwhile, Garrett Jones, who lost his roster spot as part of the day's dealings, was just going to be too expensive to bring back, according to Huntington. "[T]he arbitration process was likely to drive the dollars above where we were comfortable," the GM said. Decker's move to Pittsburgh could also have an impact on Travis Snider, with respect to whom Huntington would only say that the front office is "working through the process."
Chad Durbin Retires
Longtime MLB reliever Chad Durbin has retired, ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick tweets. Soon to be 36, Durbin made 16 appearances for the Phillies last season before being released at the end of May.
Over the course of fourteen years of full or partial big league pitching, first as a starter and then as a reliever, Durbin netted 836 1/3 innings and compiled a 5.03 ERA. He was more effective from the pen, however, as his career ERA drops to 4.29 when only relief innings are considered. Durbin's best season came at an opportune time: he solidified the World Champion Phillies' bullpen in 2008 with a career-high 87 2/3 innings at a career-low 2.87 earned run average.