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Archives for January 2012

Android App Now Available

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Our Android app is now available in the marketplace!  It costs $2.99 and is called Baseball Trade Rumors.  The app's features:

  • Select only the players or teams you want, and receive a notification for every related new rumor
  • Be the first to know about any official trade or free agent signing with our Transaction notifications
  • Filter the main news page to show rumors for one specific team, or only the transactions
  • View the 40 latest stories from MLBTradeRumors.com, easily refreshed
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NL East Notes: Martinez, Mets, Phillies

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Former Phillies closer Ryan Madson is set to join the Reds, but that’s not the only news to emerge from the NL East tonight…

Quick Hits: Danks, Mariners, Dodgers

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The Giants signed Aubrey Huff to a one-year, $3MM deal on this date in 2010. It turned out to be a tremendous move, as Huff posted a .290/.385/.506 line with 26 homers and the Giants won the World Series. Here are today's links…

  • MLB owners are expected to consider expanding the playoffs in 2012 at their upcoming meetings, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. MLB will "likely" expand the postseason in 2012 since commissioner Bud Selig favors the expanded format. In case you missed it, Selig is set to obtain a two-year extension.
  • John Danks will earn a salary of just $500K in 2012, but the White Sox will pay him a $7.5MM signing bonus between June and October of this year, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin tweets. The entire $8MM sum counts against Chicago’s payroll.
  • Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato discussed the possibility of a worldwide draft with Sponichi (via Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker). “Japanese baseball is not an American minor league,” he said. “We have to be tough about things to be tough about.”
  • Two agents say the Mariners claim to have just $3-4MM to spend on remaining offseason needs, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. One of those agents says the speculation linking Prince Fielder to Seattle is "extremely overblown.'' 
  • The court battle over the Dodgers’ TV rights has ended, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times tweets. The Dodgers agreed to honor their existing deal with Fox and Fox will put an end to related litigation.

NL Central Notes: Maholm, Garza, Phillips

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The Cardinals, Brewers, Reds, Cubs and Astros have all grabbed headlines on MLBTR today. Here's the latest on the NL Central, starting with a longtime Pirates pitcher…

  • Left-hander Paul Maholm told Kevin Kennedy and Jim Duquette on MLB Network Radio that he wanted to sign with an NL Central team. The Pirates expressed some interest in the left-hander, but the Cubs ultimately signed him.
  • Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told Casey Stern and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio that he wanted to sign Maholm because of his youth, sinker and competitiveness. 
  • Hoyer says the Cubs are happy to have obtained some starting pitching depth and downplayed the idea that Matt Garza will be dealt now that Maholm's aboard. "Because we have six starters doesn't mean we're going to pare down to five by any means," he said. 
  • Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips told told Stern and Bowden he was happy to see the Reds pick his option up earlier in the offseason. He says he’s now focused on the upcoming season and doesn’t sound optimistic that an extension will be finalized any time soon. Phillips expressed his desire for an extension earlier in the offseason, explaining that he’s not going to give the Reds a hometown discount. "There’s no homeboy hookup. That ain’t going to work," Phillips said.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Maddon, Blue Jays

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The Orioles officially signed Wei-Yin Chen today and we caught up on the left-hander's new team earlier this evening. Here’s the latest on the rest of the AL East…

  • Alex Speier of WEEI.com hears from multiple sources that the Red Sox are not near a deal with Hiroki Kuroda. 
  • The Red Sox continue searching for low-cost pitching help, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. 
  • The Rays have started extension talks with manager Joe Maddon and plan to resume discussions soon, Jon Heyman of CBSSports tweets.
  • Agent Scott Boras told Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that free agents Carlos Pena and Johnny Damon could return to Tampa Bay. However, both players are drawing interest from other clubs.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos hasn’t ruled out adding a reliever, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com writes. However, the GM says he doesn’t want to force a deal. “There's a lot of things we could have done this past offseason to say that we did it, but I just don't ultimately believe they would have been good signings or good trades for us,” he said. “I think they would have been bad.”

Regular MLBTR Features

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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 remarkable 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.

Fewer Multiyear Deals For Free Agent Relievers

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Last offseason was a good time to be a free agent relief pitcher — 17 relievers from D.J. Carrasco to Rafael Soriano signed multiyear deals. As MLBTR’s Transaction Tracker shows, teams spent a total of $202.6MM on multiyear deals for relievers a year ago.

Jonathan Papelbon, Ryan Madson, Joe Nathan, Francisco Cordero and Heath Bell led an unusually strong class of free agent closers this offseason, so many, myself included, assumed the lavish spending would continue. Yet MLB teams have locked just five relievers up on multiyear deals to this point in the winter. The total cost of $112.25MM falls short of last offseason’s total by $90MM.

Madson, Cordero and Kerry Wood are among the remaining free agent relievers who have cases for multiyear deals, so the complete totals aren’t in just yet. But it appears that last offseason was a more lucrative environment for relief pitchers. 

To determine why teams are making fewer long-term commitments to relievers, I asked a number of agents for their thoughts. First of all, it makes sense to look beyond the relievers themselves to the front office executives making the contract offers. There's been substantial general manager turnover around the league this offseason, and I wonder if some GMs have been reluctant to introduce themselves to their respective fan bases by committing substantial dollars to one of baseball's least predictable, most replaceable assets and making an early faux pas in the eyes of many fans and pundits.

It’s worth noting that the five executives who signed relievers to multiyear deals this offseason are established in their roles. Sandy Alderson, Brian Sabean, Larry Beinfest, Jon Daniels and Ruben Amaro Jr. have each led at least one team to the World Series, so they've earned leeway that others might not yet have.

The Rays, Braves and Cardinals have constructed successful, relatively cheap bullpens in recent years, so other clubs may be taking note. Why pay a premium for saves when a groundballer like Luis Ayala, a durable arm like Todd Coffey or a flame-thrower like Joel Zumaya is available more affordably? 

Let's not forget about the impact the Yankees and Red Sox have on free agent spending. When every team knows they're shopping, the market does things it wouldn’t ordinarily do and there are consequences throughout the game. But the AL East rivals have been quiet this offseason, and not just in terms of relievers. 2013 free agents such as Brandon League and Francisco Rodriguez are presumably hoping the Yankees and Red Sox spend more freely next offseason, even if they have no intention of signing with either team.

Astros Links: Lee, Wandy, Vasquez, Santana, Law

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The Astros inked southpaw Trever Miller on this date in 2006, bringing him back for a second stint with the team. Here's the latest from Houston…

  • The Astros have heard from a few teams with interest in Carlos Lee, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Nothing is close however, and Morosi speculates that the Indians could be a fit.
  • Interest in Wandy Rodriguez "seems almost nonexistent," reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Last month we heard that the Astros seemed willing to absorb some of the $25.5MM left on the left-hander's contract to facilitate a trade.
  • MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports that the Astros have signed 16-year-old right-hander Carlos Vasquez and 17-year-old outfielder Edward Santana. An agreement with 17-year-old righty Tomas Lopez is not yet official. All three players are from the Dominican Republic and will report to the team's academy there.
  • Keith Law announced (on Twitter) that he will remain with ESPN after interviewing for some front office positions with the Astros last month.
  • The Astros have received permission to interview Cardinals regional cross-checker Mike Elias for a special assistant role in scouting, reports Law (on Twitter).

Ryan Madson, Reds In Serious Talks?

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6:42pm: A source with the Reds downplayed the team's interest in Madson, according to John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer (on Twitter). MLB.com's Mark Sheldon hears that Cincinnati is unlikely to get serious about the righty unless he drops his asking price.

5:16pm: Ryan Madson and the Reds are in serious talks about a new contract, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Cincinnati GM Walt Jocketty maintains interest in Francisco Cordero and is eyeing Kerry Wood as a possible alternative.

The Marlins and Rangers have ‘thought’ about Madson and the Phillies recently checked back in on him, Heyman tweets. However, a deal with Philadelphia seems unlikely at this point, since the Phillies already signed closer Jonathan Papelbon. The Yankees aren’t interested, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

Angels GM Jerry Dipoto said last week that the Angels are "very, very unlikely" to sign Madson or another free agent closer. Dipoto said today that the Angels are “looking to create depth” in the bullpen, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports.

Mariners Sign Aaron Heilman

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The Mariners have signed Aaron Heilman to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, the team announced. Frontline represents the 33-year-old right-hander. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick first reported the move on Twitter.

Heilman spent the first half of the 2011 campaign with the Diamondbacks, who released him in July after he posted a 6.88 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 28.5% ground ball rate in 35 1/3 innings. He later signed minor league deals with the Phillies and Pirates, but didn't pitch at the Major League level after July 15th.

Though Heilman has never suited up for the Mariners in his nine-year career, he was involved in the three-way trade between the Mets, Mariners and Indians that took place three offseasons ago. The Mariners acquired him from the Mets in December of 2008 and flipped him to the Cubs for Ronny Cedeno and Garrett Olson the next month.

Safeco Field should limit the number of home runs Heilman surrenders in 2012. One fifth of fly balls against him left the yard in 2011, a major reason for his unsightly ERA. It's hard to argue with Jack Zduriencik's low-risk gamble on a durable pitcher who could see his numbers improve in Seattle.

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