Around the Central (12.16.09)

News and notes from the Twins interdivision rivals:

Chicago White Sox

Looking to secure a lead off hitter and center fielder, the White Sox traded two pitching prospects, John Ely (AA) and Jon Link (AAA), to the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 32-year-old Juan Pierre. The White Sox had troubles finding adequate defensive help in center in 2009, using equal parts Brian Anderson and journeyman Scott Podsednik until Alex Rios was acquired at the waiver deadline. Pierre gives Ozzie Guillen an everyday-type that is probably better utilized as a defensive replacement/fourth outfielder.

• ANALYSIS: This trade signals the end of the Scotty era on the South Side. Podsednik gave Chicago decent production on top of the lineup, hitting a career best .304/.353/.412 in 132 games. After the season the 34-year-old veteran free agent was seeking a multi-year contract, one that the White Sox balked at giving him. Considering his offensive contributions exceeded his career numbers, Podsednik was easily a candidate for regression and a risky multi-year proposition. The Tigers, Giants, Cubs and Royals have all expressed interest in his services.
• ANALYSIS: Pierre, meanwhile, has a very similar skill set to Podsednik but at a much higher cost. Using speed and contact as his main weapons, Pierre put together a strong first-half of the season in Manny Ramirez's absence, hitting .328/.387/.417 with 19 extra base hits in 289 plate appearances. This was followed by a very significant drop-off in the year's second-half as he hit a paltry .264/.318/.339 with 5 extra base hits in 136 plate appearances. Pierre has been a plus-defender (5.6 career UZR/150 in OF) but has a wet noodle of an arm, allowing runners to advance on balls hit in the gaps. He is serviceable as a starter but with $8 million total committed to Pierre in 2010 and 2011, he will have to bring value in the form of his glove but expect a decline in his offensive numbers upon his relocation from the NL. 

During the Winter Meetings, Chicago added free agent reliever JJ Putz to the roster. The White Sox signed Putz to a one-year, $3 million deal that can reach $6.25 million if he winds up being a closer.  Because the Sox's interest in Putz was leaked from the front office, Chicago GM Kenny Williams said the club was forced to add another $500,000 to the base salary. "Let's just say it didn't make it any easier," Wiliams said in a conference call with local media. "You have your jobs to do, and we have ours. Certainly understand what we're up against when things become public. That's why we try to operate, at least since I've been here, at a more discreet level. And it has served us well. The times things have gotten out, publicly there have been some residual effects as a result of it, and in this case there was."

• ANALYSIS: Putz's 2009 ended after 29 innings, shutdown because of forearm pains that an MRI revealed was fraying and tearing. He did not require surgery although his season was ended as a precautionary measure. Prior to that, his fastball's velocity was down (from 95.0 to 93.5 mph) and hitters were not chasing any of his pitches out of the zone (17.9% down from 24.7% OoZ swing). The Sox are hoping that he rebounds to the point where he is still a detriment to righties, who have slugged a career .298 off of him (though some of that minuscule power number can be attributed to playing in Safeco for six years), but since he will not even begin to throw off the mound until Christmas break its hard to say how the 33-year-old's arm will respond with the time off.

The White Sox decided not to tender a contract to right-handed reliever, DJ Carrasco, who made just $440,000 with Chicago last year. In 49 games, Carrasco went 5-1 with a 3.76 ERA and a 62/29 K/BB in 93.1 innings pitched.

• ANALYSIS: Carrasco gave the Sox a versatile arm out of the bullpen, averaging almost two innings per appearance, but was used mainly in low leverage situations. He might give a team that is interested in keeping the ball in the park a decent option at less than a million (Colorado, perhaps?). This past year, the righty increased his usage of his 89-mph cutter (from 29.4% to 46.7%) and threw a straight fastball far less (from 41.0% to 30.4%). The results of which witnessed far fewer long flyballs and more infield flys as opponents made less heavy contact:                                                                            

  	Infield/Fly Ball%	Home Run/Fly Ball%
  2007	7.3	11.5
  2008	13.3	6.7
  2009	13.7	4.9

       

Cleveland Indians

The Indians re-signed pitchers Anthony Reyes and Adam Miller after not offering them contracts by the Saturday deadline. On Sunday, Cleveland extended minor league contracts to the pair and invited Reyes to spring training.

• ANALYSIS: Reyes was a promising pitcher in the Cardinals organization but the talent never manifested itself in St Louis so he was flipped to the Indians for Luis Pedermo. In the early stages of his career, Reyes had several minor injuries to his shoulder. In 2007, Chris O'Leary wrote a piece on the dangers of scap loading (the act of bringing the arm behind the driveline and attempt to pinch your shoulder blades together). There is extensive debate on what the proper method is (if at all) but there a somewhat accepted conclusion that a pitcher should not raise their elbow above their shoulder when in the cocked position - this puts undue stress on the joints. O'Leary notes that Reyes was a big perpetrator of this, suggesting that Reyes will experience some elbow issues. By 2008, Reyes began to miss time due to elbow soreness and in October 2009, doctors determined that Tommy John surgery was necessary. Reyes will miss almost all of 2010 and will stand reminder of why scouting departments need biomechanics analyzing motion of pitchers.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes, GM Mark Shapiro is interested in bringing back first baseman/outfielder Ryan Garko who was non-tendered by the San Francisco Giants. In five seasons, Garko has compiled a .279/.351/.441 career line but has hit .313/.392/.495 against lefties in 485 plate appearances.

• ANALYSIS: After being traded to the Giants from Cleveland in July, Garko struggled in the National League. In 127 plate appearances, he hit .235/.307/.330 with just 2 home runs but some of the production drop can be attributed to a level of bad luck has he had a low BABIP (.243) despite hitting a wealthy portion of line drives (18%). While advertised as a corner outfielder, Garko's fielding prowess should tether him to first base. Currently, the Mets, Nationals, Orioles and Rangers are all potential suitors for Garko.

 

Detroit Tigers

One of the few clubs active during the Winter Meetings, Detroit participated in a three-way deal that sent center fielder Curtis Granderson to New York and starter Edwin Jackson to Arizona to receive a bounty of left-handed reliever Phil Coke (from NYY), starting pitcher Max Scherzer (AZD), minor league prospect Austin Jackson (NYY) and left-handed reliever Danial Schlereth (AZD).  

• ANALYSIS: Granderson's offensive woes against left-handed pitching reached a point where the Tigers did not feel comfortable playing their starting center fielder when a southpaw was on the mound. In 199 plate appearances, Granderson hit just .183/.245/.239 while striking out 21.1 percent of the time. As a player that was reaching the later stages of his peak playing years with a reasonable contract signed through his age-32 season, Detroit opted to remove what would be at least a $20.25 million obligation to a player they started to view as a platoon candidate. In New York, Granderson's lefty problems and escalating costs is not a cause for concern as it is for Detroit needs to replenish a farm system and cut payroll, but his left-handed power will play well with Yankee Stadium's achievable right field seats and his defensive numbers should look better as the amount of real estate to cover is smaller in the Bronx.
• The 23-year-old Austin Jackson is a somewhat overrated talent. While a good defender, his offense in the past two seasons clouds his projections. Since hitting .345/.398/.566 in High-A, Jackson's seen his power numbers and walk rate drop and his strikeout rate swell from 16% to 22%. The Tigers have said that they plan on using Jackson as an outfielder in 2010 so given his history, Detroit can expect some struggles as he adapts to the higher level.
• Max Scherzer's power arm fits in well with the Tigers model however as pitching coach Rick Knapp worked hard to reduce the number of walks allowed, Scherzer's control will give Knapp a new project not unlike the challenge the departed Edwin Jackson presented. If that can be corrected, Scherzer could be a very dangerous compliment to Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello. With a 94-mph fastball and a 85-mph slider, his 2009 3.88 xFIP suggested that Scherzer could have a sub-4.00 ERA in 2010.   
• After increasing their payroll steadily since 2004, raising the total from $64 million to a high of $137.6 million in 2008, the Tigers have started to attempt to recoup on some of the trades made from 2007 to 2009. Especially after emptying out the system for Edgar Renteria, Maggilo Ordonez and Dontrelle Willis. 

With Fernando Rodney scheduled to make an exodus from Detroit, possibly to Philadelphia, the Tigers are searching for options to replace him as the closer. According to MLB.com's Jason Beck candidates include free agent Kevin Gregg and internal options in Ryan Perry, Daniel Schlereth, Joel Zumaya.

• ANALYSIS: Gregg has been one of those closers whose value and perceived value was overinflated by the save statistic. After being traded from the Angels to the Marlins, Gregg saved 61 games while allowing a lot of baserunners (1.25 WHIP, 4.5 BB/9). When arbitration costs pushed his salary north, the Marlins traded him to Chicago for a hard-throwing closer prospect Jose Ceda. In Chicago, Gregg increased his strikeout rate but saw a high number of flyballs slip over the fence (15% HR/FB) and eventually lost his closer job to Carlos Marmol. As a fly ball pitcher (44.3% in 2009) an environment like Comerica would be beneficial, similar to how it played for Brandon Lyon. The Orioles seemingly are the only competition for Gregg.
• Joel Zumaya, although once considered the Tigers closer of the future back in 2006, has spent 353 days on the disabled list since then. Most recently, Zumaya had surgery on August 21st to repair a non-union stress fracture in his shoulder. While his stuff is still electric - averaging 99-mph in 31 innings of work and getting a swing-and-miss 26.4% of the time - shoulder surgeries are usually a long healing process that can zap a lot of the velocity. Said GM Dave Dombrowski "He's never going to have a 100-percent shoulder. It's just not going to happen. He had major surgery in his shoulder, and so it's not going to be 100 percent. So they have said that everything will be fine, but you still have to see it."
• Ryan Perry, 23 years and 89 professional innings old, is another potential candidate.  He throws was is classified as a heavy 95-mph fastball and a 85-mph change up that mixes up opponents. On Perry, Dombrowski commented that the righty “has the mentality to do it. He’s going to have to develop a little more consistency, which doesn’t surprise you, because he’s only been pitching professionally for a little more than a year."

 

Kansas City Royals

The Royals signed 35-year-old Jason Kendall to a two-year, $6 million dollar deal to be the team's primary catcher. Said Kansas City GM Dayton Moore of Kendall's acquisition "As we build our pitching staff — not only the young pitchers we have at the major-league level but also the young corps of pitchers and catchers who will be in major-league camp either this year or next year — his presence and leadership will develop a culture that we’re going to need.”

• ANALYSIS: Instead of re-signing either John Buck or Miguel Olivo - a combo that helped the team's catchers hit a combined .814 OPS - the Royals committed two seasons to an aged product who has not had a wOBA above .300 since 2006. I've long given up attempting to figure out if there is strategy or if these maneuvers come to Moore in some hallucinations that he must fulfill. Moore seems to be basing this on Kendall's ability to squat for 130-games but at 35, odds are that he won't quite reach that milestone in 2010 and probably even less in 2011.

In addition to John Buck, who was immediately signed by the Blue Jays, the Royals non-tendered Mike Jacobs, the first baseman they acquired prior to the start of the 2009 season for reliever Leo Nunez.

• ANALYSIS: From miles away, this was a disastrous move. Jacobs, a low on-base (.318 OBP)/high strikeout (21.5% K%) hitter, spent 2008 hitting a career-high 32 home runs and in the process raising his arbitration value. Not willing to write those checks for just power alone, the Marlins flipped him for reliever Leo Nunez. The Royals quickly discovered why due diligence is necessary in baseball. Of Jacobs 32 home runs, 14 (or 43.7%) were classified as "Just Enough". Almost half of his home runs barely cleared the fence in 2008. Couple that with relocating him to a stadium that mutes home run power and it is only expected that his totals would decline. 

Kansas City agreed to a minor league contract with former Twins pitcher Philip Humber and have invited him to spring training.

• ANALYSIS: These are the kinds of low risk, medium reward deals you take on when you have finished at the bottom of the division perennially. Optimistically, he might find a role in the bullpen but has not shown that he is capable of being a main component. There might also be the outside possibility that he is injured. For the past three seasons in the minors, Humber opponents have made better contact while he has struck out less and has walked more:

  Humber - AAA	H/9	BB/9	K/9
  2007	8.4	2.8	7.8
  2008	9.6	3.2	7.0
  2009	10.2	3.4	6.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spit-take! Mauer's MVP.

Baby Jesus wins MVP with crazy good numbers.  Here's some of the latest from around the world on our hometown hero's big award:

• Patrick Reusse at the Star Tribune presents a hat-in-hand apology for his accusations in 2001.  Sort of. While Mauer's 2006 season should have satisfied even the stubborn of defenders of the draft-Prior crowd, the MVP award finally allows the crusty columnist to offer up a sincere apology...but then quickly disguised his folly in the same camp as those that insist on relocating Mauer from behind the plate: "You betcha, we members of the draft-Prior crowd were morons, although no more so than the naïve media types and masses of civilians insisting the wise course for the Twins was to move Mauer from behind the plate." Mr. Reusse, you drink your medicine and you drink it alone! 
• It is an amazing turn around for Mauer from a year ago.  According to John Shipley's write-up at the Pioneer Press, Justin Morneau told reporters that his back was in such rough shape last November that Mauer could not get out of his car.
• ESPN Rise, a magazine dedicated to all things high school sports, proclaimed Mauer the best high school athlete this decade in spite of playing just two years of sports (2000-2001).  
• Confident that SI columnist Joe Posnanski has a man-crush on the Twins organization in general, starting with a bromance with manager Ron Gardenhire, Pos submits one of his patented curiously long posts dedicate to anointing Mauer the most coveted players on the planet - more so than Albert Pujols, but for good reason.  
• Ken Davidoff of Newsday tweeted that the lone reporter that did not view Mauer as the league's MVP was Keizo Konishi. Konishi, a Seattle-based writer who declared Miguel Cabrera to be the league's most valueable player, will forever be known as the guy who did not understand what he was voting for.  Apparently, he was voting for "Most Likely to Get in a Drunken Knife Fight with Wife".
• CBS Sports baseball writer Scott Miller heavily encourages the Twins to lock up Mauer now.  Like many national columnists, Miller placates the locals and resorts to Minnesota cliches like "when in the name of Lake Minnetonka...", "more Minnesotan than ice fishing..." and "maple-syrup coated voice".  That said, I would describe Miller's writing as "less substance than all of the CIS shows combined".  
• Joe Christensen explores Mauer's current contract extension atmosphere with the Twins' front office.  Reportedly, the Twins are in contact with his agent, Robert Shapiro (father of Indians' GM Mark Shapiro), and are driving to get a contract in place before Christmas.  While Mauer's annual average salary could easily hit the $20 million mark, Christensen compares the Twins plight to that of the Rockies where they signed first baseman Todd Helton to a dehabilitating nine-year, $141.5 million contact chewing up 30 percent of Colorado's payroll.  In a very similar market to Denver, the Twins could experience the same type of handcuffing the Rockies are shackled with every free agent season, forcing a trade a Matt Holiday before his free agent year.  However, it should be noted that the Rockies have remained competitive through a very rich farm system and solid ROI's on trades like Holiday. 
• I'm probably not the only one that has had enough of the Yankees playing the role of the guy-who-thinks-he-can-get-any-girl-in-the-bar, but if you are not LoHud Valley News's Sam Borden lusts after the Minnesota catcher in Yankee pinstripes.  Adds Borden, "Mmm. Yeah. Get me some..."
• Meanwhile, Pioneer Press columnist and amateur psychologist Charley "Shooter" Walters plays the Endorsement Card, suggesting that the lure of added revenue on top of the AAV from the Nikes and Gatorades will entice Mauer to uproot from the plains and land square in New York City.  Shooter's unfounded hypothesis needless will send Yankees fans into a tizzy, much like this one from the Subway Squawkers.  
• The honorable Peter Gammons at ESPN proclaims that the Twins chances of retaining Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau is "unlikely".  While a trade is certainly not off the table in the ensuing year, Morneau is locked in through 2013 and Mauer's when-not-if contract should keep him in Minnesota until at minimum until 2017 so the duo would play at least three more seasons together.  I would be very surprised to see Morneau actually finish his contract in Minnesota.  At the end of Morneau's contract, the lefty would be moving into his age-33 season which is when hitters have already begun to have broken down (especially heavier first baseman-types with no where else to move to except DH).  While he could still be a dangerous hitter, Morneau's trade value to the Twins would probably far exceed his extension value particularly if Mauer's contract is 30 percent of the payroll.

Why We Should Care About Pitching Independent of Fielding

When the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner conceded during a press conference that he follows a lesser known three-letter acronym statistic (FIP) than the reigning mainstream accepted one (ERA), pundits took to the keyboards to either extol his virtues of being a forward-thinker or criticize his tomfoolery of shrouding himself in “new age” nonsense.   Why hesitation exists to embrace FIP is beyond my comprehension.  Yes, relinquishing what you are comfortable with is difficult, but it is worth it.  While it may be exhaustive to replace finely tuned DVD collection with a more elaborate BluRay, it makes the experience that much better.   But replacing ERA with FIP isn’t even comparable to DVD-BluRay, it’s like swapping Silent Film-for-BluRay, the technological upgradegoes leaps-and-bounds.

 

The analogy is fitting in more ways than one considering silent films were of the era in which ERA was first conceived.  The Earned Run Average, as Alan Schwarz notes in his book The Numbers Game, developed during a time in baseball when fielding was an adventure.  Balls were often booted due to little padding in gloves, roughly 21 fielding errors per game.  In 1867, a newspaper decided to label any run scored without the assistance of a fielding error to be an “earned” run.  This metric, as Schwarz states, would be the root of how we evaluate pitching.  Therefore, the ERA evolved from efforts to judge batters and fielders, not pitching.  This, readers, is back-asswards.

 

Still, nothing was officially tracked.  Henry Chadwick, the man credited with inventing the boxscore and was an avid and influential statistician, refused to associate earned runs with pitching.  As a man who edited numerous journals on baseball at the time, his rejection of the earned run stuck and pitchers were most commonly ranked by wins or winning percentage.

 

In 1912, the openings of Fenway Park and Tigers Stadium signified major changes in the game’s economic structures as ballparks transitioned away from their wooden predecessors.  The statistical game was changing too.  Several years prior, the Earned Run’s biggest opponent and vocal baseball forefather, Chadwich, passed away creating a void as the gatekeeper of statistics.  A National League secretary named John Heydler, who saw value in measuring pitching in some form, introduced a newly refined version of the Earned Run to the world.  Instead of figuring out the average of earned runs per game, Heydler used innings – which is why we divided by innings then multiplied by nine.

 

In essence, it took 45 years for baseball to recognize that pitching needed some form of measuring stick for pitching performance.   Yet, it has been another 97 years and much of the baseball world is still using to the same prehistoric assessment of pitching. 

 

Since 1912 there have been endless amounts of changes in the game – ranging from equipment to training to the pool of players to the field’s themselves – but pitching is still measured within the same confines that were established in 1867 with little irony towards what it was actually gauging.  Over the years, teams still invested heavily on pitchers with low-ERAs suspecting they would remain miniscule forever, rarely considering the quality of the eight other men on the field or the field itself.  Conversely, many pitchers with high-ERAs were unfairly accused of poor results when, in actuality, no one accounted for the statuesque fielders or bandbox of a stadium adversely effecting their averages.

 

In the late 1990s, sabermatician Voros McCracken went about solving that.  He theorized what we do know is that baseball doesn’t happen in a bubble; there are limitless amounts of possibilities once the ball leaves the bat and that pitchers had little authority on what happened once a hitter made contact.  Despite everyone’s preconceived notions that good pitchers could “control” where the ball goes once in play (i.e. A pitcher could get that double play groundball if he wanted to) McCracken’s studies found that to all be a bunch of malarkey: The best pitchers at limiting hits one year could very well be the worst next year.  The researcher then set out to isolate all pitcher-influenced items and remove all defense-influenced items from the number.  What were left were five categories: Walks, Strikeouts, Home Runs, Hit Basemen and Intentional Walks.  The formula used to calculate his newfound DIPS (Defense Independent Pitching Statistic) drew much debate but his thesis was accepted.  A few years later, Tom Tango, best known for authoring The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, messaged the DIPS into a more commonly known FIP (Fielding Independent Statistic) which we find readily available at Fangraphs.com.

 

Why would we want to use FIP instead of ERA? 

 

The objective of evaluating talent consistently is the biggest one.  While ERA can help identify a good season, it does not hold more predicative value.  Studies have found that the correlation between a pitcher’s FIP and his future success is stronger.

 

For example, fortunate fly ball pitchers blessed with spacious outfields and distant fences guarded by speedy outfielders often can produce misleading ERA numbers.  Jarrod Washburn’s 2009 stint in Seattle is a textbook version of this scenario.  In spite of having below-average strikeout rate and above-average contact, Washburn maintained a tiny 2.64 ERA while exercising a .225 batting average allowed.  How was a career 4.13 ERA pitcher shaving one-and-a-half runs off of his ERA?  Defense and home park.  As a pitcher that surrenders fly balls nearly 43% of the time, his average on those fly balls should have been closer to the league average of .223.  Instead, Washburn’s alignment of Franklin Gutierrez, Ichiro and Endy Chavez snared almost everything floating past the infield (.130 average on fly balls).  Likewise, Washburn avoided giving up long balls because his home field, Safeco, was 24^th of the 30 MLB ballparks in home runs allowed.  Prior to departing for Detroit, the difference between his FIP and his ERA was nearly 1.20 points higher in favor of his FIP.  Unless given the exact set of circumstances he had in Seattle at the beginning of 2009, Washburn is destined not to repeat his early season success.

 

FIP can also help weed-out better than expected talent.  Carl Pavano’s rotund ERA of 5.10 in 2009 was misleading in the sense that he was a much better pitcher than seemed.  While in Cleveland, Pavano tallied a high strikeout total and a miniscule walk rate but was burdened by bad defense (one that posted a .670 DER versus a league average of .696) leading to additional runners circling the bases to score.  Few more outs have been converted behind him and Pavano’s ERA may have looked much cleaner.  The only dings in his FIP (4.00 – 11^th in AL) came in the form of home runs allowed.  Before his trade to Minnesota, Pavano played in the most home run restrictive parks in ’09 (Progressive Field, 30^th of 30) yet allowed 1.36 HR/G (well above league average of 1.03) while in Cleveland.

 

So what we know is that FIP does a better job of predicting a pitcher’s success (and his in-season performance) than that of ERA, nevertheless, it is frowned upon by the establishment when mentioned, much like those who questioned blood-letting in the 18^th century.  It does take a handful of prominent people within the game to change the mindset - and having a Cy Young winner reference FIP certainly assisted in advancing the metric.  If nothing else, it sent tenured beat writers’ scrambling to Wikipedia to figure out what Greinke was talking about.  Hopefully for a team like the Twins, using the stat more will help them avoid a catastrophe like Washburn or grab another low-valued pitcher like Pavano.  

OtB's Around the Central (11.15.09)

News and notes from the Twins interdivision rivals:

Chicago White Sox

• Chicago struggled to find a serviceable leadoff hitter for much of the 2009 season. For the team’s first 34 games, the Sox employed a potpourri of hitters including Dwayne Wise, Jayson Nix, Brent Lillibridge and Chris Getz before settling on the prodigal Scott Podsednik. The 33-year-old Podsednick shored up the spot, hitting .303/.355/.416 in 121 games. Because of his age and free agent status, the White Sox showed interest in acquiring Angels’ leadoff man, Chone Figgins, as Podsednick’s replacement. Figgins, who was on base nearly 40% of his plate appearances (.395 OBP) at the top of a Los Angeles lineup that scored an average of 5.45 runs per game, was looking for a multi-year deal with an average annual value of $10M. Chicago’s GM, Kenny Williams, admitted that his budget does not have the flexibility to accommodate Figgins’s demands. ''We don't have that kind of money,” said Williams. “Sometimes the minor [free-agent deals] are the major ones, in my mind. How many Novembers have you heard that line?''
• In spite of the Sox paying $950,000 to buy right fielder Jermaine Dye out from his $12M contract in 2010, Dye has kept the window open for a possible return. ''First of all, I could come back to the Sox,'' Dye said in a phone interview Tuesday. ''I talked to [White Sox general manager] Kenny [Williams], and negotiations could still go on.” Dye told the Chicago Sun-Times, “Kenny talked to me about the fact that his hands are tied as far as spending money, but ... I could sign for less.'' Dye, who will be 36 at the start of the 2010 season, hit a torrid .302/.375/.567 with 20 HR in the season’s first half before cooling off to a tepid .179/.293/.297 with just one home run after the All Star break. Combine his eroded defensive skills with late season productivity decline and it isn’t any surprise that the Sox were not willing to pay him $12M when he has not encroached that value since 2006 (when he was worth $11.8M according to fangraphs.com).
• When the Sox traded Jim Thome to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the waiver trade deadline, the left-handed Twins killer hoped the door was still open for the lumbering DH’s return. "Everyone knows my feelings toward the White Sox," the Peoria native said to the Chicago Tribune. "I enjoyed it here. It's home." The 39-year-old slugger most comparable to Harmon Killebrew according to B-R.com’s similarity scores, Thome’s experienced four consecutive seasons of power decline, witnessing his slugging percentage drop from .598 to .563 to .503 to just .481 this past season. He may no longer be capable of swatting 40-home runs, yet Thome has shown the ability to get on-base at a 36% percent clip or higher (then again, once on base, Thome is an immoveable object). For a relatively low salary, an AL team can acquire a beer league softball hitter that can coax a walk or too.
• Third baseman Gordon Beckham, who will likely move back to short in 2010, is being touted as potentially claiming the White Sox’s first Rookie of the Year since Ozzie Guillen won the award in 1985. After beginning the season in AA Birmingham, Beckham ascended to Chicago as Josh Fields failed to secure third base. In 103 games, the rookie infielder hit .270/.347/.460 with 17 home runs while driving in 63 runs and scoring 58 more himself.

Cleveland Indians

• The Plain Dealer’s Indians’ columnist, Paul Hoynes, covers some extensive territory, discussing the 2010 roster and some potential moves the club might make while financially strapped. One item of interest is the whereabouts of Grady Sizemore come 2012. Cleveland holds an $8.5M club option on Sizemore, however, given the organization’s penchant for freeing up payroll, a trade in 2010 or 2011. Because the option year can be waived by Sizemore if traded, the motivation may be to move him sooner rather than later. Sizemore is coming off a season in which injuries crusted over his stellar progress, producing the lowest offensive season (111 OPS+) since his rookie year. Cleveland would need a big first-half to pump up his value in order to get a ROI for an MVP-caliber center fielder.
• Hoynes also notes that it is very plausible that the Indians will attempt to move closer Kerry Wood before the 2010 season. Following a solid season in which the righty worked 66.1 innings while striking out 84 and converting 34 saves with the Chicago Cubs, the Indians inked Wood to a two year, $20.5M contract -- with a 2011 vesting option for an additional $11M if he works in 55 games in 2009 or 2010. Since he threw in 58 games in 2009, Wood is Indians property for three seasons at $31.5M – a steep price for a closer on a team struggling to win 75-games making him a perfect candidate to be moved for more inexpensive parts. Part of Wood’s problem in Cleveland was his reluctance to use his slider (just 3.8% versus 22.8% in ’08), instead he used a harder thrown cutter and curveball only to see hitters stop chasing pitches outside of the zone (20.2% in ’09 versus 31.3% in ’08) leading to more walks (from 2.44 in ’08 to 4.58 in ’09). Retuning his assortment might help reestablish the dominance but the dollars owed is a high price for the majority of teams.
• With the Indians set to allow utility man Jamey Carroll to test the free agent market, there are rumblings of Cleveland bringing back fan favorite Omar Vizquel to fill a need as a backup infielder. While the 42-year-old Vizquel might not be able to match Carroll’s positional versatility or ability to get on base, Vizquel has played stellar defense in limited capacity (32.9 UZR/150 in 196.2 innings at short and 56.1 UZR/150 in 101 innings at third in ’09) in spite of his accelerated age. The Indians like the idea of acquiring Vizquel who played in Cleveland during the club’s banner years and have fallen on hard time attendance-wise, slipping to second-lowest attendance in the AL this past season. The veteran infielder has expressed interest in playing only for a contending team, which Cleveland is sure to not be in 2010.
• While the Indians are in the market for a veteran starter to add to the current crop of youth pitching (Jeremy Sowers, Fausto Carmona, David Huff, Justin Masterson and Carlos Carrasco), Terry Pluto does not think the tribe will bring back Carl Pavano because of his desire for a multi-year contract.

Detroit Tigers

• Rumors of the Tigers shopping center fielder Curtis Granderson persists. With the Angels making a strong play for the outfielder, speculative packages includes shortstop prospect Brandon Wood who has had problems finding regular playing time at the major league level. This makes sense as Detroit has little long-term solutions for the shortstop position. Internally, Cale Iorg demonstrated nothing at AA in 2009 to reassure the organization that he is the future. In 491 PA, Iorg hit .222/.274/.336 while striking out 111 times (30.3%). Without payroll flexibility, Detroit’s solution would be to look outside the organization.
• Interestingly enough even though they had a glaring need for a shortstop, the Tigers were never in contention for JJ Hardy from the Brewers. “I was looking specifically for a center fielder or pitching that was low (in) salary and low (in) service time,” Brewers GM Doug Melvin wrote. “I did not see a match so I did not call (the Tigers).”
• Detroit is also rumored to be shopping starting pitcher Edwin Jackson. The 26-year-old Jackson compiled a 7-4 first-half record with a great 2.52 ERA and 97-to-35 K-to-BB ratio. During the second-half, Jackson, a predominately fly ball-oriented pitcher, saw a few more of the balls drift over the outfield walls as opponents slugged .500 off of him with 17 home runs. His completed the second-half with a less impressive 6-5 record and 5.07 ERA. For his third straight season, Jackson lowered his walk rate and incited more swing-and-misses however being arbitration eligible will mean a raise from his 2009 $2.2M salary and that does not coincide with owner Mike Illitch’s budgetary slash edict. Although Jackson’s original organization, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is interested in him, the Brewers have pursued Jackson as well. MLB.com writer Jason Beck believes Milwaukee outfielder Corey Hart might be the right trading chip in this instance.
• Ken Rosenthal wonders out loud if the Tigers should look to trade Miguel Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox for closer Jonathon Papelbon, Mike Lowell and a prospect. In theory, the Tigers would be shipping a 5 WAR player who has a crippling $126M through 2015 left on his contract for two 2 WAR players and an estimated $20M in salary. Obviously, the move addresses two needs for the Tigers but ultimately frees up payroll -- one that reached $129M this past year -- after 2010.

Kansas City Royals

• The Royals wasted little time filling in holes in the lineup, signing free agent utility man Wilson Betemit to a minor league contract. As a role player for the majority of his career, the switch-hitting Betemit shows a high aptitude against right-handed pitchers while hitting left-handed (.791 career OPS) but has not fared as well from the right side of the plate (.637 career OPS). A year ago, Betemit was in the White Sox system as an insurance policy for the fundamentally challenged Josh Fields. Now that the Royals have traded Fields, it is only fitting that they bring in his safety net as well.
• After acquiring second baseman Chris Getz from the White Sox in the Mark Teahen trade, the Royals’ 2009 second baseman, Alberto Callaspo, is viewed as expendable. The switch-hitting middle infielder hit a robust .300/.356/.457 with 41 doubles in over 600 PAs. Some scouts are not confident his numbers are sustainable going forward, mainly because his inflated average has a lot to do with playing in a ballpark with a spacious outfield (.337 home BA vs. .267 road BA), but he is a high-contact hitter with some indications that he can work a walk. The power is most likely a mirage yet Callaspo would give a contending team a strong utility player.
• Royals' GM Dayton Moore has made no indications that Zack Greinke, Joakim Soria or Billy Butler is available, but almost everyone else can be had. Along with the aforementioned Callaspo also available is David Dejesus and Gil Meche however the team is more likely to trade pitchers Brian Bannister or Kyle Davies before moving the previous three.

Seagulling the Michael Cuddyer Option

I’m not convinced that extending Michael Cuddyer was as heinous a decision as ESPN.com’s Rob Neyer made it out to be.  Without a doubt, Neyer raises some good points.  Neyer recognizes the face value problem of extending a 32-year-old, he examines the piece not the whole.  The organization is committing $10 million dollars to an aged player -- one that has already exited his peak playing years -- and is likely to see his offensive numbers decline while, at best, hoping his defense does not decline further from 2009 (where he could have been swapped out for an ottoman with a negligible difference).  Where this troubles me is that Neyer stops short of offering any useful solutions or viable alternatives.  In the corporate world, we refer to this as "seagull management" - where you fly in, dump on everything and then leave without offering anything constructive.

Committing to Cuddyer for 2011 goes against every fiber in my body when it comes to team-building.  Typically, 30-somethings should be traded for younger talent after they have career years, and Cuddyer's 124 OPS+ season very much qualifies as such.  However the current crop of free agent outfielders is far too deep for the Twins to extract promising players in addition to the fact that trading Cuddyer leaves the Twins scrambling for a viable third and fourth outfielder for 2010.  Hypothetically, even if you do trade him now for Javier Vazquez of the Braves, the current class of free agents does not have a legitimate right-handed hitting replacement that is not miscast as a outfield while they should be DHing.   

There are a few things that Cuddyer does well that is not easily replaced:  

• Crushing left-handed pitching has been one of his biggest contributions since coming up in 2001.  His platoon splits are 70 OPS points higher when facing lefties (.848 OPS) in slightly over 1,000 plate appearances.  This past season, 15 of his 51 hits off of lefties cleared the fence - an amazing 29% home run rate - while producing an OPS over 1000.  
• Cuddyer's power, in general, is outstanding.  According to hittrackeronline.com, 13 of his 32 home runs were of the "No Doubt" variety (40.6%).  This total placed him tied for third among some of the league's most prolific home run hitters in Mark Teixiera, Carlos Pena and Miguel Cabrera.  The average hitter typically hits 18% No Doubt home runs and Cuddyer has exceeded that.  People will point to his 15.5 HR/FB rate as an indicator that he's due to drop off in total but because of the sheer force, it is easy to suggest that Cuddyer is capable of generating 30+ home runs in 2010 and 2011.  
• While his defensive coverage is shaky, Cuddyer still has a strong arm that keeps runners from advancing.  In 2009, just 41% of baserunners took the opportunity to sneak an extra base on Cuddyer.  This was by far the worst rate of his career but comparatively, free agent outfielders Jermaine Dye and Marlon Byrd allowed a 55% and 62% extra base rate respectively.  Even though Cuddyer's range isn't spectacular, his arm keeps runners from sliding up a base. 

Presented with the alternatives, the Twins had to move forward with Cuddyer in 2010, particularly if they wanted to be a playoff team that plays in the ALCS.  Which brings me to the decision-making necessary for exercising the $10.5 million dollar option for 2011.  

The dollar has been almighty in Minnesota for the past two decades and the $10 million marker appears to be a significant milestone because the club is limited to just a select few VIP members (Brad Radke, Johan Santana, Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau).  It seemed exclusive to guys who were All Star, Cy Young and MVP-caliber players - which does not seem to fit the bill for Cuddyer.  However, Cuddyer's predecessors were paid during a time when $10 million was a substantial chuck of the pie:  

• Radke's $10.75 million in 2004 was 20 percent of the payroll. 
• Santana's $13 million in 2007 was 18.2 percent of the payroll.  
• Hunter's $10.75 million in 2006 then $12 million in 2007 constituted 16.3 and 16.8 percent respectively.  
• Morneau's $11 million in 2009 ate up 16.3 percent of the 2009 payroll.
• Mauer's $10.5 million in 2009 garnered 16.1 percent of the 2009 wages.  

With Target Field's revenue stream expected to bump the payroll to $90 million, Cuddyer's $10 million suddenly represents just a 8.5 percent payroll allocation.  Hardly the same level of financial commitment made during the Metrodome's era.  Had this same situation presented itself several years ago, Cuddyer would be testing free agent waters without hesitation or apology.  The payroll paradigm has shifted and has given the Twins more flexibility -- the $7 million salary range is now the $10 million dollar salary range.  In short, what once viewed as a full-size is now a mid-size.  

Where exactly does Neyer think Cuddyer's replacement is coming from in 2011?  What the organization projected as it analyzed the 2010-2011 offseason free agent landscape was that Michael Cuddyer could very well be at the top of the class.  Naturally, the Twins could forge their way into the free agent market following 2010 and land either one of two premium outfielders in Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth.  Crawford’s pristine defense and solid contributions with the bat has pushed his price tag upwards of 5 years with an average annual value of $15 million, that is, if he hasn't already been traded and signed a new contract with his new team at that point.  Werth’s 2009 season meanwhile proved that he is more than a platoon player, as previously believe.  As a full-time player he smashed 36 home runs, tied for 8^th highest in baseball, while supplying above-average defense in right field.  If Werth matches this contribution in the final year of his two-year, $10 million deal with Philly, he is certain to get a contract worth more than $10 million per year, most likely from the Phillies to retain him.  Even if either is available, both should achieve multi-year deals that would conflict with the internal development of Aaron Hicks or Ben Revere.  

So with Crawford and Werth effectively erased from the whiteboard, the rest of the leftovers have turned sour.  There is what is sure to be the 37 year old remains of Jermaine Dye.  Even the White Sox realized that Dye's defense has long been detrimental and, with the exception of pounding a few balls over the fence, is only good as a base-clogger (27 home runs and 19 doubles in '09).  Yes, he could be had at a reduced rate but there is little ROI potential. Chicago bought him out rather than fork over $12 million in 2010 for a performance which is sure to fall well short in value.  

The Twins could enlist Marcus Thames' service. Thames will be a spry 34 years old in 2011.  While he might be good for a dozen jack-shots at a TJ Maxx price, the Tigers limited his reps in the outfield and haven't given him more than 350 plate appearances since 2006 (which, coincidentally, was the last time he was actual worth more than a replacement level player).  With another season to age, Thames might not even be able to bring the power that gives him his limited value.  After Dye and Thames, the list degenerates into your role playing types in Frank Catalanattos, Austin Kearns and Jody Geruts of the world. 

What about letting Cuddyer go and trying some internal options?  In reality, the Twins do not have anyone capable of immediately replacing Cuddyer nor a sure bet in 2011 either.  There are players on the cusp but needless to say there are a lot of 'ifs'.  Rene Tosoni emerged as a power and on-base threat in New Britain, hitting .271/.360/.454 with 15 home runs in 490 plate appearances.  As a left-handed hitter, Tosoni still hasn't demonstrated that he can handle left-handed pitching (.183/.285/.302 in 126 at bats in 2009) lending credence that he would require at minimum another year of seasoning before considering advancement to the majors.  Even if Tosoni has a follow-up breakout season splitting time in AA and AAA, his addition would be yet another left-handed bat in the midst of a very left-leaning lineup.  

Another potential candidate would be 23-year-old David Winfree.  Despite showing some pop from the right-side of the plate, Winfree has had three consecutive seasons in which his on-base percentage has been sub-.320.  From 2008 to 2009, his walk rate dropped from 8.2% to 6.1% as he moved from AA to AAA, not quite an affirmation of a MLB-ready hitter.  While progress in that department in 2010 will inspire some questions regarding the decision to pick up Cuddyer's option yet Winfree is far from a sure thing. 

The Twins made the right decision while attempting to construct a championship team. The money isn't as appalling as it once seemed thanks to new revenue streams.  The replacement options on the free market is less appealing while the internal options need another year in the oven.  Injuries and a downhill slide on defense can quickly turn this move from a positive to a negative as would a degeneration in his offensive output but with all of the facts today, ditching Cuddyer in 2011 would have created a problem, not solved one.