By Zachary Links | at
The Nationals have unconditionally released catcher Chris Coste, according to a team press release. The 37-year-old recently underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery.
The backstop was placed on waivers by the Mets in late March and was quickly claimed by the Nats. Coste made a combined 230 plate appearances for the Astros and Phillies last season, hitting .224/.301/.317.
By Tim Dierkes | at
12:53pm: The Nationals claimed Coste, reports Brian Costa of the Newark Star-Ledger.
7:53am: The Mets placed catcher Chris Coste on waivers, reports Adam Rubin (via MetsBlog). Coste signed a big league deal worth $650K back in December. Rubin says Coste is likely to accept an assignment to Triple A if he clears waivers.
Coste, 37, hit .224/.301/.317 in 230 plate appearances for the Phillies and Astros last year, catching 352 innings. Coste went 3 for 14 with a walk this spring.
On Saturday, ESPN's Jayson Stark said the Mets were hoping to move an excess catcher like Coste or Omir Santos for Triple A pitching depth. The Mets have Rod Barajas, Henry Blanco, Santos, Josh Thole, and Shawn Riggans on the depth chart.
By Mike Axisa | at
ESPN's Jayson Stark has a new blog post up with some trade rumor nuggets for us. It's behind the Insider wall (if you don't have a subscription yet, what are you waiting for?), so I can't give away too much…
By Mike Axisa | at
MONDAY, 7:44pm: Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Mets are considering offering Molina a deal that would pay him $6MM next year and include an option for 2011. It's not clear what kind of option they're considering. The Mets would prefer not to offer Molina a two-year deal, but they haven't ruled such a deal out.
9:52pm: Newsday's Ken Davidoff says that the Mets are considering Rod Barajas as an alternative to Molina. What do you think: genuine interest, or a smoke screen to put some pressure on Bengie?
SUNDAY, 3:02pm: Jon Heyman says, via Twitter, that the Mets are trying to wait it out when it comes to Molina. According to Heyman, the Mets figure that other teams with catching needs, such as the Royals and Rangers, have less money than them.
Are the Mets wise to wait on Bengie? Or, are they running a risk of losing out on what seems to be their main target for starting catcher in 2010? Gregg Zaun already signed with the Brewers this week, eliminating one possible alternative from this year's free agent crop.
SATURDAY, 9:19am: Despite signing both Henry Blanco and Chris Coste recently, the Mets are still looking to add a catcher according to Bart Hubbuch of The NY Post. Manager Jerry Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen hold last year's catching corps partially responsible for the team's 4.46 ERA, though I think the fact that Livan Hernandez, Tim Redding, Oliver Perez, Nelson Figueroa, and Pat Misch combined to make 71 starts is more to blame.
Hubbuch says the primary catching target appears to be Bengie Molina, whose 20 homers in 2009 was nearly double what the Mets got out of their catchers. Molina is a Type-A free agent, but he wasn't offered arbitration, meaning it won't cost a draft pick to sign him. Giants' GM Brian Sabean recently said that he believes Molina "probably has been offered" a multi-year deal by another team, though we haven't heard any more about that.
By Howard Megdal | at
Buster Olney is reporting on his Twitter feed that the Indians' "preference might be giving their internal candidates a chance to play, instead of inking vet FAs to $800K deals."
It is fair to wonder if this will be a league-wide trend, though the Mets' decision to bring in Chris Coste and Alex Cora seems to argue against this.
Cleveland, unlike New York, also has more players at the upper levels of their farm system.
By Howard Megdal | at
The Fargo-Moorehead Forum's Jeff Kolpack has confirmed a report by New York Baseball Digest's Joe DeMayo that the Mets have signed Chris Coste, a Fargo native, to a contract.
Coste told the Forum that the Mets gave him a guarantee of being placed on the 40-man roster, though not a guaranteed spot on the Opening Day roster. If the Mets are happy with Coste, they can keep him beyond 2010 as an arbitration-eligible player.
Coste struggled with the bat in 2009, hitting just .224/.301/.317 in 230 plate appearances with the Phillies and Astros.
The former 33-year-old rookie will be 37 next season.
By Mike Axisa | at
Here's a few links to help you through another baseball-less night…
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
The Astros claimed catcher Chris Coste off waivers after the Phillies released him, according to Scott Lauber of the Wilmington News Journal. Coste, 36, was hitting .245/.342/.382 in 45 games for the Phillies, with a pair of homers. The Phillies let the fan favorite go to make room for Raul Ibanez.
By | at
SATURDAY, 5:45pm: Joe Frisaro of MLB.com provides an update from the Marlins’ FanFest, reporting that the team would consider signing Rodriguez, but only at the league minimum, plus incentives.
Marlins’ president of baseball operations, Larry Beinfest, said that the Marlins are likely to stand pat at catcher, and that any free agent signing would have to "make perfect sense."
FRIDAY, 9:05am: Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel confirmed the Marlins’ interest in Pudge, while also noting that the Fish discussed Philadelphia’s Chris Coste this week. He says the Phillies want to evaluate Ronny Paulino before considering a Coste trade.
THURSDAY, 5:12pm: Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports that the Marlins have interest in free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez.
"Cost, however, is key," writes Frisaro. The Fish don’t have much money left to work with and are only willing to guarantee about $1 million, plus a few performance-based incentives. That might not be enough to woo Pudge, who hit .276/.319/.394 with seven homers and 35 RBI in 398 at-bats last season.
Rodriguez might also crave more playing time. The Marlins seem to like 27-year-old John Baker a whole lot.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
Links for Saturday…
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