Quick Hits: Clippard, Storen, Ellsbury, Braves
B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and Casey Kotchman all homered for the Rays tonight as Tampa Bay defeated Boston, 9-2, in the opener of a big four-game series. The Red Sox now have just a three-game lead over the Rays (and a four-game lead over the idle Angels) for the AL Wild Card.
Some notes from around the league….
- If Drew Storen is traded, Tyler Clippard shouldn't become the Nationals' closer since he's proven to be invaluable as the team's go-to reliever, argues Ben Goessling of MASNsports.com. It could be a moot point, though, since Goessling says it's "unlikely" that the Nats deal Storen.
- The Rays were the first team to discover Jacoby Ellsbury, drafting him in the 23rd round of the 2002 draft. Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal talks to the scouts who pushed for Tampa Bay to pick Ellsbury, who instead decided to attend Oregon State.
- Frank Wren tells David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that no decision has been made about Alex Gonzalez's future with the Braves, but both the club and the shortstop sound open to Gonzalez returning in 2012. Gonzalez is popular in the clubhouse and would be an ideal bridge at shortstop to prospect Tyler Pastornicky.
- Mike Newman of Fangraphs profiles Braves minor league left-hander Ronan Pacheco, who "is simply too perfect an example of a pitcher who bucks just about every prospect stereotype on both the statistical and scouting sides to not discuss."
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America recaps this week's minor league transactions.
- David DeJesus "appears the least likely to return" of the Athletics' three free agent outfielders, writes MLB.com's Jane Lee. Josh Willingham and Coco Crisp are also free agents this winter and Willingham said earlier today that he would like to stay with Oakland.
- Angels GM Tony Reagins tells Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register that he doesn't regret giving Bobby Abreu the $9MM option for 2012 that vested in July.
Arbitration Eligibles: Los Angeles Angels
The Angels are next in our arbitration eligibles series.
- First time: Jerome Williams
- Second time: Kendrys Morales, Alberto Callaspo, Jeff Mathis
- Third time: Howie Kendrick, Erick Aybar
Mathis is a non-tender candidate, though the Angels retained him last year and his performance hasn't changed much. His salary would be virtually the same, around $1.8MM. Though it's only been 30 innings, Williams has done a nice job and would cost only $700K or so to retain.
The Angels' entire projected infield (aside from Mark Trumbo) is arbitration eligible. Having missed all of 2011, Morales projects to stay at the same salary, $2.975MM. We've got Kendrick for $5.1MM, Aybar for $4.5MM, and Callaspo for $3MM. The middle infield tandem of Kendrick and Aybar will be entering their walk years.
If Mathis is cut loose, the Angels' five arbitration eligible players could cost $16.275MM. Adding in players under contract for 2012, the team's commitments could total about $118MM not including minimum salary players. The Angels' Opening Day payroll in 2011 was about $23MM above that point, so GM Tony Reagins should have flexibility this winter.
Quick Hits: Konerko, Cameron, Rockies
Congratulations to Tim Wakefield, who won his 200th career game tonight. Here are this evening's links, starting with updates on two players who were traded for one another 13 years ago…
- White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that he might retire after 2013, when his current contract expires. The 35-year-old has a terrific .308/.395/.528 line with 29 homers in the first season of the three-year, $37.5MM deal he signed last offseason.
- The Marlins released Mike Cameron because of conduct detrimental to the team, according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro.
- The Braves have increased the responsibilities of three front office members following the departure of director of player personnel Kurt Kemp, according to Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Assistant GM Bruce Manno will oversee player development, Ronnie Richardson was promoted to director of minor league operations and John Coppolella was promoted to director of professional scouting.
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post can see the Rockies pursuing Michael Cuddyer and Josh Willingham this offseason (Twitter links).
- Renck also suggests Jason Hammel is available. Hammel's strikeout rate (5.0 K/9) and ground ball rate (43.5%) dropped this season, while his ERA (4.91) and walk rate (3.7 BB/9) rose, so his trade value is considerably lower than it would have been last winter. The 29-year-old is under contract for $4.75MM in 2012.
- Fernando Rodney told Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com that he would have liked more chances to close with the Angels this year. The right-hander will look to sign with a team that can provide him with more regular work when his two-year contract expires after the season.
AL West Notes: Delabar, Seager, Trout
On this date in 1998, Ken Griffey Jr. reached the 50-homer plateau for the second consecutive season. No one in the AL West will reach 50 homers this year – Nelson Cruz of the Rangers leads the division with 28. Here are today's AL West links…
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times tells the story of right-hander Steve Delabar, who was substitute teaching not long ago and has now joined the Mariners' big league pitching staff.
- Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner would like to see the Mariners play Kyle Seager at third on a daily basis. Alex Liddi, another option, appears to need more Triple-A seasoning despite the 30 minor league homers he hit this year.
- Mike Trout is Baseball America's minor league player of the year and B.A.’s J.J. Cooper explains that the Angels outfielder stood out as a big league prospect when he was just 16 years old. Click through for old scouting reports on Trout, who’s still just 20.
Heyman On Pujols, Huntington, C.J. Wilson
SI's Jon Heyman leads his latest column with a discussion of the Albert Pujols situation, which is due to flare up once the season ends. Heyman's sources say the Cardinals are "not overly confident" about retaining Pujols. Heyman hears the Cardinals are not inclined to increase their offer much from nine years and around $210MM, although the SI writer thinks the team could reduce the number of years to boost the average annual value past the $23MM range. Heyman hears Pujols is "not overly thrilled" that the Cardinals' offer last winter wouldn't place him in the top ten among MLB player salaries, though by my count there are only five players currently averaging $23MM or more as their AAV.
Heyman has plenty more musings on the Pujols topic in the column; here are a few other highlights…
- The Pirates intend to extend the contract of GM Neal Huntington. He says the Bucs have waited for the draft and trade deadlines to pass. Huntington was hired four years ago.
- "There are some who could see" Rangers ace C.J. Wilson "wanting to go to his native Southern California." Heyman views the Angels as a threat for Wilson.
- Heyman says Angels people suggest they would have been willing to resume extension talks with Jered Weaver next year if they hadn't reached a deal by the team's deadline this year.
- The Twins are interested in re-signing reliever Joe Nathan, though they won't be picking up his $12MM option.
Torii Hunter Considering Retirement After 2012
Torii Hunter is thinking about retiring once his contract is up after the 2012 season. In an interview with Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Angels outfielder says there is about a 40% chance that next season will be his last.
'I am going to retire an Angel," he said. ''Next year is my last year, and I'm going to retire an Angel. I'm going to evaluate it this offseason. That's when I'll know. It's 60-40, to the positive, that I'll keep playing."
Hunter has a .261/.332/.423 line for Los Angeles this year and was hampered in the early part of the season by a quad injury. Since getting back to better health, however, Hunter has been on fire, posting a 1.013 OPS in 118 plate appearances since August 2. Hunter will be 37 at the end of the 2012 campaign and told Souhan that he doesn't want to keep playing just for the sake of playing: "You don't want to see your skills diminish. You don't want to linger."
If Hunter did decide to return for 2013, he would give the Angels "first dibs" on bringing him back but also noted that he would enjoy returning to Minnesota, where he spent the first 11 seasons of his career. This isn't the first time Hunter has talked of rejoining the Twins, but a return could be difficult given Hunter's feelings about Twins GM Bill Smith, who he describes as having "no heart, no compassion, no nothing."
Hunter said he would have re-signed with Minnesota as a free agent after the 2007 season had the club offered him a four or five-year deal, but Smith's largest offer was for three years. Hunter believes Smith's offer was just a token effort and thinks the Twins are making a similarly half-hearted attempt to re-sign Michael Cuddyer, who is a free agent after this season and was reportedly offered a two-year, $16MM contract by the club earlier this month.
"Cuddyer is going to make less, as a free agent?" Hunter said. "I told him before, 'They'll make an offer and people will say, 'You turned down the money, you could have stayed, you're money-hungry.' "
Outright To Triple-A: Matt Palmer
It's September call-up season, so there's lots of 40-man roster movement going on. We'll keep track of the day's outright assignments right here…
- The Angels have outrighted Matt Palmer to Triple-A according to Pacific Coast League transactions page. The 32-year-old right-hander made three generally ineffective spot starts for the Halos in April, and he's spent the majority of the season with their Triple-A club (6.70 ERA in 23 starts).
AL West Notes: Athletics, Cruz, Angels
Ichiro Suzuki's streak of ten consecutive 200-hit seasons will likely end this year, since he's 49 hits away from 200. But as the Mariners point out, Ichiro has picked up at least 49 hits in a month six times in his career. Here are some more notes from the AL West…
- The A's will need to make a 40-man roster move tomorrow, when they add Neil Wagner to their active roster, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). They'll have room on the 25-man roster once Jerry Blevins clears waivers tomorrow.
- The Rangers expect Nelson Cruz to miss three weeks with a strained left hamstring, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The Rangers could consider Lance Berkman of the Cardinals, but GM Jon Daniels indicated that he expects to find help from within the organization.
- Wilson notes that Leonys Martin will take Cruz's roster spot for now and that a Berkman deal seems unlikely (Twitter links).
- As Kevin Baxter of the LA Times explains, the Angels have been playing better partly because of Vernon Wells' increased productivity. The offseason acquisition started off slowly and his season line is still just .216/.249/.393, but he has four multi-hit games in his last six contests.
Quick Hits: Moyer, Beckett, Weaver
Four years ago today, the Dodgers claimed Esteban Loaiza off waivers from the Athletics, taking on over $8MM and getting very little from the pitcher in return. I'm sure Billy Beane and Ned Colletti still chuckle about the transaction. Today's links:
- Jamie Moyer, 49 in November, will continue his rehab from Tommy John surgery at the Phillies' Spring Training home in Clearwater, Florida. MLB.com's Todd Zolecki explains that Moyer remains a free agent, but his former team honored his request to use their facilities and expertise. We all look forward to seeing Moyer's 81 mile per hour heater in the Majors once again, perhaps next year.
- Josh Beckett is a family man now, the Red Sox righty explained to WEEI's Rob Bradford. Beckett anticipates a series of one-year deals once his current contract expires after the 2014 season, and plans to disappear without fanfare when it's time to retire.
- Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times has contract details for Jered Weaver's new deal with the Angels. The contract has a full no-trade clause, a $1MM signing bonus, and salaries of $14MM for 2012, $16MM each for '13 and '14, $18MM for '15, and $20MM for '16.
- Baseball America's Jim Callis looks at the 2005 draft for each of the 30 teams, ranking the Red Sox first and the Cubs last.
Quick Hits: Harden, Thome, Weaver, Carroll
Links for Friday, before Jim Thome makes his return to Cleveland as the Indians host the Royals…
- Athletics pitcher Rich Harden thought he was Boston-bound on the night of July 30th, writes Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal.
- Jim Bowden of ESPN.com breaks down Cleveland's trade for Thome, calling it a "tremendous acquisition by [Indians GM Chris] Antonetti."
- Paul Swydan of FanGraphs says Thome's arrival in Cleveland may be just what the Indians need, since he’ll provide some much-needed pop.
- ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick says Jered Weaver's extension with the Angels is mostly unrelated to the contracts similar pitchers will sign. Weaver is simply a terrific pitcher who decided to stay close to home, not a trailblazer or a benchmark, Crasnick writes.
- Tom Verducci of SI.com points out that the cases of Carlos Zambrano and Brandon Webb can help us understand Weaver's deal.
- Steve Dilbeck of the LA Times argues that the Dodgers should trade Jamey Carroll to a contender to give him another shot at the postseason.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says he favors expanded playoffs, two 15-team leagues and balanced interleague schedules for teams in the same division. However, MLB owners don't appear to be ready to go to two 15-team leagues by next year.