Indians Release Matt Capps
The Indians released reliever Matt Capps, according to a tweet from the team. The move enables them to avoid paying a $100K retention bonus, notes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but the team will continue to negotiate with him. The Tribe released Daisuke Matsuzaka yesterday for the same reason. Here's the full list of Article XX(B) free agents, who today must be placed on the 25-man roster, released outright, or given the $100K bonus if sent to the minors.
Capps, 29, posted a 3.68 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 1.2 BB/9, 1.53 HR/9, and 41.8% groundball rate for the Twins last year in 29 1/3 innings. The former closer missed time with a shoulder injury, and the Twins declined his $6MM club option following the season.
You can check out MLBTR's complete list of current free agents here.
Indians Release Daisuke Matsuzaka
The Indians report (on Twitter) that they have released pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer notes (on Twitter) that the Indians will likely try to strike a new deal to keep Matsuzaka in the fold.
The Indians' rotation is expected to contain Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Brett Myers, and Zach McAllister along with either Scott Kazmir or Carlos Carrasco. A calf injury caused Matsuzaka to fall behind in the team's rotation battle. The Indians informed Matsuzaka last week that he would not make the team, but he has said he intends to remain in the organization anyway.
Matsuzaka is an Article XX(B) free agent, so if the Indians had not released him, they would have had to pay a $100K retention bonus if he had accepted their minor-league assignment.
Matsuzaka posted an 8.28 ERA in 45 2/3 innings with the Red Sox in 2012, with 8.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. He signed a minor-league deal with the Indians in February.
Quick Hits: Red Sox, Cubs, Cabrera
Red Sox principal owner John Henry has no intention of selling the team, he says in a wide-ranging interview with Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald. "I’ve not had one partner in 11 years suggest thinking about selling the Red Sox, even though they haven’t received dividends," he says. Henry also defends club president and CEO Larry Lucchino, saying Lucchino "revolutionized the game" with the building of Camden Yards in Baltimore, and adding that Lucchino's focus on revenue is critical to the Red Sox maintaining a high payroll. Henry also suggests that Lucchino will one day be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Here are more notes from around the majors.
- The Cubs' trade of Sean Marshall to the Reds for Travis Wood, Dave Sappelt and minor-leaguer Ronald Torreyes might turn out well for Chicago, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times suggests. Sappelt performed well in a brief big-league stint last year and will break camp with the team, and Wood made 26 starts for the Cubs in 2012. "I think it could turn out to be a good trade," Sappelt says. "I think it already is a good trade, and I’ll get to face Marshall a lot, so we’ll see." Wittenmyer also says the Cubs are unlikely to pursue Chone Figgins or Bill Hall for their bench.
- Asdrubal Cabrera could be dealt if the Indians have a bad season, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. After an offseason in which Cabrera's name was connected with the Trevor Bauer deal, however, there are no trade rumors regarding Cabrera right now. Pluto also notes that Cabrera could receive more off days this season, thanks to the addition of Mike Aviles.
Olney On Chapman, Dodgers, Cabrera, Tigers
"[Aroldis] Chapman stands to lose millions of dollars by committing himself to a relief role," writes ESPN's Buster Olney in his latest column (Insider subscription required). The fact that Chapman likes closing enough to risk these future riches, however, makes Olney think the Reds are making the right move by keeping Chapman in the bullpen as the club pursues a World Series title. "Chapman doesn't have a plow horse's show-me-the-direction approach; he's known to be a complicated guy, and if he were to fight [starting] internally all year, it would be a mess," Olney says.
Here are some more items from Olney…
- Rival executives think Asdrubal Cabrera will be on the trade block if the Indians get off to a slow start. Olney speculates that the Dodgers could be players for Cabrera in the wake of Hanley Ramirez's thumb injury, though for now the Dodgers are satisfied to use internal options on the left side of their infield.
- The Tigers "have not made a single specific proposal to another team, asking for a particular player" in exchange for Rick Porcello. Detroit has told teams that they will listen to offers for the right-hander but only in exchange for Major League players, not prospects. Several teams have been linked to Porcello, with the Padres and Rangers showing the most recent interest.
- "Nothing is close" between the Giants and Buster Posey on a long-term extension. We heard earlier this week that the two sides were still deciding the length of the possible new contract. Olney believes that Joey Votto's recent extension with the Reds could be a model for Posey's new deal since Posey is athletic enough to handle playing third base or first base later his career.
AL Central Notes: Tuiasosopo, Indians, Royals
IF/OF Matt Tuiasosopo won a spring training invite with the Tigers after emailing GM Dave Dombrowski his resume, MLive.com's James Schmehl reports. "I just sent it to Dave and told him I was interested in being a part of the organization," says Tuiasosopo. "At the end of the day, it’s my career and I wanted to fight for myself." The Dodgers, Reds, Rockies and Twins were all possible options for Tuiasosopo. Here are more notes from around the AL Central:
- The Indians' payroll could be up to $12MM higher than it was last year, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. The leap in payroll is, of course, due primarily to the signings of Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, Brett Myers and Mark Reynolds. The Indians have four other players (Chris Perez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Ubaldo Jimenez and Justin Masterson) who will make over $5MM in 2013. Last year, the Indians paid over $5MM to only one player, Travis Hafner.
- The Royals are hunting for a lefty-hitting outfielder to spell Jeff Francoeur, but their chances of finding one from outside the organization seem "slim," Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports. As an internal alternative, the Royals are considering David Lough, a lefty who spent most of last season at Triple-A Omaha and has hit .500/.513/.711 this spring.
Capps, Young Face Decisions
Reliever Matt Capps and starting pitcher Chris Young both signed minor-league deals with new teams this offseason as Article XX(B) free agents, and they both face decisions as the end of spring training nears. Neither is expected to make the 25-man rosters of their new teams, and if they don't, they can become free agents, or they can accept minor-league assignments, which come with $100K retention bonuses and opt-out dates of June 1.
Capps is still in big-league camp with the Indians, but the Indians have informed him he won't be on their 25-man roster. He is unsure whether he will accept an assignment to Triple-A Columbus or catch on with another team, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports. For now, Capps is in limbo. "I've never been in this situation," he says. "I'm not really sure what to think or where to go or what to do. So, I'm just kind of here right now." Unsurprisingly, Capps says he would accept a big-league opportunity elsewhere before reporting to Columbus. Capps pitched 29 1/3 innings with the Twins last season, with a 3.68 ERA, 5.52 K/9, and 1.23 BB/9.
Young may soon be in a similar situation with the Nationals. He can trigger an out clause in his contract on March 24, before his next spring training start, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post notes. [Young's out clause is technically distinct from those of most other Type XX(B) free agents, who must be notified by March 26 whether they will make their clubs' 25-man rosters.]
Like Capps, Young indicates that he would prefer a major-league job elsewhere to a minor-league assignment. "I do feel like I’m a big league pitcher," he says. "To turn down a big league opportunity to go to Triple A is probably not in my best interest." Kilgore lists the Padres, Angels and Twins as possible destinations for Young. Young pitched 115 innings for the Mets last season, with a 4.15 ERA and 6.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9. He is an extreme fly-ball pitcher, however, and may not be the best fit in home-run-friendly ballparks.
Extension Candidate: Michael Brantley
When the Indians signed Michael Bourn this offseason, the move was a response to Bourn's free agent price dropping (to the tune of four years and $48MM) and to an overall desire to upgrade their outfield. Acquiring Bourn didn't mean the Indians were at all dissatisfied with incumbent center fielder Michael Brantley — in fact, the Tribe aims to keep Brantley in the fold for a whi
le, as evidenced by the fact that the team is interested in a multiyear extension with the 25-year-old.
Brantley played in a career-high 149 games in 2012, hitting .288/.348/.402 with six homers, 60 RBI, 12 steals and 63 runs scored. He swung at 7.9% more pitches inside the strike zone than he did in 2011 and cut his strikeout rate to a career-low 9.2%, so there is plenty of indication that Brantley is entering his prime as a hitter. The UZR/150 metric doesn't like his defense in center field (-12.2 for his career as a CF) though he has a +3.3 UZR/150 as a left fielder, which will be his new position now that Bourn is in Cleveland.
As noted by FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal in his original report, the Indians are looking to lock up Brantley and Jason Kipnis to contracts that cover their arbitration years and more than one of their free agent years. In Brantley's case, that would be a minimum of a five-year commitment, as Brantley is arb-eligible for the first time this coming offseason and is scheduled to reach free agency after the 2016 season.
Brantley has two years and 131 days of Major League service time under his belt. When looking at the deals signed by other outfielders with between two and three years of service time on the MLBTR Extension Tracker, the two comparables that jump out are Curtis Granderson's five-year, $30.25MM extension with the Tigers in February 2008 and Cameron Maybin's five-year, $25MM extension with the Padres from last March (both deals included an option year). It's worth noting that both players were center fielders at the time of their extensions, so Brantley's shift from a premium defensive position will cost him and his representatives at the Legacy Agency a negotiating chip.
Maybin's deal covered a free agent year, three arb years and one year of pre-arbitration eligibility, so a five-year Brantley extension would be more expensive due to the extra free agent year. I would guess that Brantley's deal would've been larger anyway given his superior offensive numbers to Maybin, though in Maybin's defense, he delivered 40 steals and a strong CF glove in 2011 and had his batting output dampened by Petco Park. (Brantley, interestingly, also had trouble hitting at his home ballpark, posting a .682 OPS at Progressive Field and an .815 OPS on the road in 2012.)
Like Brantley, Granderson was also entering his first year of arbitration eligibility and signed a deal that covered his three arb years and first two free agent years, plus a 2013 option year that was picked up by the Yankees for $15MM after last season. The difference was that Granderson was entering his age-27 season at the time of his extension (Brantley turns 26 in May) and Granderson was a much more proven hitter, coming off a 23-homer, .913 OPS season in 2007. Though Granderson has been criticized for his strikeouts and declining glove, he still posted a .832 OPS and 160 homers over the five guaranteed years of that contract, making it a nice bargain for the Tigers and Yankees.
With all this in mind, I'll split the difference between the Maybin and Granderson extensions and predict that the Tribe will sign Brantley to a five-year, $27.5MM deal. The contract will almost surely include at least one option year given that Cleveland GM Chris Antonetti had added club or vesting options to almost all of the team's recent major signings, save for Asdrubal Cabrera's two-year extension. The deal gives Brantley a nice payday and cements another young building block in place for the Tribe as they look to be regular contenders in the AL Central.
Photo courtesy of David Richard/USA Today Sports Images
Transaction Retrospection: The Ubaldo Jimenez Trade
The Indians have overhauled their roster via free agency this season, adding the likes of Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, Brett Myers and Mark Reynolds on Major League deals while bringing in notable veterans such as Matt Capps and Daisuke Matsuzaka on minor league pacts. At the 2011 Trade Deadline, however, the Tribe addressed its biggest needs in a different manner, dealing a package of four prospects to the Rockies in exchange for then-ace Ubaldo Jimenez.
Cleveland traded right-hander Alex White (22 years old at the time), first baseman Matt McBride (26 at the time), righty Joe Gardner (23 at the time) and lefty Drew Pomeranz (22 at the time) to Colorado in exchange for Jimenez, who had at least two and a half years of team control remaining on a low-cost contract. It was a steep price to pay, as Pomeranz and White represented the Indians' first-round picks from the previous two drafts. Gardner, meanwhile, had entered the season as Cleveland's No. 9 prospect, according to Baseball America.
Let's break the trade down player-by-player… 
The Major League Side
- Ubaldo Jimenez: To say Jimenez has been a disappointment in Cleveland would be putting things lightly. In 242 innings with the Indians, Jimenez has a 5.32 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9. He entered 2012 with a career ground-ball rate near 50 percent, but saw that mark plummet to 38.4 percent last year. His once-blazing fastball has dropped from an average of 96.1 mph from 2009-10 to just 92.5 mph in 2012. His 4.8 BB/9 last season was a career-worst, and he led the American League in both losses (17) and wild pitches (16). In spite of all that, Indians GM Chris Antonetti exercised the team's $5.75MM club option on Jimenez this past offseason in hopes that he can rebound to something in the vicinity of the ace-caliber pitcher he once was. Jimenez is just 29 years of age still, and the price was right for Cleveland to give him another shot. His performance in 2013 will be one of they key factors in Cleveland's fate as their revamped roster makes a run at dethroning the reigning AL Central champion Tigers.
- Drew Pomeranz: Pomeranz has a 5.01 ERA in 115 big league innings for the Rockies. His 1.9 K/BB ratio isn't exactly inspiring, but he was significantly better in a small minor league sample last season. Pomeranz posted a 2.31 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 50 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A (46 2/3 of which were at Triple-A). He's still just 24 years old and is one year removed from entering the season as BA's No. 30 overall prospect and MLB.com's No. 24 ranked prospect. His fastball was down to averaging 91.2 mph season after previously sitting several ticks higher, but BA noted prior to 2012 that his ability to keep the pitch down in the zone and his deceptive delivery allowed the pitch to play at lower velocity. If Pomeranz can regain some of his velocity and/or hone his command of the strike zone, there's still time for him to blossom into the No. 2 starter BA and MLB.com projected him to be.
- Alex White: Like Pomeranz, White struggled greatly in his Major League time with the Rockies. He posted an unsightly 6.30 ERA in 134 1/3 innings for the Rox from 2011-12. His marks of 5.9 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 were significantly worse than his Triple-A rates of 7.8 and 3.0, respectively. White put the ball on the ground frequently in 2012 (54.1 percent) but lost more than a mile per hour off his fastball, dropping to a 91.2 mph average (identical to Pomeranz's, oddly enough). White was injured at the time of the trade and missed 82 games in the 2011 season with a strained ligament in his finger. How much that impacted his 2012 results remains to be seen, but he'll have a chance to prove he's worthy of a spot in a Major League rotation. It won't be with the Rockies, however, as the team traded White to the Astros along with Alex Gillingham to acquire ace setup man Wilton Lopez.
The Prospect Side
- Joe Gardner: Gardner ranked as Colorado's No. 25 prospect prior to the 2012 season but dropped off the club's Top 30 list this year. He ranks 18th among Rockies' farmhands according to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, however, who calls Gardner's sinking fastball a "groundball machine" and notes that his change-up has some deception that leads to swings and misses. He also features a "slurvy" slider that Mayo grades out to be slightly better than his change but worse than his fastball. Gardner worked primarily as a starter at the Double-A level, but Mayo notes that he was very sharp in a five-appearance bullpen cameo. In total, Gardner compiled a 3.97 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 138 1/3 innings during his age-24 season. Today is his 25th birthday (Happy birthday, Joe!), and should have a chance to crack the big league roster this season with a strong minor league performance.
- Matt McBride: McBride is currently Colorado's 33rd best prospect, according to BA, though they note that most of his value comes as a utility player due to the fact that he can play catcher on occasion. BA notes that he's a poor defender whether behind the plate, in right field or at first base, and that his ability to make frequent contact is accompanied by a lack of home run power. McBride hit .205/.222/.308 in 81 plate appearances for the Rockies last season, walking only once and whiffing 17 times. He did manage a .344/.365/.535 triple slash line at Triple-A. Still, at 27 years of age, he's not much of a prospect at this point, which was reflected in Colorado's decision to remove him from the 40-man roster in November.
That Joe Gardner and Matt McBride posted the best 2012 numbers of anyone involved in this trade is a telling sign. To be blunt, the deal currently doesn't look good for either side. A rebound campaign for Jimenez or a breakout from Pomeranz would alter that, but surely both teams had visions of aces in their minds when pulling the trigger on this deal — not a host of 5.00+ ERAs. Colorado picked up some value in flipping White for a strong bullpen arm with three years of team control remaining, though that could prove regrettable if White puts it all together as an Astro. For the time being, three teams are simply left hoping that they can squeeze some value out of the once highly regarded talent in this deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Quick Hits: Theriot, Carpenter, Yankees
The Indians have told Daisuke Matsuzaka and Matt Capps that they'd like to keep them in the organization, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Neither pitcher will make the team's Opening Day roster, but Matsuzaka said he intends to remain with the Indians, Hoynes reports. Meanwhile, Capps has yet to decide whether he’ll stay with the Indians or elect free agency.
Here are some more links for Monday…
- Free agent infielder Ryan Theriot is considering a new career path, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (on Twitter). Schulman hears that the 33-year-old is thinking of becoming an agent.
- Chris Carpenter doesn’t sound optimistic about pitching at the MLB level again, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports (on Twitter). "I want to, but I don't think I can," Carpenter said, adding that he still feels numbness and weakness. His contract with the Cardinals expires after the 2013 season, and he’s not expected to pitch again.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Dan Martin of the New York Post that he's open to the possibility of acquiring another player before the regular season begins. Cashman also said that he considers the Brennan Boesch deal a low-risk, high-reward signing. "The only downside is wasting time and a small amount of money … Nothing’s been promised to him at all.”
Indians Talking Extension With Kipnis, Brantley
The Indians are discussing extensions with outfielder Michael Brantley and second baseman Jason Kipnis, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. The team is interested in buying out all of the players’ arbitration years plus multiple free agent years, Rosenthal writes. Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported this past weekend that the Indians will approach the players about extension talks.
The Indians began discussing an extension with Brantley before they signed free agent Michael Bourn and moved Brantley from center field to left field, according to Rosenthal. It’s possible the position change will complicate talks with the Legacy Agency client. Brantley, who narrowly missed out on super two status last winter, will be arbitration eligible for the first time next offseason. He's on track to hit free agency after the 2016 season.
Kipnis has just one year and 69 days of MLB service, which means he's two years away from arbitration eligibility. Beverly Hills Sports Council represents Kipnis.
As MLBTR’s Extension Tracker shows, the Indians have not shied away from locking players up before and during their arbitration years. The club successfully extended many young players under former GM John Hart during the 1990s.