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Fuentes Back Strain Could Save Angels $9 Million

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Angels closer Brian Fuentes tweaked a back muscle picking up a dumbbell about a week ago, according to MLB.com's Lyle Spencer.  The freak injury could save the Angels $9MM in 2011.

Fuentes is eligible to return on April 21st.  Barring a rainout, the Angels will have 147 games left to play at that point.  Fuentes has finished one game this year, and needs 54 more to cause his '11 option to vest.  That's one GF out of every 2.72 Halos games.  Last year Fuentes finished one for every 2.84 Angels games, though Kevin Jepsen picked up a few GFs in September.  It will be tough for Fuentes to finish games at the pace necessary to reach 55 in 2010, now that he'll miss at least the Angels' next seven games.

Cafardo On Gonzalez, Oswalt, Crawford, Granderson

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Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is now on Twitter, under the handle @nickcafardo, so be sure to follow him. In the meantime, Cafardo also has a new column up for the Globe, in which he addresses the possibility of an Adrian Gonzalez trade and touches on a few other hot stove topics. Let's check out the highlights….

  • Cafardo isn't bullish on the Red Sox' chances of acquiring Gonzalez, noting that a trade would deplete Boston's farm system. Plus, they should face stiff competition from teams like the Mariners and Orioles.
  • The consensus among a few baseball people who spoke to Cafardo is that Padres GM Jed Hoyer will field trade offers for Gonzalez but won't necessarily deal the slugger. The situation could be similar to the Jays shopping Roy Halladay at last year's deadline, when Toronto wasn't sufficiently blown away by any offer.
  • The Padres are more likely to move Chris Young and Heath Bell.
  • Assuming the Sox don't land Gonzalez, Cafardo wonders if Carlos Pena might be an offseason target for Theo Epstein.
  • Roy Oswalt could be an attractive trade chip for the Astros, given the lack of top starting pitchers that will be available during the season. Cafardo thinks Houston will move their ace if they have to, adding that "it looks like they may have to."
  • The Brewers' extension of Yovani Gallardo is a good sign that they'll be aggressive in attempting to lock up Prince Fielder, though it will likely take a Mark Teixeira-esque contract to get it done.
  • Cafardo's "dark horse candidate" in this winter's Carl Crawford sweepstakes? The Angels.
  • The Red Sox looked into acquiring Curtis Granderson to replace Jason Bay, but were outbid by the Yankees.

Largest Contracts By Service Time

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When Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo signed his five year, $30.1MM extension earlier today, it marked the largest contract ever signed by a pitcher with less than three years of service time.

Let's look at the richest contracts by service time, in terms of guaranteed money…

Less Than One Year
Position Player: Ryan Braun. Eight years, $45MM
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Four years, $9.5MM.

One To Two Years
Position Player: Chris Young. Five years, $28MM.
Pitcher: Fausto Carmona. Four years, $15MM.

Two To Three Years
Position Player: Hanley Ramirez. Six years, $70MM.
Pitcher: Yovani Gallardo.  Five years, $30.1MM.

Three To Four Years
Position Player: Albert Pujols. Seven years, $100MM. 
Pitcher: Scott Kazmir. Three years, $28.5MM.

Four To Five Years
Position Player: Miguel Cabrera. Eight years, $152.3MM.
Pitcher: Justin Verlander. Five years, $80MM.

Five To Six Years
Position Player: Derek Jeter. Ten years, $189MM.
Pitcher: Jake Peavy. Three years, $52MM. 

Six-plus Years
Position Player: Alex Rodriguez. Ten years, $275MM.
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Seven years, $171MM.

Some thoughts…

  • The most regrettable deals were signed very early in the player's career, Young and Carmona. Might be a lesson in using up those pre-arbitration years before taking the plunge.
  • The largest contract signed by a position player with less than one year of service time after Braun's deal is Evan Longoria's, which will pay him just $17.5MM over six years. Is Braun overpaid, or is Longoria underpaid? I think the answer is clear.
  • Sabathia's four year, $9.5MM deal nearly tripled Roy Halladay's three year, $3.7MM deal with Toronto, which was the previous record for a pitcher with less an a year of service time.
  • One only of the above contracts has expired.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

2011 Contract Issues: Los Angeles Angels

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The Angels face only one option situation for 2011.  Closer Brian Fuentes' $9MM option will vest if he finishes 55 games in 2010.  The 34-year-old lefty has one of nine vesting options to watch this season.  A game finished is given to the last non-starting pitcher of record for each team; Fuentes finished 57 last year despite a mediocre season.  The Angels can turn to Fernando Rodney in the ninth inning if Fuentes falters, and Fuentes' agent won't have a case for a grievance.

After the season the Angels will have Hideki Matsui and Scot Shields eligible for free agency.  Kendry Morales will enter his first arbitration year.  Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, and Jeff Mathis will enter their second; Mike Napoli his third.  It should also be noted that Scott Kazmir's salary will increase by $4MM in 2011 and Ervin Santana gets a $2MM bump.  Fortunately, the Angels will no longer be paying Justin Speier in 2011.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the information.

Looking At The Needs Of Some Contenders

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With Spring Training wrapping up around the country, teams are finalizing their rosters and picking the 25 players they'll start the season with. There's always room for improvement, but some contenders have some very obvious weak spots on their rosters. Here's a look at some of them, which may need to be addressed during the season…

  • Angels, third base: Brandon Wood and Maicer Izturis will get the first cracks at replacing Chone Figgins, but if neither is up to par, the Halos might be looking for a fill-in at the hot corner.
  • Braves, outfielder: Superstar in training Jason Heyward will start the year in right, but incumbent centerfielder Nate McLouth had a brutal spring (6-for-51), which may push Melky Cabrera into full-time duty.
  • Rays, setup man: With J.P. Howell on the shelf due to a bum shoulder, the team has no obvious candidate to hand the ball off to new closer Rafael Soriano. Dan Wheeler and Grant Balfour represent solid options, but if Howell misses more time than expected, the Rays might be looking to add a reliever.
  • Twins, closer: This is the most obvious hole of them all. Joe Nathan is out for the season after having elbow surgery, and Jon Rauch will get the first chance to replace him. 
  • Yankees, left field: The team is breaking camp with Brett Gardner, Randy Winn, and Marcus Thames set to share time in left, but we've already seen a scenario laid out in which they might need help sooner rather than later.

That doesn't include all of the clubs that could very well be looking to add a starting pitcher at some point, like the Mariners, Mets, Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers. Some other holes aren't so obvious though. Maybe the Red Sox could use another reliever (who couldn't?), or perhaps Seattle will go looking for a big bat that fits into their extreme run prevention plan. 

What other areas of need to do you see out there for contenders?

Offseason Questions For The AL West

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With all the offseason reviews completed, we're asking a few questions of every team.  The AL West is on the hot seat this time.

Odds & Ends: Lowell, Redding, Brantley, Wilson

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Some news items as we say goodbye to March and hello to another great baseball-filled April…

  • ESPN's Rob Neyer thinks the Rangers should just go ahead and acquire Mike Lowell, since the reported $3MM gap between Texas and Boston is a small price to pay for solidifying the Rangers' first base platoon.  Given the number of conflicting reports about the deal, it's hard to say if a Lowell-to-Texas trade is imminent or a longshot at this point.
  • Tim Redding talks to The Denver Post's Jim Armstrong about being assigned to Colorado's Triple-A team.  Four days ago, Tracy Ringolsby of Inside the Rockies pointed out that Redding has an opt-out clause he can use if he finds a spot on another team's 25-man roster.  That's unlikely; Ringolsby says the Mariners scouted Redding but came away unimpressed. 
  • The Indians were hoping to hold up Michael Brantley's service clock, but his strong Spring Training and Russell Branyan's injury forced the club's hand, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com.  Brantley will now be Cleveland's starting left fielder on Opening Day.
  • Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times takes a look at Angels catcher Bobby Wilson, who is out of options and faces a tough task in finding a roster spot given the Mike Napoli–Jeff Mathis combo behind the plate in Los Angeles.  If the Angels are forced to put Wilson on waivers, you'd figure that several teams would be interested in a catcher who has a solid .283/.338/.423 line in 2642 minor league plate appearances.
  • Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com chatted with fans about a number of A's and Giants-related topics, including Urban's belief that the extensions for Matt Cain, Brian Wilson and Jeremy Affeldt may have been inspired by San Francisco's confidence in their upcoming crop of position players.
  • In another online chat, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch mentioned that the Cardinals are interested in acquiring a left-handed power bat for the bench.  Strauss noted the club's "history of eleventh-hour spring training moves."

Minor League Transactions

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Matt Eddy of Baseball America is back with his weekly list of minor league transactions, and here are a few of the familiar names on the move…

  • RHP Chad Orvella, who last played in the majors for Tampa Bay in 2007, was released by the Angels after signing with the club earlier this month.
  • The Dodgers released outfielder Brian Barton.  Barton was one of just two non-pitchers to appear in a game last season without making a plate appearance.  He entered his only major league game of 2009 as a pinch-runner and was caught stealing.
  • Jesse Foppert was released by Florida.  Foppert's last major league game was in 2005 with San Francisco, but the right-hander has been pitching in the Giants' (and, briefly, the Mariners') system ever since.  Prior to the 2003 season, Foppert was the fifth-highest ranked prospect in the game by Baseball America. 
  • And finally, if you see a spate of "Boston Releases Papelbon" headlines, it's not an April Fool's joke.  The Red Sox released right-hander Josh Papelbon, Jon's younger brother.

Odds & Ends: Giants, Harper, Heyward, Padres

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Some links as the weekend draws closer…

Odds & Ends: Gonzalez, Scott, Phillies, Indians

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A wrap-up of some items as we head into the weekend…

  • Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle wonders if the Athletics erred in dealing promising outfielder Carlos Gonzalez to Colorado.
  • MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli says that the Orioles are holding off on any potential Luke Scott trades until they see if Felix Pie and Nolan Reimold are healthy and can handle regular roles.
  • Phillies assistant GM Scott Proefrock tells MLB.com's Todd Zolecki that the team isn't looking at free agent relievers to fill in for the injured Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero: "We're keeping our eyes open, but we're not actively pursuing. People are calling us more than we're calling them."
  • The Indians have no interest in the recently-released Elijah Dukes, reports The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes.
  • Speaking of the Tribe, they announced in a press release that seven players were optioned to their minor league camp, the most notable of these being top catching prospect Carlos Santana.  Indians GM Mark Shapiro told Hoynes that Santana was being sent down to work on his defense, but noted that Santana will "be on an accelerated program" due to his impressive bat.  The ESPN Insider Rumors page speculates that the club may have made the move to delay the start of Santana's major league service time.
  • In the wake of Cliff Lee's suspension, abdominal strain and possible DL stint, Dave Cameron of the U.S.S. Mariner blog notes (via Twitter) that signing Jarrod Washburn as a replacement wouldn't work since Washburn wouldn't be fit for the start of the season anyway.
  • MLB.com's Marty Noble covers several topics in a reader mailbag, including how Mets prospect Fernando Martinez "is less likely trade bait now" than he has been in the past two years.
  • Arn Tellem, Hideki Matsui's agent, was originally told by the outfielder that he wanted to play in the majors for 10 years, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Matsui is about to enter his eighth season, and though his current contract with the Angels is just for the 2010 campaign, I suspect the 2009 World Series MVP will last that full decade.
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