Rangers Haven’t Ruled Out Kyle Lohse
MONDAY: The Rangers appear to have increased their interest in Lohse following Perez's injury, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported today that the Scott Boras client seeks a three-year deal with a high annual salary.
SUNDAY, 7:11 pm: The Rangers announced via press release that lefthanded starting pitcher Martin Perez suffered a fractured ulna in his left forearm when he was struck by a liner in today's game. The press release states that Perez is "not expected to resume a throwing program for approximately four weeks while the fracture heals."
While it is still unclear whether Perez's injury will have any impact on Texas's interest in Lohse, several commentators have raised that possibility, including CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman, Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter), and Buster Olney of ESPN.com (also on Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that, despite the drawbacks to a Lohse signing from the Rangers' perspective, "discussions are almost certain to grow more serious" after the injury to Perez.
While Perez will likely miss a minimum of two months while he recovers and rehabs, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports that Texas still seems disinclined to look outside of the organization to fill its fifth-starter role. GM Jon Daniels said that the team would "look around at external options, but I expect to go internally at this point." He added that, "knock on wood," the Rangers "hope to get both Colby [Lewis] and Martin back a month into the season, give or take."
10:54 am: The Rangers have remained in contact with agent Scott Boras about the possibility of signing Kyle Lohse, according to Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram. Unsurprisingly, Texas is hesitating in part because of the draft pick compensation tied to the pitcher.
Some in the Rangers organization don’t want to surrender the No. 24 pick or the money that comes with it, even though they received the No. 31 overall pick after losing Josh Hamilton. However, others in the front office say the need to win now is worth sacrificing the draft choice. Ultimately, Wilson sees the pairing as unlikely but still possible at some point in spring training.
Earlier this week, we learned that the Indians and Yankees are not in on the right-hander.
Rosenthal On Rangers, Lohse, Porcello
The Rangers have a number of reservations about signing Kyle Lohse, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote last night. The free agent right-hander would require a multiyear contract, and the Rangers would have to surrender a draft pick to complete a deal. They'd also have limited time to get him ready for the season with Spring Training already underway. Here's more from Rosenthal, starting with some additional information on Lohse…
- One of the teams in touch regarding Lohse says agent Scott Boras seeks a three-year deal with a “big” annual salary for the 34-year-old, Rosenthal reports (on Twitter). Boras doesn’t give teams specific numbers in negotiations.
- A ton of scouts are in Lakeland to watch trade candidate Rick Porcello face the Astros today, Rosenthal reports (Twitter links). The Angels, Rangers, Diamondbacks, Twins, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, Athletics and Mariners are among the many teams with scouts at the game, though some of those scouts are presumably there on regular assignments.
Rangers Hope To Keep Nolan Ryan
There’s a chance that Nolan Ryan will leave the Rangers following leadership changes in Texas, but the club hopes to keep its Hall of Fame CEO in place, Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. It’s possible Ryan will leave the Rangers by the end of Spring Training, Galloway reports. However, Rangers co-chairman Bob Simpson said he wants Ryan to remain with the team forever.
“Nolan Ryan leaving the Rangers would be a tragedy, and something we don’t want to happen,” Simpson said. “We absolutely do not want Nolan to leave.”
The Rangers recently announced promotions for Jon Daniels, now the team’s president of baseball operations and general manager, and Rick George, now the team’s president of business operations. Daniels now has autonomy on all baseball decisions and George has the final say on business decisions, which seems to leave Ryan with reduced power.
Simpson said Ryan will still make “significant decisions” even if he’s less involved in the club’s day to day moves. The Astros loom as a team with possible interest in Ryan, and it’s a possibility Simpson has considered. “Nolan isn’t going anywhere, not as far as I’m concerned,” Simpson said.
2014 Vesting Options
Recently, I crunched the numbers on vesting options from the last three years and found that just over 29% of them were triggered. Which players can lock in their 2014 options based on their performance this season? Let's take a look..
- Kurt Suzuki, Nationals: $9.25MM option vests with 113 starts in 2013.
- Jamey Carroll, Twins: $2MM option vests with 401 plate appearances.
- Wilson Betemit, Orioles: $3.2MM option vests with 324 plate appearances (combined 700 between 2012 and 2013).
- Lance Berkman, Rangers: $13MM option vests with 550 plate appearances.
- Roy Halladay, Phillies: $20MM option vests with 259 innings pitched (combined 415 innings pitched between '12 and '13).
- Barry Zito, Giants: $18MM option vests with 200 innings pitched.
- Johan Santana, Mets: $25MM option vests with 215 innings pitched or winning the 2013 Cy Young Award.
It's also worth noting that Francisco Liriano has a $8MM club option for 2014 with the Pirates, but it can vest at any of three levels, $5MM, $6MM, or $8MM, based on the number of days he is not on the DL this year with a recurrence of his right arm injury.
AL West Notes: Trout, Rangers, Felix
One American League executive told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com that he'd be talking to Mike Trout about a "crazy-long deal" if he were running the Angels. Castrovince considers some possible comparables for extension talks, concluding that it probably makes sense for the Angels to wait before extending Trout. His leverage is high right now, even though he's arguably the best bargain in MLB.
Here are some more notes from the AL West…
- The Rangers announced that Jon Daniels has been promoted to president of baseball operations/general manager. Daniels, who became the club's GM in 2005, will still report to CEO Nolan Ryan.
- Daniels told Scott Miller of CBSSports.com that he's intent on being more than "the team that used to be good.” The Rangers lost Mike Napoli, Josh Hamilton and Ryan Dempster to free agency, but Daniels isn't worried about the transition. “You've got to keep moving forward and not be afraid of change,” Daniels said. The GM explained the importance of depth and noted that being the best team on paper doesn’t guarantee success.
- The Rangers are among the teams still interested in free agent infielder Ryan Theriot, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). However, Theriot continues looking for more playing time.
- Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez recently established a new record for starting pitchers, signing a seven-year, $175MM contract. Hernandez told Heyman that he expects Clayton Kershaw will be the one to break the record because "he's a little younger" than other top pitchers. Hernandez suggested that Justin Verlander "might get the money, but less years.'' The Mariners ace said he helped other pitchers a bit, adding that he won't mind when another pitcher breaks his record.
AL West Notes: Murphy, Angels, Vasquez
We've already looked at some Astros notes and two international signings by the A's today, so let's check in with the rest of the AL West…
- Rangers outfielder David Murphy isn't concerned about his upcoming free agency after the season, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports. With another good season, Crasnick opines that Murphy could top Shane Victorino's three-year, $39MM contract with the Red Sox and Angel Pagan's four-year, $40MM deal with the Giants. Murphy, a Houston native, says he wants to remain with Texas and the two sides discussed an extension last month.
- The Angels outrighted Bobby Cassevah off the 40-man roster earlier today and MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (Twitter link) hears the move was "more a formality" and that the team isn't looking to fill the roster spot with any specific player. The Angels currently have 39 players on their 40-man roster.
- After undergoing brain surgery in November, left-hander Anthony Vasquez is already back working out in the Mariners' minor league camp, MLB.com's Greg Johns writes. Vasquez made seven starts for Seattle in 2011 and made 11 starts at Triple-A Tacoma last season before being shut down with a shoulder injury.
Royals Notes: Shields, Davis, Tejada
The Royals are looking for their first .500 finish since 2003, and there's optimism that the team could surprise people following a busy offseason. Here are the latest Royals-related notes…
- Though the Royals were reluctant to part with Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery and Patrick Leonard to acquire James Shields and Wade Davis, they made the trade. As Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports explains, club officials including GM Dayton Moore found it easier to approve the deal once they realized their farm system would still be deep.
- Moore says he learned from his former boss, longtime Braves executive John Schuerholz, that general managers must be prepared to take risks. “If you focus on what you’re giving up, you’ll never make a deal,” Moore told Rosenthal. “It will paralyze you.”
- The Royals didn't know it at the time, but the Diamondbacks, Rangers and Rays worked on a three-team trade that would have sent prospects to Tampa Bay, Shields and Davis to Arizona and Justin Upton to Texas. The Rays discussed this trade at the same time as they discussed possible deals with the Royals.
- Rival executives question Moore's decision to trade Myers, one of the game's top position player prospects, following a 72-win season. Yet as right-hander Jeremy Guthrie notes, “you can only stockpile prospects for so long.”
- The Royals face questions at second base, in the rotation and on the bench, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports. New additions Miguel Tejada and Elliot Johnson were acquired with the expectation that they'd make the team, though that's not absolute.
Quick Hits: Lohse, Young, Phillies, PED Supensions
In 2008, Kyle Lohse waited until March to sign and landed in the place he'd call home for five seasons — St. Louis. Spring Training is underway again, and Lohse again remains unsigned. However, unlike 2008 when he had a career 4.82 ERA, Lohse is coming off a 3.11 ERA over his past 399 1/3 innings. ESPN's Buster Olney talked to a longtime MLB evaluator who says in addition to draft pick compensation, AL teams are wary of Lohse's poor AL track record. The evaluator also added that teams shy away former Cardinals pitchers, as they often struggle to find success elsewhere (Twitter links).
More from around the Majors…
- Phillies ace Cliff Lee told Jayson Stark of ESPN that he was "baffled" by the way the Rangers treated Michael Young in his final years with the team. Lee called Young the "perfect teammate" and the "heart and soul" of the Rangers team. "…in my opinion, you want guys like Michael Young around," said Lee, who was reunited with his former teammate after the Phillies traded for him this winter.
- Both Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins have offered strong praise for Phillies prospect Domonic Brown this Spring, writes David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News. Murphy opines that both players feel this is the time to finally give Brown a chance to be an everyday Major Leaguer.
- Michael Weiner, the exeutive director of the MLB Players Union, spoke with reporters (including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca) about drug testing and the possibility of more severe punishment for players who have been discovered to have multiple offenses in the past. Weiner discusses the fine line between representing players who are subject to discipline and attempting to enforce a clean game. Weiner also says that after Spring Training, there will be discussions about whether or not the new qualifying offer system is working as intended, given the damage to Lohse's market.
- Former Twins, Rangers and Astros minor leaguer Mark Hamburger has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive on two instances for recreational drug use, according to Baseball America's Matt Eddy. Hamburger, a free agent after being released by Houston earlier this month, would have to serve out his suspension upon signing with a new team.
Greinke Gave Rangers Chance To Beat Dodgers’ Offer
Zack Greinke signed a contract that made him — at the time — the highest-paid right-handed pitcher ever this offseason (Felix Hernandez has since topped him). The money, Greinke told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports quite candidly, was the biggest factor in his decision to sign with the Dodgers. However, multiple sources indicated to Heyman that Greinke gave the Rangers an opportunity to top the Dodgers' final offer before agreeing to his six-year, $147MM contract. Greinke made an offer to the Rangers, but Texas elected to counter-offer rather than accept it.
According to Heyman, the Rangers and Dodgers were in a "near-dead heat" on the main terms of the contract, but the Rangers wouldn't budge on giving Greinke an opt-out clause after three seasons. Beyond that, Greinke told Heyman that he vastly prefers National League baseball to the American League version:
"It's boring watching American League games to me,'' Greinke said. “With the Angels we had (Mike) Trout, (Albert) Pujols, (Mark) Trumbo, (Kendrys) Morales and (Torii) Hunter, but it wasn't as much fun as watching Milwaukee's team. There's much more strategy."
Heyman also writes that Greinke met with Dodgers officials himself before completing his deal with the team. The former No. 6 overall pick in the draft has long been fascinated by free agency. He turned down a trade to the Nationals that would have come with a $100MM extension a little more than two years ago in part because he didn't think the Nationals were ready to win, but also because he was too fascinated by free agency:
“I wanted to see it. If it was going to be only one year for $1 million, I wanted to see for myself,'' he said.
Greinke went several months without an agent last year, though he ultimately hired Casey Close shortly after Opening Day.
As MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows, Greinke's $147MM contract is the third-largest contract ever signed by a pitcher, with only Hernandez and CC Sabathia ranking ahead of him (he topped Cole Hamels by $3MM). Candidates to displace Greinke from the Top 3 in the next couple of years include Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander. However, with three dominant seasons, Greinke could enter free agency again as a 32-year-old and position himself for another hefty contract that would extend into his late 30s.
AL Notes: Happ, Verlander, Ross
On the same day that he broke Curtis Granderson’s forearm with a wild pitch, J.A. Happ finds himself facing a roster squeeze with the Blue Jays …
- Happ is “mired in a grey zone” in Toronto, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. Despite solid credentials, Happ may not even earn a roster spot as a reliever with the new-look Jays. With another potential lefty long-reliever (Brett Cecil) out of options, Toronto manager John Gibbons admits that Happ is not only “the odd man out” of the rotation, but could find himself “back down in Triple-A.”
- Justin Verlander was merely stating the obvious when he said he hoped to become the first $200MM pitcher, MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports. Verlander explained: “The question was posed to me: ‘Do you want to be the first $200MM pitcher?’ Well, yeah. What kind of question is that? Of course I do.”
- Cody Ross revealed today that “Texas was wanting to move pretty quick” towards a deal before the outfielder signed with the Diamondbacks, Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com writes. While it was previously reported that the Rangers had met with Ross, the Arizona-dwelling Ross explained the "crazy timing" that occurred. Ross sat down with Texas right after learning that Arizona was interested, and by the end of the next day had “basically agreed” to sign with the Diamondbacks.