Stark On Blue Jays, Red Sox, Angels
In his latest column at ESPN.com, Jayson Stark asks MLB scouts and executives for some help determining which teams are legitimate contenders and which ones will fade as the season progresses. Here are some highlights from the piece:
- The Blue Jays are “hunting diligently for another masher and another top-of-the-rotation arm,” Stark writes. It’s no surprise the Blue Jays have an eye on rotation help given the uncertainty at the back of their rotation. Though Kyle Drabek, Drew Hutchison and Henderson Alvarez are meeting or exceeding expectations, the Blue Jays don’t have much depth or experience in the rotation relative to other teams. Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos has acknowledged he’d like to add a hitter
- Scouts say the Red Sox don’t resemble a playoff team because they are thin on quality relievers and outfield depth. The Red Sox are "canvassing every bullpen option out there," Stark hears from other teams.
- Stark’s sources believe the Angels need bullpen help. "They've got major issues at the back end of the game," one person said.
Quick Hits: Trout, Avila, Cardinals
On this date two years ago the Phillies signed Ryan Howard to a five-year, $125MM extension. Right away, critics of the deal wondered why the Phillies would commit nine figures for Howard's age 32-36 seasons when he doesn't play a premium position. Their questions persist two years later since Howard's on the disabled list and his power numbers are in decline. Here are today's links…
- The Angels don't have immediate plans to call top prospect Mike Trout up from Triple-A despite his hot start and the Angels' offensive troubles, Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times reports. "But when you play at the level Mike is playing at now, you become more of a focal point of fans, the media and the organization," manager Mike Scioscia acknowledged.
- Jim Bowden of ESPN.com says teams would do well to lock up stars such as Andre Ethier, Starlin Castro and Alex Avila to extensions.
- Lance Lynn's emergence means the Cardinals don't need to add Roy Oswalt or another starter to the rotation, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. The Cardinals' rotation seemed thin when Chris Carpenter hit the disabled list this spring, but GM John Mozeliak's patience is paying off so far.
Minor Moves: Martin, George, Cintron, Hester
We’ll keep track of the latest minor moves right here…
- The Mets re-signed outfielder Dustin Martin, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. The Mets drafted Martin in 2006 but traded him to Minnesota. He has a .276/.347/.417 line in seven minor league seasons, the last three of which he played at Triple-A Rochester.
- The Orioles' Triple-A affiliate announced that the organization released left-hander Chris George (Twitter link). George, a first rounder back in 1998, has started for Norfolk for the past two-plus seasons.
- Infielder Alex Cintron, who last played in the Major Leagues with the 2009 Nationals, signed with an independent league team, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Cintron, 33, has played in nine big league seasons.
- The Angels signed minor league catcher John Hester and assigned him to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, according to MLB.com’s transactions page. The Orioles released Hester last week to create roster space for Luis Exposito. Hester, 28, has big league experience with the Diamondbacks and a .285/.345/.471 batting line in seven minor league seasons.
Quick Hits: Red Sox, Angels, Garcia
A few odds and ends as a rather eventful Saturday in MLB winds down …
- Red Sox GM Ben Cherington offered embattled manager Bobby Valentine a vote of confidence following this afternoon's disheartening loss. Cherington told reporters, such as CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler, that he's "very satisfied" with Valentine's performance, noting that the skipper is doing the best he can with the current roster (Twitter link).
- To that end, Cherington did allow that the team's sluggish 4-10 record "does increase the urgency" to find solutions for a battered pitching staff, tweets Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
- The money saved in the acquisition of Marlon Byrd will not affect the Red Sox's luxury-tax calculation, according to Speier, a loophole MLB recently closed (Twitter links).
- Touted Angels infield prospect Jean Segura's future with the club may be in question now that the Halos have locked up shortstop Erick Aybar and second baseman Howie Kendrick to long-term contracts, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.
- The Halos have not fared particularly well in signing relievers to multiyear contracts of late, writes Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, a trend that GM Jerry Dipoto is trying to rectify by piecing together a cheap but effective bullpen of undervalued types. The Angels' list of relief flops includes the likes of Brian Fuentes, Justin Speier and Fernando Rodney.
- Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he still has faith in Freddy Garcia when asked whether the right-hander was "running out of time," according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. Garcia has gotten off to a poor start, including an ugly outing today, and is a candidate to be moved (either to the bullpen or perhaps elsewhere) when Andy Pettitte is called up from the minors.
AL West Notes: Hamilton, Moreland, Angels
It was on this date in 1990 that Mariners right-hander Brian Holman just missed out on perfect game immortality. Holman had set down the first 26 Athletics batters he faced, but allowed a pinch-hit homer to Ken Phelps to ruin the perfecto. Adding to the history of the moment, that homer ended up being Phelps' last of his 11-year career in the Majors.
Here's the latest from the AL West…
- If the Rangers win the World Series, Ian Kinsler feels it would be "really hard" to let Josh Hamilton leave for free agency, he tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Kinsler's gut feeling is that his good friend Hamilton will return to play for Texas in 2013.
- Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland talks to Fangraphs' David Laurila about his pitching experience in high school and college and how Moreland would be interested in coverting to relief pitching in the Majors "if I could no longer hit."
- The Angels' recent signings and extensions have left the team with relatively little open payroll space over the next few seasons, writes MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez. L.A. is already committed to $74.2MM in 2016 to just four players (Albert Pujols, Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson and the newly-extended Erick Aybar). "The easiest way you're going to create flexibility, and both forms of flexibility [on the payroll and on the roster], is to build from within," said GM Jerry Dipoto. "You have to do it. It's how this organization got where it was 10 years ago, and it's how we're going to maintain that position."
- The Angels' slow start could be caused by a lack of stability caused by the club's surplus of roster options, writes Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times. Including tonight's game against Baltimore, the Halos have used 12 different lineups in 14 games.
- In case you missed it earlier today, the Athletics claimed Australian right-hander Rich Thompson off waivers from the Angels.
Quick Hits: Callaspo, Cubs, Canseco
As the Red Sox celebrate 100 years at Fenway Park today, here are some links and rumors from around the league…
- The Athletics had interest in Angels third baseman Alberto Callaspo this spring, so Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders if Oakland might revisit the possibility of a trade in light of Josh Donaldson’s slow start (Twitter link).
- The Cubs are struggling, but ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests the team’s slow start could enable Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer to make midseason moves that will pay off in the long term.
- Former Cy Young winner Orel Hershiser says he’s “not interested” in buying an MLB team at this time, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). Hershiser, now an analyst for ESPN, had expressed interest in buying the Dodgers when they were for sale.
- The independent league Worcester Tornadoes announced that they signed 47-year-old Jose Canseco to a one-year contract, ESPNBoston.com reports.
Athletics Claim Rich Thompson
The Athletics announced that they claimed right-hander Rich Thompson off of waivers from the Angels. The A's will announce a corresponding move once Thompson reports to Oakland.
The Angels designated the native of Australia for assignment six days ago, apparently because his velocity had dropped and they no longer trusted him in high-leverage situations. Thompson's average fastball has been checking in at 89 mph so far in 2012, according to FanGraphs. Last year, he averaged 90.7 mph and he was hovering above 92 mph in 2009-10.
The 27-year-old struggled through two appearances this year, but posted a 3.00 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 54 innings a year ago. It's not surprising that the Athletics put in a claim — they had an open 40-man roster spot and Thompson pitched quite well as recently as 2011.
Stark On Nationals, Trumbo, Abreu, Orioles
Earlier today, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported that MLB and the MLBPA have agreed to stop including personal services deals and milestone bonus clauses in player contracts. He offers some reaction and detail in today’s column to go along with more rumors from around the league. Here are the highlights:
- One prominent agent says the aforementioned changes more make it more difficult to add dollars to contracts without counting them against the luxury tax.
- The Nationals still want to move John Lannan, but his slow start at Triple-A (7.50 ERA in three starts) is limiting his trade value.
- The Nationals aren’t trying to trade Roger Bernadina, Stark reports. Right now Washington is thin on outfield depth, so they’re probably not in a position to trade outfielders away.
- Some teams wonder if the Angels should shop Mark Trumbo for a controllable reliever. There’s no indication the Angels are looking to trade Trumbo, but they’re “trying feverishly” to move Bobby Abreu, Stark reports.
- Scouts say the Orioles would “do anything” to trade third baseman Mark Reynolds and right-handed reliever Kevin Gregg.
No More Personal Service Deals & Milestone Bonuses
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have agreed to put an end to personal service deals and milestone bonus clauses, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports. Existing contracts with these deals or bonuses won’t be affected by the changes, which were agreed to this month.
Albert Pujols and Ryan Zimmerman recently signed long-term contracts which include personal services provisions and Alex Rodriguez has milestone bonuses associated with his contract. However, MLB and the union say these bonuses violate baseball’s collective bargaining agreement. The sides have agreed that the CBA doesn’t allow players to agree to deals that include obligations beyond their playing careers.
MLB is trying to prevent teams from finding loopholes that enable them to evade the luxury tax, Stark reports. Personal service deals and milestone bonuses aren’t considered guaranteed money and therefore don’t count against the luxury tax.
Angels Notes: Aybar, Dipoto, Haren, Santana
Earlier this evening we asked MLBTR readers if they thought the Angels made the right move in signing Erick Aybar to a new four-year, $35MM extension. As of right now, just over half of you are in favor of the move. Here's more on the fallout from the deal and other Halos notes..
- With the Aybar deal completed, the Angels will have $121MM committed to ten players for the 2013 season if the options for Dan Haren, Ervin Santana, and Chris Iannetta are exercised, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
- Meanwhile, Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com tweets that GM Jerry Dipoto doesn't sound like he's focused on taking care of the three club options just yet. Haren's option is for $15.5MM with a $3.5MM buyout, Santana's is $13MM with a $1MM buyout, and Iannetta's is worth $5MM with a meager $250K buyout.
- Dipoto says that the amount of money committed to players in the coming years puts added pressure on the scouting and player development system to come through with in-house talent, DiGiovanna tweets.