Arbitration Eligibles: San Diego Padres
The Padres are next in our 2013 Arbitration Eligibles series. With a dozen players, they have one of the largest arbitration groups. Matt Swartz's salary projections are below.
- First time: Everth Cabrera ($1.2MM), Kyle Blanks ($600K)
- Second time: John Baker ($900K), Luke Gregerson ($3.2MM), Joe Thatcher ($1.1MM), Clayton Richard ($5MM), Will Venable ($2.5MM)
- Third time: Dustin Moseley ($2MM), Chase Headley ($8.3MM), Micah Owings ($1.2MM), Tim Stauffer ($3.2MM), Edinson Volquez ($4.6MM)
In Moseley, Owings, Stauffer, and Blanks, the Padres have four arbitration eligible players who barely played in 2012 due to injury. Moseley had April shoulder surgery and is likely to be cut loose. Owings, who wants to focus on being a position player, had elbow surgery in July and is another likely non-tender.
Paying Stauffer $3.2MM again would be risky given his August 31st surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his elbow. Padres manager Bud Black told MLB.com's Corey Brock Stauffer will be "ready to go by Spring Training," but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be tendered a contract next month. The 30-year-old had a breakout 2011 season and was ticketed for the 2012 Opening Day nod, so clearly there's talent here. The ideal scenario for the Padres would be to non-tender Stauffer and then quickly re-sign him for less guaranteed money. Failing that, they could tender him a contract and, if things look bleak in Spring Training, cut him then and owe about $530K.
Blanks had been ticketed for the minors, in which case he would not have been arbitration eligible, but he found his way onto the Padres' 25-man roster due to Carlos Quentin's injury. Blanks quickly went down with season-ending shoulder surgery, but the 26-year-old is still interesting and cheap enough that the Padres wouldn't be risking much by tendering him a contract and seeing how he looks in Spring Training.
Baker seems a capable backup catcher, and he actually caught as many games for the Padres as Yasmani Grandal and Nick Hundley this year. Grandal is the clear starter for 2013, and Hundley might have first track at the backup job given the $7MM guaranteed to him through 2014. The Padres still seem likely to retain Baker, so maybe Hundley will become trade bait.
Richard and Volquez emerged as the leaders of the Padres' rotation this year and are locked in for 2013. Volquez, the more explosive pitcher of the pair, will be entering his walk year and would like to remain with the club beyond 2013. He seems to prevent home runs and hits enough to survive in Petco despite an MLB-leading walk total. Richard might be Volquez's mirror image, with a stellar walk rate and MLB-worst hits allowed total. I wouldn't attempt to lock up either pitcher at this point.
Relievers Thatcher and Gregerson had solid campaigns, with Gregerson picking up nine saves and 24 holds. Thatcher will soon undergo knee surgery that could have him behind in Spring Training, but I see no reason the Padres wouldn't keep him around. Venable did a nice job as the team's primary right fielder, especially away from Petco. Cabrera provided value on the basepaths, and while the rest of his game is lacking, he'll be tendered a contract as an expected Super Two player.
Near the trade deadline, a Headley deal was actually considered likely, but GM Josh Byrnes wisely kept his asking price high. The 28-year-old third baseman stayed with the Padres and went off in the season's final two months, to a point where MVP votes would be justified. Matt Swartz has Headley, a client of Hendricks Sports, snagging nearly a $5MM raise en route to an $8.3MM salary. Headley qualified as a Super Two player in 2010, so this will be his third time through arbitration and he'll have one more after that.
Headley's agency hasn't done many arbitration year extensions in recent years, though Byrnes is no stranger to such contracts. Though the Padres' GM might prefer to use some 2013 data to determine whether Headley is an MVP-caliber player or more of an above-average regular, the price goes up the longer he waits. One potential comparable is Kevin Youkilis, who signed a four-year, $41.25MM deal with the Red Sox after a breakout '08 season, also with four-plus years of service. A more recent comp might be Alex Gordon's four-year deal, worth $50MM if he exercises a player option at the end.
Assuming Moseley, Owings, and Stauffer are non-tendered and no one signs a multiyear extension, we're estimating $27.4MM in salary for nine remaining arbitration eligible players.
Matt Swartz's arbitration projections are available exclusively at MLB Trade Rumors. To read more about his projection model, check out this series of posts.
Everth Cabrera Leaves ACES
Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera has left the ACES agency run by Seth and Sam Levinson, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Cabrera is the third player to leave ACES this week following Shane Victorino and Nyjer Morgan. ACES has come under a cloud because of the PED suspension of client Melky Cabrera (no relation to Everth) and a related investigation by MLB into the agency's links to a steroid distributor.
Cabrera, who will likely make more than $1MM through arbitration next year as a Super Two player, became the Padres' starting shortstop upon his recall from Triple-A in mid-May. He led the NL in stolen bases with 44 despite playing in only 115 games. In addition to his stolen base crown, Cabrera posted a batting line of .246/324/.324.
No word on who Cabrera has chosen to represent him. Check out MLBTR's Agency Database for information on player representatives from around the game.
Minor Moves: 28 Players Elect Free Agency
A total of 28 players — all with big league time under their belts — recently elected free agency after finishing the year in Triple-A. Here is the full list, courtesy of the International League and Pacific Coast League transaction pages…
- Infielders: Brian Bixler (Astros), Sean Burroughs (Twins), Blake DeWitt (Cubs), Alberto Gonzalez (Rangers), Angel Sanchez (Astros), Nate Spears (Red Sox), Drew Sutton (Pirates)
- Outfielders: Travis Buck (Astros), Ryan Langerhans (Angels), Mitch Maier (Royals), Darnell McDonald (Yankees), Jai Miller (Orioles), Trent Oeltjen (Dodgers), Jason Pridie (Phillies), Mike Wilson (Mariners)
- Right-handed Pitchers: Roman Colon (Royals), Mike Ekstrom (Rockies), Jack Egbert (Mets), Ryota Igarashi (Yankees), Evan Meek (Pirates), Scott Richmond (Blue Jays), Kip Wells (Padres), Randy Wells (Cubs), Dan Wheeler (Indians)
- Left-handed Pitchers: Alex Hinshaw (Cubs), Cesar Jimenez (Mariners), Zach Kroenke (Diamondbacks), Garrett Olson (Mets)
Padres Could Extend Chase Headley
The Padres' new ownership group has publicly stated its intention to retain quality players who want to stay in San Diego. Chase Headley has emerged as the kind of star player the Padres might look to sign long-term following a breakout season in which he hit 31 home runs. According to Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the ownership group led by Ron Fowler and the Seidler/O’Malley families seems to want to sign Headley long term.
However, some Padres executives believe now is the time to trade Headley, Center reports. GM Josh Byrnes could name his price for Headley, and replace him with Jedd Gyorko. It doesn't seem likely that the Padres will trade Headley, who's arbitration eligible for the third time this coming offseason. The 28-year-old earned $3.5MM in 2012 and could earn more than $7MM in 2013. Headley, who’s under team control through 2014, surfaced in numerous trade rumors leading up to this past season’s non-waiver trade deadline.
NL West Notes: Diamondbacks, Towers, Padres
Earlier tonight, we looked at the latest news on the Dodgers after General Manager Ned Colletti addressed the media. Here's a glance at other items out of the NL West..
- Earlier this week, Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers told Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com that he will target a shortstop, a veteran starter, and a third baseman this offseason. When talking to the press today, Towers added that he will also look to pickup a lefty specialist, tweets Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic.
- Towers conceded that the club might have to deal a young pitcher in order to take care of their vacancies on the left side of the infield, Piecoro tweets. In his Q&A with Bloom, Towers said that he doesn't see Willie Bloomquist or John McDonald as full-time answers at shortstop.
- Padres GM Josh Byrnes says that starting pitching will be the club's focus this offseason, writes Corey Brock of MLB.com. Injuries decimated the Padres' rotation in 2012, forcing the club to turn to 15 different starters throughout the year.
Quick Hits: Peavy, Rizzo, Byrnes, Utley, Rockies
At the beginning of the season, it seemed farfetched that Jake Peavy would get another multi-year contract for 2013 and beyond, but that matter will soon be a front-burner issue for the White Sox, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com. It’s hard to say what the 31-year-old might get on the open market as Olney notes that this time last year, few predicted that Mark Buehrle would land a four-year, $58MM contract from the Marlins. The Dodgers, Cubs, Angels, and others will have money to spend this winter while the Royals are known to be looking for someone to anchor their rotation. Here’s more from around baseball..
- The Nationals hold club options for 2014 and ’15 on General Manager Mike Rizzo’s contract, people familiar with the deal told Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post. That effectively means that Rizzo has just one guaranteed year remaining with the club. Kilgore writes that the GM may use the club’s success as leverage to get yet another contract extension, but the Nats don’t appear to be in a rush to get that done.
- While Padres General Manager Josh Byrnes believes that the club will increase its payroll for next season, he cautioned that a good chunk of that will go to arbitration raises for Chase Headley, Clayton Richard, Edinson Volquez, Will Venable, and others, writes Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com. Byrnes also talked about what he learned in his time with the Diamondbacks and the evolution of Carlos Quentin over that span.
- The Phillies have been toying with the idea of shifting Chase Utley to third base for the 2013 season, but GM Ruben Amaro is shutting the experiment down, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Now, the Phillies will likely have to turn to the open market for a solution at third, but there aren’t a ton of appealing options in this year’s free agent class.
- Jonah Keri of Grantland.com sat down with Rockies GM Bill Geivett for a lengthy discussion on the unique challenges faced by the club thanks to the altitude of their home ballpark. The Rockies turned to a unique pitching experiment this season that will continue in 2013 and are looking into other ideas that could affect the way they build their roster going forward.
Quick Hits: Baker, Varitek, LaHair, Padres, Berkman
Reds manager Dusty Baker suffered a minor stroke on Friday, the team told reporters (including MLB.com's Mark Sheldon). Baker was already in hospital being treated for an irregular heartbeat and was supposed to be released on Friday. The 63-year-old was released instead on Sunday and is reportedly in good condition, addressing the Reds clubhouse this afternoon. Bench coach Chris Speier has managed the team in Baker's absence and will continue to do so at least through Cincinnati's weekend series with the Pirates, though Baker is hopeful of returning for the Reds' final series of the year.
Here's some more news from around the baseball world…
- Long-time Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek tells Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston that he is "close" to taking a job with the team. Varitek will likely be a special assistant to GM Ben Cherington, though Edes notes that Varitek's teammates from Boston's 2004 World Series squad think he should be the next Red Sox manager.
- Bryan LaHair hopes to return to the Cubs next season, he tells CSNChicago.com's Patrick Mooney, though the team currently has no spot where he can get regular playing time.
- Eric Stults' good performances in the Padres' rotation may have earned him a spot in next year's rotation, writes Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
- Also from Bill Center, he examines the mixed results the Padres have thus far received from the seven players they signed to contract extensions this year.
- Lance Berkman tells Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle that he hopes to play for a contender next season, which would seem to eliminate him returning to the Astros as a DH. (Berkman has also considered retirement.) Berkman also endorsed ex-teammate Tim Bogar as his choice to be the Astros' next manager.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson discussed the Ike Davis trade rumors, the chances of the Mets extending David Wright and R.A. Dickey and other topics during a visit to the SNY booth during Tuesday's game. ESPN New York's Adam Rubin has a partial transcript.
- Willy Taveras is working out and hopeful of returning to the Major Leagues next season, reports MLB.com's Evan Drellich. Taveras, who turns 31 on Christmas Day, last played in the majors for the Nationals in 2010.
NL West Notes: Melky, Alonso, Rosario
The Giants clinched the NL West Division title this past weekend, despite having lost Melky Cabrera for the remainder of the regular season due to a failed drug test. As the 2010 World Champs gear up to make a run at a second title in three years, here are some links surrounding the division…
- Sergio Romo appeared on "Inside Pitch" with Casey Stern and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM and said the Giants would welcome Cabrera back with open arms if he returned to the team during the playoffs. "Why wouldn't we want him on our team?" asked Romo, before going onto call Cabrera a "great teammate" whose talent would improve the team's chances of winning it all.
- Padres first baseman Yonder Alonso was on a trip to Spain with his sister and friends (including Manny Machado) last winter when he learned of his trade, writes MLB.com's Corey Brock. Alonso was there courtesy of his team at the time, the Reds, to watch his favorite soccer team — Real Madrid. Brock's article is a terrific look at how trades can affect players on a personal level, and contains quotes from Alonso, Machado, and GMs Walt Jocketty (Reds) and Josh Byrnes (Padres).
- Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario is the best rookie that no one is talking about, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Heyman suggests that Rosario is could be outperforming other, more commonly discussed candidates.
Cafardo On Red Sox, Cabrera, Okajima, Quentin
Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington will focus on trying to fix his team’s pitching from top to bottom this offseason, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Since drafting Jon Lester in 2002, the only major league starting pitchers the Red Sox have developed are Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, and Justin Masterson. And while they had good luck with relievers Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard, Craig Hansen and Michael Bowden didn't work out as well. When it comes to grooming their pitchers of the future, Cafardo suggests that the Red Sox should reach out to Rick Peterson to help steer the ship. Here's more from today's column..
- If Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera doesn't have any additional fallout relating to his 50-game suspension, GMs that were asked said they would look at him as a one-year contract possibility. However, one GM noted that “If there’s competition for him, someone will go multiyear.”
- Former Red Sox left-hander Hideki Okajima is in Japan and trying to work his way back to the majors. Okajima is pitching extremely well in Japan, where many thought he wanted to stay, but he wants another shot at the majors and may get it.
- Carlos Quentin's contract is very reasonable for the small-market Padres, but they could still be open to moving him this offseason. Quentin inked a three-year, $27MM extension with the club in July that includes a $10MM mutual option for 2016.
- One veteran talent evaluator thinks many teams missed the boat on acquiring Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano. While he’s not the centerpiece of any lineup he would be a good left field option for a team seeking a righthanded middle-of-the-order bat.
- The Cubs will likely make a push for Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan, bullpen coach Gary Tuck, and possibly even bench coach Tim Bogar. However, Bogar might prefer to stay in Boston.
Outrighted: Ohlendorf, Rodriguez, Chavez, Correa
The latest outright assignments from around MLB…
- The Padres outrighted both right-hander Ross Ohlendorf and catcher Eddy Rodriguez to Triple-A, reports Jeff Sanders of The North County Times (on Twitter). San Diego designated the duo for assignment earlier this week to create room on the roster for some September call-ups.
- The Mariners outrighted Johermyn Chavez to the Double-A Jackson Generals, according to MLB.com. The Mariners removed Chavez from the 40-man roster earlier in the week after he posted .232/.339/.386 batting line in 288 plate appearances with the Generals this year.
- The Giants outrighted Hector Correa to Triple-A Fresno, according to MLB.com. The Giants had designated the right-hander for assignment six days ago.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.