Week In Review: 2/26/12 – 3/3/12
It's time to take a look back at the week that was here at MLBTR..
- Washington agreed to terms on a new $100MM, six-year contract extension with Ryan Zimmerman, with a club option for a seventh year worth $24MM. In conjunction with his current deal, the new agreement can keep the 27-year-old in the nation's capital through 2020 if the option is exercised. No-trade protection was said to be the final hurdle in talks and the new deal will provide Zimmerman with a full no-trade clause.
- The Padres and Cameron Maybin agreed to a five-year contract extension with an option for a sixth year. The Brian Goldberg client will get $25MM guaranteed and the option is worth $7-8MM. The extension covers Maybin's final pre-arbitration season, all three seasons of arbitration-eligibility, and one free agent year with an option for second.
- The Cardinals agreed to a five-year, $75MM contract extension with catcher Yadier Molina. The deal includes a no-trade clause and a mutual option for 2018 that's worth an additional $15MM. The 29-year-old is considered by many to be the game's best defensive catcher. His offense took a leap forward in 2011, as he posted a .305/.349/.465 line in 518 plate appearances.
- Shane Victorino is looking for a five-year contract, but is willing to take a reasonable hometown discount to remain in Philadelphia.
- After months of speculation, Jason Varitek decided to call it a career this week. The former catcher is expected to remain with the Red Sox in some capacity.
- The Reds announced a three-year extension with reliever Sean Marshall, which runs through 2015. The contract is worth $16.5MM with $2MM in performance bonuses each year, $1MM for games started and $1MM for games finished.
- The Royals signed catcher Salvador Perez to a five-year contract that includes three club options. Perez will earn a guaranteed $7MM over the course of the five-year contract, which buys out his three pre-arbitration seasons and two of his seasons of arbitration eligibility.
- Mike Napoli says talks of a new deal with the Rangers have been “squashed” for the time being.
- The Nationals are set to rely on some combination of Rick Ankiel, Roger Bernadina and Jayson Werth in center field this year, but they’re not ruling out potential acquisitions at the position.
- The Rangers signed 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Jairo Beras for $4.5MM, but there are some questions regarding his eligibility. Beras has been presenting himself as a 16-year-old and if that is the case then he is not eligible to sign.
- The MLB playoffs will expand from eight to ten teams for 2012. The non-division winners in each league with the two best records will be the wild card teams, meaning it is now possible for a third-place team to reach the postseason.
- The Astros named Brett Myers their closer and his $10MM vesting option for 2013 was reworked to reflect the role change.
- The Tigers have a strong rotation, with Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, and Rick Porcello behind reigning AL Cy Young and MVP Justin Verlander but haven't ruled out trading for a fifth starter.
- Miguel Tejada hopes to return to the Athletics.
- Catcher Bengie Molina retired after spending parts of 13 seasons with the Angels, Blue Jays, Giants and Rangers. Even though he did not play in 2011, he had remained open to the possibility of returning until this week.
- The Yankees and Russell Martin have agreed to table extension talks until the season ends.
- Mark Teixeira hired agent Casey Close of Excel Sports Management to represent him. The 31-year-old will earn $22.5MM in each of the next five seasons before hitting free agency.
Orioles Release Dennys Reyes
The Orioles have released pitcher Dennys Reyes for failure to report to camp, according to Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com (via Twitter). The 34-year-old agreed to a minor league deal with the O's back in January.
The left-hander briefly appeared in the Major Leagues last season with the Red Sox. Prior to that, Reyes spent two seasons with the Cardinals where he posted a 3.42 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9.
AL East Notes: Rays, Howell, Yankees, Hendry
Here's a look at some items out of the AL East..
- The Rays believe that J.P. Howell is worth their investment after an up-and-down 2011 campaign, writes Roger Mooney of The Tampa Tribune. The Rays avoided arbitration with Howell this winter, agreeing to a $1.35MM deal for 2012.
- Looking back on it, Rays pitcher Joel Peralta has no regrets about lying about his age to land a contract from a major league team, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. In 1996, the Dominican pitcher told scouts that he was 16-years-old rather than 20.
- Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger spoke with Jim Hendry who is now with the Yankees as a special assignment scout. The former Cubs General Manager says that he hasn't put much thought into whether he'd want to serve as a GM again and doesn't plan to leave the Yanks job after one year.
- Hiroki Kuroda will have to make adjustments with the Yankees but the pitcher already showed an ability to adapt by finding success in MLB, Carig writes.
- Orioles manager Buck Showalter said this week that he’s used the Rays recent success as proof that Baltimore can compete in the AL East with a limited payroll, writes Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun.
Mike Gonzalez Declines Rangers Offer
Free agent reliever Mike Gonzalez turned down a non-roster offer from the Rangers, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. The Rangers made the offer to the Scott Boras client last week.
Gonzalez registered a posted a 4.39 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 56 games for the Orioles and Rangers last season. On Friday, Boras told Tim Dierkes that a lot of teams are still in play for the left-hander and his availability late in the offseason doesn't reflect a lack of interest.
Texas might have freed a spot for Gonzalez with a trade of Koji Uehara, but GM Jon Daniels recently said that there were no deals in the works involving him.
Cafardo On Jones, Nationals, Floyd, Indians, Red Sox
Agent Scott Boras told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he expects trade deadline activity to decrease because the superpowers in baseball are going to save money on the luxury tax and can’t spend it in the draft. Boras was in attendance for the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston and our own Tim Dierkes sat down for an interview with the super agent. Here's more from Cafardo's Sunday column..
- The Orioles' Adam Jones keeps popping up in trade discussions with the Nationals, but O's sources indicate that there’s very little chance he'll be dealt. The Nats are trying to figure out center field, and for the moment they’re content with using Jayson Werth, Roger Bernadina, and Rick Ankiel. However, they will be scouting Michael Bourn, B.J. Upton, Gerardo Parra, and Peter Bourjos in spring training.
- White Sox right-hander Gavin Floyd could be in play for the Blue Jays or Red Sox. The White Sox don’t appear eager to move Floyd, but GM Kenny Williams wouldn’t be shy if it brought him a decent bounty in return.
- The Indians will try to fill in for Grady Sizemore with Michael Brantley, but their scouts are looking for a center field option in the trade market.
- Free agent Adonis Garcia is drawing interest from several teams, but the Red Sox aren’t overly enamored, according to a team source.
- Roy Oswalt is still in play and later in camp the Red Sox could put on a full-court press for him.
- The Rays are looking for a catcher to back up Jose Molina and Boras may look to put Ivan Rodriguez in that spot.
- There seems to be concern that the Astros are shooting themselves in the foot by moving starter Brett Myers into the closer role as he is one of the veterans they have been trying to deal. Teams typically need innings-eaters over late-inning relievers.
- Cafardo wonders aloud if Terry Francona will land with the Mets when he resumes his managerial career.
Quick Hits: Cespedes, Nationals, Axford, Calero
Links for Saturday afternoon..
- Yoenis Cespedes' deal with the Athletics is now official, according to the club's Twitter account. Cespedes' deal is for four years and is reportedly worth $36MM.
- In a corresponding move, the A's opened a spot for Cespedes on the 40-man roster by placing Scott Sizemore on the 60-day disabled list. Sizemore will miss the entire 2012 campaign after tearing his left ACL.
- Outfielders Rick Ankiel and Brett Carroll, who are both on minor league deals, are making a solid case to make the Nationals' major league squad, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
- Although people in the Nationals organization like Davey Johnson wanted him to return, Livan Hernandez says that he knew early on that his time was up in Washington, tweets Ladson.
- The Brewers renewed the contract of right-hander John Axford this afternoon and the two sides continue to talk about a multiyear deal, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
- Right-hander Kiko Calero is considering a procedure similar to what Bartolo Colon underwent as he weighs a comeback, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
- Both the Yankees and Red Sox are operating differently in 2012 thanks to the luxury tax threshold of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The new provision, Speier writes, creates the possibility for more payroll parity than the game has seen in years.
Poll: Which NL Team Will Have Biggest Turnaround?
With the MLB playoffs expanding to ten teams, clubs have even more reason to be hopeful about their prospects in 2012. While some fans are questioning the wisdom change, it seems likely that it will result in an even more exciting chase down the wire.
Yesterday, we asked MLBTR readers which 90-win team is most likely to disappoint in 2012. The three top vote getters – the Brewers (27.23%), Cardinals (17.39%), and Diamondbacks (15.89%) – all came out of the National League. Now, it's time to look at last year's non-playoff NL teams. Which club do you see having the biggest turnaround this season?
Which NL Team Will Have Biggest Turnaround?
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Nationals 22% (5,545)
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Marlins 19% (4,764)
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Reds 13% (3,209)
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Cubs 9% (2,378)
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Pirates 6% (1,517)
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Giants 6% (1,465)
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Braves 6% (1,450)
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Dodgers 6% (1,442)
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Mets 5% (1,296)
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Padres 3% (783)
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Rockies 3% (748)
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Astros 2% (541)
Total votes: 25,138
Quick Hits: Varitek, D’Backs, Trumbo, Suppan, Braves
Here's a look at some items from around the league on this Friday evening..
- Catcher Jason Varitek hopes to remain with the Red Sox in some capacity, but it may take him some time to determine an appropriate role, writes Jerry Spar of WEEI.com.
- When Kevin Towers was asked specifically about extensions for Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson, the Diamondbacks GM didn’t nix the idea, writes Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Towers hasn’t talked to the agents for either player yet but suggested that he might feel them out to see if there is interest in a long-term deal.
- The Angels' Mark Trumbo has been the subject of trade rumors for the bulk of the offseason, but the slugger appears to be settling in at third base nicely, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. A January poll showed that MLBTR readers think that the Halos should look to deal Kendrys Morales before Trumbo.
- Jeff Suppan wants to pitch for as long as he can, but isn't yet sure if that will extend beyond 2012, writes Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The veteran inked a minor league deal with the Padres this winter.
- Craig Kimbrel’s salary is the highest ever for a Braves player with less than two years of service time but the pitcher is well worth it, writes David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Winning the National League Rookie of the Year and receiving votes for Cy Young and Rolaids Relief Man awards took Kimbrel’s salary from $419K in 2011 to $590K in 2012.
Reds, Sean Marshall Nearing Agreement On Extension
MONDAY, 10:09am: Fay says Marshall will talk about the extension later today. For now, the lefty commented, "I can't say anything. But I'm very happy."
SUNDAY, 2:11pm: John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that GM Walt Jocketty also confirmed a deal is close and that the two sides want it done before games start.
MLB.com's Mark Sheldon adds that Jocketty says the deal could be done soon:
“We are talking to him,” Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said on Sunday. “It could be done soon. When we traded for him, it was also looking to sign him for the long term.”
11:49am: Marshall confirmed the report, saying that a deal could be worked out by tomorrow, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter).
11:16am: The Reds and Sean Marshall are making progress on a multiyear extension and a deal could be announced early this week, sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The left-hander is set to become a free agent after this season.
Marshall, 29, is set to earn $3.1MM in 2012 in the final season of a two-year deal he signed with the Cubs. MLBTR's Dan Mennella recently looked at what it would take for the Reds to sign him to a new deal and noted that Meister Sports Management will likely use the three-year, $15MM deal lefty Scott Downs signed with the Angels as a starting point.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Minor Moves: Dickerson, Rincon
We'll keep track of today's minor moves right here..
- Chris Dickerson cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Yankees, writes Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. The move opens a spot on the 40-man roster, which should allow the Bombers to officially add Eric Chavez to the team. The 29-year-old Dickerson hit .260/.296/.360 in 55 plate appearances while playing both outfield corners for the Yankees last season.
- To bolster their minor league depth, the Angels signed reliever Juan Rincon to a deal with no spring training invite, tweets Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.