Braves’ Pursuit Of A Hitter Could Heat Up Next Week
The annual GM Meetings will be held this Tuesday and Wednesday in Orlando, and although most of the items on the agenda involve off-the-field issues, the Braves' pursuit of a middle-of-the-order hitter could gain momentum according to Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. GM Frank Wren declined to comment on the team's rumored interest in Dan Uggla, but he did offer this…
"There's a number of things we'd like to do, but with the realization that there's 29 other clubs that want to do things as well," said Wren. "We're hesitant to trade from our base, which we think is getting stronger all the time. That's what is going to sustain us for a long time, and we need to be mindful of that."
O'Brien says Wren made it clear that a right-handed power hitter is a priority, and that said hitter is likely to come through trade rather than free agency. He also acknowledged a desire to add a veteran reliever, unsurprising given Billy Wagner's retirement and the likely departure of Takashi Saito. O'Brien speculates that Colby Rasmus might be the most attractive trade target, though he's a lefty hitter and Wren will certainly have to part with some pieces of his young core to acquire him.
Odds & Ends: Lopes, Maybin, Farrell, Cubs, Cousins
Links for Saturday…
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff provides a primer for next week's GM Meetings in Orlando. MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith will be on the scene there Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times tweets that former Phillies' first base coach Davey Lopes is close to joining the Dodgers' coaching staff in an unknown capacity.
- Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse analyzes the Cameron Maybin trade, saying the outfielder doesn't need to develop into a star to represent an upgrade for the Padres.
- Richard Griffin of The Star has a one-on-one interview with new Blue Jays manager John Farrell.
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun Times that he's not worried about making a splash this offseason, but that it's "really imperative that we have two or three really good moves."
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says that in the wake of the Maybin deal, the Marlins will give Scott Cousins a long look in center field next year (Twitter link).
- Meanwhile, Padres GM Jed Hoyer told Dan Hayes of The North County Times that Maybin is "exactly the type of player we hoped to acquire for Petco Park." (Twitter link)
- MLB.com's Jason Beck states the obvious, saying that the Marlins probably would have been better off keeping Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis and then taking the draft picks when they left as free agents. I'm not sure that keeping those two would have been financially possible, though.
- Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com writes that after catcher Erik Kratz signed with the Phillies, the Pirates will now have to bring in a catcher or two to provide depth at the Triple-A level.
- The Nationals have signed righty reliever Tim Wood to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com. Wood, who turns 28 on Tuesday, appeared in 44 games with the Marlins over the last two seasons, pitching to a 4.32 ERA with nearly as many walks (25) as strikeouts (26) in 50 innings.
- ESPN's Buster Olney expects the Cardinals to aggressively pursue Juan Uribe since they could use him at pretty much any of their non-first base infield positions (Twitter link).
- Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald reports that GM Theo Epstein said the team has talked to Kevin Youkilis about moving to third base in the event that they are unable to re-sign Adrian Beltre, who we learned is one of their priorities.
- Meanwhile, Alex Speier of WEEI.com separates fact from fiction with regards to Scott Boras' claims about Beltre.
- SI.com's Melissa Segura tweets that a new league launched in the Dominican Republic yesterday, and it features the top young free agent players the country has to offer.
Huff Has Received Offers From Several Clubs
Aubrey Huff is in high demand these days following a .290/.385/.506 season, and his agent tells FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi that he's received contract offers from several clubs other than the Giants (Twitter link). In a second tweet, Morosi notes that the Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, White Sox, and Rangers could use help at first base, but their level of interest is unknown.
Huff, 34 next month, enjoyed one of the finest seasons of his career in 2010, capping it all off with a World Championship. San Francisco certainly got their money's worth, paying Huff just $3MM on a one-year deal. Earlier this month we heard that there was a "pretty good chance" he'd be staying with the Giants, but I'm sure he'll hear everyone out before making his final decision.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Adam Dunn
The Nationals and Adam Dunn went back-and-forth about a contract extension pretty much all season, though the outfielder turned first baseman eventually hit he free agent market for the second time in his career and is free to join with any club now. Let's look at where his stock stands…
The Good
- Dunn has mammoth power, a skill that is becoming increasingly more difficult to find. He hit 38 homers in 2010 for the second straight year, and his 282 big flies since the start of the 2004 season are the second most in baseball behind Albert Pujols (294).
- He's also an on-base machine, drawing at least 100 walks in six of the last seven years and in seven of the last nine.
- Listed at 6-foot-6 and 285 lbs., Dunn is supremely durable. He's played in 1,108 of 1,134 possible games from 2004 through 2010, and his only career DL trip came back in 2003, when he missed 44 days with a sprained thumb.
The Bad
- All of that power comes with the trade-off of high strike out totals. Dunn's struck out no fewer than 164 times in each of the last seven years.
- Dunn's on-base percentage dropped to .356 in 2010, his lowest mark since 2003. That's the result of just 77 walks compared to his usual 100+, though given his track record and age (31) it could be a fluke.
- A lefty swinger, Dunn has a considerable platoon split. Left-handers held him to a .719 OPS this season (.965 vs. RHP).
- Regardless of where he is on the field – outfield or first base – he's a liability defensively, one of the very worst in the game. Dunn has also indicated that he doesn't want to be a designated hitter, limiting his market if true.
- Dunn is a Type-A free agent and it's likely that the Nationals will offer him salary arbitration. Any team that signs him (other than Washington) will have to surrender a high draft pick.
The Verdict
Dunn is one of the best players available this winter, ranking fifth on Tim Dierkes' list of the top 50 free agents. He rejected Washington's three-year contract extension offer, so clearly he's looking to secure the long-term contract he wasn't able to land two years ago.
It's easy to envision a power bat like this fitting into every lineup in baseball, but only few have the resources to sign Dunn. The Cubs are expected to have interest given their first base opening, but be sure that the Rays, Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, and others will be rumored land spots at some point this offseason.
Amateur Signing Bonuses: Rangers
Time to take our amateur signing bonus series to Texas, the home of the defending AL champs…
- Mark Teixeira, $4.5MM (2001)
- Justin Smoak, $3.5MM (2008)
- John Danks, $2.1MM (2003)
- Vince Sinisi, $2.07MM (2003)
- Thomas Diamond, $2.025MM (2004)
The Rangers just finished the single greatest season in franchise history, but just one of the above players directly contributed to that cause. That would be Justin Smoak, who reached the big leagues just two years after being drafted 11th overall. He hit just .209/.316/.353 in 275 plate appearances for Texas before headlining the four prospect package that went to Seattle for Cliff Lee in early July.
Teixeira, the fifth overall pick back in 2001, contributed to the team's success this year, though in an indirect way. His bonus was part of a four-year, $9.5MM major league contract, the largest ever given to an amateur position player at the time (the record stood until Bryce Harper showed up this year). Tex was massively productive for the Rangers, hitting .283/.368/.533 with 153 homers in four-plus seasons before being traded the Atlanta. That haul netted the Rangers their current starting shortstop (Elvis Andrus) and closer (Neftali Feliz), not to mention another useful arm in Matt Harrison and their Opening Day catcher (Jarrod Saltalamacchia). That return is the gold standard when it comes to moving superstars.
Texas took Danks with the ninth overall pick in 2003, and he pitched to a 4.20 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 426.1 minor league innings for the team before they traded him and two others to the White Sox for Brandon McCarthy and a minor league in December 2006. Now one of the best starters in the game, Danks never pitched in a game for the team that drafted him.
Sinisi was the 46th overall pick in the same 2003 draft that netted the team Danks, but his career wasn't nearly as productive. He hit .293/.354/.423 in 909 plate appearances with Texas' various minor league affiliates before being traded to the Padres in a May 2006 deal that barely registered on the radar. It brought Freddy Guzman to the Rangers, and Sinisi hasn't played since becoming a minor league free agent after 2009. He never reached the big leagues, and spent three uneventful years in Triple-A.
Diamond was part of the team's highly touted DVD trio of pitching prospects along with Edinson Volquez and Danks. He was the tenth overall pick in the '04 draft and dominated in the minors (3.62 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 4.4 BB/9) before missing the entire 2007 season due to Tommy John surgery. Despite the procedure's high success rate, Diamond never fully regained his stuff nor his already shaky control. The Rangers designated him for assignment last September, after which the Cubs claimed him. Diamond did finally make it to the big leagues this year, making three starts with a 6.83 ERA for the Cubbies.
Akinori Iwamura Has Agreement With Rakuten
NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman passes along a report indicating that infielder Akinori Iwamura has a basic agreement in place with the Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Iwamura, 32 in February, hit just .173/.285/.250 in 229 plate appearances split between the Pirates and Athletics this season. In three seasons with Tampa Bay, he hit a far more respectable .281/.354/.393 while moving from third to second base. Iwamura played eight years with Tokyo Yakult Swallows before joining the then-Devil Rays, who won his rights with a $4.5MM bid.
Iwamura indicated a desire to remain in North America just last month, but perhaps the offer from Rakuten was just too good to pass up.
Amateur Signing Bonuses: Rays
Next up in our amateur signing bonus series, the Rays…
- Matt White, $10.2MM (1996)
- Tim Beckham, $6.15MM (2008)
- David Price, $5.6MM (2007)
- B.J. Upton, $4.6MM (2002)
- Dewon Brazelton, $4.2MM (2001)
The then-Devil Rays spent years in the AL East cellar, and the result was a lot of high draft picks and huge signing bonuses. White signed two years before the team even started playing, though he was originally selected seventh overall in the '96 draft by the Giants. Instead of signing with San Francisco, he was granted free agency when the team failed to tender him a contract within 15 days of the draft as per league rules. Travis Lee and John Patterson went through the same thing. Tampa pounced shortly thereafter, though White never reached the big leagues. He pitched to a 4.64 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 672.2 minor league innings and was out of baseball by 2004.
Beckham was the first overall pick in the 2008, signing for what was then the largest bonus ever given to a player as part of a minor league contract in draft history, at least until Buster Posey broke it a few weeks later. Still just 20 years old, Beckham is a .263/.332/.371 hitter in his two-plus year old minor league career.
A year before they took Beckham, the Rays selected Price first overall, making them the first team in history to have the first pick in back-to-back drafts. His bonus was part of a six-year, $8.5MM major league contract, the fourth richest deal in draft history. Price helped the team to their first ever World Series berth just a year later, and he just wrapped up his first full season as a big league starter by posting a 2.72 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 208.2 innings.
The elder Upton brother was the second overall selection in the 2002 draft, and the team rushed him up to the big leagues just two years later. At 19 years old, he was the youngest player in franchise history. After a 45 game cameo that season (.258/.324/.409), Upton returned to the minors and didn't get back to the majors for good until 2006. He eventually moved out of the infield and became of the game's best defensive center fielders, and is a career .260/.345/.413 career hitter with 165 steals.
Brazelton was the third overall pick in 2001, right behind Joe Mauer and Mark Prior and right before Gavin Floyd and Mark Teixeira. He reached the big leagues the very next season and made a total of 41 starts (and 13 relief appearances) for a franchise from 2002-2005, posting a 5.98 ERA with more walks (142) than strikeouts (136) in 253 innings. He was traded to the Padres for Sean Burroughs after the 2005 season in a deal that gave each former top prospect a much needed change of scenery.
It's worth noting that the Devil Rays signed Rolando Arrojo to a deal that included a $7MM bonus in 1997 after he defected from Cuba. That was a year before the team started play, but Arrojo was already 29 years old and had been the long-time ace of the Cuban National Team. Hard to consider him an amateur in terms of experience. Evan Longoria, Tampa's franchise player, signed for a $3MM bonus as the third overall pick in the 2006 draft.
Braves Outright Kenshin Kawakami To Double-A
10:38am: According to The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Dave O'Brien (Twitter link), Wren responded "We've had a number of discussions over the last couple of weeks. I'll leave it at that," when asked about potentially trading Kawakami or selling him to a Japanese club.
9:01am: The Braves have outrighted Kenshin Kawakami to Double-A Mississippi, reports MLB.com's Mark Bowman. The move gets Kawakami off the team's 40-man roster, though they are still on the hook for his $6.67MM salary for 2011.
The 35-year-old right-hander was solid during his first year with Atlanta, posting a 3.86 ERA with 6.0 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9 in 156.1 innings in 2009. Things fell apart last season despite similar peripheral stats (6.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.0 HR/9), as he put up a 5.15 ERA in 87.1 innings and was at one point sent to the minors. Kawakami signed a three-year deal worth $23MM in January 2009 after spending more than a decade with the Chunichi Dragons.
Last month we heard that several Japanese teams were not only interested in acquiring Kawakami, they were also willing to take on some of his salary. So far GM Frank Wren's attempts to move him have proven unsuccessful.
Marlins Measuring Trade Interest In Dan Uggla
The Marlins broke off contract talks with Dan Uggla and are now gauging potential trade interest in their second baseman according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. A source says the team is not confident they can sign Uggla long-term after he rejected a four-year contract that would have paid him $48MM.
Frisaro says the team has been "initiating and field calls" about the 30-year-old Uggla, and two unidentified National League clubs have expressed interest in addition to the Tigers. He adds that the Marlins have been asking for relief pitching return, and they're expected to have more discussions about Uggla at next week's General Manager Meetings. In his middle infielder buyer's guide at ESPN (Insider req'd), Keith Law said he'd "love to trade for one year of Uggla, especially a walk year, but I don't want to be on the hook for his age 34 or 35 seasons, by which point his defense will probably have moved him off second base."
Uggla is arbitration eligible for the final time this offseason, and will become a free agent after the 2011 season. He is likely to see his salary climb past $10MM after earning $7.8MM this year. Uggla is a .263/.349/.488 career hitter, clubbing no fewer than 27 homers in each of his five seasons as a big leaguer. He is one of just nine players to eclipse the 30-homer plateau in each of the last four years.
Padres And Marlins Discussing Maybin
2:54pm: The Padres have acquired Maybin from the Marlins, pending a physical, reports Tom Krasovic of Fanhouse (via Twitter).
2:09pm: Maybin will be traded and a deal with the Padres is getting close, a source tells Jeff Passan of Yahoo (via Twitter).
12:25am: The Marlins have also discussed Maybin with the Royals, according to Frisaro (Twitter link).
11:54am: The Padres and Marlins are discussing a trade involving Cameron Maybin, tweets MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. It is unclear who or if any other players are involved in the discussions.
Maybin, still just 23, has yet to establish himself in the big leagues after coming over in the Miguel Cabrera–Dontrelle Willis trade in December 2007. He's a .246/.313/.380 career hitter in 610 plate appearances, mostly with the Marlins. UZR loves his defense in center, rating him at +5.1 at the position for his career.
Maybin is out of options, so he will need to clear waivers to go to the minors starting next season. He does have four years of team control remaining, however. Florida traded Andrew Miller, the other key piece they received in the Cabrera-Willis deal, to the Red Sox yesterday.