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Odds & Ends: Downs, Soriano, Dodgers, Guillen

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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.

Phillies In Talks With Pedro Martinez

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2:46pm: MLB.com's Todd Zolecki says the Phillies and Martinez are not actively negotiating a contract.  He says the two sides are maintaining contact, but nothing is imminent.

7:47am: Chalk one up for the Spanish-speaking side of the Bristol office. Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., gave an interview in Spanish to ESPN Deportes' Will Gonzalez yesterday, noting that the defending NL champions are currently negotiating with Pedro Martinez in regard to another midseason return to Philadelphia (link and audio in Spanish).

Pedro reportedly started throwing just last week, and Amaro insists there is no rush to sign on either side. "Right now he's trying to train, still not ready to pitch," he explains, though Pedro insisted recently that he doesn't need long to be in game shape. Amaro said earlier this month that Joe Blanton's oblique injury wouldn't be enough to spur the team into signing Pedro, but noted to Gonzalez that "we're going to continue to communicate openly" with Martinez as the season unfolds and the team's needs become clear.

This winter, Pedro floated the number of $5MM for his full-season services, the same number he stuck to, in prorated form, in negotiations through June of last season. Amaro dismisses any idea that the team was about to bite at that figure during the offseason when he recalls, "We talked two or three times (this winter). In those moments, he had other ideas of how he would like to be paid." With the season now underway, the general manager puts the ball in Pedro's court, potentially setting the stage for another late spring saga of public negotiations. "The doors are open," Amaro says. "But as in all negotiations, things depend on both sides. It not only has to do with the team, (it's also) the player."

Top Trade Chips: NL East

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Let's continue our top trade chips series today with the NL East…

  • Braves: The Braves aren't going to move Tommy Hanson and/or Jason Heyward, and they already traded away their top piece of bait this winter when they sent Javier Vazquez to the Yankees. What Atlanta does have is cache of big time pitching prospects in 20-year-old Randall Delgado,19-year-old Julio Teheran, and 19-year-old Arodys Vizcaino that they could dip into if needed.
  • Marlins: Florida has been reduced to flipping players before they get expensive through arbitration, nevermind get close to free agency. Dan Uggla is the team's highest paid player and also one of its most productive, but he's perpetually on the block because he's owed $7.8MM this season and will make even more in 2011 through arbitration. The Marlins could trade him, put Chris Coghlan back at second (his natural position), and call up super-prospect Mike Stanton to fill the vacant outfield spot.
  • Mets: Even though Carlos Beltran's knee is problematic and Jeff Francoeur is a perennial non-tender candidate, the team's best piece of trade bait is 21-year-old outfielder Fernando Martinez. Lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano could be used as trade fodder, but if ownership decides to part ways with GM Omar Minaya, then they could be in for a full blown firesale. Everyone not named David Wright would be available.
  • Nationals: Forget Stephen Strasburg, it's obviously not happening. However, GM Mike Rizzo has a valuable piece in Josh Willingham, who is no stranger to the trade rumor circuit. He is under team control through 2011, and his production isn't far off from Bay's. Relievers Matt Capps and Brian Bruney could be dealt as well.
  • Phillies: Philadelphia unloaded most of their top prospects to acquire Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay in the last nine months, so the cupboard is pretty bare. They could shop hard-throwing and oft-injured reliever Scott Mathieson, but the doomsday scenario could find Jayson Werth on the block if the Phils don't think they can re-sign him after the season. Of course that's highly unlikely, he's only the second or third best player on the top team in the league.

Rosenthal On Bullpens, Marcum, Crawford

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a few hot stove offerings…

  • Rosenthal names the Cubs, Cardinals, Rays, Phillies, and Marlins as teams with bullpen question marks.  I'm thinking the Blue Jays might be able to extract something useful for their veteran relievers in a few months.
  • Rosenthal speculates that Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum would be attractive on the trade market.  Marcum is under team control through 2012.  It's not known whether the Jays would entertain trading Marcum for even younger and cheaper players.
  • Carl Crawford should command at least $12-14MM per year and at least a seven-year contract as free agent, opines Rosenthal.

Largest Contracts By Position

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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.

Odds & Ends: Embree, Rizzo, Votto, Rollins, Huffman

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Links for Thursday…

Odds & Ends: Lerew, Cuba, Coonelly, Hechavarria

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Links for Wednesday…

Phillies Claim Nelson Figueroa

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Pitcher Nelson Figueroa was claimed by the Phillies, reports ESPN's Adam Rubin.  The Phils' interest in Figueroa was revealed Monday by ESPN's Jayson Stark after the Mets placed him on waivers Friday.  Figueroa had the ability to elect free agency if he cleared waivers.  According to Stark, Figueroa was considering Japan if a big league opportunity didn't surface.

In 70.3 innings last year, Figueroa posted a 4.09 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 for the Mets.  This marks his second stint with the Phillies, as he tossed 89 innings for the '01 club after coming over as part of the Curt Schilling deal.  The Phillies are dealing with a handful of pitching injuries, with Joe Blanton, Brad Lidge, and J.C. Romero on the shelf.

Phillies Have Interest In Nelson Figueroa

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The Phillies have interest in Nelson Figueroa of the Mets, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. The 35-year-old righty is out of options, and has been outrighted before, so he can choose to become a free agent instead of reporting to the minor leagues if he clears waivers. Figueroa, whose waivers expire Wednesday, pitched for the Phillies in 2001.

The Mets cut Figueroa, but the Phillies could use pitching depth now that Joe Blanton, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge are on the disabled list. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported last week that the Phillies were interested in adding pitching. In 70.1 innings last year, Figueroa posted a 4.09 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 for the Mets. 

Offseason Questions For The NL East

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The offseason is officially over, but we've still got a few questions.  Our Offseason In Review series can be found here, and questions for the NL East are below.

  • Will the Braves regret not finding a way to keep Javier Vazquez in the 2010 rotation?  Will an extra two weeks of Jason Heyward justify free agent eligibility after the 2015 season?
  • Having already cut many of their scrap heap relief pickups, will the Marlins' streak of unearthing bullpen diamonds in the rough end?  Will bypassing Major League free agency cost the team wins in 2010?
  • Could the Phillies have signed Placido Polanco or a comparable player for a significantly smaller commitment?  Will they regret trading Cliff Lee for prospects?
  • Did the Mets overcommit to Jason Bay, given the lack of comparable offers?  Given the team's array of needs, will they rue putting all their eggs in the Bay basket?
  • Could the Nationals have matched the production of Jason Marquis and Ivan Rodriguez with smaller commitments to different players?  Will they lament letting pitching prospect Marco Estrada go in favor of reliever Tyler Walker?
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