NL East Notes: Harper, Zimmerman, Reyes, Phillies
The Nationals announced that Bryce Harper, last year's first overall pick, and right-hander Brad Peacock will represent Washington at the All-Star Futures Game (Twitter link). Here are some more notes from the NL East…
- Ryan Zimmerman tells Tim Kurkjian of ESPN The Magazine that he still hopes to play his entire career for the Nationals. "I think it would be really cool to play 15 or 20 years in the same place and say that I was there when things were not so great," Zimmerman said. As Kurkjian shows, the Nationals have turned into a respectable team after struggling for years.
- Mets shortstop Jose Reyes told Aaron Taube of MLB.com that he isn't concerned about the fact that the Yankees aren't expecting to acquire him. "I don't worry about that. I play for the New York Mets," Reyes said.
- Phillies manager Charlie Manuel would like to see his team add a right-handed hitter with some pop, according to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News. Manuel’s wish may come true, as the Phillies are looking for just that and have checked in on the likes of Ryan Ludwick, Josh Willingham and Michael Cuddyer.
Cashman: Reyes To Yankees ‘Not Going To Happen’
GM Brian Cashman told Roger Rubin of the New York Daily News that the Yankees are not going to acquire Jose Reyes any time in the foreseeable future. Cashman said a move for Reyes is “just not going to happen" and explained that he believes in his club’s current shortstops.
"We have an everyday shortstop in Derek Jeter," Cashman said. "And I think we have an everyday shortstop that would be playing for a lot of clubs in Eduardo Nunez. The Yankees don't have a need now or in the future for a shortstop."
Jeter is on the disabled list with an injured right calf and should be ready to return before long. The 17-year veteran is under contract through 2013 and the 24-year-old Nunez won’t even be arbitration eligible until after ’13.
Cashman said he’s “not afraid” to deal with the Mets, but admitted that there’s added pressure when making a crosstown trade. The Yankees need a setup man, so Cashman has been making calls to determine who’s available.
Reyes has told the Mets that he does not want to negotiate an extension during the season. The 28-year-old will hit free agency for the first time this fall.
NL East Notes: Reyes, Werth, McKeon
The Phillies and Braves began the day ranked first and second in MLB in run prevention. The Phillies (240 runs allowed as of this morning) have Cliff Lee on the hill tonight and the Braves (252 runs allowed) surrendered just a single run against the Blue Jays this afternoon. Here's the latest on the other NL East clubs:
- As Joel Sherman of the New York Post explains, Mets GM Sandy Alderson has clearly become more enamored with Jose Reyes as the season has gone on and the shortstop has showed off his defense and athleticism.
- Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth told Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that agent Scott Boras did not solicit him before Werth left the Beverly Hills Sports Council for Boras late last season. "In no way was I being harassed or bothered or anything other than what I wanted," Werth said, in response to Jayson Stark’s recent ESPN article.
- Click here to see how Werth is faring relative to other new members of baseball's $100MM club and click here to check out our Agency Database.
- Managers around the league, including Terry Francona of the Red Sox and Mike Scioscia of the Angels, tell Joe Frisaro of MLB.com that they're impressed with Marlins skipper Jack McKeon, who is managing at the age of 80.
Quick Hits: Royals, Brewers, Hanley, Mets
Paul Konerko homered for the fifth consecutive game tonight, which gives him a total of 21 on the season and a share of the MLB lead. Here are tonight's links from around the Major Leagues…
- Royals GM Dayton Moore told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he'll remain open-minded about trades that will improve the Royals in 2011 and put them in a better long-term position. Mike Aviles, Wilson Betemit and Melky Cabrera are among the Royals who could appeal to other teams this summer.
- MLB officials have had internal discussions about 15 team leagues with no divisions, but the idea hasn't been discussed in collective bargaining with the MLBPA, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan (Twitter links). MLB is reluctant to push for such drastic change, but Passan hears that an NL team “will” move to the AL to even the leagues out at 15 clubs apiece.
- Brewers scouting director Bruce Seid told Adam McCalvy and Audrey Snider of MLB.com that Milwaukee has talked to top pick Taylor Jungmann since selecting him 12th overall and is prepared to continue negotiations in depth.
- Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest told Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post that he doesn’t want to speculate about Hanley Ramirez as a possible trade candidate. “We do say that some players are more or less likely to be traded than others, but we don't ever talk about anybody specific," Beinfest said.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com that he wasn’t surprised to hear that Jose Reyes has decided against negotiating a possible deal in-season.
- Alderson added that the Mets’ record won’t necessarily dictate their willingness to trade Reyes (Twitter link). "Whether we’re winning or losing is a lot less relevant in Jose’s case,” he said.
Reyes Not Interested In Negotiating During Season
Jose Reyes is headed for the open market. The shortstop has told the Mets that he isn't interested in negotiating an extension during the season, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). The Mets approached Reyes' agent only to learn that negotiations will have to wait until after the season, according to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
As recently as this morning it appeared that the Mets had interest in discussing a deal in the near future. COO Jeff Wilpon said today that he hasn't given up hope on re-signing Reyes, who is scheduled to hit free agency for the first time this fall.
If Reyes is waiting until after the season to negotiate, there's a good chance that he'll become available to all 30 teams. But if the Mets miss the playoffs, they could negotiate a deal during the month of October. Even if New York makes the playoffs, they would have five days of exclusive negotiating rights after the World Series ends.
Reyes has arguably been the best player in the National League to this point in the season. The 28-year-old leads the Senior Circuit with a .341 average, 12 triples, 54 runs, 103 hits and 4.2 WAR (according to FanGraphs).
Mets Rumors: Trades, Reyes, Beltran, Nimmo, Kazmir
After an off day yesterday, the Mets remain five games out in the wild card at 35-37 as Dillon Gee prepares to face the Athletics. The latest rumors around the club:
- Mets COO Jeff Wilpon told Dan Martin of the New York Post that GM Sandy Alderson will "have all the opportunity in the world to bring anybody he wants in." Alderson is restriction-free, but must bring ideas to his bosses on a case-by-case basis. Regarding the Mets' status as buyers or sellers, Alderson remarked, "The next three to four weeks will tell a lot."
- Asked by Martin if he had lost hope on keeping Jose Reyes, Wilpon replied, "Why would we? There's a long time between now and next year [and there are] a lot of things that can happen in a lot of different directions." Though he's been mum on the subject of his next contract publicly, the shortstop talks about the situation privately all the time, one friend told Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Said the friend, "If the Mets think they're getting him for, like, $95 million, they're wrong. He's going to get paid. He is clear about that." Martino feels that even if Reyes gives the Mets a discount, he'll still require "well north of $100 million." Alderson said recently that the Mets will reach out to Reyes at some point.
- SI's Tom Verducci thinks the Mets will approach Reyes in July. A team source told him, "I'm sure there will come a point where we sit down and see what Jose wants. But there's nothing that says we won't try to keep the guy." The Mets would need to be overwhelmed with an offer of three top prospects to trade Reyes, in the opinion of Verducci.
- Martin talked to Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran, who said he is not worrying about trade possibilities.
- Mets first-round draft pick Brandon Nimmo "was asking for $2.5 million," tweets Baseball America's Jim Callis. Nimmo, drafted 13th overall, is committed to Arkansas. If Callis' rumor is correct, he's looking for $844K over slot.
- The Mets' front office wanted to annul the 2004 trade that sent Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano on medical grounds, reports ESPN's Adam Rubin. Mets employees believed the Rays did not supply the full trainers' log on Zambrano, who had elbow issues at the time of the deal. However, the Wilpons elected not to try to revise or undo the trade. Still, GM Jim Duquette isn't off the hook, because trading Kazmir for a healthy Zambrano wouldn't have been a good deal either.
Heyman On Reyes, Beltran
The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…
- One NL exec believes the Mets will have to be "overwhelmed" or get a "clear win" to trade shortstop Jose Reyes, which is in line with previous reports. The Mets are 4.5 games back in the wild card, but have the luxury of seeing how the next 30 days or so unfold. For our look at the shortstop market, click here.
- I assume the same logic applies to Carlos Beltran, that the Mets wouldn't deal him for prospects if they're still in contention. Heyman says the Mets would eat most or all of Beltran's remaining money if they can get a decent young piece or two, and that the right fielder would probably waive his no-trade clause to go to a contender. At the trade deadline he'll have about $6MM left on his contract.
- Josh Willingham, Michael Bourn, and Ivan Rodriguez fill out the top five on Heyman's list of the best potentially available position players. The Nationals' Roger Bernadina sneaks onto the list at #23.
Reyes Says There’s “No Chance” He Switches Agents
2:57pm: Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal quotes Reyes (via Twitter) as saying that he spoke to Boras twice on the phone, but there's "no chance" he switches agents.
SATURDAY, 2:33pm: ESPN's Adam Rubin hears from a source that Reyes is expected to address the situation today prior to the Mets game at Citi Field tonight, and announce that he is staying with Greenberg. According to Rubin, Reyes may express displeasure that contact with Scott Boras was disclosed, and that it was not initiated by Reyes. Rubin also points out that Chris Leible, one of Reyes' agents, is the godfather of two of Reyes' children.
Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger tweets that he would be shocked if Reyes left his current representation. Newsday's David Lennon echoes that sentiment with a tweet of his own.
FRIDAY: Scott Boras already represents many of the game's biggest stars, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that he's looking to add Jose Reyes to his client list as well. Boras is speaking to Reyes about becoming his representative according to Rosenthal's sources, and a move would almost guarantee he'll test the free agent waters after the season.
Reyes is currently represented by Peter Greenberg. Agents are free to speak to players they do not represent, however they must disclose all contact with 40-man roster players to the union. Rosenthal says that other agents have tried to lure Reyes away from Greenberg in the past, and he apparently considered a change while meeting agents over the winter. Boras almost always takes his big clients out onto the open market, and Reyes will be one of the best available players this coming offseason.
Check out our Agency Database to see a list of known Boras clients and Greenberg clients.
MLBTR's Steve Adams also contributed to this post.
Olney’s Latest: McCourts, Reyes, Bell
In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney wrote about Vanderbilt catcher Curt Casali, who one evaluator called an "absolute steal" by the Tigers as a tenth round pick in this year's draft. "He's a smart guy, and he's been calling his own pitches," said the evaluator. "You don't see that a lot in college baseball these days, because the pitches are called from the bench."
Here are the rest of Olney's rumors…
- No matter what happens with the McCourts' divorce settlement, the Dodgers will be weakened. If Frank McCourt keeps the team, he'll be forced to use millions of dollars from the proposed FOX television deal to pay off the settlement. If he sells, the new owner will be stuck with a deal that is designed to infuse cash for McCourt now rather than help the franchise long-term.
- Two executives told Olney that they can't imagine being able to give up what the Mets would require in return to trade Jose Reyes. The Mets will be criticized no matter what, whether they trade Reyes, re-sign him, or let him walk as a free agent.
- Teams are beginning to "accelerate talks" with the Padres about Heath Bell, and multiple sides are preparing to exchange trade proposals.
NL East Links: Isringhausen, Reyes, Marlins
Let's round up some links from the NL East…
- ESPN's Buster Olney says (on Twitter) one name that has been raised by talent evaluators as a trade option if the Mets become sellers is Jason Isringhausen. Izzy has a 3.09 ERA in 23 1/3 innings as Francisco Rodriguez's primary setup man, but the advanced metrics don't like him as much: his FIP sits at 4.75.
- An executive told SI.com's Jon Heyman that he believes Mets shortstop Jose Reyes will eclipse Carl Crawford's seven-year, $142MM contract as a free agent this winter because of his bat and "shutdown" defense (Twitter links). Another exec told Joel Sherman of The New York Post that "Prince Fielder is going to get at least 7 yrs with that body, so tell me how [Reyes] doesn't get at least 7 yrs."
- The Marlins made a series of roster moves today, but MLB.com's Joe Frisaro hears that the team is not considering a managerial change (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, meanwhile, says that manager Edwin Rodriguez is on shaky ground and the team maintains interest in Ozzie Guillen and even Bobby Valentine.
- Peter Gammons hears that Marlins players believe team ownership will go over the the heads of the baseball operations department and fire Rodriguez as well as his coaches (Twitter link).