Odds & Ends: Holt, Lee, Klein, Valentine, Villone
Links for Thursday, exactly 23 years after the Braves and Tigers swapped Doyle Alexander and John Smoltz…
- The Indians signed tenth round pick Tyler Holt according to Baseball America's Jim Callis. Holt's $500K bonus is the largest we've seen for a player drafted in a double-digit round this year.
- Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News wonders how much the Texas heat will play into Cliff Lee's decision about whether or not to re-sign with the Rangers after the season.
- MLB.com' Brittany Ghiroli tweets that Orioles' third rounder Dan Klein is expected to report to one of the team's minor league affiliates once he passes his physical, indicating that the two sides have a deal in place.
- Someone familiar with Bobby Valentine’s thinking tells Larry Stone of the Seattle Times that Valentine considers the Mariners managerial opening one of "the most appealing jobs in baseball.”
- The Nationals released Ron Villone, according to Syracuse Chiefs broadcasters Jason Benetti and Mike Couzens (on Twitter). The veteran left-hander, who last pitched in the majors in 2009, posted a 6.59 ERA in Triple A this year.
- The sale of the Rangers is now final, as MLB.com’s Barry Bloom writes.
- Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker previews some of the players who could soon make the jump from Japan to MLB. Wei-Yin Chen, a 25-year-old lefty represented by Alan Nero may be posted this offseason.
- Veracruz, the Mexican team that holds the rights to pitching prospect Luis Heredia, will not entertain offers from MLB clubs until next Wednesday, August 18th, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Tim Chambers, Bryce Harper's college coach, told Byron Kerr of MASNSports.com that Harper, the first overall pick in this year’s draft, is “begging to play.” Chambers expects the Nationals to work out a deal by Monday night’s deadline.
- Angels scouting director Eddie Bane told Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times that the Angels are "fairly close" to an agreement with first rounder Kaleb Cowart, though he expects negotiations to last until Monday, the deadline for signing draft picks.
- Jamey Newberg counts down the ten biggest August trades in recent Rangers history for MLB.com. Rick Helling and Ryan Dempster have prominent roles on the list, which is worth checking out.
C.J. Wilson’s Breakout Year
C.J. Wilson's switch back to starting has gone phenomenally well – his 3.30 ERA ranks 14th in the American League. The lefty will be arbitration-eligible one last time for 2011, and he should get a multimillion dollar bump from this year's $3.1MM salary.
Wilson has done a nice job keeping the ball on the ground, as his 49.2% rate ranks 15th in the AL among those with 100 innings pitched. He's needed the accompanying 15 double plays, as his 66 walks lead the league. Stats like SIERA and xFIP, meant to strip out some of things the pitcher has less control over, suggest an ERA around 4.50 is more reasonable moving forward.
Should the Rangers attempt to sell high and trade Wilson in the offseason? If new Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg follows through and signs Cliff Lee, the potential $20MM+ salary could be partially offset by moving Wilson. It's not as if the Rangers are going to fool an uneducated team about Wilson's peripheral stats not matching his ERA. But they can point to these facts: he doesn't turn 30 until November, he's very good against lefties, and he gets groundballs. Acquiring Wilson could appeal to teams unwilling to give multiple years to free agents Ted Lilly, Javier Vazquez, Hiroki Kuroda, Jorge de la Rosa, or Carl Pavano.
2011 Vesting Options Update
We began the season with nine potential vesting options for 2011, but they're dropping like flies. With Alex Cora and Magglio Ordonez now off the board, we look at the remaining three:
- Trever Miller, Cardinals. The lefty needs 45 appearances for his $2MM option to vest, and he's made 41 on the season. He could lock in next year's salary within a week, though a DL-worthy left arm or shoulder injury changes this to a club option.
- Darren Oliver, Rangers. Oliver needs 59 appearances for his $3.25MM option to vest, and he's got 46 so far. Barring injury, he'll get there.
- Ramon Hernandez, Reds. Hernandez needs 120 games for his $3.25MM option to vest. He's played in 65 so far. The Reds have only 50 games remaining, so we can cross this one off the list.
- An honorable mention goes to Billy Wagner, whose $6.5MM option vests with 50 games finished. Wagner has finished 46 so far. However just last month he repeated his desire to retire after the season. Having a guaranteed salary for 2011 might not sway Wagner, since he would've made at least that much on the free agent market anyway. But what if he finishes the season just shy of the fourth spot on the all-time saves leaderboard? He's currently 12 away from John Franco, who finished with 424.
- Also of note is Scott Podsednik, who needs 525 plate appearances to be able to void his $2MM club option. Pods is 41 PAs shy of that mark.
Chuck Greenberg Talks Rangers
Jeff Wilson of Dallasnews.com conducted a Q&A with Chuck Greenberg regarding some of the changes that Rangers fans can expect with the new ownership. Here's some of the highlights:
- The Rangers are very happy with Nolan Ryan, Jon Daniels, and Thad Levine on the baseball side of things. Greenberg says that financially, they have the resources to make the club competitive.
- The Rangers would like to re-sign Cliff Lee following the 2010 season, and "keep their players," says Greenberg. He doesn't get into specific names aside from Lee, but one can presume that names like Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz are topping the list.
- The extra $30MM Greenberg's group spent in purchasing the club will have "zero" effect on retaining players and improving the stadium. The purchase and improvement of the organization were budgeted for separately.
- Greenberg praises the work of manager Ron Washington and says the players "love playing for him." Ultimately, however, the managerial decision for 2011 and beyond will be the responsibility of Daniels and Ryan. The duo also supports Washington, according to Greenberg.
- Taking over in August isn't ideal timing, says Greenberg. They'll be limited in their ability to implement changes for the time being, but want to focus on sending the message to fans that their ballclub will be in good hands.
Cafardo’s Latest: Red Sox, Rangers, Angels, Viciedo
Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe breaks down the 2010 Red Sox and what members of the team may not be around for 2011. He says Jayson Werth will be a free agent target and wonders if they're willing to commit three or four years to Adrian Beltre, who is having a monster season. Jacoby Ellsbury and Daisuke Matsuzaka could be trade bait, and then there's the issue of David Ortiz's $12.5MM option.
Let's round up the rest of Cafardo's rumors…
- There have been "minimal, if any" talks between the Sox and Victor Martinez about a new contract.
- Expect Boston to revamp their bullpen, which could mean replacing Hideki Okajima.
- Carfado believes that the Rangers settled ownership situation will help the team down the stretch as the players don't have to deal with any speculation.
- Rafael Soriano and Joaquin Benoit, a pair of offseason pickups that are the Rays' two best relievers, will need to have their workloads monitored down the stretch, particularly Benoit who is coming off major shoulder surgery.
- The Angels have close to $110MM tied up in 2011 payroll counting arbitration raises, which could hinder their pursuit of free agents this winter.
- Kenny Williams says that teams never asked for Dayan Viciedo in a trade because they knew he was unavailable. We heard that Williams was willing to trade him before the deadline.
- A split between the Mariners and manager Don Wakamatsu seems likely this offseason.
Odds & Ends: Lee, Brewers, Repko, Delgado
Saturday night linkage..
- Rangers hurler Cliff Lee says that he isn't thinking about his impending free agency, writes Jeff Wilson for The Dallas Morning News.
- Darrell Covey, the father of Brewers first-round pick Dylan Covey, says that he expects an over-slot bonus offer, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. As the 14th overall pick, Covey is slotted to receive a bonus of $1.7MM. The Coveys have told the Brewers that they expect $2MM.
- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire says that he now understands why the organization thought so highly of Jason Repko, writes John Barone of MLB.com. The Twins picked up Repko in April after he was released by the Dodgers.
- Paul Konerko and manager Ozzie Guillen are fine with the White Sox standing pat in August, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Reds twelfth-round pick Kyle Waldrop has signed on for a $500K bonus, tweets Jim Callis of Baseball America. This is the highest bonus given to a player outside of the first ten rounds so far.
- MLB.com's Mark Sheldon writes that speculation was rampant that today would mark Aroldis Chapman's big league debut. Instead of Chapman, the Reds tabbed reliever Carlos Fisher to fill in for Russ Springer, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
- Mike Lowell didn't have much of a reaction to Boston's signing of Carlos Delgado, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.
Rangers Receiving Interest In Chris Davis
The Rangers are getting "much trade interest" in first baseman Chris Davis, writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Major league sources say that Davis has become a popular name and the Red Sox, who picked up Carlos Delgado today, are among the teams that have shown interest.
Davis is now back in Triple-A Oklahoma where he has hit .355/.409/.552 with ten homers in 72 games this season. However, the corner infielder was unable to replicate that in the majors this year, posting a slash line of .188/.265/.267 in 31 games. Despite his struggles in the major leagues this season, there are some who feel that he could be a late-blooming bat in the mold of Carlos Pena or Russell Branyan.
Sullivan points out that Davis is unlikely to get traded in-season as he probably wouldn't clear waivers. However, if Mitch Moreland makes a strong case for being the Rangers' starting first baseman, then Davis could be a trade candidate this winter.
Odds & Ends: Reds, Giants, Harper, Dodgers, Prior
Links for Saturday, as J.P. Arencibia homers on the first pitch he sees in the majors….
- John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that he has not seen a year in which the Reds have faced so many difficult roster decisions in the last decade.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America (via Twitter) expects the Giants to eventually sign their first-round pick, center fielder Gary Brown.
- Barry Shlachter of the Dallas Morning News examines whether the group headed by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan overpaid for the Rangers.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America passes on news of a pair of draft picks signing for over-slot deals: The Blue Jays signed their second-round pick, while the Pirates locked up their fourth-rounder.
- Tigers owner Mike Ilitch acknowledged to Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News that he'd signed off on some bad contracts in the past, but said that won't stop him from spending money in the future.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears that negotiations between the Nationals and Bryce Harper could "heat up" by Tuesday. The first overall pick in this year's draft enrolled for classes at the College of Southern Nevada, but that doesn't mean he won't end up signing with the Nats.
- The Dodgers still seem to be buyers, leading Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times to wonder if they put a waiver claim on Adam Dunn.
- Although he's pitching for the Orange County Flyers now, Mark Prior hopes to make his way back to the bigs, according to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger.
Rangers Rumors: Lee, Daniels, Washington
The last month has been kind to Rangers fans. They acquired Cliff Lee and a pair of veteran infielders and appear headed for financial stability now that the group headed by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan won the auction for the team. More importantly, the 63-45 Rangers seem destined for the playoffs. But what does the auction mean for the club? GM Jon Daniels explained some specifics to ESPNDallas.com’s Richard Durrett:
- The Rangers aren’t worrying about re-signing Cliff Lee now, but their chances have improved since the auction. "In bankruptcy, we had no chance," Daniels said. "This improves that and I can’t really tell you how much until the season is behind us and we sit down and talk about it.”
- Daniels repeated that he enjoys working for the Rangers and said he’s sure he’ll discuss his own contract status with the team when the time is right.
- The Rangers aren’t going to finalize anything with manager Ron Washington until after the season, but Daniels told MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan that “it's very clear that Ron is our guy and Ron will be our manager in 2011." Washington's contract expires after the season and Daniels' contract expires after 2011.
Rangers, Washington To Talk Contract After Season
With the Rangers looking like a solid bet to win the AL West, manager Ron Washington has given himself a strong negotiating base for his next contract. Washington is in the final year of the deal he originally signed with Texas after the 2006 season, and ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett reports that club management is very interested in bringing the skipper back. Negotiations are being held off until the offseason, according to GM Jon Daniels, since the team doesn't want to distract from the Rangers' push for the American League pennant.
It's quite a turnaround for Washington, who about a year ago was worried for his job after testing positive for cocaine use. The Rangers decided to keep Washington at the helm, and he has paid off the club's faith by leading Texas to the division lead. Entering tonight's play, Washington has a 303-290 (.511) record as the team's manager.