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Quick Hits: Willingham, Rivera, Royals, Wilson

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Links for Wednesday, as the Cardinals, Rays and Angels try to make improbable surges into the playoffs with some late-season magic…

Royals Designate Kila Ka’aihue For Assignment

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It wasn't long ago that Kila Ka'aihue seemed like a promising piece of the Royals' future. But the Hawaiian first baseman doesn't appear to fit into their long-term plans any more, despite the career minor league on-base percentage of .390 that has endeared him to the statistically minded. Kansas City designated the 27-year-old for assignment to create 40-man roster space for right-handed reliever Kelvin Herrera, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.

Ka'aihue has excelled in ten minor league seasons, posting a career line of .266/.390/.458 that includes a .272/.379/.433 line this year in his fourth stint at Triple-A. The 2002 draft pick has had some opportunities against Major League pitching, but has just a .216/.309/.375 line in 326 MLB plate appearances.

Though Ka'aihue has admittedly poor stats in the Major Leagues, he also appears to have been unlucky on balls in play (.242 BABIP). It won't be surprising if a small market team without a long-term answer at first base claims Ka'aihue or works out a trade for him (the Rays have an open 40-man spot; the Pirates don't).

Quick Hits: Aramis, Manny, Royals, Blue Jays

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Albert Pujols has a .304/.373/.551 line after tonight's four-hit performance, but the Cardinals' win didn't bring them any closer to the Braves, who still hold a 2.5 game advantage in the Wild Card standings. Here are tonight's links…

  • Aramis Ramirez told Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald that he has "probably" played his last game as a Cub at Wrigley Field (Twitter links). As Ramirez points out, he can't negotiate a new deal with the Cubs at the moment since they don't currently have a permanent GM. I took a look at possible suitors for the third baseman last week.
  • Manny Ramirez intends to play in the Dominican winter league for the Cibao Eagles, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN). 
  • The Royals are promoting Kelvin Herrera, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). They will need to create 40-man roster space to promote the right-hander, as their roster is at its full complement. The Royals don't have any players on the 15-day DL, so there's no way of transferring a player to the 60-day DL for an easy fix.
  • Shawn Camp and Edwin Encarnacion told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca that they'd like to return to Toronto in 2012. Camp hits free agency after the season, while the Blue Jays control Encarnacion's rights for '12 with an option that I discussed earlier in the month.

AL East Notes: Aviles, Rays, Blue Jays, Jenks

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Mariano Rivera recorded his 601st career save yesterday against the Blue Jays, tying Trevor Hoffman for the all-time mark. John Harper of the New York Daily News writes that, while Joe Girardi isn't about to keep Rivera out of a save situation if one arises today, it would be nice if the Yankees didn't have to use their closer again in Toronto. New York begins an eight-game homestand tomorrow, which could allow Rivera to notch the record-setting save in Yankee Stadium. Here are the rest of this morning's AL East notes:

  • Mike Aviles told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he asked the Royals to trade him at the deadline this season, knowing he wasn't a part of the team's long-term plans. Aviles has been an important acquisition for the Red Sox, given the injuries to Jed Lowrie and Kevin Youkilis. The utility man has hit .361/.373/.458 in part-time action since arriving in Boston.
  • Within the same piece, Rosenthal notes that you could argue the Rays should have added a bat at the deadline, given their current presence in the Wild Card race. However, the club was 8 1/2 games out of the Wild Card at the time, and didn't want to compromise their team defense for an offensive upgrade.
  • John Tomase discusses Alex Anthopoulos and the Blue Jays in a piece for the Boston Herald, and the Jays GM offers a few interesting quotes. Anthopoulos says the primary challenge of the AL East isn't going up against the massive payrolls of the Red Sox and Yankees, but rather competing with a handful of smart general managers who know how to run a team.
  • More Anthopolous, on the most efficient way for the Blue Jays to add talent: "The trade route where we are right now is important for us. It's going to be a big part of what we're doing and it is. Free agency is the last route we want to go. At some point we'll have to start delving into it a little more, but I still want to try to avoid it at all costs. If we try to do this through the draft, it's going to be a while. And it's not going to work and we're not going to get it to time properly."
  • Bobby Jenks tells Michael Vega of the Boston Globe that he's disappointed the first season of his two-year deal with the Red Sox turned out so poorly. He's optimistic about being ready for Spring Training and being able to contribute in 2012 though. The reliever says that although he hasn't undergone his spine surgery yet, the doctors are talking about "weeks and not months" for the recovery.

Royals Notes: Melky, Starters, 2012

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A couple of Royals notes as they put their six-game winning streak on the line tonight against the White Sox at The K:

  • The Royals will have to figure out what to do with outfielder Melky Cabrera, writes Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. The Melk Man has bounced back in a big way from a dismal 2010 and is under team control through next season. The Royals will mull flipping him for pitching help, offering him arbitration and holding onto him for 2012, or signing him to an extension, as they did with Jeff Francoeur. Cabrera, for his part, wants to remain in Kansas City.
  • Rival executives expect the Royals to aggressively pursue one or two established, veteran starters in the offseason, and they could pull it off as they have a prospect-rich farm from which to draw upon, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
  • The 2011 Royals are young and formidable offensively, like their 1999 counterparts, writes Rany Jazayerli. In an interesting analysis, Rany lays out some arguments to believe these Royals will fare better in 2012 and beyond than those ones did in 2000.

Revisiting The Felipe Paulino For Clint Barmes Trade

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One month into the season, it looked like the Felipe Paulino–Clint Barmes trade would go down as a lose-lose deal. Paulino struggled through his first month with the Rockies and Barmes spent the first four weeks of the season on the disabled list while he recovered from a fractured left hand. 

But Paulino has put together his best season yet and Barmes recovered from his hand injury on his way to a strong campaign in Houston. Win-win trade? Not quite. The Rockies gave up on Paulino after 14 2/3 ugly innings, so the Royals are the ones who benefitted from the 27-year-old’s turnaround.

Paulino, who struck out 11 without walking a batter in seven innings of work on Saturday, has a 4.10 ERA in 107 2/3 innings since the Royals acquired him in late May. His fastball clocks in over 95 mph, just as it has every season of his career, and his peripheral stats are strong: 8.3 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 45.1% ground ball rate, 3.81 xFIP.

Considering that Kansas City only gave up cash considerations, the Paulino move looks especially favorable for the Royals. They need the pitching and can pencil the Dominican right-hander into their rotation going forward. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes estimates a raise from $790K to $1.6MM in 2012, so Paulino will remain affordable next year.

The Astros could use the pitching, but Paulino had his chances in Houston and the Astros needed a shortstop. For $3.925MM, Barmes has hit .249/.323/.388 with ten home runs. FanGraphs’ UZR suggests the 32-year-old plays above-average defense and their version of wins above replacement has Barmes as the 11th most productive shortstop in baseball this season (3.1 WAR).

He’ll hit free agency after the season and doesn’t project as a ranked free agent, so this may be all Houston gets out of Barmes. Even if he departs for nothing this offseason, the Astros will have done significantly better than the Rockies in this trade. It’s not that Colorado was necessarily going to keep Barmes – he was a non-tender candidate in the offseason – but the Rockies are the only team that didn’t profit from last November’s trade. The Royals ended up with a cheap, productive arm, the Astros got an affordable everyday shortstop and all the Rockies got was 14 2/3 innings of 7.36 ERA ball.

Arbitration Eligibles: Kansas City Royals

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The Royals are next in our arbitration eligibles series.

I view Getz and Pena as non-tender candidates.  However, with projected salaries of a million bucks or less, they may be retained.  Maier is also in line for an affordable salary, at about $700K.

Paulino won't be going anywhere, as we have him down for about $1.6MM.  Hochevar leads the club in innings, and should jump up to the $4MM range.  Cabrera was a fine cheap free agent signing for GM Dayton Moore, who can retain the outfielder again for approximately $4MM.

We've got Gordon down for $4.3MM.  Extension talks are on the offseason agenda, so the Royals could get him at a reduced salary for 2012 as part of a long-term deal.

AL Central Links: Tigers, Pena, Buehrle, Acta

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The Tigers' magic number for clinching the AL Central is nine after Brandon Inge's walkoff blast against the Twins this afternoon.  Red-hot Detroit has won eight games in a row and the team looks like a sure bet to reach the postseason for the first time since 2006.

Let's round up the latest from the division…

  • Intra-divisional trades made been a big part of the Tigers' success, writes Lynn Henning for the Detroit News.  Jhonny Peralta, Delmon Young and Wilson Betemit have all come to Detroit from AL Central rivals over the last two seasons.
  • Brayan Pena wants to keep playing for the Royals and is happy to remain a backup catcher, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
  • Following last night's game, Mark Buehrle told reporters that he plans to work out this offseason as if he'll be pitching next season, but he doesn't know if a contract will get worked out with the White Sox. You can watch the video on CSNChicago.com. Buehrle will be a free agent for the first time in his career after the season, and he's hinted at retirement in the past.
  • Ozzie Guillen, for his part, thinks Buehrle will pitch in 2012.  "Oh, he's staying," Guillen tells ESPN Chicago.  "I talk to him every day and he never mentions [to] me anything about retirement. I think this kid's got a lot left to give [to] baseball. I think this kid can help a lot of big league ballclubs. Believe me, I don't think he's retiring."
  • In that same piece, Guillen also reiterated his commitment to the White Sox, saying he wishes to manage the club in 2012 and for "the next 20 years."
  • Joe Mauer talks to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (video link) about his season, his future behind the plate and the Twins' struggles.  Two days ago, more than 3,000 MLBTR voters said the Twins have been baseball's most disappointing team this season. 
  • "That's a good question for the off-season," said Indians GM Chris Antonetti when asked about manager Manny Acta's club option for 2013 by Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Acta will be in the final year of his three-year contract next season, and Antonetti made it clear that he's pleased with the job his manager has done.
  • Tigers manager Jim Leyland told Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press that they're "thrilled" about the Delmon Young acquisition. "It's worked out pretty good so far, and when he steps in that batter's box he's a man," said Leyland. "He's going to get his rips and has a pretty good idea how to hit and what pitchers do."

MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post

Olney On Mauer, Morneau, Wright, Royals

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Twins GM Bill Smith told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are totally committed to arriving at Spring Training in top physical form. The Twins’ chances in 2012 revolve around Mauer, who had knee surgery in December, and Morneau, who is recovering from concussion symptoms. Here are the rest of Olney’s notes from around MLB… 

  • Mauer has discussed a ‘rigorous’ training program with the Twins’ staff.
  • The Twins will also have to restructure their bullpen and decide how Tsuyoshi Nishioka fits into their plans this offseason.
  • The Mets are expected to listen to offers for David Wright, who would presumably draw interest from the Rockies and Angels, among others.
  • Rival teams are in awe of the Royals’ collection of promising position players, Olney writes. Kansas City is still waiting for its pitching prospects to develop.

AL Central Notes: White Sox, Guillen, Tigers, Royals

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Let's take a look at a few items out of the American League Central division..

  • It's time for the White Sox to move on from Ozzie Guillen and work out a deal with the Marlins for him, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Guillen has long been linked to the Fish and it's unlikely that octogenarian Jack McKeon will return next season.
  • The Tigers appear to be the biggest trade deadline winners so far, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.  Since joining the Tigs, right-hander Doug Fister has a 2.97 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 0.5 BB/9 in six starts.
  • In today's mailbag, a reader asks Baseball America's Jim Callis if the Royals will still have a top ten farm system in 2012 after several players made their major league debuts this season.  Callis says that despite spending $14.1MM on the draft this year, Kansas City might not have more than four prospects in BA's top 100 next season, putting them outside of the top ten.
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