SB Nation - Chien-Ming Wang

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:18:55 -0000

by Jim Prisching - AP

Craig Counsell is expected to re-sign today.

Some things to read while John Tesh rocks the NBA on NBC theme (h/t Amy K. Nelson).

Randy Wolf is expected to undergo a physical this morning and once he does, expect his contract to become official sometime later today. That might not be today's only announcement, though: the Brewers are also expected to finalize a deal with Craig Counsell today. With Counsell, Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel and Casey McGehee all on the roster, the Brewers' Opening Day infield is probably set, barring injury or trade.

Meanwhile, Mike Rivera is surprised to be looking for work after being non-tendered over the weekend. He thought the decision not to retain Jason Kendall would give him an edge as the only returning catcher familiar with the Brewer pitching staff.

As of this writing, roughly 4% of voters in the poll on your right listed the decision to offer Dave bush a 2010 contract as the one Brewer move from this weekend they would change. That's not exactly a large chunk of the fanbase, but In-Between Hops is taking on that vocal minority, making the case that the Brewers made the right move by giving Bush another shot.

If you missed Morineko's Weekend Mug, follow the link over to it for full coverage of the Brewers' arbitration decisions, and a link to this list of all the non-tenders leaguewide.

Looking back at last week, Jon Heyman ranked the Brewers among the Winter Meeting winners. Meanwhile, Marc Hulet of The Baseball Analysts listed Rule 5 selection Chuck Lofgren in the "Why Bother?" category.

The more I think about it, the more I think Lofgren will have a tough task ahead of him if he's going to make the team out of spring training. With Trevor Hoffman, LaTroy Hawkins, Todd Coffey, Claudio Vargas and Mitch Stetter back, there's only two bullpen spots left that are potentially available (barring injury), and Chris Smith, John Axford, Chris Narveson, Zach Braddock and now Lofgren fighting for them. I like Lofgren's potential and hope the Brewers will get an opportunity to realize it, but right now he might be the third or fourth best lefty in the bullpen competition.

If you have a vague interest in Brewer baseball, but wish there was less analysis and more profanity on this site, then Miller Park Drunk's RUNNING series might be just the ticket for you. Follow these links for bad Prince Fielder jokes, some fan fiction involving Ryan Braun trying to rap, and a vague musical reference to Rickie Weeks.

In the minors: Baseball Intellect has video footage of some at bats featuring Cameron Garfield, Cutter Dykstra and Josh Prince from a Pioneer League game back in July. They're pay-only, but there are worse ways to spend $2.95.

If you were gone this weekend, you didn't miss the opportunity to help select a center fielder and catcher for the BCB All Decade Team. Voting closes at 4 pm today for center fielders and 4 pm tomorrow for catchers. We'll open the voting for the final starting outfield spot later today.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Signed catcher John Buck to a one-year deal worth $2 million, signed Joey Gathright to a minor league deal,
Braves: Signed Matt Diaz to a one year, $2.55 million deal, avoiding arbitration.
D-Backs: Re-signed infielder Augie Ojeda to a one year deal, and avoided arbitration with Blaine Boyer.
Dodgers: Signed pitcher Josh Towers to a minor league deal.
Giants: Signed shortstop-turned-pitcher Tony Pena Jr. to a minor league deal.
Indians: Re-signed pitchers Adam Miller and Anthony Reyes to minor league deals.
Marlins: Signed catcher Ronny Paulino to a one-year deal, avoiding arbitration.
Nationals: Re-signed Scott Olsen to a one year deal. Also signed pitcher Ryan Speier to a minor league deal.
Padres: Signed pitcher Kevin Correia to a one year deal, avoiding arbitration.
Pirates: Signed Ronny Cedeno to a one year, $1.125 million deal, avoiding arbitration.
Rangers: Signed infielder Esteban German to a one year deal, avoiding arbitration.
Rays: Avoided arbitration with catcher Dioner Navarro and pitchers Grant Balfour, Rafael Soriano, Lance Cormier and Randy Choate.
Royals: Avoided arbitration with pitchers Brian Bannister and Kyle Davies. They also signed pitcher Bruce Chen and catcher Vance Wilson to minor league deals.
White Sox: Signed J.J. Putz to a one year deal.

Meanwhile, the market heated up immediately for Yankees non-tender Chien-Ming Wang, with Ken Rosenthal reporting that six teams have already expressed interest. He doesn't list the teams, but I wouldn't be surprised to discover the Brewers are one of them.

I promise, I'm not going to mention it every time someone says something new about Jason Kendall. In fact, I might try to go the rest of the week without mentioning him at all. With that said, I thought these three links about him were interesting:

Joe Posnanski has a look at the potential Opening Day lineup for the 2010 Royals, now including Kendall.
He also compares Kendall to a superball on the field at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
Reminding us all how far and how fast Kendall has fallen, Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? named Kendall the Pirate Catcher of the Decade.

Weeks ago I linked to a post from minor league veteran Garrett Broshuis, mentioning the challenges in finding quality, healthy food in minor league clubhouses. It looks like that problem may be on its way to being resolved: After discussing it at the Winter Meetings, several teams are making an effort to provide healthier options, and remove the constant flow of junk.

If you're a fan of sabermetrics, or just want to learn more about them, I've got two links for you today:

TangoTiger has a look at OPS+, and some minor adjustments that could be made to it to make it more useful than some other advanced metrics.
That post links to this one, Big League Stew's beginner's guide to wOBA. I learned a fair amount by reading that one.

Gorman Thomas celebrated a birthday over the weekend, and while this probably isn't what he had in mind for a gift, David Chalk of Seventh Inning 'Stache has inducted him into the MLB Mustache Hall of Fame.

On this day in 1998, the Brewers acquired Alex Ochoa from the Twins for a minor leaguer named Darrell Nicholas. Ochoa spent one season as a Brewer, hitting .300/.404/.466 before being traded to the Reds for Mark Sweeney after the season.

Happy birthday today to:

Former Seattle Pilot and 1970 Brewer Greg Goossen, who turns 64.
Dave Nilsson, who appeared in 837 games as a Brewer and turns 40.
Marcus Jensen, who appeared in 18 games over two tours as a Brewer and turns 37.

Sean Forman, founder of Baseball Reference, is also celebrating his birthday today. You can help him celebrate by sponsoring a page. I know someone around here will want this one.

Drink up.

Non-tender roundup: Miller and Reyes signed to minor league deals

Jay — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:10:39 -0000

Vaporstarter Adam Miller and the oft-injured Anthony Reyes were not tendered contracts by the Indians yesterday, rendering them free agents, but both pitchers signed minor league deals with the Indians just hours later. These transactions remove both pitchers from the 40-man roster while retaining their services for at least one more year. In the (admittedly unlikely) event Miller's career gets back on track this season, this series of moves avoids using up one of his option years, and should the Indians choose in the next year to restore him to the 40-man roster, he will have at least one option year left and will remain under club control at least through 2016. Reyes remains optionless, of course, but still hypothetically could remain under club control through 2013.

The Indians also declined to offer a contract to reliever Jose Veras, who was arbitration eligible, rendering him a free agent, and there is no indication he will be re-signed. Cleveland's 40-man roster now stands at 37, with 18 pitchers and 19 position players.

The Indians did tender a contract to pitcher Rafael Perez, who is eligible for arbitration (and to the other 28 players on the 40-man roster who are not yet eligible). The non-non-tender to Perez was non-unexpected, despite a disastrous season in which he was the fourth-worst reliever in the majors (min. 30 IP) per WXRL, which estimates a reliever's actual impact on the chance of his team winning or losing games. (That's "Win Expectation above Replacement, Lineup-adjusted," if you must know. BP rates Perez as merely the 10th-worst reliever at preventing runs from scoring, but because he blew more runs than his peers in high-leverage game situations, his negative impact on wins and losses was more substantial.)

Perez spent almost two months in the minors but still qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player with several weeks to spare. As a relief pitcher coming off a terrible season with barely enough service time to qualify, Perez is in line to be awarded perhaps the smallest salary of any player going to arbitration, probably less than $1 million. It's worth recalling, at this point, how outstanding Perez was in his truly super two-plus seasons prior to this one. He had a 2.89 ERA (and 152 ERA+) over 149.1 IP. He struck out 9.8 batters per nine innings, with 3.7 strikeouts for every walk. He held lefties to a .241 slugging percentage and allowed them only nine extra-base hits in 249 PA. As long as we keep tendering him contracts, he remains under club control through 2013, and there is a reasonable chance he will re-emerge as an impact reliever, or at the very least a useful one, at some point in that span.

Other notable non-tenders include former Indians Ryan Garko and Ryan Church. Garko of course was traded to the Giants only months ago for a decent enough pitching prospect. Just 115 abysmal AB later, Giants GM Brian Sabean is now saying he doesn't want to pay upwards of $3 million to a guy who isn't really an everyday player. I'm not saying he's wrong, but it's a pretty hilarious statement to make for a guy who will still owes $83 million to Barry Zito for the next four seasons. McCovey Chronicles has a pretty dead-on take on Sabean's curious sequence of decisions. My theory is that you just can't understand how slow this guy is on the basepaths until he's actually on your team, and maybe Wedge actually deked the Giants with respect to Garko's athleticism by playing him in the outfield.

Expect the cleveland.com crowd to clamor for Garko's return, oblivious to the fact that two teams have now deemed him unworthy of an everyday role in the space of just a few months. Despite high regard for his character, I would be surprised if Shapiro brought him back, even at a substantially reduced salary. I rather expect Garko will be signed by a GM who scouted him as a college player and was impressed with his stroke. As a lefty batter, Church doesn't really fit in with the Indians' plans. Other interesting non-tenders include Pirates closer Matt Capps, Yankees sinkerballer Chien-Ming Wang, and third baseman Garrett Atkins. Atkins is perhaps best remembered as the guy that the Indians never even considered trading Aaron Laffey to get. I wouldn't be surprised if the Indians took an interest in Mike MacDougal; they seem to like guys who used to be closers.

As for Miller, these moves were unusual, reflecting an unusual situation. The "non-tender" deadline traditionally involves only players who are arbitration-eligible, as there is little reason not to tender a contract to any player on the 40-man roster who isn't eligible, since the most the team can be compelled to pay such a player is the minimum salary, which will remain $400,000 for the 2010 season. Many such players will make less than half that much, if they don't spend much time in the majors.

The latest in Miller's deathless progression of rehab setbacks occurred after rosters were frozen for the Rule 5 draft. Otherwise, the Indians might have chosen to DFA Miller prior to that point, exposing him to waivers. That might have cost the Indians the rights to Chuck Lofgren — but then again, maybe not. The Indians might have protected some other on-the-bubble prospect like Yohan Pino, in which case, Miller's delayed setback actually saved the Indians from burning an option year on whoever-that-would-have-been. And even if Miller clears waivers (and later, presumably, also clears the Rule 5 draft), he would have been granted minor league free agency anyway, since he was originally signed more than six years ago.

In that sense, non-tendering Miller, while unusually, was actually a more straightforward path to the same destination. Either way, he ends up as a free agent, free to sign with any club, but this way, he doesn't have to pass through waivers first. Miller obviously felt some combination of organizational loyalty and faith in the club's ability to rehab him back into a prospect, assuming that's even possible. Reyes has spent far less time in the Indians organization, but he had the same options as Miller and made the same choice. If either player was actually worth something anymore, we might consider feeling good about that.

Abraham: Sox Should Take A Look at Chien-Ming Wang

Randy Booth — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:48:49 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - ASSOCIATED PRESS

4 months ago: New York Yankees Chien Ming Wang of Taiwan, winds up in the first inning of the Yankees opening day baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, April 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

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It's been tossed around in the comments, but now the Globe's Peter Abraham suggests the Red Sox take a look at one-time Yankee Chien-Ming Wang, who was non-tendered by the Yankees yesterday:

Based on my conversations with Wang, I believe the foot injury led to the shoulder injury. When Wang reported to spring training last season, the Yankees would not allow him to run as part of his conditioning. The strength in his legs, which helped him throw a 95-mph sinker, vanished and the shoulder injury was the result of compensating.

Now that the shoulder is repaired, Wang is hopeful of returning to the majors by late May or early June. Shoulder injuries are tricky and this is the second time Wang has needed surgery. But if he can come back to even 80 percent of what he once was, he would be a helpful piece.

Then there this: Wang is not leaving the Yankees on particularly good terms and would be motivated to prove them wrong.

I kind of like the revenge angle to all of this, but I just don't know if the Sox should go after Wang. He'll probably get a contract from another club to compete for a spot in a rotation. The Red Sox just can't give him any kind of deal like that at this point.

Since Wang is a groundball pitcher, he'd benefit from an improved Red Sox defense behind him. He doesn't give up too many home runs either, which would be great for Fenway. But is he actually healthy? And how much money will his agent want for this new free agent?

Non-Tendered is the Night

DanUpBaby — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:39:12 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

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NON-TENDERED IS THE NIGHT

A VIVA EL BIRDOS PLAY IN ONE ACT

CHARACTERS

ANTHONY REYES, ex-Cardinal, ex-Indian

CHARON, or at least a man with a boat

SOME FELLOW TRAVELERS, washed up on the shores of this same strange place

???, a mysterious liaison between the worlds hither and beyond

DAVE DUNCAN, a prospective hauntee

SCENE

At some point the place Anthony Reyes stands may indeed have been the afterlife—certainly it has all the trappings. The lighting, punctuated by the sensible desk-lamps that stand atop each of thousands of desks, arranged on a grid, occasionally reaches eerie; someone, every so often, moans and wails. These were once the moans and wails of the damned.

But it is non-tender season, and until it is time for the afterlife to renegotiate its contract with Major League Baseball a loophole has allowed it to become crowded with souls in limbo on the night after baseball's non-tender deadline. One such soul is ANTHONY REYES—he stands at one end of an unattractive little stream, playing with the bill of his cap, watching the office workers of the damned as they deal efficiently with a flood of new paperwork. Finally a boat reaches his side—a man, who is very obviously working overtime, waves him hastily on.

CHARON: Mr.—Mr. Reyes, then?

REYES: Yes, that's me.

CHARON: I apologize for the delay, I had Jack Cust in here and he fell off the side. I'm kidding, but he almost did. But that's my joke.

REYES: Where am I?

CHARON: Right now it's an open question, but you're in the process of being in hell. Don't worry about the connotations, we're doing contract work. You weren't tendered a contract. What's the last thing you remember?

REYES: Well, we'd just beaten the Tigers, and I'm explaining to this reporter that don't really iron my cap, and... I don't know, the rest of it's a blur.

CHARON: Well, you didn't yadda-yadda the best part.

REYES: What?

CHARON: It's from Seinfeld, it's a joke—look, I'm sorry—it's a TV show—I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous having to make small-talk. It's not what I normally do. In between 2006 and 2009 you've been sent to the minors ten or fifteen times, traded to the Indians for a guy who was later handed off to the Padres in exchange for their vague interest, had six pretty good starts in 2008, and undergone a serious elbow surgery.

REYES: I thought I felt a little sore.

CHARON: I have another joke, where I'm like, "I ferry you across, but not your fastball," because it's funny and then it's spooky, you know? But I thought maybe that would be too close to home. Anyway, we're here, thank goodness. I've got Garrett Atkins on the other side. You think the Cardinals'll go after him? He can't play defense, but he hit for that year or so.

REYES: You're saying they let the guy they traded me for go in the Rule 5 draft?

CHARON: That's what it says on your chart.

REYES: Yeah, I hope they do.

REYES is deposited in the main office floor of hell, where he is seated by the secretary of hell in the waiting room of hell. SOME FELLOW TRAVELERS, each with a numbered ticket in hand, are sitting in his row.

REYES: Oh, wow, you're Jack Cust, aren't you?

CUST: Is he still telling that joke? Yeah, I am.

REYES: Why are you here?

CUST: Well, I can hit a fastball as well as anybody you've ever seen, and I'll hit it 400 feet to any part of the field. But they don't throw me any fastballs. And I can't play defense. If you were a team with a hole in left field, and you had a young right-handed hitter to platoon with me, and a fleet-footed fifth outfielder—no, probably not. To be honest. But I'll DH somewhere. Anyway, I'm here so that they can tell me which Greek philosophical allegory best represents the whole fastball hitter/no fastballs thing. I can see you're here representing an NL team, so I'll stop talking now.

CUST stumbles out of frame. Across from REYES are several pitchers, most with one or both arms in slings, as precautionary measure. REYES feels a particular and immediate bond with CHIEN-MING WANG, a late twentysomething non-tender with serious arm problems.

REYES: I think we have a lot in common, you and I. We both had some great moments and some bad ones. We were both dumped pretty unceremoniously by a team that had spent a while waiting for our big breakout. I'll tell you, if I had your sinker and you had my change-up we might not be in this mess right now, you know?

WANG: 我不會說英語，但我喜歡你的滑稽的帽子。

REYES: Oh.

CUST: Excuse me—I'm sorry to interrupt, but I speak a little Mandarin... Wang agrees with you, for the most part. He's worried about his shoulder, but he thinks either of you would make a fine pick-up for a team with low expectations and a full but marginally unsettled rotation. There's also Scott Olsen, he notes, but he's rumored to be a headcase, and injured besides; he's lost even more velocity than you did last year. And he likes your cap; do you iron it?

REYES: No, it's simple, really, I cut—

CUST: Sorry, that's my number coming up. It was nice talking to you. (他絕對是整燙.) You should talk to those guys over there—it looks like they've already received their allegorical judgment. [Down the hall behind CUST walk a reliever in black and a reliever in white. They are holding a pair of new-looking scripts.]

MACDOUGAL: "I am the Spirit of Nibbling—and the, and not enough contact! I am alpha!"

CAPPS: "I am the Spirit of Going After Hitters—and too much contact! I am omega!"

MACDOUGAL and CAPPS: "If we were one pitcher, getting groundballs and going after hitters, we would be your ideal pitcher. Now we are... Now we are..." [CAPPS, his head down, runs into REYES.]

CAPPS: I'm sorry, we're running our lines. See, Mike is an extreme groundball hitter with a serious control problem, and I'm an extreme flyball hitter with a serious home run problem, and I guess we're here to haunt Dave Duncan, because there's a non-zero chance he has to deal with one of us.

REYES: Dave Duncan? He's behind that door?

Suddenly the last three years snap into focus for ANTHONY REYES. La Russa and DAVE DUNCAN's unimpressive record with young pitchers sharpens in his mind. A sinker, a horrible sinker, plays across the memory of his arm's tortured muscles. He bursts through the door to find DUNCAN's face projected onto white drywall, and —

Hey man, I knew you'd find us eventually. In hell! I got a winter job here.

REYES: Oh, no! The Ghost of Chris Lambert!

DUNCAN: Oh, for god's sake, is this a party line? Reyes, did this clown bring you here?

LAMBERT: This ghost clown! Liaison between hither and beyond! Licensed astral-projector operator!

REYES: You, Dave Duncan. You're the reason I'm here, aren't you? I remember it all now. I destroyed the minor leagues, I did pretty well in the major leagues, but that wasn't enough, was it? I had a K:BB ratio over seven one year! In the PCL!

DUNCAN: That seems like you're oversimplifying things a bit. After all, your velocity was pretty consistent both years, wasn't it? And you're—well, your arm hasn't exactly held up in the meantime. Look, Reyes, I like you—

LAMBERT: Man, you were just telling me about how stupid that stupid ironed cap looked—

DUNCAN: Look, Reyes. I like you more than I like this guy. And I'm biased, obviously. But as wrong a turn as we might have done you, this whole thing might have been a confluence of you struggling to adapt to the majors at the same time your elbow slowly came unglued. See what happens this year, or next year. There's still plenty of time to be Al Leiter, or somebody.

REYES: I guess you might be right. But Luis Perdomo? Was that the best Mozeliak could do? I'm a fun guy to watch! I have an interesting wind-up, cool socks, an awesome hat. All I want now is a make-good contract. Give me a Matt Clement deal and see what happens, you know?

DUNCAN: Lambert, can you get Mozeliak on this thing?

LAMBERT: Oh... look, I don't really know that guy that well, can you call him? Tell him it's a long distance call—a really long distance call. From hell!

REYES: Okay, you know what? It's not worth it. I'm going somewhere else.

LAMBERT: From hell!

Washington Nationals: Tenders/Non-Tenders...Targets?

Ed Chigliak — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:54:03 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

The Nationals tendered contracts to five players, but not Mike MacDougal, who was non-tendered Saturday night and might not return. (AP Photo/Al Behrman, File)

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• Scott Olsen and Mike MacDougal...non-tendered. Jason Bergmann, Wil Nieves, Jesus Flores, Sean Burnett, Brian Bruney and Josh Willingham...tendered. The Washington Nationals decided to let Olsen and MacDougal test free agency, but already Olsen tells MLB.com's Bill Ladson in an article entitled, "Nats cut ties with MacDougal, Olsen", "I don't have any plans to go anywhere else," though MacDougal says he's disappointed, and (not to read anything into it....but)...he's already talking about Washington in the past tense when he tells Mr. Ladson, "I enjoyed playing there. I thought I did a good job, so yeah, it's a little disappointing. What can you do? I'm a free agent and go from there."

• Bill Shanks at The Braves Show.com mentioned that the Atlanta Braves' non-tendered infielder Kelly Johnson might be a target for the Nationals, so I guess I wasn't the only one who had the thought cross their mind, (though mine was more in a "no thanks" sort of way)...Does the Nationals' newly-hired vice president of player personnel Roy Clark, who served as Atlanta's scouting director for 20-odd years, still like Johnson...who followed up on a .287 AVG, .349 OBP, 39 doubles, 12 HR's and 69 RBI's in 2008 by hitting .229 in 2009 with a .303 OBP, 20 doubles, 8 HR's and 29 RBI's, and saw his WAR value drop from (+2.1) to (+0.7) while his UZR/150 actually improved from (-10.6) to (-0.2), though he played less games (106) than he had in the two previous seasons, (147 in '07, 150 in 108)...on the plus side, Johnson's the youngest free agent infielder out there...

• Just because Chien-Ming Wang is a sinker-baller doesn't mean he's a good fit for the Nationals, and stop trying to impress Mike Rizzo by finding him fast/sinkerballers, he's got a new front office for that...Wang was non-tendered by the Yankees today, after he had surgery on his shoulder last season, (acc. to New York Daily News' writer Mark Feinsand's article entitled, "Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang set for surgery...", it was, "...arthroscopic surgery to repair the capsule (the fibrous membrane that surrounds the joint) in his right shoulder."), though the Yankees say they're interested in bringing the soon-to-be 30-year-old right-hander back after an '09 season which saw Wang go (1-6) with an ERA in the 9.00's, a 2.02 WHIP, 4.1 BB/9 and a 1.53 K/BB. If Rizzo's going to sign a pitcher coming off shoulder surgery, i'd bet it will be Olsen...

• ?'s For The DC Faithful:

Did anyone go on the market last night the Nationals should think about?

Do you like Kelly Johnson or Chien-Ming Wang for Washington?

Will MacDougal be back? What about Olsen?

Will Josh Willingham defy the rumors to remain on the roster?

What's Rizzo's next move...?

(Non-)Tender is the Night

Jim McLennan — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:00:18 -0000

10pm Arizona time today marks the non-tender deadline: the last chance for teams to offer contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man roster. If they opt not to do so, players become free agents, and can sign with any club. It looks like the Diamondbacks will offer deals to all their players in this category, such as Conor Jackson, but might there be a chance for the team to pick someone up, released by another club? There are usually some useful pieces that get cut loose, and it can be a chance to pick someone up for a relative song.

Tim Dierkes has put up a list of potential non-tenders at MLBTradeRumors.com. Some of these will certainly be given contracts (his list contains Jackson, and you can take it to the bank that the team will not let him walk away from Arizona), and others we might not want to touch with someone else's ten-foot bargepole. However, after the jump, we'll take a look at some interesting names in the positions the D-backs need help, on on whom we may want to kick the tires if they become available.

Jeremy Accardo. Over the past three seasons, Accardo has an ERA+ of 160 for the Blue Jays, though admittedly, he only threw 37 major-league innings in 2008 and 2009 combined, and spent most of last year in Triple-A [posting an ERA of 3.00 in 27 appearances]. A local boy - born in Mesa - he could be a useful arm to add to the Diamondbacks bullpen.
Garrett Atkins. Purple Row says he has been officially non-tendered by the Rockies. Last year was a disaster for him - OPS+ of just 66 - but his career numbers are still solid. He's only 30, is a career .289 hitter, averaging 20 homers per season, and even adjusting for Coors, has a career OPS+ of 102. Of particular interest to Arizona because he murders LHP, so could be a nice platoon-mate for Allen at first-base.
Taylor Buchholz. While we're pillaging Coors Field, maybe they'll let Buchholz slip through. This may seem unlikely, since he was lights-out in the Rockies bullpen last season, posting an ERA of 2.17 over 63 games. Normally, there'd be little chance of that kind of performance being non-tendered, but the Rockies have to find an awful lof of arbitration money for 2010.
Jack Cust. A former Diamondbacks' top-draft pick, I should stress there's absolutely no chance of us taking on Mr. Hands of Stone. But I just think it would be amusing to have the 2008 and 2009 K leaders from both leagues playing on the Diamondbacks next year...
Ryan Garko. While he flopped badly with the Giants down the stretch, he has produced four straight season of 100+ OPS+. He's another who kills southpaws - Garko's career line vs. LHP is .313/.392/.495, though he's never going to win any Gold Gloves at first. Will probably still be in SF: Grant from McCC reckons, "If the Giants start 2010 with Garko as the starting first baseman, that's just fine."
Kelly Johnson. Like Atkins, a poor 2009 derailed what was looking like a decent career - an OPS+ of 108 prior to last season is excellent for a second-baseman, and he has a good defensive reputation as wel;. Ken Rosenthal reports that the Braves are trying to trade Johnson, but will non-tender him if a deal can not be worked out before the deadline.
John Maine. 28-years old, ERA+ of 106 in his four seasons with the Mets. Should be a no-brainer to keep that guy in the Big Apple, right? Apparently not. New York have been dangling him in trade talks, such as with the Brewers for outfielder Corey Hart. Still, even if that falls through, you'd have to be stupid to let him walk away. However, we are talking about the Mets...
Brandon Medders. A tale of two Brandons, both former D-backs who'll be aged 30 next Opening Day. B. Lyon, career ERA+ of 111, gets a three-year, $15m deal from the Astros. B. Medders, career ERA+ 136, is a possible non-tender candidate from the Giants. Seems fairly certain he will be offered a contract though, and the Giants would be mental not to do so.
Chien-Ming Wang. Perhaps the most intriguing name on the list, this would have seemed unthinkable last year, with career numbers of 54-20 and an ERA+ of 117. However, Wang imploded - his first three starts led to 23 earned runs in just six IP, and he had season-ending shoulder surgery on July 30. Some team will offer the sinkerballer an incentive-laden contract: 50/50 whether its a bargain or a bust.

Yankees non-tender Chien-Ming Wang

Eli Greenspan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:55:14 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - ASSOCIATED PRESS

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The Yankees have decided to non-tender starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, according to Yankees.com. Wang, a two-time 19-game winner, had shoulder surgery in June last season and isn't expected to be ready until midseason 2010.

Wang was very ineffective with the Yankees in '09, posting a 9.64 ERA before being shut down.

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Chien-Ming Wang	1-6	12	9	0	0	0	0	42.0	66	46	45	7	19	29	9.64	2.02

His agent, Alan Nero, says Wang will be ready to go by May.

"He is way ahead of schedule," Nero said. "He started his throwing program on Dec. 1 and is under the supervision of Dr. James Andrews with his physical therapy. I'm very optimistic that he will be in the best shape of his life."

With that said, it will be interesting to see who pursues to the pitcher. The Rockies and Dodgers are possibilities for his services, considering their attentions to add another starting pitcher.

After missing out on Brad Penny, the Giants could also pursue his services. The Mariners have been inquiring about all sorts of players, and Wang could also be an option in Seattle.

Another Wang Decision

jscape2000 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:08:32 -0000

NYPost:

As for Chien-Ming Wang, his agent, Alan Nero, said surgeon James Andrews cleared the righty to throw beginning on Dec. 1, and that he could be ready by mid-April or early May to pitch in regular-season games after shoulder surgery.

However, Yankee doctors have not seen Wang and the team plans on non-tendering the righty rather than risk paying a minimum of $4 million for him in 2010. The Yanks will then consider if he is worth offering a low-base, incentive-laden contract to return.

Early May is the earliest estimate I've heard.

Obviously, I've never sat in on an arbitration, but Wang has gone 9-8 with a 5.78 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 137 IP over the last 2 seasons. I doubt he would make much more than the minimum.

Unless the Yanks think that Wang will sign a two year deal or a one year with an option (like Jon Lieber and Sergio Mitre), the difference of a couple million dollars seems triffling.

The Yankee brass has always seemed to undervalue Wang, taking him year to year rather than working out a long term deal like they did for Robbie Cano.

Girardi made the right call

Ed Valentine — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:23:47 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi takes the game ball from starter A.J. Burnett during the third inning of Game 5 of the Major League Baseball World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, in Philadelphia.

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Everybody has an opinion on New York Yankee Manager Joe Girardi's decision to stick with three starting pitchers in the World Series, meaning A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia (if necessary) are all working on short rest.

Mine is this. I love it.

Of course we know it did not work out last night, when Burnett imploded and gave up six runs in two innings. Did that have anything to do with pitching on short rest? Impossible to say.

What you can say is this. Burnett had pitched on short rest four times previously in his career, and had pitched to a 2.33 ERA. Most likely last night was just a case of the 'Bad A.J.' showing up an inopportune time.

Still, love the fact that Girardi is going to sink or swim the rest of the way with his best guys.

In that regard, I have to agree with Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

A.J. Burnett was awful in Game 5, and while many will now second-guess Joe Girardi’s decision to start him on short rest, you won’t see any of that in this space. Burnett said he felt fine physically, he just couldn’t throw strikes. He went through the same thing on regular rest in Anaheim in Game 5 of the ALCS, so I’ll take him at his word that the short rest wasn’t the cause for his brutal outing. He had a terrible game, plain and simple. Can anybody tell me that they would have felt as confident with Chad Gaudin - who has thrown one inning in the postseason and 2 1/3 innings since Sept. 28 - starting Game 5 of the World Series? If you can answer that question with a "Yes," then you should have your head examined. If anything, the decision to use Burnett on short rest is an indictment of the Yankees’ lack of pitching depth, something that took a huge hit with Chien-Ming Wang’s injury and Joba Chamberlain’s terrible second half. If they had a fourth starter they trusted, it would have been an easy call to start him in Game 4 or 5. But they don’t, so they’re going to live or die with the three guys that got them to this point.

To me, that perfectly covers all of the essential points.

Now, will I be nervous Wednesday night when Andy Pettitte takes the mound? Sure. But, I'm still happier about an extra start from Pettitte -- even on short rest -- than I would be simply have seen Girardi mostly forfeit a game by using Gaudin.

If Pettitte doesn't get it done Wednesday I will be on the verge of a breakdown Thursday for Game 7. That, though, is the game Brian Cashman signed CC Sabathia to pitch. So, you still have to feel good about the Yankees right now.

They need one win. Philly needs two. In Yankee Stadium. Advantage Yankees.

Chien-Ming Wang Out for the Season, Done as a Yankee?

Brendan Scolari — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:15:23 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - ASSOCIATED PRESS

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According to CBSSports.com Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang will have surgery on his injured right shoulder today which will sideline him for the rest of the 2009 season. It's unknown how much of next season Wang will miss as well:

New York manager Joe Girardi said there is no timetable for when Wang will return next season, and that the team will know more about a potential timeframe after the procedure. Wang was examined Tuesday by noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews. The right-hander went on the 15-day disabled list July 5 with a strained right shoulder. "It's a tough loss for us," Girardi said. "I feel for him. He's been through a lot the last 14, 15 months. Hopefully this is will be the end of the surgeries for him and he'll have the rest of his career be real healthy. We'll be there for him and we'll help him get through this. We'll get him back pitching as soon as we can."

Wang had struggled all year, going 1-6 with a 9.64 ERA in 12 games. Wang also missed the latter 3.5 months of last season with a foot injury.

Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News speculates that Wang may also have pitched his last game as a Yankee:

Wang is arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter, and after making $5 million this season, he’ll be due to make at least that much in 2010. If he’s going to miss a chunk of the season, look for the Yankees to non-tender him and try to sign him back for less, though Wang is still ticked off that they took him to arbitration in 2008 over $600,000.

This could very well be the end of Wang’s Yankees career, which would be a very sad thing. He’s done nothing but pitch his heart out for this team, even during his struggles this year.

Perhaps now that Wang is unable to contribute this year the Yankees will push harder to trade for a starter such as Jarrod Washburn.