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East Notes: Braves, Rays, Berry, Red Sox

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With an unfavorable TV deal, the Braves are becoming the Rays, SB Nation's Grant Brisbee argues. That's a bit hyperbolic, as Brisbee acknowledges, but the Braves' payroll has fallen from third in the big leagues in 2000 to 16th in 2013, because their payroll hasn't really risen since then, while it has for most other teams. That's a trend that could continue, unless the Braves' new stadium dramatically changes their fortunes. That means they have to rely more on making smart moves than on spending money. Here's more from around the East divisions.

  • James Loney says the Rays, Brewers, Pirates and Astros all made him similar offers, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune tweets. "I felt [Tampa Bay] was going to be the best option and this is where I wanted to be," Loney says.
  • If the Rays keep David Price in 2014, they will have a higher payroll than they had in 2010, when it was $72.8MM, Mooney reports. That's not a sustainable figure in the long term, Rays GM Andrew Friedman says, but the team has a chance to be "great" in 2014 (Twitter links).
  • The Orioles are still interested in re-signing Francisco Rodriguez, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The Orioles could then use him as a backup plan at closer in case Tommy Hunter struggles. Fernando Rodney might cost too much for them, Kubatko suggests.
  • Orioles executive Dan Duquette says newly-acquired outfielder Quintin Berry is a strong defensive outfielder and "he's shown good on-base capability, particularly against RH pitching," Kubatko tweets.
  • It's not likely the Red Sox will sign or trade a starting pitcher before the beginning of spring training, tweets Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald writes. Boston currently has a solid set of starting pitching options in Jon Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buchholz, Jake Peavy, Ryan Dempster and Felix Doubront, plus Brandon Workman, Allen Webster and others. Lauber's tweet suggests the Red Sox will not attempt to trade someone like Lackey, and they will not sign Masahiro Tanaka.

Minor Moves: Quintin Berry

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Here are today's minor moves from around baseball.

  • The Orioles have announced the signing of outfielder Quintin Berry to a minor-league deal with a spring training invitation. Berry, 29, played for three different Triple-A teams in 2013, hitting .191/.309/.257 in 381 plate appearances between them. He also appeared in 13 regular-season games and three postseason games with the Red Sox. In 2012, he played in 94 games for the Tigers, during which he stole 21 bases without being caught.

Latest On Luis Ayala

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The Tigers, Indians, and Orioles are among the teams that have shown interest in right-handed reliever Luis Ayala this offseason, MLBTR has learned.  Ayala has received strong interest overall, and seeks a Major League deal.  

Ayala, 36 this month, posted a 3.27 ERA, 6.0 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.55 HR/9, and 58.9% groundball rate in 33 innings for the Orioles and Braves in 2013.  Ayala began 2013 with Baltimore, but was traded to the Braves in April and later spent time on the DL for an anxiety disorder.  Among relievers with at least 30 innings in 2013, Ayala's groundball rate ranked 15th in MLB.  In addition to the aforementioned teams, I think clubs such as the Yankees, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, and Brewers may be fits for Ayala.  It seems likely that the free agent market will pick back up starting Monday as executives return to the office.

Orioles Notes: Morales, Free Agents, Hardy

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The rumor mill is slowly beginning to turn again with the end of what MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko calls "baseball's dead zone" — the period of general inactivity between Christmas and New Year's Day. For Orioles fans, that means a return to clamoring for the club to make some impactful additions to its roster. (Baltimore's most expensive addition to date has been reliever Ryan Webb, who was non-tendered by the Marlins.) But, as Kubatko notes, there are a good number of high-quality players still available on the open market, many of whom have been linked to the O's in some manner. Here's more from the O's:

  • The Orioles could be a legitimate landing spot for Kendrys Morales, Kubatko suggests. Baltimore is not concerned with his fielding, and is less hesitant to give up a draft pick than in years past, according to Kubatko.
  • One other avenue for landing a bat, of course, is via trade. Kubatko says he has heard "rumblings" that executive VP Dan Duquette is working on a deal that could be nearing the stage of reviewing medicals.
  • The O's have not made a sizeable free agent investment to date, though the club figures to be in on several remaining players, writes Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Morales, a starter such as Bronson Arroyo or A.J. Burnett, or a closer like Fernando Rodney remain realistic possibilities to land in Baltimore. Yet it remains fairly likely that the club will not ultimately add any of the better players left on the open market, Connolly opines. 
  • Otherwise, Duquette could focus on addressing the team's own players. J.J. Hardy is the most likely current player to land an extension in Connolly's estimation. 

East Notes: Red Sox, Orioles, Mets

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If the Red Sox don't re-sign Stephen Drew, they'll likely go into the 2014 season with Jackie Bradley Jr. in center field and Xander Bogaerts at shortstop, and that will be a gamble, given their inexperience, WEEI.com's Alex Speier writes. To find a World Series-winning team that had rookies as their primary starters at center field and shortstop, one has to go all the way back to the 1959 Dodgers, with Don Demeter and Maury Wills. That doesn't prove much, of course. A few decades' worth of World Series-winning teams isn't a huge sample size, and as Speier points out, the Red Sox have recently blended in young up-the-middle players in Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie while still having very successful teams. But there may be value in having stability at tough defensive positions. Here are more notes from the East divisions.

Orioles Notes: Rodney, Balfour, Lough

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The Orioles have talked with the Mets about Ike Davis, but it sounds like the asking price coming out of Queens is a touch high.  The Mets tried to get the O's to part with top pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez in a deal but, unsurprisingly, Baltimore said no.  Davis to GM Dan Duquette & Co. may not happen, but Orioles fans would like to see something significant go down.  More out of Baltimore..

  • Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com looks at Fernando Rodney as a closer candidate for the Orioles in the wake of Grant Balfour's non-deal.  Rodney offers a big strikeout rate, a power arm, and decent groundball numbers, all characteristics that surely make him attractive to the O's.  However, his $10MM asking price is likely a turnoff for the cost-conscious Orioles.
  • Peter Schmuck of The Baltimore Sun fears that the Orioles' window of opportunity might be closing as the New Year approaches.  Nobody expected Baltimore to go out and get Robinson Cano or Jacoby Ellsbury this winter, but the Jim Johnson trade and the collapse of the Balfour agreement have left them with a lot of uncertainty at a time when division rivals have combined to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on free agents and will do even more.
  • In today's column, ESPN.com's Buster Olney ranks the top ten defenses in baseball.  The Orioles are at the top of the heap thanks in part to third baseman Manny Machado, who is "the best at his position, and it’s not close," according to one talent evaluator.   Newcomer David Lough also helps their case as he posted one of the best UZR/150 ratings among outfielders with at least 650 innings last season.  Baltimore acquired Lough in exchange for Danny Valencia earlier this month.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Tanaka, Yankees, Orioles

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The Red Sox are pretty much the only big market team not heavily connected to Masahiro Tanaka, but a case could be made that they should be involved, writes John Tomase of the Boston Herald.  Boston already has six starters under contract with a rich minor league system that could deliver three or four more in the next two years and they're right against the $189MM tax threshold, but the 25-year-old is a special talent.  More out of the AL East..

  • For the Yankees rotation to go from a concern to a strength, the Bombers will need a lot to go right, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Sherman says the Yanks have to sign Tanaka, have Manuel Banuelos and Michael Pineda return to health and a high-level form, and see Ivan Nova be the pitcher he was upon returning full-time to the rotation last July.
  • Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com looks at the Orioles roster and finds that surprisingly few players were signed as major league free agents.
  • The Rays are excited about the defensive play that new catcher Ryan Hanigan will bring, writes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.  Tampa Bay acquired the backstop from the Reds earlier this month in a three-team deal and promptly gave him a contract extension.

Quick Hits: Anthopoulos, O’s, Burnett, Padres, Tanaka

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Some executives have become more guarded in trade discussions with Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos, Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star reports. Griffin says he spoke with one executive at the Winter Meetings who disclosed that rival GMs believe Anthopoulos sometimes talks trades merely for the purpose of gathering information. Anthopoulos reportedly expressed surprise after learning that the Tigers had dealt Doug Fister to the Nationals in November, indicating that he would have liked to submit an offer. "Would he have been given the opportunity two years ago? Perhaps," Griffin writes. Here are more late-night links from around the majors:

Quick Hits: Rangers, Tanaka, Davis, Orioles

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Rangers owner Bob Simpson is happy to leave the baseball decisions to his staff, Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas writes. Simpson doesn't want to be a general manager like Cowboys counterpart Jerry Jones. "I don't and for the reasons everyone else wishes he wasn't," says Simpson. "I like Jerry, but we've got great people, so leave it to them." Simpson also notes that, with the signing of Shin-Soo Choo, the Rangers' projected payroll is between $130MM and $135MM for 2014. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.

  • Simpson says signing Masahiro Tanaka would be "a tough thing," MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports. "We aggressively went after Yu [Darvish], who we are fortunate to have. I guess I should never say never, but at the moment, we're more interested in just rounding out our team than marquee players," Simpson says. The Rangers have already added Choo and Prince Fielder this offseason. 
  • Earlier today, a report indicated that the Mets were trying to get the Orioles to trade lefty pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez for first baseman Ike Davis, but that, so far, the Orioles had refused to do so. Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun now tweets that the O's would have to be "blown away" to deal Rodriguez. MLB.com ranks Rodriguez the Orioles' third-best prospect.

Mets Still Talking Ike Davis With Brewers, O’s, Pirates

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The Ike Davis rumor mill has calmed down as the holiday season has set in, but Mike Puma of the New York Post provides an update (Twitter link). The Mets remain in contact with the Brewers, Pirates and Orioles regarding Davis, but the team has been unsuccessful in its efforts to pry top pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez away from Baltimore.

That the Mets are interested in Rodriguez is no surprise, but neither is the fact that the Orioles won't deal him for Davis. Rodriguez, a 20-year-old left-hander, posted a combined 3.41 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 145 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A in 2013. His numbers took a hit upon reaching Double-A (4.22 ERA in 59 2/3 innings), but that isn't all that alarming when considering the fact that he was one of the youngest players in the league. The average age of pitchers in the Eastern League, for context, was 24.6. Hitters in the Eastern League had an average age of 24.4.

This isn't the first time Rodriguez's name has appeared on the rumor mill, as the Twins reportedly asked for the lefty in exchange for Josh Willingham when the Orioles claimed Willingham on waivers in August. MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo currently ranks Rodriguez as baseball's No. 85 prospect, and ESPN's Keith Law ranked him No. 44 in his midseason Top 50 prospect list in July (Insider required). Baseball America ranks him third among O's prospects — behind Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman — noting in their subscription-only scouting report that he has the ceiling of a No. 3 starter.

In short, Rodriguez is a lofty asking price for Mets GM Sandy Alderson when peddling Davis to other clubs — higher than his reported asking price of Tyler Thornburg from the Brewers. Davis is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $3.5MM in 2014 and can be controlled through the 2016 season.

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