Archives for March 2012

Cardinals Notes: Carpenter, Oswalt, Luhnow

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 21, 2012 at 12:29pm CDT

The Cardinals may open the season without their ace starting pitcher. Here are the details along with reactions from around the league…

Chris Carpenter returned to St. Louis to be examined by nerve specialists, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. It now seems likely that Carpenter will open the season on the disabled list with Lance Lynn taking his spot in the Cardinals’ rotation.
Richard Justice of MLB.com doubted Roy Oswalt's decision to sign midseason, but now that Carpenter and Rangers starter Neftali Feliz are battling injuries, there's uncertainty on Oswalt's two preferred teams.
Jeff Gordon of the Post-Dispatch makes the case that “revisiting the Oswalt Option is imperative.”
Astros GM Jeff Luhnow says his time spent working in the Cardinals front office formed him professionally, Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch reports. "My time with the Cardinals — it defines who I am. It defines what kind of baseball executive I am and will be," Luhnow said.

White Sox Re-Acquire Terry Doyle

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 21, 2012 at 11:33am CDT

The White Sox re-acquired Rule 5 selection Terry Doyle from the Twins, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets. The Twins paid $50K to acquire Doyle in December and they'll get half of that sum back from the White Sox.

Doyle, 26, spent the 2011 season with Chicago's Class A and Double-A affiliates, posting a 3.07 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 173 total innings. The 6'4" Massachusetts native also pitched in the Arizona Fall League.

Mariners Release Shawn Camp

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 21, 2012 at 10:43am CDT

The Mariners announced that they have released reliever Shawn Camp. The 36-year-old Dave Meier client had signed a Major League deal worth $750K in February. Seattle now has 38 players on its 40-man roster.

Camp spent the last four seasons with the Blue Jays, and posted a 4.21 ERA with 4.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 53.5% groundball rate in 66 1/3 innings a year ago. The Blue Jays did not offer the right-hander arbitration after the season despite his Type B status. Greg Johns of MLB.com first reported the news.

Offseason In Review: Kansas City Royals

By Tim Dierkes | March 21, 2012 at 10:25am CDT

The Royals sat out the trade market for top starting pitchers, instead adding a pair of short-term lefties to their rotation, supplementing their bullpen, and extending a couple of up-the-middle position players.

Major League Signings

Bruce Chen, SP: two years, $9MM.
Jonathan Broxton, RP: one year, $4MM.
Yuniesky Betancourt, IF: one year, $2MM.
Jose Mijares, RP: one year, $925K.
Total spend: $15.925MM

Notable Minor League Signings

Juan Gutierrez, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Tony Abreu, Zach Miner, Eric Duncan, Greg Golson, Max Ramirez

Extensions

Salvador Perez, C: five years, $7MM. Include three club options.
Alcides Escobar, SS: four years, $10.5MM. Includes two club options.
Ned Yost, manager: exercised 2013 club option.

Trades and Claims

Acquired SP Jonathan Sanchez and SP Ryan Verdugo from Giants for OF Melky Cabrera
Acquired RP Brooks Pounders and IF Diego Goris from Pirates for IF/OF Yamaico Navarro
Acquired cash from Yankees for RP Cesar Cabral, who was taken from Red Sox in Rule 5 draft
Acquired OF Jason Bourgeois and C Humberto Quintero from Astros for RP Kevin Chapman and a player to be named later

Notable Losses

Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francis, Yamaico Navarro, Jeff Bianchi

The Royals aren't quite ready to pounce. In an offseason that included trades of starting pitchers Trevor Cahill, Mat Latos, Gio Gonzalez, and Michael Pineda, Royals GM Dayton Moore settled for stopgaps Jonathan Sanchez and Bruce Chen.

Melky Cabrera wasn't part of Moore's long-term plan, despite an age 26 career year for the Royals in 2011. Though Lorenzo Cain turns 26 himself in April, he'll be a defensive upgrade over Cabrera in center field and remains under team control for the full six years. Allowing Cain to take over in center and taking a one-year look at Sanchez in the rotation is a better fit for Kansas City. The 29-year-old Sanchez tantalizes with big strikeout rates, and is at least useful when he's healthy and keeps his walk rate below five per nine innings.

Chen, 34, received the first multiyear deal of his career to return to the Royals' rotation. A back injury cost him over a month in 2011, limiting him to 25 starts. Chen (pictured) posted a 3.77 ERA last year, but his peripheral stats suggest his ERA will come in a full run higher. Rather than jump on Chen for two guaranteed years in November, the Royals would have been better served to go bargain hunting for starting pitchers on one-year deals in late December and January, around when Jason Marquis, Paul Maholm, and Bartolo Colon signed. The departed Jeff Francis, who was no worse than Chen in the Royals' rotation, signed a minor league deal with the Reds in late January.

A hunting trip with Ned Yost, Jeff Francoeur, and Jeff Foxworthy on the comedian's property helped secure Broxton on a reasonable one-year deal. The huge righty is a year removed from relief dominance. Along with Greg Holland, the Royals have the talent to survive the late innings without closer Joakim Soria if his spring elbow soreness proves serious. Southpaw Mijares was signed on the cheap for lefty matchups.

The Royals' other minor moves were led by the signing of Betancourt, who started at shortstop for the club for a year and a half before being traded to Milwaukee in last offseason's Zack Greinke trade. The Royals' press release made sure to stress Betancourt's utility role. It remains to be seen how Betancourt's poor shortstop defense will carry over to second and third base. Of the team's minor league signings, Gutierrez is a fairly interesting 2013 play once he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

The Royals extended catcher Salvador Perez with just 50 days of Major League service time, taking a page from the Rays' playbook. Unlike Evan Longoria and Matt Moore, Perez profiles as more of a solid regular than a star. With three club options and a guarantee of just $7MM, it'll still be hard for the Royals to lose money here unless Perez completely flames out. Perez is off to a rough post-contract start, with knee surgery knocking him out for 12 to 14 weeks. The injury necessitated the acquisition of Quintero. We'll have to see the player to be named to properly judge that deal.

Escobar isn't similar to Perez, as the shortstop has over two years of Major League service. Upon locking up Escobar, Moore noted the payroll is "going to get a little sticky for us, it's going to get a little hairy as we get into 2014-15-16." That doesn't apply much to Escobar, whose fantastic defensive skills wouldn't have been highly-compensated in arbitration in '14 or '15. Instead, this contract gives the team affordable club options on two free agent years.

The team and left fielder Alex Gordon have mutual interest in an extension, but they've been unable to find common ground. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says Gordon will "almost certainly will want more than $55 million," the current club record. From the Royals' point of view, I'd be looking to do more of an improved Corey Hart-type deal: $9MM for his final arbitration year (2013) and $22MM for a pair of free agent years (2014-15). For Gordon to set a team record, the Royals will have to buy out at least four free agent years. That kind of commitment is a gamble until Gordon proves his 2011 levels of health and performance are sustainable.

The Royals are poised for another step forward at the big league level, especially if players like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Luke Hochevar, and Felipe Paulino expand upon partial seasons of big league success. The Royals have at least three potential front-rotation starters in the farm system in Mike Montgomery, Jake Odorizzi, and John Lamb, but only Montgomery has a 2012 estimated time of arrival. GM Dayton Moore seems to have an eye on truly contending in 2014, telling MLB.com's Richard Justice, "We're not there yet. We won 71 games last year. I do feel we're going to win more games in 2012 and 2013 — and a lot more in 2014." Perhaps Moore will make a play for an ace starting pitcher prior to the '14 season, after which his own contract will be up.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Brewers

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 21, 2012 at 7:38am CDT

The Brewers won't replace Prince Fielder's offense in 2012, but they have newcomer Aramis Ramirez at third base and — despite a months-long scare — a full season of defending National League MVP Ryan Braun.

Major League Signings

Aramis Ramirez, three years, $36MM.
Alex Gonzalez, one year, $4.25MM.
Norichika Aoki, two years, $2.25MM.
Total spend: $42.5MM.

Notable Minor League Signings

Jay Gibbons, Corey Patterson, Seth McClung, Brooks Conrad, Cesar Izturis, Travis Ishikawa, Mike Rivera, Erick Almonte.

Trades and Claims

Acquired RP Jose Veras from the Pirates for IF Casey McGehee.
Claimed IF Jeff Bianchi from the Cubs.

Notable Losses

Prince Fielder, Yuniesky Betancourt, Mark Kotsay, Craig Counsell, Jerry Hairston, Josh Wilson, Felipe Lopez, LaTroy Hawkins, Takashi Saito, McGehee.

Draft Picks Gained or Lost

Obtained 27th overall selection from Tigers for Price Fielder. Also obtain supplementary first round pick, 38th overall.

As expected, Prince Fielder signed elsewhere, but beyond that the Brewers' winter was far from routine. Most notably, Ryan Braun tested positive for a banned substance before contesting the 50-game suspension and winning the appeal.

It marked the second consecutive intrigue-filled offseason for Brewers fans. They watched a year ago as GM Doug Melvin traded for Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, but the club relied primarily on free agency this winter.

Though his destination of choice proved to be a surprise, Fielder's free agent departure had seemed inevitable for months, if not years. Even after setting an attendance record and making it to the NLCS, a $200MM commitment would not have made sense for the mid-market Brewers. They've steadily raised payroll under owner Mark Attanasio, but other, more affordable options existed for Melvin and the rest of the Brewers' front office.

They turned to the free agent market to improve the left side of their infield, signing Aramis Ramirez for three years and $36MM and agreeing to terms with Alex Gonzalez on a one-year, $4.25MM deal. The duo offers power, but at 33 and 35, respectively, Ramirez and Gonzalez may soon start to decline. Gonzalez remains an excellent defender, so he should help make up for Ramirez's less-than-stellar glovework. Meanwhile, the Brewers expect Ramirez to replace some of Fielder's offensive production.

“We needed some power back in our lineup missing Fielder even though we’re not going to get it all back,” assistant GM Gord Ash told MLBTR.

Instead of pursuing a free agent first baseman, the Brewers have handed the starting job to 26-year-old Mat Gamel. They cleared space for him by sending Casey McGehee to the Pirates for reliever Jose Veras and seemingly had little interest in Derrek Lee, Carlos Pena, Casey Kotchman and other free agent first basemen. Despite Gamel's struggles with the Brewers, he has had limited opportunity at the Major League level and his minor league stats are excellent. Various models project Gamel to have an on-base percentage of .330 or so along with a slugging percentage of .440 or so in 2012 — an outcome the Brewers would surely welcome. Plus, the Brewers may be better off defensively with Gamel at Fielder's old spot.

In a surprising development, reliever Francisco Rodriguez accepted the Brewers' offer of arbitration. His salary diminished via the arbitration system, but the Brewers probably weren't expecting to spend $8MM on the right-hander in 2012. Spending that kind of money on a setup man seems excessive for the Brewers, and finding a way to anticipate the reliever's decision and withold the offer of arbitration may have been preferable.

With Rodriguez back for another year and Veras now in the bullpen mix, manager Ron Roenicke should have enough quality right-handed relievers in 2012. The Brewers will be short on left-handed relief unless Zach Braddock pitches better or Manny Parra returns to health. They may lock John Axford up long-term, and doing so could create savings for the closer's arbitration years.

The Brewers' top five starters accounted for all but seven of the team's starts a year ago, and none of the five were eligible for free agency, so Melvin essentially left the rotation alone this offseason. The club showed interest in deepening its starting staff with minor league deals, but it's difficult to convince free agent starters to join a rotation with five established pitchers.

“They tend to gravitate to places where there are a few more openings,” Ash said. “They say ‘we don’t see the same opportunity here that we see somewhere else’ and they sign with another team.”

Shoulder issues have sidelined Marcum temporarily and if he's out for longer than expected swingman Marco Estrada will provide rotation depth. Top prospect Wily Peralta has the potential to start in the Major Leagues at some point relatively soon, though he may not presently be ready.

The Brewers signed Japanese outfielder Norichika Aoki to a modest two-year deal, and added Jay Gibbons and Corey Patterson just in case. Corey Hart may miss Opening Day, so the depth may prove useful even though Braun is eligible to play the entire season.

The Brewers lost one of the game's top power hitters this offseason, but their window for contention didn't collapse when Prince Fielder left. By strengthening the left side of the infield and adding complementary pieces up and down the roster, Melvin increased the chances that the Brewers will return to the postseason in 2012.

Quick Hits: Francis, Phillies, Athletics, Torre, Mets

By Mike Axisa | March 20, 2012 at 10:28pm CDT

Lance Berkman told ESPN's Jerry Crasnick that he thinks Bud Selig extorted new Astros owner Jim Crane into moving the team to the AL next season. "I think that's exactly what it was," said the former 'Stro. "To tell [Crane], 'We're going to hold the sale of the team up until you guys agreed to switch?' It just happened that the Astros were being sold at an optimal time for that to happen."

Conspiracy theories aside, here's the latest from around the league…

Jeff Francis can opt out of his minor league contract with the Reds on March 28th, but he told reporters (including John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer) that he will report to Triple-A if he doesn't make the team.
MLB.com's Todd Zolecki hears that the Phillies have been looking for infield help lately, but no one seems to be a clear upgrade over Freddy Galvis. The Phightin's lost utility man Michael Martinez due to a broken bone in his foot today.
Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com wrote about all of the Athletics roster turnover. "You do know your time is limited here," said Brandon McCarthy. "You're not looking to put down roots."
Joe Torre is waiting to see what happens with the Dodgers' ownership situation before returning to his old job at MLB, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Torre's group bowed out of the bidding because of the parking situation at Dodger Stadium.
“I think that we as a franchise have a chance to go through sort of an evolutionary process to get us back to where we want to be,” said Mets GM Sandy Alderson to Andrew Keh of The New York Times in the wake of the team's recent financial moves. "From just an overall, organization standpoint, the landscape today is a lot brighter than it was two or three days ago, going into a potential three-week trial."

Rangers To Extend Derek Holland

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 20, 2012 at 8:56pm CDT

8:56pm: The total value of Holland's deal will be $49MM if both option years are exercised according to Jeff Wilson of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The contract values each of his free agent years at $10-11MM compared to $11-13MM for Lester, Gallardo, Romero, and Cahill.

8:42am: We can officially pencil Derek Holland into the Rangers' rotation for the foreseeable future. The Rangers agreed to terms with the left-hander on a five-year, $28.5MM contract extension. The deal covers the 2012-16 seasons and includes two club options, as MLBTR's Tim Dierkes first reported. Martini Sports Management represents the 25-year-old Holland.

Yovani Gallardo, Ricky Romero, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Trevor Cahill signed five-year deals in the $30MM range at similar stages in their respective careers and were no doubt points of reference in talks leading up to today's agreement. Holland has more career innings than any of those pitchers did at the time of their extensions, but none of them had a career ERA above 3.94 at the time of their deals, while Holland has a career mark of 4.73. The deals for Cahill and Buchholz include two club options, while the others include just one.

Holland posted a 3.95 ERA with 7.4 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 46.4% ground ball rate in 198 innings this past season. If he can replicate that level of performance, the deal will prove to be a success for the team. Yet Holland obtains financial security by agreeing to terms now instead of going year to year.

The Rangers signed Nelson Cruz and Elvis Andrus to extensions earlier in the offseason. However, the club didn't obtain additional years of control on either of those two deals.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News first reported that the sides were on the verge of an agreement with Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com adding detail. Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

Mariners Waive Cesar Jimenez

By Mike Axisa | March 20, 2012 at 7:33pm CDT

The Mariners have placed Cesar Jimenez on waivers, reports Dave Cameron of FanGraphs (on Twitter). The left-hander is one of Seattle's four out of options players.

Jimenez, 27, has dealt with a number of arm problems during his career. He missed all of 2009 and part of 2010 with shoulder surgery, and also missed most of 2007 with a stress fracture in his elbow. Jimenez has appeared in 43 games with the Mariners over the years, pitching to a 5.40 ERA in 48 1/3 innings. He's the second lefty reliever Seattle has taken off the 40-man roster this week, joining Hong-Chih Kuo.

Orioles To Sign Dontrelle Willis

By Mike Axisa | March 20, 2012 at 5:58pm CDT

The Orioles will sign Dontrelle Willis to a minor league contract, report ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun reports (on Twitter) that Willis will make $700K in the big leagues. The Sosnick Cobbe client was released by the Phillies last week.

Willis pitched 75 2/3 innings for the Reds in 2011 — his highest total since 2007. The 30-year-old southpaw posted a 5.00 ERA with 6.8 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a 54.5% ground ball rate in 13 second half starts with Cincinnati this past season. An ineffective Spring Training with Philadelphia led to his release.

Royals Acquire Jason Bourgeois, Humberto Quintero

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 20, 2012 at 5:36pm CDT

5:36pm: Luhnow told reporters (including MLB.com's Brian McTaggart) that the player to be named later will be the "key component" of the trade (Twitter links). Astros Sr. Director of Social Media Alyson Footer says it'll be a while before that player is named, however. It's probably worth noting that any player drafted last year can not officially be traded yet, so they can only be included in a deal as a player to be named right now.

3:38pm: The Royals have acquired outfielder Jason Bourgeois and catcher Humberto Quintero from the Astros for minor league left-hander Kevin Chapman and a player to be named later. Both teams have announced the trade.

Bourgeois posted a .294/.323/.357 line with 31 stolen bases last year, while playing all three outfield positions and appearing at second base. The 30-year-old will be arbitration eligible for the first time after the 2012 season.

Quintero, 32, appeared in 79 games last year, posting a .240/.258/.317 line in 272 plate appearances. He'll earn $1MM in 2012 and hit free agency after the season. He and Brayan Pena will share the Royals' catching duties while Salvador Perez recovers from a knee operation.

“Jason and Humberto were a big part of this team last year and both will be missed,” Astros GM Jeff Luhnow stated. “This deal gives us an opportunity to add prospect depth and we are excited about both players coming our way.”

Chapman, a fourth round selection in 2010, split last season between Class A and Double-A in the Royals' minor league system. The 6'4" 24-year-old posted a 4.94 ERA with 13.1 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 62 total innings of relief in 2011.

The move likely means Jordan Schafer will assume the starting center field role in Houston. The Astros have catchers Chris Snyder and Jason Castro, so they could afford to part with Quintero and his salary. Meanwhile, projected Royals starter Lorenzo Cain could find himself competing with Bourgeois for playing time. The Royals placed Perez and Manny Pina on the 60-day disabled list to create roster space for their new acquisitions.

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