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Archives for March 2011

Padres Express Interest In Bengie Molina

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7:24pm: Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News spoke with Molina today and heard that he's definitely not retired (Twitter link). However, he won't play unless he gets a guaranteed deal at a respectable salary.

6:55pm: The Padres inquired on Molina and heard that he is retired, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (on Twitter).

6:23pm: Gregg Zaun retired mere hours ago, and the Padres are already after a former platoon partner of his. The San Diego front office reached out to Bengie Molina, according to Marty Caswell of XX 1090 in San Diego (on Twitter). However, Molina said he's not inclined to play and sounds retired. 

Molina was talking to a couple of teams a month ago, though at the time he was unsure whether to accept their offers. “They're not offering what we want, for sure. I don’t know right now what’s going to happen," Molina told Newsday's Ken Davidoff. Molina is looking for significant playing time and $4MM or so in salary, which could be problematic since the Padres intend to make Nick Hundley their primary catcher and have less financial might than most teams.

The Astros just lost Jason Castro to injury so Molina has had a couple of potential destinations emerge this spring. MLBTR's Mark Polishuk took a close look at the Astros' catching options last week.

Felix Hernandez Remains Unavailable

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Though the Mariners field occasional inquiries about the availability of their ace, GM Jack Zduriencik told Jon Heyman of SI.com that he has no interest in trading Felix Hernandez.

"He's not going anywhere,'' Zduriencik said. "We've got him. We'll keep him. We're not going to move him.''

Zduriencik says the Mariners are not about to consider trading Hernandez, since they’re trying to build a winner around their top starter. Hernandez, who allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings in his spring debut today, can block trades to ten teams and says he hopes to continue his career in Seattle (his no-trade list is composed of high-revenue teams to boost leverage). The 24-year-old is under team control through 2014 and will earn a base salary of $68MM over the course of the next four years.

The Yankees are on the right-hander’s list, though he appears to be open to playing for them. GM Brian Cashman called to express interest earlier in the winter, but Zduriencik said the sides haven’t talked about a Hernandez trade in months. “We'd be foolish to move him,'' Zduriencik said.

Cardinals Inclined To Pursue Bullpen Help

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They just lost one of the best starters in the National League, but the Cardinals are eyeing relievers as they aim to restore pitching depth, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). The Cardinals, who lost Adam Wainwright to season-ending Tommy John surgery, are now more inclined to pursue a reliever than a starter.

GM John Mozeliak has said that he'll evaluate in-house options before pursuing pitching and maintained that talk of trades or signings is "still a little premature." The Cardinals' need for pitching became more pronounced when Chris Carpenter's hamstring started acting up last week. There's no timetable for his return at the moment.

MLBTR's Mike Axisa listed some potentially available starting pitchers last month. 

The Oldest $100MM Players

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Kevin Brown signed the first nine-figure deal in baseball history after the 1998 season. 33 at the time, Brown had just logged 257 innings for the NL Champion Padres, striking out 257 and posting a 2.38 ERA (164 ERA+). Brown provided the Dodgers with some elite seasons before moving to New York, where he disappointed in pinstripes.

In the decade-plus since Brown finalized his record deal, all 25 players to sign for $100MM or more have been younger than he was. Here's the complete list of $100MM players sorted by age, courtesy of MLBTR's Transaction Tracker:

  • Kevin Brown, 33, signed a seven-year, $105MM deal on 12/12/1998.
  • Alex Rodriguez, 32, signed a ten-year, $275MM deal on 12/13/2007.
  • Cliff Lee, 32, signed a five-year, $120MM deal on 12/13/2010.
  • Jayson Werth, 31, signed a seven-year, $126MM deal on 12/05/2010.
  • Ken Griffey Jr., 30, signed a nine-year, $116.5MM deal on 2/11/2000.
  • Jason Giambi, 30, signed a seven-year, $120MM deal on 12/18/2001.
  • Alfonso Soriano, 30, signed an eight-year, $136MM deal on 11/20/2006.
  • Carlos Lee, 30, signed a six-year, $100MM deal on 11/24/2006.
  • Ryan Howard, 30, signed a five-year, $125MM extension on 4/26/2010.
  • Matt Holliday, 29, signed a seven-year, $120MM deal on 1/7/2010.
  • Carl Crawford, 29, signed a seven-year, $142MM deal on 12/8/2010.
  • Mike Hampton, 28, signed an eight-year, $121MM deal on 12/12/2000.
  • Manny Ramirez, 28, signed an eight-year, $160MM deal on 12/19/2000.
  • Vernon Wells, 28, signed a seven-year, $126MM deal on 12/20/2006.
  • Barry Zito, 28, signed a seven-year, $126MM deal on 12/29/2006.
  • Johan Santana, 28, signed a six-year, $137.5MM deal on 2/2/2008.
  • C.C. Sabathia, 28, signed a seven-year, $161MM deal on 12/20/2008.
  • Mark Teixeira, 28, signed an eight-year, $180MM deal on 1/6/2009.
  • Todd Helton, 27, signed a nine-year, $141.5MM deal on 3/1/2001.
  • Carlos Beltran, 27, signed a seven-year, $119MM deal on 1/13/2005.
  • Derek Jeter, 26, signed a ten-year, $189MM deal on 2/1/2001.
  • Joe Mauer, 26, signed an eight-year, $184MM deal on 3/21/2010.
  • Troy Tulowitzki, 26, signed a six-year, $119MM deal on 11/30/2010. For more on Tulo's deal click here.
  • Alex Rodriguez, 25, signed a ten-year, $252MM deal on 12/1/2000.
  • Albert Pujols, 24, signed a seven-year, $100MM deal on 2/19/2004.
  • Miguel Cabrera, 24, signed an eight-year, $152.3MM deal on 3/24/2008.

Indians Sign Nick Johnson

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The Indians, perhaps seeking a midseason OBP boost, officially signed first baseman/DH Nick Johnson to a minor league deal today.  Johnson will earn $750K if he makes the team, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  The Indians have a $2.75MM option for 2012, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter).

Rex Gary, Johnson's agent, recently explained to MLBTR that his client is "heading in the right direction" after being limited to 24 games last year due to a wrist injury. Though Johnson probably won't be ready for the beginning of the season and can't swing a bat all-out at this point, he should be ready soon after the season starts.

Johnson, 32, has a .401 on-base percentage over the course of a nine-year career that's seen him hit the disabled list nine times. If Johnson can recover from the wrist operation that sidelined him for most of the 2010 campaign, the Indians will have added a cheap on-base specialist to contribute at first base and DH when Matt LaPorta and Travis Hafner are rested.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement on Twitter.

Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.

Cardinals Notes: Freese, Carpenter, Calero

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The latest on the Cardinals, as third baseman David Freese makes his first spring start…

  • Freese is now represented by CAA, tweets the agency.  Phil Tannenbaum was his previous agent.  Freese, 28 next month, is a ways off from arbitration eligibility.
  • Chris Carpenter felt a twinge in his left hamstring during yesterday's bullpen session, reports Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  He's looking doubtful to start Friday, but there's no timetable for his return.  Carpenter's hamstring first became a concern six days ago in a start against the Marlins.  Perhaps by the weekend the Cardinals will decide whether to explore external options with Adam Wainwright out of the season and Carpenter's status unknown.    
  • Kiko Calero's slider looked good in his Cardinals audition, tweets SI's Jon Heyman, but the team told the righty they have a full roster.

Astros Interested In Jesus Flores

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The Astros are looking at the Nationals' Jesus Flores as a possible replacement for Jason Castro, reports Ben Goessling of MASNsports.com.  The two teams face off today, so hopefully the Nationals will get Flores into the game for the Astros scouts on hand.  The Astros are concerned about the condition of Flores' shoulder, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.

Flores, 26, was signed by the Mets out of Venezuela nine years ago.  Coming off a solid age 21 season in Low-A ball, Nationals GM Jim Bowden took Flores in the 2006 Rule 5 draft.  Flores served his time in the Majors in '07 as Brian Schneider's backup, and by June of '08 he'd won the team's starting catcher job.  In May of '09, a foul tip off the bat of Chris Young set in motion a major shoulder problem.  The injury went from being labeled a bruise to a stress fracture to a torn labrum, resulting in September '09 surgery.

During Flores' long recovery, the Nationals signed Ivan Rodriguez, traded for Wilson Ramos, and saw major development from prospect Derek Norris.  Now expendable for Washington, Flores is a great fit for an Astros club that can give him consistent at-bats with Castro out for the season with a torn ACL.

This Offseason’s Mutual Options

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One year ago, MLBTR's Mike Axisa asked whether mutual options were baseball's new fad, after at least a dozen were included in contracts during the 2009-10 offseason.  As Mike explained, mutual options are almost never picked up by both sides.  Instead, they're one way of pushing dollars onto next year's payroll, a more basic version of deferred money.  The team can also avoid the buyout altogether when the player declines, in many cases.  Here's a look at the eleven contracts from this offseason that included mutual options:

Francoeur's buyout is unknown, but otherwise overall the buyouts accounted for 8.7% of the total guaranteed money.  At most, a mutual option is a way of pushing a million bucks onto next year's payroll to create flexibility this year.

Who’s Next For A Matt Thornton Contract?

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The White Sox "jumped the market" in signing reliever Matt Thornton to a two-year, $12MM extension with a club option for 2014, in the opinion of ESPN's Buster Olney.  With free agent relievers cashing in this offseason like never before, the Sox moved early on Thornton to avoid guaranteeing a third year.  Olney would not be surprised to see other relievers get similar deals in the coming months; let's look at a few possibilities.

  • Ryan Madson is the best candidate, as he turns 31 this year and passed on the free agent market once before despite being represented by Scott Boras.  A vintage Madson season puts him in line for three years and $15MM at the least.
  • Heath Bell's agent is expected to talk with the Padres during Spring Training, but it's hard to picture the team doing something even in the Huston Street range of three years, $22.5MM.  Bell might need to be traded before finding a suitable extension offer.
  • Matt Capps is probably only an extension candidate with the Twins if they decide to let Joe Nathan leave after the season.  Three-year deals for setup men at top dollar are not the Twins' style, as they seemingly didn't consider the possibility with departing free agents Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain.
  • Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox have been content to go year-to-year, so this is probably his last season in Boston.  If he's dealt midseason for some reason, maybe his new team would consider an extension.
  • Frank Francisco might fit the criteria with a good showing, though the Jays may prefer to bring in new veterans on one-year deals.
  • Jonathan Broxton could return to form this year as the Dodgers' closer.  If so, the team could try to pluck him off the market early.
  • Check out the relievers on our 2012 free agent list – do you see any other candidates to be locked up before the season ends?

Red Sox Notes: Adrian, Buchholz, Miller

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The latest on the Red Sox, as John Lackey prepares for his second Spring Training start…

  • Though Adrian Gonzalez and the Red Sox have not resumed contract talks since the weekend they traded for him, there is an understanding that a seven-year deal at around $22MM per year will get it done, writes ESPN's Buster Olney.  Gonzalez has said a couple of times that there's no pre-set agreement in place, but his agent John Boggs and Sox president Larry Lucchino both expect a deal.
  • Regarding a potential multiyear extension, Clay Buchholz told WEEI's Kirk Minihane, "I think we've talked a little bit about it but there's nothing."  Buchholz likes the five-year, $30MM deals signed by Jon Lester, Yovani Gallardo, and Ricky Romero, but perhaps the Red Sox need to see more.  Buchholz's numbers are comparable to those players, but for a team there is a lot that goes into the decision beyond the stats.
  • Manager Terry Francona explained to ESPN's Gordon Edes that he's thinking about the long-term with lefty Andrew Miller (Twitter link).  The Red Sox were able to get a unique contract approved for Miller with the aim of subverting the option system, with a $3MM club option that vests for 2012 if he's claimed by another team.  On one hand, the Commissioner's Office allowed this clause at first pass.  Still, I've spoken to a few execs who think the Red Sox won't get away with it if Miller is actually claimed.
  • Red Sox players are meeting today with Players' Association executive director Michael Weiner as well as several special assistants.  Jed Lowrie may have a lot to contribute; Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald says the shortstop recently finished up a political science degree from Stanford by writing a 17-page paper comparing the players' unions in MLB and the NFL.

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