Cafardo On Suzuki, Cabrera, Griffey, Zambrano
In Nick Cafardo's latest piece for the Boston Globe, he takes an extended look at the Red Sox' early-season catching issues. He reiterates that if David Ortiz's struggles continue, the logical solution is to move Victor Martinez to DH and acquire a catcher. Cafardo names Kurt Suzuki as a player who would intrigue the Sox, since he can hit as well as play defense. Here are a few of Cafardo's other notes:
- Other catchers to keep an eye on for the Sox include Chris Iannetta, Miguel Olivo, Chris Snyder, and even Twins prospect Wilson Ramos, though he'd be costly.
- Cafardo praises the work Miguel Cabrera has put in to improve his image after last year's off-field problems. According to Cafardo, the Tigers "entertained trade proposals for him, but they wanted the farm in return."
- Ken Griffey Jr. is off to a slow start this year, but the Mariners will give him time to work through it. Seattle may eventually have to limit his playing time if his bat doesn't get hot, but would never release him.
- Cafardo is skeptical that the Cubs will be able to trade for a setup man and move Carlos Zambrano back into the rotation in the near future, suggesting the relief market is fairly thin.
- One AL international scout's assessment of Cuban shortstops Jose Iglesias and Adeiny Hechavarria: "Iglesias is certainly the more polished player at this stage, but Hechavarria has more upside…. I’d say Iglesias could play defensively in the big leagues right now, where Hechavarria would need a year or two to refine his game a bit." While the Sox would like to give Iglesias more minor league experience, they could bring him up if something were to happen to Marco Scutaro or Dustin Pedroia.
Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Orioles, Griffey, Braves
FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up, so let's see what he has for us…
- The Orioles will almost certainly be the first team to fire their manager this season, and both Bob Melvin and Bobby Valentine came up in past internal discussions. Bigger jobs are in store for Valentine, but Buck Showalter might also be a candidate. Rosenthal reminds us that the team doesn't have anyone in-house with prior big league managing experience.
- The Mariners expect Cliff Lee back on Friday and Erik Bedard back in four weeks, but the focus will remain on the offense and Ken Griffey Jr.'s .238/.289/.262 performance. Rosenthal says not to expect anything to happen with him anytime soon; Seattle has five Griffey-centric promotions scheduled for the first half.
- The Braves are a logical landing spot for Adrian Gonzalez, but they're also very high on first base prospect Freddie Freeman. The last time they traded for a first baseman with a year-plus left on his contract, they basically rebuilt the Texas Rangers.
- The Nationals made a run at Jermaine Dye and had more than one conversation with Gary Sheffield's agent, but GM Mike Rizzo said those talks were just to gauge interest. For now, they're happy with the a platoon of Willie Harris and Justin Maxwell because of their defensive abilities, and Rizzo says that will remain a point of emphasis as the team moves forward.
- Rosenthal expects the Nats to get better as the season progresses. They'll be adding Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen, Chien-Ming Wang, Ross Detwiler, and Jordan Zimmermann to their pitching staff at various points this year.
Odds & Ends: Martinez, Rangers, Strasburg, Zambrano
Links for Wednesday…
- Daniel Barbarisi of the Providence Journal thinks that Victor Martinez's inability to contain baserunners could cost him millions in free agency and compromise his long-term future with the Red Sox.
- Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that Tom Hicks is "concerned" about the sale of the Rangers to new ownership. Hicks' comments prompted MLB to release a statement in which they say the league has taken control of the Rangers' sale.
- Despite Stephen Strasburg's hot start, Mike Rizzo has no plans to rush his prized prospect through the minors, according to Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington. Rizzo says that when Strasburg arrives in Washington, the club wants it to be for good.
- Ever seen a $17.875MM reliever? Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports that the Cubs are moving Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen on Friday. Carlos Silva will remain in the rotation; Tyler Kepner of the New York Times recently looked at his potential resurgence.
- In a pair of February articles, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune noted that Mark Buehrle's 10-and-5 rights kick in on July 6th, while A.J. Pierzynski's date is June 14th.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times posits that if the Mariners hadn't traded Adam Jones, they wouldn't have Jack Zduriencik and Franklin Gutierrez.
- Though he'll continue to work for ESPN, Joe Morgan has joined the Reds as a "special advisor to baseball operations." Morgan will not be involved in the team's day-to-day operations, learned John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says the Diamondbacks looked into a trade for Nate Robertson before the southpaw was dealt to Florida. Crasnick's article deals with the performances of nine important fill-ins so far this season.
- FanGraphs has added an aspect of catcher defense to its Wins Above Replacement stat.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports talks about the plight of Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley. I imagine quite a few teams would like to try to get him back on track.
- Kevin Millar, released by the Cubs in March, has joined the MLB Network as an analyst according to Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball.
Mariners Sign Ramon Vazquez
The Mariners signed infielder Ramon Vazquez to a minor league deal, according to a team press release. Vazquez, who originally came up in the organization, will stay in extended spring training before being assigned to a minor league team. The Pirates are on the hook for Vazquez's $2MM, minus a big league salary if he makes it. The Bucs released Vazquez eleven days ago.
Vazquez, 33, hit .230/.335/.279 last year in 239 plate appearances last year, playing second base, shortstop, and third base and dealing with a knee injury. He can be useful against right-handed pitching.
2011 Contract Issues: Seattle Mariners
The Mariners face three contractual options after the season:
- Ian Snell has a $6.75MM club option. If Snell's 2010 work resembles his 2008-09 performance, they'll let him go.
- Jose Lopez has a $4.5MM club option with a $250K buyout. If the option is declined, Lopez will still be arbitration-eligible. Lopez may be traded at some point, but the option appears likely to be exercised.
- Erik Bedard has an $8MM mutual option that can increase based on performance. As usual, we find it unlikely for both sides to exercise.
The Mariners free agents after the season include Cliff Lee, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Sweeney, and Eric Byrnes. The group is earning over $12MM this year, led by Lee. About $18MM will be freed up if everyone aside from Lopez departs.
An additional $11.5MM must be allocated toward players under contract, with Felix Hernandez's $3.5MM the biggest bump. The Mariners will owe raises to Ryan Rowland-Smith, Garrett Olson, Jack Hannahan, Sean White, and Jason Vargas as first-time arbitration players. David Aardsma and Mark Lowe go for a second time, Brandon League a third, and Casey Kotchman a fourth. Some of these players figure to be non-tendered.
Despite a busy offseason, the Mariners trimmed payroll by about $8MM this year according to Cot's Baseball Contracts. Payroll will have to come back up for the Mariners to have spending money in the offseason.
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.
Mariners Interested In Ramon Vazquez
The Mariners are interested in Ramon Vazquez and could reach a deal with the infielder soon, according to Shannon Drayer of ESPN 710 in Seattle. The Pirates released Vazquez earlier in the month, but as MLBTR's Luke Adams pointed out before the release, Vazquez does have some value for teams looking for infield depth. Other clubs haven't been linked to Vazquez since his release, but Drayer says a deal with the Mariners "could happen shortly."
Vazquez, 33, hit .230/.335/.279 in 239 plate appearances for the Pirates last year, but his career .254/.328/.350 line suggests he could hit better than that. Vazquez, who will only cost the major league minimum to sign, played shortstop, second and third last year and has experience at all four infield positions. The Mariners announced today that Jack Hannahan will begin a rehab assignment at Triple A Tacoma, so they do have depth on the way.
Top Trade Chips: AL West
We've completed the National League, so now it's time to jump over to the so-called junior circuit…
- Angels: They moved three pretty good young players to get Scott Kazmir last season, so they might prefer to hold onto the rest of their top prospects. Their best chip is someone you may not have heard of, out of options catcher Bobby Wilson. He's on the 25-man roster but has barely played as the third stringer, yet how many teams would love to have a 27-year old catcher with a very good defensive rep, a .290/.345/.425 batting line in 820 Triple-A plate appearances, and six years of team control left? Pretty much all of them. He'll never clear waivers if the Halos try to send him back to the minors.
- Athletics: Oakland has plenty of young pitching, but Billy Beane likes to hang on to those kind of guys, and for good reason. With ten infielders on the 40-man roster, someone like Jake Fox or Eric Patterson could be moved, as could outfielders Travis Buck or Gabe Gross since Michael Taylor is coming fast. Plus there's always Ben Sheets.
- Mariners: Jack Zduriencik surrendered a good amount of prospect depth this offseason by acquiring Cliff Lee, but no one will argue with that move. Dustin Ackley, the second overall pick in 2009, will make Jose Lopez expendable in short order, and they could choose to make one of two minor league outfielders – Michael Saunders or Greg Halman – available. Seattle's best trade chip might be their potential ability to absorb some money.
- Rangers: Texas is absolutely loaded with young players, so they have plenty of pieces to offer. They can move Chris Davis because Justin Smoak is knocking on the door, or they could move Derek Holland because Martin Perez isn't too far away. They dangled Max Ramirez this winter, and outfielder David Murphy is about to get expensive through arbitration, so he could find himself on the block. Bottom line: the Rangers have the pieces to go out and get anything they need or want.
Relief Trade Candidates
Eleven bullpens currently sport ERAs over 5.00, but it'd be silly to draw conclusions from 25-inning samples. Still, certain contenders are probably already surveying the field of available relievers. The Rays, Cubs, and Marlins are three teams that had bullpen concerns heading into the season. Which relievers might be available a month or two from now?
- The Blue Jays are riding high, in a first-place tie after their first nine games. Still, GM Alex Anthopoulos will probably think about the big picture and shop his three priciest relievers: Kevin Gregg, Jason Frasor, and Scott Downs. The Jays would need Gregg's consent to deal him prior to June 15th.
- The Pirates have the worst bullpen ERA in the NL right now, but most of that can be attributed to Hayden Penn's 2.3 inning stint. Down the road all the veterans will be fair game – Octavio Dotel, Brendan Donnelly, D.J. Carrasco, Jack Taschner, and Javier Lopez.
- The Padres have the big prize in closer Heath Bell. His save total will allow them to demand a premium for him, and he can be retained for 2011 (albeit with a raise upon this year's $4MM).
- The Nationals may also make a few veterans available: Matt Capps, Brian Bruney, and Tyler Walker would make sense. The June 15th rule applies to Capps and Walker. They'll both be arbitration-eligible after the season.
- The Royals have a couple of contracts to move in Kyle Farnsworth and Juan Cruz. Tracy Ringolsby tweets that the Royals are "looking to unload Cruz and willing to pick up salary."
- Chad Cordero is a name to consider; the 28-year-old off to a good start for the Mariners' Triple A club.
Dye Hopes For Interest From Mariners
Free agent outfielder Jermaine Dye has the Mariners on the list of teams he'd consider, reports ESPN's Mike Salk. Unfortunately, the interest has not been mutual. Dye's agent Bob Bry had this to say:
"Seattle is a team he focused on this off-season. He was disappointed that there was not more interest from the club."
Salk says Dye would be willing to take less than a full-time role with the Mariners, and guesses that he'd sign for $3-4MM. Dye turned down a $3MM offer from the Cubs a few months ago and recently rejected an unknown offer from the Nationals. He also had talks with the Brewers in late March. Dye suggested to MLB.com's Bill Ladson that many of his offers were in the $1MM range, which he seemed to find insulting.
Rather than sign Dye, the Mariners brought in Milton Bradley, Eric Byrnes, Casey Kotchman, Ken Griffey Jr., and Mike Sweeney for offensive spots. I wasn't a fan of the approach, but the Ms figure to give the group more than eight games before turning to someone like Dye.