Odds & Ends: Bell, Dye, Ortiz, Davis, Strasburg
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.
Odds & Ends: Matsui, Braves, Bumgarner, Benson
Sunday night linkage..
- It appears that Kaz Matsui is in danger of losing his job as starting second baseman, writes Alyson Footer of MLB.com. This is thanks in large part to the red-hot play of Jeff Keppinger.
- Braves CEO Terry McGuirk refuted a report that the team slashed payroll 13% since last season, writes David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. McGuirk also says that he doesn't see the Liberty Media group, which owns the Braves, selling the team in the near future.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer looks at Madison Bumgarner's recent troubles on the mound.
- Kris Benson believes that can throw the ball even harder than he did in his debut with the D'Backs, writes Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Benson, who signed a minor league deal with the club this offseason, was recently promoted to be Arizona's fifth starter.
Odds & Ends: Anderson, Smoltz, White Sox, Ripken
Links for Saturday..
- R.J. Anderson at FanGraphs isn't quite sure why Brett Anderson (and his agent) would agree to the four year extension he signed, but he also notes that Oakland's side of the deal isn't exactly risk-free.
- Baseball color analyst John Smoltz won't completely rule out a return to baseball, writes Chad Finn of the Boston Globe. In March, Ken Rosenthal noted that the Phillies have shown strong interest in the soon-to-be 43-year-old as a possible mid-season addition.
- Ozzie Guillen stood up for White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Orioles owner Peter Angelos said that he would be happy to sit down and talk with Cal Ripken Jr. if he is interested in a position with the club, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.
- Mets manager Jerry Manuel shot down rumors of a clubhouse rift, tweets David Lennon of Newsday.
- Outfielder Fred Lewis is happy to be a member of the Blue Jays, according to Larry Millson and James Hall of MLB.com. The Giants shipped the 29-year-old to Toronto earlier this week and will receive either cash or a player to be named later in return.
Largest Contracts In Team History
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.
- Angels: Torii Hunter, five years, $90MM
- Astros: Carlos Lee, six years, $100MM
- Athletics: Eric Chavez, six years, $66MM
- Blue Jays: Vernon Wells, seven years, $126MM
- Braves: Chipper Jones, six years, $90MM
- Brewers: Ryan Braun, eight years, $45MM
- Cardinals: Matt Holliday, seven years, $120MM
- Cubs: Alfonso Soriano, eight years, $136MM
- Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson, four years, $53.4MM
- Dodgers: Kevin Brown, seven years, $105MM
- Giants: Barry Zito, seven years, $126MM
- Indians: Travis Hafner, four years, $57MM
- Mariners: Ichiro Suzuki, five years, $90MM
- Marlins: Hanley Ramirez, six years, $70MM
- Mets: Johan Santana, six years, $137.5MM
- Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman, five years, $45MM
- Orioles: Miguel Tejada, six years, $72MM
- Padres: Jake Peavy, three years, $52MM
- Phillies: Chase Utley, seven years, $85MM
- Pirates: Jason Kendall, six years, $60MM
- Rangers: Alex Rodriguez, ten years, $252MM
- Rays: Wilson Alvarez, five years, $35MM
- Reds: Ken Griffey Jr., nine years, $116.5MM
- Red Sox: Manny Ramirez, eight years, $160MM
- Rockies: Todd Helton, nine years, $141.5MM
- Royals: Gil Meche & Mike Sweeney, both five years, $55MM
- Tigers: Miguel Cabrera, eight years, $152.3MM
- Twins: Joe Mauer, eight years, $184MM
- White Sox: Frank Thomas, seven years, $64.4MM
- Yankees: Alex Rodriguez, ten years, $275MM
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Odds & Ends: Penn, Veras, Beimel, Mientkiewicz
Links for Friday…
- Hayden Penn cleared waivers and now has until Monday to decide whether to report to Triple A or become a free agent, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter). The Pirates designated Penn for assignment Monday.
- Jose Veras, who was designated for assignment Wednesday, has been outrighted to Triple A by the Marlins, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (Twitter link). This presumably means Veras cleared waivers.
- The Rockies called up Joe Beimel, according to the team. Beimel's deal pays him $850K in the major leagues.
- ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick heard that Bret Boone is trying to recruit Doug Mientkiewicz and Bobby Kielty for his Golden League team (Twitter link).
- ESPN.com's Keith Law offers updates on some of the top prospects eligible for this June's draft, including Bryce Brentz, an outfielder who Law considers "one of the top college bats in this draft."
- Fred Lewis and his representatives had been asking the Giants for a trade for nearly a year, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- FanGraphs' Jack Moore calls the Lewis deal a no-brainer for the Blue Jays and a head-scratcher for the Giants.
- Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun takes us on a must-read behind the scenes look at the Adeiny Hechavarria signing.
- Recent injuries to Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron will test Boston's depth, says WEEI.com's Alex Speier.
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America brings us up to date on the latest round of minor league transactions. Among the notable players released: Brady Clark and Curtis Thigpen.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Strasburg, Collusion, Cain
On this day ten years ago, Indians' starter Chuck Finley struck out Tom Evans, Royce Clayton, Chad Curtis, and Rafael Palmeiro in the same inning after Curtis reached base on a passed ball. There have been 50 instances in baseball history where a pitcher struck out four men in one inning, but Finley did it three times, the only guy to do it more than once. Scot Shields is the last pitcher to strike out four in one frame, doing it less than a week after Scott Baker accomplished the same feat in June of 2008.
Let's take a look at what's being written around the baseball blogosphere…
- Titletahn wrote about the experience of seeing Stephen Strasburg's first professional start in person.
- MLB Fan Nation wonders if teams are colluding against free agents, or if they're just getting smarter.
- Statistician Magician ranks all 30 organization, with the Red Sox coming in first and the Royals placing last.
- Ladies… looks at some old faces in new places.
- The Baseball Opinion thinks there might be a fallout from the Matt Cain extension.
- Gear Up For Reds Baseball reviews Cincinnati's draft history.
- Blogging Mets looks at some active players who may be on their way to the Hall of Fame.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Fred Lewis Dealt To Blue Jays
9:10pm: The trade is official, as per a Blue Jays media release.
8:52pm: The Giants will receive either cash or a player to be named later, tweets Schulman. He notes that this is also what San Francisco got from Boston in the Kevin Frandsen deal last month.
8:43pm: Schulman tweets that an official announcement is coming soon. He notes that Lewis has updated his Facebook page to say that he's going to the Jays.
7:49pm: According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, he is hearing "strong indications from multiple sources" that the Giants are trying to finalize a trade that would send outfielder Fred Lewis to Toronto. Schulman doesn't know as of yet what San Francisco will get in return.
Andrew Baggarly of The San Jose Mercury News reported on Tuesday that Toronto was "the most likely destination" for Lewis, who had become expendable in San Fran given their glut of outfielders. Lewis is out of options, and since his minor league rehab stint was up today, the Giants had to either expose him to waivers or work out a trade. Earlier tonight, Schulman passed on a report from Fresno Grizzlies radio broadcaster Doug Greenwald (via Twitter) that Lewis wasn't in the lineup for the Giants' Triple-A affiliate, leading to speculation that a deal could be forthcoming.
Lewis has a career 4.8 UZR/150 as an outfielder, and that rating jumps to 10.2 as a left fielder (though it plummets well below average in CF and RF, albeit in a much smaller sample size). Toronto would likely use him primarily as a late-inning defensive replacement in the outfield and a pinch-runner. Given Lewis' .805 OPS in 838 career plate appearances against right-handed pitching, though, Lewis could also take some playing time away from starting right fielder Jose Bautista, who has just a .225/.316/.364 career line against righties.
Olney On Cruz, Sanchez, Dye
Buster Olney's ESPN blog is always a good read; here are a few hot stove nuggets to ponder…
- Olney reminds us that Nelson Cruz cleared waivers in the spring of '08. That's always a good time of year to sneak a guy through. At 26, Cruz had struggled in the Majors in '07 but raked in 187 Triple A plate appearances. Because he figured things out later in his career, he won't reach arbitration until after this season at age 30.
- Olney notes that Jonathan Sanchez "seemed to come off the board" as a trade candidate after his July 10th no-hitter last year. The Giants have Sanchez under team control through 2012. Matt Cain is under contract through '12, and Tim Lincecum is under team control through '13.
- Olney on the Jermaine Dye-racism suggestion: "To suggest that there is a general reluctance, across a 30-team landscape, to sign Dye because he is black is completely absurd." Talking to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe, Bill Hall asks more nuanced questions.
2011 Contract Issues: San Francisco Giants
The Giants face one contract option after the season. Shortstop Edgar Renteria has a $10.5MM club option with a $500K buyout. Even with a bounceback year, the Giants figure to decline. The Giants could re-sign Renteria at a lower price, or look at other free agents.
Plenty of the team's patchwork free agent signings will be eligible again: Bengie Molina, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, Todd Wellemeyer, and Guillermo Mota. The group is earning $12.5MM in 2010.
Increases to players under contract total about $10MM, for Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Brian Wilson. Jonathan Sanchez is the key arbitration-eligible player; it'll be his second time.
The Giants increased payroll by almost $14MM this year. They'd have $8-9MM to play with holding payroll steady, so maybe a smaller increase is in order for 2011.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Baseball Players Looking At Wrong Numbers
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News snagged some interesting quotes from Giants catcher Bengie Molina yesterday. Molina is bitter about the lack of interest he received in free agency:
"If I had trouble finding a job after five of my best years, what am I supposed to expect? You are supposed to get paid for your numbers. But even if I have another good year, I know I cannot expect anything."
Molina's best offer was one year and $5.5MM from the Mets; he ultimately accepted $1MM less to stay with the Giants. He was coming off a year in which he posted a .285 OBP and .442 SLG. That works for a catcher, but it's not much different than what we might expect from Rod Barajas. I'm sure Molina was focused more on his 20 home runs and 80 RBIs. For this, we have to blame his agent at SFX.
Jermaine Dye also comes to mind. His agent, Bob Bry, told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that, "There is compelling evidence that suggests that home runs win games and that the emphasis on defense has reached the level of absurdity when you look at the numbers." In other words, all 30 teams are wrong about Dye's value, and Bry is right.
Another example: in November of '08, Garret Anderson talked about how he had "a very good season" and that his $11MM option was fair market value. He was coming off a .293/.325/.433 performance with 15 home runs and 84 RBIs. Anderson, a Scott Boras client, signed for $2.5MM with the Braves a few months later. Anderson overestimated his market value by $8.5MM.
Are these agents failing to value their clients properly? Are they not explaining how the market has changed in recent years? Or are they just trying to preserve the players' confidence?