To Be Dealt: Bay, Nady, Marte, Morris, Wilson
A short but sweet article came out in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette this morning detailing the Pirates’ five main trade candidates. No new or surprising names appear on the list but it’s a handy roundup for those not up to date on their Bucco news. As we head into the ’08 season (tonight!) the Pirates may not be contenders, but they could be difference makers.
Jason Bay – $5.75MM in ’08, $7.5MM in ’09 – I was surprised they didn’t deal him in the offseason, but the Pirates are wisely taking a wait and see approach with Bay. Surely he can’t be as bad as he was last season. Like the Pirates, PECOTA is predicting a moderate bounce back season, but not quite the elite 30 HR seasons of ’05-’06.
Xavier Nady – $3.35MM in ’08, arbitration eligible in ’09 – To make room for blocked prospect Steve Pearce, Nady needs to go; however, there’s enough doubt around the league that he can hit righties well enough to justify an everyday position. The Mets are the only listed suitor as they could use a corner OF/1B.
Damaso Marte – $2MM in ’08 with club option for ’09 – The article’s rhetoric seems to imply Marte is the most likely to be dealt with Yankees and Braves as suitors. When it comes to crafty, lefty relievers, expect a number of teams to come calling.
Matt Morris – $9.5MM in ’08, $9MM club option in ’09 ($1MM buyout) – Morris had a nice first half for the Giants last year(3.55 ERA) before regressing to his struggling ways. His talent should make it hard to trade him out of the NL, and his contract and could make it difficult to deal him to any team not desperate for someone to pickup innings. The Pirates should be crossing their fingers for another strong first half.
Jack Wilson – $6.5MM in ’08, $7.25MM in ’09, $8.4 club option for ’10 – The article notes that the Pirates will need a SS in return for someone on this list before they can comfortably deal Wilson as he’s the only everyday SS in their system. As Tim noted back in August, Wilson just wants out of Pittsburgh and will waive his six team no trade clause.
We’d love to hear from Pirates fans on all of this.
By Nat Boyle
Pirates Acquire Tyler Yates From Braves
10:23am: Byung-Hyun Kim‘s gone, in the accompanying move. So is Jaret Wright, according to RotoWorld.
8:40am: Dave O’Brien was right – the Braves chose Tyler Yates as the out of options reliever to deal. They sent him to the Pirates today for a minor league hurler named Todd Redmond. On Monday, O’Brien said he expected the Braves to trade one of Scott Thorman or Brayan Pena as well.
Yates, a 30 year-old Hawaiin, has a solid 8.3 per nine innings strikeout rate in his 162 inning career. He needs to work on his control though. Yates was drafted by the A’s and dealt to the Mets in the Dave Justice deal. Baseball America says he began ’04 as the Mets’ fifth starter but was shortly converted to relief. He missed the ’05 season with rotator cuff surgery. His acquisition may push Jaret Wright or Byung-Hyun Kim out of Pittsburgh.
Redmond, 23 in May, was ranked as the Pirates’ #27 prospect by Baseball America. They note his "outstanding control" but lack of dominant stuff. BA believes he profiles as a middle reliever in the long term.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Rule 5 Draftees
Last year the Reds selected Josh Hamilton in the Rule 5 draft despite only 23 games above Single-A and only 15 games anywhere since 2002 (actually the Cubs picked Hamilton and traded him to the Reds the same day). Hamilton went on to hit .292-19-47 in 90 games. This year, 18 players were chosen in the Rule 5 draft (14 pitchers). These players must remain on the 25-man roster all season or be offered back to their original club for $25K. By my count, three players (Sergio Valenzuela, Lincoln Holdzkom, Jose Capellan) have already been offered back to their original clubs (Capellan was picked up on waivers by a third team during the process). Hamilton is the rare case of a position player sticking with his new club as it is far easier to hide a developing pitcher and still get him playing time in the bullpen than it is on the bench.While it is rare for position players to stick, we have already learned that the Cardinals may keep Brian Barton as a fifth outfielder. As opening day rosters begin to take shape, let’s take a look at what is being said in the Blogosphere about the chances for the Rule draftees.
- Tim Lahey (RHP, CHC/MIN): Bleed Cubbie Blue sees the Cubs working out a trade with the Twins that would allow them to send Lahey to AAA. In fact, they speculate that Lahey will be the PTBNL in the Craig Monroe deal.
- Evan Meek (RHP, PIT/TB): Bucs Dugout predicts that Meek will at least start the season with the Pirates before being offered back to the Rays.
- Randor Bierd (RHP, BAL/DET): Bird Brain projects Bierd to make the roster and hopes the O’s give him every chance to stick.
- Jose Capellan (LHP, CIN/BOS): Capellan was originally selected by the Giants but was just placed on waivers. The Reds picked him up (Rule 5 rules still apply) and Obsessive Giants Compulsive is surprised the Giants let him go.
- Sergio Valenzuela (RHP, CIN/ATL): Valenzuela was sold back to the Braves after not making a single appearance in a spring game. The Braves then traded Valenzuela to a team in the Mexican League. Which begs the question…Are "future considerations" from the Mexican League worth the $25K the Braves dropped to bring him back? Talking Chop finds the entire situation funny and is not surprised that Valenzuela did not stick with the Reds.
- Brian Barton (OF, STL/CLE): Cardinals GM is predicting Barton to be on the opening day roster with Juan Gonzalez starting the season in AAA.
- R.A. Dickey (RHP, SEA/MIN): Detect-O-Vision is infatuated with the knuckleballer but notes that Dickey "has a looooooooooong way to go".
- Steven Register (RHP, NYM/COL): Mets Fever thinks Register might actually stick by earning the final spot in the bullpen.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Pirates Rumors: Nady, Capps
I always enjoy Dejan Kovacevic’s Q&As for Pirates insight. Let’s take a look at today’s edition.
- Kovacevic suggests that the Pirates’ decision to option Steve Pearce already indicates nothing is cooking on the Xavier Nady trade front. Pearce is a classic blocked prospect, as described in an MLBTR piece by Aaron Shinsano. One blogger isn’t buying Neal Huntington’s comments on the topic of Nady.
- A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I found it odd that the Pirates’ talks with Matt Capps would fizzle because Manny Corpas‘ affordable deal raised the bar. Today Kovacevic adds that he doesn’t expect talks to be revived until after the season.
Snell And Pirates Agree To Three-Year Deal
SUNDAY, 7:13pm: Paul Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette clears things up. It is a guaranteed contract of $8MM for three years, with a $600K signing bonus. The two option years are worth at least $16MM, not including "standard incentive clauses." That’s a great deal for the Bucs, wouldn’t you say?
SUNDAY, 6:23pm: The three-year deal is worth at least $8MM, according to a CBSSports.com wire report.
SUNDAY, 4:22pm: It has just been announced on MLB.com that the Pirates have signed starting pitcher Ian Snell to a three-year guaranteed contract, with club options for 2011 and 2012. Salary amounts have not yet been released, though Tim has surveyed the range of possible contract amounts here and here.
This season is Snell’s last before becoming arbitration eligible. As Tim pointed out earlier, $13-14MM is the the going rate for a talented young pitcher’s arbitration eligible years.
Pirates fans have to be encouraged by this announcement, as Senior VP and GM Neal Huntington has been held out as a reason for true optimism in The Land of the Three Rivers. Additionally, Snell is one of the more talented young starting pitchers in the NL, ranking sixth in strikeouts in the league since the beginning of the 2006 season.
Said Huntington, "This is another example of the organization’s commitment to build a championship caliber club. Retaining talented young players developed in our system will help us achieve our goal of bringing championships back to Pittsburgh."
Blocked Prospects: Steve Pearce
During 2007 Pirates prospect Steve Pearce hit a combined .333 with 31 home runs, 40 doubles, 113 RBI, and a .622 slugging percentage. The soon-to-be 25 year-old was named both Offensive Player of the Year by MiLB.com and the Topps Minor League Player of the Year. He ranks #43 on Kevin Goldstein’s Top 100 Prospects list for 2008 and received a callup last September. Yet, as of Monday he was reportedly sweating it when the team announced several cuts.
Pearce had played first base since he was drafted, but with the Pirates looking to locking up Adam LaRoche long term the team rerouted him to the outfield. The Pirates flirted with the transition late last year, giving Pearce 10 games in right prior to his call-up. Once in Pittsburgh he started 17 games in right field and only two at first. He hit .294/.342/.397 over 68 plate appearances; his bat appears nearly Major League ready.
Jason Bay and Xavier Nady await, each simmering on the hot stove. It’s a poorly guarded secret the Pirates would love to ditch Nady, but a recent chat with the Mets didn’t go anywhere. Bay was also the subject of several trade talks during the offseason and would likely come closer to fetching the young pitching prospects GM Neal Huntington craves (his short list is unlikely to include Scott Schoeneweis).
This all puts Huntington in a fairly comfortable position. He can afford to send Pearce back to Indy to get a few more reps at the new position while he waits for the right deal. But with Pearce’s bat looking to be big league ready, how long are Pirates fans willing to wait?
Aaron Shinsano writes for East Windup Chronicle and can be contacted at eastwindupchronicle@gmail.com
Cafardo’s Latest: Inge, Marte, Fuentes, Lohse
TUESDAY: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has an update to Cafardo’s Yankees/Fuentes item. Renck says that while the Yanks have scouted Fuentes, Rockies’ GM Dan O’Dowd says there’s "zero chance" of a trade at this time. I imagine he wants to see a healthy Luis Vizcaino before considering it.
MONDAY: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe checks in with plenty of rumors in his Sunday column.
- The Red Sox checked in on Brandon Inge during the Winter Meetings, but found his contract prohibitive. Most teams seem to feel the same way.
- The Yankees are eyeing southpaw relievers Damaso Marte and Brian Fuentes, who’ve seemingly been on their radar for months. Fuentes makes $5.05MM this year, Marte makes $2MM this year with a $6MM club option for ’09.
- Cafardo believes the Noah Lowry injury could cause the Giants to swoop in on Kyle Lohse, and could also get in the way of a Joe Crede acquisition. Lowry’s only supposed to miss two to three weeks though. Kenny Williams says exactly two clubs have talked to him about Crede, but he’s saying Crede may still be his Opening Day third baseman.
Pirates Make Offer To Snell
Dejan Kovacevic noted on Saturday that the Pirates have made a formal long-term offer to righty Ian Snell. As I wrote last Wednesday, the going rate for three arb years of a good young starter is $13-14MM. Kovacevic believes it was a four-year offer, probably tacking on the ’08 season for less than a million bucks before covering Snell’s arb years.
Though the going rate is pretty well established, there is definitely still room for negotiation. Look at the differences between the three comparable deals:
- Jamie Shields (signed January ’08) – extra money for pre-arb years, third arb year a club option, club options to buy out two possible free agency years. Also includes performance bonuses. Shields took a little more cash upfront for possibly a lot less down the road. The most team-friendly deal.
- Chris Young (signed April ’07) – third arb year guaranteed, club option for one free agency year. The middle ground deal between Shields and Cain.
- Matt Cain (signed March ’07) – club option for third arb year, but it may vest. Also a $1MM signing bonus and another $600K in incentives. The Giants don’t get in the way of Cain’s free agent payday after the 2011 season.
Contract info from Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
Mets Dangle Relievers For OF Help
Scott Schoeneweis is miffed that the Mets may be considering using him as bait to snag an outfield replacement for Moises Alou.
The Mets have hinted they’d like to remove Schoeneweis and Jorge Sosa from their payroll, but the Alou injury situation makes the departure of the two relievers even more likely. Schoeneweis will make $7.2MM in 2008 and ’09 to complete his current three-year deal. Sosa makes an even $2MM in a one-year pact. Schoeneweis disappointed Omar Minaya last year with a 5.03 ERA in 70 games.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Mets called the Pirates to chat about Xavier Nady. New York may not have the pitching prospects the Pirates would want in return. Pittsburgh also may figure Nady’s value will increase toward the trade deadline.
Odds and Ends: Johnson, Ponson, Nady
Ever lose a contact in the bathroom and scour for it for hours? That was my morning. Good times. On to the links.
- Friend of MLBTR Susan Slusser notes that the Giants had two scouts watching the A’s on Wednesday. One guy they might have been eyeing is first baseman Dan Johnson. It seems that Johnson, who is out of options, may be able to linger around on the A’s roster until at least mid-April given the expanded rosters for the Japan series. And since Slusser’s article we’ve learned that Daric Barton‘s hand injury is more serious than initially thought. That could buy Johnson even more time if the A’s aren’t ready to trade him.
- The Cardinals, Mariners, Royals, and Diamondbacks, Astros, and Rangers were among teams with scouts watching Sidney Ponson touch 94mph today. He’s stopped drinking and lost some weight; who knows, maybe he can help an NL club.
- Peter Abraham views Joba Chamberlain‘s recent comments with a little skepticism.
- MLB.com’s Marty Noble calls a Mets trade for Xavier Nady "quite unlikely," though an anonymous Mets player likes the idea.