Draft Notes: Cole, Rendon, Hultzen, Gray
It's far too early in the spring for teams to have their draft boards finalized, as Keith Law pointed out at ESPN.com this week. With nearly two months remaining between now and the draft, a lot can change, but that doesn't stop Law from passing along the latest on the early intentions of some teams with high picks:
- Law hears that the Mariners will take either Gerrit Cole or Anthony Rendon with the second pick in the draft, depending on which player is available after the Pirates select first overall.
- The D'Backs, who pick third, covet Virginia left-hander Danny Hultzen, according to Law.
- The Orioles are 'extremely likely' to take a college pitcher with the fourth overall pick. They could take Hultzen or Georgia Tech left-hander Jed Bradley.
- The Royals (5th pick) are also likely to take a college arn and they're interested in UConn right-hander Matt Barnes, Hultzen and Bradley.
- The D'Backs (7th pick) and Cubs (9th pick) have Vanderbilt right-hander Sonny Gray high on their internal rankings, according to Law.
2012 Contract Issues: Pittsburgh Pirates
The 2012 Contract Issues series kicks off with a look at the Pirates.
Eligible For Free Agency (1)
- First baseman Lyle Overbay is the one Pirates player who is eligible for free agency after the season with no strings attached.
- GM Neal Huntington is also signed through 2011. Team president Frank Coonelly told Rob Biertempfel in February, "He is under contract for this season and it’s our expectation that Neal will be here for a long time. He has hot been extended at this point. We’ll continue to evaluate it as we move forward."
Contract Options (5)
- Chris Snyder: $6.75MM club option with a $750K buyout. It's difficult to picture Snyder being retained at a $6MM net price.
- Paul Maholm: $9.75MM club option with a $750K buyout. Maholm is a prime summer trade candidate, but his option will probably be declined.
- Ryan Doumit: $7.25MM club option for '12, $8.25MM club option with '13, $500K buyout. Another trade candidate, Doumit's options figure to be declined.
- Ronny Cedeno: $3MM club option with a $200K buyout. Though the price is reasonable, I can see the Pirates declining and trying someone else at shortstop next year.
- Scott Olsen: $4MM club option with a $100K buyout. Olsen appears headed to the bullpen once he recovers from a hamstring injury. This option is unlikely to be exercised. If it's declined, the Pirates must then decide whether to tender him a contract.
Arbitration Eligible (12)
- First time: Garrett Olson, Chris Resop, Garrett Jones, Charlie Morton, Evan Meek, Jose Ascanio, Steve Pearce
- Second time: Ross Ohlendorf, Joel Hanrahan, Jeff Karstens, Jose Veras
- Third time: Scott Olsen
Not all of these players will make it to arbitration, as some could fail to accrue the necessary service time and others will be non-tendered in December or cut loose beforehand. Using CAA's Super Two cutoff projection of 2.146 years of service, Andrew McCutchen's first big payday won't come until 2013.
2012 Payroll Obligation
Cot's Baseball Contracts sets the Pirates' 2012 payroll obligation at just $10.625MM, with Kevin Correia accounting for more than a third of that. You can pencil in another $4MM or so for Hanrahan and Meek. If the Pirates want to be around $40MM again they should have about $25MM to play with.
Quick Hits: Buchholz, Ishikawa, Tabata, Rivera
Rounding up Sunday's links, as Andre Ethier celebrates his 29th birthday….
- Jon Lester told WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that he didn't talk to Clay Buchholz about the pros and cons of signing a long-term extension before the right-hander inked a four-year pact today.
- Travis Ishikawa admitted he hoped another team would claim him when he was placed on waivers earlier this season, according to MLB.com's Chris Haft. However, now he says he's glad he's still with the Giants organization and is excited to stay on the West Coast, playing for Triple-A Fresno.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette looks back at the trade that sent Xavier Nady to the Yankees. Kovacevic argues that even if three of the four players the Pirates received for Nady don't work out, Jose Tabata alone makes it a steal for Pittsburgh.
- Juan Rivera isn't off to a good start with his new team, as Mike Rutsey of the Toronto Sun writes. The Blue Jays are reportedly interested in trading Rivera, but his performance so far likely isn't helping draw any interest.
- The Indians will have some roster shuffling to do when injured players return, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who also addresses trade possibilites in a Tribe mailbag.
- Nationals infielder Alex Cora should make a good manager someday, says MLB.com's Marty Noble.
Quick Hits: Villanueva, Looper, Red Sox, Wilson
As the Giants raise their World Series banner with an assist from the Say Hey Kid, here's some news from around the majors…
- The Brewers received cash, rather than a player to be named later, from the Blue Jays to complete the Carlos Villanueva trade, reports the team (and passed on by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy).
- The Cubs aren't considering trying to lure Braden Looper out of retirement, reports ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine. Looper retired when he didn't make Chicago's Opening Day roster. With right-handers Andrew Cashner and Randy Wells on the disabled list, the Cubs have a sudden lack of pitching depth, but the team will turn to internal options like Casey Coleman, who will start on Sunday.
- The Red Sox got their first win of the season today, but there's still plenty of talk about Boston's slow start. SI's Tom Verducci thinks there are legitimate reasons for worry, namely that Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka "have to suddenly reverse the downward trends of their careers in their 30s."
- Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com also questions Boston's pitching, pointing out that barring rebound years from Beckett, Lackey and Matsuzaka, "they’re essentially the same team as the Yankees — terrific offense, deep bullpen, weak back of the rotation." Rosenthal, however, thinks it is far too early in the season for the Sox and their fans to panic.
- Jack Wilson asked to be taken out of the Mariners' 7-3 loss to the Rangers on Wednesday, Seattle manager Eric Wedge told reporters today. Wilson implied that Wedge had removed him from the game, which upset Wedge, tweets Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. The Twitter feed of the Brock & Salk radio show on 710 ESPN Seattle reports that Wedge described Wilson's actions as "unspeakable" and wouldn't discuss the veteran infielder's status with the club.
- Pirates right-hander Tyler Yates has a torn flexor tendon in his throwing elbow, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Yates hasn't pitched since 2009 due to Tommy John surgery, and Langosch reports that this latest injury might convince Yates to retire, a decision he's already considered earlier in his career.
- The Diamondbacks are looking at Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon and Danny Hultzen with the third pick in this June's amateur draft, says Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Sources on other teams think this trio will be the first three players taken in the draft, though perhaps not in that order. Arizona also has the seventh overall pick, and Piecoro notes that the D-Backs' priority with that pick is to draft a player they can sign. Vanderbilt's Sonny Grey and high schoolers Dylan Bundy and Taylor Guerrieri are some of the players Piecoro hears connected with this pick.
- Doug Davis held another workout today, tweets Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. Five or six teams were present, down from the eight clubs that watched Davis throw two weeks ago.
Pirates Release Craig Hansen
The Pirates announced that they released right-hander Craig Hansen, a former first rounder who was part of the 2008 Jason Bay trade. Pirates Prospects first reported the move.
The 6'6" 27-year-old arrived in Pittsburgh nearly thee years ago, when the Pirates sent Bay to Boston. Hansen appeared in 21 games for the Pirates over the course of two seasons, posting a 6.95 ERA with twice as many walks (24) as strikeouts (12). A rare nerve injury limited Hansen to 12 minor league appearances in 2010 and sidelined him for much of 2009.
Bryan Morris is the lone player from the Bay trade remaining in the Pirates' organization, now that Brandon Moss, Andy LaRoche and Hansen have been released. In 133 2/3 minor league innings last year, Morris posted a 3.03 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9. For the Pirates to salvage something of value from the Bay trade, Morris will have to provide value in the Major Leagues.
Pirates Sign Dan Meyer
The Pirates signed left-hander Dan Meyer and assigned him to Triple-A, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch (on Twitter). The Phillies had released him over the weekend.
Meyer appeared in just 13 games for the Marlins last year after posting a 3.09 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 71 appearances for Florida in 2009. The results weren't there in 2010, when Meyer spent most of the season in the minors and spent time on the disabled list with a calf strain. Meyer walked 12 and struck out four in 9 1/3 innings of big league work, though his minor league numbers (2.93 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 46 innings) suggest he's capable of more.
A first round selection of Atlanta's in 2002, Meyer developed into a highly touted prospect. The Braves sent him to Oakland in the Tim Hudson deal and he has since been in the Phillies' and Marlins' organizations. Still just 29, Meyer will provide depth in the minors for the Pirates.
Langosch also confirmed that the Pirates signed Tim Wood, as MLBTR reported last week.
Lame Duck General Managers
By now, I'm sure you've looked over our list of players that will be free agents after the 2011 season numerous times, but what about general managers? With some help from Cot's Baseball Contracts, here's the list of GMs without contracts for 2012…
- Andy MacPhail, Orioles – Technically, MacPhail isn't the GM, he's the president of baseball operations. He's still the guy calling the shots though. Last October we heard that he doesn't have any plans to approach owner Peter Angelos about a new deal before his current one expires.
- Neal Huntington, Pirates – Team president Frank Coonelly said he expects Huntington to be in Pittsburgh "for a long time" earlier this year.
- Walt Jocketty, Reds – Cincinnati is clearly a team on the rise, so it seems likely that ownership would want to bring Jocketty back after the season.
- Dave Dombrowski, Tigers – A few months ago we heard that the fates of Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland could be a package deal based on the team's performance in 2011.
- Brian Cashman, Yankees – The third longest-tenured GM in the game would seem to be on rocky ground after being over-ruled by ownership on the Rafael Soriano signing, but we heard afterwards that he still has the "full backing" of the Steinbrenners.
Quick Hits: Kroon, Sanchez, Cubs, Pirates, Rays
The Red Sox announced the passing of longtime executive Lou Gorman, who built Boston's 1986 American League Championship team. Our condolences to Gorman's family and friends. Here are this evening's links…
- Giants GM Brian Sabean confirmed to Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News that right-hander Marc Kroon has an out-clause in his contract that can be triggered on June 1st (Twitter link). The Japanese league vet will head to Triple-A after signing a minor league deal earlier this year.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report indicating that Romulo Sanchez has signed with the Rakuten Golden Eagles for $475K plus bonuses (Twitter links). The Yankees released Sanchez so he could purse a job in Japan last week.
- Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball reports that 234 players (27.7%) on MLB rosters on Opening Day were born outside of the United States. The all-time record is 29.2% in 2005.
- Cubs chairmam Tom Ricketts told Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune that he's okay with eating the $11.5MM left on Carlos Silva's deal in order to release the right-hander. "We knew it was a possibility that there might not be a spot for him, and that’s just the way it is," said Ricketts. "You’ve got to have the best team on the field, and that’s what counts."
- Baseball America's Matt Eddy rounded up all of last week's minor league transactions. See what familiar names were signed and released as teams finalize their minor league rosters.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette challenges Pirates leaders to change the perception that the team is focused on profit, destined never to compete.
- Cork Gaines of Rays Index shows that the Rays' payroll dropped 41.7% from last year, all the way down to $41.9MM. The Rays committed $12.6MM to Wade Davis yesterday, an especially substantial investment for a team on such a limited budget.
- White Sox director of international scouting Jerry Krause is stepping down to join the Diamondbacks, according Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. The former Chicago Bulls GM will assist Arizana executive Jerry DiPoto.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Dodgers can overcome surrounding distractions to become a playoff team in 2011. In fact, he predicts an NL West title for the Dodgers.
Pirates Designate Ramon Aguero For Assignment
The Pirates designated right-hander Ramon Aguero for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Jose Veras, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. The Pirates had optioned Aguero to Double-A Altoona on March 14th.
Aguero posted a 6.14 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 in 29 1/3 innings at Class A and Double-A last year. The 26-year-old Dominican has a 4.14 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in parts of five pro seasons.
Pirates Sign Tim Wood
The Pirates signed recently-released right-hander Tim Wood, MLBTR has learned. It didn't take long for Wood to find a job after the Nationals released him and two others.
Wood logged 27 2/3 innings for the Marlins last year, posting a 5.53 ERA with more walks (15) than strikeouts (10). He was more effective in 2009, when he posted a 2.82 ERA with 16 strikeouts and 10 walks in 22 1/3 innings for Florida. The 28-year-old has a 4.72 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 over the course of his eight-year minor league career.
Wood, selected in the 44th round of the 2002 draft, first made it to the majors in 2009, and he began his big league career in style, throwing 9 2/3 scoreless innings over the course of eight appearances.