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Indians, Joe Smith Mutually Interested In New Deal

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The Indians and right-hander Joe Smith are both interested in continuing their relationship past this season, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.  The Tribe spoke to Barry Meister, Smith's agent, earlier this season about a new contract for the 29-year-old reliever, and Hoynes notes that this wasn't the first time the team has floated the idea of an extension with Smith. 

While those talks didn't lead anywhere, Indians GM Chris Antonetti said the team would "like to keep Joe with the Indians moving forward and we appreciate the work that he's done."

Smith has posted a 2.47 ERA, 46 strikeouts and a 2.19 K/BB over 54 2/3 relief innings this year and he has a 2.81 ERA, 7.1 K/9 and 1.98 K/BB over his five seasons with the Indians.  The side-armer avoided arbitration (in his third year of arb-eligibility) with the Tribe by agreeing to a one-year, $3.15MM contract last winter and now Smith will be a free agent after the season ends.

"I'd love to stay," Smith said.  "Now you see the organization bringing in people, spending money on the free-agent market.  It gets exciting. It shows which way they're going. You can't bring in Terry Francona as manager and sit back and do nothing."

Retaining Smith would help the Tribe stabilize a bullpen that has a few question marks going into the 2014 season.  Chris Perez is slated to return as Cleveland's closer, though he has been rumored to be a trade candidate due to his rising arbitration salary.  Vinnie Pestano, though to be the Indians' closer-in-waiting if Perez left, has struggled through an injury-filled season.  With Perez and Pestano's situations in mind, Smith could get some consideration at closer if he re-signs, though he has only two career saves.

AL Central Notes: Iglesias, Peralta, Flowers, Jimenez, Santana

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Join me for a quick trip around the American League's Central Division, where the Tigers seem to have finally opened an insurmountable lead over the pesky Indians.

  • With the Tigers visiting Fenway for the first time since acquiring Jose Iglesias from the Red Sox, GM Dave Dombrowski left no doubt that the club views the 23-year-old Cuban as its shortstop of the future, reports Jerry Spar of WEEI.com. “He’s an outstanding defensive shortstop," said Dombrowski. "He really changes the middle of the diamond. We have a lot of good pitchers, and some of them live with the ground ball, and so his range helps us appreciably — so quick out there." While defense was never the question with Iglesias, Dombrowski says that he does enough well in the rest of the game to stick as a starter. “He’s also hit well enough. … He does a lot of little things for us as far as bunting, he can move the ball around, he can steal a base. … He’s going to be our shortstop for years to come.”
  • Of course, as MLBTR's Charlie Wilmoth recently explained, the fate of suspended Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta is tied inextricably to that of Iglesias, who was acquired to replace him. Dombrowski's comments certainly seem to indicate that he views Iglesias as a better fit for the short and long term, leaving no apparent role for the free agent-to-be Peralta.
  • White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers will undergo exploratory shoulder surgery and be out of commission for about three to six months, reports Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com (via Twitter). The South Siders' catching situation will be interesting to watch over the off-season. Flowers struggled this year with persistent shoulder issues, and 25-year-old Josh Phegley has failed to impress in his first big league showcase (.211/.221/.331 in 147 plate appearances). The club did just call up 22-year-old Miguel Gonzalez, a defense-first backstop who .254/.326/.349 in 190 plate appearances at Double-A and Triple-A this year. Once a top-10 prospect, Gonzalez's star has faded with his bat over the last several seasons. Fortunately for Chicago, all of these players will be making league mnimum next year.
  • The Indians will soon face a decision on Ubaldo Jimenez's $8MM mutual 2014 option, notes Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Jimenez entered the season with a 5.32 ERA for the Indians since being acquired from the Rockies at the 2011 trade deadline, but appears to have righted the ship somewhat in 2013, posting a 3.95 ERA and career-best 9.1 K/9 in 141 1/3 innings. Pluto speculates that the Indians will pick up their end of the option, but that Jimenez will decline and become a free agent. Back in March, MLBTR's Steve Adams took a look back at the deal that brought Jimenez to Cleveland, when it seemed the 2014 option would be a complete no-brainer for the Indians to exercise.
  • The Royals, too, are looking ahead at starting pitching questions over the coming off-season. As Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports, the club figures to stay the course with its young field position players, with GM Dayton Moore explaining that the team's core of "talented young players on the field" place the club "in the beginning stages of a window where this team can win consistently for a period of time." The rotation, on the other hand, will see the surprisingly excellent Ervin Santana and veteran Bruce Chen enter free agency. Dutton says that the club's decisionmaking process on those two starting slots will depend on a variety of factors, such as the organization's view of Danny Duffy and Wade Davis and the timetable for top prospects Yordano Ventura and Kyle Zimmer. It is unlikely, according to Dutton, that the team will outbid the market on Santana. "We want him here, but it’s difficult to predict," said Moore.

AL Central Notes: Indians, Morneau, Yost

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The Indians' recent trade for outfielder Jason Kubel and signing of catcher Kelly Shoppach demonstrate that their Triple-A affiliate in Columbus lacks hitting prospects, argues Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Pluto also writes that the Indians were not likely to trade for Justin Morneau of the Twins (who ultimately went to the Pirates) because their attendance this season has been disappointing, and they therefore wouldn't be willing to pay for the rest of Morneau's contract. Here are more notes from around the AL Central.

  • The Indians have already pulled the plug on a total $13MM investment in Mark Reynolds and Brett Myers, but Indians president Mark Shapiro tells Pluto that one-year contracts tend to be volatile. "When you sign a free agent for one year, you know you are dealing in a highly speculative market," Shapiro says. Pluto notes, however, that productive seasons from minor-league signees Scott Kazmir and Ryan Raburn have helped the Indians compensate for the struggles of Reynolds and Myers.
  • Royals manager Ned Yost and GM Dayton Moore have not discussed the possibility of an extension for Yost, whose contract expires after the season, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes. But there do not appear to be any other signs that Yost is in danger of losing his job, and Moore says that he would rather not discuss a contract extension with his manager while the season is going on. "I think Ned has done a terrific job," says Moore. "I’ve said that publicly. Ned has remained very consistent in his leadership." The Royals are currently 70-66, and could be headed for their first winning season since 2003.

Indians Acquire Jason Kubel

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SUNDAY: The Diamondbacks have announced, in a press release, right-hander Matt Langwell is the PTBNL. The 27-year-old made his MLB debut with the Indians this season appearing in five games (all in relief) allowing three runs (all earned) and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. Langwell, an 11th round draft pick of the Indians in the 2008 amateur draft, has posted a 2.24 ERA, 7.8 K/9, and 2.8 BB/9 in 60 1/3 innings for Triple-A Columbus this year covering 42 games, including one start.  

FRIDAY: The Indians swung a deal to bolster their outfield and DH depth today by acquiring Jason Kubel from the Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to be named later. Both teams have announced the trade. Arizona will reportedly receive a fringe prospect and pay all but $200K of the remaining $2.27MM owed to the 31-year-old ($1.27MM in salary plus a $1MM buyout of a $7.5MM club option). 

Kubel

For Kubel, the trade completes a fall from grace with his now-former club. After registering a strong .253/.327/.506 triple-slash line and swatting 30 home runs in 506 plate appearances last year, Kubel has failed to live up to the remainder of his two-year, $16MM deal. Always a sub-par defender, Kubel has been below average at the plate in 2013, leaving him with -1.7 fWAR on the year — second worst in all of baseball. After 267 plate appearances, his line stands at .220/.288/.324, leading to the Diamondbacks' decision to designate him for assignment on Tuesday. 

The Indians will hope that a return to the AL Central will reinvigorate Kubel, who was a positive (if unspectacular) contributor for several seasons with the Twins. His best season came in 2009 with Minnesota, when he hit .300/.369/.539 with 28 home runs over 578 plate appearances. Kubel's left-handed bat could allow him to platoon with Drew Stubbs in right and appear as a DH, although Jason Giambi has filled the role of left-handed designated hitter to date.

All in all, this acquisition is somewhat curious at first glance. For one thing, the Indians are still paying the salary of one disappointing, defensively damaging slugger — Mark Reynolds — to play for a hypothetical Wild Card rival. While he had been terrible for much of the year in Cleveland, Reynolds was swinging the stick better than Kubel, offered more positional flexibility, and has put up a very serviceable .265/.324/.471 line since joining the Yankees. And the club already has a lefty to handle DH duties (Giambi) along with three left-handed-hitting outfield options (Michael Brantley, Michael Bourn, and Nick Swisher). 

While the Tribe remains only four games out of the second Wild Card slot, it is not entirely clear how the acquisition of Kubel will move the needle. The team can plug an additional lefty in the lineup against righties by putting Kubel in the outfield, but even the utility of a platoon seems limited. The vast majority of Kubel's plate appearances this season came with the platoon advantage, making his numbers look all the worse. Indeed, his presumable platoon partner, Stubbs, has a .219/.278/.367 line against righties that is still better than Kubel's. Stubbs also sports a .147 ISO against same-handed pitchers and is unquestionably a better baserunner and defender. While Kubel's career numbers look much more promising than his dismal 2013, his upside is in all cases severely limited by his poor fielding and baserunning. And it is not as if the team has plenty of time to rework his swing or approach this year.

Neither does Kubel look to be a buy-low, future rebound candidate for Cleveland. His two-year, $16MM deal expires this year and contains a $7.5MM option for 2014 that seems very unlikely to be exercised. Assuming his option is bought out, Kubel will become a free agent at the end of the season. Unless the club restructures his deal or re-signs him on the open market, Kubel seems to be a short-term rental aimed at increasing the club's 2013 postseason chances.

Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com first reported on Twitter that the Indians were close to acquiring Kubel. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com first reported that an agreement had been reached. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports added that Arizona will pay nearly all of Kubel's remaining salary and receive a fringe prospect (Twitter links). MLB.com's Jordan Bastian tweeted that the Indians were only paying $200K of Kubel's salary.

Steve Adams and Edward Creech contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Indians Designate Tim Fedroff, Juan Diaz

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The Indians have designated outfielder Tim Fedroff and shortstop Juan Diaz for assignment, the team announced on Twitter. The move creates 40-man roster space for the team's September call-up plans.

Fedroff is a 2008 7th-round pick who has spent the last four years at Double-A or Triple-A without a big league appearance. Now 26, the outfielder has struggled to a .242/.334/.306 line this season at Triple-A Columbus. Last year, he had impressed with a .316/.394/.485 triple slash across 543 plate appearances in the upper minors.

Diaz, meanwhile, is a 24-year-old shortstop who has seen only seventeen big league plate appearances. In his first full season at Triple-A this year, Diaz has hit .242/.317/.348 to go with eight long balls. He is not much of a threat to steal, and has struck out at or above a 20% clip.

Trade Notes: Morse, Axford, Kubel

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With the post-season eligibility deadline at midnight tonight, the August revocable waiver trade market is coming to a close. We just saw a big trade go down with Justin Morneau heading to Pittsburgh, and could still see more action over the afternoon and evening. One situation to keep an eye on is the possibility of the Red Sox going after a reliever, although the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham tweets that nothing is in the works for Boston at the moment.

In the meantime, let's round up some links on the recently completed deals:

  • The Orioles ultimately found Michael Morse to be "a little better fit" than Josh Willingham, GM Dan Duquette told reporters including MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko, leading the team to pull the trigger on his acquisition. "Morse has a big, physical presence and has some power, and hopefully he can bounce back and have a good month," said Duquette. "He has experience and he's been to the playoffs. Those are all good things."
  • Morse's former manager with the Nationals, Davey Johnson, noted that he "shudder[s] to think" about the impact Morse could have hitting in Camden Yards, reports Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. "That ballpark is made for him," said Johnson. "He's that right-center hitter, and that's the jet stream. He's a good fit there."
  • The Cardinals and Brewers were talking all week about a deal and swapping names before settling on the trade that sent reliever John Axford to St. Louis, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Manager Mike Matheny explained: "There's a lot of experience there, a lot of upside. It's hard to forget that two years ago this guy was one of the top relievers in the game."
  • Don't look for any more players to depart Milwaukee via trade, according to a tweet from Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. GM Doug Melvin says that the team is likely to stand pat after nabbing a player to be named later and clearing some cash in the Axford deal. 
  • After picking up struggling outfielder Jason Kubel, the Indians now face the question of how to use him. As Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, manager Terry Francona praised GM Chris Antonetti for "trying to help us," but did not seem clear about how Kubel would be deployed. Francona says he first needs "to see how healthy [Kubel] is for the outfield," but did indicate that the 31-year-old could see some time at DH, sharing duties with fellow lefty Jason Giambi. "We love having G [Giambi] do what he does, but he can't do it every day," Francona explained. "It will be nice to have another bat here. If he gets hot, or gets a couple of big hits, it certainly isn't going to hurt anything." Of course, as low-average, low-speed, power-first, defensively-limited left-handed hitters, Kubel and GIambi seem somewhat redundant at this point if one of them does not regularly play in the field.

David Cooper Opts Out Of Contract With Indians

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First baseman David Cooper has opted out of his contract with the Indians, the team announced on Twitter. The lefty signed a minor league deal with the Tribe earlier this month that included a clause permitting him to opt out if he was not added to the big league roster by the end of August. 

Cooper had shown promise, but saw his career derailed when a serious back injury led to his release by the Blue Jays this spring. Still just 26, Cooper put up a .300/.324/.464 triple slash in 145 plate appearances for the Jays in 2012. Since signing with Cleveland a few weeks ago, Cooper has put up a .192/.250/.192 line in 26 Triple-A plate appearances, although his stint at the Rookie ball level was more successful given his collective .314/.364/.373 line over 55 total plate appearances in the Cleveland system.

 

Indians Sign Kelly Shoppach

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The Indians have signed catcher Kelly Shoppach to a minor league contract and assignmed him to Triple-A Columbus, the team announced via press release.

Shoppach signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Mariners this offseason and appeared in 35 games, hitting .196/.293/.346 over 125 plate appearances. Shoppach was pressed into everyday duty once Jesus Montero was demoted but ultimately wound up being released. Since that time he's bounced around, signing minor league deals with the Nationals and Pirates. He opted out of his deal with the Nats and was release by Pittsburgh after seven games.

The 33-year-old Shoppach spent the 2006-09 seasons with the Indians, hitting .245/.331/.456 with 43 homers in 301 games. He's struggled at all levels this season but has always been a threat against left-handed pitching, hitting southpaws at a .261/.355/.501 clip throughout his career.

D’Backs Close To Trading Kubel To Indians

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10:56pm: It could be that the Diamondbacks placed Kubel on waivers and that the Indians won the claim, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian tweets. If that is the case, of course, the Diamondbacks could simply allow the Indians to assume the remainder of Kubel's deal, which still has over $2.25MM left to be paid (including the 2014 buyout).

10:43pm: The Diamondbacks could be set to ship Jason Kubel to the Indians, Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com reports on Twitter. Nick Pecoro of the Arizona Republic confirmed the report, also via Twitter, saying that a trade was close and calling Cleveland a "strong possibility" to land the outfielder.

Kubel was designated for assignment by Arizona on Tuesday. His poor defensive play and meager .220/.288/.324 line (over 267 plate appearances) led to the move, though he made a much stronger offensive contribution in 2012. 

Kubel is earing $7.5MM this season, the second of his two-year, $16MM deal. His contract includes a $7.5MM mutual option for 2014 which carries a $1MM buyout. 

Indians Release Brett Myers

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The Indians announced, via Twitter, that they have reinstated right-hander Brett Myers from the 60-day disabled list and unconditionally released him.

Myers, who turned 33 recently, signed a one-year, $7MM contract with the Tribe this offseason and was expected to lock down a spot at the back of the rotation. Instead, he wound up on the 60-day DL for most of the season with a sprained UCL and flexor tendon that led to a bloated 8.02 ERA in 21 1/3 innings. Myers allowed a staggering 10 homers in that short time.

Myers has extensive experience as both a starter and a reliever, having posted a 4.29 ERA in 1576 career innings as a starter and a 3.69 mark in 134 career innings of relief work. He posted a 3.79 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 439 2/3 innings in Houston's rotation from 2010-11 before shifting to the team's closer in 2012 and eventually being traded to the White Sox.

Myers' contract contained an $8MM vesting option that would have triggered had he reached the 200-inning mark for the fourth time in his career, but it now seems likely that he'll have to settle for another one-year deal on the upcoming free agent market, perhaps of the minor league variety.

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