The Phillies’ Search For Pitching Depth
The Phillies acquired arguably the best pitcher in baseball earlier this offseason. As Spring Training approaches, Roy Halladay starts training every morning at 7 am and his team is considering some less formidable options in an attempt to add depth. Here are the details, from a pair of beat writers:
- MLB.com's Todd Zolecki writes that the Phils would like to add a starter, noting that any additions would likely come on minor league deals.
- Scott Lauber of the News Journal tweets that Pedro Martinez interests the Phillies, though his current price asking price exceeds the team's budget. Pedro wants $5MM or more to pitch a full season.
- In another tweet, Lauber says Jose Contreras believes pitching in relief can lengthen his career.
Phillies Sign Jose Contreras
The Phillies officially signed righty Jose Contreras to a one-year, $1.5MM deal today. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said he'll be stretched out in Spring Training as a starter but is best suited for the bullpen. Enrique Rojas of ESPN first reported the agreement on Friday.
Contreras, 38, posted a 5.42 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 21 starts for the White Sox before getting traded to the Rockies in late August. Contreras pitched well as a reliever in his brief stint for Colorado.
Odds & Ends: Prospects, Livan, Cardinals, Damon
Some links for Wednesday night…
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo released his list of the top 50 prospects in the game. Jason Heyward and Stephen Strasburg rank one-two.
- Livan Hernandez sent a contract proposal to Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo back in December, but he never received a response according to a tweet from MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports that Cardinals' GM John Mozeliak confirmed that any pickups from here on out would be on the offensive side of the roster.
- Scott Boras said that "The Yankees never even made an offer to me regarding Johnny Damon during the entire process," according to a tweet from Tyler Kepner of The New York Times. In a second tweet, Kepner says Boras indicated that the two-year, $14MM offer the team reportedly made was conditional on whether or not Nick Johnson would sign.
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure reports that 17-year-old righty Rafael DePaula is back on the market after being suspended for a year by MLB after lying about his age. His agent hopes to have him signed within the next 15-20 days, and Arangure mentions that both the Yankees and Red Sox are interested.
- Pirate relievers Anthony Claggett and Steven Jackson both cleared waivers according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch, and have been outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis. Claggett was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Octavio Dotel, Jackson for Ryan Church.
- Astros' GM Ed Wade said that signing Wandy Rodriguez to a long-term deal would become a "front-burner discussion for us" if he repeats his 2009 success in 2010, reports MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. Wandy had a 3.02 ERA with an 8.4 K/9 in 205.2 innings last season.
- Craig Calcaterra of NBCSports.com says that the Braves have discussed Johnny Damon recently, but came up with three reasons why he wasn't a fit.
- David Murphy of The Philadelphia Daily News lays out the Phillies' payroll commitments for the next four years. As of right now, the team stands to shed almost $70MM off the books following the 2011 season.
Odds & Ends: Street, Nelson, Prospects, Mets
Links for Wednesday…
- Check out Huston Street's contract extension details, courtesy of Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.
- Free agent reliever Joe Nelson has expressed an interest in pitching for the Cubs, reports Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Nelson seemed like a bargain signing by the Rays at $1.3MM, but his control and flyball rates took a turn for the worse and he was designated for assignment in September.
- ESPN's Keith Law ranks the farm systems, from the Rangers at #1 to the White Sox at #30. Law's Top 100 Prospects list comes out tomorrow.
- Baseball America is also kicking into gear, with their Prospect Handbook coming out soon. They're holding an all-day chat Friday, with BA editors as well as prospects Tim Alderson, Ryan Westmoreland, Logan Morrison, and Casey Crosby available for your questions.
- ESPN's Tim Kurkjian has a must-read article on Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and his plan to bring the team back to prominence.
- Scott Lauber of The News Journal tweets that while the Phillies like Chien-Ming Wang, but he might not be a fit because he won't be ready for the start of the season.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets are on a "Pollyanna streak," currently regarding their rotation. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports seems to believe the Mets are a total mess, and suggests they start over.
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein told Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News that he wouldn't have made the Billy Wagner deal last August without the shot at two draft picks.
- Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says that the A's agreed not to offer arbitration to Ben Sheets if he's a Type A free agent after the season. Achieving that status seems impossible anyway after he missed all of '09 and did not receive DL days. Slusser also notes that Coco Crisp received a $250K signing bonus, bringing his deal to $5.5MM guaranteed.
Rockies Notes: Mora, Giambi, Speier
Troy Renck of the Denver Post looks at a number of Rockies-related items in his latest blog entry….
- Eric Goldschmidt, agent of veteran infielder Melvin Mora, says his free-agent client is "definitely interested" in playing for Colorado. Renck points out that Mora's versatility would make him a logical signing for the Rockies, given that their other recent bench signing (Jason Giambi) can only play first base. Mora could decide on his future by the end of the week as he picks from between "roughly" five interested teams.
- Speaking of Giambi, Renck said that his clubhouse presence was a big factor in his re-signing with the Rockies. Troy Tulowitzki credited Giambi with "helping…with the mental side" of baseball.
- Renck says the Rockies are "expected to sign" reliever Justin Speier to a minor-league contract. Released by the Angels in August, Speier pitched for Colorado from 2001 to 2003 and has a 2.55 K/BB ratio in 12 major league seasons.
- Eric Gagne is "becoming a more likely non-roster invite than Derrick Turnbow." We heard yesterday from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter) that Arizona is also interested in Turnbow, so perhaps Colorado doesn't want to get into a bidding war with its divisional rival.
- Colorado GM Dan O'Dowd told Renck he was "surprised" when Jose Contreras signed with Philadelphia. O'Dowd said the Rockies wanted to use Contreras out of the bullpen while the Phillies offered him a chance to start. Interestingly, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said today (as reported by Todd Zolecki of MLB.com) that Contreras will only start during spring training and will be a reliever by Opening Day.
Phillies Claim Brian Bocock Off Waivers
The Phillies have claimed infielder Brian Bocock off waivers from the Blue Jays, tweets MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. Toronto just claimed Bocock off waivers from the Giants earlier this month.
Bocock, 25 in March, spent most of '09 in High A ball, where he hit .241/.303/.339. The speedy shortstop is hailed for his defense, according to Baseball America's '08 Handbook.
Note: an earlier version of this post contained incorrect information about the Phillies having higher priority than the Blue Jays for NL players. Only trade waivers are league-specific.
Odds & Ends: Mauer, Turnbow, Loaiza
Links for Monday…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if the convergence of Joe Mauer, Ron Shapiro, and Bill Smith in St. Paul Wednesday for a Rick Reilly program will accelerate extension talks.
- The Rockies "remain firmly in the mix" for free agent reliever Derrick Turnbow, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Turnbow could make a choice by Wednesday.
- In his latest MLB.com mailbag, Jordan Bastian notes that Blue Jays starter Dustin McGowan is out of options.
- MLBTR's resident translator, Nick Collias, passes along this Esteban Loaiza interview with Hector Linares from the Mexican newspaper Excelsior. Loaiza says he's doing everything possible to make it back to the big leagues, and has received a few calls from teams. He last pitched for the White Sox in June of '08.
- Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News explains why the Phillies' Cliff Lee trade was the right move. He says fans don't understand, and the Phils needed the prospects.
- Aaron Gleeman wouldn't mind seeing Delmon Young benched and Jim Thome added by the Twins to platoon at DH.
- RotoAuthority assesses David Wright's fantasy prospects for 2010.
- Baseball America's Ben Badler says MLB voided the seven-figure contract Dominican third baseman Duanel Jones had with San Francisco. ESPN's Jorge Arangure says (via Twitter) the move was prompted by Jones failing a drug test administered by the Giants.
- Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie told MASN's Steve Melewski that his $120K pay cut from 2008 to 2009 did not affect his '09 performance.
Phillies, Ruiz Agree To Multi-Year Deal
7:33pm: The deal is worth $8.85MM over three seasons, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. The contract includes a fourth-year club option of $5MM with a five-year buyout as well as performance incentives for games started.
5:22pm: The Phillies and catcher Carlos Ruiz have agreed to terms on a three-year, $9MM deal, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. Ruiz, who turns 31-years-old on Friday, had his best offensive campaign to date in 2009, hitting .255/.355/.425 with a career-high 9 HRs in 107 games. The deal covers all of Ruiz's remaining arbitration years.
With Chooch set to sign, the Phillies have avoided arbitration with their three eligible players. Earlier in the week, the club agreed to a three-year, $24MM extension with pitcher Joe Blanton. Shane Victorino was next up, inking a three-year, $22MM pact.
Can Phillies Afford To Re-Sign Jayson Werth?
Phillies GM Ruben Amaro told reporters today that the club may not be able to retain Jayson Werth as they already have $130MM committed to just 14 players for 2011, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. His comments came after the press conference to announce the re-signing of Shane Victorino and were unsolicited by the media in attendance.
Amaro wondered aloud if the contracts given to Jason Bay and Matt Holliday would affect Werth's asking price. Recently, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com wrote that he isn't sure if the Phils could retain Werth for Bay-type money. Werth had his strongest offensive showing to date in 2009, hitting .268/.373./.506 with a career high 36 homers.
While his .879 OPS in '09 doesn't quite match Bay's walk year OPS of .921, Werth's solid defensive play (6.1 UZR/150) certainly trumps Bay's notoriously weak fielding (-11.2 UZR/150).
Stark On Holliday, Lee, Phillies, Rockies, Cubs
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says the Baseball Writers' Association of America needs to establish an award for relief pitchers. He also provides plenty of rumblings from around the league; here they are:
- Stark hears that the only offers Matt Holliday had in-hand when the Cardinals signed him were one-year deals worth $18MM or so.
- The Phillies offered Cliff Lee a three-year extension worth $60MM or so before trading for Roy Halladay. It's unclear whether Lee and agent Darek Braunecker formally turned the offer down, but others believe Lee will seek a longer-term deal once he hits the open market after this season.
- The Phillies are "plenty interested" in Pedro Martinez on a half-season deal similar to the one he signed last year, but one NL club hears that Pedro is looking for a full-season job at "market" dollars.
- The Phillies have backed off on John Smoltz, who wants to start, but they are interested in Jose Contreras.
- The Rockies talked actively to the Marlins about Dan Uggla. Now, the Rockies are more intent on free agent options including Miguel Tejada, Orlando Cabrera and Orlando Hudson.
- They'd also like to bring Jason Giambi back.
- Scouts who have seen Carlos Delgado play first base in Puerto Rico say the slugger should look for a DH job, since his fielding is suspect.
- Stark has the impression that the Cubs have set aside their interest in Ben Sheets as they pursue a bench bat and a setup man.