Kroenke Clears Waivers, Optioned To Triple-A
Lefty reliever Zach Kroenke has cleared waivers and been optioned to Triple-A Reno by the Diamondbacks, according to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Arizona selected Kroenke from the Yankees with the sixth overall pick in December's Rule 5 Draft.
Since this was Kroenke's second time through the process (the Marlins selected him in last year's Rule 5 Draft), he had the right to declare free agency if someone claimed him. As Jack Magruder of FoxSportsArizona.com explains, New York was told that Kroenke would elect to become a free agent if they wanted to take him back, so they never bothered to put a claim in. ESPN's Keith Law confirmed with Kroenke's agent that the Diamondbacks' chose to keep him on the 40-man roster even though he cleared waivers.
The 26-year-old Kroenke was the Yankees' fifth round pick in the 2005 draft, and posted a 1.99 ERA with a 6.8 K/9 and a 3.7 BB/9 in 72.1 Triple-A innings last year. He has held lefties to a .256 batting average during his minor league career.
No Contract Talks For Martinez During Season
Victor Martinez doesn't want there to be any talks about a new contract with the Red Sox during the season, according to Scott Lauber of The Boston Herald.
“During the season, I really have enough to worry about, just playing the game,” Martinez said. “I don’t want any distractions.”
The switch-hitting catcher has maintained that he would like to remain in Boston beyond the 2010 season, but there haven't been any talks about a new deal during a Spring Training. Lauber mentions that there are reasons for Boston's apparent hesitation, including Martinez's less than stellar defense and poor throwing arm.
The 31-year-old catcher hit .336/.405/.507 after coming over from the Indians at the trade deadline, setting career highs in games played (155) and plate appearances (672) as well. The Red Sox picked up Martinez's $7.6MM option back in November.
Tim previewed V-Mart's impending free agency earlier this offseason.
Dodgers Release Doug Mientkiewicz
The Dodgers have finally released first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz according to Steve Dilbeck of The Los Angeles Times, almost a week after he requested the move. Mientkiewicz was informed that he did not make the team last weekend, but the Dodgers kept him around in case Garret Anderson got hurt before Opening Day.
The 35-year-old Mientkiewicz appeared in just 20 games for LA last year because of a dislocated shoulder, and his performance in camp left much to be desired. Although he's best known as a slick fielding first baseman, he also spent time at third base and in rightfield for the Pirates in 2008. The Dodgers signed Mientkiewicz to a minor league deal in December that would have paid him a base salary of $550K in the big leagues.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Hendry, Lugo, Towers
On this day back in 2003, the Tigers became the first team in baseball history to have four pitchers make their Major League debut in the same game. The starter was 20-year-old Jeremy Bonderman, who gave way to 22-year-old Wil Ledezma, 25-year-old Chris Spurling, and 23-year-old Matt Roney before "veteran" closer Matt Anderson entered the game. Anderson was just 25-years-old at the time, but the first overall pick of the 1997 draft already had 210 big league appearances to his name.
The Tigers went on the finish the season 43-119, and were rewarded by selecting Justin Verlander with the second overall pick the following season. Here's this week's set of links from around the web…
- A Cubbies Consilience throws some kudos Jim Hendry's way for his offseason.
- Camden Crazies calls the O's trade for Julio Lugo an okay one.
- The Kept Faith finds some players Kevin Towers passed on while he was the Padres' GM.
- 1 Blue Jays Way remembers Roy Halladay's time in Toronto.
- Meanwhile, Around The BasePath looks at some expectations for Halladay's first year in Philadelphia.
- Drunk Jays Fans wonders why Lyle Overbay was named the team's every day first baseman when he can't hit lefties.
- Lookout Landing compares Eric Byrnes and Ryan Langerhans with regards to the Mariners' spare outfielder's job.
- Bronx Bombers Beat examines the Yankees' plan for Phil Hughes.
- More Hardball lists the players who will begin the season on the disabled list.
- Capitol Avenue Club rounds out the Braves' roster.
- Crashburn Alley looks at the Phillies' winners and losers from Spring Training.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Helping Jarrod Washburn Find Work
Piggybacking on this afternoon's Jermaine Dye discussion, let's run through the reasons why Jarrod Washburn is still a free agent:
- He's 35-years-old, and he posted a 7.33 ERA with a .940 OPS against in eight starts following his trade to Detroit. His season ended in mid-September with a knee injury that required surgery.
- He's extremely homer prone, giving up one long ball for every 7.2 innings pitched or so over the last four seasons. While his walk rate was solid at 2.51 BB/9 last year, he doesn't miss many bats (5.1 K/9) and will give up more than his fair share of hits.
- Despite turning down a $5MM offer from the Twins, Washburn maintains that it's not about the money. He's also indicated that he would prefer to play near his Wisconsin home next season.
Solutions:
- Lighten up his salary demands, and accept an offer from a team regardless of their proximity to his home. There are plenty of unsettled rotation spots out there, so there should be interest in a guy who hasn't made fewer than 25 starts in a season since 2000.
- Embrace a move to the bullpen. Being lefthanded is already a good start, but being able to shutdown lefties (.178/.224/.311 against last year) adds some validity to the idea.
On the day he was traded, Washburn had the second lowest ERA (2.64) in the American League and was on his way to helping a contender make a playoff run. Instead, he finished the season on the surgeon's table, and teams would rather roll the dice with questionable in-house options than meet Washburn's asking price.
Odds & Ends: Gaudin, Jones, Stauffer, Oliver, Lowell
Links for Saturday…
- The Phillies considered Chad Gaudin according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, but they decided he wasn't enough of an upgrade over what they already have in-house.
- The Twins have informed Jacque Jones that he will not make the team, reports MLB.com's Kelly Thesier. Minnesota brought the long time Twin back on a minor league deal in February.
- On the heels of another strong outing from Tim Stauffer, MLB.com's Corey Brock speculates (via Twitter) that the Padres could receive a mid-level prospect from a team in need of pitching if they opted to trade him. Stauffer's four shutout innings today lowered his spring ERA to a tidy 2.57 with an 11:3 K:BB ratio through 14 innings.
- Jon Paul Morosi tells the great story of Darren Oliver's resurgence after nearly retiring in 2005 and wonders who the next veteran will be to make a similar run.
- Doug Mientkiewicz was told he will not make the Dodgers' Opening Day roster, according to a report from the Associated Press. Mientkiewicz was excused from camp today so he can weigh his options in regards to his future in baseball.
- Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe says Mike Lowell's injury "almost kills his trade value, which was already low to begin with." Lowell suffered a knee contusion when he fouled a ball off his left knee Friday.
- Blue Jays' team president and CEO Paul Beeston chatted with fans on the team's official site yesterday. He discussed the latest on Adeiny Hechevarria and the club's policy on long-term contracts, among other topics.
- ESPN's Buster Olney says that some general managers believe the reason there's so little movement on the trade front is because there are still viable alternatives on the free agent market.
- As Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune notes, Joe Mauer's new deal may have turned one of the team's top prospects in a prime piece of trade bait.
- New Padres' GM Jed Hoyer isn't as brash as Kevin Towers used to be, writes Nick Canepa of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Red Sox Will Not Go Beyond Four Years For Beckett
The Red Sox will not offer Josh Beckett anything more than a four year contract extension reports ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes. The two sides have been discussing a new deal, but long-term concerns about the righthander's shoulder have dissuaded the team from offering their ace a fifth year.
It had been assumed that the five year, $82.5MM deals signed by John Lackey and A.J. Burnett in the last two years would be used as a benchmark for Beckett's new deal. Edes says that team officials had concerns about his shoulder when they acquired him from the Marlins, but not enough to walk away from the deal.
Beckett will earn $12.1MM in 2010 after the club option on his three year, $30MM option vested last season.
Should The Orioles Try To Lock Up Wieters Now?
Last weekend the Twins shook up the baseball world by signing catcher Joe Mauer, their franchise player, to an eight year contract worth $184MM. It's the fourth richest contract in baseball history and by far the biggest for a backstop. After seeing what it took to sign Mauer a year before he hit the open market, would it behoove the Orioles to approach Matt Wieters, their franchise catcher, about a long-term deal now?
The 23-year-old Wieters reached the big leagues last year with similar hype to what surrounded Mauer when he first arrived in the show. Although his overall batting line of .288/.340/.412 in 385 plate appearances was solid yet unspectacular, he finished the season strong by hitting .331/.389/.479 in his final 157 plate appearances. The expectation is that Wieters will develop into a switch hitting version of the Twins' catcher, though it's unrealistic and unfair to expect anyone to match what Mauer's done in his career to date.
Because he wasn't called up until the end of May, Wieters won't be eligible for free agency until after the 2015 season. Even though he was a high profile draft pick in 2007, he did not sign a Major League contract, instead opting for a $6MM bonus up front. Ryan Braun (eight years, $45MM) and Evan Longoria (six years, $17.5MM plus two options) are the only two position players in recent memory to sign a long-term deal with less than one year of service time, and they both play a less demanding position than Wieters.
My gut says the Orioles should take advantage of their right to pay Wieters close to the league minimum for the next two years before attempting to sign him long-term, but what do I know? Do you think the O's should try to sign Wieters long-term now, or is it too soon and too risky given the demands of the catching position? What kind of contract would be appropriate, something along the lines of what Braun and Longoria got, or a little less?
Remember, the Orioles are by no means a small market club; they offered Mark Teixeira (a Georgia Tech product like Wieters) a nine-figure deal last offseason and certainly appear willing to add payroll for the right players. Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts are already under contract for the long haul, and Baltimore also has Adam Jones, Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, and Nolan Reimold under team control for the next several years.
Stark’s Latest: Trade Block, Mets, Phillies, Tigers
ESPN's Jayson Stark has a new blog post up with some trade rumor nuggets for us. It's behind the Insider wall (if you don't have a subscription yet, what are you waiting for?), so I can't give away too much…
- Stark lists 16 players currently on the trade block. Among the names we haven't seen mentioned recently: Willie Harris, Andy Marte, Tim Stauffer, Omir Santos, and Brad Thomas.
- The Mets are looking to move one of their extra catchers, either Santos or Chris Coste, and are looking to add "major league-ready triple-A pitching depth." Aren't we all…
- The Phillies are looking to add all sorts of pitching depth, and have interest in the recently released Chad Gaudin.
- Scott Sizemore's rocky spring has the Tigers looking for a second base upgrade.
- Kansas City is shopping Brayan Pena in their perpetual search for starting pitching.
- The Braves have told other clubs that David Ross is available, "possibly in a catcher-for-catcher swap for a younger backup-catcher type."
Cubs Outright Mike Parisi To Triple-A
The Cubs have outrighted righthander Mike Parisi to Triple-A Iowa according to a team press release. Chicago selected Parisi from the Cardinals with the 12th pick of the Rule 5 draft this past December.
As Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post Dispatch explains, Parisi has already gone through the process of clearing outright waivers and being offered back to St. Louis as per the Rule 5 rules. However, since he had been outrighted once before in his career, Parisi was able to elect to become a free agent, which he informed the Cardinals he would do instead of returning to their minor league roster. So after all that, the Cubs retained Parisi on a minor league contract.
The soon to be 27-year-old got smacked around in seven Spring Training outings (7.45 ERA), though he owns a 4.27 ERA in the minors with a 6.6 K/9 and a 3.3 BB/9. He threw 23 innings with St. Louis back in 2008, walking more batters (15) than he struck out (13).