Quick Hits: Rivera, Lynn, Guillen, Simmons
On this date in 1955, the New York Giants signed 17-year-old prospect Willie McCovey as an amateur free agent. Four years later he was named the NL Rookie of the Year when he hit 13 home runs in 52 games. McCovey, now 74, went on to hit 521 home runs in his Hall of Fame career. Here are today's links…
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports looks back at the day in June, 1995 when the Yankees optioned Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter to the minors together. Rivera hasn't said whether this will be his last season as a Major Leaguer, but he told Morosi that winning another championship would be the perfect way to end his career.
- Even Rivera's teammates marvel at the closer's ability and accomplishments, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes.
- The Cardinals will stretch Lance Lynn out in case Chris Carpenter isn’t ready for Opening Day, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. Roy Oswalt remains available for a mid-season deal in case a long-term opening emerges in the Cardinals’ rotation.
- Carlos Guillen told George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press that he retired because his body wasn't keeping up with the daily grind of Spring Training. The 36-year-old retired last week.
- David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that shortstop prospect Andrelton Simmons is opening some eyes in Braves camp. The 22-year-old hasn't yet reached Double-A, but some are wondering if he could win the Opening Day shortstop job from Tyler Pastornicky.
- Braves executives view Simmons as the long-term answer at short, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio tweets.
NL Central Links: Concepcion, Cardinals, Soler
A few notes to pass along out of the NL Central, as the Cardinals gear up to defend their World Series title from a year ago …
- The Cubs have officially announced the signing of 20-year-old Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion to a five-year Major League contract. Concepcion joins the 40-man roster but will report to minor league camp. The deal is worth $6MM, which includes a $3MM signing bonus, according to Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com.
- The Cardinals will likely turn to a handful of in-house candidates to take Chris Carpenter's rotation spot if the right-hander misses any substantial chunk of time due to a bulging disc in his neck, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. The Cards may choose from relievers Lance Lynn, Kyle McClellan, Marc Rzepczynski, and Mitchell Boggs, or perhaps minor leaguers Brandon Dickson and Shelby Miller, so it doesn't seem like they'll explore a trade or signing for now.
- Cubs GM Jed Hoyer declined to comment on the team's pursuit of prized Cuban outfield prospect Jorge Soler with reporters, including Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, as Soler has yet to officially be designated a free agent by MLB.
Central Notes: Beltran, Lopez, Astros
On this day in 2005, Rick Ankiel of the Cardinals collected a base hit in his first Grapefruit League game as a position player after beginning his career as a pitcher. He'd later make it back to the Majors in 2007. On with a few links from MLB's Central divisions …
- Carlos Beltran drew interest from several teams this offseason but ultimately signed with the Cardinals because he wanted to play for a winning team with a grass home ballpark, and because the Redbirds offered him a no-trade clause, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Beltran was conflicted as to which team to sign with, writes Goold, but he ultimately settled on the Cards when his wife urged him to go wherever he'd be happy.
- Indians utility man Jose Lopez is impressing so far in camp and likes his odds of making the big league roster out of Spring Training, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Lopez signed a minor league deal with the Tribe this offseason and had offers from other teams: "A couple teams asked me to sign with them," Lopez said. "Cleveland had more opportunity. … They're giving me a chance, and now I'm fighting for a spot."
- The Astros have two players in camp under the scrutiny of being a Rule 5 picks in Marwin Gonzalez and Rhiner Cruz, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The chances of both players lasting on Houston's 25-man roster all season is pretty slim, something GM Jeff Luhnow touched on: "You lose a lot of flexibility by keeping the Rule 5 guys and that's something you have to put into the equation. … To keep two is something very few teams are able to do."
NL Central Notes: Wainwright, Cardinals, Cubs
A few items on the Cubs and Cardinals..
- The Cardinals control Adam Wainwright for the next two seasons for $21MM but the hurler could be up next for a long-term deal with the team once he shows that he's recovered from Tommy John surgery, writes Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. While the 30-year-old won’t be immune to future injuries, Gordon writes that his work ethic offers some promise of success as he gets older.
- Former Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez defended the job that Jim Hendry did in Chicago, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. While recognizing Theo Epstein's past success, Ramirez says that it'll take time for the President of Baseball Operations to find success.
- Ramirez also touched on Carlos Zambrano's issues in Chicago and says that his ex-teammate hurt the club with his suspensions, Wittenmyer writes.
- Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com credits the Cardinals for making smart decisions in the months following Albert Pujols' departure.
Quick Hits: Jackson, Perkins, Lane, Nitkowski
Happy birthday to Hall-of-Famer Jim Rice, who turns 59 today. On a more somber note, it was on this day in 1999 that the legendary Joe DiMaggio passed away at age 84 after a battle with lung cancer.
Here's some news from around the majors as we head into the end of the work week…
- Edwin Jackson tells Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he didn't receive any interest from the Cardinals about returning to the team. "There was no involvement with the Cardinals. Pitching wasn't a department they needed help in. Their rotation is pretty much set," Jackson said. "It was a place I wouldn't have minded going back to…but, coming into the offseason, it was never a place I realistically thought I had a chance to go back to."
- Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities radio details Glen Perkins' path from filing a grievance against the Twins in 2009 and seemingly being on the outs with the club to today's three-year extension that keeps the southpaw in Minnesota through 2015.
- Jason Lane talks to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic about his attempt to return to the Major Leagues as a pitcher, and how a chance meeting with Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers last summer led to Lane getting a minor league deal with Arizona.
- C.J. Nitkowski, who last pitched in the majors in 2005, threw a bullpen session with the Mets on Thursday, reports MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. Nitkowski pitched in Japan and Korea from 2007-2010 and, as MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince details, underwent a controversial blood-and-stem cell treatment last year. Nitkowski was the ninth overall pick of the 1994 amateur draft and pitched for eight teams in a 10-year Major League career, including a five-game stint with the Mets in 2001.
- The long-term effects of Lucas Giolito's UCL strain have yet to be determined, but Baseball America's Conor Glassey examines how the injury could impact Giolito's position in the 2012 amateur draft.
- The Mexican Baseball League has announced that Jose Canseco will not play for Quintana Roo Tigers after the slugger allegedly took a banned substance and refused to take a drug test, reports ESPN's news news services. League president Plinio Escalante told ESPN Deportes that testosterone was the banned substance. Canseco has denied the charge on his Twitter account.
NL Central Notes: Molina, Astros, Das
There's been lots of Pirates buzz today, following Andrew McCutchen's six year, $51.5MM contract extension. Here are some notes on the rest of the division…
- Yadier Molina's representatives were preparing to aim for a seven-year deal in the $140MM range if the catcher had reached free agency, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Some teams might have been willing to part with that kind of cash for Molina, an elite two-way player. "He's like the Deion Sanders of catchers,'' one executive told Heyman. Molina, who would have been eligible for free agency following the 2012 season, signed a five-year, $75MM extension with the Cardinals last week.
- Astros GM Jeff Luhnow tells Tyler Kepner of the New York Times that he believes discipline is necessary for building an MLB team. “The analogy I use is blackjack,” Luhnow said. “You play perfect strategy over a long haul, that’s going to be your best outcome." Tim Dierkes spoke with Luhnow last week.
- Arbitrator Shyam Das was recently in the news for ruling in favor of Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, but as Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel explains, the 67-year-old former law professor has ruled on a number of important MLB issues in the past. Das has dealt with trades, player discipline and other disputes between the players' union and MLB. Spivak's piece offers a personal look at the low-profile arbitrator.
Quick Hits: Walden, Indians, A’s, Appel, Molina
Here are some notes from around the majors…
- The Angels renewed the contract of closer Jordan Walden, the team announced. The Halos also agreed to terms with 21 other players on one-year deals for 2012.
- The Indians are "looking around for a left fielder" in the wake of Grady Sizemore's injury, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. With so many outfielders already in camp, the Tribe are likely looking for no more than another part-timer on a minor league contract.
- Bill Madden of the New York Daily News believes Major League Baseball won't allow the Athletics to move to San Jose. Madden doesn't think three-quarters of the teams would approve of violating the Giants' territorial rights to San Jose, quoting a baseball lawyer who says teams would be wary of voting for a measure that could cost them in the future. As an example, the Phillies, Mets and Yankees wouldn't be likely to vote against territorial rights since such votes be used as precedent for a team to someday move to New Jersey.
- Right-hander Mark Appel hasn't quite pitched up to expectations for Stanford this season, writes Baseball America's Conor Glassey. In particular, Appel's K/9 rate is lower than several recent high-drafted pitchers during their sophomore years. Appel is a contender to be the first overall pick in the June amateur draft.
- Yadier Molina's five-year, $75MM extension with the Cardinals was driven by the catcher's defense and leadership, reports MLB.com's Matthew Leach. "[The St. Louis pitchers] understand his value more than sabermetricians could ever start to pick it apart, and what other people inside the game even understand," said Cards manager Mike Matheny. "There's so many intangibles. You can't put numbers to the things that this guy does in helping this team win. And I think that's [exemplified by] two world championships since he's taken over behind the plate."
NL Central Notes: Burnett, Cardinals, Astros
Though two NL Central veterans dominated headlines this offseason, Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder signed with American League teams and Aramis Ramirez's three-year, $36MM deal with the Brewers was the largest free agent contract by any of the division's six teams. Here are the latest links from the NL Central…
- The Pirates announced that they expect A.J. Burnett’s eye injury to sideline him until two or three months from now. The right-hander underwent surgery today after injuring himself in a bunting drill.
- Cardinals chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that the Cardinals couldn't take the chance of letting Yadier Molina hit free agency. "We didn't extend Molina because he had a good year offensively last year,” he said. “We extended him because of the bulk of the work since he became a regular in 2005." Molina and the Cardinals finalized a five-year, $75MM extension yesterday.
- Four of the ten people Astros GM Jeff Luhnow has hired might be described as geeks or nerds, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes reports from the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston (Twitter links). Luhnow said he’s had a clean slate, since the Astros weren't doing much in terms of analytics before hiring him.
Catcher Extension Notes: Perez, Molina, Ruiz
The 2013 class of free agent catchers is taking shape. Yadier Molina and the Cardinals signed a five-year, $75MM extension this week, but Miguel Montero and Russell Martin have tabled extension talks for now and Mike Napoli expects to test free agency. Here are the latest notes on catcher extensions in MLB…
- One agent joked to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that Royals GM Dayton Moore “must have been wearing a ski mask” to convince Salvador Perez to sign a five-year, $7MM extension (Twitter link). I examined the extension earlier in the week, explaining what Perez will have to do for the Royals to break even.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests the Diamondbacks and Braves might be ticked off by Molina's extension. The deal figures to shift the market for catchers and it may now cost more to retain the likes of Montero and Brian McCann. Rosenthal says the Cardinals' deal with Molina is an overpay, but an understandable one given the value of Molina's defense.
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News explains that the Molina deal isn't a fair point of reference for Carlos Ruiz. Though Ruiz and Molina have posted similar offensive numbers in recent years, the Phillies’ catcher won't hit free agency until he's entering his age-35 season and allowed stolen bases with much greater frequency than Molina in 2011.
Cardinals Extend Yadier Molina
The Cardinals announced a five-year, $75MM contract extension with catcher Yadier Molina this afternoon. The deal includes a no-trade clause and a mutual option for 2018 that's worth an additional $15MM. Molina is represented by Melvin Roman of MDR Sports Management.
Molina, 29, is considered by many to be the game's best defensive catcher. His offense took a leap forward in 2011, as he posted a .305/.349/.465 line in 518 plate appearances. Molina has been durable, averaging 145 games over the last three years including the postseason. The $15MM salary and five-year term probably represents market value for Molina, but it may have been more difficult for GM John Mozeliak to hammer out a deal after the season.
Molina's contract is the third-largest in baseball history for a backstop, behind Joe Mauer's $184MM and Mike Piazza's $91MM. On the Cardinals, Molina is second only to Matt Holliday in average annual value. This is Molina's second multiyear deal with the Cardinals, as they locked him up affordably four years ago.
The 2012-13 free agent class for catchers remains deep with Molina off the board, with Miguel Montero, Mike Napoli, Russell Martin, and Chris Iannetta.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first tweeted the news and added existence of the vesting option later on. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the value of the contract. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first said the deal was all but done and Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch first reported the mutual option.