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West Notes: Athletics, Jimenez, Rockies, Hernandez

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Items out of the AL and NL West..

  • The Athletics released a statement this afternoon regarding recent reports that MLB might not allow the club to move to San Jose due to the Giants' territorial rights.  The A's point out that out of "the four two-team markets in MLB, only the Giants and A's do not share the exact same geographic boundaries."  The statement also emphasizes that a move to San Jose would benefit other owners when it comes to revenue sharing.
  • For the first time, Ubaldo Jimenez openly admitted that he wanted to be traded from the Rockies, writes Tracy Ringolsby of FOXSportsArizona.com.  The pitcher watched Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez sign long-term contracts with the club and felt as though he had been put on hold.  Jimenez was looking for a trade this time last year but wasn't dealt until July 30th.
  • There was some buzz about Felix Hernandez's favorable comments regarding his future in Seattle beyond 2014, but Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times cautions not to read too far into them.  Hernandez signed a five-year, $78MM deal prior to the 2010 season and Baker writes that there are no immediate plans to put another deal in front of the ace.

Latest On Matt Cain

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The Giants and Matt Cain appear to have positive momentum in contract extension talks, based on this passage from Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com:

From what I’ve been told, the two sides have reached greater common ground in recent weeks. Cain wants to stay and the Giants have the wherewithal to keep him. Those tend to be the most important factors. It’ll be a surprise to many, both in the organization and out, if Cain’s deal doesn’t get done before the season starts.

The Giants open the season in Arizona one month from today.  Cain, a CAA Sports client, has signed extensions with the Giants twice before.  The second contract bought out one free agent year, giving Cain a $15MM salary in 2012 before he's eligible for free agency.  As a 27-year-old in his prime, Cain should become the seventh pitcher in baseball history to sign for more than $100MM.  There's "no shot" he signs for less, a person familiar with the situation told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

West Notes: Cespedes, Cain, Beras, Murphy, Villalona

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On this day in 2009, the Dodgers agreed to re-sign Manny Ramirez to a two-year, $45MM contract.  Ramirez's time in Los Angeles came to an end in August of 2010 when he was claimed off of waivers by the White Sox.  As a Dodger, the slugger hit .322/.433/.580 with 44 homers in 223 games.  Here's a look at some items out of the AL and NL West..

  • Yoenis Cespedes was warmly welcomed by Manny, writes Yahoo's Steve Henson. Ramirez discussed hitting extensively with his new friend, and ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that Cespedes says it's an "honor" to play with Ramirez. (Twitter link). 
  • There was a belief around baseball that Matt Cain was going to be an easy sign for the Giants, but that now seems less certain, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  Word was that the hurler might even be prepared to sign back with the Giants for less than $100MM but that seems far less likely.
  • If the league upholds Jairo Beras' contract with the Rangers, sources with several teams have said that they will be furious, writes Ben Badler of Baseball America.  MLB has granted some players leniency in the past if they willingly came forward with a new age or a new identity, but that does not appear to be the case in this situation.
  • Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels says that multiple teams have inquired on David Murphy, writes MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.  Even though Murphy is slated to come off of the bench, Daniels says that the outfielder is a huge part of the club.  The Twins inquired on Murphy back in December but Texas was unwilling to compromise their outfield depth.
  • Angel Villalona's name plate has been removed from his locker and that's a sign that his visa issue isn't close to being resolved, tweets Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com.  The Giants first baseman is facing legal trouble in his native Dominican Republic.
  • The Athletics formally introduced Cespedes today and the outfielder said that Miguel Tejada told him that Oakland was a good organization to grow up in, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Quick Hits: Walden, Indians, A’s, Appel, Molina

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Here are some notes from around the majors…

  • The Angels renewed the contract of closer Jordan Walden, the team announced.  The Halos also agreed to terms with 21 other players on one-year deals for 2012.
  • The Indians are "looking around for a left fielder" in the wake of Grady Sizemore's injury, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.  With so many outfielders already in camp, the Tribe are likely looking for no more than another part-timer on a minor league contract.
  • Bill Madden of the New York Daily News believes Major League Baseball won't allow the Athletics to move to San Jose.  Madden doesn't think three-quarters of the teams would approve of violating the Giants' territorial rights to San Jose, quoting a baseball lawyer who says teams would be wary of voting for a measure that could cost them in the future.  As an example, the Phillies, Mets and Yankees wouldn't be likely to vote against territorial rights since such votes be used as precedent for a team to someday move to New Jersey.
  • Right-hander Mark Appel hasn't quite pitched up to expectations for Stanford this season, writes Baseball America's Conor Glassey.  In particular, Appel's K/9 rate is lower than several recent high-drafted pitchers during their sophomore years.  Appel is a contender to be the first overall pick in the June amateur draft.
  • Yadier Molina's five-year, $75MM extension with the Cardinals was driven by the catcher's defense and leadership, reports MLB.com's Matthew Leach.  "[The St. Louis pitchers] understand his value more than sabermetricians could ever start to pick it apart, and what other people inside the game even understand," said Cards manager Mike Matheny.  "There's so many intangibles. You can't put numbers to the things that this guy does in helping this team win. And I think that's [exemplified by] two world championships since he's taken over behind the plate."

Quick Hits: Burnett, Sizemore, Posey, Yankees

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Now that the calendar has flipped to March, Opening Day seems that much closer. Here are some links from around MLB, starting with a pair of injury updates…

  • The Pirates announced that A.J. Burnett has an orbital fracture of his right eye and will require surgery. The club didn’t provide a timetable for the right-hander, who was acquired from the Yankees last month.
  • The Indians announced that Grady Sizemore underwent a “minimally invasive low back procedure” and is expected to miss two to three months.
  • Agent Jeff Berry told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that no discussions about a multiyear deal for Giants catcher Buster Posey are expected to take place before Opening Day. Posey hasn't played since last May 25th, so it's more likely that an extension would become a priority next offseason.
  • Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner confirmed to reporters, including Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger, that he is intent on lowering payroll below $189MM by 2014 for luxury tax purposes (Twitter link).

Bengie Molina Retires

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Bengie Molina has retired, according to Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com. Molina, a catcher, played in parts of 13 seasons with the Angels, Blue Jays, Giants and Rangers, and though he did not play in 2011, he had remained open to the possibility of returning until now.

Molina, 37, was regarded as a defense-first backstop, posting a .274/.307/.411 line with 144 homers for his career. His full-season high in long balls was 20, which came in 2009. All told, Molina accumulated 15.2 wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs' version of that metric. He earned World Series rings with the Angels in 2002 and the Giants in 2010, though he actually finished that season with the Rangers, the team that lost the World Series, after a midseason trade.

Originally signed by the (then) California Angels as an amateur free agent in 1993, Molina earned $33.48MM in his career, per Baseball-Reference.

NL West Links: Cain, Giants, Ethier, Quentin

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On this date in 1999, the Diamondbacks acquired Tony Womack from the Pirates for Jason Boyd and a minor leaguer. Womack hit .269/.314/.362 in five seasons with the D'Backs, helping the club to the 2001 World Championship. Here's the latest from the NL West…

  • Giants CEO Larry Baer wouldn't give away much regarding contract talks with Matt Cain except to say that they are "back and forth" and "ongoing," tweets Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com.
  • "I'm going to be respectful of the process here," said Baer to reporters (including MLB.com's Chris Haft) when asked about the Giants potentially relinquishing territorial rights to San Jose, allowing the Athletics to move. "You know, I think that's really important. The game is bigger than any internal machinations."
  • "I can't tell you what will happen with that," said Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick when asked about signing a contract extension after the team is sold at the end of April. "The only thing I can change is the way I play. Today is today, and that's all I can handle. I'm here to play for today." Ethier can become a free agent after the season.
  • Carlos Quentin is returning home to Southern California following his trade to the Padres, and Don Norcross of The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote about the excitement he brings to the team.

West Links: Cain, Conger, McCarthy

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Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, a free agent after this season, discussed his contract earlier today, intimating that he won't take a hometown discount to remain in Texas. It should make for an interesting season for the All-Star. Here are some other links from around the West divisions …

  • Giants pitcher Matt Cain's agents, Landon Williams and Rick Landrum, have joined CAA Sports, according to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal, and are continuing extension negotiations on behalf of the right-hander under that company (Twitter links). As with Hamilton, Cain hinted earlier this month that he's not inclined to accept a club-friendly deal.
  • With Chris Iannetta on board as the Angels' starting catcher, it looks like Hank Conger will begin the season in the minors so as to avoid riding the bench in the Majors, writes Mark Saxon of ESPNLA.com. Conger could be expendable, Saxon adds, if Iannetta and the Halos exercise their $5MM mutual option for 2013.
  • Athletics starter Brandon McCarthy's transition from a disappointing prospect to a post-hype breakout star in 2011 is documented by Eddie Matz of ESPN The Magazine. McCarthy overhauled his pitching approach after studying up on sabermetrics, parlaying his 2011 success (AL-best 2.86 FIP) into a $4.275MM arbitration reward for 2012 and a shot at a possible long-term extension.

Quick Hits: Oswalt, Wilson, Dotel, International Draft

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Here's the latest from around the league on a historic day, as Ryan Braun became the first player to successfully appeal a banned substance-related supension…

  • "It’s strictly a money thing," said Lance Berkman to reporters (including Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com) when asked about Roy Oswalt (Twitter links). "The Cardinals [offer] … wasn’t enough to lure him out of Mississippi … I think he feels like that he can get the same money in half a season as he could in a full season and he’s probably right."
  • "He's under control this year and next year, and we're in the monitoring stage for obvious reasons," said Giants GM Brian Sabean to Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle when asked about the future of Brian Wilson. "We're still in the wait-and-see period." Wilson can become a free agent after 2013.
    Octavio Dotel will become the first player in MLB history to play for 13 teams when he appears in his first game with the Tigers, as Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press writes. Matt Stairs, Mike Morgan and Ron Villone currently share the record with Dotel, who hopes to retire a Tiger.
  • Commissioner Bud Selig spoke about an international draft in this piece by Josh Leventhal of Baseball America. "We'll watch the situation carefully and make the right decision," said Selig. "I can't say [when a draft would be put in place]. We want to see how [the process] works out."
  • ESPN's Keith Law published his first list of the top 50 prospects in this year's draft (Insider req'd). High school outfielder Byron Buxton topped list, following by high school righty Lucas Giolito and Stanford righty Mark Appel.

West Links: Isringhausen, Giants, D’Backs, Dodgers

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Earlier today we learned that the Padres are still talking about a contract extension with Cameron Maybin and will receive a low-level minor leaguer from the Cubs in exchange for former GM Jed Hoyer. Here's the latest from baseball's two West divisions…

  • Jason Isringhausen's contract with the Angels includes a base salary between $700K and $1MM with incentives, reports Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter).
  • The Giants are not interested in Roy Oswalt, reports Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). The right-hander will look to sign at midseason, but would likely want to play closer to his Mississippi home.
  • The Diamondbacks offered Hiroki Kuroda a one-year deal worth $13MM this offseason, Tom Krasovic of West Coast Bias tweeted earlier this month. That's $3MM more than he took from the Yankees
  • Joe Torre and Rick Caruso have withdrawn their joint bid to purchase the Dodgers, reports Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times. Caruso could re-enter the bidding if team owner Frank McCourt agrees to include the Dodger Stadium parking lots in the sale.
  • "There were a lot of nights when I woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning staring at the ceiling," said Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com when talking about the Michael Pineda–Jesus Montero trade negotiations. "In the end, it was pretty simple: [The Yankees] needed a pitcher, and we needed a hitter. I hated to give up a guy like Pineda."
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