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Neukom On Sabathia, Pujols, Beltran

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The Giants announced this week that managing partner and CEO Bill Neukom is going to retire at the end of the year, but that hasn't stopped him from weighing in on some of the offseason's free agents. John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle has the latest (all links go to Twitter):

  • Neukom says the Giants “loved” C.C. Sabathia when he hit free agency after the 2008 season. ”I honestly believe he had a serious interest in coming with us." The Giants didn’t sign Sabathia since they weren’t prepared to pay "for years beyond which the time we think you’re not worth that amount of money.”
  • Sabathia can opt out of his seven-year, $161MM deal this offseason. 
  • Neukom weighed in on Albert Pujols with openness that MLB executives rarely show when publicly discussing other teams. “Is he worth $30MM per year for ten years?,” Neukom asked. “The Yankees don’t need a first baseman. Nor does Boston. Maybe the Cubs. Maybe the Dodgers. But is there a wealthy team that can afford to do that, say to themselves he will not be worth it for the last three or four years of a ten-year deal but we can absorb that?”
  • I examined the market for Pujols and Prince Fielder last week.
  • Neukom guesses that agent Scott Boras will ask for a five or six-year deal for Carlos Beltran. The switch-hitting outfielder says he’d consider returning to the Giants if they find a way to add some offense.

Beltran Would Consider Giants; Wants More Offense

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Carlos Beltran won’t rule out the possibility of returning to San Francisco when he hits free agency after the season, but he’d like to see the Giants add some offense first, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. The expected return of Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez won’t necessarily be enough. 

"I would consider this organization for sure, because the pitching is unbelievable, and adding  [Posey and Sanchez] back, of course you're adding more offense to the ballclub," Beltran said."But I believe there should be a little bit more than that." 

Beltran suggested that the Giants could use a leadoff hitter to improve an offense that currently ranks last in the National League in runs scored. Though the Scott Boras client doesn’t particularly like hitting in AT&T Park, he’s says that’s secondary to playing for a winning team.

A two-year, $22MM deal would likely stretch the Giants' budget, Baggarly writes. The asking price for the 34-year-old Beltran figures to be even higher. Outgoing CEO Bill Neukom suggested yesterday that Boras will start the bidding for Beltran at five or six years, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Giants Notes: Baer, Zito, 2012 Payroll, San Jose

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Bill Neukom officially announced that he will retire from his position as the Giants' CEO at the end of the season, according to a press release from the club.  Current team president and COO Laurence Baer will officially take over as the Giants' new CEO on January 1, 2012.  Here are a few of the hot stove-related items from Baer's introductory press conference today at AT&T Park, plus some other links related to the transition….

  • Baer said he wants Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy to remain as the Giants' GM and manager, respectively, reports Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News.  Sabean and Bochy are both under contract only through 2012, though both have been expected to receive extensions given the team's World Series title last year.  Kawakami also speculates about the "dysfunction at the highest levels" that led to Neukom's retirement and guesses the Giants will be operate "much more like a corporation than before."
  • Baer said the Giants' payroll next season "won't go down" from what the team spent in 2011, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, though Baer didn't say if payroll would rise, either.  According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, the Giants' 2011 payroll was a little over $118MM.  The club has a few notable contracts coming off the books (Cody Ross, Mark DeRosa) but if the payroll doesn't rise, that will take the Giants out of the running for a top free agent like Prince Fielder.
  • Also via a tweet from Shea, Baer didn't elaborate on Barry Zito's future in San Francisco, other than to say that players under contract for 2012 should be expected to be with the team next year.
  • The Giants are just switching CEOs, not ownership, so Major League Baseball doesn't have any leverage that would allow it to force the Giants to drop their objection to the A's moving to San Jose, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (both Twitter links).

Bay Area Notes: Neukom, Baer, Athletics

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On the field, the Giants won today and the A's lost. Off the field, the Giants are set to undergo a shakeup and the A's may have reason to hope. Here's the latest… 

  • The Giants announced that Bill Neukom will retire from his position at the end of the 2011 calendar year and will serve as Chairman Emeritus in 2012. As anticipated, Baer will become CEO at that point.
  • Giants' managing general partner and CEO Bill Neukom will not return in the same role next season, according to Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News. The executive committee has asked Neukom to step aside following a series of disagreements. Larry Baer, the Giants' president and COO, will become the CEO when Neukom steps down.
  • ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests the leadership change could provide the Athletics with optimism, since Neukom has opposed the possibility that the might A's move to nearby San Jose (Twitter link). 
  • Baer also opposes the Athletics' proposed move to San Jose, so it's difficult to see the Giants' position changing, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).

NL West Notes: Giants, Dipoto, Zito, Rockies

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Let's take a look at a few items out of the NL West..

  • This winter, the Giants will have 13 players eligible for salary arbitration and seven players hitting free agency.  Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle peered into his crystal ball to predict which players would return to the club in 2012.
  • Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports gives credit to Diamondbacks exec Jerry Dipoto for his role in the club's success.  The former interim general manager could have looked for another GM gig after the position was given to Kevin Towers last year, but he instead chose to be a company man.  Recently, Tim Dierkes spoke to Dipoto about his career in baseball and his future aspirations.
  • If all goes well, it looks like Giants pitcher Barry Zito will soon be activated and will get the chance to show the club where he stands, tweets Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News.  Recently, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy admitted that he wasn't sure where the lefty fits into the team's long-term plans.
  • Given their other needs, Troy Renck of The Denver Post (via Twitter) expects the Rockies to wait another year to address their first base situation.

Dodgers Links: Blake, Vogelsong, Burke

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One year ago today, the Dodgers released Ronnie Belliard after he hit just .216/.295/.327 with two homers in 185 plate appearances. Mini-Manny spent some time in the minor leagues this year, but he called it a career in June. Here's the latest from Chavez Ravine…

  • Jim McDowell, agent for Casey Blake, told MLBTR that his client had a post-surgery follow-up appointment this morning, and that everything checked out fine. Blake had surgery to repair a neck issue. He'll be able to begin his offseason workouts after six weeks of downtime, by which point the Dodgers will have already declined his $6MM option.
  • John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Dodgers offered Ryan Vogelsong a contract this past offseason, but the he declined (Twitter links). "I couldn't see myself being a Dodger," said the right-hander, who has a 2.62 ERA in 154 1/3 innings with the Giants.
  • Steve Sugarman, spokesman for Frank McCourt, told Steve Dilbeck of The Los Angeles Times that Bill Burke's $1.2 billion offer to buy the Dodgers was "unsolicited and a surprise." The team has not yet publicly responded to the offer, and Sugarman made it clear that Burke is not an acquaintance of McCourt's.

Miguel Tejada Plans To Play In 2012

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Miguel Tejada told Enrique Rojas of ESPNdeportes.com that he has no intention of retiring. The shortstop, who was released by the Giants yesterday, says he’ll play winter ball in the Dominican Republic to get back in shape for another season in the Major Leagues.

Tejada is coming off of a disappointing season in San Francisco (he acknowledges that he didn't have a good time with the Giants). The 37-year-old hit .239/.270/.326 with four homers in 343 plate appearances. He split his time equally between third and short and even appeared at second base for the first time in his career.

Tejada, a 15-year veteran of the Major Leagues, will have to accept a substantial paycut from the $6.5MM salary he earned this season in order to play in 2012. He'll likely be looking at a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training 2012.

Giants Place Tejada, Rowand On Release Waivers

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The Giants have placed infielder Miguel Tejada and outfielder Aaron Rowand on waivers for the purpose of their unconditional releases, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Both Tejada and Rowand were designated for assignment on Aug. 31, so it appears GM Brian Sabean could not trade either player, as Schulman notes.

Tejada, 37, hit .239/.270/.326 in 343 plate appearances with San Francisco after signing a one-year, $6.5MM contract in November 2010. Rowand, 34, hit .233/.274/.347 in 351 PAs. The Giants had to eat the balance of his 2011 salary plus the $12MM he's owed for 2012.

Five Non-Moves That Shaped The 2011 Season

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Blockbuster trades and record-breaking free agent contracts are lots of fun, but not all rumors turn into reality. Some of the storylines that dominated MLBTR early on this season never actually happened. Here’s a look back at five of them:

  1. Giants don’t replace Buster Posey – Last year’s Rookie of the Year went down on May 25th. Since then, the Giants have seen their catchers hit .208/.272/.298 with five homers. The Giants wouldn’t necessarily be leading the NL West if they had acquired reinforcements, but I’m comfortable saying the first-place Diamondbacks didn’t mind seeing Brian Sabean roll out Eli Whiteside, Chris Stewart and Hector Sanchez instead of acquiring a replacement. Finding catching midseason is never easy and the Giants’ non-Posey catchers did limit the running game (34% of would-be base stealers caught), but the defending World Champions could have done better.
  2. Padres hold Heath Bell – It was a foregone conclusion that the Padres would trade Heath Bell this year. Instead of pitching for a contender, he’s playing out the season in San Diego, wondering how the Padres will handle him this offseason.
  3. Yankees don’t acquire starting pitching – Ubaldo Jimenez, Wandy Rodriguez and Hiroki Kuroda were all linked to the Yankees, who seemed to be in need of pitching depth from day one. 141 games later, Yankees starters lead the American League in K/9 (7.1), are second in xFIP (3.78) and fifth in ground ball rate (44.9%). Brian Cashman’s reluctance to overpay for pitching in trades has allowed Ivan Nova to blossom, but it hasn’t answered questions about who will follow C.C. Sabathia in New York’s playoff rotation.
  4. Rays stand pat – B.J. Upton, Johnny Damon, James Shields and Kyle Farnsworth all made regular appearances on MLBTR this summer, but they stayed put. Executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who spent the July 31st trade deadline having his appendix removed, added summer reinforcements by calling up hot-hitting prospect Desmond Jennings a week before the deadline.
  5. Mets hold Jose Reyes – It's easy to wonder what the Mets would have obtained for Jose Reyes if they had dangled him in early July. He was hitting .354/.398/.529 at the time and had yet to spend time on the disabled list this year. The Mets, who are expected to pursue Reyes when he hits free agency this offseason, held onto him instead of sending him to a contender. Though Reyes missed time in July and August, he would have provided a contending team with a boost (and provided the Mets with more prospects).

Giants Notes: Pill, Zito, Bumgarner

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Earlier this evening, first baseman Brett Pill became the first Giants player to homer in his first MLB at bat since Will Clark arrived on the scene 25 years ago. Here are today’s Giants-related links… 

  • Giants manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com’s Chris Haft that he isn't sure where Barry Zito fits into the team's long-term plans. Zito, who has pitched 49 2/3 innings of 5.62 ERA ball this year, has $46MM remaining on his contract after 2011.
  • Eno Sarris of FanGraphs discusses Madison Bumgarner's transition from rookie to frontline starter. The 22-year-old left-hander has a 3.37 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 this season. 
  • GM Brian Sabean has said that the Giants could look to win and develop talent at the same time if it gets ugly for the team in September, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. San Francisco trails Arizona by 7.0 games.
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