CLOSED: AROUND the MLB Thread

3 years and $40MM (remaining) for a declining backstop
and as bad as he was, he was still wayyyy better than anyone we threw behind the dish
was going to suggest we offer ethier straight up, and then i looked up what we still owed... 3 years and $56MM
man that ned... what a shrewd negotiator
hard to imagine why he was fired made a gopher/fluffer

D’Backs Open To Trading Miguel Montero
By Mark Polishuk [November 2, 2014 at 10:24am CST]

The Diamondbacks are considering trades for catcher Miguel Montero, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports. A D’Backs official says the team is in “listening mode” for offers while rival teams say Arizona is openly shopping Montero’s services.

Montero has three years and $40MM remaining on the five-year, $60MM extension he signed with the D’Backs in May 2012. After posting a .798 OPS over the first seven years of his career, Montero’s hitting has dropped off, as the catcher has only posted a .237/.324/.358 slash line in 1035 PA since the start of the 2013 season. You’ll note that large number of plate appearances for a catcher; as Rosenthal mentions, Montero has played more games behind the plate than any other catcher over the last four seasons.

This wear-and-tear could have contributed to Montero’s offensive decline and some teams could therefore be wary of acquiring the 31-year-old, or he could be seen as a rebound candidate if he gets more regular rest, Rosenthal observed. While Montero has posted negative Defensive Runs Saved totals in each of the last three seasons, he is still considered one of baseball’s best pitch-framers.

The Diamondbacks would be looking to create some extra payroll space by moving Montero, though Rosenthal speculates that the team may have to cover some of his remaining salary and the D’Backs would need to find a replacement catcher since they don’t have any Major League-ready catching options in reserve. With a very thin free agent catching market outside of Russell Martin, however, you’d expect Montero to attract some interest from teams looking to upgrade behind the plate.

Also from Rosenthal’s piece, the Diamondbacks have received a lot of calls about Wade Miley and A.J. Pollock, though the team isn’t interested in moving either player. Chris Owings and Didi Gregorius, meanwhile, continue to draw attention from clubs looking for middle infield help.​

 

Braves Make Qualifying Offer To Ervin Santana
By Steve Adams [November 3, 2014 at 2:30pm CST]

The Braves announced that they have officially made a one-year, $15.3MM qualifying offer to right-hander Ervin Santana, who will now have a week to accept or decline the offer. Should he decline and sign elsewhere, which seems likely, the Braves would receive a compensatory draft pick at the end of the first round of next year’s draft.

Santana, 31, enjoyed a solid season for Atlanta in which he posted a 3.95 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 42.7 percent ground-ball rate in 196 innings of work. While his ERA rose, metrics such as FIP (3.39) and xFIP (3.47) felt Santana had his best season since 2008.

Santana was hit with a QO last offseason as well and struggled to find a deal, though that may have been more due to the fact that his agents (two of whom no longer represent Santana) were said to be seeking a deal north of $110MM than the fact that Santana required a draft pick in order to sign. Even with a QO hanging over his head, Santana was able to find a one-year deal worth the exact amount of the QO ($14.1MM) late in the offseason, and he had similar one-year offers from both Baltimore and Toronto as well as three-year offer in the $30-33MM range from the Twins.

Suffice it to say, while the QO likely impacted his value in a negative manner, it certainly didn’t eliminate all interest in him on the open market. I’d wager that hitting the market with more realistic expectations this time could be beneficial — a sentiment which Tim Dierkes elaborated upon in his recent Free Agent Profile for Santana. Tim ultimately predicted a four-year deal north of $50MM for Santana — a projection with which I agree.

Earlier today, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweeted that Santana has indicated that he’d consider accepting the QO, though as O’Brien noted shortly thereafter, it’s possible that was simply posturing by Santana’s camp in an effort to dissuade the team from making the offer in the first place (Twitter links).

 

can't stand him either
actually, anyone in that organization
they acted all haughty and self-righteous about playing the game "the right way" when it came to puig
but then recklessly, inexcusably threw at his and greinke's heads when it suited them
fucken hypocrites
just a shameful piece of shit organization
even that pissy ckunt goldschmidt
and hiring that indignant blowhard asshat dave stewart only makes me hate them more

 

with bartman throwing out the first pitch to moises alou before game one?

 

McCarthy tweeted support for us last year after the whole pool thing, telling us to go win a title for the west. Seems like a cool dude.

 

RIP

Brad Halsey dies in climbing accident
Updated: November 5, 2014, 6:08 PM ET
Associated Press

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas -- Former major league pitcher Brad Halsey has died in a recreational climbing accident. He was 33.

Police in Comal County said an investigation was still ongoing into Friday's accident in the Texas Hill Country area. The Lux Funeral Home said services were pending.

Halsey went 14-19 in 88 games with the New York Yankees, Arizona and Oakland from 2004-06. The left-hander most recently pitched in the minors for the Yankees in 2011.

In 2004, Halsey dueled Boston ace Pedro Martinez into the middle innings in a game highlighted by Derek Jeter's diving catch into the stands at Yankee Stadium.

In 2006, Halsey gave up Barry Bonds' 714th home run, tying Babe Ruth for second place on the career list. Halsey later joked about the specially marked balls for Bonds' at-bats.

"They just have a B and a number on them, and a picture of Barry, too. If you look into his eye, he winks at you," Halsey said.


Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press​

 

certainly won't be the only putz in their front office
what i did there^, do you see it?

J.J. Putz Joins Diamondbacks’ Front Office
By Steve Adams [November 6, 2014 at 6:17pm CST]

The Diamondbacks announced that J.J. Putz, who spent the 2011-14 seasons as a member of the team’s bullpen, has been hired as a special assistant to president and CEO Derrick Hall. According to the press release, Putz will assist the team in both a baseball and business capacity. Some of the responsibilities outlined for him include attending community events, meeting with season-ticket holders, working with pitchers in Spring Training and visiting the club’s minor league affiliates throughout the course of the 2015 regular season.

“I am very excited to give back to the game that I love and have been fortunate to be a part of for 14 years,” said Putz in the press release. “To be a part of such a great organization is a blessing. My family and I have been so grateful to be a part of the Arizona community. It is a dream come true to work alongside a great man like Derrick. There are not enough great things to say about this organization. I am forever thankful.”

Hall expressed similar excitement about the opportunity to work alongside Putz: “J.J.’s performance on the field and popularity off the field make him a tremendous addition to the front office. His personality is a perfect fit for our culture and we are looking forward to him helping the D-backs in a number of different ways during this next phase of his career.”

While the press release doesn’t specifically state it, this most certainly appears to be the end of the 37-year-old Putz’s playing career. If that’s the case, Putz will cross the finish line with very strong marks. In 566 2/3 career innings, he posted a 3.08 ERA with 9.5 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, a 1.15 WHIP, a 37-33 record and 189 saves. Putz’s best season came with the 2007 Mariners, when he posted an exceptional 1.38 ERA, 10.3 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 and recorded 40 saves while finishing a league-high 65 games. He earned $38.875MM over his playing career, per Baseball-Reference.com, and his 189 saves rank 51st all-time. If this is indeed the end of the line for his days on a big league mound, we at MLBTR wish Putz the best of luck in his new career path and congratulate him on a very nice playing career.​

 

I would be pretty surprised if he's our starting catcher next year. Not saying R. martin is for sure ours but from reading Zaidi and Friedman I don't think they'd be okay with AJ/Butera/FedEx as the catching order for 2015