Rumors for team
Adiós Frank McCourt
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The end of the Frank McCourt era has come and the new reign of Magic Johnson, Steve Kasten and the rest of the Guggenheim Baseball Management group begins. The sale of the Dodgers became official today instead of yesterday with $2 billion changing hands. The delay was a result of excessive paperwork that still needed to be reviewed.
Frank McCourt purchased the Dodgers in January of 2004 for $421 million. After all his debts and bills were paid, McCourt walked away with over $1 billion in pocket and will go down as the smartest investor and business man ever to walk the earth.
“The Dodgers emerge from the Chapter 11 reorganization process having achieved its objective of maximizing the value of the Dodgers through a successful Plan of Reorganization, under which all claims will be paid,” the Dodgers released in a statement. “The Dodgers move forward with confidence – in a strong financial position; as a premier Major League Baseball franchise; and as an integral part of and representative of the Los Angeles community.”
Commissioner Bud Selig had this to say about the sale of the Dodgers. “After a long and difficult road, the sale of the Dodgers is now complete, and I am pleased that the club can have the fresh start it deserves under new ownership. In addition, I want to personally thank all Dodger fans for their patience and loyalty during this trying period. I have said many times that we owed it to them to ensure that the club was being operated properly and would be guided appropriately in the future. It is my great hope and firm expectation that today’s change in ownership marks the start of a new era for the Los Angeles Dodgers and that this historic franchise will once again make the city of Los Angeles proud.”
The Dodgers have won six World Series titles but none since 1988, when they were still owned by the O’Malley family that moved the team from Brooklyn to California after the 1957 season. Fox bought the team in 1998, then sold it to McCourt. Under McCourt’s ownership, the Dodgers reached the postseason four times in eight seasons.
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Minor League news: Bundy, Yelich, Gattis and Fernandez
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Here’s a running list of news around the Minor Leagues:
– Orioles prospect Dylan Bundy extended his “season-long no-hitter” last night after throwing four perfect innings according to Jon Meoli of the Townson Times. Bundy struck out six batters and needed just 44 pitches to retire them.
– Marlins’ number one prospect Christian Yelich is off to a terrific start after missing the first ten games due to a knee injury reports Guy Curtright of MLB.com. Yelich is hitting .429/.543/.857 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers and 5 RBI’s in eight games for the Jupiter Hammerheads at the Florida State League.
– Evan Gattis, a Braves catching prospect, is leading the Carolina League in batting average (.424), homers (8), RBI’s (26), OBP (.507), SLG (.898) and according to Jeff Seidel of MLB.com he is “at or near the top in other categories.”
– Jose Fernandez, the Marlins’ number three prospect, threw six no-hit innings and combined with Gregory Nappo and Kevin Cravey yesterday to throw a no-hitter against the Hickory Crawdads (Class-A) reports David Heck of MLB.com. Fernandez struck out eight hitters and walked two during his six inning appearance.
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Dontrelle Willis leaves team without permission
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The Baltimore Orioles placed left handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis on the restricted list yesterday, and according to Jon Heyman of CBSSprots, it was because he left the Orioles’ Triple-A team without permission.
Orioles GM, Dan Duquette, confirmed that Willis left the team after a “difference of opinion about whether he should start or reliever.” Heyman adds that “Duquette is hopeful Willis returns soon because the team believes he can be a successful reliever.”
The Orioles signed Willis to a Minor League deal back in March after being released by the Philllies. Willis did have some success last season as he held left-handers to a .127 average in 55 at-bats.
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Royals trade Zach Miner to the Tigers
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According to Bob Sutton of the Kansas City Star, the Kansas City Royals have traded right handed pitcher Zach Miner to the Detroit Tigers for cash considerations.
Miner last played in the Majors in 2009 with the Tigers. In four Major League seasons, all of them with the Tigers, he has a 25-20 record with a 4.24 ERA, 0.9 HR/9, 3.7 BB/9 and 5.5 SO/9 in 357.0 innings.
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Nationals interested in giving Jordan Zimmermann a long-term deal
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The Washington Nationals have apparently begun preliminary negotiations with Jordan Zimmermann’s agent to discuss a long-term deal reports Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. And although Zimmermann has not been included in the conversations so far, he would be open to signing a long-term deal with the Nationals.
“I haven’t talked to the Nationals about it,” Zimmermann said. “I’d be interested. I’ll just play it out and see what happens. I’m just going to go out and pitch the way I can pitch. Everything will take care of itself.”
Recently the Nationals gave a five-year, $42 million extension to left handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez, and as Kilgore points out, it has become a trend. The most recent, was Giants’ starter Madison Bumgarner who signed a five-year, $35 million deal.
Bumgarner is 22-20 with a 3.12 ERA, 0.7 HR/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 7.7 SO/9 in 343.0 Major League innings throughout four years. Gonzalez is 39-32 with a 3.87 ERA, 0.9 HR/9, 4.4 BB/9 and 8.7 SO/9 in 553.0 innings throughout five years.
Zimmermann is 12-19 with a 3.72 ERA, 0.9 HR/9, 2.2 BB/9 and 7.6 SO/9 in 297.2 innings throughout four years.
The Nationals should definitely lock Zimmermann up to a long-term deal, that way they could avoid escalating salaries for Zimmermann through the arbitration process. Lets not forget that Zimmermann is a Super-Two, which means he will have an extra year of arbitration availability. I believe that the Nationals could sign him for a five-year, $31-35 million deal.
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Angels agree to a four-year, $35 million deal with Erick Aybar
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The Los Angeles Angels have reached an agreement with shortstop Erick Aybar according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. The deal is for four years and $35 million. According to Gonzalez, the announcement of the deal, is expected tomorrow and “will mark the end of at least a five-month-long negotiation between Angels general manager Jerry DiPoto and Aybar’s agent, Fernando Cuza.”
A couple of days ago, we said that the best deal the Angels could strike with Aybar was a deal similar to the one the team gave to second baseman Howie Kendrick for four years and $33.5 million.
Aybar is a career .275/.318/.378 hitter with 24 HR’s, 210 RBI’s and a 89 OPS+ in seven years. His career WARP is 8.4 and his FRAA 2.2.
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Red Sox scouting outfielder Scott Podsednik
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According to sources close to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports, the Boston Red Sox have been scouting veteran outfielder Scott Podsednik who is playing for the Phillies’ Triple-A team.
Given the fact that the Red Sox lost their everyday center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury for for at least six weeks, and their other speedy outfielder, Carl Crawford, is still rehabilitating for his wrist surgery, it is logical that the Red Sox are looking for outside help to fill Ellsbury’s void.
Podsednik is a speedy, veteran outfielder who can provide similar, but not better defense, and less offensive than Ellsbury. Podsednik’s career FRAA is 27.1 and Ellsbury’s career FRAA 21.9. Podsednik is a career .279/.340/.381 hitter with 41 HR’s, 300 RBI’s and a 89 OPS+ in ten Major League years, and Ellsbury is a career .299/.354/.450 hitter with 52 HR’s, 238 RBI’s and a 109 OPS+ in six Major League years. While they both have similar OBP, Ellsbury’s SLG percentage and OPS+ is considerably higher, but given the available options Podsednik is a very nice fit for the Red Sox.
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Tim Lincecum is still in the long-term picture for the Giants
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According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, Giants VP, Bobby Evans, spoke with Tim Lincecum’s agent and told him that he was still in the long-term picture for them. “Obviously we’ll be looking toward that in the future.”
The Giants recently signed right hander Matt Cain, 27, to a six-year, $127.5 deal and regardless of the start Lincecum is having this year, if he manages to stay healthy, any deal for him should at least match Cain’s deal.
“The Freak” has managed to stay healthy throughout his career, but the lower mph in his fastball could be an indication of an injury, even if he hasn’t said anything, but if that’s the case the Giants would have to evaluate how severe that injury would be and if he can comeback to his normal standards. The Giants also extended left handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner yesterday to a five-year, $35 million deal.
Lincecum, 27, is off to a rough start this season, but the two-time Cy Young award winner is a career 69-43 with 3.08 ERA, 0.6 HR/9, 3.3 BB/9 and 9.9 SO/9 in 1041.2 innings throughout sis years with the Giants.
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Minor League pitching notes: Archie Bradley, Tyler Thornburg and Matthew Neal
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Here’s a running list of pitching notes around the Minor Leagues:
– Diamondbacks’ first rounder Archie Bradley threw five innings of no-hit ball and struck out eight batters (personal best) in his last start according to Ashley Marshall of MLB.com. “It made me feel real good tonight,” said Bradley. “I think about what it would have been like to play football all the time, but I don’t regret it one bit. One-hundred percent I made the right decision.”
– Right handed pitcher Tyler Thornburg went 7.1 perfect innings in his last start with the Brewers’ Double-A team and struck out 11 batters reports Jonathan Raymond of MLB.com. “As it got into the fifth and sixth and seventh they started swinging early, so it was hard to figure out what pitches to throw in what counts because they were swinging at pretty much everything,” said Thornburg. “[A perfect game] is one of those things you notice early on, but you really don’t start thinking about it until you get past the fifth or sixth.
“I loved it, though. It’s always fun when something like that’s going on. The adrenaline helps you out late in the ball game and overall it’s great.”
– Marlins’ prospect Matthew Neal threw 6 perfect innings in his last start for the Hammerheads, but he had to leave the game due to innings limit reports Raymond. He only needed 55 pitches to get the job done. “It was a little disappointing,” Neil said. “They tell us to pitch to contact, keep your pitch count down and I felt like I did that well, being at 55 pitches after six innings. I was hoping they’d bend their policy a bit, but it’s early on in the season and they’ve got the rules to keep everybody healthy.”
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Was Chris Iannetta’s addition to the Angels smarter than Pujols’ addition
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Much has been said about Albert Pujols‘ addition to the Angels, and everybody knows that it was a risky move for Angels owner, Arte Moreno. Because Pujols will eventually decline, if it hasn’t started yet, and having a 40-year old player earning more than $20 million sounds like a bad business decision. The best they can hope for is that Pujols’ decline doesn’t start anytime soon and that when it does, its not that steep.
Now, besides Pujols, the Angels added another everyday player to their team, catcher Chris Iannetta. His addition pretty much went unnoticed with all the hype generated after Pujols’ and C.J. Wilson’s signing this off season.
But given the team the Angels had in 2011, and forgetting about the truck full of money the Angels gave Pujols, or the start of the season he is having compared to Iannatta, who was a better fit for the Angels?
The answer is easy, but it might sound crazy to most of you. The best fit for the Angels was Iannetta, but why do I say that? Well, I took the liberty to do some math to prove that what I’m saying its true. The math might not be perfect or even close to the work done by Bill James or SABER experts, but I think its valid.
When you add a position player to you team, you’re replacing AB’s and defensive innings given to another player in previous years. In this case, we’ll assume that Iannetta is replacing Jeff Mathis‘ AB’s and defensive innings, while Pujols is replacing AB’s from Alberto Callaspo, Mark Trumbo, Kendry Morales and Bobby Abreu. I say that, because the playing time for all those players was affected with Pujols’ addition to the team, specially for Abreu.
Now, to compare the player contribution to the team’s offense we’re going to use the OPS+ stat. Which is the sum of OBP (On-Base Percentage) and SLG (Slugging Percentage), but adjusted to park and league effects.
Last season, Mathis had an OPS+ of 37 in 93 games, while Iannetta had a 102 OPS+ in 112 games with the Rockies. This means a 65 points difference between both catchers in OPS+, a considerable difference if you ask me. Defensively, Mathis had a 0.3 FRAA (Fielding Runs Above Average) and Iannetta a -0.1 FRAA, but Mathis’ VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) was -8.2 while Iannatta’s was 23.8, another big difference between the two. After analyzing these numbers you can conclude that the Angels definitely improved their team by adding Iannetta. They will probably add 65 more points in OPS+ and around 32 runs to their offense by the end of the season with this trade (using last season’s numbers).
To analyze Pujols addition I did something, a little bit crazy. Since he isn’t replacing just one player like Iannetta, I decided to create a player with the OPS+ of Callaspo, Abreu, Morales and Trumbo, the players who will be affected, somehow, by the addition of Pujols. I won’t create the player trying to guess how much playing time of each one of these players will be affected, I’m just going to assume they are all worth the same. I’m also going to use Morales’ 2009 OPS+ because it was his last complete season in the Majors.
If we add the OPS+ of those four players and calculate a simple average, we get a fictional player with a 117 OPS+. That fictional player is the player Pujols will be replacing in the Angels lineup. Pujols’ OPS+ in 2011 was 150, a big number, and obviously higher than Iannetta’s OPS+, but only 33 points higher than the simple average of the players he is replacing. This means only half of the production Ianneta is adding to the Angels lineup above what they had in 2011 when Mathis was behind the plate most of the time.
If you want to take defense into account this is what you get. Given the fact that Trumbo was the Angels everyday first baseman in 2011, I’m going to compare Pujols’ FRAA with Trumbo’s FRAA only. In 2011, Trumbo had a 1.9 FRAA while Pujols 13.5. This is the only department where Pujols addition might be a big improvement from what the Angels already had, but lets face it, Pujols was brought to Anaheim to hit, not to defend first base better than Trumbo, and you don’t pay that kind of money for defense only.
By adding the VORP to the equation, Iannetta’s addition to the team proves once again, to be more valuable than Pujols’ addition. Pujols’ VORP in 2011 was 43.4 (his lowest mark in his career), while the VORP for the player we created is 24.9. Pujols represents 18.6 more runs for the Angels compared to the other four players, but Iannetta represents 32 more runs than Mathis for the team. Again, Iannetta represents a bigger improvement to the Angels than Pujols.
Considering what the Angels paid to get Pujols ($240 million over 10 years) and what the Angels paid to get Iannetta (they gave up Tyler Chatwood, and are paying $3.6 million in 2012), and what is their marginal contribution to the team, there’s no room for discussion that Iannetta’s addition was more important than Pujols’ addition.
By the way, I’m not saying that the Angels shouldn’t have signed Pujols, if you have the chance, and the money to improve your team, do it. And Pujols is obviously an offensive and defensive improvement of what the Angels had in 2011.
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