Odds & Ends: Wieters, Padres, Peavy, Price
LInks for Thursday…
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post says the Nationals will honor a handshake agreement Dmitri Young made with Jim Bowden, and put the first baseman back on the 40-man roster.
- Catcher Matt Wieters has been told by the Orioles that he'll be optioned to Triple A on Monday, according to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun. Will the Orioles wait until late May to try to avoid Super Two status?
- Reds assistant GM Bob Miller talked to fans in an MLB.com Q&A.
- Check out an entertaining chat transcript with Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times over at Halos Heaven.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star interviewed Zack Greinke.
- Rangers owner Tom Hicks told Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News that the team has not reduced its budget for 2010. The Rangers have yet to set next year's budget, but it's known that some big salaries will be coming off the books. Meanwhile, MLB.com's Barry Bloom notes that Hicks intends to sell a minority share of the team.
- Rays exec Andrew Friedman said the team's demotion of David Price was entirely for baseball reasons, talking to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. R.J. Anderson of DRays Bay supports the decision. Bart Given agrees.
- Tom Haudricourt and Adam McCalvy write about Brewers GM Doug Melvin's irritation with the bogus Jake Peavy rumor.
- Purely speculative, but Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wonders if Dontrelle Willis could get his career back on track with the Marlins.
- Rockies infielder Jeff Baker, unaffected by the trade rumors, homered twice yesterday.
- John Moores says the Padres sale to Jeff Moorad is "awfully close," talking to MLB.com's Barry Bloom. As you know, Sandy Alderson will step down as CEO when the deal closes (possibly today).
- Padres pitcher Shawn Hill had offers from six teams, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock.
- The Red Sox signed reliever Rocky Cherry to a minor league deal.
- MLB.com's Alyson Footer says reliever Danny Graves asked for and received his release from the Astros.
Padres Acquire Eulogio De La Cruz
According to MLB.com's Corey Brock, the Padres acquired pitcher Eulogio De La Cruz from the Marlins today for a player to be named later or cash. Cruz is out of options, so the Padres may have to keep him in the Majors to retain him.
Cruz, 25, posted a 4.34 ERA in 25 starts at Triple A last year. He came to Florida as part of the Miguel Cabrera deal in December of '07. Cruz fits the Padres' desire for hard-throwing pitchers. Here's Paul DePodesta's take on him.
The Marlins subsequently signed lefty Carlos Vasquez to a minor league deal, according to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Vasquez has been a minor league reliever in the Cubs' and Red Sox systems.
Rosenthal On Melky, Matthews, Pedro, Ohman
As usual, good stuff from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
- Rosenthal says the Yankees are open to moving Melky Cabrera, and opines that the White Sox would be a perfect fit. Trading Cabrera would open up the Yankees' outfield picture for sure, but leave them shakier in center with Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher. Rosenthal also says the White Sox have expressed some interest in a deal to acquire Gary Matthews Jr., assuming the Angels pay "the vast majority of the $33MM remaining on the final three years of his contract."
- Pedro Martinez reached out to the Royals before they signed Sidney Ponson, but KC couldn't afford him. Would Pedro have been a better signing than Horacio Ramirez and Willie Bloomquist? Martinez's friends are telling him his $5MM asking price is unrealistic. Rosenthal says that if Pedro drops it down to $1-2MM, he can probably get the Dodgers and other teams involved.
- The Marlins are looking for relief help. They like Will Ohman but not his $2MM asking price.
- The A's thought they were close to a $1.7MM deal for Joe Beimel before he went to the Nats for $300K more.
- Catcher Ronny Paulino, acquired by the Phillies from the Pirates in December, is available. Rosenthal considers the Marlins a possible fit.
Marlins’ New Stadium Approved
TUESDAY, 1:26pm: Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the new stadium should mean Hanley stays put and the team raises payroll, among other things.
MONDAY, 10:43pm: Get ready for the Miami Marlins. According to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, Miami-Dade county commissioners voted in favor of a new retractable-roof stadium for the Fish. The goal is to have the new facility open by 2012, at which time the team will be renamed the Miami Marlins.
Hanley Ramirez is signed through 2014, so hopefully he'll still be the face of the franchise when the new stadium opens. The Marlins figure to become a more consistent threat in the NL East if they establish a reasonable payroll.
Offseason In Review: Florida Marlins
Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Marlins. Here's what we wrote about them on October 5th. Changes for 2009:
Additions: Leo Nunez, Scott Proctor, Kiko Calero, Jose Ceda, John Koronka, Emilio Bonifacio, Dan Meyer
Subtractions: Mike Jacobs, Kevin Gregg, Josh Willingham, Scott Olsen, Luis Gonzalez, Matt Treanor, Mark Hendrickson, Doug Waechter, Joe Nelson, Justin Miller
The Marlins' offense features changes for 2009. They subtracted cleanup hitter Jacobs, who supplied 32 home runs but also a .299 OBP. Gaby Sanchez may take his place. Outfielders Gonzalez and Willingham are gone, with their ABs to be picked up by Cameron Maybin. And Treanor is out at catcher, with John Baker assuming full-time duties. Last year's offense ranked 5th in the NL with 4.78 runs per game. The '09 crew projects to score 4.51 per game, based on CHONE projections and Baseball Musings' lineup analysis tool. Baseball Prospectus is more optimistic on Maybin; plugging in their projection brings the Fish to 4.62 runs per game.
The rotation, which posted a 4.66 ERA in 916 innings last year, will subtract the 52 starts made by Olsen and Hendrickson in favor of more innings for Josh Johnson, Chris Volstad, Andrew Miller, and Anibal Sanchez. Staff ace Ricky Nolasco will get the Opening Day assignment. These five are projected to post an aggregate ERA of 4.26, so it'll be a solid rotation if healthy. I think the Marlins can handle the loss of Olsen, though I wasn't particularly impressed with the trade bounty received. The trade of Olsen and Willingham was yet another Marlins salary dump.
The bullpen lost several key players, so the Marlins will need strong (and healthy) years from closer Matt Lindstrom as well as imports Nunez and Proctor. It really wouldn't have cost much to have retained Nelson.
According to The Fielding Bible II, the Marlins' defense ranked 8th in the NL last year. Replacing Jacobs with Sanchez would be an obvious gain. Same goes for the addition of Maybin and subtraction of Gonzalez in the outfield (Maybin will play center).
The Marlins allowed 767 runs last year. Assuming the bullpen does not implode and the rotation stays semi-healthy they should be able to improve on that. I can see the Fish winning 83-84 games again, improving in pitching and defense but losing a bit offensively.
Bottom line: It's the typical Marlins refrain: good team, imagine what they could do with a payroll. They still have enough above-average young players where 3-4 well-timed breakouts could push them into contention.
Odds & Ends: Gregerson, Hanley, Strasburg
Links for Monday…
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the minor league transactions, including the Dodgers' signing of J.D Durbin.
- Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune says Rays Rule 5 pick Derek Rodriguez, a reliever, has been returned to the White Sox.
- Yahoo's David Brown talked to Carlos Pena about many topics, including his agent Scott Boras.
- According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Padres received pitcher Luke Gregerson as the player to be named later in the Khalil Greene deal. The other player the Padres received, the now-injured Mark Worrell, was also a minor league closer. Given the state of the Padres' pen, Gregerson could reach the Majors this year. UPDATE: Here is Paul DePodesta's take on Gregerson.
- MLB.com's Ken Gurnick noted yesterday that the Dodgers cut pitcher Shawn Estes, and he's yet to decide whether to accept a Triple A assignment. UPDATE: Estes will head to the minors and attempt to reinvent himself as a lefthanded specialist.
- Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald quizzed Hanley Ramirez about Boston's attempt to reacquire him in November.
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wonders about Frank Catalanotto's future. Useful player, but the Rangers would have to eat most of his $6MM to move him.
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post talked to Nationals president Stan Kasten about the six-year, $50MM Stephen Strasburg rumor. We all know how Boras works…if he wants $25MM for Strasburg, he starts at $50MM.
- South Side Sox and Sox Machine comment on the Gavin Floyd extension, as well as the offers to John Danks and Carlos Quentin.
- Talking to David Lennon of Newsday, Tom Glavine responded to Pedro Martinez's distaste for signing a "Glavine-like" contract.
- Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun spoke to Aubrey Huff, who "doesn't even understand the concept of a contract push."
- Ivan Rodriguez explained to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez why he didn't sign with the Marlins.
Stark On Cameron, Ohman, Jenkins
ESPN's Jayson Stark has a new blog post up.
- The Astros plan to give Chris Johnson a chance to win the third base job, but Stark says Juan Uribe, Jose Bautista, and Jeff Baker "could still show up on their shopping list in the next two weeks."
- Stark heard "rumblings the Yankees are poking around again on Mike Cameron's availability." Back in December, the Yanks and Brewers were pretty close on a deal.
- Eric Milton is looking decent and appears to be the frontrunner for the Dodgers' fifth starter job (given Pedro Martinez's asking price).
- Will Ohman seeks a one-year, $1.75MM deal with easily-reachable incentives for another million. He also prefers the West Coast, and Stark believes the Padres and Giants are more likely than the Dodgers. Like the Dodgers, the Phillies and Marlins have interest at a lesser price. Stark has also heard the Phils connected to Giants lefty Jack Taschner.
- Shawn Camp, Geoff Geary, John Buck, and Geoff Jenkins are currently available. The Phillies would eat almost all of the $8MM owed to Jenkins.
Giants Seek Catcher, Reliever
According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News:
Scouts are buzzing that the Giants are actively looking to upgrade at backup catcher and long relief. One possibility is catcher Rob Bowen, whom the A's released Tuesday.
Baggarly suggests the Giants' trade chips include pitchers Luis Perdomo and Merkin Valdez, as well as outfielder Eugenio Velez.
A handful of catchers remain on the free agent market, including new member Josh Bard. Tracy Ringolsby wonders if the Rockies will renew their interest in Bard. The Marlins, however, don't appear interested according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. The free agent market also features about a dozen relievers.
Marlins Renew Three
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Marlins renewed the contracts of three pre-arbitration players: Matt Lindstrom, Taylor Tankersley, and Cameron Maybin. The renewals mean the sides were not able to reach contract agreements, though the players have no real bargaining power anyway.
Astros Agree To Terms With Ivan Rodriguez
1:08pm: ESPN’s Steve Phillips says the Astros reached an agreement with Rodriguez on a one-year, $1.5MM deal with another $1.5MM in performance bonuses. Scott Boras’ offseason is over, aside from Byung-Hyun Kim and Eric Gagne.
12:54pm: A deal with the Astros appears close, according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle. GM Ed Wade admitted he’s re-engaged with Scott Boras on Pudge.
11:28am: According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, Pudge is in serious talks with the Astros.
10:05am: Free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez may sign soon. A look at his rumored suitors:
- Marlins: Owner Jeffrey Loria talked about his fondness for Pudge, but added that there are a lot of variables to consider. The issue seems to be Rodriguez’s desire to catch the majority of games.
- Giants: Henry Schulman’s source says they’ve explored signing Rodriguez "as a utility catcher and infielder." MLB.com’s Chris Haft doesn’t think it makes sense.
- Astros: Richard Justice thinks the team should try to sign Pudge and Pedro Martinez for less than $5MM total. MLB.com’s Alyson Footer on Friday: "After checking with Ed Wade yet again today, I can assure you the Astros are not pursuing him. And judging from the irritated look on his face, I can also assure you I won’t be asking him about Pudge again anytime soon." SI.com’s Jon Heyman mentioned Houston in his Friday Pudge column.
- Twins: Heyman mentioned the Twins after talking to an NL team involved in the Pudge bidding. La Velle E. Neal III hadn’t heard anything as of Saturday.
- Mets: MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone doesn’t see any evidence that Rodriguez is an option.