List Of Teams Interested In Yu Darvish
Yu Darvish apparently intends to pitch in the Major Leagues next year and it would be surprising if he doesn't draw interest from ten-plus teams. The 25-year-old right-hander has a 1.54 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 175 innings this season. Those numbers are typical for Davish, who entered the season with a 1.81 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in four years with the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Here's a list of which teams have been linked to Darvish in the last calendar year:
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is in Japan and saw Darvish pitch, according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.
- The Nationals maintain interest.
- The Yankees have scouted him heavily.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels watched Darvish in June.
- The Orioles had interest last offseason.
- The Red Sox have been linked to Darvish.
- The Rays watched Darvish about a year ago.
At this point, we don't know whether the clubs above were simply being diligent or whether they intend to make serious bids for Darvish. This list can't be considered comprehensive because other teams have likely been covert about their interest. What we can say at this point is that Darvish would be a welcome commodity in a starting pitching market that's light on top-of-the-rotation pitchers.
Koji Uehara’s 2012 Option Vests
Koji Uehara hasn't pitched as well as expected since joining the Rangers, but he isn't going anywhere. Uehara's $4MM option for 2012 vested tonight when the right-hander took the hill against the Rays and made his 55th appearance of the season.
Uehara, 36, arrived in Texas with a 1.72 ERA, 11.9 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 47 innings for Baltimore. Yet entering tonight's game, a contest in which he allowed an earned run, he had a 6.23 ERA for Texas. To Uehara's credit, he has a 9K/1BB ratio with his new club.
Rangers Designate Tim Wood For Assignment
The Rangers designated Tim Wood for assignment, according to Anthony Andro of FoxSportsSouthwest.com (on Twitter). They placed Wilmer Font on the 60-day disabled list in a related move.
The Rangers acquired Wood from the Pirates earlier in the month, after the Pirates designated him for assignment. The Rangers sent Wood to the minors after acquiring him and he struggled through four appearances for Triple-A Round Rock, allowing nine hits, five earned runs and three walks in 4 2/3 innings, striking out a pair.
Wood has appeared in 57 games with the Marlins and Pirates in parts of three big league seasons, posting a 4.50 ERA, 4.3 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9. The Marlins selected the right-hander in the 44th round of the 2002 draft.
Rangers Acquire Matt Treanor
Matt Treanor is heading back to Texas. The Royals announced that they have sent the catcher to the Rangers, the team with which he started the season, for cash considerations. Treanor joins catchers Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba on Texas' roster.
Treanor missed the last 29 games after suffering a concussion at the end of July. He has been rehabbing at Double-A for the last seven games. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star and MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan first reported on the deal, which brings Kansas City's 40-man roster to 39.
Treanor, 35, has a .226/.351/.306 line in 230 plate appearances this year and he has thrown out 26% of attempted base stealers from behind the plate. Given his career marks (.227/.318/.310, 26% caught stealing) that's probably pretty close to what the Rangers anticipated when they signed him to a one-year, $850K deal in December. Though Treanor doesn't project as a ranked free agent, he's not far from Type B status, so Texas may have the chance to obtain a pick for the backstop if they're prepared to offer him arbitration.
Rangers Acquire Mike Gonzalez
The Orioles announced that they sent left-handed reliever Mike Gonzalez to the Rangers for a player to be named later. Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, who first reported the deal, says Baltimore will likely obtain a pitcher in the deal (Twitter links).
Gonzalez joins a pitching staff that currently features three southpaws in the rotation, but just one – Darren Oliver – in the 'pen. He'll also be reunited with former Orioles teammate Koji Uehara, who joined the Rangers at last month's non-waiver trade deadline.
Gonzalez signed a two-year, $12MM deal with the Orioles after the 2009 season, but pitched just 24 2/3 innings last season. He has been healthier this year and has a 4.27 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 40.0% ground ball rate in 46 1/3 total innings. His numbers against left-handers are strong this year: 26K/4BB, 2.30 xFIP, 50.8% ground ball rate in 24 1/3 innings.
The 33-year-old earns $6MM this season, about $920K of which remains on his deal. The move is strictly about 2011, as Gonzalez hits free agency after the season and doesn't project as a ranked free agent.
Rangers To Acquire Matt Treanor
1:57pm: The Royals are about to send catcher Matt Treanor back to the Rangers in a cash transaction, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
12:50pm: A club source tells MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan the Rangers will "likely do something today." In Sullivan's opinion, the team's biggest need is a right-handed bat.
This post was originally published at 12:50 pm CDT on Wednesday, August 31st, 2011.
Lance Berkman: “I’m Not Going To Get Moved”
Lance Berkman told reporters that he doesn't expect the Cardinals to trade him by tomorrow's deadline, MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports. Despite rumors that the Rangers could have interest, Berkman expects to finish the year in St. Louis.
“I’m not going to get moved,” he said. "I think the ship has sailed. I really do."
Berkman explained that he wants to stay put and believes that the Cardinals want to keep him. Since Berkman projects as a low Type-A free agent, the Cardinals could end up with two compensation picks in next year's draft if he declines an arbitration offer to sign elsewhere. As a result, GM John Mozeliak would likely require significant prospects in any deal.
The Rangers placed Nelson Cruz on the disabled list and expect to be without him for three weeks. However, GM Jon Daniels said he expects to rely on internal solutions and the Rangers have called up Leonys Martin to take Cruz's place on the roster. Texas remains interested in Berkman, according to Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com.
The Cardinals have until tomorrow to weigh all offers for Berkman, who has cleared waivers. The 35-year-old has a .289/.405/.570 line with 30 homers.
Rangers To Release Ryan Tucker
The Rangers will release Ryan Tucker to create 40-man roster space for Mark Hamburger, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Tucker, 24, had not been on the Rangers' active roster before they made the move.
Tucker appeared in five games for the Rangers this year, but spent most of his season at Triple-A Round Rock. The right-hander posted a 5.40 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 68 1/3 innings at Triple-A before getting released. The Rangers claimed Tucker, a first round pick in 2005, off of waivers from the Marlins last October.
Morosi On Giants, Braves, Berkman
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports has been tweeting up a storm today…
- The Giants are among the most active teams on the trade market; Morosi says they're seeking bullpen help and maybe a bat. Nine relievers are known to have cleared waivers, while others such as Chad Qualls, Jamey Wright, Matt Capps, Todd Coffey, Mike MacDougal, Octavio Dotel, and Joe Nathan could be available in my estimation. More speculation from me: position player targets could include Jose Molina, Ryan Doumit, Melky Cabrera, Marlon Byrd, and Angel Pagan.
- The Braves seek bench help in advance of tomorrow's waiver trade deadline. They signed Wes Helms a few weeks ago.
- There's currently no momentum toward a trade between the Cardinals and Rangers for Lance Berkman, tweets Morosi. The Cardinals might require a return on par with the two draft picks they could receive if they offer arbitration to Berkman and he turns it down to sign elsewhere. Berkman cleared waivers, reported Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday.
Will C.J. Wilson Get $100 Million?
Two years ago, Rangers lefty C.J. Wilson struck me as a quality reliever, but certainly not someone who could eventually score a $100MM contract. Now, with free agency just months away, I'm wondering if that could be his ceiling on the open market.
Wilson switched back to starting in 2010, and he exceeded expectations. Though Wilson led the American League in walks, he also made 33 starts with a 3.35 ERA in the regular season. Sure, his SIERA was 4.19, but the conversion was a success. Had Wilson signed an extension after the 2010 season, giving up three free agent years for around $10-11MM apiece seemed appropriate. The decision to wait paid off for Wilson, as he's taken his game to a new level in 2011. The walks are down significantly, the strikeout rate is up, and he made the All-Star team. Without Cliff Lee around, Wilson is the Rangers' undisputed ace.
Wilson's innings total predictably skyrocketed in 2010, but it didn't lead to any injuries. Including the postseason, he made 37 starts that year for a total of 228 1/3 innings. He averaged almost 17 pitches per inning in 2010 and about 6.2 innings per start. This year he's been more efficient at 16.2 pitches per inning, and he's exceeding 6.6 innings per start.
Why do I think $100MM is possible? Age is not a concern, as he turns 31 in November. He's become a horse, but his overall mileage is low because of the time spent as a reliever. He's succeeded in a tough home park and in the American League. The advanced numbers are strong and he provides the fairly rare combination of strikeouts and groundballs. Here's a look at the recent big pitching contracts signed on the open market:
- Cliff Lee: five years, $120MM ($24MM per year). 32 years old at time of signing.
- John Lackey: five years, $82.5MM ($16.5MM per year). 31 years old.
- C.C. Sabathia: seven years, $161MM, plus opt-out clause ($23MM per year). 28 years old.
- A.J. Burnett: five years, $82.5MM ($16.5MM per year). 32 years old shortly after signing.
It's easy to toss Wilson into the Lackey/Burnett bracket and expect a similar contract. But Lackey had missed a month in each of his previous seasons and had totaled 373 innings. Burnett was coming off a career-best 221 1/3 innings, but had pitched only 301 1/3 over the previous two seasons. Meanwhile Wilson is projecting for perhaps 225 innings this year, for a total exceeding 450 over 2010-11. He doesn't come with the injury concern Lackey and Burnett did.
Also consider that Burnett signed after the '08 season and Lackey after '09, so even if Wilson were comparable to them he'd deserve more based on inflation. I think there's an easy case for $90MM over five years, so it's not crazy to think one team would add a sixth year or take him to the $20MM per year range. This only applies if we're talking about a free agent bidding war – if the Rangers re-sign him prior to open season, it'll be for less. It should be noted that the Yankees and Red Sox figured prominently into all four free agent contracts mentioned above, so their involvement with Wilson will be a huge factor.
We also have to look at what the free agent and trade markets will offer in terms of competition. Sabathia could again be the free agent prize if he opts out, but he'll require a commitment well beyond Wilson that only a few teams could handle. Sabathia could re-sign with the Yankees early on, which might take them out of the Wilson bidding but also leave him as the best available starter, easily above Edwin Jackson or Hisashi Iwakuma. Yu Darvish being posted would shake things up, though some teams might still prefer Wilson. The trade market figures to feature Wandy Rodriguez and perhaps a few surprises, but I'm not sure there's a Zack Greinke, Matt Garza, or Shaun Marcum-caliber pitcher in the mix for this offseason.
Wilson's progression has been amazing – an '08 season that ended with elbow surgery, 14 saves and a 10.3 K/9 relieving in '09, a mid-rotation type in '10, and an ace in '11. Now it's time to see what he's worth.
Will C.J. Wilson get at least $100MM?
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No 78% (5,453)
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Yes 22% (1,548)
Total votes: 7,001
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.