Odds & Ends: Byrd, Fox, Kobayashi
Links for Monday…
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince says the Indians signed 31 year-old reliever Blaine Neal to a minor league deal. Here's a look at Neal's minor league work – nice job for the Tigers' Triple A club last year.
- Masahide Kobayashi explains why he's struggled in the U.S., talking to Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro wrote on Thursday that free agent pitcher Paul Byrd has a $3MM asking price.
- It might be time for Chad Fox to hang up the spikes. He owns a 3.79 ERA in 228 career innings. Would've been 3.45, without his Cubs career.
- Michael O'Keefe of the New York Daily News runs through the list of Scott Boras clients linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
- Rany Jazayerli likes Pedro Martinez as a comparable for Zack Greinke.
- A.J. Hinch's contract runs through 2012.
- RotoAuthority looks at the pitchers who have improved their walk rate the most this year.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo gives an overview of this year's draft.
- Current members of the Newark Bears: Rob Mackowiak, Keith Foulke, Shawn Chacon, Abraham Nunez, Carl Everett, Jay Gibbons, and Michael Tucker.
Orioles Trade Candidates
The Orioles are currently in last place, eight games out in the AL East. The offense has been OK, the pitching lousy. This comes as no surprise; 2009 was viewed as a rebuilding year for Baltimore heading into the season. This is entirely speculative, but let's take a look at possible veteran trade candidates a month or two from now.
- Melvin Mora, 3B - $9MM this year, $8MM club option for '10 with a $1MM buyout. Mora, 37, caught fire in July and August of '08. He has a no-trade clause and has dealt with a hamstring injury this year. Could he help the Reds, if he starts hitting and shows a willingness to accept a trade? Walt Jocketty and Andy MacPhail matched up on the Ryan Freel–Ramon Hernandez deal last winter.
- Ty Wigginton, 3B - $2.5MM this year, $3.5MM in '10. Wiggy has been awful at the plate so far in 106 plate appearances, rendering him immovable.
- Adam Eaton, SP – signed through 2009, Phillies paying most of his salary. Eaton's had one good start this year, against the White Sox. He needs to find his way back to the NL.
- Aubrey Huff, DH/1B – $8MM this year. This year he's looked more like the pre-2008 Huff. Did MacPhail miss his chance last winter to move the entire $8MM?
- Danys Baez, RP – $5.5MM this year. He missed all of '08, but Baez is having a nice year in his first 18 innings. The O's have handled him carefully, as he ranks fourth in their bullpen in Leverage. He appears to be the most likely trade candidate on the team, and the cost shouldn't be much beyond paying his salary.
- Koji Uehara, SP – $5MM this year, $5MM in '10. Uehara has been the team's best pitcher, combining a decent strikeout rate with a tiny walk rate. Is this MacPhail's chance to sell high, despite the risk of making the '09 rotation even worse? Given the hoopla about Uehara being the team's first Japanese-born player, it's unlikely he's dealt a few months into the contract.
- Jamie Walker, RP – $4.5MM this year. Walker's been solid overall this year, but he's surprisingly been rocked by lefties.
- George Sherrill, RP – $2.75MM this year, under team control through 2011. Sherrill is trying to hang on to the team's closer job. He may be best-served back in a lefty-specialist role. He's similar to Guthrie in that he's past 30 but under team control for a while.
- Cesar Izturis, SS – $2.4MM this year, $2.6MM in '10. Izturis probably isn't a trade candidate unless an adequate replacement emerges, perhaps through a separate deal. Robert Andino hasn't gotten much of a look yet.
- Luke Scott, OF – $2.4MM this year, under team control through 2012. Scott's shoulder injury may knock him out for an extended period of time, keeping him off the trade market.
- Mark Hendrickson, SP/RP – $1.5MM this year. He at least takes the ball every fifth day, so the O's may keep him around just to eat up innings. Maybe they'll feel the same way about Eaton.
- Gregg Zaun, C – $1.5MM this year, $2MM club option for '10 with a $500K buyout. The contract could be a nice bargain if Zaun rediscovers his .340 OBP ability. The O's probably prefer he stays on to tutor Matt Wieters when the prospect comes up this summer.
- Jeremy Guthrie, SP – $650K this year, under team control through 2012. The O's are not in a position to trade away pitching, but Guthrie is already 30 years old. 3.5 years of Guthrie could be appealing on the trade market. Maybe he could be cashed in for multiple young players.
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Heyman On Rockies, Wedge, Strasburg
The latest from SI.com's Jon Heyman…
- Heyman says Rockies manager Clint Hurdle "appears to be on the firing line" after the team's 12-18 start. GM Dan O'Dowd called the speculation "unfair at this time," talking to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. O'Dowd's job seems safe and he could direct a "July tradeoff." Heyman speculates on Garrett Atkins and Huston Street as candidates. Heyman doesn't mention them, but Brad Hawpe and Jason Marquis seem like other possibilities.
- Indians manager Eric Wedge, on the other hand, does not appear likely to be fired.
- Heyman says Stephen Strasburg is still expected to aim for $50MM after the Nationals select him first overall in June.
2010 Options: Texas Rangers
Let's take a look at the 2010 options facing the Rangers.
- Ron Washington – club option. Back on April 20th, GM Jon Daniels said there had been "zero discussions" about firing Washington despite media speculation. Things have changed for the better since then; the 17-14 Rangers are in first place in the AL West. I'll speculate that an over-.500 finish could result in Washington's option being exercised.
- Kevin Millwood – $12MM 2010 salary becomes guaranteed with 180 innings pitched in 2009. Nice timing for Millwood, who is second in baseball right now with 52.3 innings pitched. He needs only 127.6 innings, maybe 20 more starts, for his 2010 salary to become guaranteed. Tom Hicks said in March that he wanted Millwood to reach the innings target. The 34 year-old has been the subject of trade speculation, but it doesn't make sense with the team in contention.
- Vicente Padilla – $12MM club option with a $1.75MM buyout. It's difficult to imagine the Rangers exercising this option. Padilla's level of production can be found more cheaply on the open market.
Indians Still Undecided On Luis Vizcaino
According to Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Indians watched reliever Luis Vizcaino audition yesterday. Their dilemma:
The Indians apparently want to sign him but are debating whether he should be added to the major-league club or go to Class AAA Columbus on a minor-league deal.
Vizcaino is a free agent after having been released by the Cubs. He figures to sign for the Major League minimum. MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince indicated yesterday that Vizcaino will join the team's big league bullpen this today.
Bengie Molina Talks About Future
FRIDAY, 2:42pm: Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports that Molina wants to return to the Giants, but won't discuss any extensions after the All-Star break. After that Molina wants to focus on the season and deal with free agency afterwards.
THURSDAY, 3:27pm: ESPN.com's Rob Neyer writes that the Giants need to get the most production possible out of Molina while he's on their team, even if that means suggesting they're more serious about discussing an extension than they really are.
9:18am: Talking to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, Giants catcher Bengie Molina discussed the future. Molina is earning $6MM in the last year of his contract. He considers himself a starting catcher for another two or three years and wants to finish his career with the Giants. However, Molina knows Giants prospect Buster Posey may be ready for the Majors as soon as 2010.
Schulman learned that Molina isn't offended that the Giants haven't discussed an extension with him, but he would like to have a conversation soon. Molina said:
"I'm not afraid of going to free agency. What I've done for this organization, I've left my heart out there every night, day in and day out. All I want is, when the time comes, they come forward and tell me what their plans are."
Molina's gotten a nice chance to bat in the middle of the order in his Giants career, boosting his RBI totals. His high contact approach leads to strong batting averages but low walk totals.
Indians To Sign Luis Vizcaino
1:08pm: MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reports that the Indians could announce a move this afternoon.
FRIDAY, 12:19pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports heard that the Indians intend to sign Vizcaino. He will either join the team immediately or tune up in the minor leagues first. The Indians' pitching struggled again last night, allowing 12 runs without recording an out at one point.
THURSDAY, 1:43pm: The Twitter post from Gaylord Sports linked below has been removed.
10:46am: According to Luis Vizcaino's agency Gaylord Sports, the reliever has been acquired by the Indians. The Cubs designated Vizcaino for assignment on April 23rd to make room for Jeff Samardzija. Vizcaino is owed $4MM, and presumably the Cubs will assume $3.6MM of that. They released him at some point, so he signed with Cleveland as a free agent.
The Cubs jettisoned Vizcaino after 3.6 scoreless innings. It seems they never wanted him; acquiring him was just a way to move some of Jason Marquis' salary.
Orioles Shopping Ryan Freel
FRIDAY, 12:01pm: Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports expects that Freel will be dealt or released. Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that Andy MacPhail expects "resolution in a day or two that will be to everyone's satisfaction."
THURSDAY: According to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, Orioles baseball operations president Andy MacPhail has been calling around to gauge interest in utility man Ryan Freel. Freel is done with his rehab assignment, and Schmuck says he's probably the odd man out. One small problem: Freel is still owed $3.3MM this year.
Freel made it clear in late April that he'd weclome a trade.
Bob Melvin To Be Replaced With A.J. Hinch
11:04pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman says A.J. Hinch will move out of the front office to take over as the new D'Backs manager. He'll be introduced Friday. During his playing career, Hinch was a catcher for the A's, Royals, Tigers, and Phillies.
8:05pm: According to John Gambadoro of 620 KTAR, Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin will be replaced before Friday's game. The writing had been on the wall for a few days now. At 12-17, the D'Backs are already 9 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. SI.com's Jon Heyman says the D'Backs are staying in house, but it won't be Chip Hale, Kirk Gibson, or Brett Butler. He believes the new manager will come from the team's front office.