NEWSFLASH: Vicente Padilla Placed On Outright Waivers
Joey Matschulat
The Texas Rangers' rapidly dwindling patience with respect to their No. 2 starter, an unsettled ownership situation and the necessity to shed payroll in order to add potential playoff-facilitating pieces as the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline looms just two months away have precipitated a most unexpected development.
According to major league sources (via D Magazine's Evan Grant and FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal), the Rangers have elected to place right-hander Vicente Padilla on outright waivers effective immediately, enabling Texas to place the burden of both their short-tempered veteran enigma and the remainder of his contractual obligation -- amounting to approximately $8 million over the final four months of the 2009 regular season -- upon any major league team which happens to submit a waiver claim for his services before Friday afternoon's 12:00 p.m. CST deadline.
While the prime motivating factor underlying the transaction was undoubtedly the Rangers' desire to augment their virtually non-existent financial flexibility and perhaps establish themselves as a potential force in baseball's mid-season trade market, the secondary motive pertains to the organization's palpable frustration with their combustible No. 2 starter over his maddening start-to-start inconsistency and oft-erratic mound behavior.
According to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, major league sources indicated that the Rangers were displeased with his disappointing response after encountering adversity during his Tuesday evening start versus the Yankees (3.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 1 K), and his instigation of what amounted to a near-beanball war between Texas and New York ostensibly jeopardized the well-being of his teammates, with 20-year-old shortstop Elvis Andrus being victimized by a hard, albeit clean slide from Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira after Padilla drilled the latter with a fastball in the hip during a seven-run fourth inning, and Yankees right-hander A.J. Burnett nearly lopping outfielder Nelson Cruz's head clean off his shoulders with an errant heater one half-inning later.
Assistant general manager Thad Levine and pitching coach Mike Maddux reportedly conferred with Padilla to explain the situation after word of the transaction reached his ears -- a meeting which evidently ended "amicably," but did not crystallize his uncertain roster status. However, the clarification of several outstanding misconceptions concerning the nature and process of outright waivers illustrates why Padilla will almost certainly remain on the Rangers' payroll through the remainder of this week, if not beyond.
The term "outright waivers," while correct in the literal sense, is a tad misleading; first, if no team should submit a waiver claim for Padilla (which, to reiterate, would immediately burden that claiming team with both Padilla and his contract and mandate the payment of a nominal $20,000 waiver claim fee to Texas), the Rangers would not be under any sort of obligation to make a corresponding roster move upon the securement of waivers. Second, outright waivers are irrevocable, meaning that Padilla could not be pulled back if a team were to submit a waiver claim; the transaction would be final and Padilla would no longer be property of the Rangers.
In the event that Padilla clears outright waivers (and given the current economic climate in baseball and the supposition by one unnamed source who told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that "No team is going to pick up that contract," it's a virtual certainty that he will), the Rangers will then have three options at their disposal: (a) releasing Padilla (which is essentially the worst of both worlds in that Texas would remain on the hook for his remaining salary and no longer have his services, (b) outrighting Padilla to the minors (an assignment which Padilla, by virtue of having amassed five-plus years of major league service time, would almost certainly decline, thereby immediately rendering him a free agent and leaving Texas on the hook for his remaining salary), or (c) doing nothing. Option 'C' is the safe bet at this point, which leads directly into the next possibility: trade.
It's important to understand that outright waivers are a separate entity from trade waivers, which only come into existence after the passing of the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline and and span through the conclusion of the regular season. Should Padilla successfully clear outright waivers, it will have absolutely no impact on his post-July 31st trade eligibility, as Texas would have to independently secure trade waivers at that point in order to deal Padilla (which he might or might not clear; a claiming team could attempt to hammer out a deal for Padilla, but any failure to do so would enable Texas to either pull Padilla back or award him to the claiming team for the aforementioned waiver price of $20,000).
While the Rangers' growing intolerance of Padilla's behavior and apparent judgment that a "warning shot" needed to be fired in order to make Padilla comprehend the seriousness of his actions certainly motivated this transaction to some extent, my sense is that the Rangers wish to make it abundantly clear to the entire league that Padilla is available -- and that they're will to subsidize some undetermined portion of his remaining contract in order to get a deal done.
Should Texas ultimately trade Padilla in what would probably amount to a pure salary dump (with little, if any, meaningful talent being recouped in exchange for his services), will the Rangers have pursued the most judicious possible course of action? Tough to say. A quick glimpse at his 2009 pitching gamelogs reveals some incredibly bizarre numbers; during the three starts preceding his Tuesday evening meltdown, Padilla logged 23 innings while posting a 1.57 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP and limiting opposing hitters to an abysmal .160/.267/.173 batting line ... and yet, he amassed 10 walks to just seven strikeouts during that 23-inning stretch, indicating that numerous balls were hit into play and that even with one of baseball's best defenses backing him, he enjoyed some degree of luck. His seasonal strikeouts-to-walks ratio of 1.13 is the fifth-worst mark in baseball, and he's inducing both fewer swinging strikes (5.5 percent in 2009, down from 8.3 percent in 2008) and a lower percentage of swings at pitches outside of the strike zone (20.8 percent in 2009, down from 24.2 percent in 2008) -- very disturbing indicators.
For all of Padilla's statistical imperfections, however, his departure would leave Texas with a starting rotation comprising Kevin Millwood, Brandon McCarthy, Scott Feldman, Matt Harrison and Derek Holland -- the final of whom might yet require more time in the major league bullpen or at Triple-A Oklahoma City in light of where his secondary pitches currently stand -- and little viable depth in the event that further ineffectiveness or injury should befall the Rangers' starting corps, which certainly isn't what the Rangers are striving for with both a post-season berth and an enormous opportunity to establish themselves as a legitimate contending team within their grasp.
Is this more to this than meets the eye? I suspect so. The price tags on top-tier starting pitchers available via trade this summer might well be astronomical -- Erik Bedard, Roy Oswalt, et al. -- and there's no guarantee that any starting pitchers to the Rangers' liking will even become available, much less available at a reasonable price ... which leads one to speculate whether the pursual of free-agent left-hander Odalis Perez or right-hander Pedro Martinez might be in the making.
Baseless conjecture? Probably. But that, my friends, is one of the fun parts of summer. And before you go contemplating all of the tantalizing names that were just laid out before you, remember one thing: Padilla ain't gone.
Yet.
Quick Hits: Sinkerballer Scott Feldman hurled 6.1 effective innings of two-run baseball to beat the Yankees on Wednesday evening, 4-2; left-hander C.J. Wilson -- whom lit up the radar gun to the tune of 95-plus mph with regularity -- and closer Frank Francisco combined for 2.2 innings of one-hit baseball ... Ailing center fielder Josh Hamilton (abdominal strain) will seek a second opinion on his injury from hernia specialist Dr. William Meyers on Monday in Philadelphia; the Rangers still hope that they can avert surgery with their prized slugger, which would disable him for at least two additional months ... Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News advocates moving Hamilton to right field to protect him from further harm.
Left-hander Matt Harrison (sore left shoulder) completed a pain-free 50-pitch bullpen session on Wednesday and will pitch a rehab start with Double-A Frisco on Saturday; he is eligible to return from the 15-day disabled list next Tuesday ... The Yankees have opted to start right-hander Chien-Ming Wang in place of southpaw C.C. Sabathia against the Rangers during Thursday afternoon's series finale ... An astonishing 26 of the Rangers' 27 putouts on Wednesday evening were recorded by infielders (a figure which obviously includes strikeouts, five of which were notched by Feldman).
Reader Comments (25)
I'm starting to get excited about midseason transactions. I'm ready to see some wheeling and dealing.
*as long as we don't do anything stupid.
Don't trade away key prospects, or any of that matter, and I'm cool with everything that JD does.
Just to clarify before I embark upon a more detailed writeup of this development: should Texas secure outright waivers on Padilla, they do not have to make a corresponding roster move (that is, if he should clear waivers, it doesn't mean that anything about his status has to change). Outright waivers are, however, irrevocable, meaning that if any team submits a claim for Padilla, they will be awarded his services and his contract and will have to immediately place him on their 25-man roster.
Me thinks this is as much about opening up a rotation spot for a certain young left than anything else. Not absolutely sure I agree with it since I would have waiting until Padilla had a strong outing and then tried dealing him to a team in need of a pitcher. With a year left, might he make sense back with the Phillies?
This is a good time to outright Padilla. No one is going to claim him... he is still owed too much money for the rest of the year and after last night he's taken a step back rep wise. If someone DOES claim him, well Hicks just saved all that money.
However -- if I understand the waiver rules correctly (and I could be wrong here) -- if/when Padilla clears, he won't have to pass through waivers again after the trade deadline. Meaning he'll already be free to go to whoever the Rangers can make a deal with at that point. He'll also be owed less money then, and could possibly fetch a draft pick after he leaves (he'll have to start pitching better) in the offseason so his value could be pretty good if he can find his FB velo again.
Last night's events probably facilitated this move, but it is a pretty good move to make well in advance of the trade deadline.
per Jamey, he thinks if another team claims him there will be no trade just salary relief.
Is there a team out there who wouls claim him tho?
Philly is looking for pitching, big time, after losing Myers (Vinnie might have burned his bridges there, though). Let's see, who else - Chicago maybe. LA just got Kuroda back. There are some teams in the AL who might take a shot at him if he weren't so stupidly expensive.
My feeling is that no one will take him this early, and with the question marks surrounding his health (is he healthy?) and his sanity (is he sane?). But one can always dream. I'll be so glad when they dump his sorry arse. It's been a long time coming.
Wonder what JD has cooking?
It's all so terribly intriguing!
During the last series with NY, I watched the first game, then skipped the 2nd b/c I was so disgusted by the first. Then, because they won the 2nd game, I watched the 3rd, which they proceeded to lose.
Therefore, to ensure that Texas gets at least one win in this series, I'm going to sacrifice watching the game tonight and just read about how they won tomorrow am. :)
Cheers, all.
@Dirty: Both Jamey and I are puzzling over the veracity of Evan's claim that this in any way impacts his tradeability. Outright waivers are not the same as trade waivers (which, as I understand it, do not exist before August 1st), the latter of which enable post-July 31st deals in the manner which you describe.
My unsubstantiated sense is that (a) something happened in the clubhouse last night and (b) that Texas has something else lined up. Holland's secondary pitches are not yet where they need to be for him to be the sort of ML starting pitcher that will help Texas remain atop the AL West, and make no mistake -- the Rangers badly want to stay there, provided that the transactions required to stay there do not compromise the long-term plan. One name worth keeping in mind: Pedro.
Evan has updated his report to reflect that this transaction has NO impact on the Rangers' ability to trade him.
Joey,
I believe that if Padilla passes through waivers now, he won't have to pass again after the deadline. He'll be "waiver-free" and the Rangers could work a deal then with any team and not just a/the team that _might_ claim him during the revocable waiver period.
First and foremost, this is about salary relief. If another team claims him, the Rangers don't have to pay him. The move tells me there is no real trade market for Padilla since they don't HAVE to waive him to trade him right now. I highly doubt any team will claim him, though, because his salary is just too much. Maybe the Mets, but gotta think that's about it (and I doubt that one too).
I'm pretty sure the move will have the added benefit -- in my eyes anyway -- that if Padilla straightens out his FB velo and command during the season then the Rangers won't be tied to the trade deadline to get a deal with anyone done. I'm pretty sure that's correct, but they are different types of waivers and no one knows MLB's roster rules better than Jamey. So I certainly defer to his expertise in that matter.
And I totally agree with your unsubstantiated supposition that Padilla has run through his good will on this team. He may have lost whatever "good feel" there was with his performance last night. Crazy thing is, ARod hits that ball a tad bit harder and last night's game is totally different and we're probably not even where we are right now. Seasons turn on a dime... interested to see where this one is headed.
@Dirty: In talking with Jamey and others, I don't believe that first assertion of yours is correct. To reiterate, this shouldn't have an impact on his post-July 31st trade eligibility. It's certainly possible that I'm mistaken, but I don't believe that to be the case.
Warner Madrigal to OKC, Doug Mathis to the majors and Willie Eyre to the 60-day DL are all impending transactions, provided that this game gets underway (and that seems to be a dicey proposition at this point).
What's going on with Willie that he's going to the 60? I would have thought his groin would be improving some by this point....
Joey,
If he clears waivers now, what would happen if he cleared waivers again in August (cleared and not being claimed)? Given his ML service time, he'd be eligible to walk at that point, no?
JD and his front office don't make procedural mistakes (and allowing Padilla to walk with his money in hand in Aug would be a procedural and financial mistake) and Jamey certainly has a better understanding of roster moves/rules than I, so it is quite possible I am mistaken; but I don't see how Padilla would have to go through revocable waivers in Aug if he clears irrevocable waivers now... but it certainly wouldn't be the first time the labyrinth that is MLB roster rules has had me turned around. Could be that since it is a totally different waiver process, different "clearance" rules apply.
Either way, you're doing a great job. I love this blog and all your insight!!
@Kevin: This is largely a procedural move designed to clear roster space. Eyre has already been on the 15-day disabled list for approximately six weeks and that time is credited towards the 60-day disabled list time requirement, and though Eyre was slated to throw a bullpen session last Saturday (the outcome of which I don't believe was ever published), I suspect he wasn't going to be ready to contribute at the major league level for a couple more weeks regardless.
@Dirty: Are we talking trade waivers or outright waivers with regard to August? The only way that Padilla can possibly walk away from the Rangers (although I strongly suspect he won't be around by then) in August AND keep the remaining salary owed to him would be for Texas to foolishly attempt to outright him to the minors -- an assignment which Padilla, being a +5-year player, could (and almost certainly would) refuse, thereby immediately rendering him a free agent and enabling him to keep his paychecks coming.
Philly or the Mets are the only teams I see with the mullah to grab a hard throwing knuckle head like Padilla... even though I think this may be a knee jerk reaction that we'll end up regretting. I'm not sure Holland is ready to step in and be productive. Padilla at least could be productive when he was clicking...
And what if he clears waivers and refuses an assignment to AAA... what then? They are stuck with a really pissed off malcontent making $8M...
Not sure this was a wise move... only time will tell.
@Pablo: Padilla can only refuse an assignment IF the Rangers attempt to assign him to OKC, which they almost certainly would not attempt for the reasons stated above (that is, he would have the power to refuse the assignment, and would thus immediately become a free agent and still get paid by the Rangers, and that option has absolutely no utility to the Rangers -- it's like the worst of both worlds).
Though the circumstances are a bit different, I really hope that this doesn't end up panning out the same way the Ponson dumping did last year. Yes Ponson had problems, but booting him when they did ended up being a body blow to a starting rotation that had just been stabilizing after a good stretch of winning baseball. I really hope they have a strong replacement in mind for Padilla. As is, though the rotation has been strong, there are still a lot of young guys that are going to have their ups and downs and sooner or later without a few steady veteran starters that will put pressure on a lacking bullpen.
Personally, I think more often than not Padilla is not intentionally hitting batters, but is focused on pitching inside to some hitters. He hit more batters than other pitchers because he does pitch inside and sometimes misses. I think the main differences between Padilla and other pitchers who do pitch inside are that he has no fear of missing and hitting a batter, and that he doesn't always have the same kind of control as others do pitch inside. All that adds up to more hit batsmen, and with some guys in particular who stand close to the plate, that may mean he hits them more often, if that's what the scouting report says he needs to do to get them out.
If this is an "outright" waiver does it negate a no trade clause? From what I have seen it appears to. If he is claimed he goes to a team regardless of any contract clauses. Basically the Rangers have just offered to trade Padilla to any team in the AL or NL for 20K cash.
With that in mind; suppose JD has talked to "Team X" and this is the "future considerations" part of a trade?
In any event, the 8 million owed Padilla isn't that huge by today's standards. Lots of players have been bad boys in one organization and moved somewhere else and become good citizens Kenny Rogers, Carl Everett and Milton Bradley come to mind. So teams might be willing to take a flier on him
Lots of teams could actually use a starter for one year. Baltimore, Toronto, Seattle, Oakland, Philadelphia, The Dodgers, The Padres, The Astros just off the top of my head.
Didn't the Angels have a catastrophic event happen to a starter earlier this year? (No disrespect intended)
I can see that there is a real possibility that some team might claim Padilla as a #3, #4 or #5 guy.
That would leave the Rangers with a rotation of
Millwood
Feldman
Harrison - (Holland until Harrison returns from the DL)
McCarthy
Benson or Jennings
Lastly: This move was only possible because of what Feldman and Harrison have done this year. If it were not for those two, especially Feldman, the Rangers could not do this.
Tex has a big butt, hard to miss it.
I really hope Padilla did not do a Ponson because he can be really good some times.
Next time Elvis will make sure he throws the submarine to first base and Tex will eat some ball. Oh, sorry, that was mean, only the Yankees can slide hard.
A thought I forgot.
What does it tell Padilla if he Clears wavers?
If nobody wants him it should tell him that he needs to act like an adult and be a professional
Joey,
You're exactly right. He would only walk away cash-in-hand if the Rangers tried to outright him to the minors. Thanks for being patient as I walked my way through MLB waiver scenarios...
Gotta be honest: I just don't see anyone picking him up even on a waiver claim. I wonder if the situation is so bad there won't be some type of attempt at negotiating to get Padilla to leave ala Andruw Jones & LAD...
Financial considerations aside, getting rid of this pitcher is a good idea. Like it or not, he is a representative of the team, and now the whole team must suffer for his foolishness. Our opponents tend to get angry when thrown at -- imagine that.
Just a thought here... if Padilla does get claimed, then they put Holland into the rotation for a couple of months to get him more experience. What about signing Sheets say late July or August when he has finished his rehab and is ready to play again. That gives us the experience needed in the rotation for a late push plus gets Hollands feet a little deeper into a rotation spot. Also say the Rangers sign Sheets for the last 2 months of this year and for next year. He may come rather cheaply and could be trade bait next year when the team is ready to bring p Feliz and insert him into the rotation. Just my thoughts.
Don't think though that Padilly will get claimed, thus he will return to the rotation.
Kinda funny though that Teixeria sat out last night!?!?!?