5 Minor League Deals That Shaped The Pennant Race
Most MLBTR readers said R.A. Dickey was the best minor league signing of the year when we voted earlier in the month, but the Mets fell out of contention long ago, so Dickey didn't have much of an impact on this year's pennant race. The five minor league deals below had lasting effects on the 2010 pennant race:
- Rays sign Joaquin Benoit – The reliever has a 1.39 ERA in 61 games with 11.1 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9. Amazingly, Benoit has allowed just 28 hits in 58.1 innings.
- Reds sign Miguel Cairo – There are bigger stars on the Reds, but Cairo has batted .289/.352/.411 and played all four infield positions. Cincinnati GM Walt Jocketty deserves credit for this find.
- Yankees sign Marcus Thames – Thames has hit .287/.352/.500 this year with 12 homers in 227 plate appearances.
- Giants sign Pat Burrell – GM Brian Sabean bought low on Burrell, who has responded with 17 homers and an .869 OPS in San Francisco. Burrell is playing the way he did in 2008 and without that kind of production, the Giants probably wouldn't be leading the NL West.
- Padres sign Chris Denorfia – Denorfia has hit .264/.332/.435 in 302 plate appearances for the Padres, who have seen outfielders Tony Gwynn and Kyle Blanks miss significant time with injuries.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Pat Burrell
Pat Burrell's stock reached a low on May 15th, when the Rays designated him for assignment. The move showed that the team was willing to eat nearly $7MM to get Burrell off the roster. He'd hit just .218/.311/.361 in 137 games as the team's designated hitter.
On May 29th, Burrell signed a minor league deal with the Giants. After five games at Triple A, Burrell joined the big league club. Since then he has a .272/.366/.510 line in 243 plate appearances – pretty much what the Rays expected when they signed him to a two-year, $16MM deal in January of 2009. He has, however, faced lefties a disproportionate amount of the time.
Burrell may be reluctant to return to the American League and a designated hitter role in 2011. That'll limit his market to National League clubs seeking a left fielder, as Burrell hasn't played first base in ten years. And Burrell's reputation in left isn't stellar. With about $70MM earned in his career, the slugger may focus more on playing time rather than guaranteed money for his next contract. He might be available for less than $2MM guaranteed, plus plate appearance incentives. Returning to the Giants will have to be at the top of his list, if they're interested.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Royals, Rays, Burrell
On this date 41 years ago, Major League owners unanimously elected Bowie Kuhn to a seven-year term as commissioner. It was under Kuhn that the reserve clause was eliminated, paving the way for free agency as we know it.
We've got a lot of links to get to, so let's dive right in…
- Joe Posnanski tries to determine who the worst everyday player in baseball is.
- Royals Review breaks down all the changes the Royals have gone through since the start of last season.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness congratulates Garret Anderson on the worst offensive season in Dodgers history.
- Bright House Sports Network looks at the Rays' history of waiver trades, plus some names they might target this month.
- The Process Report wonders if this season will be Dan Wheeler's last stand in Tampa.
- DRays Bay tries to figure out if Gabe Kapler should be designated for assignment.
- Disciples of Uecker thinks the Jim Edmonds–Chris Dickerson trade was the best for everyone.
- Around The Majors posted a two part series looking at the events that have brought Andres Torres' career back from the dead (parts one & two).
- Meanwhile, Joe Pawlikowski at FanGraphs examines Pat Burrell's resurgence since joining the Giants.
- The Nats Blog breaks down Stephen Strasburg's first bump in the road.
- Red Sox Beacon re-introduces us to Carlos Delgado.
- U.S.S. Mariner looks at the job security of Major League managers, or the lack thereof.
- Camden Crazies explains the Buck Showalter magic going on in Baltimore.
- Randall On Baseball revisits the trade that sent Brandon Morrow to the Blue Jays for Brandon League.
- Baseball 101 looks at a different way of valuing relievers based on the work of Bill James.
- Baseball Analysts analyzed the Rule 5 Draft.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Odds & Ends: Griffey, Texeira, Arguelles, Burrell
Friday night linkage..
- If Ken Griffey Jr. takes on some sort of role with the Mariners organization, it will likely be next year, writes Larry LaRue of The News Tribune.
- Speaking of Yost, he tells Daniel Paulling of the Kansas City Star that he expects to use Kanekoa Texeira as a reliever. The Royals claimed him off of waivers from the M's on Thursday.
- Dayton Moore is pleased with the job that Ned Yost has done so far with the Royals, writes MLB.com's Dick Kaegel.
- GM Andy MacPhail is next up on the O's hot seat, writes Kevin Cowherd of the Baltimore Sun.
- Royals GM Dayton Moore says that lefty Noel Arguelles has shoulder soreness and is not certain to pitch this year, writes Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). The Royals inked the Cuban defector to a deal this offseason.
- Pat Burrell "couldn't be happier" after landing in San Francisco, writes Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News.
- The Reds' $1.75MM option on Jonny Gomes looks like a bargain right now, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Gomes is hitting .303/.366/.520 with 7 HRs in 175 plate appearances this season.
Brandon Medders Clears Waivers
Brandon Medders cleared outright waivers and will head to Triple A Fresno, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The Giants had to make room on the 40-man roster for Pat Burrell, who will join the big league club. Medders posted a 7.20 ERA in 14 games this year, with 4.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9.
A year ago, Medders was a regular contributor out of Bruce Bochy's 'pen, appearing in 61 games and posting a 3.01 ERA. Only closer Brian Wilson appeared in more games than Medders, who finished the 2009 season with a 5-1 record.
Medders has never started a major league game, but he and his band once opened for country singer Billy Currington, according to the team's media guide. Not only that, Medders, who is an "accomplished singer and guitarist," opened the show right after pitching against the Braves.
Odds & Ends: Nationals, Chapman, Duffy, Veal
Not even one no-hitter, perfect game or near-perfect game in the majors today? How unusual. These news items will have to do in the meantime…
- Ben Goessling of MASNSports.com looks at who the Nationals could acquire to solve their ongoing problems in right field. Goessling notes, of course, that Washington might not stay in the NL East race long enough that they'll need to make a trade deadline deal.
- Walt Jocketty tells John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that Aroldis Chapman will not be called up as a reliever to help the Reds' beleaguered bullpen.
- Royals prospect Danny Duffy is back at K.C.'s extended spring training camp, reports The Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton and Terez A. Paylor. The 21-year-old left-hander appeared to have abruptly retired back in March.
- Left-handed Pirates prospect Donald Veal will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, tweets Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Veal, who came to Pittsburgh from the Cubs in the 2008 Rule 5 draft, posted a 7.19 ERA in 19 appearances for the Bucs last season.
- The Giants sent John Bowker down to Triple-A Fresno today, a move that Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com says (via Twitter) is the first step in bringing Pat Burrell up to the major league roster. Urban says the club is still figuring out another move in order to get Burrell on the 40-man roster, but tweeted that Mark DeRosa might be moved to the 60-day DL. Burrell signed a minor league deal with San Francisco last week and has made just 19 plate appearances for Fresno thus far, but has an 1.064 OPS in that short span.
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America has a rundown of the week's minor league transactions. One of the notable names on the move is veteran Scott Elarton, who was released by the White Sox after signing a minor league deal with the club last March.
Odds & Ends: Griffey, Padres, Suzuki, Pedroia, Haren
Hard to believe that Ken Griffey Jr.'s retirement will only be the second biggest story of the day. Here are some more links to check out…
- Speaking of Griffey, Bob Nightengale of USA Today says (via Twitter) that he will remain with the Mariners in a front office role.
- Big League Stew lists ten players who could be traded before the deadline, headlined by Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee.
- Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse grades the Padres' offseason pickups.
- The Red Sox almost drafted Kurt Suzuki instead of Dustin Pedroia in the second round of the 2004 draft, according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier.
- D'Backs GM Josh Byrnes did not deny that Dan Haren may be dealt this summer, according to Jim Bowden of Sirius XM Radio (Twitter link).
- ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick presents the nine most-hyped draft picks of all time.
- Ben Goessling of MASN.com imagines what a Roy Oswalt-Nationals swap might look like, just as MLBTR's Howard Megdal did. Last night we heard that Oswalt would consider a deal to Washington.
- ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports that Randy Wells switched agents "a while ago," leaving the Beverly Hills Sports Council for ACES (Twitter link).
- Lynn Henning of the Detroit News believes Oswalt and Cliff Lee would cost more than the Tigers can afford to give up.
- Scott Boras told Scott Miller of CBS Sports that Tony Gwynn was an "extraordinary" coach for Stephen Strasburg at San Diego State University.
- Boras doesn't want Bryce Harper to catch, but ESPN.com's Keith Law points out that Harper's bat is worth much more behind the plate than anywhere else.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle predicts that Pat Burrell may make his Giants debut as soon as this weekend.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan describes the journey Colby Lewis took from the majors to Japan and back.
- The Rangers need a reliable catcher more than anything else, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
- The Indians had no interest in Dontrelle Willis, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
- But other teams are eyeing an Indians starter. One executive told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that Jake Westbrook is "everything you look for if you want to add an arm down the stretch."
Odds & Ends: Burrell, Diamondbacks, Oswalt
Some links to check out following Roy Halladay's perfect night..
- MLB.com's Cash Kruth passes along a quote from Giants' manager Bruce Bochy regarding the signing of Pat Burrell: "The thought of signing him to help us off the bench, give us a right-handed bat, some power, a good threat coming off the bench and help us late in games and maybe play against certain pitchers. Right now he needs some at-bats in the Minor Leagues, and we'll see where he's at in the next ten days or so."
- The Diamondbacks are leaning towards taking a pitcher with the 6th overall pick in next month's draft, according to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Scouting director Tom Allison has seen Ole Miss lefty Drew Pomeranz and Georgia Tech righty Deck McGuire in the last few days.
- The Astros and Roy Oswalt are in an uncertain state of limbo, writes Tyler Kepner of The New York times.
- The A's knew about Justin Duchscherer's hip troubles before signing him to a one-year deal this offseason, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The righty will earn the base pay of $2MM but now will not have the opportunity to earn up to $3.5MM in incentives.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle speculates as to why the Giants are calling up Buster Posey today.
- Roberto Alomar is looking for a front office job and would like for it to be with Toronto, writes MLB.com's James Hall.
Giants Sign Pat Burrell
The Giants have signed free agent outfielder Pat Burrell to a minor league deal, reports Mychael Urban of CSNBayarea.com. If the former first overall pick were to reach the majors, San Francisco would pay him the pro-rated portion of the major league minimum, or around $300K.
We learned that the two sides were discussing a deal just two days ago, though Burrell was reportedly mulling over some other options. Burrell was designated for assignment by the Rays before clearing waivers last week, unsurprising given his $9MM price tag. Since joining Tampa prior to the 2009 season, Burrell has hit just .218/.311/.361 in 572 plate appearances, and has been even worse against lefthanders, which was supposed to be his niche.
FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reported yesterday that if Burrell were to sign with the Giants, his contract would allow him to opt out after two weeks.
Odds & Ends: Jenks, Fielder, Burrell, Marlins
A few more links for Friday evening, as the Reds homer for the 17th straight game….
- Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times explains what it means to be "out of options" and takes a look at how it affects Brandon Wood's current situation.
- Several teams have contacted the White Sox about Bobby Jenks, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Cowley doesn't categorize any of the discussions as serious, but notes that Jenks is "very available." Earlier in the week, we heard that the Phillies were scouting the Sox' struggling closer.
- Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle explains in a tweet why he doesn't want to see the Giants attempt to acquire Prince Fielder.
- Schulman also tweets that although no deal is official yet, Pat Burrell is "leaning heavily" toward becoming a Giant.
- According to the Miami Herald's Fish Bytes blog, it'd make sense for the Marlins to pursue left-handed bullpen help later in the summer if they're still in contention. The piece names Will Ohman and Matt Thornton as possible targets.
- Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the Indians are being patient with their roster for now, but changes could eventually be made.
- Cuban minor-leaguer Amaury Sanit has been suspended 50 games for violating baseball's drug policy, tweets Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. The right-hander had been pitching for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate.