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East Notes: Wright, Salty, Bixler, A-Rod

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Rainfall on the East Coast has already postponed a couple games on Friday night, but here's some items of note to hold you over …

  • Mets third baseman David Wright's days in New York may be winding down, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. The Mets, who may be in full-on rebuild mode as soon as midseason, could opt to trade Wright because he is signed to team-favorable terms through 2013 and would therefore yield a better haul in a trade than Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran or Francisco Rodriguez, writes Rubin. That the Mets could entertain this is indicative of how far they've fallen the past couple years; it once seemed likely Wright would spend his entire career in Queens.
  • Red Sox catchers Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek have struggled so far this season, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com, but with underwhelming and unready in-house options and limited trade or free-agent targets out there, a move is not imminent. Bengie Molina, 36, is still unsigned, but as Speier points out, would he be much of an improvement?
  • The Nationals have purchased the contract of infielder Brian Bixler from Triple-A Syracuse, tweets Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com. A corresponding move on the 40-man roster was to be announced. Bixler, a second-round pick of the Pirates in 2004 out of Eastern Michigan, last appeared in the bigs in 2009. In 166 career plate appearances, he has a .178/.238/.237 line.
  • Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has hired Steve Loy of Gaylord Sports Management to handle his marketing. As our Agency Tracker shows, A-Rod has not officially announced an agent since parting ways with Scott Boras, and he may not need one for a while considering he's signed through age 42. For a complete list of Scott Boras clients, click here.

Stark On Mets, Fielder, Nationals

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The latest from ESPN's Jayson Stark…

  • People all over baseball predict that Commissioner Bud Selig will eventually have to act on the Mets' situation, perhaps engineering a "soft landing" that would allow Fred Wilpon a graceful exit.
  • A couple executives Stark spoke to don't feel that Adrian Gonzalez's seven-year, $154MM extension with the Red Sox will affect Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder.  I imagine there are some teams that will try to say Fielder doesn't deserve significantly more than Gonzalez, but Gonzalez's contract wasn't signed on the open market and he's not represented by Scott Boras.  Stark says the "early buzz" is that Boras seeks $200MM over eight years for Fielder.  Of course, the early buzz around Boras clients is often way above what the player actually signs for.  A few candidates to sign Fielder, in the eyes of SI's Jon Heyman: the Cubs, Mariners, Rangers, Orioles, and Dodgers.
  • Though the Nationals could probably afford Pujols or Fielder, one source who has talked with them extensively told Stark they're more likely to spread their money around.

Mets Notes: Bay, Elvin Ramirez, Loan

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Jason Bay makes his season debut for the Mets tonight, and hopefully he can inject some offense into an offense that ranks 12th in the NL with 4.00 runs per game.  The latest links involving the team:

  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post talks about the Mets' need for Bay to add some life to the club, with the team's clubhouse already giving out a mathematically-eliminated vibe.
  • Elvin Ramirez, the 23-year-old reliever taken by the Nationals from the Mets in the December Rule 5 draft, received a cortisone injection in his shoulder last week according to this tweet from Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.  ESPN's Adam Rubin attempts to decipher the situation, tweeting that Ramirez "must spend 90 non-September says active on 25-man roster to become Nats property."
  • Commissioner Bud Selig said the $25MM the Mets borrowed from MLB is due back before the end of the season, and he's confident the team will make the payment, according to this tweet from Brian Costa of The Wall Street Journal.

2012 Contract Issues: Washington Nationals

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The Nationals are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series.  Here's what the team faces after the 2011 season:

Eligible For Free Agency (11)

Contract Options (0)

Arbitration Eligible (7)

A few others, such as Craig Stammen and Roger Bernadina, could reach the requisite amount of service time if they're called up.  Zimmermann's shortened 2010 and '11 seasons will limit his career numbers and his arbitration payday, but he could still reach $2MM.  Lannan and Gorzelanny could be in the $4MM range.  Overall I could see the team's arbitration eligibles getting about $16MM total, but that's just a rough April estimate.

2012 Payroll Obligation

The Nationals' 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot's, is $44.596MM.  My arbitration estimate puts them around $61MM, $7MM short of this year's payroll.  Still, I expect the team to have the flexibility to add starting pitching, relief help, and outfielders as needed during the 2011-12 offseason.

Nationals Scouted Upton; Haven’t Talked Trade

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The Nationals have scouted B.J. Upton, but aren’t interested in acquiring him now and haven’t discussed a possible trade with the Rays, according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. Ladson’s source says the Nationals scouted Upton on routine assignments.

The Nationals are eyeing center field help around the league, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. However, they’re happy with the play of Rick Ankiel, who has become the everyday center fielder since the Nationals sent Nyjer Morgan to Milwaukee. 

GM Mike Rizzo is a supporter of Ankiel’s because he can handle right-handers (.778 career OPS) and plays strong defense, though he struggles to hit left-handers and always has (.658 career OPS). Jerry Hairston Jr. and Roger Bernadina are other internal options for the Nationals to consider.

Nationals Eyeing Center Fielders

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The Nationals are looking for potential upgrades in center field, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Though they have options in center, they are considering possible moves.

They recently traded Nyjer Morgan to the Brewers, making Rick Ankiel the everyday center fielder. Ankiel struggles to hit lefties (career .658 OPS against southpaws) and the versatile Jerry Hairston Jr.  is hitting just .154/.267/.308 so far. Club officials have mixed opinions about Triple-A center fielder Roger Bernadina, according to Rosenthal. 

Though the Rays will not consider trading B.J. Upton unless they fall out of contention, the Nationals would figure to have interest in acquiring him if he became available, Rosenthal writes. Upton, 26, earns $4.825MM this year and is set to hit free agency after 2012.

Rosenthal On Tigers, Reyes, Trout, White Sox

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The Rockies, who are about to start a series with the defending World Champions, have baseball's best record so far this year. GM Dan O'Dowd told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that the team's resilience has contributed to its fast start. “We’re a confident, persistent club,” O’Dowd said. Troy Tulowitzki's hot streak hasn't hurt, either. Here are the rest of Rosenthal's rumors:

  • One scout who has followed the Tigers this year predicts that they'll be looking for pitching help later this season. At some point minor leaguers Andy Oliver and Jacob Turner could help the Tigers, who are 12th in the AL with 77 runs allowed.
  • A rival official says Mets GM Sandy Alderson will not offer Jose Reyes $100MM to stay in New York. It appears likely that Reyes will be on the trading block this summer, so MLBTR's Steve Adams recently outlined some possible destinations for him.
  • Scouts are high on Angels prospect Mike Trout, praising his baserunning instincts, speed and power.
  • Jason Marquis is a potential trade candidate, according to Rosenthal. The Nationals' right-hander has a 3.26 ERA in three starts so far this season.
  • The White Sox don't plan to look outside of the organization for bullpen help at this point, despite their issues holding leads late in games.

Quick Hits: Guillen, Royals, Harden, Tribe

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The Nationals have announced the passing of shortstop prospect Yewri Guillen due to bacterial meningitis.  Guillen, 18, was signed by Washington in February and was playing at the club's Dominican Republic academy.  He was honored with a moment of silence before tonight's Brewers/Nationals game.  MLBTR sends our condolences to Guillen's friends and family.

Some news from around the majors…

  • Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star discussed potential call-ups and other roster moves for the Royals in a chat with fans this afternoon.
  • Rich Harden has suffered an injury to his teres major muscle that will likely elongate his stay on the disabled list, reports MLB.com's Eric Gilmore.  Harden, who signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Athletics in December, has been on the DL with an injury to his throwing shoulder.
  • Are the surprising Indians for real?  Probably not, says Fangraphs' Steve Slowinski, but the Tribe has so many young players on the roster that it's hard to calculate if these players will drastically fall off or if some are just developing.  Slowinski also notes that Cleveland is winning despite slow starts from expected stars like Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana.
  • The White Sox closer will be "whoever is there in the ninth inning," Ozzie Guillen tells Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune.  We didn't get a chance to see a save situation tonight as Chicago lost to the Angels, but keep following @CloserNews (MLBTR's sister Twitter feed) for the latest on who will be finishing games for the Pale Hose.

Revisiting Ryan Zimmerman’s Extension

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The Nationals and GM Mike Rizzo have taken their share of criticism for bidding aggressively on Jayson Werth and signing him to a free agent contract worth $126MM. Back in 2009, six weeks after taking over in Washington, Rizzo, then the interim GM, signed an equally important player to a long-term contract that's now looking like a fantastic deal for the team.

Ryan Zimmerman signed a five-year, $45MM deal two years ago this month and though his reasons for accepting the deal – guaranteed money, an extended stay with an organization he likes – are understandable, the Nationals are set to save $14MM or more in 2012-13, Zimmerman's age 27 and 28 seasons.

If he hadn't signed the exension two years ago, Zimmerman would have hit free agency after the 2011 season as a 27-year-old. He’s now on the disabled list (for just the second time in his career) with a left abdominal strain, but that wouldn’t have stopped teams from bidding on him if he had hit the open market after the season. Zimmerman and Prince Fielder would have been the best free agent position players available other than Albert Pujols. 

A $20MM annual salary on a long-term deal would have been possible for the third baseman and his agents at CAA. Instead, the Nationals will pay Zimmerman $12MM in 2012 and $14MM in 2013. They have always been aggressive with Zimmerman, promoting him to the majors just 85 days and 269 minor league plate appearances after being drafted. It paid off with a sizzling cameo in 2005, a productive rookie season in 2006 and a shrewd contract extension in 2009.

The only players with more wins above replacement than Zimmerman since he became an everyday player in 2006 are perennial All-Stars and, in many cases, Hall of Fame candidates: Pujols, Chase Utley, Matt Holliday, David Wright, Alex Rodriguez, Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Cabrera and Joe Mauer.  Zimmerman, a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, has a career mark of 13.1 UZR/150 and a .289/.356/.485 batting line, testaments to his well-rounded game.

He said last month that he would like to stay in Washington and is open to extending his stay in D.C. once again. This time, the Nationals might not be able to secure free agent years for south of $20MM, but that doesn't change the fact that his current deal has been a success for them so far and promises to be even better in 2012-13.

Quick Hits: Buchholz, Ishikawa, Tabata, Rivera

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Rounding up Sunday's links, as Andre Ethier celebrates his 29th birthday….

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