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« Orlando Cabrera Contracts Talks Will Wait | Main | Odds and Ends: Pavano, Lima, Sabathia »
Free Agent Stock Watch: Pat Burrell
Phillies left fielder Pat Burrell was awesome in July and August of last year. Outside of that, he was just decent. He's off to a blazing start in his first 14 games of 2008. He turns 32 in October and can explore free agency after the season.
Burrell is earning $14MM this year. Which players might serve as comparables for Burrell's next deal? Carlos Lee is similar, though he was a few years younger when he reached free agency in '06. Lee received $16.6MM per year for six years. Burrell could be compared to Alfonso Soriano, who received an even bigger contract. Hideki Matsui's average annual salary of $13MM seems like the floor for Burrell. If he has a typical Burrell year, I expect him to want something in the range of four years and $60MM (similar to Travis Hafner's current deal).
The Tigers, Mariners, Rangers, Braves, Mets, Reds, Padres, and Giants are teams that may have left field vacancies after the season. The Rays could have room at DH. If first base becomes an option, even more teams enter the mix. The Phillies haven't ruled out bringing him back and he'd love to re-sign. Burrell will face competition from Mark Teixeira, Adam Dunn, Raul Ibanez, Bobby Abreu, and perhaps Manny Ramirez.
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many reds fans arent fans of Dunn, But for some reason, I think if the reds wouldnt resign Dunn..they wouldnt go after Burrell
Posted by: cincy_11 | April 16, 2008 at 12:12 PM
could be a good offseason to sign a Lf/DH it looks like
Posted by: wihargo | April 16, 2008 at 12:37 PM
Gotta agree with that... Minus maybe Burrell's increased OBP over the years and Dunns propensity to strikeout a little more they are vitually the same player... Burrell gets more fanfare because he's in a bigger market... I think if Burrell signs outside of Philadelphia it will be in Baltimore... Just my personal opinion though...
Posted by: allabouthephils | April 16, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Nah Burrell is too old for Baltimore's needs. If they do open the vault it will be for a 1st baseman, i.e. Teixeira.
Posted by: XD23 | April 16, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Trade howard to the yankees for a pitching and infield depth. Re-sign burrel to play first, and bring up carderas and golson to be the other two outfielders next year, or move utley to left field and put carderas at 2nd his current postions.
Posted by: reddeath | April 16, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Its seems much more logical to just trade Ryan Howard, move Pat Burrell to shortstop, J-Rol to catcher, move Utley to CF and put Victorino at first base. I dont how people dont realize this.
Posted by: nrmax88 | April 16, 2008 at 12:51 PM
I like Pat the Bat a lot as a player, but I'm worried about how he's going to age. He's had "old player" skills his whole career. I like him, but buyer beware.
Posted by: Victor | April 16, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Man, I'm typing on a pda and miss-spelling all kinda stuff.
Posted by: reddeath | April 16, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Move Utley to LF to make room for Adrian Cardenas....genius
Posted by: wayne gomes | April 16, 2008 at 12:58 PM
If Burrell can play 1B, would have to think the Giants would be interested in signing Burrell as their #4 hitter.
Burrell lives in PHX during the offseason - great for Giants spring training, and loves living downtown - not many better downtowns to live in than SF. Plus he's from the Bay Area (San Jose).
Definitely the high OBP hitter the Giants need in the middle of the lineup.
Would a 3-year $40m deal be enough, taking Burrell right up to 'Villalona-time'?
Posted by: aGIANTfan | April 16, 2008 at 01:04 PM
I could see SF as a landing spot for Burrell, maybe it would take 4-60 to lock him down though.
He gets a bad rap from a lot of Philly fans. He has bad habits at the plate (collapses his backside and reaches for outside pitches) and is really frustrating to watch at times but is clearly an above-average offensive corner outfielder
Posted by: wayne gomes | April 16, 2008 at 01:08 PM
Tim, you mentioned Manny Ramirez as a possibly available LF, but you didn't mention the Red Sox as a possible suitor for Burrell.
Not that I think the Red Sox would go after Burrell. They've got enough aging vets signed for multiple years after 2008 (Lowell, Drew, Lugo, Ortiz & most likely a re-upped Varitek). They need a younger guy; maybe Dunn, or Teixeira (if Youkilis can move to LF - he's played there before).
But if Manny has a good 2008, I expect the Sox to exercise his $20 million 2009 option.
Posted by: metafrantic | April 16, 2008 at 02:09 PM
That's a good point meta...if Manny gets hurt or something and they don't exercise, they'd be in the mix.
I also could see agiantfan's idea of trying to lure him home with 3/40. Doesn't seem out of the question, and we've seen the market flat-out dry up for certain guys.
Posted by: Tim Dierkes | April 16, 2008 at 02:38 PM
Tim -- i beg you, as a Giants fan, to please take them off the list of teams with a potenial need in left field. there is a log jam of twenty year olds in the minors and currently on the bench. no more signing outfielders
Posted by: silentearth6 | April 16, 2008 at 04:28 PM
There has to be better OF options than Burrell if Manny is let go.
Please, someone agree me.
:(
Posted by: GoBoSox420 | April 16, 2008 at 04:54 PM
I don't foresee the reds having a LF vacancy this offseason. I don't think that Dunn should be re-signed and I don't think that he will be. The reds (assuming he continues to play well into June) should sign Patterson to a 3 year extension as well as signing Griffey to a 3 year extension worth about 30 mil. Injury prone or not, he puts fans in the seats and by 2011 he should be at 660 which will garner excitement. LF will then be filled by Jay Bruce which fills their outfield through 2011 leaving their biggest hole at 3B
Posted by: coltholt | April 16, 2008 at 05:35 PM
coltholt,
For 2009, KGJ has a $16 million dollar option with a $4 million buyout. PLUS, the team owes him defered money until 2023 or soemthing stupid like that. The Reds have been LOSERS for seven straight seasons with Dunn and KGJ on the team and "hitting" in the middle of the order. During that time, KGJ has been injured over 40% of the time. As he gets OLDER, WHY throw good money after bad?
If you want to put butts in the seats, WIN SOME BALL GAMES!!! Making decisions based on how good a PR move it is (like Ca$htellini has done a few times) is NOT how you win.
With Dunn and KGJ off the books for 2009, the Reds would have at least $22 million free to go after some GOOD baseball players. You know, guys who can HIT for average AND play Defense.
Posted by: ctownboy | April 16, 2008 at 06:51 PM