Brewers consider four players for salary arbitration for 2009 season.
November 30, 2008
Brewers officials spent part of Thanksgiving week debating whether to offer arbitration to their compensation-eligible free agents, a sometimes complicated decision with immediate and long-term implications.
Four of the team’s free agents are up for debate, and all are pitchers: Eric Gagne, CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets and Brian Shouse. The Brewers have until 10:59 p.m. CT on Monday to decide whether to offer arbitration, a move which could net compensatory Draft picks if any of those players sign elsewhere but also could lock the team into high-priced, one-year contracts.
“Monday is a big day,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. “A lot of teams are waiting until that day passes to make other decisions.”
Here’s how it works. Teams receive Draft-pick compensation for certain high-profile players who depart via free agency — two picks for so-called Type A players and one for Type B players. Sabathia and Sheets are Type A and Gagne and Shouse are Type B, according to a formula set by the Elias Sports Bureau and based on players’ statistics over the past two seasons.
In order to qualify for those compensatory picks, a departing player must first be offered arbitration by the end of the day Monday. Players then have until Dec. 7 to decide whether to accept.
If a Type A player declines, he remains free to sign with any team and his former team is compensated based on his new ballclub’s record in the previous season. If his new team was in the top half of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams, the former team receives the new team’s first-round Draft pick plus a “sandwich” pick between the first and second rounds. If the new team fell in the bottom half, the former team receives the sandwich pick plus the new team’s second-round selection.
Type B players who are offered arbitration and then sign elsewhere net their former teams one compensatory Draft pick instead of two.
The Brewers are certain to offer arbitration to Sabathia, the most prized pitcher in this winter’s free-agent market and who is sure to cash in with a multiyear mega-deal, and Shouse, whom Milwaukee would like to have back on a one-year contract but who instead is seeking two years on the open market.
But Melvin would not offer any clues about longtime Brewers ace Sheets, a four-time All-Star whose value on the free-agent market is complicated by his injury history, including a torn flexor muscle near his right elbow that forced Sheets to miss the Brewers’ postseason series against the Phillies. Sheets earned about $12 million in 2008 and would get a hefty raise in arbitration after going 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA in 31 starts, including five complete games.
The Brewers almost certainly will not offer arbitration to Gagne because he earned $10 million in 2008, a figure that would factor into his 2009 salary. He went 4-3 with a 5.44 ERA in 50 games, and Salomon Torres took over the closer’s role in May after Gagne injured his right shoulder.
The Brewers’ other free agents who did not qualify for Draft compensation include reliever Guillermo Mota, infielders Russell Branyan, Craig Counsell, Ray Durham and Mike Lamb and outfielder Gabe Kapler. Melvin was particularly disappointed that Durham did not qualify as a Type A or Type B free agent, likely the result of Durham’s below-average 2007 season in San Francisco.
The Brewers may have some interest in bringing back Counsell, even after declining his $3.4 million option on Halloween, and Kapler, who was excellent as a reserve outfielder before suffering a season-ending upper back or shoulder injury. Melvin said he would not make a decision on Mota, who posted a 1.57 ERA in his final 25 appearances, until later this winter because there are so many relievers on the market.
It rarely makes sense for teams to extend an offer of arbitration to a player not eligible for compensation. The Brewers are not expected to do so.
Hookscenter.com wire report (McCalvy).
Brewers sign soft-tossing R.J. Swindle to a Major League contract for 2009.
November 30, 2008
The Brewers added to their stable of left-handed relievers on Tuesday when they signed the soft-tossing R.J. Swindle to a Major League contract for 2009.
Swindle, 25, was a 14th-round Draft pick of the Red Sox in 2004 and debuted in the Major Leagues briefly last season with the Phillies, making three appearances in July for the World Series champions. He was charged with four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Brewers were more impressed with Swindle’s Minor League numbers over the past four years, including his 10.4 strikeouts and 1.1 walks per nine innings pitched. In 194 Minor League innings for the Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies farm clubs, Swindle has a 226-to-25 strikeouts-to-walks ratio and a 1.58 ERA.
The native of Vancouver pitched last summer for Team Canada at the Beijing Olympics, and he’s currently working in the Venezuelan Winter League. Swindle posted a 3.17 ERA in his first 13 appearances for Magallanes with 17 strikeouts and three walks.
“He gets left-handed hitters out,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. “He’s more of a situational guy, not necessarily a full-inning guy. But he’s a guy that we feel can get people out.”
Swindle joins Mitch Stetter as the only left-handed relievers on Milwaukee’s roster, though the door remains slightly open for Brian Shouse to return. Melvin said the team was “not sure” about striking a deal with Shouse, 40, who is seeking a two-year contract. The Brewers have only been open to offer a one-year deal.
Swindle’s style is somewhat similar to Shouse’s despite their differing statures (Shouse is listed at 5-foot-10 and 196 pounds; Swindle at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds). Swindle throws a variety of pitches from different arm angles, including a 55-mph curveball. His fastball tops out in the 84-85-mph range.
Swindle is believed to have agreed to a split contract that pays the Major League minimum salary — $400,000 in 2009 — if he remains in the big leagues. He has two Minor League options remaining.
Tracy Paul Hunt, Swindle’s agent, said the Brewers were among three “serious contenders,” with six other teams, including the Phillies, offering Minor League deals with an invitation to attend Spring Training.
“We wanted a 40-man roster spot and the Brewers stepped up,” Hunt said.
The Brewers are working to fill holes in the bullpen left by free agents Eric Gagne, Guillermo Mota and Shouse and more recently by Salomon Torres, who announced his intent to retire. The Brewers sent Torres the necessary paperwork to make that intent official, but Torres has not yet filled it out and returned it.
Melvin did slam the door shut Tuesday on one rumor that the Brewers were interested in 39-year-old Japanese left-hander Ken Takahashi.
“We’re not involved with any Japanese players,” Melvin said.
The Brewers have 36 players on the 40-man roster, including Torres.
Hookscenter.com wire report (McCalvy).
Melvin confident Brewers still have shot at Sabathia in FA market.
November 27, 2008
Brewers general manager Doug Melvin touched base via telephone late Tuesday with Greg Genske, the lead representative for CC Sabathia, but came away with no better idea of how many teams had submitted formal offers for the free agent left-hander, or whether his own team had a realistic shot.
Melvin checked out Wednesday evening to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Chicago with his family. He believed that Genske, who has not returned phone calls from reporters this offseason, had similar plans.
“With free agency right now, there’s not much movement on a lot of guys,” Melvin said.
Melvin believes he knows why.
“I do think teams are very concerned about the economy,” Melvin said. “It’s sort of a stare-down.”
Melvin referenced reports from all three major sports leagues of layoffs, hiring freezes and tightening sponsorship dollars. One agent predicted in a conversation that Spring Training attendance might plummet in 2009 because of a drop in family travel.
But Melvin would not say that the Brewers were being directly affected yet. The team went through its budgeting process in late October.
“You create a budget and try to project the attendance, but there are other issues besides tickets that come into play,” Melvin said. “The agent I was talking to told me he doesn’t see people flying their families of four to Arizona and Florida and paying airfare and hotel rates.”
Whether Sabathia is directly affected by teams’ tightening purse strings remains to be seen. Only the Brewers and Yankees have confirmed making offers to Sabathia, with the Angels, Dodgers and Giants showing some level of interest.
The Yankees’ offer reportedly bucked economic worries and is believed to represent the richest contract for a pitcher in history, spanning six years and $140 million or so. The Brewers reportedly offered five years and $100 million in hopes Sabathia will take less to return to the National League and the team he led to the NL Wild Card in 2008.
Melvin believes that only a handful of teams will get in on the Sabathia sweepstakes because of the high asking price, but said that Genske wouldn’t confirm any offers that his client had received. Genske also didn’t give any indication, according to Melvin, of whether his client wanted to settle anything before the Dec. 8-11 Winter Meetings in Las Vegas.
“We talked, but nothing came of it,” Melvin said. “I just checked in, and there was not much said. There’s not much that we can say at this point. I just told him that I would be gone for Thanksgiving, and I think they’re shutting down for the weekend, too. We’ll see if anything happens next week.”
The Brewers will offer Sabathia arbitration on Monday, a procedural move to secure the two compensatory Draft picks the Brewers would receive should the pitcher sign with another team.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
2009 MLB free agent market weak for relievers, righty’s worse.
November 27, 2008
Jeremy Affeldt has already signed a two-year deal, with some people saying he could have gotten more than the two years, $8 million that the Giants gave him.
Trever Miller supposedly has a two-year deal ready with the Cardinals, and according to reports out of Milwaukee, Brian Shouse wants two years, too.
Arthur Rhodes’ agent is telling people that nine teams are interested in Rhodes, even though he just turned 39.
Oh, and the Yankees kept Damaso Marte off the free-agent market by signing him to a three-year, $12 million contract.
The free-agent market may be moving slowly for most, but not for left-handed middle relievers.
Given the recent history of middle relief pitchers signed to multiyear contracts, you really have to wonder why.
“If you went on a ratio of value to dollars spent, the middle relievers are probably the worst investment there is,” one veteran baseball man said this week. “What Baltimore did a couple of years ago just set the bar higher for mediocrity.”
In the winter of 2006-07, the Orioles signed Danys Baez, Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker to three-year contracts, for a combined $41.5 million. The Orioles lost 92 games the year before signing those three, and they’ve lost 93 games each of the last two seasons with them. This past season, their bullpen ranked 26th out of the 30 teams in ERA.
That same winter, the Mets signed Scott Schoeneweis for $10.8 million over three years. One year in, they were already trying to trade him.
“They’ve offered him to us a couple of times, and we didn’t want him,” one National League official said. “They’d give him away.”
Also that winter, the Angels signed Justin Speier to a market-setting four-year, $18 million contract. The Angels had a good bullpen last year, but not because of Speier, who had a 5.03 ERA. Speier was so little a factor that the Angels lost 15 of the final 22 games he appeared in, pretty tough on a team that went 100-62.
One problem with judging relievers is that they seem to have such up-and-down careers, a trend that some baseball men attribute to the way they’re used. Managers tend to fall in love with relievers who get the job done over the short-term, and thus those relievers often get overused.
Many of those overused relievers pitch poorly (or get hurt) the following year. Meanwhile, the relievers who fall out of favor get used less, and thus have fresher arms and possibly a better chance at success the next season.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Chicago manager Piniella says Cubs out of Jake Peavy trade talks.
November 25, 2008
If there were any lingering questions about whether the Cubs had pulled back from pursuing San Diego ace Jake Peavy in a trade, manager Lou Piniella answered them this week.
The Chicago Sun-Times’ Gordon Wittenmyer asked Piniella at an event in Chicago on Sunday whether the Cubs were still pursuing starting pitching in the wake of their four-year contract extension with free agent right-hander Ryan Dempster.
“No,” Piniella was quoted as saying in Tuesday’s Sun-Times. “Starting we don’t need. We’re set. We’ve got six good starters, and they’re all experienced. Getting Dempster back was the key. We’re in good shape with our starting pitching. Bullpen-wise, [we're looking for] possibly one more experienced pitcher. We’ve got a lot of young kids out there.”
He was referring to starters Dempster, Rich Harden, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis and Carlos Zambrano, each of whom reached double-digit wins in 2008 (if you include Harden’s first half in Oakland), plus left-hander Sean Marshall, who bounced between the rotation and the bullpen.
Marshall, though, has been mentioned in reports out of both Chicago and Kansas City as one Cubs player who could be used to acquire outfielder Mark Teahen from the Royals.
Piniella’s comments make the Cubs the second team to publicly distance itself from rumors about Peavy, who is being shopped by the San Diego Padres. The Braves, considered at the time the leading contender to land Peavy’s services, stopped actively pursuing the right-hander on Nov. 14.
Cubs starters were 69-40 in 2008 with a National League-best 3.75 ERA and a Major League-best .237 batting average against.
In the same Sun-Times article, Piniella seemed to offer an endorsement for free-agent outfielder Raul Ibanez, who played for Piniella in Seattle from 1996-2000. The Cubs are looking for a left-handed bat to hit in the middle of the order, and Ibanez has been mentioned as one possibility.
“Raul can hit, there’s no question,” Piniella told the newspaper. “He’s a professional bat, and he’s that type of hitter that we’re alluding to. … And he’s a great guy, no question. I like the guy. He’s a professional hitter; he plays hard; he’s a good player.”
Hookscenter.com wire report (McCalvy).
Brewers signed speedy Jason Bourgeois to a Minor League contract.
November 25, 2008
The Brewers signed speedy outfielder/infielder Jason Bourgeois to a Minor League contract on Monday and invited him to big league Spring Training.
The 26-year-old spent most of the 2008 season at Triple-A Charlotte in the Chicago White Sox system, hitting .286 with a .335 on-base percentage, nine home runs, 83 runs scored and 30 stolen bases in 41 attempts. He made his Major League debut with the White Sox in 2008 as a September callup but batted only three times, going 1-for-3 with a double.
Through his first 13 games in the Mexican Winter League, Bourgeois was hitting .373 (19-for-51) with a .448 on-base mark.
Bourgeois, who turns 27 on Jan. 4, has 201 stolen bases in nine Minor League seasons with affiliates of the Rangers, Braves, Mariners and White Sox, including at least 30 steals in three of the last five seasons. He has mostly appeared as a second baseman, but he has also played shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions.
He joins an organization that appears set at the Major League level, with left fielder Ryan Braun, center fielder Mike Cameron, right fielder Corey Hart and versatile speedster Tony Gwynn Jr. also on the 40-man roster. But there are some potential holes at Triple-A Nashville, where Laynce Nix is a Minor League free agent and Brendan Katin, who was tied for the Venezuelan Winter League lead through the weekend with 10 home runs, is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft next month.
The Brewers have already invited four non-roster pitchers to big league camp: Lindsay Gulin, Sam Narron and Chris Narveson, and right-hander Joe Bateman.
Hookscenter.com wire report (McCalvy).
Mariners name Don Wakamatsu as new manager in Seattle.
November 24, 2008
Don Wakamatsu is proud to be the first Asian-American manager in Major League Baseball history. He’s also keenly aware of what his grandparents endured, generations before he took over the Seattle Mariners.
During World War II, the United States government moved his Japanese ancestors across the country from one internment camp to another. Wakamatsu’s father, an iron worker, was born in one.
“I’m proud to represent some of what they went through in their lifetime,” Wakamatsu said. “If I can set a future stepping stone for Japanese-Americans and just the equality in baseball, I’m glad to bear that torch.”
A fourth-generation Japanese-American, the former Oakland Athletics bench coach was introduced on Wednesday as the new manager of the Mariners.
The team has close ties to Japan, from Hiroshi Yamauchi, its titular head and Japanese billionaire, through All-Star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, the franchise cornerstone.
James Wakamatsu, 93, and 91-year-old wife Ruth were hardworking, modest-living fruit growers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley before the U.S. rounded up Japanese living in this country during the war.
The elder Wakamatsus were first sent to live in an internment camp set up in the infield of a horse racing track in Portland. Then they were moved to Tule Lake, California, to Jerome, Arkansas, and to the Chicago area.
When the war ended, they resettled in Hood River, Oregon. Wakamatsu’s parents were there, too — his mother is Irish-American — and he was born there.
“When they got out, they were offered the barracks to buy. They ended up shipping it to Hood River,” he said of his grandparents. “As a child, I had no idea I was living in the barracks they were interned in. It blew me away.”
James and Ruth still live in that former part of an internment barracks in Hood River. They were thrilled when their grandson beat out six other candidates to become a major league manager for the first time.
“They are proud of me,” Wakamatsu said, smiling.
Wakamatsu’s wife, Laura, sat to his left during a news conference. She and their three children are proud of him, too. Just after being introduced, Wakamatsu held up a sign 10-year-old daughter Jadyn made to celebrate Dad’s big day.
“KNOCK ‘EM DEAD! From: Sis,” the sign read in blue and red crayon.
“This might be our theme for the year,” Wakamatsu said.
“I told him, ‘It better be,’” Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said, chuckling.
This 45-year-old relative unknown spent five years as a bench coach and third-base coach in Texas, then one year as bench coach for the A’s before Seattle called. He has never managed above Double-A.
His task: Reverse the culture and performance of a team that last season became the first to lose 100 games with a $100 million payroll.
“This is the crown jewel of what we’ve tried to do,” Zduriencik said, pointing to Wakamatsu and referring to his overall remake of the Mariners’ scouting and player-evaluation departments in the last month.
Wakamatsu was raised in Hayward, Calif., after moving out of that house which had been an internment barracks. He knows only a little Japanese, though it has improved lately with his daughter helping him with Berlitz courses. He hopes to learn the language better to relate closely with Suzuki and to improve Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima, who struggled so much last season and was benched months after signing a $24 million, three-year contract extension.
Asked what expectations should be in Seattle after last season ended as the Mariners’ worst since 1983, Wakamatsu said: “I’m not going to sit up here (and) promise the moon. Obviously, someone promised the moon last year and it didn’t work out.
“I think there’s talent. I think there’s youth … I think there’s starting pitching that’s pretty deep, a pretty good closer.
“Just with osmosis, we ought to be better than we were last year.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley has surgery after falling on ice.
November 23, 2008
Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley had surgery on Saturday after fracturing his leg in a fall at his Pennsylvania home.
Team spokesman Josh Rawitch said that the 24-year-old Billingsley slipped on ice outside his house in Reading, Pa., and suffered a spiral fracture of the fibula in his left leg on Friday.
He had surgery to put a plate in and will be in a cast for two weeks. Rawitch said the surgery went as expected and Billingsley should be ready to throw by spring training.
Rawitch said the surgery was performed by Dr. Paul Neuman, an orthopedic surgeon in Reading, after consulting with team surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
Billingsley was 16-10 with a 3.14 ERA this past season. He lost Game 2 and Game 5 of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
White Sox reach tentative deal with Cuban Star, Dayan Viciedo.
November 21, 2008
The Chicago White Sox have reached a tentative agreement with young Cuban star Dayan Viciedo.
The 19-year-old infielder/outfielder must pass a physical for the contract to be finalized, according to the player’s agent, Jaime Torres.
“He has agreed to a deal and is flying to Chicago,” Torres said Friday.
The contract was reported earlier by the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune.
The White Sox have been successful in signing Cuban players. Last offseason they landed infielder Alexei Ramirez, who eventually became their starting second baseman and batted .290 with 21 homers and 77 RBI. He finished runner-up in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting as Chicago won the AL Central.
Jose Contreras, the second-half ace of the 2005 team that went on to win the World Series, is recovering from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. He is 50-43 in parts of five seasons with the White Sox. Orlando Hernandez also was on the 2005 championship team.
“Alexei’s performance with the White Sox — he was given a great opportunity — did open Dayan’s eyes,” Torres said. “And with Jose, that did play a role. … But that’s not the primary reason.”
What really hooked Viciedo was being told he would get a chance to play his preferred position of third base, Torres said, adding that his client also liked the package that was put together with the White Sox.
Viciedo had 36 homers and 162 RBI with a .287 average over four years in Cuba’s top league while playing 327 games.
The White Sox are not expected to re-sign third baseman Joe Crede, and Josh Fields is one of the candidates at that position after spending most of last season in the minors.
“Personally, I think he can,” Torres said, when asked if Viciedo could go right to the majors. “I think I know the Cuban players and their talent.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Mike Mussina calls it quits after 270 Major League wins.
November 21, 2008
Mike Mussina took a secret to the ballpark every day this season. Maybe that’s why he was so successful on the mound, so jovial in the clubhouse.
From spring training, he knew this was his final year in Major League Baseball — even if it meant giving up bids for 300 wins, a World Series ring and a better shot at the Hall of Fame.
The New York Yankees pitcher retired on Thursday after his only 20-win season, a month shy of his 40th birthday with a still-potent right arm.
“I don’t have any regrets. This is the right time,” Mussina said on a conference call.
“I don’t think there was ever a point where I looked around and said, ‘You know what, I’m going to change my mind,’ ” he said. “It was like the last year of high school. You know it’s going to end and you enjoy the ride.”
Mussina finished 270-153 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 seasons with Baltimore and New York. A thinking man’s pitcher who relied on sharp control and did more than overpower hitters, he ranks 32nd on the MLB career wins list and 19th in strikeouts with 2,813.
His dad and brother tried to talk him out of retirement and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman called to ask about his future. Instead, “Moose” became the first healthy pitcher to leave on his own accord following a 20-win season in more than a century.
He was amazingly consistent — after going 4-5 as a rookie with Baltimore in 1991, he became the only American League pitcher to reach double figures in wins for 17 consecutive years. He was a five-time All-Star and won his seventh Gold Glove this month.
Hookscenter.com wire report.