Athletics Notes: Payroll, Barton, Stadium
Let's discuss the latest on the Athletics, with some help from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle…
- The A's haven't set their budget yet. Slusser expects payroll flexibility to be created by the team letting Ben Sheets leave, declining Eric Chavez's club option, and non-tendering Jack Cust and Gabe Gross. We looked at the team's 12 arbitration eligible players a week ago and suggested that Jeremy Hermida, Conor Jackson, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Travis Buck may also be cut.
- More uncertainty comes in the form of club options for Mark Ellis ($6MM with a $500K buyout) and Coco Crisp ($5.75MM with a $500K buyout). Slusser writes that GM Billy Beane expects to have conversations about that next week.
- Wrote Slusser: "Beane emphasized that he doesn't want to add power at the expense of defense, noting in particular that the team has no intention of moving Daric Barton from first base." The A's could look at a slew of DH options beyond Cust. But perhaps Beane's statement rules out a Carlos Pena reunion.
- Beane is optimistic about getting approval for a new stadium, but it's only a gut feeling. He believes MLB's blue-ribbon panel will issue its report soon.
Athletics Release Akinori Iwamura
The Athletics released infielder Akinori Iwamura, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Iwamura would have filed for free agency a month from now anyway, but it makes sense to remove him from the 40-man roster now.
Iwamura, 31, was acquired by the Pirates from the Rays for Jesse Chavez in November. The Bucs exercised Iwamura's $4.85MM option as part of the deal, making him their highest-paid player. He was terrible for the Pirates and was designated for assignment by June. Iwamura was released in September and signed with the A's. He'll need to rebuild value with a minor league deal.
Odds & Ends: Gross, Cubs, Dunn, Ellis, Pujols
Links for the final day of the 2010 regular season…
- Despite seeing limited action, Gabe Gross told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he would return to the A's "with bells on".
- Carrie Muskat of MLB.com writes that Cubs interim manager Mike Quade expects to return.
- Adam Dunn won't be getting a four-year deal from the Nats, writes MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- Oakland hasn't decided what to do with Mark Ellis' $6MM option for 2011 but the A's do want the 33-year-old back one way or another, says Buster Olney of ESPN.
- A final announcement on the Brewers field staff is expected Monday, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.
- The Bucs may retain pitching coach Ray Searage, Pirates GM Neal Huntington told Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- GM John Mozeliak told Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he plans to engage Albert Pujols and his camp in contract negotiations this winter, but they "have a number of other issues [they] need to get to first." Pujols' ten-and-five no-trade rights kick in today, and he has maintained that he will consider the club's long-term competitiveness when discussing a new deal.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reports that Orioles' president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has no plans to approach owner Peter Angelos about a contract extension. His deal expires after next season.
- Carlos Zambrano wants to see the Cubs sign Adam Dunn this winter, writes Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report that the Yankees signed lefthander Naoya Okamoto to a minor league contract.
- The Detroit Free Press lists some of the Tigers' dead weight salary obligations. They owe Gary Sheffield between $1MM and $2.5MM annually until 2019.
- Meanwhile, Jim Leyland told Tom Gage of The Detroit News (Twitter link) that an "RBI bat" is one of the team's biggest needs this offseason, in addition to bullpen help.
Rockies Interested In Martinez, Jackson
Rockies manager Jim Tracy told Troy Renck of the Denver Post that the Rockies want to add an “impact bat” this offseason. According to Renck, Colorado has interest in Conor Jackson and will target Victor Martinez if the Red Sox don’t lock him up.
Jackson, a non-tender candidate, can play first base or left field; Martinez can catch and play first. The Rockies appear to want a right-handed complement to Todd Helton and Martinez, a switch hitter, would satisfy that requirement. But Colorado has Chris Iannetta under contract and a mutual option for Miguel Olivo's services, so the team isn't desperate for catching help.
Adding an outfielder is a priority for the Rockies, according to Renck. Seth Smith isn’t conisdered an everyday player because of his late summer struggles, so the Rockies will consider free agent outfielders and trades.
The Rockies already have two electrifying hitters: Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, but Tulo told Renck that he’d like to see some of the organization’s young players improve so the Rockies can reach the postseason in 2011.
Diamondbacks Rumors: Reynolds, A’s, Drew
Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse hears that Arizona’s payroll will sit between $50-60MM next year. The Diamondbacks started the season with a $75MM payroll, but shed considerable salary with a flurry of midseason trades. They now have just shy of $20MM committed to the 2011 team (not including potential free agents or arbitration-eligible players). Here’s the latest on the Diamondbacks:
- Krasovic hears that the D’Backs considered offering Mark Reynolds to the A’s for Kevin Kouzmanoff and Vin Mazzaro before Kevin Towers took over as the team’s GM.
- The club also talked to the Tigers about exchanging Rick Porcello for Stephen Drew earlier in the summer, but Detroit wasn’t interested.
- Krasovic wouldn’t be surprised to see the Diamondbacks sell high on Kelly Johnson, who is heading into his final season of arbitration.
Odds & Ends: K-Rod, Angels, Tamura, Matsui
Links for Wednesday, before the Giants ask Tim Lincecum to help extend their NL West lead…
- Lawyers from the MLB Players Association and MLB will meet in New York tomorrow to discuss the union's grievance with the Mets. As the AP reports, the sides will discuss the team's decision to place Francisco Rodriguez on the disqualified list.
- Top prospect Mike Moustakas told reporters that he and other Royals minor leaguers welcome the attention they're attracting this year.
- The Angels let scouting director Eddie Bane go, according to John Manuel of Baseball America. Bane was a candidate for the D'Backs GM job earlier in the month.
- Japanese outfielder Hitoshi Tamura has interest in playing major league baseball, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. The 33-year-old has 27 homers this year and represented the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks at the All-Star game.
- Jason Varitek told reporters, including MLB.com's Ian Browne, that he's well aware of the fact that he may only have a handful of games remaining in a Red Sox uniform.
- Through an interpreter, Hideki Matsui told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he'd consider signing with the A's if they expressed interest in him this offseason.
- Todd Helton made it clear to Troy Renck of the Denver Post that he isn't retiring after the season.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic heard that Brandon Webb was throwing just 81 mph in his instructional league outing (Twitter link). Webb told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert that he had fun and felt good.
- The D'Backs, who will see Webb and Rodrigo Lopez hit free agency this winter, will look to add starting pitching, but GM Kevin Towers told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert that he believes starters may be easier to obtain through trades than major league free agency.
Odds & Ends: Beltre, Athletics, Gibson
Links for Tuesday, as David Price tries to clinch a playoff berth for the Rays a day after tweeting that last night's attendance was embarrassing…
- Adrian Beltre tells WEEI's Rob Bradford his decision on where to sign as a free agent will be "more of a family thing" this offseason.
- Athletics owner Lew Wolff expressed his displeasure with one-year signings, in comments made to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Kirk Gibson has a high probability of remaining the Diamondbacks' manager, reports ESPN's Buster Olney.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Justin Duchscherer
The Athletics' last offseason was a risky one, with the team committing over $17MM to Ben Sheets, Coco Crisp, and Justin Duchscherer despite the trio barely playing in 2009. Duchscherer was the least risky of the bunch in that the A's only guaranteed him $1.75MM. The move did not pay off, as Duchscherer provided only 28 innings before undergoing season-ending hip surgery in June.
Duchscherer told MLB.com's Jane Lee he's open to returning to the A's, but let's take a look at his situation as he heads to free agency again.
The Pros
- Duchscherer told Lee, "When I'm healthy, I've always proven that I can pitch." The 32-year-old righty made only 27 starts from 2008-10, but he posted a 2.60 ERA in those 169.6 innings.
- The price will be right – after two lost seasons in a row, Duchscherer should be looking at a smaller guarantee or even a minor league deal this offseason.
- Both of Duchscherer's hips and his pitching elbow have already been fixed, so as he says, "I can't imagine what else could go wrong."
The Cons
- Clearly Duchscherer can't be counted on for innings; you just have to hope for a year with minimal DL time.
- These upside pitching signings have a high failure rate – of the $36.35MM guaranteed this year to Duchscherer, Erik Bedard, Rich Harden, Brett Myers, Scott Olsen, Brad Penny, Ben Sheets, and Chien-Ming Wang, only Myers was worth it.
The Verdict
Duchscherer will still find a big league deal, but his base salary will be closer to $1MM this time. A few weeks ago, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith listed 14 teams that might be interested in this type of starter during the offseason.
Arbitration Eligibles: Oakland Athletics
The Athletics are next in our arbitration-eligible series. Their candidates:
- First time: Craig Breslow, Dallas Braden, Ryan Sweeney, Travis Buck
- Second time: Kevin Kouzmanoff, Rajai Davis, Boof Bonser, Joey Devine
- Third time: Jeremy Hermida, Conor Jackson, Jack Cust, Gabe Gross
Hermida and Jackson, once top prospects, are now locks to be non-tendered. In a poll earlier this month, 71% of you predicted that Jackson will be cut. MLBTR readers also voted on Kouzmanoff, with 38% expecting a non-tender. Mark me down for a non-tender vote on the third baseman. It appears that Buck received the service time needed for Super Two status. He had a decent year at Triple A, but he's still a likely non-tender. I imagine Bonser will be non-tendered for the flexibility, even if the A's want him around for next year. Gross should round up the team's sizeable list of December cuts.
Breslow and Braden are locks to be tendered contracts. Sweeney had season-ending knee surgery in July, but I expect the A's to retain him. Davis has been disappointing, but he wouldn't get much of a raise. Devine missed the entire season with lingering elbow concerns, but he could be kept again for less than $1MM.
Due in part to a career-best .271 batting average, Cust has an OBP near .400 this year. Last time around the A's non-tendered Cust, re-signed him, and designated him for assignment in April. I'll guess he's non-tendered again.
The A's have to decide on a dozen arbitration-eligible players, but the salaries of those tendered contracts will be modest.
Non-Tender Candidate: Conor Jackson
When Billy Beane traded for Conor Jackson this June, he was presumably hoping to see the left fielder return to his 2006-08 form. For three years, Jackson combined patience and doubles power to be a productive piece of the Diamondbacks offense, so the former top prospect clearly has the ability to handle major league pitching.
But the player Beane acquired for reliever Sam Demel did not produce. Jackson, who missed all but 30 games in 2009 with Valley Fever, posted a .228/.362/.316 line in Oakland with one homer. He's now out for the season with a sports hernia, and he only batted 69 times, but his numbers weren't noticeably different in Arizona. Jackson doesn't have much to show for 2009 or 2010, consecutive injury-plagued seasons that have turned him into a non-tender candidate.
The D'Backs raised Jackson's salary from $3.05MM to $3.1MM last offseason, but the A's may not feel comfortable paying him over $3MM in 2011, Jackson's final season as an arbitration eligible player. In fact, Jackson's injuries and poor performance suggest the A's are likely to non-tender him. Click here to vote on Oakland's choice and here to view the results.