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West Notes: Beane, Fowler, Blanton

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Baseball personnel believe Billy Beane of the Athletics is the best GM in the game, the New York Post's Joel Sherman writes in a survey of scouts and executives.  "He continues to find ways to be ahead of trends," says one scout. Joe Maddon of the Rays and Mike Matheny of the Cardinals got the most votes for best manager, and the Angels' Mike Trout got the most votes for best player. Here are more notes from around the West divisions.

  • New Astros center fielder Dexter Fowler doesn't understand Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd offseason comments questioning his passion for the game, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports. "I'm still trying to figure out where they're coming from," Fowler says. " 'Passion for the game' – I mean, you see me each and every day. This will never change. So I don't know where that was coming from." Fowler also tells Drellich he didn't know whether O'Dowd was even the Rockies' GM, or whether it was assistant GM Bill Geivett. (O'Dowd runs baseball operations, while Geivett runs big-league operations.) The Rockies traded Fowler to Houston in December.
  • Joe Blanton is bracing for an uncertain future with the Angels, MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez writes. "Whatever happens, happens," says Blanton. "All I can do is just go pitch and try to make the adjustments in-game and keep working hard." Blanton has $7.5MM plus a $1MM buyout remaining on his contract, and does not have a spot in the Angels' rotation after a miserable 2013 season. The Angels could release him, or move him to the bullpen while they wait for their relief corps to get healthy.

Quick Hits: Vizquel, Braves, Martinez

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The Tigers are considering signing first-base coach Omar Vizquel to play shortstop for them — or not, as ESPN's Jayson Stark reports. But given their shortstop issues, they've discussed it, or at least joked about the possibility of signing the 46-year-old. Vizquel "could probably handle it," says manager Brad Ausmus. "I don't know if he could play 150 games. But he could probably be a platoon shortstop if he got himself in shape. He certainly still has the hands." Here are more notes from around the big leagues.

  • The Braves' starting pitcher injuries have put them in a tough spot, but they've proven adept at working their way out of problems like these, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman writes. GM Frank Wren expresses confidence that the Braves can recover from the losses of Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy. The Braves recently signed Ervin Santana to a one-year deal to patch the hole in their rotation. "Slowly but surely we're getting Santana, [Mike] Minor and [Gavin] Floyd. Then we're back to pretty good depth and pretty good strength," Wren says. Minor and Floyd are working their way back from injury. "By getting Santana, we were able to make the most out of a tough situation."
  • J.D. Martinez is optimistic that his release by the Astros today will lead to more opportunities elsewhere, writes MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. "I feel like they have a lot of guys coming up, and if there's not room for me to get at-bats and not room for me to play, it's best to let me go and not try to hold me back, and I commend them for that and I thank them for that," says Martinez.

Astros Release J.D. Martinez

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The Astros have released outfielder J.D. Martinez, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart tweets. Houston had outrighted Martinez in November, but before that, he collected 975 plate appearances with the Astros over three seasons, hitting .251/.300/.387. Martinez is represented by Bob Garber of RMG Baseball.

The 2014 Astros figure to go with an outfield that could include Robbie Grossman, Dexter Fowler, L.J. Hoes and Marc Krauss, with top prospect George Springer eventually a factor. GM Jeff Luhnow tells the Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich that Martinez would have had a relatively high Triple-A salary, which limited other teams' interest in him.

Quick Hits: Lester, Grossman, Moylan, White Sox

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Very early this morning, the 2014 MLB regular season will officially begin, as Wade Miley and the Diamondbacks host Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers at 3:00am Central at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Australia. Here are a few notes from around the Major Leagues.

  • Considerations regarding the luxury-tax threshold will not affect the timing of potential extensions for David Ortiz and/or Jon Lester, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com. In the past, the Red Sox might have waited to announce extensions until after Opening Day, because the average annual value of those extensions might have caused the team to go over the luxury-tax threshold that year. Now, however, the CBA stipulates that new extensions that begin in the future will not affect current contracts as long as the terms of those contracts remain the same. So, for example, if the Red Sox were to sign Lester to an extension, he would still only count his current $9.37MM against the luxury-tax threshold for 2014 as long as the extension did not change his 2014 salary.
  • Lester could allow extension negotiations to continue into the regular season under the right circumstances, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald writes. "If you’re at the 5-yard line and you’re closing in on the thing, yeah, let’s spill it over (into the season)," he says. "But if we’re so far apart that it doesn’t matter, then no. That’s something you discuss when you get to that point."
  • Outfielder Robbie Grossman won't say whether he and the Astros are working on an extension, but he does tell the Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich that he would have interest in one. "I’m from Houston. I want to be able to play for the Astros my whole career if possible, and that’s all I have to say." On Thursday, a report indicated that the Astros had discussed an extension with Grossman.
  • Astros NRI Peter Moylan has been diagnosed with a high-grade tear in the UCL in his elbow, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports. Moylan pitched 15 1/33 innings for the Dodgers last season.
  • The White Sox' farm system is on the rise, MLB.com's Jim Callis writes. That's thanks in part to an increase in draft spending in the past two seasons. Callis notes that their 2013 class, topped by first-round shortstop Tim Anderson, is "one of its most promising in recent memory." The White Sox have also increased their efforts to sign Latin American amateurs.

Astros Near Extension With Matt Dominguez, Discuss Extension With Robbie Grossman

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FRIDAY: Drellich now indicates (via Twitter) that Passan was correct, meaning that Dominguez and the Astros are close on an extension.

THURSDAY: The Astros are nearing agreement on a five-year extension with Matt Dominguez, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports tweets. (A source tells Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle that a deal is not close, however, and that the two parties are not currently in the midst of extension talks.) The deal will be worth around $17MM and will contain two club options worth about $8MM and $10MM. Dominguez is represented by Elite Sports Group.

Dominguez currently has one year and 62 days of service time, which means he would be arbitration-eligible following the 2015 season and eligible for free agency following the 2018 season. A five-year deal would control Dominguez's salary for all of those five seasons through 2018, and the club options would give the Astros control over 2019 and 2020 as well. Dominguez hit .241/.286/.403 in 589 plate appearances last season while playing roughly average defense at third base.

Extensions for average or slightly-below-average players with so little service time are relatively rare, so it's hard to find appropriate precedents for a five-year extension for Dominguez. The Pirates' six-year, $15MM extension with Jose Tabata, signed all the way back in 2011, might be a start. The extension market has obviously changed dramatically since then, but Tabata's case shows how harmless an inexpensive long-term deal can be — Tabata hasn't met expectations and will likely become a fourth outfielder after the Pirates promote Gregory Polanco, and his contract still doesn't seem to be much of an issue for the Bucs.

Passan also tweets that the Astros have also talked to Robbie Grossman, who is represented by LSW Baseball, about an extension. Grossman would seem to fit into a similar category as Dominguez, in that he has little service time (less than a year) and isn't generally perceived as having superstar upside (although he kept his head above water in his rookie season in 2013, hitting .268/.332/.370 in 288 plate appearances). As with Dominguez, the Astros would presumably aim for a low-cost deal that includes at least one team option. The Astros also recently offered an extension to prospect George Springer.

AL Notes: Springer, Tigers, Orioles

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The Astros have optioned top prospect George Springer to the minors, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart tweets. The demotion comes shortly after the news that the Astros had offered Springer a seven-year, $23MM contract before he had even played a day in the Majors. Springer's demotion will likely raise further questions about the effect of MLB service time on teams' promotion decisions. As FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal put it last night, "If Springer was good enough to be offered $23 million, why isn't he good enough to crack the 25-man roster of a team that has finished with the worst record in the majors in each of the past three seasons?" By having Springer start the season in the minors, the Astros can ensure that he will become a free agent after the 2020 season, rather than after the 2019 season. And if they wait to promote him until the early summer, they can limit his number of arbitration-eligible seasons to three rather than four. As Rosenthal points out, if Springer had agreed to the Astros' contract offer, these service-time issues would have been moot.

  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski says he has not been engaged in any serious trade talks recently, MLB.com's Andrew Simon tweets. Dombrowski offered no specific details about free-agent shortstop Stephen Drew. Meanwhile, it looks like shortstop Jose Iglesias may miss the entire 2014 season with stress fractures in his shins, as CBS Sports' Jon Heyman notes. Iglesias should be able to play in 2015, however.
  • Orioles executive Dan Duquette recounts his team's strange offseason in an interview with MASNsports.com's Steve Melewski. The Orioles endured plenty of criticism for their quiet offseason before they swooped in late to sign Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz. "We were trying to sign a number of players and it didn't work out the way we thought it might," Duquette says. "But if we signed the players we signed back in November or December, people would say the Orioles are gearing up." Duquette also says the Orioles will not comment on any extension discussions with shortstop J.J. Hardy.

Astros Made Seven-Year Contract Offer To Springer

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In an attempt to gain cost certainty with one of their top prospects, the Astros offered outfielder George Springer a seven-year, $23MM contract last September, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports.  Since Springer has yet to reach the Major Leagues, the deal would've covered his three pre-arbitration years, his three arbitration years and his first year of free agency. 

As Rosenthal notes, Houston's offer resembles Evan Longoria's initial contract with the Rays, a six-year, $17.5MM deal (plus three more years of team options) that quickly became one of the most team-friendly deals in recent baseball history once Longoria blossomed into a superstar.  Longoria accepted the deal, however, just a few days into his Major League career and thus assured himself of at least one big payday even if he faltered in the Show.

Springer and his representatives at the Legacy Sports Group turned down the offer, a sign that Springer presumes his performance will eventually merit much more than a $23MM deal.  A rival agent tells Rosenthal that Springer's three arbitration years alone could earn him more than $30MM if he lives up to expectations as a consensus top prospect.

Springer, 24, was taken with the 11th overall pick of the 2011 amateur draft and has been dominant in the minors, hitting .299/.394/.558 with 62 homers over 1203 PA and stealing 81 bases in 97 attempts.  The 2014 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranks Springer as Houston's second-best prospect (behind Carlos Correa), and despite his strikeouts and some doubts about his ability to hit for average, "his arm, speed, power and defense all rate as at least plus tools."  Baseball America ranks Springer as the 18th-best prospect in the game, while ESPN's Keith Law (19th) and MLB.com (21st) provide similar rankings.

Springer isn't going to make the Astros' Opening Day roster, which the team argues is due to his need for more minor league seasoning (and a poor Spring Training performance).  As Rosenthal rhetorically asks, however, "why would the Astros offer a major-league contract to a player who lacks any semblance of leverage if they do not believe he is capable of playing in the majors?"  The practice of keeping prospects in the minors long enough that they can't gain Super Two status is the larger focus of Rosenthal's piece, which he notes is frowned upon by fans, some players and MLBPA chief Tony Clark since it keeps teams from fielding their best possible talent.

The Astros signed second baseman Jose Altuve to a four-year, $12.5MM extension (with two option years) last summer, marking GM Jeff Luhnow's first move towards locking up one of his club's young building blocks.  Other top prospects like Correa, Mark Appel, Mike Foltynewicz and more are all team-controlled through the rest of the decade, though one wonders if Luhnow would pursue a Springer-type extension with any of these young stars as well once they're a bit slower to the Major League level.

Astros Inquiring On First Basemen

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While the Pirates have been linked to nearly every first baseman on the market, ESPN's Jayson Stark reports (via Twitter) that the Astros are also calling clubs about potentially available first basemen. Stark says Houston has placed calls on Mike Carp, John Mayberry and Tyler Moore, though he classifies each of the three as an "unlikely fit."

That the Astros are seeking a first baseman is a bit curious, given top prospect Jonathan Singleton's presence at Triple-A. He figures to be their long-term solution at the position, though none of the three listed by Stark is exactly the type of player who would block Singleton once he's ready for the Majors. This isn't the first we've heard of the Astros looking for first basemen this winter, however, as James Loney said that Houston made him a similar offer to the one he accepted from the Rays.

Carp was a key part of Boston's roster with a strong 2013 in which he slashed .296/.362/.523 with nine homers in a platoon capacity (he has long struggled against left-handed pitching). The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo recently pegged him as a trade candidate, however, given a possible roster crunch. Mayberry and Moore seem like the types that would be more available in a trade, as neither has a clearly defined role on his respective team. In late January, it was reported that Mayberry could be moved in Spring Training. Going further back, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported in December that the Astros could be interested in Moore as a first base option.

For the time being, some combination of Jesus Guzman and Chris Carter figures to hold down the first base job in Houston while Singleton develops. The club also has Japhet Amador in camp as a non-roster invitee. 

AL West Notes: Astros, Mariners, Angels

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Astros GM Jeff Luhnow was in attendance for North Carolina State pitcher Carlos Rodon's start Friday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports. The left-hander is widely considered the top talent in this summer's draft. In his outing, Rodon allowed two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, walking four but striking out 12. While Luhnow wouldn't discuss Rodon specifically, he commented that the trip "made me miss my scouting days." Here are two more AL West notes:

  • A source tells MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo that the Mariners feel "no urgency" to trade infielder Nick Franklin, who appears to be without a position following the Robinson Cano signing. There's healthy interest in Franklin after the 23-year-old flashed promise in his 2013 Major League debut, but a trade "doesn't seem like a given at this point," Cotillo writes. 
  • Joe Blanton could change minds in the Angels organization with another strong start, Bill Shaikin writes for the Los Angeles Times. The team previously "did not even pretend" that Blanton was in competition for a rotation job, and he struggled in his early spring outings. The Angels' limited pitching depth will likely be a factor in their ultimate decision on Blanton.
  • Alternately, If the right-hander continues to show improvement and the Angels begin receiving calls on him, they would probably eat most of his salary in a trade, Shaikin says.

Avisail Garcia, Jonathan Villar Change Agencies

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White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia has changed representation, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes reports (on Twitter). MLBTR has also learned that Astros shortstop Jonathan Villar has switched agencies as well. Garcia, who had been represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council, will now be represented by Octagon. Villar, formerly with Kinzer Management Group, is now represented by MDR Sports Management.

Both 22-year-olds saw their first significant taste of big league action in 2013. Garcia, the key component of Chicago's Jake Peavy trade, slashed .283/.309/.422 with seven homers in 256 plate appearances. Villar, one of the players Houston received from the Phillies in 2010's Hunter Pence trade, received 241 PAs and batted .243/.321/.319. While he showed very little power, Villar showcased his speed by swiping 18 bases in just 58 games.

For additional agency info on roughly 2,000 Major League and Minor League players, check out MLBTR's Agency Database. If you see any omissions or errors within the database, please email us at mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

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