Pirates Interested In Luis Ayala
9:28pm: John Perrotto has another article up, saying the Pirates are only interested in Ayala at a "greatly reduced cost," i.e. the "vast majority" of the $700k still owed to him would need to be picked up by the Twins.
8:22am: The Pirates are interested in trading for reliever Luis Ayala, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. John Perrotto of PiratesReport.com confirms the Pirates' interest in the 31-year-old righty, who was designated for assignment by the Twins on Monday.
Vesting Options For 2010
Magglio Ordonez's 2010 vesting option has created a small stir in the last week or so, but there's a group of players with less-publicized vesting options. Here are updates on a few of them, and please add anyone I missed in the comments below:
- Freddy Sanchez will earn $8MM in 2010 if he makes 635 plate appearances this year. The option will also kicks in if he makes the All Star team and bats 600 times. With 290 plate appearance already, it looks like Sanchez will make $8MM next year.
- Kevin Millwood has a $12MM option that kicks in after 180 innings pitched. He hasn't pitched that much since 2006, but with a league-leading 106.2 innings logged already, Millwood will likely see his option vest.
- It's no surprise that we've heard little about Dmitri Young's $6MM option for next year. It only vests if he bats 500 times, but he hasn't hit yet in 2009. It's safe to say the Nats won't be stuck paying him that much next year.
- Josh Beckett's $12MM 2010 option will kick in if he starts 28 games this year. He's already at 14, so that number seems attainable.
- Milton Bradley's 2011 option will vest if he plays 75 games in 2009. In other words, Bradley will earn $12MM in 2011 if he plays 22 more games this year.
Odds And Ends: Phillips, Mets, Pirates
Links for Tuesday morning…
- It's time for another MLBTR chat. We'll go live at 2pm CST.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes on a report suggesting former Yankee Andy Phillips could soon be playing in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp.
- Chico Harlan of the Washington Post heard from former college standout Ben McDonald that agent Scott Boras never pressured him into anything back in 1989.
- Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says Neal Huntington is trying to build a young, athletic, defensive-minded outfield around Andrew McCutchen in Pittsburgh.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff says the Mets shouldn't part with their trading chips for short-term benefit, even if it costs them their 2009 season.
- After looking at the Rangers' problems yesterday, Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News shows that lots is going well for them.
- Mike White of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Matt Clement is coaching basketball at his former high school.
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier takes his readers behind the scenes of the Red Sox draft.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times says a Juan Pierre for Jarrod Washburn swap wouldn't work for the Mariners because of Pierre's contract.
Pirates Sign Supplemental First Round Pick
John Perrotto tweets that the Pirates have signed righthander Victor Black, their supplemental first round pick. Coming out of Dallas Baptist, Black was taken with the pick the Pirates received for failing to sign Tanner Scheppers last year. Terms of the deal aren't known, but MLB's recommended slot bonus for the 49th overall pick is expected to be around $720,000.
Odds And Ends: Red Sox, Mateo, Sano
More links for the afternoon…
- The Pirates signed Victor Black, their supplemental round pick, according to Mike Vukovcan of KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh.
- Alex Speier of WEEI.com reports that the Red Sox are set to sign their second round pick, righty Alex Wilson, for about $475k. He turned down $600k from the Cubs last year.
- ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure says the Nats will work Wagner Mateo out, but aren't likely to sign him.
- Arangure says the Mariners, Cardinals, Dodgers, Giants, Yankees and Cubs could sign Mateo.
- Arangure still expects Miguel Angel Sano to sign with the Pirates.
- Peter Abraham of the Journal News suggests the Yankees should release Brett Tomko and Angel Berroa. He also suggests five other ways the Yankees could improve without making a trade.
- Peter Gammons says C.C. Sabathia could use some extra rest in this ESPN Radio discussion. Gammons also believes Daisuke Matsuzaka's injury is "pretty serious."
- MLB.com's Rustin Dodd looks back at the deal that sent Carlos Beltran to the Astros. Five years ago Wednesday, the Royals acquired Mike Wood, Mark Teahen and John Buck for their center fielder.
- Click here to take another look at the MLBTR glossary post on the international signing period. It now explains how some players born in early September, 1993 can sign this year.
Jason Bay Was Nearly A Brave
We know that the Braves and Rays almost acquired Jason Bay from the Pirates at last year's trade deadline. Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has some specifics on who the Pirates would have received in return and just how close the Braves came to completing the deal:
- The Braves would have sent Concepcion Rodriguez, Brent Lillibridge, Brandon Jones and Jeff Locke to the Pirates.
- Interestingly, Locke was eventually dealt to the Pirates for another All-Star outfielder, Nate McLouth.
- The Braves actually had Bay's name sewed onto a jersey. I wonder who has it now…
- Pirates president Frank Coonelly called the deal off since he wanted more major league talent in return.
- Bay had no idea that he came so close to becoming a Brave and said he's happy to be in Boston.
Odds And Ends: Reds, LaRoche, Francoeur
More links for the afternoon…
- Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe heard rumors from scouts that the Reds are dangling one of their veteran pitchers. Could Bronson Arroyo be available? Maybe Aaron Harang?
- Ozzie Guillen would endorse an extension for Scott Podsednik, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates aren't close to trading Adam LaRoche.
- MLB.com's Jen Langosch reports that the Pirates have signed three more draft picks.
- Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News asks his readers: what would you do with the struggling Rangers offense?
- Bradford Doolittle of the Kansas City Star says Royals GM Dayton Moore has referred to Jeff Francoeur as a successfully-developed player more than once.
Prospect Updates: Strasburg, Harper, Sanchez
Updates on some of baseball's best prospects;
- It's fair to expect intense negotiations between Stephen Strasburg, Scott Boras and the Washington Nationals this summer. In this Philadephia Inquirer article by Don McKee, Jered Weaver says his negotiations were too "frantic" back when he was a top college pitcher like Strasburg.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the D'Backs are creating so many new ways to lose that they could end up with a worse record than the Nationals and the chance to take Bryce Harper first overall next June.
- Dave Mackall of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Pirates first rounder Tony Sanchez is "not oblivious" to the critics who say the Pirates drafted him too early.
- Pedro Alvarez has been promoted to AA, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Steve Melewski of MASN.com reports that Mychal Givens was surprised when the Orioles drafted him. O's scouting director Joe Jordan says he'd be surprised if Givens signs soon.
Odds & Ends: Chipper, Tigers, Padres, Diamondbacks
Some Saturday links…
- Furman Bisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says it's time for the Braves to put Chipper Jones on the market.
- The Tigers designated catcher Dane Sardinha for assignment to make room for righty Alfredo Figaro, according to CBSsports.com.
- Nick Canepa of The San Diego Union-Tribune writes that now is as good a time as any for the Padres to inject some youth into the team.
- In addition to first rounder AJ Pollock, Nick Piecoro reports that the Diamondbacks have announced the signing of four draft picks, including supplemental first rounder Mike Belfiore.
- CJ Nitkowski blogs that he and the SK Wyverns of the Korean Baseball Organization have parted ways.
- Rob Biertempfel reports that the Pirates signed another draft pick.
Pirates DFA Craig Monroe
According to Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, the Pirates designated outfielder Craig Monroe for assignment after last night's game to make room on the roster for Steve Pearce. Monroe hit just .215-.287-.354 in 87 plate appearances for the Bucs.