Jay Marshall Returned To Athletics; Released
Lefty reliever Jay Marshall was returned to the Athletics, reported Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News last night. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the A's released Marshall once he was returned.
The Mets had claimed Marshall off waivers from the A's on January 8th, but Rubin says the claim was voided due to a shoulder injury Marshall had at the time of the claim. The A's had designated Marshall in December to make room for Justin Duchscherer. Marshall, 27, posted a 3.20 ERA, 5.3 K/9, and 2.7 BB/9 in 50.6 Triple A innings last year.
Minor League Transactions: Orvella, Hennessey, Sisco
As always, Matt Eddy's minor league transactions post at Baseball America contains a few interesting names.
- The Angels signed reliever Chad Orvella. The 29-year-old spent '09 with the Royals' Double A club and the Rays' Triple A team. Once considered the Rays' closer of the future, Orvella had shoulder surgery in May of '08.
- The Twins signed pitcher Brad Hennessey. Hennessey soaked up 360.6 big league innings for the Giants in his career, but the former first-rounder sat out the '09 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
- The Giants signed lefty Andy Sisco. The towering 27-year-old southpaw missed the last two seasons due to April '08 Tommy John surgery. The Giants also inked Pablo Sandoval's older brother Michael out of the Atlantic League.
Roberts Injury May Prompt Orioles To Explore Trade Market
Orioles president Andy MacPhail says the Orioles are now considering contingency plans in case second baseman Brian Roberts is not ready for the start of the season, reports Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Roberts is dealing with a herniated disc in his back, and also had a bad reaction to medication he took for the injury.
According to Zrebiec, "MacPhail said he might start having his scouts look at who is available on the trade market along with exploring internal options." Current Orioles Robert Andino, Ty Wigginton, and Justin Turner have experience at second base.
My own speculation on potential second base trade candidates brings five names: Julio Lugo, Delwyn Young, Ramon Vazquez, Augie Ojeda, and Gregorio Petit.
Twins Interested In Jason Frasor
The Twins are interested in Blue Jays reliever Jason Frasor, tweets Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun. Elliott qualifies the rumor by noting that the Blue Jays had two scouts at a Twins game, "but then they now have a ton of scouts to go to games."
The Twins interest in Frasor stems from Joe Nathan's likely need for season-ending Tommy John surgery. Frasor could step in and handle any late-inning role. The 32-year-old posted a 2.50 ERA, 8.7 K/9, and 2.5 BB/9 in 57.6 innings for the Blue Jays last year. He's earning $2.65MM in his last season before free agency. The Cubs are also known to be interested; the Jays might find it's a seller's market for quality relievers.
Nomar Garciaparra To Announce Retirement
Nomar Garciaparra will announce his retirement at a Red Sox press conference this morning, tweets ESPN's Gordon Edes. WEEI's Lou Merloni reports that Garciaparra is signing a one-day minor league contract with Boston to retire as a member of the club, and then begin work as an ESPN analyst. Merloni says Nomar had asked Red Sox GM Theo Epstein about playing opportunities the last few years. WEEI's Tom Layman has the transcript of Garciaparra's press conference.
Nomar, 36, finishes with a sparkling career line of .313/.361/.521 in 6,116 plate appearances. He spent the majority of his time at shortstop, though also played the infield corners later in his career. Garciaparra was a superstar with the Red Sox, winning Rookie of the Year in '97 and getting MVP votes and All-Star appearances in six different seasons.
Garciaparra was traded to the Cubs before the Sox went on to win the '04 World Series. Nomar struggled with injuries after the Cubs trade, but did have a nice year at first base for the '06 Dodgers. He banked about $78MM in his career, according to Baseball-Reference.
Odds & Ends: Fielder, Young, Pierzynski Dice-K
Links for Tuesday…
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin tells MLB.com's Adam McCalvy that there's "no sense of urgency" to the Prince Fielder extension talks, since Fielder's "not going anywhere" for now.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that Chris Young (the Padres' version) could be a trade candidate this year, but that the right-hander would be better served staying in the National League.
- Morosi also lays out the decision facing the White Sox as A.J. Pierzynski's contract approaches its end. We discussed the catcher's next contract here.
- Daisuke Matsuzaka wants to play in the majors for at least another decade, according to WEEI's Rob Bradford.
- SI's Tom Verducci explains a radical floating realignment concept that was discussed by Bud Selig's "special committee for on-field matters."
- Joe Posnanski describes Aroldis Chapman's spring debut in this SI column.
- Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog reports that the Mets re-signed pitcher Kyle Snyder to a minor league deal. Snyder posted a 4.23 ERA, 6.4 K/9, and 2.8 BB/9 in 104.3 Triple A innings last year.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explores the recent pattern of the Cardinals acquiring rejected Red Sox players.
- ESPN's Keith Law opines that "if the season started this week, [Kyle Farnsworth would] have to be a candidate for unconditional release."
- MLB.com's Jason Beck caught up with Blue Jays pitcher Casey Fien, who bounced around between three clubs in a short span this winter.
- Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald says the 2007 Marlins-Tigers Miguel Cabrera blockbuster hasn't panned out as planned so far.
2011 Vesting Options
Vesting options are always fun for hot stove junkies to follow during the season. Last year we had Kevin Millwood's $12 Million Out and the Tigers allowing Magglio Ordonez's pricey option to vest. 2011 vesting options to watch this year:
- Brian Fuentes, Angels: $9MM option vests with 55 games finished. Fuentes has finished 55+ three times in his career, last year included. Fernando Rodney will be lurking.
- Billy Wagner, Braves: $6.5MM option vests with 50 games finished.
- Trever Miller, Cardinals: $2MM option vests with 45 games, but reverts to a club option with a left arm or shoulder injury.
- Matt Cain, Giants: $6.25MM option vests with 182.3 innings or 27 starts. The Giants will exercise this even if it doesn't vest, as the alternative will be going to arbitration with Cain and potentially paying him more.
- Kerry Wood, Indians: $11MM option vests with 55 games finished. A trade into a non-closing job could affect Wood's bank account. That's three closers whose GF totals we'll be monitoring.
- Alex Cora, Mets: $2MM option vests with 80 starts.
- Darren Oliver, Rangers: $3.25MM option vests with 59 appearances.
- Ramon Hernandez, Reds: $3.25MM option vests with 120 games played.
- Magglio Ordonez, Tigers: $15MM option vests with 135 starts or 540 plate appearances.
- Note that a game finished is given to the last non-starting pitcher of record. Also, thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Will Jason Heyward Make The Braves’ Opening Day Roster?
David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution makes a prediction: "Jason Heyward is going to be the Braves' right fielder on opening day." Heyward, the top prospect in baseball, is impressing observers in every way possible this spring. Still, he is only 20 years old and has just 50 games experience above A ball.
Projection systems, looking only at Heyward's minor league stats and not the scouting reports, call for something around a .330 OBP and .425 SLG from Heyward in the Majors in 2010 (CHONE, ZiPS). A computer would give Heyward more minor league seasoning, under the theory that he's a lateral move from Matt Diaz, Melky Cabrera, and Eric Hinske. Keeping Heyward in the minors for even two weeks would buy the Braves another year of control, similar to what the Rays did with Evan Longoria in 2008. If the Braves really wanted to save money, they could hold Heyward in the minors until mid-May to avoid Super Two status.
The Braves may feel, however, that Heyward is likely to exceed automated projections. They may consider intangibles such as the potential fan reaction to sending Heyward down. They may simply decide that winning is the only priority, and a full season of Heyward gives them the best chance to win. O'Brien has heard nothing about service time manipulation from Braves officials, "publicly or privately."
O'Brien brings up an interesting point: maybe the Braves already have designs to "make a multi-year contract offer well before [Heyward] hits arbitration," reducing the importance of Heyward's service time. Longoria certainly didn't take offense to the Rays' approach; he inked his team-friendly extension less than a week after his big league debut.
Rangers Acquire Edwar Ramirez
The Rangers acquired reliever Edwar Ramirez from the Yankees for cash considerations, tweets Jack Curry. Ramirez had been designated for assignment on February 28th to clear a spot for Chan Ho Park.
Ramirez, 29 this month, whiffed 10.6 per nine in his 98.3 career big league innings with the Yankees. Walks and home runs were a problem, though not nearly as much in recent Triple A stints.
Offseason In Review: New York Mets
Next in our Offseason In Review series, the Mets.
Major League Signings
- Jason Bay, LF: four years, $66MM. Includes $17MM club option for 2014 with a $3MM buyout. Can vest based on plate appearances.
- Ryota Igarashi, RP: two years, $3MM.
- Alex Cora, IF: one year, $2MM. Includes $2MM vesting option for 2011.
- Kelvim Escobar, RP: one year, $1.25MM.
- Fernando Tatis, 1B: one year, $800K (estimated).
- Henry Blanco, C: one year, $750K.
- Chris Coste, C: one year, $650K.
- Rod Barajas, C: one year, $500K.
- Clint Everts, P: one year, $400K.
- Total spend: $75.35MM.
Notable Minor League Signings
- Kiko Calero, Hisanori Takahashi, Josh Fogg, Mike Jacobs, Frank Catalanotto, R.A. Dickey, Shawn Riggans, Russ Adams, Jolbert Cabrera, Luis Hernandez, Mike Hessman, Bobby Livingston, Elmer Dessens
Trades and Claims
- Sold Rule 5 pick P Carlos Monasterios to Dodgers
- Claimed RP Jay Marshall off waivers from Athletics
- Acquired CF Gary Matthews Jr. and $21.5MM from the Angels for RP Brian Stokes
- Claimed CF Jason Pridie off waivers from Twins
Notable Losses
- Gary Sheffield, Brian Schneider, Jeremy Reed, Cory Sullivan, Carlos Delgado, Wilson Valdez, Tim Redding, Brian Stokes, J.J. Putz, Ken Takahashi, Lance Broadway
Summary
The Mets came into the offseason with needs at left field, first base, catcher, the rotation, and the bullpen. GM Omar Minaya's approach: one big move and tons of little ones.
Bay was the major expenditure; his option has a decent shot of vesting and turning this into a five-year, $80MM deal. The Mets also surrendered the #57 overall draft pick. Should the Mets be praised for giving Bay three fewer years than Matt Holliday, at about $643K less per year? Or did both teams overcommit, given an apparent lack of comparable offers? Perhaps in both cases, the Mets and Cardinals feared that their targeted sluggers would could sign short-term deals elsewhere and they'd be left with nothing.
Though I initially liked the Escobar signing, it's already looking like a waste of $1.25MM. In hindsight, he deserved a minor league deal. I still like Minaya's approach to the bullpen with the low-risk signings of Igarashi, Calero, and others.
Minaya committed $1.9MM to catchers Barajas, Blanco, and Coste, which at least looks good compared to the $6MM deals given to Ivan Rodriguez and Jason Kendall. The Mets are probably lucky that Bengie Molina didn't take their one-year, $5.5MM proposal, but they deserve faint praise for not offering a second year.
It looks like Daniel Murphy (.274/.328/.429 projection) has the inside track on the Mets' first base job, with Jacobs in camp as a backup plan. Minaya never seemed too keen on tossing $2MM at flawed but more interesting bats like Troy Glaus and Russell Branyan, nor did he make a play in the $6MM range for Nick Johnson or Adam LaRoche.
With all the uncertainty in the Mets' rotation, I expected them to sign two starters to big league deals. Instead, they added a couple of fifth starter candidates on minor league pacts in Takahashi and Fogg. I don't blame the Mets for not topping Oakland's $10MM offer to Ben Sheets, but they could've been more aggressive on Joel Pineiro or Jon Garland. The Mets have a probable rotation of Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Jon Niese – and I have no idea how they'll perform or how many innings they'll provide.
The Mets are comparable to their division rival Marlins, aside from the $80MM payroll difference. The teams project to have similar offenses, granting full health for both clubs (though I downgraded Carlos Beltran's projection slightly for the month-plus of Angel Pagan we'll see). Both clubs also have unpredictable rotations. I won't rule out the Marlins and Mets as contenders, but the Braves and Phillies have fewer question marks.