Odds & Ends: Lowell, Paulino, Cardinals, Nationals
Links for Sunday….
- Tony La Russa tells Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch that he's confident GM John Mozeliak will add pieces if the Cardinals have clear needs this summer.
- Barry Bonds still hasn't retired, notes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (via Twitter).
- Mike Lowell explained to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston that he would like to take a year or two off once he's done playing. Lowell would consider broadcasting, but doesn't think he wants to coach at this point.
- Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post credits Florida's front office with another steal for acquiring Ronny Paulino. The Marlins traded for Paulino a year ago in exchange for Hector Correa, who isn't close to the big leagues.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch takes a look at the Cardinals' present and future payroll situation.
- Yesterday we discussed the Nationals' need to make room on their 25-man roster for Livan Hernandez, who will start for Washington today. MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that the team has cleared a spot by optioning Garrett Mock to Triple A, deciding against sending down Jesse English.
- Despite not receiving much first base production so far, Jerry Manuel says the Mets have no plans to call up Ike Davis, according to Dan Martin of the New York Post.
- The New York Post's Joel Sherman explains why it's important for the New York franchises to develop pitching depth from within their organizations.
Largest Contracts By Position
We've already looked at the largest contracts by service time, so now let's break it down by position…
Catcher
Joe Mauer: Eight years, $184MM
First Base
Mark Teixeira: Eight years, $180MM
Second Base
Chase Utley: Seven years, $85MM
Shortstop
Alex Rodriguez: Ten years, $252MM
Third Base
Alex Rodriguez: Ten years, $275MM
Outfield
Alfonso Soriano: Eight years, $136MM
Vernon Wells: Seven years, $126MM
Matt Holliday: Seven years, $120MM
Starting Pitcher
CC Sabathia: Seven years, $161MM
Johan Santana: Six years, $137.5MM
Barry Zito: Seven years, $126MM
Mike Hampton: Eight years, $121MM
Kevin Brown: Seven years, $105MM
Relief Pitcher
Joe Nathan: Four years, $47MM
Mariano Rivera: Three years, $45MM
Some thoughts…
- If you want to count DH as a position, which I guess it technically is, then Travis Hafner's four year, $57MM deal would top the list.
- Joe Mauer's contract is more than three and a half times larger than Jorge Posada's four year, $52.4MM deal, the second largest among active catchers. Mike Piazza's seven year, $91MM deal is the second largest for a catcher all-time.
- A-Rod only spent three years of his $252MM at the shortstop position before sliding over to third. The next largest contract ever given to a shortstop belongs to his teammate, Derek Jeter, who signed a ten year, $189MM deal in 2001.
- The Twins are the only team besides the Yankees to employ two of the largest contracts at their respective positions.
- The Soriano, Wells, Zito, and Hampton deals are all ones ownership wish they could take back. Brown spent a lot of time on the disabled list, but he did post a 3.23 ERA in close to 1,100 innings during the life of his deal.
- The Utley and Rivera deals are ones the teams would happily do again, but the jury is still out on the rest.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Norris, Braves, Yankees
One year ago today, 22-year-old Angels' starter Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver just hours after shutting out the A's for six innings. The lone survivor from Adenhart's car, his friend and Cal State Fullerton catcher Jon Wilhite, recovered from his injuries well enough to throw out the first pitch at an A's game in July. The drunk driver, 23-year-old Andrew Thomas Gallo, is still awaiting trial. Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse recently spoke to a few members of the Angels about the Adenhart tragedy.
On a much less somber note, here's a look at what's being written around the web during the season's first week…
- The Dodgerhater sat down for a chat with Astros pitcher Bud Norris.
- Capitol Avenue Club looks at ten players the Braves could attempt to lock up to long-term deals.
- At Home Plate wonders if the Yankees' big money deals will come back to haunt them.
- El Lefty Malo muses about the Giants' poor track record for developing position players.
- Where Have You Gone Andy Van Slyke? is excited for what they call "the first true season of the Neal Huntington era."
- The Cubs Reporter looks at the Cubs' ownership history.
- South Side Sox has some fun with retired numbers.
- Fenway Nation doesn't like the lack of speed on Boston's bench.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Largest Contracts By Service Time
When Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo signed his five year, $30.1MM extension earlier today, it marked the largest contract ever signed by a pitcher with less than three years of service time.
Let's look at the richest contracts by service time, in terms of guaranteed money…
Less Than One Year
Position Player: Ryan Braun. Eight years, $45MM
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Four years, $9.5MM.
One To Two Years
Position Player: Chris Young. Five years, $28MM.
Pitcher: Fausto Carmona. Four years, $15MM.
Two To Three Years
Position Player: Hanley Ramirez. Six years, $70MM.
Pitcher: Yovani Gallardo. Five years, $30.1MM.
Three To Four Years
Position Player: Albert Pujols. Seven years, $100MM.
Pitcher: Scott Kazmir. Three years, $28.5MM.
Four To Five Years
Position Player: Miguel Cabrera. Eight years, $152.3MM.
Pitcher: Justin Verlander. Five years, $80MM.
Five To Six Years
Position Player: Derek Jeter. Ten years, $189MM.
Pitcher: Jake Peavy. Three years, $52MM.
Six-plus Years
Position Player: Alex Rodriguez. Ten years, $275MM.
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Seven years, $171MM.
Some thoughts…
- The most regrettable deals were signed very early in the player's career, Young and Carmona. Might be a lesson in using up those pre-arbitration years before taking the plunge.
- The largest contract signed by a position player with less than one year of service time after Braun's deal is Evan Longoria's, which will pay him just $17.5MM over six years. Is Braun overpaid, or is Longoria underpaid? I think the answer is clear.
- Sabathia's four year, $9.5MM deal nearly tripled Roy Halladay's three year, $3.7MM deal with Toronto, which was the previous record for a pitcher with less an a year of service time.
- One only of the above contracts has expired.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Blocked Prospects: Jesus Montero
In 20-year-old catcher Jesus Montero, the Yankees have what is arguably their best offensive prospect since Derek Jeter. But there's a problem: they don't have an obvious place to put him.
Both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein ranked Montero as the 4th best prospect in the game, while ESPN's Keith Law had him 10th. He is clearly one of the game's brightest young minor leaguers, but as Baseball America said in their 2010 Handbook, "the Yankees no longer talk abut him as an every day major league catcher" because he "is somewhat stiff and lacks agility behind the plate." Despite his defensive woes, Montero hit .337/.389/.562 with 17 homers in 92 games across two levels last year. His season ended prematurely because of a broken finger suffered while he was behind the dish.
In most other organizations, Montero would simply move out from behind the plate and learn how to play first base. Of course, the Yankees already have Mark Teixeira penciled into the position for the next seven years. A corner outfield spot may be a possibility, but scouts are skeptical because his lack of athleticism might not allow him to be anything better than below average out there. Designated hitter is less than ideal since he's so young, not to mention that they'll need the spot for some of the older players on the team's roster.
If they so choose, the Yankees could look to trade Montero for a piece to help the big league roster, something they're known to do with their prospects. In fact, they offered Montero to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay straight up last year. Jorge Posada is under contract through 2011 and isn't getting any younger, so they could try to ease Montero in as a back-up catcher/part-time DH at first. Montero started the season at Triple-A, and it's worth remembering that he'll be just 27-years-old when Teixeira's contract is up.
Yankees Claim Chad Huffman
WEDNESDAY, 1:28pm: The Yankees claimed Huffman off waivers from the Padres, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Huffman will head to Triple A. Baseball America ranked Huffman 21st among Padres prospects, noting his strong batting eye and good power but various limitations. Their bottom line quote: "He looks like a future regular on his best days and a part-timer on his worst." Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues and MLBTR has a hunch Kevin Towers' fingerprints are all over this pickup.
SUNDAY, 3:09pm: The Padres designated outfielder Chad Huffman for assignment in order to clear a space on the 40-man roster for veteran slugger Matt Stairs, according to a team press release.
Huffman, 25 later this month, was a second-round pick for the Friars back in 2006. He hit .269/.361/.469 for the Padres Triple-A affiliate in Portland last season, but managed just one hit in 23 spring at-bats. For his career in the minors, Huffman owns a respectable .289/.385/.474 line over four seasons and 1885 plate appearances.
Looking At The Needs Of Some Contenders
With Spring Training wrapping up around the country, teams are finalizing their rosters and picking the 25 players they'll start the season with. There's always room for improvement, but some contenders have some very obvious weak spots on their rosters. Here's a look at some of them, which may need to be addressed during the season…
- Angels, third base: Brandon Wood and Maicer Izturis will get the first cracks at replacing Chone Figgins, but if neither is up to par, the Halos might be looking for a fill-in at the hot corner.
- Braves, outfielder: Superstar in training Jason Heyward will start the year in right, but incumbent centerfielder Nate McLouth had a brutal spring (6-for-51), which may push Melky Cabrera into full-time duty.
- Rays, setup man: With J.P. Howell on the shelf due to a bum shoulder, the team has no obvious candidate to hand the ball off to new closer Rafael Soriano. Dan Wheeler and Grant Balfour represent solid options, but if Howell misses more time than expected, the Rays might be looking to add a reliever.
- Twins, closer: This is the most obvious hole of them all. Joe Nathan is out for the season after having elbow surgery, and Jon Rauch will get the first chance to replace him.
- Yankees, left field: The team is breaking camp with Brett Gardner, Randy Winn, and Marcus Thames set to share time in left, but we've already seen a scenario laid out in which they might need help sooner rather than later.
That doesn't include all of the clubs that could very well be looking to add a starting pitcher at some point, like the Mariners, Mets, Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers. Some other holes aren't so obvious though. Maybe the Red Sox could use another reliever (who couldn't?), or perhaps Seattle will go looking for a big bat that fits into their extreme run prevention plan.
What other areas of need to do you see out there for contenders?
Yankees Release Mike Rivera
The Yankees have released catcher Mike Rivera according to GM Brian Cashman, tweets Marc Carig of The Newark Star-Ledger. The writing was on the wall once the Yanks signed Chad Moeller this morning.
Rivera, 33, struggled in Spring Training (3-for-18) and missed some time with a hamstring issue. He's a .244/.305/.383 career hitter in 582 plate appearances, seeing most of his big league action with the Brewers.
Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Figueroa, Rays, Martinez
Links for Saturday…
- Rule 5 Draft pick Carlos Monasterios will make the Dodgers' Opening Day squad, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. However, Joe Torre will not announce whether the team will carry 11 or 12 pitchers until tomorrow.
- Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (via Twitter) says to expect word that Elliot Johnson has cleared waivers and will stay with the Rays at their Triple-A affiliate. Johnson, who was out of options, was waived by Tampa Bay earlier this week.
- Righthander Nelson Figueroa was one of six players cut by the Mets, according to MLB.com's Bill Chastain. Figueroa is out of options and has been outrighted before, so he can elect to become a free agent instead of reporting to the minors if he clears waivers.
- Victor Martinez doesn't feel he needs promises in his next contract that he will remain at catcher, reports WEEI.com's Rob Bradford. This morning we learned that V-Mart doesn't want talks about a contract extension to take place during the season.
- Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies points out that the Rockies will start the year with the highest Opening Day payroll in team history, a cool $85,808,682.
- Marc Carig of The Newark Star-Ledger tweets that Marcus Thames has officially made the Yankees' Opening Day roster. He could have opted out of his minor league deal if he didn't make the team out of Spring Training, but now he'll earn $900K for the season.
Yanks Could Be Shopping For Outfielder Soon
Some in the industry are already wondering if the Yankees could be in the market for outfield help soon, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Both Randy Winn and Marcus Thames have struggled this spring, though Thames officially made the club's Opening Day roster today. The club may find themselves uneasy with the two veterans as starting left fielder Brett Gardner is not yet an established major league hitter. They would be especially thin in the outfield if Curtis Granderson or Nick Swisher are bitten by the injury bug.
Rosenthal writes that the Yankees figure to be more patient with Winn as he is more than four years removed from playing in the AL.
The Yankees investment in Winn and Thames amounts to just $2MM combined. Rosenthal writes that if one or both struggle, and Gardner also stumbles out of the gate, then the team could be seeking an outfielder quickly.