Mike Axisa | MLB Trade Rumors

Diamondbacks Avoid Arb With Miguel Montero

By Mike Axisa | January 26, 2011 at 5:41pm CDT

The Diamondbacks and Miguel Montero have agreed to a one-year contract to avoid arbitration according to a team press release. Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that the contract is worth $3.2MM.

Our Arbitration Tracker shows that Montero filed for $3.4MM in arbitration while the team countered with $2.8MM, so they settled just above the midpoint. The 27-year-old backstop hit .266/.332/.438 with nine homers in 331 plate appearances last season. He missed two months of the summer after having right knee surgery.

Angels, Weaver Begin Talks About Long-Term Deal

By Mike Axisa | January 26, 2011 at 5:15pm CDT

The Angels and Jered Weaver have opened talks about a long-term contract extension according to team owner Arte Moreno, reports Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. Moreno also commented on the reported bad blood between the team and Weaver's agent, Scott Boras…

"My mother always told me, 'If you don't have something nice to say about somebody, don't say anything,'" said Moreno. "I don't have to deal with anybody I don't have to deal with. That's the way I live my life."

Weaver filed for $8.8MM in salary arbitration last week while the team countered with $7.37MM, as our Arbitration Tracker shows. Ben Nicholson-Smith called his case one of ten arbitration cases to watch just a few days ago.

The 28-year-old Weaver finished fifth in the Cy Young voting and made his first All-Star Game in 2010, pitching to a 3.01 ERA in 224 1/3 innings. He struck out 9.3 batters per nine innings and walks just 2.2 per nine. The 2010 AL strikeout king is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2012 season. GM Tony Reagins told Saxon that it's too early predict if a deal will be reached, but he did say "Any time you have dialogue, it's positive."

Make Or Break Year: Nate McLouth

By Mike Axisa | January 24, 2011 at 10:24pm CDT

We tend to hear a lot about "selling high" on a player during the offseason, which means trading a player when his value is at its absolute apex. It's a difficult thing to do for a number of reasons, especially when it involves a young player who might just be on the upswing of his career. Pirates GM Neal Huntington sold high on Nate McLouth two summers ago, dealing his All Star center fielder to the Braves for three young players in June of 2009.

The year before the trade, the then 27-year-old McLouth broke out by hitting .276/.356/.497 with 26 homers, earning a Gold Glove for his defensive effort in center field. At the time of the trade he was hitting a more than respectable .256/.349/.470. Unsurprisingly, reaction to the trade was mostly negative in Pittsburgh, and it didn't go over well in the clubhouse either.

McLouth gave the Braves a respectable .257/.354/.419 performance in the three months after the trade, but the good times ended there. He hit just .118/.217/.196 in Spring Training last year, then followed that up with a .176/.295/.282 performance in his first 205 plate appearances of the season. A collision with Jason Heyward sent McLouth to the disabled list with a concussion in early-June, then Atlanta decided to send him to minors after he returned in late-July. He hit just .234/.338/.383 in 151 trips to the plate in Triple-A before finishing the season with a .263/.358/.509 performance (68 PA) while playing sparingly after coming back up in late-August.

Since the trade, the now-29-year-old McLouth has hit just .229/.330/.379 with 17 homers in 684 plate appearances. His -25.8 UZR since 2008 ranks 48th out of 58 qualified outfielders, just a touch better than Carlos Lee. Was 2010 a fluke season for McLouth, or was it the sign of a bigger problem after the league got a chance to put together a book on him?

The Pirates gave McLouth a three-year contract extension before the 2009 season, and right now it seems pretty unlikely that the Braves will exercise his $10.65MM club option for 2012 after the upcoming season without significant improvement in his performance. His main competition in center field is Jordan Schafer (.201/.268/.255 in 307 minor league PA in 2010), so McLouth will definitely have the opportunity to show what he's got before hitting the open market in a little more than ten months.

Poll: Best Remaining Free Agent Starting Pitcher

By Mike Axisa | January 24, 2011 at 8:34pm CDT

Pitchers and catchers are due to report in about three weeks, and by now all of the high-end free agents have come off the board. Heck, even second tier options have signed by now. That leaves just reclamation-type projects and players with considerable flaws, especially when it comes to pitching.

As MLBTR's Free Agent Tracker shows, starters like Kevin Millwood, Jeremy Bonderman, Freddy Garcia, Doug Davis, Rodrigo Lopez, Todd Wellemeyer and Brian Moehler remain unsigned. Andy Pettitte is clearly the best of the unsigned bunch, but it's the Yankees or retirement for him, and right now it looks like the latter is winning out. Neither Pedro Martinez, Braden Looper, or Jarrod Washburn have appeared in a big league game in over a year. John Maine, Justin Duchscherer and Jamie Moyer are coming off injuries, Tommy John surgery in Moyer's case.

There are still a number of teams looking for rotation help, including the Yankees, Orioles, Nationals, Pirates and Indians. Which of those unsigned starters represents the best option?

Who is the best unsigned starting pitcher?

Justin Duchscherer 34.37% (6,483 votes)

Kevin Millwood 20.10% (3,791 votes)

Jeremy Bonderman 16.61% (3,134 votes)

Freddy Garcia 14.16% (2,672 votes)

John Maine 8.93% (1,684 votes)

Doug Davis 2.27% (428 votes)

Todd Wellemeyer 1.70% (321 votes)

Rodrigo Lopez 1.35% (255 votes)

Brian Moehler 0.51% (96 votes)

Total Votes: 18,864

Contract Details: Loe & Francis

By Mike Axisa | January 24, 2011 at 7:45pm CDT

Here are some details about a pair of recently signed contracts…

Kameron Loe's new deal with the Brewers contains $115K in incentives tied to pitching appearances according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. The right-hander will earn $25K for 50 games, $30K for 55 games, $35K for 60 games, $10K for 76 games, and $15K for 78 games. Loe appeared in 53 games for the Brew Crew last season despite not being called up from the minors until June 1st.
Troy Renck of The Denver Post reports that Jeff Francis' contract with the Royals calls for $800K in incentives based on starts, and another $1.2MM in incentives based on innings pitched (Twitter links). The escalators start to kick in at 15 starts and 110 innings, respectively.

Giants Sign Marc Kroon To Minor League Deal

By Mike Axisa | January 24, 2011 at 6:48pm CDT

The Giants have agreed to terms with right-hander Marc Kroon on a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training according to Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse. He has spent the last six years pitching in Japan and will compete for a bullpen job.

Kroon, 38 in April, was a star closer for the Yokohama Bay Stars and Yomiuri Giants, striking out 12.3 batters per nine innings. He broke his own record for the fastest pitch in Japanese baseball history when he uncorked a 101 mph fastball three years ago. A former second round pick of the Mets, he pitched sparingly for the Padres, Reds, and Rockies in his career, posting a 7.43 ERA in just 26 2/3 big league innings.

The Bronx-born Kroon earned himself more than $13MM during his time in Japan.

Athletics Sign Andy LaRoche To Minor League Deal

By Mike Axisa | January 24, 2011 at 6:09pm CDT

The Athletics have signed Andy LaRoche to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training according to the team's Twitter feed. The 27-year-old elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Pirates back in November.

Adam's younger brother went to Pittsburgh in the Manny Ramirez trade, and is a .224/.304/.338 hitter in a little over 1,200 big league plate appearances. Oakland tried to upgrade their third base situation by signing Adrian Beltre this offseason, but LaRoche will have to overcome Kevin Kouzmanoff to land the job. In addition to the hot corner, he has also played first and second bases in his young career.

Rockies Acquire Clayton Mortensen

By Mike Axisa | January 24, 2011 at 6:08pm CDT

The Rockies have acquired Clayton Mortensen from the Athletics for minor league righty Ethan Hollingsworth according to the team's Twitter feed. Troy Renck of The Denver Post says that Colorado has also designated right-hander Samuel Deduno for assignment (Twitter link).

Mortensen was designated for assignment last week to create room on the 40-man roster for Grant Balfour. The 2007 supplemental first round pick has appeared in eight big league games over the course of the past two campaigns. He has posted a 7.12 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 15 walks in 26 2/3 innings for the A's and Cardinals in his big league career. The 25-year-old has a 4.29 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 as a minor leaguer.

Hollingsworth was Colorado's fourth round pick in 2008. He owns a 4.33 ERA with impressive peripheral stats (8.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9) in 376 minor league innings. Baseball America did not rank him as one of the team's top 30 prospects in the 2010 edition of their Prospect Handbook. Deduno, however, was ranked as the Rockies' 11th best prospect before last season. The 27-year-old has battled elbow issues in recent years, throwing just 47 innings (3.83 ERA) in 2010.

Beimel Has “Several Irons In The Fire”

By Mike Axisa | January 24, 2011 at 5:33pm CDT

It's been a relatively quite winter for Joe Beimel, but the free agent lefty reliever told Troy Renck of The Denver Post that he has "several irons in the fire." The Rockies, however, are not involved.

Last month we heard that Beimel was sitting on several offers, but obviously nothing has materialized. The Marlins were said to have interest, but that was before they signed Randy Choate. Beimel, 34 in April, has held left-handed batters to a .254/.305/.394 batting line with 5.3 K/9 over the last three seasons. He didn't sign until mid-March in each of the last two offseasons, so the wait is nothing new for him.

Renck also notes that Jay Payton wants to still play, but he isn't interested in spending time in the minors. The 38-year-old outfielder hit .343/.361/.514 in 36 plate appearances with Colorado last year, his first big league action since 2008.

Make Or Break Year: Scott Kazmir

By Mike Axisa | January 23, 2011 at 9:57pm CDT

It's hard to believe that it's been almost seven years since the infamous Victor Zambrano-for-Scott Kazmir swap. The Mets received just 202 2/3 serviceable innings out of Zambrano (4.42 ERA) while Kazmir was busy establishing himself as one of the game's best young hurlers in Tampa. Before his 24th birthday, the hard-throwing southpaw had 97 big league starts to his credit, and he owned a 3.64 ERA with 9.7 K/9 in the AL East. At 23, he took home the AL strikeout crown with 239 whiffs.

The Rays rewarded Kazmir with a four-year contract extension after that season, but things have gone downhill since. He missed the first month of the 2008 season with an elbow issue, and then battled a quad strain in 2009. With his ERA sitting at 5.92 at the end of August '09, the Rays traded Kazmir and the two years left on his contract to the Angels for three young players.

Although he pitched well after the trade (1.73 ERA in six starts), things really fell apart in 2010. Kazmir hit the disabled list twice for shoulder soreness/fatigue last season, and when he was on the mound he was rarely effective. His velocity had declined considerably and the strikeouts were proving harder to come by. All told, Kazmir pitched to a 5.94 ERA with nearly as many walks (79) as strikeouts (93) in 150 innings last season, and only eight times in 28 starts did he complete six innings of work.

Kazmir's stock is at an all-time low, which is not where you want it to be with free agency coming up after the season. The Halos are unlikely to exercise his $13.5MM option for 2012, and unless he regains his pre-2009 form, Kazmir is in danger of falling into the Jeremy Bonderman category of reclamation free agent starters.

It's not all bad news though. Kazmir will turn just 27 years old tomorrow, and his 39.1% ground ball rate in 2010 was his best in three years. AL East and World Series experience works in his favor, and an offseason of rest could also do wonders for his achy wing. Next winter's crop of free agent pitchers is weak, so Kazmir could parlay a strong 2011 season in a nice contract. A lot has to change for that to happen, though.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

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