West Notes: Padres, Vogelsong, Nathan, Athletics
The Padres will look for a lefty reliever and a left-handed hitter this offseason, GM Josh Byrnes says (via ESPN's Jim Bowden on Twitter). In addition, the Padres hope to get better health from their players next season. The Padres have recently been connected to Mark Trumbo, who is right-handed. There are a few good lefty relief options on the free agent market, J.P. Howell, Manny Parra and former Padre Oliver Perez among them. Here are more notes from the West divisions.
- The Giants officially declined Ryan Vogelsong's 2014 option today, and while that doesn't mean he won't return, both sides are exploring other possibilities, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "I don’t think today necessarily eliminated the chances of him coming back," says assistant GM Bobby Evans. "But it does put a step back in the process, obviously, as he looks at other options. He could find something very appealing, or we could find something that doesn’t filter back to him." There are currently no talks between the two parties.
- After declining his end of a $9MM mutual option for 2014, Joe Nathan says he doesn't expect to be back with the Rangers, writes Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com. The veteran closer acknowledged that he's seeking a two-year deal and doesn't sense much interest from Texas. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes sees Nathan landing something in the neighborhood of a two-year, $26MM deal this winter.
- Major League Baseball intimated to Oakland Coliseum officials that they will help the Athletics move across the bay and play at the rival Giants' AT&T Park in San Francisco if they don't come to terms on a new short-term lease for the team, sources tell Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross of the San Francisco Chronicle. Coliseum brass are pushing for a long-term lease renewal, while the A's want some flexibility in the event that they can get a ballpark deal done in San Jose.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Hudson Has Offer From Braves; Other Teams Interested
4:57pm: Eight teams have contacted Hudson, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Giants, Red Sox, A's and Rangers have all reached out in addition to the Braves, Indians and Royals.
12:30pm: Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets that close to 10 teams have already expressed interest in Hudson.
12:25pm: Not surprisingly, Tim Hudson won't be receiving a qualifying offer, but the Braves have already extended him a one-year offer to return for the 2014 season, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Bowman doesn't have the financial details of the offer beyond its one-year term, but he notes that the Indians and Royals have both already expressed interest in luring Hudson away from the Braves.
According to Bowman, Indians manager Terry Francona has already had a lengthy phone call with Hudson, and Royals manager Ned Yost plans to contact him later in the week. Hudson and agent Paul Cohen of TWC Sports have yet to make a counter offer to the Braves' proposed one-year pact.
Hudson is set to have a screw removed from his ankle this week — the final step in his recovery from a gruesome fracture suffered in late July when Eric Young stepped on his foot in a close play at first base. Hudson could be throwing off a mound within two weeks of the screw's removal, writes Bowman.
On the Brian McCann front, Bowman lists the Rangers as the early front-runners to sign the longtime Braves backstop as a free agent, though he notes that the Yankees and Red Sox are also expected to be in the mix. As MLBTR's Tim Dierkes confirmed earlier today, McCann will receive a qualifying offer. He's a lock to reject that offer and hit the open market, though.
A’s Won’t Extend Any Qualifying Offers
The Athletics have announced that they will not extend qualifying offers to free agents Bartolo Colon and Grant Balfour. Neither player will require a new team to sacrifice a draft pick this winter. The move isn't surprising, given the $14.1MM value of a qualifying offer.
Colon would've been more likely to earn a qualifying offer than Balfour. The 40-year-old enjoyed a dominant season in which he pitched to a 2.65 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 190 1/3 innings for the A's. Colon earned a $3MM base salary and totaled another $2.4MM via incentives for games started and innings pitched, so the $14.1MM value would've been a substantial increase over his 2013 salary. Still, he projects to earn a healthy increase from that $5.4MM total on the open market. Colon and the A's have expressed mutual interest, and Colon feels that he can pitch for another three seasons.
Balfour, 36 in December, saved 38 games for the A's in 2013 en route to a sparkling 2.59 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9, earning his first All-Star berth in the process. I pegged his open-market value at $18MM over two years in my free agent profile of Balfour, though that should come with the caveat that there are more closers than jobs availble this winter. If he's left standing in January, Balfour won't be able to land that type of cash, so it would behoove him and agent Keith Miller of ACES to find a deal early on in the free agent process.
A’s Exercise Options On Crisp, Anderson; Options On Young, Suzuki Declined
The Athletics announced that they have exercised their $7.5MM club option on Coco Crisp as well as their $8MM club option on Brett Anderson and declined their $11MM option and Chris Young and $8.5MM option on Kurt Suzuki. Young and Suzuki will receive respective buyouts of $1.5MM and $650K.
The news comes as a $7.5MM birthday gift for Crisp, who turns 34 years old today. The switch-hitting center fielder enjoyed the best offensive season of his 12-year career in 2013, slashing .261/.335/.444 with a career-best 22 homers. He chipped in 21 steals in 26 tries and was six runs above average in center field, per The Fielding Bible's Defensive Runs Saved metric (he was roughly average, per UZR), making the decision a no-brainer.
Anderson, who turns 26 in February, pitched just 44 2/3 innings for the A's this season. He compiled an unsightly 6.04 ERA in that time, though metrics such as FIP (3.85) and xFIP (3.26) suggest he was the recipient of some misfortune. Indeed, his 9.3 K/9 and 69.2 percent ground-ball rate seem to indicate that he should've had better superficial numbers, though his 4.2 BB/9 rate was a drastic departure from his typically excellent control.
Anderson would have been arbitration eligible had the A's declined his option. They could've had him for less than the $8MM he will receive in 2014, but declining his option would have also negated the $12MM club option the team holds on his free agent season. Essentially GM Billy Beane decided to pay Anderson an extra $1-1.5MM with the belief that he will remain healthy and look like a bargain at $12MM in 2015, as his career numbers through 2012 indicate he would.
Young hit just .200/.280/.379 with 12 homers and 10 steals in 2013 after coming over from the D-Backs in the three-team deal that sent Heath Bell and Cliff Pennington to Arizona and prospects to the Marlins.
Suzuki was acquired in an August waiver trade that was necessitated by injuries to John Jaso and Derek Norris. He batted a strong .303/.343/.545 with a pair of homers in 35 plate appearances for the A's but hit just .232/.290/.337 overall between the Nationals and A's. With Jaso and Norris both present in the long-term, Suzuki will look for a new team this offseason, as Oakland likely doesn't have a roster spot for him even on a cheaper one-year deal.
Offseason Outlook: Oakland Athletics
The Athletics have contractual control over their entire starting lineup, including platoons, so GM Billy Beane will stay the course in 2014 after a second consecutive AL West title.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Yoenis Cespedes, OF: $21MM through 2015
- Alberto Callaspo, 2B/3B: $4.875 through 2014
Arbitration Eligible Players (service time in parentheses)
- Jed Lowrie, SS (5.111): $4.8MM projected salary
- Seth Smith, OF/DH (5.119): $4.3MM
- Brandon Moss, 1B/OF (3.160): $3.8MM
- John Jaso, C (4.032): $2.2MM
- Josh Reddick, OF (3.050): $2.2MM
- Jerry Blevins, RP (4.081): $1.5MM
- Daric Barton, 1B (4.028): $1.4MM (non-tender candidate)
- Pat Neshek, RP (5.159): $1.2MM (non-tender candidate)
- Jesse Chavez, RP (3.108): $600K
- Scott Sizemore, 2B (3.046): $600K (non-tender candidate)
- Fernando Rodriguez, RP (2.142 – Super Two): $500K (non-tender candidate)
Contract Options
- Chris Young, OF: $11MM club option ($1.5MM buyout)
- Kurt Suzuki, C: $8.5MM club option ($650K buyout)
- Brett Anderson, SP: $8MM club option ($1.5MM buyout)
- Coco Crisp, OF: $7.5MM club option ($1MM buyout)
Free Agents
The Athletics' main objective this offseason should be to figure out a way to beat Justin Verlander in an ALDS Game 5, which is how each of their past two post-season runs have ended. With tongue no longer firmly planted in cheek, the Athletics' priority this winter is what to do if, as expected, Balfour departs via free agency and to determine whether Colon's stabilizing influence is still needed for their young rotation.
The Athletics are loathe to spend valuable resources on a closer and MLBTR's Steve Adams sees Balfour netting a two-year, $18MM contract in free agency. Beane and manager Bob Melvin have both said Sean Doolittle and Ryan Cook are options to replace the Australian with Beane also mentioning Dan Otero. If the Athletics want to purchase an insurance policy, there aren't many free agent closers who will accept a one-year deal in the club's price range, but Francisco Rodriguez and Kevin Gregg could fall into that category. If they simply want a veteran presence in the bullpen on a team-friendly contract, LaTroy Hawkins, David Aardsma, Kyle Farnsworth, and Brandon Lyon could provide that. Jerry Blevins and Jesse Chavez will return to round out the relief corps.
Colon, who wants to pitch three more years, is amenable to returning to Oakland and Beane has acknowledged it "would be foolish" not to "have real interest in bringing him back." There's interest, but is there room in the rotation? Sonny Gray and A.J. Griffin have injury concerns; but, if healthy, expect to front the rotation along with Jarrod Parker. Brett Anderson, Dan Straily, and Tommy Milone will compete to fill out the rotation. The oft-injured Anderson is generating some trade interest with the Blue Jays most prominently linked to the left-hander. In his Blue Jays' offseason outlook, MLBTR's Mark Polishuk theorizes Toronto could deal closer Casey Janssen for starting pitching. There is a 2014 club option on Janssen worth $4MM, which would make him appealing to the Athletics. The Blue Jays may be willing to absorb the $4MM difference in salaries in a straight-up trade for Anderson or Oakland would have to become creative by including additional player(s) and/or international bonus slot money. Dealing Anderson would also free up a rotation spot for Colon, but re-signing the 40-year-old will be dependent on how much of a raise he expects from his expiring one-year, $3MM deal.
Most of the Athletics' other offseason moves will be procedural: which members of their 11-player arbitration class will be tendered contracts and which club options will be exercised. With regards to the former, Daric Barton, Pat Neshek, Scott Sizemore, and Fernando Rodriguez are non-tender possibilities. All four, however, are candidates to be re-signed to minor league deals. With regards to the latter, Beane has said Coco Crisp will be back in the Green and Gold next year. Crisp would like a multi-year extension, but that is a higher priority for him than the team. Anderson's option is also likely to be exercised while Chris Young and Kurt Suzuki are too expensive to retain in bench roles. Michael Choice, the team's second-ranked prospect according to MLB.com, will be called upon to fill Young's spot while the Athletics are flush behind the plate with John Jaso, Derek Norris, and Stephen Vogt competing for playing time.
The one position where the Athletics could look for an upgrade is second base. Beane may decide to bide his time with the platoon of Alberto Callaspo and Eric Sogard while waiting for shortstop Addison Russell to reach the Majors. Once that happens, current shortstop Jed Lowrie could move over to second base. Russell, the 11th overall selection in the 2012 amateur draft will start the year in either Double-A or Triple-A, according to Beane. The best available free agent second baseman Robinson Cano is too pricey for the Athletics. Potential trade targets like Rickie Weeks (whose brother, Jemile, is in the A's system) and Dan Uggla have both underperformed the past two seasons and are expensive. An intriguing possibility is Brandon Phillips, who has apparently worn out his welcome in Cincinnati. Phillips slumped in 2013 with a slash line of .261/.310/.396 in 606 plate appearances, but that would still be an improvement over the Callaspo/Sogard tandem. Phillips is due $50MM through 2017. Would Beane be willing to take on such a large salary obligation with Russell in the wings? The answer depends on the Reds' asking price in terms of money absorbed to prospects received.
The Athletics ranked third in the AL in runs scored thanks to a breakout year from third baseman Josh Donaldson (.301/.384/.499 and 24 home runs). Yoenis Cespedes fell off from his outstanding rookie campaign with a .240/.294/.442 slash line, but the 28-year-old Cuban redeemed himself somewhat by hitting .381/.409/.667 in the ALDS and is a career .350/.395/.525 hitter in 43 post-season plate appearances. Brandon Moss also contributed a career-best 30 home runs in a career-high 505 plate appearances. Josh Reddick struggled with a right wrist injury and his numbers suffered because of it. Reddick will undergo arthroscopic surgery and should be at full strength by Spring Training. With this core, Beane thinks an additional bat would be nice, but not necessary.
"You could always use more, but…scoring runs wasn't an issue for us," said Beane (as quoted by John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle). "The body of work is pretty good. You'll look for ways to be better for sure, but realistically what we have and what's going to be available to us, it's hard to complain about that."
The Athletics have won 190 games the past two years en route to a pair of division titles. But, each season ended with ALDS heartbreak at the hands of Verlander and the Tigers. With so much success, the Athletics don't see a need to make dramatic changes to overcome their playoff failures. "We won our division doing things a certain way," Beane said (as quoted by MLB.com's Jane Lee). "We just fell one game short. I don't know that you completely try to do things differently based on coming up a game short." Each move Beane makes this winter will be geared towards bridging that one-game gap.
AL West Notes: Astros, Colon, Farquhar
United States Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur is considering an order to allow the Astros (and the Houston Rockets) to negotiate with other parties to see if another business model with a new partner could make a Houston sports network profitable, according to David Barron of the Houston Chronicle. Those partners include FOX Sports, and Astros owner Jim Crane disclosed in the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings for CSN Houston that he spoke with FOX executives earlier in the year about returning to FOX Sports Southwest. Crane has previously expressed concern about CSN Houston's impact on his team's ability to compete within the division. Here's more out of the AL West…
- There's mutual interest between the Athletics and Bartolo Colon, agent Adam Katz told Joe Stiglich of CSN California. Colon "loved his time" with the A's and would be open should they wish to make an offer, Stiglich elaborates (Twitter links). Colon recently told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he thinks he can pitch three more seasons.
- Speaking of Slusser, her latest column has a host of info on the decisions facing the A's early in the offseason. A qualifying offer seems too steep a price for Oakland to offer Colon, though she feels that he's likely to seek a deal similar to the one-year, $15MM contract Hiroki Kuroda signed this past offseason. Echoing earlier reports, Slusser feels that Grant Balfour is likely to leave as a free agent.
- MLB.com's Greg Johns looks at the unlikely path that right-hander Danny Farquhar took to become the Mariners closer. The 26-year-old went from the Blue Jays to the A's to the Yankees to the Mariners in a span of 12 months and entered 2013 as an afterthought before finishing the regular season with one of the most dominant stretches of any AL reliever this year.
Chris Young (OF) Switches Agencies
Outfielder Chris Young has changed agents, switching from CAA Sports to Reynolds Sports Management, according to a tweet from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Young played this year for the Athletics after spending all his previous big league time with the Diamondbacks.
As Heyman notes, the A's hold an $11MM club option over Young for next season, but are highly likely to pay him a $1.5MM buyout instead. Young hit just .200/.280/379 in 375 plate appearances in his first go-round in Oakland, while knocking twelve long balls and swiping ten bases. He also saw a downturn in his once-stellar defensive metrics, though short-sample variation could be to blame there.
Assuming Young is indeed set free by A's GM Billy Beane, his new agent will be tasked with dangling the 30-year-old's multi-tool upside on the free agent market. Though Young suffered from a low BABIP in 2013, he also has failed to maintain the strikeout and walk rates that supported his strong campaigns in 2010-11.
Arbitration Eligibles: Oakland Athletics
Matt Swartz has developed a very accurate model that MLBTR uses to project arbitration salaries, as explained in this series of posts. We've heard from many MLB teams and agencies that reference the projections in their work. The Athletics are next in our series. Estimated service time is in parentheses, and estimated 2014 salary follows.
- Brett Anderson (5.000): $5.5MM. Arbitration eligible if team chooses $1.5MM buyout over $8MM option.
- Jed Lowrie (5.111): $4.8MM
- Seth Smith (5.119): $4.3MM
- Brandon Moss (3.160): $3.8MM
- John Jaso (4.032): $2.2MM
- Josh Reddick (3.050): $2.2MM
- Jerry Blevins (4.081): $1.5MM
- Daric Barton (4.030): $1.4MM
- Pat Neshek (5.159): $1.2MM
- Jesse Chavez (3.108): $600K
- Scott Sizemore (3.046): $600K
- Fernando Rodriguez (2.142, Super Two): $500K
Anderson is the team's most interesting case. After a 6.04 ERA in 44 2/3 innings, we are not projecting an arbitration raise for the 25-year-old southpaw, so we're going with his 2013 salary of $5.5MM. His 2013 salary, however, was part of a four-year deal Anderson signed in 2010. For 2014, the A's have the choice of an $8MM option or a $1.5MM buyout, and GM Billy Beane told reporters including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle it's likely the option will be exercised. If the A's instead decline the option and pay the buyout plus our projected arbitration salary, they could save around a million dollars. However, declining the 2014 option would nullify a 2015 option for $12MM (which also has a $1.5MM buyout). It appears, then, that the A's find it worth $1MM or so now to have the ability to retain Anderson for 2015 at $12MM. That's curious for a guy who hasn't reached 100 innings since 2010 due to injuries, but perhaps the A's will end up trading Anderson this winter anyway.
Position players Lowrie, Moss, and Jaso are on solid ground for 2014. Lowrie stayed healthy for a full season for the first time in his career, and enters his contract year looking for a repeat. The A's could look into a team-friendly extension, if Lowrie prefers financial security over playing out 2014 and reaching free agency. Even shielded against lefties, Moss smacked 30 home runs as the team's primary first baseman. Also avoiding southpaws, Jaso did his job, ranking second in on-base percentage among all catchers with at least 200 plate appearances. His season ended with a late July concussion, but he should be OK for 2014.
Reddick saw his power sapped by an April wrist injury, for which he is having offseason surgery. The A's will retain him. Smith's production slipped this year, and even against righties his slugging percentage slipped to .408. He came up big in the division series with a home run against Anibal Sanchez, but at $4.3MM next year I think the A's will non-tender him.
Blevins and Chavez have modest salary projections and should be part of next year's bullpen. Neshek's ERA was down to 2.10 at the end of June, after which point he posted a 6.75 ERA in 12 innings and was designated for assignment. He remained in the organization and had his contract purchased in September, but seems likely to be non-tendered. Rodriguez joined the A's from the Astros in the February Jed Lowrie deal, but needed Tommy John surgery in late March. Though he's arbitration eligible as a Super Two, he doesn't project to make more than the league minimum, so the A's just have to decide if they want to use a 40-man roster spot on him.
The A's retained Barton through arbitration last offseason for $1.1MM, but designated him for assignment as spring training ended. He was outrighted to Triple-A, found his way back to the Majors in May, and then was designated and outrighted again. He came back in August and even made the postseason roster over Nate Freiman. Barton posted another OBP over .400 in Triple-A this year, but I think the 28-year-old will be non-tendered this time. Sizemore is also on the bubble after re-tearing his ACL a few games into the season.
Since the A's expect to pick up Anderson's option, we won't include him in our arbitration estimate. If the A's tender contracts to Lowrie, Moss, Jaso, Reddick, Blevins, and Chavez, they're looking at an estimated $15.1MM for six arbitration eligible players.
Minor Moves: Nakajima, Jimenez, Lotzkar, Poreda
Here are today's minor moves from around the league…
- The Athletics have re-signed shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, Baseball America's Matt Eddy reports. Nakajima hit .283/.331/.367 in 384 PA for Triple-A Sacramento this season, his first in North America after signing a two-year, $6.5MM deal with the A's last winter. Nakajima was outrighted off Oakland's 40-man roster last August.
- Left-hander Cesar Jimenez has elected to become a free agent, as reported by the International League's transactions page. Jimenez was outrighted off the Phillies' 40-man roster to Triple-A last week. The southpaw posted a 3.71 ERA, 11 strikeouts and 10 walks over 17 relief innings for Philadelphia in 2013.
- The Rangers signed right-hander Kyle Lotzkar and lefty Aaron Poreda to minor league deals, according to the latest minor league transactions report from Baseball America's Matt Eddy (which contains many more minor transactions). Lotzkar, 23, was released by the Reds in September. A former supplemental-round pick, Lotzkar was said by Baseball America to have some of the best stuff in the Reds' organization, but he's battled through Tommy John surgery and a stress fracture in his elbow in recent years. Though his 8.05 ERA in the minors this season was alarming, he whiffed 41 batters in 38 innings and has a career 10.5 K/9.
- Poreda, 27, didn't pitch in affiliated ball this season. Formerly BA's No. 63 overall prospect and a White Sox first-rounder, Poreda has a 3.53 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 in 454 career minor league innings. He reached the Majors in 2009 with both the Sox and Padres, as he was part of the haul San Diego received for Jake Peavy. BA wrote multiple times that he's "built for durability," but his lack of a true plus secondary pitch has led to many struggles.
- As shown in MLBTR's DFA Tracker, there are currently four players residing in DFA limbo: Pedro Beato of the Red Sox, Peter Moylan of the Dodgers and Tommy Layne and Colt Hynes of the Padres.
AL West Notes: Mariners, Balfour, Tanaka, Astros
There's been quite a bit of managerial buzz around the league with the large number of new openings, but all has been fairly quiet on the Mariners front until now. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Mariners will interview Athletics bench coach Chip Hale for their managerial vacancy. Hale hit .277/.346/.363 in 652 plate appearances over parts of seven Major League seasons (with all but 14 of his PAs coming in a Twins uniform). His impressive coaching background includes two years with the A's, two with the Mets and six seasons of minor league managerial experience with the D-Backs. Here's more out of the AL West…
- The Athletics are "almost certain" to let Grant Balfour depart via free agency, writes MLB.com's Jane Lee in her latest Inbox column. The A's typically don't spend big money on relievers, believing them to be too volatile a commodity. The door remains slightly open due to heavy competition for Balfour on the open market, as Joe Nathan, Joaquin Benoit, Fernando Rodney and Brian Wilson will all be free agents as well. In profiling Balfour last week, I pegged his market value at a two-year, $18MM deal.
- Within his own MLB.com Inbox column, T.R. Sullivan writes that the Rangers don't think as highly of Masahiro Tanaka as they did of Yu Darvish when they acquired his services two years ago.
- The thumbprints of Astros GM Jeff Luhnow are all over the Cardinals, writes Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle. Luhnow says that he still has a bond with several of the Cardinals players he selected in the draft and tends to root for them, but he's currently focused on and excited for the Astros' future. Houston owner Jim Crane has repeatedly said that the Cards are the model franchise for the Astros.
Zach Links contributed to this post.