Tigers Will Look To Sign Relievers This Offseason
The Tigers bullpen was depleted by the injuries to Bobby Seay, Joel Zumaya, and Zach Miner this season, and even though Phil Coke and Ryan Perry have stepped up and gotten big outs for manager Jim Leyland, they're still going to look for relievers this winter according to MLB.com's Jason Beck. He notes that Detroit's bullpen seemed to lack "big-game experience," something they're sure to find on the open market.
"The free-agent market, we're going to look for some relievers," said Leyland. "We need help, and that's where we're going to get it, we think. We're hoping to get it through maybe some free agency."
Leyland did qualify his statement however, saying that signing some bullpen help was not a certainty. Clearly though, the bullpen is high on his list of priorities, and you can be sure GM Dave Dombrowski will oblige.
The free agent market offers plenty of relief help, none better than Rafael Soriano. Of course Detroit is set at closer with Jose Valverde, so chances are the club will pass on the Rays' ace reliever. J.J. Putz, Jesse Crain, Grant Balfour, Joaquin Benoit, and Matt Guerrier represent the best of the setup arms while Scott Downs and Arthur Rhodes highlight the lefthanded group.
The Tigers have a boatload of cash coming off the books after the season, more than $50MM from the expiring contracts of Magglio Ordonez, Jeremy Bonderman, Dontrelle Willis, and Nate Robertson alone. If they want to make a big time free agent splash or two to help the bullpen, they'll certainly have the means to do it.
Odds & Ends: Miller, Laird, Fielder, V-Mart
As the Giants pick up a major win over the Rockies tonight, here are some news items….
- The Marlins face a tough decision with the out-of-options Andrew Miller, writes Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post.
- Gerald Laird is looking for regular playing time next season, so it could mean the end for his time in Detroit what with Alex Avila having locked down a regular catching job, reports MLB.com's Jason Beck.
- "I think there’s probably a better chance that [Prince Fielder]’s not with us than he is [next season]," Ryan Braun said to Anthony Witrado of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel before what could be Fielder's last home series as a Brewer.
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post (via Twitter) predicts that Miguel Olivo will return to Colorado next season even if he doesn't reach his vesting option.
- C.C. Sabathia doesn't think his friend and former Indians teammate Victor Martinez will re-sign with Boston this winter, tweets Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman.
- Matt Cerrone of the MetsBlog would like to see Bobby Valentine managing the Mets next season, with Wally Backman (who's been rumored as another managerial candidate) as the team's bench coach.
- Now that we know Stan Kasten won't be back as Washington's president next season, MASNSports.com's Phil Wood thinks Kasten would be a prime candidate to be baseball's next commissioner. Wood also thinks the Nationals will promote their next president from within the organization.
- With Yadier Molina shut down for the rest of the season with a knee injury, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch thinks the Cardinals should look for a veteran backup for the workhorse catcher over the winter.
- A number of Padres coaches are being interviewed for open managerial jobs, writes MLB.com's Corey Brock.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: LaRue, Martin, Ortiz, Minaya
On this date four years ago, Trevor Hoffman set a new career saves mark when he retired Ryan Doumit, Jose Bautista, and Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates in order. His 479th save moved him past Lee Smith and into first place on the all-time list, a spot he still holds today with 600 career saves on the nose. Other than Mariano Rivera and the soon-to-retire Billy Wagner, no active closer is within 310 saves of Hoffman's mark.
Here's a collection of links from the last week of the baseball blog world…
- The Hardball Times takes an in-depth look at the legal implications of the Johnny Cueto–Jason LaRue brawl that led to LaRue's retirement.
- Disciples of Uecker checks in with the players the Brewers traded for C.C. Sabathia back in 2008.
- Pittsburgh Lumber Co. looks at how the Pirates bullpen has performed since trading away some key pieces at the deadline.
- The Process Report follows up a previous post and explains how Jose Lobaton continues to help the Rays even though he's never played a game for them.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness breaks down the Dodgers' options with Russell Martin.
- Red Sox Beacon tries to figure out what Boston should do with David Ortiz.
- Amazin' Avenue audits Omar Minaya's front office.
- Crashburn Alley discusses the genius of Charlie Manuel.
- Drunk Jays Fans looked at the merits of Rays' bench coach Dave Martinez as a potential Cito Gaston replacement.
- Feeling Dodger Blue says Tim Wallach should have gotten the Dodgers manager job over Don Mattingly.
- A Fan's Opinion plans out the Angels offseason.
- DesigNate Robertson does the same, but for the Tigers.
- Lookout Landing guesses at the Mariners' 2011 payroll.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Stark On Crawford, Werth, Beltre, Torre
Commissioner Bud Selig told ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark that he’ll consider expanded instant replay and adding a second Wild Card team. Stark also passes along news on the player-agent industry and rumors from around the league:
- The MLBPA and MLB have agreed to move up the date by which teams have to tender contracts and offer arbitration to free agents in an attempt to hurry the offseason along. This development could mean that we see fewer unsigned players late in the offseason.
- The players’ association is working to better regulate interactions between players and agents. For example, agents can’t promise anything of value to players who they don’t represent. No more free trips or cars from rival agents!
- Players who can go to arbitration or file for free agency will now have to check in with the MLBPA before changing agents.
- Five of the six executives Stark surveyed named Carl Crawford this year’s best free agent position player (Jayson Werth received one vote).
- The Yankees are more likely to bid aggressively on Crawford than Werth, but Cliff Lee figures to be their top free agent target.
- Stark says the Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Tigers and Giants seem like the best bets to pursue Werth this offseason.
- Adrian Beltre puzzles Stark’s sources, since he has so much upside, but tends to flash his ability most tantalizingly in contract years.
- Three baseball people who are all acquainted with Joe Torre say the Dodgers manager would like to manage the Mets next year, but they don’t think it’ll happen.
- Atlanta GM Frank Wren anticipates that the Braves will be in the market for a veteran reliever again this winter.
Cabrera: Ordonez Hopes To Return To Tigers
While Magglio Ordonez hasn't been seen in the Tigers' clubhouse since he underwent season-ending surgery last month, he has kept in touch with teammates such as Miguel Cabrera. Earlier this evening, Cabrera told reporters that his good friend wants to remain in Detroit next season, writes Jason Beck of MLB.com.
"I've talked to [Ordonez]," the first baseman said. "He said he feels better. He wants so bad to play, but his injury, he feels bad. He wants to come back next year here. He wants to stay here."
Ordonez seemed likely to return to the club as he needed just 540 plate appearances or 135 starts in order for his $15MM option for 2011 to vest. However, a broken ankle suffered in late July made it an impossibility.
The 37-year-old slugger hit .303/.378/.474 with 12 homers in 84 games this season.
Davidoff On Beltran, Greinke, Takahashi, Kemp
The Mets are sending "strong signals" that they'd like to trade Carlos Beltran this winter, an AL official tells Ken Davidoff of Newsday. Davidoff acknowledges that the Mets often seem to want to unload big contracts, but rarely follow through. However, Beltran, as opposed to Luis Castillo or Oliver Perez, is a player that other teams would have interest in. Here are Davidoff's other hot stove notes:
- The Royals have Zack Greinke signed through 2012, but aren't sure whether they'll be competitive by then, so they'd be willing to listen to offers on their ace. Davidoff lists the Yankees, Rangers, Tigers, and Nationals as teams who might be interested.
- Hisanori Takahashi is eligible for free agency this winter and would like to be a starting pitcher. One AL scout is skeptical: "Who’s going to sign him to start? Maybe a bad team, at the back end of their rotation. He’d be better off staying in the bullpen. He’s really good there."
- Davidoff wonders if new Dodgers manager Don Mattingly will be more willing to deal with Matt Kemp than Joe Torre was. A scout compares Kemp to Alfonso Soriano, suggesting that both players lack baseball instincts and struggle to improve their games.
Rosenthal’s Full Count: Mets, Gonzalez, Tigers, A’s, Mazzaro
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has his latest Full Count video up, so let's dive in:
- Mets assistant general manager John Ricco won't replace Omar Minaya as general manager if Minaya is removed from the position. The Mets feel that Ricco is not yet ready for that role.
- Padres owner Jeff Moorad told Rosenthal concretely that the Padres will not trade Adrian Gonzalez this winter. He could, of course, still be moved during the season if things don't go well for San Diego.
- The Pads would be willing to give Gonzalez a three-year deal beyond 2011, but the slugger can certainly do better than that on the free agent market. The Padres won't be able to stay in talks if Gonzalez pursues a deal similar to Mark Teixeira's eight-year, $180MM deal.
- The Tigers will have the money to pursue one or more of the market's top free agents, such as Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Adam Dunn, and Jayson Werth. They can also afford to take on a great deal of salary in trades should they choose to go down that road.
- The A's still don't know if they'll end up in San Jose, which makes their financial future difficult to predict.
- Oakland's difficulty in luring free agent position players leads Rosenthal to suggest a trade of Vin Mazzaro in order to acquire the talent they're seeking.
Odds & Ends: Hinch, Soriano, Ellis, Tigers, Ludwick
Links for Friday, before the Giants and Padres continue an immensely important series…
- MLB.com's Barry Bloom reports that former Diamondbacks' manager A.J. Hinch is close to joining the Padres to work in their scouting department.
- David Ortiz suggested to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that Rafael Soriano deserves a five-year deal. The Rays closer is having a fantastic season, but he's not going to see a five-year offer this winter.
- Mark Ellis told Joe Stiglich of the San Jose Mercury News that he wants to stay in Oakland next year. The A’s have a $6MM option for 2011 with a $500K buyout.
- At SI.com, Bud Black of the Padres tops Jon Heyman's list of the year's most impressive managers.
- Bob Young of the Arizona Republic argues that the D'Backs will have a hard time finding a better manager-GM combination than Kirk Gibson and Jerry Dipoto.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains that the Pirates have a lot of promising young pitching in the minor leagues. Take a look at the team's projected 2011 rotation here.
- I didn't consider Phil Coke when previewing the Tigers' 2011 rotation, but manager Jim Leyland told Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press that the Tigers will at least consider the lefty.
- Cardinals manager Tony La Russa defended the team's decision to trade Ryan Ludwick, as Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains.
Jhonny Peralta’s 2011 Option
Things were much different when the Tigers acquired Jhonny Peralta six weeks ago. Detroit was in contention and Peralta was hitting just .246/.308/.389. Even though his contract includes a 2011 option, the Tigers added him with 2010 in mind. Now, the Tigers' playoff hopes have unraveled, but it has been no fault of Peralta's. His play has improved since joining the Tigers, so they may even keep him.
Peralta said last month that he hopes the Tigers pick up his $7MM option and repeated as much to Steve Kornacki of MLive.com yesterday. But the Tigers are the ones who must decide whether to bring the infielder back or find another shortstop via trade or free agency.
After playing third for the Indians, Peralta is back at shortstop in Detroit. He doesn't distinguish himself with his defense, though (UZR has Peralta as about average from 2008-10). Peralta is hitting .275/.342/.458 in Detroit and he has already hit as many homers for the Tigers as he did in Cleveland (7). It's a major improvement and if he can keep it up and play a respectable shortstop he'd be worth a net cost of $6.75MM.
Miguel Tejada, Orlando Cabrera, Alex Gonzalez, Juan Uribe and Adam Everett signed for $6MM or less last offseason, so it's hard to imagine Peralta finding $7MM as a free agent, despite his strong finish. The Tigers would likely be able to find a serviceable free agent shortstop more cheaply, so if they pick up the option it shows that they believe Peralta can continue hitting this well.
Odds & Ends: D’Backs, Matsui, Ausmus, Peralta
Links for Thursday night, as the NFL season kicks off in New Orleans….
- The favorites for the Diamondbacks' general manager opening appear to be Kevin Towers and Jerry Dipoto, with Logan White looming as a "dark-horse." Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic breaks down the three candidates.
- Hideki Matsui wants to play somewhere in the majors next year, but he may not be in the Angels' plans, writes MLB.com's Evan Drellich.
- In a chat with Rangers fans, Nolan Ryan says the team has "every intention" of bringing manager Ron Washington back next year (Dallas Morning News link).
- Brad Ausmus tells Brian McTaggart of MLB.com that he'd be open to rejoining the Astros' organization after he retires. Ausmus said earlier this year that he expects this season to be his last.
- Steve Kornacki of MLive.com thinks Jhonny Peralta's 2011 option could be a good investment for the Tigers, given how well the 28-year-old has played lately.
- Fangraphs' Eno Sarris looks at a few contenders for the Mets' 2011 second base job.