Percival Leaning Towards Retirement?
When Rays closer Troy Percival hit the disabled list in May, we weren't sure if that would be the last time we'd ever see the righty. Well, according to Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times, manager Joe Maddon recently spoke to Percival and is "under the impression his career is over."
Paul Cohen, Pervical's agent, indicated that his client was having severe back problems and is seeing a specialist this week about a possible fusion, but said that the decision to retire hasn't been made yet. Maddon would like to see the team have a day to honor Percival if he does indeed call it quits, saying "He was such a big part of what we did last year, and people have kind of forgotten about that way too fast."
If he does retire, Percy would finish with 358 career saves, good for 8th all time.
Several Clubs Interested In Smoltz
We touched on this earlier tonight, but let's expand on it a bit. ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that the Texas Rangers and some National League clubs have expressed interest in acquiring the recently DFA'd John Smoltz, which is an indication that he'll have another opportunity to pitch this year if he's up to it. The other night we heard from Cardinals GM John Mozeliak that they were unlikely to pursue the future Hall of Famer, and it seems unlikely that Boston would made a deal with Texas since the two clubs are in a tight race for the American League Wildcard.
The Red Sox would not only like Smoltz to accept a minor league assignment so he could transition to the bullpen, but they also want to restructure a clause in his contract that pays the righty $35K for every day he's on the Major League roster. Olney mentions that teams like the Dodgers, Cubs, Brewers, and Astros were looking for pitching, but he says that it's "highly unlikely that any NL team would be willing to take Smoltz in a trade without some financial adjustment from the Red Sox, perhaps with Boston kicking in money to pay off a large portion of his base salary and roster bonus." Interested clubs could also wait it out and see if Boston releases Smoltz, when they could sign him for nothing more than the pro-rated minimum.
The 42-yr old Smoltz pitched to an 8.32 ERA in six starts with Boston, but teams will line up to take a chance on a player with his track record and pedigree. Of course, before anyone goes and acquires him, Smoltz will first have to decide if he wants to keep pitching.
Week In Review: 8/2/09 – 8/8/09
Post-trade deadline lull be damned, there was still a flurry of moves and rumors last week. Let's recap…
- We learned of a few failed trades in the week after the trade deadline, none bigger than a three-way deal that would have sent Felix Hernandez to Boston, Adrian Gonzalez to Seattle, and a horde of prospects to San Diego. Contrary to some reports, the Dodgers were "never close" to dealing first baseman James Loney.
- Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios was claimed off waivers, possibly by the White Sox. We won't know for sure which team won the claim until early next week, however. The 28-yr old Rios is guaranteed more than $60MM through 2014, so the Jays have a tremendous opportunity to free up some money for the future should they decide to unload him.
- In the "wow, I didn't think they'd actually do it" move of the week, the Red Sox designated the struggling John Smoltz for assignment. We know one team that's unlikely to pursue the future Hall of Famer, and that's the Cardinals. In their perpetual search for a shortstop, Boston put in a waiver claim for the Nationals' Cristian Guzman, while also signing veteran Paul Byrd to a minor league deal for depth. The Sox may also listen to offers for Daisuke Matsuzaka in the future.
- In need of another arm for their rotation, the Twins sent a player to be named later to the Indians for Carl Pavano. Cleveland gets some salary relief out of the deal, as Minnesota will pay what's left on his contract.
- Stuck battling for a playoff spot, the Rays bolstered their roster by claiming reliever Russ Springer off waivers from the A's and trading a PTBNL or cash for backstop Gregg Zaun. One of the teams battling the Rays for a playoff spot, the Rangers, went with additon by subtraction by designating Vicente Padilla for assignment.
- The Brewers acquired veteran reliever David Weathers from the Reds in exchange for prospects or cash to shore up the bullpen down the stretch, while the Yankees did the same by acquiring Chad Gaudin from the Padres.
- After hitting just .193-.332-.364 in 83 games, Oakland released the injured Jason Giambi. The Cubs cut B.J. Ryan after he asked for his release.
- On the amateur front, the Pirates broke the bank to sign sixth rounder Zach Von Rosenberg and eighth rounder Colton Cain to seven figure bonuses. The Braves signed first rounder Mike Minor to the largest bonus in club history, which was also the largest bonus ever given out to a seventh overall pick. We also learned that the signing deadline does not apply to Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers since they played in independent ball last season. They're free to sign at any point up until a week before next year's draft. The investigation into Miguel Angel Sano's age is still ongoing, while Cuban defectees Yadel Marti, Yasser Gomez, and Juan Yasser were declared free agents.
Odds & Ends: Smoltz, Nationals GM, Chapman, Orioles
A couple of links on a lazy Sunday…
- ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the Texas Rangers and several NL teams have expressed interest in acquiring John Smoltz. The 42-yr old is mulling his options at the moment, but Olney says it's "highly unlikely that any NL team would be willing to take Smoltz in a trade without some financial adjustment."
- Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe says that there is lots of "chatter among major league sources in Washington that Diamondbacks director of scouting and player development Jerry Dipoto is the leading candidate to be Nationals general manager." He mentions that Red Sox assistant GM Jed Hoyer has also been mentioned as a candidate, and that the club is also considering giving interm GM Mike Rizzo the job on a permanent basis.
- This one's a bit old, but Peter Bjarkman balances out some of the hype we've heard about Cuban defectee Aroldis Chapman, citing his lack of control in the strike zone and his pedestrian track record in the Cuban National League. (h/t Patrick at NPB Tracker)
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reports that Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, and Danys Baez have cleared waivers. Mora expressed his displeasure with Baltimore earlier in the week. Remember, you can find our list of players who've cleared waivers featured on the sidebar.
Sherman On Mets’ Offseason Needs
In his Hardball column for The NY Post, Joel Sherman examines what the Mets should do in the offseason to get the team back to being competitive next year. He notes that the club is likely to operate with a smaller payroll in 2010 because of the financial hit owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon have taken this year, but they'll still need to address positions like catcher, first base, and left field, not to mention multiple spots on the pitching staff.
Sherman suggests the Mets "protect their thin prospect base" after sacrificing so many young players in trades for Johan Santana and J.J. Putz over the last two seasons, and that creating better 25- and 40-man roster depth is imperative considering how the team's skill level thins out beyond it's elite players.
It's unlikely the club will be able to afford big ticket free agents like Matt Holliday and John Lackey, and should instead "augment with good, versatile players" like Mark DeRosa and Chone Figgins. What do you guys think the Mets need to do to get to being a contender?
Red Sox DFA Enrique Gonzalez
Amalie Benjamin of The Boston Globe tweets that the Red Sox have designated righthander Enrique Gonzalez for assignment to make room on the roster for Fernando Cabrera. Like Josh Towers, Gonzalez was called up yesterday as bullpen insurance following Friday's 15-inning marathon in the Bronx.
Gonzalez had spent the entire season with Triple-A Pawtucket prior to yesterday's callup, pitching to a 5.31 ERA in 21 starts. Gonzalez allowed two runs in 1.2 IP yesterday.
Dodgers Move In The Works?
The Dodgers - who made valiant attempts to acquire Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and seemingly every other available pitcher before the deadline – are in a bit of a pitching bind right now because of injuries to Jason Schmidt and Chad Billingsley. Manager Joe Torre had some interesting comments prior to tonight's game against the Braves when asked about who the team's starter would be tomorrow, courtesy of MLB.com's David Ely:
"Right now, we're in the discussion area on that one," Torre said. "We're not at liberty to talk about it at this point. You'll know later on."
"Could be somebody from the outside," Torre said, "we haven't decided on that."
League rules prohibit teams from talking about specific players on waivers, and Ely speculates that they "could be in the process of making a trade for a pitcher off waivers." Depending on how tonight's game plays out, the Dodgers could opt to start longman Jeff Weaver if no deal is made.
Discussion: Alex Rios
If you're an MLBTR reader, you already know that Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios has been claimed off waivers by a mystery team, although popular belief is that the White Sox are the ones who put the claim in. I think you already know where this is going…
Pretend you're the one calling the shots in Toronto, what would you do? Would you save the $60MM or so and let the claiming club have him without getting anything in return, or would you trade him? Maybe you decide to hold on to him and try to compete next year or deal him over the winter when more teams can get involved. Whatever you think, tell us about it in the comments.
If you're unfamiliar with how waiver deals work, make sure you check out our primer.
Odds & Ends: Tate, Phillies, Pirates, Indians
Links? You can't handle the links!
- ESPN's Jason Churchill notes that third overall pick Donovan Tate was expected to report to UNC's football camp today, and that the Padres are "mum on the negotiations between Tate's adviser, Scott Boras, and the club." If he doesn't sign, Tate will play both football and baseball for the Tar Heels.
- Peter Gammons of ESPN writes about the Phillies and the rotation depth they've build this year. It seems like whenever we hear a team has pitching depth, it disappears. It's like the Madden cover curse, but crueler.
- Pirates skipper John Russell admits that his club will "have to look to find a left-hander to solidify [the bullpen], either this season or in time for next season," reports John Perrotto of PiratesReport.com. The Bucs haven't had a southpaw in the pen since trading John Grabow to the Cubs at the deadline.
- Terry Pluto of The Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that even though the Indians recent moves were driven by money, they still made sense for the organization.
Yankees To DFA Josh Towers
Mark Feinsand of The NY Daily News tweets that the Yankees intend to designate righthander Josh Towers for assignment tomorrow to make room on the roster for recent pickup Chad Gaudin. Towers had been pitching with New York's Triple-A affiliate, but the team called him up today as bullpen insurance following the 15-inning Yanks-Red Sox marathon last night.
Towers had a 3.42 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) with Triple-A Scranton. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007.