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Quick Hits: Rowand, Cabrera, Simon, Loans

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Here are some items of note for Friday night, including an interesting question posed by Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com on the Mets' and Dodgers' messy financial situations:

  • Giants outfielder Aaron Rowand will be under a lot of scrutiny this spring, writes Chris Haft of MLB.com, as he looks to be the odd man out in San Francisco's crowded outfield. It won't be easy to flip him though, Haft notes, because two years and $24MM remain on his contract, and he's coming off a down year in 2010. If the Giants do move Rowand, according to Haft, their trade partner will probably ask them to eat some salary or take on a similar financial commitment in return.
  • Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera made his on-field debut at Spring Training on Friday, writes Jason Beck of MLB.com. His arrival, of course, was delayed by last week's arrest for allegedly driving under the influence and resisting arrest. Cabrera is facing the proverbial two-strike count with respect to his off-field travails, writes Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports: If Cabrera slips up again, he will likely face serious repercussions from Major League Baseball.
  • Orioles right-hander Alfredo Simon is no longer facing a civil suit after he was a suspect in a fatal shooting in his native Dominican Republic on New Year's Eve, but, per a Santo Domingo prosecutor, an investigation is ongoing and Simon has been denied bail, according to the Baltimore Sun. Prosecutors have till April 9 to file formal charges that could lead to a trial.
  • The Mets' $25MM loan from MLB may be the most damning indication of their financial woes, says Rosenthal in an audio clip. Rosenthal also finds it curious that MLB loaned the cash to the Mets but denied the Dodgers' request to borrow $200MM from FOX, as was reported by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. "It's a simple question of fairness," says Rosenthal.

Morosi On The Brewers, Prince

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The Brew Crew emerged from the offseason as one of its winners, bolstered their starting rotation significantly and preserving a potent lineup. Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com checks in with some items of interest from Brewers camp, most notably how Prince Fielder's uncertain future shaped their offseason and the season to come.

  • This spring will probably be Fielder's last with the Brewers, writes Morosi, but after a fine offseason, the slugger and team are in good spirits as they embark on what could be a run at the postseason. Fielder and the Brewers are not currently in extension negotiations, and Morosi thinks that is a sound strategy, because it won't give the fan base false hope.
  • Because Fielder was prominent in trade rumors even as early as last season, many figured the Brewers wouldn't be able to acquire an ace pitcher this offseason without flipping him. They did, of course, landing not only an ace in Zack Greinke, but another solid mid-rotation arm in Shaun Marcum.
  • Fielder's situation with the Brewers is reminiscent of Carl Crawford's final season with the Rays in 2010, when the star player and small-market club knew they'd probably part ways after the season.
  • These Brewers and those Rays differ, however, in that although Milwaukee is gearing up for a postseason push with one of its best players on the brink of free agency, all of its other core players are either locked up to long-term deals or under team control, whereas Tampa Bay severed ties with a handful of other key contributors like Matt Garza, Carlos Pena, Rafael Soriano and Joaquin Benoit.
  • The difference in hype between Fielder's and Albert Pujols' pending free agencies is "disproportionately large," writes Morosi, because although Pujols is the superior player, he's also four years older.

AL West Notes: Lowe, Young, A’s Facilities

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A few items of note coming out of the AL West …

  • The Mariners may miss Mark Lowe, whom they dealt to the Rangers in the Cliff Lee swap, what with David Aardsma likely to miss the start of the regular season as he mends from offseason hip surgery, writes John Hickey of SportsPressNW.com. Lowe, who was sidelined after back surgery at the time of the Lee deal, was considered then as something of a footnote to the big-name Lee. But the Rangers insisted on acquiring Lowe, according to Hickey, and had Seattle not included the right-hander, it would not have gotten prized first-base prospect Justin Smoak in return. Now, Lowe is the leading candidate to claim closing duties in Texas while Neftali Feliz tries his hand at starting.
  • The Rangers either signed Adrian Beltre simply to prevent him from going to the Angels, or there is a serious personality conflict between certain members of Texas' front office and Michael Young, writes Mitch Williams of the MLB Network. These are the only scenarios that could possibly explain the Rangers' curious handling of Young, according to Williams, because Young is a good player who does things the right way.
  • Athletics managing partner Lew Wolff held court with a few reporters, writes Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com. Wolff is pleased with the on-field direction of his team, but he is still seeking a resolution to the Athletics' stadium situation, which has been under MLB review since 2008. The A's looked into moving to San Jose then, but the Giants have remained opposed to that because of the city's proximity to San Francisco. As well, the A's are seeking to improve their Spring Training facility at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, but funding is tough to come by in these hard economic times. In all, Wolff is frustrated but understands that he must be patient, although, as he quipped, at 75, patience is something of a luxury.

Minor Moves: Sisco, Mujica, Russell, Armstrong

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Some Minor League moves of note as some teams try to trim rosters and others look to amass organizational depth.

  • The Yankees released left-handed pitcher Andy Sisco, tweets Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Sisco has bounced around in recent years and last appeared in the big leagues with the White Sox in 2007.
  • The Yankees and Braves each inked a veteran international free agent, with New York signing Cuban shortstop Yadil Mujica and Atlanta signing Australian outfielder-turned-pitcher Andrew Russell, a righty, tweets Eddy.
  • The Angels signed catcher Cole Armstrong, who could claim a spot on the Halos' 40-man roster as a defense-first specialist, tweets Eddy.

Buehrle Would Accept Trade For Right Fit

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White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle said he would be willing to approve a trade, depending on the circumstances, if the South Siders were looking to deal him, writes Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

Buehrle has full no-trade protection on account of being a so-called 10-and-5 player, meaning he has 10 years of service time, the five most recent of which have come with his current team, the White Sox. Buehrle said there are teams for which he wouldn't want to play and would therefore invoke his trade veto. But he also said that he would accept certain trades if one were in the best interest of the White Sox because he is on good terms with the team and owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

"They have done enough for me," Buehrle told Merkin.

Chicago, though, is considered a strong contender in the AL Central this year and is not actively interested in trading any of its starters, according to Merkin. Buehrle, in the final season of a four-year, $56MM deal, could be an attractive in-season trade target for contending teams should the White Sox get off to a slow start and fall out of the postseason picture.

NL Central Notes: Kotsay, Wainwright, Lucroy

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Adam Wainwright's potentially season-threatening injury is grabbing a lot of headlines today. Here's more on that and some other items of note coming out of the NL Central.

  • The Brewers' deal with Mark Kotsay includes a few incentives, blogs Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Here's the breakdown: Kotsay's base salary if for $800K, and he can earn up to $450K in incentives. He'll earn $25K each if he reaches 125 and 150 plate appearances, $50K each for 175 and 200 PAs, $50K each for 40, 60, 80 and 100 games started, and $100K if he's on the roster on July 1.
  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak remains pessimistic about Wainwright's injury after speaking to a team doctor, tweets Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Wainwright will get a second opinion on his ailing right elbow on Thursday, and the club will decide on a treatment plan from there, writes Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch.
  • Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy is expected to miss four weeks after suffering a broken right pinky during blocking drills on Wednesday, according to a club press release. The injury will require surgery, but Brewers GM Doug Melvin said, "We feel OK for now," when asked whether he'd be pursuing another backstop, blogs McCalvy.
  • Reds outfielder Jonny Gomes was apparently celebrating Wainwright's injury, writes Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News. Seeing as it's all in the name of competition, and the Reds' chance of winning the NL Central jumped significantly on account of Wainwright's injury, Gomes' reaction is not a big deal, writes Rob Neyer of SBNation.com. Gomes, however, said that his reaction was misconstrued and that he'd never celebrate another player's injury, blogs Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.

Phillies Downplay Blanton Trade Rumors

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Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said that right-hander Joe Blanton, the subject of a variety of trade rumors this offseason, will be starting for Philly in April, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.

Blanton, with two years and $17MM remaining on his contract, became prominent in rumors when the Phillies committed five years and $120MM to Cliff Lee. Those talks had seemingly cooled as we drew nearer to Spring Training, but Blanton's name resurfaced earlier Wednesday in connection with the Cardinals when it was announced that their ace, Adam Wainwright, could be headed for Tommy John surgery.

Even still, Amaro hardly shut the door on Blanton trade talks for good with his assurance that the right-hander would be starting for the Phillies in April. There's plenty of time to get a deal done thereafter.

Heyman: Angels’ Courtship Confuses Crawford

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Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford remains "puzzled" by the Angels' pursuit of him on the free-agent market this offseason, writes Jon Heyman of SI.com.

Many, including Crawford himself and the Angels, saw the speedy outfielder as a good fit for the Halos as he embarked on free agency at the end of 2010, Heyman notes, but Los Angeles of Anaheim's offer of six years (with an option for a seventh) and $108MM, though hardly paltry, was easily surpassed by Boston's seven years and $142MM.

But what Crawford found especially confusing is that in the wake of losing out on Crawford, the Angels then acquired Vernon Wells, who has a higher per-year salary than Crawford, from the Blue Jays. To boot, the Halos' offer to Crawford, 30 in August, was well below the seven years and $126MM the Nationals had already paid to acquire outfielder Jayson Werth, who will turn 32 in May.

Indeed, it was something of an odd offseason for the Halos, as ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick wrote a couple weeks back, and their dealings with Crawford seem to embody that the most.

West Notes: Padilla, Teagarden, Owings, Moseley

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Here are some items of note from clubs out on the West Coast …

  • The Dodgers don't yet have a plan for right-hander Vicente Padilla, writes Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. Padilla, last year's Opening Day starter, could (again) start, close or be a long-reliever, depending on injuries. Padilla's base salary reflects that, Hernandez writes. His base salary is for $2MM, but he can earn an additional $8MM in incentives for starting or $6.8MM for relieving.
  • The Rangers once again are well-stocked with catchers, writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, but this year, as opposed to previous years, they have a clear-cut starter in Yorvit Torrealba. Still, they have three other useful backstops in Matt Treanor, Mike Napoli and Taylor Teagarden, but because Treanor has a Major League deal and Napoli is a strong hitter and versatile defender, Teagarden, who still has minor league options, appears to be the odd man out.
  • The Diamondbacks are experimenting with finding some more at-bats this spring for roster hopeful Micah Owings, writes Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. Owings, a right-handed pitcher, is in camp on a minor league deal and is vying for the long-relief job out of the bullpen, but he could improve his chances of breaking camp with the club because he can be used as a pinch-hitter and perhaps even as a first baseman, on occasion.
  • Padres right-hander Dustin Moseley, who signed a Major League deal with San Diego in December, will pitch out of the bullpen if he doesn't crack the starting rotation, writes Corey Brock of MLB.com. Generally regarded as a swing man, Moseley chose the Friars over a handful of other suitors for the chance to win a starting job.

Make Or Break Year: Aramis Ramirez

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484083020100846A_Pirates_at_Cubs Despite posting outstanding numbers at the hot corner for one of baseball's best-known franchises, Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez always seemed to fly a little bit under the radar. Indeed, in a six-year span from 2004-09, Ramirez posted a studly triple-slash line of .303/.368/.551, but he never finished inside the top 10 of NL MVP voting. Durability was a bit of a concern during that time, as he averaged 131 games per season, but his injuries were typically of the nagging variety rather than debilitating.

In 2009, though, Ramirez suffered a dislocated shoulder midseason, missing most of May and all of June that year, but he returned in the second half and posted his usually solid offensive numbers. It all pointed toward Ramirez being his usual self in 2010, but it didn't happen that way.

A-Ram got off to a positively miserable start in April and May 2010, posting a .162/.227/.269 through those two months, and though he rebounded from there — going white-hot during July, in particular — his numbers at season's end still weren't pretty at .241/.294/.452, let alone up to his usually excellent career averages of .282/.340/.499.

Was it age catching up to the 32-year-old slugger? Injuries? A combination?

On the plus side for A-Ram, he bounced back markedly from his horrid April and May in 2010. On the down side, though, he is another year older, and he doesn't necessarily look like the most limber of athletes.

How Ramirez will contine to age is anyone's guess, but 2011 could go a long way toward projecting how he'll finish out his career. It's the last year of a five-year extension he signed with the Cubs prior to 2007, and it includes a $16MM club option for 2012 with a $2MM buyout.

Ramirez probably doesn't have much room for decline this season with respect to the chances of the Cubs picking up that pricey option, as it'd be hard to justify paying a third baseman that much money after two down years as he heads into his age-34 campaign. On the flip side, if he returns to his old form in 2011, the option could very well be exercised, and he'll again be facing a Make or Break Year in 2012.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

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