Astros Designate Nelson Figueroa For Assignment
The Astros designated Nelson Figueroa for assignment according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart (on Twitter). Houston called up Sergio Escalona in a corresponding move.
Figueroa made the Astros' rotation out of Spring Training, but has since been demoted to the bullpen. After a two-inning outing tonight in which he allowed a run and five baserunners, Figueroa has a season ERA of 8.69 with 16 walks, 45 hits allowed and 17 strikeouts. Last year he posted a 3.22 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 67 innings as a swingman.
If the 36-year-old right-hander gets picked up off of waivers, it will the fourth time he has been claimed in his nine-year career. Just last year, the Phillies selected Figueroa off of waivers from the Mets and the Astros nabbed him from the Phillies.
2012 Contract Issues: Houston Astros
The Astros are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series. Here's what the team faces after the 2011 season:
Eligible For Free Agency (2)
- Clint Barmes' Astros career has just begun. He'd like to stay beyond 2011, but the team's willingness to extend him will depend on his performance.
- Jason Michaels is also eligible for free agency.
Contract Options (1)
- Bill Hall: $4MM mutual option with a $250K buyout. Hall has a standard mutual option, which is really just a way for the Astros to push some money onto next year's payroll. He didn't do anything in April to suggest the team should extend him.
Arbitration Eligible (9)
- First time: J.A. Happ, Jeff Fulchino, Alberto Arias, Angel Sanchez
- Second time: Nelson Figueroa
- Third time: Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn, Jeff Keppinger
- Fourth time: Humberto Quintero
Not all of these players will make it to the point of being tendered contracts. Pence and Bourn are the significant cases, assuming they are not traded. Pence had a big arbitration win in February and could make the jump to $10MM in 2012 and well beyond that in '13. Bourn is controlled through '12 and is represented by Scott Boras; his salary next year could exceed $7MM. Happ could top $3MM and Keppinger is already above $2MM. I'll estimate $24MM or so to retain the key players.
2012 Payroll Obligation
The Astros' 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot's, is $47.25MM. That could climb to $71MM if the main arbitration eligibles are retained, which would be about $6MM below this year's reduced payroll. If Jim Crane buys the team, what path will he take? The new ownership group could purge more of the remaining veterans and build the team from the ground up, using 2012 as a consolidation year (after which Carlos Lee and Brandon Lyon will be off the books). Or, assuming players such as Pence, Bourn, Brett Myers, and Wandy Rodriguez are not traded in July, a new owner could throw around some free agent dollars and try to find a way to compete in '12.
Astros Notes: McLane, Crane, Friedman, Inglett
The Astros have allowed more runs than any other National League team (151). Despite Bud Norris' emergence and solid pitching from Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers, the bullpen ERA is 4.97 and J.A. Happ and Nelson Figueroa have struggled. Here's the latest on the Astros, with a focus on the potential sale of the team…
- Astros owner Drayton McLane told Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle that Houston businessman Jim Crane has become the lone buyer he’s focusing on. “Jim Crane is the only person we’re negotiating with now,” McLane said Monday.
- Others were interested as prospective buyers, however. Houston attorney Kenny Friedman confirmed that he had spoken to McLane about assembling a group to buy the team, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Friedman is the father of Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
- Joe Inglett, who was designated for assignment late last week, cleared waivers and accepted a Triple-A assignment, according to McTaggart (on Twitter).
Dead Money: Paying Players To Play Elsewhere
Eating money in trades or by releasing players is far from an ideal business practice, but sometimes it's a necessary evil. The Mets believe they are better off paying Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo a combined $18MM not to be on their team this year, and released the two just last month. David Wharton of The Los Angeles Times wrote about the concept of "dead money" today, speaking to Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, sports economist J.C. Bradbury, and Scott Boras.
With some help from Cot's Baseball Contracts, let's look at the teams that are paying players to be anywhere but on their roster this season…
- Angels: Gary Matthews Jr. ($11.4MM)
- Astros: Roy Oswalt ($7MM)
- Blue Jays: Vernon Wells ($5MM)
- Cubs: Carlos Silva ($7.25MM, plus $2MM in 2012)
- Diamondbacks: Chris Snyder ($3MM)
- Dodgers: Manny Ramirez ($8.33MM per year through 2013), Andruw Jones ($3.2MM per year through 2014), Juan Pierre ($3.5MM)
- Mariners: Carlos Silva ($5.5MM), Yuniesky Betancourt ($1MM), Josh Wilson ($179K)
- Mets: Oliver Perez ($4MM), Luis Castillo ($6MM), Gary Matthews Jr. ($1MM)
- Rockies: Manny Corpas ($3.55MM, $250K in 2012)
- Royals: Yuniesky Betancourt ($2MM)
- Twins: Brendan Harris ($500K)
- White Sox: Scott Linebrink ($3.5MM)
This doesn't include money the Braves owe Kenshin Kawakami ($7.4MM) or the Yankees owe Kei Igawa ($4MM). Both Japanese imports remain in the organization, but they've since been banished to the minor leagues. It also doesn't include all the money the Mets famously owe Bobby Bonilla for the next two decades.
Yuniesky Betancourt is the only player collecting paychecks from three different big league teams at the moment, but Carlos Silva could join him if he's called up by the Yankees. Gary Matthews Jr. could also be in that mix if he catches on somewhere this summer.
Astros Notes: Barmes, Crane, Berkman
After spending time on the DL with a fractured hand, Clint Barmes made his Astros debut tonight. The shortstop went 0-for-4 as Houston dropped a 5-0 result to Milwaukee. Here are some other items from Minute Maid Park…
- Drayton McLane and Jim Crane have entered an "exclusive negotiating window" to arrange the club's sale to Crane, according to Houston TV station KILT. McLane tells MLB.com's Brian McTaggart that Crane is only one of several potential buyers with whom he is negotiating.
- As much as Astros fans might want to see Lance Berkman back in Houston (or as much as Berkman reportedly would like to finish his career with the team), Chip Bailey of the Houston Chronicle doesn't think Berkman fits in with the Astros' commitment to their youth movement.
- As reported earlier tonight, the Astros released minor league right-hander Cesar Carrillo.
- Houston fans can get all the latest news on their team by following MLBTR's Astros-centric RSS feed, Facebook page and Twitter account.
Astros Release Cesar Carrillo
The Astros have released right-hander Cesar Carrillo, reports Greg Rajan of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times (via Twitter). Carrillo was put on waivers by San Diego last September and claimed by Houston, but struggled (a 9.64 ERA in 9 1/3 innings) for Double-A Corpus Christi this season. It's an unfortunate birthday present for Carrillo, who turns 27 today.
Carrillo was a first-round pick of the Padres (18th overall) in the 2005 amateur draft and was ranked as the 88th-best prospect in the game by Baseball America before the 2006 season. Carrillo underwent Tommy John surgery in 2007, however, and never quite got back on track. The right-hander has a career 5.14 ERA in 99 minor league games (93 of them starts) and made three starts for the Padres in 2009, allowing 15 earned runs and 12 walks in just 10 1/3 Major League innings.
Quick Hits: Astros, Phillies, Bautista, Starling
Links for Friday on the 25th anniversary of Roger Clemens' first 20 strikeout game…
- MLB officials say Jim Crane is still on track to buy the Astros from Drayton McLane, according to Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle. Justice argues that Crane should bring Lance Berkman, Andy Pettitte and former GM Gerry Hunsicker back to Houston if he does take over.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports argues that manager Charlie Manuel needs to be cautious with his rotation, because it’s “by far the Phillies' biggest strength.”
- Former Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi told Tom Verducci of SI.com that he liked Jose Bautista enough to trade for him, but wasn’t expecting historic production from the former utility player. “If you told me he would hit 20 home runs, I would have believed it because you could see the power,” Ricciardi said. “But no way could you see 50.”
- D'Backs GM Kevin Towers was on hand to watch high schooler Bubba Starling play yesterday, according to ESPN.com's Keith Law (on Twitter). A two sport athlete, Starling is arguably the top high school position player in the 2011 draft.
Astros Designate Joe Inglett For Assignment
The Astros designated Joe Inglett for assignment to create roster space for Clint Barmes, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. Barmes was hit by a pitch in Spring Training and has now recovered from a fractured hand.
Inglett hit .208/.208/.250 in 24 plate appearances for the Astros, who acquired him from the Rays this spring. The 32-year-old appeared in 102 games for the Brewers last year, hitting .254/.331/.401 and playing second base, left field and right field. He has also played shortstop, third base and center field over the course of his six-year MLB career. The left-handed hitter has a .286/.345/.397 line in the majors.
Barmes has not appeared in a big league game for the Astros since they acquired him for Felipe Paulino last November. He hit .235/.305/.351 in 432 plate appearances for Colorado last year, playing short, second and third.
Astros Release Nieve To Play In Korea
The Astros released right-hander Fernando Nieve to allow him to sign with a Korean team, according to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The Pirates signed Nieve in December and released him in March, when he didn't make the Opening Day roster. Two days later, Nieve signed with the Astros.
Nieve, 28, pitched 42 innings for the Mets in 2010, posting a 6.00 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 4.7 BB/9, 2.1 HR/9 and a 37% ground ball rate before he was Mets granted him free agency. No pitcher who completed 40 innings or more matched Nieve's 18.5% HR/FB rate last year.
The Venezuela native has started three games for the Astros' Triple-A affiliate this year, posting a 7.63 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 15 1/3 innings.
Quick Hits: Bautista, Jeter, Clevlen, Astros
Ten years ago today, the Rockies signed an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic named Ubaldo Jimenez. Now the 27-year-old ace boasts a 3.59 career ERA and 669 strikeouts in 744 innings. Today's links:
- Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays is in the mix as the best hitter in the American League, writes Dave Cameron of FanGraphs. If that's true, his five-year, $65MM contract will turn out to be a significant bargain.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman to Derek Jeter in a November 30th meeting: "You said all you wanted was what was fair. How much higher do we have to be than the highest offer for it to be fair?" That's from Ian O'Connor's source; the ESPNNewYork.com writer has a new book out next month on Jeter.
- The Wichita Wingnuts signed former big league outfielder Brent Clevlen, announced the team. The independent league club is partially owned by a former teammate of Clevlen's, Nate Robertson.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart looks at the potential roster moves the Astros could make when Clint Barmes is activated off the disabled list, possibly as soon as this coming weekend.