Rounding The Bases – Week Ending 1/8/12

For many teams, February 19^th means pitchers and catchers report for spring training, and I am getting excited for a new season! But we still have to go day by day and week by week until then, not to mention there are still some free agents out there we are waiting on to sign with someone (hello there Prince Fielder). Here are a few of the smaller but tastier bits of baseball news and activity over the past week:

Trainer’s Table:

Bobby Jenks, the Red Sox relief pitcher, under went a spinal decompression and is very doubtful for the beginning of the season. Jenks is 30 years old and already had one operation on his lower back in December, to remove bone chips. The Red Sox have Jenks for this final year under contract before he would become a free agent. Jenks is projected to be a 7^th inning setup man for Mark Melancon and Andrew Bailey. The Red Sox hope he will be ready to pitch by the end of April.

Mike Adams, the Texas Rangers set up man, had hernia surgery. It is considered a minor procedure and the team thinks he should be ready at the start of the season, though he will start spring training late. the 33 year old Adams is one of the best setup relievers in the game and can step into the closer’s role in a pinch if Joe Nathan falters.

Arbitration News:

Howie Kendrick and the Los Angeles Angels agreed to a 4 year contract extension avoiding Kendrick’s last year of arbitration. The 4 year deal is worth a reported $33.5 million total. The 28 year old 2^nd basemen had his best season in 2011; 140 GP, 86 R, 18 HR, 63 RBI, 14 SB, .285 Avg, .338 OBP, .464 SLG. The Angels are hoping that Kendrick will have a monster year batting in front of their newest super star Albert Pujols.

Japanese Player Postings:

The New York Yankees and shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima could not reach an agreement on a contract. The Yankees had won the rights to negotiate with him back on December 6^th, but could not work out a deal within the 30 day window. The 29 year old Nakajima is a lifetime .300 hitter in Japan who was hoping to be a full time player in the majors, but on the Yankees he would have only been a backup to Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. The Yankees will not have to pay the $2 million dollars they bid to negotiate with him. With the Yankees still retaining Eduardo Nunez, there was no real pressing need for him. Hopefully this means the Yankees will now focus on signing Eric Chavez as the backup for the corner infield positions.

Free Agent Signings:

Coco Crisp re-signed with the Oakland A’s for 2 years, $13 mil total. There is also a third club option year at $7.5 mil. Crisp is a 32 year old speedy outfielder that covers a ton of ground in the outfield. Last year he stole 49 bases and was a spark plug at the top of the lineup, but as usual, was also hurt for part of the year. Crisp has a history of getting injured and missing large chunks of seasons (in his last 4 seasons he has averaged under 95 games played). The A’s are almost exclusively a roster of rookies and 2^nd year players, so that makes this signing a bit of a surprise.

Fernando Rodney signed a one year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays worth $2 million. There is a club option for 2013. Rodney is the epitome of wildness; never seeming to know where his pitch will go… sometimes it’s a strike sometimes it’s not. The 34 year old Rodney has bounced back and forth between being a closer and a setup man during his 9 year career. He also seems to hurt his arm every other year, probably because of his crazy mechanics. Last year he had an unsightly WHIP of 1.69 with more walks than strikeouts, resulting in the LA Angels barely using him during the second half of the season. The Rays are rolling the dice that he is on his game most of the coming season.

Trade Talks:

The Toronto Blue Jays traded for 34 year old reliever Jason Frasor. They sent the Chicago White Sox two low-level minor leaguers in return. Frasor played his entire career with the Blue Jays before they traded him in the middle of last season to the White Sox. This is only one in a string of confusing moves for the White Sox this off-season. Why did they trade for him in the middle of last season and now trade him back? The Blue Jays obviously know what they were getting by trading back for him. Frasor appeared in 64 games in 2011; 60 IP, 26 BB, 57 K, 3-3 record, 14 holds, 1.40 WHIP, 3.60 ERA, .257 Avg against, .770 OPS against.

Los Angeles Dodgers For Sale:

Joe Torre resigned from his post with Major League Baseball in order to pursue the purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 72 year old Torre was vice president of baseball operations for MLB, which included overseeing umpires and player discipline. There are numerous rumors of different groups that are interested in bidding on the Dodgers, with as many as ten prominent groups! Several of those groups are headed by solid baseball men, which is very good news. It should be very interesting to see how Bud Selig and baseball handles the sale of the Dodgers.

It turns out this was a very trade heavy week (see my articles this week), and we’ll find out the Hall of Fame voting tomorrow afternoon… see you guys for next week’s edition of ROUNDING THE BASES!