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Quick Hits: Managers, Nationals, Angels

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Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com lists the ten MLB managers who are or may soon be on the hot seat this year. His top three to watch are the Phillies' Charlie Manuel, the Twins' Ron Gardenhire, and Clint Hurdle of the Pirates. The list also includes high-profile skippers like the Dodgers' Don Mattingly, the Angels' Mike Scioscia, and the Yankees' Joe Girardi. Elsewhere around baseball:

  • The Nationals attempted to acquire Justin Upton from the Diamondbacks before landing Denard Span from the Twins over the offseason, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com (via Twitter). The club was previously known to have been interested in Justin's older brother, B.J. Upton, to fill the club's center field vacancy. Presumably, Bryce Harper would have stayed in center had the younger Upton gone to the Nats.
  • While the Nationals are off to a solid start, the club has been let down at times by its supposedly improved bullpen, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Instead of replacing set-up man Sean Burnett with a lefty specialist, GM Mike Rizzo added to the top of the bullpen by signing the premier relief pitcher available, closer Rafael Soriano. Yet Soriano has scuffled at times, and the bullpen has collectively sported a 6.34 ERA that is the worst in baseball. Last night, the pen coughed up a lead in a loss to the Nats' most worrisome NL East competitor, the Braves.
  • Another team that came into 2013 with high expectations, of course, was the Angels. Yahoo's Tim Brown wonders what owner Arte Moreno is thinking as the team has struggled out of the gates again. Brown says that, after making yet more big salary investments this offseason, the competitive Moreno must surely be wondering whether there is anything he can do to get the club going, such as replacing the long-tenured Scioscia.

East Links: Harvey, Red Sox, Myers, Zobrist, Marlins

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Matt Harvey has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball this season, and the Mets hurler appeared on the Baseball Tonight podcast with ESPN's Buster Olney to discuss how he could have signed with the Angels out of high school (Harvey appears near the 28:50 mark of this audio link). Here's more from the Eastern divisions…

  • Tim Wakefield is joining the Red Sox as a special instructor and the honorary chairman of the Red Sox Foundation, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
  • We're less than two weeks into the season, but Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times points out that's long enough for the Rays to delay Wil Myers' free agency by a season if they wish to call him up. The team will need to wait until June to prevent him from reaching Super Two status, however.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes that Ben Zobrist is one of the two best players in the game, dating back to 2009, according to WAR. Rosenthal spoke with Baseball-Reference.com founder Sean Forman and Zobrist himself about the statistic.
  • The Marlins TV ratings are at an all-time low, according to Clark Spencer and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Spencer writes that the ratings may see an uptick every five days when rookie Jose Fernandez starts, but the fans are simply too bored with the team to care most days.
  • Denard Span and B.J. Upton of the Nationals and Braves, respectively, will be on the same field for the first of many times in the coming seasons on Friday, writes Amanda Comak of the Washington Times. Comak writes that there's a chance that this outcome could've come about with the pair's jerseys being flipped, had the offseason played out a bit differently.

East Links: Harang, Span, Romero, Halladay

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Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes was surprised when Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports pointed out that his new team is off the the same 2-5 start as the Marlins were a year prior. Reyes, however, isn't worried about his team's outlook: "…there’s no concern at all. There’s way too much talent on this ballclub to continue to play the way we’re playing.” Here are some more links from baseball's two Eastern divisions…

  • WEEI.com's Rob Bradford hears that the Red Sox are not interested in trading for Aaron Harang (Twitter link). Reports over the weekend linked Boston to the recently DFA'ed right-hander.
  • Offseason acquisition Denard Span has given the Nationals a "new kind of offensive identity," writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. The presence of Span and Jayson Werth atop the lineup forces pitchers to work, given the high volume of pitches the pair averages per plate appearance. Werth and Adam LaRoche both offer high praise for the Nats' new leadoff man, who was acquired from the Twins for Alex Meyer this offseason.
  • Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca chronicles the early work that former Blue Jays ace Ricky Romero has done so far in his attempts to rediscover his mechanics. As Dividi notes, given the $7.5MM owed to Romero in each of the next three seasons, Toronto has no reason to rush and every reason to make sure they get it right.
  • Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com that struggling ace Roy Halladay will have as long of a leash as he needs to get things sorted out: "If he needs 30 starts he’ll get it. As long as he’s healthy and he keeps working at it — as much as he needs."
  • Chris Dickerson is set to be added to the Orioles' 40-man and 25-man roster today, but speculation that it could result in a Steve Pearce DFA doesn't make sense, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports, who hears that the upcoming move won't involve Pearce.

Nationals, Mike Rizzo Working On Extension

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The Nationals want to keep General Manager Mike Rizzo in place for the long term and the club is currently in talks with him about a contract extension, according to Amanda Comak of The Washington Times.  Nats principal owner Mark Lerner confirmed that the two sides are discussing a new deal.

One source with knowledge of the discussion told Comak that the Nationals have already indicated they will exercise the 2014 option on Rizzo’s contract, securing him through at least next season.  The GM is currently entering the final guaranteed year of the five-year pact he signed before the 2011 season.  Any deal that is worked out between the two sides will have to include a significant pay raise for Rizzo, Comak writes.

Recently, Tim Dierkes recapped Rizzo's winter, which including signing the best available reliever in Rafael Soriano and re-signing Adam LaRoche.

East Links: Wheeler, Fernandez, Swisher, Red Sox

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A collection of links pertaining to baseball's Eastern divisions…

  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post praises the Mets for leaving top prospect in the minor leagues and questions why the Marlins have chosen to start Jose Fernandez's service clock early. Sherman argues that non-contenders should be more mindful of the financial rammifications — especially the Marlins, for whom money will likely continue to be an issue.
  • Nick Swisher told reporters (including Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger) that "it hurt" when the Yankees didn't make him an offer to return (beyond the one-year, $13.3MM qualifying offer to receive draft pick compensation). Swisher said he's no longer thinking about the Yankees and is focused on winning with the Indians, who have treated him "like a king" thus far.
  • Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino told Jerry Spar of WEEI that baseball is "fun again" in Boston. Lucchino also praised general manager Ben Cherington's work in last summer's trade with the Dodgers, noting that they would have been happy to receive just one of Allen Webster or Rubby De La Rosa but wound up with both.
  • In this week's Nationals mailbox, MLB.com's Bill Ladson writes that the team has given no thought to cutting ties with flamethrower Henry Rodriguez. Manager Davey Johnson loves Rodriguez's arm, according to Ladson, so the organization plans to stick with him.

Nationals Sign Chris Young

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6:58pm: Young will receive a $2MM prorated base salary if he joins the big league club, reports Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (via Twitter). The deal also includes up to $4.7MM in incentives, according to Kilgore.

12:18pm: The Nationals announced that they have agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Chris Young on a minor league contract.  Young is a client of Williams & Connolly according to the MLBTR Agency Database.

Young, 34 in May, spent the spring with the Nationals and will soon report to Triple-A Syracuse.  The right-hander made 20 starts for the Mets last season and posted a 4.15 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9.  The Mets offered Young a minor league deal before he first signed with the Nats but weren't interested this time around, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).

Young does not have an out clause in his contract, GM Mike Rizzo told reporters including Amanda Comak of the Washington Times, but if a team came to him with a Major League deal, the Nationals would consider it.

Quick Hits: Taveras, Profar, Posey, Zimmerman

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In an interview with MLB Network Radio's Casey Stern and Jim Bowden (audio link), Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said that he would have to consider a hypothetical swap of Oscar Taveras and the Rangers' Jurickson Profar.  Mozeliak went on to say that while the club is well set in the outfield for years to come, they're not quite as strong in the middle infield.  Here's more from around baseball..

  • Since word of the Elvis Andrus extension leaked, the Rangers have received at least a couple of trade inquiries on Profar, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  However, Rangers people say they are as high on Profar as ever and have no intention or need to trade him.
  • Even though it's costly to secure insurance for baseball contracts, the Giants are looking into a policy for Buster Posey's lucrative deal, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. An insurer might demand an exclusion for any injury related to the left ankle that he damaged in the 2011 collision with the Marlins' Scott Cousins. 
  • Nationals third baseman and Brodie Van Wagenen client Ryan Zimmerman is intrigued by Jay-Z's partnership with CAA, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  “When you get a guy like [Jay-Z], who wants to get involved in baseball — he is obviously one of the icons of our generation for his music,” Zimmerman said. “I think he has become a very savvy and smart businessman. It will be interesting to see what happens and where it goes and how it goes."

Does Elvis Andrus Affect Ian Desmond?

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Back in November, I wondered if Alexei Ramirez's four-year, $32.5MM deal could be a point of reference for the Nationals and shortstop Ian Desmond in contract extension negotiations.  Like Desmond now, Ramirez had three years of Major League service when he signed.  Ramirez had better career offensive numbers at that time, though he never reached the 25 home run level Desmond did in 2012.

Desmond, however, has "something of a template" in Elvis Andrus' eight-year, $120MM contract with the Rangers, writes Amanda Comak of the Washington Times.  One major difference is that Andrus' contract covers only free agent years, while Desmond will be arbitration eligible for 2014 and '15.  Plus, Desmond only has one really good season under his belt, while Andrus has been consistently valuable for four seasons.  Desmond does not match Andrus' defensive reputation, though he clearly has more pop.  If Desmond does wait until after the season, he'll have four years of service time, and hopefully more of a track record of being an elite shortstop.  At that point, I think Alex Gordon's four-year, $37.5MM contract (plus a $12.5MM player option) would be a floor, even though we're straying away from infielder comps.  As far as Desmond getting into the $100MM range, I can't picture it unless he posts an MVP-type season.  

Desmond didn't have much to say on the topic, explaining to Comak, "I'm trying to do everything I can to win a World Series.  Talking about that, or revisiting that, isn't really going to help. We'll see where it goes."  GM Mike Rizzo said, "We don’t discuss negotiations with players and that type of thing.  But we feel Ian is one of our leaders. He’s one of the guys that is our core players and he’s a guy we’d like to be with the Nationals for a long time."

Nationals Notes: Desmond, Young

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The Nationals will open the season a widely regarded postseason favorite for the first time in franchise history today. Offseason acquisition Denard Span is leading off, and Stephen Strasburg is on the mound. Here's more on the club as we approach Opening Day for a large portion of Major League teams…

  • The team is "not even close" to an extension with Ian Desmond, tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Extension talks between the two sides have never been serious, according to Ladson.
  • The Nationals remain in contact with Chris Young, who has yet to sign with a new team, according to Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington (on Twitter). "The decision is his," said GM Mike Rizzo. Young opted out of his minor league deal with the Nationals last week in search of a Major League opportunity, but had nothing but the highest of praise for the Nationals organization.

East Notes: Desmond, Garcia, Inciarte

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It's "possible," though not likely, that the Nationals could sign shortstop Ian Desmond to a contract extension before the season begins Monday, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Desmond is eligible for free agency after 2015, and the Nationals would likely look to acquire the rights to some of Desmond's free agency years if he were to sign with them, Kilgore suggests. Desmond hit .292/.335/.511 in a breakout year for the Nationals in 2012. He avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $3.8MM contract for 2013. Here's more from the East Coast.

  • Orioles manager Buck Showalter likes the depth that new acquisition Freddy Garcia provides, Eduardo A. Encina and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun report. "He is inventory. He can help us if we have a need," says Showalter. "He can pitch as a starter and out of the bullpen. I like it." Encina and Connolly write that Garcia will start five or six games for Triple-A Norfolk before the Orioles reevaluate how they plan to use him.
  • Outfielder and rule 5 pick Ender Inciarte has won a job with the Phillies, meaning Philadelphia won't be offering him back to the Diamondbacks, Tim McManus of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Inciarte will be required to stick on the Phillies' 25-man roster throughout the season. Inciarte spent 2012 at Class A South Bend and Class A+ Visalia. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. says Inciarte "may be a little overmatched offensively," but can provide help on defense.
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