Mets Sign Wily Mo Pena
According to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post, the Mets signed outfielder Wily Mo Pena to a minor league deal and assigned him to extended spring training. Mario Rojas of Candela Deportiva deserves credit for breaking this story two days ago.
Pena was productive for the Nationals in '07 after they acquired him from Boston for Chris Carter and cash in August. He signed a two-year, $7MM extension in December but lost his '08 season due to a strained oblique and shoulder surgery. Perhaps with good health Pena can rediscover the power that led to 26 home runs in 364 plate appearances for the '04 Reds.
Cardinals Acquire Blaine Boyer For Brian Barton
According to a press release, the Cardinals acquired reliever Blaine Boyer from the Braves for outfielder Brian Barton.
Boyer, 27, was designated for assignment on Saturday to make room for Jo-Jo Reyes. When he's right, Boyer is able to get strikeouts and groundballs. Last year he dealt with a sore knee.
Barton, 26, was taken by the Cardinals from the Indians in the 2007 Rule 5 draft. He hit .268/.354/.392 in 179 plate appearances last year while playing mostly left field. Barton, an aerospace engineering major in college, was a well-regarded five-tool player prior to a 2006 knee injury. Atlanta's less-crowded outfield should present a better opportunity than St. Louis, though Barton will initially head to Triple A.
2010 Options: Baltimore Orioles
Let's take a look at the options facing the Orioles after the season.
- Gregg Zaun – $2MM club option with a $500K buyout. The general feeling is that Matt Wieters will be the starter behind the plate by the All-Star break. Paying a net of $1.5MM for a quality backup like Zaun is probably still worthwhile.
- Melvin Mora – $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout. Prospect Billy Rowell moved to right field in March, and he's not close to the Majors anyway. The Orioles don't have much in the third base pipeline. Mora would be worth the net $7MM for another year if he can approach his '08 production. Currently the 37 year-old is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
The Orioles also have many contracts ending after '09: Aubrey Huff, Danys Baez, Jamie Walker, Ryan Freel, and Mark Hendrickson. Those five will earn a total of $23.5MM this year. Ty Wigginton will still be around next year, but the Orioles may be in the market for another corner infielder.
Odds & Ends: Hunter, Keppinger, Swisher
Links for Monday…
- Become a fan of MLB Trade Rumors on Facebook! We're up to 9,828 fans.
- Jed Lowrie will have wrist surgery, and Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe learned that he could return by the All-Star break. Julio Lugo, recovering from knee surgery, should be ready to take over soon.
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. says "negotiations between the New York Yankees and Cuban exile prospect Felix Perez have broken down because of the outfielder's problem in obtaining a visa." Perez was set for a bonus north of $3MM, but questions have been raised about his age. The Yanks may have interest in a couple of other Cuban players, Noel Arguelles and Jose Iglesias, once they're declared free agents.
- According to Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Torii Hunter would seemingly like to finish his career with the Twins.
- MLB.com's Alyson Footer says sending Drew Sutton to the Reds for Jeff Keppinger was "a great, great deal for the Astros." Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle explains why the move was made.
- Aaron Gleeman weighs in on the Twins' decision to swap out Philip Humber for Juan Morillo.
- David Pinto of Baseball Musings gives his opinion of the Ryan Zimmerman extension.
- South Side Sox and Sox Machine discuss the minor tiff between Ozzie Guillen and Nick Swisher.
- Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News says the Dodgers signed pitcher Chuck Tiffany to a minor league deal. They'd traded him to the Rays in '06 as part of the Danys Baez deal, and the Rays released him in March of this year.
Yankees Issues
The Yankees' 7-6 record puts them 2.5 games behind the Blue Jays. With only 8% of the season finished, here are the issues currently facing the Yanks.
- Chien-Ming Wang has allowed 23 hits and 23 earned runs in six innings spanning three starts. He'd need to pitch four shutouts to get his ERA under 5.00…that has to affect a guy's confidence. Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Yankees will skip Wang's next start. He believes the team attributes the poor start to a lack of arm strength. Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News says the Yankees found mechanical issues, though Wang says everything's the same as last year. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times notes that Wang is out of options, so the Yankees won't end up sending him to the minors. Benjamin Kabak at River Avenue Blues suggests the Yankees saw this coming, given their reluctance to lock Wang up long-term. Kabak believes a DL stint would make sense.
- Is the new stadium a launching pad? It's early, but many say the ball is flying out to right field. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports looks at the stadium and other issues, including the bullpen. ESPN's Buster Olney calls the park "a veritable wind tunnel that is rocketing balls over fences." He notes that the team cannot structurally alter the park this season.
- Regarding Xavier Nady's elbow injury, Sherman says "the Yanks were privately a lot more optimistic by Sunday that Nady could avoid Tommy John surgery and that he might be able to return in June and form a righty-lefty DH platoon with Hideki Matsui." Nady had a second MRI on Saturday, and the team doctor will speak with Dr. Lewis Yocum.
White Sox Acquire Andy Phillips
According to MLB.com's Jen Langosch, the Pirates traded utility man Andy Phillips to the White Sox for minor league pitcher Michael Dubee. Phillips had signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh during the offseason. The 32 year-old spent most of his career in the Yankees organization, and also spent time with the Mets and Reds. Dubee joined with White Sox in July of '07, when they sent Tadahito Iguchi to Philadelphia.
Nationals Closing In On Extension With Zimmerman
3:10pm: Chico Harlan of the Washington Post says the Nationals are closing in on a five-year, $45MM extension with Zimmerman. The deal would begin with 2009, erasing his current contract. By comparison, Markakis will earn $47MM over the same service time slice of his career.
2:35pm: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Nationals are closing in on an extension with third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. The talks are getting serious, with Zimmerman aiming for a deal similar to Nick Markakis' six-year, $66.1MM deal. Rosenthal says a Zimmerman extension "likely would cover his remaining arbitration years and at least two years of free agency." Markakis' deal bought out all three arbitration years and three free agent years with a mutual option for a fourth.
Looking at Zimmerman's accomplishments, is he worth a big-money extension? Or are the Nationals locking him up because he's their best young player?
Twins Claim Morillo; Designate Humber
According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins claimed reliever Juan Morillo off waivers from the Rockies and designated Philip Humber for assignment. They must feel that Morillo has more upside given the mid-90s heat. Both pitchers are out of options. Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies notes that the Twins were the 21st in line to make the Morillo claim.
Humber, 26, was chosen third overall by the Mets in '04. He was traded to the Twins as part of the Johan Santana deal in February of '08.
Odds & Ends: Bonifacio, Jimenez, Darvish
Links for Friday…
- Royals third baseman Alex Gordon is out 10-12 weeks due to hip surgery. Mark Teahen will slide over to take his place.
- Ken Rosenthal examines the Indians.
- I did a Q&A with But The Game Is On.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post gets into the Emilio Bonifacio trade.
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. writes about how the Yankees' signing of D'Angelo Jimenez changed everything.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker has a Yu Darvish velocity chart.
- The Big Lead talked to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Paul DePodesta explains the Padres' decision to expose Travis Denker to waivers.
Discussion: Cy Young Predictions
This thread serves as the home for your official Cy Young predictions. These are basically preseason picks; I'm not asking you to base your decision on regular season stats. Some of the contenders:
American League: Jon Lester, Roy Halladay, Zack Greinke, John Danks, Matt Garza, Erik Bedard, C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Felix Hernandez, Gil Meche, Josh Beckett, Mark Buehrle, Jeremy Guthrie, Justin Verlander, Joe Saunders, Cliff Lee, Armando Galarraga, Kevin Millwood, Daisuke Matsuzaka
National League: Josh Johnson, Johan Santana, Yovani Gallardo, Cole Hamels, Aaron Harang, Clayton Kershaw, Dan Haren, Brandon Webb, Derek Lowe, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Chad Billingsley, Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Adam Wainwright, Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook, Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster, Ricky Nolasco, Edinson Volquez, Roy Oswalt, Randy Johnson, Javier Vazquez, Brett Myers, Kyle Lohse, Paul Maholm
Feel free to pick someone not on the list!