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Javier Lopez

Placed On Waivers: Gallardo, Morse, Bell, Lopez

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Here's Monday's list of players that have been placed on revocable trade waivers…

  • Yovani Gallardo — Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter) reports that Gallardo has been placed on waivers by the Brewers.  The starter drew interest this summer as a player who could help not just for 2013, but beyond, as he is under contract for $11.25MM next season with a $13MM club option for 2015.  Gallardo is having a down year, but he has had two strong starts against the Reds this month since coming off of the DL.  For his career, Gallardo owns a 3.76 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.
  • Mike Morse — Rosenthal also reports that Morse was placed on waivers by the Mariners.  Morse's teammate, Kendrys Morales, was claimed off of waivers earlier today, giving Seattle two bats to dangle to interested clubs.  Will either player be moved?  We can surmise that the M's held on to impending free agents like Morse, Morales, and Raul Ibanez with the idea of retaining them beyond this season.  On the year, Morse owns a .227/.282/.414 slash line with 13 homers in 301 plate appearances – down from his career line of .285/.338/.480.
  • Heath Bell — Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that Bell, 35, has been placed on waivers. He came to the Diamondbacks from the Marlins this offseason in a three-team trade that also included the A's. Bell has rebounded, to an extent, from a rough 2012 season that saw him post a 5.09 ERA in his only season with the Marlins. He's pitched to a 3.88 ERA with 10.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 41.9 percent ground-ball rate. His HR/FB ratio is at a sky-high 17.2 percent, which has bloated his ERA. xFIP predicts that with a league-average HR/FB rate (roughly 11 percent), Bell would have an ERA of 3.05. His K/BB numbers and the fluky nature of high HR/FB rates suggest he's in for some improvement in the ERA department, but he's under contract for $9MM this season and again in 2014. The Marlins are picking up $8MM of that salary, but he'd be an expensive acquisition. I'd expect Bell to clear waivers.
  • Javier Lopez — Heyman also tweets that the 36-year-old Lopez has been placed on waivers by the Giants. Lopez has a masterful 1.99 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a monstrous 64 percent ground-ball rate. He drew significant interest from multiple teams prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. San Francisco GM Brian Sabean reportedly had exorbitant asking price at the time, seeking top prospect Danny Salazar from the Indians in exchange for Lopez. A free agent at season's end, Lopez is owed roughly $813K over the remainder of the year and seems likely to be claimed.

For a reminder on how revocable trade waivers and August trades work, check out MLBTR's August trades primer. You can see who is available to be traded to any team by checking MLBTR's list of players who have cleared waivers.  Zach Links contributed to this post.

Giants, Javier Lopez Have Mutual Interest In Return

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Javier Lopez is staying put and the left-hander says he and the Giants have already discussed his impending free agency and there is mutual interest in a return, tweets Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com.  The veteran said that he signed his two-year extension with every intention of playing it out and is glad that he'll get that chance, tweets Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The reliever's name popped up multiple times throughout the day in trade rumors but nothing came to fruition.  With minutes to go before the deadline and multiple teams still linked to Lopez, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy said he was confident Lopez would staying put, according to Alex Pavlovic of the Mercury News (via Twitter).

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the Giants kept a high asking price on Lopez and the Reds were among the teams vying for him, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  The Indians and Giants also had discussions regarding Lopez, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported yesterday the Giants asked the Indians for young starter Danny Salazar, which was not going to happen. 

The Tigers were believed to be interested in Lopez, but Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Twitter links) reported that Detroit never tried to land the lefty.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Relief Rumors: Lopez, Gregerson, Thatcher, Red Sox

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Less than one day remains until the trade deadline, and relievers have been the most moved commodity in recent days, with Scott Downs, Jose Veras, Jesse Crain and Marc Rzepczynski all changing teams. Here's more on the relief market…

  • The Tigers remain open to adding relief help and have expressed interest in Javier Lopez, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). It seems that Detroit isn't necessarily set in the bullpen department after adding Veras yesterday.
  • Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets that the Indians called the Giants about Lopez but the talks ended quickly when San Francisco asked for top prospect Danny Salazar in return.
  • The Padres are listening on both Luke Gregerson and Joe Thatcher, but they'd need to be "inspired" to move either pitcher, according to ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter link).
  • Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reported earlier today the Red Sox still consider bullpen help as a high priority (Twitter link). However, the team acquired Jake Peavy and Brayan Villarreal earlier tonight, so that may no longer be a need. Villarreal could slot into Boston's bullpen, and the Sox could also push Brandon Workman to the bullpen, as Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe noted (on Twitter).

Giants Rumors: Javier Lopez, Pence, Lincecum

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The Giants will definitely move lefty reliever Javier Lopez, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  As for fellow impending free agents Hunter Pence and Tim Lincecum, as reported yesterday, the Giants intend to make a qualifying offer to both after the season, but are willing to listen to trade offers now.  The latest:

Earlier Updates

  • The Giants' interest in retaining Pence and Lincecum will clearly affect whether they're traded this summer.  Assistant GM Bobby Evans noted to Sherman, "You have to be realistic that if you trade a guy, you are not going to be able to re-sign him. That is what history shows."  In a general sense, Evans also said, "We will listen.  And things change as the deadline gets closer. But I don’t see anyone overwhelming us to make deals happen."

Giants To Entertain Offers For Veterans

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10:33pm: The Tigers are among the many teams that have spoken to the Giants about Lopez, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports (on Twitter). Earlier tonight, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported that the two sides have had trade discussions even after Detroit's acquisition of Jose Veras earlier today.

In a separate tweet, Knobler reports that Pence is available, though the price is very high. The Giants aren't likely to trade Lincecum, according to Knobler.

2:32pm: The Giants plan to make qualifying offers to Pence and Lincecum after the season, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, leading one source to suggest their asking price is "very strong" on the pair.

1:22pm: The Giants have told other teams they'd rather re-sign Pence than trade him, according to ESPN's Jayson Stark.

10:53am: The Giants will entertain trade offers for veterans, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  He says that while the club would ideally like to keep potential free agents Tim Lincecum, Hunter Pence, and Javier Lopez, they feel they must listen to any reasonable proposal.

Lincecum, 29, has a 4.95 ERA in 313 regular season innings since dominating from 2008-11.  This year, strikeouts are up and walks down, suggesting he could be a 3.50 ERA pitcher moving forward.  With over $7MM remaining, his salary could be prohibitive for some clubs, and his ERA has bounced around in the mid to high-4.00s since May.  A qualifying offer, which could cost $14MM, is a question mark at this point for the Giants if he stays, in my opinion.

Pence, 30, is hitting .277/.320/.457 in 440 plate appearances this year.  He's hitting .259/.300/.401 since June 1st, and probably doesn't qualify as an impact bat even in a weak market.  Rosenthal suggests he would receive a qualifying offer from the Giants after the season, so they'd be looking to top the value of a supplemental draft pick.  Of course, the Giants have typically placed a lower value on such picks than most clubs.  Pence has around $4.6MM remaining on his contract.

Lopez, 36, would be the easiest of the three to move.  About 64% of the batters he's faced have been left-handed hitters, and he's dominated against them.  The Braves and Indians seek left-handed relief.  The Diamondbacks are in the market as well, though the division rivals haven't matched up on a trade since '05.  The Giants would consider re-signing Lopez in the offseason, according to Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona, but "indications are that Lopez would like to play closer to his Virginia home."

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Giants To Re-Sign Javier Lopez

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The Giants and Javier Lopez have agreed to a two-year, $8.5MM contract, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press.  The money will be divided evenly in each year as the left-handed reliever will earn $4.25MM in 2012 and '13.

Lopez had a base salary of $2.375MM in 2011 and was two innings short of earning a $25K bonus for reaching 55 innings.  In 53 innings of work this year, Lopez registered a 2.72 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9.  The 34-year-old was expected to receive plenty of interest on the open market from teams in search of a quality matchup lefty.

The Giants now have to decide on the $5MM option for fellow lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt.  Sabean expects to retain Affeldt even if the club declines his option and renegotiates a new contract.  The Giants have until the end of the day Monday to either exercise the option or pay a $500K buyout.

West Notes: Kuroda, Lopez, Sanchez, Harden, Angels

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Here are some notes from both divisions out west…

  • Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda shrugged off speculation from the Japanese media that he'll return to Japan to pitch a farewell season with Hiroshima in 2012, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.  Kuroda put the odds of him pitching in MLB or going home next season at 50-50.
  • Expect lots of teams to talk with the agent of Giants reliever Javier Lopez, writes ESPN.com's Buster Olney.  The 34-year-old has postseason experience and teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers, Brewers, and Cardinals have been after a good matchup lefty this year.
  • Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez expect to be ready for opening day but manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean already have discussed the importance of covering themselves with other options at the position, writes Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News. 
  • Rich Harden would like to return to the Athletics and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says that’s something that could happen.  The injury-prone veteran would likely sign for an inexpensive one-year deal.
  • With his strong work down the stretch, Jerome Williams has become the leading in-house candidate to assume one of the spots behind Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana in the Angels' 2012 rotation, writes Lyle Spencer of MLB.com.

Quick Hits: Pirates, Cubs, Werth, Byrdak

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The Cardinals won and the Braves lost, so only 2.5 games separate the two clubs in the National League Wild Card race. Here's the latest news from around MLB…

  • Pirates GM Neal Huntington didn't say whether he intends to offer arbitration to Ross Ohlendorf this offseason, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Ohlendorf would earn a raise from his current $2.025MM salary if the Pirates tender him a contract this winter.
  • The Cubs told scouting director Tim Wilken that he'll be back in 2012, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. There had been some rumblings that Wilken would receive a four-year extension like the one director of player personnel Oneri Fleita obtained, but Wilken will return on a one-year deal.
  • Giants officials acknowledged to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that it will be hard to bring back both Jeremy Affeldt ($5MM option) and Javier Lopez (free agent) next year. The two left-handers could hit free agency this offseason.
  • Jayson Werth told Bill Ladson of MLB.com that he still believes that the Nationals are headed for success. The outfielder hasn't lived up to his $126MM contract so far, but he says he has found his swing and regained his composure.
  • Mike Mosa, the agent for Tim Byrdak, told MLBTR's Tim Dierkes that Byrdak's decision to sign an extension with the Mets had to do with the team's willingness to include an opt-out in his deal for 2011 (Twitter link).
  • Dave Cameron of FanGraphs explains that serious analysts don't believe "that awards voting should be done according to an ordinal ranking" of the wins above replacement statistic. WAR is a tool that guides baseball fans, not an absolute statement about value or ability.
  • In this week's edition of Ask BA, Jim Callis of Baseball America explains that he doubts we'll ever see an international draft because of all the logistics that would be involved. Commissioner Bud Selig has long supported a worldwide draft, which will come up during this round of collective bargaining.

Giants, Lopez Avoid Arbitration

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The Giants avoided arbitration with Javier Lopez, agreeing to terms on a deal for 2011, according to the team (on Twitter). The left-hander had filed for $2.88MM and the team offered $2MM, as MLBTR's Arb Tracker shows. The sides agreed to a $2.375MM deal, according to the AP (via ESPN). That puts Lopez's 2011 salary slightly below the midpoint of the two submissions.

Lopez posted a 1.42 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 0.9 BB/9 in 27 relief appearances after the Giants acquired him from the Pirates midway through the 2010 season. He pitched tremendously for the eventual world champions, improving on the solid numbers he had posted in Pittsburgh. Overall, Lopez had a 61.8% ground ball rate last year, up from his career mark of 56.1%. The 33-year-old has struggled with walks in his career (4.0 BB/9) and right-handed hitters have a .296/.377/.432 line against him.

Andres Torres is now the Giants' lone unsigned arbitration eligible player.

Arbitration Figures: Tuesday

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Today is the deadline for players and teams to submit arbitration figures. Let's keep track of those figures here, with the latest updates on top. You can track all of the players that avoided arbitration today here.

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