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Mets Intend To Offer Wright Extension During Season

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WEDNESDAY: Mets CEO Jeff Wilpon spoke to ESPN New York's Adam Rubin and backed up Alderson's statement, though he didn't make it sound like getting a contract worked out with Wright is an urgent matter.

"As Sandy said I think last night, [Wright is] under contract this year," said Wilpon. "We have an option for next year. There's no gun to anybody's head. So let it just play out. And at the right time Sandy and I will discuss it and it'll move on."

TUESDAY: Earlier this month we heard that the Mets were likely to offer David Wright a long-term contract, and today GM Sandy Alderson confirmed to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that an offer will be made during the season. He would not disclose the size of the offer or when the superstar third baseman could expect it.

"I would expect sometime before the season's over, we will have a conversation," said Alderson. "I'm hopeful he'll be here a long time."

Wright, 29, is making $15MM this season and has a club option for 2013 worth $16MM. He came into the day hitting .373/.474/.578 with five homers and more walks (32) than strikeouts (29). Ryan Zimmerman's six-year, $100MM extension with the Nationals seems like just a starting point for a new Wright deal given his superior performance record and durability.

Poll: What’s Next For Jamie Moyer?

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Jamie Moyer opened the season as a feel-good story following his return from Tommy John surgery at age 49, but he lasted just ten starts with the Rockies before being designated for assignment this afternoon. The veteran southpaw posted a 5.70 ERA in 53 2/3 innings for Colorado.

At his age, it’s easy to assume Moyer will finally hang up the spikes. He’s shown tremendous perseverance by continuing his career after elbow reconstruction though, so it would be an unsafe assumption at best. That said, it takes two to tango. Moyer has to find a club willing to sign him so he can keep playing.

Halladay Injury Will Not Impact Talks With Hamels

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The Phillies lost ace right-hander Roy Halladay for 6-8 weeks with a lat strain yesterday, but GM Ruben Amaro told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that the injury will not impact contract talks with Cole Hamels (all Twitter links). The team wants to retain Hamels but their urgency hasn’t increased.

“We’ve expressed this enough to Cole,” said Amaro. “He remains a very important part of it regardless of what happens with Roy or any other player. He is still every bit as important to us.”

Hamels, 28, is pitching to career bests in ERA (2.43), strikeout rate (9.2 K/9), and walk rate (1.8 BB/9) this season. He’ll be the most coveted free agent on the market after the season (if he makes it that far), with Johan Santana’s six-year, $137.5MM contract serving as a reasonable reference point in talks.

Amaro has previously said that if the Phillies do not climb back into the race, they could become sellers at the trade deadline. Teams have already inquired about the Hamels’ availability.

Quick Hits: Oswalt, Marlins, Hunter, Draft

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Free agent left-hander Joe Beimel underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month, and Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports reports (on Twitter) that the 35-year-old plans to resume his career once healthy. Brown says Beimel pitched with the torn elbow ligament for 3-4 years. Here's the latest from around the league…

  • The Angels were very close to signing Roy Oswalt at one point according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, but the right-hander had reservations about leaving his family for an extended period of time. The Rangers signed Oswalt earlier today.
  • The Red Sox remained in contact with Oswalt during the season but did not make him an offer, reports WEEI.com's Rob Bradford. They did make him in offer prior to the season.
  • “There are always things that can be done," said Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest to reporters (including Juan C. Rodriguez of The Sun-Sentinel) when asked if the club can add pieces this summer. "There’s still room for improvement here. Whether that means changes or not, I don’t know. It’s still May."
  • Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times reports (on Twitter) that the Angels have reinstated Torii Hunter from the restricted list. The outfielder spent time away from the team to deal with his son's legal issue.
  • In his latest mock draft, ESPN's Keith Law projects the Astros to take Stanford right-hander Mark Appel with the first overall pick in next Monday's draft. "The Astros intend to take whomever they believe is the best player, not the best player for the price," wrote Law.

Phil Dumatrait Retires

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Phil Dumatrait has voluntarily retired and been released by a Twins, reports Tyler Mason of FOXSportsNorth.com (on Twitter). The team has confirmed the move.

Dumatrait, 30, had a 1.15 ERA in 15 2/3 innings for Minnesota's Triple-A affiliate this season. He owns a 6.20 ERA in 151 career big league innings spread across 17 starts and 70 relief appearances for the Reds, Pirates, and Twins.

Tigers Not Expecting To Pursue A Starting Pitcher

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Despite inconsistent performances from Rick Porcello (5.21 ERA) and Max Scherzer (5.67), the Tigers do not expect to pursue a starting pitcher via trade this season according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Detroit likes its current rotation and has prospects Jacob Turner and Casey Crosby in the minors.

The Tigers' rotation currently owns a 3.98 ERA, which ranks as the fifth best in the American League. Rookie left-hander Drew Smyly (3.14 ERA) has settled in nicely in nine starts, and Doug Fister (3.15 ERA) recently returned from a stint on the disabled list. It's worth noting that only two other AL teams have gotten fewer innings out of their starters than Detroit (275 1/3 innings) despite Justin Verlander's streak of 53 consecutive starts of at least six innings.

Padres To Sign Jason Marquis

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The Padres will sign Jason Marquis to a minor league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). San Diego has four starters on the disabled list and needs to replace the depth. He's an ACES client.

Marquis, 33, posted an 8.47 ERA with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12) in seven starts and 34 innings for Minnesota this season, but just last year he pitched to a 4.43 ERA in 132 innings for the Nationals and Diamondbacks. The Padres only have to pay Marquis the pro-rated portion of the $480K league minimum with the Twins picking up the rest of his $3MM salary.

Cory Luebke (Tommy John surgery) and Dustin Moseley (shoulder surgery) are both out for the season while Joe Wieland and Tim Stauffer are expected back from their elbow issues sometime this summer.

Padres Seriously Considering Jason Marquis

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The Padres have four starting pitchers on the disabled list at the moment, which is why they are "giving serious thought" to signing Jason Marquis according to Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune. The right-hander was both designated for assignment and released by the Twins within the last week.

Marquis, 33, posted an 8.47 ERA with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12) in seven starts and 34 innings for Minnesota this season, but just last year he pitched to a 4.43 ERA in 132 innings for the Nationals and Diamondbacks. Any team that signs Marquis will only be responsible for the pro-rated portion of the $480K league minimum with the Twins picking up the rest of his $3MM salary.

Cory Luebke (Tommy John surgery) and Dustin Moseley (shoulder surgery) are both out for the season while Joe Wieland and Tim Stauffer are expected back from their elbow issues sometime this summer.

This post was originally published on May 29th.

Two Walk-Year Closers With Declining Trade Value

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Uspw_6259562The new playoff system may or may not impact the number of buyers and sellers this summer, but there's one thing about the trade deadline that won't change: pitching will be in demand. It is every year and in all forms — starters and relievers, right-handers and left-handers, aces and innings-eaters — there's a market for all of them.

A popular target for clubs looking to add bullpen help is the proverbial "closer on a bad team." The Rangers were 14.5 games out when they traded Eric Gagne to the Red Sox in 2007 and the Nationals were 13.5 games out when they traded Matt Capps to the Twins in 2010, just for example. The upcoming free agent class is littered with closers, but two of them have seen their trade value drop because of poor performance in recent weeks.

Brandon League, Mariners
League saved 37 games and was an All-Star a year ago, but this season he's pitched to a 4.43 ERA with a 44.4% ground ball rate that is well below his career norm (60.3%). Manager Eric Wedge removed the 29-year-old right-hander from the closer's role following last night's blown save, already his fourth of the season. He told reporters (including Larry Larue of The News Tribune) they'll instead "match up with what we think works" in the ninth inning.

Grant Balfour, Athletics
Three poor performances (two blown saves) in late-April and early-May cost Balfour his job as closer, and now he's working the seventh inning in Oakland thanks to Ryan Cook's emergence. The 34-year-old veteran has a 4.09 ERA in 22 innings, though his strikeout (7.0 K/9) and walk (3.3 BB/9) rates are both trending in the wrong direction for the second straight season.

Both League and Balfour are scheduled to become free agents after this season, though Balfour's contract includes a $4.5MM club option ($350K buyout) for 2013. With pitchers like Jonathan Broxton, Huston Street, and Francisco Rodriguez providing quality rental bullpen help alternatives on the trade market, the Mariners and A's could be left with nothing to show for their free agent-to-be relievers.

Photo via US Presswire.

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