Rumors for December, 2010
Pirates designate RHP Joe Martinez for assignment
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The Pittsburgh Pirates have designated right-handed pitcher Joe Martinez for assignment to open up a spot for newly signed pitcher Kevin Correia.
The team also announced 4 non-roster invitations to Spring Training: Tyler Yates (who signed a Minor League deal), Jeff Clement, Rudy Owens and Justin Wilson.
Information from Jenifer Lagosch of MLB.com was used in this post.
Interest in Jeff Francis heating up?
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As the offseason continues, interest in the second and third-tier players increases as the top players continue to find their new homes and bags and bags of money this off-season. This is exactly the case with Jeff Francis is coming off an injury filled shortened season. Teams that missed on bigger name free agents have now turned their attention to Francis and others like him. The Mets, Nationals, Pirates, Rangers, and Yankees all have varying degrees of interest in the lefty Francis according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.
In November, Crasnick named the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros as teams that at the time were interested in Francis. Some of these teams may have moved on to other free-agent targets while teams like the Brewers have traded for other pitchers (Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke) and maybe done adding to their respective rotation.
Francis posted a 5.00 ERA in 104 1/3 innings for Colorado this season. Francis missed all of 2009 as he had shoulder surgery. He became a free agent when Colorado declined his $7.5 million option for the upcoming season.
Any team that signs Francis will probably sign him to an incentive-laden deal and will most likely be a one-year deal with a possible 2nd year player option.
Adrian Beltre rumors: Oakland would talk with Beltre if he wants to listen
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Yesterday, it was reported that the Los Angeles Angels dropped out of the Adrian Beltre negotiations after “making him (Beltre) an incredible offer”. The offer was rejected by Beltre and his agent, Scott Boras, and “there’s no room for further negotiation.”
However, Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports said the Angels have not given up their pursuit of Beltre, but they may not be close to agreeing to a deal. It’s believed that Beltre is seeking a five-year, $85-$90 million deal or even a six-year deal with a comparable salary.
Earlier today, ESPN’s Buster Olney said that Oakland, which has taken a major step forward with its offseason moves, would talk to Beltre again if he wants to talk with the Athletics.
Rockies not in a rush to bolster their bullpen
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The Colorado Rockies are still looking for a relief pitcher, and according to Thomas Harding of MLB.com it appears that Rockies General Manager, Dan O’Dowd, is waiting until after the holidays to continue his shopping for bullpen help.
“I think it’s going to be after the first of the year if we’re going to engage in something,” O’Dowd said. “It’s one thing to want to add someone, but it’s quite another we feel if we make a bad decision in the process. There were guys we had interest in, but we weren’t willing to go far enough to do that.”
Pitchers like Joaquin Benoit, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier and Bobby Jenks have set up the salary benchmarks for setup men. All of them signed lucrative multi-year deals. O’Dowd said the Rockies, who have rarely gone past one year for a reliever in recent years, would be willing to engage in a multi-year deal but only under the right circumstances.
Harding says that the Rockies have shown interest in David Aardsma and Grant Balfour, but the latter is a Type-A free agent who was offered arbitration by his former team, the Rays. The Rockies aren’t willing to give up a first-round pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft.
The Rockies would like to retain left-hander Joe Beimel, now a free agent.
Harding says that the Rockies are limited on what they can do. They have just one open spot on their 40-man Major League roster, so signing more than one player to a Major League deal would require an additional move.
Yankees and Red Sox to pay MLB’s luxury tax
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The New York Yankees were charged with an $18 million luxury tax by Major League Baseball while their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, were forced to pay $1.49 million, according to the Associated Press. No other team was assessed a luxury tax.
The luxury tax threshold was set at $170 million this season, and the Yankees’ $215.1 million payroll required them to be penalized at a rate of 40 percent over the threshold. The Red Sox payroll was $176.6 million and they were charged a 22.5 percent rate.
The Yankees $18 million luxury tax is the lowest since 2003 and down from $25.7 million the team was taxed last season.
Bobby Jenks is officially a Red Sox
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Boston Red Sox have officially signed former White Sox Bobby Jenks after he passed his physical, according to sources close to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford.
Bradford adds that Jenks could also receive the following bonuses – an additional $1 million by finishing games, specifically: $200,000 each for 30, 40, 50, 55 and 60 games completed.
Last week we learned that the Red Sox and Jenks agreed on a two-year, $12 million deal.
Jenks made $7.5 million last season and was non-tendered by the White Sox. He was 1-3 with a 4.44 ERA and 27 saves in his final season with the White Sox.
Yankees in the market for relief pitcher, outfielder and utility player
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According to Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger, the New York Yankees are in the market for a right-handed relief pitcher, a right-handed hitting outfielder and a utility player.
“We’re moving forward, pursuing what’s available,” general manager Brian Cashman said on Tuesday. “There’s not much available, to be quite honest. But if there’s something there for the taking that we like, that we can match up with, we will strike.”
“Bottom line is there is a price to pay for waiting for Cliff Lee,” Cashman said. “Now, part of that price is definitely going to be loss of previous opportunities that (existed). At the same time, now it’s going to have to be some patience. Now, it’s going to be a steeper mountain to climb, which is fine, because we can climb it. Steeper meaning it’s going to take a longer way to get there. It’s a harder road to travel. That’s OK. You can still get there.”
The Yankees have been linked to right-handed starting pitcher Freddy Garcia. In his first complete season since 2007, when he underwent shoulder surgery, Garcia posted a 12-6 record with 4.64 ERA in 157 innings for the Chicago White Sox in 2010.
How NL West owners made their money
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As a child I wanted two things: to own a toy store and a baseball team. The days of playing with Transformers and Go-Bots are long gone (at least that’s what I think), but there’s still a desire for me to own a baseball team. I’ve tried the fantasy baseball route, but I’m sure it isn’t the same as owning a multi-million dollar franchise where millions of people are emotionally connected.
Given the Texas Rangers’ recent sale of $585 million and comparing that number to my bank account, I realize that I’m well short of acquiring a team financially. While I understand that there are many ultra-wealthy people in this world, writing a check for more than half a billion dollars is not an easy task for anybody. So how did 30 elite owners do it? PRO Rumors will break down each general partner/owner by division to see how they managed to go beyond the fantasy team. We want to know how they acquired their wealth before they became a Major League Baseball franchise owner.
Arizona Diamondbacks
General Partner/owner: Ken Kendrick
Net worth: unknown
Source of wealth: Software and food products
2010 Forbes Franchise Valuation: $379 million
Ken Kendrick was the founder of Datatel, Inc, a software company, in 1968. Its original purpose was a data processing service company, but later focused on higher education since the late 1970s. While the company is private, it posted $138 million in revenues in 2009.
In 1992, Kendrick went on to co-found the Balance Bar food company. The company was eventually sold to Kraft Foods for $268 million in January of 2000.
In 1995, Kendrick was apart of an investment group, along with former owner Jerry Colangelo, that paid a $130 million franchise fee to Major League Baseball to bring baseball to the desert.
Colorado Rockies
General Partners/owners: Charles Monfort and Richard Monfort (aka Monfort brothers)
Net worth: unknown
Source of wealth: Meat exporter
2010 Forbes Franchise Valuation: $384 million
The Monfort brothers are the sons to Kenneth Monfort, the previous owner of Monfort of Colorado, Inc. a meatpacking and distributing company. The company originally went public in 1970with a $16 million public stock offering. Monfort of Colorado, Inc. was acquired by ConAgra Foods in 1987 for a stock swap valued at $295.6 million.
Jerry McMorris and Charlie Monfort purchased the controlling interest of the Rockies in 1992. Dick Monfort purchased McMorris’ financial interest in the team in 2005. The Rockies franchise fee in 1992 was $95 million.
Los Angeles Dodgers
General Partner/Chairman: Frank McCourt
Net worth: $835 million (May 2010)
Source of wealth: Real estate and construction
2010 Forbes Franchise Valuation: $727 million
Frank McCourt founded The McCourt Company in 1977, two years after he graduated from Georgetown University. The company specialized in development of major commercial real estate projects, particularly parking lots. The McCourt family has a long history in real estate and Major League Baseball, and were already wealthy by the time Frank McCourt started his business practices. Frank McCourts’ grandfather was part owner of the Boston Braves.
McCourt attempted to purchase the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels before he finally purchased the Dodgers in 2002 from the Fox Entertainment Group, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, for $430 million.
San Francisco Giants
General Partner/Chairman: William H. Neukom
Net worth: unknown
Source of wealth: Microsoft/software
2010 Forbes Franchise Valuation: $483 million
Bill Neukom completed his law degree from Stanford Law School in 1967 and served as a clerk for the King County Superior Court in Seattle from 1967-1968. He later joined a law firm that was headed by Bill Gates Sr., father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates Jr. 1977, Gates Sr. asked Neukom to advise his son’s software business when the company had just 12 employees. He remained with Microsoft for 25 years.
Based on our calculations, one original Microsoft share from 1986 that is equivalent to 266 split-adjusted shares (the last stock split was February 2003), times the closing price per share as of December 20, 2010 of $28.80 equals $7,660.80. This is not considering dividend reinvestment. If Neukom was given a modest 1,000,000 shares (a number that would be typical of an employee at his level) over the course of his employment he could have $7.6 billion. (Keep in mind, this is assuming that he held all of his stock from the beginning and these are not realized gains until he actually sells the stock on the open market).
Neukom was named Managing General Partner for the Giants on May 16, 2008 when he succeeded Peter Magaowan. He had been an investor with the Giants for some time prior to that date.
San Diego Padres
General Partner/owner: Jeff Moorad
Net worth: unknown
Source of wealth: Sports agent
2010 Forbes Franchise Valuation: $408 million
Moorad was a player agent partnered with Leigh Steinberg at ‘Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn’ and he represented many baseball, football and basketball players. The firm was sold in October 1999 to Assante Sports Management Group, a Canadian Financial-management firm, for a reported $120 million.
Moorad later opened Athletes First (later named Moorad Sports Management) and took about 50 NFL players with him.
In 2009, Moorad became lead partner in a group that purchased the San Diego Padres from John Moore. Moorad still owns 12% of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Dodgers designate Brent Leach for assignment
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have designated left handed pitcher Brent Leach for assignment according to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
The left-handed pitcher was eventually signed by Yokohama in the Nippon Professional Baseball League, according to NPB Tracker’s Patrick Newman.
Leach, 28, appeared in 38 games with the Dodgers in 2009. He went 2-0 with a 5.75 ERA in 20 1/3 innings.
Leach spent the 2010 season attempting to change back into a starter at Triple-A.
Brandon Webb Rumors: Unidentified NL Central team interested
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According to a source close to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, an unidentified National League Central team has expressed interest in free agent pitcher Brandon Webb.
Crasnick adds that the Texas Rangers and the Washington Nationals continue to show a strong interest in Webb, but the Chicago Cubs have backed off their pursuit of the right-handed pitcher.
A source adds that Webb will speak with Rangers manager Ron Washington and pitching coach Mike Maddux on Tuesday while GM Jon Daniels has already spoken with Webb to gauge his interest.
