Yankees Rumors

Top Trade Chips: AL East

By Mike Axisa | April 17, 2010 at 7:27pm CDT

Let's finish off our series with the toughest division in baseball…

Blue Jays: The Jays already traded away most of their top pieces, but they still have three desirable relievers in Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, and Kevin Gregg. All three can become free agents after the season. There might be some interest in first baseman Lyle Overbay, who will also hit the open market after the season.
Orioles: Considering how poorly he pitched before landing on the DL, I'm sure a large part of the Baltimore faithful wouldn't mind seeing Mike Gonzalez go. Alas, that won't happen anytime soon. There always seems to be interest in Luke Scott, who still has two more years of team control left. If they decide to sell at mid-season, Kevin Millwood and Jeremy Guthrie could find their way onto the block.
Rays: The Rays are a player development machine, and they have enough young players to get get pretty much anyone they want. They have enough depth that they could trade one of Reid Brignac or Sean Rodriguez plus one of Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis, or Jeremy Hellickson and not miss a beat. If they fall out of it and decide to sell, it doesn't get much better than Carl Crawford, Rafael Soriano, and Carlos Pena. I believe the term is "stacked."
Red Sox: Boston has held onto Clay Buchholz for this long, but with his name appearing so frequently on the rumor circuit, it really wouldn't be surprising if they moved him for a big time player. They might still be able to find a taker for Mike Lowell, and there would be interest in Manny Delcarmen if he were made available. They did lose a valuable chip when Junichi Tazawa went down with Tommy John surgery.
Yankees: They seem unwilling to trade either Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain, so their best chip is the semi-blocked Jesus Montero. Of course, the Yankees have the ability to absorb even the ugliest of contracts, so maybe we should consider that their biggest trade chip.

Largest Contracts In Team History

By Mike Axisa | April 17, 2010 at 12:14pm CDT

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.

Angels: Torii Hunter, five years, $90MM
Astros: Carlos Lee, six years, $100MM
Athletics: Eric Chavez, six years, $66MM
Blue Jays: Vernon Wells, seven years, $126MM
Braves: Chipper Jones, six years, $90MM
Brewers: Ryan Braun, eight years, $45MM
Cardinals: Matt Holliday, seven years, $120MM
Cubs: Alfonso Soriano, eight years, $136MM
Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson, four years, $53.4MM
Dodgers: Kevin Brown, seven years, $105MM
Giants: Barry Zito, seven years, $126MM
Indians: Travis Hafner, four years, $57MM
Mariners: Ichiro Suzuki, five years, $90MM
Marlins: Hanley Ramirez, six years, $70MM
Mets: Johan Santana, six years, $137.5MM
Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman, five years, $45MM
Orioles: Miguel Tejada, six years, $72MM
Padres: Jake Peavy, three years, $52MM
Phillies: Chase Utley, seven years, $85MM
Pirates: Jason Kendall, six years, $60MM
Rangers: Alex Rodriguez, ten years, $252MM
Rays: Wilson Alvarez, five years, $35MM
Reds: Ken Griffey Jr., nine years, $116.5MM
Red Sox: Manny Ramirez, eight years, $160MM
Rockies: Todd Helton, nine years, $141.5MM
Royals: Gil Meche & Mike Sweeney, both five years, $55MM
Tigers: Miguel Cabrera, eight years, $152.3MM
Twins: Joe Mauer, eight years, $184MM
White Sox: Frank Thomas, seven years, $64.4MM
Yankees: Alex Rodriguez, ten years, $275MM

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Odds & Ends: Penn, Veras, Beimel, Mientkiewicz

By Mike Axisa | April 16, 2010 at 4:48pm CDT

Links for Friday…

Hayden Penn cleared waivers and now has until Monday to decide whether to report to Triple A or become a free agent, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter). The Pirates designated Penn for assignment Monday.
Jose Veras, who was designated for assignment Wednesday, has been outrighted to Triple A by the Marlins, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (Twitter link). This presumably means Veras cleared waivers.
The Rockies called up Joe Beimel, according to the team. Beimel's deal pays him $850K in the major leagues.
ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick heard that Bret Boone is trying to recruit Doug Mientkiewicz and Bobby Kielty for his Golden League team (Twitter link).
ESPN.com's Keith Law offers updates on some of the top prospects eligible for this June's draft, including Bryce Brentz, an outfielder who Law considers "one of the top college bats in this draft."
Fred Lewis and his representatives had been asking the Giants for a trade for nearly a year, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
FanGraphs' Jack Moore calls the Lewis deal a no-brainer for the Blue Jays and a head-scratcher for the Giants.
Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun takes us on a must-read behind the scenes look at the Adeiny Hechavarria signing.
Recent injuries to Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron will test Boston's depth, says WEEI.com's Alex Speier.
Matt Eddy of Baseball America brings us up to date on the latest round of minor league transactions. Among the notable players released: Brady Clark and Curtis Thigpen.

Odds & Ends: Downs, Soriano, Dodgers, Guillen

By Mark Polishuk | April 15, 2010 at 9:48pm CDT

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.

Odds & Ends: Evans, Sheffield, Slowey, Hechavarria

By Tim Dierkes | April 15, 2010 at 3:36pm CDT

Links for Thursday…

Slate's Dan Morrell discusses the influx of Cuban talent into the Majors, as well as the many quality players who have not defected.
Outfielder Terry Evans cleared waivers and was sent to the Angels Triple A club to clear a spot for Scott Kazmir, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. Evans, 28, hit .291/.341/.520 at Triple A last year, his third stint at that level.
Gary Sheffield has "something on the table" to look at after he returns from vacation, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggested a few weeks ago that Sheffield is talking to an NL club (not the Nationals).
Kevin Slowey said he wouldn't mind a contract similar to Nick Blackburn's four-year, $14MM deal, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Slowey will be arbitration-eligible for the first time after the season.
Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star tweets a correction to something he wrote yesterday, explaining that Adeiny Hechavarria does indeed qualify for a fourth option.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Yankees essentially chose Javier Vazquez over Joel Pineiro. Sherman feels that Vazquez has "re-opened the wounds from 2004" with his two subpar starts.

Odds & Ends: Lowell, Paulino, Cardinals, Nationals

By Luke Adams 2 | April 11, 2010 at 2:30pm CDT

Links for Sunday….

Tony La Russa tells Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch that he's confident GM John Mozeliak will add pieces if the Cardinals have clear needs this summer.
Barry Bonds still hasn't retired, notes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (via Twitter).
Mike Lowell explained to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston that he would like to take a year or two off once he's done playing. Lowell would consider broadcasting, but doesn't think he wants to coach at this point.
Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post credits Florida's front office with another steal for acquiring Ronny Paulino. The Marlins traded for Paulino a year ago in exchange for Hector Correa, who isn't close to the big leagues.
Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch takes a look at the Cardinals' present and future payroll situation.
Yesterday we discussed the Nationals' need to make room on their 25-man roster for Livan Hernandez, who will start for Washington today. MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that the team has cleared a spot by optioning Garrett Mock to Triple A, deciding against sending down Jesse English.
Despite not receiving much first base production so far, Jerry Manuel says the Mets have no plans to call up Ike Davis, according to Dan Martin of the New York Post.
The New York Post's Joel Sherman explains why it's important for the New York franchises to develop pitching depth from within their organizations.

Largest Contracts By Position

By Mike Axisa | April 10, 2010 at 10:56am CDT

We've already looked at the largest contracts by service time, so now let's break it down by position…

Catcher
Joe Mauer: Eight years, $184MM

First Base
Mark Teixeira: Eight years, $180MM

Second Base
Chase Utley: Seven years, $85MM

Shortstop
Alex Rodriguez: Ten years, $252MM

Third Base
Alex Rodriguez: Ten years, $275MM

Outfield
Alfonso Soriano: Eight years, $136MM
Vernon Wells: Seven years, $126MM
Matt Holliday: Seven years, $120MM

Starting Pitcher
CC Sabathia: Seven years, $161MM
Johan Santana: Six years, $137.5MM
Barry Zito: Seven years, $126MM
Mike Hampton: Eight years, $121MM
Kevin Brown: Seven years, $105MM

Relief Pitcher
Joe Nathan: Four years, $47MM
Mariano Rivera: Three years, $45MM

Some thoughts…

If you want to count DH as a position, which I guess it technically is, then Travis Hafner's four year, $57MM deal would top the list.
Joe Mauer's contract is more than three and a half times larger than Jorge Posada's four year, $52.4MM deal, the second largest among active catchers. Mike Piazza's seven year, $91MM deal is the second largest for a catcher all-time.
A-Rod only spent three years of his $252MM at the shortstop position before sliding over to third. The next largest contract ever given to a shortstop belongs to his teammate, Derek Jeter, who signed a ten year, $189MM deal in 2001.
The Twins are the only team besides the Yankees to employ two of the largest contracts at their respective positions.
The Soriano, Wells, Zito, and Hampton deals are all ones ownership wish they could take back. Brown spent a lot of time on the disabled list, but he did post a 3.23 ERA in close to 1,100 innings during the life of his deal.
The Utley and Rivera deals are ones the teams would happily do again, but the jury is still out on the rest.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Norris, Braves, Yankees

By Mike Axisa | April 9, 2010 at 9:56am CDT

One year ago today, 22-year-old Angels' starter Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver just hours after shutting out the A's for six innings. The lone survivor from Adenhart's car, his friend and Cal State Fullerton catcher Jon Wilhite, recovered from his injuries well enough to throw out the first pitch at an A's game in July. The drunk driver, 23-year-old Andrew Thomas Gallo, is still awaiting trial. Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse recently spoke to a few members of the Angels about the Adenhart tragedy.

On a much less somber note, here's a look at what's being written around the web during the season's first week…

The Dodgerhater sat down for a chat with Astros pitcher Bud Norris.
Capitol Avenue Club looks at ten players the Braves could attempt to lock up to long-term deals.
At Home Plate wonders if the Yankees' big money deals will come back to haunt them.
El Lefty Malo muses about the Giants' poor track record for developing position players.
Where Have You Gone Andy Van Slyke? is excited for what they call "the first true season of the Neal Huntington era."
The Cubs Reporter looks at the Cubs' ownership history.
South Side Sox has some fun with retired numbers.
Fenway Nation doesn't like the lack of speed on Boston's bench.

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

Largest Contracts By Service Time

By Mike Axisa | April 8, 2010 at 8:46pm CDT

When Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo signed his five year, $30.1MM extension earlier today, it marked the largest contract ever signed by a pitcher with less than three years of service time.

Let's look at the richest contracts by service time, in terms of guaranteed money…

Less Than One Year
Position Player: Ryan Braun. Eight years, $45MM
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Four years, $9.5MM.

One To Two Years
Position Player: Chris Young. Five years, $28MM.
Pitcher: Fausto Carmona. Four years, $15MM.

Two To Three Years
Position Player: Hanley Ramirez. Six years, $70MM.
Pitcher: Yovani Gallardo. Five years, $30.1MM.

Three To Four Years
Position Player: Albert Pujols. Seven years, $100MM.
Pitcher: Scott Kazmir. Three years, $28.5MM.

Four To Five Years
Position Player: Miguel Cabrera. Eight years, $152.3MM.
Pitcher: Justin Verlander. Five years, $80MM.

Five To Six Years
Position Player: Derek Jeter. Ten years, $189MM.
Pitcher: Jake Peavy. Three years, $52MM.

Six-plus Years
Position Player: Alex Rodriguez. Ten years, $275MM.
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Seven years, $171MM.

Some thoughts…

The most regrettable deals were signed very early in the player's career, Young and Carmona. Might be a lesson in using up those pre-arbitration years before taking the plunge.
The largest contract signed by a position player with less than one year of service time after Braun's deal is Evan Longoria's, which will pay him just $17.5MM over six years. Is Braun overpaid, or is Longoria underpaid? I think the answer is clear.
Sabathia's four year, $9.5MM deal nearly tripled Roy Halladay's three year, $3.7MM deal with Toronto, which was the previous record for a pitcher with less an a year of service time.
One only of the above contracts has expired.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Blocked Prospects: Jesus Montero

By Mike Axisa | April 8, 2010 at 7:19pm CDT

In 20-year-old catcher Jesus Montero, the Yankees have what is arguably their best offensive prospect since Derek Jeter. But there's a problem: they don't have an obvious place to put him.

Both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein ranked Montero as the 4th best prospect in the game, while ESPN's Keith Law had him 10th. He is clearly one of the game's brightest young minor leaguers, but as Baseball America said in their 2010 Handbook, "the Yankees no longer talk abut him as an every day major league catcher" because he "is somewhat stiff and lacks agility behind the plate." Despite his defensive woes, Montero hit .337/.389/.562 with 17 homers in 92 games across two levels last year. His season ended prematurely because of a broken finger suffered while he was behind the dish.

In most other organizations, Montero would simply move out from behind the plate and learn how to play first base. Of course, the Yankees already have Mark Teixeira penciled into the position for the next seven years. A corner outfield spot may be a possibility, but scouts are skeptical because his lack of athleticism might not allow him to be anything better than below average out there. Designated hitter is less than ideal since he's so young, not to mention that they'll need the spot for some of the older players on the team's roster.

If they so choose, the Yankees could look to trade Montero for a piece to help the big league roster, something they're known to do with their prospects. In fact, they offered Montero to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay straight up last year. Jorge Posada is under contract through 2011 and isn't getting any younger, so they could try to ease Montero in as a back-up catcher/part-time DH at first. Montero started the season at Triple-A, and it's worth remembering that he'll be just 27-years-old when Teixeira's contract is up.

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