Astros, Rockies Swap Paulino & Barmes
The Astros acquired Clint Barmes from the Rockies for Felipe Paulino, according to the team. GM Ed Wade says he pursued Barmes for his defensive versatility and gap power. Barmes said on a conference call that he's been told he'll mostly play shortstop, his preferred position.
The Rockies, who were not necessarily going to offer Barmes arbitration, get something in return for the 31-year-old. Barmes said that he had hoped to work something out with the Rockies, since he has enjoyed playing in Denver, but is looking forward to joining a young Astros team that finished the 2010 season strong.
Barmes was a non-tender candidate heading into his final season of arbitration eligibility. After hitting 23 homers in 2009, he hit just 8 homers this year and his batting line fell to .235/.305/.351. Barmes earned $3.33MM in 2010 and figures to pocket $4MM or so in 2011.
Paulino, 27, posted a 5.11 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 91 2/3 innings for the Astros this year. He'll be arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason (as a Super Two). In each of the past three seasons, his average fastball velocity has surpassed 95 mph. Paulino struggles against lefties, but is considerably more effective against right-handed hitters.
Five Teams Interested In Jeff Francis
Free agent lefty Jeff Francis is drawing interest from at least five clubs, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick: the Pirates, Mariners, Brewers, Astros, and Rockies.
Francis, 30 in January, posted a 5.00 ERA, 5.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9, and 47% groundball rate in 104 1/3 innings this year for the Rockies. Baseball Prospectus' SIERA stat suggests Francis' work was more deserving of an ERA around 4.00. Francis missed all of last season after having shoulder surgery in February of '09, and had some lingering issues this year. The Rockies declined his $7MM club option earlier this month. If Francis' shoulder checks out, many teams will have interest in plugging him into the back end of their rotation on a one-year, incentive-laden deal.
Astros Notes: Wade, Infielders, Wolf
Houston GM Ed Wade discussed some offseason plans with Dan Duqette and Kevin Kennedy on MLB Network Radio. Here are a few of the major topics…
- "We need to figure out a way to improve offensively," Wade said. He noted that the Astros are looking for a left-handed hitter and may either look internally or wait until later in the offseason to find left-handed bats "that fit our profile both from a performance and an economic standpoint."
- The "primary external focus" is to find better-hitting middle infielders, though Wade said he was happy with Jeff Keppinger's play last season.
- Wade is pleased with Houston's 2011 rotation but "everybody’s always looking for the starting pitcher. We’d love to be able to replicate the Brett Myers experience of last year where you get the guy in a one-year deal and he finds his groove the way that Brett did for us."
In other Astros news, Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle reports the club extended spring training invites to eight players, three of whom weren't with Houston last season. One is Casey Fien, whose acquisition was reported yesterday, and the other two newcomers are right-handers Ross Wolf and Fernando Rodriguez. Wolf posted a 4.26 ERA in 11 appearances with Oakland last season after coming over from the Orioles in the Jake Fox trade last June. Rodriguez has pitched in the Angels system since 2003, and has just one major league appearance to his credit.
Minor League Transactions: Clevlen, Moss, Cash
The latest minor league transactions include a number of familiar names. Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the details:
- The Braves re-signed Brent Clevlen and signed independent leaguer Beau Torbert, who posted tremendous numbers in the American Association this year. Earlier in the week, Torbert told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he's excited to be joining the Braves.
- The Astros signed right-hander Casey Fien. Fien has appeared in 11 games for the Tigers, but the 27-year-old has not proven himself against big league hitters.
- Former Yankees lefty Royce Ring elected free agency.
- The Pirates released Chris Jakubauskas and saw Brandon Moss elect free agency. Moss arrived in Pittsburgh in the Jason Bay trade, but he hit just .228/.295/.373 in parts of three seasons for the Pirates.
- Former Mariners catcher Guillermo Quiroz became a free agent.
- The Rangers signed Kevin Cash. The 32-year-old backstop posted a .483 OPS for the Astros and Red Sox last year and threw out an uncharacteristically low percentage of would be base stealers.
Brown On Red Sox, Reynolds, Beckham
Agent Scott Boras tells Yahoo’s Tim Brown that the changes to the offseason schedule mean he’s fielding offers for his clients earlier than usual. Here are the rest of Brown’s rumors:
- The Astros appear to be close to re-signing Geoff Blum.
- The Red Sox will determine how available Adrian Gonzalez and Prince Fielder are before they start serious negotiations with top free agents. It sounds like the Padres and Brewers will at least listen to offers for their respective first basemen.
- The D’Backs are “shopping” Mark Reynolds and looking for relievers and contact hitters.
- Rival teams believe the White Sox will listen to offers for Gordon Beckham.
- Gary Matthews Jr. hopes to continue playing, according to Brown.
Odds & Ends: Werth, A’s, Yankees, Berkman, D’Backs
A few more Saturday night links….
- SI.com's Jon Heyman (Twitter link) views Boston as the most likely landing spot for Jayson Werth.
- Billy Beane spoke to Athletics After Dark, discussing Eric Chavez, Mark Ellis, and the Athletics' offseason flexibility. You can listen to the podcast here.
- Bill Madden of the New York Daily News wonders about the Yankees' Plan B if they can't land Cliff Lee this winter.
- It may be painful, but not pursuing Lance Berkman is the right move for the rebuilding Astros, according to the Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic looks ahead to the Diamondbacks' first offseason under Kevin Towers, who says he has started making calls to agents about players of interest.
Astros Will Not Pursue Lance Berkman
The Astros will not make an attempt to bring Lance Berkman back to Houston this offseason, reports Mark Berman of FOX 26. Here's what GM Ed Wade had to say…
"I heard from (Berkman's agent) Mike Moye and he inquired about whether we had interest in bringing Lance back and I was candid with him and told him it didn't fit for us," said Wade. "As much as we love and respect Lance and what he's done for our organization, We had these internal conversations in July when we made the decision to go ahead and move him."
Berkman, 35 in February, spent parts of 12 seasons in Houston, hitting .296/.410/.549 with five All Star appearances and four top five finishes in the MVP voting. The Astros traded him to the Yankees for a pair of minor leagues at the trade deadline, and they declined his 2011 option a week or so ago.
NL Central Notes: Sandberg, Rasmus, Pirates, Arroyo
Here are some news items from the National League's middle division…
- Ryne Sandberg has turned down an offer to return as the Cubs' Triple-A manager, tweets MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, and Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com reports that Sandberg won't be with the organization at all in 2011. Sandberg was heavily rumored to take over managing the Cubs after Lou Piniella's retirement, but Chicago instead gave the job to interim manager Mike Quade.
- A roundtable of Cardinals writers collected by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch discussed the Colby Rasmus trade rumors and the majority don't like the idea. Comments range from "there would be no logic behind a trade" to "trading Rasmus would be incredibly stupid unless it’s an offer that’s so ridiculously good that it cannot be rejected."
- Pirates president Frank Coonelly discussed the team's manager search and other topics in a chat with fans on MLB.com.
- Steven Jackson, Brandon Moss and Justin Thomas can all become minor league free agents after being outrighted to Pittsburgh's Triple-A affiliate, reports MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. Sean Gallagher, who was also outrighted, can declare free agency on Saturday but Langosch says the Pirates will try to sign the pitcher to a contract before then.
- Walt Jocketty tells MLB.com's Mark Sheldon that the Reds want to work out a contract extension with Bronson Arroyo before Opening Day. "I don't want to go into the season negotiating," Sheldon said. "We'll try to [get it done] before the start of the season."
- Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times praises Milwaukee's hire of Ron Roenicke as manager.
- Former Phillies hitting coach Milt Thompson has interviewed for the hitting coach job in Houston, reports MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.
Odds & Ends: Crawford, Indians, Lopez, Brewers
A few links to check out after the Rangers picked up their first World Series win in franchise history…
- Torii Hunter is at the World Series for TV work, though he did mention liking the idea of Carl Crawford in an Angels' uniform according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). Hunter wouldn't confirm if he's been lobbying the soon-to-be free agent outfielder.
- In a mailbag piece, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer answers questions about the Indians chances of signing quality free agents and whether or not Javier Vazquez is a fit for them.
- FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal tweets that Giants' lefty reliever Javier Lopez will fall short of qualifying for free agency this offseason by just five days of service time. It's a shame he won't be able to cash in on his dominant postseason (5.2 innings, one hit, one walk, six strikeouts).
- Rosenthal also says that the Brewers are just doing their due diligence, and are expected to name a manager shortly after the World Series (Twitter link).
- Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune lists the hurdles the White Sox would have to clear if they want to acquire Colby Rasmus. He also noted that St. Louis had people watching ChiSox prospects at a recent Arizona Fall League game.
- Chad Jennings of The Journal News provide an offseason to-do list for the Yankees.
- MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli tweets that the announcement of the Orioles' coaching staff is being held up by Don Wakamatsu. He'll be their bench coach unless he lands a managerial gig elsewhere.
- Joel Sherman of The New York Post explains what impressed him about Sandy Alderson's introductory press conference yesterday.
- Meanwhile, Newsday's David Lennon wonders if Alderson's hiring will boost ticket sales (via Twitter). Mets' attendance has dropped from an average of 51,165 fans per game in 2008 to 32,401 in 2010 despite the opening of CitiField last season. Obviously the economy is part of the problem.
- Jennings also passed along a lengthy quote from Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who explains his desire to make his team younger without sacrificing their ability to be competitive.
- Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle compares the path the Rangers and Giants took to the World Series to some of the moves the Astros made a few seasons ago.
Odds & Ends: Lee, Lewis, Blue Jays, Moyer
Links for Friday as the Rangers prepare for a crucial game 3 tomorrow night..
- Carlos Lee could be attractive to a team in need of a designated hitter, says MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.
- Ed Price of Fanhouse details the long and strange journey taken by Colby Lewis.
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian writes that with Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, and Kevin Gregg all eligible for free agency this winter, the Blue Jays' bullpen could get a lot younger.
- It's unlikely that the Phillies would bring back Jamie Moyer on anything other than a non-guaranteed deal, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.
- The Orioles have agreed to hire Rick Adair as their bullpen coach and Jim Presley as hitting coach, reports Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. Both men have agreed to two-year deals though some contractual language is still being worked out.
- Yanks GM Brian Cashman will talk to Triple-A pitching coach Scott Aldred and bullpen coach Mike Harkey about filling the Yanks' pitching coach vacancy, writes Anthony McCarron of the Daily News. However, Cashman cautions that a hire will likely be made "later rather than sooner."