Royals Sign Sidney Ponson
According to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, the Royals signed pitcher Sidney Ponson to a minor league deal. Ponson, 32, posted a 5.04 ERA, 3.85 K/9, and 3.18 BB/9 in 135.6 innings for the Rangers and Yankees last year. He did post a very strong 54.5% groundball rate. The Rangers released Ponson in June due to "disrespectful and adverse reactions to situations unbecoming of teammates."
Odds & Ends: Crosby, Vizcaino, Andruw
Links for Tuesday…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- RotoAuthority sums up the stats you should target in each category for your fantasy league.
- The Braves released pitcher Anthony Lerew, according to Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Rany Jazayerli says the Royals will be better just by subtracting Ross Gload, Tony Pena Jr., and Joey Gathright. Here’s my Offseason In Review for the club, if you’re interested.
- A’s manager Bob Geren "chuckled and said no" when asked if Bobby Crosby is being showcased at third base for the Yankees, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Crosby is learning third in part because Eric Chavez is injured again.
- Speaking of Crosby, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune wonders if the Cubs could work out a deal involving reliever Luis Vizcaino. Despite the $4MM owed to Vizcaino, he’s not a lock for the Cubs’ bullpen. We learned last week that the Cubs do not appear interested in Crosby.
- Slusser also has an article about young A’s pitcher Michael Ynoa, who believes he can be in the Majors in two years at age 19.
- Andruw Jones apologized to Dodgers fans in this Bill Plaschke article.
- Talking to Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel sees Jayson Werth missing no more than 15-20 games this year. Geoff Jenkins, with $8MM left on his contract, looks like the odd man out.
Esteban German Becomes A Free Agent
According to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, infielder Esteban German cleared waivers and was then released by the Royals. German is now a free agent.
German, 31, hit .245/.303/.338 in 242 plate appearances last year while playing in left field as well as all around the infield. His best year was 2006, when he was valued at 1.8 wins.
Yankees Not Discussing Mark Teahen
8:24pm: MLB.com’s Dick Kaegel says there’s nothing to the rumor of the Yankees being interested in Teahen. Yanks GM Brian Cashman said he hasn’t even discussed it internally.
1:16pm: Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star is reporting that the Yankees may have interest in acquiring Royals’ utility man Mark Teahen, in light of Alex Rodriguez’s recent decision to undergo surgery.
Royals officials are writing it off as speculation, but with A-Rod expected to miss two months, the Yanks have been on the lookout for a temporary fix. Their current in-house candidate for a replacement is 33-year-old journeyman Cody Ransom. Ransom has 183 Major League ABs in an 11-year professional career.
Teahen is set to make $3.575MM in 2009, and the Royals’ current projected payroll of $75MM is slightly higher than the $70MM they had originally budgeted for.
One Royals official stated that they were hoping the Yankees would sign Mark Grudzielanek, which would give Kansas City a sandwich pick in the 2009 draft. Doing this would require moving Robinson Cano to third base, however.
Royals Catchers In Demand
According to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, opposing team scouts have been tracking the Royals’ surplus of catchers this spring.
"A lot of teams need catchers," one scout told Dutton, "and they’ve got three guys who can help a big-league club. You know they’re probably only going to keep two. So you know somebody is going to be available."
The Royals have Miguel Olivo, John Buck and Brayan Pena in camp. Olivo will start at catcher on Opening Day, so Buck and Pena are the most likely to be moved. Dutton writes that "club officials believe a trade market exists for all three players."
Offseason In Review: Kansas City Royals
Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Royals. Here’s what I wrote about the team on September 11th. The changes for 2009:
Additions: Coco Crisp, Mike Jacobs, Juan Cruz, Kyle Farnsworth, Willie Bloomquist, Miguel Olivo (re-signed), Jamey Wright, Horacio Ramirez, Bruce Chen, Tug Hulett, Doug Waechter, Franquelis Osoria, J.R. House
Subtractions: Mark Grudzielanek, Joey Gathright, Esteban German, Ramon Ramirez, Brett Tomko (midseason), Leo Nunez
For all of Dayton Moore’s tinkering, are the Royals any better this year? His best move was signing Zack Greinke to an extension, but several of the other transactions were questionable. You can say the market dropped out after the Farnsworth signing, but no one liked that commitment at the time. Jacobs is OBP-challenged and terrible with the glove, and it’s a shame that Kila Ka’aihue won’t get a shot. On the plus side, the acquisitions of Cruz and Crisp were solid.
Another GM might have passed on Farnsworth, Ramirez, Olivo, and Jacobs and non-tendered Mark Teahen. That would’ve left about $15MM to spend on some combination of a middle infielder, an on-base/power bat, or a starting pitcher. Those remain the team’s needs, if they are to sneak into contention this year.
The improvements will mainly have to come internally, which is possible. Guillen could play like he did in ’07, and Gordon and Butler could continue to grow. DeJesus and Aviles could mostly hold the line and the team should get more than last year’s .277/.324/.396 line at first base. The outfield defense should be better, with DeJesus moving to left and Crisp ranging over to help Guillen.
The retooled bullpen should be fine, and maybe Brian Bannister, Luke Hochevar, and Kyle Davies can provide league average innings behind Greinke and Gil Meche. Admittedly, that’s a lot of maybes and ifs.
Bottom line: Moore didn’t do much to augment the Royals’ OBP or rotation, so improvements will have to come from young holdovers.
Odds & Ends: Gload, Pierre, Beimel
Links for Friday…
- The Dodgers designated Justin Orenduff for assignment to make room for Manny Ramirez, according to Tony Jackson.
- The A's contracts with Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra are official.
- WEEI's Alex Speier talked to Marlins prospect Mike Stanton and manager Fredi Gonzalez about the near-acquisition of Manny last summer.
- In another column, Speier looks at the players the Red Sox and Yankees have battled for in recent years.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a bunch of relievers are vying for one bullpen spot for the Cardinals, now that they've signed Dennys Reyes.
- Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star suggests there's a chance the Royals release first baseman Ross Gload and eat the $1.9MM owed to him in 2009. Rany Jazayerli talks about Gload as well as the chances of the Royals competing this year.
- Tom Tango says Juan Pierre would have to defer his contract for 50 years to be worth acquiring.
- Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies says the Rox offered Joe Beimel more than $1MM but so far he's passed. Beimel's home run prevention trend might be challenged at Coors Field. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says the A's are in on Beimel but "have not yet have substantive talks" with his agent.
- Check out a Giants Spring Training preview from the guys behind El Lefty Malo and McCovey Chronicles.
Odds & Ends: Contraction, Pudge, German, Jays
Links for Monday…
- Squawking Baseball talked to Braves exec John Coppolella about the salary arbitration process as well as various topics about the team.
- The Marlins renewed their remaining players, including Cameron Maybin and Matt Lindstrom. The Braves signed 10, including Yunel Escobar.
- Bill Madden of the New York Daily News wonders if contraction will be considered during negotiations for the next Basic Agreement.
- Justin Murphy of Seamheads.com talked to Brian Bannister, as did Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star.
- MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro talked to various sources who expect Ivan Rodriguez to wind up a Marlin, though that’s based on opinion rather than insider knowledge.
- We forgot to mention that the Royals designated Esteban German for assignment to make room for Juan Cruz. Rany Jazayerli liked the Cruz signing. My opinion: Cruz has great stuff and upside, but he has a ways to go before being considered a top setup man.
- Blue Jays president Paul Beeston says the team will go over slot in the draft for the first time, according to Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail (hat tip Drunk Jays Fans).
- Tracy Ringolsby and Jack Etkin, formerly of the Rocky Mountain News, can now be found at Inside The Rockies.
Royals Sign Bruce Chen
According to Dick Kaegel of MLB.com the Royals have signed Bruce Chen to a minor league contract. Chen, 31, will report to the Royals’ minor league camp after he pitches for Panama in the WBC. He last pitched in the majors in April of 2007.
Royals Sign Juan Cruz
3:16pm: Buster Olney with information on each year’s value: "He receives $2.25 million for 2009, $3.25 million for 2010, and a $4 million option for 2011, with a $500,000 buyout. " Royals beat writer Dick Kaegel of MLB.com confirms it.
2:25pm: According to a press release from the team, the Kansas City Royals have signed Juan Cruz to a two-year deal, with a club option for a third year.
While it is Royals policy to keep contract terms under wraps, Ken Rosenthal has contract details. The first two years of the deal are worth $6MM, while the option year would pay Cruz $3.5MM if exercised.
Rosenthal also has details on the Royals’ ability to complete the deal without negotiating a sign-and-trade with the Diamondbacks:
In the end, no sign-and-trade solution was necessary. The Royals preferred to lose their second rounder rather than give up prospects to the Diamondbacks. The team’s first-round pick is protected because it finished with one of the 15 worst records in the majors last season.