Mike Cameron To Retire
Outfielder Mike Cameron has notified the Nationals that he will retire, according to the team's official Twitter account. Cameron also drew interest from the Indians this winter before signing a minor league deal with Washington in December.
The 39-year-old was designated for assignment by the Red Sox in June before being dealt to the Marlins. In total, Cameron hit just .203/.285/.359 in 269 combined plate appearances and saw his season come to an end when he was released by the Marlins for conduct detrimental to the team.
In 17 big league seasons, Cameron hit .249/.338/.444 with 278 home runs for eight different clubs. According to Baseball Reference, the centerfielder earned more than $76MM over the course of his career.
Poll: Who Had The Better Offseason, Marlins Or Nats?
The NL East was the most improved division in baseball this winter and it was almost entirely due to the efforts of just two teams. The Marlins and Nationals both made big strides towards joining the Phillies and Braves in what could be a spirited pennant race this season. (Sorry, Mets fans.)
With their new ballpark opening this April, the Marlins decided to take the opportunity to overhaul the entire franchise, debuting new uniforms, a new logo and even a new name, as the Florida Marlins made way for the Miami Marlins. The first major move came when Ozzie Guillen was hired as the team's new manager and then the Fish took the free agent market by storm. Miami signed Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell for a combined $191MM — a stunning outlay for traditional small-payroll club. The starting rotation was further bolstered by trades for Wade LeBlanc and the controversial Carlos Zambrano. Between these moves and Josh Johnson and Hanley Ramirez looking to rebound from injury and a poor season, respectively, it's easy to see why some pundits have picked the Marlins to reach the playoffs this year.
The Nationals are also getting some love from the preseason analysts. Washington's offseason was a bit more low-key to start with, as the club focused on bolstering their minor league depth, re-signing Chien-Ming Wang and adding Ryan Perry to the bullpen. January, however, was much busier, as the Nats dealt four of their best prospects in order to acquire Gio Gonzalez from the A's and then promptly locked the left-hander up in a five-year extension. GM Mike Rizzo then completed his search for starting pitching by signing Edwin Jackson to a one-year contract, thus pairing Jackson and Gonzalez along with Wang, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann in what could be one of the strongest rotations in baseball.
The Marlins are clearly trying to win now. The Nationals may still be looking to 2013 as their true "go for it" year, but with Strasburg recovered from Tommy John surgery and other impact players like Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse on board, it wouldn't be surprising to see Washington contend right now. With all this in mind, which team's offseason do you think was the most impressive?
Who Had The Better Offseason?
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Marlins 46% (4,785)
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Nationals 41% (4,297)
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About equal 13% (1,374)
Total votes: 10,456
Quick Hits: Prospects, Soler, Zimmerman
Yahoo's Jeff Passan presents the projected 2012 payroll for every MLB team, from the Yankees ($204MM) to the Pirates ($46MM). Those two clubs are currently working on a trade and, oddly enough, the Pirates would be the ones absorbing salary. Here are tonight’s links…
- Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus lists the game's top 101 prospects and Matt Moore, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Jurickson Profar and Julio Teheran lead the way. The entire list is worth checking out and it doesn't require a subscription.
- ESPN.com's Keith Law presents a different kind of prospects list — one based on potential impact in 2012. Moore, Devin Mesoraco and Jesus Montero occupy the first three spots on Law's list.
- The Marlins don't seem likely to pursue Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, MLB.com's Joe Frisaro tweets. The Cubs appear to be willing to spend $27.5MM to land Soler and are the favorites to sign him.
- Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman remains open to an extension, but he hasn't changed his stance on the timeline for a deal and the start of Spring Training remains an informal deadline, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports. There haven't been recent developments regarding a deal for Zimmerman.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports lists five teams that aren't going to make the World Series in 2012: the Mets, Astros, Mariners, Athletics and White Sox.
Minor Moves: Mitch Atkins, Steve Holm
Let's keep track of the day's minor league signings right here…
- The Nationals have signed right-hander Mitch Atkins, reports Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). Atkins, 26, allowed ten runs in 10 2/3 innings for the Orioles last season, and has thrown a handful of big league innings in each of the last three years.
- The Rockies have signed catcher Steve Holm, tweets Eddy. The 32-year-old had two hits and a walk in 18 plate appearances for the Twins last year, his first big league action since 2009. Eddy notes that Holm is the sixth catcher Colorado has signed to a minor league deal this offseason.
Nationals Sign Mark Teahen
The Nationals announced today they've signed infielder/outfielder Mark Teahen to a minor league deal. They also announced their deal with outfielder Rick Ankiel.
Teahen, 30, hit .200/.273/.300 in 177 plate appearances for the White Sox last year, appearing at the infield and outfield corners. The Blue Jays took Teahen and his contract from the White Sox last summer to facilitate their temporary acquisition of Edwin Jackson. The Jays ended up releasing Teahen last month. He's represented by CAA Sports.
The Nationals will also have Andres Blanco, Jarrett Hoffpauir, Chad Tracy, Mike Cameron, Brett Carroll, Jason Michaels, and Xavier Paul in camp competing for part-time roles on the big league club.
Quick Hits: Ankiel, Kuo, Oswalt, Reds, Nationals
On this date in 1983, the Blue Jays traded Leon Roberts to the Royals for a minor leaguer by the name of Cecil Fielder. Fielder made his Major League debut in 1985 and played for the Blue Jays through 1989 before having his contract sold to the Hanshin Tigers. Fielder returned to MLB with the Detroit Tigers in 1990 where he made three All-Star appearances in his first four years with the club. Here's a look at tonight's links..
- Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (via Twitter) points out that the Mets had been eyeing Rick Ankiel, who signed with the Nats earlier today. The Mets are in search of a left-handed bat off of the bench and have also been linked to Kosuke Fukudome, Raul Ibanez, and Johnny Damon.
- Clubs that have been interested in Hong-Chih Kuo believe that he'll wind up signing with the Mariners, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Earlier today, agent Alan Chang told Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times that his client is close to deciding on a team.
- Reds GM Walt Jocketty told John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that it would be tough to clear the payroll space necessary to sign Roy Oswalt. Fay writes that the only tradeable member of the Reds' rotation making significant money is Homer Bailey. Moving Bailey's $2.425MM contract to make room for one year of Oswalt would be risky, but the club has exhibited an all-in attitude recently.
- If GM Mike Rizzo doesn't add another center fielder, Rick Ankiel should have a decent opportunity to win a spot in the Nationals' Opening Day lineup and perhaps platoon with fellow veteran Mike Cameron in center field, writes Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider.
- Earlier this offseason, sources said there was a feeling within the organization that Ankiel might not be able to maintain the offensive productivity he showed in spurts last season if he's primarily coming off of the bench, writes Amanda Comak of The Washington Times.
Nationals Sign Rick Ankiel
The Nationals have signed Rick Ankiel to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, tweets Amanda Comak of the Washington Times.
The 32-year-old Scot Boras client played in 122 games for the Nats last season, but struggled at the plate, posting just a .239/.296/.363 triple slash line. Ankiel appeared at all three outfield spots, but played primarily center field. UZR suggests that for the past three seasons Ankiel has been at least average defensively, and that last year was his best ever with the leather, posting a UZR/150 of 8.5.
Ankiel will be in the mix to play center field along with Roger Bernadina and fellow veteran Mike Cameron, who also inked a minor league deal with Washington this offseason.
Cafardo On Lannan, Bourjos, Cespedes, Vazquez
Jason Varitek is facing a very difficult decision, and the catcher has been considering the very difficult reality of retirement, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Varitek, who turns 40 in April, would seem to be a good fit in Minnesota. The Twins will likely carry three catchers as Joe Mauer will need time to DH and rest and Ryan Doumit will mostly DH while also backing up Mauer.
Varitek isn't the only veteran wondering about his baseball future. Ivan Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Magglio Ordonez, and Vladimir Guerrero also hope to continue playing in 2012. Here's more from Cafardo..
- There is a lot of speculation that the Nationals will deal John Lannan to the Angels for Peter Bourjos, with the Halos putting Mike Trout in center field. The Nats beat Lannan in arbitration last week and were said to be aggressively shopping the left-hander.
- Alternatively, the Nats could move Jayson Werth to center and sign a right fielder. Cafardo adds that it now appears that Yoenis Cespedes is not in their plans and they have cooled on B.J. Upton.
- Javier Vazquez is retired for now, but Cafardo wonders if a team could convince him to play. An AL GM remarked that Vazquez would be a perfect fourth or fifth starter on a contending team and believes that the pitcher looks as good as he's ever been.
- Scott Boras is no longer representing Manny Ramirez. Ramirez signed on with Boras in early 2008 and the agent negotiated the slugger's two-year, $45MM contract with the Dodgers the following year.
- Boras wound up receiving eight offers in total for Prince Fielder, including the winning bid from the Tigers.
- A couple of agents are frustrated after dealing with the Red Sox front office/ownership lately as compared to what they were used to in the past. However, there has been quite a bit of praise for GM Ben Cherington.
- Right-hander Brandon Webb hasn't given up on pitching and according to one American League executive, the plan is for the 32-year-old to throw for teams sometime in March.
- Mark Prior is also looking to attempt one more comeback. The right-hander, who spent some of last season with the Yankees, had surgery for a sports hernia and the problem isn't completely corrected. Like Webb, Prior could work out for teams as early as March.
- Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger was supposed to be in Red Sox minor league camp but instead ripped up his elbow long-tossing over the winter. The veteran will unfortunately miss the season.
- Cafardo feels that the Red Sox missed an opportunity to sign Edwin Jackson to a good value deal at one year, $10MM and shouldn’t let Roy Oswalt slip away now.
Extension Candidate: Jordan Zimmermann
The Nationals have been one of baseball's most active teams this offseason, signing both Edwin Jackson and Brad Lidge in addition to trading for and extending Gio Gonzalez. GM Mike Rizzo doesn't have to worry about the top of his rotation for a while since Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg are under control through 2016, but another one of the club's young starters can hit the open market a year earlier.
Jordan Zimmermann qualified as a Super Two by little more than a week this offseason, meaning he'll be eligible for arbitration four times instead of the usual three. The two sides agreed to a $2.3MM salary for 2012 as our Arbitration Tracker shows, working out a deal before salary figures had to be exchanged. The 25-year-old right-hander broke out last season, pitching to a 3.18 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 with a 39.4% ground ball rate in 161 1/3 innings across 26 starts. His 8-11 record doesn't do his actual performance justice.
Although he has nearly three full years of service time, Zimmermann only has about a year and a half worth of big league starts to his credit. He missed part of 2009 and most of 2010 due to Tommy John surgery, but players do collect service time while on the DL. The injury and subsequent lack of innings kept his salary down this winter, and that will have a trickle down effect in future years since he's starting with a lower base salary.
As our Extension Tracker shows, the typical extension for pitchers with 2-3 years of service time has been in the four-year, $30MM range with one or two club options that buy out free agent years. Jon Lester, Yovani Gallardo, Ricky Romero, Clay Buchholz, Trevor Cahill, and Jaime Garcia all signed contracts with that framework. Zimmermann lags behind those guys in counting stats like innings and wins due to the elbow surgery, though his strikeout and walk rates match up with any of them at the time of their extensions. ERA as well.
A four-year deal for Zimmermann figures to check in a bit under $30MM given his injury history, so perhaps $22-25MM or so. That would cover his four arbitration years, and the club options could come in around the usual $10-12MM based on those similar pitchers. Zimmermann and the Nationals are in a unique position because his salaries are depressed by his elbow surgery, and the team could take advantage of that by signing him long-term at an even further reduced rate.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Quick Hits: Veras, Garza, Harper, Playoffs
Some links as Friday turns into Saturday…
- There has been no progress in contract talks between the Brewers and reliever Jose Veras, reports MLB.com Adam McCalvy. As our Arbitration Tracker shows, the right-hander filed $2.375MM while the team countered with $2MM. Club negotiator Teddy Werner told McCalvy that he expects to return to Florida for a hearing.
- Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com hears that the Cubs will continue to shop Matt Garza in Spring Training. The two sides avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $9.5MM today, and Knobler says the salary doesn't figure to hurt their chances of moving him.
- "We'll be cautious yet open-minded," said Nationals GM Mike Rizzo to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com when asked about the possibility of Bryce Harper making the team out of Spring Training. "If he gives us the best chance to win, we'll keep an open mind and see where it takes us."
- Talks continue between the union and management about expanded playoffs for 2012, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The deadline for resolution is March 1st.