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Odds & Ends: Bell, Dye, Ortiz, Davis, Strasburg

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Links for Monday…

  • The MLBTR Forums are rocking with over 3,600 members.  Join the discussion today!  Just added a prospects section; we've also got areas to discuss trade rumors, free agents, the draft, general baseball, fantasy baseball, and every team.
  • Tom Krasovic tweets that the Twins have a scout at tonight's Padres-Giants game, but it's just a routine visit. He adds that Heath Bell remains on Minnesota's radar, but the two sides haven't talked since Spring Training.
  • The Giants have no interest in Jermaine Dye, tweets Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle. The reasons are the same as they've been all winter: defense and asking price.
  • More changes could be coming to the Dodgers' bullpen, says Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times. Russ Ortiz was designated for assignment yesterday, and Hernandez thinks Ramon Ortiz could be next.
  • Talking to MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith, I learned that teams can now safely promote minor leaguers for their MLB debuts with no chance of the player amassing 172 days of service in 2010.  By promoting '08 first-rounder Ike Davis today, the Mets ensured that he will be under team control through 2016 instead of 2015.  In contrast, the Braves have Jason Heyward through '15.
  • On that same topic, agent Scott Boras told MLB.com's Peter Gammons that Stephen Strasburg starting in the minors "had nothing to do with money."
  • Joe Posnanski digs into Forbes' team revenue numbers, noting that the Yankees made $173MM more than any other team.
  • MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch tells us Hayden Penn has accepted the Pirates' Triple A assignment in lieu of electing free agency.
  • In a statement, Cal Ripken said he looks forward to continued talks with the Orioles about a position in the organization.

Eric Gagne Retires

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Eric Gagne has retired, reports Martin Leclerc of Rue Frontenac (English translation here).  Gagne explained that he feels great physically, but has lost the desire to pitch.  The 34-year-old was released by the Dodgers a month ago.

Gagne's run of dominant closing for the Dodgers resulted in a 1.79 ERA, 13.3 K/9, and 152 saves over 2002-04, spanning 247 innings.  Each of those years, he made the All-Star team and received Cy Young and MVP votes.  He won the Cy Young in '03, saving 55 games with a 1.20 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 82.3 innings.  Gagne earned about $40MM in his career, according to Baseball-Reference.

The blemish: Gagne appeared in the Mitchell Report for using human growth hormone in 2004.  He later explained to T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times that he thought it'd help with a knee injury.

Largest Contracts In Team History

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We've already looked at the largest contracts by service time and position, so let's now dig up the largest contracts ever given out by each of the 30 teams. These are in terms of guaranteed money only, but some could end up being even larger because of incentives and option years.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Possible Interest In Braden Looper

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Braden Looper's numbers aren't eye-catching, but the free agent righty remains useful. The 35-year-old made at least 30 starts for the third consecutive season last year, logging 194.2 innings. He pitched to a 5.22 ERA with 4.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. Those numbers suggest that Looper isn't going to dominate, but could help teams win. 

The Diamondbacks, for example, could use rotation depth. For now, they're monitoring the trade market and don't appear interested in free agent starters like Looper or Jarrod Washburn, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. 

The D'Backs have relied on just four starters so far this year, but Kris Benson will join the rotation and start for them tomorrow. Recent history suggests Looper could outperform Benson, but the D'Backs have Kevin Mulvey and Billy Buckner to call on, too.

The Dodgers were interested in Looper on a minor league deal back in March, but they haven't been connected to him since. Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger struck out 12 Marlins in his only start this year, so the Dodgers have an intriguing fifth starter for now.

A glance around the majors shows that a number of other clubs could use starting pitching depth. Mitch Talbot and Jake Westbrook are having early control problems for the Indians; Doug Fister, Jason Vargas and Ian Snell are far from sure things in Seattle; the Nationals have a team ERA above 7.00 and are getting less than five innings per start from their rotation; with Chris Young out, the Padres could look to Looper instead of Tim Stauffer or Wade LeBlanc; the Mets could look to add pitching, too.

There are openings around the league now and more will surely emerge as the season develops, so it would be a surprise if Looper were unable to find work given his history of durability.

Odds & Ends: Downs, Soriano, Dodgers, Guillen

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Here are a variety of news items as baseball wraps up another Jackie Robinson Day…

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Phillies can't take on any extra salary right now and the presence of two Philadelphia scouts at Blue Jays games is just "normal coverage."  Rosenthal adds, however, that Jays reliever Scott Downs "makes sense" for Philly's relief needs.
  • ESPN's Rob Neyer believes "there's a 50/50 chance" that the Cubs will release Alfonso Soriano before his contract expires at the end of the 2014 season and the club will simply eat what is left of the $90MM owed to the underachieving outfielder.
  • The Dodgers are satisfied with rookie A.J. Ellis as their backup catcher and will likely not look to acquire another backstop in the wake of Brad Ausmus' back surgery, reports Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
  • Tom Van Riper of Forbes Magazine tears down the myth that players step up their production in the last year of their contracts.
  • Jose Guillen was the subject of trade rumors over the winter, but the Royals outfielder had a much more traumatic offseason experience as he tells The Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton about a life-threatening health scare.
  • Barry Bloom of MLB.com reports that Hal Steinbrenner (unsurprisingly) wants Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Joe Girardi to remain Yankees, but isn't willing to break the club's policy of in-season contract negotiations to work on extensions.  "I hope everybody is reasonable and we can work it out easily. But there's no doubt I want them here," Steinbrenner said.
  • As we approach the 50th anniversary of the infamous Rocky Colavito/Harvey Kuenn swap, Terry Pluto of The Cleveland Plain Dealer looks back at the trade that infuriated Indians fans.

2011 Contract Issues: Los Angeles Dodgers

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The Dodgers are paying over $15MM to former players this year; that number will fall under $7MM in 2011 as their commitments will be reduced to Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones.  They'll also potentially free up over $40MM for departing free agents, with Manny Ramirez, Hiroki Kuroda, and Vicente Padilla the biggest salaries.

On the increase side, players under contract will receive over $13MM more.  Andre Ethier, Rafael Furcal, Jonathan Broxton, and Matt Kemp account for the raises.  More increases will be due to arbitration-eligibles: Chad Billingsley, James Loney, and Hong-Chih Kuo enter their second year, Russell Martin his third, and George Sherrill his fourth.  Sherrill can be considered a non-tender candidate, only because the Dodgers may be reluctant to pay a setup man more than $5MM.

Even if payroll is maintained in the low $100MM range, the Dodgers should free up enough money to adequately replace Ramirez and at least one of the starting pitchers.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Odds & Ends: Stanton, Hechavarria, Cordero, Haeger

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Monday night links..

  • The Marlins won't rush prospect Mike Stanton to the majors, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos says that the club is hoping to make an announcement in the next day or two, tweets Shi Davidi of The Canadian Press.  However, Anthopoulos wouldn't confirm that the announcement could have to do with the signing of Adeiny Hechavarria.  Last week, Hechavarria's visa was approved, opening the door for him to take his physical.
  • ESPN.com's Rob Neyer believes that Chad Cordero could be a "useful" major leaguer again.  The 28-year-old has been out of MLB for nearly two years and is attempting to mount a comeback with the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate.
  • Charlie Haeger went through a long journey before becoming a member of the Dodgers' rotation, writes MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.

Pedro Will Start Throwing, Plans To Pitch

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TUESDAY, 7:06pm: Martinez has been linked to the Mariners, Twins, and Dodgers in recent days, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  Cafardo notes that Martinez still harbors bad feelings towards the Dodgers organization.

MONDAY, 2:30pm: Pedro Martinez plans to pitch in 2010 and will start throwing this week, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Pedro will work towards a midseason signing like the one the Phillies added him on last summer. He says he can be ready soon.

“I’m in good shape, real good – it doesn’t take me that long to get ready,’’ he said.

He would prefer to pitch for a contender, on or near the East coast in the National League. Right now, the Phillies sound like a fit, given their interest in pitching. A few days ago, I wrote that Pedro could help somebody in 2010. He pitched well last year, but it wasn't until a month after he signed that Pedro appeared in the majors.

Offseason Questions For The NL West

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The Offseason In Review series is complete, and now the NL West steps up to the plate for a series of questions.

Odds & Ends: Brewers, Marlins, Red Sox, Calero

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Sunday night links..

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