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Quick Hits: Richard, Crawford, Feliz, Castro

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Links for Friday as Jake Peavy prepares for his first game action since last July. Peavy faces the Angels in Arizona this afternoon…

  • Chris Richard, an outfielder/first baseman who spent parts of five seasons in the majors with the Orioles, Rays, Rockies and Cardinals, has announced his retirement, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter).
  • The Angels offered Carl Crawford $108MM with an $18MM option, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). No wonder the outfielder accepted Boston's $142MM offer.
  • Vernon Wells would have accepted a trade to the Yankees, not just to the Rangers or Angels, according to Heyman (on Twitter).
  • Rangers higher-ups want Neftali Feliz to make the team's rotation, according to Heyman (on Twitter).
  • Astros catcher Jason Castro could miss the entire season, after tearing his right ACL, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.

AL Notes: Royals, Miller, Chavez, Napoli, Vizquel

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Let's take a look at some items related to the Junior Circuit..

Los Angeles Notes: Kemp, McCourt, Carroll, Locker

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Now that Oscar Night is fading into people's memories, here are some items about Tinseltown's two baseball clubs…

  • Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com profiles Matt Kemp, recapping the outfielder's tumultuous 2010 season and looking at how Kemp is preparing to bounce back this year.
  • Jamie McCourt and her attorneys have submitted a court filing asking that she receive fuller disclosure of the Dodgers' financial dealings, reports Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.  This latest step in the McCourts' ownership struggle stems from a recent report that Frank McCourt was looking for a $200MM loan from Fox, a proposal that was rejected by Bud Selig.
  • Jamey Carroll tells MLB.com's Ken Gurnick that he doesn't feel "bitter" about not having a starting job with the Dodgers, despite a fine .291/.379/.339 slash line in 414 plate appearances last season.
  • Jake Locker tells Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com that he doesn't have any plans to pursue a baseball career.  There were rumors that Locker, who received a $250K signing bonus as a tenth-round pick of the Angels in the 2009 draft, might turn to baseball if the NFL were to enter a protracted work stoppage.  Lockout or not, Locker will make much more as a quarterback than he would as an Angels farmhand — Locker is projected to be one of the top QBs taken in April's NFL draft.

Make Or Break Year: Bobby Abreu

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5061012196515_Athletics_at_Angels From 1998 through 2009, just nine players in baseball posted an on-base percentage of at least .400 (min. 6,000 PA), and only one did it with more than 100 total steals. That would be Bobby Abreu. From ages 24 through 35 ('98-'09), Abreu hit .301/.406/.497 with 253 homers and 341 steals for the Phillies, Yankees, and Angels. He wasn't quite a five-tool threat because his defense left a lot to be desired, but Abreu was an offensive force for more than a decade.

But in 2010, at age 36, the roof started to cave in. Abreu hit .255/.352/.435 overall, his lowest full season OPS ever. Although he still stole 24 bases, he was caught ten times for a 70.5% success rate, well below his 75.8% success rate from '98-'09. Abreu's first 40 double, 20 homer season since 2004 still resulted in the lowest full season slugging percentage of his career. 

Both the player and club are in a bind in 2011. Abreu's contract contains a $9MM vesting option for 2012 that will kick in with 433 plate appearances next year, a total he's reached every year since 1998. If the option vests, the Angels are on the hook for another year of Abreu's decline phase. If it doesn't, Abreu is a declining 37-year-old free agent that is best suited for designated hitter. Those guys aren't in high demand.

The Halos have the option of platooning Abreu in 2011, which would limit his plate appearances. He hit just .228/.296/.342 against southpaws in 2010, down from .267/.348/.386 in 2009 and .315/.370/.495 in 2008. The team doesn't appear to have an obvious right-handed platoon partner though, unless they try to really force the issue with someone like Brandon Wood or Bobby Wilson.

Abreu has long been a productive player in this league, one that should at least spark some Hall of Fame debate, but his best course of action in 2011 is to play well enough (and often enough) that his option kicks in. It's highly unlikely he'll find that kind of money on the open market after the season.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Quick Hits: Torre, Angels, Pirates, Millwood, Tigers

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On this date last year, the Rangers voided Khalil Greene's $750K contract after he wasn't able to report to Spring Training due to social anxiety disorder. Greene did not play at all last season and remains a free agent.  

Here are today's batch of links…

  • Commissioner Bud Selig is scheduled to make a major announcement tomorrow, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (Twitter links). Joe Torre will be hired as Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, meaning he'll oversee on-the-field activity for MLB.
  • Angels GM Tony Reagins spoke to Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times about the team's use of advanced statistics. "We definitely use them," said the GM. Front office member Justin Hollander said they "use it for base-running, offense, defense, everything out there … If [Reagins] asks me to look at a guy in terms of a long-term contract, trade, free-agent signing, minor leaguer, he will know what I'm thinking and assign a value to it."
  • Rob Biertempfel of The Pittburgh Tribune-Review says that the big test for Pirates owner Bob Nutting will be when young players like Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata are in line for long-term contract extensions. Team president Frank Coonelly recently spoke about what the team looks for when handing out such contracts.
  • Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch isn't sure why the Cardinals are so averse to signing Kevin Millwood to a one-year deal in the wake of Adam Wainwright's injury. Yesterday we heard that GM John Mozeliak said the team will first look internally for a solution.
  • James Schmehl of MLive.com updates you on the 11 players from the Tigers' active roster last season that have since moved on. 

AL East Notes: Yankees, Werth, Pavano, Jays, Rays

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Seven years ago today, the Yankees signed Eduardo Nunez as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Now 23, Nunez is in the mix to be New York's utility infielder in 2011 after hitting .280/.321/.360 with more walks (three) than strikeouts (two) in his brief big league debut last season (53 PA).

Here are some more notes that have to do with the Yanks and their fellow AL East clubs…

  • Joel Sherman of The New York Post reports that the Yankees "have told their scouts to bear down on several teams they think could have starters available" in a trade this summer. The teams they are targeting include the Braves, Angels, A's, White Sox, and Cardinals according to Sherman.
  • Jayson Werth told SI.com's Jon Heyman that he had a "great" meeting with the Red Sox earlier this offseason, after which he figured they would offer six years (Twitter link). They only offered five, so he ended up with the Nationals.
  • Carl Pavano spoke to Kelsie Smith of The Pioneer Press about being pursued by the Yankees this offseason. "I don't think [the past] would be a hindrance, but there would have definitely been obstacles," said Pavano. "I'm not naïve enough to think that there wouldn't have been things I would have had to overcome, especially the trust of the fans and maybe some of the guys that were there. That's reality."
  • Richard Griffin of The Toronto Star notes (on Twitter) that four of the Blue Jays' ten highest paid players are former closers: Jason Frasor, Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, and Octavio Dotel.
  • When asked about the payroll disparity between his Rays and other teams in the division, Joe Maddon told Ken Davidoff of Newsday that he's "never seen a dollar bill throw a strike, or hit a homer, or whatever." (Twitter link)

Minor Moves: Sisco, Mujica, Russell, Armstrong

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Some Minor League moves of note as some teams try to trim rosters and others look to amass organizational depth.

  • The Yankees released left-handed pitcher Andy Sisco, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Sisco has bounced around in recent years and last appeared in the big leagues with the White Sox in 2007.
  • The Yankees and Braves each inked a veteran international free agent, with New York signing Cuban shortstop Yadil Mujica and Atlanta signing Australian outfielder-turned-pitcher Andrew Russell, a righty, tweets Eddy.
  • The Angels signed catcher Cole Armstrong, who could claim a spot on the Halos' 40-man roster as a defense-first specialist, tweets Eddy.

Heyman: Angels’ Courtship Confuses Crawford

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Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford remains "puzzled" by the Angels' pursuit of him on the free-agent market this offseason, writes Jon Heyman of SI.com.

Many, including Crawford himself and the Angels, saw the speedy outfielder as a good fit for the Halos as he embarked on free agency at the end of 2010, Heyman notes, but Los Angeles of Anaheim's offer of six years (with an option for a seventh) and $108MM, though hardly paltry, was easily surpassed by Boston's seven years and $142MM.

But what Crawford found especially confusing is that in the wake of losing out on Crawford, the Angels then acquired Vernon Wells, who has a higher per-year salary than Crawford, from the Blue Jays. To boot, the Halos' offer to Crawford, 30 in August, was well below the seven years and $126MM the Nationals had already paid to acquire outfielder Jayson Werth, who will turn 32 in May.

Indeed, it was something of an odd offseason for the Halos, as ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick wrote a couple weeks back, and their dealings with Crawford seem to embody that the most.

West Notes: Dodgers, Ludwick, Mariners

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On this day in 1957, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley announced that his team could play as many as 10 exhibition games in California in 1958.  It ended up being a bit of a lengthier stay, as the Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles following the 1957 season.  Just like O'Malley, we're looking to the west coast (or at least the western divisions) for these news items…

  • If the Dodgers aren't satisifed with their Jay Gibbons/Tony Gwynn Jr./Marcus Thames platoon in left field, ESPN.com's Jason A. Churchill lists some of the left fielders that could be available in a trade.  Of the five players on Churchill's list, only Carlos Quentin would seem to be an everyday option, but if he's playing well enough to attract the Dodgers' attention, it's unlikely the White Sox would want to move him anyway.
  • Ryan Ludwick tells Dan Hayes of the North County Times that the two months that followed his trade to the Padres last season were the "worst two months of my big league career."  Ludwick hit just .211/.301/.330 in 239 plate appearances in San Diego last year and admitted he struggled with the pressure of trying to take the Padres to the postseason.
  • The Mariners are likely to keep Dustin Ackley and Michael Pineda in the minors until at least June, writes Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.  Both players "have areas of their games that could use further AAA development," but Baker also figures the Mariners want to avoid having either of their prospects qualify for Super Two status.
  • Angels right-hander Rich Thompson seemed to turn a corner last season, but since the Australian is out of options, ESPNLosAngeles.com's Mark Saxon says the Halos could lose Thompson unless he makes the team.
  • Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers has acquired six players (Henry Blanco, Geoff Blum, Russell Branyan, Sean Burroughs, Xavier Nady and Brian Sweeney) this offseason that played for the Padres when Towers was that club's general manager, writes Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com.  "These are character guys, veterans that I knew would have a strong presence in our clubhouse," Towers said. "I knew what their intangibles are, which I thought was important….When you have history with individuals, you know what they're about as well." 
  • The Rangers have invited Yhency Brazoban to their Major League Spring Training camp, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.  Brazoban signed a minor league deal with Texas in December that didn't include an invite to the team's big league camp.

2012 Vesting Options

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Vesting options are always worth keeping track of during the season, especially since they can often have consequences that are less than desirable. Last year Magglio Ordonez ($15MM), Kerry Wood ($11MM), and Brian Fuentes ($9MM) all had big money options that did not vest, though Darren Oliver ($3.25MM) and Trever Miller ($2MM) had some smaller ones that did. 

Here is a list of 2012 vesting options to keep an eye on this summer…

  • Bobby Abreu, Angels: $9MM option vests with 433 plate appearances. Abreu hasn't come to the plate fewer than 589 times in a season since 1997, his rookie year.
  • Adam Wainwright, Cardinals: His $9MM option for 2012 and $12MM option for 2013 will lock in as long as he does not finish 2011 on the disabled list. His second place finish in the 2010 Cy Young voting was step one of the vesting process.
  • Aramis Ramirez, Cubs: $16MM option vests if he is named MVP of either the regular season or League Championship Series, or if he is traded at some point in 2011.
  • Rafael Furcal, Dodgers: $12MM option vests with 600 plate appearances. Furcal has come to the plate 600+ times just once in the last three seasons (2009) due to injuries.
  • Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM option vests with 190 innings pitched. Garland hasn't thrown fewer than 191 1/3 innings since becoming a full-time starter in 2002.
  • Francisco Rodriguez, Mets: $17.5MM option vests with 55 games finished and if doctors declare him healthy at the end of the season.
  • Koji Uehara, Orioles: $4MM option vests with either 55 appearances or 25 games finished. Uehara hasn't reached either milestone in his first two big league seasons, though he came close in 2010: 43 appearances and 22 games finished.
  • Arthur Rhodes, Rangers: $4MM option vests with 62 appearances and if he's not on the disabled list at the end of the season.
  • Joakim Soria, Royals: $6MM option vests with 55 appearances, which he's done in three of his four big league seasons. The chances of it coming into play are microscopic, but Soria has a $6.5MM option for 2012 that could vest with 334 1/3 innings pitched (400 IP in 2010 & 2011). That was obviously put into his contract in case the team ever moved him into the rotation.
  • Dan Wheeler, Red Sox: $3MM option vests with 65 games; increases to $3.25MM with 70 games.  Wheeler reached 64 games in 2010, but had at least 69 in each of the previous five seasons.

Mark Buehrle is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2011 season and although he doesn't have a traditional option in his contract, he gets an extra year at $15MM tacked onto his current deal if he's traded at some point this season. 

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

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