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Potential Free Agent Starters For 2012-13 Offseason

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We already know the free agent market for starting pitching is likely to lack big names following the 2011 season.  How about those who may hit free agency after the 2012 season?  Ricky Nolasco is off the board; let's see who's left.

The following starting pitchers are on pace to have six-plus years of service time for the first time once the '12 season ends: Jered Weaver, Cole Hamels, Francisco Liriano, John Danks, Shaun Marcum, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Sanchez, Jeremy Guthrie, Joe Saunders, and Anibal Sanchez.  They're each two seasons away from a shot at free agency, unless they agree to extensions before November 2012.  If top names like Weaver, Hamels, Liriano, Danks, Marcum, Billingsley, and Jonathan Sanchez are willing to gamble that they'll post strong, healthy 2012 seasons, they could be the cream of the free agent crop.

These players are signed to multiyear contracts that will end after the 2012 season: Zack Greinke, Matt Cain, Derek Lowe, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Joe Blanton, Kevin Correia, and Kyle Lohse.  Greinke and Cain are the standouts.

These pitchers have contract options for 2012: Chris Carpenter, Roy Oswalt, Ryan Dempster, Colby Lewis, Aaron Cook, Zach Duke, Jon Garland, Aaron Harang, Scott Kazmir, Paul Maholm, Scott Olsen, and Carlos Silva.  They'd be free agents for the 2011-12 offseason if the options are declined, or the 2012-13 offseason if exercised or vested.  So there's a good chance Carpenter, Oswalt, Dempster, and Lewis become free agents after the 2012 season. 

The following pitchers have options for 2013, which if declined would make them free agents for the 2012-13 offseason: Dan Haren, Ervin Santana, Brett Myers, Tim Hudson, Jake Westbrook, Carlos Zambrano, Jorge de la Rosa, Scott Baker, Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd, Randy Wolf, and Scott Feldman.  Zambrano's is an unlikely vesting option, so he'll probably hit the market.

Fausto Carmona and James Shields have club options for '12, '13, and '14.  If their '12 options are picked up and '13 declined, they'd join this free agent class.  Additionally, current free agent starters could join this group by signing two-year deals or one-year contracts with options that are picked up.  Still more names will be added from those who sign one-year deals now and again after the season, as well as those non-tendered after '12.

Cot's Baseball Contracts was instrumental in creating this post.

Yankees, Mets, Others Considering Freddy Garcia

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The Yankees, Mets, and others have asked for medicals on free agent starter Freddy Garcia, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News was first to report the Yankees' request.  The White Sox have also checked in, tweets Feinsand's colleague Andy Martino.  Heyman opines that Garcia is the best free agent starter left after Carl Pavano.

Garcia, 35, posted a 4.64 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.3 HR/9, and 40.7% groundball rate for the White Sox in 157 innings this year.  It was his highest innings total since 2006, though he did miss time with back pain.  He's not close to signing and is believed to be seeking less than Jon Garland's $5MM guarantee, tweets Martino.

As for Heyman's contention?  Garcia's competition includes injury bounceback candidates like Brandon Webb, Jeff Francis, Chris Young, and Brad Penny, as well as innings guys like Kevin Millwood, Rodrigo Lopez, and Dave Bush.

iPhone App Available

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When new Padres shortstop Jason Bartlett wanted to track the progress of his own trade, where did he turn?  Our new Baseball Trade Rumors iPhone app, of course.  The app allows you to select only the players or teams you want, and receive a push notification for every related new rumor.  The app also has a clean, crisp interface with the 25 latest MLBTR posts, easily refreshed. You can customize headline size and leave comments on MLBTradeRumors.com as well.

Even baseball executives are getting in on the Baseball Trade Rumors app.  According to Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Padres GM Jed Hoyer recently purchased an iPhone – and he says Baseball Trade Rumors might be his first application.

 

Braves Agree To Sign Yohan Flande

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The Braves have agreed to sign left-hander Yohan Flande to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, tweets Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes.

Flande, 25 in January, has spent the last six seasons in the Phillies' farm system. He owns a 3.28 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 501.2 career innings, and spent all of 2010 with Philadelphia's Double-A affiliate. Baseball America ranked Flande as the 17th best prospect in their system before the 2010 season, noting that he sits at 91-92 mph with his fastball and backs it up with a "plus changeup, which gains deception from his stiff, unconventional arm action." They call him a back-of-the-rotation starter or lefty specialist.

Yankees Sign Luis Vizcaino

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The Yankees have signed right-hander Luis Vizcaino to a minor league contract according to Marc Carig of The Star Ledger (via Twitter). If he makes the team, he'll earn $750K.

Vizcaino, now 36, has not pitched in the majors or minors since being designated for assignment by the Indians back in June of 2009. The former workhorse reliever appeared in fewer than 70 games just once from 2002 through 2007, and he owns a 4.33 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in his career. If we remove intentional walks, that drops all the way down to 3.3 BB/9.

MLB.com's Tom Singer recently listed Vizcaino as one of several players looking to revive his career, noting his effective stint in the Dominican Winter League.

Giants To Sign Guillermo Mota

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The Giants have agreed to sign Guillermo Mota to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, tweets Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. The Dodgers and Rays were also considered finalists for his services.

Mota, 37, appeared in 56 games for the World Champion Giants in 2010, pitching to a 4.33 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9. He then chipped in another 2.1 scoreless innings in the postseason. According to PitchFX, he was still flirting with the mid-90's with his fastball.

Poll: Joakim Soria’s Future

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The Royals completed a franchise altering trade today, sending Zack Greinke to the Brewers for a package of four young players. Earlier this offseason they shipped David DeJesus to Oakland, the team’s longest-tenured player at the time. As much as Kansas City would love to unload the $12MM left on Gil Meche’s contract, it simply won’t happen. If GM Dayton Moore wants to continue purging his roster of veterans, could closer Joakim Soria be the next to go?

The old axiom says that bad teams don’t need a good closer, and the Royals are expected to be among the league’s worst clubs in 2011 while Soria is once again one of the game’s top closers. Compared to the multiyear contracts handed out to non-elite relievers this offseason, Soria’s $4MM salary for 2011 with club options for 2012 ($6MM), 2013 ($8MM), and 2014 ($8.75MM) is a bargain. Trade interest would be plentiful, and the Royals could expect several young players in return.

Because his contract is so team friendly, Moore could also hold on to Soria and see how the trade market develops before the deadline. We can’t forget the fans in KC either, Moore might not want to alienate them anymore by dealing his All Star closer so soon after trading away Greinke. The Padres reportedly kept Heath Bell for similar reasons. 

A radical, albeit unlikely, third option would be to convert Soria into a starter. He started in the Mexican League for quite some time, throwing a perfect game in his first start after the Royals selected him in the 2006 Rule 5 Draft. PitchFX data available at FanGraphs tells us that he still throws four pitches regularly (cutter, curveball, changeup, slider), so the repertoire is certainly there. It’s just a matter of health and getting stretched out. Like I said, it’s an unlikely move, but it wouldn’t be unprecedented. Just look at C.J. Wilson. What do you think the Royals should do with Soria?

Week In Review: 12/12/10 – 12/19/10

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It's been a busy seven days since last Sunday. Let's look back at the top stories from last week:

MLBTR Originals: 12/12/10 – 12/19/10

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It was a very busy week on the hot stove, but we still managed to churn out some original content here at MLBTR. We don't want you to miss anything, so let's recap it all…

Odds & Ends: Rays, Red Sox, Rockies, Yankees

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Links for Sunday, though it's unlikely that any news will top today's Zack Greinke trade:

  • The Rays have enough money to pursue another low-end bullpen signing or two, writes Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. Topkin quotes executive vice president Andrew Friedman in saying there's no way they could've predicted the relief market would look like this.
  • WEEI.com's Alex Speier says the Red Sox would like to add a left-hander to their bullpen, but will wait to see if someone falls into their lap. Boston is against multiyear deals for relievers, though they did recently make an exception in the case of Bobby Jenks.
  • Rockies' owner Dick Monfort answered some questions for the Denver Post's Troy E. Renck. Topics included Troy Tulowitzki's new contract, extending young stars, and their odds of keeping Carlos Gonzalez long-term.
  • Bill Madden of the New York Daily News opines that the Padres' elite bullpen last season which nearly brought them an NL West title has fueled the rising prices in the relief market. Madden also wonders if the Yankees might make a run at Jon Rauch to replace the departed Kerry Wood.

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