It was on this day in 1869 that professional baseball had its first rainout, as a game between the Red Stockings and the Antioch Nine was postponed due to poor weather. While some teams can guarantee games will always be played thanks to retractable roofs or domed stadiums, the rainout is still a common element of baseball, welcomed by nobody except fans of the 1948 Boston Braves.
Some news from around the majors as we head into June…
- The Phillies and Cole Hamels haven't made any progress in contract negotiations, reports ESPN's Buster Olney. Some baseball executives expect Hamels to hit free agency this winter, with one NL official telling Olney, "Unless the Phillies give him one of the top deals in history, why wouldn't he test [the market]? He's so close to free agency."
- Roberto Hernandez could be back in the Major Leagues by the All-Star Break, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Hernandez, a.k.a. Fausto Carmona, isn't expected to receive an eight-week suspension for identity fraud like Juan Carlos Oviedo, as his restructured contract with the Indians is expected to be seen as sufficient penalty.
- David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link) predicts Braves outfielder Michael Bourn will look for a five- or six-year contract with an average annual value of around $15MM when he hits free agency after this season. The Braves were known to be looking for young center field talent last winter since they weren't keen on paying Bourn such a large contract, though his strong performance thus far in 2012 could change the team's mind.
- Jair Jurrjens "is a guy that other clubs need to get back on," says a scout who has seen Jurrjens pitch in Triple-A, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. The Braves dangled Jurrjens as trade bait during the offseason, though if he really was back on form, you would think Atlanta would want him to help its own struggling pitching rotation. Jurrjens has a 4.85 ERA and a 2.63 K/BB ratio in six minor league starts this season, pitching very well in four outings but getting rocked in two others.
- "There might be no team further away from success than the Minnesota Twins," writes Jonah Keri for Grantland in a piece that outlines how the Twins have become one of baseball's worst clubs.
- Ernesto Frieri has been a boon to the Angels' bullpen, writes Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. Since being acquired from the Padres four weeks ago, Frieri has yet to allow a run or even a hit in 12 innings for the Angels, though he has recorded 10 walks.
So who wants to see a Roberto Hernandez Heredia traded straight up for Juan Carlos Oviedo? Are you with me?
Funny idea but Miami would be losing that one big time.
Really? Oviedo is no great shakes. His best year was 2009, and that was
nothing to justify $6 million. He’s regressed since then.
He might not have been worth 6M but he is still more useful than Carmona.
Longest contract I would give Bourn is 4 years 50M.
That is reasonable. If the M’s could get him for that it would be fairly reasonable.
That would fit into the Marlins’ fail safe period. The Marlins should pick him up as a replacement for Emilio Bonifacio.
If he would accept four years absolutely. if he is trying for some kind of 7 year deal though its a horrible idea for almost anyone.
Why does Emilio Bonifacio need replacing? He’s got a .351 OBP and leads the NL in steals…. Could you really ask anything more from a top of the order bat?
Bourn has as much speed (if not Boni’s aggression) a lower strikeout rate, a better average, has more XBH… and he’s a plus fielder.
Like Boni, but I don’t really see him as a starter. He’s would be more of a speed off the bench and injury / day off replacement.
I’ll take Bonifacio at probably 3 more years making less than 10m over paying another slap hitter 15m.. That is simply outrageous for that type of player.. Omar Moreno is weeping somewhere when a guy who can steal bases, play terrific defense and hit the ball into the dirt, then run like heck can make 15m over 4-5 seasons.. Jimmy hendry, Sabean, or Minaya are the only ones who give/gave those people that kind of contract.. They are absolutely nothing without their legs.. No other talent at all.
Thought Bourn might be a nice target for the M’s. But that kind of length and AAV makes a poor mans Crawford look less appealing.
So, then… why are they punishing Oviedo and not Heredia? It’s not like the Marlins were duped out of any money because of the issue.
He already had his 2012 contract cut from $7 million to $2.5 million or something like that, so that was viewed as sufficient punishment.
Which is worse:
Losing $4.5MM
or
Eight weeks unpaid vacation?
Heredia got it a lot worse.
Twins need to throw in the towel right now. They need to acquire as much talent as possible for the few pieces they actually have. Morneau isn’t going anywhere and neither is Mauer. The Twins need to look around the league for attainable undervalued players that can field a reasonable team while they try to build from within.
Players that should be on their radar:
Clint Robinson: Clint is currently playing for the Omaha Storm Chases, the Royals AAA affiliate. He is 26 yaears old, so he is a little old to still be labeled a prospect. He is however blocked by both Hosmer and Butler. His 2010-2012 numbers all in AA and AAA: 2010- .335/.410/.625, 2011- .326/.399/.533, 2012-.325/.429/.528. Quite simply, Clint is a monster that could be made available at a very reasonable price. Morneau is pretty close to being done and this provides the Twins with a power hitter in his prime years on the cheap.
Dominic Brown: Brown is a former top prospect that has been severely mishandled by the Phillies. Just a year or so away from posting a .960 ops, Brown had been on a sharp decline after being shipped around from level to level. This is a classic case of a player needing a change of scenery. Still just 24!
Michael Taylor: Taylor has lost a lot of that shine he had with the Phillies since being moved to the A’s via a trade with Toronto. He still has good contact skills though and is a good athlete. He’s probably no longer in Oakland’s big-picture and could be made available. He is also still only 26.
Matt Carpenter: Current utility guy for the Cardinals, natural 3b. Also a little older as far as prospects go, but Carpenter is an on base machine. The guy knows how to hit and has been successful at every level. One major issue is that Carpenter has been so successful that the Cardinals may have started to realize just how good he really is. Even with Berkman on the DL, the Cardinals have too many hitters for too few positions. The Cardinals could ask me for basically anything or package of things in the system outside of Sano and would happily make the trade. Another guy right in his prime.
Matt Downs: Downs is coming of a monster year in limited action. The guy has ton of power for a 2b. With the emergence of Altuve, his chances have significantly dwindled in regard to a starting position in Houston. Still just 27, he is very available and would be very cheap.
Jonathan Albaladejo: Good cheap relief arms are fun. Jonathan has put up decent to very good numbers outside of an injury year last year, but has looked sharp pretty much all year in Reno.
Josh Outman: Interesting stuff with a high risk for the injury bug. Should be stretched out as a starter and could thrive at Target Field. Could be had for next to nothing.
Tyler Greene: Another guy in St Louis that has put up great numbers, but is mixing in with several other positions. Absolutely can start at ss and has a nice amount of pop.
Drew Sutton: Currently with the rays, Sutton has put up some decent numbers in the minors. Right now Tampa needs warm bodies for their infield, but Sutton will be available to claim before the end of June. Good cheap ss material.
Pitching as always will be the hardest thing to come by. The Twins need roll out a rotation of guys like Duensing, Walters, and Diamond. Even if they were to move both Capps and Perkins in trades, they would still have some decent arms in Burton, Burnett, Gray, and Guerra. The twins need to maximize the return on guys like Span, Doumit, Perkins, Capps, Liriano, and Pavano. They need to be ready to eat a lot of this money for the good of the franchise’s futur
Great insight! I agree with you but I do think Justin has a few good years ahead as a DH, I think some team would take a chance on him.
I keep telling people here that it is time to move on from Baby Jesus, trade him to the Yankees and be done with it.
High hopes for 2014/2015
Who the **** is Baby Jesus?
Baby Jesus is a joke at a MN sports talk station for joe Mauer
Hamels will get his $ and years no matter where he signs. He’s looking for a contender to play for and the Phils aren’t it. The entire infield will have to be replaced during his contract: Polanco, Rollins, Utley, even Chooch will all age out, as will Halladay and Lee. Howard will be under contract but not of much use. Plus the Phils would have to let Victorino and/or Pence walk to pay Hamels, further weakening the offense. There’s not a single player on the Phils current starting team Hamels can be sure of. He has no idea what kind of team he’ll be playing for in Philly as the farm system has nothing. But L.A. (and others) looks very healthy 1-5 years out. Hamels doesn’t *want* to sign with the Phils. Who would?
To keep Bourn, I’d trade Uggla for peanuts, especially if Simmons pans out.
You can always move Prado to 2nd or give Pastornicky another shot.
Umm…so you ship Uggla for a LF/3B?? Once you trade Uggla,Chip is retiring, and move Prado to 2B who do you put at 3B and LF??? I’m fine with Pastornicky as a bench/utility but what LF’ers are available next season comparable to Prado?
You can get someone cheap for LF. With Bourn and Heyward in Center and Right, a butcher in left isn’t that big a deal.
One option- Pastornicky given a shot at 2B, Prado to cover one slot, cheap signing for the other slot.
Maybe Gattis’s bat will play well in AA after he gets healthy , and he can try for the LF job next season.
I like the idea of Bourn but iyo is he worth 15 mill/yr for 4-6 yrs…he turns 30 before spring training. IMO I’d put Prado at 3rd, keep Uggla for 1 more season and let Diaz/Constanza/fill in the blank roam lf. After some time in the minors see where Pastornicky is and then maybe more Uggla and let him move to 2b. But like I said IMO and my name is Frank Wren!
He’s worth 15 for 4, he’ll age well.
Uggla’s a bigger decline candidate then Bourn. I want someone else to deal with that time bomb.
If Pastornicky fails at 2nd, you’ve got Fransisco for 3b if needbe and can move Prado over.
Fransisco’s bad but at least replacement level.
Things would be a lot easier if Uggla was willing to move LF I’d keep him, and maybe go after Span for next year for CF. I think Bourn makes such a difference with this club that he’s worth the FA money more then anyone on the Braves except maybe Prado.
You can’t deny Uggla’s power but as he ages he’ll have bad d and his bat will just be dead. If he would accept a move to LF I’d be all for it but I don’t think he has enough speed to cover it well enough. I like Panda Fran but he either demolishes the ball or looks like a “Panda” and misses big time! Oh I agree Bourn is worth good money but at age 35 is he worth 15+ since most contracts increase per yr?? Whats your take on the future of the rotation?
uggla will be fine when his contract runs out. he uses light bats. he has arms like hercules. i would like to keep bourn, but that will probably depend on how our season goes.
a butcher in LF. it sounds like you want us to go back to the reggie sanders, raul mondesi, and garrett anderson days. that sucked a lot worse than uggla. a strong OF is important too. bad fielders will drop some flies and misplay some liners and ground balls. if we wanted a butcher, we could play constanza. at least he ignites our offense.
the braves won’t trade dan. why would they? he’s below average defensively, but plus plus offensively. why would we trade a guy that our team loves, and easily balances the runs he allows by the number of RBIs he has? he also hustles like crazy – did you watch the cardinals game where there was a pop-up and freese and furcal missed it, and dan scored from first? i want that guy on our team.
Funny, but I didn’t see anybody complaining about Bourn targeting 4 years @ $15 million per yet people were coming out of the woodwork complaining Adam Jones landed a 6-year deal averaging less than $15 million per. How is this possible? Bourn is faster on the bases but after that there’s almost nothing I like in Bourn over Jones. Jones has way more power, is hitting for average, and is 3 years younger than Bourn.
why is that funny? bourn has a higher OBP and plays defense a lot better. so what if jones has more power? he hasn’t driven in more than 83 runs, and other than last year, no more than 70. how does that warrant a contract the size that he has? the orioles are hoping he will keep playing well, and they committed a lot of money to him, but until he performs for a playoff team, why would you want to give him over 15 million? i think adam jones got a great deal, and the orioles are hoping that it will be a great deal for them. he only has a lifetime .323 OBP. they’ve both played 7 seasons, and bourn has a WAR over 3 points above jones, and you can’t say jones is a better fielder. jones is a stab in the dark that might work out. bourn is a consistently proven leadoff hitter and centerfielder.