Yankees Notes: Chavez, Rivera, Martin
Yankees position players are due in Tampa on Friday, and new designated hitter Raul Ibanez will be among them. The latest on the team:
- The Yankees are now in talks with third baseman Eric Chavez, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, who says it'd be a Major League deal. Speaking to MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez last night, Chavez pegged his chances of returning to the Yankees at 50-50. ESPNNewYork's Andrew Marchand is more confident, writing, "Considering that Chavez thought about retiring and has plenty of dough, they are expected to come to an agreement."
- Closer Mariano Rivera on whether he will retire after this year: "I know now, but I don't have to tell you." ESPN's Buster Olney had the quote, among others. According to Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger, Rivera also said, "This one is different. This is it," comparing his decision to previous retirement talk.
- Catcher Russell Martin told Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal he talked this winter about a three-year deal with the Yankees, but the discussion never progressed beyond the initial stages. Martin avoided arbitration with a $7.5MM contract for 2012.
- The Yankees have no interest in re-signing Damaso Marte and GM Brian Cashman could imagine Pedro Feliciano helping in September at best, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman looks at all the Yankees roster possibilities in this blog post.
- "The bullpen has become a cheap thing for me," Cashman explains in this article from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. On the other hand, Cashman spent plenty on his rotation this winter, whether through free agent dollars or the loss of Jesus Montero.
Extension Candidate: Brandon McCarthy
The Athletics' one-year, $1MM base salary deal with righty Brandon McCarthy turned out to be one of the best contracts of the 2010-11 offseason, as the 28-year-old went on to rank 13th in the American League with a 3.32 ERA. McCarthy showed an ability to go deep into games, ranking 10th in the league with 6.83 innings per start. Despite having fewer than 550 career big league innings on his resume, McCarthy will reach six years of service this season. It's been a long road to traditional free agency.
Prior to the 2005 season, Baseball America ranked McCarthy the 49th-best prospect in the game, though on the White Sox he was outranked by Brian Anderson and Ryan Sweeney. In February of that year, manager Ozzie Guillen compared McCarthy to Jack McDowell, adding, "He's going to be something special." By May, McCarthy made his big league debut, replacing an injured Orlando Hernandez to face Mark Prior. McCarthy continued to fill in for El Duque periodically as a rookie, but the Sox went with Hernandez on the playoff roster and he came up big as a reliever in the team's World Championship run.
McCarthy spent most of '06 in Chicago's bullpen, and GM Kenny Williams noted he was "very much a part of our future" when July trade rumors swirled. It seemed McCarthy finally had his full-time rotation spot when Williams traded Freddy Garcia to the Phillies in December of that year, but then the GM shipped McCarthy to the Rangers for John Danks and others in a bold trade a few weeks later.
A blister problem affected McCarthy for much of '07, but a bigger concern was revealed in August when he hit the DL for a stress fracture in his right shoulder. The injury seemed minor at first, but then elbow soreness surfaced the following spring. He pitched only 53 2/3 innings in '08 and was sidelined again in each of the '09 and '10 seasons due to the stress fracture in his shoulder. By November of 2010, Rangers GM Jon Daniels decided to remove McCarthy from the 40-man roster, making him a free agent.
Toward the end of '09, McCarthy began to consider major changes to his repertoire and mechanics, he told Ryan Campbell of FanGraphs. By the time he was pitching in Winter Ball in what amounted to a free agent audition in 2010, McCarthy had fine-tuned his new approach. He scored a Major League contract with the A's and won their fifth starter job out of spring training. That same shoulder stress reaction came back in May, leading to a six-week DL stint. McCarthy stayed healthy and effective thereafter, earning a total of $1.95MM with incentives. He received a $4.275MM contract for 2012, an arbitration raise of more than $2.3MM on his '11 earnings.
McCarthy has been a free agent before, but if he impresses again in 2012, this time will be different. To date, it does not appear the A's have had extension talks with McCarthy. Their hesitation is understandable, with McCarthy having totaled 229 pro innings from 2008-10. He hasn't had an injury-free campaign since '06, and the same shoulder problem continues to affect him.
Still, there's a ton to like about McCarthy, who in 25 starts provided over $20MM worth of value last year according to FanGraphs. Even with the DL stint last year, he tossed 170 2/3 innings over 25 starts. He's 28 and comes with the pedigree of a top prospect. He's got excellent command and posted a career-best 46.7% groundball rate last year, suppressing career-long home run concerns. And for those thinking his success is owed to the Oakland Coliseum, consider McCarthy's 3.40 xFIP away from home last year.
In terms of starting pitchers extended entering walk years, Ryan Vogelsong, R.A. Dickey, Wandy Rodriguez, and Joe Blanton could be comparables, as our extension tracker shows. Vogelsong and Dickey were feel-good stories who had unexpected success in one season, and both signed two-year deals in the $8MM range with club options attached. Both, however, were coming off seasons in which they earned under a million bucks. McCarthy earned almost $2MM last year, and makes $4.275MM this year. Short of a completely lost 2012 season, he could at least replicate that salary on the free agent market. He may not feel the urgency to cash in that Vogelsong and Dickey did.
Blanton and Rodriguez had provided innings and made decent money going year-to-year through arbitration. Blanton, the lesser of the two, had his free agent years valued at $8.5MM apiece. I don't think McCarthy can get to that level right now, but he's probably worth more than Vogelsong, who gave up a free agent year for $5MM. $12-13MM over two years would be a reasonable risk for the A's on McCarthy, if they're OK with the condition of his shoulder. Otherwise, McCarthy will be pitching with free agency on the horizon and the possibility of becoming one of several solid options for teams unable to afford what's left of Cole Hamels, Matt Cain, Zack Greinke, and Anibal Sanchez.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Blake DeWitt Accepts Outright Assignment
Cubs infielder Blake DeWitt accepted his outright assignment, tweets MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Despite a $1.1MM contract, the Cubs removed DeWitt from the 40-man roster this month to open a spot for Adrian Cardenas. He has a chance to earn his way back on the roster with a good performance this spring.
DeWitt, the Cubs' main return in the July 2010 Ted Lilly/Ryan Theriot trade with the Dodgers, hit .265/.305/.413 in 243 plate appearances last year. A left-handed hitter, DeWitt played left field, second base, and third base in 2011.
NL Central Notes: Burnett, Madson, Kvasnicka
Let's celebrate perhaps the last year of a six-team NL Central with spring training links for all the clubs…
- Pirates infielder Gustavo Nunez, who was taken from the Tigers in December's Rule 5 draft, was placed on the 60-day DL with a right ankle injury, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Side effects of the move: the Pirates buy some time before deciding whether to put Nunez on the 25-man roster, and a 40-man roster spot is opened for new acquisition A.J. Burnett.
- The Burnett acquisition creates competition at the back end of the Pirates' rotation, writes Biertempfel. He believes Kevin Correia and Jeff Karstens will battle for the last spot, if everyone is healthy. Burnett talked to reporters this morning. One interesting news tidbit was his comment that one ever asked him about a potential Angels trade, though he confirmed he's not interested in the West Coast for family reasons. Unprompted, Burnett debunked the rumors about his wife's transportation preferences, saying with a smile, "She loves to fly."
- Ryan Madson's $8.5MM commitment with the Reds is spread out over three budgets, explains ESPN's Buster Olney: "$2MM during the 2012 season, $2MM in deferred salary on Nov. 1, 2012 — which is the start of the 2013 budget — and another $2MM in deferred salary, without interest, on Nov. 1, 2013, at the outset of the 2014 fiscal year. In the middle of that, they have a $2.5MM buyout on an $11 million option for 2013." On the topic of his one-year deal, Madson told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon, "I take it as motivation to show people again, to prove that it's real. It's unfortunate it's that way but I'm not complaining. I'm very happy. I'm very privileged to have this opportunity, and I just want to run with it and show people that I will be OK."
- Righty Brett Tomko always wanted to come back to Cincinnati, he told John Fay of the Enquirer. Tomko said it's taken two years to recover from a 2009 pinched nerve.
- The Astros could have a new player at all nine positions for Opening Day 2012 compared to '11, writes Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.
- Astros 2010 supplemental first-round pick Mike Kvasnicka is moving back to catcher from third base, tweets Levine. Kvasnicka was recently ranked 25th among Astros prospects by Baseball America.
- "I'm not one to look back with animosity, however people or fans want to view my time there," former Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Hendry noted that it was "just nice" to be wanted by the Yankees, "the most storied franchise in sports." He's now with the Yankees as a special assistant to GM Brian Cashman, and isn't worrying about becoming a GM again.
- "They always say contract years turn out to be great years," Brewers starter Chris Narveson mentioned to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum are entering contract years, while Randy Wolf has a $10MM club option for '13 with a $1.5MM buyout.
- Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright refuses to put a limit on his innings following 2011 Tommy John surgery, he told MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch, but she notes that GM John Mozeliak has said 200 frames is likely out of the question.
Rangers Sign Neal Cotts
The Rangers signed lefty reliever Neal Cotts to a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned. Cotts will not be in Major League camp, notes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Cotts, 32 in March, last pitched in the Majors for the Cubs in '09 before going down for Tommy John surgery. He later signed minor league deals with the Pirates and Yankees, though the Yankees released him in February last year.
Mariners Sign Shawn Camp
FEBRUARY 16: Camp's deal is worth $750K, MLBTR has learned.
FEBRUARY 6: The Mariners signed reliever Shawn Camp to a Major League deal, tweets Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle. The Mariners announced the signings of Camp and Hong-Chih Kuo, noting they've designated catcher Chris Gimenez and outfielder Mike Wilson to open spots on the 40-man roster for the new relievers.
Camp, 36, posted a 4.21 ERA, 4.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.41 HR/9, and 53.5% groundball rate in 66 1/3 innings for the Blue Jays last year. His agent Dave Meier did well in scoring a Major League deal this late in the offseason. Camp was a Type B free agent this winter, but the Blue Jays did not offer arbitration and will not receive draft pick compensation. The Mariners have added to their bullpen on the cheap this winter with Camp, Kuo, George Sherrill, and Aaron Heilman.
Gimenez, 29, was non-tendered in December but then quickly re-signed to a big league deal. Wilson, 28, hit .331/.418/.555 with 16 home runs in 388 plate appearances in his third pass at the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
A.J. Burnett Rumors: Wednesday
The Pirates and Yankees are discussing an A.J. Burnett trade, as the Yankees look to unload some of the $33MM owed to him for 2012-13. The latest:
- Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger hears four teams are in the mix for Burnett and that "a deal will get done with somebody.“
- The Yankees are engaging the Pirates and one other team about Burnett and a deal seems increasingly likely, David Waldstein of the New York Times reports. It doesn't appear that Burnett would block a trade to either one of the two possible destinations.
- The Yankees tried to convince the Angels that Burnett could be their fifth starter, according to Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com. The Yankees would have obtained Bobby Abreu in the proposed trade, but Burnett rejected the deal because he'd prefer to play on the East Coast.
- The two clubs remain at an impasse, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. As the day before Yankees pitchers and catchers report to spring training, Saturday represents a soft deadline for the trade talks. A trade is not likely with any of the three other teams interested in Burnett, as the Indians never got serious, Burnett will not approve a deal to the Angels, and the mystery team has lukewarm interest.
Which Players Might Bring Draft Pick Compensation After 2012?
After accepting Boston's arbitration offer this winter, David Ortiz submitted a $16.5MM salary figure for 2012 against the team's $12.65MM. They ended up settling at the midpoint recently. Ortiz's $14.575MM salary will not be possible for a free agent accepting arbitration after the 2012 season, however, because the new collective bargaining agreement simplified the process. Draft pick compensation for a departing free agent will require the team to make a "qualifying offer" in the $12-13MM range. The qualifying offer amount will be determined by averaging the top 125 salaries from 2011. This offer will be fixed each offseason, even for players already earning more than the qualifying offer amount, MLB told me today.
Though 2011 salaries are used for the 2012 qualifying offer (which reflects the player's potential 2013 salary), MLB does not seem to know the exact amount, so we'll use $12.5MM as a proxy for now. For elite free agents, a qualifying offer will be a lock, as will their decision to turn it down. The locks for 2012 appear limited to starting pitchers: Matt Cain, Cole Hamels, and Zack Greinke. A look at the more borderline potential free agents from the 2012-13 class follows.
Twins Avoid Arbitration With Alexi Casilla
The Twins avoided arbitration with infielder Alexi Casilla, agreeing to a one-year, $1.3825MM contract, tweets director of baseball communications Mike Herman. The Proformance client settled $25K below the midpoint, avoiding an arbitration hearing. Casilla received a $517,500 raise his second time through arbitration. MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith looked at some possible comparables last week.
As MLBTR's arbitration tracker shows, the Twins are now finished with their arbitration eligible players. They committed a total of $8.432MM to Casilla, Francisco Liriano, and Glen Perkins for 2012.
Two arbitration eligible players remain unsigned overall: Garrett Jones and Casey McGehee of the Pirates.
Athletics Notes: Manny, Cespedes
The A's made a splash Monday, signing Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year, $36MM contract that allows him to reach free agency at its conclusion. The latest on the club:
- "The A's are likely to sign Manny Ramirez just before or soon after the start of spring training," writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Pitchers and catchers are due to report Saturday, while the full squad reports February 24th. Manny, of course, has a reputation of arriving late to spring training. Ramirez would serve as designated hitter for the A's, but he'd first need to serve a 50-game PED suspension.
- Despite the Cespedes signing, Coco Crisp still feels he's Oakland's best center field option. Crisp told Slusser, "Unless he's a demigod come down from the heavens, no one is going to outshine me in center field." Crisp noted that a center field job was one of the reasons he chose the A's over the Rays, but concluded, "I'm excited to play alongside Cespedes – no matter what side that may be."
- Cespedes' no-arbitration clause is precedent-setting, writes ESPN's Buster Olney, as in the past only Japanese players have managed to secure free agency without the typical requirement of six years of Major League service.
- As I noted earlier today, the A's have four out of options players on the 40-man roster with fewer than five years of Major League service: Brandon Allen, Jerry Blevins, Joey Devine, and Kila Ka'aihue.