Brewers Owner Not Keen On Free Agent Pitchers
Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the club needs to improve its pitching. Based on recent history, Attanasio seems more inclined to improve the team's pitching through trades than free agency.
After signing Randy Wolf to a three-year, $29.75MM contract and Doug Davis to a one-year, $5.25MM pact (including the $1MM buyout), the Brewers went on to own the third-worst ERA in the National League. According to Walker, "that experience made Attanasio reconsider whether signing free agent pitchers works." Of course, the last time that Attanasio signed off on a trade for a star pitcher, the results were very different.
"When you look at all of the trades, CC [Sabathia] was a once-in-a-decade trade for any team," the owner said. "Very few of these deadline trades actually make a difference. You can look at the record on that and see what they do."
Attanasio also said that it is a "foregone conclusion" that the club will lose money this year after experiencing a 9.2% drop in attendance, the second biggest decline in the NL next to the Mets. It will be even more difficult for the club to reach agreement with Prince Fielder on a contract extension with such a hit to the bottom line.
Eric Chavez Again Considering Retirement
Athletics third baseman Eric Chavez is pondering retirement, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Chavez, who is trying to recover from two bulging disks in his neck, told the newspaper in an e-mail that he is considering calling it quits.
"I've pondered retirement," the 32-year-old said. "I'd lie if I said I didn't. The truth of the matter is that I don't know what I'm going to do."
Chavez has undergone two back surgeries and three shoulder surgeries in an effort to rejoin the A's. His most recent setback occurred in May when he suffered a neck injury, one that he was determined to bounce back from.
The six-time Gold Glove third baseman was relegated to designated hitter this season where he hit .234/.276/.333 with one homer in 33 games. According to Baseball-Reference, Chavez has earned more than $75MM in his career, thanks in large part to the six-year, $66MM extension he signed with Oakland in March of 2004.
Odds & Ends: Lee, Brewers, Repko, Delgado
Saturday night linkage..
- Rangers hurler Cliff Lee says that he isn't thinking about his impending free agency, writes Jeff Wilson for The Dallas Morning News.
- Darrell Covey, the father of Brewers first-round pick Dylan Covey, says that he expects an over-slot bonus offer, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. As the 14th overall pick, Covey is slotted to receive a bonus of $1.7MM. The Coveys have told the Brewers that they expect $2MM.
- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire says that he now understands why the organization thought so highly of Jason Repko, writes John Barone of MLB.com. The Twins picked up Repko in April after he was released by the Dodgers.
- Paul Konerko and manager Ozzie Guillen are fine with the White Sox standing pat in August, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Reds twelfth-round pick Kyle Waldrop has signed on for a $500K bonus, tweets Jim Callis of Baseball America. This is the highest bonus given to a player outside of the first ten rounds so far.
- MLB.com's Mark Sheldon writes that speculation was rampant that today would mark Aroldis Chapman's big league debut. Instead of Chapman, the Reds tabbed reliever Carlos Fisher to fill in for Russ Springer, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
- Mike Lowell didn't have much of a reaction to Boston's signing of Carlos Delgado, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.
Rosenthal On Dunn, Red Sox, Rays, Reds
Let's dive into the latest edition of Full Count by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports..
- Rival executives still can't figure out what the Nats were thinking by not trading Adam Dunn as some believe that they will not re-sign the slugger. If they dealt him, they would have saved about $4MM in salary and another $2MM in draft pick bonuses. The players they would have gotten in return would already have minor league track records and would have been closer to the majors. Though next year's draft figures to be very deep, Rosenthal notes that draft picks take money and time.
- If Boston stays in contention, they will push hard to get a left-handed bat to complement Lowell at first and Carlos Delgado may just be the beginning. Even after signing Delgado, the BoSox will continue to scour the market for players such as Adam LaRoche and Lyle Overbay. Earlier today, we learned that the Red Sox have shown interest in another left-handed hitting first baseman, Chris Davis of the Rangers.
- Jeremy Hellickson gives the Rays a sixth rotation option for 2011, but that doesn't mean that the Rays will have enough of a surplus for a trade. They have depth but they're not quite as deep as they were following the 2008 campaign. Rosenthal believes that they are better off keeping what they have intact and putting one of their starters in the bullpen.
- Recently, Reds manager Dusty Baker told reporters that the club has approached him about a contract extension. Logically, he deserves a pay raise based on the team's performance this season. However, ownership may not want to go that route. Given the volatility expected in the managerial ranks this winter, the Reds will have plenty of options should they look elsewhere for a skipper.
Tigers To Bring Back Dombrowski, Leyland
Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch says that the club will bring back both manager Jim Leyland and GM Dave Dombrowski in 2011, according to Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press. After finishing the first half of the season ten games above .500, Detroit has gone 5-18 since that point and fallen nine games back of the division-leading White Sox.
Even though he is disappointed with the club's recent play, Ilitch says that he has faith in what the team can do starting next season.
“[This season] is very disappointing, “ the owner said, “[but] I’m staying with Dave and I’m staying with our manager. I feel that we’re going to move forward.”
Ilitch also admitted that he has been reckless in the past when signing off on large contract commitments. However, as noted earlier, he still vows to spend in the offseason with as much as $60MM coming off of the books. Detroit gained extra payroll flexibility when Magglio Ordonez suffered an ankle injury which will prevent his $15MM option from vesting.
Arizona Acquires Skaggs From Angels
According to a team press release, the Diamondbacks have acquired Tyler Skaggs from the Angels to complete the Dan Haren trade. Skaggs has long been expected to be the player to be named later in the swap.
The left-hander was the Halos' supplemental first round selection (40th overall) in 2009. Skaggs, 19, has posted a 3.61 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 for Class-A Cedar Rapids this season. Baseball America believes that Skaggs projects as a solid mid-rotation starter.
Nationals Acquire Brian Bixler
The Nationals have acquired Brian Bixler from the Pirates for cash considerations, tweets William Ladson of MLB.com. This marks the third time that the shortstop has been dealt this year.
Pittsburgh dealt Bixler to the Indians in January and re-acquired him from the Tribe less than a month ago for a player to be named later. In 75 Triple-A games this season, Bixler has hit .264/.327/.362 with three homers.
Rangers Receiving Interest In Chris Davis
The Rangers are getting "much trade interest" in first baseman Chris Davis, writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Major league sources say that Davis has become a popular name and the Red Sox, who picked up Carlos Delgado today, are among the teams that have shown interest.
Davis is now back in Triple-A Oklahoma where he has hit .355/.409/.552 with ten homers in 72 games this season. However, the corner infielder was unable to replicate that in the majors this year, posting a slash line of .188/.265/.267 in 31 games. Despite his struggles in the major leagues this season, there are some who feel that he could be a late-blooming bat in the mold of Carlos Pena or Russell Branyan.
Sullivan points out that Davis is unlikely to get traded in-season as he probably wouldn't clear waivers. However, if Mitch Moreland makes a strong case for being the Rangers' starting first baseman, then Davis could be a trade candidate this winter.
Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Rangers, Maya, Lowell
Sunday night linkage..
- The three newest members of the Dodgers are happy to be in Los Angeles, writes MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
- The Rangers were the biggest winners at the deadline, writes Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
- Yunesky Maya tells Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (Spanish link) that he has been training hard and "in about three weeks" the Nationals can save him a spot on the roster (translation courtesy of Nick Collias). Earlier today the Nats confirmed that they have inked the 28-year-old hurler to a four-year deal.
- Major league sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that a three-way trade was discussed in which Mike Lowell could have landed with the Yankees. In the discussed deal, the Red Sox would have sent Lowell to the Rangers, who would then send the veteran to the Yankees.
- Daniel Barbarisi of The Providence Journal writes that despite his strong first half, Clay Buchholz still couldn't bring himself to relax at the deadline.
- The Giants haven't talked to Carlos Delgado's people since this winter, tweets Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com.
- MLB.com's James Hall writes that Indians manager Manny Acta is happy to have July 31st in the rear view mirror. Jake Westbrook, Kerry Wood, Austin Kearns, and Jhonny Peralta were all shipped out in advance of the deadline.
- The future of Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu is clearly in doubt, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
- Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos had his eye on center fielder Anthony Gose for quite some time, writes Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Anthopoulos finally got his man in exchange for first baseman Brett Wallace.
Pirates Notes: Bullpen, Payroll, Doumit
Pirates GM Neal Huntington talked about the state of the club following the Trade Deadline on his radio show this afternoon. MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch has the goods..
- In the past week the Pirates have subtracted four veteran relievers, most notably trading Octavio Dotel to the Dodgers and Javier Lopez to the Giants. In addition to counting on their starters to go deeper into games, Huntington acknowledged that the club may need some outside help:
"We are a little bit concerned that we're going to throw some young, inexperienced pitchers into situations they're not ready to handle. We may explore some options outside the organization to bring in a guy or two who has some experience back there. Or we might just go with the guys that we have to see if they can show us if they can be a part of this team this year and beyond," said Huntington.
- The GM said that none of the deals that the Pirates made were financially driven and pointed out that Pittsburgh actually sent some cash to the Dodgers in the Dotel deal. On the whole, the Pirates have loosened their belt somewhat and taken on payroll this year.
- Upon their acquisition of catcher Chris Snyder, some wondered what the future might hold for Ryan Doumit. Doumit would have a better chance of factoring into the Bucs' future plans if he could switch positions, but Huntington said that the club hasn't gotten a chance to evaluate his glove in one of the corner outfield spots. It's possible that Huntington meant to say that he personally hasn't gotten to evaluate Doumit's defense in the outfield as the 29-year-old started 33 games in right field for Pittsburgh in 2007. Huntington was named the team's GM in September of that year.