Indians Release Doug Mathis
Righty Doug Mathis requested and was granted his unconditional release, Indians GM Chris Antonetti told MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (Twitter link). He'd been reassigned to the minors three days ago.
Mathis, 27, was signed by the Indians to a minor league deal in early January. At Triple-A, mostly as a starter, he posted a 5.66 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, and 0.7 HR/9 in 89 innings last year. He was worse with the Rangers in 22 1/3 relief innings, allowing seven home runs and 30 hits.
Indians Will Try To Trade Jayson Nix
The Indians will attempt to trade infielder Jayson Nix, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. If they fail, he'll be designated for assignment. Nix is out of options and can decline an outright assignment to the minors if he does clear waivers.
Nix, 28, hit .224/.281/.396 with 14 home runs in 363 plate appearances for the White Sox and Indians last year, playing mostly second and third base. He was in the mix this spring for a backup infield job with the Tribe, but Adam Everett won that battle.
Rays Return Cesar Cabral To Red Sox
The Rays returned Rule 5 pick Cesar Cabral to the Red Sox, tweets WEEI's Rob Bradford. The lefty will report to minor league camp tomorrow. The Rays claimed Cabral in the December draft, but he also had a brief stop with the Blue Jays this spring.
Cabral, 22, posted strong peripheral stats in 48 relief innings at High-A ball last year, but 60 hits allowed led to a 5.81 ERA.
Orioles Release Randy Winn
Outfielder Randy Winn asked for and was granted his unconditional release, according to an Orioles press release. Winn was one of eight cuts made today, as Nolan Reimold was optioned to Triple-A while Clay Rapada, Mark Hendrickson, David Riske, Ryan Drese, Pat Egan, and Nick Green were assigned to minor league camp. As previously noted, Hendrickson and Riske can opt out. The Orioles currently have 39 players on their 40-man roster and 28 in camp.
Winn, 36, hit .239/.307/.356 in 233 plate appearances for the Yankees and Cardinals last year, tallying 401 outfield innings. He signed a minor league deal with the Orioles in early February.
Royals Acquire Matt Treanor
The Royals acquired catcher Matt Treanor from the Rangers for cash considerations, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. The acquisition fills up the Royals' 40-man roster, a press release notes.
Treanor, 35, hit .211/.287/.308 in 272 plate appearances for the Rangers last year, leading the team with 614 2/3 innings caught. He re-signed for $850K in December to back up Yorvit Torrealba, but the Rangers acquired Mike Napoli in late January. The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for the Rangers and also a 25-man spot, which makes it easier to retain Rule 5 pick Mason Tobin or Chris Davis.
The Royals' Treanor acquisition comes two days after veteran Jason Kendall told MLB.com's Dick Kaegel his tentative return date from September shoulder surgery is now late April. Brayan Pena and Lucas May, both out of options, have been battling for Opening Day catching spots. Treanor, by the way, was originally drafted by the Royals in 1994.
Orioles Moves: Hendrickson, Riske, VandenHurk
The Orioles are paring down their roster today; here's the latest:
- Lefty Mark Hendrickson is among the team's cuts, tweets MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. Hendrickson can opt out rather than report to the minors. Given his success against lefties, he should be able to find work in the big leagues.
- Reliever David Riske is also one of today's cuts, reports Ghiroli. She says Riske left camp for personal reasons, and the team isn't sure whether he'll join them in Triple-A. He too has the ability to opt out.
- Righty Rick VandenHurk has been cut, reports Ghiroli. Since the Dutchman is out of options, he'll have to clear waivers to remain with the organization. The O's snagged VandenHurk at last year's trade deadline in the Will Ohman deal.
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Showalter, Sabathia
Among AL East clubs, only the Yankees will play on the season's first day Thursday. Here's the latest from the division…
- Relievers Dennys Reyes and Matt Albers made Boston's 25-man roster, reports WEEI's Alex Speier. Hideki Okajima and Alfredo Aceves were optioned to Triple-A. GM Theo Epstein explained to reporters that the choices were about "preservation of pitching depth," since he would have lost Reyes and Albers if they didn't make the team. Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald has quotes from Okajima's agent Joe Rosen on the decision.
- Orioles manager Buck Showalter stirred the pot in this Men's Journal interview with Paul Solotaroff, saying, "I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll." Epstein has already accepted an apology from Showalter on the comments, tweets Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.
- Red Sox 2010 second-round pick Brandon Workman changed agents from Kevin Hubbard to Jeff Berry of CAA Sports, reports Speier. Workman had signed for $800K, about $165K over slot. Track all the latest in our Agency Database.
- Another strong year might make C.C. Sabathia the Yankees' best free agent signing ever, suggests Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The contract could end up being a three-year, $60MM deal if the lefty opts out after the season.
Offseason In Review: New York Yankees
The Yankees are next in our Offseason In Review series.
Major League Signings
- Derek Jeter, SS: three years, $51MM.
- Rafael Soriano, RP: three years, $35MM.
- Mariano Rivera, RP: two years, $30MM.
- Pedro Feliciano, RP: two years, $8MM.
- Russell Martin, C: one year, $4MM.
- Andruw Jones, OF: one year, $2MM.
- Total spend: $130MM.
Notable Minor League Signings
- Kevin Millwood, Ronnie Belliard, Eric Chavez, Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Brian Anderson, Buddy Carlyle, Mark Prior, Neal Cotts, Warner Madrigal, Luis Ayala, Andy Sisco
International Signings
- Juan Carlos Paniagua, Yadil Mujica, Freiter Marte, Wilmer Romero
Trades and Claims
- Acquired SP Scott Allen from Diamondbacks for 1B Juan Miranda
- Acquired OF Cody Johnson from Braves for cash considerations
- Claimed OF Jordan Parraz off waivers from Red Sox
- Acquired OF Justin Maxwell from Nationals for RP Adam Olbrychowski
- Acquired OF Chris Dickerson from Brewers for SP Sergio Mitre
Notable Losses
- Marcus Thames, Lance Berkman, Austin Kearns, Nick Johnson, Juan Miranda, Adam Olbrychowski, Kerry Wood, Javier Vazquez, Andy Pettitte, Dustin Moseley, Alfredo Aceves
Summary
Only the Yankees can spend $130MM on free agents and have it seem like they didn't do much during the offseason. Cliff Lee spurned the team's huge offer, but they were able to retain future Hall of Famers Jeter and Rivera while improving the bullpen.
The Yankees ended up paying about twice what Jeter is probably worth in a strictly baseball sense, after a few unnecessary verbal jabs from both sides. I don't have a problem with it; they can afford to overpay, and they didn't have a superior alternative at shortstop. The price to keep Rivera was steep as well, yet he remains among the game's best relievers into his 40s. Perhaps the Yankees found it reassuring that multiple teams were willing to offer Rivera three guaranteed years, which suggests they weren't forced to overpay just for being the Yankees.
The mystery team actually signed Lee, with the Phillies inking him to a five-year, $120MM deal in mid-December. At $148MM over seven years, the Yankees offered Lee more guaranteed money than the Rangers or Phillies. Still, the Phillies seemingly offered the biggest salary at $24MM a year. Had the Yankees extended themselves to $150MM over six years, they might have gotten their man – even if they represented his second or third choice. With Pettitte's status an unknown at the time, going the extra mile for Lee still would have been the right move. The Yankees cannot buy or trade for high-quality starting pitching if it just isn't there, and I'm not convinced this year's trade market will feature even a #2-type starter.
Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth were already off the board by the time Lee signed, and Adrian Beltre would have been an even tougher fit, so there weren't any big names left for the Yankees to pursue. The starting pitching market was especially bleak at that point, but credit GM Brian Cashman for setting aside a potential fan backlash and exploring a reunion with Carl Pavano.
Cashman chose not to pursue Zack Greinke, who secretly met with the GM during the Winter Meetings to try to convince him he'd thrive in New York. Jon Heyman's article implies Cashman bowed out mainly because he thought Greinke wasn't a good fit with the club, rather than balking at the Royals' asking price. If true, it's interesting that Cashman felt Greinke was a bad fit but Pavano was a good one, but of course the stakes were higher with Greinke.
Assuming a Matt Garza trade would have made both the Rays and Yankees uneasy, Cashman was out of options on starting pitching. His plan at that point was apparently to toss a mere $14MM at complementary pieces Feliciano, Martin, and Jones. There's something to be said for committing two years to Feliciano instead of three, and the Yankees will need a strong bullpen if their fourth and fifth starters consistently fail to go deep into games. Even if Cashman wasn't on board, the Soriano signing certainly gives the team a much stronger bullpen. The dual opt-outs are the smallest concern with that contract, which I explained in a separate post.
The Yankees' minor league signings include former big names Chavez, Colon, Garcia, Millwood, and Prior. There are spring indications that several of them can have positive contributions for the big league club in 2011. The main goal may be to wring a couple of good months out of the rotation candidates.
Most likely we'll hear the Yankees connected to every starting pitcher with a pulse throughout the season, after which the team's rotation could be further depleted if C.C. Sabathia opts out. Problem is, it's hard to identify even one front-end starter who projects to be available in July. The Yankees may need one or two of their in-house starters to exceed expectations if they are to go deep into the playoffs this year.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Belt, Britton Face Different Cutoff Dates
A week ago I wrote that a player's free agency could be delayed a year by calling him up on April 11th or later, making it impossible for him to accrue more than 171 days of service time. It turns out that I was only partially correct.
The April 11th date only applies if the player is not on the 40-man roster right now. For example, Brandon Belt could be promoted by the Giants on April 11th or later and his free agency would be delayed until after the 2017 season, because he is not currently on the 40-man. One related note – if he was called up exactly on that date, and thus fell one day short of the 172 needed for a year of service, his agent would probably file a grievance. There's also the possibility of a one-game playoff allowing him to pick up that extra day of service time anyway. So it makes sense to leave a little space.
What about a player who is on the 40-man roster, such as the Orioles' Zach Britton? In that case, the player needs to be optioned to start the season and spend at least 20 days on optional assignment in order to not get the service time back. So a 40-man roster player can earn either 162 or fewer days of service, or a full year. The Orioles will have to wait until April 21st or later with Britton, as Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun indicated today.
Offseason In Review: New York Mets
The Mets are next in our Offseason In Review series.
Major League/International Signings
- Jose Reyes, SS: one year, $11MM. Club option exercised.
- D.J. Carrasco, RP: two years, $2.4MM.
- Chris Capuano, SP: one year, $1.5MM.
- Ronny Paulino, C: one year, $1.35MM.
- Scott Hairston, OF: one year, $1.1MM.
- Chris Young, SP: one year, $1.1MM.
- Taylor Buchholz, RP: one year, $600K.
- Total spend: $19.05MM.
Notable Minor League Signings
- Boof Bonser, Blaine Boyer, Tim Byrdak, Willie Harris, Taylor Tankersley, Mike O'Connor, Russ Adams, Dusty Ryan, Raul Chavez, Casey Fossum, Dale Thayer, Jason Isringhausen, Chris Shelton
Extensions
- R.A. Dickey, SP: two years, $7.8MM. Includes $5MM club option for 2013 with a $300K buyout.
Trades and Claims
- Claimed 2B/3B Brad Emaus from Blue Jays in Rule 5 draft
- Claimed RP Pedro Beato from Orioles in Rule 5 draft
- Acquired SS Chin-lung Hu from Dodgers for SP Mike Antonini
Notable Losses
- Hisanori Takahashi, Pedro Feliciano, Luis Castillo, Oliver Perez, Raul Valdes, Elmer Dessens, Fernando Nieve, John Maine, Sean Green, Chris Carter, Henry Blanco, Fernando Tatis, Mike Antonini
Summary
The biggest move of the Mets' offseason was undoubtedly the hiring of Sandy Alderson as GM in October. Alderson's small-market experience will be an asset with the Mets, as his payroll flexibility may remain limited for part of his four-year contract due to the Wilpons' Madoff-related issues. The new Mets front office has an analytical feel to it, as Alderson hired Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi. Additionally, Terry Collins is aboard as the new manager. Let's take a look at Alderson's first offseason.
Exercising Reyes' option at $11MM was a no-brainer. If Reyes has a strong first half, Alderson may be tasked with restocking a poorly-rated farm system by trading his shortstop. Releasing Oliver Perez was also a fairly obvious choice, as he simply isn't worth a roster spot despite his $12MM salary. Cutting Castillo might be considered a baseball decision as well as one for the fans. If Emaus has even a little bit of upside, he's the right pick at second base.
Like the Mariners, the Mets are a big-budget team but don't appear to be a player or two away from contention in 2011. Shopping the bargain bin was the right move for Alderson. Capuano and Young in particular have upside for a minimal commitment. The other moves amount to tinkering. Between second base, the rotation, and the bullpen, the Mets have a lot of opportunity for players to step up.
Speaking of the bullpen, it's imperative that the Mets find a way to prevent Francisco Rodriguez from finishing 55 games, as that would trigger a 2012 option adding a net cost of $14MM. I agree with Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal – the Mets could employ a more sabermetric bullpen strategy, using K-Rod in all kinds of high leverage situations. Then when the reliever's agent files a grievance, the Mets can cite legitimate baseball reasons as their motivation. The downside is that future free agent targets may be turned off if the Mets try to sneak around a contract clause to which they agreed. One DL stint for Rodriguez may make the whole issue a moot point.
2011 figures to be a transition year for the Mets, perhaps with the goals of trading Reyes, getting Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran off the books, spending more on amateur talent, and figuring out what the team has for 2012.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.