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Mike Fontenot Gets Super Two Status

Three players - Mike Fontenot, Adam Jones, and Micah Owings - have exactly two years and 139 days of service time.  According to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger, only one could be designated a Super Two player, and it will be Fontenot.  It might seem pretty minor, but once you refresh yourself on what Super Two means, check out these ripple effects from the tiebreaker decision...

  • Fontenot is arbitration-eligible now, so the Cubs can't just renew him for $430K.  He's coming off a poor season, but he'll still be more expensive in 2010.  The Cubs are tight on payroll, so you have to wonder if they'll now trade or non-tender Fontenot.  However, Jim Hendry's comments to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune imply the Cubs will retain Fontenot for 2010.
  • The Orioles save significant money on Jones, who might've made more than $5MM in 2010 but can now be renewed at less than a tenth of that.
  • Owings escapes a possible non-tender situation with the Reds.
  • The article names a slew of other Super Twos: Tim Lincecum, Matt Garza, Tom Gorzelanny, Alex Gordon, Matt Albers, Jeff Karstens, Hunter Pence, Dustin Nippert, and Carlos Gomez.


Comments

Lucky break for the Orioles. No doubt about it. As far as Fontenot goes, I see a non-tender in his future.

The hits just keep on coming for Hendry.

How much do you think Mike will get in arbitration?

I think that the Cubs may actually have a decent solution to the second base hole already on the roster, but Hendry will likely try to get creative and make changes just to say that he did.

Hey scribbletone, you have been around as an MLBTR commenter for a long time and I enjoy your work, but you can't link your blog in the comments. I don't let anyone else do it, so it wouldn't be fair. Gotta go through the normal channels, mainly emailing Cork for Baseball Blogs Weigh In.

Maybe this is a blessing as it might force Hendry to non-tender him. Then again, Hendry loves second baseman. No worries, Miles can step in there. Yikes!

Did Jones' significant DL time this season affect this?

Hard to believe a guy like Jeff Karstens, or Dustin Nippert for that matter, would be a Super Two, but it is whwat it is.

As for Lincecum, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in that arbitration hearing. Actually I would expect he'll ink a long-term deal instead, but if there was a hearing, I wonder how much of an issue his recent pot bust would be?

Sorry Tim, it wasn't any disrespect towards your blog or the commenters on this blog, I just didn't know how to get the word out and I know that fellow commenters on this site, at least some of them, have some level of interest in my writing.

Certainly, no blog could replace MLBTR, and this blog alone has influenced me more as a baseball fan than any other, I was trying to make the links seem as insignificant as possible, but I completely respect your request and I wouldn't expect any sort of special treatment.

Wasn't trying to make a commotion, I'm just trying to expand my love of the game beyond discussion on your fabulous site.

BTW, congratulations on the mention on ESPN2 later today.

I sure wish Hendry had sent him down for a couple weeks last season when he was struggling. Now if he even stays with the team he's going to eat into their remaining budget. If he goes he either gets non-tendered or becomes a second contract Hendry has to try to move.

If Fontenot does become a FA, where does he go and what kind of deal does he get? Thoughts?

Baker and Blanco are both out of options and Hendry seems dead-set on keeping Miles. We cant keep 4 weak hitting utility infielders on the roster though. It would mean 3 of the 5 bench spots were being filled with non pinch-hitters. So one of Blanco or Fontenot flat out has to go.

Fontenot making more money because of arbitration, having little defensive ability and being 30 Years Old makes him the logical odd man out.


“If Fontenot does become a FA, where does he go and what kind of deal does he get? Thoughts?”

He is a 30 YO light hitting, fair fielding 2B with no defensive flexibility. If he signs a ML deal, it is likely going to be for less then a million.

I fail to understand where the lack of payroll flexibility comes into play. Why wouldn't the Ricketts family want to make as big a splash as possible? Winning would provide a pretty big return on their investment, particularly with Cub Nation.

I also don't understand why eating salary automatically gets linked to next year's player payroll budget. If you trade a guy now and throw in cash to offset the salary, wouldn't that come off of this year's operating budget? And doesn't the new team just pay the player out of the cash they got from you? It's not like the player gets one paycheck from you and one from his new team. Why wouldn't they just do a little creative accounting? They got the team at a reduced cost (Zell was originally looking for $1 Billion for the team), so why not take some of the money they didn't spend on the team and use it to fix some of Hendry's mistakes?

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