Rays Release Morgan Ensberg
According to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, the Rays released third baseman Morgan Ensberg today. Ensberg hit .227/.314/.273 in 50 plate appearances this spring. Ensberg has bounced around with the Yankees, Indians, and Padres in recent years.
Freddy Sanchez Wants To Stay In Pittsburgh
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talked to Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez, who wants to stay with the team beyond this season. Under his current contract, Sanchez has three ways to remain a Pirate in 2010:
- Team chooses his $8MM club option over the $600K buyout
- Option vests with 635 plate appearances
- Option vests with 600 PAs and an All-Star game selection
Presumably the Bucs are not going to be terribly interested in exercising the club option. But 635 PAs is possible; Sanchez had 632 in '06 and 653 in '07. Sanchez mostly batted first and second in the lineup last year.
According to Kovacevic, Sanchez doesn't want the contract clause to become a factor. He just wants to have a strong, healthy season and "everything will take care of itself." It was Sanchez who urged Jack Wilson to approach the Pirates about an extension. Sanchez wants to be part of the next winning Pirates team.
Marcus Giles Released
According to Scott Lauber of The News Journal, the Phillies released infielder Marcus Giles this morning. Giles blamed himself for not performing well enough. He hit .167/.302/.250 in 41 spring plate appearances after sitting out the 2008 season.
Coupled with various demotions, Miguel Cairo is left as the only potential righthanded bench bat according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. Zolecki says the Phils continue to look for help in that regard.
Dodgers Make Offer To Will Ohman
Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times has the latest on free agent lefty Will Ohman, who auditioned for the Dodgers yesterday. Hernandez says the Dodgers offered Ohman about $1MM, half of his reported asking price. They're waiting to hear back. Joe Beimel managed to snag $2MM from Washington on March 18th.
Hernandez says the Dodgers need Ohman as much as he needs them, as they're considering Erick Threets and Brian Mazone for the situational lefty role.
Astros Release David Newhan
According to MLB.com's Alyson Footer last night, the Astros released David Newhan. Newhan wasn't pleased that he had to read about his exclusion from the backup shortstop competition on MLB.com rather than hearing about it from manager Cecil Cooper.
The 35 year-old Newhan hit .182/.308/.182 in 38 plate appearances this spring.
Indians Won’t Negotiate With Cliff Lee
SATURDAY, 3:41pm: Indians GM Mark Shapiro brushed aside reporters Saturday when asked why negotiations won't take place this season (quote courtesy of CBSSports.com):
"Over the course of spring training, we meet with a number of player agents," Shapiro said. "Consistent with that, we talked with Darek Braunecker, who represents Cliff. Other than that, there's really nothing for me to say. We never talk about negotiations."
THURSDAY, 8:57pm: According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Indians told reigning Cy Young winner Cliff Lee they will not negotiate an extension with him right now due to the economy. The Indians have a reasonable $9MM option on Lee for 2010, and he'll be eligible for free agency after that.
Lee's agent Darek Braunecker (of A.J. Burnett fame) confirmed the Indians' stance with Hoynes after meeting with the team. Braunecker does not plan to discuss an extension during the season, and Lee noted that the player gains leverage when he enters his free agent year. So the Indians would probably have to make a convincing offer to lock him up during the 2009-10 offseason after they exercise his option.
Lee is having a rough Spring Training – 25 hits and 16 earned runs allowed in 11.6 innings.
Taschner To Phils; Paulino To Fish; Correa To SF
SATURDAY, 2:01am: The Giants quickly turned Paulino around in a trade to the Florida Marlins for right-handed pitcher Hector Correa, MLB.com reports.
Correa, 21, has a career 8-10 record with a 4.52 ERA in 34 games (29 starts) in the minor leagues.
Paulino will likely be the backup catcher to John Baker. Paulino, 27, hit .278 in 304 games with Pittsburgh from 2005 to 2008.
FRIDAY, 9:08am: According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Phillies acquired lefty reliever Jack Taschner today for catcher Ronny Paulino. The Phils had acquired Paulino from the Pirates on December 10th.
Taschner, 31 in April, allowed lefties to hit .279/.339/.394 line last year. They knocked him around in '07 even worse, so he's not the perfect fill-in for J.C. Romero.
Melhuse Won’t Make Rangers
According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers have informed catcher Adam Melhuse he won't make the team. Melhuse has no interest in Triple A, so he's considering retirement if he can't hook on with another team. He's 12 for 19 this spring.
The Rangers' plan is to use Jarrod Saltalamacchia as the starter and Taylor Teagarden as the backup at the catcher position.
Mets Release Ron Villone, Jose Valentin
According to Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog, the Mets released lefty reliever Ron Villone today. Villone, 39, allowed eight hits and six runs in five spring innings. Cerrone guesses Pedro Feliciano will be the team's only southpaw reliever when they break camp.
Cerrone also reports via SNY that the Mets released infielder Jose Valentin. He hit .267/.320/.378 in 48 spring plate appearances. In February, Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News learned that Omar Minaya wants Valentin to be a player and unofficial coach at Triple A Buffalo.
Minor Moves
Robert MacLeod of the Globe and Mail has additional Blue Jays moves, beyond their trade of Curtis Thigpen to the A's. MacLeod says pitchers Mike Maroth and Rick Bauer have been released, and Matt Clement agreed to report to Triple A.
Meanwhile, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says lefty reliever Royce Ring accepted his Triple A assignment.