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Archives for March 2010

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Roberts, Giles, Amaro

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On this date nine years ago, the Astros signed Richard Hidalgo to a four-year, $32MM contract. At the time, it was the third-richest contract in franchise history, behind only Jeff Bagwell's five-year, $85MM deal and Craig Biggio's four-year, $33MM deal. Hidalgo would go on to hit .266/.342/.475 with 87 home runs during the life of the deal, though he was dealt to the Mets mid-way through the 2004 season.

Here's a look at what's been written around the web…

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Mets Liked Lackey, Preferred Bay

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A major league source tells Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that the Mets thought a five-year offer to John Lackey would be riskier than a four-year offer to Jason Bay. The Mets, who say they are not concerned about Bay's defense, ultimately signed the outfielder to a four-year $66MM deal with a vesting option for a fifth year. They talked to Lackey and had strong interest in him, though they considered Bay the safer choice.

“We liked Lackey,” GM Omar Minaya said. “We thought Lackey was probably the best starting pitcher out there. As for as Bay, we thought we needed a power hitter."

Bay thinks the Red Sox were smart to add another top starter to their rotation. He told Bradford in this article that the Lackey signing was "genius" and the team's rotation is "ridiculous."

Rockies, Todd Helton Sign Extension

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The Rockies and first baseman Todd Helton signed a two-year extension that covers the 2012-13 seasons.  Contract details: it's a two-year, $9.9MM extension paying $4.9MM in '12 and $5MM in '13.  Helton will defer $13.1MM beginning next season.

Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports first reported the extension and its terms and Troy Renck of the Denver Post reported that it had been signed. Renck writes that Helton will work for the Rockies once he's done playing, perhaps as a coach. The club wants to keep him in a Rockies uniform for life.

"We view him in the same way as a Cal Ripken, George Brett and Tony Gwynn. He's a Rockie, and a Hall of Famer we believe," said GM Dan O'Dowd.

As part of his mammoth nine-year, $141.5MM deal, Helton was set to earn $16.6MM this year, $19.1MM in '11, and presumably a $4.6MM buyout after that season.  The Rockies freed up $8.6MM on their 2011 payroll, as Helton will now earn $10.5MM during that season.  The move is reminiscent of the Reds' recent restructuring of Scott Rolen's contract.

Now, instead of concluding his Rockies contract at age 38, Helton will be 40.  Helton is on track to perhaps retire a Rockie once his contract is up.  Despite his back woes, he really only slipped in 2008. 

Odds & Ends: Mauer, Strasburg, Towers, Washburn

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Thursday linkage…

Polanco Probably Would Have Accepted Arbitration

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Placido Polanco certainly won't be hurting for money after signing a three-year deal worth $18MM with the Phillies this offseason, but if the Tigers had offered him arbitration, he probably would have accepted it according to MLB.com's Jason Beck.

"You know, if they would've offered me arbitration, I probably would've accepted it," Polanco said. "Probably. I didn't know what was out there. Most teams were waiting on that. Most teams wait on that, because the type of free agent I was, they have to give up a Draft pick. So that kind of worked out well for me."

After earning $4.6MM during his final season in Detroit, Polanco was probably looking at a $6MM salary or so if he had accepted arbitration and gone to a hearing. As a Type-A free agent, a team would have had to surrender a high draft pick to sign him if he turned down the offer. The Tigers had to weigh the pros of possibly landing two high draft picks against the cons of having Polanco on a one-year contract, likely at more money than they were comfortable paying him. 

Several players, including Rafael Soriano, Carl Pavano, and Rafael Betancourt, accepted arbitration this winter instead of exploring the free agent market. They went for the guaranteed pay day over a shot at bigger money as a free agent. Several teams, such as the Dodgers and Yankees, chose not to offer arbitration to any of their free agents to avoid getting stuck with a player on an expensive contract, even if it was only for one year.

Offseason In Review: Washington Nationals

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Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Nationals.

Major League Signings

  • Jason Marquis, SP: two years, $15MM.
  • Ivan Rodriguez, C: two years, $6MM.
  • Matt Capps, RP: one year, $3.5MM.  Arbitration-eligible after season.
  • Chien-Ming Wang, SP: one year, $2MM.  Arbitration-eligible after season.
  • Adam Kennedy, 2B: one year, $1.75MM.  Includes $2MM club option for 2011 with a $500K buyout.
  • Scott Olsen, SP: one year, $1MM.  Arbitration-eligible after season.
  • Tyler Walker, RP: one year, $650K.  Arbitration-eligible after season.
  • Total spend: $29.9MM.

Notable Minor League Signings

Trades and Claims

Notable Losses

Summary

I have similar feelings toward the Nationals' offseason as I did with the Orioles.  I understand $20-30MM spent on short-term free agent acquisitions won't set the franchises back in the rebuilding process much.  But if the goal is mainly veteran respectability, couldn't it have been done at half the price?

In particular I am not a fan of the $21MM the Nationals committed to Marquis and Pudge over the next two years.  They're mediocre players who don't figure to bring much back in trades or draft picks.  The Nats could've gotten similar mentoring from, say, Doug Davis and Yorvit Torrealba for one year and $6.5MM total.  Or even John Lannan and Jamie Burke.

On the other hand, the signings of Capps, Wang, and Kennedy are sensible.  The guarantees were minimal, and these players are more likely to have trade value.  Plus, the arbitration-eligibility of Capps and Wang for 2011 essentially serves as a club option.  One complaint with the signing of Walker: it led to the loss of Estrada.  Estrada may never pan out in the bigs, but why swap your #18 prospect for a year or two of Walker?

If we eliminated the top two from the Major League Signings ledger, I'd say GM Mike Rizzo had a solid offseason.  However, I'm not sure what the plan is here: the Nationals have Keith Law's #23-ranked farm system and should probably launch a full-blown rebuild, but they're adding relatively pricey free agents.

Brian Giles Retires

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Outfielder Brian Giles announced his retirement today, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.  The Dodgers had signed Giles to a minor league deal on February 7th, and soon after he told MLB.com's Ken Gurnick it wouldn't take long to decide whether his knee could hold up physically.

Though he's not a household name, Giles finishes with an excellent .291/.400/.502 line in 7,835 career plate appearances for the Indians, Pirates, and Padres.  Giles' career OBP currently ranks 59th all-time.  Giles made two All-Star appearances and received MVP votes in five seasons.  He was involved in a blockbuster trade in August of '03, joining the Padres for Jason Bay, Oliver Perez, and Cory Stewart.  According to Baseball Reference, Giles earned about $81MM in his career.

Rays Sign Leslie Anderson

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The Rays signed Cuban first baseman/outfielder Leslie Anderson to a four-year, $3.75MM deal, tweets Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald.  ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. wrote in February that Anderson auditioned for nine clubs, and quoted two scouts who came away unimpressed.  Morgan Campbell of the Toronto Star said half the teams in baseball attended, and called Anderson "a chiselled Adonis of a baseball prospect."  One scouting report on the 27-year-old can be found at the blog Cuban Ball Players.

Anderson defected in September, and in January his agent Jaime Torres compared him to Alexei Ramirez.

Ramon Vazquez Could Be Traded Or Released

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Infielder Ramon Vazquez is fighting to make the Pirates, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Vazquez said he's been told he's not on the team right now, despite being guaranteed $2MM in 2010.  GM Neal Huntington admitted he has to consider a trade of some sort, having six players for four bench spots.

A release is the least-desirable approach for the Pirates, since they'd still owe Vazquez's $2MM salary (less $400K if he joins another big league club).  A trade makes more sense, with Kovacevic naming the Rangers and Orioles as possible matches.  Vazquez, 33, hit .230/.335/.279 in 239 plate appearances last year while playing second base, shortstop, and third base.  His poor performance may have been related to a knee injury.

Huntington's plan when signing Vazquez in December of '08 may have been to find a credible back-up middle infielder in case the team traded Freddy Sanchez and/or Jack Wilson.  But you have to question his $4MM commitment to Vazquez, a journeyman platoon player who still didn't hit lefties in his career year '08 season.

Nationals Release Shawn Estes, Eddie Guardado

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The Nationals released pitchers Shawn Estes and Eddie Guardado, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson.

The Nats had signed Estes, 37, to a $600K minor league deal on February 6th.  Estes tossed one spring inning for the Nats.  In June, Estes said he'd retired from Triple A but not from baseball.  He posted a 3.07 ERA, 4.9 K/9, and 3.3 BB/9 in 73.3 minor league innings for the Dodgers' affiliate.

The Nationals added Guardado in late December.  The 39-year-old had considered retirement, but decided his knee could handle the rigors of another season.  Guardado had this to say to Ladson after he signed: "The Nationals came at me like they really wanted me."  Instead, Everyday Eddie was given only two innings to prove his worth (during which he allowed seven hits).  Last year for the Rangers he posted a 4.46 ERA, 4.7 K/9, and 3.5 BB/9 in 38.3 innings.  Guardado rejoins a list of free agent lefty relievers that includes Joe Beimel, Alan Embree, Ron Mahay, Glendon Rusch, and Jamie Walker.

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