Quick Hits: Twins, O’s, Pirates, Phillies, CarGo
Robinson Cano is the latest to join baseball's $20MM-man club, Doug Miller of MLB.com writes, noting that the list of players making an average of $20MM or more annually has swelled dramatically in recent years. "It goes to the fact that these teams are anticipating revenue from regional television networks, and the new cable agreements are an accelerant to the spending," David Carter of the University of Southern California's Sports Business Institute comments. "The owners feel as though they're going to get that money back." Here's more from around the majors:
- The Twins are up next in Yahoo Sports' rundown of each club's offseason. Jeff Passan argues that while Minnesota's additions to the rotation should help, Twins fans will spend much of 2014 waiting for the arrivals of heralded prospects like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. Passan also likes the decision to move Joe Mauer to first base.
- Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun lists five factors to monitor as the Orioles prepare to hold a four-day offseason minicamp next week.
- The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Rob Biertemfepfel spoke with Pirates reliever Duke Welker, who was traded to Minnesota in October but was flipped back to Pittsburgh 44 days later. Welker is expected to compete for one of the Pirates' bullpen spots this spring.
- Scott Boras believes the Phillies' new TV deal is worth about $200MM annually when factors such as the club's equity stake in the network are considered, Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Having an ownership stake in the entity allows a team to avoid exposure to revenue-sharing rules, according to Boras, who says the loophole "hurts other teams in the league from receiving the true payment."
- Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez had his appendix removed on Friday night in an emergency surgery. Troy Renck of The Denver Post reports that Gonzalez didn't undergo a standard appendectomy, and could require nearly two months to recover, instead of the usual four weeks. However, that should still allow the All-Star plenty of time to recover and prepare for Opening Day.
East Notes: Ichiro, Casilla, Coghlan, Lind
Now that the Yankees have designated Vernon Wells for assignment, they're more likely to keep Ichiro Suzuki, NJ.com's Brendan Kuty writes. If Ichiro stays, it will be in a bench role, with Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran holding the starting outfield roles and Alfonso Soriano mostly playing DH. There had been some whispers that the Yankees could trade Ichiro, although, as Kuty points out, it was unclear who the Yankees might trade him to. Here are more notes from the East divisions.
- The recent re-signing of Alexi Casilla to a minor-league deal gives the Orioles another backup plan if Manny Machado is unable to completely recover from his knee injury by the beginning of the season, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes. If Machado isn't ready to go, the Orioles could move Ryan Flaherty to third and start either Casilla or Jemile Weeks at second. Jonathan Schoop might also be a possibility there, but Encina notes that the O's would like to give Schoop more time at Triple-A.
- The Marlins are unlikely to re-sign outfielder Chris Coghlan, says MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. They non-tendered him last month, and have since added Brian Bogusevic, who looks likely to occupy an outfield bench role. The Marlins could have a starting outfield of Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton.
- Adam Lind is glad the Blue Jays exercised his $7MM option this offseason, Shi Davidi of SportsNet.ca reports. "I was really hoping I was going to be back, but for some reason you never find out until the last minute, and I’m really excited and pumped to be able to stay here for another season," Lind says. There have also been trade rumors about Lind this offseason, but Davidi writes that the Blue Jays never really wanted to trade him.
East Notes: Mets, Orioles, Price
The Mets currently appear likely to go with Ruben Tejada at shortstop, MLB.com's Anthony DiComo writes. "The same three alternatives exist: sign a free agent, make a trade or go with what we have, subject to probably bringing in a backup to Tejada," says GM Sandy Alderson. "I'd say right now, it's probably more likely that we will go with Option C, which is Ruben at shortstop with the addition of a backup." That means the Mets appear unlikely to sign Stephen Drew. Here are more notes from the East divisions.
- The Orioles have not yet upgraded at designated hitter, MLB.com's Britt Ghiroli notes. They're still interested in Kendrys Morales, but don't want to part with the draft pick it will cost to sign him. If they don't end up signing Morales, they could just platoon Nolan Reimold and Henry Urrutia, while sometimes freeing DH up to provide other players with days off from fielding.
- Curtis Granderson of the Mets and Ubaldo Jimenez are likely to be the biggest busts of this year's free-agent class, various GMs tell ESPN's Jim Bowden (Insider-only). One GM cites Granderson's home run total will drop in Citi Field, and another says Jimenez's inconsistent delivery will be an issue.
- The Diamondbacks or Mariners would be the best fit for the Rays' David Price, GMs tell Bowden. Arizona could sign Price long-term and has the talent needed to get the Rays to part with him, one GM says.
Orioles Re-Sign Alexi Casilla
The Orioles have announced that they've re-signed infielder Alexi Casilla to a minor-league deal with a spring training invite. The O's declined their option on Casilla in November after he hit .214/.268/.295 in 125 plate appearances last season.
Casilla, who can play shortstop, second base and third base, could be a candidate for a bench job in Baltimore in 2014. He has a lifetime .248/.302/.332 line in parts of eight seasons, seven of them with the Twins.
AL East Notes: Yanks, Stroman, Tanaka, Orioles
Last night, Red Sox GM Ben Cherington appeared on WEEI radio and discussed a number of topics, including Stephen Drew, Masahiro Tanaka and David Ortiz. That post has been updated this morning to include the full audio of Cherington's 18-minute interview. Elsewhere in the AL East…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports notes that the Yankees have a 40-man roster crunch right now, but Alex Rodriguez's likely suspension would clear one spot. The Yankees will still need to clear more via trades or DFA, as they've yet to officially announce the signings of Brian Roberts and Matt Thornton, despite agreeing to deals with that duo on Dec. 17. Signing Masahiro Tanaka would require further roster manipulation (Twitter links).
- Blue Jays manager John Gibbons isn't ruling out the possibility of top prospect Marcus Stroman making the team out of Spring Training, though he did caution that it's a long shot, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.
- Nicholson-Smith also tweets that Gibbons says the Blue Jays are keeping tabs on Tanaka.
- Wei-Yin Chen's recovery from surgery to remove bone spurs from his knee "hasn't been as seamless as some others have been," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said on WBAL Radio (via MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko). Though Showalter said he expects Chen to be fine, he did say his recovery has been slow and that the team is "keeping really close tabs" on Chen.
- From that same piece, Showalter says Manny Machado "feels great." The manager added that his gut feeling is that Machado can be healthy by Opening Day, but the organization will not rush him. The O's will use Ryan Flaherty as their Opening Day third baseman if Machado isn't ready, writes Kubatko.
Minor Moves: Gamboa, Clark, Bucci, Portillo
Here are today's minor moves and outright assignments from around the league…
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that the Rockies have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Richard Castillo. A former Cardinals prospect, the 24-year-old Castillo split 2013 between St. Louis' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, posting a combined 4.08 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 147 2/3 innings. Baseball America twice ranked him among the Cardinals' Top 30 prospects, but he has not cracked that list for the past four years.
- The Orioles announced that they've signed right-handed knuckleballers Eddie Gamboa and Zach Clark to minor league deals. Gamboa received an invitation to Major League Spring Training. The 29-year-old posted a 4.43 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 142 1/3 innings between Baltimore's Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2013. Clark, 30, made his big league debut in 2013, allowing three runs in 1 2/3 innings. He had a 7.84 ERA in 111 1/3 innings across four minor league levels last season.
- The Brewers released right-hander Nick Bucci, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (on Twitter). Formerly one of Milwaukee's top prospects, Bucci dealt with a shoulder injury this season and pitched just two-thirds of an inning this season. The injury-plagued 23-year-old has pitched just 43 1/3 innings over the past two seasons.
- The Padres have outrighted right-hander Adys Portillo to Double-A San Antonio, according to the team's transactions page. The 22-year-old was designated for assignment over the weekend to clear a 40-man roster spot for Joaquin Benoit. Portillo received a $2MM signing bonus in 2008 but has yet to provide the Friars with much of a return on that investment.
The Latest On The Orioles’ Pitching Search
Reports yesterday once again connected the Orioles to right-hander Bronson Arroyo, reviving some early offseason linking between the two sides. In his latest piece, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun runs down the list of potential targets for Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette, including Arroyo.
Connolly offers a familiar refrain regarding Arroyo, writing that the right-hander seeks a three-year guarantee. Arroyo has been linked to many clubs to this point, but none has been willing to offer a third guaranteed season to the longtime Reds hurler to this point. Though Arroyo is as durable as any starter in the game, having authored nine consecutive seasons of 199 or more innings, he also turns 37 in February, making such a commitment a risk. Connolly writes that there is a sense that Arroyo would go to Baltimore if guaranteed a third season, and the club is "definitely interested." Duquette and the Orioles have maintained an ongoing dialogue with Arroyo's agent, Terry Bross, Connolly adds.
The Orioles have also had internal discussions about bringing back a familiar face in the form of left-hander Bruce Chen, Connolly reports. Chen's name has scarcely been mentioned to this point in the offseason, but the soft-tossing southpaw is coming off a season in which he posted a 3.27 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 121 innings for the Royals. Of course, Chen also posted an astoundingly low 27.7 percent ground-ball rate in 2013, and his 51.9 percent fly-ball rate was the highest in the Majors for pitchers with at least 100 innings. Clearly, such trends would not bode well for a transition to the hitter-friendly parks of the AL East. LIke Arroyo, Chen will turn 37 this year.
Jason Hammel still doesn't figure to be an option for the O's, though Connolly seems to think the idea is becoming more plausible than it was earlier in the offseason. Both sides enjoyed their time together, he writes.
Names like Masahiro Tanaka, Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez and Matt Garza can all be effectively ruled out, writes Connolly. That's not surprising to hear, given Duquette's earlier statement that the club wouldn't be in the mix for Tanaka and the team's budgetary constraints. Santana, Jimenez and Garza are all likely to sign at least four-year deals, pricing them out of Baltimore's range.
Quick Hits: Boras, Drew, Red Sox, Orioles
In an interview with Peter Gammons, Scott Boras expressed his confidence that Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales will find good contracts with teams that will put more value on their contributions than the value of (possibly second- or third-round) draft picks. With that said, Boras also believes the free agent system needs to be changed to give players more freedom and to encourage teams to spend. “We should be doing everything possible to try to get smaller market teams the necessary veteran leadership to contend,” Boras said. His suggestions include banning qualifying offers for players over 30 years old, and a monetary compensation system for teams who lose free agents under age-30 that the clubs can re-invest in signings or draft spending.
Here's some more from around the baseball world…
- An executive on a team that explored signing Stephen Drew told Andy Martino of the New York Daily News yesterday that Drew's medicals were raising some concerns. Another source tells WEEI.com's Rob Bradford today (Twitter link) that Drew is "perfectly healthy. No physical issues."
- The Red Sox are looking to add outfield depth, Jason Mastrodonato of MassLive.com reports, and Scott Podsednik is one name on Boston's current long list of external candidates. Ryan Gleichowski, Podsednik's agent, recently told Mastrodonato that Podsednik was in shape and eager to continue his career after sitting out the 2013 season. We also recently heard that the Sox have some interest in Padres outfielder Chris Denorfia.
- The Red Sox will have an estimated $96MM coming off the books following the 2014 seasons, WEEI.com's Alex Speier writes, leaving the team with lots of flexibility to re-sign David Ortiz and/or Jon Lester, as well as explore new player acquisitions.
- The Orioles seem to be using a "stars and scrubs" strategy in building their team, Fangraphs' Dave Cameron writes, and the tactic doesn't seem to be working given the clear holes on the roster and their relatively limited payroll space.
- Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal reports (subscription required) that Dan Lozano's MVP Sports Group has hired former Dodgers director of Asian operations Acey Kohrogi to serve as the firm's head of Asian operations. Kohrogi spent 18 years with the Dodgers and helped them attract the likes of Hideo Nomo, Takashi Saito, Hiroki Kuroda, Chan Ho Park and Hong-Chih Kuo to the Major Leagues.
- The Phillies' new 25-year, $2.5 billion TV contract will theoretically pay them an average of $100MM per year, though David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News crunches the numbers to explain how that $100MM average will actually work out to a much smaller annual payout. MLBTR's Jeff Todd also recently examined the Phillies' TV deal and noted that the contract could just help the team continue its high-spending ways, rather than allow them to raise payroll even more.
- The Giants' bullpen and the Blue Jays' second base platoon project as the worst positions on contending teams, according to Fangraphs' Jeff Sullivan. The Giants' pen projects as below-replacement level as a group thanks to several pitchers that could be declining, while the Jays' Maicer Izturis/Ryan Goins platoon stands out as a weak spot. The Dodgers' second base spot also technically makes Sullivan's list, though he says that's only due to a lack of information about the newly-signed Alexander Guerrero.
Orioles Interested In Bronson Arroyo
The Orioles are among the teams to have shown interest in right-hander Bronson Arroyo, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. The question, notes Olney, is regarding contract terms.
Though they saved nearly $11MM in 2014 salary by trading Jim Johnson to the A's, the Orioles have done little with that savings to this point. They looked to be on their way to allocating a significant chunk of that money to a cheaper option in Grant Balfour, but the O's controversially backed out due to concerns over Balfour's physical.
The money saved on their ninth inning situation would likely be enough to pay Arroyo in the first year of a multiyear pact, especially if the contract were backloaded. Baltimore will have Nick Markakis' salary coming off the books following the 2014 campaign, which could allow them to pay Arroyo more following the first year of a deal.
Arroyo has also been connected to the Twins, Reds, Mets and Pirates this offseason, with the Twins and Reds being the most frequently mentioned suitors for the soon-to-be-37-year-old. Recent reports indicated that as many as four teams have made two-year offers to Arroyo, who is currently holding out for a third guaranteed season. Arroyo has thrown 199 or more innings in each of the past nine seasons, pitching to a 4.10 ERA in that time. He's also succeeded in a hitter-friendly environment — Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park — for the vast majority of that stretch.
AL Notes: Indians, Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles, Jays
The Indians have had a quiet offseason thus far, with December's one-year pact with John Axford and a trade that netted them reliever Josh Outman in exchange for Drew Stubbs being their biggest moves. In a reader mailbag column, Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer writes that the Tribe's estimated 2013 attendance figure of 1.6 million — second-to-last in the majors — could be a factor in the club's quiet offseason. Fans might see more activity from the Cleveland front office if attendance returned to the 2.5 million to 3 million range that the Indians formerly drew, Hoynes says. Here's more from around the American League:
- Jeff Sullivan examined the importance of rotation depth in a piece for Fangraphs. In 2013, teams got an average of 32 starts from pitchers who didn't rank among their top-five most heavily used starters. Sullivan notes that a pitcher like Ryan Dempster, who's been the subject of trade discussions as the odd man out in the Red Sox rotation, could end up being valuable for Boston when one factors in expected rates of starter attrition.
- A trip to the postseason can exhaust a pitcher, former Cy Young Award-winner Orel Hershiser tells Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. Red Sox pitchers Jon Lester and Koji Uehara each reached career highs in innings as they continued to throw into October last season. Lauber reports that Red Sox personnel have urged some of the club's pitchers to alter their offseason routines because of the higher workloads.
- The Boston Herald's John Tomase sizes up the Red Sox's AL East competitors now that several have brought in new talent.
- Yesterday, Brendan Kuty of NJ.com listed the six worst contracts on the books for the Yankees. Today, he named Brett Gardner (arbitration eligible), Alfonso Soriano (one year with the Cubs paying all but $5MM of his 2014 salary), David Robertson (arbitration eligible), Ivan Nova (arbitration eligible), Hiroki Kuroda (one year, $16MM), and Brian McCann (five years, $85MM) as the team's best bargains. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects arbitration salaries of $4MM for Gardner, $5.5MM for Robertson, and $2.8MM for Nova.
- It's time for the Orioles to spend, and starting pitching stands out as the team's greatest area of need, CBS Sports' Dayn Perry writes. Signing Masahiro Tanaka would provide the club with a front-of-the-rotation arm as it prepares for another grueling season in the AL East. Kendrys Morales is also a good fit for the Orioles' DH slot, Perry opines.
- The Blue Jays have been quiet so far this offseason, but Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star sees five reasons for being optimistic about 2014.
Edward Creech contributed to this post.