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Archives for March 2011

Amaro: Phillies Are Maxed Out, Rumors Are “B.S.”

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Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio that the Phillies have maxed out their payroll and that any rumors about the team acquiring an infielder are "B.S." David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News provides a transcript of the conversation and points out that Amaro said similar things before acquiring Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee last year.

Amaro notes that the Phillies' payroll will be over $160MM and says no room for potential acquisitions exists. Chase Utley has an injured knee, prompting many – including MLBTR - to speculate on potential trades for the Phillies.

Teams Inquiring On Chris Davis

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As Mitch Moreland solidifies his case to become the Rangers’ regular first baseman, the team is receiving inquiries on the availability of another young infielder. GM Jon Daniels told MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan that rival teams are calling about Chris Davis.

"We have been asked about him," Daniels said. "Obviously there is no clean fit as we sit in Spring Training, but we all know things can change. We have to be prepared for anything. We've got time to see how things play out."

Davis doesn’t seem likely to win the starting first base job despite a .387 spring average and two home runs. Manager Ron Washington says it's Moreland's job to lose and that he has been impressed with the first baseman's offense and defense.

The Rangers could send Davis to the minor leagues without exposing him to waivers if they aren’t swayed by any offers, since the 24-year-old has an option remaining. Davis, who has been playing third base this spring, has a .248/.300/.459 line in three seasons as a major leaguer. Like Moreland, he struggles against left-handed pitching.

I looked ahead to the year that awaits the two first basemen last week.

Rays Re-Claim Cesar Cabral

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Just two days after losing him to the Blue Jays, the Rays have re-claimed Cesar Cabral. The Tampa Tribune reports that the Rays claimed the left-hander off of waivers from Toronto (Twitter link). The Blue Jays had hoped to work out a trade with the Red Sox, Cabral's original team, but it appears that they were unable to do so.

The Rays selected Cabral in the 2010 Rule 5 draft, so they'll have to offer him back to Boston if they don't keep him on their roster all year. The 22-year-old left-hander posted a 3.63 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 last year for Boston's Class A affiliates. 

AL West Notes: Tomko, Felix, Robertson

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The Rangers are asking for top prospects in exchange for Michael Young and there's lots more going on in Texas and around the AL West. Here's the latest…

  • Brett Tomko can opt out of his contract with the Rangers on June 1st, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The clause presumably exists in case Tomko is still in the minors at that point.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports argues that the Mariners should call the Yankees and see exactly how much they'd give up for Felix Hernandez. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner is under contract through 2014 for a total of $68MM.
  • Nate Robertson will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow and miss at least four weeks. As MLB.com's Greg Johns points out, that leaves Michael Pineda, Luke French and David Pauley as the primary candidates for the Mariners' fifth rotation spot.
  • Johns reports that the Mariners turned a $1.7MM  profit in the fiscal year ending on October 31st, 2010.

The Asking Price For Michael Young

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It's not easy to find teams with $16MM to spare in mid-March, when most GMs have exhausted their offseason budgets. The number of potential takers for $16MM players shrinks even more when the trade candidate earns $16MM annually through 2013 and has no-trade protection. 

Young

That's why the Rangers aren't going to have a simple time trading Michael Young, who requested a trade, saying that he has been "misled and manipulated." Young can veto trades to 21 teams and he'll have a full no-trade clause in May when his 10-and-5 rights kick in. ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that the Rangers are still asking for top prospects in return for Young, so Texas' asking price first seems unrealistic given all of the obstacles in place.

But former Indians GM Mark Shapiro traded similar players for top prospects in 2008 and 2009, so there's some hope for Jon Daniels, Nolan Ryan and the rest of Texas' front office.

Shapiro sent Casey Blake and cash to the Dodgers for Carlos Santana and Jon Meloan in 2008. At the time, Blake was in his age-34 season and had a .289/.365/.465 line as a utility player for the Indians. The next year, the Tribe sent Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals for Jess Todd, now the Indians' 27th-ranked prospect, and Chris Perez, who has become the team's closer. DeRosa, another utility player, was also in his age-34 season and at the time he had a similar line to the one Blake had in 2008: .270/.342/.457.

Young is coming off of a comparable year; he hit .284/.330/.444 for Texas in 2010. Now a utility player himself, Young resembles Blake and DeRosa to a considerable extent. He's in his age-34 season and has 20 homer pop and the versatility to play multiple positions.

There are significant differences, of course. Blake and DeRosa were not franchise players like Young, the longest tenured Ranger. Plus, Blake ($6.1MM) and DeRosa ($5.5MM) were making about $10MM less than Young will earn in 2011. Young's pedigree includes six All-Star Game selections, a Gold Glove and a batting title, but that doesn't make up the $10MM gap between him and the others.

The Rangers face obstacles that the Indians weren't up against in 2008-09, but Shapiro's trades should give the Rangers some hope. Though Texas may not be able to unload Young's entire contract or close to it, there is some precedent for turning comparable players into top prospects.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

Blue Jays Sign Chris Woodward

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The Blue Jays have signed Chris Woodward to a minor league deal, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (on Twitter). The former Blue Jay will fill in on the infield and postpone his plans to become an agent, according to Griffin.

The Blue Jays selected Woodward 17 years ago, in the 54th round of the 1994 draft. He was in the majors five years later and played for the Blue Jays from 1999-2004 as a backup infielder. The 34-year-old appeared in eight games for the Mariners last year and also has big league experience with the Mets, Braves and Red Sox.

Woodward, who has played every position but pitcher and catcher in the Major Leagues, has spent most of his career at short, second and third. He has a .241/.298/.362 line in 1886 MLB plate appearances over the course of 11 years.

Jack Of All Trades: Oliver Perez

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It's been a rough week for Oliver Perez, and given his overall tenure with the Mets, that is no small feat. Thanks to his 9.00 spring ERA and inability to throw strikes or reach 90 miles per hour with his fastball, the Mets removed Perez from consideration for the starting rotation. Those difficulties are likely to lead to Perez's failure in the bullpen, too, and his eventual release.

If this is where it ends, Perez will almost certainly be viewed as a cautionary tale from an acquisition perspective. After all, the Mets signed Perez to a three-year, $36MM contract prior to the 2009 season, only to receive 112 1/3 innings of 6.81 ERA pitching. So it may surprise some to find out that both times teams traded for Oliver Perez, they came out ahead.

The San Diego Padres signed Oliver Perez as an amateur free agent back in 1999. By 2002, he made his big league debut as a 20-year-old, displaying both the now-faded ability to strike batters out in droves and his still-present tendency to walk more than his share of hitters. Nevertheless, he offered tantalizing ability, leading to the Padres' decision to trade Perez, a 24-year-old Jason Bay and minor leaguer Corey Stewart to Pittsburgh for a 32-year-old Brian Giles.

While Giles had a decent-but-costly run of strong offense and diminishing defense for the Padres, Perez and Bay quickly made the deal look like a steal for the Pirates. Perez posted a 2.98 ERA in 196 innings, while Bay posted a .907 OPS and won the NL Rookie of the Year.

Put it wins above replacement terms, Perez earned a WAR of 5.1 in 2004, well above Giles' 3.0 and Bay's 2.2. In fact, Perez's 2004 was a more valuable season than any that anyone in the trade would enjoy, other than Jason Bay's 2009.

But contrast the $8.8MM salary Giles earned in 2004 with the $321K Perez took home, and $305K from Bay, and the gap becomes enormous.

Perez did go on to struggle in 2005 and 2006, with Bay carrying the lion's share of the value for the Pirates in subsequent years. Still, when Pittsburgh decided to unload Perez in 2006, it was the receiving team, the New York Mets, who benefited.

On July 31, 2006, New York traded starting right fielder Xavier Nady to the Pirates for Perez and Roberto Hernandez, a relief pitcher tabbed to replace the injured Duaner Sanchez. And while Perez struggled over the remainder of the 2006 season, he posted a 1.4 WAR in 2007 and a 1.5 WAR in 2008. By contrast, Nady provided -0.9 WAR in 2007 for the Pirates, and 1.9 WAR in 2008. Roberto Hernandez even chipped in another 0.2 WAR for the Mets at the tail end of 2006 to even out Nady and Perez that season.

Naturally, there are Mets fans who blame the trade for the subsequent contract debacle, just as a divorced couple often turns on the person who introduced them. Perez, in an odd bit of symmetry, followed his 1.4 and 1.5 WAR seasons in 2007 and 2008 with a -1.4 mark in 2009 and -1.5 in 2010, as if to erase every bit of good he'd done the team.

Still, all that proves is that signing Oliver Perez to a massive free agent contract hasn't been a good idea. Trading for Perez, on the other hand, is a winning proposition. Let this be a lesson to the other 29 teams, who probably have a few weeks at most before the only way they can acquire Perez is for free.

Reds Agree To Extension With Ryan Hanigan

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The Reds and Ryan Hanigan have agreed to a three-year contract that will pay the catcher $4MM. Hanigan, who is represented by Tom O'Connell, will also have the chance to earn another $800K in escalators based on playing time.

2011 is Hanigan's final pre-arbitration season, so the deal buys out two of his arb years. According to Olney, the 30-year-old will make $450K this year, $1.2MM in 2012, and $2.05MM in 2013. The deal also includes a $300K signing bonus and $400K in possible incentives in each of the '12 and '13 seasons. The Reds will have Hanigan under team control for one more season after the contract expires.

Splitting time behind the plate with Ramon Hernandez for the last two years, Hanigan hasn't displayed much power, but has posted exceptional on-base numbers. In 536 plate appearances in 2009 and 2010 combined, the longtime Red hit .280/.381/.374.

As MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows, Hanigan's will be the fifth contract extended for at least three years by the Reds this winter. ESPN.com's Buster Olney first reported the agreement and John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer confirmed that the Reds announced the deal.

Padres Return George Kontos To Yankees

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The Padres announced that they returned Rule 5 draft pick George Kontos to the Yankees. 

The 25-year-old split the 2010 season between Class A, Double-A and Triple-A, posting a 3.60 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 45 innings. It was his first action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July of 2009 and his first extended stint as a reliever. Baseball America ranked Kontos 27th among Padres prospects this offseason and suggested that his future is in the 'pen, since he hasn't developed a quality change-up and struggles to throw strikes at times.

Kontos has appeared in 97 minor league games (73 starts) since the Yankees selected him in the fifth round of the 2006 draft. Overall, he has a 3.47 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in the minors. The right-hander posted a 9.82 ERA in three spring appearances.

Offseason In Review: Colorado Rockies

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The Rockies are next in our Offseason In Review series.

Major League/International Signings

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Trades and Claims

Notable Losses

Summary

Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd is all about locking up his own players, despite mixed results.  The initial contracts for Troy Tulowitzki and Ubaldo Jimenez were masterstrokes, while extra years and dollars guaranteed to Huston Street, Chris Iannetta, and Aaron Cook have been regrettable.  Six Rockies were extended this winter, headlined by Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez.

The Tulo and CarGo extensions were very different situations, and I analyzed them here and here.  Both players were already under control through 2014, so O'Dowd is planning four years into the future with these deals.  He's gambled $167MM on nine player seasons for the pair from the year 2015 forward.  Whether these players age well is anyone's guess, but the contracts carry big risk and big potential reward.  It's not often we see a GM looking so far ahead.

The Rockies established cost certainty with the extensions for arbitration eligible pitchers Lindstrom and Hammel, though the safe move would have been going year-to-year.  The Rockies bought out a couple of free agent years at reasonable rates for Betancourt and Belisle after deciding not to offer a third year to free agent Matt Guerrier.    

JDLR

The Rockies made a pair of free agent commitments, retaining De La Rosa (pictured) and bringing in Wigginton.  On one hand, the De La Rosa contract was a win in that the Rockies didn't have to commit to a fourth year for a guy who's never topped 185 innings and posts ugly walk rates.  On the other, player options often ensure that the player re-enters the free agent market if he has a strong final season and stays put if he's not worth his option price.  I felt that the Rockies overpaid for Wigginton's versatility in an offseason where Eric Hinske signed for one year and $1.35MM.

On the trade front, I love the acquistion of Paulino for Barmes.  Barmes seemed headed for a non-tender, while Paulino's big strikeout rate and velocity qualify him as a sleeper.  The Rockies acquired a non-tender candidate of their own in Lopez, though $3.6MM isn't a bad gamble.  The price to acquire Lindstrom was reasonable as well.    

The 2011 Rockies look like an improved team, if De La Rosa, Hammel, and Jhoulys Chacin are able to provide full seasons in support of Jimenez.  Even if not, the bullpen looks deeper given the addition of Lindstrom and assuming good health for Street.  But this offseason was about much more than 2011, as O'Dowd invested heavily in the futures of Tulowitzki and Gonzalez.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

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