Quick Hits: Padres, Nishioka, Giants, DeWitt
Here's a wrap-up of news from around baseball as we head into Tuesday….
- A number of teams have asked the Padres about their bench players, but the Friars are "inclined" to keep them, reports Dan Hayes of the North County Times (Twitter link). Everth Cabrera is one of the players who has been asked about, and Hayes presumes Jesus Guzman is another.
- Tsuyoshi Nishioka's demotion to Triple-A has Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities radio pointing the finger at both Nishioka and at Twins management for signing the Japanese shortstop and letting J.J. Hardy leave.
- The Giants' rise to prominence has been fueled by their homegrown stars, writes Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle, and the team could be a couple of years away from having almost an entire roster comprised of players drafted and developed internally.
- Gregor Blanco is a virtual "stone-cold lock" to make the Giants' Opening Day roster, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Signed to a minor league deal in November, Blanco has had a huge Spring Training and seemingly has a backup outfield spot sewn up.
- Cubs utilityman Blake DeWitt's name "has come up in recent trade rumors," according to Doug Padilla of ESPN Chicago. DeWitt has played mostly second and third in his career, though he appeared in 23 games in left field for the Cubs last season. DeWitt could be a possibility for teams looing for infield depth like the Phillies, Athletics or Twins.
- With the Madoff trustee lawsuit now settled, Andrew Keh of the New York Times wonders if the Mets might now be able to explore keeping David Wright with the team long-term and notes that such a move would help sooth the team's disillusioned fanbase.
Quick Hits: Mariners, Beras, Rockies, Padres, Peavy
Here are some links from the around the league as Saturday turns into Sunday…
- The Mariners could probably afford to trade one of their third base prospects, muses Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Seattle has Kyle Seager, Alex Liddi, Francisco Martinez, and Vinnie Catricala at the hot corner.
- MLB is still investigating the signing of Dominican outfielder Jairo Beras by the Rangers, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. Beras agreed to a $4.5MM deal last month, but there are questions about his age and eligibility to sign.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote about the unique construction of the Rockies' roster. The team added high-character positions players to a largely unproven group of young starters this offseason.
- Dan Hayes of The North County Times reports (on Twitter) that the Padres still expect to have their new television deal with FOX Sports San Diego finalized within the "next few weeks or sooner."
- "If I can't stay healthy for 200 innings, if somebody says something about closing or being a reliever, I can do that, I can be a reliever," said White Sox starter Jake Peavy to MLB.com's Barry M. Bloom. "If it comes down to that, I'll do it because I love this game."
- “I know that I want to make the right decision,” said Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to reporters (including Chad Jennings of The Journal News) today following Andy Pettitte's return. “That’s what I want to do. When I make the right decision, I don’t want to come back or say, ‘I should have done it’ or ‘I should have stayed.’ I want to be 1000% sure that it’s the right decision."Rivera hinted at retirement last month.
Poll: Best Trade Package For A Young Pitcher
When the offseason started, we figured it would be headlined by a pair of MVP caliber bats (Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder) and a Japanese import (Yu Darvish). While those three certainly garnered their fair share of attention, the winter was mostly dominated by trades involving young, high-upside pitchers with multiple years of team control remaining.
The Doug Fister trade seemed to get it all started. The Mariners sent him and David Pauley to the Tigers for Francisco Martinez, Casper Wells, Charlie Furbush, and Chance Ruffin at the trade deadline. Four similar young, high-upside starters with multiple years of contractual control remaining were traded this offseason. Here are those deals, presented chronologically…
- Athletics trade Trevor Cahill (and Craig Breslow) to the Diamondbacks for Jarrod Parker, Collin Cowgill, and Ryan Cook.
- Padres trade Mat Latos to the Reds for Edinson Volquez, Yasmani Grandal, Yonder Alonso, and Brad Boxberger.
- Athletics trade Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals for Brad Peacock, A.J. Cole, Tom Milone, and Derek Norris.
- Mariners trade Michael Pineda (and Jose Campos) to the Yankees for Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi.
Each trade involved multiple young players going the other way, including at least one top 100 prospect according to Baseball America. Which team got the best return for their young hurler?
Which team received the best return for their young pitcher?
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Padres for Latos 44% (8,892)
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Mariners for Pineda 30% (6,046)
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Athletics for Gonzalez 20% (4,090)
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Athletics for Cahill 6% (1,255)
Total votes: 20,283
Trade Candidates: Tim Stauffer & Dustin Moseley
The Padres won 90 games in 2010, but they fell back into the NL West cellar in 2011. They changed GMs this offseason and traded ace Mat Latos to the Reds for a package of three young players and Edinson Volquez. New GM Josh Byrnes also bought low on Carlos Quentin and Huston Street, but a lot will have to go right for San Diego to return to contention this season.
ESPN.com and Baseball Prospectus agree that the Padres have the best farm system in baseball, and they're going to have a prospect-heavy Triple-A rotation led by three of their ten best minor leaguers: Casey Kelly, Robbie Erlin, and Joe Wieland. Kelly came over in the Adrian Gonzalez trade while both Erlin and Wieland came from the Rangers in the Mike Adams deal. With that kind of talent waiting in Triple-A, Byrnes figures to be able to shop a starter or two for more young players at midseason.
The 29-year-old Tim Stauffer (pictured) was San Diego's Opening Day starter last season. He finally made it through his first full season as a big league starter in 2011, eight years after being the fourth overall pick in the draft. He pitched to a 3.73 ERA in 185 2/3 innings spread across 31 starts, relying on ground balls (51.8%) and control (2.57 BB/9) rather than strikeouts (6.20 K/9). Stauffer did appear to hit a bit of wall in mid-August and finished the season on the shelf with arm stiffness, but he's healthy now and ready to go.
Dustin Moseley, 30, was enjoying a bit of a breakout year in 2011 before dislocating his left (non-throwing) shoulder swinging a bat in late-July, which ended his season. Before the injury he'd pitched to a 3.30 ERA in 20 starts (120 IP). Like Stauffer, he's a ground ball (49.5%) and control (2.70 BB/9) guy, not a strikeout guy (4.80 K/9). Also like Stauffer, Moseley is healthy now and will begin the season on time and in the rotation.
Stauffer and Moseley aren't the biggest of names, but they'll have plenty of trade value if they carry their 2011 performance over into 2012. The former will earn $3.2MM this year and the latter just $2.0125MM, plus both guys will remain under team control as an arbitration-eligible players in 2013. With expensive hurlers like Joe Blanton ($8.5MM) and John Lannan ($5MM) highlighting the current pitching trade market, Stauffer and Moseley could look very attractive at their salaries come June and July.
The Padres have plenty of young pitching on the way, so they should be able to replace a starter if they make any trades this year. They can always count on Petco Park to help their pitchers perform a little better than they probably should as well. Both Stauffer and Moseley are unspectacular but effective when healthy, and we've seen similar pitchers like Jake Westbrook and Ted Lilly fetch nice returns at the deadline in recent years. The San Diego duo is both younger and cheaper, and new ten-team playoff system could mean more clubs will be in contention and looking for rotation help this summer.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Extension Talks Heating Up Between Padres, Hundley
The Padres locked up Cameron Maybin to a five-year deal earlier this month, and now they're working on another core player. MLB.com's Corey Brock reports (on Twitter) that talks between the team and catcher Nick Hundley have heated up this week, and an agreement could be close. He's an Athletes First client.
Hundley, 28, will earn $2MM this season, his first as an arbitration-eligible player. A .255/.314/.420 career hitter, Hundley broke out with a .288/.347/.477 batting line in 308 plate appearances last season. He did miss more than two months with an oblique strain and an elbow issue, however. Since breaking into the league in 2008, Hundley ranks 13th among all catchers with 6.5 wins above replacement (min. 1,000 PA).
As our Extension Tracker shows, catchers like Kurt Suzuki (four years, $16.25MM), Carlos Ruiz (three years, $8.85MM), Chris Iannetta (three years, $8.3MM), and Yadier Molina (four years, $15.5MM) have signed extensions when they had between three and four years of service time. Hundley's three arbitration years figure to cost San Diego $8-10MM.
Olney On Blue Jays, Epstein, Dodgers, Padres
The Blue Jays have J.P. Arencibia catching at the Major League level and top prospect Travis d'Arnaud could be MLB-ready within the year. It seems like a good problem to have for Toronto, but other teams view the Blue Jays’ depth as a possible opportunity, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports…
- Teams have asked about Arencibia and d’Arnaud in trade talks, Olney writes. However, it’s very possible that the Blue Jays will keep both unless they’re completely overwhelmed by an offer. D’Arnaud is slated for more minor league seasoning while Jeff Mathis backs Arencibia up, so the Blue Jays don’t have to make a decision any time soon.
- Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has a bonus in his contract that resembles the conclusion bonus he had with the Red Sox, Olney writes. Epstein also has standard bonuses for team success.
- Steve Cohen made an impressive presentation in his bid for the Dodgers, Olney hears.
- The Padres love what they see in outfield prospect Rymer Liriano.
Quick Hits: Cain, Hamels, Aybar, K-Rod, Escobar
Happy birthday to Kevin Youkilis (33), Jon Jay (27) and Leo Nun…er, make that Juan Oviedo (30). This is the first time Oviedo has been able to publicly celebrate his actual birthday in several years, as he kept a listed birthday of August 14, 1983 while living under the Leo Nunez identity.
Here's some news from around the major leagues as we head into Friday…
- Matt Cain's agent Rick Landrum tells John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle that "we'll never give up hope" that Cain and the Giants can work out a contract extension before Opening Day. There hasn't been much progress in recent negotiations but the two sides "remain open for business," as Shea writes.
- In addition to Cain, there have been no new developments over the last week in Cole Hamels' extension talks with the Phillies, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
- Also from Olney (via Twitter), he hears from evaluators that there isn't much trade talk overall around the majors. Olney predicts things will probably pick up in 10 days or so, once teams start to sort out their needs for their Opening Day rosters.
- Angels GM Jerry Dipoto has had at least two face-to-face meetings since Monday with Erick Aybar's representatives, reports Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. Aybar is believed to be looking for an extension of at least five years. Dipoto recently said that he thought an extension with Aybar was possible, if not necessarily by Opening Day.
- The Padres were discussing a one-year, $9MM contract with Francisco Rodriguez over the winter before the club saw an opportunity to acquire Huston Street, reports Scott Miller of CBS Sports. San Diego also talked to free agent Frank Francisco and asked the Athletics about Andrew Bailey.
- The Royals' extension with Alcides Escobar is the team's latest step in locking up its young talent, reports MLB.com's Dick Kaegel. "[Owners] Dan and David Glass are determined to keep as many of these young players together as we can, knowing full well that it has to fit within our salary structure and our payroll going forward," Moore said. "It's going to get a little sticky for us, it's going to get a little hairy as we get into 2014-15-16." Moore declined to comment on the progress of contract talks with another of Kansas City's young stars, Alex Gordon.
- The well-traveled Octavio Dotel shares some of his road stories with ESPN's Jayson Stark. Dotel will set a new Major League record once he plays his first game for the Tigers this season by becoming the first player to suit up for 13 different teams.
- "I feel comfortable we finally got to a level [where we] can be competitive every single year," Tigers owner Mike Ilitch told media (including MLB.com's Jason Beck) during a visit to Spring Training today. "That's always been my goal. I feel good about that. It would be hard to screw that up once you get there. You tell yourself you want to stay there now."
- The Orioles could be looking for backup catching help if Taylor Teagarden's back injury lingers into the season, reports CSN Baltimore's Rich Dubroff. Veteran Ronny Paulino is Matt Wieters' backup for now, but Paulino only just arrived in camp due to a visa issue.
NL West Notes: Dodgers Ownership, Moorad, D’Backs
The Giants were the first NL West team up in MLBTR's 2011-12 Offseason In Review series. Tim Dierkes examined the Giants' winter moves earlier today as we continue to review every club's offseason in the weeks leading up to Opening Day.
Here's the latest from the NL West…
- Steve Cohen may be the favorite to take ownership of the Dodgers, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Cohen and fellow bidder Stan Kroenke are the richest of the four remaining ownership groups bidding for the team, though Cohen has seemingly made more connections within MLB and Kroenke's bid "could be complicated by [a] cross-ownership rule from another sport" since he also owns the NFL's St. Louis Rams, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and the NBA's Denver Nuggets.
- Perhaps as a way of combating Cohen and Kroenke's cash-on-hand advantage, the Dodgers ownership group led by Magic Johnson has added Peter Guber to its rank, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Guber co-owns the NBA's Golden State Warriors and his Mandalay Entertainment group owns and manages seven minor league baseball franchises.
- Jeff Moorad's attempt to buy the Padres is an "uphill battle," a source tells Jon Heyman. As per Moorad's deal with current Padres owner John Moores, Moorad has two years remaining to try to complete the purchase but may not be able to win the votes needed from other owners. White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick are rumored to be against Moorad's bid.
- Dennis Tankersley hasn't pitched in the majors since 2004 and hasn't played any pro ball since 2008 but is attempting a comeback with the Padres this spring, writes MLB.com's Corey Brock.
- Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) that he is still looking to add depth at the middle infield and catcher positions. Towers also said that teams have expressed an interest in Gerardo Parra via their scouts talking to Arizona's scouts, though Towers reiterated that he doesn't want to trade the outfielder. In January, I outlined why the D'Backs want to hold to Parra even though the Jason Kubel signing pushed him out of their lineup.
John Lannan Drawing Interest
The Red Sox, Tigers and Astros are watching John Lannan and a deal involving the left-hander is "likely" Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweets. The Mets and Padres had interest, but balked at his $5MM salary.
Lannan doesn't have a guaranteed rotation spot in Washington after posting a 3.70 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 184 2/3 innings last year, so he's a potential trade candidate this spring. The Blue Jays, Royals and Tigers are among the teams monitoring the market for starting pitching, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported today.
Rosenthal On Braves, Blue Jays, Nationals, Gonzalez
Rival executives believe Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez may already be on ‘probation,’ Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. Last year’s team lost its grip on a playoff spot down the stretch under Gonzalez, who’s now entering his second season as Atlanta’s manager. Here are the rest of Rosenthal’s notes from around the Major Leagues…
- Special assistant Jim Fregosi may be the Braves’ leading candidate to manage should they replace Gonzalez internally.
- The Diamondbacks would have interest in catcher J.P. Arencibia if the Blue Jays made him available. Arencibia isn’t going anywhere just yet, but top catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud could force the Blue Jays to make some difficult decisions within the year.
- The Blue Jays, Royals, Tigers and others are in the market for starting pitching and many options are available, Rosenthal writes. Joe Blanton, Gavin Floyd and John Lannan are among the potential trade targets for teams seeking starters.
- The Tigers, who are currently leaning toward left-hander Andy Oliver for their final rotation spot, could be a fit for Lannan. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes examined possible fits for Lannan last week, including the Tigers.
- The Padres’ financial outlook is improving, so owner John Moores may be less eager to sell the team to CEO Jeff Moorad. Moorad has two years to complete his purchase of the club, but the deal won’t be finalized in the near future.
- The A’s are no longer interested in free agent reliever Mike Gonzalez and the White Sox aren’t currently pursuing him, Rosenthal reports. The lefty is “about ready to go” following arthroscopic knee surgery.
- Some in the industry question shortstop Ian Desmond, but the Nationals like him.