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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Garza, Pierzynski, Padres

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Eleven years ago today, Fernando Tatis became the first and only player in baseball history to hit two grand slams in one inning. Amazingly, both came off Chan Ho Park, who allowed 11 runs while recording eight outs. Tatis went on to hit .298/.404/.553 with 34 homeruns for the Cardinals that season, easily the best of the big league career. 

 Here are a handful of links from around the blogosphere…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Odds & Ends: Zobrist, Pierzynski, Lowe, Padres

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Links for Friday…

Stark On Padres, Jose Guillen, Derrek Lee

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ESPN's Jayson Stark kicks off today's column with a look at which teams' starts he considers reality and illusion.  Beyond that, a look at his hot stove rumblings…

  • One club official who "felt out" the Padres over the winter believes they'll hold on to their top players if they're in contention in July.  As Stark says, the market would look a lot worse without Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell.
  • Stark names six sluggers who "might be in play" this summer: Josh Hamilton, Adam Dunn, Adam LaRoche, Rick Ankiel, Paul Konerko, and Manny Ramirez.  Hamilton and Manny are longer shots, but they'd certainly get the hot stove burning.
  • As for Jose Guillen – executives Stark talked to just aren't interested, despite his .377/.406/.738 start.
  • In search of new stadiums, where could the Rays and A's legitimately threaten to move?  Stark and his sources run through ideas and can't find a viable city.
  • A friend of Cal Ripken's tells Stark "there's a lot of mutual respect" between Ripken and Orioles owner Peter Angelos.  Ripken seeks a difference-making job, rather than just a title.  It doesn't necessarily have to be with the Orioles.
  • The Cubs told Derrek Lee's agent Casey Close they'd prefer to let the season play out before talking extension.  Lee discussed the situation during Spring Training. 
  • Stark's sources consider Brett Anderson's four-year, $12.5MM deal a very team-friendly contract.  To the A's credit, most young pitchers are not willing to give two club options.  Playing devil's advocate –  did the potential cost savings justify committing four years to Anderson after just one year of service?  You can find multiple clubs that do not share Oakland's enthusiasm for locking up good young pitchers.

Odds & Ends: Bell, Dye, Ortiz, Davis, Strasburg

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Links for Monday…

  • The MLBTR Forums are rocking with over 3,600 members.  Join the discussion today!  Just added a prospects section; we've also got areas to discuss trade rumors, free agents, the draft, general baseball, fantasy baseball, and every team.
  • Tom Krasovic tweets that the Twins have a scout at tonight's Padres-Giants game, but it's just a routine visit. He adds that Heath Bell remains on Minnesota's radar, but the two sides haven't talked since Spring Training.
  • The Giants have no interest in Jermaine Dye, tweets Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle. The reasons are the same as they've been all winter: defense and asking price.
  • More changes could be coming to the Dodgers' bullpen, says Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times. Russ Ortiz was designated for assignment yesterday, and Hernandez thinks Ramon Ortiz could be next.
  • Talking to MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith, I learned that teams can now safely promote minor leaguers for their MLB debuts with no chance of the player amassing 172 days of service in 2010.  By promoting '08 first-rounder Ike Davis today, the Mets ensured that he will be under team control through 2016 instead of 2015.  In contrast, the Braves have Jason Heyward through '15.
  • On that same topic, agent Scott Boras told MLB.com's Peter Gammons that Stephen Strasburg starting in the minors "had nothing to do with money."
  • Joe Posnanski digs into Forbes' team revenue numbers, noting that the Yankees made $173MM more than any other team.
  • MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch tells us Hayden Penn has accepted the Pirates' Triple A assignment in lieu of electing free agency.
  • In a statement, Cal Ripken said he looks forward to continued talks with the Orioles about a position in the organization.

Should The Padres Try To Sign Headley Long-Term?

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The Padres are off to a somewhat surprising 6-6 start to the season, thanks in no small part to some late inning heroics by third baseman Chase Headley. The 25-year-old is hitting .375/.423/.521 through 12 games, and has established himself as the cleanup hitter behind megastar Adrian Gonzalez.

Headley won't be a free agent until after the 2014 season and he won't qualify as a Super Two next season, so the Padres can enjoy his production for close to the league minimum both this year and next. However, buying out his arbitration years and perhaps a free agent year or two would give the team some cost certainty should his breakout continue, and it would also give Headley some long-term financial security.

There's no obvious historical comparison for a long-term deal. Both Ryan Zimmerman and David Wright had more service time when they signed their deals, and of course their performance is a notch above Headley's right now. Evan Longoria has a similar amount of service time at the moment and will be paid just $13.45MM during what would be his last four years of team control, though he's vastly underpaid. 

Longoria's framework might not be too far off base, so perhaps something along the lines of four years (2011-2014) and $15MM with some options beyond that makes some sense for the Padres and Headley. There's certainly no rush for the team considering he's still in his pre-arb years, but if he keeps hitting, it's only going to get more and more expensive for San Diego to sign what looks like their next great homegrown player long-term. 

Largest Contracts In Team History

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We've already looked at the largest contracts by service time and position, so let's now dig up the largest contracts ever given out by each of the 30 teams. These are in terms of guaranteed money only, but some could end up being even larger because of incentives and option years.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Stark On Bell, Nathan, Oswalt, Dunn

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Let's check in on the Rumblings and Grumblings of ESPN's Jayson Stark…

  • One exec Stark spoke to implied the Padres may not be motivated to trade closer Heath Bell because he's under team control through 2011 and signed at $4MM for 2010.  Bell's salary could double in '11, though, and I'm not convinced the Padres will want to pay it.
  • Stark talked to a GM who thinks Bell makes sense for the Twins as a backup plan in case Joe Nathan needs a 16-month Tommy John recovery period to get back to normal.  Stark learned that a significant part of Nathan's salary this year is insured, so that frees up some money this year.  But again, will the Twins want to pay nearly $20MM to two relievers in 2011?
  • Should Houston's troubles continue, Stark wonders if Roy Oswalt would consider waiving his no-trade clause.  He says a friend of Oswalt believes the pitcher's preferred destinations are Atlanta, St. Louis, and Texas.  It's hard to see those clubs making a play for Oswalt, especially with his large salaries for '10 and '11.
  • Stark guesses the Nationals are more likely to trade Adam Dunn before the deadline than sign him to an extension.  Last we heard, ESPN's Buster Olney said there were no ongoing extension talks.
  • Twins catching prospect Wilson Ramos has been labeled as one of the game's best trade chips, but assistant GM Rob Antony says that "right now, we'd lean toward keeping him."
  • If he can't find a big league job, Kevin Millar could sign with the St. Paul Saints, where his pro career began.  Millar was released by the Cubs on March 30th. 

Fred Lewis Decision Coming Soon

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8:16pm: Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter) predicts that Lewis will still be with the Giants this weekend.  Schulman is hearing that there is little or no trade interest in the market for the outfielder.

8:24am: Giants outfielder Fred Lewis will be activated or traded by the weekend, reports Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.  Lewis is in Triple A rehabbing a sore rib cage, but his assignment won't last past Thursday.  Lewis is out of options, so the Giants can't keep him in the minors.

Baggarly notes that the Giants' roster is stocked with six outfielders, implying that a trade is more likely than a call-up.  He says that while the Padres and Athletics have expressed past interest in Lewis, the Blue Jays may be "the most likely destination."  New GM Alex Anthopoulos is familiar with the Giants, already having claimed Brian Bocock and traded for Merkin Valdez in his six months on the job.  Bocock was claimed again by the Phillies.

Lewis, 29, has a .277/.355/.420 career line, with a walk rate over 10%.  He's played all three outfield positions in the Majors, but mostly left field.  Three years ago Baseball America called him "the best all-around athlete in the system," a player with star-level raw skills.  BA questioned his outfield routes, though Lewis' left field defense comes out strong in terms of UZR/150.  Baggarly noted that Lewis has been getting some recent starts in center, so perhaps that's not a lost cause.  Obviously Lewis' bat plays better there if he can hold his own defensively.

Cafardo On Gonzalez, Oswalt, Crawford, Granderson

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Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is now on Twitter, under the handle @nickcafardo, so be sure to follow him. In the meantime, Cafardo also has a new column up for the Globe, in which he addresses the possibility of an Adrian Gonzalez trade and touches on a few other hot stove topics. Let's check out the highlights….

  • Cafardo isn't bullish on the Red Sox' chances of acquiring Gonzalez, noting that a trade would deplete Boston's farm system. Plus, they should face stiff competition from teams like the Mariners and Orioles.
  • The consensus among a few baseball people who spoke to Cafardo is that Padres GM Jed Hoyer will field trade offers for Gonzalez but won't necessarily deal the slugger. The situation could be similar to the Jays shopping Roy Halladay at last year's deadline, when Toronto wasn't sufficiently blown away by any offer.
  • The Padres are more likely to move Chris Young and Heath Bell.
  • Assuming the Sox don't land Gonzalez, Cafardo wonders if Carlos Pena might be an offseason target for Theo Epstein.
  • Roy Oswalt could be an attractive trade chip for the Astros, given the lack of top starting pitchers that will be available during the season. Cafardo thinks Houston will move their ace if they have to, adding that "it looks like they may have to."
  • The Brewers' extension of Yovani Gallardo is a good sign that they'll be aggressive in attempting to lock up Prince Fielder, though it will likely take a Mark Teixeira-esque contract to get it done.
  • Cafardo's "dark horse candidate" in this winter's Carl Crawford sweepstakes? The Angels.
  • The Red Sox looked into acquiring Curtis Granderson to replace Jason Bay, but were outbid by the Yankees.

Discussion: Chris Young

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The Padres' trade block was discussed quite a bit this winter, with Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell being talked about as potential trade candidates.  Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports recently tweeted that 6'10 hurler Chris Young is also likely to be dealt this season.

The soon-to-be 31-year-old was extremely limited by shoulder troubles in 2009, pitching just 76 innings across 14 starts.  However, in the three years prior to that, Young posted an ERA of 3.44 with 8.9 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9.

Young is in the final year of a four-year, $14.5MM deal and is set to earn $6.5MM this season.  While his price tag certainly hinders his trade value, if he can demonstrate that he is healthy, he could be an attractive option for a contender at mid-season.  One has to wonder how much a team might be willing to surrender for a rental of Young.

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