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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Mets, Gonzalez, Contreras

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On this date back in 1983, Dodgers' hurler Fernando Valenzuela became the first player in baseball history to receive a seven-figure award through the arbitration process. During his first two-plus seasons as a big leaguer, Fernandomania had been named the Rookie of the Year, appeared in two All Star Games, and won a Cy Young Award. The arbitration panel awarded him a $1MM salary in his first year of eligibility, nearly tripling his 1982 salary. 

As the last few present day arbitration cases wrap up, here are some links to check out from around the baseball blogiverse…

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

Amaro Jr. On Payroll, Lee, Howard

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The Phillies have already committed $132MM to next year’s payroll, but GM Ruben Amaro Jr. tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that there are limits to how much the NL Champs can spend.

“The payroll can’t continue to go north,” Amaro said. “When you get to a point where you’re basically at 100 percent capacity in your ballpark and 100 percent capacity almost in your revenues, somewhere it’s got to stop.”

Payroll was a consideration in the Cliff Lee deal, but Amaro said potential compensation picks figured into the club’s decision to trade the left-hander. The Phillies expect Lee to sign with a high-payroll club and worried that the compensation picks would be late first rounders at best.

“You get after the 10th or 15th pick in baseball, you’re kind of rolling the dice,” Amaro said. 

Amaro knows he’s going to have to filter young players onto his team’s roster at some point, but he wants to keep Ryan Howard around “forever.” The first baseman is under team control through 2011, so the Phillies have more time to determine their course of action with Howard than they have for Jayson Werth, who hits free agency after this coming season.

Moyer Open To Pitching In 2011

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Despite being 47-years-old and dealing with a myriad of physical ailments during the last six months, Phillies' starter Jamie Moyer is open to pitching in 2011 according to Andy Martino of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“You know, I’m going to leave that as an open-ended question because I don’t know how to answer that,” Moyer said when asked if he expected to retire after this year, when his current contract expires. “It could be (my last season). It potentially could be. But so could have last year. So could have two years ago, so could have five years ago.

Moyer finished the 2009 season injured after tearing three muscles in his groin and lower abdomen in late-September, and was then hospitalized in October and November due to possible blood infections following the subsequent surgery. He also had a minor knee procedure last month.  

After posting a 4.94 ERA and being demoted to the bullpen last year, Moyer will earn $6.5MM in 2010 as part of the two-year, $13MM deal he signed last winter. Sitting at 258 career wins, he has a very outside shot at the magical 300 win mark.

Odds & Ends: Dye, Mets, Lincecum, Vazquez, Colon

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Some links for your Friday afternoon…

Cafardo’s Latest: Beckett, Red Sox, Twins, Lowry

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The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo has plenty of rumors from around the league for us this morning, so let's round them all up…

  • The Red Sox are likely to use Roy Halladay's three-year, $60MM deal "minus $6 million-$8 million" as a guideline for a potential Josh Beckett extension rather than John Lackey's five-year, $82.5MM deal. The reason being that they have some concern about the long-term health of his shoulder.
  • If another team comes offering Beckett big money after the season, the Sox will move on just as they did with Jason Bay. They could then look into free agents like Cliff Lee, who they pursued at the trade deadline, or even Ben Sheets and Brandon Webb if they bounce back from injury problems of their own.
  • With all of their additions this offseason, the Twins' payroll will jump from $65M to about $96M as they move into Target Field this year. GM Bill Smith said it will be up to manager Ron Gardenhire to determine how they use Jim Thome, and that they did their homework on Orlando Hudson's left wrist, which has given him trouble the last few seasons.
  • Minnesota's payroll will be larger than the Dodgers' this year.
  • The Red Sox watched Noah Lowry's recent workout, but "don't appear interested in signing him."
  • Dodgers' third base coach Larry Bowa said he knows that Manny Ramirez still wants to play another three or four years.
  • Two big league executives feel that the Giants and Tim Lincecum will settle on a contract before an arbitration hearing.
  • One reason the Cubs signed Kevin Millar was to loosen up the clubhouse after the Milton Bradley fiasco last season.
  • Drayton McLane is reportedly seeking $700MM to part with the Astros, but it's tough to see someone coming up with that when the Rangers sold for approximately $575MM.

No Phillies Deals For Japanese Lefties

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SUNDAY, 8:57am: We've been informed by the Phillies that they have not signed any pitchers from Japan.

FRIDAY, 7:36pm: The Phillies have signed Japanese southpaws Shigetoshi Yamakita and Naoyo Okamoto to minor league contracts according to Daily Sports Online (hat tip to Patrick Newman at NPB Tracker).

Both Yamakita (32) and Okamoto (26) spent the 2009 season with the Shonan Searex, a farm team of the Yokohama Bay Stars. Yamakita posted a 2.67 ERA with a 24-7 K/BB ratio in 27 innings, Okamoto a 5.28 ERA with a 10-9 K/BB ratio in 15.1 innings.

Odds & Ends: Kielty, Ruiz, Gillick, Santos

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Saturday morning links…

  • Arangure (via Twitter) writes that the A's have agreed to terms with Michael Feliz, a right-hander from the Dominican Republic.  The deal, which is still pending a physical and an age investigation, will provide Feliz with an $800K bonus.  The Dominican Prospect League website says that the 6'4, 200-pound hurler is 16-years-old.
  • Tim tweets that Bobby Kielty is converting to pitching, and that his slider is actually pretty good. The 33-year-old last played in the big leagues back in 2007, when he was still an outfielder of course.
  • ESPN's Jorge Arangure tweets that the Blue Jays, Rockies, and Rangers are the teams most interested in Cuban first baseman Jose Julio Ruiz. Ruiz was recently cleared to sign by the Office of Foreign Asset Control.
  • Pat Gillick has returned to the Phillies as a senior advisor to president Dave Montgomery, reports Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun. Gillick was the team's GM from 2006-2008. 
  • ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to several talent evaluators, none of whom think Omir Santos is equipped to be a number one catcher. If the season started today, Santos would likely be behind the plate for the Mets. 

Phillies Sign Oscar Villarreal

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The Phillies signed pitcher Oscar Villarreal to a minor league deal, tweets Ed Price of AOL FanHouse.  Villarreal, 28, signed with the Royals before last season but eventually developed the need for Tommy John surgery.  He threw for teams on Friday, with the Phillies, Red Sox, Rockies, and Diamondbacks in attendance.

Villarreal's upside is limited, as he's prone to the longball and has a 1.75 career K/BB.

Minor League Transactions: Mench, Perez, Cairo

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A 25 homer hitter, a former first rounder and a 14-year veteran signed this week. Baseball America's Matt Eddy has the details on those transactions and more. Here are some highlights from January 25th-31st:

  • The Nationals signed Kevin Mench. The 32-year-old didn't play in the majors last year, but he hit 25 homers as recently as 2005. He has a career .900 OPS against lefties.
  • The Blue Jays signed Wade Townsend. The Rays released the 2005 first rounder last summer, but the Jays are giving him a chance. 
  • The Reds signed Miguel Cairo. The 14-year-veteran posted a .705 OPS for the Phillies last year in 47 plate appearances. 
  • The White Sox signed Daniel Cabrera. The 6'7'' right-hander led the American League in walks and earned runs allowed when he logged over 200 innings for the Orioles in 2007. He split time with the D'Backs and Nationals last year, struggling with both clubs.  
  • The Dodgers signed Timo Perez out of the Can-Am League. The 34-year-old surfaced as a rookie for the Mets in the 2000 Subway Series. 
  • The Phillies signed Freddy Guzman. 
  • The Mets signed Val Pascucci, who has 193 minor league homers to his name.

Odds & Ends: Mauer, Hairston, Buck, Benson

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Links for Tuesday…

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