Relief Trade Candidates
Eleven bullpens currently sport ERAs over 5.00, but it'd be silly to draw conclusions from 25-inning samples. Still, certain contenders are probably already surveying the field of available relievers. The Rays, Cubs, and Marlins are three teams that had bullpen concerns heading into the season. Which relievers might be available a month or two from now?
- The Blue Jays are riding high, in a first-place tie after their first nine games. Still, GM Alex Anthopoulos will probably think about the big picture and shop his three priciest relievers: Kevin Gregg, Jason Frasor, and Scott Downs. The Jays would need Gregg's consent to deal him prior to June 15th.
- The Pirates have the worst bullpen ERA in the NL right now, but most of that can be attributed to Hayden Penn's 2.3 inning stint. Down the road all the veterans will be fair game – Octavio Dotel, Brendan Donnelly, D.J. Carrasco, Jack Taschner, and Javier Lopez.
- The Padres have the big prize in closer Heath Bell. His save total will allow them to demand a premium for him, and he can be retained for 2011 (albeit with a raise upon this year's $4MM).
- The Nationals may also make a few veterans available: Matt Capps, Brian Bruney, and Tyler Walker would make sense. The June 15th rule applies to Capps and Walker. They'll both be arbitration-eligible after the season.
- The Royals have a couple of contracts to move in Kyle Farnsworth and Juan Cruz. Tracy Ringolsby tweets that the Royals are "looking to unload Cruz and willing to pick up salary."
- Chad Cordero is a name to consider; the 28-year-old off to a good start for the Mariners' Triple A club.
2011 Contract Issues: San Francisco Giants
The Giants face one contract option after the season. Shortstop Edgar Renteria has a $10.5MM club option with a $500K buyout. Even with a bounceback year, the Giants figure to decline. The Giants could re-sign Renteria at a lower price, or look at other free agents.
Plenty of the team's patchwork free agent signings will be eligible again: Bengie Molina, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, Todd Wellemeyer, and Guillermo Mota. The group is earning $12.5MM in 2010.
Increases to players under contract total about $10MM, for Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Brian Wilson. Jonathan Sanchez is the key arbitration-eligible player; it'll be his second time.
The Giants increased payroll by almost $14MM this year. They'd have $8-9MM to play with holding payroll steady, so maybe a smaller increase is in order for 2011.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
2011 Contract Issues: Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are paying over $15MM to former players this year; that number will fall under $7MM in 2011 as their commitments will be reduced to Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. They'll also potentially free up over $40MM for departing free agents, with Manny Ramirez, Hiroki Kuroda, and Vicente Padilla the biggest salaries.
On the increase side, players under contract will receive over $13MM more. Andre Ethier, Rafael Furcal, Jonathan Broxton, and Matt Kemp account for the raises. More increases will be due to arbitration-eligibles: Chad Billingsley, James Loney, and Hong-Chih Kuo enter their second year, Russell Martin his third, and George Sherrill his fourth. Sherrill can be considered a non-tender candidate, only because the Dodgers may be reluctant to pay a setup man more than $5MM.
Even if payroll is maintained in the low $100MM range, the Dodgers should free up enough money to adequately replace Ramirez and at least one of the starting pitchers.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Red Sox Claim Santo Luis
The Red Sox claimed righty Santo Luis off waivers from the White Sox, according to a team press release. Luis was then optioned to Double A. Jed Lowrie was placed on the 60-day DL to clear a spot for Luis.
Luis, 26, posted a 4.34 ERA, 12.7 K/9, and 3.7 BB/9 in 56 High A relief innings last year, allowing 11 home runs. He saved 14 games for Joe McEwing's Winston-Salem Dash. The Sox had claimed Luis from the Astros in '07 in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.
Odds & Ends: Antonetti, Harper, Embree
Links for Wednesday…
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick looks at nine revolving door positions for various teams, such as Red Sox shortstop and Braves' left fielder.
- RotoAuthority looks at a few potential buy-low candidates on the young fantasy season.
- Murray Chass takes USA Today to task for publishing inaccurate salary data.
- Jim Callis ranks Baseball America's #1 prospects from the last ten years, putting Jason Heyward behind only Matt Wieters and Josh Beckett.
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince looks at the background of the Indians' GM-in-waiting, Chris Antonetti.
- ESPN's Keith Law agrees with Ben Goessling of MASN, saying the Nationals have "more or less settled on Bryce Harper." Law says the Nats would be nuts to take someone else.
- MLB.com's Ian Browne tweets that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has been in touch with Alan Embree's agent, perhaps regarding the lefty's April 15th out-out date.
- Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star notes that the Blue Jays have to place Adeiny Hechavarria on the 2013 25-man Opening Day 2013 roster, or else place him on waivers.
- SI's Melissa Segura tweets that the Twins were impressed by outfielder Vicmal de la Cruz, "perhaps the jewel of the 2010 July 2 class." Click here to view Kiley McDaniel's video of the kid.
Jose Veras Designated For Assignment
The Marlins designated reliever Jose Veras for assignment, reports Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. The Marlins decided they'd seen enough of Veras after four appearances. He allowed eight runs in 4.6 innings. Veras, 30, posted a 5.19 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and 5.0 BB/9 in 50.3 innings last year for the Yankees and Indians. He was designated for assignment twice during the season, and non-tendered by the Tribe in December.
The Marlins have already discarded all of their scrap heap relief pickups: Veras, Mike MacDougal, Seth McClung, and Derrick Turnbow.
Blue Jays Claim Shawn Bowman
The Blue Jays claimed Canadian third baseman Shawn Bowman off waivers from the Mets, according to a team press release. He'll head to the Jays' High A affiliate.
Bowman, 25, hit .294/.346/.458 in 379 Double A plate appearances last year. He has above-average raw power and strong defense, according to Baseball America's '06 Handbook.
Miles Released; Balentien Outrighted
John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets the results of Aaron Miles and Wladimir Balentien being designated for assignment by the Reds. Both players cleared waivers. Miles was released, while Balentien was outrighted to Triple A.
Miles joins the free agent ranks; he'll likely be signed for $400K with the Reds paying the remaining $2.3MM on his contract. The 33-year-old infielder hit .185/.224/.242 in 170 plate appearances for the Cubs last year, battling shoulder and elbow injuries. He was acquired twice during the offseason - by the A's to help facilitate their acquisition of Jake Fox, and by the Reds as a way of dumping the inferior contract of Willy Taveras.
Balentien, a 25-year-old outfielder, hit .234/.305/.385 in 295 plate appearances for the Mariners and Reds last year. He's flashed big power at various minor league stops and was a well-regarded prospect as recently as 2008.
Fuentes Back Strain Could Save Angels $9 Million
Angels closer Brian Fuentes tweaked a back muscle picking up a dumbbell about a week ago, according to MLB.com's Lyle Spencer. The freak injury could save the Angels $9MM in 2011.
Fuentes is eligible to return on April 21st. Barring a rainout, the Angels will have 147 games left to play at that point. Fuentes has finished one game this year, and needs 54 more to cause his '11 option to vest. That's one GF out of every 2.72 Halos games. Last year Fuentes finished one for every 2.84 Angels games, though Kevin Jepsen picked up a few GFs in September. It will be tough for Fuentes to finish games at the pace necessary to reach 55 in 2010, now that he'll miss at least the Angels' next seven games.
Baseball Players Looking At Wrong Numbers
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News snagged some interesting quotes from Giants catcher Bengie Molina yesterday. Molina is bitter about the lack of interest he received in free agency:
"If I had trouble finding a job after five of my best years, what am I supposed to expect? You are supposed to get paid for your numbers. But even if I have another good year, I know I cannot expect anything."
Molina's best offer was one year and $5.5MM from the Mets; he ultimately accepted $1MM less to stay with the Giants. He was coming off a year in which he posted a .285 OBP and .442 SLG. That works for a catcher, but it's not much different than what we might expect from Rod Barajas. I'm sure Molina was focused more on his 20 home runs and 80 RBIs. For this, we have to blame his agent at SFX.
Jermaine Dye also comes to mind. His agent, Bob Bry, told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that, "There is compelling evidence that suggests that home runs win games and that the emphasis on defense has reached the level of absurdity when you look at the numbers." In other words, all 30 teams are wrong about Dye's value, and Bry is right.
Another example: in November of '08, Garret Anderson talked about how he had "a very good season" and that his $11MM option was fair market value. He was coming off a .293/.325/.433 performance with 15 home runs and 84 RBIs. Anderson, a Scott Boras client, signed for $2.5MM with the Braves a few months later. Anderson overestimated his market value by $8.5MM.
Are these agents failing to value their clients properly? Are they not explaining how the market has changed in recent years? Or are they just trying to preserve the players' confidence?