NL Central Discussion

[Giantmetfan07]

Post any little shit you wanna talk about it.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

The Cubs announced that they signed second round selection Duane Underwood. The high school right-hander doesn't turn 18 until next week.
-MLBTR

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Ten Teams Have Shown Interest in Dempster

A total of ten teams have shown "legitimate interest" in acquiring Ryan Dempster according to ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine. Among those ten teams are the Dodgers, Tigers, Yankees, Braves, Indians, and White Sox.

The Cubs are willing to pay part of the approximately $7MM owed to Dempster through the end of the season in order to receive better prospects via trade. Levine says Chicago has begun to scout the lower levels of every farm system in earnest, and they seek young pitching as part of any trade. A highly regarded third base prospect is also high on their list.

Dempster, 35, extended his scoreless streak to 33 innings with six shutout innings today, lowering his season ERA to 1.86. With both Zack Greinke and Cole Hamels reportedly due to receive extension offers before the trade deadline, Dempster could be the best starter realistically available this summer.

- MLBTR

 

[Elite]

I had no idea he was 35, holy shit

Thought he was like 32 at the oldest

 

[Giantmetfan07]

same. Had no idea he was that old. Time fucking flies by.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Greinke Scratched from Next Start:

Mike Vassallo reports that Zack Greinke will not make his Wednesday start. There is no explanation yet, but the Brewers are supposed to provide one later today.

One obvious thought is his health. He has allowed 14 earned runs in his last 14 innings and it’s possible that something has flared up. Given how hot a trade commodity he is, we eagerly await the explanation.

Update: Ken Rosenthal spoke with Doug Melvin, Brewers GM. Melvin says that nothing is physically wrong with Greinke and that the Brewers are just pushing him back and “recharging his batteries.” So, OK then.

Yeah, whatever...

 

[cruzg24]

"Back in 1990, Barry Bonds entered the season at the age of 25. He'd been viewed as enough of a disappointment -- and difficult personality -- through his first three full seasons that the Pittsburgh Pirates had offered him around that winter, in search of a frontline starting pitcher.

There were no takers. Bonds broke out that year, raising his average from .248 to .301, his home runs from 19 to 33, his stolen bases from 32 to 52. He led the National League in slugging percentage and OPS and collected 23 of 24 first-place votes in the MVP balloting. He'd become the best player in baseball.

Twenty-two years later, another Pirates outfielder entered the season at 25 years old. Andrew McCutchen had hit .216 in the second half of 2011, a disappointing figuring considering he'd hit .291 with 14 home runs in the first half. McCutchen wasn't offered around in trade; in fact, the Pirates instead signed him to a six-year, $51 million contract extension in spring training.

And like Bonds, McCutchen has taken The Leap. He's having a season for the ages, hitting .369/.423/.649 and leading the National League in batting average, slugging percentage, total bases and runs scored while ranking second in home runs and RBIs. He may be the best player in baseball.

Is that too much, comparing McCutchen to one of the greatest player of all time?

It's interesting to look back at Bonds. He actually was one of the NL's best players from 1987 to 1989, not that anybody recognized it at the time, with a Baseball-Reference WAR of 19.2, second among NL position players behind only Ozzie Smith. Despite that, Bonds had never been mentioned on an MVP ballot, his defensive skills not appreciated and his offensive skills underrated because of a .264 average and RBI totals held down because he mostly hit leadoff. "

Source: ESPN.com

 

[cruzg24]

"The Brewers offered star righthanded pitcher Zack Greinke a $100-million-plus, five-year deal sometime within the past few weeks, but there's nothing yet to indicate he will sign quickly and give up free agency, people familiar with the talks told CBSSports.com.

The quiet Greinke offer, which is said to have come more than a week ago, was said by one person to have been for close to the $112.5-million, five-year extension Matt Cain signed and may have even replicated it (though Cain's total could be looked at as $127.5 million since he had a year to go at $15 million when he signed the extension this spring). Greinke is expected to hit the free-agent market, which would give him a chance to look around."

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Pirates Sign Liriano to One-Year Deal
[font=courier new']Pittsburgh Post-Gazette[/font]
[font=courier new']ATHENS, Ga. -- The Pirates made official their contract with left-hander Francisco Liriano late Friday night, ending more than a month of uncertainty.[/font]

Liriano joined the Pirates on a one-year contract with a vesting option for 2014 after passing his physical earlier Friday.

Liriano will make $1 million guaranteed in 2013, according to a source, and can make as much as $3.75 million more depending on how much time he spends on the disabled list due to his broken right humerus.

The team has a 2014 option worth $8 million that could also vest at $5 million, $6 million or $8 million, also based on time spent on the DL in 2013 due to the arm injury.

If Liriano's 2014 option vests for less than $8 million, he can make up the difference with incentives based on games started in '14.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Cubs Sign Scott Hairston
[font=courier new']MLB.com[/font]
-- MESA, Ariz. -- The Cubs added to their bench on Sunday, signing free agent Scott Hairston to a two-year, $5 million contract. Popular outfielder Tony Campana was designated for assignment to make room on the roster.

Hairston batted .263 with 20 homers and 57 RBIs last season with the Mets. A right-handed hitter, he has a career .247 average and has played for the D-backs, Padres, Athletics and Mets. Hairston could platoon in right field with the left-handed-hitting Nate Schierholtz.

[font=courier new']"It gives us a lot of versatility in the outfield, and he's a guy who's proven he can hit left-handed pitching and is one of the best platoon guys in the game," Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said on Sunday. "Given that we have a left-handed hitter in [David] DeJesus and a left-handed hitter in [Nate] Schierholtz, Scott should add a nice element for us, and we're excited about that."[/font]

 

[Teagz]

When the Reds acquired​

Shin-Soo Choo

and announced that he’d be playing center field this season there was a lot of skepticism about his ability to handle the position defensively at age 30 after starting just one game there since 2007.​

And it turns out Choo is skeptical too, telling John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer:​

I’m not comfortable there yet. At the major league level, I played 99 percent of my games in right field. I’ll try. I’ll work on it this spring training. We’ll see how they’re thinking. If they’re not [happy], somebody else will be playing in center field. I’ll try the best I can.

Not exactly the words Reds fans probably want to hear, although Choo is right in that if the team decides he simply can’t hack it in center field they could try to move Gold Glove-winning right fielder Jay Bruce there instead.​

There’s no doubt that Choo and his excellent on-base skills will provide a huge boost to the Reds’ lineup, but with either Choo or Bruce in center field and 34-year-old​

Ryan Ludwick

in left field the outfield defense could give back a bunch of runs.​

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Reds Extend Mat Latos on Two-Year Deal; Avoid Arbitration


GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Reds and starting pitcher Mat Latos avoided arbitration on Tuesday when the right-hander signed a two-year, $11.5 million contract through the 2014 season.

Latos, 25, netted a significant raise from the $550,000 he earned in 2012 after being eligible for arbitration for the first time. He is represented by the Bledsoe Brothers.

When numbers were exchanged last month, Latos filed for $4.7 million, while the club's offer was $4.15 million. The new two-year deal includes multiple award bonuses.

During his first season with Cincinnati in '12, Latos was 14-4 with a 3.48 ERA, 64 walks and 185 strikeouts. His career-high 33 starts tied for the National League lead. His 209 1/3 innings were also a career high and he threw two complete games back-to-back on June 25 and 30.

Latos got off to a slow start, but came on strong to finish 9-2 with a 2.43 ERA over his final 19 starts. The Reds had a 23-10 record in games he started and averaged 4.45 runs per game.

 

[Teagz]

Last week contract talks between Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals were called “casual” and “ongoing,” but yesterday general manager John Mozeliak indicated that the two sides aren’t close on a long-term extension.​

Wainwright is entering the final season of his contract with a salary of $12 million and Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports that the 31-year-old right-hander may be willing to continue negotiating during the season if necessary.​

“I think both parties have a similar goal,” Mozeliak said. “In time, we’ll see if we can work towards it.”​

Given his age and the fact that Wainwright is one season removed from Tommy John elbow surgery the length of a potential extension could be tricky, as the Cardinals would no doubt like to limit a deal to two or three years.​

 

[Teagz]

Derrick Goold

of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cardinals will announce contract extensions for manager Mike Matheny and GM John Mozeliak today.​

Mozeliak’s contract was through 2013, but will be extended. Matheny had a team option for 2014 and it will be exercised. No word yet on whether either are getting pay increases or years beyond 2014.UPDATE: Jennifer Langosch of MLB.com reportsthat Mozeliak’s extension will take him through 2016.​

Matheny, despite no managerial experience, did a fine job last year. He showed some inexperience at times but everyone is going to suffer in comparison to Tony La Russa, and Matheny didn’t suffer that much. He seems to have the confidence of his players, the front office and the fan base, and that’s what really matters. For Mozeliak’s part, all he has done is keep the Cardinals competitive while overseeing a minor league system which was just ranked number one by Keith Law.​

 

[A.E]

Reds INF Miguel Cairo retires after 17-years in the biggs to join the Cincinnati front office. Cairo was an age-less wonder, so much that I had often times forget he still played. Good guy, loved by every single coach and player he played with.

 

[Teagz]

Ryan Braun

? What was that you were saying about it only being your lawyers consulting with Biogenesis for purposes of your PED appeal? If that’s the case, then what’s this about your name showing up on another document in the Biogenesis records? One that is more closely associated with PED customers.​

T.J. Quinn and Mike Finn of ESPN report

:​

The list was written in April, in the hand of Biogenesis of America clinic founder Anthony Bosch. Among the names is the Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun, and to the right of that name is a figure: $1,500.
That list, a source familiar with Bosch’s operation told “Outside the Lines,” indicates that those players received performance-enhancing drugs from Bosch, and owed him money. The document, one of dozens obtained by “Outside the Lines,” suggests a closer link to Bosch and the now-shuttered clinic he ran in Coral Gables, Fla., than Braun has acknowledged.​

As before, this is not definitive proof of anything and, in and of itself, does not establish that Braun did anything wrong or give Major League Baseball grounds for action. We simply don’t know whether the Biogenesis records accurately reflect what occurred (they are the very definition of hearsay).​

But: Braun gave a pretty specific explanation for his name appearing in those records in the first place. And it’s inconsistent with what Quinn and Fish are reporting here.​

I believe you have to give guys the benefit of the doubt when the evidence does not give you anything more to go on than supposition and conjecture. But there’s no escaping that this, at least on the surface, contradicts Braun’s previous explanation and that’s not a good thing for Ryan Braun.​

UPDATE

: This may all be sexy,​

but it may not matter

.​

 

[Teagz]

From the organization’s official Twitter feed comes word that the Pirates have reached agreement on a minor league contract with righty Jose Contreras.​

The deal carries an invitation to spring training, but Contreras is still rehabbing from a torn UCL in his right elbow and a flexor pronator tear, and might not be ready for the start of the 2013 regular season.​

Contreras surrendered 13 hits and 10 runs (eight earned) in 13 2/3 innings of relief last season with the Phillies. The 41-year-old native of Cuba owns a 4.55 career major league ERA and a 1.36 career WHIP.​

 

[cruzg24]

I think austin jackson is going to have a great year this season, establishing himself as one of the best players in baseball. I love the high batting average.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

I think so too. Don't know if he'll necessarily be considered a "star" in the league, but he's finally starting to mold in to what we saw in the minors, and finally starting to tap in to that power. I don't think he'll bat over 20 HRs, 12-15 seems reasonable, but he can leg out those triples. Needs to try and be a little more aggressive on the bases when he hits a single. if he can do that, watch out.

 

[cruzg24]

Man idk why but I really like the Royals this year. I think they are going to surprise a lot of people this year. I love their lineup so much youth and so much potential.