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Cafardo On Britton, Norris, Garza, Red Sox

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In today's column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that strikeouts are on the rise this season and there are an abundance of theories as to why.  One prominent AL GM believes that the umps are using a wider strike zone.  Former pitcher Curt Schilling believes the strikeouts are piling up because there are more power arms than ever before.  Others believe that there are a lot of youngsters in the game right now who may not be major league ready, leading to a lot of Ks.  Here's more from today's column..

  • As the Orioles look for pitching help, there’s an increasing feeling among baseball people that Zach Britton is the arm the Orioles could dangle in a deal.  The 25-year-old has begun the season well in Norfolk and has 1.98 ERA with five strikeouts and seven walks in three starts. 
  • Astros pitcher Bud Norris could be the No. 1 guy on contenders’ wish lists – along with the Cubs’ Matt Garza, if he’s healthy and productive – according to an AL GM.  Erik Bedard can also draw interest but he has an injury history, which scares teams off.  Carlos Pena has value because of his power and could find himself on a contender if he has a strong showing in Houston.
  • Scouts feel that Red Sox minor league outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker has put himself back on the map as a player teams might be interested in trading for.  Early in the season, the 25-year-old has a slash line of .271/.308/.563 with four homers in Triple-A.  Scouts say he has taken a far more aggressive approach at the plate and is swinging at good pitches in good counts.  Hazelbaker is also showing some power and is considered a plus defensive outfielder.
  • The Red Sox never pursued Ted Lilly while he was available because it would have been too difficult to add him to the 25-man roster. The Sox have been looking for a veteran starter they can keep at Triple-A in reserve, but haven’t found the right guy. 
  • Brad Penny is still a free agent and looking to get back to the majors.  However, he's still waiting for a team to bite.  The 34-year-old last pitched for the Giants in 2012 and also had a disappointing few months with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan. 

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Crawford, Yankees, Wells

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Here's today's look around the majors as the Red Sox take the field in Boston and look to extend their winning streak to seven games..

  • The Dodgers didn't know exactly what they were getting when they acquired Carl Crawford in last year's blockbuster deal, but the early returns are promising now that he is back in action.  In fact, one scout told Buster Olney of ESPN.com (on Twitter) that he is greatly impressed with what he's seen in 2013 and his stopwatch times to first are the fastest they've been since his early years with the Rays.
  • On the other coast, Vernon Wells is looking like his old self with the Yankees, writes MLB.com's Chris Toman.  To manager Joe Girardi, the veteran looks similar to his time in Toronto where he was a three-time All-Star.
  • In an interview with ESPN.com (video link), former big league outfielder Moises Alou said that he enjoys his current job as GM for a team in the Dominican Republic and hasn't been swayed by MLB job offers that has come his way.

Quick Hits: Mariners Napoli, Cardinals, K-Rod

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The struggles of Jackie Bradley Jr. serve as a reminder that Spring Training stats are a mere "snapshot in time," writes SB Nation's Rob Neyer. He adds that Spring Training stats "describe the random nature of raw performance statistics as much as they describe fundamental abilities." Here are some links from around the league…

  • The excellent play of Endy Chavez is going to force the Mariners to make a roster decision, writes Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. With Michael Saunders coming off the DL next week, the team will have to make a move or carry six outfielders. Jason Bay seems like the most logical candidate as the odd man out, in my personal opinion.
  • There was a point this offseason where Brian Grieper, Mike Napoli's agent and friend, thought Napoli's career in baseball was over, writes WEEI.com's Alex Speier. Napoli was diagnosed with avascular necrosis in both hips this offseason but has been healthy through the early portion of the season.
  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak is comfortable with the relievers he has despite the bullpen's struggles thus far, reports Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. As Strauss notes, it's difficult to find help from outside the organization at this point in the season.
  • The Marlins were never interested in Francisco Rodriguez, tweets Juan C. Rodriguez of the Miami Sun-Sentinel. K-Rod signed a minor league deal with the Brewers yesterday.
  • Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times writes that Padres president Tom Garfinkel apologized for the behind-closed-doors comments he made about Zack Greinke which were linked to the public. Garfinkel said flatly that Greinke threw at Carlos Quentin on purpose and also made comments which hinted at Greinke's previous battles with social anxiety disorder.

Quick Hits: Agents, Lilly, Harvey

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Agent Jamie Murphy of TWC Sports, in an interview on Buster Olney's Baseball Tonight podcast on ESPN, says that client-stealing by other agents isn't particularly prevalent in baseball. When players do change agents, Murphy says, it's mostly "for the right reasons," such as, for example, a player changing from an inexperienced agent to a more experienced one. Murphy represents Nick Markakis, Mark Ellis and David Aardsma. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.

  • Ted Lilly will start for the Dodgers next Wednesday, with Chris Capuano heading to the disabled list with a calf strain, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News writes. The Dodgers had a brief standoff with Lilly last weekend when the lefty refused a minor-league rehab assignment. That flareup was resolved, but it still wasn't clear whether the Dodgers might trade Lilly. But with Zack Greinke and Capuano on the DL and Aaron Harang gone via trade, the Dodgers' quandary about what to do with Lilly appears to be resolved, at least for now.
  • Former Mets GM Omar Minaya credits former scouting director Rudy Terrasas with advocating for Matt Harvey when New York picked him No. 7 overall in the 2010 draft, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports. "Rudy Terrasas was the one who brought him to my attention. Rudy deserves a lot of the credit for this one," Minaya says. "The thing that impressed me most about Harvey was the way he sustained velocity. He was throwing 96, 97 late in the game. He’s doing that now, and he had that when I saw him in college." Harvey has pitched brilliantly so far this season, posting an 0.82 ERA while striking out 25 batters and walking six in his first 22 innings.

Quick Hits: Cubs, Red Sox, Hanley, Trades

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A year ago today, the Indians signed Johnny Damon to a one-year contract with the hope that clean-shaven caveman could bolster their lineup. Damon hit just .222/.281/.329 in 224 plate appearances for the Tribe. This offseason, there was no penny-pinching by the Indians, as they signed Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, Brett Myers and Mark Reynolds to bolster the club. Here are some links from around the league…

  • Carlos Zambrano is at Wrigley Field today, which sparked a great deal of speculation, but Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweets that Zambrano is merely visiting. The Cubs aren't interested in a reunion.
  • Red Sox minor league left-hander Miguel Pena and right-hander Gerson Bautista have both been suspended 50 games for violation of Major League Baseball's drug policy, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Pena ranked 30th among Red Sox prospects, according to BA, who noted that his clean delivery and plus changeup gave him the ceiling of a No. 4 starter in the big leagues.
  • Hanley Ramirez is anticipating a return to the Dodgers "way sooner" than his initially projected return of mid-May, writes Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. The Dodgers have gotten next to no production from Luis Cruz and Justin Sellers in his absence.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post gives the "small sample size" caveat in noting that traded players such as John Buck, Michael Morse and Justin Upton are excelling. Vernon Wells and Michael Young have looked better than salary dumps thus far as well, Sherman continues.
  • ESPN's Jim Bowden lists five impulsive moves that the GMs of contenders such as the Rays, Tigers, Angels, Cardinals and Giants should make to immediately improve their clubs' biggest weaknesses (ESPN Insider required).

Dodgers Face Decision On Ted Lilly

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5:55pm: Lilly has agreed to make another minor league rehab start, according to ESPN's Buster Olney (on Twitter). Presumably, this will buy the Dodgers a bit of time to make a decision, but the clock is still ticking.

7:44am: The Dodgers are at a standoff with lefty Ted Lilly after the 14-year veteran refused a minor league assignment Saturday, reported MLB.com's Ken Gurnick yesterday.  The team must activate him, designate him for assignment, release him, or trade him.

"We laid out a plan and Teddy doesn't want to be part of the plan. It's out of my hands. We didn't feel he was ready to pitch at the Major League level. For me, it's a baseball decision. It's nothing personal in any way, shape or form. We're giving him our baseball thoughts, what we think is best for him and the team," manager Don Mattingly told Gurnick.

Mattingly did say using Lilly in relief is a possibility, though the team (and perhaps the pitcher) is not enamored of the idea.

Lilly began the 2012 season on the disabled list with a neck injury, and in May hit the DL again with shoulder inflammation.  That ended his season, and he had shoulder surgery in September.  Still recovering, he began this year on the DL as well.  He's made two minor league rehab starts, allowing five earned runs in six innings in each.  The Dodgers recently moved Chris Capuano to their rotation to replace the injured Zack Greinke.

The Dodgers created a rotation surplus this winter in signing Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu, but they received little for Aaron Harang earlier this month and Lilly has been similarly devalued.  Lilly is earning $12MM this year, so the Dodgers would again have to pick up a significant portion to move him.  They could certainly buy some time by sticking him in the bullpen, though doing so repeatedly with veteran starters is not a great way to do business.  In the long-term, this Harang/Capuano/Lilly situation could dissuade some mid-level players from signing with the Dodgers.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

NL Notes: Lohse, Lilly, Mets

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The Brewers' Kyle Lohse visited with his old team in the Cardinals' clubhouse on Saturday, MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch reports. Lohse signed with the Brewers after a long offseason that began with Lohse and his agent, Scott Boras, declining the Cardinals' qualifying offer. There wasn't much of a market for Lohse after that, mostly because the team that signed him would have to sacrifice a draft pick. He finally signed a three-year, $33MM deal with the Brewers. Lohse reflects on the twisting path that led him to Milwaukee: "[Declining the Cardinals' qualifying offer] makes me look bad, [because] that's a lot of money. But is it fair value for what I had done? No," says Lohse. "Even going back on it, I'd still do the same thing. You have to go out and take your chances. Now, going forward, I don't know what other people in my situation are going to do." Here are more notes from the National League:

NL West Links: Quentin, Weiss, Upton, Giants

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Everyone knows Jackie Robinson's story but few remember the name of John Wright, the second African-American player to sign with the Dodgers just weeks after Robinson signed his contract.  Baseball America's Ryan Whirty details the brief career of Wright, a right-hander who struggled in the minors in 1946 and was back pitching in the Negro Leagues by 1947.

Here's the latest from the NL West…

  • Major League Baseball has announced the suspensions of Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin for eight games and Dodgers utilityman Jerry Hairston for one game for their parts in Thursday's brawl between the two teams.  Both men are appealing their suspensions, so both could be able to play when the Padres and Dodgers begin a three-game series on Monday, though Yahoo's Jeff Passan (Twitter link) feels MLB and the MLBPA will arrange for Quentin to miss Monday's game.
  • Zack Greinke, meanwhile, will be out of action for around eight weeks following surgery to fix his broken collarbone.  MLBTR's Steve Adams looked at the implications of Greinke's injury earlier today.
  • Rockies owner Dick Monfort talks to Mark Kiszla over the Denver Post about manager Walt Weiss' unusual one-year contract with the club.  Monfort admits the short-term deal was an "oversight" since he values loyalty in employees and usually operates on handshake agreements, and also said that the Rockies management team hired Weiss without first establishing his salary.
  • Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall told Arizona Sports 620 Radio's Doug & Wolf that he felt the Justin Upton trade has worked out for both the D'Backs and Braves.  "I would agree that ‘would he have had the same success here that he's had [in Atlanta] to start off the season, maybe not' sometimes players need a change of scenery for it to happen," Hall said.  "I mean this was just two different teams that had two different needs and it worked out well for both, not to mention we still have four prospects that we're going to be dealing with in the next few years."
  • Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic doesn't agree with Hall's belief that Upton needed a fresh start.  "But even if [Upton] did need a new environment, what happened to the environment here? What does that say about the environment you’re creating if a 25-year-old with his kind of ability can’t succeed in it anymore?" Piecoro asks.
  • While breaking down Tim Lincecum's struggles, Grantland's Jonah Keri noted that the success of the Giants' starting rotation has obscured the team's lack of pitching depth.  The Giants may need to explore a trade for a new starter later this season if Lincecum can't turn things around.  I tabbed 2013 as a Make Or Break Season for Lincecum since he'll need to regain his old form in order to fetch a nice free agent contract this winter.
  • In other NL West news from earlier today, I compiled a set of Padres notes while Steve Adams reviewed the Giants' offseason moves.

Minor Moves: Burroughs, Henn, Allen, Gonzalez

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We'll keep track of Friday's minor moves right here…

  • Infielder Sean Burroughs has signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). Burroughs last appeared in the Majors with the Twins in 2012 but was designated for assignment after just 18 plate appearances. The former top prospect returned to baseball in 2011.
  • Within that same tweet, Eddy notes that the Mets have signed left-hander Sean Henn to a minor league deal. The 31-year-old Henn's last big league action was split between the Twins and Orioles in 2009. He has a 7.56 ERA in 81 career innings with more walks (64) than strikeouts (62).
  • Still from Eddy's jam-packed tweet, the Padres have inked first baseman Brandon Allen to a minor league contract. The 27-year-old has a career .203/.290/.375 Major League batting line in 389 plate appearances.
  • The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Edgar Gonzalez has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo in order to make room for Casper Wells on the 40-man roster. Toronto claimed the 30-year-old Gonzalez off waivers just five days ago.
  • Suspended right-hander Mark Hamburger has signed with the independent league St. Paul Saints, writes Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (at the bottom of the article). The 26-year-old tested positive for an undisclosed drug last season. He has appeared in eight Major League innings for the Rangers with a 4.50 ERA and was once traded for Eddie Guardado.

The Implications Of Zack Greinke’s Injury

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When the Dodgers spent $147MM on Zack Greinke this offseason, they were expecting 33 starts per season of an ace-caliber pitcher. Instead, Greinke will now find himself on the shelf for a significant portion of time following a brawl in the Dodgers-Padres game that broke out after he hit Carlos Quentin in the shoulder with a pitch.

Two things are clear here. The move has serious financial and roster implications for the Dodgers, and Quentin is a lock to be suspended. What does that mean, specifically, for the involved parties? It depends on how long Greinke is out for, first of all, which has yet to be announced. ESPN's Jayson Stark notes that recent history shows this type of injury has a recovery time of anywhere from one to three months (All Twitter links). Marlins catcher Jeff Mathis broke his collarbone in late February and is hoping to return in early May. Clint Barmes broke his collarbone in 2005 and was on the shelf for three months. The only pitcher Stark could find who suffered the injury was Chris Bosio, who missed a month.

Greinke is earning $17MM in the 2013 season, which is 182 calendar days long. Assuming a timetable of 30 to 90 days (roughly one to three months), the Dodgers figure to be out somewhere between $2.8MM and $8.4MM of this year's investment in Greinke. That's a sizeable chunk of salary, although they could have an insurance policy on the contract that will cover a portion of the injury.

This also means that the Dodgers' former surplus of starting pitching has likely been sorted out for the time being. With Aaron Harang now in Seattle, the Dodgers can place one of Ted Lilly or Chris Capuano in the rotation, with the other serving as a long reliever. It seems likely that it will be Lilly who is placed in the rotation; MLB.com's Ken Gurnick recently noted that he's been building up arm strength to throw 90+ pitches again and the Dodgers are concerned about how frequent warm-ups would affect his "delicate shoulder." Capuano, meanwhile, has already been in the 'pen for the early portion of the season. Both hurlers figure to be firmly off the trade market now.

As far as Quentin goes, the left fielder signed a three-year, $27MM extension with the Padres last year and is slated to make $9.5MM this season. In other words, Quentin is paid just over $52,000 per day during the season. So multiply that number by the amount of days in his eventual unpaid suspension, and it becomes a costly confrontation for him on a personal level as well.

Matt Kemp and Jerry Hairston Jr. also played roles in the altercation. Kemp was particularly vocal during the fray and eventually pursued Quentin after the game, leading to a confrontation that is chronicled here by Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. Hairston charged toward the Padres' dugout after the field had been cleared, later explaining to reporters that an undisclosed Padres player was mocking Greinke's injury. It's unclear at this time if there will be any punishment handed out for Kemp and Hairston, but presumably they're in line for fines as opposed to suspensions.

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