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Central Notes: White Sox, Tigers, Wells, Hicks

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Here's a look at the latest out of the American League Central..

  • White Sox manager Robin Ventura believes that this year's team has more potential than last year's squad, thanks in part to offseason additions that make them a stronger postseason team, writes Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.  The White Sox kept their starting pitching in tact while adding Jeff Keppinger and Matt Lindstrom to the fold.
  • Jason Beck of MLB.com wonders if the Tigers might make a move for Casper Wells after he was designated for assignment by the Mariners yesterday.  Detroit had interest in making a move for Wells towards the end of spring training and will likely have to work out a trade for the outfielder before he hits the waiver wire if they want to grab him.  
  • The future is now for Twins prospect Aaron Hicks, writes MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger.  The center fielder, who is ranked 72nd on Baseball America's Top 100 list and 98th on MLB.com's Top 100, was given the starting job despite the fact that it starts his service clock earlier.

Cafardo On Zambrano, Tigers, Wilson, Soriano

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In today's column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe spoke with Indians manager Terry Francona, who is very grateful to have a fresh start.  Francona would love to make things competitive with the Tigers in his first season in Cleveland, but he's not getting ahead of himself.  “There are good teams in our division,” said Francona. “We know how good Detroit is, but you know we can’t approach the season like that. We know we’re playing Toronto first and we have to take care of things with them and then move on to the next series."  Here's more from Cafardo..

  • Carlos Zambrano is an intriguing free agent, but his reputation as a bad clubhouse guy coupled with his downward-trending performance has kept teams away.  “You’ve got to be up for what he brings,” said an NL GM. “Not saying the guy hasn’t been good in his career because he has, but when things go bad, he has a rap sheet that shows how he reacts, and that’s hard to overcome.”  The 31-year-old boasts a career 3.66 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9.
  • Brian Wilson could be an option for the Tigers once he’s ready, but one National League GM says that he's going to stick to his plan of not letting anyone see him throw until he's 100%, “I think everyone is anxious to see when that time comes, because if he gets it back to what he used to be, he’s going to help someone immediately down the stretch of a pennant race,” said the GM.  Cafardo won't rule out a return to the Giants for Wilson either. 
  • The serious spleen injury suffered by free agent right-hander Carl Pavano has put baseball in the distant future and could even spell the end of his career. Pavano lost a significant amount of blood and faces a long recovery after he fell at his Vermont home while shoveling snow.
  • People in baseball have long been wondering when the Cubs will trade Alfonso Soriano, but Cafardo notes that the veteran seems especially happy with the club and has played with intensity through spring training.  Soriano is set to earn $18MM in each of the next two seasons.

Quick Hits: Verlander, Wheeler, Gregg

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Tigers manager Jim Leyland is excited about Justin Verlander's extension and the possibility it could keep Verlander in Detroit his entire career, MLB.com's Adam Berry reports. "I think it was obviously a great situation for him. I think it's a great situation for the organization. I think it's a great situation for the fans," says Leyland. "He's been with the Tigers for going on his eighth year, [and he could stay] conceivably 15 years or maybe 16. That's pretty much a whole career. I think that's got a nice ring to it."

  • The Mets should consider promoting top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler, and should soon begin thinking about signing him to a long-term deal, David Lennon of Newsday.com argues. Promoting Wheeler to start the season, rather than delaying his service-time clock by starting him off in the minors, might show that the Mets are taking the 2013 season seriously, Lennon suggests. Once Wheeler is in the majors, Lennon argues that the landscape of the game (with teams signing their young stars left and right) suggests that the Mets will consider signing Wheeler long-term.
  • Kevin Gregg of the Dodgers is still bothered that he didn't receive a major-league contract this offseason, ESPN Los Angeles' Mark Saxon reports. Gregg posted a 4.95 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 for the Orioles in 2012. "The way last year ended, the way the offseason unfolded, you're not a competitor if you don't have a little fire to show your abilities," says Gregg. Gregg has gotten good results this spring, but the Dodgers have a very crowded pitching staff, and might not have space for him.

Tigers Extend Justin Verlander

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Justin Verlander is extremely competitive, and he bested every pitcher in baseball today with his new contract extension.  His five-year, $140MM extension with the Tigers has a $28MM average annual value and will keep him in Detroit through the 2019 season.  The deal also includes a vesting option for 2020 worth $22MM.  Verlander's AAV is the highest ever for a pitcher, unless you count Roger Clemens' pro-rated 2007 salary.  Verlander's new contract could be called a seven-year, $180MM deal, since this contract technically replaced the two years and $40MM Verlander was owed for 2013-14 without an increase.  In that sense, it tops Felix Hernandez's seven-year, $175MM contract from last month (Felix received $135.5MM in new money, so Verlander wins that comparison as well).

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The option for 2020 will vest if the hurler finishes top five in the 2019 Cy Young voting and includes a no-trade clause, though he was three seasons away from obtaining ten-and-five rights anyway.  Predictably, the deal also includes performance bonuses for winning MVP and Cy Young awards.

“Justin is one of the premier pitchers in baseball and we are thrilled to keep him in a Tigers uniform for many years to come,” Tigers General Manager David Dombrowski said via press release. “Justin has been a Tiger for his entire career and he is on pace to be one of the greatest pitchers in this illustrious franchise’s history.”

Verlander said recently that he would not engage in contract talks once the season got underway.  With little talk of progress between the two sides in recent weeks, it didn't seem likely that a deal would be worked out in time.  With Verlander's new pact and deals for Prince Fielder, Anibal Sanchez, and Miguel Cabrera, the Tigers now have north of $90MM committed to four players for 2015.  

Verlander's last extension was also of the five-year variety and was worth $80MM across the 2010-2014 seasons.  The Tigers haven't done much in the way of extensions since then, as MLBTR's Extension Tracker shows.  Ryan Raburn's two-year deal prior to the 2011 season was Dombrowski's last.

Even though Verlander bested Hernandez's deal by $5MM, he may not stay atop the mountain for long. His deal likely boosts the value of a deal for Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who is also scheduled for free agency following the 2014 season.  Here are MLBTR, we don't consider Verlander's contract anywhere close to $200MM — we prefer to look only at new, guaranteed money.  In that sense, C.C. Sabathia's seven-year, $161MM contract signed in December 2008 is still the largest ever given to a pitcher.

Buster Olney of ESPN.com (on Twitter) reported the terms of the deal.  Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter) had other details of the contract.  Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.

Justin Verlander Signing Reactions

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Justin Verlander agreed on Friday to a new $180MM contract with the Tigers that makes him the highest-paid pitcher in the history of the game. Here are some reactions to his new deal.

  • With Verlander, Buster Posey and Adam Wainwright all agreeing to extensions with their teams this week, "the age of teams retaining their stars is upon us," MLB.com's Matthew Leach writes. Leach points out that Felix Hernandez, Joey Votto, Cole Hamels, Evan Longoria and Matt Kemp all also fairly recently agreed to huge contracts with their current teams. More money through new TV contracts is partially fueling this trend. "And it becomes somewhat cyclical," Leach writes. "As fewer stars hit free agency, clubs have fewer places to spend that money. So they spend it on their own players, and the cycle continues."
  • The string of enormous contracts for players like Verlander should be approached with skepticism, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports argues. "These $100 million contracts are the price of doing business, no doubt," says Rosenthal. "Whether they qualify as good business is another question entirely." Rosenthal points out that big-money contracts for players like Joe Mauer and Johan Santana have gone sour, and says that while contracts like Verlander's may be exciting when they're announced, they might not seem like such great ideas a few years after the fact.
  • The size of Verlander's contract likely makes it impossible for the Rays to keep David Price, ESPN's Buster Olney tweets. An extension for Price would mean yearly salaries that would require an enormous percentage of Tampa Bay's payroll.
  • Fellow Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer says that any time he eats dinner with Verlander this year, Verlander is paying for it, MLive.com's Chris Iott reports. "I got a nice little contract this year, but no, he's buying every single dinner this year." Scherzer can afford to buy his own dinner, of course — he's scheduled to make $6.725MM in 2013.

Quick Hits: Santiago, Padres, White Sox

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Here are some notes on a few possible trade situations shaping up around baseball:

  • The Tigers are shopping middle infielder Ramon Santiago, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (on Twitter). The 33-year-old Santiago has spent 9 of his 11 big league seasons in Detroit, but his performance fell off last year when he hit just .206/.283/.272 in 259 plate appearances for the Tigers.
  • In light of today's news that Padres third baseman Logan Forsythe suffered a setback in his attempt to recover from a foot injury, the club once again finds itself wondering who will man the hot corner for the start of the season after already losing Chase Headley. As reported by Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribune, manager Bud Black acknowledged that a DL stint was likely for Forsythe. GM Josh Byrnes says that it is unlikely that the team will look outside the organization for a replacement, tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com. Center suggests that, instead, rookie Jedd Gyorko will move over to third, with Alexi Amarista filling in at second. 
  • Meanwhile, the White Sox also have some injury concerns that they do not expect to address via trade, writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. However, GM Rick Hahn says that the team is "looking around outside for other upgrades." Chicago manager Robin Ventura also announced that righty Dylan Axelrod will be the team's fifth starter to begin the year, writes Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, in conjunction with the news that John Danks will begin the year on the DL.

Don Kelly Will Not Opt Out Of Contract With Tigers

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Left-handed-hitting utility man Don Kelly will not excercise the opt-out clause in his contract, reports MLB.com's Jason Beck. While he could have done so today, Kelly instead will stick with the club on "an informal agreement." As Beck explains it: "if Kelly doesn't make the Opening Day roster, team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski will try to find Kelly another team with a big-league job for him." Failing that, "Kelly will accept an assignment to Triple-A Toledo."

According to Kelly, "this is all contractual stuff," and he is "just trying to go out and get hits." Kelly has enjoyed a strong spring with the Tigers, putting up a .238/.347/.548 line. 

Tigers Retain Rights To Lobstein; Outright Him To Double-A

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The Tigers retained the rights to Rule 5 selection Kyle Lobstein by trading catcher Curt Casali to the Rays, the team announced.  Additionally, Detroit outrighted the contract of Lobstein to Double-A Erie.

Lobstein, a 23-year-old southpaw, was chosen by the Mets from the Rays with the tenth pick in December's Rule 5 draft, and immediately traded to the Tigers for cash considerations.  After evaluating him over a dozen spring innings, it seems the Tigers didn't want to stash him all year in their big league bullpen but did find him worth retaining.  Last year in Double-A, Lobstein posted a 4.06 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 4.3 BB/9, and 0.75 HR/9 in 27 starts.  Baseball America ranked him 19th among Tigers prospects, noting "the craftiness to pitch in the Majors."

Casali, 24, hit .270/.365/.427 in 385 plate appearances across A and High-A ball last year.  BA wrote that he "profiles as a solid backup catcher at the Major League level."

Tigers And Mariners Notes: Wells, Porcello, Loe

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Former Tiger and current Mariner Casper Wells could be headed back to his old team, MLB.com's Jason Beck posits. "Maybe Casper Wells doesn’t make the Mariners roster," says Beck. "Maybe the Tigers can parlay their depth in another spot, maybe an extra reliever, into an extra outfielder." The Tigers currently have an open spot available for a righty-hitting outfielder. If they don't pursue one from outside the organization, that spot could go to Matt Tuiasosopo. Here are more notes from Detroit and Seattle.

  • The Tigers shouldn't trade pitcher Rick Porcello because doing so would weaken their depth, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman argues. The better move, Heyman suggests, would be to place Porcello in their starting rotation and use Drew Smyly as an insurance policy. That's a viewpoint Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski seems to appreciate: "Really, one of our big needs is starting pitching depth," says Dombrowski. "If we trade one of these guys [either Porcello or Smyly], then we hurt ourselves more in that area."
  • Heyman also notes that Dombrowski isn't nearly as eager as manager Jim Leyland to pursue a closer from outside the organization. "A manager and a general manager are in two different spots," Dombrowski says."I understand from a manager's perspective, he'd rather have one guy he can point to on a daily basis."
  • Jesus Montero's injury could complicate Kameron Loe's bid to be added to the Mariners' roster, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes. Montero was struck in the head on Saturday by Francisco Lindor's backswing, and it's not clear when Montero will be able to return to action. If Montero isn't ready to go to start the season, the Mariners will have to add another catcher to the 40-man roster, perhaps Jesus Sucre. That might make it difficult for the Mariners to find space on their 40-man for Loe, and Loe can trigger an out clause in his contract on Monday.
  • Mariners pitcher Joe Saunders is happy to have the offseason behind him, MLB.com's John Schlegel reports. Saunders signed a one-year deal with the M's as a free agent. "It was nerve-racking, not knowing where you're going," he says. "It was the first real free agency for me, and it was an experience, for sure. It's a good one to be over with. I feel bad for Kyle Lohse."

Central Notes: Verlander, Twins, Cardinals, Cubs

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Justin Verlander says he won't engage in contract talks with the Tigers during the regular season, reports CBS Sports' Jon Heyman. "Once this last start comes around, I want to concentrate on the start of the season,'' Verlander says. There are no signs from the Tigers that an extension is imminent. Verlander isn't slated to become a free agent until after 2014, but Heyman suggests that Verlander might be less inclined to sign a long-term deal with one year to go before free agency. Here are more notes from the two Central divisions.

  • If the Twins were to allow manager Ron Gardenhire to leave, he'd be "unemployed for about 10 minutes," Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports argues. Gardenhire is in the last year of his contract, and the Twins lost 96 games last season and 99 in 2011.
  • GM John Mozeliak and the Cardinals are "primed for long-term success," Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says. The Cards can both strive to win in the present and count on winning in the future, thanks to a strong core and future payroll flexibility.
  • The Cubs could be on the lookout for a spare infielder, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports. Manager Dale Sveum likes the recently-released Chone Figgins, saying Figgins "is one who would be interesting because he switch hits and plays the outfield." But don't count on the Cubs acquiring him, since Sveum would rather have a lefty hitter with power.
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