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Archives for May 2008

Ryan Braun Contract Details

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Tom Haudricourt has the details on Ryan Braun’s new extension.  It’s a tricky one, because it’s not yet known whether Braun will be arbitration-eligible after the 2009 season.  It won’t be known for sure until November of ’09.  If he is arb-eligible at that time he’ll make an extra $6MM.

It’s looking like Braun will earn $4.5MM (including a signing bonus) for his three pre-arb years.  Then he’ll get $18.5MM for his three arb years (less than 80% of what Hanley Ramirez will get for the same slice of his career).  After that Braun gave up his first two free agent years for $22MM.  That’s also significantly less than Ramirez will receive his first two years of free agent eligibility.

Hanley Ramirez Contract Details

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Hanley Ramirez’s six-year, $70MM deal will be officially announced Saturday.  MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro has the details of the contract.

Basically the deal pays $23.5MM for Ramirez’s three arbitration years and $46.5MM for his first three years of free agency.  It’s also been confirmed that the deal lacks no-trade provisions.  I know we always label these young-player long-term deals as team-friendly.  But this one takes the cake.  That’s not a knock on Ramirez – if I had his talents I’d certainly exchange maximum dollars for immediate security.  How about you?

Angels Open To In-Season Talks For K-Rod

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Angels owner Arte Moreno said today that the team is flexible and is willing to negotiate a contract extension with closer Francisco Rodriguez during the season.  K-Rod and his agent were strongly leaning toward putting talks off until after the season after an agreement could not be reached by Opening Day.

Twins closer Joe Nathan inked a four-year, $47MM deal in March.  The total is the highest ever for a reliever, though Mariano Rivera earns $15MM annually on a three-year pact.  Another comparable is Francisco Cordero’s four-year, $46MM deal.  Nathan and Cordero both have fifth-year club options.

Assuming they hit the open market, the big name closers for the winter of 2008-09 are K-Rod and Brad Lidge.  Will one top the $50MM mark or get five guaranteed years?  Brian Fuentes and Brandon Lyon seem to fit into the second tier of free agent closers.

Baseball America Projects The First Round

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Baseball America attempted to project the entire first round of the June amateur draft.  Their top ten:

1. Rays – Tim Beckham, SS.
2. Pirates – Pedro Alvarez, 3B.
3. Royals – Buster Posey, C. 
4. Orioles – Brian Matusz, LHP.
5. Giants – Justin Smoak, 1B.
6. Marlins – Kyle Skipworth, C.
7. Reds – Aaron Crow, RHP.
8. White Sox – Gordon Beckham, SS.
9. Nationals – Yonder Alonso, 1B.
10. Astros – Shooter Hunt, RHP.

BA is in agreement with Jonathan Mayo on picks #2, 4, 6, 7, and 8.  Plus we can assume that Mayo wouldn’t have chosen Scheppers for Houston had Scheppers’ injury been fully realized at the time.

Seven Teams Have Monitored Freddy Garcia

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According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, at least seven clubs have monitored Freddy Garcia’s progress: the Mets, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, and Mariners.  It wouldn’t be surprising if even more clubs show up to watch Garcia throw when he is able to audition.  A midseason free agent has major appeal.  The Indians are one additional club rumored to have interest.

Garcia remains a mystery – we don’t know when he’ll be ready, how much money he’ll want, or how effective he’ll be.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Braun, Holliday, Kouzmanoff, Greene, Sabean

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Let’s take a look at what is being said about some recent rumors, trades and signings in the Blogosphere…

  • Right Field Bleachers sees the signing of Ryan Braun and Corey Hart to long-term deals as a "must" for the Brewers.
  • Brewers Nation sees the Braun deal as evidence that Prince Fielder will not sign an extension even if the two situations are very different.
  • Oleanders and Morning Glories thinks that if Nats’ management was hoping to sign Ryan Zimmerman to a Troy Tulowitzki-type deal, Braun’s deal may have raised the bar.
  • Squawking Baseball sees the recent trend in giving long-term deals to young stars and wonders if the absence of top-level free agents in a few years will drive up free agency prices. If that happens, players may stop signing these extensions and the market will correct itself…The point is valid, but these players will still become free agents eventually. The difference is only that they will be free agents in their age 30 season (approximately) instead of their age 28 season. If there is a correction, it will only be minimal and would only last a year or two.
  • The Tribe Time Report explains why Matt Holliday would be a perfect fit for the Indians even if it is only for a season and a half.
  • Friar Forum does not seem surprised about the notion of the Padres selling off pieces sooner, rather than later. However, they would be surprised to see Kevin Kouzmanoff moved, noting that it is much more likely that the slew of free agents-to-be will be shipped to other clubs.
  • The Southpaw would love to see the Jays make a push for Khalil Greene, but their scenario is contingent on the Padres also dealing Kouzmanoff.
  • Sorry we missed this before, but in light of Brian Sabean’s recent comments, I felt it was worth noting that Bucs Dugout has been running a series of polls to determine the worst GM in baseball. The finals featured Sabean easily out-distancing his opponent, Ed Wade of the Astros.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Hanley, Salcedo, Torrealba

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Time to round ’em up…

Phils Not Ready To Talk Extension With Hamels

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Phillies GM Pat Gillick isn’t talking about a contract extension with ace pitcher Cole Hamels at present.  It seems that he first wants to see more healthy work from Hamels; Gillick expects to talk to him "at some point."  Things could change, as this is Gillick’s last season as the team’s GM.

Hamels called the Phillies’ $500K renewal a "low blow" back in March.  Jayson Stark noted in April that Hamels’ agent, John Boggs, isn’t one to hand out club options for free agent years.

Hamels won’t be arbitration-eligible until the 2010 season.  Scott Kazmir may have raised the bar for the three arb years of a young ace.  Typically those three years were going for $13.75MM, but Kazmir will earn almost $18MM.

Khalil Greene A Possibility For Jays?

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Call it informed speculation, but Jeff Blair wonders if the Jays will make a run at Padres shortstop Khalil Greene.  Blair points out that J.P. Ricciardi just missed drafting Greene in 2002.

Greene, 28, is off to a slow start this year (.208/.253/.318 in 170 plate appearances).  He won’t get on base, but the power is legit.  Greene makes $6.5MM in ’09 before free agent eligibility.

The problem is that the Padres likely hope to be competitive next year, and they don’t have any kind of replacement for Greene waiting in the wings.  There are decent young shortstops without starting jobs, guys like Chin-lung Hu and Ronny Cedeno.  But why would a team swap a cheap near big-league ready shortstop for Greene?  Maybe the Padres will seek such a player in a separate deal and then move Greene.  Or, Kevin Towers could sign one of the many free agent shortstops this winter.

Scheppers Injury Will Affect Draft Position

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MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo reports that Fresno State righthander Tanner Scheppers will be sidelined with a stress fracture in his shoulder.  Mayo suggests that the serious injury is likely to drop Scheppers out of the top ten picks.  The risk is increased, but now Scheppers will drop and could become a steal.

By the way, bookmark Mayo’s new blog, Geeking On The Draft.  I am pretty sure we have some draft geeks in this crowd.

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