Headlines

Freddy Garcia Receiving Minor League Offers

By | at April 3, 2014 5:40pm CDT

Following his release from the Braves, right-hander Freddy Garcia has received multiple minor league offers, including one from the Rangers, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sport (on Twitter). However, Garcia is still holding out for a Major League opportunity at this time and is currently working out in Miami, per Heyman.

The Braves recently released Garcia, electing instead to go with fellow veteran Aaron Harang in their rotation early in the season (Harang had a stellar debut against the Brewers yesterday). Garcia was outstanding for the Braves down the stretch and into the playoffs in 2013, pitching to a 1.65 ERA with 20 punchouts against five walks in 27 1/3 regular-season innings before allowing two runs in six innings against the Dodgers in the NLDS.

However, prior to that resurgence in Atlanta, the veteran Garcia struggled in a 53-inning stint with the Orioles, posting an unsightly 5.77 ERA with just 26 strikeouts against 12 free passes. The 37-year-old Garcia said last month that he would prefer retirement to pitching in the minor leagues at this stage of his career. He has a 4.15 ERA in 2264 career innings with the Mariners, White Sox, Yankees, Braves, Phillies, Orioles and Tigers.

0 comments
Share Repost Send via email
Texas Rangers

Rays Extend Chris Archer

By | at April 3, 2014 5:07pm CDT

THURSDAY: If Archer does not reach Super Two status, he is guaranteed $20MM, MLBTR has learned. In that instance, he would receive a $1MM signing bonus, $500K in 2014, $1MM in 2015, $1MM in 2016, $3MM in 2017, $4.75MM in 2018 and $7MM in 2019. The option years and buyouts would not change, regardless of his Super Two status. Either way, the guarantee is still the largest ever for a player with less than one year of service time.

WEDNESDAY: The Rays have established themselves as annual contenders by extending young players early in their Major League careers, and the next such case presented itself today as the team has announced a six-year contract for right-hander Chris Archer. Archer's deal buys out all of his pre-arbitration and arbitration years, and will be worth $25.5MM if he achieves Super Two status but less if he does not (Super Two seems highly likely for Archer, who entered the year with 156 days of service). The contract also also contains a pair of club options that can push the value of the deal to $43.75MM over eight years. The Relativity Baseball client also reportedly receives a $500K bonus if he is traded during this contract.

Archer-Chris

Assuming he reaches that Super Two status, Archer will receive a $1MM signing bonus and a $500K salary in 2014, $1MM in 2015, $2.75MM in 2016, $4.75MM in 2017, $6.25MM in 2018 and $7.5MM in 2019.  The Rays can buy out Archer's 2020 option for $1.75MM.

Archer, 25, broke out with the Rays in 2013 with a strong performance that netted him a third-place finish in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. The North Carolina native posted a 3.22 ERA with 7.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 46.8 percent ground-ball rate in 128 2/3 innings for the Rays, cementing himself as a member of the team's rotation. He averaged a blistering 95 mph on his fastball, which could eventually help him reach the his minor league levels of striking out a batter per inning. Perhaps most important for the Rays was Archer's improved command; he had averaged five walks per nine innings in his minor league career.

Archer's new deal is the largest ever for a player with less than one year of service time, eclipsing the six-year, $17.5MM extension and the five-year, $14MM extension signed by his own teammates Evan Longoria and Matt Moore, respectively.

The Rays originally acquired Archer from the Cubs along with Hak-Ju Lee, Sam Fuld, Brandon Guyer and Robinson Chirinos in exchange for Matt Garza, Fernando Perez and Zac Rosscup. That was actually the second trade of Archer's career though, as he was first drafted by the Indians and sent to Chicago along with John Gaub and Jeff Stevens to acquire Mark DeRosa back in 2008.

Archer was already under team control through the 2019 campaign, but this new contract will give the Rays options that run through the 2021 season, meaning the Rays haven't actually guaranteed any free-agent seasons with the deal. However, they will obtain cost certainty and two optional years of control, making it worthwhile risk for the team. From Archer's standpoint, he acquires financial security for a lifetime, sets a service time record and would hit the open market at age 33 if both options are eventually exercised.

For the 2014 season, Archer will join Moore, David Price, Alex Cobb and Jake Odorizzi/Jeremy Hellickson in the rotation (Hellickson is currently on the disabled list). While Price's long-term future with the club is in doubt, the Rays will now control Archer, Moore and Odorizzi through at least the 2019 season, with Cobb under control through 2017 via arbitration. Hellickson is controlled through 2016.

The Rays alerted the media that an announcement would be coming this morning, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports was the first to report the six-year agreement, noting that it was in the $25MM range (via Twitter). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports pegged the exact value (via Twitter), while Yahoo's Jeff Passan added the trade bonus. Passan and ESPN's Jerry Crasnick added details approximating the value of the option years, and Passan noted the Super Two technicality as well. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported the year-to-year breakdown (via Twitter).

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement/USA Today Sports Images.

1 comment
Share Repost Send via email
Tampa Bay Rays Transactions

Mets Notes: Duda, Young, Abreu, Bullpen, Colon

By | at April 3, 2014 4:46pm CDT

Chris Young's tenure with the Mets isn't off to an ideal start, as the outfielder has already been placed on the disabled list with a quad injury sustained in the cold weather on Wednesday. Young called the situation a "bad dream" when talking with MLB.com's Anthony DiComo, who also spoke to manager Terry Collins about the $7.25MM man's early DL stint. More on the Amazin's as some teams wrap up their opening series…

  • Manager Terry Collins told reporters earlier today that the Mets will give one first baseman a chance to prove himself beginning tomorrow, and Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports that it will be Lucas Duda, not Ike Davis (Twitter links). Duda will be given a "real shot" to prove he can hold the job down, according to Martino.

Earlier Updates

  • Bobby Abreu's minor league deal with the Mets is worth $800K, and he can opt out if not on the Major League roster by April 30, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Abreu signed with the Mets after his release from the Phillies late last month.
  • The Mets' bullpen woes only increased today, as a variety of arms struggled once again in action against the Nationals. The focal point of that general concern, of course, is injured closer Bobby Parnell, who figures to be out for at least six weeks and possibly much longer. As Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes, replacing Parnell is a delicate balancing act. An outside addition is always possible, of course, but the options are limited. And while the team may well look to some young arms to bolster the MLB relief corps before long, it will need to be careful not to stunt the development of the team's key prospects.
  • Martino also examined Bartolo Colon's importance to the Mets, and in doing so revealed that the Mets were the only club to offer Colon a multi-year deal. The Mets knew they needed to overpay after five losing seasons, according to Martino, who adds that Tim Hudson was willing to pitch for the Mets earlier in the offseason prior to signing a two-year, $23MM deal with the Giants.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

2 comments
Share Repost Send via email
New York Mets

Tigers Claim Mike Belfiore From Orioles

By | at April 3, 2014 12:22pm CDT

The Tigers have claimed lefty Mike Belfiore off waivers from the Orioles, the club announced. Detroit optioned Belfiore to Triple-A.

Belfiore, 25, has no meaningful MLB experience but threw to a 3.18 ERA in 76 1/3 Triple-A innings (in just 37 appearances) last year. Lengthy relief outings are not a new thing for the Boston College product, who notably tossed 9 2/3 scoreless frames in a collegiate post-season tilt that proved to be the longest game in college baseball history. He came to Baltimore as the player to be named later in the trade that shipped Josh Bell to the Diamondbacks in early 2012.

0 comments
Share Repost Send via email
Baltimore Orioles Detroit Tigers Transactions

Offseason In Review: Philadelphia Phillies

By | at April 3, 2014 10:28am CDT

The Phillies brought in more veterans to supplement an already-aging core, and it is fair to wonder if the club is chasing good money after bad.

Major League Signings

Notable Minor League Signings
Trades and Claims 
Extensions
  • None
Notable Losses

Needs Addressed
 
Before addressing its roster, the Phillies set about formalizing what had already been expected: namely, that Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg would take over as the skipper after serving as interim manager for the tail end of 2013. Guaranteeing Sandberg three years, the club made a clear commitment to his efforts to increase the hustle of a veteran-laden ballclub.
 
In off-the-field matters, the organization wrapped up a substantial new TV deal that figures to provide it $2.5B (and more) in revenue over the next 25 years. As I explained shortly thereafter, that deal should allow the club to maintain its place among the game's highest-revenue clubs, though it does not promise to advance the Phils beyond the other upper-echelon clubs.
 
Turning to the club's player assets, as I wrote back in October, Philadelphia GM Ruben Amaro Jr. faced a clear set of priorities, in the sense of roster areas where an MLB-ready player was needed. The club entered the offseason in the market for a corner outfielder, catcher, a couple of starters, and perhaps an arm for the bullpen.
 
Amaro tackled that list head on. He acted quickly to lock up a rejuvenated Byrd to play right field and to re-sign the longtime backstop Ruiz, plugging the two glaring holes in the everyday lineup. Having already decided to tender a contract to starter Kyle Kendrick, Amaro then rounded out the rotation by picking up a bounceback candidate in Hernandez and jumping on the opportunity to sign the aging-but-excellent Burnett. With several minor league signings to build out the team's bench options, the club wrapped up a straightforward offseason that — on its face — addressed most of the team's needs.
 
Questions Remaining
 
According to the thinking of Amaro, the big question facing this ballclub is simply the health of key players like Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley. "If the club we believe is going to break camp is able to stay on the field, we're a contending team," Amaro said. "My job is for us to try to be a contending team every year. Our payroll should allow us to do that. We had a couple of crappy years because we couldn't get guys on the field and couldn't get the performances we're accustomed to. Doc Halladay not being healthy crushed us. It's not his fault. It's just part of the game. When it happens to guys you are counting on with huge contracts, you can't just buy your way out with mediocre players."
 
But is that really the case? Those three have been relatively healthy over the spring, with each getting at least 46 plate appearances in Grapefruit League action. Other expensive, older players like Ruiz, Byrd, Cliff Lee, and Jonathan Papelbon have not suffered any injury issues, while costly setup man Mike Adams seems to be progressing well in his return from injury.  
Ruiz
 
Nevertheless, questions persist. It remains difficult to see where the team will make up the production deficit that left it only about halfway to the WAR total posted by the lowest-level playoff teams in 2013.
 
To some extent, the continued uncertainty is due to bad luck, with injuries striking at the portion of the roster that was not considered most susceptible. One of the team's few seemingly sure things, co-ace Cole Hamels, has struggled to get off the ground in the spring. The so-far disappointing Cuban signee Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, along with important younger arms like Jonathan Pettibone and Ethan Martin, have suffered shoulder problems as well. Various ailments have cropped up amongst some younger bench options like Darin Ruf and Freddy Galvis.
 
Of course, some share of the blame here must also go to the organization's general lack of depth. While the bullpen looks to be in decent shape, the paper-thin starting depth has left the club looking to O'Sullivan, Manship, and David Buchanan as possible rotation candidates. The bullpen includes out-of-nowhere youngster Mario Hollands. And the team was looking at filling out its bench with names like Abreu (the 40-year-old version) and Brignac (lifetime .221/.262/.311 hitter) before settling on Gwynn and dealing for Nix for the final slots.
 
Even if the once-great core of Howard, Rollins, Utley, and Ruiz finds the fountain of youth, and even if Byrd and Burnett can somehow maintain their own late-career surges at 37 and 36 years of age, respectively, it still is not clear that this team has the pieces to be a contender. Even the more promising, younger big leaguers have unanswered questions, ranging from Domonic Brown's defense to Ben Revere's ability to get on base.
 
The real question entering the offseason was never just about the health of guys who once led Philly to a World Series. And it was never about what positions on the field needed additions, which was obvious enough. Instead, the offseason posed the question of how those open slots would be filled.
 
As I wrote at the outset, the organization appeared to face a tough choice between aggressively buying or aggressively selling. Choosing once again to supplement its veteran core without changing the team's trajectory, I suggested, carried a significant risk of fielding an expensive, injury-prone, low-ceiling ballclub.
 
The decisions that were ultimately made — adding mostly mid-level free agents in their mid-to-late thirties on relatively short-term deals — carry precisely the risk that I noted. The club is carrying a record payroll. It is already riddled with injuries (and, more importantly, largely lacks the upper-level minor league talent to cover for those injuries), all before those players most susceptible have entered the grind of the season.  And projection systems and scouts alike have been down on the Phillies all spring.
 
One could say that the biggest question for the Phillies in 2014 is whether they can somehow find the fountain of youth that seems necessary to get prime-level production from their many post-prime (albeit still-talented) players. But it may be that the true question facing Philadelphia is simply when it will begin to sell off pieces. 
 
Amaro seems to appreciate that the time may come for a teardown — he said recently that, if the team does not win, he will need to "figur[e] out what's the transition move." But it is eminently arguable both that the team should already have some plan in place, and that the point for action has already been reached. (When asked if he ha a "disaster plan" in place, Amaro said his "thought process is to stay positive," while acknowledging that, "we also can't be so blinded to the fact that if this doesn't work out we're going to have to make some tough decisions.")
 
To be fair, the Phillies are already said to have tried and failed to move Papelbon and Rollins. The latter has once again become the subject of some trade speculation after apparently landing in Sandberg's just-constructed doghouse. And the trades of Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino show that Amaro is willing to deal away veteran talent. (Of course, those may or may not have been the right pieces to move. In the above-cited piece, Amaro said he would "probably not" handle things differently in retrospect and explained that he believes "they were more solid complementary players than superstars.")
 
But as things stand, several of the team's contracts seem completely immovable, others would require Philly to eat significant chunks of the future outlay, and virtually all are complicated by the generous no-trade protection that the team included. If Amaro finally comes around to what many observers have suggested — looking to offload some of the club's worst contracts for whatever prospects and/or salary relief he can find — it may be difficult for him to find much value at all in return.
 
Deal of Note
 
It is difficult to choose a single deal to highlight, because essentially all of the Phillies' offseason moves seem predicated on roughly the same idea of adding support pieces to an existing core. But the Ruiz deal comes with the most risk (and, in some ways, the most upside). A brief scroll through MLBTR's list of catcher contracts of three or more years reveals that none of those players were anywhere near Ruiz's age (35) when they inked their deals. And Ruiz is coming off of a clear down year, with concerns ranging from health to performance.
 
But the real issue is not how this deal will look if it does not pan out, but how it will look even if it does. Will the 2016 Phillies have a need for a 37-year-old Ruiz? 
 
The Ruiz contract marries Amaro's commitment to the players most closely tied to the Phils' former glory and his recent tact of spending large but not monumental sums of money on aging complementary pieces. Last year, of course, Adams and Michael Young were the two key additions, along with the younger Revere, with Lannan, Delmon Young, and Chad Durbin all getting guaranteed deals as well. While Byrd and, especially, Burnett are much more significant upgrades, the rest of the roster is all a year older now.
 
It remains to be seen whether the club can make one or two more runs at glory, but it seems a near certainty that the longer it waits to reload — instead spending cash and adding players to try to field a winner — the more painful that process will be.
 
Conclusion
 
It is hard to argue with Amaro's core thesis: "My job is for us to try to be a contending team every year. Our payroll should allow us to do that." Whatever else one may say about the embattled GM, he (and, perhaps more importantly, team ownership) have shown every willingness to plunk down serious coin to deliver a winner. One result, of course, was a great run of division titles and a championship.
 
But the World Series win came in 2008, and the last division title was had in 2011. The NL East belongs now to the Nationals and Braves, with the Marlins and Mets both showing signs of future health. Philadelphia is caught in the middle, and seems to have ground to make up after only recently delving into modern analytics.
 
Fortunes can change quickly, of course, and the Phillies have the financial clout to effect a quick turnaround. But what model are they following? Last year's Red Sox had already taken a heavy dose of pain in dealing away their big contracts. This year's Yankees spent an immense amount of money in an effort to buy their way out of their own declining roster logjam, locking up nine players at an average annual value of $16.24MM. Philadelphia signed five players for eight total years at an AAV of just $7.95MM, with the average age of those player-seasons falling just shy of 36.
 
Until the Phils choose a strategy that offers a clear path forward, the organization faces the risk of a continued slide not only in the standings but also in the attendance rankings. The difficulty, of course, comes in deciding upon that strategy. The Cubs' recent experience shows that a full rebuild can be quite painful, even for a team with resources.
 
So, what should the Phillies have done this past offseasion and what is the path forward? I won't claim to know the answers to either question. It could be that there is little value to be had in shipping out the team's most undesirable contracts and that the team's recent commitments won't hamstring future spending. But I can't help but feel that a more decisive direction would have better served the club. Trading Lee, Utley, and/or Rollins while foregoing Byrd, Ruiz, and/or Burnett might have brought back some young talent and built up the organizational war chest to be an opportunistic buyer of high-priced, somewhat younger players. Alternatively, adding a longer-term, impactful free agent or two (players like Brian McCann, Shin-Soo Choo, and Matt Garza would have been fits) might have made the team a likelier contender in the near-term. Either way, the club would be headed somewhere; as presently constituted, it seems stuck in neutral while carrying the league's third-highest payroll.
 
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

0 comments
Share Repost Send via email
2013-14 Offseason In Review MLBTR Originals Philadelphia Phillies

Quick Hits: Pirates, Colvin, Free Agents, Dunand

By | at April 2, 2014 11:41pm CDT

The Pirates hold the top spot in Baseball America's ranking of every organization's minor league system (BA subscription required).  This list has some updates from the original ranking in the 2014 BA Prospect Handbook, as while the top dozen teams remain the same, some clubs have moved up and down the list due to subsequent offseason moves.  The Yankees, for instance, rise to the #13 spot due to their signing of Masahiro Tanaka, as he is technically a "prospect" as an MLB rookie.

Here are some items from around the baseball world…

  • Tyler Colvin has accepted his assignment to the Giants' Triple-A affiliate and will report tomorrow, CSNBayArea.com's Andrew Baggarly reports (via Twitter).  Colvin signed a minor league deal with San Francisco in February that contained an opt-out clause if he wasn't added to the team's Opening Day roster.
  • While fans may worry that their teams will be hamstrung in the future by massive contracts, Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci notes that the financial costs aren't as great as they seem given how much revenue Major League Baseball is generating and passing down to all 30 teams.  These big deals also tend to create extra revenue for teams — Verducci cites how the Mariners' huge deal with Robinson Cano helped "a brand that needed polishing," and Cano's presence will help ticket sales and TV ratings.
  • High schooler Joe Dunand's streak of eight home runs in as many at-bats has raised the youngster's profile, CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman writes.  Dunand, 18, was considered by some scouting directors to be "a fringe pro prospect," but his homer streak attracted scouts from the Mariners, Angels, Royals, Orioles, Mets, Braves and Giants (among other teams) to his game on Wednesday.  Dunand has committed to North Carolina State but could turn pro depending on his draft prospects.  There's also the matter of Dunand's impressive bloodlines; his uncle is Alex Rodriguez.
  • The Nationals announced that right-hander Erik Davis underwent Tommy John surgery today and will miss the entire 2014 season.  Davis made his Major League debut last season and posted a 3.12 ERA and a 12.00 K/BB rate in 8 2/3 IP for Washington.
0 comments
Share Repost Send via email
Pittsburgh Pirates San Francisco Giants Washington Nationals

Pablo Sandoval Open To Midseason Negotiations

By | at April 2, 2014 10:57pm CDT

Pablo Sandoval has given the go-ahead to his agent, Gustavo Vasquez, to continue negotiations with the Giants about a possible contract extension should the club be willing to resume talking, CSNBayArea.com's Andrew Baggarly reports.  San Francisco GM Brian Sabean traditionally eschews in-season negotiations, Baggarly notes, "so this could be a scenario where both sides say the ball is in the other’s court."

There was a considerable gap in offers when the two sides last met, with Sandoval demanding at least a five-year, $90MM deal and the Giants counting with a three-year, $40MM offer.  That difference wasn't able to be bridged before Opening Day and Sandoval's team was reportedly deciding between continuing talks or waiting until after the season.  It's possible the new deadline could be midseason, as Vasquez previously told CSNBayArea.com that Sandoval would test free agency if he didn't receive an acceptable offer from the Giants by the All-Star Break.

The Giants are known to want assurances about Sandoval's health and conditioning before extending the third baseman, and Sandoval has done his part in the early going by arriving at Spring Training in excellent shape.  If the slugger is keeping up his fitness after a couple of months, it stands to reason that Sabean could have enough information to re-open talks.  The Giants are no strangers to late extensions — they extended Hunter Pence in the last days of the 2013 season and similarly locked up Tim Lincecum in October, a couple of weeks before the right-hander hit the open market — though they might not get that chance this time if Vasquez's midseason deadline is a firm one.

0 comments
Share Repost Send via email
San Francisco Giants

AL East Notes: Archer, Rays, Nunez, Blue Jays

By | at April 2, 2014 8:58pm CDT

The Rays officially announced their six-year, $25.5MM extension with Chris Archer in a press conference today.  The right-hander told reporters (including MLB.com's Bill Chastain) that the recent spate of pitching injuries around baseball influenced his decision to sign the contract.  "I don't know if all the injuries — the head injuries, the concussions, the elbow injuries, some shoulder injuries — that have happened of late, I don't know if they've happened as a sign for me, but I took them as a sign for me, a sign of what's unknown," Archer said.  "I sat down with my financial advisor. With this contract, I'm financially secure multiple times over again, through many generations. For me, that's all I ever wanted out of this game — to be personally secure and have my family members secure as well."

Here's some more from around the AL East…

  • Alex Cobb and Wil Myers would seem to be the next logical extension candidates for the Rays, MLB.com's Adam Berry writes.  Cobb said he would "plead the fifth" when asked if he'd been approached by the team about a multiyear deal, while Myers said that he's just focused on playing and will let his agent handle any contractual business.  Berry's piece also contains several quotes from Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman about his team's strategy of locking up its young stars.
  • The Rays have had nine players suspended for PED usage and 14 players suspended for drug-related offenses overall since 2012 , Baseball Prospectus' Ben Lindbergh notes.  Tampa Bay leads all teams in both categories, and the recently-suspended Alex Colome is the only the latest of several of the Rays' top prospects to be hit with a suspension.  Lindbergh, however, believes this current spate of issues is only a matter of "chance," as the franchise doesn't have a glaring suspension record before 2012.
  • The Mets haven't discussed making a move for Eduardo Nunez, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets, and it's "too early to say if they will have interest" in signing the infielder to bolster their shortstop depth.  The Yankees designated Nunez for assignment yesterday.
  • Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (including Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star) that he isn't looking for external shortstop help with Jose Reyes on the DL.  Jonathan Diaz is currently filling in at short, and Anthopoulos doesn't think Reyes' injury will keep him out for too long.
  • ESPN's Jim Bowden (Insider subscription required) doesn't think the Blue Jays will contend this season and the club should deal some top stars in order to restock the farm system.  Edwin Encarnacion headlines Bowden's list of Toronto's ten best trade candidates, which also includes possible trade suitors.
  • In other AL East news, we posted a collection of Red Sox Notes earlier tonight.
0 comments
Share Repost Send via email
New York Mets New York Yankees Tampa Bay Rays Toronto Blue Jays

Red Sox Notes: Doubront, Lester, Bogaerts

By | at April 2, 2014 8:12pm CDT

The Red Sox are no strangers to White House visits over the last decade, though David Ortiz marked yesterday's team trip to Pennsylvania Avenue by taking a memorable selfie alongside another famous face.  Here's some more news from Boston…

  • With Felix Doubront set to become eligible for arbitration after the season, MassLive.com's Jason Mastrodonato thinks the young southpaw could be an extension candidate if he pitches well in 2014.  Mastrodonato notes that Doubront's status becomes particularly important given that Jon Lester and Jake Peavy are both free agents after the season, though Doubront isn't focusing on contract negotiations.  "When that moment comes, we’ll talk. You want to stay away from that, for my own good," Doubront said. "If you think about that, mentally it makes things bigger. You just want to stay on the same page. We’ll see what happens after this season."
  • Lester's impending free agency was discussed by ESPN's Buster Olney in a radio interview on WEEI's Mut & Merloni Show (partial transcript from WEEI.com's Arjuna Ramgopal).  Olney feels the middle ground between Lester and the Red Sox falls in the range of a five-year, $110-$120MM contract and while both sides will "have to go out of their comfort zones," Olney feels Lester will have to budge a bit more.  “It’€™s going to be because Jon Lester makes it happen, the way that Dustin Pedroia made it happen last year. The Red Sox, philosophically, are not going to box themselves in."  The Sox and Lester recently tabled their extension talks, though they could be re-open negotiations during the season.
  • Xander Bogaerts' rise from an anonymous 16-year-old from the baseball non-hotbed of Aruba to one of the game's top prospects and the Red Sox Opening Day shortstop is chronicled by Sports On Earth's Jorge Arangure Jr.  Boston was able to find Bogaerts due to the organization's wide-ranging scouting process, and Bogaerts took it from there, quickly advancing through the Red Sox academy and minor league system.
0 comments
Share Repost Send via email
Boston Red Sox

Padres Nearing Deal With Odrisamer Despaigne

By | at April 2, 2014 6:04pm CDT

6:04pm: The deal is a minor league contract that does not promise Despaigne "huge money," reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Despaigne must still secure a visa and pass a physical.

11:12am: The Padres are nearing a deal with Cuban right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes reports (via Twitter).

Dierkes recently spoke with a high-level scout to get a report on Despaigne, learning that he has four average offerings that he can deliver from a number of different arm slots, leading the scout to point out his ability to deceive hitters. That same scout also told Dierkes that Despaigne "knows how to pitch," suggesting a good feel for the game. Despaigne recently changed agencies, switching from Jaime Torres to Charisse Dash of DPX Sports.

Despaigne, who turns 27 in April, posted a 3.65 career ERA in eight seasons in Cuba's Serie Nacional and was much better in his final season, posting an ERA of just 2.58. It's unclear exactly what role he would fill with the Padres in the long-term, but the scouting report received by Dierkes seemed to suggest that Despaigne is on a big-league track, be it as a back-end starter or a middle reliever. Despaigne was also connected to the Diamondbacks and Twins at various points this offseason.

0 comments
Share Repost Send via email
San Diego Padres
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors