Starbucks Takes Ownership of Failing APL Team

[cavebutter]

January 1, 2010

DENVER, CO -- Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and American Premier League Commissioner Stephen Garvey announced the dawn of a new age for the American Premier League: Direct corporate management of an APL team.

Founded in 1960, the 28 team APL has restricted team ownership to individual families. These families, often dynasties in their own right, have placed strict limits on corporate involvement with the game: Co-branded merchandise, exclusive sponsorship agreements, high-dollar endorsement deals have all been forbidden. Until now.

Messrs. Schultz and Garvey announced Starbucks' outright purchase of the struggling Denver Monarchs franchise. The Monarchs, who had been operating in the red for the last 4 years, have not had a winning record since 1989 (21 years!). They've consistently finished at the bottom of the 5-team National League's Western Division. Their budget and payroll ($81M and $48M respectively) rank 26th out of 28 teams.

The sale amount has not been disclosed, but it's rumored that outgoing owner Jared Giambalvo will retain minority interest in the parking lots surrounding Monarchs Park.

At the press conference announcing the sale, Mr. Schultz expressed his commitment to fielding a competitive team, now and in the future. "The Denver Monarchs organization has a proud history of showing up in time for the game, and giving it their all. It's a tradition that we at Starbucks take very seriously." Asked whether the organization will be well-funded, Mr. Schultz replied, "We at Starbucks are committed to value and efficiency." After a short pause, he added, "And quality. Yes, quality too."

The changes begin today. The new team will be called the Starbucks Hot Shots and will play their home games at the same facility, now called Starbucks Grounds. The minor league affiliates will be changing as well, but those have not yet been announced. The new uniforms and affiliates will be announced ahead of spirng training.

Finally, the Hot Shots new GM was announced. Ricky Branch, 35, formerly Starbucks VP of Materials Sourcing, will take the helm as general manager starting today. He appeared at the press conference today in a dark suit and cafe au lait tie and said only a few words:

"I'm excited and honored to help bring in a new age to the APL. I am going straight to work, getting to know my organization from the bottom up. There are lots of exciting changes to make and I will let you know all about them in the coming weeks."

This might be a bitter draught to swallow for some longtime members of the organization, but at least there's room for cream.

[cavebutter]

Be careful what you ask for. I'm living every kid's dream: I'm running a major league baseball team! Unfortunately, that team is the ruins of the Denver Monarchs. Mr. Schultz assured me that he'd inject some cash into the organization, but my gut tells me that we're not going to have a lot of money to work with this year.

I'll have a look at bargain-priced free agents soon, but I think a good place to start my tour of the organization is with the staff. I have a feeling I'll need to make some significant changes. The team hasn't played above .500 in over 20 years. Sure, there's some luck involved, but you have to look at the coaching staff and see what's going on there, too.

Once my staffing is settled, at least at the ML and AAA levels, I'll do a deep dive into my organization's players. From my brief glance through the stat sheets yesterday, I know we're not completely without talent.

Then, when I know what our strengths and weaknesses are, I'll start trying to plug some immediate holes and plan for our future. So much to do and only 2 months before Spring Training!

[cavebutter]

I've done my deep dive into all the staff in our organization. Here goes:


*R*

MGR - Current mgr is Davey Hasenbank. He has 2 years manager experience in Rookie ball and 15 years experience prior to that in the AL. He's an outstanding pitching coach and has legendary management skills. He definitely has a smallball approach to the game. His talents are almost certainly being wasted in the rookie league, and at 57 yo, he deserves a chance to prove himself at a higher level. Hasenbank had a 13 yr professional career as a C, a 277 hitter with 1441 hits and 118 hr.

Look to bring him up to AAA as MGR

HC - Current HC is Roberto Torres. The 36 yr old has no coaching experience yet, but has just signed on for his first year as hitting coach. He retired in 2008 from a career that, while not HOF was at least Hall of Great. Over 12 years with the Green Sox and the Jackalopes, he collected 1307 hits and smacked 316 HR and a career OPS+ of 125.

Legendary fielding teacher, outstanding with rookies and p;ayers, exc with vets, hitting and pitching, this guy specs out as a perfect ML bench coach, but his fielding would also be of good use as a mgr in the minors. given his inexperience, I see him taking over the rookie or A team.

PC- Henry Magee. Good PC and good with rookies. Just average with everything else. 54 years old, and signed thru 2010. No great shakes here, but he's probably good enough to handle the rookie pitching staff until his contract runs out at the end of this season.

Keep him in R.

*A*
No hidden gems on the A league Quest.
MGR - 48 year old victor Perez is managing and is signed through the end of this season. A good hitting coach, he's decent otherwise. May cut him to make room to move others around. Otherwise, he can hang out in A until his contract expires.

HC- 58 year old Leonard Campbell is signed through the end of this year. A good hitting coach, he's good with players and excellent with vets. He was a middling reliever before he retired in '87. He's good teaching hitting and fielding and would like to manage one day. He might do for A manager.

PC - Pat Hawkins is an excellent PC but only average with rookies. He's signed through the end of next year and has been with this team, this organization for 8 years. No harm in letting him finish out his contract where he is, but don't expect a renewal.

*AA*
MGR - Ken Cannon, 57, has been managing the AA club for 9 years. He's good with vets and players and teaching fielding. Decent with everything else. He's signed through the end of this season, and his fielding rating of good might just be enough to let him finish out his contract.

HC - Ramon Rivera, 57, is another hidden gem. Outstanding hitting coach, legendary with all levels of players. He will be entering his 10th year as a AA HC and is signed through the end of the season. He is AAA material, at least. I'd actually love to get him on the big club.

PC - Ruben Sanchez, 43, is a bit of a surprise. Starting his 3rd year as AA pitching coach, he's good with rookies and players, excellent with veterans and is a good pitching coach. However, he's also an excellent hitting coach and legendary fielding coach. He'd like to manage one day, and his skills mark him as a great candidate for high minors manager or ML bench coach. He had an 8 yr ML career as a journeyman 2B with Hollywood and Baltimore.

*AAA*
MGR - Antonio Montoya, 58, has been toiling away in obscurity for 12 years as AA mgr. He's a monster! Legendary across the board! His management style leans towards small ball and fundamentals. Defense, OBP, and playing the percentages. This guy needs to be in the bigs. He's signed through the end of this year. He's a lifetime .302 hitter in his six year career with Seattle as a backup 1B.

HC - Walt Zarzycki is a professional hitting coach extraordinaire. 12 years in AA, starting his 3rd in AAA, the man is legendary in hitting, with rookies, players and vets. He's got no aspirations to manage and is signed through the end of this year. Unless our ML hitting coach is lacking, I'd like to keep him right where he is; he'd be great for developing our prospects. He had a couple cups of coffee with Houston but never found his niche as a player.

PC - Chris Misenheimer, 60, is standard fare. Good with rookies, excellent pitching coach and decent everywhere else. I'm thinking to send him to AA to replace Sanchez. No big deal if he refuses, he's replacement level.

*ML*
MGR - Woody Anderson seems like a good manager. Excellent with rookies and players, good with vets, and an excellent pitching coach. Decent everywhere else. He just signed with us during the offseason after 6 years as pitching coach in Jacksonville. It's going to be hard to break it to him, but we've got better candidates within the organization and he's going to have to go.

BC - David Zollo, 59, is going to have to go. Good with rookies and players, excellent with vets, and just decent everywhere else. He's making 700k a year and is signed for 4 years. It would seem like a no-brainer except for the fact that Zollo is a hometown hero. Denver drafted him out of college in 1973 and he's been a Monarch ever since. He played 6 years for the big club- nothing impressive, really, but he showed heart. Like Mickey Hatcher in LA as a player. Like Don Zimmer as a coach in NY. Maybe there's a front office job for him.

HC - Luis Torres, 53, seems to be below replacement level. Signed through the end of the year, he's a good hitting coach, and merely decent everywhere else. There are definitely better options under contract in our organization. Unfortunately, he's the kind of guy who adds credibility to an organization. He's a borderline HOFer: a 16 year career 444 VORP, 47 WAR, 374 HR, 125 OPS+. He'll find work somewhere else, I'm sure.

PC - Jud Manale, 61, has been a fixture in Denver for 18 years. Excellent PC and good with all levels of players. We don't really have anyone better to replace him at the ML level, but we should keep our eyes open. He's very good, but not great.

[cavebutter]

January 3, 2010

DENVER, CO-- Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Hot Shots GM Ricky Branch announced the Hot Shots' new affiliate system today at a press conference. The team's Oregon Instructional League (R) affiliate, the Creswell Trouncers have moved to Sisters, OR and are now called the Sisters Fury.
The Appalachian League (A) Stanley, VA Pitbulls have changed their name to the Stanley Quest. The Pioneer League (AA) Lake Jackson, TX Anacondas are now the Kalispell, MT Explorers. The Pacific Coast League (AAA) Bonney Lake Sea Wolves are now the Kirkland, WA Buzz.

All the Hot Shots' farmhands are remaining with the organization. Mr. Schultz explained the reason for the move as logistical improvements.

[cavebutter]

A Look at Hot Shots Pitching Staff Jan 3
31 Players

*SP*
Overall, not very impressive. None of the starters had a WHIP under 1.32 last year, and only 3 pitched over 100 innings.

Wally Mesa seems to be our #1 starter. He went 14-8 last year in 214 innings. 163Ks and 3.84 FIP. ERA+ 99. He'd be a #3 or borderline #2 on any other team. He's making 3.4M this year and is arbitration eligible.



Dwight Heishman is our #2. A 1 star guy with very humdrum ratings, he managed to put up decent numbers last year: 9-6 over 145 innings. A 5:2 K:BB ratio and a team leading WHIP of 1.32. Making the league min, still under team control.

Dave O'Brian is #3. He's 35 years old and is beginning to lose his stuff. He went 5-9 last year in 122 innings. 1.58 WHIP and a 3:2 K:BB ratio. He's arbitration elligible still- not much service time for his age.

Millard Catalano had a terrible year last year. -8.1 VORP. 1-8 in only 63 innings. FIP of 6.14, WHIP 1.88 and a 1:1 K:BB ratio. Need I go on? This guy's gotta go. He's making $650 this season. Might be worth just releasing him as he's out of options.

Carlos Gutierez spent most of last year in AAA where he was just average: 8-8 over 155 innings and 1.35 WHIP. 2:1 K:BB and ERA+ of 98. He did about the same in his 19 innings in the majors, going 0-1. He is showing some promising signs as a strikeout pitcher, striking out 14 and walking 2 in 19 innings. It's a small sample size, but it is hopeful. 28 years old and under team control.

*Bullpen*
Underwhelming.
Closer Armando Altagracia went 5-9 (a bad sign when your closer has so many losses!) and but posted a 112 ERA+ over 85 innings. 1.6 K/BB and 3.82 FIP. Our scouting staff seems to think he's capable of better, and after only 2 seasons in the bigs, I hope they're right. He's arbitration eligible after this year and we don't have any other likely candidates for closer yet. He does have ++ movement on a devastating sinker.

Mauro Sanchez is adequate. 106 ERA+ in 80 innings of relief last year. FIP of 3.77 and VORP of 11. He's arbitration eligible after this year. He seems a solid guy to have in the pen. It's sad that he's our goto guy, though.



Alonso Moreno was effective out of the pen last year in only 35 innings. He posted an ERA+ of 113 and a WHIP of 1.43. Again, you don't throw guys like this out of your pen, but he's far from lights out.

The remaining relievers, Steve Pebworth, Robert Fetzner, David Quinones, and Mike Battin are pretty much bottom of the barrel. Not many innings pitched, high ERA's and low or negative VORPS. We need serious help in the pen.

Fetzner is a contract disaster. 33 years old, and coming into yr 3 of a 6 year 86M contract. A very decent starter up until last year, he worked exclusively out of the pen after returning from a 4 month stint on the DL with a torn rotator cuff. He only pitched 23 innings after that and embarrassed himself. He's out of options and no one will take his contract, so might as well keep him around. He might still turn around?



Pebworth is showing a bit of an upside if he can continue to develop. He has one option year left and might benefit from some time in AAA, but the big club might not be able to field anyone better at this point.

David QUinones is only 25 and has plus stuff and a ++ splitter. That's the good news. Bad news is he's got no control. He projects to improve just a bit, but probably not enough to be effective over the long haul.

MIke Battin could be the closer of the future. +++ Stuff, + Movement, ++ Sinker, and + curve. The only drawback is his control. He has none. Like Ricky Vaughan. Spent most of last year in AAA where he did fine, but could have torn it up if it werent for all the walks.

[cavebutter]

Jan 3 2010 Catchers

Herve Le Carre - Though just average in his defensive abilities, he can still call a good game and he puts up good offensive numbers. Starting his 9th ML season, he's a lifetime 290/358/420 hitter. He's making 6.4M in this, his free agent year. Look to unload him around the deadline.



Mark Pugh, 24, is the reason we can unload Le Carre. Though still developing, he's already ++ contact and gap and projects to + power. He's got very decent plate discipline. He's also just average on defense.



Tom Baldwin is a 28 year old September callup. He's got some sock, but poor everything else. He's got a good arm, but doesn't have the skills to hack it in the bigs. No future for this guy.

[cavebutter]

Jan 3 2010 Outfield Report

RF - Enrique 'Toast' Villarreal. This 23 year old is our franchise player. 5-tool player. Still under team control, this guy has it all.



OF - Dennis Heibel. 26 years old. Last year's stats show this guy coming into himself. Solid offensively, should put up some pretty respectible power numbers, but is a bit of a free swinger. Savvy on the basepaths with only average speed, he's got great outfield tools. We're going to try to move him from RF to either left or center. 2 option years left, under team control.



LF - Lynwood Wood specs out pretty similar to Heibel offensively. Should produce decent power numbers along with alot of strikeouts. Slow, but very savvy baserunner and a great LF. Doesn' have the arm for RF or speed for CF.



OF- Richard Kammeyer is your typical 4th outfielder. An excellent gloveman at all OF positions, decent on the basepaths, will knock you a bunch of doubles and a handful of taters when he's not striking out. He's 30 years old, arbitration eligible and out of options.

OF- Mike Varni is 3 years younger than Kammeyer but is essentially the same player. Varni's faster and has a somewhat higher offensive ceiling than Kammeyer, but has yet to fully develop his stroke. He's got 2 option years left and would probably benefit spending this year in AAA working with Zarzycki to straighten out his swing.

OF- Richard Pearlman is a 26 year old September callup. He's a speed demon and a fair hand fielding the corners, but seems pretty iffy batting in the majors. Our scouts project him as 2 star potential, but that may be a bit generous. Below average contact, and average power. AAAA player.

LF - John Newton, 26 years old and kind of lazy. He has some room to grow offensively but could make some club a perfectly adequate 4th outfielder. Unfortunately, we've already got 2. That combined with his work ethic makes me think Mr. Newton will be playing opening day in a different uniform.

[cavebutter]

Jan 3 Infield Report

2B - Gary Brown, 28. A rabbit on the basepaths. Brown signed as a minor league free agent at the beginning of 09 and ended up starting 102 games at 2B, 36 at 3B, and 10 at SS. Pretty decent contact- .289 avg. Solid contributor, but definitely upgradeable.



3B - Ramon Velez, 28. $3.2M. Came over mid-season last year in a trade,arbitration eligible in offseason. A leader, and capable of putting up huge offensive numbers. Not quite a defensive liability at 3rd, but definitely no gold glover.



1B - David Sasek, 26. League Min. High draft pick in 2005 and put up good numbers last year, his first full ML season: 272/325/486 with 24 dingers. He's a solid fielding 1B, with absolutely no wheels. Can barely score from third on a triple.



ss - Mario Zertuche, 33, $3.9M. Free agent after this year, and we should probably let him go. Good not great all the way round only started 60-something games, mostly at 2B and SS. Has 2 optons left so could eat the money and send him down rather than letting him block a prospect.

SS - Ramon Palacios, 26, League Min. Basically all glove, no bat, no wheels. Saw limited time, going 8 for 43.

1B - John Prescott, 28, league min. He can hit to the gap. No glove, no wheels, no hr power, marginal contact. Performed pretty well in AA, no idea what he's doing on the active roster. Not sure if 09 or 10 is is last option yr, either way though, its AA or pink slip for Mr Prescott.

2B- Hamilton Arabie, 25, league min. Only a cup of coffee with the big club last year, and struggles in AAA, but there's still some upside for him offensively. He'll never be a star, but it's possible that he can one day find himself a seat on a big league bench.

3B - Fred Kroah, 27, league min. Pretty low ceiling for this guy. Great fielding skills at 1B, but not enough offensive potential to play there. He's got good power to the gaps and average power overall, but has no eye or discipline to speak of and isn't hitting for average. Only had a cup of coffee last year, and will likely spend this year, if not the rest of his career, in the minors.

[cavebutter]

Jan 4, 2010

DENVER, CO - (BNN)

Starbucks Hot Shots Owner Charles Schultz announced a significant cash infusion from the Starbucks Corporate mothership today at a press conference. The exact details remain confidential, but sources close to the owner say that the cash injection should put the Hot Shots budget near the middle of the pack.

"Let's not blow this out of proportion," said a team official. "This is a one-year bump to the budget so that the team can get off to a good start."

Hot Shots GM Ricky Branch was seen walking out of Mr. Schultz's office smiling, but was unavailable for comment.

[cavebutter]

I might need to buy patches for the knees in my pants from all the grovelling I did, but it was worth it! Mr. Schultz agreed to give the club some more money to work with!

He wants to keep the details mum, but it's quite a lot relative to where we were. He added $2M in cash and another $16M to our budget. By my calculations, that puts us 16th out of 28 in terms of budget. Most importantly, though, it gives us some capital to start bidding on free agents!

We've got a lot of holes in our roster and our farm system is a bit thin as well. Officially, we're rebuilding, but we don't have much to offer in trade for good prospects. Our good players are young enough that I want to rebuild around them, and our older guys just aren't that great.

Might be best to try and pick up some decent FA's over the offseason. We'll unload them along with Le Carre throughout the season in exchange for prospects.

It's off to the races!

[cavebutter]

Made a 3 year, 16.5M offer to SP Pedro Montanez. Solid, middle of the rotation kind of guy. 1.40 career WHIP and 2:1 K:BB. Not showing any signs of drop-off and he's an iron man.

Made a 2 year offer to SP Jean-Claude Riou, 33. Kind of a backend guy, but consistently decent. Last year in 158 innings with OKC, he had 100:43 K:B, 1.35 WHIP. Definitely an upgrade from what we have now, and his numbers have not started dropping off with age. The offer was $2.3M/$3.3M

Made a 2 year offer with a third year vesting option (that he'll almost certainly never meet) to SS James Kropf, 35. He's definitely getting up there in years, but has continued to perform well offensively ove the last few years. 285/401/469 last year with 124 OPS+. He's an improvement over what's his name at short, and can field 2B and 3B very well.

1 year offer ($844K) to Randall Crnkovich. He's a bargain at this price. Solid middle reliever. 1.33 WHIP and 52:14 K:BB in 63 innings last year with Brooklyn.

1 year $480K offer to MR Hector Medina. 25 years old. Needs some seasoning but has a very high ceiling. He's been struggling a bit in AAA but tore up AA. We'll see how he does in Spring Training, but will probably spend the year back in AAA.

1 year 488K offer to Rodrigo De Jesus, 25. Good fielding 1B, middling infielder. Shows some real potential as a hitter. Unless he really shines in ST, he'll spend the year in AAA working on contact and plate discipline.

1 yr 488K to Jason Farr, 25. Fast, good with the leather at 2B and SS, respectable contact and gap power. Essentially a copy of what we've got now, but Farr has some room to grow. A cheap gamble.

[cavebutter]

Jan 11, 2010

DENVER, CO - (BNN)
As speculation mounted into the morning, rumors over a final agreement between James Kropf and Starbucks became a reality, with the star opting for a $21,590,000 deal over 3 years.

Kropf is hitting .281 lifetime with 1513 hits, 324 doubles, 21 triples, 130 home runs and 740 RBIs to date. Has has scored 701 runs and stolen 12 bases.

[cavebutter]

Jan 25, 2010

BALTIMORE, MD - (BNN)

Everybody is overjoyed with a trade consummated today by the Starbucks Hot Shots and the Baltimore Spiders. In the deal, the Hot Shots got 26 year old left fielder Mike Schrecker and 26 year old minor league starting pitcher Armando Solis from Baltimore and dealt 28 year old catcher Tom Baldwin and 24 year old minor league center fielder Jose Boyzo to the Spiders. The general managers that made the swap are happy and the players are happy, too. One of the GM's commented, "This was a good swap for all concerned."

Baldwin has a lifetime .217 average with 123 hits, 27 doubles, 1 triple, 26 home runs and 77 RBI's.

Schrecker has played in 2233 games with a .280 batting average. Among his 241 hits are 42 doubles, 12 triples, and 14 home runs. He also has cored 117 runs and driven in 89.

[cavebutter]

Well, that was exhausting. Both Baltimore and Chicago approached me about a package deal for Baldwin and Boyzo. I had already written Baldwin off as not having much of a future with us and Boyzo wasn't even on my radar. I
had to call up Ivan Echevarria, our scouting director, to get the lowdown on him. Turns out, Boyzo seems destined to be a 4th outfielder if he can ever manage to make it to the bigs. His numbers suggest he won't.

Though, it is curious why both teams were so interested in him. I've got him shortlisted, just so I can check up on him down the road.

Baltimore originally just offered Schrecker. He's only 26, got amazing contact and gap power and doesn't strike out. Good fielder in the corners and above average speed. Not a superstar, but I can see him hitting .300 with 30 or so doubles if he plays every day.



And that raises the question of how often he'll play. He'll probably platoon with Heibel and Wood. That's bad news for Kammeyer; he's out of options and there's no room for him on the opening day roster. I'll try to deal him for minor league talent before spring training starts. Varni will be in the mix during Spring Training and can try to snag the 4th outfield spot away from Wood or Heibel, but he'll likely start the year in AAA.

Armando Solis is a AA starting pitcher. Both Echevarria and I see some room for him to grow into a big league capable pitcher. He'll never be an ace, but could one day make a #4 or #5 guy. And you can never have enough pitching.

[cavebutter]

GM's Log: Jan 31, 2010. FA Signings

It's been a very busy couple of weeks, but things are really beginning to look up. My free agent contract offers have all come home to roost.

Jeremy Badgley, a decent SP whom my predecessor let file for free agency has returned home like the prodigal son. We're still short an ace or two, but Badgley was reliable enough in the past. My other bids for starters- Jean-Claude Riou and Pedro Montanez both signed. Montanez is, next to Kropf, my biggest signing so far.



Crnkovich signed for that bargain $800-something-K.

Zelaya and Medina (middle relievers) both signed for cheap.

Jason Farr, Jose Rubio, and Javy Gonzalez all signed as well. Rubio and Gonzalez to minor league deals.

[cavebutter]

Feb 1
DENVER (BNN)- In an effort to add some depth to its roster, the Starbucks Hotshots have swapped 35-year-old starting pitcher Millard Catalano to the Jacksonville Cardinals for 26 year-old first baseman Gabriel Hernandez. Ricky Branch, Hot Shots GM, told reporters, "We saw a chance to upgrade our ball club and took it."

[cavebutter]

Well, this trade didn't exactly solve the problem of making room for Montanez on the active roster, but my head scout is in love with Hernandez's bat. He's a good fielding 1B, and decent at 2B and 3B. There's still some room to improve his fielding skills and might be able to contribute as a reserve player. He's got wheels and power.



Hernandez has a major league contract, so he's just taking Catalano's spot on the roster, but he's still got 1 option year left. Depending on his performance this spring, he'll likely hang out in AAA until someone gets hurt.

[cavebutter]

I made the trade that opens a roster spot for Montanez. We're sending SP Dave O'Brian, 35, to Jacksonville for prospect SP Juan 'Midnight' Vera, 24. Vera has some maturing to do, but has a high ceiling. He'll start the year in AAA, not on the 40-man.

[cavebutter]

March 10, 2010

We're 1/3 of the way through Spring Training, and the team's doing pretty well, at 5-3. Sure, Spring Training numbers don't mean much, but it's encouraging that we're doing well and playing good baseball.

Catcher Mark Pugh is having a great spring! He's 10 for 27 so far with a double, triple and HR, 3 RBI's, 4 walks and only 1 K. I'm really excited about his year if he can keep this up.

Schrecker, Sasek, and Heibel are also starting off well.

On the pitching side, Zelaya has been a beast- striking out 11 in 8.1 innings.

It's time for the first round of cuts and there are no surprises here. The really tough decisions are down the road. I cut 4 infielders and 1 OF.

CF Varni's headed back to AAA. He's got options and Manager Montoya hasn't been giving him any time. Seems like he's made up his mind that Varni's out of the competition for an OF slot.

Kroah, Prescott, Arabie, and Palacios are headed down as well. They've had limited playing time and haven't done much of anything with it. Prescott is out of options, and will have to clear waivers. He will probably clear them, but if another team wants to give him a shot, I wish him well.

[cavebutter]

March 11, 2010

Ten days ago, I DFA'd Robert Fetzner. If you didn't look at his salary, this makes sense. 33 years old, coming off a rotator cuff injury that caused him to miss two thirds of last season. The wheels have come off this guy's skills- he's a shadow of the pitcher he used to be. His ERA+ went from a respectable 118 in 2008 to 68 in 2009. He's washed up, and I've got better pitchers who are fighting for his roster spot.

Here's the complication. He's got 8+ ears of major league service and is still owed $66M on his contract over the next 4 years. He's refused a demotion to get himself back to good. No one is offering anything for his contract, for good reason. It looks like I have no choice but to release him and eat his contract. That $66M is going to destroy this year's budget, but I really don't see a way around it.

The only other option is to keep him on the big club as my long reliever/mop-up guy and option the next worst of my younger guys. That sucks.

I'm going to defer this decision until the end of Spring Training, I guess.

**EDIT**
You know what? Keeping this guy on the payroll, especially since he refused his assignment, just rubs me the wrong way. I'm going to take the hit now rather than have him pollute my clubhouse.