Orioles Release Chad Moeller
The Orioles granted catcher Chad Moeller his request to be released, reports Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. The Orioles re-signed Moeller to a minor league deal in December, but recently chose Craig Tatum to back up Matt Wieters. Moeller refused a minor league assignment. The Sun's Peter Schmuck questioned the Tatum selection in an article yesterday.
Zrebiec notes that the Orioles are now in the market for a backup catcher to help out at Triple A.
Orioles Acquire Julio Lugo
The Orioles acquired infielder Julio Lugo from the Cardinals (pending MLB approval), reports Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli tweets that the Cardinals will receive a player to be named later. Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun notes that the Orioles will pay Lugo the league minimum, with the Red Sox paying the remaining $8.6MM. Lugo asked the Cardinals to trade him, reports Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez first reported word of a deal to an AL club and later suggested the O's.
Lugo provides insurance for Brian Roberts, who dealt with back spasms earlier this spring. He can also back up Cesar Izturis at shortstop. Ghiroli says the Lugo acquistion could mean Robert Andino is on the chopping block.
The Cards' signing of Felipe Lopez made Lugo unnecessary. Lugo, 34, hit .280/.352/.405 in 293 plate appearances for the Red Sox and Cardinals last year. The Cardinals acquired him in July for Chris Duncan, with the Sox assuming Lugo's contract.
2010 NL Rookie Of The Year Predictions
Raise your hand if you had Florida's Chris Coghlan as your preseason NL ROY pick. I'm not seeing too many hands! I'll make the conventional pick for 2010 with Jason Heyward, but here's a bigger field to consider:
Jason Heyward, Stephen Strasburg, Aroldis Chapman, Buster Posey, Pedro Alvarez, Alcides Escobar, Madison Bumgarner, Starlin Castro, Logan Morrison, Gaby Sanchez, Jason Castro, Jenrry Mejia, Jhoulys Chacin, Mike Leake, Fernando Martinez, Mat Gamel, Drew Storen, Andrew Cashner, Mike Stanton, Jay Jackson, Jose Tabata, Todd Frazier, Chris Heisey, Eric Young Jr., David Freese, Ian Desmond, Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn, Jon Niese, Yonder Alonso, Brad Lincoln, Travis Wood, Daniel McCutchen, Tommy Manzella, Scott Elbert
Let us know additional names to consider, as well as your picks.
Dodgers Sell Stults To Hiroshima Carp
WEDNESDAY, 6:42pm: Stults' deal with Hiroshima is worth roughly $700K plus bonuses, tweets NPB Tracker.
TUESDAY, 5:26pm: Los Angeles is expected to receive between $300K and $400K for Stults, tweets Hernandez.
TUESDAY, 11:36am: The Dodgers sold pitcher Eric Stults to the Hiroshima Carp, reports Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. The 30-year-old southpaw was known to be available, as the Dodgers prefer other pitchers for the fifth starter job. The Hanshin Tigers and Chiba Lotte Marines also had an eye on Stults.
Stults posted a 4.86 ERA, 5.9 K/9, and 4.7 BB/9 in ten starts for the Dodgers last year. He made another 13 starts in the minors, putting up similar numbers.
Phillies Reach Agreements With Fogg, Taubenheim
The Phillies have reached agreements with pitchers Josh Fogg and Ty Taubenheim, reports MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
The Mets signed Fogg to a minor league deal in January, but released him in March. Despite poor peripheral stats, Fogg managed to post a 3.74 ERA in 45.6 relief innings for the Rockies last year. He tossed another 40.3 ugly innings as a starter in the minors. In his best days, Fogg was able to chew up 30 starts with an ERA around 5.00 for the Pirates and Rockies.
Taubenheim, 27, posted a 3.65 ERA, 5.3 K/9, and 3.1 BB/9 in 106 innings for the Pirates' Triple A club last year.
Offseason In Review Series
The Offseason In Review series is complete; links by team are below.
Offseason Free Agent Spending By Team
A total of $972MM was spent on Major League free agent contracts this offseason, led by the Red Sox at $137MM. The Marlins are on bottom, with no big league free agent contracts signed. Each team spent about $32MM on average. Check out the list below, and contact us if you notice any errors.
- Red Sox – $137,030,000
- Cardinals – $129,450,000
- Mets – $75,350,000
- Brewers – $55,650,000
- Angels – $52,000,000
- Mariners – $51,325,000
- Braves – $41,350,000
- Reds – $37,070,000
- Giants – $34,750,000
- Phillies – $30,850,000
- Astros – $29,900,000
- Nationals – $29,900,000
- Cubs – $25,800,000
- Tigers – $23,950,000
- Orioles – $23,900,000
- Rangers – $22,500,000
- Athletics – $20,900,000
- Blue Jays – $20,500,000
- Yankees – $19,800,000
- Diamondbacks – $19,100,000
- Royals – $18,600,000
- Twins – $14,400,000
- Rockies – $13,100,000
- Dodgers – $11,500,000
- Padres – $8,675,000
- White Sox – $8,375,000
- Pirates – $8,125,000
- Rays – $5,300,000
- Indians – $2,850,000
- Marlins – $0
Odds & Ends: Offenses, Ben Snyder, Kelly Johnson
Action-packed links for Wednesday…
- NL offense rankings are up at RotoAuthority, courtesy of CHONE projections and the Baseball Musings lineup analysis tool. The Rockies are on top and the Padres bring up the rear, but plenty will change as the season unfolds.
- Two closers were named in recent days, and our Twitter account @CloserNews passed along the info instantly to allow you to make the winning fantasy pickups.
- The Rangers are attempting to work out a trade with the Giants that will allow them to retain Rule 5 lefty Ben Snyder, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Snyder already cleared waivers, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Sullivan also notes that Matt Treanor chose not to exercise his out clause; he's headed to Triple A.
- WEEI's Rob Bradford writes that although the Rangers are scouting Mike Lowell today and they're more interested in him than any other club, a deal is unlikely now and the Rangers would want the Red Sox to pay almost all of his salary. Bradford also notes that earlier this offseason, the Rangers expressed interest in Jed Lowrie.
- Free agent Kevin Millar hopes to continue his playing career, he explained on ESPN's Waddle & Silvy show.
- Diamondbacks second baseman Kelly Johnson strongly considered offers from the Blue Jays, Pirates, and Indians, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
- The A's feel that out of options players Eric Patterson and Jake Fox would not clear waivers, so they're likely to send Landon Powell and Adam Rosales down (Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reporting).
- Baseball America's Matt Eddy offers analysis and predictions for seven out of options pitchers.
- The Orioles are looking for a suitor for catcher Chad Moeller, who is "shocked and disappointed" about not making the team according to Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltmore Sun. Peter Schmuck feels that Moeller was a better choice than Craig Tatum.
- Jeff Suppan explained to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy that he's not dealing with a phantom neck injury, despite the convenient timing.
- Though they could've saved $750K, the Nationals chose not to cut Scott Olsen according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs knows the Mariners, and he analyzes the organization's health in this article.
Jeremy Sowers Clears Waivers
1:38pm: Sowers cleared waivers and will head to Triple A, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
9:53am: Indians pitcher Jeremy Sowers has been placed on outright waivers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal says the lefty is likely headed to the minors if unclaimed.
Sowers, 27 in May, posted a 5.25 ERA, 3.7 K/9, and 3.8 BB/9 in 123.3 innings for the Tribe last year. He was better in the minors, but it was his fourth Triple A stint (excluding one start made in '05).
Sowers was drafted 20th overall by Reds GM Jim Bowden in '01, but did not sign. He was known to be a very difficult sign prior to the draft, and already had a commitment to Vanderbilt. Three years later the Indians drafted the brainy southpaw 6th overall. His polish got him to Cleveland in '06, but he was never able to strike out big league hitters and his groundball rate dropped since that rookie season.
Pat Misch Clears Waivers
WEDNESDAY, 1:03pm: Misch cleared waivers and was sent to Triple A, writes Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog. This is the time of year to get guys through waivers, as 40-man roster spots are at a premium.
TUESDAY, 3:40pm: Mets pitcher Pat Misch has been placed on waivers, tweets Rich Coutinho of ESPN Radio. The 28-year-old southpaw posted a 4.48 ERA, 3.3 K/9, and 3.2 BB/9 in 62.3 innings for the Mets and Giants last year. He logged another 52.3 innings in the minors, with better peripherals. Misch wasn't particularly good against lefties or righties last year, though the samples are limited.