Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Free Agents’

On Monday, I brought you the MLB list of former Wizards free agents. Today, let’s talk about the MiLB version. The good folks at BaseballAmerica have compiled a Minor League list of free agents, so I went through and located as many of the former Wizards as I could.

An intersting note about the list:

A total of 561 minor league players were declared free agents on Nov. 6. Major League Baseball and the players’ union negotiated a later minor league free agency declaration date as part of the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Prior to that, minor leaguers entered the free agent market about two weeks before the big leaguers, on or about Oct. 15. Now both groups are free to sign with teams at roughly the same time.

Since there are so many different variables that go into filling Minor League spots, I’m not even going to attmept to predict which organization they’ll sign with, but I’ll try to follow them and report back on this blog as much as possible.

So, without further ado:

• Cory Doyne; P (AAA – Baltimore)
• Brett Bonvechio; 1B (Hi A – White Sox)
• Freddy Guzman; OF (AAA – Tigers)
• Jack Cassel; P (AAA – Astros)
• Eric Cyr; P (AAA – Dodgers)
• Jon Knott; P (AAA – Phillies)
• Paul Abraham; P (AA – Padres)
• Luke Carlin; C (AAA – Padres)
• Jon Schemmel; 2B (Hi A – Padres)
• Peter Ciofrone; OF (AAA – Padres)
• Paul McAnulty; OF (AAA – Padres)
• Travis Chick; P (AAA – Mariners)
• Jon Huber; P (AAA – Mariners)
• Shawn Garrett; OF (AAA – Mariners)
• Nick Trzesniak; C (AAA – Rangers)
• Dennis Tankersley; P (AAA – Nationals)

Free agency season is officially open and there are 171 players who have filed. Check that; 170 (reliever, Jeremy Affeldt just signed with the SanFrancisco Giants). I got to wondering about former Wizards who might be looking for new MLB homes. So I hoped over to ESPN’s Free Agent Tracker and dug a little bit. Here’s what I came up with:

• Chad Moeller; Catcher – Moeller is the classic veteran catcher. Due to several injuries throughout the Yankees catching corps., Moeller got the opportunity to play a lot in 2008.  Over 41 games (91 at-bats), Moeller hit .221 with one home run and 9 RBI’s. He’d be a good fit for a team looking to add a veteran presence to back-up an emerging young backstop. Methinks: San Diego Padres.
   
• Oliver Perez; Starting Pitcher – Perez has shown flashes of brilliance at times in his career, but has never been able to be anywhere near consistent. In 2008, he put together a 10-7 record and a .422 ERA with the Mets over 34 games. He led the league in bases on balls (105) and struck out 180 in just under 200 innings pitched. He is likely to be the most sought after former Wizard on the free agent list but I am not sure many teams are going to want to pay his likely asking price (he made $6.5 million in 2008 and is a Scott Boras client). Methinks: Texas Rangers.
   
• Juan Rincon; Relief Pitcher – Rincon was one of the last remaining Twins from their affiliation with the Wizards (Michael Cuddyer is the only remaining). The team cut ties with him during the middle of the 2008 season and he signed a minor league contract with the Indians and was promoted in July. He earned $2.475 million last year. The 29 year-old has 7 years of Major League experience and woudl serve a bullpen well. Methinks: Staying with the Indians.
   
• Luis Rivas; Shortstop – At one point in his career, Luis Rivas was a highly touted prospect of the Minnesota Twins. But injuries and bad luck brought him to Pittsburgh, where he battled for a roster spot, earning $525,000 which is quite a drop from the $1.6 millon he once earned. Whiles it’s a feelgood story of 2008, Rivas hit just .218 over 79 games with the Pirates in 2008, which isn’t going to position him well for future considerations. However, his varsatility in the infield does make him a little more marketable. Methinks: Minor League deal with the Nationals.
   
• Javier Valentin; Catcher – At 33 years of age, the reality is that the veteran catcher who has 9 years of MLB experience, is not going to have many more contract years ahead of him. Like Moeller, he makes a solid veteran presence in a situation where the every-day catcher is just coming of age. Methinks: Minor League deal with the Red Sox.

Note: LaTroy Hawkins would have been a free agent had he not reached an agreement with the Houston Astros.

Houston has been bandied about as a possible destination for former Wizards pitcher, Jake Peavy. However, today, Houston came to terms with another former Wizards pitcher; LaTroy Hawkins.

The Astros singed the 35-year-old right-hander to a one-year contract for $3.5 million plus incentives. He finished 2008 with a 3-1 record, one save and a 3.92 ERA over 57 relief appearances with the Astros and Yankees. After being traded from the Yanks to Houston, Hawkins went 2-0 with one save and a 0.43 ERA in 24 appearances. He allowed no earned runs over his first 22 games with Houston after practically being forced out of New York (an unfortunate reality circumstance that has followed him to pretty much every stop since he left Minnesota).

In 688 career games, including 98 starts, Hawkins is 59-77 with 76 saves and a 4.64 ERA. He has also played for the Twins (1995-2003), Cubs (2004-05), Giants (2005), Orioles (2006) and Rockies (2007) during parts of 14 Major League seasons.

LaTroy Hawkins made his Major League debut with the Minnesota Twins on April 29, 1995 after risign through the Twins’ farm system that included one of the most dominant seasons of any pitcher in Fort Wayne Wizards history. On that date, he becamse the first former Wizards player to debut at the MLB level.

More Hawkins’ Posts:

• Yankees Should Make Hawkins Their Set-up Man (5/31/08)
• LaTroy Hawkins Traded to Astros (7/30/2008)
• All-Time Wizards (8/24/2008)
• ‘zards Alumni

Former Wizards pitcher, Jack Cassel, had an up and down season from Triple-A RoundRock and Houston after signing a one-year deal wiht the Astros. Houston outrighted him back to Triple-A, and he is now a free agent due to his MiLB service time.

Cassel, 28, was 1-1 with a 5.64 ERA over nine games (three starts) for the Astros this year. In 15 career big league games — including seven starts — over two seasons with San Diego (2007) and Houston (2008), Cassel is 2-2 with a 4.92 ERA.