Rockies Looking To Add Pieces
The Rockies are considering available free agents as they look to add rotation depth, left-handed relief and infield help, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Rockies would like to add a veteran starter and David Bush and Rodrigo Lopez are among the team’s targets.
The team would also like to sign a left-handed reliever to a minor league deal. Matt Reynolds (21 career appearances) and Franklin Morales (88 career appearances) are the team's current options, so they’re eyeing veteran help. Former Rockie Joe Beimel does not appear to be an option, according to the Denver Post.
Alfredo Amezaga, Cristian Guzman and Aaron Miles are among the backup infielders the club is considering. The Rockies appear to prefer Amezaga to Miles, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. The Rockies still have interest in a higher profile infielder: Michael Young. Young will earn $16MM in each of the next three seasons and the Rangers say they expect him to stay in Texas.
Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine told Mike Ferrin and Morgan Ensberg on MLB Network Radio that “we’re looking at [Young] as our primary DH but also a guy who’s going to play all over the infield.” The team expects Young to get plenty of playing time, even though they just acquired former division rival Mike Napoli.
The Rockies also signed veteran catcher Chad Moeller to a minor league deal, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America.
West Notes: Young, Rockies, Giants, Napoli
On this day in 1978, the Padres acquired future Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry from the Rangers for left-hander Dave Tomlin and $125K. The trade paid off for San Diego — Perry posted a league-leading 21 wins and captured the NL Cy Young Award. Perry previously won the AL Cy Young in 1972 with the Indians, making him the first man to win the Cy in both leagues.
Some items from the western side of the baseball world…
- The Mike Napoli trade makes it seems like the Rangers are still trying to move Michael Young, argues FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal. The Rockies "still view [Young] as a potential answer at second base," Rosenthal hears from sources. Colorado and Texas discussed Young at the Winter Meetings but talks have been dormant since.
- Rosenthal says the Rangers would have to pay some of Young's salary in a trade with the Rockies, plus take Jose Lopez in return to be their new utility infielder. Troy Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies "love" Young but the Rockies "are tapped out financially this winter." (Twitter links) With this in mind, it's hard to see Colorado acquiring Young unless Texas agrees to cover virtually all of the $48MM Young is owed over the next three seasons.
- The Giants will face a salary crunch next offseason in regards to the rising salaries and arbitration cases of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Brian Wilson, writes MLB.com's Chris Haft. It seems like Wilson would be the clear odd man out of that quartet given how cheaper closing options can be found elsewhere. It's possible the club could arrange to keep all four pitchers since a number of veteran contracts are coming off the books over the next two years — Freddy Sanchez, Miguel Tejada and Mark DeRosa (who combine to make $18.5MM in 2011) are only signed through this season, and Aaron Rowand's deal expires after 2012.
- MLB.com's Lyle Spencer thinks the fact that Napoli was so quickly flipped from the Blue Jays to the Rangers turns the Jays' swap of Vernon Wells to the Angels into "a garden-variety Toronto salary dump." Spencer also thinks Napoli will be unhappy with a potential lack of playing time in Texas. This may be true, but Napoli would've been similarly fighting for at-bats with the Jays, given Toronto's plethora of first base, catcher and DH options.
Minor Transactions: Madrigal, Lane, Vasquez
Tobi Stoner and Jason Pridie both cleared waivers and were outrighted to the Mets' Triple-A affiliate today, reports Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger (Twitter link). The duo were designated for assignment earlier this week.
Here are some other minor moves from around baseball today, courtesy of Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. All contracts are minor league deals, and all links are to Goldstein's Twitter feed.
- The Yankees signed right-hander Warner Madrigal, who last pitched in the majors with Texas in 2009. Madrigal originally broke into pro ball as an outfielder, but converted to pitching in 2006. He posted a 3.73 ERA in 35 games with the Rangers' Double-A and Triple-A teams last year.
- The Blue Jays re-signed Jason Lane. Best known for his 26-homer season with Houston in 2005, Lane hasn't played in the big leagues since 2007 and has played for the Padres, Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays and Marlins organizations since leaving the Astros.
- The Angels signed Virgil Vasquez. The right-hander pitched in Tampa Bay's system last year. A seventh-round pick of the Tigers in the 2003 draft, Vasquez has a 6.60 ERA in 19 career Major League games (10 of them starts) with Detroit and Pittsburgh.
- The Rangers signed catcher Robinzon Diaz, who is best known for being the player to be named later that Toronto sent to Pittsburgh for Jose Bautista in 2009. Diaz had 139 plate appearances with the Bucs before being released in the offseason. He played Triple-A ball for Detroit last year.
- The Rockies signed Kala Ka'aihue. Ka'aihue was putting up minor league numbers akin to those of his older brother Kila through the 2008 season, but has struggled the last two years.
Rockies Acquire Clayton Mortensen
The Rockies have acquired Clayton Mortensen from the Athletics for minor league righty Ethan Hollingsworth according to the team's Twitter feed. Troy Renck of The Denver Post says that Colorado has also designated right-hander Samuel Deduno for assignment (Twitter link).
Mortensen was designated for assignment last week to create room on the 40-man roster for Grant Balfour. The 2007 supplemental first round pick has appeared in eight big league games over the course of the past two campaigns. He has posted a 7.12 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 15 walks in 26 2/3 innings for the A's and Cardinals in his big league career. The 25-year-old has a 4.29 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 as a minor leaguer.
Hollingsworth was Colorado's fourth round pick in 2008. He owns a 4.33 ERA with impressive peripheral stats (8.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9) in 376 minor league innings. Baseball America did not rank him as one of the team's top 30 prospects in the 2010 edition of their Prospect Handbook. Deduno, however, was ranked as the Rockies' 11th best prospect before last season. The 27-year-old has battled elbow issues in recent years, throwing just 47 innings (3.83 ERA) in 2010.
Beimel Has “Several Irons In The Fire”
It's been a relatively quite winter for Joe Beimel, but the free agent lefty reliever told Troy Renck of The Denver Post that he has "several irons in the fire." The Rockies, however, are not involved.
Last month we heard that Beimel was sitting on several offers, but obviously nothing has materialized. The Marlins were said to have interest, but that was before they signed Randy Choate. Beimel, 34 in April, has held left-handed batters to a .254/.305/.394 batting line with 5.3 K/9 over the last three seasons. He didn't sign until mid-March in each of the last two offseasons, so the wait is nothing new for him.
Renck also notes that Jay Payton wants to still play, but he isn't interested in spending time in the minors. The 38-year-old outfielder hit .343/.361/.514 in 36 plate appearances with Colorado last year, his first big league action since 2008.
Rockies Sign Willy Taveras
The Rockies signed Willy Taveras to a minor league deal and invited him to Spring Training, the team announced (on Twitter).
Taveras didn't hit much in his 37 plate appearances for the Nationals this year and hasn't been a serious offensive threat for a couple of years. He posted a .367 on base percentage for the 2007 Rockies and led the National League in stolen bases the following season. He has bounced from the Reds to the Nationals to the Phillies since, without much success.
But the seven-year veteran is relatively young (he's 29) and has plenty of experience (601 games) in center field. He'll provide the Rockies with depth and speed, though he doesn't appear to be the difference maker he was a couple seasons ago.
NL West Notes: Cantu, Giants, Rockies
We've already caught up on the American League West teams today. Now let's check out the latest news from their counterparts in the Senior Circuit…
- The Padres are in on Jorge Cantu, but would prefer to sign the infielder to a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). San Diego may be a leading suitor for Cantu, as the Braves are not pursuing him.
- Three of the top four Padres prospects on Baseball America's top ten list arrived in the San Diego organization in the Adrian Gonzalez trade. Casey Kelly (1), Anthony Rizzo (2) and Reymond Fuentes (4) figure prominently into the list of promising young Padres.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Giants GM Brian Sabean enters the season in wait-and-see mode. That approach worked out for San Francisco in 2010, when the Giants made key in-season acquisitions and won the World Series.
- Steve Foster of Inside the Rockies expects Mike McKenry, Jose Morales and Matt Pagnozzi to compete to back up Chris Iannetta behind the plate.
Rockies, Jason Hammel Agree To Two-Year Deal
3:51pm: Troy Renck of The Denver Post reports that Hammel will earn $3MM in 2011 and $4.75MM in 2012.
11:42am: The Rockies and Jason Hammel have agreed to a two-year deal according to the team (on Twitter). The deal buys out Hammel's next two years of arbitration-eligibility, though he will still be eligible for arbitration in 2013 as a Super Two. He is represented by Octagon.
MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows that Hammel filed for $3.7MM in arbitration earlier this week while the team countered with $3.1MM. He earned $1.9MM in 2010. Colorado has already signed Matt Lindstrom, Carlos Gonzalez, and Troy Tulowitzki to multiyear contract extensions this offseason.
Hammel, 28, was acquired from the Rays for minor leaguer Aneury Rodriguez before the 2009 season. In his two years with the Rockies, he's pitched to a 4.57 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 354 1/3 innings, though he battled a groin strain and arm fatigue in 2010. His 46.4% ground ball rate over the last two years ranks 35th among the 78 pitchers with at least 350 innings.
Quick Hits: Helton, Hamilton, Danks, Giants
Some links to read as the Rays eye Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero and even Mike Napoli…
- Todd Helton told Troy Renck of the Denver Post that he plans to play for three more seasons. He's under contract through 2013.
- Josh Hamilton isn't under contract for 2011 yet, but he tells Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com that he's bracing himself for an arbitration hearing with the Rangers. The club could look to extend the reigning MVP instead.
- Starlin Castro and Andrew McCutchen are among the players on Jayson Stark's list of the most underrated players in baseball (link at ESPN.com).
- Meanwhile, ESPN.com's Buster Olney includes Jose Reyes and Nate McLouth on his list of players at a career crossroads.
- Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Peter Gammons of MLB Network that he's looking forward to the coming draft, when the Rays will select ten times before the second round. I previewed the Rays' 2011 draft yesterday.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports argues that John Danks would be better off not signing an extension at this point.
- The Giants' 2011 payroll will likely be in the $115MM range, writes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.
Rockies Sign Joe Crede
The Rockies signed Joe Crede to a minor league contract that's still pending a physical, the team announced (on Twitter). The Scott Boras client missed the 2010 season after dealing with back, shoulder, forearm, leg, knee and hand injuries with the Twins in 2009.
Boras said last month that Crede is healthy and "ready to come back and play." He played strong defense (+21.6 UZR/150) and showed some pop (15 homers in 367 plate appearances) with Minnesota in '09, so the 32-year-old has value when healthy.
Crede hit 30 homers five years ago and won the Silver Slugger. He may not make another All-Star team, but his .254/.304/.444 career line and history as a strong defender suggest he can help the Rockies if he's healthy. Colorado has a crowded infield, with Crede, Ian Stewart, Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Lopez, Jonathan Herrera, Eric Young, Ty Wigginton and Todd Helton all in the mix.