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Quick Hits: Berkman, Myers, Mariners, Rays, Rockies

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Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow says that he will be in contact with Lance Berkman this winter, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.  “Lance can still produce at the Major League level,” said Luhnow. “He’s a guy a lot of clubs are going to be interested in. We’ll have a conversation with him and see where it goes.”  It seemed as though Berkman was leaning towards retirement but late last week the veteran said that he would keep his options open and listen to any offer that comes his way.  With the Astros shifting to the American League, the 36-year-old could be a solid fit as a DH.  Here's more from around baseball..

  • As he gets set to hit the open market, right-hander Brett Myers says that he would be open to either working as a starter or reliever, writes Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com.  “I’ve got the mentality, I want to pitch,” Myers said. “Whichever way a team wants me to go I’ll do. I think I’ve proven I can start. I’ve proven I can do both. Hindsight is 20/20. Some teams might like me in the bullpen. Some might like me as a starter. It’s up to the team.”  The White Sox were evaluating Myers as a potential starter before they declined his $10MM option for 2013.
  • Mariners GM Jack Mariners GM Zduriencik says that he expects to have more money available than the $85MM the team opened 2012 with, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times tweets.  The M's agreed to a two-year contract extension with right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma earlier tonight that includes an option for 2015.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if the Rays might look to trade Jeremy Hellickson rather than the more expensive James Shields.  While Hellickson is still quite affordable and won't be eligible for arbitration until 2014, he is a Scott Boras client and not likely to sign a club-friendly extension anytime soon.
  • The Rockies won't decide on their managerial situation this weekend and are set to interview Matt Williams on Monday, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

Brewers Claim Arcenio Leon

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The Brewers announced that they claimed right-hander Arcenio Leon off of waivers from the Astros.

Leon spent the 2012 season pitching in relief for Houston's Double-A affiliate. The 26-year-old appeared in 44 games, posting a 4.38 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 63 2/3 innings. He has had trouble limiting walks in eight seasons as a professional, as his career rate of 5.2 BB/9 indicates.

NL West Links: Giants, Affeldt, Rockies, D’Backs

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The Giants don't plan on making qualifying offers to Marco Scutaro, Jeremy Affeldt or Angel Pagan by tomorrow's deadline, reports Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com.  MLBTR's Tim Dierkes predicted that Pagan would get a qualifying offer (a one-year, $13.3MM contract) that would ultimately be rejected by the outfielder as he will no doubt receive multiyear offers on the open market.  Without a qualifying offer, Pagan can sign elsewhere and the Giants wouldn't receive any draft picks as compensation.

Here's some more news from around the NL West…

  • The Giants want to bring back all three players, though Baggarly reports that team officials "are less confident about their ability to" re-sign Pagan given how much interest the outfielder is likely to get from other teams.
  • Scutaro, Affeldt and Pagan all want to return to the Giants, though Affeldt specified that he's looking for a multiyear contract, writes Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • The Giants are talking to the agents of the three players to see if a deal can be struck before the end of the team's exclusive negotiating period, tweets Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.  None of the deals are close and Schulman predicts that Pagan will test the market, while Scutaro is the player with the best chance to re-sign quickly.
  • Walt Weiss, Jason Giambi and Matt Williams will all meet with Rockies owner Dick Monfort and GM Dan O'Dowd, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post.  These three and Tom Runnells (who has already met with management) appear to be the final candidates to be the next Rockies manager.  (Both links are to Twitter).
  • The Rockies are unlikely to pick a new manager by the end of the week, writes MLB.com's Thomas Harding, as O'Dowd is currently out of town and will then be attending next week's GM meetings.
  • The Astros have claimed right-hander Sam Demel and infielder Jake Elmore off waivers from the Diamondbacks, according to an Astros media release.  Demel, who came to Arizona in the 2010 trade that sent Conor Jackson to Oakland, has a 4.95 ERA in 72 relief appearances for the Snakes since 2010, with a 1.85 K/BB ratio and 48 strikeouts in 63 2/3 innings.  Elmore, 25, was a 34th-round pick of the D'Backs in 2008 who made his Major League debut this season, posting a .497 OPS in 73 plate appearances.
  • In news from earlier today, the Giants declined their 2013 option on Aubrey Huff and I posted a collection of Diamondbacks notes.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Astros, Morgan, Veras, Braves

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The latest outright assignments…

  • The Astros announced that Fernando Abad, Sergio Escalona, Edgar Gonzalez, Jose Valdez, Kyle Weiland and the recently-DFA'ed Matt Downs have been outrighted to Triple-A.  All will become free agents except Weiland, who has been placed on the Triple-A roster.
  • The Brewers have outrighted Nyjer Morgan to Triple-A, the team announced.  Morgan was a key part of the Brewers' NL Central-winning team in 2011 but struggled last season, hitting .239/.302/.308 and getting less playing time in the Milwaukee outfield.  MLBTR's Tim Dierkes recently projected Morgan as a non-tender candidate.
  • The Brewers also confirmed that Jose Veras has elected to become a free agent after being outrighted off the 40-man roster yesterday.
  • The Braves outrighted right-hander Erik Cordier to Triple-A, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports (Twitter link). The 26-year-old pitched at three levels this past season, posting a 5.85 ERA with 7.5 K/9 in 32 1/3 total innings. He walked 32 of the 155 batters he faced, however. The Braves announced that they also outrighted catcher J.C. Boscan and left-hander Robert Fish off of the 40-man roster. Boscan elected free agency, according to the team.

Braves Claim Jordan Schafer

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The Braves announced that they claimed outfielder Jordan Schafer off of waivers from the Astros. Schafer played in the Braves' organization from 2005-11 before going to Houston in last summer's Michael Bourn trade.

Schafer appeared in 106 games for the Astros this past season, posting a .211/.297/.294 batting line with 27 stolen bases as the team's primary center fielder. The 26-year-old spent most of August on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. Now that Bourn's a free agent Schafer provides the Braves with some insurance in center field. Atlanta originally selected him in the third round of the 2005 draft.

Astros Decline Option For Chris Snyder

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The Astros declined their 2013 option for Chris Snyder, GM Jeff Luhnow confirmed to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (Twitter link). Snyder obtains a $500K buyout instead of a $4MM salary. The LSW Baseball client is now a free agent.

Snyder, 31, appeared in 76 games for the Astros this past season. He posted a .176/.295/.308 batting line in 258 plate appearances, adding seven home runs.

Astros Designate Matt Downs For Assignment

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The Astros designated infielder Matt Downs for assignment, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports. The Astros originally acquired Downs when they claimed him off of waivers from the Giants in 2010.

Downs played in 91 games for the Astros this past season, appearing at all four infield positions and at both corner outfield positions. He posted a .202/.253/.371 batting line in 191 plate appearances, down from the .276/.347/.518 line he posted in his first full season with the Astros. The 28-year-old bats from the right side and has shown slightly more power against left-handed pitching in his four-year MLB career.

Astros Will Seek DH, Pitching In Free Agency

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The Astros will find themselves in a new division and new league come 2013, and this will be the first full offseason for new general manager Jeff Luhnow. Needless to say, the organization is in a transitional period, but as MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports, Luhnow has a plan.

The Astros aren't going to be players for any of the game's top free agents, but Luhnow would like to add a designated hitter — potentially one who could see some time at the corner infield spots — and will also seek pitching help. Lucas Harrell, Jordan Lyles and Bud Norris are all looked at as locks for the 2013 rotation in Luhnow's eyes. He'd like to add a pitcher who can slot into the rotation above that trio, or at the very least in the middle of the group.

The team is in search of a backup catcher, as it's likely to decline the $4MM club option in Chris Snyder's contract. A veteran arm to join Wilton Lopez in the late innings will also be targeted.

Luhnow shied away from giving a concrete number for the team's offseason budget, but with less than $10MM in guaranteed 2013 contracts currently on the books, it's likely that Luhnow will have some spending money at his disposal. The team entered last season with a $61MM payroll.

It's a lengthy shopping list, but that's to be expected for a last place team with some money to spend. A look at the 2013 free agent market suggests that names like Luke Scott, Ty Wigginton and Jeff Keppinger could be reasonable targets for the Astros on offense (all my speculation). Each is actually a former Astro who could provide some offense and handle at least one of the corner infield position.

Keep in mind that in addition to that list, there are a number of non-tender candidates that the Astros could pursue. Someone like Mark Reynolds might appeal to Luhnow if the Orioles elect not to give him a raise via arbitration.

NL Central Notes: Astros, Cardinals, Braun, Cubs

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Earlier today, MLBTR gave you the latest news and notes from the AL East and the NL West. Now, let's visit the NL Central, which could be in its final hours as the only six-team division in baseball. 
  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow's vision to rebuild the franchise is a club that grows and develops its players but can spend when it needs to thanks to increased revenue from a new local cable partnership with Comcast, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle.
  • There will be competition for at least one spot in the Cardinals' starting rotation, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold. Goold theorizes that competition will pit incumbent Lance Lynn against Joe Kelly, Trevor Rosenthal, and Shelby Miller.
  • In a separate piece, Goold named the seven best starting pitching prospects in the Cardinals' system that have yet to exhaust their rookie eligibility, including the aforementioned Rosenthal and Miller.
  • Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch lists five reasons for optimism and five reasons for concern for the 2013 Cardinals.
  • After speaking with members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the distinct impression that Ryan Braun will be penalized in the voting for NL MVP because of his failed drug test last year and subsequent successful appeal. Haudricourt also believes the failed drug test played a role in Buster Posey being named the NL winner of the Hank Aaron Award instead of Braun. 
  • The Cubs have hired Derek Johnson to become their new minor league pitching coordinator, tweets Baseball America's Aaron Fitt. Johnson was Associate Head Coach/pitching coach at Vanderbilt where he tutored six pitchers who were drafted in the first round including David Price and Sonny Gray.

Cafardo On Dodgers, Hamilton, Brewers, Otani

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For most of his eight-year tenure with the Dodgers, General Manager Ned Colletti had to mindful of the budget and the bottom line.  Now, Colletti has the financial freedom to make bold moves, such as the trade with the Red Sox which brought Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto, and Carl Crawford aboard.  Colletti has no doubt that Crawford is ready to regain his old form.  "He’s still a dynamic player," Colletti said. "A couple of years ago, he was one of the most sought-after free agents in the game for good reason. People in Tampa saw it a lot. People in the AL East saw it a lot — a combination of abilities not many players have. In this league, the ability to hit and steal, doubles and triples — this is a tough park for home runs sometimes — his ability to create things offensively with speed and ability to hit."  Here's more from today's column..

  • There’s mounting evidence that the Brewers could be one of the teams that emerges in the market for Josh Hamilton.  Milwaukee is at least looking into the possibility, though their top priorities are still finding a starting pitcher and revamping their bullpen.
  • The Cubs appear to be players for 18-year-old pitcher Shohei Otani, but Theo Epstein recently expressed trepidation about plunging back into the Japanese market.  Otani was recently taken with the first-overall pick in the NPB draft and the Nippon Ham Fighters have until March to try and sign him.  A major league club can still sign him at any time, but it would likely irritate Japanese baseball officials.
  • Bobby Valentine declined to say whether he'd like to be considered for the managerial openings with the Rockies, Marlins, and Blue Jays.  The manager also clarified some of his recent remarks on the Red Sox and noted that his line about leaving a note for incoming manager John Farrell was merely an old-time baseball joke.
  • After removing himself from the interview process with the Astros and declining to meet with the Marlins, it's possible that Brad Ausmus only had his eye on the Red Sox job.  However, teams will still try to lure the former catcher who quickly found himself in high demand.
  • Terry Francona did speak with the Marlins earlier this year, but he wanted to be with the Indians all along.
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