SB Nation - Matt Treanor

Take the Braves out of the running for these free agents

gondeee — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:28:22 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Was it Divine intervention that prevented the Atlanta Braves from signing Rafael Furcal... or just his agents.

Last off-season the Atlanta Braves announced they had come to terms with free agent Rafael Furcal on a three-year contract... but less than 24-hours later Furcal had signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the aftermath of that episode, Braves President John Schuerholtz stated that the Braves would never again do business with Furcal's agents, the Wasserman Group, headed by super-agent Arn Tellem.

As a side note to this, if we had signed Furcal, then we would have moved Kelly Johnson to left field, we never would have signed Garret Anderson, and Martin Prado may never have emerged as a bona fide major league starter at second base. And we might have traded Yunel Escobar somewhere. Things tend to work out for the best sometimes, as Furcal layed an egg in 2009.

Here are the free agents this off-season who are represented by the Wasserman Group, and are therefore off-limits to the Braves (courtesy of MLBTR):

Wilson Betemit
Aaron Boone
Nomar Garciaparra
Jason Giambi
John Grabow
Rich Harden
Shawn Hill
Reed Johnson
Jason Kendall
Hideki Matsui
Jason Michaels
Guillermo Mota
Vicente Padilla
Wily Mo Pena
Joel Pineiro
Matt Treanor
Randy Wolf
Omar Vizquel

I must say that there's no one I really want on that list, so for this year at least, no harm, no foul.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:01:31 -0000

by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

Carlos Gomez makes the wrong kind of contact.

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Some things to read while realizing you left your credit card in your other armor.

Thanks to Dan, Tyler and Rubie for filling in for me last week while I took a quick break to experience life in New York for a few days. Writing the Mug is no small feat, and all three of them did admirable work in my place, so be sure to stop by their sites today to thank them. It's good to be home. With that said, I'm going in for oral surgery in roughly an hour so I'm off again tomorrow, and I've lined up another of my favorite Brewer bloggers to fill in. I'm hoping to return on Wednesday but that will depend on how I bounce back and how coherent I am on Vicodin.

The Brewers, of course, saw fit to ruin a perfectly good day of my vacation by trading J.J. Hardy for Carlos Gomez. If you weren't around the site this weekend, you missed a lot of great content on the trade: Jordan weighed in with his disappointment, Jeff made the case for keeping Mike Cameron anyway, and Noah, writing his first weekend roundup, had a great collection of thoughts on the deal from around the web. With that said, there's still a bunch more out there:

The Transaction Oracle compared Gomez to Tom Goodwin and said, "Gomez's version of selectivity is staring blankly at a random pitch and then flailing at the next one."
Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press called Gomez "clueless" and said he "has the baseball instincts of an Icelandic grade-schooler." (h/t BBTF)
The Grand National Championships called Gomez "a Juan Pierre without all that incessant singles hitting."
TheJay has a look at the career paths of players who have made as many PAs as Gomez has at such a young age with such a low OBP. Not exceptionally pretty.
Aaron Gleeman says Gomez has gotten a bum rap, but also likes the deal for the Twins.
Miller Park Drunk has a roundup of other things people are saying about Gomez.
Meanwhile, despite Jeff's objections, Doug Melvin confirmed that the Brewers' decision to acquire Gomez means they won't make a push to retain Mike Cameron for 2010.
Nick's Twins Blog has an overview of the deal, including my scouting report for Hardy.
Twinkie Town has some questions about Hardy's defense (based largely on the comments of some frequent BCB'ers), and whether or not it's as good as advertised.
FanGraphs has a look at Hardy's defense, and rated him the third most valuable defensive player in baseball since 2007.
Along with the Red Sox (and presumably some others), the Reds confirmed interest in Hardy. Melvin didn't want to deal Hardy in the division, so he was forced to accept less from someone else.
The Ghost of Moonlight Graham called the deal a steal for the Twins.
Rubie Q called the deal "worst nightmare stuff."
Baseball-Intellect says the Twins got Hardy for "pennies on the dollar."
Sabernomics is having a hard time choosing a winner in the deal.
Jorge Says No! says this deal has the potential to be win-win.

As of this writing, 54% of voters in the poll on your right think the Twins won the trade, with just 13% picking the Brewers. Gomez is walking in the door with a large portion of the fans believing he's not worth much, and it can be tough to overcome that when you're carrying a sub-.300 OBP. This could be the deal that sinks Doug Melvin.

Now, the Brewers have to find a way to wisely spend the financial windfall. MLB Trade Rumors has the likely landing spots for this winter's top 50 free agents, and lists both Doug Davis and Jarrod Washburn as likely Brewers, and also lists the Crew as a potential interested party regarding Jon Garland. Meanwhile, they have Felipe Lopez as a Dodger, Mike Cameron as a Padre and Ben Sheets as a Ranger.

Beyond that, there's not a lot of Brewer news, unless you wanted to talk about the decision to decline David Weathers' option.

Around baseball:

D-Backs: Exercised Brandon Webb's option for 2010.
Dodgers: Declined Jon Garland's option for 2010.
Nationals: Declined Austin Kearns' option for 2010.
Phillies: Exercised Cliff Lee's option for 2010 and declined Pedro Feliz's.
Pirates: Designated pitchers Virgil Vazquez and Eric Hacker and catcher Steve Lerud for assignment.
Red Sox: Declined their option for 2010 on Alex Gonzalez.
Reds: Outrighted outfielder Danny Richar and first baseman Kevin Barker to AAA. Both will be minor league free agents.
Rockies: Declined options on catcher Yorvit Torrealba and Alan Embree.
Royals: Declined 2010 options for Coco Crisp, Miguel Olivo and Yasuhiko Yabuta.
Tigers: Removed outfielder Marcus Thames and catcher Matt Treanor from their 40-man roster.
White Sox: Bought out the final year of Jermaine Dye's contract.

I'm going to wrap this up quickly, because my pre-surgery meds are starting to kick in:

Miguel Olivo has been mentioned as a potential option for the Brewers next season. Beyond the Box Score has a comprehensive list of things he does well.
Phil Birnbaum looks at the possibility that younger umpires have more accurate strike zones.
Baseball Reference wants your thoughts to help improve their site.
Seventeen congressmen voted no on a resolution congratulating the Yankees for winning the World Series. One of them was Wisconsin rep Jim Sensenbrenner. (h/t Baseball Musings)

On this day in 1982, Robin Yount was the unanimous choice to win the AL MVP after leading the AL in hits, doubles, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and total bases, while playing shortstop for the AL Champion Brewers.

It's also a big day for Brewer birthdays:

Dave Bush turns 30.
Angel Miranda, who appeared in 116 games as a Brewer between 1993 and 1997, turns 40.
Dion James, who was the Brewers' first round pick in the 1980 draft, turns 47.
Teddy Higuera, arguably the greatest pitcher in Brewer history, turns 51. You should celebrate his birthday by purchasing the sponsorship on his Bref page, which is available for $10.

Drink up.

Daily Roundup

Eli Greenspan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:57:53 -0000

More photos » by Tom Olmscheid - AP

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FOXSports.com is reporting that Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez has exercised his 20 million dollar player option for the 2010 season. Ramirez missed 50 games for violating the leagues drug policy, but ended the year with a .290 average and 19 home runs.
The Twins exercised Michael Cuddyer's 2011 option after he put up career numbers over the 2009 season. Cuddyer will make 8.5 million in 2010 and 10.5 million dollars in 2011. Cuddyer hit 32 home runs this past season.
The Nationals have declined Austin Kearns' 10 million dollar club option, giving him a 1 million dollar buyout instead. Kearns has struggled to stay healthy since joining the Nationals, posting just 174 at-bats this past season.
MLB.com is reporting that the Marlins declined Ross Gload's 2.6 million dollar option for the 2010 season. Gload was a pretty solid pinch-hitter this past season, and will find a job in a similar role in 2010.
The Rockies declined options on Alan Embree and catcher Yorvit Torrealba. Torrealba could emerge as an option for the Mets this offseason.
The Tigers released catcher Matt Treanor and outfielder Marcus Thames. It is possible the Tigers would bring back Treanor on a one year deal, but Thames is a defensive liability and likely won't return.

The Marcus Thames Era Has Ended in Detroit

Ian Casselberry — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:00:41 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

Marcus Thames was removed from the Detroit Tigers' 40-man roster, making him a free agent and likely ending his six-year career with the team.

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And so goes the Slugger Thames.

With the offseason officially under way, the Detroit Tigers needed to make some decisions to create room on their 40-man roster. That process has begun, according to Jason Beck. Outfielder Marcus Thames and catcher Matt Treanor were removed from the roster. Both players are now free agents and can sign with any other team.

Those moves free up space on the 40-man roster for Joel Zumaya and Jeff Larish, both of whom had to be reinstated from the 60-day disabled list. Infielder Michael Hollimon was also taken off the 60-day DL, but was sent to Triple-A Toledo.

This season, Thames batted .252/.323/.453 with 13 homers and 36 RBIs, the lowest totals of his six-year stint with Detroit. He was out from mid-April to early June, due to a pulled rib cage muscle.

But even when Thames returned to the lineup, he never provided the power that the Tigers needed. May through July was usually when Thames could be counted on to bring the thunder, only to disappear once August began. But this year, he was never able to put together that sustained hot streak. As a result (along with Ryan Raburn's emergence), Thames really only got off the bench when the lineup needed a DH against left-handed pitching.

Thames's Tigers career ends with a .245/.307/.501 batting line, 99 home runs, and 255 RBIs in 485 games played.

I know a lot of Tigers fans thought Thames could be a 35-to-40-homer guy if he'd gotten 500 at-bats, but that just never developed. My feeling always was that if Thames was capable of being Detroit's full-time left fielder, Jim Leyland would've had him in there. But he did provide some memorable home runs during his time here, and sometimes seemed like the only power threat in the lineup.

Thames made $2.3 million this season (a $1 million raise), and was eligible for arbitration. I could be wrong on this, but pay cuts don't usually occur in that situation, which is why he was non-tendered.

Treanor was signed last December, with the hopes that he could back up Gerald Laird and still give the Tigers good defense behind the plate. But he could never fully recover from the hernia surgery he had after the 2008 season, and by late April, was done for the year. (Alas, we never did get those gratuitious shots of Misty May-Treanor watching from her seats and cheering on her husband.) Had he been available, perhaps Laird wouldn't have worn down the way he did late in the season.

Matt Treanor goes fishing

craig — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:46:08 -0000

Oh sure, Matt Treanor is no longer with the Marlins but that doesn't mean he is forgotten. Or at least by me. Anyways, Matt went fishing.

FRESHWATER/EVERGLADES

Drew Gregg reported excellent fishing in the State Road 84 Canal out of Markham Park this week. Fishing with former Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor, Gregg caught 11 peacock bass and a snakehead, and Treanor caught 20 peacocks and a 20-inch snook. They also had three largemouth bass. All the fish hit small Rapala jerkbaits.

I'm guessing they caught butterfly peacocks and not speckled peacocks since the report wasn't followed by them being arrested.

Evening prowl: Regrets, he names a few

MackAveKurt — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:39:12 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

The Tigers don't regret trading for starting pitcher Edwin Jackson, but how do the Rays feel?

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It wouldn't take long to think of some offseason mistakes teams made. Oakland trading for Matt Holliday pops into my head. (That 0-for-7 Sunday was regretful.) And Tigers fans still will not let the trade of Jair Jurrjens to Atlanta for Edgar Renteria a season earlier go.) Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo wondered in his baseball notes column Sunday what offseason moves some teams might be regretting now that we're a month into the season. There's no regrets in Detroit, however, for the move that brought Edwin Jackson to the mound. But how might they feel in Tampa?

Cafardo:

Rays trade Edwin Jackson to Tigers for Matt Joyce: Tampa has a good rotation, but the feeling is that Jackson could have been incorporated into the bullpen. It was a move similar to the Red Sox dealing Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Peña - you think you have extra pitching, so you take a chance on an outfielder with upside. Note that the Sox have not made such a move since then.

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman mentioned Justin Verlander in his column today. (He also mentioned the Royals are contenders, not pretenders.)

Tigers ace Justin Verlander is showing signs of getting it back together. After Verlander was hit hard by the Angels earlier this year, one executive said, "The guy throws 97 and has a wicked hook. He has the best stuff in the league. He should be better than this." Tigers insiders say Verlander tends to take a know-it-all position and is resistant to suggestion. But he is no dummy and perhaps he is learning.

Long as we're talking about Verlander, Jim Hawkins blogs about the ace's relationship with the manager. The quote is too good not to share.

“He’s bull-headed, and I’m bull-headed,” Leyland said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Some married people are bull-headed, too, and they still love each other.
“I don’t love the guy but I love having him on my team. He has the best overall stuff of any pitcher I’ve ever managed. He’s one of the best players I’ve ever had. The sky’s the limit for this guy.

Is Matt Treanor really out for the season? After the Tigers told beat writers they suspected Treanor's season was over, the backup catcher returned to the Tigers clubhouse on crutches today. MLB.com's Jason Beck says Treanor believes he'll work his way back.

"I'm going to go about it as if I have an opportunity to play again this season," Treanor said.

Treanor said he talked after the surgery with the specialist, Dr. Bryan Kelly. He's going to get some opinions on the timetable coming up. If it sounds certain that he'll miss the season, he'll probably go home to rehab, but that he'd like to stick around Detroit when the team's in town if he has a shot at a comeback.

Fox Sports Detroit Tigers play-by-play man Mario Impemba wants to help those serving in the armed forces away from Michigan to have a little piece of the Opening Day enjoyment. He, along with Major League Baseball and the Tigers will be providing 3-hour DVDs of the opening day broadcast. Detroit Tigers Weblog has more information.
Finally tonight, your guest blogger reviewed the Tigers' latest week of action at Mack Avenue Tigers.

Treanor apparently lost for season after surgery

MackAveKurt — Sat, 02 May 2009 23:56:20 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Tigers backup catcher Matt Treanor, er, left, as if the catchers pads didn't tell you that, was one of the few people in Detroit who wanted to congratulate Brandon Lyon. Treanor had surgery on his hip and appears to be lost for the season.

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Reposted from Mack Avenue Tigers

Matt Treanor came to Detroit known for three things, whose importance tended to be listed in this order.

He's married to beach volleyballer Misty May-Treanor
He plays good defense, making up for the lack of bat. But no one expects the backup catcher to be a hitter anyway.
He frequently caught Dontrelle Willis, so maybe this would help D-Train get untracked.

But after having surgery on his hip -- which unexpectedly apparently turned out to be season-ending as. MLB.com's Jason Beck reports -- he risks being known for a fourth thing: fnishing his season (or Tigers' career, as he was under a one-year contract) with a .000 batting line. He finished the season 0-for-13 with a walk. Oh, and he caught Rick Porcello's major league debut.

Dane Sardinha was called up from Triple-A Toledo last week and may end up spending the rest of the season in Detroit. He, too, may as well not bring a bat to the plate, but is known for working with pitchers well and occassionally throwing some runners out.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:50:14 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Trevor Hoffman is back and ready to make his Brewer debut.

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Some things to read while rocking some yellow pants.

Trevor Hoffman is relieved to be back with the team after spending the first 17 games on the disabled list. He did not appear in yesterday's game but was available and presumably will be again today if the Brewers take a lead into the ninth.

Where does Hoffman rank among baseball's greatest pitchers? One voter at Dugout Central ranked him among their top five pitchers who have never won a Cy Young Award. Former Brewer Don Sutton also appeared on three ballots.

Entering play on Sunday, the Brewers had thrown out just two of 15 attempted base stealers this season, but is that a problem? The Wall Street Journal says controlling the running game may not necessarily lead to team success.

The Brewers open up a three game series with the ~~Diamondbacks~~ Pirates tonight, and project to send their three best 2009 starting pitchers to the mound: Braden Looper, Dave Bush and Yovani Gallardo. Dave Bush will be making his first appearance since throwing a near no-hitter last week. Cute Sports noted that all three of Bush's near no-hitters have been broken up by former Brewers. Beyond the Box Score has a look at the location of Yovani Gallardo's pitches from his complete game Friday night.

The Brewer minor leagues suffered a major blow over the weekend, as Lorenzo Cain suffered a torn MCL, likely ending his 2009 season. Cain could be the center fielder of the future but will have a lot to prove in 2010, as he'll enter the season having played about half a season over the last two years. (h/t FanShot)

With the Brewers on the road this weekend, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers borrowed Miller Park for a night, playing a Midwest League game against the Peoria Chiefs. If you'd like to see photos of the game from every possible angle, here's a FanPost, a FanShot and two posts from Cute Sports.

It's never too early to start updating your projections. On Saturday, Baseball Analysts updated the 2009 PECOTA projections to take the first three weeks of results into consideration. The Brewers were 7-9 at the time and projected for exactly 81 wins.

Around the league:

Angels: Designated reliever Daniel Davidson for assignment.
Astros: Catcher Humberto Quintero is on the DL with a strained shoulder following a collision with Mike Cameron on Friday.
Braves: Brian McCann has been placed on the DL with an eye infection, and Garret Anderson has also been DL'ed.
D-Backs: Brandon Webb will be out at least six more weeks after experiencing a setback in his rehab from shoulder bursitis. Also, Stephen Drew was placed on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Marlins: Designated reliever Logan Kensing for assignment.
Mets: Designated Casey Fossum for assignment. They also signed Nelson Figueroa and Mike Lamb to minor league deals.
Orioles: SP Alfredo Simon has been diagnosed with degenerative tissue in his elbow and will undergo season-ending surgery.
Padres: Placed Shawn Hill on the DL with elbow inflammation.
Pirates: Jack Wilson has been placed on the DL with a swollen finger on his glove hand.
Royals: Designated C Brayan Pena for assignment.
Tigers: Matt Treanor will require surgery to correct a sports hernia and will be out at least two months.
Yankees: Chien-Ming Wang has been placed on the DL with "weakness in his hips."

This isn't an injury note yet, but it could be soon: Astros pitcher Jose Valverde, who pitched in both Saturday and yesterday's games against the Brewers, is limping noticeably and has Astros.com beat reporter Alyson Footer concerned.

Oh, and if you're looking for something to do today, the Timber Rattlers are playing an 11 am doubleheader in Davenport after yesterday's game was postponed due to rain. The weather in Iowa isn't great today either, but they should be able to get the games in, and you can hear them here.

Drink up.

Morning Prowl: Verlander's Stretch, D-Train's Progress, Anderson in a Pinch, and Lil' MLB Helmets

Ian Casselberry — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:35:19 -0000

Could some of Justin Verlander's issues be related to pitching out of the stretch? The Detroit Tigers Weblog gets out the Pitch F/X machine to investigate further.

Mack Avenue Tigers passes along a quote from Dontrelle Willis, the first line of which might make you think there was something to this "anxiety disorder" stuff, after all. Unless he said that as sort of a response to the whole situation.

Kurt also tuned in via internet to the D-Train's rehab start for Double-A Erie yesterday. I wish I'd have thought of that, instead of, like, taking a nap after working on the yard.

Here's a bit more on Willis' performance from Jason Beck.

Detroit Tigers Thoughts has posted an initial projection of the Elias Rankings used to determine Type A or B free agency. First up are the American League rankings.

Tiger Geist wonders if Josh Anderson would ultimately be better coming off the bench, used often as a pinch-runner, than as the starting left fielder.

If you missed it - and Kurt posted a note in one of the weekend GameThreads - the New York Yankees released pitcher Humberto Sanchez, perhaps the key piece of the Gary Sheffield trade. Could the Tigers pick him back up and assign him to one of their minor league clubs?

DesigNate Robertson has focused his critical eye on Rod Allen. I'm thinking that Rogo was a little crabby when he wrote this one.

Do I think Allen is our finest baseball analyst? No, but when you have to talk for three hours, not everything out of your mouth is going to be a gem. Especially when your body clock is on Eastern Standard Time while you're calling a game in Anaheim.

Is Trumbull and Michigan worried about losing Matt Treanor to injury? Well, not so much. Me, I still think it was a good signing by the Tigers, and it's a shame Treanor's health hasn't allowed him to contribute.

But does Treanor's injury mean Misty May won't be spending most of the year in Detroit? According to her blog, that was the original plan as they've settled in Royal Oak.

(Hat tip to the aforementioned Tiger Geist)

Old English D has her eye on a MLB Batting Helmet Standings Board. "For her son," of course. I want to go to that.

(I wonder if I still have my old lil' helmets of all the AL Central teams? I know I used to have every NFL helmet, completing my collection when I worked at a grocery store and got the last four or five helmets from the guy who filled the machines. It was all very back alley. Any time you're handing cash to a dude standing outside a van, and he gives you a plastic bag in return, it just doesn't look good.)

Treanor Out for Two Months [Updated]

Ian Casselberry — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:30:48 -0000

More photos » by Nathan Denette - AP

Matt Treanor looks into his mitt, trying to find his lost batting average. He's headed for the disabled list, as the Tigers have called up Dane Sardinha from Toledo.

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UPDATE (12:45 p.m.): Lynn Henning reports that Treanor will be out for two months, as he'll have to once again undergo surgery to correct his sports hernia. (Two months is a minimum estimate, by the way.)

The Toledo Blade is reporting that the Detroit Tigers have called up catcher Dane Sardinha from Triple-A, and that would seem to indicate that Matt Treanor is headed to the disabled list. (Hat tip to the Freep's Jon Paul Morosi.)

Treanor hasn't looked very good so far this year, failing to get a hit in his 14 plate appearances. He's also looked shaky on defense, often throwing poorly to second base, which is supposed to be his strength.

Signed to a one-year contract this offseason, Treanor struggled with a groin injury throughout Spring Training, as he recovered from offseason surgery for a sports hernia, and that's seemed to stay with him into the early regular season.

Last year, Sardinha hit .159/.229/.205 (including one spectacular, improbable triple) in 17 games (49 PAs) with the Tigers. The knock against him has always been his bat, but he's good for dependable defense. In five games with the Mud Hens this year, Sardinha posted a .231/.333/.308 average in 15 plate appearances.