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Quick Hits: Pujols, Crawford, Pavano, Rays, A’s, Mets

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Links for Wednesday, as the Cardinals hope for the best regarding Adam Wainwright's elbow…

  • In today's blog post (Insider req'd), ESPN's Buster Olney writes about the pressure both the Cardinals and Cubs will be under if Albert Pujols hits the open market. He likens Chicago's situation to what the Knicks and Cavaliers faced during last year's LeBron James madness.
  • Carl Crawford told WEEI.com's Dennis & Callahan that the Yankees never made him an offer this offseason, and that he "didn't want to be somebody's backup plan." New York met with Crawford during the winter meetings.
  • SI.com's Jon Heyman heard that the Pirates offered Carl Pavano two years and $13MM while the Yankees offered one-year and $9.75MM with incentives (Twitter link). Pavano eventually rejoined the Twins for two years and $16.5MM.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears "rumblings" that certain big market teams want to "drop" the Athletics and Rays, even though there's little chance it actually happens. Contraction doesn't appear to be on the horizon given revenue streams, and as Rosenthal notes, the player's union would consider the elimation of 50 jobs an "act of war."
  • In a separate article, Rosenthal explores the domino effect Wainwright's injury may have on the Cardinals.
  • Richard Sandomir and Ken Belson of The New York Times report that "a variety of proposals are surfacing that suggest that investors want more than the Mets are offering." The Wilpons are looking to sell about 25% of the team in the wake of the Madoff scandal, but not controlling interest. 
  • Over at RotoAuthority, Tim Dierkes ranks the top fantasy outfielders.

Antony On Nishioka, Hardy, Pavano, Liriano, More

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Twins Assistant GM Rob Antony recently sat down for a chat with Jesse Lund from Twinkie Town to discuss a variety of topics. Let's recap the hot stove talk…

  • Tsuyoshi Nishioka first popped up on the team's radar after Antony mentioned to his agent that the team was looking to get more athletic on the infield. This was long before they decided to trade J.J. Hardy.
  • The Twins believe Nishioka is a good player, but they understand there might be a bit of a transition period. Not just for the move to MLB, but the move to the United States. They've hired an interpreter for Nishioka, and don't believe the additional Japanese media will be an issue in the clubhouse.
  • The three-year, $9MM contract Nishioka signed was "exactly what we pretty much anticipated and were willing to give." They were trying to add speed and athleticism to the lineup, but no one on the free agent market jumped out at them, hence the pursuit of Nishioka.
  • Hardy was expected to make $5MM+ in 2011 (he eventually signed for $5.85MM), and the team "just decided that we wanted to put that money into other areas." Carl Pavano, Jim Thome, and most of the bullpen were free agents, so they had to prioritize. "Trying to fit all those guys into a budget was going to be impossible."
  • The Twins had conversations with other teams about Hardy, but there were never any real offers. The trade with Baltimore was "by far [their] best opportunity to make a deal." It became apparent that Brendan Harris wasn't a fit anymore, hence his inclusion in the trade.
  • Antony says the Twins like Rule 5 Draft pick Scott Diamond in long relief, and Dusty Hughes' success against Minnesota last year played a role in claiming him off waivers.
  • Although they would have liked to retain Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Jon Rauch, and Brian Fuentes, the Twins just "couldn't compete" with the multyear offers they were receiving as free agents.
  • Thome decided that Minnesota was where he wanted to be after talking with his family, and the money didn't appear to be much of an issue.
  • Antony expected Pavano to get two or three years at $10-11MM per season, and he knows the Brewers had some interest in the right-hander. Pavano's agent basically told the Twins he wanted to play there, and he wasn't a guy that was "chasing the last dollar."
  • Rumors of Francisco Liriano being available in a trade were just that, rumors. As far as a multiyear deal with the lefty, Antony said there "can be many reasons why you don't consummate a multiyear deal, and sometimes the player doesn't want to, sometimes the club doesn't want to, sometimes you just don't agree on numbers, or whatever. So we're not going to talk about any of our negotiations with that or anything else, but he was a big part of our rotation. We're not talking to anybody right now on Francisco Liriano."
  • The team is at the "far reaches" of where they can go with payroll, so they tried to maintain flexibility for 2012 by not doing any multiyears deals this offseason (aside from Pavano).
  • "If the right deal arises and we can improve our ballclub, we could look at it from that point of view," said Antony, regarding a potential trade involving one of the team's excess starting pitchers. "I don't think we'd trade away one of our starting pitchers for a middle reliever or something. It would have to be something that would make sense for us. And a trade isn't even the most likely scenario, it's a possible scenario."

Antony also talked about Justin Morneau's health, Delmon Young's breakout, injury concerns, minor league prospects, and much, much more. Make sure you give it a read.

Werth Thinks Phillies Could Have Had Him & Lee

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The Phillies added one $100MM player this offseason in Cliff Lee, but they lost another in Jayson Werth. The former Phillies outfielder told Paul Hagen of The Philadephia Daily News that he believes the team could have had both he and Lee if they'd planned things out better…

"I think if they would have played it right they would have had us both," said Werth. "I mean, they traded Cliff away for prospects and then realized that was probably not what they should have done. They ended up paying him a lot more than they would have if they'd signed him the year before. Then we would have had him. Chances are if they had signed him before they traded him, it probably would have made it a little easier to sign me."

Werth said that there are no hard feelings and he understands that the game is a business. Once he learned of Philadelphia's interest in Lee, he concluded that he wasn't coming back. "[It] kind of made it seem like they were playing us against each other a little bit," he added.

The 31-year-old Werth signed with the Nationals about ten days before the Phillies brought Lee back.

Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects

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Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list is out, and it's free for all to see. Bryce Harper, the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, tops the list, and is followed by Mike Trout. The Angels selected Trout with the Yankees' first round pick in 2009 (25th overall), which they received as compensation for losing Mark Teixeira. Five Royals cracked the top 20, including three in the top ten.

For comparison, check out MLB.com's Top 50 and Keith Law's Top 100 for ESPN.

Royals, Twins Sign Dominican Prospects

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The Royals have added to what is already the game's best farm system, signing right-hander Igor Feliz for $225K according to the Dominican Prospect League. The 17-year-old is said to have a "fastball [that] works between 91-93 mph but has been clocked up to 95 mph recently" and "good feel for his off-speed pitches." There's a chance he'll be able to remain a starter down the road.

The Twins, meanwhile, have added 19-year-old infielder Darfi Ortiz for $30K. He stands out for his "hard-nose style of baseball and … above average defensive actions in the middle of the diamond." Ortiz hit .333 with a .489 OBP and 14 stolen bases in 104 DPL plate appearances.

Players Claimed Off Waivers Twice This Offseason

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Swarms of players are selected off waivers every offseason, but every so often we'll see a player get claimed more than once in a single winter. As our Transaction Tracker shows, four players were claimed off waivers on two different occasions since the end of the 2010 regular season. Let's review…

Rizzo On Roster Holes, Depth, Pitching, Werth

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Both CSNWashington.com's Mark Zuckerman and MLB.com's Bill Ladson conducted Q&A's with Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo on Sunday, so let's round up the news…

  • "[We're] always looking to improve," said Rizzo when asked about specific needs before the season begins. "But we think we're pretty set, we're pretty solid in a lot of aspects of the club."
  • The Nationals have built up some depth, and there's a chance teams will come calling as they look to fill holes on their roster. "From what I've heard and the phone calls I've gotten, I think we're going to be heavily scouted and heavily watched for that reason," said the GM.
  • "Long-term, we want to keep them all in the pipeline," said Rizzo, referring to his catching depth. "We'd have to make a trade that really makes a lot of sense for us and really strengthens us in a position we're weakest at."
  • When asked about the team's pursuit of an ace-caliber pitcher, Rizzo said: "We knew going into the offseason, it was a priority for us to improve our rotation. It was probably not the best move to announce to the world that it was our main goal, but that's me. I made the statement because that was what I thought. It was a need of ours. What I found out was, ace pitchers are very difficult to acquire. It's much better and much easier to develop your own. We are always looking and we are still trying to improve ourselves, but they are very difficult to get."
  • Rizzo believes the Jayson Werth deal is the beginning of an era when really good players start coming to Washington. "What it did prove is, we are here to win games. We have an organization that is willing to spend money to acquire talent. We showed it, not only in the last two drafts, but in the free-agent market."

Rizzo also provided updates on the health of Stephen Strasburg and Chien-Ming Wang, the plan for Bryce Harper, and the expiring contract of manager Jim Riggleman.

MLBTR Originals: 2/13/11 – 2/20/11

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Major League camps opened all across Florida and Arizona this week, but that doesn't mean hot stove news has taken a back seat to the game on the field. Here's a recap of the original content we produced this week…

2012 Vesting Options

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Vesting options are always worth keeping track of during the season, especially since they can often have consequences that are less than desirable. Last year Magglio Ordonez ($15MM), Kerry Wood ($11MM), and Brian Fuentes ($9MM) all had big money options that did not vest, though Darren Oliver ($3.25MM) and Trever Miller ($2MM) had some smaller ones that did. 

Here is a list of 2012 vesting options to keep an eye on this summer…

  • Bobby Abreu, Angels: $9MM option vests with 433 plate appearances. Abreu hasn't come to the plate fewer than 589 times in a season since 1997, his rookie year.
  • Adam Wainwright, Cardinals: His $9MM option for 2012 and $12MM option for 2013 will lock in as long as he does not finish 2011 on the disabled list. His second place finish in the 2010 Cy Young voting was step one of the vesting process.
  • Aramis Ramirez, Cubs: $16MM option vests if he is named MVP of either the regular season or League Championship Series, or if he is traded at some point in 2011.
  • Rafael Furcal, Dodgers: $12MM option vests with 600 plate appearances. Furcal has come to the plate 600+ times just once in the last three seasons (2009) due to injuries.
  • Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM option vests with 190 innings pitched. Garland hasn't thrown fewer than 191 1/3 innings since becoming a full-time starter in 2002.
  • Francisco Rodriguez, Mets: $17.5MM option vests with 55 games finished and if doctors declare him healthy at the end of the season.
  • Koji Uehara, Orioles: $4MM option vests with either 55 appearances or 25 games finished. Uehara hasn't reached either milestone in his first two big league seasons, though he came close in 2010: 43 appearances and 22 games finished.
  • Arthur Rhodes, Rangers: $4MM option vests with 62 appearances and if he's not on the disabled list at the end of the season.
  • Joakim Soria, Royals: $6MM option vests with 55 appearances, which he's done in three of his four big league seasons. The chances of it coming into play are microscopic, but Soria has a $6.5MM option for 2012 that could vest with 334 1/3 innings pitched (400 IP in 2010 & 2011). That was obviously put into his contract in case the team ever moved him into the rotation.
  • Dan Wheeler, Red Sox: $3MM option vests with 65 games; increases to $3.25MM with 70 games.  Wheeler reached 64 games in 2010, but had at least 69 in each of the previous five seasons.

Mark Buehrle is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2011 season and although he doesn't have a traditional option in his contract, he gets an extra year at $15MM tacked onto his current deal if he's traded at some point this season. 

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Poll: Best Move Of The Offseason

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Pitchers and position players have poured into camps spread across Florida and Arizona this week, officially bringing an end to the 2010-2011 offseason. We saw several monster free agent contracts handed out this winter and quite a few blockbuster trades, perhaps more than we’re accustomed too. Multiyear contracts buying out arbitration and free agent years also increased in popularity.

Our Transaction Tracker shows every move completed this offseason, whether it be a trade, free agent signing, contract extension, or even a waiver claim. Some clubs improved by leaps and bounds, others made small, incremental steps. Everyone is in first place today, and we’re still about five weeks from seeing these moves actually impact the standings. That’s never stopped us from judging them though…

What was the best move of the offseason?
Phillies sign Cliff Lee 25.91% (6,131 votes)
Red Sox acquire Adrian Gonzalez 19.50% (4,615 votes)
Blue Jays trade Vernon Wells 17.83% (4,218 votes)
Brewers acquire Zack Greinke 10.52% (2,489 votes)
Braves acquire Dan Uggla 6.74% (1,596 votes)
Red Sox sign Carl Crawford 6.09% (1,440 votes)
Another move not listed 3.64% (861 votes)
White Sox sign Adam Dunn 3.10% (734 votes)
Tigers sign Victor Martinez 1.66% (393 votes)
Rockies extend Troy Tulowitzki 1.15% (273 votes)
Rays sign Manny Ramirez 1.09% (257 votes)
Rangers sign Adrian Beltre 0.95% (224 votes)
Nationals sign Jayson Werth 0.92% (218 votes)
Rockies extend Carlos Gonzalez 0.90% (213 votes)
Total Votes: 23,662

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