Uehara, Feldman Drawing Interest
Rangers right-hander Koji Uehara is drawing “considerable interest,” MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports. A possible deal with the Blue Jays fell through, but the Orioles are intrigued and other teams have shown more interest than Baltimore.
Scott Feldman has also drawn interest, Sullivan reports. However, the 28-year-old right-hander will make $6.5MM in 2012 with a $9.25MM club option for 2013 ($600K buyout), and he spent much of the 2011 season recovering from a winter knee operation. I expect the Rangers would pick up the majority of Feldman’s contract in any trade. He posted a 3.94 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 32 innings in the second half of last season.
Uehara posted a 2.35 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 in 65 innings for the Orioles and Rangers in 2011. However, he allowed 11 regular season home runs and three more in the postseason. He'll earn $4MM in 2012.
Feldman Rejects Minor League Assignment
Scott Feldman rejected an assignment to the minor leagues after clearing outright waivers and the Rangers will activate him tonight, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Rangers, who placed Feldman on outright waivers earlier in the week, can option Yoshinori Tateyama to the minors to create active roster space for Feldman, but they'll have to make another move to create room on the 40-man roster.
Once Feldman rejected the minor league assignment, the Rangers had the choice of activating him or releasing him. If they had released Feldman, who has spent the entire season recovering from a winter knee operation, they would still have been responsible for the $9MM or so remaining on his contract.
Feldman was a starter for Texas from 2008-10, but the Rangers will likely put him in the bullpen now. The 28-year-old has a 4.80 ERA with 5.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in six seasons. He signed an $11.5MM extension with the Rangers after posting a 4.08 ERA in 189 2/3 innings in 2009.
Rangers Place Scott Feldman On Outright Waivers
9:45pm: Feldman will join the Rangers' big league bullpen tomorrow, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. The Rangers will need to clear a 40-man roster spot for the righty. Either Andres Blanco is going to the 60-day DL, or someone is getting designated for assignment or outrighted.
10:02am: The Rangers placed starter Scott Feldman on outright waivers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The waivers expire in about two hours. The Rangers' goal appears to be avoiding adding Feldman back to the 40-man roster, since his stay on the 60-day DL is ending and the roster is currently full.
Feldman had microfracture knee surgery in November of last year, and I think he'll clear waivers because of his contract. He's owed about $1.8MM more this year, $6.5MM in 2012, and a $600K buyout for a total of almost $9MM through next season. Feldman has made ten rehab starts this year, posting a 4.17 ERA, 5.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 across 49 2/3 Double and Triple-A innings.
Feldman, 28, posted a 4.08 ERA in 189 2/3 big league innings in 2009, earning him the multiyear contract. Teams looking for low strikeout innings eaters have safer options this month, such as Jason Marquis and Bruce Chen.
Odds & Ends: Lowell, Perez, Zambrano, Ross
Links for Friday, with less than 24 hours before the deadline…
- The Pirates acquired minor league outfielder Mitch Jones from the Braves, according to MLB.com's transactions page. David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the Braves obtained cash in return (Twitter link).
- The Rangers are the only team that has slight interest in Mike Lowell, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).
- The Mets shopped Oliver Perez today, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).
- The Cubs are resigned to the fact that if they want to trade Carlos Zambrano, it will have to happen in the winter, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports will believe that Cody Ross is unavailable once the deadline passes tomorrow. Until then he's a skeptic (Twitter link).
- Teams like Joe Beimel, but are only offering the Rockies non-prospects, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter). The Rockies are shopping Randy Flores.
- GM Doug Melvin and assistant GM Gord Ash explained to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy that the Brewers look for "plus" fastball velocity, quality breaking pitches, solid arm action and delivery and height in the pitchers they pursue.
- The Rangers are talking to rival teams to determine if there's interest in Rich Harden or Scott Feldman, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.
- The Astros wanted Chad Billingsley in exchange for Roy Oswalt, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (Twitter link). The Dodgers countered with a four-prospect offer, but the Astros preferred the Phils' offer.
- The Royals aren't making much progress on deals, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (Twitter link).
- I answered questions from Neil Keefe and broke down the trade deadline in detail at WFAN.com.
Odds & Ends: Hamilton, Rangers, Moyer, Wilson
As Alex Rodriguez takes a step closer to the 600-homer club, here are some news items…
- Barry Shlachter of the Star-Telegram reports on Nolan Ryan's testimony about the Rangers' money problems. The most notable item from Ryan's testimony was that Texas may not be able to afford Josh Hamilton's inevitable arbitration raise this winter. This seems hard to believe, since you'd figure that Texas would cut corners anywhere else to find the money to pay Hamilton or to negotiate a long-term deal with their star.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com tweets that the Rangers have excess pitching and could make Scott Feldman and/or Rich Harden available in a trade.
- Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Jamie Moyer's recent elbow injury might end the 47-year-old's amazing career.
- The Cardinals feel more confident about their chances of signing draft pick Austin Wilson after the 12th-round selection and his family visited Busch Stadium, reports Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The highly-regarded Wilson has a full scholarship waiting for him at Stanford and thus the Cards' selection was thought to be a longshot.
- Tom Krasovic of the Inside The Padres blog writes that the Friars are looking for "a hitter adept at reaching base against right-handers."
- Holden Kushner of CSNWashington.com examines a potential Adam Dunn deal against the situation the Nationals faced in 2005 when they didn't trade Alfonso Soriano.
- Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com discusses some Indians prospects and more in a fan mailbag.
- David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune thinks the White Sox should resist the urge to trade Gordon Beckham for a rent-a-player. Haugh proposes that the Sox should instead offer up Bobby Jenks, whose closing job is up in the air.
Rangers Notes: Greenberg, Feldman
A couple of Rangers tidbits..
- Chuck Greenberg says that his group is on the verge of acquiring the Rangers, writes Richard Durrett of ESPN.com. While he says he cannot pinpoint the date that the transfer will be complete, Greenberg says that it is on track to be done on the week of April 19th.
- Meanwhile, GM Jon Daniels says that Scott Feldman will likely be the last player to be given a contract extension before Opening Day, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Texas locked up the 27-year-old yesterday to a deal that will keep him with the Rangers until at least 2012.
Odds & Ends: Posey, Jamey Wright, Lugo, Hart
Let's take a look at a few more assorted Friday links….
- After seeing Mike Leake earn a spot in the Reds' rotation without pitching in the minors, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon lists the other 20 drafted players who once made the leap straight to the show.
- The Giants officially optioned Buster Posey to Triple A Fresno, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Earlier today, we looked at a potential timeline for when we could see Posey in the majors.
- Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets that the Indians will pay $900K to purchase Jamey Wright's minor league contract. Wright had a provision in his deal that allowed him to opt out if he wasn't on the big league roster by today.
- Julio Lugo expects to see a good deal of playing time in Baltimore, according to the Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec.
- Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas says that the Rangers anticipate a "continued improvement" from Scott Feldman over the course of the contract they signed him to today. In a separate piece, MacMahon notes that recent addition Ryan Garko will have his playing time dictated, to a certain extent, by how Chris Davis fares early on against lefties.
- Corey Hart doesn't intend to let recent trade rumors involving him become a distraction, according to Anthony Witrado of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Rangers Extend Scott Feldman Through 2012
The Rangers have extended Scott Feldman through 2012, according to a team press release. The contract, which guarantees Feldman $13.925MM, includes a club option for 2013 and supersedes the $2.425MM deal the sides agreed to in January for the upcoming season.
Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the details (via Twitter): Feldman makes $2.425MM in 2010, $4.4MM in 2011 and $6.5MM in 2012. The Rangers can pick up a $9.2MM option up for 2013 or buy Feldman out for $600K.
Feldman, 27, was entering his first arbitration season, so the deal buys out all three of his arbitration years and gives the Rangers the option of retaining him for his first free agent season.
Feldman gets $13.325MM for his three arbitration years, which is less than Fausto Carmona ($13.75MM), Ian Snell ($14MM) or Ervin Santana (17.8MM) got for the same chunk of their careers. Those three pitchers recently signed extensions covering their arb years, too.
Rangers Notes: Francisco, Wilson, Feldman, Mendoza
Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News discussed a number of Rangers topics in a webchat this afternoon…
- Grant predicts Texas will let Frank Francisco and C.J. Wilson leave when they reach free agency after the 2010 and 2011 seasons, respectively.
- If Scott Feldman (who has two more arbitration years left) pitches well this season, Grant thinks the Rangers will try to negotiate a long-term deal with the starter.
- The out-of-options Luis Mendoza wouldn't be attractive trade bait to other teams, Grant says, though "a bad team might claim him on waivers. If so, the Rangers will be happy to pay his taxi fare to another camp. He's done nothing but go backwards."
- In regards to Brandon McCarthy, Grant thinks the right-hander will probably end up in the minors "unless somebody wants to make a deal based on projecting continued improvement with [his] sinker." Grant noted that a Nationals scout attended McCarthy's spring start on Wednesday.
- Grant doesn't think the Rangers will have any interest in the newly-released Chad Gaudin since they have plenty of starting options already.
Players To Avoid Arbitration: Friday
Here's a round up of the players that have agreed to deals avoiding arbitration today…
- MLB.com's Lyle Spencer tweets that the Angels and Joe Saunders have agreed to a deal for 2010, avoiding arbitration. Kevin Baxter of The Los Angeles Times reports that the deal is worth $3.7MM, which splits the difference between each side's filing figure.
- The Rangers and Scott Feldman have agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.425MM, reports Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). He was the team's last remaining arbitration case.