Archives for January 2011

Astros Acquire Sergio Escalona

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 10, 2011 at 11:43am CDT

The Astros acquired left-hander Sergio Escalona from the Phillies for minor league second baseman Albert Cartwright, according to the teams. The Phillies designated Escalona for assignment over the weekend to make room for J.C. Romero. Escalona, who will be added to Houston's 40-man roster, appealed to the Astros because of his ability to retire left-handed hitters.

“Sergio adds depth to the competition for lefthanders in our bullpen,” GM Ed Wade said in a statement. “Our scouts have liked his stuff and believe he’s got a chance to be very effective in left-on-left situations.”

Wade was Philadelphia's GM when the Phillies signed Escalona out of Venezuela in May of 2004. The 26-year-old posted a 4.61 ERA in 14 appearances for the 2009 Phillies, but most of his pro experience has come in the minor leagues. Escalona posted a 3.81 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 50 relief appearances at Double-A Reading last year.

Lefties Wesley Wright, Fernando Abad and Gustavo Chacin will also be contenders for jobs in manager Brad Mills' 'pen this spring.

Cartwright, 23, split last season between Class A and Double-A, batting .294/.355/.472 in 547 plate appearances. As MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows, this isn't the first time Wade and Ruben Amaro Jr. have made deals together; the Roy Oswalt trade is their most memorable swap.

Revisiting AL Free Agent Arbitration Decisions

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 10, 2011 at 10:44am CDT

At the end of November, 16 American League free agents declined their teams' offers of arbitration. In doing so, they forfeited the chance to settle on one-year deals with their former clubs through the arbitration process and launched themselves into free agency.

If the players below had accepted arbitration like Frank Francisco and Jason Frasor did, they would have signed one-year deals with their former clubs. While the players wouldn’t have been guaranteed raises, those who go through the arbitration process rarely take significant pay cuts.

The chart below will help examine the decisions that players and their agents made in November. It shows the players' 2010 salaries and, if applicable, the new deals they've agreed to.

It's not unheard of for teams and players to reach gentlemen’s agreements about arbitration offers. Type B players don’t take a hit in value on the market if they turn down arbitration, so players can agree in advance to decline their clubs' offers. That benefits the team, which picks up a supplementary first round draft choice if the player signs a major league deal elsewhere.

But if no advance agreements were in place last November, Brad Hawpe cost himself money and Chad Qualls and Felipe Lopez may have done the same. Hawpe agreed to a $3MM deal after earning $7.5MM; even after a down season, it seems unlikely that Hawpe would have taken a $4.5MM pay cut had he accepted the Rays’ offer of arbitration.

Qualls and Lopez haven’t signed yet, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Qualls take a pay cut from the $4.19MM he earned in 2010, when he posted a 7.32 ERA. There’s no guarantee that Lopez will even get a major league deal, so it could become apparent by the end of the offseason that he and Qualls would have been better off accepting their teams’ arbitration offers. Keep in mind that the players may have agreed in advance to turn down arbitration, as Trevor Hoffman did.

Clearly, most other American League free agents obtained more guaranteed money by turning down arbitration. Carl Pavano and Rafael Soriano, who both accepted their teams’ arbitration offers last offseason, will likely sign deals that guarantee them considerably more than $7MM before the current offseason ends.

It’s worth noting that Orlando Hudson, who will earn $4MM in 2011, would have earned more this year by accepting arbitration. But in securing the first multiyear deal of his career, the second baseman obtained a larger guarantee than he would have by accepting the Twins’ arb offer.

Like most of his American League counterparts, Hudson made the decision that enabled him to sign for more guaranteed money. I hesitate to assume that Lopez, Qualls and Hawpe really did have the chance to accept their clubs’ offers, but it would probably have been financially wise for them to seize that opportunity if it did present itself.

Regular MLBTR Features

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 10, 2011 at 9:17am CDT

If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:

MLBTR Chats – Come by every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the major leagues.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In – Every Friday morning, Mike Axisa directs you to some of the best writing on baseball blogs around the web. Whether it's opinion, stats or something else entirely, you can connect to the best of the blogosphere once a week on MLBTR. If you want to send Mike a post of yours, reach him at: mike@riveraveblues.com.
Week In Review – It's amazing how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, we summarize the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
MLBTR Originals – We gather all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.

Top Ten Remaining Free Agents

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 10, 2011 at 8:46am CDT

Only 11 of MLBTR's top 50 free agents remain unsigned. Johnny Damon checks in at number 11 and here are the top ten, with their original rankings in parentheses and their rumored suitors to this point in the winter:

1.  Rafael Soriano (7) – The Yankees might be in, but the White Sox, Rangers and Cardinals don't appear to have interest. Are the Angels going to step up after a relatively quiet winter?
2.  Carl Pavano (13) – The Twins are closing in on a deal with the right-hander.
3.  Jim Thome (18) – Thome will play in 2011, but it's hard to predict which team will sign him. To vote on the slugger's future, click here.
4.  Vladimir Guerrero (19) – The Orioles, Angels and Rays are reportedly interested in Vlad.
5.  Manny Ramirez (20) – Predicting Manny's next team isn't much easier than predicting his next quirky move. There's a good chance he ends up DHing on a one-year deal.
6.  Andy Pettitte - (25) – The veteran lefty is still undecided about his future, so the Yankees are still in limbo.
7.  Brian Fuentes (33) - The Pirates aren't pursuing Fuentes, but the Blue Jays and Rays are among the lefty's many suitors.
8.  Kevin Millwood (38) – The Rockies, Cubs and Royals have been linked to Millwood this offseason.
9.  Grant Balfour (42) – Balfour, a Type A free agent, will cost a draft pick. The O's expressed interest before signing Kevin Gregg, but it's not clear if the team is still considering Balfour.
10.  Scott Podsednik (44) – The Angels are in on Podsednik and the Reds maintain interest, though they added the left-handed hitting Jeremy Hermida.

Tigers On Verge Of Deal With Brad Penny

By Mike Axisa | January 10, 2011 at 7:30am CDT

TUESDAY, 7:30am: The Tigers are on the verge of signing Penny to a one-year, $3MM deal, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The hard-throwing righty will be able to earn more through incentives in his second American League stint.

MONDAY, 8:22pm: ESPN's Buster Olney hears that the Tigers are the frontrunner for Penny's services (Twitter link). He would step in as their number five starter.

6:55pm: Brad Penny has drawn interest from a few teams this offseason, most notably the Tigers, and it appears he's close to making a decision about where he'll spend the 2011 season. The right-hander said he was "[g]etting close to finding [his] new home" on his Twitter account, and that he "[s]hould know by the end of the day."

The 32-year-old Penny missed the final four-plus months of the 2010 season with a shoulder strain, but he had pitched to a 3.23 ERA with 5.7 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, and a career high 52.8% ground ball rate in 55 2/3 innings with the Cardinals before the injury. If we remove his ugly 2009 stint with the Red Sox (5.61 ERA in 131 2/3 innings), Penny has pitched to a 3.82 ERA in over 900 innings since 2004.

Penny's injury did not require surgery, which is always good news, but the Cardinals still have "little enthusiasm" in re-signing him. Their front three was already stacked with Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Jaime Garcia, but they then added Jake Westbrook to the mix at the trade deadline and have since re-signed him. The Yankees, Mets, Orioles, Indians, Nationals, and Rockies are known to be seeking rotation help, though none have been connected to Penny in recent weeks.

Rockies Notes: Fuentes, Gonzalez, Kazmir, Beimel

By Zachary Links | January 9, 2011 at 10:13pm CDT

Let's take a look at some Rockies-related tidbits..

The Rockies like Brian Fuentes but the left-hander is looking to close and also looking for roughly $5MM per year. Colorado isn't looking to shell out that kind of money for the 35-year-old, tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post.
After resolving his visa issues, Carlos Gonzalez arrived in Denver today and will take a physical tomorrow to finalize his seven-year, $80MM contract, Renck writes. The Rockies will likely hold a presser on Tuesday to announce the deal.
The Rockies lost interest in pitcher Scott Kazmir once they re-signed Jorge de la Rosa, Renck tweets.
One reader asks Renck via Twitter if the Rockies are still interested in reliever Joe Beimel. It appears that other clubs have more interest in the veteran as Colorado hasn't talked to his representation lately.

Quick Hits: Garza, Rays, Aardsma, Iwakuma

By Zachary Links | January 9, 2011 at 9:10pm CDT

On this day last year the Rangers agreed to sign Vladimir Guerrero to a one-year, $5MM deal. In 2011, the veteran continues to look for a home with the Orioles, Angels, and Rays said to be interested. Let's take a look at the batch of links for tonight..

Jamey Newberg of The Newberg Report is glad that the Rangers didn't overpay to land Matt Garza. The right-hander was shipped to the Cubs in an eight-player deal.
Speaking of the Garza deal, Dave Cameron writes in a piece for Fangraphs that there's a good chance that the Rays got better in the short term by making the trade.
Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times that David Aardsma's hip surgery was more extensive than first thought and the hurler might not be ready by Opening Day. The M's were shopping the 29-year-old for quite some time but now they'll wait even longer to move him.
In an interview on 1500-ESPN, Twins GM Bill Smith revealed that the club finished a distant second in the bidding for Japanese starter Hisashi Iwakuma (information passed along by Aaron Gleeman). Minnesota offered $7.7MM for the hurler while the Athletics won the bidding with $19.1MM. Ultimately, Iwakuma and the A's couldn't agree to terms.

Discussion: Will Padres Give Bell A Multiyear Deal?

By Zachary Links | January 9, 2011 at 7:15pm CDT

Earlier this week, Padres closer Heath Bell told Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune that he hopes to remain with the club well beyond 2011. Bell, who earned $4MM in 2010 after avoiding arbitration, even went so far as to say that a new multiyear deal in San Diego would be his "dream". However, GM Jed Hoyer was non-committal when asked about Bell's future with the team.

"I'm sure a discussion of a multiyear contract for Heath will come up," Hoyer said. "[Bell's agent] and I have a good working relationship. We've touched on the subject although it's early."

Despite a great deal of speculation to the contrary, the Friars chose not to deal the 33-year-old after sending Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox. The Padres are willing to fork over between $6-7MM in arbitration to Bell this winter but Center writes that a three-year deal would easily top $20MM. It's hard to argue that the right-hander isn't worth the money after turning in a 1.93 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 67 games.

Right now the club is more or less done making moves for 2011 and their payroll sits at just over $40MM. A multiyear deal for Bell would swallow up a significant portion of their budget. Does it make sense for the Padres to give Bell that sort of contract when considering their limited funds?

MLBTR Originals

By Zachary Links | January 9, 2011 at 5:58pm CDT

Here's a look back at some of the analysis and reporting MLBTR's writing team produced this week..

Want to know what kind of transactions we can expect in early January? Take a peek at the history of transactions made on January 2nd and January 8th in years past.
This year's incarnation of the Diamondbacks will likely have fewer strikeouts at the plate, but Mike Axisa wonders what effect that could have on their production.
This week we discussed the Twins' bullpen and the Angels' offseason while readers weighed in on the Rockies extensions, which blockbuster deal they preferred, and the next landing spot for Orlando Cabrera.
Speaking of polls, click here to let us know what MLBTR posts you read regularly.
Want to help contribute to MLBTR? We're currently looking for team coordinators.
What an honor for Bert Blyleven! I'm of course talking about his selection as Howard Megdal's Jack Of All Trades for this week.
Ben Nicholson-Smith examined the teams that came close to making the playoffs last season.
The Adrian Beltre deal had a ripple effect on several parties.
Want the best of the baseball blogosphere in one handy post? We got you covered with the latest edition of Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
"Odds & Ends" is so 2010. Get with the times grandpa – these days the cool kids are calling it "Quick Hits".
On Wednesday, Ben Nicholson-Smith hosted our weekly chat.
We recently introduced an Arbitration Tracker, which you can find under the "tools" tab at the top of the site. Under that tab you'll also find our Transaction Tracker and Free Agent Tracker.

Week In Review: 1/2/11 – 1/8/11

By Steve Adams | January 9, 2011 at 4:51pm CDT

Lots of headlines made over the past week, so let's dive right into our recap of what the first full week of 2011 had to offer:

In what seemed an unlikely fit, the Rangers lessened the blow of missing out on Cliff Lee by signing Adrian Beltre to a five-year, $80MM contract with a vesting $16MM option. Beltre turned down offers from the A's and Angels. Michael Young will be shifted once again, this time to a DH/utility role. Texas has made it clear to Young though that he's not getting traded. This also means Vladimir Guerrero will be looking for a new home for 2011.
The Rangers also made an addition to their rotation, signing Brandon Webb to a one-year deal for $3MM plus incentives.
After months of saying they wouldn't trade a pitcher, Tampa changed its tune when the Cubs offered up an enormous haul for Matt Garza. The Cubs acquired Garza, Fernando Perez, and Zach Rosscup in exchange for Chris Archer, Hak-Ju Lee, Brandon Guyer, Robinson Chirinos, and Sam Fuld. Andrew Friedman says he will reallocate Garza's salary (approximately $5-6MM) to other team needs. Many feel the Cubs gave up more for Garza than the Brewers did for Zack Greinke, as you can read in the trade reactions piece.
It may not have been the three years he was looking for, but Adam LaRoche received a two-year deal from Washington that will guarantee him $16MM.
The Rockies dished out another mammoth extension, as they've agreed to lock up Carlos Gonzalez for the next seven years and around $80MM. CarGo will take a physical this week and a press conference will follow.
A second extension was signed this week when Dan Uggla agreed to a five-year $62MM extension in Atlanta before ever even playing a game in a Braves uniform.
We learned of two extensions that were turned down last offseason: both John Danks and Carlos Quentin rejected offers from the White Sox.
The Twins are closing in on a two-year deal with Carl Pavano, but nothing's been agreed upon yet. We learned this week that Kansas City and Pittsburgh are also options for the mustache-clad righty.
Several bullpen signings this week: The Orioles added Kevin Gregg for two years and $10MM (plus a vesting option), the White Sox gave Will Ohman a two-year deal worth $4MM, and the Phillies re-signed J.C. Romero for one year and $1.35MM.
The Reds signed Edgar Renteria to a one-year deal that guarantees him $2.1MM.
The Mariners worked out a two-year deal with Brendan Ryan that will pay the slick fielder $2.75MM.
The Mets signed Chris Capuano and Taylor Buchholz for $1.5MM and $600K, respectively. They also DFA'ed Ryota Igarashi.
Even with his starting spot likely gone, Mike Cameron is happy in Boston and unlikely to be dealt anywhere. Other Red Sox news this week included their claim of Max Ramirez off waivers from Texas, and subsequent DFA of Matt Fox.
The Cardinals officially opened extension talks with Albert Pujols last week, although don't expect anything in the near future, as that will undoubtedly be a lengthy negotiation process.
Some conflicting reports about the Yankees and their interest in Rafael Soriano emerged this week. Soriano said he's open to setting up for Mariano Rivera, but GM Brian Cashman said the club would not surrender its first-round pick with Cliff Lee off the board. Later in the week though, we heard the Yankees are still in on Soriano.
One more note on another potential closer: the Blue Jays emerged as a "serious suitor" for Brian Fuentes this week, despite having already signed Octavio Dotel. Fuentes is looking for multiple years and a closing gig.

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