Odds & Ends: Mets, Inge, Reynolds, Angels
On this date in 1974, the Yankees and Giants swapped Bobby Bonds and Bobby Murcer in one of the many deals that had Bonds packing his bags. Now, the Yankees and Giants are preoccupied with something else entirely: trying to reach the World Series. Here are today's links…
- Dodgers assistant GM Logan White isn’t going anywhere. He was a candidate to become the Mets’ next GM, but he’ll be staying with the Dodgers, according to MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick (on Twitter).
- Brandon Inge, who just signed an extension that will keep him in Detroit through 2012, says he hopes to stay there until the Tigers kick him out, according to Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com wonders if the Orioles should make a play for Mark Reynolds. The D'Backs third baseman would instantly become Baltimore's most powerful hitter.
- MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer suggests the Angels rank the best free agent hitters in this order: Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre, Jayson Werth and Adam Dunn.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post wonders if the Cubs and Angels will pursue Cliff Lee this winter and suggests the lefty has set himself up for a six-year $150MM deal.
Odds & Ends: Beimel, Angels, Mets, Peralta, Dunn
On this date 27 years ago, the Padres signed Sandy Alomar Jr. as an amateur free agent. Now, the former catcher is one of four finalists for the Blue Jays managerial opening. Here are today's links, as the Phillies send the NLCS back to Philadelphia…
- Joe Beimel tells Troy Renck of the Denver Post that he'd like to return to Colorado next year: "The Rockies are my first choice. I definitely want to be back. But after the last two offseasons, it's hard to know what to expect."
- The Angels promoted Ric Wilson, making him their new scouting director, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
- Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon says the team completed its initial round of interviews and will narrow the group of candidates "by early next week," according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
- Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski says he's "optimistic" about reaching a deal with Jhonny Peralta, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck. The Tigers have a $7MM option for the infielder's services in 2011.
- Now that Detroit is presumably out of the running for Adrian Beltre, Jon Heyman of SI.com says the Tigers look like real players for Adam Dunn (Twitter link).
- Remember Larry Bigbie, the former first rounder who played parts of six seasons in the major leagues? He's making a comeback and was recently named to Baseball America's 2010 All-Independent Leagues Team.
- The Marlins outrighted Jay Buente, according to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (on Twitter). That means the 27-year-old righty is no longer on the 40-man roster.
Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Wood, D’Backs, A’s
Links for Wednesday, as the Yankees try to prolong their season…
- Baseball sources tell Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that the Dodgers are likely to bring Trey Hillman aboard as their bench coach.
- Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald wonders if Kerry Wood could have made a difference for the BoSox.
- Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks are expected to name Ray Montgomery their new scouting director. Montgomery has spent the last eight years in the Brewers organization.
- Bryce Harper will bat seventh in his Arizona Fall League debut tonight, according to the Nationals Baseball Media Relations department (via Twitter).
- The A's have announced several staff changes via press release. Gerald Perry has been welcomed back as hitting coach in place of Jim Skaalen. Joel Skinner, a longtime member of the Indians coaching staff, will take over as bench coach. Former bench coach Tye Waller will be reassigned as the first base coach. Waller replaces Todd Steverson who has been offered a position in the A's farm system.
- Mark McGwire is on the fence about returning as the Cards hitting coach, Tony La Russa told Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch.
- Former Angels scouting director Eddie Bane will join the Tigers scouting department, according to ESPN.com's Keith Law (on Twitter).
- MLB.com's Jason Beck introduces us to Tigers assistant GM Al Avila, the longtime Detroit exec who remains a GM candidate. The Tigers recently declined to let the Mets interview Avila.
- If you play fantasy baseball, head over to RotoAuthority, where Tim Dierkes examines the impact of Ted Lilly's new deal on the lefty's fantasy value.
- It doesn't look like Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima will become available to MLB teams this year, according to reports passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker (Twitter link).
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat that he will "absolutely" welcome Ryne Sandberg back to Chicago's minor league system if the Hall of Famer wants to continue working his way to the major leagues. Sandberg, a finalist for the Cubs major league job, was disappointed when the team hired Mike Quade.
- Brewers managerial candidate Pat Listach was pleased with his interview, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
Rockies Rumors: De La Rosa, Mora, Tulowitzki
When Ted Lilly finalized his three-year $33MM deal, he established a standard for other free agent left-handers. The agreement may not impact Cliff Lee, who figures to be in his own tier, but it could be a point of reference for Jorge de la Rosa's contract negotiations this winter. Here's the latest on de la Rosa and the Rockies:
- The Rockies have not offered de la Rosa a contract, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Colorado has opened dialogue with the 29-year-old, but it appears that he's going to hit the open market.
- Melvin Mora is open to returning to Colorado, but Renck says the Rockies anticipate lots of competition for his services (possibly from the Angels). I suggested in September that Mora is likely in line for a one-year deal worth $2-3MM.
- Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post looks ahead to the end of the 2014 season when Troy Tulowitzki can hit free agency and suggests the Rockies may no longer be able to keep the All-Star shortstop.
Gammons On Red Sox, Crawford, Moreno, Liverpool
Peter Gammons made one of his regular appearances on WEEI's The Big Show today to discuss the playoffs and look ahead to Boston's winter moves. Albert Vontz of WEEI.com has a partial transcript, and here are some highlights…
- The Red Sox are "going to go real hard after Carl Crawford." Gammons thinks one advantage Boston has is that they're looking at Crawford as middle-of-the-order bat rather than as a leadoff man, and Crawford "doesn’t want to be the guy trying to steal 70 bases."
- The Angels are another team rumored to be pursuing Crawford this winter, and they'll have the money to do so. Gammons hears that Angels owner Arte Moreno "is on the cusp" of a new local television deal worth approximately $4BB. Gammon says Moreno and the Halos are moving fast to "swallow up even more of the Dodgers market" what with the Dodgers embroiled in the McCourt ownership dispute.
- In the wake of the Red Sox ownership group's purchase of Liverpool FC of the English Premier League, Gammons thinks Red Sox fans will blame the soccer club if the Sox can't acquire and/or afford any major free agents this winter. Gammons was told, however, that Liverpool is "a $1BB business that they bought for about $400MM" and surmises that majority owner John Henry sees the purchase as "a great business deal…[that] might help the Red Sox in a ten-year period."
Angels Owner Prepared To Spend
Angels owner Arte Moreno says he plans to spend aggressively to send his team back to the postseason. Moreno told Bill Plaschke of the LA Times that he dislikes losing and will do everything he can to improve the Angels.
"We know where our weaknesses are, we know where we are thin, we know where we have to go to market," Moreno said. "It's going to cost money, but our fans need to know what we're committed to winning."
Moreno said he hopes to sign an outfielder who creates runs. Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth, who are both free agents this winter, are potential targets for the Angels. Both will likely be expensive, but Moreno said he’s prepared to complement homegrown players like Jered Weaver with free agents.
"Championship teams develop their players like we have, we know that," Moreno said. "But sometimes when the prospects aren't there, you have to bridge that area, and I'm willing to do that."
GM Tony Reagins may pursue relievers, third basemen and outfielders this offseason as the Angels look to return to their winning ways. The team finished below .500 (80-82) for the first time since 2003 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006. It has been apparent for weeks that the Angels will be able to spend and it now seems like Reagins will have the flexibility to bid on whichever free agents fit the Angels' needs best.
Mike Napoli And The Arbitration Process
One area that's always been murky for baseball fans is the process by which salaries for arbitration-eligible players are determined. Using Angels catcher Mike Napoli as an example, let's attempt to shed some light on arbitration.
The first conclusion I reached when looking into Napoli's comparables is that there aren't any good ones. Do you know any catchers who went to arbitration for a third time in recent years? All the good ones were locked up, and all the bad ones were non-tendered. John Buck might have been a comparable, but the Royals cut him loose before he could go to arbitration a third time. The only catcher we found who recently went to arbitration a third time was the Tigers' Gerald Laird. Laird's offensive stats after the '09 season paled in comparision to Napoli's current body of work, so we need to look elsewhere.
If an agent and team are forced to go to an arbitration hearing over a player's salary, the statistics used to make arguments are simple. For Napoli it might be his .251 batting average, 92 home runs, 249 RBIs, and 246 runs. He's heading to arbitration for the third time. He has four years and 151 days of service and will be building off his 2010 salary of $3.6MM.
A baseball source gave me two comparables he thought Napoli's agent Brian Grieper might be able to use: Jorge Cantu after '09 and Xavier Nady after '08. The criteria for an arbitration comparison talks about service levels, but not positions. It's already been proven that catchers get extra credit in arbitration for being catchers – in his first year of arbitration, Russell Martin got $3.9MM. You might expect that salary for a 30 home run, 100 RBI player, not a 13 home run, 69 RBI guy like Martin. Napoli himself got $2MM in his first arbitration year coming off a season in which he played 78 games.
So even though Napoli falls short of Cantu and Nady in most basic offensive categories, they're workable comparables given the lack of similar catchers. Napoli has a half-season of playing first base on his resume, so that might strengthen the comparison. Cantu went from $3.5MM to $6MM, while Nady went from $3.35MM to $6.55MM. Their raises were between $2.5-3.2MM, or 71-96%. Napoli's agent might be able to argue for a $6-7MM salary for 2011, unless the Angels find more similar players who were paid less.
Could Napoli be non-tendered by the Angels this winter? One baseball source agreed with my estimate of a 10% chance, while another put it below 5%. We all agreed Napoli is more likely to be traded than cut loose, though one of them remarked, "I think if they are stuck with him they will wish they would have non-tendered him." The Angels won't be desperate – they can afford Napoli if no one wants him, but they should be able to find a taker for a 26 home run catcher even if his defense is poorly-regarded. Keep in mind that even though Napoli is technically under team control through 2012, his 2011 salary could make him a likely non-tender.
Odds & Ends: Iwakuma, Ichiro, Red Sox, Barmes
Links for Sunday evening, with the regular season behind us and the playoff picture defined…
- Angels GM Tony Reagins tells Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times he's "confident we'll be able to add an important piece."
- As passed along by NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman on Twitter, Sanspo reports that a posting announcement will come soon regarding Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma. The righty, 30 in April, posted a 2.82 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, and 0.49 HR/9 in 201 innings this year for Rakuten.
- Ichiro Suzuki's 10-and-5 rights kicked in today after the Mariners' game, tweets Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.
- In his end-of-the-season press conference, Red Sox GM Theo Epstein indicated fixing the bullpen and retaining important free agents are his offseason priorities (WEEI's Alex Speier reporting). Epstein fielded all kinds of questions and was noncommittal in most cases, but the transcript is still worth a read.
- Clint Barmes would like to return to the Rockies if he can't find an everyday role elsewhere, he explained to Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post. We discussed Barmes' non-tender candidacy in August, and 79% of MLBTR readers predicted he'll be cut loose.
- The Dodgers officially announced Brad Ausmus' retirement with a press release. Ausmus revealed his decision to reporters in July.
Odds & Ends: Blue Jays, Orioles, Nationals, Darvish
Friday night links, as Jered Weaver takes over the AL strikeout lead in Texas….
- The Blue Jays received permission to interview Ron Roenicke, the Angels' bench coach, for their managerial opening, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
- Buck Showalter says that potential free agents from other clubs have expressed interest in coming to Baltimore, tweets MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli.
- Jim Riggleman tells MASN's Ben Goessling that he's comfortable with the Nationals' starting pitching even if the club doesn't land a top starter this winter.
- Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post wonders if the Nationals could target Yu Darvish as that potential impact arm. There's no guarantee Darvish will be available this offseason, but the Nats have scouted the Japanese righty in person "at least nine times."
- The Rangers should sign Jon Daniels to a contract extension, according to Jean-Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Morning News.
- Bobby Jenks tells Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune that he's anticipating a "weird offseason" in Chicago.
- Jim Leyland knows that if the Tigers don't have a good year in 2011, he could be done in Detroit, as John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press writes.
Gammons On Ortiz, Beltre, Dunn, Crawford, Dice-K
In his latest appearance on WEEI's Big Show, Peter Gammons discussed the playoffs, the offseason, and, of course, the Red Sox. Here are the highlights:
- The Red Sox will likely pick up David Ortiz's 2011 option in part because they'd be afraid to see him playing for the Yankees or Rays if they let him go.
- Adrian Beltre was never comfortable in Seattle like he was in Los Angeles and is in Boston. Gammons thinks the third baseman could end up signing with the Tigers this winter and wonders if he'd be uncomfortable in Detroit's spacious home park.
- Although Adam Dunn insists he doesn't want to DH, he may end up having no other choice. The Nationals appear unlikely to re-sign Dunn because "they don’t know where to play him in the field," according to Gammons, who says the Yankees are a potential destination for the slugger.
- If they pursue either player, the Red Sox are more likely to go after Carl Crawford than Jayson Werth.
- Crawford signing with the Angels may not be as likely as people think, Gammons says, since owner Arte Moreno "isn’t always great with free agents."
- Daisuke Matsuzaka is a trade candidate this winter, and Gammons can envision Boston dealing him to the Mets for Carlos Beltran.