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Heyman On Minaya, White Sox, D’Backs

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The 63-62 Mets likely need a “big finish” for GM Omar Minaya to return in the same role next year, people familiar with the team tell Jon Heyman of SI.com. Minaya’s contract guarantees him about $1MM in 2011 and the same amount in 2012, but the Mets would still consider firing or reassigning Minaya. Here are the details on the Mets, plus the rest of Heyman’s rumors:

  • Disappointing and expensive Minaya additions like Jason Bay and Francisco Rodriguez aren’t doing their GM any favors. Mets execs haven’t been impressed with all of Minaya’s major signings.
  • Heyman lists Kevin Towers, Pat Gillick and in-house candidates John Ricco and Wayne Krivsky as potential replacements for Minaya.
  • A person connected to the White Sox says the team offered the Dodgers two proposals for Manny Ramirez at the end of July, but received no counter-offers. Ken Rosenthal reported today that the White Sox will claim Manny if he reaches them on waivers.
  • Heyman says it would be “a surprise if Kirk Gibson isn't retained” as D’Backs manager next year. Interim GM Jerry Dipoto also has a “decent chance” of keeping his job.

Odds & Ends: Hawpe, Kuroda, Angels, Antonetti

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Some more links for Tuesday night, including the latest waiver wire news…

  • Brad Hawpe is one step closer to signing with another team now that he has cleared waivers, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter).
  • The Dodgers put Hiroki Kuroda on waivers, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Kuroda hits free agency after the season, but the Dodgers don't necessarily want to move him. A rival executive guaranteed Rosenthal that the Yankees will be "all over" Kuroda if he reaches them on waivers.
  • Rosenthal reports that the Angels placed Brian Fuentes, Juan Rivera, Mike Napoli and Bobby Abreu on waivers (Twitter link). The Angels are presumably curious about the interest their players draw, even if they don't intend on making a trade.
  • White Sox GM Kenny Williams told reporters including Paul M. Banks of TheSportsBank that he has to "speak in generalities” about waiver claims. Rosenthal reported earlier today that the White Sox will claim Manny Ramirez if he reaches them on waivers.
  • Indians assistant GM Chris Antonetti is taking on more responsibility as he prepares to replace current GM Mark Shapiro after the season, as MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince explains.
  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told MLB.com's Jason Beck that the Tigers and Red Sox never agreed on a deal involving Johnny Damon (Twitter link). Damon, who has the final say, said today that he intends to stay in Detroit, even though the Red Sox claimed him on waivers.
  • Reds president and CEO Bob Castellini told John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he expects the club to agree to an extension with manager Dusty Baker (Twitter link). The Reds offered Baker a deal last week.

White Sox Will Claim Manny Ramirez

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The White Sox will claim Manny Ramirez with the intention of acquiring him once he's placed on waivers by the Dodgers, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets that GM Kenny Williams is pushing all his chips on getting Ramirez, according to an MLB source.  Manny has not yet been placed on waivers, based on reports, even though the Dodgers gained the ability to do so yesterday. 

With a .540 winning percentage, the White Sox are the first AL contending team in the waiver order if Ramirez makes it past the NL unclaimed.  Rosenthal says the Rays and Rangers are also interested in Manny.

Ramirez has $4.46MM left on his contract at the moment, though about $3.34MM of that is deferred without interest.  Assuming Manny approves the assignment, the Dodgers might be willing to dump his contract just for salary relief.

Ramirez would certainly provide a boost to the White Sox as their designated hitter, if he can stay healthy.  He's hitting .312/.404/.508 in 223 plate appearances this year, a down year in rate stats only by his lofty standard.

Clayton Kershaw: Extension Candidate

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It's becoming common for teams to sign promising young pitchers to extensions, but the Dodgers haven't locked up their young arms with the same frequency as other clubs. Instead, they have generally obtained starting pitchers through free agency this decade (Darren Dreifort, Andy Ashby, Derek Lowe, Randy Wolf, Vicente Padilla and Hiroki Kuroda are some noteworthy pitchers to sign with the Dodgers as free agents since 2000). 

It's not easy to develop pitching, and the Dodgers haven't had an overwhelming amount of young starters worth extending, but that's no longer the case. Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw have become two of the team's best pitchers, so they are candidates for extensions this winter. 

The last pitcher to sign an extension was a young left-hander, like Kershaw. It's possible that the Ricky Romero extension – a deal that was based on the ones Jon Lester and Yovani Gallardo signed – becomes a model for a contract between Kershaw and the Dodgers. Here's how Kershaw's current numbers compare to the ones those three starters had when they signed their respective deals:

Clayton Kershaw
 

The pitchers are comparable, but Kershaw stands out. He is younger than the other three pitchers were when they signed extensions, he has a lower ERA, more starts and innings, a better strikeout rate and fewer hits allowed per inning pitched. Kershaw's walk rate is the one blemish on his record, but he's walking fewer batters than ever this year (3.9 BB/9). 

Romero, Lester and Gallardo were heading into their final pre-arbitration seasons when they signed their respective deals, all of which were worth $30MM or so. This winter, Kershaw will also be entering his final pre-arbitration season, but he will be in position to seek more guaranteed money. After all, he has pitched more innings, posted a better ERA and struck out more batters at a younger age. The Dodgers would do well to lock Kershaw up to a five-year $30MM extension, but Kershaw's representatives would have reason to ask for more.

Manny Ramirez Likely To Hit Waivers This Week

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There’s a good chance Manny Ramirez will be placed on waivers early this week and traded later this month, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. Ramirez, who was not placed on waivers today, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark, would have to approve any trade or waiver claim because he has a full no-trade clause.

About three quarters of Ramirez’s salary is deferred, so he makes just $1.1MM between now and the end of the season despite his hefty $20MM salary. Ramirez earns the remaining $3.4MM in deferred payments, which would presumably make his salary easier to absorb.

The Dodgers are now 8.0 games out of a playoff spot, so they would likely be open to trading Ramirez, who recently returned from the disabled list. The Rays, White Sox and Rangers are among the teams that could have interest in the slugger, though all National League teams would have to let Ramirez through waivers for an American League team to have a shot at him.

Odds & Ends: Pirates, Ross, Lee, White Sox, Dodgers

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Sunday night linkage..

  • The Nats still expect to see Yunesky Maya pitch for them before the end of the year, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
  • The Pirates opened up their books to the media and Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the goods.
  • Florida held on to Cody Ross until August because they had hoped to reassert themselves in the playoff chase, writes MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
  • It doesn't sound as though Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger (via Twitter) likes the Mets chances of landing Cliff Lee this offseason.
  • Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets that Ken Williams isn't on the road with the White Sox but he doesn't know if the GM is going after someone on the waiver wire.
  • Dodgers skipper Joe Torre thinks that late season callups can create an unfair advantage, writes MLB.com's Evan Drellich.

Dodgers Claim Barajas On Waivers

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10:37am: The Dodgers have claimed Rod Barajas on waivers, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.  The Mets will receive cash considerations in return, according to the Dodgers (via Twitter).

Barajas, who turns 35-years-old in September, has hit .225/.263/.414 with 12 homers in 267 plate appearances this season.  In late July it was reported that the Red Sox offered reliever Ramon Ramirez in exchange for the veteran.  The Mets have summoned Jesus Feliciano to take his place on the roster.

Starting catcher Russell Martin has not played since August 3rd due to a hip injury and will likely be out for the remainder of the year.  Brad Ausmus and A.J. Ellis have been splitting time behind the plate but have struggled offensively.

10:26am: The Mets may trade outfielder Jesus Feliciano to the Pirates, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.

Feliciano, 31, has a .688 OPS for the Mets in 27 big league games this season.  He began the year with the Mets' Triple-A affiliate where he posted a .342/.389/.418 slash line with one homer in 322 plate appearances.  This season marked his fourth straight in Triple-A and was his strongest at that level.

Mets skipper Jerry Manuel has summoned catcher Rod Barajas and Rubin wonders (via Twitter) if he could be involved in the deal.

Rosenthal On Uggla, Cubs, D’Backs, Ramirez

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Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com has some hot stove items to share in his latest Full Count video…

  • Contract negotiations between Dan Uggla and the Marlins are "not off to a great start."  Rosenthal reports that the Marlins are offering a three-year contract but Uggla wants a five-year pact.  We heard last week that the Marlins were offering a three-year, $30MM deal, but Rosenthal guesses that Uggla is looking for something in the range of $55-60MM over the desired five years.
  • The Cubs' "number-one need" in the offseason is a left-handed power bat at either first base or right field, with Tyler Colvin available to play the other position. 
  • Starting pitching is also a need for the Cubs, as Rosenthal says the team wants to bring in at least one new starter "regardless of what they do with Carlos Zambrano."  One option could be to bring back a recently-traded ace — Rosenthal says Chicago "still has a lot of interest in Ted Lilly." 
  • Arizona president and CEO Derrick Hall says "it would be crazy" to not interview other manager and general manager candidates despite the fact that he's happy with the work done by interim manager Kirk Gibson and interim GM Jerry Dipoto.  Hall says he will start a GM search at the beginning of September, with Dipoto "at the top of [the] list."  Rosenthal expects Kevin Towers, Dodgers assistant GM Logan White and Yankees vice-president Damon Oppenheimer to all draw interest from the Diamondbacks, though New York would have to grant Arizona permission to talk to Oppenheimer.
  • Now that Manny Ramirez is off the disabled list, Rosenthal provided an update to his news from last week about the possibility of Ramirez on the waiver wire.  The Dodgers will wait to put Ramirez on waivers since teams will want to make sure that he is both healthy and hitting well.  Rosenthal repeats that the White Sox are the club "most likely" to put in a claim for Ramirez, since the Sox "don't like Brad Hawpe all that much" and they doubt that Detroit would trade them Johnny Damon.

Dodgers Designate Juan Castro

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The Dodgers have designated Juan Castro for assignment, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.  Castro signed a minor-league deal with the team on July 27 after being released by Philadelphia the previous week.

The veteran utility infielder, never known as a strong hitter over his 16 major league seasons, had a .470 OPS in 140 plate appearances with the Phillies and Dodgers this year.  Castro signed a $700K deal with Philadelphia in the offseason that will also pay him an extra $50K for the buyout of his $750K team option for 2011.

Discussion: Ted Lilly

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The Dodgers picked up Cubs lefty Ted Lilly at the trade deadline with the hopes of making a run at the postseason.  As they host the Reds at home tonight, they sit 12 games back of the Padres for the NL West crown and seven games back in the wild card chase.  Their playoff hopes aren't quite dashed at this point but with Manny Ramirez and Rafael Furcal still sidelined with injuries, things do not look good for Los Angeles.

Earlier today, ESPN's Buster Olney wondered if the Dodgers might try to flip the two-time All-Star to a playoff contender.  He notes that Lilly would not clear waivers as he would have several teams interested and points to Philadelphia and St. Louis as possible candidates.  With a 1.29 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 in four starts thus far for the Dodgers, it's no surprise to hear that he is highly sought after.

Lilly becomes a free agent at season's end and based on the Dodgers' actions last season, many observers believe that they will not offer him arbitration.  If you were in GM Ned Colletti's position, would you hang on to the hurler to keep your playoff hopes alive or would you ship him to his seventh career major league destination?

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