NL Central Notes: Snyder, Cardinals, Cubs, Astros
The Cardinals are optimistic that Matt Holliday will return from a finger injury before the season ends, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Getting the star left fielder would be a major boost for the Cardinals, who are chasing the Braves in the National League Wild Card race. Here's the latest on the NL Central…
- Chris Snyder told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he'd like the Pirates to pick up his $6.75MM option for 2012 (Twitter link). It seems more likely that they'll pay a $750K buyout for the catcher, who has a .772 OPS in 119 plate appearances this year.
- Cardinals GM John Mozeliak says talks between Rafael Furcal and the Cardinals are progressing slowly, according to Nate Latsch and Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The Cardinals aren't gaining momentum on an extension for Lance Berkman, either.
- Gary Hughes, who was named one of the top ten scouts of the century by Baseball America, told the Cubs that he will not return in 2012, according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Hughes, a 45-year veteran of pro baseball had been a special assistant under former GM Jim Hendry
- Astros executives met with manager Brad Mills and his coaching staff yesterday to discuss the past year and look ahead to the 2012 roster, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. The executives and field staff exchanged ideas about players, particularly free agents and those who will be out of options next Spring Training.
- The Astros are inviting all of their coaches back for 2012, according to senior director of social media Alyson Footer (on Twitter). GM Ed Wade told McTaggart that pitching coach Doug Brocail has yet to commit to returning in 2012 (Twitter link).
- First overall pick Gerrit Cole is likely to pitch in the Arizona Fall League this year, Jenifer Langosch writes at MLB.com. The Pirates haven't made an official announcement regarding the right-hander's participation at this point.
Talks Slow Between Berkman, Cardinals
Contract talks between right fielder Lance Berkman and the Cardinals have slowed due to a difference of opinion over the player's worth, writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Ideally the Cardinals would wrap up new contracts with Berkman and Rafael Furcal before month's end, leaving fewer question marks heading into the Albert Pujols negotiations. They extended Chris Carpenter earlier this month.
Berkman had plenty to say to Strauss on the topic of his next contract. He told Strauss "this is not an adversarial situation," but explained, "It's always about money. No matter what people say, it's always about the money."
Berkman made additional comments that imply the Cardinals are trying to attach an option year or incentives to a potential one-year deal, whereas he wants one year with no strings attached. Berkman appears to believe that he'll be taking a discount to re-sign with St. Louis, as in his opinion his production isn't that far off from Pujols and Prince Fielder.
The big difference is that Berkman will turn 36 in February, and the over/under on his games played for 2012 should be set around 135. His production with the Cardinals has returned to his '08 level, as Berkman is hitting .299/.412/.558 with 31 home runs in 549 plate appearances. I think a salary around $12MM would be a fair compromise.
NL Central Notes: Pujols, Cardinals, Fielder, Cubs
The Cardinals still don't know whether or not Albert Pujols will be playing in St. Louis past this season, and the team is making moves to prepare for either scenario, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cards are currently negotiating with the agents of Lance Berkman and Rafael Furcal in an effort to retain both players on short-term deals. Strauss adds that the team hopes Pujols' future will be decided no later than December 11th. Here's the latest on a couple other NL Central clubs:
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wonders which teams will pursue Prince Fielder this winter. He essentially rules out the Brewers, and runs through a few other possibilities.
- The Cubs' new GM may have some work to do on the starting rotation, but the bullpen is looking strong, writes Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- With no GM in place, the Cubs' 2012 manager is still a question mark, but Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks hiring Ryne Sandberg would provide a major public relations bump for owner Tom Ricketts. Chicago would embrace Sandberg's "lunchpail mentality," says Cafardo.
Central Notes: Indians, La Russa, Verlander
A few links to pass along regarding clubs in the Central divisions …
- The Indians are facing an offseason of difficult decisions, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. With basically the same roster, the Tribe's payroll would jump from $49MM in 2011 to roughly $70MM next season, explains Hoynes. Several key players like Shin-Soo Choo, Justin Masterson, Chris Perez and Asdrubal Cabrera will be eligible for arbitration, and the Indians own options on Grady Sizemore ($9MM) and Fausto Carmona ($7MM).
- Cardinals manager Tony La Russa dismissed a rumor that he will manage the Cubs next season, writes Kevin Roberts of MLB.com. A report surfaced earlier this week that the Cubs would hire La Russa and Reds GM Walt Jocketty (formerly the Cards' GM) in an effort to lure impending free agent Albert Pujols this offseason. This one seems to be falling apart, as Reds owner Bob Castellini has said Jocketty will be back with the Reds in 2012.
- The AL MVP Award is now Tigers righty Justin Verlander's to lose, opines Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Outrighted To Triple-A: Francisco Samuel
Here are today's outright assignments…
- The Cardinals have outrighted Francisco Samuel to Triple-A according to the Pacific Coast League transactions page. The 24-year-old right-hander was designated for assignment earlier this week. He'd pitched to a 12.17 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 16 walks in 14 innings between three minor league levels this year, battling shoulder and lat injuries.
No Six Or Seven-Year Deals For Blue Jays
The last time the Blue Jays signed a player to a seven-year deal, it didn’t work nearly as well as expected. Vernon Wells, who agreed to a seven-year, $126MM contract with the club in 2006, now plays in Anaheim and no one on the Blue Jays has anything more than a five-year deal. That’s not about to change, since president Paul Beeston won’t approve six or seven-year deals, according to Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail.
Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols, the offseason’s top free agents and the favorite targets of many would-be GMs in the stands at Rogers Centre, have set themselves up for six, seven or eight-year deals in free agency. Though Adam Lind has posted a sub-.300 on-base percentage in successive seasons, the Blue Jays remain hesitant to spend big on the open market.
“When we look at free agents, we better believe those guys are a clear upgrade over what we have internally,” Alex Anthopoulos told Blair.
The GM acknowledges that the 75-74 Blue Jays have some “pretty glaring” issues to address over the winter. However, the Blue Jays say they’re happier with the talent on the current edition of the team than they were this time last year.
When I examined the market for Pujols and Fielder last week, I suggested they were possible fits in Toronto.
Neukom On Sabathia, Pujols, Beltran
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.
NL Central Notes: Berkman, Cards, Myers, Pagnozzi
Some news from the NL Central…
- Lance Berkman could be targeted by the Brewers as a replacement for Prince Fielder, opines Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). I'd suspect that Berkman will get a lot of interest from teams that miss out on Fielder and Albert Pujols this winter.
- Berkman, Rafael Furcal and, of course, Pujols are the biggest question marks for the Cardinals heading into the offseason, writes MLB.com's Matthew Leach, but overall, Leach thinks the 2012 Cards will look much like the 2011 team. Both Leach and Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch indicate that the Cardinals' bullpen is stable, but the team could add another left-handed reliever. Gordon notes that Arthur Rhodes wants to return to St. Louis next year.
- Brett Myers could be trade bait after the season, but MLB.com's Brian McTaggart thinks the Astros could do worse than holding onto Myers to eat innings and provide a veteran presence in the rotation. McTaggart also discusses the Astros' proposed shift to the American League and the Carlos Lee/Brett Wallace first base situation as part of this fan mailbag.
- Chip Bailey of the Houston Chronicle suggests a few areas where the young Astros could look to add veteran parts for next season.
- The Pirates claimed catcher Matt Pagnozzi off waivers from the Rockies yesterday, but Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets that the Bucs originally tried to get Pagnozzi in June before instead acquiring Michael McKenry from Boston. Biertempfel also says the Pirates are looking at Pagnozzi just as a possible backup in 2012, not as a starter (Twitter link).
- With the Brewers so close to the playoffs, Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wonders why Fielder and Francisco Rodriguez chose to discuss their likely departure and displeasure with not closing games, respectively.
- Ben Nicholson-Smith delivered another set of NL Central news items earlier today on MLBTR.
NL Central Notes: Fielder, Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates
The Brewers have a 99.8% chance of going to the postseason and the Cardinals have a 4.5% chance of advancing, according to Baseball Prospectus' playoff odds report. Meanwhile, the Astros, Cubs and Pirates are setting themselves up for top ten picks in next year's draft. Here's the latest from the NL Central…
- Prince Fielder told Colin Fly of the AP that nothing has changed regarding his status with the Brewers (link via the Miami Herald). Fielder told TBS that this is probably his last season with the Brewers, but many people around the game have been saying that for over a year now.
- Casey Coleman has two starts remaining to remind the Cubs what he's capable of heading into 2012, Gordon Wittenmyer writes at the Chicago Sun-Times.
- The Cardinals’ biggest trade of the summer paid off in last night’s win against the Pirates, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. They obtained 24 outs from Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepczynski, the trio of pitchers GM John Mozeliak obtained for Colby Rasmus.
- The Pirates secured another losing season with the loss and Bill Brink of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sums up Pittsburgh's up-and-down year nicely: "They traveled to the same destination for the 19th year in a row, but this season, the Pirates took the scenic route."
NL Central Notes: Astros, Rodriguez, Carpenter
The Pirates lost to the Cardinals today and Pittsburgh clinched a 19th consecutive losing season in the process. Here are today’s NL Central notes…
- The Astros also lost a historic game today. They fell to the Phillies, setting a franchise record with their 98th defeat of the season.
- Chris Carpenter told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he didn't want to pitch anywhere else and hopes to finish his career in St. Louis. The former Cy Young winner realizes he's no Hall of Famer, but says he's proud to have become a fixture for the Cardinals. The Cardinals locked Carpenter up to a two-year, $21MM extension this week.
- Francisco Rodriguez told Scott Miller of CBS Sports.com that he's disappointed that the Brewers haven't provided him with the chance to close games. "I'm not fine," Rodriguez said. "They told me I'd have the opportunity to close some games, and we've had 20-some save opportunities since then and I haven't even had one." It’s worth noting that closer John Axford has converted his last 39 save chances.
- MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes provided the latest Cubs updates this morning and I examined possible suitors for Aramis Ramirez this afternoon.