Between the Angels' big signings, the Rangers winning the Yu Darvish bidding, the Athletics' rebuilding, the Mariners' dabbling in the Prince Fielder derby and even the news that the Astros are coming in 2013, no division has generated more news than the AL West this offseason. Here's the latest…
- Albert Pujols will earn base salaries of $12MM in 2012 and $16MM in 2013, reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Pujols' 10-year, $254MM contract with the Angels was backloaded so the Halos could afford to sign C.J. Wilson. As a result, Pujols will receive more than $30MM per year in the latter years of his deal. The contract's total value could be worth as much as $265MM should Pujols reach various incentive and milestone bonuses.
- Jim Bowden of ESPN.com names the contract between Pujols and the Angels as the transaction of the year. The trade that sent Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepczynski to St. Louis for Colby Rasmus gets an honorable mention, as does the Tigers' trade for Doug Fister and the Phillies' trade for Hunter Pence.
- Athletics right-hander Grant Balfour is receiving trade interest, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Australian has a 2.85 ERA and 266 strikeouts in 243 innings over the last four seasons and, if he remains with the A's, is a candidate to replace Andrew Bailey as Oakland's closer in 2012.
- The Rangers have re-signed Matt Kata to a minor league deal, reports Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The infielder spent last year with the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, posting an .832 OPS in 447 plate appearances. Kata has a career line of .239/.290/.370 in parts of five Major League seasons and last appeared in the majors with the Astros in 2009.
MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith also contributed to this post
I’m really eager to see how Darvish will perform in the MLB if the Rangers do get a deal done, especially after the Dice-K fiasco.
And dont forget that darvish is going to a hitters park and a hot weather in Texas. I bealive in his talent but the transition its gonna be a though one.Different Language, culture, size of the baseball, pitchin against top competition every night. And all that with high expectation on a contending team REPLACING their staff ACE. And to top it all the owner of that team is one of the best pitchers ever.
Yeah it’s gonna be interesting to see if he can live up to all that’s already expected of him.
I see Nolan as being a plus to helping Yu adjust….
If anyone help a young Japanese man get acclimated to the U.S. it’s an old Texan.
LOL….I gotcha on that but I was speaking from a pitching adjustment stand point….
Pujols’ contract is backloaded??? Angels really screwed themselfs 6-10 years down the road.. they will be paying Albert possibly close to 35mm at age 41.. considering the bonuses and his backloaded contract. A 35 million dollar paycheck for one season as a DH. Great plan guys.
you seem to be implying that pujols is a mortal. i am disappoint.
You seem to not make any sense at all.
if you assume i was being serious, then yes, you’re right.
what about the Indians deal for Ubaldo? it’s gonna help the Indians contend
Uh, they were 1 1/2 games back when they traded for him, and they finished 15 games back. He didn’t help them contend, unless you were being sarcastic
And honestly, I don’t see them repeating that miracle first half again. Their pythag was actually worse than the Royals. The next time they contend will probably be with the pieces they get from a future Jimenez trade, assuming he doesn’t sh tthe bed again next season.
Rays welcome Grant “The Aussie” Balfour back with open arms. He is a little expensive so I am sure the A’s haven’t put an untouchable tag on him.
probably not an untouchable tag, but yeah, it’ll be fairly high
probably a solid B or a C+ plus some throw-ins for a full year, price may drop at the deadline
What is the year by year breakdown? If it’s backloaded, how much will he make at the end?
Cot’s doesn’t say year by year as of now. All it says is this:
10 years/$254M (2012-21)signed by LA Angels as a free agent 12/8/1112:$12M, 13:$16Mfull no-trade protectionmilestone bonuses: $3M for 3,000 hits. $7M for 763 HRsdeal includes 10-year personal-services contract to begin once player contract expires
Kind of odd that he gets a bonus at 763 when in all probability, barring a career ending injury, A-Rod will have that amount by the time Pujols nears there.
I wonder if there is a clause related to that(meaning he gets the bonus if he breaks the record….they can’t put a speculative number so they put the number that currently is the “record”….IMO it’s still 755 and 61 single season
Yeah that’s what I was thinking too, but I guess there is always the possibility that A-Rod doesn’t get there, though I bet he will.
A-Rod will need 6+yrs of 20per to break the record….he did only hit 16 this past season due to injury so IMO he isn’t the lock he was looking like but still has a legit shot….
his HR/PA dropped from 1/19pa to 1/26pa this season…..he better hope that Kobe treatment works….
Well, then I guess it doesn’t matter if A-Rod breaks the “record” because, it would still just be a “record”, right?
(Slippery slope demonizing steroids…gotta pretty much throw out everything from ’95-’05.)
Well that is the question…the contract has been reported as a number 763 and not whatever the current HR record is….so IF A-Rod hits 800 does Albert still get the bonus for 763 or does he have to break the at that time record…I’m guessing that the bonus is only paid IF he becomes the HR leader(regardless of the count)…
Man, if he’s 40 and making 30+ mill o.O
ya.. but there is at least the angels are an AL team so he can dh and you wont have to worry about him being in the field.. **cough***howard**cough**
The Rangers are building a dynasty. They arguably have the best team in baseball.
You speak the truth. The best front office in baseball, best scouting top to bottom, a GM that listens to his scouts and follows a plan. In Daniels we trust. He put together a World Series team with a bankrupt franchise and got them back the following year. Rangers are in the best position to be the team of the teens. Good time to be a Rangers fan.
Texas trading Frank Fransisco for Mike Napoli was the best trade of 2011.
As an angel fan— i would sadly have to agree
As a Blue Jays fan, I threw up in my mouth a little.
Proof positive that AA is not a genius. If he was he’d have put Napoli at 1B or DH instead of giving E5 a job.
I bet the A’s could get a solid prospect or 2 for balfour.
yeah, it’ll take a B prospect for balfour right now, teams will probably have to wait until the deadline, or should wait until the deadline, for the price to drop
The prices of relievers generally don’t drop at the deadline, because you have teams desperate for an upgrade.
Dotel for McDonald/Lambo, Pudge for Farnsworth, Ramos for Capps, anybody?
those are good points, however, farnsworth and capps had were under control for longer and were younger, and with dotel, the whole dynamic of being a type-A free agent has changed. Compensation was different, you could just have dotel for half a season and still get a draft pick for him, this year, you’d need balfour for a whole season to get any compensation for him.
on the other hand, i know demand for relievers in the middle of a season is always there, i just think part of that demand for relievers was the compensation that came with it at the end of the year
dose anyone know what teams have interest in balfour
Vernon Wells will make more than Pujols in 2012 and 2013 (and maybe even 2014). 9MM more in 2012.
I find that amusing.
Vernon Wells is making more money than about 98% of the league next year.
yeah…closer to like 99.5%
At least he finally has some lineup protection!
Yeah, even though it happened in 2011, I find it ridiculous that the Pujols deal is the transaction of the year…..no one even knows how it will turn out, and that wins over the Cardinals trade, that everyone and their mother was calling stupid. You know, the trade that if it were not made they would not have made the playoffs? Yeah, that’s the transaction of the year in my book.
I hope Pujols prolapses big time.
oops (delete)
no…. interest is only in place for those who are getting years pay after the fact.. example: Manny and the dodgers.. he could get interest (if it was in contract) because they payed him for his services year(s) after he played with them
i wonder if the new collective bargaining agreement (now eliminating giving up a draft spot for modified type A’s, which balfour would be next offseason) would give him reason to maybe get rid of that clause in his contract that says he can’t be offered arbitration if he’s a type A. If he’s willing to waive that clause, his value could go way up and since he needs to be on a team for a full season to qualify for compensation, if teams would be more interested in acquiring him before the season begins.
that is…if he’s able to waive it, i dunno if that’s allowed or not
The Jays have dumped most of their relief pitching in the last 2 years, no wonder they finish 4th all the time.
Who from the Jays relief core those two years has been good beside Dotel and League? Francisco? Rauch? Frasor? Greggg? Purcey? Miller? Yeah, keeping those guys would have brought a ring back to Toronto.
Frasor was pretty good and so was Rzepczynski.
Matt Kata?! The baby-backs are making a comeback!