Quick Hits: Chipper, Nix, Trout, Rockies
Here's a potpourri of news items as we head into the weekend…
- Chipper Jones talks to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince about his recovery from knee surgery and his future in baseball. Jones was thinking of retirement last summer before, as Castrovince writes, "he started to hit like Chipper Jones again….And where the knee injury might have been the straw that broke the camel's back in June, in August, it served as a motivating factor to keep going."
- Laynce Nix has the been the subject of trade rumors, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Nix has a .251/.293/.445 career slash line against right-handed pitching and the Astros are reportedly in the market for a left-handed bench bat. Nix is currently in the Nationals' Spring Training camp on a minor league contract.
- Star prospect Mike Trout is turning heads at the Angels' Spring Training camp, reports MLB.com's Lyle Spencer.
- The Rockies will look internally to replace the injured Aaron Cook, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Already suffering from shoulder inflammation, Cook will be out until at least May due to a broken finger on his throwing hand.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times looks at the Rangers' offseason and how the team had a more-than-adequate "plan B" (Adrian Beltre) in mind when they failed to re-sign Cliff Lee.
- Jake Odorizzi might end up being the most important piece of the trade package the Royals received for Zack Greinke, says MLB.com's Dick Kaegel.
- Mariners manager Eric Wedge has brought a number of former Indians coaches and players with him to Seattle, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
- Brandon Wood has struggled this spring, while Mark Trumbo has had a big camp for the Angels. Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com thinks Trumbo's emergence means that the out-of-options Wood's "days in an Angels uniform appear to be numbered."
- It was almost a year ago that Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland underwent life-threatening brain surgery. Today, MLB.com's Evan Drellich writes that "doctors have already been amazed at the speed of his recovery" as Westmoreland is trying hard to regain both his basic motor skills and his baseball abilities.
Phillies Notes: Lee, Young, Utley
Here's the latest from the four-time defending National League East champs…
- In an interview today on Philadelphia's WIP Radio, Cliff Lee said that his top priority as a free agent was to join the team with the best chance of winning. After the Phillies, his next choices were the Rangers and the Yankees, in that order. New York was the third choice since, Lee says, "I felt like with what the Red Sox had done and it seems like some of the Yankee guys are getting older, but I liked the Rangers.”
- It seems unlikely that the Phillies could manage to take on Michael Young's salary, but Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News outlines how the Phils could conceivably acquire the Rangers' infielder. Hagen surmises the club can partially pay for Young if they receive some insurance money back from a lengthy Chase Utley injury, and if the Phillies can move Joe Blanton (owed $17MM over the next two seasons) to the Rangers in the trade.
- Both Hagen and MLB.com's Todd Zolecki point out that the Phillies want to avoid having their payroll reach the $178MM threshold that would cost them a luxury tax payment. The Philadelphia payroll currently projects to be in the $165MM-$168MM range. GM Ruben Amaro tells Zolecki that the team believes Utley "will be healthy enough sooner rather than later," but if the team does look outside the organization for help, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes recently looked at some potential second base candidates.
Quick Hits: Rangers, Bumgarner, Crawford, Stanton
Links for Friday, as teams continue trimming their rosters down…
- Chuck Greenberg will no longer be part of the Rangers organization, but he leaves with $20-25MM in profit, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter)
- The Giants renewed Madison Bumgarner's contract for 2011, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). That means the sides did not agree to terms on a deal, but it doesn't change the timetable for Bumgarner's arbitration or free agency.
- As Alex Speier of WEEI.com explains, the only two outfielders ever to sign free agent contracts with an average annual value of $20MM have opposite styles of play. The Red Sox signed Manny Ramirez for his power, and they signed Carl Crawford for his overall offensive output, baserunning and defense.
- Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton has a creative approach to addressing weaknesses in his swing, as Yahoo's Steve Henson explains.
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post offers up a must-read profile of Nationals phenom Bryce Harper.
Chuck Greenberg Out As Rangers CEO
11:03am: The Rangers have officially announced that Greenberg will no longer be a part of the organization, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Nolan Ryan will take over as team CEO.
7:50am: Rangers managing general partner and CEO Chuck Greenberg will no longer be part of Texas' managing team, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). Greenberg upset a number of people as managing partner, but his undoing came when he bothered team president Nolan Ryan, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com, who confirms the news (on Twitter).
Greenberg's group took over the Rangers in August. He launched an aggressive pursuit of Cliff Lee this winter and later claimed that he out-foxed the Yankees in pursuit of the left-hander, who signed in Philadelphia.
Quick Hits: Feliz, Bonser, Pavano, Mets, Overbay
Links for Thursday, as the White Sox announce that Dayan Viciedo will miss 3-4 weeks with a fractured right thumb…
- Scott Miller of CBS Sports says it's starting to seem likely that the Rangers will move Neftali Feliz to the rotation.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan argues that the Rangers will keep Feliz in the rotation, where he has pitched this spring, if they know what's best.
- Rival teams sense that the Rangers would prefer to move Michael Young before his ten and five rights kick in this May, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). They won't give him away, though.
- Boof Bonser has a clause in his contract that allows him to opt out if he doesn't make the Mets, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). The Mets would love to keep Bonser regardless, but he isn't sure what he'll do if he isn't on the team's Opening Day roster.
- Richard Sandomir and Ken Belson of the New York Times report that the Mets' owners were in financial trouble before Irving Picard filed a $1 billion lawsuit against them.
- One talent evaluator tells Olney that Carl Pavano looks like the best pitcher in Florida this spring (Twitter link).
- Lyle Overbay told Ron Musselman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he signed with the Pirates because "they were going in a better direction" than some of the other interested teams. Overbay, the oldest player on the Pirates roster, says he liked the idea of playing under new manager Clint Hurdle.
Greinke Would Have Cost Texas Five Players
The Rangers would have had to send five of their top young players to Kansas City to obtain Zack Greinke, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). The Royals were asking for Tommy Hunter, Derek Holland, Michael Kirkman, Jurickson Profar and Engel Beltre.
Holland posted a 4.08 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 last year in his age-23 season, Hunter posted a 3.73 ERA in 128 innings in 2010 and is under team control for five more years and Profar, Beltre and Kirkman ranked 2nd, 5th and 6th, respectively, on Baseball America's preseason list of top Rangers prospects.
The Royals ultimately obtained Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi from the Brewers for Greinke, Yuniesky Betancourt and $2MM. Now that Greinke has a cracked rib, the Rangers are probably glad they held onto their players.
Royals Seek Young Catcher
The Royals are looking for a young catcher, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). One possible trade chip, Alex Gordon, is drawing interest, but the Royals expect a lot in return.
Though Kansas City boasts the game's best farm system, they don't have a clear-cut catcher of the future now that the powerful Wil Myers has moved to the outfield. Salvador Perez, a 20-year-old backstop who placed 17th among Baseball America's preseason list of top Royals prospects, hasn't played above Class A, so the Royals are looking elsewhere for catchers.
As Rosenthal notes, the Rangers and Nationals have a number of catchers and could be potential trading partners for Kansas City. The Royals have had interest in Taylor Teagarden before, according to Rosenthal, and since the Rangers already have Yorvit Torrealba, Matt Treanor and Mike Napoli at the Major League level, it would not be a surprise to see them listen to offers for Teagarden.
Meanwhile, the Nationals have a surplus of catchers and are open to dealing one of them. The Nats have Ivan Rodriguez, Jesus Flores, Wilson Ramos, and Derek Norris and would consider trading catching for pitching.
The Padres and Astros are among the other teams that could have interest in trading for a catcher this spring.
Rangers, D’Backs Discussed Michael Young Again
The Diamondbacks made another attempt to acquire Michael Young from the Rangers last week, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Though Young has asked to be traded, there’s no guarantee that he would approve a move to the D’Backs, one of the teams to which he can veto trades. However, one source told Rosenthal that Young would be willing to join the D’Backs and play third base.
Young has a list of ten teams to which he would approve a trade, according to Rosenthal: the eight teams that can acquire him without approval plus the Phillies and the Cubs. Young can’t block trades to the Rockies, Angels, Dodgers, Padres, Cardinals, Twins, Yankees and Astros, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
Young is expensive – he’ll earn $16MM for each of the next three seasons – but the Rangers don’t want to compromise their chances of winning in 2011 by dealing him. Young’s contract makes him unattractive to both the Phillies and the Cubs. The Phillies don’t have much room in their budget, so acquiring a $16MM player is unrealistic. The Cubs wouldn’t find it much easier to make the financial side of the deal work.
Heyman On Phillies, Davis, Molina, Mets
The Phillies are concerned about Chase Utley's injured right knee but, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com they hadn't called the Rangers about Michael Young as of this morning. Here's the latest on the Phillies and notes from around the league:
- Phillies scout Charley Kerfeld had been watching the Rangers and may have been scouting Young.
- Chris Davis has an option left, so the Rangers are expected to send him down to start the season in the minors, despite his strong spring performance so far.
- 22-year-old Dodgers prospect Rubby De La Rosa is impressing with his upper-90s fastball and command.
- Though the Padres would like Bengie Molina to return to action at a bargain price, they're under the impression that the backstop is in "retirement mode." The Padres expressed interest in Molina earlier in the week, after Gregg Zaun retired, but they don't have much left in their budget.
- It remains unlikely that Oliver Perez or Luis Castillo will break camp with the Mets, even though the team doesn't have tremendous depth from the left side out of the bullpen or at second base.
Big Year Ahead For Rangers First Basemen
To call 2011 a make or break year for Mitch Moreland and Chris Davis wouldn't technically be right. They aren't even arbitration eligible yet, so they can't really 'make it' the way prospective free agents can. But this season will undoubtedly be crucial to determining the future of the two first basemen and whether they stay in Arlington.
Davis arrived in the majors two years before Moreland as a highly-touted prospect. His .311/.370/.569 minor league line has yet to translate to the majors, however; the 24-year-old has hit just .248/.300/.459 as a major leaguer. Southpaws have held Davis to a .666 OPS, but he has shown power overall, hitting one homer per 20.7 at bats.
Moreland (pictured), who's a year older than Davis, debuted last year and posted a .255/.364/.469 line in 173 plate appearances before posting a .900 OPS in the postseason. Like Davis, he's a left-handed hitter who struggles to hit southpaws (.604 OPS last year). He's the favorite to win the starting job and has impressed GM Jon Daniels, who told MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan that "our guys viewed him as one of the best workers and makeups [around]."
Neither player has any guarantees from the Rangers, who are in win-now mode and aren't in a position to be overly patient with developing players. Davis has drawn trade interest in the past, so the Rangers could consider dealing him if he doesn't produce more or becomes redundant. Moreland has done everything the Rangers have asked him to do, but he's just 224 plate appearances into his MLB career, even if you count the playoffs. Let's not assume that he can be a cog at first base.
Next year's free agent class features Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, two sluggers who figure to be looking for deals worth $180MM-plus. It's not hard to imagine Texas pursuing Fielder or Pujols next winter if the Rangers continue winning and the new ownership group decides its new TV deal allows for expanded payroll.
Even if the Rangers don't go after the most intriguing and expensive free agent first basemen, others, such as Derrek Lee and Carlos Pena, will be available (or the Rangers could opt to make Michael Young their everyday first baseman). Whether second tier first basemen like Lee and Pena appeal to the Rangers front office depends in large part on how Moreland and Davis perform over the course of the next six months.
Photo courtesy Icon SMI.