Cleveland Sports Forum

Wonder if the tokens get anything of value for their trouble? Maybe a free hotel room in a big city and a nice dinner at a classy restaurant.

The Tigers would like to add a leadoff hitter, but they're unsure free agent Coco Crisp is the right guy, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. The 32-year-old posted one of the worst OBPs of his career in 2011, with a .314 mark.


What are they unsure of ?

Marlins Sign Jose Reyes to Huge Deal; Albert Pujols Next?

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Submitted by TheXLog on Dec 5, 2011

If you weren’t checking the internet or your twitter feed last night around half time of the Lions vs. Saints game, you missed the viral news spread that pending a physical, the Miami Marlins (yes, with the new stadium they will be playing in on comes a new name) and shortstop Jose Reyes agreed to terms on a six-year, $106 million deal. According to a source, the deal includes a club option for 2018 that would make the contract worth $120 million. Earlier in the offseason, Miami offered Reyes a six-year, $90 million deal, which he rejected.

Wait a minute; the Marlins have Hanley Ramirez you say. No, no, that’s new third baseman Hanley Ramirez. That’s right; Ramirez will be doing an A-Rod and shuffling over to third base giving the Marlins left side of the infield two out of the last three NL batting champions. Assuming Reyes can stay healthy which has not always been the case, and assuming Ramirez has recovered from the ills that only allowed him to play 92-games last season, Miami now as arguably the best left side of the infield in all of baseball.

The MLB winter meetings in Dallas don’t start until later today, but the Marlins are already well on their way to dominating Hot Stove news flow. Sunday it was the Reyes news, on Thursday, free agent closer Heath Bell agreed to a three-year contract with Miami, and now it appears that the Marlins may also be the front runners in the Albert Pujols sweepstakes as well.

The Marlins met with Pujols before Thanksgiving in Miami, just days after a similar session with Reyes, and made the free-agent first baseman a nine-year offer for considerably less than the reported nine-year, $198-million offer from the Cardinals that Pujols turned down last winter. The Marlins were able to snag Reyes on their second cast; will they be able to reel in the big fish on their second try there too?

I know what you’re thinking, “Wait, the Marlins have already spent $133 million this offseason on two players and the rest of baseball has spent $170 million. What the hell sort of Bizarro world am I living in?” Get used to it. For baseball fans, following the news of the winter meetings is one of the most exhilarating times of the year.

Westmoreland to take at-bats in game situation
By Ian Browne / MLB.com | 12/05/11 3:06 PM EST
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DALLAS -- The amazing comeback story of Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland will take another step in a matter of days when the outfielder takes at-bats in a game situation for the first time since undergoing brain surgery in March 2010.

Westmoreland is expected to face pitching in Dominican instructional league games later this week.

"He got full medical clearance yesterday," said Alan Nero, Westmoreland's agent, in an interview with WEEI.com. "It's going to be an interesting couple of days."


Ryan Westmoreland (right) works out in Fort Myers, Fla., during Spring Training. (Charles Krupa/AP)
Before being diagnosed with a cavernous malformation in his brain nearly two years ago, Westmoreland was considered perhaps the best position prospect in Boston's farm system.

His recovery from surgery had its share of scary moments -- including a temporary loss of vision -- and there were no guarantees Westmoreland would regain his full quality of life, let alone be able to take another at-bat.

But he has made steady progress over the last few months, which will now take him to a most exciting step.

"Ryan's continued to make strides. He faced several pitchers in live B.P. settings towards the end of the season and actually handled himself very well," said Red Sox farm director Ben Crockett. "It was everybody's decision that he was ready for a challenge. I think it's an important step for him to kind of get that under his belt. It's an important step for him mentally. He's been going so hard for such a long time. This will be an important confidence boost for him. He's made enough strides to be able to handle it."

The plan is for Westmoreland to take one at-bat Thursday and two on Friday. He won't play the field or run the bases.

Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brownie Points, and follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Where does the Marlins money come from? Certainly not from ticket sales.

New stadium.

White Sox Kickstart Rebuild, Ship Santos To Blue Jays

By Matt Eddy and Nathan Rode
December 6, 2011

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The Deal
The rumored White Sox rebuild sprung to life with Chicago's trade of dominating, cost-controlled closer Sergio Santos to the Blue Jays for 22-year-old righthander Nestor Molina, who finished the season with five starts in Double-A. Molina collected 9.3 strikeouts for every walk in 2011, and just two qualified minor league pitchers notched a higher ratio—lefties Tom Milone of the Nationals and Robbie Erlin of the Padres.

White Sox general manager Ken Williams opted to first trade Santos, instead of starters John Danks or Gavin Floyd, because he said he valued Toronto's offer of Molina. Relievers Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain and 2011 rookie Chris Sale all move up a peg in Chicago's bullpen hierarchy with the trade of Santos, whom the White Sox signed as a minor league free agent in January 2009 and shrewdly converted from light-hitting shortstop to flame-throwing reliever. Just as shrewdly, they kept Santos in the big leagues in 2010 rather than risk losing the out-of-options pitcher on waivers. He had run up a 8.16 ERA and 1.99 WHIP in 26 minor league appearances in 2009, while walking 20 in 28 2/3 innings during his first year on the mound.

The Blue Jays employed Santos once before, acquiring him and Troy Glaus from the Diamondbacks prior to the 2006 season. Santos batted just .208/.246/.285 in 621 at-bats over parts of three seasons for Triple-A Syracuse, however, and Toronto lost him on waivers to the Twins in May 2008 when they tried to outright him off the 40-man roster.

Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos shows off his deft touch once more, acquiring promising talent at reasonable cost. In addition to Santos, recent trades have yielded Brett Lawrie (almost a year ago to the day), Yunel Escobar and Anthony Gose (both in July 2010) and Colby Rasmus (near the 2011 trade deadline).

White Sox Acquire
Nestor Molina, rhp
Age: 22.
Born: Jan. 9, 1989 in Valencia, Venezuela.
Ht.: 6-1. Wt.: 180. Bats: R. Throws: R.
Career Transactions: Signed as nondrafted free agent by Blue Jays, April 6, 2006.

Club (League) Class W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP
Dunedin (FSL) HiA 10 3 2.58 21 18 0 108.1 102 37 31 8 14 115 1.07
New Hamp. (EL) AA 2 0 0.41 5 5 0 22 12 2 1 0 2 33 0.63
Total 12 3 2.21 26 23 0 130.1 114 39 32 8 16 148 1.00

The Blue Jays have an enviable amount of depth in their farm system and could afford to trade Molina, even though he was on the verge of pitching in the big leagues. Molina originally signed as a third baseman in April 2006. He moved to the mound in 2007, throwing just one inning in the Dominican Summer League. He returned in 2008 and made 20 appearances, completing the transition. Prior to 2011, Molina had made just 77 career appearances, four of which were starts. Toronto had their sights set on giving him a chance to start, assigning him to the high Class A Dunedin rotation. He flourished in the move, throwing 130 innings between Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire while striking out more than a batter per inning and walking about one per nine. Molina has above-average command of a fastball that ranges from 88-93 mph. He originally tried to turn his slurvy breaking ball into a slider, but he has shifted to using a curveball now. Molina has a legitimate out-pitch in his splitter, and he also shows feel for a straight changeup. His secondary stuff doesn't jump off the page, but his fastball command helps it play up. He profiles nicely in the back of a rotation and will likely make his big league debut in 2012.

Blue Jays Acquire
Sergio Santos, rhp
Age: 28. Remaining Commitment: 3 years, $7.5 million, then either a $750,000 buyout or individual club options totaling $22.75 million for 2015-17.
Contract details courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Club (League) YEAR W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP
Chicago (AL) 2011 4 5 3.55 63 0 30 63.1 41 25 25 6 29 92 1.11
2-Year Totals 6 7 3.29 119 0 31 115 94 43 42 8 55 148 1.30

Rockies Acquire Rotation Depth With Twins' Slowey

By Matt Eddy
December 6, 2011


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The Deal
The Rockies added rotation depth with the acquisition of righthander Kevin Slowey from the Twins for a player to be named. The identity of the PTBN could be revealed following Thursday's Rule 5 draft because that player could be eligible for selection.

A Twins' second-round pick in 2005, Slowey won the Triple-A International League's ERA title (and pitcher of the year honors) in 2007, going 10-5, 1.89 with 107 strikeouts and 18 walks in 133 2/3 innings for Rochester. But despite fine pitching at the outset of his Twins career, Slowey's 4.66 ERA over 532 2/3 big league innings checks in about 10 percent worse than the American League average, when adjusted for home park context. According to Baseball-Reference.com, that's the AL's fourth-worst showing since 2007 among pitchers with as many as Slowey's 90 starts.

Slowey wore out his welcome with the Twins this season as he stumbled after a conversion to the bullpen, where he struggled to get loose on short notice. Moved back into the rotation on Aug. 19, he closed out the year by going 0-8, 7.25 in eight starts. Colorado could use Slowey's experience and strike-throwing acumen to buy more minor league time for at least one member of its stable of recently-acquired young pitchers, a group that includes Drew Pomeranz, Alex White and Tyler Chatwood.

Twins Acquire
We'll review the player headed to Minnesota when his identity is revealed.

Rockies Acquire
Kevin Slowey, rhp
Age: 27. Remaining Commitment: Arbitration-eligible for 2012-13 seasons ($2.7 million salary in 2011).
Contract details courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Club (League) YEAR W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP
Minnesota (AL) 2011 0 8 6.67 14 8 0 59.1 78 44 44 10 5 34 1.40
3-Year Totals 23 17 5.01 60 52 0 305.2 363 174 170 46 49 225 1.35

Mets, Giants Swap Arbitration-Eligible Veterans

By Matt Eddy
December 6, 2011


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The Deal
To tender a contract for 2012 or not? The Mets and Giants no longer face that question regarding a trio of arbitration-eligible veterans after the two parties consummated a trade at the Winter Meetings. New York sent center fielder Angel Pagan, who sulked through his worst season as a regular in 2011, to San Francisco for their center fielder Andres Torres and righty reliever Ramon Ramirez, both members of the 2010 World Series champions. In terms of 2011 salaries, Pagan ($3.5 million) earned almost as much as Torres and Ramirez combined ($3.85 million), though all three players are in line for arbitration raises.

Pagan and Torres have followed remarkably similar trajectories through pro ball. Both switch-hitting center fielders attended high school in Puerto Rico before being signed out of Florida junior colleges, Pagan by the Mets in 2000 as a draft-and-follow after a year at Indian River CC and Torres by the Tigers in 1998 after two years in the Miami-Dade CC system. Neither player produced much in the big leagues prior to carving out backup roles in 2009—Pagan had totaled a .721 OPS (83 OPS+) in 453 plate appearances through 2008; Torres managed a .534 OPS (46 OPS+) in 285 PAs. Both Pagan and Torres have produced more as lefthanded batters in the past two seasons, while providing quality work in center field and on the basepaths.

Ramirez has pitched much more effectively versus righthanders in his career, holding them in check with a .595 OPS (879 PAs), compared with a .734 OPS versus lefties (646 PAs), though he's been much more even-handed in each of the past two seasons. He has three viable weapons in a low-90s sinker, firm mid-80s changeup and a high-80s cutter/slider that he's deployed more often in recent years to attack lefties.


Giants Acquire
Angel Pagan, cf
Age: 30. Bats: B. Remaining Commitment: Arbitration-eligible for 2012, then qualifies for free agency following season ($3.5 million salary in 2011).
Contract details courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Club (League) YEAR AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB OBP SLG
New York (NL) 2011 .262 123 478 68 125 24 4 7 56 44 62 32 .322 .372
3-Year Totals .284 362 1400 202 398 77 22 24 157 113 215 83 .336 .422


Mets Acquire
Andres Torres, cf
Age: 33. Bats: B. Remaining Commitment: Arbitration-eligible for 2012-13 seasons ($2.2 million salary in 2011).
Contract details courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Club (League) YEAR AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB OBP SLG
San Francisco (NL) 2011 .221 112 348 50 77 24 1 4 19 42 95 19 .312 .330
3-Year Totals .252 326 1007 164 254 73 17 26 105 114 268 51 .332 .436


Ramon Ramirez, rhp
Age: 30. Remaining Commitment: Arbitration-eligible for 2012, then qualifies for free agency following season ($1.65 million salary in 2011).
Contract details courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Club (League) YEAR W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP
San Francisco (NL) 2011 3 3 2.62 66 0 4 68.2 54 24 20 3 26 66 1.17
3-Year Totals 11 10 2.82 205 0 7 207.2 167 74 65 17 85 164 1.21

Rosenthal: Buerhle to the Marlins, 4/58.

That is unbelievable !

Padres Deal For Rockies' Street To Fill Closer Vacancy

By Matt Eddy
December 7, 2011


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The Deal
The Padres traded for deposed Rockies closer Huston Street, assuming $6.5 million of his $7.5 million salary for 2012 and surrendering a player to be named to Colorado. We may know the identity of the PTBN as soon as Thursday, Dec. 8, following the Rule 5 draft.

The Padres sought a veteran closer such as Street because their bullpen lacked an anchor after the departures of 2011 closer Heath Bell (recently signed as a free agent by the Marlins) and set-up man Mike Adams (traded to the Rangers in July for pitching prospects Joe Wieland and Robbie Erlin). While Street pitched to a career-best 6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2011, his extreme flyball tendencies ought to yield better results in San Diego's Petco Park than they did in Denver's Coors Field. According to FanGraphs, Street ranked among the most flyball- and homer-prone relievers in the game over the course of the past three seasons, at least among the 88 bullpen arms with at least 150 innings. He allowed flyballs on 43.5 percent of balls in play (21st highest) and 1.18 homers per nine innings (seventh highest).

Rockies Acquire
We'll take a closer look at the PTBN headed to Colorado once his identity is revealed.

Padres Acquire
Huston Street, rhp
Age: 28. Remaining Commitment: 1 year, $7.5 million, then $500,000 buyout to void $9 million player option for 2013 (Rockies sent $1 million in the deal).
Contract details courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Club (League) YEAR W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP
Colorado (NL) 2011 1 4 3.86 62 0 29 58.1 62 28 25 10 9 55 1.22
3-Year Totals 9 9 3.50 170 0 84 167.1 144 71 65 22 33 170 1.06

Street ought to do well in San Diego (like most pitchers), but I'm not sure why a cost-cutting team is spending big on a closer, when they just proved with Bell that it's not all that hard to find a new one. They even made Edward Mujica look like a star for a little while.

The Miami Marlins have agreed to a four-year deal worth $58 million with pitcher Mark Buehrle, sources told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.

The move comes on the same day sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney the Marlins had emotionally moved on from Albert Pujols, and shifted their focus to starting pitching.

Miami had offers out to both Buerhle and C.J. Wilson, sources told Olney.

Hanley Ramirez's representative talked to the Marlins on Wednesday and asked for a restructured deal after the shortstop was asked to move to third base with the signing of Jose Reyes. The Marlins, upset with this, now are looking to trade Ramirez, the sources said.

If the Marlins can clear the payroll, they will pursue Milwaukee Brewers free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder.

The Marlins were described by as being "well down the road" in negotiations with both Buehrle and Wilson, multiple sources told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.

One source said the Marlins have told both pitchers, as well as Pujols' camp, that if the team is able to reach a deal Wednesday with one of their pitching targets, that would effectively end their pursuit of Pujols. Miami has made a 10-year offer to the free-agent first baseman that sources say would pay him more than $200 million and include provisions that would link Pujols to the Marlins beyond his playing career.

The sources told Olney that the Marlins have not pulled their offer to Pujols.

A source told ESPN.com Buehrle had narrowed his list down to three teams Wednesday -- the Marlins, the Washington Nationals and, according to sources, the Texas Rangers.

Wilson is being actively pursued by the Marlins and Los Angeles Angels. His agent, Bob Garber, also met Tuesday with his old team, Texas. The Nationals also maintain interest but are reluctant to guarantee either Wilson or Buehrle more than three years, sources said

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to terms with veteran left-handed pitcher Erik Bedard and outfielder Nate McLouth.

The 32-year-old Bedard was 5-9 with 3.62 ERA in 24 starts for Seattle and Boston last season after missing 2010 because of shoulder problems.

McLouth spent four-plus seasons with the Pirates before being traded to Atlanta in 2009. The 30-year-old struggled with the Braves, hitting .198 in 2010 and .228 in 2011.

Bedard could step in immediately at the top of Pittsburgh's rotation while McLouth could provide depth in a crowded outfield.

The Pirates had earlier Wednesday signed free agent catcher Jose Morales to a minor league deal.

The switch-hitter hit .267 for Colorado last season before breaking his right thumb June 15 and not playing again.