Royals Intend To Listen To Offers For Greinke
The Royals boast baseball's best farm system, deep with impact bats and power arms, but the timetable for those prospects might not match up with their best player, starter Zack Greinke. Because of that, ESPN's Buster Olney reports (Insider req'd) that the team intends to listen to "any and all" offers for the righthander, who has two years and $27MM left on his contract before free agency.
Five days away from his 27th birthday, Greinke would instantly become the best available starter on the trade market this offseason and the second best available pitcher overall behind free agent-to-be Cliff Lee. The 2009 Cy Young Award winner posted a 4.17 ERA in 2010, but his peripherals were still excellent (7.4 K/9, 2.3 BB/9) and his fastball was as lively as ever. The high ERA is the result of a 65.3% left-on-base rate, well below the 72.2% league average. Kansas City's porous defense (-44.5 UZR, third worst in MLB) had a hand in that.
Olney notes that because Greinke is under contract for two more years, they don't have to trade him just yet. They could wait until the deadline or next offseason to get the offer they want, and there's always the possibility of an extension assuming Greinke likes what he sees as far as the rebuilding process. He sounded pessimistic about those efforts back in August, though.
Greinke does have a limited no-trade clause in his contract for this season according to Cot's, though the extent of his veto power is unknown.
Royals Acquire Pucetas, Complete Guillen Trade
The Royals acquired right-hander Kevin Pucetas as the player to be named to complete the Jose Guillen trade, the team announced. The Royals added the 25-year-old to their 40-man roster. Pucetas, a 17th round pick in 2006, has made three minor league All-Star teams, appeared in the Futures Game and finished first or second in ERA three times in his pro career.
Despite his early-career honors, Pucetas is no top prospect. He has struggled in two seasons at Triple-A and had yet to succeed in the upper minors. This year, he posted a 5.69 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 26 starts at Triple-A Fresno. The silver lining for the Royals? As MLBTR’s Howard Megdal showed earlier this month, the return for Guillen has usually been better than expected.
Minor League Transactions: Free Agents, Herges, Ramirez
Matt Eddy of Baseball America brings us minor league transactions for October 3rd to 9th, the first full week of the offseason for most clubs. Here are a few notes of interest from the latest series of minor league moves across the league:
- Many familiar names have been granted free agency, including Ian Snell, Cla Meredith, Micah Owings, Fernando Nieve, Dan Meyer, Ryan Garko, Mike Jacobs, and Jason Bergmann.
- The Royals released reliever Matt Herges. Herges didn't reach the majors this season, but had a solid year in 2009, recording a 3.38 ERA in 30 games between Cleveland and Colorado.
- Yordany Ramirez, a long-time minor league outfielder, was re-signed by the Astros. After struggling as a hitter in three Triple-A seasons, the 26-year-old is being converted to pitching.
Odds & Ends: Nakajima, Butler, Managers
On this date six years ago, the Dodgers released a 20-year-old righty named Joakim Soria, who was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Soria was later signed by the Padres out of the Mexican League and then snagged by the Royals in the 2006 Rule 5 draft. He's now one of the game's best closers. On to today's links…
- The Astros signed Dominican righty Luis Abad for a low six figures bonus, tweets SI's Melissa Segura. Back in May, Blake Bentley ranked the new Dominican prospects for MLBTR, placing Abad in a tenth-place tie and calling him "one of the most projectable pitchers you'll see."
- I took a look at Neil Walker's fantasy baseball prospects for 2011 over at RotoAuthority.
- The Mariners are interested in Japanese middle infielder Hiroyuki Nakajima, says U.S.S. Mariner's Dave Cameron. Nakajima may be posted by the Seibu Lions and could be a bargain this winter. Patrick Newman of FanGraphs has more on Nakajima.
- Royals first baseman Billy Butler changed agents, going from Doug Rogalski to Greg Genske of Legacy Sports, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Rogalski has to feel burned, as Butler is heading to arbitration for the first time this winter.
- Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts interviewed Eric Wedge for the team's managerial opening yesterday, reports ESPN's Bruce Levine. Larry Stone of the Seattle Times reports that the Mariners interviewed Bobby Valentine yesterday and have Lloyd McClendon on the docket this week.
- Billy Wagner talked to MLB.com's Mark Bowman about his retirement.
Non-Tender Candidate: Brian Bannister
One of Dayton Moore's very first moves as general manager of the Royals was to swap hard-throwing but enigmatic reliever Ambiorix Burgos to the Mets for then 25-year-old righthander Brian Bannister. Bannister had just 38 big league innings to his credit at the time (4.26 ERA) but he was consistently excellent in minors (3.31 career minor league ERA at the time of the trade) and considered ready to step into a big league rotation. After a brief tune-up in Triple-A to start the 2007 season, the now 29-year-old Bannister joined Kansas City's starting staff and has remained there ever since.
Nearly four full years after the fact, it's easy to declare Moore the winner of the trade. Not only has Bannister out-WAR'ed Burgos 7.1 to 0.0 since the deal, but the latter hasn't even pitched since 2008 due to a litany of legal issues. Perhaps best known for his love of advanced statistics, Bannister has given the Royals 629.1 innings across 108 starts (and one relief appearance) in his four seasons with the team, posting 5.13 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9. Shoulder tendinitis this August prevented him from eclipsing the 150 inning mark for a fourth straight season.
After making $2.3MM in 2010, Bannister will go through the arbitration process one final time this winter before becoming a free agent after next season. He posted an ugly 6.34 ERA in 127.2 innings this year, and the .302/.365/.503 line opponents managed against him approximates Ryan Braun's 2010 production (.304/.365/.501). Never a big stuff guy, Bannister's fastball actually crept up in the last few seasons and now sits right around 90 mph.
Bannister was a fine piece when he was making six figures, but now that he's entered into multi-million dollar territory, Moore will assuredly think twice before tendering the righty a contract this offseason. In fact, Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star recently predicted that the team will shop Bannister around this offseason and could non-tender him if they don't find a taker. Bannister's name has been featured at each of the last two trade deadlines, but obviously no deal was made and now the team is facing the possibility of losing him for nothing.
If you haven't seen it already, or if you just want to read it again, make sure you check out the Q&A Tim conducted with Bannister back in 2008 (parts one, two, and three). Once you're done with that, click here to vote about what you think the Royals will do with Bannister after he season, and here to see the results.
Royals Notes: Payroll, Greinke, Chen, Bannister
It will likely be "a relatively quiet offseason" for the Royals, writes Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Here are some of the hot stove-related notes from Dutton's recent look ahead to the Royals' 2011 season.
- The payroll is expected to be in "the low $60MM range" next season, down from K.C.'s 2010 payroll of just under $75MM. This whole drop could be attributed to Jose Guillen's $12MM salary coming off the books.
- Speaking of Guillen, Dutton reports that "the days of shelling out millions to retread veterans for stopgap purposes appear over."
- There have been some rumors about Zack Greinke being on the trade block, but Dutton thinks the K.C. ace won't be moved this winter since his trade value will be higher at next year's trade deadline and in the 2011-12 offseason.
- Bruce Chen wants to re-sign in Kansas City and there appears to be mutual interest from the Royals. The club may "have too many promising left-handed prospects to offer Chen more than a one-year deal," but it's hard to imagine another club giving Chen multiple years.
- Dutton predicts the Royals will either deal or non-tender Brian Bannister. The right-hander made $2.3MM in 2010 and is entering his third arbitration year.
- With Jason Kendall set to miss part (or maybe all) of 2011 after rotator cuff surgery, Kansas City will be in the market for a cheap, defensive-minded veteran catcher.
- The team is looking for right-handed hitting and will probably "scour the bargain bins" for the likes of a Matt Diaz or a Cody Ross. Dutton notes, however, that if the Royals are particularly taken with a higher caliber of right-handed hitting corner outfielder, they would be "willing to shell out a few million for a good fit." Such a player would be all the more important to the club if David DeJesus is traded in the winter.
Royals Exercise Option On DeJesus
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star tweets that the Royals have exercised David DeJesus' $6MM option for the 2011 season. The team confirmed the move via press release.
The move comes as no surprise, as DeJesus will be a tremendous bargain for the Royals thanks to a mix of solid outfield defense and strong offense. Prior to a season-ending injury in late July, DeJesus had been hitting .318/.384/.443 in 394 plate appearances. It was that production and this club option that had led many to consider DeJesus the Royals' best trade chip.
The Royals will now be faced with the decision of moving DeJesus this offseason in a rebuilding effort, or waiting for a few months and letting him build up some value by proving that he's healthy and productive. The Padres, Giants, Red Sox, and Rays all had interest prior to his injury. While he spent the majority of his time in right field this season, DeJesus is capable of playing all three outfield spots well, although UZR suggests that his left field defense is truly elite (career UZR/150 of 18.9 in nearly 2300 innings).
Odds & Ends: Dipoto, Figueroa, Papelbon, Greinke
Links for Friday, before all eyes turn to Clayton Richard and Matt Cain…
- The D'Backs will likely bring interim manager Kirk Gibson back in 2011, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
- The D'Backs are close to an agreement with Jerry Dipoto that would keep the exec in Arizona as director of scouting and player development, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
- Astros GM Ed Wade told Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle that he can see Nelson Figueroa being the team's fifth starter in 2011. The 36-year-old goes to arbitration this winter, assuming the Astros offer a contract.
- Jonathan Papelbon would like to set the market for closer contracts when he hits free agency after next season, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Papelbon has his doubters after a tough season, but he says he's looking forward to a dominant 2011 campaign.
- Some MLB executives are convinced that the Royals will dangle Zack Greinke as trade bait this winter, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney.
- Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reminds us of some of Omar Minaya's best and worst moves, since it looks like the Mets may soon replace their GM.
- Free agent pitching prospect Barret Loux will start accepting offers today, according to Kendall Rogers of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Broxton, Zambrano, Pujols
On this date 15 years ago, the Yankees and Rockies became the first Wild Card teams in baseball history. Both were eliminated in the League Championship Series however, with the Mariners and Braves doing the honors. Nine Wild Card teams have reached the World Series since, with the Marlins (1997 & 2003), Angels (2002), and Red Sox (2004) taking home championships.
A few days before the 2010 postseason begins, let's look around the baseball blogosphere…
- 1 Blue Jays Way interviewed Mel Queen, Toronto's senior adviser of Player Development.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness tries to find a taker for Jonathan Broxton.
- Pine Tar And Pocket Protectors attempts to determine if a Carlos Zambrano trade would be worth it for the Cubs.
- Royals Review wonders if Gregor Blanco is part of Kansas City's future.
- Red Sox Beacon looks at what Boston must do to fix its bullpen.
- Beyond The Box Score breaks down the performance of the Yankees' four $20MM a year players.
- The Sports Banter places odds on whether or not four clubs could acquire Albert Pujols.
- Cubs Pack tries to figure out who will hit leadoff on Chicago's north side next season.
- The Southpaw examines Jose Bautista's MVP case.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here
Odds & Ends: K-Rod, Angels, Tamura, Matsui
Links for Wednesday, before the Giants ask Tim Lincecum to help extend their NL West lead…
- Lawyers from the MLB Players Association and MLB will meet in New York tomorrow to discuss the union's grievance with the Mets. As the AP reports, the sides will discuss the team's decision to place Francisco Rodriguez on the disqualified list.
- Top prospect Mike Moustakas told reporters that he and other Royals minor leaguers welcome the attention they're attracting this year.
- The Angels let scouting director Eddie Bane go, according to John Manuel of Baseball America. Bane was a candidate for the D'Backs GM job earlier in the month.
- Japanese outfielder Hitoshi Tamura has interest in playing major league baseball, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. The 33-year-old has 27 homers this year and represented the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks at the All-Star game.
- Jason Varitek told reporters, including MLB.com's Ian Browne, that he's well aware of the fact that he may only have a handful of games remaining in a Red Sox uniform.
- Through an interpreter, Hideki Matsui told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he'd consider signing with the A's if they expressed interest in him this offseason.
- Todd Helton made it clear to Troy Renck of the Denver Post that he isn't retiring after the season.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic heard that Brandon Webb was throwing just 81 mph in his instructional league outing (Twitter link). Webb told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert that he had fun and felt good.
- The D'Backs, who will see Webb and Rodrigo Lopez hit free agency this winter, will look to add starting pitching, but GM Kevin Towers told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert that he believes starters may be easier to obtain through trades than major league free agency.