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Odds & Ends: Nationals, Angels, Royals

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As the West Coast games get started, here are some tidbits to snack on…

Cafardo’s Latest: Downs, Cruz, Dye, Sheffield

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In his newest piece for the Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo discusses Manny Ramirez's Hall of Fame chances, concluding that the slugger's positive test for a banned substance last season may keep him out of Cooperstown. Here are a few other topics that Cafardo's column explores:

  • The Phillies would love to add a left-hander to their bullpen, particularly while J.C. Romero remains on the shelf. They're looking at Scott Downs, but given the Blue Jays' solid start, the team may hang on to him for the time being. When the Jays are ready to sell, Downs should provide a decent return.
  • Juan Cruz is another reliever on the trade market, albeit a less impressive one. He'll earn $3.75MM this year for the Royals, who may have to eat most of that salary to pull off a deal.
  • Jermaine Dye and Gary Sheffield should sign somewhere soon. When asked his thoughts on Orlando Hudson's insinuation that racism factored into Dye's and Sheffield's unemployment, Sheffield said he appreciated Hudson's concern, but "I'm not going to comment."
  • Cafardo names Jerry Manuel and Dave Trembley as two managers who could be on the hot seat and speculates about who would be next in line to replace the skippers. Cafardo points out that there are plenty of ex-managers available who have history with Orioles president Andy MacPhail, while for the Mets, Bob Melvin might be "the logical successor."

Largest Contracts In Team History

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We've already looked at the largest contracts by service time and position, so let's now dig up the largest contracts ever given out by each of the 30 teams. These are in terms of guaranteed money only, but some could end up being even larger because of incentives and option years.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Top Trade Chips: AL Central

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Let's continue our look at each club's top trade chips today with the AL Central…

  • Indians: The Tribe have dealt their Opening Day starter in each of the last two seasons, and there's a good chance they'll do it again with Jake Westbrook in 2010. The 32-year-old righty will earn $11MM this season, the last one on his contract. After dumping Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez in cost-cutting moves last year, expect them to shop Westbrook around for prospects this summer.
  • Royals: All four of Kansas City's outfielders come off the books after this season (assuming some options are bought out for six figures), so Rick Ankiel, David DeJesus, Scott Podsednik, and even Jose Guillen could be moved in a deal for a young player. The team would obviously have to eat a lot of money to move Guillen. The contracts of relievers Juan Cruz and Kyle Farnsworth also expire after the season, so there might be some interest in them.
  • Tigers: Detroit isn't going to move any of their young power arms, but if they eat a large chunk of salary like they did with Nate Robertson, there might be interest in Jeremy Bonderman and/or Dontrelle Willis. Young backstop Alex Avila could make Gerald Laird expendable as well. The Tigers have four lefty relievers on their 40-man roster (Phil Coke, Fu-Te Ni, Daniel Schlereth, and Brad Thomas), and that demographic is always in demand.
  • Twins: Minnesota has one of the best trade chips in the league, blocked catching prospect Wilson Ramos. Lefty Glen Perkins is pitching in Triple-A and seems to have fallen out of favor with the club after filing a grievance, so he could be made available as well. He has four years of team control left.
  • White Sox: GM Kenny Williams isn't shy about emptying out the farm system in a trade for an established big leaguer, which has left him with little minor league ammo. Their best young prospects are catcher Tyler Flowers and starter Daniel Hudson, who would seem to have a future with the club, but I'm not going to put anything past Williams. Flowers could make A.J. Pierzynski or Ramon Castro expendable, ditto Hudson and Freddy Garcia. Gordon Beckham should be untouchable, obviously.

Odds & Ends: Downs, Soriano, Dodgers, Guillen

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Here are a variety of news items as baseball wraps up another Jackie Robinson Day…

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Phillies can't take on any extra salary right now and the presence of two Philadelphia scouts at Blue Jays games is just "normal coverage."  Rosenthal adds, however, that Jays reliever Scott Downs "makes sense" for Philly's relief needs.
  • ESPN's Rob Neyer believes "there's a 50/50 chance" that the Cubs will release Alfonso Soriano before his contract expires at the end of the 2014 season and the club will simply eat what is left of the $90MM owed to the underachieving outfielder.
  • The Dodgers are satisfied with rookie A.J. Ellis as their backup catcher and will likely not look to acquire another backstop in the wake of Brad Ausmus' back surgery, reports Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
  • Tom Van Riper of Forbes Magazine tears down the myth that players step up their production in the last year of their contracts.
  • Jose Guillen was the subject of trade rumors over the winter, but the Royals outfielder had a much more traumatic offseason experience as he tells The Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton about a life-threatening health scare.
  • Barry Bloom of MLB.com reports that Hal Steinbrenner (unsurprisingly) wants Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Joe Girardi to remain Yankees, but isn't willing to break the club's policy of in-season contract negotiations to work on extensions.  "I hope everybody is reasonable and we can work it out easily. But there's no doubt I want them here," Steinbrenner said.
  • As we approach the 50th anniversary of the infamous Rocky Colavito/Harvey Kuenn swap, Terry Pluto of The Cleveland Plain Dealer looks back at the trade that infuriated Indians fans.

Relief Trade Candidates

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Eleven bullpens currently sport ERAs over 5.00, but it'd be silly to draw conclusions from 25-inning samples.  Still, certain contenders are probably already surveying the field of available relievers.  The Rays, Cubs, and Marlins are three teams that had bullpen concerns heading into the season.  Which relievers might be available a month or two from now?

  • The Blue Jays are riding high, in a first-place tie after their first nine games.  Still, GM Alex Anthopoulos will probably think about the big picture and shop his three priciest relievers: Kevin Gregg, Jason Frasor, and Scott Downs.  The Jays would need Gregg's consent to deal him prior to June 15th.
  • The Pirates have the worst bullpen ERA in the NL right now, but most of that can be attributed to Hayden Penn's 2.3 inning stint.  Down the road all the veterans will be fair game – Octavio Dotel, Brendan Donnelly, D.J. Carrasco, Jack Taschner, and Javier Lopez.
  • The Padres have the big prize in closer Heath Bell.  His save total will allow them to demand a premium for him, and he can be retained for 2011 (albeit with a raise upon this year's $4MM).
  • The Nationals may also make a few veterans available: Matt Capps, Brian Bruney, and Tyler Walker would make sense.  The June 15th rule applies to Capps and Walker.  They'll both be arbitration-eligible after the season.
  • The Royals have a couple of contracts to move in Kyle Farnsworth and Juan Cruz.  Tracy Ringolsby tweets that the Royals are "looking to unload Cruz and willing to pick up salary."
  • Chad Cordero is a name to consider; the 28-year-old off to a good start for the Mariners' Triple A club.

Odds & Ends: Lerew, Cuba, Coonelly, Hechavarria

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Links for Wednesday…

Royals Designate Anthony Lerew For Assignment

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According to a team press release, the Royals have given their final roster spot to veteran lefty John Parrish, and designated Anthony Lerew for assignment.

Lerew, 27, posted a 4.05 ERA through 13.1 innings for the Royals last season, but only managed seven strikeouts versus eight walks. Over 35 major league innings, Lerew has walked 23 batters.

Baseball America ranked Lerew as a Top 100 prospect prior to both the 2005 (#99) and 2006 (#93) seasons. Unfortunately, Lerew's never found a way to match his minor league success (3.52 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 through 914.2 innings) in the big leagues over parts of four seasons with the Braves and Royals.

Royals Acquire Luis Mendoza

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The Royals acquired Luis Mendoza from the Rangers for cash considerations, according to a team press release. The 26-year-old right-hander pitched 111.1 innings for Triple A Oklahoma City last year, posting a 4.53 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9. He got roughed up in his lone big league appearance last season, when he allowed four earned runs in one innings for the Rangers.

Mendoza was out of options, which meant the Rangers couldn't have assigned him to the minors without passing him through waivers first. The Royals placed Mendoza on their 40-man roster, which is now full.

Washburn Turns Down “Small Offer” From Seattle

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THURSDAY, 6:23pm: Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star notes that Royals officials have yet to substantiate rumors of the team's interest in Washburn. Dutton adds that one club official said Kansas City's major league payroll is already $1.5MM over budget.

12:22pm: SI's Jon Heyman says the Royals are "believed to be offering significantly more money" to Washburn than the Mariners, but the lefty prefers Seattle.

WEDNESDAY, 5:16pm: AOL Fanhouse's John Hickey reports that the Mariners made a "small offer" to Jarrod Washburn that the left-hander has already turned down.  Hickey says the offer was less than the one-year, $1.5MM deal that the team made with Erik Bedard in February.

Given Seattle's need for starting pitching (especially in the wake of Cliff Lee's injury), Washburn and agent Scott Boras must feel they can get more out of the M's.  We know that Washburn turned down a $5MM offer from Minnesota over the winter, so it's likely the Mariners will have to at least offer something closer to that mark.

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