Astros Interview Keith Law
The Astros kicked off a new era when they hired Jeff Luhnow to be their new GM earlier this month, and now they’re looking to fill out the rest of their front office. Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports report that the Astros have interviewed ESPN’s Keith Law for a number of front office roles, including the position of scouting director. They have not yet made him an offer, however.
The FOX duo report that Law met with Luhnow and club president George Postolos last week. Before joining ESPN in 2006, Law spent four and a half years with the Blue Jays as a special assistant to then-GM J.P. Ricciardi.
Checking In On Baseball’s Lowest Scoring Offenses
The Giants won the 2010 World Series with an unspectacular offense and won 86 games in 2011 with one of the lowest scoring offenses in the game, but they're the exception, not the rule. Each of the five highest scoring MLB teams won at least 90 games in 2011, while the Giants were the only one of the five lowest scoring teams to avoid 90 losses.
Here's a look at what baseball's five lowest scoring teams have done to improve their offenses so far this offseason. Team name links go to a summary of the teams' moves on MLBTR's Transaction Tracker and 2011 run totals are in parentheses (for reference, the average MLB team scored 694 runs this past season):
- Mariners (556) - GM Jack Zduriencik has added a number of former Major Leaguers on minor league deals and traded for John Jaso. The Mariners can expect more offense from Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, Franklin Gutierrez and others in 2012 and they may make an addition or two before Spring Training.
- Giants (570) - The Giants traded for Angel Pagan and Melky Cabrera, who have both been above-average offensive players in the recent past. The Giants could improve considerably with a full season of Buster Posey and possible improvement from Brandon Belt.
- Padres (593) - The Padres traded for Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal earlier this month. Both could conceivably add to the Padres' offense in 2012, and Alonso could have an impact from day one. GM Josh Byrnes has also added role players John Baker and Jeremy Hermida.
- Pirates (610) - The Pirates signed shortstop Clint Barmes, catcher Rod Barajas and outfielder Nate McLouth and traded for infielder Casey McGehee. However, none of the four acquisitions posted an OPS+ of 100 or better in 2011, so it would be unreasonable to expect a surge in scoring based on these additions.
- Astros (615) – Former GM Ed Wade added a handful of players on minor league deals and waiver claims and Jeff Luhnow traded for Jed Lowrie after becoming Houston's new GM.
The Giants are best-positioned to make a significant offensive jump in 2012, in my opinion. Not only do Pagan and Cabrera provide possible upgrades, Posey's return and Belt's upside will likely invigorate the offense that finished last in the National League in scoring in 2011.
Quick Hits: Garza, Mets, Pirates, Red Sox, Astros
Here's a look at some items out of the AL and NL East..
- The Cubs aren't going to stop their rebuilding process with their trade of Sean Marshall to the Reds, writes Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune. The next move for Theo Epstein & Co. might be to flip Matt Garza if he doesn't sign a contract before free agency but yesterday the Cubs GM said that he's exactly the type of pitcher he wants to build around.
- The Mets worry MLB enough to be seen as a troubled franchise on a short tether, writes Richard Sandomir of the New York Times. Mets officials declined to speak about the team's debt but Sandomir talks with to a number of people familiar with the Mets' financial situation including Howard Megdal.
- A reader asked Keith Law of ESPN.com (via Twitter) if the recently DFA'd Jai Miller would be a good fit for the Pirates. The Athletics designated the 27-year-old for assignment last night to bring their 40-man roster back to the limit.
- New Red Sox pitching coach Bob McClure has a special familiarity with his toughest task this year, writes Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal. Like Alfredo Aceves and Daniel Bard, McClure also made the jump from reliever to starter during his playing days with the Brewers.
- Baseball was lucky to have former Astros owner Drayton McLane involved in the sport for as long as they did, writes MLB.com's Richard Justice.
Quick Hits: Astros, Fielder, Red Sox, Bonser
The latest links from around MLB on a big day for the Nationals…
- The Astros may not keep Humberto Quintero and Ivan Rodriguez is a possibility in Houston, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The Astros avoided arbitration with Quintero last week, signing him to a one-year deal worth $1MM.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests agent Scott Boras is “gunning for” an average salary of $25.5MM for Prince Fielder (Twitter link). A contract that generous would surpass Albert Pujols’ average salary of $25.4MM.
- Alex Speier of WEEI.com takes a detailed look ahead to the candidates to make Boston's 2012 rotation. Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz are the only ones who are guaranteed starting jobs for the Red Sox at this point.
- The Giants are talking to Boof Bonser about a possible minor league deal, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Bonser is recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Ed Wade Re-Joins Phillies
TUESDAY: The Phillies have announced that Wade will be a special consultant in the club's baseball operations department.
MONDAY: Longtime MLB GM Ed Wade has returned to the Phillies in a scouting position, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports (on Twitter). Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle first reported that Wade would end up scouting for his former team (Twitter link).
The Astros dismissed Wade this fall after four years in Houston and a 56-106 showing in 2011. Wade became Philadelphia's GM in 1997 after spending years in the team's baseball operations department. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. was Wade's assistant GM from 1999 until Wade's dismissal in 2005. The Phillies drafted Ryan Howard and Chase Utley while Wade was GM and selected Jimmy Rollins when he was the team's player personnel administrator.
Quick Hits: Astros, Angels, Cespedes
We wouldn’t want the biggest news of the day — that the Rangers won the bidding for Yu Darvish — to completely overshadow some secondary notes from around MLB. Here are some quick hits from around the league, starting in Texas:
- Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told fans at MLB.com that Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers and Carlos Lee are “very good players” who could help the Astros going forward. “We will look for any opportunity to improve our team in the medium and long term,” Luhnow explained, “so if there were a trade that made sense, we would consider it.”
- Brian Bixler cleared waivers and accepted his assignment to Oklahoma City, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. The Astros designated the infielder for assignment last week to create roster space for Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland.
- The Cubs and Red Sox have agreed that former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein won't be able to hire anyone from the Red Sox for three years, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (on Twitter).
- Angels GM Jerry Dipoto likes the depth in his team's starting rotation, but doesn't yet know whether his bullpen is a strength or a weakness, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times. Ideally, the Angels would like to add a late-inning reliever and make the lineup a little more left-handed, Dipoto says.
- There's a consensus among international MLB people that the Yankees are "BIG" on Yoenis Cespedes, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (on Twitter).
- Cespedes is close to establishing residency in the Dominican Republic, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. The Cuban outfielder still needs to secure a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control since his residency is not permanent. The process could take two weeks, but he should be cleared to sign sometime in January.
Sitting Out Free Agency
Four teams have yet to sign a free agent to a Major League deal, according to our free agent tracker: the Braves, Astros, Athletics, and Blue Jays. A closer look:
- Braves: So far, the Braves' offseason has consisted of exercising a $1.5MM option on Eric Hinske, ridding themselves of $5MM of Derek Lowe's contract, taking Robert Fish in the Rule 5 draft, and signing players to minor league deals. The Braves have the starting pitching depth for another trade, perhaps involving Jair Jurrjens. Martin Prado has also been mentioned in many rumors. The Braves are looking to add a traditional backup shortstop on a one-year deal, and Ronny Cedeno is a candidate. The Braves don't seem to have any huge needs, so perhaps their inactivity is justified.
- Astros: As you might expect, the rebuilding Astros focused on finding a new GM rather than signing Major League free agents. Prior to the hiring of Jeff Luhnow, the team added Brian Bixler and Craig Tatum on waiver claims, took Rhiner Cruz in the Rule 5 draft, and signed a slew of minor league free agents. Luhnow made a splash right out of the gate, acquiring Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland in a trade with the Red Sox for Mark Melancon. I imagine he'll continue to shop Wandy Rodriguez.
- Athletics: This offseason the A's picked up some cash for reliever Trystan Magnuson, but more notably traded Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow to the Diamondbacks for prospects. The A's are tearing down the team as they hope for approval to move to San Jose, and Andrew Bailey and Gio Gonzalez could be next to go.
- Blue Jays: The Jays have been active in routes other than free agency. They picked up Edwin Encarnacion's $3.5MM option, made several waiver claims and traded for Magnuson, Sergio Santos, Luis Valbuena, Jeff Mathis, and Ben Francisco. They were a finalist for Mat Latos, and we'll know soon whether they'll spend the next 30 days negotiating with Yu Darvish. Additionally, second baseman Kelly Johnson accepted arbitration and is under team control for next year.
Cafardo On Red Sox, Rays, Cubs, Wandy, Zumaya
In his latest column for the Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo writes that the Red Sox have to be wary of an American League where the competition continues to get stiffer. With the Albert Pujols-led Angels and the improving Blue Jays aiming to contend for the postseason, the Red Sox may need to continue making moves to avoid missing the playoffs for a third straight year, says Cafardo. Here are some highlights from his piece:
- Other GMs say Ben Cherington has been active in discussing potential moves. The Red Sox have looked into a number of pitchers on the trade market, including Gio Gonzalez, Jair Jurrjens, Gavin Floyd, and John Danks. According to Cafardo, the Sox probably don't have the caliber of prospects the Athletics want for Gonzalez.
- An AL executive on how the Rays might fill their roster holes: "They could just continue to bottom-feed and keep all of their pitching. There's that January market that they've done very well with, and as long as they keep making the right decisions, their pitching is so good it will keep them in that playoff hunt every year."
- Cafardo is skeptical that the Cubs are legit contenders for Prince Fielder, saying right now the team's mindset is "let’s not spend until we’re ready to spend and right now we're not ready to spend." It makes sense then that Cafardo also hears Chicago's bid for Yu Darvish was low, as detailed in MLBTR's Darvish rumors.
- The Astros seem willing to take on some salary in a Wandy Rodriguez trade. We heard during the Winter Meetings that Houston didn't want to eat any of Wandy's contract to move him, so perhaps the club modified that stance after Jeff Luhnow took over as GM.
- One NL scout who watched Joel Zumaya pitch this week said the righty "didn't have much of a breaking ball but threw 93-96 on his fastball. Somebody will bite on him."
NL Central Notes: Reyes, Astros, Molina, Pujols
The Cardinals not only won the World Series, but they've also been named Baseball America's 2011 Organization Of The Year. This is the first time the St. Louis organization has taken top honors since Baseball America instituted the award in 1982.
Here's some other news from around the NL Central….
- The Pirates are talking to southpaw Jo-Jo Reyes about a minor league contract, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link). Reyes posted a 5.57 ERA in 29 games with the Blue Jays and Orioles in 2011 and was non-tendered by the O's earlier this week.
- The Astros will give several of their young arms a shot at the closer's job in Spring Training, reports MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. Houston also has Brandon Lyon returning to provide some veteran closing experience. Stay tuned to Closer News for the latest on the Astros' late-game situation.
- Yadier Molina's contract is up after 2012 and Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders if Molina's friendship with Albert Pujols could make the catcher less inclined to re-sign with the Cardinals. Molina would be one of the most-sought after members of the 2013 free agent class if he and the Cards don't agree on a new deal. Miklasz suggests the Angels could target Molina this winter if he hits free agency, but I'd think such a move would only happen if Chris Iannetta is a big disappointment behind the plate in Anaheim.
- Tony La Russa tells Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Pujols was "conflicted' about leaving the Cardinals to sign with the Angels. "I know it was a painful decision and it pains him now," La Russa said. "He deserves what he got. He earned it. There's no bad guy here." La Russa also felt the situation was "unavoidable" and that Pujols "was disappointed there wasn't more enthusiasm from the Cardinals" when the Angels and Marlins made big pushes to sign the superstar at the Winter Meetings.
Astros Notes: Myers, Rodriguez, Sanchez
Today Jeff Luhnow made his first significant player move since becoming the Astros’ GM last week. Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland are now Astros and Mark Melancon is now on the Red Sox. Here are some more notes from Houston, starting with today’s trade…
- The Red Sox and Astros also discussed some of Houston's high-salaried players, but "there wasn't a lot of appetite for that," Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The sides presumably discussed Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers and Carlos Lee before agreeing on today's deal.
- The market for Rodriguez has been surprisingly cool, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. If he's traded, Rodriguez will be set to earn $36MM over the course of the next three seasons (a 2014 option becomes guaranteed if he's dealt).
- Astros infielder Angel Sanchez has switched representation and is now with Burton Rocks LTD, tweets MLBTR's Tim Dierkes.