Stark On Dempster, Adams, Reyes, Braves
Jayson Stark leads his latest column for ESPN with a debate with colleague Buster Olney about realignment possibilities. He notes that his sources say there's no chance divisions are dissolved and baseball becomes two 15-team leagues. On to Stark's other rumblings…
- An NL executive who spoke with Cubs GM Jim Hendry says there's no likely scenario where Ryan Dempster is traded. Earlier today, there were indications the Yankees at least have an eye on Dempster, who has full no-trade rights and a $14MM player option for 2012.
- Padres reliever Mike Adams also is likely to stay put, as the Padres are only interested in trading impending free agents Heath Bell and Chad Qualls.
- Jose Reyes might not be Brian Sabean's type of player, says one baseball man who speaks with the Giants' GM regularly. Still, Stark's source wondered if the liberation of winning last year's World Series might compel Sabean to take more chances. Of course, the Mets are looking like potential buyers right now.
- The Braves are "aggressively positioning themselves to deal for an outfield bat as soon as they can find a team ready to open its sell-off shop for business," writes Stark, and they've already checked in on Josh Willingham and Hunter Pence. We outlined potentially available power bats earlier this month.
Olney On Padres, Wood, Pirates
Teams like the Yankees, Rangers and Cardinals may not have to wait much longer for bullpen help. There will probably be relievers available immediately, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. Here’s the latest on the relief market and other notes from Olney:
- The industry-wide expectation is that the Padres will trade Heath Bell soon.
- Executives wonder if the Padres will decide to take advantage of Mike Adams' substantial trade value and trade him now. The setup man is under team control through 2012.
- Rival teams will presumably call the Cubs to see if Kerry Wood would accept a trade. The right-hander signed a discounted $1.5MM contract last offseason because he wanted to return to Chicago.
- Grant Balfour, Luke Gregerson and Michael Wuertz are other possible trade candidates, according to Olney.
- Though the Pirates have developed more top talent under Neal Huntington, it’s an important year for the GM, who doesn’t have a contract after 2011. The Pirates drafted aggressively once again this year, so Huntington and his scouting staff will have a number of tough signs this summer, such as high schooler Josh Bell.
Padres Notes: Rizzo, Adams, Gregerson
The Padres are last in the National League in runs per game, but first base prospect Anthony Rizzo may help solve San Diego's offensive woes before long. Here's the latest on Rizzo and the Padres:
- Padres GM Jed Hoyer has said there are legitimate developmental concerns for keeping Rizzo in the minor leagues, such as the prospect's offensive approach against left-handed pitching. But service time may also be a consideration for clubs wishing to avoid going to arbitration an extra time. As Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes, the Padres "are dragging their feet for long-term financial reasons at the presumed cost of being more competitive right now."
- MLB executive VP of labor relations Rob Manfred told Sullivan that "there’s nothing illegal, immoral or fattening about it" because cutoffs such as the one for super two status are always subject to strategy.
- The Padres will listen to offers for any of their relievers, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The inquiries have already started on Mike Adams, Luke Gregerson and others, according to Morosi.
Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Red Sox, Capps, Padres
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new Full Count video up, so let's dive in…
- If the Red Sox have one need, it's a right-handed hitter that can play multiple positions and come off the bench. Jeff Baker of the Cubs fits the bill, but Yamaico Navarro could be an in-house solution. He's on the minor league disabled list with an oblique issue, however.
- The Twins usage of Matt Capps could impact the way teams view him at the trade deadline and as a free agent after the season. The righty has thrown multiple innings six times already, and is dealing with some forearm issues.
- Team are calling the Padres about not just Heath Bell, but also Mike Adams and Luke Gregerson. They will listen to offers for all of their relievers, but they have to get the right bats in return to move them.
- Mitch Talbot will get a few more starts for the Indians following his elbow issue, but righty Zach McAllister represents an alternative. They acquired him from the Yankees for Austin Kearns last year.
Stark On Giants, Padres, Pence
Now that Buster Posey is on the disabled list for the foreseeable future, the Giants are looking around for catching, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark. Ivan Rodriguez, a player the Giants have asked about, and Bengie Molina, a player who would like to return to San Francisco, are the team’s most viable options at this point. Here are the details from Stark, plus other notes from around the league:
- The Nationals have been shopping Rodriguez since Spring Training and one executive says they would love to move him.
- The Padres are starting to give indications that they’ll be willing to move Heath Bell, Ryan Ludwick and Chad Qualls in a few weeks.
- However, rival teams say the Padres are “not motivated” to talk about players who are under control through 2012 or later, such as reliever Mike Adams.
- The Astros keep saying that they imagine Hunter Pence on Houston’s next winning team, which would presumably make him difficult to obtain this summer.
Players To Avoid Arbitration: Tuesday
Today is the deadline for players and teams to submit arbitration figures. The sides will then settle on a salary between the team's proposed number and the player's proposed number or go to an arbitration hearing. Arbitration eligible players are under team control, so the clubs don't risk losing them – it's a question of how much the players will earn.
Yesterday, 11 players avoided arbitration. We could see just as many agreements trickle in today and we'll keep you posted on them right here and with our Arb Tracker. The latest updates will be at the top of the post:
- The Angels have agreed to terms with Reggie Willits and Howie Kendrick, tweets Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times. Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register tweets that Kendrick will earn $3.3MM, Willits $775K (on Twitter).
- The Giants agreed to terms with Santiago Casilla on a one-year deal worth $1.3MM with incentives, according to ESPN Deportes' Enrique Rojas (on Twitter). The team also announced that they avoided arb with Jonathan Sanchez and Ramon Ramirez (on Twitter). Sanchez will earn $4.8MM with incentives tweets Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle while Ramirez will earn $1.65MM according to Janie McCauley of The Canadian Press.
- The Braves agreed to terms with Peter Moylan and Eric O'Flaherty, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman (on Twitter). Moylan gets $2MM, O'Flaherty gets $895K according to Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter).
- The Mariners agreed to terms with Brandon League, David Aardsma and Jason Vargas, the team announced. Aardsma will earn $4.5MM with plenty of incentives, according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times (plus Twitter link).
- The Rangers agreed to terms with C.J. Wilson and Nelson Cruz, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan (Twitter links). Cruz gets $3.65MM, and Wilson gets $7.05MM with a chance to earn another $100K according to his agent Bob Garber, via email.
Padres Could Put Bell Back On Trade Market
The Padres' late-season collapse has no doubt been tough to take for San Diego fans, but it could get even tougher when and if the Friars revert to their cost-effective ways. San Diego's unexpected playoff push extended Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell's stays with the club, and while the Padres have no ready answer to replace Gonzalez at first base, their deep bullpen may lead to Bell's departure.
ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that San Diego "will at least consider" dealing Bell and installing Mike Adams as the closer going into 2011. Bell agreed to a one-year, $4MM deal last winter to avoid arbitration, but Olney predicts that Bell could earn in the range of $6-$8MM next year, when he hits arbitration for the final time. The Padres have the payroll space to pay Bell that much if they wanted to (as Cot's Baseball Contracts notes, the Friars have a measly $1.1MM committed to players for next season), but that type of outlay on a closer is a luxury that small-market teams usually can't afford.
Adams, meanwhile, made $1MM this season and is entering his second arbitration year. After posting a 1.84 ERA, a 10.2 K/9 rate and a 3.78 K/BB ratio over his three years in San Diego, Adams is sure to earn a nice raise, but it will still fall below Bell's $4MM earnings from this season. If the Pads were to offer Adams a two-year contract worth $5.5MM, Adams would probably accept to gain a bit of security in case he struggles finishing games. MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith recently looked at how Adams' contract situation compared to that of Oakland's Michael Wuertz.
Bell is no stranger to the trade market. His name popped up in multiple rumors when Joe Nathan was injured last spring and was even whispered to be on the block at the July trade deadline when San Diego was in first place. If the Padres shop him around again this winter, the White Sox, Diamondbacks, Angels and Rays are a few of the clubs who could be looking for a proven closer. The Braves and Cardinals could also be added to that list if Billy Wagner and Ryan Franklin both retire.
Mike Adams & Michael Wuertz
Mike Adams was never going to match the 0.73 ERA he posted for the Padres in 2009, but his 2010 season hasn't been bad at all. In a career high 63 appearances, Adams has a 1.79 ERA and he's striking out more than a batter per inning. If the Padres choose to extend Adams this offseason, they could model a deal after one signed by another right-handed setup man who strikes out tons of batters without the benefit of an upper-nineties fastball.
When Michael Wuertz signed an extension with the A's last offseason, he had similar career numbers to the ones Adams has now. Adams has a lower ERA than Wuertz did and he walks fewer batters, but he hasn't pitched as much as Wuertz had. As the table below shows, Adams is now in a similar position to the one Wuertz found himself in a year ago.
Wuertz ultimately signed a two-year $5.25MM extension that covered his remaining two arbitration seasons. The Padres could look to buy out Adams' remaining two arbitration seasons for a similar amount this winter. Given the pitchers' remarkably similar rate stats, service time and salaries, a two-year deal worth $5MM or so would be fair value for both sides.
Players Who Were Once Designated For Assignment
We see it all the time. Most weeks a handful of players are designated for assignment and more often than not casual fans barely notice. A DFA indicates that a team is willing to part with a player – sometimes for nothing. But sometimes those players come back from DFAs to become stars in the major leagues. Here's a list of some current players who have been designated for assignment:
- David Aardsma – The Red Sox acquired Aardsma after the White Sox designated him for assignment in 2008. A year later, the Mariners traded for Aardsma, who became the team's closer and posted impressive rates of 10.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9.
- Mike Adams – Adams was designated for assignment in 2006, before he posted absurdly low ERAs and regularly struck out more than a batter per inning.
- Milton Bradley – The Padres acquired Bradley from the A's after Bradley was designated for assignment in 2007. Bradley hit .313/.414/.590 for the Padres and led them to a one game playoff with the Rockies for the Wild Card spot. Of course Bradley didn't play in game 163, since he tore his ACL while manager Bud Black restrained him during an on-field argument earlier in the month.
- Russell Branyan – No one claimed Branyan after his 2006 DFA, but the Cardinals traded for him when the Phillies designated him for assignment the next year. He didn't do much for the Cards in his 39 plate appearances in 2007, but Branyan rebounded to hit 31 homers for the Mariners in 2009.
- Marlon Byrd – The Nationals designated Byrd for assignment in 2006 without losing him and the Rangers did the same in 2007. Byrd recovered from his '07 demotion to post three consecutive productive seasons in Texas.
- Nelson Cruz – The Rangers designated Cruz for assignment at the beginning of the 2008 season – usually a good time to sneak players through waivers. The Rangers must be thrilled no one claimed Cruz, who hit 37 homers in the minors that year and added 33 in the majors the following season.
- Rajai Davis – The A's claimed the outfielder off of waivers from their Bay Area rivals in 2008. Davis was hitting .056/.105/.056 at the time, though he had batted just 19 times. He has gone on to become a useful player, hitting .305/.360/.423 last year with 41 steals and above average defense, according to UZR.
- Jorge de la Rosa – The Royals designated de la Rosa for assignment in March of 2008, but it wasn't until a month later that the Rockies traded for him. The 29-year-old free agent-to-be has been a productive starter in Colorado since.
- Ryan Franklin – The Reds acquired Franklin from the Phillies in 2006 after a poor start to the season. Franklin didn't do much better with the Reds, but he has been productive for three-plus seasons in St. Louis since.
- Jeremy Guthrie – The Orioles claimed the former first round pick from the Indians early in 2007, when Guthrie had just 37 big league innings and a 6.08 ERA to his name. Since, the righty has posted a 4.19 ERA in 610.1 innings.
- LaTroy Hawkins – The Yankees designated the reliever for assignment in 2008 and traded him to Houston, where Hawkins dominated for 24 appearances. He posted a 0.43 ERA along with 10.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
- Bobby Jenks – He has fallen out of favor with the White Sox now, but they deserve credit for picking him up after the 2004 season. Jenks has struck out three times as many batters as he has walked in 301 innings with the White Sox.
- Ryan Ludwick – The slugger started the 2005 season hitting just .154/.267/.385 so the Indians designated him for assignment. No one claimed Ludwick then, but the Cardinals made a shrewd pickup when they later signed him.
- Brandon Phillips – The Reds claimed Phillips after the Indians designated him for assignment in 2006. He had just a .206/.246/.310 big league line at the time, but he has averaged 22 homers and 26 steals in his four full seasons with the Reds. UZR rates the 28-year-old as an above average defender at second base, too.
- Joel Pineiro – The Red Sox designated Pineiro for assignment in 2007 when he had a 5.03 ERA and just 20 strikeouts to go along with 14 walks. Later that summer, the Cardinals acquired Pineiro and he went on to post 426.1 solid innings for the Cards. Under the tutelage of pitching coach Dave Duncan, Pineiro posted a walk rate of 1.6 BB/9 in a Cardinals uniform.
- Grant Balfour, Ryan Church, Jack Cust, Matt Diaz, Jerry Hairston Jr., Joel Hanrahan, Livan Hernandez, Mike Jacobs, Colby Lewis, Julio Lugo, Mike MacDougal, Evan Meek, Vicente Padilla, Scott Podsednik, J.C. Romero, David Ross, Brian Tallet, Todd Wellemeyer and Randy Wells are among the many big leaguers who have been designated for assignment.
It's worth noting that this group does not include a superstar (Cruz might be the closest thing to one). Teams designate many talented players for assignment because of roster constraints, but few enjoy as much success as the group above.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the information.
Players To Avoid Arbitration: Tuesday
Noon ET today was the deadline for both the team and player to submit their salary figures for arbitration, however the two sides can come to an agreement at any point before the actual hearing. The hearings are scheduled for the first week of February.
We'll keep track of the players who avoid arbitration today by agreeing to deals here. Make sure you check back in for updates, and be sure to click the "Continue Reading" link to see today's full list of settlements. Yesterday's list can be found here.
- Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Angels avoided arbitration with Mike Napoli and Reggie Willits by signing the duo to one-year deals. Napoli will earn $3.6MM in 2010 with a $100K bonus if he makes 120 starts. Willits' contract is worth $625K.
- Zach Duke's one-year contract with Pittsburgh is worth $4.3MM with no performance bonuses, tweets Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- The Padres and reliever Mike Adams have agreed to a contract, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock (via Twitter). Brock's follow-up tweet says Adams' deal is worth $1MM, virtually splitting the difference between San Diego's $875K offer and Adams' $1.2MM demands.
- Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets that the Twins have agreements in place with all eight of their arbitration eligible players. In a follow-up tweet, Christensen reports that Francisco Liriano agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.6MM and Jesse Crain agreed to a one-year contract worth $2MM.
- Marc Carig of the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that the Mets avoided arbitration with reliever Sean Green (via Twitter). The one-year deal was worth $975K, according to the New York Daily News' Anthony McCarron.
- The Tigers avoided arb with Gerald Laird and Zach Miner as well according to James Jahnke of The Detroit Free Press. MLB.com's Jason Beck tweets the details on the one-year contracts: Laird will earn $3.95MM, Miner will earn $950K.
- Christensen tweets that the Twins avoided arb with Brendan Harris, signing him to a two year deal worth $3.2MM with another $650K in possible incentives.
- The Tigers and Bobby Seay avoided arbitration according to MLB.com's Jason Beck (via Twitter), agreeing to a one year deal worth $2.475MM.
- Thesier tweets that Matt Guerrier agreed to a one year deal worth $3.15MM with the Twins, avoiding arb.
- Amalie Benjamin of The Boston Globe tweets that the Red Sox have avoided arbitration with Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen, with Delcarmen getting $905K plus incentives according to Joe McDonald of The Providence Journal. Boston avoided arb with Jonathan Papelbon as well.