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NL West Notes: Stewart, McCourt, Belt

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The latest from the NL West, where the Rockies have built a 4.5 game lead over the Dodgers, the defending World Champions, the D'Backs and the last-place Padres…

  • Steve Foster of Inside the Rockies wonders which position player the Rockies will call on when they decide 13 pitchers are no longer a necessity. Ian Stewart, Chris Nelson, Eric Young Jr. and a number of other former big leaguers are among the candidates to join the Rockies.
  • Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is essentially facing "the prospect of his second divorce in 18 months," Yahoo's Tim Brown says of MLB's takeover of the club's financial operations. "And the guy who fought his way in will fight more ferociously on his way out, you can be sure of that." Brown hears from a friend of McCourt's that he is a "street fighter" at heart.
  • Giants GM Brian Sabean told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that his team isn't left-handed enough. Brandon Belt, who swings from the left side, is playing left and right field in the minors and he'll almost certainly stay in the outfield when he returns to the majors, according to Schulman.

Rockies Acquire Brad Emaus

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The Rockies have acquired Brad Emaus from the Blue Jays in exchange for right-hander Chris Malone according to the team (on Twitter). Toronto will also receive a player to be named or cash considerations, tweets Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com.

Emaus is suddenly well-traveled, joining his third team of the week; the Mets returned him to Toronto as a Rule 5 Draft player just yesterday. The 25-year-old infielder hit .162/.262/.162 in 42 plate appearances with the Mets before they cut ties with him. Colorado can send him to the minors without having to pass him through waivers since the Rule 5 Draft rules no longer apply.

Malone, 27, was not considered one of the Rockies top 30 prospects in the 2011 edition of Baseball America's Prospect Handbook. He was originally drafted by the Dodgers in the 36th round of the 2003 draft, but he joined the Rockies after a 2008 stint in an independent league. He owns a 6.8 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 63 2/3 relief innings (4.10 ERA) with Colorado's Double-A affiliate over the last year and change.

Rosenthal On Tigers, Reyes, Trout, White Sox

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The Rockies, who are about to start a series with the defending World Champions, have baseball's best record so far this year. GM Dan O'Dowd told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that the team's resilience has contributed to its fast start. “We’re a confident, persistent club,” O’Dowd said. Troy Tulowitzki's hot streak hasn't hurt, either. Here are the rest of Rosenthal's rumors:

  • One scout who has followed the Tigers this year predicts that they'll be looking for pitching help later this season. At some point minor leaguers Andy Oliver and Jacob Turner could help the Tigers, who are 12th in the AL with 77 runs allowed.
  • A rival official says Mets GM Sandy Alderson will not offer Jose Reyes $100MM to stay in New York. It appears likely that Reyes will be on the trading block this summer, so MLBTR's Steve Adams recently outlined some possible destinations for him.
  • Scouts are high on Angels prospect Mike Trout, praising his baserunning instincts, speed and power.
  • Jason Marquis is a potential trade candidate, according to Rosenthal. The Nationals' right-hander has a 3.26 ERA in three starts so far this season.
  • The White Sox don't plan to look outside of the organization for bullpen help at this point, despite their issues holding leads late in games.

Heyman On Young, Emaus, Rays, Wilson, Melky

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The Rangers were close to sending Michael Young to the Rockies for two young players before the season, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. The deal didn’t go through, but the Rangers appear to have assured the Rockies that they’ll have  the first chance to acquire Young if he becomes available once again. Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors:

  • One GM told Heyman that Mets Rule 5 selection Brad Emaus looks like a Quadruple A player.
  • The Rays could have interest in adding a hitter now that Manny Ramirez isn’t around and Heyman suggests Chris Davis would be a fit. I wrote last month that the Rays are one team that could have interest in the first baseman if the Rangers make him available.
  • C.J. Wilson could ask for $82.5MM on his next contract, as Heyman points out. The left-hander hits free agency after the season and could compare himself to A.J. Burnett and John Lackey in negotiations with the Rangers and/or other clubs.
  • Alex Rodriguez worked out with Melky Cabrera this offseason and “begged” the Yankees to sign the outfielder to no avail.
  • The Orioles are “very high” on Jake Arrieta, the 25-year-old who made 18 starts as a rookie in 2010 and remains in Baltimore’s rotation.

Heyman On Hamilton, Young, Felix, Royals

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Rangers left fielder Josh Hamilton is out for six to eight weeks after enduring a non-displaced fracture of his right shoulder and, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com, some people in Cincinnati may not be completely surprised. After the 2007 season, Reds medical people strongly suggested that the front office should trade Hamilton because of his health reports. Here’s the latest on the Rangers and other notes from around the league:

  • The Rangers were “extremely close” to sending Michael Young to Colorado about a month before Spring Training, according to Heyman. The Rockies loved Young and he would have welcomed a trade to Denver or to either L.A. team. The infielder has since reconciled himself to his role in Texas.
  • A rival GM says he’d trade Felix Hernandez to the Yankees for Ivan Nova, Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos and Jesus Montero if he were running the Mariners.
  • One GM says Royals GM Dayton Moore did a good job of ‘bottom feeding’ this winter to come up with left-handers Bruce Chen and Jeff Francis on affordable deals.
  • Andres Torres suffered an Achilles injury, so the Giants need outfield depth and are unlikely to release Aaron Rowand soon. Rowand has a .923 OPS so far including two hits yesterday.

Constructing The Rockies’ Rotation

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Esmil Rogers retired 18 consecutive batters at one point yesterday and allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings of work. Not a bad season debut for someone who was supposed to be a shortstop.

When Rolando Fernandez, the Rockies’ senior director of international scouting, signed Rogers out of the Dominican Republic eight years ago, he was intrigued by the teenage infielder’s smooth swing and, especially, his live arm. 

Before long it became apparent that Rogers (pictured) wasn’t a fit at short, so the Rockies decided it was time for a change. Fernandez didn’t want to embarrass Rogers, so one night he waited until all the other players had left the field and told Rogers he wanted to see him throw a bullpen.

Rogers

“He was very natural,” Fernandez said. “Very easy. He was 90-91 [mph] at that point without ever pitching. He looked like he had done it before, like he had been pitching for a few years.” 

Now that Rogers actually has been pitching for a few years, he's a member of the Rockies' rotation, a group that features two other international free agent signings, and Jason Hammel, who was obtained for a fourth internationally signed pitcher, Aneury Rodriguez.

No other rotation in baseball features as many internationally signed, homegrown pitchers. There’s no prize for having lots of Latin American starters or a homegrown rotation, of course. The goal is to win games and, thanks to a decade of production from Fernandez and the Rockies’ other scouts, Rogers, Jhoulys Chacin, and Ubaldo Jimenez should help Colorado do just that. 

Ten years ago this month, Fernandez was scouting tryouts in the Dominican Republic when he came across a skinny right-hander who stood about 6’1”. Intrigued, Fernandez brought the prospect to the Rockies’ complex to watch him pitch. Even as a teenager, Ubaldo Jimenez showed major league potential.

“The arm action, arm speed, delivery and projection was there,” Fernandez said. “At that time he was just a kid and he was a competitor. He kept all the pitches in the strike zone and you could see the live arm.”

Jimenez, now on the disabled list, has since developed into one of baseball's best pitchers. He threw a no-hitter last year and posted a 2.88 ERA in 221 2/3 innings, striking out 214 and finishing second in last year’s NL Cy Young voting

Like most prospects, Jimenez grew into his body; he now stands three inches taller and about 40 pounds heavier than he did in 2001. But his physical development doesn’t compare to what the Rockies have seen from Chacin since he signed out of Venezuela in 2004.

“Sometimes you see 16-year-olds who look like they’re 18 or 19,” Fernandez said. “Chacin was 16 and he looked like he was 14 years old.” 

Despite his youthful appearance and 155 pound frame, Chacin was more polished than Rogers or Jimenez at the time of his signing and he showed good instincts on the mound. He had less pure stuff than the others back then, but he didn't have trouble retiring big league hitters last year. In his first extended stint in the Major Leagues, Chacin posted a 3.28 ERA in 137 1/3 innings, striking out a batter per frame. 

Now in his 19th season with the Rockies, Fernandez is currently in Venezuela preparing for this year’s crop of July 2 prospects. He credits the Rockies’ scouting and player development staff for the heavy international presence in the rotation, but he doesn’t deny that it’s personally rewarding to see the teenagers he signed long ago contribute in the Major Leagues.

“It’s exciting because when we sign these kids at 16 or 17 years old, they are like my kids,” he said over the phone. “I treat them like they are my kids and see them mature and develop.”

Photo courtesy Icon SMI. I recently wrote about Jimenez and Hammel in more detail.

Minor League Transactions

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There was a slew of minor league transactions from March 30 to April 5, and Matt Eddy of Baseball America has written them up and included info on some noteworthy names. Here's more on those …

  • The Cubs released righty Chris Huseby, an 11th-round draft pick in 2006 who signed for a hefty $1.3MM. Huseby wasn't panning out as a pitcher and saw action in the outfield in recent seasons.
  • The Indians released third baseman Matt Cusick, one of the two players they received from the Yankees in last season's swap for Kerry Wood. The other player – Andrew Shive – had been previously released.
  • The Rockies released reliever Craig Baker, who led the Minors in saves in 2009 with 33. A fourth-round pick 2006, Baker's 2010 was derailed by the injuries that haunted him earlier in his career.
  • The Astros released reliever Bubbie Buzachero, who is among the active career leaders in minor league saves.
  • The Royals released speedy outfielder Hilton Richardson, a seventh-round pick in 2007 who has 77 steals in the minors in 100 attempts. The Braves then signed Richardson.
  • The Dodgers released lefty reliever James Adkins, a sandwich-round pick in 2007 out of Tennessee. The southpaw is the Volunteers' career leader in strikeouts but has struggled with control and against righties in the minors.
  • The Brewers released hard-throwing lefty Evan Frederickson, the 35th overall pick in 2008. Frederickson has been excessively wild in his minors career, never walking fewer than 7.6 batters per nine, according to Eddy.
  • Twins righty Chris Province, acquired from the Red Sox in the Boof Bonser trade in 2009, voluntarily retired. Province surrendered a lot of hits in 2010, but seeing as he posted solid groundball rates for two poor teams, Eddy wonders whether he might have fared better with a better defense behind him.
  • The Padres released catcher Mitch Canham, the 57th overall pick in 2007. The Friars hoped Canham would develop into an offense-first backstop, but he was abused by basestealers, and his production with the bat didn't hold up at other positions.
  • The Giants released righty Craig Whitaker, a supplemental-round pick in 2003. Whitaker, as Eddy notes, is something of a rarity as an unsuccessful power arm drafted by San Francisco. Outfielder Ben Copeland, the Giants' first pick (fourth round) in 2005, was also released.
  • The Rangers released righty Danny Gutierrez, formerly one of their top-10 prospects. Gutierrez had been acquired from the Royals, but his stuff has diminished and was suspended 50 games for amphetamines prior to the 2010 season.
  • The Blue Jays released speedy outfielder Eric Eiland, a second-round pick in 2007. Eiland has been an efficient basestealer but has struggled overall offensively.

Revisiting The Jason Hammel Trade

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The Rays roster is dotted with the spoils of trades involving excess starting pitchers. Matt Joyce arrived in the Edwin Jackson deal; the Rays obtained Sean Rodriguez when they sent Scott Kazmir to Anaheim and Chris Archer and others could soon join Sam Fuld on the roster and make Matt Garza’s departure easier to bear. But no matter how hard you look, you won’t see anyone from the trade that sent Jason Hammel to the Rockies exactly two years ago.

The Rays acquired Aneury Rodriguez for Hammel on this date in 2009 and the right-handed prospect spent two years in the Rays’ system, making it to Triple-A, where he spent most of last season. He pitched well in 2010, posting a 3.71 ERA in 123 2/3 innings with 7.3 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9. The 23-year-old became a reliable starter with four pitches that peak at average and are often fringy, according to Baseball America. 

It wasn’t enough for the Rays to protect him in the Rule 5 draft, but it was enough for the Astros to select him. Now a member of Houston’s bullpen, Rodriguez currently ranks 11th among top Astros prospects, according to Baseball America. Houston will have to offer Rodriguez back to the Rays if they determine that he isn’t worthy of a roster spot all season, so the Rays could still profit from the Hammel deal. As it stands now, however, the return they obtained has had zero impact on their MLB team.

It’s easy to see why the Rays didn’t get much for Hammel. He was out of options at the time and had just lost a springtime battle with Jeff Niemann for a spot in the rotation. Hammel had a career ERA of 5.90 at the time and had started just 28 MLB games,  so he was far from the established starter he has since become. Executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman made Hammel available, eventually trading him to obtain something of value instead of exposing him to waivers and losing him for nothing. 

In the two years that have passed since the deal, Hammel has a 4.57 ERA in 354 1/3 innings with 7.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. That was good for 7.5 wins above replacement in 2009-10, more than any starter on the Rays or Rockies other than Ubaldo Jimenez. 

The deal, which attracted little fanfare at the time, has turned into a steal for the Rockies. It may not be a franchise-altering trade like the one that saw the Rockies acquire Carlos Gonzalez and Huston Street, but Colorado obtained an inexpensive and effective starter for an unproven prospect who has yet to materialize at the Major League level – a definite coup for GM Dan O’Dowd.

Rockies Release Greg Smith

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The Rockies released lefty Greg Smith, reports Jack Etkin of Inside the Rockies.  Smith was part of the Rockies' haul from the Athletics for Matt Holliday in November of 2008, along with Carlos Gonzalez and Huston Street.

Smith, 27, spent most of the 2010 season in Triple-A.  There he posted a 6.12 ERA, 5.9 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, and 1.7 HR/9 in 75 innings across 15 starts.  Smith also tossed 39 innings across eight starts for the big club.  He's battled shoulder issues since the middle of the '09 season.  His best year was 2008 with the A's, when he made 32 starts with a 4.16 ERA despite some middling peripheral stats.

Jimenez Extension Going Well For Rockies

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There's inherent risk in signing any pitcher long-term, let alone someone who has just one full season of Major League experience to his name. If you're wondering why teams ever commit $10MM-plus to relatively inexperienced pitchers, take a look at the Rockies and Ubaldo Jimenez.

Ubaldo

When Jimenez signed his current extension with the Rockies, he had similar numbers to the ones Wade Davis has now. Their ERAs (Davis 4.01 vs. Jimenez 4.06), records (Davis 14-12 vs. Jimenez 16-16) and innings totals (Davis 204 1/3 vs. Jimenez 288 1/3) were comparable after one-plus MLB seasons and those stats led to similar extensions (Davis four years, $12.6MM vs. Jimenez four years, $10MM).

Two years into Jimenez's deal, he has developed from a promising 25-year-old like Davis into a Cy Young candidate and legitimate top-of-the-rotation starter. Jimenez has posted a 3.17 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 since signing his extension, averaging 220 innings and 17 wins per season. If any doubt remained about his status as an ace, he erased it last year, throwing a no-hitter, making the All-Star team and finishing third in NL Cy Young balloting.

Jimenez earned twice as much as pitchers in his service class in 2009-10 thanks to the structure of his extension and he'll earn $2.8MM in 2011, his first season as an arbitration eligible player. It's a substantial raise from his 2010 salary of $1.25MM and not a bad salary for a first-time arbitration eligible pitcher.

But given Jimenez's career accomplishments to date, he could have surpassed the salaries Mike Pelfrey ($3.925MM) and Chad Billingsley ($3.85MM) earned their first time through arbitration and matched Jered Weaver's $4.265MM salary. Not only is that $1.4MM more than Jimenez will actually earn in 2011, a $4.265MM salary would have set him up for future arbitration raises.

As it stands, Jimenez will earn $4.8MM from 2009-11, about the same as he would have obtained by going year to year. The Rockies will start saving big in 2012, when they'll pay Jimenez just $4.2MM and the savings could continue in 2013 and 2014, as the Rockies have a pair of team options. The risk paid off for Colorado, which could save $15MM or more if Jimenez stays healthy and GM Dan O'Dowd exercises both options.

That doesn't make the deal a regrettable one for Jimenez and his representatives at SFX, however. Like Davis, Jimenez took the risk that his performance would justify larger raises than the ones structured into his extension in exchange for the security of guaranteed money. Like Davis, he'll hit free agency in his early 30s, even if the team exercises its options, so there's still time for a substantial free agent payday.

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