Twins Rumors

Odds & Ends: Green, Oswalt, Mets, Gaudin, Werth

By Mike Axisa | May 22, 2010 at 9:01pm CDT

Links for Saturday….

With Rafael Furcal returning to the Dodgers, the out-of-options Nick Green is a candidate for demotion, writes Evan Drellich of MLB.com.
Roy Oswalt told Houston owner Drayton McLane that he wouldn't mind coming back and finishing his career with the organization, tweets Alyson Footer of the Astros.
More on Oswalt: Footer (via Twitter) is skeptical about the Mets' chances of acquiring Houston's ace. Meanwhile, manager Brad Mills doesn't expect Oswalt's trade request to be a clubhouse distraction, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.
At MLB.com, Peter Gammons takes a look at a few underachieving teams who are under pressure to make changes.
Scott Olsen has been placed on the disabled list, but Stephen Strasburg won't be the pitcher called up to take his roster spot, tweets Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
Jack Curry of the YES Network (via Twitter) asked Mets GM Omar Minaya if Jerry Manuel is managing to save his job. Minaya answered, "I don't want to say that. I wouldn't say that's the case."
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Chad Gaudin received and turned down a minor league assignment offer from the A's.
Mike Lowell told Scott Lauber of The Boston Herald that he has no regrets about passing on a four year, $37.5MM contract offer from the Phillies after the 2007 season.
Jayson Werth said he's "played [his] entire career for this year," according to David Murphy of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Werth, of course, is referring to his contract year and impending free agent payday.
Chris Iannetta remains the one who got away for the Red Sox, who almost drafted the catcher back in 2004 according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier.
Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune analyzed the Carlos Gomez–J.J. Hardy trade now that we're six months out.
John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Reds have gotten tremendous production out of their bargain basement left field combo of Jonny Gomes and Laynce Nix ($1.4MM combined salary).

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Oswalt, Lowell, Griffey

By Luke Adams 2 | May 22, 2010 at 7:52pm CDT

With FOX airing Saturday evening games this weekend rather than afternoon games, Ken Rosenthal's new Full Count video showed up on their website a little later in the day too. Now that it's been posted, let's recap Rosenthal's latest hot stove tidbits….

Roy Oswalt is making $15MM this year and $16MM next year, which will make it difficult to trade him. Making it even trickier, owner Drayton McLane won't want to include money in a deal, even if it means getting better prospects in return.
If the Mariners become sellers, that would further diminish the chances of an Oswalt deal, since the M's could make Cliff Lee available. Lee is the much more affordable ace, earning only $9MM this season.
The Red Sox don't want to release Mike Lowell, since he provides injury protection at both corner infield spots, and can DH against left-handers. Additionally, if the Sox were to release Lowell, many of their AL rivals, such as the Angels, Rays, and Twins, could have interest in him.
Ken Griffey's current role of pinch-hitter, occasional DH, and clubhouse mentor is exactly what the Mariners were hoping for when they re-signed the 40-year-old this winter. For now, the club has no desire for Griffey to retire.
Carlos Zambrano appears to be headed back to the Cubs' rotation, even though he may currently be their sixth-best starter. The team could attempt to trade Tom Gorzelanny or move him to the bullpen, but Rosenthal opines that it would make their pitching staff weaker.

Odds & Ends: Orioles, Scheppers, Pirates, Blue Jays

By Mark Polishuk | May 21, 2010 at 5:55pm CDT

As we prepare for a weekend of watching AL pitchers take ineffective swings, here are a few news items…

Dave Cameron of Fangraphs thinks the Orioles should take advantage of their terrible start by being the first team to put its assets on the trade market.
Texas relief prospect Tanner Scheppers could be in the majors by the All-Star Break or even sooner, predicts John Sickels of MinorLeagueBall.com.
ESPN.com's Jason A. Churchill looks at what the Pirates might do with the second overall pick in next month's amateur draft.
The Blue Jays want "a top prospect" for either Scott Downs or Jason Frasor, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney, and other teams consider that to be too high a price for either reliever.
Olney also notes (via Twitter) that Seattle is still looking for batting help.
Matt Eddy of Baseball America discusses several prospects in a chat with fans. In regards to Indians prospect Lonnie Chisenhall, Eddy predicts that Cleveland will buy out Jhonny Peralta (for $250K) rather than pick up his $7MM club option in 2011, and then have Chisenhall take over as the everyday third baseman. Chisenhall has just a .641 OPS at Double-A Akron this season, so it might be too much to expect him to move up to the majors that quickly.
Larry Stone of the Seattle Times compares the situations of fading future Hall-of-Famers Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Hoffman.
ESPN's Rob Neyer thinks Colorado can do better than Luis Castillo or Kazuo Matsui if the club is serious about improving itself at second base.
Trevor Plouffe, Minnesota's first-round pick (20th overall) in the 2004 amateur draft, will make his major league debut tonight for the Twins, reports Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Hoffman, Bay, Markakis

By Mike Axisa | May 21, 2010 at 9:45am CDT

On this date back in 2004, Alex Rodriguez returned to Texas to play the Rangers for the first time since being traded (along with $71MM) to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias. He was booed loudly just like every other road game of his career, though he silenced the home crowd – at least temporarily – with a two-run homer in the first inning.

Here are a few links from around the baseball blogosphere…

Disciples of Uecker thinks it's time for Trevor Hoffman to call it a career.
Mets Merized wants to know what happened to Jason Bay's power.
Meanwhile, Camden Crazies looks at Nick Markakis' lack of pop.
The Kept Faith says that it's time for the Oscar Salazar era to end in San Diego.
Nick's Twins Blog isn't sure if Jesse Crain can right the ship.
Yankeeist wonders if Marcus Thames will be able to replace the injured Nick Johnson.
The Friarhood examines some players the Padres could select in next month's amateur draft.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Players Who Cannot Be Offered Arbitration

By Tim Dierkes | May 17, 2010 at 1:47pm CDT

Being designated a Type A free agent can be a detriment if the team offers arbitration. If the player accepts, he's off the market on a one-year deal and has a limited salary range. If he declines, his new team must surrender a draft pick upon signing him. Carrying around the added draft pick cost, Juan Cruz and Orlando Cabrera were among those with fewer opportunities as free agents after the '08 season.

As a result, a contractual clause prohibiting the team from offering arbitration if a player receives Type A status has been gaining in popularity. During the 2009-10 offseason, at least four players had this clause added:

Orlando Hudson, Legacy Sports. Hudson was offered and turned down arbitration from the Diamondbacks after the '08 season, and was surprised he could only find a one-year deal from the Dodgers guaranteeing $3.38MM. The Dodgers were willing to give up the #17 overall pick to get Hudson at the reduced rate. Hudson avoided the problem when the Dodgers chose not to offer arbitration after the '09 season. His agent made sure it would not surface again after '10 by having a clause included in his Twins contract prohibiting the team from offering arbitration if he's a Type A. Hudson is a Type B right now anyway.
Brad Penny, Legacy Sports. Penny was well-paid by the Cardinals given his 2009 stats, but he also had the "no arbitration offer" clause included. That might've been optimistic, since right now he's not even a Type B.
Justin Duchscherer, Lapa/Leventhal. The A's offered arbitration to Duchscherer, a Type B, after the '09 season. He declined and re-signed, and this time made sure the team cannot offer if he's a Type A. The point is moot, as Duchscherer is below Type B and may miss the rest of the season with hip surgery.
Ben Sheets, CAA. Not only did Sheets snag a huge $10MM guarantee after missing all of '09, he got this clause added just in case he has a season awesome enough to vault him to Type A status. I'm not sure that's even possible. Though he's been better recently, he'd need to quadruple his current Elias points (15.175) to reach Type B.
Scott Boras may have been out front on this trend. He had the clause included in Ivan Rodriguez's one-year, $10MM deal with the Marlins in '03 as well as Carlos Beltran's seven-year, $119MM deal signed in '05. Beltran is a Type A at this time, but the Mets might not have offered arbitration after '11 anyway.

July 2 Prospect Update: De La Cruz, Peguero, Romero

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 14, 2010 at 3:00pm CDT

Vicmar De La Cruz has received a seven-figure offer from the Indians, according to MLBTR contributor Blake Bentley. Teams cannot make official offers until the international signing period begins this July 2nd, but they're watching now. Bentley reports that the Indians are interested, but says De La Cruz will likely wait for more offers.

This year's best July 2 shortstop, Martin Steylon Peguero, will be in position to demand a solid contract as he is this year's best July 2nd shortstop. Bentley reports that the Rangers, Mariners, Padres, Twins, Reds and Cubs have all expressed serious interest in Peguero, who has also received a seven figure offer.

Wilmer Romero, an outfielder from Santo Domingo, has the toolset to demand seven figures, writes Bentley. The previous unknown stands 6'2'', has good speed, a strong arm and plus power.

2011 Contract Issues: Minnesota Twins

By Tim Dierkes | May 10, 2010 at 8:14am CDT

The Twins face a pair of contractual options after the season:

Designated hitter Jason Kubel has a $5.25MM club option with a $350K buyout. If he is able to crank things up and approach his '09 production, I'd expect the Twins to exercise.
Infielder Nick Punto has a $5MM club option with a $500K buyout. Punto may eventually justify the $4.5MM net price in some statistical or technical sense, but this feels well beyond what he could get as a free agent.

The Twins have plenty of free agents coming off the books, including Carl Pavano, Orlando Hudson, Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain, and Jim Thome. The potential losses of Guerrier and Crain, the Twins' current relief innings leaders, will hopefully be offset by the return of Joe Nathan. Assuming Punto leaves and Kubel stays, the Twins will free up $23.55MM in departing free agents. Of course, they may elect to re-sign some of them. Another $100K comes off with Mike Lamb's buyout being paid.

Increases to players under contract will eat up $19.35MM of the free cash. Joe Mauer leads with a $10.5MM increase, while Michael Cuddyer, Nick Blackburn, and Scott Baker also get decent bumps. Then there are the arbitration cases. Kevin Slowey and Alexi Casilla would go for the first time, Delmon Young, Francisco Liriano, and Pat Neshek a second, Clay Condrey a third, and J.J. Hardy a fourth.

Even if they let all departing free agents leave aside from Kubel, the Twins will need to raise payroll past $100MM just to retain under-contract and arbitration-eligible players.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Rays, Lackey, Peavy, Cano

By Mike Axisa | May 7, 2010 at 8:44am CDT

On this date 11 years ago, Hideki Irabu of the Yankees and Mac Suzuki of the Mariners faced off in the first match up of Japanese starting pitchers in Major League history. Irabu allowed one run over seven innings as the Yanks defeated Seattle by the score of 10-1.

Here are some links from around the baseball blogosphere…

Rays Index tries to figure out which starting pitcher Tampa Bay will trade after the season.
At Home Plate thinks John Lackey was off-base with his recent comments about the Angels.
The Friarhood wonders if the Padres can already be declared the winner of the Jake Peavy trade.
Nick's Twins Blog says that trading Wilson Ramos is a no-brainer.
More Hardball looks at some players who are performing well in the big leagues after signing minor league deals this offseason.
Yankeeist revisits the old Robinson Cano for Matt Kemp trade rumor.
Mets Paradise wonders how long Frank Catalanotto and Fernando Tatis will keep their jobs.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Stark On Gordon, Dunn, Lowell

By Tim Dierkes | May 6, 2010 at 1:27pm CDT

The five most untradeable contracts in baseball? ESPN's Jayson Stark's poll of baseball executives say it's Alfonso Soriano, Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner, Carlos Lee, and Barry Zito. Hard to argue; check out our Bad Contract Swap Meet from last year for a look at other ugly deals. It was interesting to see Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kosuke Fukudome nab honorable mentions in Stark's poll. On to his other rumblings…

Stark's conversations led to repeated mentions of the new collective bargaining agreement, which will go into effect in December of 2011. The uncertainty will have an impact – will 2011 draftees lack leverage, knowing that a slotting system could be installed the following year? Does it make sense to worry about Super Two status for Mike Stanton now, when that provision might not exist in 2012?
Teams have kicked the tires on Alex Gordon, but the Royals have no interest in trading him. MLBTR's Luke Adams led a discussion post on Gordon yesterday.
The Dodgers are scouring the trade market for starting pitching, while the Royals and Phillies seek bullpen help. The Mariners and Braves are trying to add offense. The Diamondbacks are actually more interested in starting pitching than relief, and are expected to have Chris Snyder available once Miguel Montero returns.
A "baseball man familiar with the Nationals' thinking" expects Adam Dunn to return in 2011, though not necessarily via an in-season extension.
A friend of Mike Lowell tells Stark the third baseman would love to play for the Twins or Angels if the Red Sox plan to trade him.
The Phillies have recently adopted a stance against full no-trade clauses, which is reflected in the Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard extensions.

Odds & Ends: Royals, Byrnes, Colon, Twins

By Luke Adams 2 | May 2, 2010 at 7:00pm CDT

A few links to browse, as we prepare for the Mets' third consecutive appearance on Sunday Night Baseball….

R.J. Anderson of Fangraphs weighed in on the Royals' demotion of Alex Gordon.
Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner (via Twitter) has a gut feeling that the M's will release Eric Byrnes tomorrow. Heading into today's game, Byrnes had a slash line of .107/.265/.179 in 34 plate appearances.
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star tweets that reports of the Royals selling Ramon Colon to Korea's Kia Tigers appear to be premature. However, the deal for the righty should happen sometime mid-week.
In a guest piece at Minorleagueball.com, Twins' prospect guru Seth Stohs tells readers about five Twins prospects that you might not know, but probably should.
ESPN New York's Ian O'Connor spoke with Omar Minaya about several Mets-related issues, including his early impression of Ike Davis and Jerry Manuel's contract status. Minaya offers praise for Manuel, but says he won't be approached about an extension until season's end.
The New York Post's Joel Sherman writes that the Rays' front office will continue to keep their club competitive, regardless of how many fans are in the stands. He also opines that the presence of Desmond Jennings and Jeremy Hellickson in Triple-A Durham gives the team the flexibility to make a trade that would help them both immediately and in the long-term.
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times examines how the Dodgers' cost cutting has affected their scouting and player development.
J.D. Durbin has signed a one-year deal with NPB's Softbank Hawks, according to Kyodo News. The 28-year-old right-hander last pitched in the majors in 2007 for the Phillies.

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