Quick Hits: Red Sox, Dodgers, Peavy, Bauer
Sunday night linkage..
- Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter) wonders if the Red Sox might pursue pitching for the final stretch, even though anyone acquired wouldn't be eligible for the postseason.
- Surprisingly, patience seems to be the new trend in baseball when it comes to GMs, writes Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. This morning, the Pirates announced that they have extended GM Neal Huntington's contract through 2014.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said yesterday that the club won't undergo any major changes this winter and Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times is less-than-enthused.
- The White Sox are shutting down starter Jake Peavy in hopes that rest will help the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner return to full strength next year, according to the Associated Press. Peavy underwent shoulder surgery on July 14, 2010 and the right-hander posted a 4.92 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9.
- The Diamondbacks might promote top prospects Trevor Bauer and Jarrod Parker to experience the playoff race as they prepare for 2012, tweets Peter Gammons of the MLB Network.
AL Central Links: Tigers, Pena, Buehrle, Acta
The Tigers' magic number for clinching the AL Central is nine after Brandon Inge's walkoff blast against the Twins this afternoon. Red-hot Detroit has won eight games in a row and the team looks like a sure bet to reach the postseason for the first time since 2006.
Let's round up the latest from the division…
- Intra-divisional trades made been a big part of the Tigers' success, writes Lynn Henning for the Detroit News. Jhonny Peralta, Delmon Young and Wilson Betemit have all come to Detroit from AL Central rivals over the last two seasons.
- Brayan Pena wants to keep playing for the Royals and is happy to remain a backup catcher, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
- Following last night's game, Mark Buehrle told reporters that he plans to work out this offseason as if he'll be pitching next season, but he doesn't know if a contract will get worked out with the White Sox. You can watch the video on CSNChicago.com. Buehrle will be a free agent for the first time in his career after the season, and he's hinted at retirement in the past.
- Ozzie Guillen, for his part, thinks Buehrle will pitch in 2012. "Oh, he's staying," Guillen tells ESPN Chicago. "I talk to him every day and he never mentions [to] me anything about retirement. I think this kid's got a lot left to give [to] baseball. I think this kid can help a lot of big league ballclubs. Believe me, I don't think he's retiring."
- In that same piece, Guillen also reiterated his commitment to the White Sox, saying he wishes to manage the club in 2012 and for "the next 20 years."
- Joe Mauer talks to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (video link) about his season, his future behind the plate and the Twins' struggles. Two days ago, more than 3,000 MLBTR voters said the Twins have been baseball's most disappointing team this season.
- "That's a good question for the off-season," said Indians GM Chris Antonetti when asked about manager Manny Acta's club option for 2013 by Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Acta will be in the final year of his three-year contract next season, and Antonetti made it clear that he's pleased with the job his manager has done.
- Tigers manager Jim Leyland told Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press that they're "thrilled" about the Delmon Young acquisition. "It's worked out pretty good so far, and when he steps in that batter's box he's a man," said Leyland. "He's going to get his rips and has a pretty good idea how to hit and what pitchers do."
MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post
Minor Moves: Davis, Astros, Roemer
Here are the latest minor moves…
- The White Sox released Doug Davis, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. They had signed the veteran left-hander to a minor league deal in July.
- Eddy has all of the other minor league transactions that took place between August 31st and September 6th.
- The Astros announced that they signed right-hander Alan Abreu as a non-drafted free agent out of Lander University. Abreu played primarily shortstop and center field in college, according to the Astros.
- The D'Backs released right-hander Wes Roemer over the weekend, according to the Pacific Coast League transactions page. Arizona released the former supplementary first round pick to clear 40-man roster space, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). Roemer posted a 4.39 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 164 innings in the upper minors this year. He has a 4.44 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in five pro seasons.
AL Central Notes: White Sox, Guillen, Tigers, Royals
Let's take a look at a few items out of the American League Central division..
- It's time for the White Sox to move on from Ozzie Guillen and work out a deal with the Marlins for him, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Guillen has long been linked to the Fish and it's unlikely that octogenarian Jack McKeon will return next season.
- The Tigers appear to be the biggest trade deadline winners so far, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. Since joining the Tigs, right-hander Doug Fister has a 2.97 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 0.5 BB/9 in six starts.
- In today's mailbag, a reader asks Baseball America's Jim Callis if the Royals will still have a top ten farm system in 2012 after several players made their major league debuts this season. Callis says that despite spending $14.1MM on the draft this year, Kansas City might not have more than four prospects in BA's top 100 next season, putting them outside of the top ten.
Arbitration Eligibles: Chicago White Sox
The White Sox are next as we continue our series looking at each team's arbitration eligible players.
- First time: None
- Second time: None
- Third time: John Danks, Carlos Quentin, Tony Pena
Pena is a non-tender candidate. Though he could be retained with no raise on his current $1.6MM salary, he may need Tommy John surgery and might not be able to contribute much in 2012.
Quentin has solid production in the categories arbitration favors: home runs and RBIs. That should lead to a salary in the $7.5MM range.
Danks is an interesting case for arbitration nerds. He missed around four starts for an oblique strain this summer, at a point in his career where an inning is worth about $24K and a win around $80K in salary. He's likely to come in under 180 innings and 10 wins. There are few recent comparables for a five-plus service time starter like Danks, but Jeremy Guthrie and Matt Garza are current-year comparables whose fates will be intertwined. A vintage Danks year might have resulted in a $10MM salary, but we see him closer to $8MM for 2012.
Retaining Quentin and Danks could put the White Sox around $105MM in commitments for 2012. That's well below this year's $128MM payroll, but with attendance down the team may pull back spending.
Matt Swartz contributed to this post.
Quick Hits: Mets, Darvish, Ozzie
A few stray items of note as a quiet Sunday winds down on this holiday weekend:
- A Mets official told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that the organization's high-ranking officials have been discussing the possibility of going into complete rebuild mode in 2012 rather than piecing together a passable team and selling it to the fans as a playoff contender if everything breaks right. It's already widely accepted that the Mets will reduce payroll from this season's $140MM down to the $110-100MM range, but Sherman's source makes it sound like it could be even more than that.
- Is Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish worth the potential $100MM a team might have to spend to acquire his services? David Brown of Yahoo!'s Big League Stew looks at that question.
- One factor that could dissuade the White Sox from firing manager Ozzie Guillen is the possibility of him landing with the Cubs and helping to make them a winner, tweets Pedro Gomez of ESPN.com.
Front Office Notes: Beane, Cubs, Epstein, Friedman
Here's the latest on some GM vacancies and other front office moves…
- Would Billy Beane be a good fit as the Yankees' general manager? Mike Silva of the New York Baseball Digest takes on the question and wonders how Beane would navigate the politics of the Yankee front office. Beane's name has been whispered in connection with the Cubs' GM vacancy, and Silva agrees that if Beane leaves Oakland for any job, it would be in Chicago.
- The Cubs have signed Oneri Fleita to a four-year contract extension to continue as the club's vice-president of player personnel, reports Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Tigers were reportedly interested in hiring Fleita, which is why the Cubs moved to lock him up despite the fact that Chicago's GM candidates could have possibly wanted to fill that position themselves.
- Three AL East general managers will likely be staying put, says FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (video link). The Yankees and Brian Cashman are mutually interested in continuing their relationship, Andrew Friedman is "extremely loyal" to Rays owner Stuart Sternberg and since Theo Epstein has one year left on his Red Sox contract, an interested suitor like the Cubs would have to give Epstein the proverbial "offer he can't refuse" in order to convince him to leave.
- Also from Rosenthal, he hears from sources close to Ozzie Guillen who feel the manager's recent demand for a contract extension was "a classic Ozzie diversionary tactic" to take the heat off the players. On the other hand, common sense dictates that Guillen wants more job security and doesn't want to risk being fired in mid-season if the White Sox struggle in 2012. One anonymous GM tells Rosenthal to bet on both Guillen and Kenny Williams staying in Chicago, since Jerry Reinsdorf is loyal to both men.
Heyman On Rangers, Mesoraco, Marlins
Jon Heyman breaks down the likely playoff teams at SI.com, where he also passes along some notes and rumors. The latest:
- The Rangers tried ‘extremely hard’ to obtain Carlos Beltran from the Mets before the Giants traded for him in July.
- Devin Mesoraco may be more ‘universally beloved’ by scouts than any other September call-up.
- Davey Johnson can manage the Nationals again in 2012 if he wants to, but Jack McKeon of the Marlins may not be so lucky.
- Heyman hears that the Marlins and McKeon have decided someone else will manage in 2012, though McKeon can remain with the organization in some capacity forever (Twitter links). However, McKeon told Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio that that's not the case (Twitter link).
- White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf wants to keep manager Ozzie Guillen and GM Kenny Williams together at this point.
Olney On Gonzalez, Darvish, White Sox
Mark Teixeira told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that new Rangers reliever Mike Gonzalez has improved over the course of the season and now looks like a different pitcher than he did early on. Here’s Olney’s latest, including a note on Gonzalez…
- The Rangers may have obtained Gonzalez at the right time, Olney writes. Great left-handed hitters such as Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez will figure prominently into the playoffs and the Rangers’ newest reliever can help limit their impact late in games.
- One MLB official told Olney that Yu Darvish will sign with an MLB team this winter. Earlier this morning, I listed the teams that have been publicly linked to the Japanese right-hander.
- MLB executives are coming to believe that White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf won’t retain both GM Kenny Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen in 2012, according to Olney. Alternatively, Reinsdorf could replace both and hire former White Sox skipper Tony La Russa to manage and promote assistant GM Rick Hahn to run baseball operations.
Ozzie Guillen Wants Extension, Could Leave
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said he is prepared to walk away from the final year of his contract if he doesn’t get an extension by Opening Day 2012, Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago reports. Guillen's contract expires after 2012 and he's looking for more.
"One thing I make clear, I don't think I'm going to be back here for a one-year contract and I don't know what to do with the next year," Guillen said.
Guillen said he has not discussed an extension with White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and isn’t going to ask for a new deal any time soon. The skipper says he’d be “embarrassed” to ask for a contract after a “bad year.” The White Sox, who have been under Guillen’s guidance since 2004, began the day with a 67-65 record, trailing the Tigers by 5.0 games.
Guillen says he and GM Kenny Williams have a better relationship than anyone in the game, despite a report to the contrary. Earlier today, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the relationship between Guillen and GM Kenny Williams has become increasingly strained. The White Sox are getting a feel for potential alternatives to Guillen and are renewing talks with the Marlins about a possible deal involving the manager, according to Cowley.