NL Central Notes: La Russa, Furcal, Epstein
Here are a few items of note regarding the NL Central as the Redbirds threaten to take a 3-2 series lead over the Brew Crew in the NLCS …
- Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is hinting at returning to manage St. Louis in 2012, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN). Prior to Game 5, TLR was excitedly discussing the talent the Cards have in place for next season, and he also mentioned recently that he will hold a charity event in January at the team's Winter Warmup, according to the report. La Russa and the Cards have a mutual option for 2012.
- Cards shortstop Rafael Furcal reiterated that he'd like to re-sign with St. Louis after the season, according to Matthew Leach of MLB.com. Furcal, an impending free agent, and the Cardinals expressed mutual interest in working out a new deal last month, though nothing came to pass.
- While the Cubs and Red Sox continue to haggle over compensation and other details of Theo Epstein's potential move the Chicago, one GM told Buster Olney of ESPN.com that the North Siders should hold firm on giving up little for Boston's GM (Twitter link). "What are the Red Sox going to do — bring Theo back? No way," said the GM.
- Albert Pujols has reestablished his negotiating leverage, opines Olney (via Twitter), who finds it hard to believe the Cards will let him walk if they reach or win the World Series.
NL Central Notes: Pujols, Cardinals, Fielder, Cubs
The Cardinals still don't know whether or not Albert Pujols will be playing in St. Louis past this season, and the team is making moves to prepare for either scenario, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cards are currently negotiating with the agents of Lance Berkman and Rafael Furcal in an effort to retain both players on short-term deals. Strauss adds that the team hopes Pujols' future will be decided no later than December 11th. Here's the latest on a couple other NL Central clubs:
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wonders which teams will pursue Prince Fielder this winter. He essentially rules out the Brewers, and runs through a few other possibilities.
- The Cubs' new GM may have some work to do on the starting rotation, but the bullpen is looking strong, writes Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- With no GM in place, the Cubs' 2012 manager is still a question mark, but Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks hiring Ryne Sandberg would provide a major public relations bump for owner Tom Ricketts. Chicago would embrace Sandberg's "lunchpail mentality," says Cafardo.
Cardinals Links: Carpenter, Furcal, Berkman
The Cardinals have won five in a row and come into the day just 4.5 games back of the Braves for the NL Wildcard, making things unexpectedly interesting in the season's final weeks. Let's round up the latest from St. Louis…
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports confirms the report of Chris Carpenter's two-year extension, and he likes the deal for both sides (Twitter links). The team saves some cash while Carpenter gets more guaranteed money.
- With Carpenter locked up and Adam Wainwright on his way back from Tommy John surgery, the Cardinals' 2012 rotation looks pretty strong, writes Roger Hensley of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Those two will join Jake Westbrook and Jaime Garcia.
- GM John Mozeliak told Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he wants to use the final weeks of the regular season and the first few weeks of October "to lock-in existing free agents and clear up any questions for 2012," beyond Albert Pujols. There are ongoing talks with Rafael Furcal's representatives, and Lance Berkman has already given the team a sense of what it would take for him to return next year.
Furcal, Cardinals Have Mutual Interest
TUESDAY: Furcal told Strauss, "I'd want to play for St. Louis," adding that he still needs to sit down with his agent Paul Kinzer and talk business.
MONDAY: The Cardinals hope to explore a new contract with shortstop Rafael Furcal by month's end, GM John Mozeliak told Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Mozeliak acknowledged that making it work financially is a challenge, but a Furcal contract is on his to-do list for September. A shorter term is preferable for the team, and that's expected for Furcal since he's missed so much time due to injuries over the last few years.
Furcal, 34 in October, is hitting .228/.278/.390 in 134 plate appearances since the Cardinals acquired him at the trade deadline. Mozeliak has bigger fish to fry in potential free agents Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, and Chris Carpenter, so signing Furcal quickly and affordably makes sense. Technically Furcal faces a $12MM club option with a $1.3MM buyout. That'll be declined, but a one-year deal for $4MM plus incentives seems reasonable.
2012 Vesting Options Update
Bobby Abreu's $9MM option for next season vested last weekend, so let's look around the league to see where some other players with vesting options stand…
- Rafael Furcal, Cardinals: $12MM option vests with 600 plate appearances. Injuries have limited Furcal to just 179 plate appearances this year, so this one won't be vesting.
- Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM option vests with 190 innings pitched. Garland is unlikely to pitch the rest of the season due to a shoulder issue, and he's only thrown 54 innings. The Dodgers won't have to worry about this one.
- Koji Uehara, Rangers: $4MM option vests with either 55 appearances or 25 games finished. Uehara has appeared in 46 games and finished 20, putting him on pace for 67 and 29, respectively.
- Arthur Rhodes, Rangers: $4MM option vests with 62 appearances and if he's not on the disabled list at the end of the season. Rhodes made 32 appearances with the Rangers before being designated for assignment earlier this week. Even if another team picks him up in short order, he's still unlikely to appear in enough games for the option to kick in.
- Joakim Soria, Royals: $6MM option vests with 55 appearances. With 47 appearances already to his credit, Soria is on pace to pitch in 68 games this year.
- Dan Wheeler, Red Sox: $3MM option vests with 65 games; increases to $3.25MM with 70 games. Wheeler has appeared in 34 games this year with a disabled list stint mixed in. He'd have to appear in 31 of the team's final 51 games for the option to vest, which seems unlikely.
Francisco Rodriguez agreed to waive his vesting option in exchange for additional compensation following the trade that sent him to the Brewers. He would have been guaranteed a $17.5MM salary for next season had he finished 55 games this year and been declared healthy by doctors.
Adam Wainwright's 2012 ($9MM) and 2013 ($12MM) options will not vest because he will finish the season on the disabled list after having Tommy John surgery. Aramis Ramirez's option depends on MVP Award finishes and whether or not he's traded, not plate appearances or another counting milestone.
Trade Reaction: Ubaldo, Rangers, Furcal, Mariners
We've seen dozens of deals completed this month. To help you make sense of it all, here are some reactions to the moves from around MLB…
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan breaks down the deadline for all 30 teams. The Astros might receive Passan's harshest criticism. Passan's response to this morning's Michael Bourn trade: "To send him to Atlanta without getting at least Mike Minor or Randall Delgado, let alone Julio Teheran or Arodys Vizcaino, shows a deep misunderstanding by GM Ed Wade of the proper way to rebuild." Ouch.
- The Rangers, Phillies, Braves, Giants and Mets are winners for ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. The Yankees, Angels, Reds and Cubs are losers, Stark writes. The Astros face harsh criticism once again: "They're basically starting to shape themselves for 2015," one NL executive told Stark. "It's almost like they're doing an expansion team."
- Brian Sabean (Giants), Jon Daniels (Rangers), Dan O'Dowd (Rockies) and Jed Hoyer (Padres) are among the general managers on Jim Bowden's list of top deadline deal-makers at ESPN.com.
- In a separate piece, Passan looks back at flameout rates for pitching prospects and concludes that the Indians made a great deal in acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez for a package of players including Drew Pomeranz and Alex White.
- One front office polled its members about winners and losers and the Rangers were the unanimous top choice, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- ESPN.com's Keith Law says Rafael Furcal is an upgrade for the Cardinals at short because St. Louis didn't have any legitimate alternatives. Furcal, Law writes, is an average defender with a plus arm.
- The Mariners did well to acquire Charlie Furbush, Francisco Martinez, Casper Wells and one of the Tigers' top three picks from the 2010 draft for David Pauley and Doug Fister, who benefit from spacious Safeco Field, Law writes.
- Law says the Mariners did well to obtain Trayvon Robinson for two months of Erik Bedard and Josh Fields ("a throw-in"), but he isn't sure what the Dodgers were doing in this deal.
- The Rangers' bullpen will be substantially better with Mike Adams and Koji Uehara, Law writes at ESPN.com. San Diego gets Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland from the Rangers, two pitchers who "make up in probability for what they might lack in upside."
Cardinals Acquire Rafael Furcal
Despite a trade market thin on shortstops, the Cardinals may have accomplished their goal of upgrading at the position, as they acquired veteran Rafael Furcal from the Dodgers today for Double-A outfielder Alex Castellanos and about $2.5MM. The 33-year-old had to waive his 10-and-5 rights for the deal to become official.
Furcal is hitting .197/.272/.248 in 152 plate appearances, but perhaps a change of scenery will rejuvenate his bat. He was hampered by a broken thumb and oblique strain this season, each injury knocking him out for about a month. Because of Furcal's 10-and-5 rights and the amount of money the Dodgers are sending, the teams needed his approval and the same from the commissioner's office regarding the money the Dodgers will be sending to the Cardinals. Furcal, the first free agent signing by Dodgers GM Ned Colletti in 2005, had about $4MM remaining on his current contract. Furcal effectively replaces Ryan Theriot at shortstop for the Cardinals; Theriot started at second base last night for the first time this season.
Castellanos, 24, is hitting .319/.379/.562 in 391 plate appearances this year, playing right and center field.
Fallout for the Dodgers: they can give prospect Dee Gordon an extended look at shortstop in the Majors, plus they save a little cash. Reportedly, infielder Jamey Carroll will be staying put.
GMs Ned Colletti and John Mozeliak last hooked up on a trade in November, in the deal that sent Theriot to St. Louis, according to our Transaction Tracker.
Joe Strauss, Matthew Leach, Derrick Goold, Scott Miller, Tim Brown and Jon Heyman broke aspects of the story as it developed. Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Cardinals Acquire Rafael Furcal
10:31am: The deal is now complete, tweets ESPN's Jayson Stark. The Cardinals will pay $1.4MM of Furcal's $3.96MM remaining salary, tweets SI's Jon Heyman, implying the Dodgers are sending $2.56MM.
SUNDAY, 10:06am: The Dodgers will receive Double-A outfielder Alex Castellanos from the Cardinals, reports Goold. The 24-year-old is hitting .319/.379/.562 this year.
SATURDAY, 9:48pm: The Cardinals are likely to receive cash in the deal and they'll send a minor league outfielder to the Dodgers, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The outfielder is not currently on St. Louis' 40-man roster, Goold reports.
8:40pm: Furcal will approve the trade, Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets.
1:40pm: The teams are a step away from completing the deal, hears Goold.
SATURDAY, 12:00pm: Though Furcal has no-trade protection, he's open to a deal to the Cardinals, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The two teams continue to talk.
FRIDAY, 8:35pm: The Cardinals have had conversations with the Dodgers regarding Rafael Furcal, reports MLB.com's Matthew Leach.
6:34pm: The Cardinals are prioritizing a trade for a shortstop, tweets Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Strauss hears it's more likely than not that GM John Mozeliak pulls off a deal before Sunday's deadline, and feels that the rumored move is a difference-maker.
Difference-making shortstops are hard to come by in this trade market, unless the Marlins decide to listen on Hanley Ramirez or the Mets on Jose Reyes. The names I'd expect to be available are not nearly as exciting: Jamey Carroll and Rafael Furcal. The Astros are telling some teams Clint Barmes is not available, tweets MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.
NL West Rumors: Carroll, Diamondbacks, Harang
The Giants and Diamondbacks are buyers; the Rockies, Dodgers, and Padres are sellers. The latest:
- The Diamondbacks have some interest in Rafael Furcal, tweets Jack Magruder.
- Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers says it's 50-50 he makes a deal, tweets Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona. Towers does not expect a deal to break this evening. He's hopeful teams will accept Arizona's second and third-tier prospects, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
- The Dodgers' talks about trading infielder Jamey Carroll have died, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, while there's a touch of interest in Furcal. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer adds that the Dodgers' talks with the Indians have grown cold, so Carroll and Hiroki Kuroda won't be going to Cleveland.
- Clayton Richard's season-ending shoulder surgery is not a factor in whether the Padres trade starter Aaron Harang, tweets Dan Hayes of the North County Times.
Rafael Furcal Drawing Interest
1:52pm: The Brewers are doing background work on Furcal and are also interested in Jamey Carroll, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, but the Dodgers will only trade one.
1:30pm: The Giants have talked to the Dodgers about Furcal, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark. Before the two rivals matched up on a 2007 deal involving Mark Sweeney, they hadn't made a trade since 1985.
9:57am: Multiple teams are showing interest in Dodgers infielder Rafael Furcal, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney, though L.A. would have to eat a major portion of the $4.8MM owed to him. Though he's having a terrible season, Furcal is a good hitter when he's right and looks better in a weak market for middle infielders. The Cardinals are known to be focused on middle infield help.
Furcal, 33, is hitting .195/.267/.241 in 147 plate appearances. He was hampered by a broken thumb and oblique strain, each injury knocking him out for about a month.