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Discussion: Are The Padres Tipping Their Hand?

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It's no secret that the Padres are thinking about moving Adrian Gonzalez in the near future.   Gonzalez, or, the "Human Trade Rumor" as Scott Miller of CBSSports.com refers to him, is owed just $4.75MM in 2010 and $5.5MM on a club option for 2011.  Yet, it appears that the Padres have already given up on keeping him for the long-haul.

John Boggs, the agent for Gonzalez, told team CEO Jeff Moorad and GM Jed Hoyer that his client will seek a contract similar to the $180MM deal Mark Teixeira signed with the Yankees last offseason.  That course of action brought discussion to a halt.  

While the Padres appear to have up to a dozen suitors for Gonzalez's services, they may not be keeping their cards close to the chest.  In his aforementioned piece, Miller writes that Gonzalez – inarguably San Diego's biggest star – will not be one of the six players featured in promotional nights this summer.  Neither will closer Heath Bell, who has also been rumored to be on the trading block.

This comes just two months after Hoyer assured a reporter that the club was not looking to move the 27-year-old.  Bobbleheads and replica jerseys aside, one has to wonder if the Padres' transparency in recent weeks might hurt them in the long run.  Are the Padres tipping their hand or is it already obvious to everyone in baseball that the Friars have to consider moving their star first baseman?

Brian Giles Retires

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Outfielder Brian Giles announced his retirement today, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.  The Dodgers had signed Giles to a minor league deal on February 7th, and soon after he told MLB.com's Ken Gurnick it wouldn't take long to decide whether his knee could hold up physically.

Though he's not a household name, Giles finishes with an excellent .291/.400/.502 line in 7,835 career plate appearances for the Indians, Pirates, and Padres.  Giles' career OBP currently ranks 59th all-time.  Giles made two All-Star appearances and received MVP votes in five seasons.  He was involved in a blockbuster trade in August of '03, joining the Padres for Jason Bay, Oliver Perez, and Cory Stewart.  According to Baseball Reference, Giles earned about $81MM in his career.

Odds & Ends: Fielder, Wood, Stairs, Duncan

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A wrap-up of items from Wednesday…

  • We've heard that the Brewers have begun to explore the possibility of extending Prince Fielder's contract, but ESPN's Keith Law thinks "it makes no sense for the Brewers to keep Fielder" given that the team doesn't look like a contender this season or next.  Law also describes Fielder as, "the type of player who doesn't age well."
  • Kerry Wood isn't bothered by trade rumors linking him to Minnesota to fill the Joe Nathan void, reports Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com.  Castrovince adds that it's "hard to imagine" the Twins acquiring Wood given the veteran closer's $10.5MM salary in 2010 (plus an $11MM option for 2011 that vests if Wood finishes 55 games this year).
  • Speaking of Wood, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer argues that the Tribe shouldn't deal Wood to a division rival until the Indians know what kind of a team they have this season.  If they contend, then they could keep Wood for a pennant race.  If they don't contend, Wood will still have trade value at midseason.
  • Tyler Kepner of the New York Times talks to Matt Stairs, who is enjoying his role in the Padres camp as "the grandfather of the team."  Stairs said he won't go to the minors if he doesn't make San Diego's opening day roster, and he might just return to his job as a hitting coach for the University of Maine's baseball team.
  • MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports that Chris Duncan doesn't blame the Cardinals for dealing him to Boston last summer.
  • Anthony Ranaudo, thought by some to be the top pitcher available in June's Amateur Draft, may fall down the draft board after battling elbow problems, reports ESPN.com's Jason A. Churchill.
  • Nationals GM Mike Rizzo told MLB.com's Bill Ladson that despite Stephen Strasburg's strong outing on Tuesday, "it's not going to change my plans" about how Strasburg will be brought along.  Strasburg may well start the season in the minors, but ESPN's Buster Olney thinks it could be a brief stay: "You get the feeling that his time in the minors may be as short as it was for Tim Lincecum."  Lincecum, for the record, has made only 13 lifetime appearances in the minors and made just four minor league starts in 2007 before being called up to San Francisco.

International Links: Ohka, Chen, Gotay, Jamaica

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All the best in non-Cuban baseball news…

  • Scouts from eight teams recently gathered to watch Taiwanese pitching prospect Min-Tzu Chen, according to Taiwan Baseball. Chen, a converted outfielder, has only been pitching for three months but reportedly already has offers in hand from the Royals and Padres.
  • Tomo Ohka has agreed to a deal with the Mexican League Quintana Roo Tigers, reports Japanese Ball Players.
  • Ruben Gotay isn't often mentioned in discussions about who will man third base for the Cardinals this season, and his .255/.315/.371 career numbers don't scream "slugging corner infielder." But the 28-year-old Puerto Rican utilityman tells Primera Hora's Esteban Rivera that the Cardinals signed him and invited him to spring training exclusively with the hot corner in mind. Gotay played his first full season at third at Triple A in the Diamondbacks system last season, showing newfound patience with a .272/.429/.450 line including 102 walks in 479 PAs. While he is fourth at best on the depth chart, the first two candidates, David Freese and Tyler Greene, have 150 Major League PAs combined, and Felipe Lopez has played 13 games at third in the last five years, all for the Cardinals in 2008.
  • In 11 Major League seasons, Ricardo Rincon managed a 3.59 ERA and logged 565 appearances in the "G" column, but look one column to the right at "GS," and cue the rolling tumbleweeds. That's changing in the Mexican League, where the 39-year-old is trying to crack the starting rotation of the Minatitlan Oilers, according to the league site.
  • MLB is partnering with the Jamaican government to build a stadium on the north side of the island in Trelawny, reports the Jamaica Observer. The complex will be the league's first-ever investment in the country, which is looking to expand its presence in international sports following the success of Usain Bolt. One current big league player, Indians pitcher Justin Masterson, was born in Jamaica.

Odds & Ends: Fielder, Young, Pierzynski Dice-K

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Links for Tuesday…

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Utley, Matsui, Yankees, Lee

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On this date 44-years ago, Marvin Miller was elected as the first full-time president of the Major League Baseball Players' Association by the player representatives. Miller, who was previously the assistant to the president of United Steelworkers, negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement with the owners in 1968. Within his first ten years on the job, Miller was able to get salary arbitration included in the CBA and helped eliminate the reserve clause, ushering in the age of free agency. He is the reason the MLBPA is as powerful as it is today, but Miller has yet to be enshrined in Cooperstown. 

Here's a looking at what's being written around the web…

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

Odds & Ends: Yankees, Braves, Cardinals

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March goes in like a lion, but the lion is cut when the rosters get trimmed to 25…

  • Benjamin Kabak at River Avenue Blues takes a look at how the Yankees can include an ownership stake in Derek Jeter's next contract.
  • Former Yankee Melky Cabrera is also in the news, with MLB.com's Mark Bowman detailing how his game translates in the National League. As should surprise no one who has watched both leagues lately, the move figures to help Melky.
  • Brian Walton of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat has a rundown of the Cardinals' 21 new signings from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. Tops among the new signings appears to be Amauris Capellan, an outfielder who has drawn comparisons to Raul Mondesi.
  • Taiwan Baseball has an update on Min-Tzu Chen, an outfielder-turned-pitcher three months ago, who is now sporting a fastball at 90-93 MPH. According to the site, the Royals and Padres have both made offers in the $150K-$200K range.
  • Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe thinks the Red Sox may have found something special in offseason acquisition Boof Bonser.

Why Padres Likely Won’t Sign Adrian Gonzalez

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A pair of interesting viewpoints emerged today about the Padres, and why they are likely to trade Adrian Gonzalez, rather than extend his contract.

As Ken Rosenthal puts it in his latest column, regarding Padres fans, "I would want to know just one thing: Why can’t my team sign Adrian Gonzalez if the Twins can sign Joe Mauer?"

Of course, Rosenthal lists the many reasons: attendance is down in San Diego, San Diego is the 28th biggest television market in baseball, and a Gonzalez deal could net a number of prospects in return.

But there is a more ominous reason cited by Rosenthal: there are questions about new ownership's viability. As Rosenthal writes, "Just over a year ago, Moorad’s group reached agreement to gain controlling interest of the club from John Moores over a five-year period. That’s right, the other owners allowed one of their franchises to be purchased on a layaway plan — an unusual arrangement, to say the least."

Jake Peavy also weighed in on the choice by the Padres to deal Gonzalez during an interview with Dan Hayes of the North County Times.

"He's a great player, and at times I think to myself, 'How could they not sign this guy?'" Peavy said of Gonzalez. "A hometown guy playing for his hometown team and being the superstar player he is. At the same time, this is the same organization that let their Hall of Fame closer walk away."

Peavy was referring, of course, to Trevor Hoffman.

If ownership can't afford Gonzalez, of course, that puts them in company with many other small-market teams. But it will be interesting to watch just what San Diego can spend-payroll was less than $44MM last season.

Heyman On Adrian, Jeter, Hamilton

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SI's Jon Heyman leads his latest column with a discussion about Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who he feels is likely to be shopped hard at this year's trade deadline.  I've noted before that Gonzalez's market should not be limited to big-spending clubs, as he's set to earn just $10.25MM for 2010-11.  It's fitting that Heyman believes as many as 10 to 12 teams already inquired, including the Red Sox, Mets, Mariners, and Dodgers.  On to Heyman's other rumors…

  • Heyman spoke to "two executives from competing teams" who believe Derek Jeter "could ask for a six-year deal."  The idea is that a six-year extension would take Jeter to age 42, as Alex Rodriguez's contract does.
  • Heyman notes that Josh Hamilton turned down a four-year, $24MM offer from the Rangers last year.  The security might've made sense for Hamilton given his injury problems.
  • One executive Heyman spoke to believes the availability of decent free agents, perhaps continuing into the season, could reduce trading.

Odds & Ends: Chapman, Upton, Mets, Gallardo

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Some links as Spring Training games get started…

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