Odds & Ends: Nationals, Angels, Royals
As the West Coast games get started, here are some tidbits to snack on…
- The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore reports that there is "nothing going on" with contract extension talks involving Adam Dunn. Dunn is off to a slow start, but says it has nothing to do with his possible extension.
- With Jeff Mathis on the disabled list with a fractured wrist, all those teams hoping to take advantage of the Angels' inexplicable disenchantment with Mike Napoli can move on for now.
- MinorLeagueBall.com's John Sickels speculates about what it would take for the Twins to acquire Alex Gordon from the Royals.
- ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin talks with the rehabbing, Daniel Murphy, who says he's willing to learn other positions, even second base, with Ike Davis looking to be up to stay.
Largest Contracts In Team History
We've already looked at the largest contracts by service time and position, so let's now dig up the largest contracts ever given out by each of the 30 teams. These are in terms of guaranteed money only, but some could end up being even larger because of incentives and option years.
- Angels: Torii Hunter, five years, $90MM
- Astros: Carlos Lee, six years, $100MM
- Athletics: Eric Chavez, six years, $66MM
- Blue Jays: Vernon Wells, seven years, $126MM
- Braves: Chipper Jones, six years, $90MM
- Brewers: Ryan Braun, eight years, $45MM
- Cardinals: Matt Holliday, seven years, $120MM
- Cubs: Alfonso Soriano, eight years, $136MM
- Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson, four years, $53.4MM
- Dodgers: Kevin Brown, seven years, $105MM
- Giants: Barry Zito, seven years, $126MM
- Indians: Travis Hafner, four years, $57MM
- Mariners: Ichiro Suzuki, five years, $90MM
- Marlins: Hanley Ramirez, six years, $70MM
- Mets: Johan Santana, six years, $137.5MM
- Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman, five years, $45MM
- Orioles: Miguel Tejada, six years, $72MM
- Padres: Jake Peavy, three years, $52MM
- Phillies: Chase Utley, seven years, $85MM
- Pirates: Jason Kendall, six years, $60MM
- Rangers: Alex Rodriguez, ten years, $252MM
- Rays: Wilson Alvarez, five years, $35MM
- Reds: Ken Griffey Jr., nine years, $116.5MM
- Red Sox: Manny Ramirez, eight years, $160MM
- Rockies: Todd Helton, nine years, $141.5MM
- Royals: Gil Meche & Mike Sweeney, both five years, $55MM
- Tigers: Miguel Cabrera, eight years, $152.3MM
- Twins: Joe Mauer, eight years, $184MM
- White Sox: Frank Thomas, seven years, $64.4MM
- Yankees: Alex Rodriguez, ten years, $275MM
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Olney’s Latest: Smoak, Davis, Ripken, Mathis, Lowell
In today's blog post at ESPN (Insider required and recommended), Buster Olney writes that Rangers' first base prospect Justin Smoak is off to a strong start in Triple-A and could push Chris Davis either out the door or onto the bench. Smoak is hitting .300/.475/.567 with two homers in 40 plate appearances so far this year, while Davis is off to a .194/.265/.290 start with 10 strikeouts in 34 plate appearances.
Here's the rest of Olney's rumors…
- A possible reason why Orioles owner Peter Angelos declined to hire Cal Ripken Jr. is because of "concern about whether the addition of the legend would lead to office politics and ugly fallout."
- With the Angels carrying three catchers, Olney speculates that Boston could be a trade match for Jeff Mathis, and wonders if the talks could be expanded to include Mike Lowell given the Halos' troubles at the hot corner. Red Sox catchers have thrown out just one of 17 base stealers this season, and Mathis has thrown out 23% of would-be base stealers in his career.
Odds & Ends: Ripken, Angels, Athletics, Lewis
Rounding up some Friday night links….
- The Braves released minor league right-hander Deunte Heath, writes Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
- FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that Orioles owner Peter Angelos nixed the idea of Cal Ripken Jr. joining the organization in a baseball capacity.
- The Angels aren't actively shopping anyone, but they're receptive to the idea of trading a catcher, according to Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles. We looked at the club's catching logjam and Mike Napoli's potential availability earlier in the evening.
- Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group tweets that, following Brett Anderson's extension, Billy Beane will consider locking up other young Athletics to long-term deals. Stiglich says Kurt Suzuki probably tops that list, and, in a piece for CSNBayArea.com, Mychael Urban suggests Andrew Bailey is another possibility.
- According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link), Suzuki and his agent haven't heard from the A's regarding an extension yet, but they're open to the idea. Recently, MLBTR looked at comparables for a Suzuki extension.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that the Nationals had no interest in acquiring Fred Lewis, since they consider Justin Maxwell to be their "own Fred Lewis."
- Bobby Valentine said on Sirius XM Radio that coaching the Mets isn't something he's considering, according to the New York Post's Dan Martin.
Discussion: Mike Napoli
Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that Mike Napoli, unhappy with his playing time so far this year, requested a meeting with skipper Mike Scioscia. Napoli was the Angels' primary catcher last season, starting 84 games behind the plate (to Jeff Mathis' 78) and another 16 games at designated hitter. So far in 2010, Mathis has started seven of the Angels' ten contests.
"I don't like coming in here and not seeing my name in the lineup," said Napoli. "I'm a competitor. I want to be on the field. I don't feel like a player who should be in the lineup for only two of nine games. I feel like I should be a starter."
Napoli has provided impressive offensive production over the past two seasons, hitting .273/.359/.527 combined in 2008 and 2009, slugging 20 homers each year. Mathis' numbers with the bat have been considerably less impressive (.202/.281/.313), but Scioscia, a former backstop himself, values Mathis' defensive ability: "First and foremost, we need that defensive presence behind the plate. Jeff is getting more playing time because he's playing at a very high level on defense."
Ten games into the season, it's too early to jump to any conclusions about the Angels' catching situation, but supposing Scioscia continues to divide the playing time as he has so far, the team could have some flexibility. Each player has two more years of arbitration eligibility, but Mathis is more affordable than Napoli, earning $1.3MM in 2010 to Napoli's $3.6MM. One would think the Angels might entertain the idea of shopping their second catcher, who is not only more expensive, but also publicly frustrated with his playing time.
That's not to say the 28-year-old Napoli is likely to be dealt. Having his bat on their bench is a luxury the Angels can afford, and when Mathis (.333/.346/.458 this year) cools off, Napoli should earn a few more at-bats. However, as long as Napoli is sitting more often than he's starting, teams will take notice. There are plenty of less defensive-minded clubs who'd love to acquire a catcher that doesn't hit free agency for two more years and outslugged Victor Martinez and Brian McCann last season.
How would you handle your two backstops if you were the Angels? Should Napoli be playing more often, or is Mathis' defense strong enough to make up for his lesser offense? Which clubs could you see inquiring about Napoli's availability?
Top Trade Chips: AL West
We've completed the National League, so now it's time to jump over to the so-called junior circuit…
- Angels: They moved three pretty good young players to get Scott Kazmir last season, so they might prefer to hold onto the rest of their top prospects. Their best chip is someone you may not have heard of, out of options catcher Bobby Wilson. He's on the 25-man roster but has barely played as the third stringer, yet how many teams would love to have a 27-year old catcher with a very good defensive rep, a .290/.345/.425 batting line in 820 Triple-A plate appearances, and six years of team control left? Pretty much all of them. He'll never clear waivers if the Halos try to send him back to the minors.
- Athletics: Oakland has plenty of young pitching, but Billy Beane likes to hang on to those kind of guys, and for good reason. With ten infielders on the 40-man roster, someone like Jake Fox or Eric Patterson could be moved, as could outfielders Travis Buck or Gabe Gross since Michael Taylor is coming fast. Plus there's always Ben Sheets.
- Mariners: Jack Zduriencik surrendered a good amount of prospect depth this offseason by acquiring Cliff Lee, but no one will argue with that move. Dustin Ackley, the second overall pick in 2009, will make Jose Lopez expendable in short order, and they could choose to make one of two minor league outfielders – Michael Saunders or Greg Halman – available. Seattle's best trade chip might be their potential ability to absorb some money.
- Rangers: Texas is absolutely loaded with young players, so they have plenty of pieces to offer. They can move Chris Davis because Justin Smoak is knocking on the door, or they could move Derek Holland because Martin Perez isn't too far away. They dangled Max Ramirez this winter, and outfielder David Murphy is about to get expensive through arbitration, so he could find himself on the block. Bottom line: the Rangers have the pieces to go out and get anything they need or want.
Joel Pineiro Vs. The Mets: Who Was Serious About A Deal?
We heard all winter that the Mets were interested in free-agent starter Joel Pineiro, and at one point it appeared as if New York had a two-year offer worth around $15MM on the table to the right-hander. Pineiro ended up signing with the Angels for slightly more money and it simply appeared that the Halos won a bidding war that also included the Dodgers.
John Harper of the New York Daily News, however, revealed a bit more to the story in an interview with the veteran right-hander. According to Pineiro, he had heard from neighbor Alex Cora that the Mets were going to make Pineiro a top target of their winter shopping, and the right-hander was more than willing to hear New York out. However, the club allegedly never made an offer to Pineiro until the Angels had already moved in and that $15MM offer "may well have been for the sake of appearance" since the Mets knew Los Angeles had made a bigger offer.
Adam Rubin of ESPN New York has the Mets' take on the situation, which is unsurprisingly different. According to team representatives, they Mets "were willing to meet or narrowly exceed" the contract that Pineiro got from the Angels, but the club felt that "Pineiro wasn't sincere" in his desire to become a Met.
Given that the difference between the Mets' purported offer and Pineiro's Los Angeles contract was only $1MM, it's hard to believe that the Mets couldn't have made up that gap if they were really serious about bringing Pineiro to the Big Apple. If "the sake of appearance" is as important to the Mets as Harper's article claims, then making the larger offer would've allowed the Mets to say offered the most money but the onus was on Pineiro for turning it down.
This kind of free agent gamesmanship no doubt occurs a dozen times over every winter, but in this case, it stands out given the small dollar amount involved and (as Harper points out) the major struggles of the Mets' pitching staff early in the season. It's also possible that both sides were playing a game of chicken with the other and, in this case, both blinked.
Odds & Ends: Evans, Sheffield, Slowey, Hechavarria
Links for Thursday…
- Slate's Dan Morrell discusses the influx of Cuban talent into the Majors, as well as the many quality players who have not defected.
- Outfielder Terry Evans cleared waivers and was sent to the Angels Triple A club to clear a spot for Scott Kazmir, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. Evans, 28, hit .291/.341/.520 at Triple A last year, his third stint at that level.
- Gary Sheffield has "something on the table" to look at after he returns from vacation, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggested a few weeks ago that Sheffield is talking to an NL club (not the Nationals).
- Kevin Slowey said he wouldn't mind a contract similar to Nick Blackburn's four-year, $14MM deal, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Slowey will be arbitration-eligible for the first time after the season.
- Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star tweets a correction to something he wrote yesterday, explaining that Adeiny Hechavarria does indeed qualify for a fourth option.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Yankees essentially chose Javier Vazquez over Joel Pineiro. Sherman feels that Vazquez has "re-opened the wounds from 2004" with his two subpar starts.
Fuentes Back Strain Could Save Angels $9 Million
Angels closer Brian Fuentes tweaked a back muscle picking up a dumbbell about a week ago, according to MLB.com's Lyle Spencer. The freak injury could save the Angels $9MM in 2011.
Fuentes is eligible to return on April 21st. Barring a rainout, the Angels will have 147 games left to play at that point. Fuentes has finished one game this year, and needs 54 more to cause his '11 option to vest. That's one GF out of every 2.72 Halos games. Last year Fuentes finished one for every 2.84 Angels games, though Kevin Jepsen picked up a few GFs in September. It will be tough for Fuentes to finish games at the pace necessary to reach 55 in 2010, now that he'll miss at least the Angels' next seven games.
Cafardo On Gonzalez, Oswalt, Crawford, Granderson
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is now on Twitter, under the handle @nickcafardo, so be sure to follow him. In the meantime, Cafardo also has a new column up for the Globe, in which he addresses the possibility of an Adrian Gonzalez trade and touches on a few other hot stove topics. Let's check out the highlights….
- Cafardo isn't bullish on the Red Sox' chances of acquiring Gonzalez, noting that a trade would deplete Boston's farm system. Plus, they should face stiff competition from teams like the Mariners and Orioles.
- The consensus among a few baseball people who spoke to Cafardo is that Padres GM Jed Hoyer will field trade offers for Gonzalez but won't necessarily deal the slugger. The situation could be similar to the Jays shopping Roy Halladay at last year's deadline, when Toronto wasn't sufficiently blown away by any offer.
- The Padres are more likely to move Chris Young and Heath Bell.
- Assuming the Sox don't land Gonzalez, Cafardo wonders if Carlos Pena might be an offseason target for Theo Epstein.
- Roy Oswalt could be an attractive trade chip for the Astros, given the lack of top starting pitchers that will be available during the season. Cafardo thinks Houston will move their ace if they have to, adding that "it looks like they may have to."
- The Brewers' extension of Yovani Gallardo is a good sign that they'll be aggressive in attempting to lock up Prince Fielder, though it will likely take a Mark Teixeira-esque contract to get it done.
- Cafardo's "dark horse candidate" in this winter's Carl Crawford sweepstakes? The Angels.
- The Red Sox looked into acquiring Curtis Granderson to replace Jason Bay, but were outbid by the Yankees.