Manny History: Almost A Twin Or Mariner?
I’ve been enjoying the new book Becoming Manny by Jean Rhodes and Shawn Boburg. The book is surprisingly objective for an authorized Manny Ramirez biography.
As you know, Manny was drafted 13th overall in 1991 by the Indians. The Yankees, Braves, Twins, Cardinals, Brewers, Astros, Royals, Padres, Orioles, Phillies, Mariners, and Cubs passed on him. Many teams did not view Manny as a first-round pick, partially because he didn’t speak English well and had not graduated high school. The book also suggests that scouts simply did not enjoy driving out to areas like Washington Heights to watch prospects.
Old school Twins scout Herb Stein recommended Manny, though. From the book:
Stein pushed the Twins to take Manny with their third overall pick. But he was rebuffed by his bosses – a source of bitterness even today. The Twins chose Stanford first baseman David McCarty, who wound up hitting 36 career home runs and batting .242 in eleven major league seasons of part-time duty.
The Mariners also made a run:
Manny was playing a Youth Service League doubleheader. In a late show of interest, the Seattle Mariners’ top scout and assistant to the general manager attended. DeLuca [the scout who signed Manny for Cleveland] felt a wave of panic. After the game, Seattle’s reps talked to [Manny’s coach Mel] Zitter for ten minutes on the right-field line. They passed DeLuca on their way to the parking lot, exchanged greetings and said, "Good luck"- shorthand, DeLuca believed, for, "We’re going to pass on Manny. He’s all yours."
Manny wasn’t even a lock for the Indians. They wanted a pitcher:
Indians general manager Hank Peters and director of player development Dan O’Dowd had been pressuring [scouting director Mickey] White all winter to pursue college pitcher Aaron Sele, a six-three right-hander from Washington State.
Eventually, DeLuca and White were able to convince Indians director of baseball operations John Hart to recommend Ramirez. Sele would go to the Red Sox at #23.
Schneider, Castro Halting Pudge Pursuit
According to Jim Baumbach of Newsday, Mets assistant GM Tony Bernazard told El Nuevo Dia that having two catchers under contract is keeping the team from pursuing Ivan Rodriguez. This does not come as a surprise. The Mets owe Brian Schneider $4.9MM and Ramon Castro $2.5MM, and would reportedly like to move Castro.
Milton Bradley Comments
Milton Bradley‘s comments to Gil Lebreton of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram are causing a mini-stir. He spoke about how the Rangers wouldn’t commit to him:
"My agent was saying that Jon Daniels was telling him, ‘There are days when he doesn’t want to play because of his health.’ Well, you can get a healthy guy to go out there and play 162 games, but he won’t do what I did in 120."
As Lebreton said, the comment was "crudely self-serving" but "mostly right" given his production last year. Worse, though, Bradley seemed to admit to prioritizing his stats:
"If I’m being paid, and I’ve got the commitment to me that I give to them, you make more of an effort to be out there every day. When you’re on one-year deals constantly, you’ve got to put up as good numbers as you can. When you have days where you’re not feeling like you can contribute, you’re not going to go out there, because you’re not going to want your numbers to suck. So, if you’re in a situation like I am now, if they want me to go out there when I’m feeling a little banged up, I’ve got no problem doing that because they’ve made the commitment to me."
Red Sox Sign 19
WEEI’s Alex Speier says the Red Sox signed 19 pre-arbitration players, including Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie, and Jacoby Ellsbury. Nothing new in terms of confirmation on the possible Jon Lester extension.
Sheets Rehabbing In Texas
According to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez, free agent righty Ben Sheets is rehabbing in Arlington, Texas at a facility owned by the Rangers’ team doctor Keith Meister. While the Rangers remain interested in Sheets, GM Jon Daniels cautioned that he did not advise Sheets to work with Meister and said "There’s not a connection there." Sheets had surgery on a torn flexor tendon in his elbow on February 13th and will probably return after the All-Star break.
Offseason In Review: Oakland A’s
Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the A’s. Here’s what we wrote about the team on September 16th. Changes for 2009:
Additions: Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, Russ Springer, Mike Wuertz, Nomar Garciaparra, Edgar Gonzalez, Jerome Williams, Corey Wimberly, Chris Schroder, Ben Copeland, Kevin Cameron. Midseason: Eric Patterson, Sean Gallagher, Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman
Subtractions: Greg Smith, Emil Brown, Alan Embree, Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street, Frank Thomas, Mike Sweeney, Donnie Murphy, Keith Foulke, Dan Meyer, Kirk Saarloos. Midseason: Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, Chad Gaudin.
The A’s had the worst offense in baseball in 2008, so GM Billy Beane added sluggers Holliday and Giambi. They also upgraded at shortstop with Cabrera. Last year the A’s gave over 2,100 at-bats to Bobby Crosby, Daric Barton, Jack Hannahan, Emil Brown, and Carlos Gonzalez. Brown’s .682 OPS led the group, so subtracting or reducing the playing time of these guys will make a huge difference.
Last year the A’s scored just 4.01 runs per game, worst in the league. I plugged CHONE projections into David Pinto’s lineup analysis tool, and their 2009 estimate is about 5.04 runs per game. Such production would’ve ranked fifth in the AL in 2008.
Last year Oakland’s starters posted a 4.29 ERA, 7th in the AL. From that they subtracted 204 innings of 3.97 ball provided by Joe Blanton and Rich Harden (Blanton was actually at 4.96 though). Oakland starters have typically fared better; here’s how their ERA ranked in the AL in years past: 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 3rd. So this was actually the A’s worst rotation this decade and it was still middle of the pack. Even though the ’09 rotation lacks household names, Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill may emerge and Beane may again find a way to get by.
The bullpen should be solid, with Joey Devine and Brad Ziegler flanked by new additions Springer and Wuertz. The team’s defense was very strong overall last year, and that should be the case again in ’09.
Bottom line: The remade Oakland team now has at least an average offense, and if the pitching and defense hold steady this team should win more than 90 games.
Odds & Ends: Crosby, Vizcaino, Andruw
Links for Tuesday…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- RotoAuthority sums up the stats you should target in each category for your fantasy league.
- The Braves released pitcher Anthony Lerew, according to Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Rany Jazayerli says the Royals will be better just by subtracting Ross Gload, Tony Pena Jr., and Joey Gathright. Here’s my Offseason In Review for the club, if you’re interested.
- A’s manager Bob Geren "chuckled and said no" when asked if Bobby Crosby is being showcased at third base for the Yankees, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Crosby is learning third in part because Eric Chavez is injured again.
- Speaking of Crosby, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune wonders if the Cubs could work out a deal involving reliever Luis Vizcaino. Despite the $4MM owed to Vizcaino, he’s not a lock for the Cubs’ bullpen. We learned last week that the Cubs do not appear interested in Crosby.
- Slusser also has an article about young A’s pitcher Michael Ynoa, who believes he can be in the Majors in two years at age 19.
- Andruw Jones apologized to Dodgers fans in this Bill Plaschke article.
- Talking to Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel sees Jayson Werth missing no more than 15-20 games this year. Geoff Jenkins, with $8MM left on his contract, looks like the odd man out.
Rosenthal On Pedro, A-Rod, Beimel, Ohman
Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
- One executive tells Rosenthal Pedro Martinez seeks a contract similar to the one John Smoltz received (a $5.5MM base plus $5.5MM incentives). Rosenthal’s speculative candidates for Pedro include the Dodgers, Marlins, Indians, and Mets. He says the A’s, Orioles, Nationals, and Brewers are out.
- Rosenthal does not expect a major acquisition by the Yankees to cover for Alex Rodriguez. He adds that the Yanks will not collect insurance on A-Rod’s salary.
- In addition to Orlando Cabrera, Manny Ramirez has a clause in his contract prohibiting his team from offering arbitration if he’s a Type A free agent after the season. Orlando Hudson and Bobby Abreu do not have such clauses.
- Two GMs told Rosenthal Joe Beimel wants a one-year, $2.5MM deal, but the pitcher’s agent Joe Sroba says they have’t gotten that specific. Sroba says new teams are in the mix for Beimel and he’s waiting for one to be "aggressive and sincere in their pursuit."
- The White Sox and Dodgers are two teams in on free agent lefty Will Ohman.
Duaner Sanchez Released
According to David Lennon of Newsday, Mets GM Omar Minaya announced that reliever Duaner Sanchez has been released. The Mets did not feel Sanchez could be effective in the Majors. I believe the Mets only have to pay him about $281K now since his contract was not guaranteed. Sanchez, 29, posted a 4.32 ERA in 58.1 innings last year. His fastball was down about 3.5 mph from 2005-06 levels.
Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post says the Nationals may have interest in Sanchez.
Pedro Martinez Won’t Chase Mets
Christian Red of the New York Daily News talked to free agent starter Pedro Martinez, who spoke about the Mets:
"You know what? My phone is off. And I won’t (call Minaya) unless he calls my agent (Fernando Cuza) or he calls me. I have a lot of respect for Omar and the Mets, but I’m not going to go chasing the Mets. I’m not in that bad of shape. I’m okay and they know I am okay. Yeah, I would like to be back (with the Mets). But I’m not just gonna follow the Mets. They have their own plans and they have their own thought process. Yes, I would love to go (to Citi Field) and hopefully have the same success I had at Shea. Shea was a great stadium for me. I hope the new Shea pretty much follows up on the old one. But I have my goals and I have my things that I want to achieve in life. If it’s not with the Mets, it will be with someone else. But if they want a fifth starter who’s been there – I don’t know how much they want me – I’m available."
There’s been a decent amount of hand-wringing in New York over the fifth starter job, as no one is running away with the gig. The candidates: Freddy Garcia, Tim Redding, Livan Hernandez, and Jon Niese. ESPN’s Rob Neyer says the Mets don’t need Pedro and should just choose between Niese and Redding. Joel Sherman of the New York Post would also pass.