Archives for February 2011

Players Claimed Off Waivers Twice This Offseason

By Mike Axisa | February 20, 2011 at 8:43pm CDT

Swarms of players are selected off waivers every offseason, but every so often we'll see a player get claimed more than once in a single winter. As our Transaction Tracker shows, four players were claimed off waivers on two different occasions since the end of the 2010 regular season. Let's review…

Philip Humber, RHP: The former third overall pick in the draft (2004), the 28-year-old Humber is perhaps best known for being included in the package the Twins received from the Mets for Johan Santana in early-2008. The Athletics grabbed him off waivers from the Royals in mid-December after he'd been designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Jeff Francoeur. The White Sox then plucked him off waivers from the A's about a month later, after he'd been cut to make room for Guillermo Moscoso.
Jordan Parraz, OF: The Red Sox started the chain reaction by claiming Parraz off waivers from the Royals in late-November, then the Yankees stepped in and grabbed him a few weeks later.
Max Ramirez, C/1B: The Red Sox almost acquired Ramirez from the Rangers last offseason before Mike Lowell's finger injury nixed the deal, but Theo Epstein eventually got his man by selecting him off waivers from Texas in early-January. Ramirez had been DFA'd to make room on the Rangers' roster for Brandon Webb. A few days later, the Cubs grabbed Ramirez off waivers from Boston.
Brian Schlitter, RHP: When the Cubs placed Carlos Zambrano on the restricted list last season, Schlitter was the pitcher called up from the minors to fill the vacated spot on the pitching staff. The Yankees claimed him off waivers from the north siders in early January, but lost him this week when the Phillies scooped him up. New York designated him for assignment to make room for Andruw Jones.

Rizzo On Roster Holes, Depth, Pitching, Werth

By Mike Axisa | February 20, 2011 at 7:01pm CDT

Both CSNWashington.com's Mark Zuckerman and MLB.com's Bill Ladson conducted Q&A's with Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo on Sunday, so let's round up the news…

"[We're] always looking to improve," said Rizzo when asked about specific needs before the season begins. "But we think we're pretty set, we're pretty solid in a lot of aspects of the club."
The Nationals have built up some depth, and there's a chance teams will come calling as they look to fill holes on their roster. "From what I've heard and the phone calls I've gotten, I think we're going to be heavily scouted and heavily watched for that reason," said the GM.
"Long-term, we want to keep them all in the pipeline," said Rizzo, referring to his catching depth. "We'd have to make a trade that really makes a lot of sense for us and really strengthens us in a position we're weakest at."
When asked about the team's pursuit of an ace-caliber pitcher, Rizzo said: "We knew going into the offseason, it was a priority for us to improve our rotation. It was probably not the best move to announce to the world that it was our main goal, but that's me. I made the statement because that was what I thought. It was a need of ours. What I found out was, ace pitchers are very difficult to acquire. It's much better and much easier to develop your own. We are always looking and we are still trying to improve ourselves, but they are very difficult to get."
Rizzo believes the Jayson Werth deal is the beginning of an era when really good players start coming to Washington. "What it did prove is, we are here to win games. We have an organization that is willing to spend money to acquire talent. We showed it, not only in the last two drafts, but in the free-agent market."

Rizzo also provided updates on the health of Stephen Strasburg and Chien-Ming Wang, the plan for Bryce Harper, and the expiring contract of manager Jim Riggleman.

MLBTR Originals: 2/13/11 – 2/20/11

By Mike Axisa | February 20, 2011 at 5:44pm CDT

Major League camps opened all across Florida and Arizona this week, but that doesn't mean hot stove news has taken a back seat to the game on the field. Here's a recap of the original content we produced this week…

Tim Dierkes continued his Offseason In Review series by looking at two NL Central clubs, the Pirates and Cubs.
Ben Nicholson-Smith rounded up the contract extensions given to arbitration-eligible players this winter, as well as those that did not buy out free agent years. He also explained the challenge the Cardinals are facing after failing to sign Albert Pujols long-term, found some potential suitors for CC Sabathia, and looked ahead to some second basemen who will be free agents after the season.
Ben appeared at Yahoo! Sports to discuss potential suitors for Pujols, and at FanGraphs to review this winter's relief pitcher market.
Our series looking at players in make or break years continued with Aramis Ramirez of the Cubs and Casey Blake of the Dodgers.
I looked ahead to some 2012 vesting options we should keep an eye on this summer.
This week's poll questions asked which move you thought was the best of the offseason, and whether or not you'd offer Jose Bautista $64MM+. Bautista's future was also a discussion topic.
Howard Megdal's latest Jack of all Trades post looked at players born on February 17th. He also examined some transactions that took place on Valentine's Day.
The best the blogosphere had to offer was rounded up Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
This week's chat transcript can be found here.
If you're new to MLBTR, here's a handy guide on all the different ways you can use the site. Be sure to check out and subscribe to our team and transaction-only feeds.

Week In Review: 2/13/11 – 2/19/11

By Steve Adams | February 20, 2011 at 4:51pm CDT

We saw some big news this week, most notably that Albert Pujols and the Cardinals did not reach an extension prior to his Feb. 16 deadline. Let's take a look at the rest of the highlights:

The Cardinals' reported offer to Pujols was incredibly low (relatively speaking of course) — in the range of $19MM-$21MM per season. Despite not reaching an agreement, Pujols wants to play in St. Louis for his entire career. Here's some more reactions to Albertageddon.
Jose Bautista mashed 54 homers last season, and the Blue Jays are believers. They locked the right fielder/third baseman up for the next five years with a $64MM contract. The Jays hold a $14MM option on a sixth year for Bautista.
The Brewers signed Rickie Weeks to a four-year extension that guarantees the former #2 overall pick $38.5MM. Milwaukee also holds an option on Weeks that could bring the deal to $50MM.
Elsewhere in the NL Central, the Cubs locked up their closer when they signed Carlos Marmol to a three-year deal worth $20MM. On a similar note, the Padres will discuss an extension with their own closer, Heath Bell, this Spring.
The Rockies and Matt Belisle agreed to a two-year deal that will guarantee the setup man $6.125MM. Colorado also inked John Maine to a minor league deal that will pay him $3MM if he makes the club.
The Rangers will discuss extending C.J. Wilson and other unnamed players. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports speculated that Neftali Feliz and Elvis Andrus are candidates.
In arbitration news, we saw Hunter Pence win his case against the Astros, while both Delmon Young and Kelly Johnson avoided hearings by agreeing to one-year deals. Young will make $5.375MM, while Johnson will be paid $5.85MM after a brilliant rebound season.
C.C. Sabathia is expected to opt out of his contract following the 2011 season. It'd be a weak free agent class, and Sabathia would clearly be the top available arm. Another AL lefty, Mark Buehrle, said he's leaning toward playing after 2011 even though he's discussed retirement before.
Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels both discussed their futures, with Oswalt undecided about pitching after 2011 and Hamels saying he wants to stay in Philadelphia long-term.
Kosuke Fukudome wants to remain in Major League Baseball after his contract expires this season, preferably with the Cubs. The results on Fukudome have underwhelmed, but he does have a career .368 OBP in MLB.
Scott Boras will serve as an adviser to potential #1 overall pick Anthony Rendon in 2011. Boras represented the past two number one picks — Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.
Ronald Belisario may miss the 2011 season as a result of visa issues.
Notable minor league signings in addition to Maine's deal include Russell Branyan with the D'Backs and Scott Podsednik with the Blue Jays. Check our transactions section for more minor moves.
Two of the game's elite sluggers for the better part of a decade officially retired this week. Jim Edmonds hung up the spikes, and Gary Sheffield officially filed his papers as well. Best of luck to both players.

Phillies Claim Brian Schlitter

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 20, 2011 at 2:22pm CDT

SUNDAY: Carpenter has cleared waivers and been assigned to Triple-A, tweets CSN's Jim Salisbury. He'll return to the Phillies' big league camp tomorrow as a non-roster player.

TUESDAY: Cliff Lee isn't the only pitcher the Phillies nabbed from the Yankees this winter. The Phillies announced that they claimed Brian Schlitter from New York off of waivers. Philadelphia designated Andrew Carpenter for assignment to create room for Schlitter, who was designated for assignment yesterday.

Schlitter was already claimed once this year; the Yankees acquired him from the Cubs last month. The right-hander appeared in seven games for the Cubs last year and surrendered 18 hits and five walks in eight innings, striking out seven. He spent most of the season at Triple-A Iowa, where he posted a 3.15 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 45 2/3 innings in his first season at the highest level of the minors.

Carpenter, 25, has played for the Phillies in each of the last three seasons, but never for more than 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander posted a 4.05 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 27 starts for the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate last year. Baseball America does not consider the 2006 second rounder one of the Phillies' top 30 prospects.

Luis Atilano Clears Waivers

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 20, 2011 at 1:14pm CDT

SUNDAY: Atilano has cleared waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Syracuse, tweets Ben Goessling of MASNsports. He will report to Spring Training with the big league camp.

WEDNESDAY: The Nationals announced that they designated right-hander Luis Atilano for assignment to create roster space for Adam LaRoche, whose contract was finally approved (Twitter link).

Atilano started 16 games for the Nationals last year and posted a 5.15 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 85 2/3 innings. The 2003 first rounder has never induced many strikeouts as a pro, but he doesn't walk hitters, either. In 604 1/3 minor league innings, the 25-year-old right-hander has a 3.93 ERA with 4.8 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9.

Team And Transaction-Only Feeds

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 20, 2011 at 1:00pm CDT

If you'd like to filter MLBTR's information by team or limit it to transactions only, we've got you covered.

In the navigation bar, check out the Feeds By Team dropdown. Clicking on the name of a team returns all the posts that reference that club. For example, this page displays only posts with Braves-related rumors. The newest will always be on top.

Next to the word "Braves" you'll see an RSS button and a Twitter button. The RSS button leads here, to the URL you'd put into your RSS reader to receive only our Braves rumors. The Twitter button takes you to @mlbtrbraves, which shows all posts involving the team. The MLBTR team Twitter pages are also a place to quickly receive info from team press releases, even if that info is not used on the main site.

Be sure to check out your favorite team's MLBTR page on Facebook so you can receive and comment on the latest rumors.

If you'd prefer to monitor only actual transactions, we've got several options. Our Transactions page shows only posts marked as transactions, such as signings, trades, DFAs, and releases. You can also get this same info on Twitter and RSS.

NL Central Links: Fielder, Pujols, Batista, Pirates

By Luke Adams 2 | February 20, 2011 at 12:32pm CDT

The two biggest free agents available next winter could potentially come from the NL Central – Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder. The Pujols negotiations have been well documented, and it was Fielder's turn to address the issue today when he arrived at the Brewers' camp. Though he declined to comment on his own contract situation, the Brewers slugger also received a few questions about Pujols. Asked whether, as a baseball fan, he wants to see the three-time MVP remain in St. Louis, Fielder replied that he'd like to see Pujols play "where he's happy," tweets MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Here are the rest of today's NL Central links:

Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch argues that the Cardinals should've done with Pujols what the Phillies did with Ryan Howard, and worked out an extension long before it became a potential distraction. Easier said than done, I'd imagine.
The Cardinals had interest in Miguel Batista for a few years before signing him this offseason, as Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch writes. Batista, who is on a minor league contract, is the favorite to land the team's final bullpen opening.
While Pirates president Frank Coonelly said he expects GM Neal Huntington to be with the team "for a long time," Huntington's contract will expire at the end of the 2011 season. According to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the club will continue to evaluate Huntington's performance this year before making any long-term decisions.
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette takes a look at Anthony Rendon, who is the current favorite to be drafted first overall by the Pirates this summer. Rendon is being advised by Scott Boras.
Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr. was surprised the team lost its arbitration hearing with Hunter Pence, says Stephen Goff of the Houston Examiner.

Indians Notes: Masterson, Bonderman, Carmona

By Luke Adams 2 | February 20, 2011 at 11:52am CDT

Paul Hoynes and Terry Pluto at the Cleveland Plain Dealer have the latest on the Tribe….

In a mailbag, Hoynes explains that the Indians likely didn't consider bringing back Manny Ramirez because they preferred to add a player who could handle the outfield – like Austin Kearns.
Within the same article, Hoynes says that the Red Sox have approached the Indians multiple times about the possibility of re-acquiring Justin Masterson. The Indians aren't likely to move the right-hander, but Hoynes points out they'd be "silly not to listen."
Hoynes also adds that he still thinks Jeremy Bonderman could become an Indian, on a minor league deal. However, he doesn't see the team signing Kevin Millwood unless the veteran's asking price goes down.
In a separate piece, Fausto Carmona tells Hoynes that he's happy in Cleveland and unfazed by trade rumors involving him: "I never read the newspaper in the Dominican Republic. I can't control the situation. A lot of people see something on the Internet and call me and say do you know about this trade? I just tell them I'm ready to play, no matter what the situation."
Pluto says he's come around on the Orlando Cabrera signing after finding out it was only for $1MM. He notes that, if Cabrera plays well, the Tribe could turn him into a midseason trade chip as they did with Russell Branyan last year.

Cafardo’s Latest: Molina, Aceves, Nathan, Cameron

By Luke Adams 2 | February 20, 2011 at 11:07am CDT

Bruce Bochy, coming off a World Series victory, tops Nick Cafardo's list of baseball's best managers in the Boston Globe. Cafardo, who ranks baseball's skippers 1 through 30, praises Bochy's "flawless postseason," explaining that he "had a pretty dynamite pitching staff in San Francisco but basically took a team of vagabonds to the highest peak." Here are some other items of interest from Cafardo's piece:

Bengie Molina has gone back and forth on whether he wants to play this year. A team like the Red Sox wouldn't mind adding him for insurance, but Molina would be looking for a job that offers fairly consistent playing time.
Alfredo Aceves, who recently signed with the Red Sox, "wasn't pleased" that the Yankees didn't show a stronger interest in re-signing him. Brian Cashman said the Yanks only offered Aceves a minor league deal due to injury concerns.
Joe Nathan's recovery from Tommy John surgery is on track and he expects to be ready for the start of the season. Twins management is confident in Nathan's health as well, which is why the team didn't make significant additions to a bullpen that lost Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain, and Jon Rauch.
Although Cafardo thinks Mike Cameron will see plenty of playing time in Boston this year, he cautions that the outfielder could become trade bait before the end of Spring Training. One National League scout's thoughts: "Cameron is a guy who fits well on a team because he’s versatile, plays excellent defense, and can hit left-handed pitching. A team like the Phillies would have to be interested, but he’s a guy who could help a lot of teams."

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