Rounding up some Friday night links….
- The Braves released minor league right-hander Deunte Heath, writes Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
- FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that Orioles owner Peter Angelos nixed the idea of Cal Ripken Jr. joining the organization in a baseball capacity.
- The Angels aren't actively shopping anyone, but they're receptive to the idea of trading a catcher, according to Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles. We looked at the club's catching logjam and Mike Napoli's potential availability earlier in the evening.
- Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group tweets that, following Brett Anderson's extension, Billy Beane will consider locking up other young Athletics to long-term deals. Stiglich says Kurt Suzuki probably tops that list, and, in a piece for CSNBayArea.com, Mychael Urban suggests Andrew Bailey is another possibility.
- According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link), Suzuki and his agent haven't heard from the A's regarding an extension yet, but they're open to the idea. Recently, MLBTR looked at comparables for a Suzuki extension.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that the Nationals had no interest in acquiring Fred Lewis, since they consider Justin Maxwell to be their "own Fred Lewis."
- Bobby Valentine said on Sirius XM Radio that coaching the Mets isn't something he's considering, according to the New York Post's Dan Martin.
Suzuki is worth more than double what Anderson was guaranteed, at least IMO.
2011:$3MM 2012:$5MM 2013:$8MM 2014:$11MM with a $1MM signing bonus and vesting options for 2015: $11MM and 2016: $13MM.
Total guaranteed: $28MM over 4 years; Total potential earnings: $52MM over 6 years.
How do you figure? Anderson is becoming an elite starting pitcher, whereas Suzuki showed terrible OB skills in 2009. The two aren’t comparable, with Anderson on top.
You don’t always become an elite starting pitcher after 1 good season. Ask Rick Ankiel, Dontrelle Willis, etc.
Although Suzuki had a low OBP last season, his OPS went up from 2008 and he scored 20 more runs than in 2008.
“More runs scored” just means that the player hitting behind him happen to get a hit, enabling Suzuki to score. If anything, having a higher OB gives a player more opportunities to score since a player can only score if they’re on base.
In Ankiel’s one good season as a pitcher, he never had the control Anderson displayed in 2009. As for Willis, he arguably had three elite seasons from 2003 to 2005, so he was hardly a one-year wonder.
Before 2009, Anderson was considered one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. Granted, it will take a good sophomore season to seal his status as an elite pitcher, but I think given his ability to throw strikes, limit walks, and his high ceiling for K’s, the A’s new contract is perfectly justified.
I agree that it is irrelevant how many runs he scored if his OBP was lower, I just cited it because it’s pretty. Put Adam Dunn/Adrian Gonzalez/etc. in the cleanup spot for the Phillies and put Ryan Howard in the cleanup spot for the Nats/Padres/etc. and lets see how many RBI’s Howard gets. ESPN loves to praise Ryan Howard for his RBI’s.
But beyond that, I think Brett Anderson will be a fine pitcher but I don’t know about elite. He should be able to handle being the ace of the A’s. But when I think of elite I think Greinke, Verlander, Halladay, Lincecum, Hernandez, Sabathia, etc.
I agree that it is irrelevant how many runs he scored if his OBP was lower, I just cited it because it’s pretty. Put Adam Dunn/Adrian Gonzalez/etc. in the cleanup spot for the Phillies and put Ryan Howard in the cleanup spot for the Nats/Padres/etc. and lets see how many RBI’s Howard gets. ESPN loves to praise Ryan Howard for his RBI’s.
But beyond that, I think Brett Anderson will be a fine pitcher but I don’t know about elite. He should be able to handle being the ace of the A’s. But when I think of elite I think Greinke, Verlander, Halladay, Lincecum, Hernandez, Sabathia, etc.
“You don’t always become an elite starting pitcher after 1 good season. Ask… Dontrelle Willis”
After which of his 4 such seasons should we ask him? Maybe after his first where he was ROY, or after his 3rd when he was 2nd for the CY?
Willis was elite from 03-06 and didnt even completely fall off in 07. He never had fantastic rates, but between his GB tendencies stuff and extreme delivery he made it extremely difficult for hitters to put together back to back hits in order to actually score runs.
Believe me I wish Willis was an elite pitcher, I’m a Tigers fan. He put together a few elite seasons but his career lacks consistency as of late, which is more what I meant.
okay, can understand that. Just people tend to look at today and forget how special he was for 5 seasons so… Of course, I cant, he should have been on the Cubs for those years :( But knowing us, we will probably sign the new nut-case Willis that cant keep his head in check long enough to get 6 outs.
okay, can understand that. Just people tend to look at today and forget how special he was for 5 seasons so… Of course, I cant, he should have been on the Cubs for those years :( But knowing us, we will probably sign the new nut-case Willis that cant keep his head in check long enough to get 6 outs.
Believe me I wish Willis was an elite pitcher, I’m a Tigers fan. He put together a few elite seasons but his career lacks consistency as of late, which is more what I meant.
“Total guaranteed: $28MM over 4 years”
That would give him the third highest AAV among catchers, behind only Mauer and Posada, to a player not even in arbitration yet…
“Total potential earnings: $52MM over 6 years.”
That (8.7 MM AAV) is more then the Twins gave Mauer (8.25 MM) to cover his arbitration seasons, where Mauer had hit .321/.399/.471/.870 leading up to that deal, Suzuki has provided a .270/.328/.396/.724.
As far as what is actually realistic, I would say something around this deal
1.5 MM, 4.75 MM, 5.75 MM, 6.75 Option, 1.5 Bonus which could be added in
That 3/14.25 – 4/21 contract was given prior to 2009 to cover 3 Arb and possibly 1 FA to Chris Snyder who had provided a near identical line of .238/.332/.404/.737 in 1480 PA
Ironically, the DBacks have since tried to trade that deal but have apparently been told its too much money committed by a couple teams.
“Angelos, however, was reluctant to create any perception that MacPhail was not fully in control, a source said.”
and he avoided this by pulling rank on MacPhail…
More and more I really begin to hate Angelos.
That Ripken article REALLY made my blood boil.
Ripken has nothing to offer younger players today, other than a sense of loyalty, sportsmanship, hard work and the wisdom of a Hall of Fame player. True ambassadors of the game should frequently be pushed out of the sport.
It’s good to see that at least part of the old Browns’ unofficial slogan is still in effect” First in booze, first in shoes, last in the American League.“
Deunte Heath is an idiot.
“Bobby Valentine said on Sirius XM Radio that coaching the Mets isn’t something he’s considering”
I wouldn’t put much weight in this. Only a moron like Gary Carter campaigns for a job that isn’t open.
I really, really hope the Mets pull Napoli from the Angels. The guy is a heck of a hitter, and is being incorrectly used by Mike Scioscia. Napoli has some experience at 1B (in the minors), so maybe he could play some 1B when not catching to help fill that awful void.
Angelos is really taking bold steps to put himself out there nationwide as one of the more idiotic owners — of any franchise — on the planet. Yeesh.
angelos is a complete moron.