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NL West Notes: Dodgers, Billingsley, Rockies, Padres

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Earlier today we learned that Shane Victorino would like to re-sign with the Dodgers after this season, but the veteran has no interest in returning as a bench player.  While Victorino seemed likely to be retained by the Dodgers when they traded for him, the club’s acquisition of Carl Crawford might alter their plans.  Here’s more out of the National League West..

  • Dodgers president Stan Kasten told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times that he fears that Chad Billingsley’s elbow injury could sideline him for the remainder of the season.  Kasten went on to say that the fear did not stem from “medical evidence”, which implies that it may just be a hunch at this juncture.
  • Meanwhile, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti told Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com that the talent pool that has cleared waivers or remains on waivers is “very thin right now.”  Colletti wouldn’t completely rule out the idea of an acquisition taking place tonight or tomorrow but said that nothing is brewing at present.
  • The Rockies will continue to use a four-man rotation in 2013, writes Troy Renck of The Denver Post.  The club has experimented with using four starters on a limited pitch count with three “piggyback” relievers this season and will tweak the model to use four relievers next year.  The plan was met with skepticism this season but the Rockies have been pitching better since making the switch.
  • The Padres could contend for a Wild Card spot next season with some badly-needed upgrades to their rotation, writes Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs.  Earlier today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that Padres execs are encouraged by the team’s recent play and are adjusting their plans in order to win in the short-term.  The report also suggested that San Diego could target an established starter like Hiroki Kuroda.
  • Renck (via Twitter) doesn’t expect the Rockies to be in on Joe Mauer, in large part because they already have Wilin Rosario behind the plate and Mauer would lose value if moved elsewhere.

Padres May Keep Headley, Pursue Starters

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Padres executives are encouraged by the team’s improved play and will consider adjusting their offseason plans, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. The Padres are leaning against trading Chase Headley this winter, Rosenthal reports. GM Josh Byrnes considered trade offers for Headley leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline, but there’s no urgency to deal the third baseman, who’s under team control through 2014.

The Padres could also attempt to sign at least one free agent starter during the offseason, Rosenthal writes. If possible, they would like to add an impact starter and Hiroki Kuroda is one possible target. Padres general manager Josh Byrnes has tried to sign Kuroda twice, according to Rosenthal. He pursued him as the GM of the Diamondbacks and again as the GM of the Padres. 

The Seidler/O’Malley families and Ron Fowler officially completed the purchase of the Padres for $800MM yesterday. San Diego has the best record in the NL West since June 10th at 41-30.

NL West Notes: Padres, D’Backs, Dodgers, Oswalt

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The Padres announced that the ownership group led by the Seidler/O’Malley families and Ron Fowler completed the purchase of the team for $800MM. Fowler is the team’s control person and the ownership group includes two sons and two nephews of Peter O’Malley, the Dodgers’ longtime owner. Tom Garfinkel will stay on as the Padres' president and CEO and Josh Byrnes will remain the team’s executive VP and general manager.

Here are today’s NL West links…

  • The Padres' new owners offered more platitudes than specifics when addressing the media today, Scott Miller of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). The owners didn't say where the team's payroll will sit.
  • The Dodgers continue spending aggressively, but it doesn’t seem to bother the Diamondbacks’ top officials. Managing general partner Ken Kendrick told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he has “no problem competing with these folks." Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall said "there is so much more to building a championship team than just exorbitant salaries."
  • The Diamondbacks will be able to contend with the Dodgers if their young core of starting pitchers can stay healthy and perform, Piecoro writes. If pitchers such as Tyler Skaggs, Wade Miley and Trevor Bauer can continue to pitch effectively as pre-arbitration eligible players, Arizona can spend elsewhere. Relying on young starting pitching isn’t foolproof, but it’s been done before, as Piecoro explains.
  • One Dodgers person didn’t seem enthused about the possibility of trading for Roy Oswalt, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). Oswalt has cleared waivers and the Rangers will consider trading him. The Dodgers inquired on Oswalt, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times.

Cleared Waivers: Jeremy Hermida, Luis Hernandez

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Here's an update on two players who were recently removed from their team's 40-man roster…

  • Outfielder Jeremy Hermida cleared waivers and has become a free agent, reports MLB.com's Chelsea Janes (on Twitter). The Padres designated the 28-year-old for assignment last week after he hit .250/.333/.375 in 27 plate appearances.
  • Infielder Luis Hernandez has cleared waivers been outrighted to Triple-A, reports Jeff Wilson of The Fort-Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The 28-year-old was designated for assignment by the Rangers yesterday after hitting .262/.302/.372 for the club's Triple-A affiliate.

Padres Release Jason Bartlett

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THURSDAY: The Padres announced that Bartlett cleared unconditional release waivers and is now a free agent.

MONDAY: The Padres have requested unconditional release waivers for Jason Bartlett, the team announced via press release.

The Padres acquired Bartlett from the Rays back in December of 2010 in exchange for Cole Figueroa, Adam Russell, Cesar Ramos and Brandon Gomes. Later that offseason, the team avoided arbitration with the shortstop by agreeing to a two-year contract worth a guaranteed $11MM with a vesting option for 2013. The $5.5MM option for 2013 will not vest, as Bartlett's 98 plate appearances this season fall well short of the required 432. He'll instead be paid a $1.5MM buyout.

The 32-year-old batted just .133/.240/.193 in those 98 plate appearances, and overall batted only .231/.299/.292 in 168 games as a Padre. He has been on the disabled list since May 17 with a right knee strain. Following the trade of Ernesto Frieri for Alexi Amarista earlier this season, it became apparent that Bartlett no longer factored into the team's plans.

Bartlett was originally drafted by the Padres in the 13th round of the 2001 draft but made his big league debut with the Twins after being swapped for Brian Buchanan. Prior to being re-acquired by the Padres, Bartlett was a career .281/.345/.385 hitter in 2,801 career plate appearances.

Padres Designate Neil Wagner For Assignment

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The Padres announced that they designated right-hander Neil Wagner for assignment. The move creates 40-man roster space for Thad Weber, who was claimed off of waivers from the Tigers today. The Padres placed right-hander Jason Marquis on the 15-day disabled list and recalled right-hander Brad Boxberger in related moves.

The Padres claimed Wagner off of waivers from the Athletics at the end May, but haven't promoted him to the MLB level. The 28-year-old has a 5.28 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 58 innings of relief pitching for the Pacific Coast League affiliates of the A's and Padres this year.

Padres Claim Thad Weber

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The Padres claimed right-hander Thad Weber from Detroit, according to Brian Britten of the Tigers (on Twitter). The Tigers reinstated Al Alburquerque from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo in a related move.

Weber, 27, made his MLB debut this year, appearing in two games for the Tigers in April. The 2008 16th round selection has spent the majority of the 2012 season at Toledo, where he was a 4.30 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 128 2/3 innings, mostly as a starter.

Edinson Volquez On Waivers

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The Padres have placed right-hander Edinson Volquez on waivers, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter). Volquez drew interest leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline, so it would be surprising if he goes unclaimed.

Teams routinely place players on waivers, even if they don't plan on trading them, so this is not an indication that the Padres intend to move Volquez. If he goes unclaimed, the Padres will be able to complete a trade just as easily as they could have before the current waiver period began three weeks ago.

If a team claims Volquez, the Padres will have three choices. They can let him (and his contract) go to the claiming team, they can complete a trade with the claiming team, or they can pull him back off of waivers. National League teams will have claiming priority on Volquez.

Volquez earns $2.24MM this year and is under team control through 2013 as an arbitration eligible player. The 29-year-old has a 4.18 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in 148 2/3 innings over the course of 26 starts.

Here’s MLBTR’s list of players to clear waivers in August.

Padres Designate Jeremy Hermida For Assignment

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The Padres announced that they designated outfielder Jeremy Hermida for assignment. The team selected the contract of left-hander Andrew Werner and optioned right-hander Brad Boxberger to Triple-A in related moves.

Hermida signed a one-year, $800K contract with the Padres last offseason only to spend considerable time on the disabled list with a strained hip flexor. The 28-year-old appeared in just 13 games for the Padres, but he also played in 44 games for San Diego's Triple-A affiliate, posting a .252/.318/.358 batting line in 170 plate appearances.

September Call-ups: Pirates, Orioles, Padres, Mets

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Major League rosters can expand to 40 players beginning September 1st. Not everybody thinks it's such a great idea. Tigers manager Jim Leyland recently vented to reporters, including Jason Beck of MLB.com. "I've been really adamant about that, really a stickler on it," Leyland said. "When I have that meeting with the Commissioner [as part of the special committee for on-field matters], I talk about that all the time. Myself, if everybody went to 28, that wouldn't bother me at all. I think that's fine. That's just my feeling, but any manager who does a pretty good job of managing all year, and then at the biggest month of the year, he loses some of his ability to maneuver." Let's take a look at what the plans are for other clubs looking to maneuver over the season's final month. 
  • The Pirates are mulling their September call-ups with the post-season in mind, as they entered play today holding the second NL Wild Card spot and with Triple-A Indianapolis likely playoff-bound. General Manager Neal Huntington told reporters, including Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "Where we go from there … it’s a delicate balance. I’ve been with another organization where we raided the Triple-A team as it was headed to the post-season. The guys came up and didn’t play very much, and that didn’t go over very well on many fronts."  At least one left-handed reliever and another catcher will be added when rosters expand, writes Biertempfel.
  • Pirates manager Clint Hurdle adds another consideration when deciding upon September call-ups: cost. In Biertempfel's piece, Hurdle pointed out, "In my rookie year, if you got a call-up, you made $5,000 or $6,000 (in September). Now you’re talking about making $75,000. So if you call up 10 guys, you’re picking up $750,000 in salary and everything that goes with it.”
  • Orioles manager Buck Showalter has acknowledged the team's September call-ups will be affected by the team's playoff chase. Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com lists possible players, both on the disabled list and at Triple-A, who could join the O's when the rosters expand. 
  • The Padres may not have the roster space to bring Jedd Gyorko up in September, according to John Maffei of the North County Times. The Padres already have 49 players on their 40-man roster (nine are on the 60-day disabled list) and may not want to start Gyorko's service clock just for a September sneak peak, writes Maffei. Since Gyorko has less than three full seasons in pro ball, the Padres don't have to add him to the 40-man roster next season.  
  • Lucas Duda will probably have to wait until September 1st to rejoin the Mets because the team wants to take a longer look at Mike Baxter, tweets the New York Post's Mike Puma. 
  • The Nationals have several candidates for September call-ups including pitcher John Lannan and 2011 first-round draft pick Anthony Rendon, writes MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
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