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NL West Notes: Chavez, D-backs’ Closers, Lincecum

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We just looked at the Diamondbacks' pending search for a power bat. Here are some more notes on the D-backs and their NL West rivals:

  • As noted in my earlier post, the team's second-best power source this year has come from third baseman Eric Chavez, who has done a nice job on a one-year, $3MM deal. As Zach Buchanan of the Arizona Republic reports, the 35-year-old is interested in returning, and only wants a one-year deal since he isn't sure how long he'll want to keep going. GM Kevin Towers says that "there's still probably a need" for Chavez next year, and that the team could utilize his left-handed bat in a platoon with rookie Matt Davidson.
  • Arizona also has some question marks at the back end of its bullpen, writes Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. The team owes $7MM to J.J. Putz and $6MM to Heath Bell (even after the Marlins pick up part of the tab) in 2014, but has used Brad Ziegler at closer of late. Ziegler earned $3.15MM this year, and should get a nice raise in his final year of arbitration after logging another 60+ inning, sub-3.00 ERA season while picking up double-digit saves. Though Arizona might wish to shed some of these obligations, only Ziegler seems like he would draw much interest.
  • If Giants starter Tim Lincecum reaches the open market, he could be in a better position than one might expect, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes on Sulia. While teams used to worry about how Lincecum would perform when he lost velocity, says a Schulman source, they now know and may feel more comfortable making a long-term commitment. We heard yesterday that the Giants have opened negotiations on an extension with one soon-to-be free agent, Hunter Pence, but have yet to do so with Lincecum.

Giants Discussing Extension With Pence; No Talks Yet With Lincecum

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The Giants are in discussions with outfielder Hunter Pence regarding a contract extension, reports Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. This indicates that the team has real intentions of inking the Beverly Hills Sports Council client before he hits free agency, says Schulman, though he adds (via Twitter) that talks have been "minimal" to date. Meanwhile, the club has yet to begin talks with fellow free agent-to-be and BHSC client Tim Lincecum, Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com reports. 

Both Pence and Lincecum were mentioned as trade deadline targets, though the team apparently decided it would be better served by making qualifying offers to the pair of pending free agents. (This year, the qualifying offer is expected to clock in at around $14MM.) At the time, ESPN's Jayson Stark also reported that the Giants were telling other teams that they intended to extend Pence.  

Pence figures to earn a raise, over multiple years, on the $13.8MM he received this year, his final season of arbitration eligibility. In a market that features few high-end power bats, the 30-year-old's career .475 slugging percentage and six-year streak of twenty-plus long balls figures to play up. The durable, righty-swinging Pence has a .289/.340/.477 line in 624 plate appearances in 2013, and has also contributed a career-best 21 steals. As Schulman notes, Pence has said he does not intend to give the Giants a hometown discount, though he has expressed interest in sticking around. Of course, San Francisco can exercise additional leverage before the qualifying offer deadline by threatening to make Pence a QO, which would attach draft-pick compensation and lower his market value.

Unlike the short-time Giant Pence, Lincecum has long been a fixture at AT&T Park. Also unlike Pence, Lincecum told Baggarly that his agent recently told him there was nothing new to report on the contract front. The twice former Cy Young winner has been better than he was in 2012, but has yet to restore his former glory (or fastball velocity). If you believe in xFIP, though, things may look different, as Lincecum's 3.53 mark is substantially better than his 4.40 ERA over his 178 innings to date in 2013. He currently ranks sixth among baseball's top 34 free agent starters, per MLBTR's Tim Dierkes. 

West Notes: Hoffman, Giants, Abreu, Garza

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The Padres have promoted former star closer Trevor Hoffman to upper level pitching coordinator and special assistant to GM Josh Byrnes, according to a team release. His duties will include coordinating and evaluating pitchers in the high minors and at the big-league level. Hoffman has worked in the Padres front office since he retired as a player in 2011 after racking up 552 of his career 601 saves as a Padre. Here are more notes from the West divisions.

  • Giants general manager Brian Sabean and former manager Felipe Alou are currently in the Dominican Republic, scouting Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu, Dionisio Soldevila of ESPNDeportes.com tweets. In late August, the Giants were reported to be interested in Abreu. Abreu, who defected from Cuba earlier this summer, appears likely to receive a contract even larger than that of Yasiel Puig, who got seven years and $42MM from the Dodgers.
  • Matt Garza has been a disappointment for the Rangers since they traded for him, but that's consistent with the rest of his career, ESPN's Jayson Stark says on ESPN Dallas' Fitzsimmons and Durrett podcast. "If you look at his body of work, you think that the performance has ever totally matched the stuff?" Stark asks. Garza's peripherals with Texas (8.5 K/9, 2.3 BB/9) remain above average, but it's likely a 4.46 ERA isn't what the Rangers were hoping for when they acquired him. Stark also adds that the Cubs "sold high" on Garza, dealing him after a string of good starts against bad teams.

Quick Hits: Petit, Pelfrey, Astros, Call-Ups

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As you've no doubt heard by now, Giants pitcher Yusmeiro Petit — yes, that Yusmeiro Petit — came within inches of recording 27-straight outs last night. As a youngster, Petit was twice a top-100 prospect as he moved quickly through the Mets system. When he became the headline piece of the deal shipping star first baseman Carlos Delgado to the Mets late in 2005, Marlins GM Larry Beinfest said that Petit would join the Marlins' "stable of outstanding young pitchers." Instead, the Fish quickly lost interest and shipped him to the Diamondbacks in a misguided bid to acquire a proven closer, Jorge Julio. After flaming out in Arizona, Petit's transactional history on MLBTR has provided a crash course on minor roster moves. While we can all celebrate this journeyman hurler's brush with history, does it mean anything for the 28-year-old's future as a ballplayer?

  • According to Giants manager Bruce Bochy, Petit "sent a tremendous message that this is where he belongs and this is where he should be pitching," tweets Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com. Petit has indeed performed in limited action this year for San Francisco, with a 2.05 ERA over 26 1/3 innings in which he has notched thirty strikeouts against just four walks. Though he hasn't suppressed runs quite as well in Triple-A, he does sport a nifty 7.62 K:BB rate in 92 2/3 innings there. 
  • It will be interesting to see how the Giants proceed with Petit. As Baggarly notes in another tweet, Petit will reach arbitration eligibility for the first time this offseason. While the Giants can therefore control him for three seasons, it remains to be seen whether the team will be interested in tendering him a contract to do so.
  • There is some interesting precedent here. Another highly regarded young pitcher-turned-disappointment, Philip Humber, tossed a perfect game in 2012 but went on to post a 6.44 ERA in 102 innings on the year. When the White Sox released the first-time arb-eligible Humber, the Astros snapped him up and guaranteed him $1.3MM (including the buyout of a 2014 option) just before the tender deadline. Of course, unlike Petit, Humber had put up one full season of solid performance at the big league level, as he notched 163 innings of 3.75 ERA ball in 2011. 
  • Twins pitcher Mike Pelfrey, set to become a free agent, hopes to stay in Minnesota, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com, but agent Scott Boras will ask for more than $4.5MM per year to make that a reality. (Coming off of Tommy John surgery, Pelfrey signed with the Twins for one-year and $4MM.) This season, Pelfrey's first in a uniform other than the Mets', has seen him struggle to a 4.97 ERA in 26 starts. Pelfrey's ground-ball rate has dropped to a career-low 43.8%, and he continues to strike out less than six batters per nine while posting a below-average K:BB ratio (1.83 this season; 1.62 for his career). Nevertheless, Wolfson opines in another tweet that some club will give the 29-year-old that kind of money, though he believes the Twins would be best served to pass on another year of Pelfrey.
  • The Astros are still working on finalizing the rest of the club's September call-ups, tweets Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle. As he notes in another tweet, fans pining for top prospects to taste the big leagues should bear in mind that players must be on the 40-man roster to be on the active MLB roster, and adding a player necessarily carries repercussions for managing the 40-man going forward.
  • General managers around baseball seem to be coalescing around the idea that a rule change should be made that limits the September roster expansion, writes USA Today's Bob Nightengale. Among the GMs and managers that Nightengale cites, only Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers prefers to reward teams that have deep farms with a larger active roster, though he says an even better solution is to "expand in April" so teams "won't wear out [their] bullpen early, and guys won't get injured so easily coming out of spring training." Most importantly, several members of the league's committee for on-field matters — including Tony LaRussa and Mike Scioscia — seem to believe that a change is warranted to avoid the sudden and massive shift in the game's rules during its most strategically challenging month.

Minor Moves: Runzler, Bowden, Gillespie, Tanaka

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Here are today's minor moves from around the league…

  • After being designated for assignment by the Giants on Tuesday, lefty Dan Runzler has been outrighted to Triple-A, according to Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com (via Twitter). Having failed to regain his 2009-10 form, when he was effective out of the San Francisco pen, Runzler will become a minor league free agent after the season.
  • The Cubs announced that Michael Bowden and Cole Gillespie have both cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa after being designated for assignment earlier in the week. The 26-year-old Bowden pitched to a 4.30 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 37 2/3 innings for the Cubs this season. Gillespie, 29, batted .240/.328/.280 for Chicago in 59 plate appearances after hitting .277/.361/.455 in 269 plate appearances for the Giants' Triple-A affiliate in Fresno.
  • The Giants have released second baseman/left fielder Kensuke Tanaka, according to Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com (on Twitter). The Giants designated Tanaka for assignment on Tuesday along with Runzler in order to clear 40-man roster spots for right-hander Heath Hembree and catcher Johnny Monell. Tanaka, 32, saw limited time with the Giants this season but excelled in 400 plate appearances at Triple-A Fresno, batting .329/.400/.397 with three homers and 22 steals (though they came in 32 attempts). Tanaka played 55 games at second base and 30 in left field, and he is a career .286/.356/.384 hitter in 4,278 plate appearances in Japan (all of which came with the Nippon Ham Fighters).
  • Following these moves, seven players are in DFA limbo, as can be seen in MLBTR's DFA Tracker: Alex Liddi, Hector Ambriz, Edinson Rincon, Hideki Okajima, Juan Diaz, Tim Fedroff and Justin Freeman.

Quick Hits: Ricketts, Perez, Morales, Konerko

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Closer is "the most overvalued position in baseball," Tyler Kepner of the New York Times writes, an opinion shared by no less an authority than Hall-of-Famer closer Dennis Eckersley.  Kepner notes that teams often err in signing closers to expensive contracts and then end up using replacement closers that were already on their rosters in the first place.  “I don’t want to take away anything from what I did, but it’s not as tough as you think," Eckersley said. “You could groom somebody to do it who’s on the staff, if you manage it the right way."

While the agents of this year's free agent stoppers compose their counter-arguments, here are some more news items from around baseball…

  • Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts isn't planning any major payroll increases in the near future, telling Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times that, "You can’t just throw money at the problem. We have to build the organization from the ground up. And that’s what we’re doing right now."
  • Chris Perez will be shopped by the Indians this offseason, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer predicts, and Pluto thinks Perez will be pitching elsewhere in 2014.  Perez will earn a raise from his current $7.3MM salary in the arbitration process and Pluto feels the Tribe will want to move him rather than pay the closer that much.  Perez's solid season could help his trade value, as Pluto notes that the Indians found only an "iffy" market for Perez when they attempted to deal him last winter.
  • "In a strict, WAR sense, [Kendrys Morales] may not compute to be worth $14 million or more per season. But the real cost the Mariners will have to weigh is what it would be like without him," The Seattle Times' Geoff Baker writes.  While Morales has slumped lately, Baker argues that the M's are still short of big bats and thus need to at least extend Morales a qualifying offer.
  • Paul Konerko answered a simple "No" to questions about any decisions on his playing future, MLB.com's Scott Merkin reports.  We heard yesterday that Konerko was telling friends he wanted to keep playing in 2014, but the White Sox captain reiterated his stance that he would wait until a later date to make a decision.
  • Fangraphs' Dave Cameron looks at which free agent hitters should or shouldn't receive qualifying offers from their current teams this winter.
  • Neal Huntington would win a fictitious "MLB Comeback Executive of the Year" award, MLB.com's Tom Singer writes.  The criticism faced by the Pirates GM has turned to praise as his recent moves have the Bucs on the cusp of their first playoff berth since 1992.
  • Despite Ryan Vogelsong's tough season, Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com (via Twitter) thinks the Giants will pick up his $6.5MM team option for 2014 if the righty remains healthy.  Vogelsong has a 5.49 ERA in 14 starts, but entering tonight's action, Vogelsong had posted a 2.93 ERA over five starts since returning from the disabled list.

Giants Designate Tanaka, Runzler For Assignment

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The Giants have designated Kensuke Tanaka and Dan Runzler for assignment, according to Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com (via Twitter).  Baggarly speculated yesterday that Tanaka and Runzler could be bounced from the 40-man roster to make room for minor leaguers Heath Hembree and Johnny Monell and today the Giants followed through on that.

Tanaka, 32, saw time in 15 big league games for the Giants this season but he's spent the bulk of the year at Triple-A, hitting .329/.400/.397 in 400 plate appearances.  The veteran split time between second base and left field for the team's affiliate in Fresno.

Runzler, 28, owns a 3.86 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 across parts of four seasons for the Giants.  Those numbers are mostly propped up by strong pitching in 2009 and '10; the lefty reliever pitched a 5.52 ERA in the subsequent two years.  He hasn't been able to get back on track at Triple-A Fresno so far this year, posting a 5.68 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 6.4 BB/9.  

To keep track of the many players currently in DFA limbo, be sure to check out MLBTR's new DFA Tracker. 

California Notes: Zito, Colletti, Angels

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The Athletics moved into a tie for first place in the AL West with today's 4-2 victory over the Rangers.  Today's game was the first of six head-to-head matchups between Oakland and Texas in September, so it's very possible that we're in for another pennant race that goes right down to the last day between these two clubs.

Here's the latest baseball news out of the Golden State…

  • Barry Zito won't be designated for assignment or otherwise removed from the roster, Bruce Bochy told reporters, including Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com.  The Giants need to open two 40-man roster spaces to accommodate their September callups by tomorrow and Zito could've been a candidate given how poorly has had pitched since mid-May.  This cold streak may end Zito's tenure in San Francisco, as while the Giants obviously weren't going to pick up Zito's $18MM option for 2014, Baggarly notes the club could've pursued a new, less-expensive deal with the veteran lefty.
  • The Dodgers are known for spending freely but ESPN's Buster Olney illustrates (in an Insider-only piece) how general manager Ned Colletti has inexpensively added to his bullpen and bench depth.
  • The Brewers would appear to have gotten the better end of the 2012 deal that sent Zack Greinke to the Angels in exchange for Jean Segura and two minor league pitchers, but Halos GM Jerry Dipoto doesn't regret the trade. "I absolutely understand what the criteria was when we made the trade and why we made it," Dipoto says in an article by Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com, noting that the club was leading the AL wild card race at the time and needed to bolster its rotation.
  • If the Red Sox can quickly return to contention after a disappointing season, could the Angels rebound from this year's problems to contend in 2014?  Grantland's Jonah Keri thinks it would be "a gigantic long shot," given the Angels' deeper roster problems and a lack of minor league talent following several ill-advised trades of prospects, such as the Segura deal.
  • From earlier today, MLBTR reported that Mike Zagurski opted out of his Athletics contract and was now a free agent.

MLBTR's Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post

Minor Moves: Giants, Phillies, Marlins

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Here are today's minor transactions, with the latest at the top of the page…

  • The Giants will call up eight minor leaguers before Tuesday's game, manager Bruce Bochy announced today (Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com has the details).  Two of those players, Heath Hembree and Johnny Monell, will have to be added to the club's 40-man roster.  Baggarly speculates that Kensuke Tanaka and Dan Runzler could be candidates to be removed from the 40-man since they weren't among the list of callups. 
  • The Phillies announced six September callups, including catcher Cameron Rupp, whose contract was selected from Triple-A.  Rupp, a third-round pick in the 2010 draft, has hit .258/.334/.401 with 33 homers over 1334 minor league plate appearances.
  • The Marlins have called up left-hander Brian Flynn, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald tweets, and Flynn will make his Major League debut in a start against the Cubs on Wednesday.  The Marlins will officially select Flynn's contract from Triple-A New Orleans tomorrow, according to the team's transactions page.  Flynn, 23, has a 2.80 ERA in 23 Triple-A starts this season, with a 3.05 K/BB and 122 strikeouts over 138 innings.

Quick Hits: Astros, Giants, Blue Jays

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For an interesting bit of history on baseball and money, have a peak at this piece from Baseball Nation's Larry Granillo on the value of baseball's broadcasting rights back in 1961. Let's take a look at some business-related notes from around today's game …

  • The Astros are not, in fact, the most profitable team in baseball history, writes Maury Brown of Forbes. An earlier Forbes article had made the surprising assertion that baseball's worst team had shorn payroll to earn an unprecedented amount of money, leading to a sharp rebuke from the club. As Brown explains, the original piece contained significant factual inaccuracies, primarily regarding Houston's TV income.
  • Meanwhile, the 'Stros are looking to continue increasing their international presence in Venezuela, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The organization is investigating the possibility of registering a full or partial Astros squad in the Venezuelan Parallel League. As McTaggart notes, Houston was the first MLB team to open a baseball academy in Venezuela, and over the years has signed such productive big leaguers as Johan Santana, Bobby Abreu, and Freddy Garcia from the South American nation. (Interestingly, only Abreu ever played for the Astros, registering 234 uneventful plate appearances before he broke out with the Phillies.)
  • The Giants have been forced to pay over $500k in back wages and damages to various clubhouse and administrated employees after violating various employment laws, the Associated Press reports (via ESPN.com). Over three years, the U.S. Department of Labor said, San Francisco failed to comply with federal minimum wage, overtime, and record-keeping standards.
  • Triple-A baseball will stay in Buffalo through at least 2016 after the Blue Jays extended their affiliation today, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (links to Twitter). GM Alex Anthopoulos said that the partnership had "gone exceptionally well" and that Buffalo was "the perfect fit."
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