AL East Notes: Red Sox, Rays, Shields, Uehara
The Red Sox love a good mantra or idea to rally around when the playoffs approach. In 2003, the BoSox implored each other to “Cowboy Up.” In 2004, the Red Sox termed themselves as the “Idiots.” This year, the Red Sox want everyone to fear the beard as much of the roster is now sporting some sweet facial hair, writes John Tomase of the Boston Herald. Here’s more out of the AL East..
- The Rays have strong leaders like David Price and Evan Longoria, but some feel that the team could also use an outspoken clubhouse general like they’ve had in years past, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Jonny Gomes, Johnny Damon, Cliff Floyd, and Eric Hinske filled that role during their time with the Rays and most recently, it was James Shields who led the charge.
- Red Sox closer Koji Uehara briefly flirted with the idea of trying to play professionally in the United States out of college in Japan, which would have been unprecedented at the time, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. “I wanted to play against the best. I just wasn’t ready then,” the 38-year-old said. Uehara is more than capable of pitching in the big leagues today – he currently owns a 1.06 ERA with 12.5 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 in 67 relief appearances this season. The Red Sox will have the veteran under contract next year for $5MM after he locked in his vesting option and upped the value by finishing 35 games.
- Red Sox skipper John Farrell says that Jarrod Saltalamacchia is no longer in the shadow of Jason Varitek and has established his own identity, writes MLB.com’s Jason Mastrodonato. Yesterday, John Tomase of the Boston Herald wrote that Salty could be a candidate to receive a qualifying offer from the BoSox.
Cafardo On Cano, Angels, Rangers, Cruz
In today's column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that there is growing resentment towards the one-game playoff. “I would like to see it changed to two of three,” said the Red Sox’ Jonny Gomes. “At least then you feel as if you lose, you had three games. I like the fact the two wild cards play, that part is fine, and I understand the drama of the one game, but it’s not fair. You see what’s happening now. These teams are fighting and clawing to get one of those two spots, then let the teams who make it have a fair chance to advance.” Here's more from Cafardo..
- Most industry sources believe the Dodgers won’t be interested in Robinson Cano, but Cafardo says that the Angels and Tigers are worth keeping an eye on. Cafardo also heard someone theorize that the Mets could pull a fast one and get in the mix for Cano. There's no evidence of that happening, but it would keep the star second baseman in his desired long-term location.
- There are still no signs that the Rangers will trade Elvis Andrus or Jurickson Profar this offseason, but dealing Ian Kinsler could be a legitimate option, with Andrus or Profar playing second base in 2014. However, the 31-year-old's contract is an issue as he has four years remaining at $57MM with an option for 2018. He's not having his sharpest season either, hitting .273/.340/.403 versus a line of .272/.350/.460 heading into 2013.
- Speaking of Texas, it wouldn't be shocking to see the Rangers re-sign Nelson Cruz despite the 50-game PED suspension. Cruz has been the missing cog in the Rangers’ recent slump and also happens to be popular in the clubhouse. Even with Alex Rios, Texas will still be in the market for a DH/outfielder this this winter and it could be as simple as re-signing Cruz.
- Alfredo Aceves is now home in Mexico after leaving Fort Myers, Florida and is unlikely to ever don a Red Sox uniform again. One American League GM blasted the pitcher for his behavior but said that he'll likely get another chance somewhere because of his talent.
- If Carlos Beltran does not re-sign with the Cardinals, Cafardo posits that he would be the ideal DH/occasional outfielder for the Orioles.
- Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta is “likely going to be someone’s third baseman” next season, one Detroit teammate said.
- Cafardo wonders if Cal Ripken could emerge as a candidate to replace Davey Johnson as manager of the Nationals. Of course, Ripken is tied to the local competition, but he has made it clear that he wants to be a skipper. Meanwhile, Buck Showalter is on solid footing with the Orioles and it would allow Ripken to stay in the area.
- Not a huge surprise, but Cafardo doesn't believe the Red Sox will exercise Matt Thornton's $6MM option for next season.
Japanese Posting System May Change This Fall
Since 1998, the Japanese posting system has called for a bidding process that left just one MLB team with a window to negotiate a contract with a coveted Japanese player. However, the system could be getting a significant overhaul in the near future with changes that could take effect as soon as this November, multiple sources told David Lennon of Newsday.
One of the proposals for a new system would have as many as three teams chosen among the top bidders, with the Japanese player then allowed to choose the club he'd prefer to play for and negotiate with. MLB declined to comment, but senior VP for baseball operations Kim Ng acknowledged that they have talked with Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) about the issues involving the posting process.
If those changes take place, it will give Masahiro Tanaka the opportunity to have some say in where he'll play in MLB if he decides to make the jump. It's a luxury that previous imports Ichiro Suzuki, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Yu Darvish, and many others never had.
The rumored changes could benefit all parties involves. The player, of course, would get the freedom to choose between three clubs rather than being led to just one. Meanwhile, the new system would prevent an MLB team from placing the winning bid for the sole purpose of blocking other clubs without the intention of signing the player. Closing that loophole would benefit both MLB and NPB.
Lennon writes that a great deal of people in baseball believe that the overhaul is overdue. The posting agreement has been renewable on a year-to-year basis, with either side able to re-open conversations about it for the coming offseason, so the opportunity to make alterations has been there.
Last month, Ben Badler of Baseball America wrote that changes to the posting system were being discussed, with one proposal calling for more money to be funnelled to the players themselves rather than the Japanese team.
Rosenthal On Gardenhire, McCann, Saltalamacchia
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports brings us yet another edition of Full Count, let's dive in and take a look at the highlights..
- Of all of the pending managerial situations to watch in the majors, the Twins might be the most interesting club to keep an eye on. Ron Gardenhire is trying to avoid his third-straight 90-loss season and he's extremely unlikely to accept a one-year deal and serve as a lame duck in 2014. By the same token, the Twins might not be willing to give him another multi-year pact. For what it's worth, GM Terry Ryan has taken full responsibility for the team's poor roster.
- Catchers generally don't do well in free agency, but two prominent ones are about to hit the open market with prominent teams bidding for their services: the Braves' Brian McCann and the Red Sox's Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Phillies and Rangers figures to be in the mix as they could lose free agent backstops of their own. The White Sox badly need to upgrade behind the plate, though it's not clear how much they'll spend. The Yankees could be involved too. They want to stay under the $189MM luxury tax threshold, but they could use one of the two to finally give themselves an adequate replacement for Russell Martin.
- It's not a huge surprise to see the Marlins contemplating a front office shakeup in September, but regardless of what they do with Baseball Operations President Larry Beinfest, Miami has bigger fish to fry. The Marlins have to decide if they will part with Giancarlo Stanton as he's still unlikely to sign an extension. Rosenthal also wonders why they have been bystanders when it comes to going after Cuban free agents that have come and gone like Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Cespedes, and Alexander Guerrero. One has to imagine that a notable Cuban import would be a sizable draw in Miami.
- Even though all of the focus is on the playoff chase, there's still a matter of who will get the final protected pick in next year's draft. The Phillies, if they win too much, can wind up losers. The difference is critical for Ruben Amaro & Co. as they have an older club and they'll want to sign free agents, but, of course, they don't want to lose a first rounder. You can keep track of the other September race with MLBTR's Reverse Standings.
James McDonald Elects Free Agency
SEPT 14: McDonald has refused his outright assignment and elected free agency, according to the Pirates' transactions page.
SEPT. 13: McDonald cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to the International League transactions page. As a player that has been outrighted off his 40-man roster but has three or more years of Major League service time, baseball's collective bargaining agreement allows McDonald to elect free agency following the season.
SEPT. 7: The Pirates announced that they have designated James McDonald for assignment. The move will allow the Bucs to promote Brandon Cumpton from Triple-A Indianapolis.
McDonald, 28, was just reinstated from the disabled list after being out of action since April 30th due to issues with his throwing shoulder. The right-hander wasn't terribly sharp in six starts this season, posting a 5.76 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9. McDonald was once considered to be a high-upside prospect when he started out with L.A. and was rated No. 56 nationally by Baseball America before the '09 season. For his career, McDonald owns a 4.20 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9.
McDonald spent the entirety of the 2011-12 seasons in Pittsburgh's rotation, hurling 171 innings of 4.21 ERA each year with a combined 7.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. His fastball velocity has declined in each of the past two years, though, falling from an average of 92.7 mph in 2011 to 91.8 in 2012 and 90.5 in 2013's small sample of 29 2/3 innings.
To keep track of McDonald and everyone else in DFA limbo, check out the MLBTR DFA Tracker.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Vesting Options Update
Back in February, I looked at vesting options from 2010, 2011, and 2012 to try and find out how often they were triggered over that span. In total, just over 29% of vesting options were locked in for the following season. If you think that's a low success rate for vesting options, just wait until you see this year's crop. As the 2013 regular season winds down, we've got a pretty concrete idea of who has managed to successfully tack on additional year to their contract and who hasn't..
- Kurt Suzuki, Athletics: $9.25MM option vests with 113 starts in 2013. Suzuki looked like he'd have a solid chance of securing his 2014 option early in the season as Wilson Ramos struggled to stay healthy, but the younger backstop ultimately returned to reclaim his starting job. The 29-year-old was eventually traded back to Oakland without enough time on the clock to hit 113. Now, it's a club option for next season worth $8.5MM with a modest $650K buyout.
- Jamey Carroll, Royals: $2MM option vests with 401 plate appearances. Carroll surpassed that total in each of the last three seasons and even had 500+ plate appearances in 2011 and 2012, but he had significantly less this season. With 191 PAs for the Twins and 31 for the Royals, he barely cleared the halfway mark.
- Koji Uehara, Red Sox: Uehara's contract was originally reported to be a one-year deal worth $4.25MM, but Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe and Alex Speier of WEEI learned last month that his deal contained a vesting option that would give him $4.25MM for next season with 55 appearances. The veteran reached that goal on August 13th and just last night, he finished his 35th game of the season, boosting his '14 salary to a cool $5MM.
- Wilson Betemit, Orioles: $3.2MM option vests with 324 plate appearances (combined 700 between 2012 and 2013). Betemit underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on March 26th and just got back to big league action in late August. Needless to say, his option won't vest.
- Lance Berkman, Rangers: $13MM option vests with 550 plate appearances. Injuries derailed Berkman's campaign once again in 2013 and he has just 70 games and 288 PAs to date. Berkman was thinking about quitting mid-season rather than returning, so it wouldn't be a shock to see him retire after this season.
- Roy Halladay, Phillies: $20MM option vests with 259 innings pitched (combined 415 innings pitched between '12 and '13). This was a longshot to begin with, but shoulder surgery earlier this season makes this one impossible.
- Brett Myers, Indians: $8MM option vests with 200 innings pitched in 2013 and a passed physical after the season. After logging 21 and 1/3 innings in 2013, Myers was sidelined with tendinitis and a mild ligament sprain in his right elbow and was eventually cut loose.
- Barry Zito, Giants: $18MM option vests with 200 innings pitched. Zito has just 128 innings through 24 starts and four relief outings to his credit this season, so he won't get to lock in his sizable 2014 salary.
- Johan Santana, Mets: His $25MM option could have vested with 215 innings pitched or winning the 2013 Cy Young Award, but he won't have a chance at that thanks to a season-ending tear in his pitching shoulder.
- Francisco Liriano, Pirates: The nature of Liriano's contract with the Pirates was shrouded in secrecy, but our own Steve Adams got the goods last month. The left-hander's 2014 option ($5MM) officially vested when he reached 90 days not spent on the DL due to the right arm injury. Now, he' s increased that number to $6MM after reaching 120 games on Saturday, Sept. 7. He could have reached $8MM for 2014 with a total of 150 games, but he spent too much time on the sidelines to have that opportunity.
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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Tigers, Cubs, Kendrick
On this date in 2008, the Marlins become only the second Major League team to have three infielders hit 30 home runs in the same season when Hanley Ramirez went deep in Florida's 4-2 victory over the Nationals. The Florida shortstop joined teammates first baseman Mike Jacobs and second baseman Dan Uggla to match a feat accomplished in 2001 by A's infielders Jason Giambi, Eric Chavez, and Miguel Tejada. Here's this week's look around the baseball blogosphere..
- Know Hitter gives a tip of the cap to Dave Dombrowski.
- I R Fast takes a quick look at Chang-Yong Lim's debut for the Cubs.
- Halos Daily evaluates the market for Howie Kendrick.
- Batting Leadoff scouts Mariano Rivera and the money pitch.
- MLB Reports says the Rays miss James Shields.
- The Giants Cove is planning ahead.
- 2 Guys Talking Mets Baseball reaches across the aisle to talk Ryan Braun.
- Replacement Level Red Sox ranks Boston's top ten prospects.
- Inside The Zona tackles the question we've all been wrestling with.
- Blogging Mets has some concerns about the Mets' front office.
- Rays Colored Glasses wants the old David Price back.
- Grading On The Curve peers into the future to check out the Cubs in 2017.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.
Quick Hits: Red Sox, Stanton, Collins, A-Rod
For the Red Sox, 2013 has increasingly taken on the feel of a triumphant return to glory. Now enjoying a seemingly insurmountable division lead, the Sox have engineered one of the greatest season-to-season turnarounds ever. Jonah Keri of Grantland looks back on each of the key free agent signings made by GM Ben Cherington, arguing that the team's "passel of midlevel free agents" were hardly the overpays that they were labeled. Here's more from around baseball..
- The Phillies are still interested in Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton and GM Ruben Amaro Jr. says that he's tried to trade for him "at least ten times," writes Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. Unfortunately for the Phils, Marlins president Larry Beinfest has rebuffed them each time and made it clear that they're not moving him.
- A Mets source told Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter) that manager Terry Collins isn't being evaluated by wins and losses in September. "There's different criteria at different times of the year," the offical said.
- Alex Rodriguez's attorneys fear that the MLBPA won't fight hard for their client as he fights a 211-game ban, writes Michael O'Keeffe of the New York Daily News. Sources say that the relationship between team A-Rod and the union is rather uneasy at this point.
- Twins pitcher Mike Pelfrey needs 10.2 innings to reach a $100K bonus and manager Ron Gardenhire won't get in his way as he says that he never lets bonuses affect his decisions, tweets Phil Miller of the Star Tribune.
- Regardless of his light-hitting, Brendan Ryan left his mark on Mariners baseball, writes Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. The shortstop was traded to the Yankees earlier this week for a player to be named later.
- Three years after signing Jayson Werth to a seven-year, $126MM deal, Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner says that he's still pleased about the deal, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
Jeff Todd contributed to this post.
NL East Notes: Nats, McCann, Zambrano, Fernandez
Entering his final season as Nationals manager, Davey Johnson said that, in his mind, it was "World Series or Bust" for 2013. Today, the Nationals find themselves with a slim 1.6% chance of getting the second Wild Card spot in the National League, according to Baseball Prospectus. What went wrong in Washington? “We lost a few key players over the offseason and changed the dynamics of the bullpen. We had pretty much a set lineup and a had a different configuration on the bench. We still have a few little things to fix," Johnson said, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. "Starting pitching needs to be squared away. The bullpen is not nearly as efficient and effective as it was last year. And the bench has not been as productive. I still like the talent, but we lack some experience, as I talked about. I usually like to have my stacked hand before I make those predictions." Here's more out of the NL East..
- Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets that it is a fait accompli that Brian McCann will be playing for a new team in 2014 due to the presence of Evan Gattis and Christian Bethancourt in Atlanta as well as the Braves' tight budget.
- Pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who most recently played with the Marlins and Phillies organizations, is healthy and wants to play again in 2014, according to his agent Scott Shapiro (via a Heyman tweet). Big Z will play winter ball in Venezuela to prepare for next season, he adds.
- Paul Hagen of MLB.com wonders if Jose Fernandez's campaign might be the best ever put together by a rookie pitcher. The Marlins phenom had a 2.23 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in the 27 starts leading up to tonight's game.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.