Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Pirates, Cubs
Links for Sunday night as the Braves get ready to host the Cardinals..
- Both Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre are mashing as they head into free agency, writes ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes.
- As he evaluates players and prepares for what could be a busy offseason, Bucs GM Neal Huntington says he's happy with what he sees, says Jeff Wallner for MLB.com.
- Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald writes that while Cubs interim manager Mike Quade doesn't identify himself as a sabermetrician, he does believe in using numbers to help him make informed decisions.
- Marc Hulet of Fangraphs reviewed the top prospects in the NL Central.
Angels Notes: Reagins, Scioscia, Matsui
Let's take a look at some Angels-related tidbits..
- Angels GM Tony Reagins blames himself for the team's underachievement this year, writes Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times. Reagins says that he will evaluate the club from the top to the bottom in an effort to turn things around this winter. He also stood behind his acquisition of Dan Haren, saying that the pitcher will help the club beyond this season. Haren's contracts calls for him to earn $25.5MM in the next two seasons and has a $15.5MM club option ($3.5MM buyout) for 2013.
- Meanwhile, Halos skipper Mike Scioscia says that the club needs only minor changes, and not a complete overhaul, heading into 2011, according to MLB.com's Evan Drellich. Scioscia believes that the return of missing pieces from this year such as Kendry Morales will provide a major spark for the Angels next season.
- Scioscia would not go into depth about next season's plans and would not directly address the potential return of Hideki Matsui. The veteran, who has hit .268/.358/.448 with 19 homers in 2010, will be a free agent after the season.
Poll: Should The Cubs Keep Zambrano?
Since returning to the starting rotation on August 9th, Carlos Zambrano has shown flashes of what made him one of baseball's elite pitchers. In seven starts, Big Z has an ERA of 1.60 with 7.8 K/9, though two walk-heavy games have left him with a 5.0 BB/9 rate in that stretch. Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com was in the locker room after his latest strong outing on Friday against Milwaukee when Zambrano was asked about the possibility of being traded this winter.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” the 29-year-old said. “I feel happy, I love this team and I want to stay here. I want to stay here the rest of my contract. No more trade talk.”
The righthander is owed almost $36MM over the next two seasons and has a vesting player option worth $19.25MM for 2013. Even though the Cubs have been hoping that Zambrano would restore his value so that they can dump his contract, they obviously can't expect much in return for him.
Should the Cubs keep Zambrano?
White Sox Want To Keep Konerko
White Sox GM Kenny Williams wants to keep veteran Paul Konerko beyond this season, writes Scott Merkin of MLB.com. While Williams says that he "would love" to have the slugger retire with the organization, the club may not be able to find space on the payroll to make that happen.
"That's pretty much all I'm going to say on it, because I don't know what the future holds," said Williams. "I don't know how we are going to finish. We are driven by the revenue stream that comes in. People might not like it but it is what it is. We have to at least be able to be a break-even operation, and try to win at the same time."
This could be a very active offseason for the White Sox as Mark Buehrle may be left as the only member of the 2005 World Series team still with the club. A.J. Pierzynski and Freddy Garcia will hit the open market and Bobby Jenks is arbitration-eligible.
The 34-year-old Konerko has had a great season at the plate in 2010, hitting .318/.397/.584 with 34 homers.
Odds & Ends: Garrison, Red Sox, Werth, Cubs, Burnett
Labor Day linkage..
- Corey Brock of MLB.com (via Twitter) thinks that the Padres would like to keep Steve Garrison, who they DFA'd earlier today. The lefty was protected by the club last winter.
- Having Lars Anderson and Anthony Rizzo waiting in the wings won't necessarily preclude Boston from retaining Adrian Beltre and/or Victor Martinez, says Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).
- Jerry Crasnick of ESPN tweets that he's hearing a lot of speculation about Jayson Werth taking Scott Boras on as his agent. However, he also tweets that players tend to follow their teammates and he may be drawn to Arn Tellem as the agent secured Chase Utley's seven-year, $85MM deal with the Phillies.
- It may be time for the Cardinals and manager Tony La Russa to part ways, writes Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
- A recent move by Cubs manager Mike Quade may have scored points with GM Jim Hendry, opines Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
- Jayson Stark of ESPN (via Twitter) wonders aloud when A.J. Burnett will rank as a "full-fledged crisis" for the Yankees. Burnett is set to earn $16.5MM each season until 2013.
- It will be an active offseason for Boston, tweets Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com.
Padres Designate Steve Garrison For Assignment
The Padres have designated Steve Garrison for assignment, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com. The move was made in order to create space for outfielder Mike Baxter.
The lefty, who will turn 24 on Sunday, was acquired by the Padres from Milwaukee in a package for Scott Linebrink back in July of 2007. Garrison got knocked around in five Triple-A starts this season but has a career 4.05 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 at the Double-A level.
Baldelli Plans To Continue Playing
In yesterday's game against the Orioles, Rocco Baldelli belted a two-run pinch hit homer in the seventh inning in his first big league swing of the season. Prior to signing a minor league deal with the Rays, Baldelli worked with the club as a special assistant. Now that he's back in the majors, he has no immediate plans to return to coaching, writes Ben Shpigel of the New York Times.
“I like playing; I don’t know what else I would do,” Baldelli said. “I have some ideas. What I did earlier this year was definitely pretty nice, but there’s nothing better than playing. Coming out here every day, it’s something that I’ve done the last ten years of my life and it’s not something I’m going to let go of easily," said the soon-to-be 29-year-old.
The right-handed hitter spent 2009 with Boston, posting a slash line of .253/.311/.433 in 164 plate appearances.
Poll: Manny Ramirez’s Next Contract
Last week, ESPN's Buster Olney opined that a team interested in Manny Ramirez this offseason should present him with an incentive-laden contract to ensure that he will maintain his focus. Olney suggests a base salary of $800K to $1MM with incentives based on plate appearances.
While major league GMs likely wouldn't object to such a deal, one has to imagine that Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras, would. As Tim Dierkes pointed out, last winter Boras was able to land $3.3MM and $2MM guarantees for Xavier Nady and Alex Cora, respectively. After coming off of a two-year, $45MM deal, it's probable that Ramirez can fetch a higher guaranteed salary on the open market.
However, Ramirez has now left two baseball towns on a sour note twice in recent years. Ramirez's struggles in the outfield and advanced age also mean that he's likely to remain in the American League as a designated hitter. Ramirez, who has a career UZR/150 of -20.0 in the outfield, told Dodgers skipper Joe Torre that he feels that he belongs in the AL before his departure to Chicago. In essence, this probably cuts the slugger's list of prospective suitors in half; minus one if you want to nix Boston from the group.
While Olney's idea was a suggestion and not necessarily a prediction, it does raise the question of whether Ramirez might be forced to take on that type of deal. Rather than $1MM, we'll set the over/under a little bit higher.
Will Ramirez end up taking a one-year deal with a base of less than $3MM?
Odds & Ends: Choo, Larish, Fox, Maya, Orioles
Links for Sunday evening as the Dodgers and Giants battle it out in Los Angeles..
- Shin-Soo Choo is reminding his former team, the Mariners, of how talented he is, writes Doug Miller of MLB.com. Seattle sent Choo to Cleveland in a deal for Ben Broussard in 2006.
- Jeff Larish is enjoying his second stint with the A's, writes MLB.com's Alex Espinoza.
- Twins manager Rod Gardenhire told Kelly Thesier of MLB.com that designating Matt Fox for assignment was not an easy decision.
- Yuneski Maya is excited to make his major league debut, writes George Von Benko in piece for MLB.com.
- Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun spoke to Cal Ripken Jr. who has high hopes for Manny Machado.
MLBTR Originals
Here's a look back at some of the analysis and reporting MLBTR's writing team produced this week..
- This week we brought you up to speed on a pair of non-tender candidates: Dodgers second baseman Ryan Theriot and Mariners second baseman Jose Lopez.
- Brandon Webb's agent emailed MLBTR to make it known that his client is seeking an incentive-based contract with a significant base salary. The contracts of Brad Penny, Rich Harden, Ben Sheets, and Tim Hudson will be used as starting points, says Jonathan Maurer.
- This week we unfurled the "5 Surprises" series. The Dodgers, Rockies, and D'Backs were all chosen to kick off the new feature.
- After the season the Elias Sports Bureau will label free agents as Type A, B, or leave them without a label. MLBTR readers can keep track of how players will be designated thanks to Eddie Bajek's projected Elias rankings.
- We picked up our "Free Agent Stock Watch" series this week with examinations of Giants outfielder Pat Burrell and Orioles reliever Koji Uehara.
- Is your favorite team out of contention? Don't worry, we got you covered. Now you can track your team's bid for a higher draft pick on our reverse standings page.
- Tim Dierkes broke down the arbitration-eligible players for the White Sox, Indians, Tigers, Royals, and Twins.
- Oakland's Trevor Cahill could be in line to receive an extension, writes Luke Adams. Meanwhile, Ben Nicholson-Smith says that Jon Lester's deal will be a model for Clay Buchholz's extension, if Boston decides to go that route.
- On Wednesday Tim conducted his weekly chat.
- Our look at 2011 rotations rolled on with previews of the Twins, Cardinals, Mariners, Rays, White Sox, Red Sox, Orioles, and Blue Jays.
- If you're unclear on how September trades work, we have a post explaining everything you need to know.
- Howard Megdal wrote an entertaining recap of the 1982 trade deadline.
- MLBTR readers voted on a pair of phenoms, which late-season addition will perform better, the White Sox's acquisition of Ramirez, and discussed Adrian Beltre's next contract.