Archives for February 2011

AL Notes: Millwood, Soria, A-Rod, Barton

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2011 at 8:30pm CDT

MLBTR sends its condolences to the friends and family of Ernie Tyler, who passed away on Thursday night. The long-time umpire attendant at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards worked 3819 consecutive games between Opening Day 1960 and July 27, 2007, only halting his streak when the Orioles' other iron man (Cal Ripken Jr.) invited Tyler to Cooperstown for Ripken's induction into the Hall of Fame. Tyler, 86, is survived by his wife and 11 children.

Some news from the Junior Circuit…

The Yankees are still considering signing Kevin Millwood, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman. We heard about New York's interest in the right-hander last week, and recent rumors have linked him to Cleveland, though the Indians don't want to pay Millwood the $4-5MM he's seeking.
In a recent online chat with fans, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star said it is "unlikely bordering on inconceivable" that the Royals will look to move Joakim Soria at the trade deadline. We heard earlier this winter that K.C. was firm on keeping Soria in the fold, despite interest from a few other clubs.
Fangraphs' Dave Cameron argues Andy MacPhail's recent statement that Alex Rodriguez's contract with the Rangers was "the worst signing in the history of baseball." As Cameron notes, the problem wasn't Rodriguez, but rather the fact that the Rangers surrounded him with mediocre talent.
Is Daric Barton a better first baseman than Ryan Howard and Mark Teixeira? Citing wOBA, defense and contracts, ESPN.com's Evan Brunell believes so.
John Tomase of the Boston Herald profiles Te Wera Bishop, who is trying to become the first New Zealand-born player in Major League history. Bishop, 17, starred for New Zealand's national softball team before being signed to a $60K contract by the Red Sox.

Oakland’s Free Agent Misses: Don’t Blame The Park

By Tim Dierkes | February 11, 2011 at 8:27pm CDT

Here's agent Scott Boras talking to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports about the Oakland Coliseum last month:

"You talk to players. It's not the city. It's not the team. It's the ballpark. And there are no fans there. When teams recruit against the Oakland A's, they say, 'Why do you want to play in an empty park?' It's not about the organization. It's not about ownership. It's about locale."

Boras may have a point, but the Athletics' ballpark is not why they lost out on his client Adrian Beltre this winter, nor is it the reason behind the team's failure to sign Lance Berkman and Hisashi Iwakuma.

Beltre was a prime target for Oakland during the 2009-10 offseason, but he turned down a three-year, $24MM offer to take one year and $10MM from the Red Sox. The A's offer didn't match up with Beltre's goal, which was to be paid well in 2010 and also make a one-year bet on himself and re-enter the market. That was the right call for him, and this time around the A's topped out at a six-year, $76.8MM offer. The five-year, $80MM deal Beltre signed with Texas, which also has a vesting option, is a much better contract. It's not as if Beltre turned down five years and $90MM from Oakland.

Berkman spurned a two-year offer from the A's to take one year from the Cardinals, but signing with them allowed him to remain in the NL Central and play the outfield every day while also making solid money on a make-good one-year pact. The Coliseum doesn't shoulder the blame here either, as Berkman did not view himself as a full-time DH. As for Iwakuma, the A's seemed to be in the $4MM a year range while his agent wanted at least twice as much. That was simply a difference of opinion on salary. If agent Don Nomura's claim that Oakland's interest in Iwakuma wasn't sincere is true, implying they bid just to block rivals, that's a flaw of the posting system.

The Coliseum probably does hurt the Athletics' ability to lure free agent hitters. But in the cases of Beltre and Berkman, it doesn't appear to have been the primary factor.

Verducci On Weaver, Lester, Pujols, Young

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2011 at 6:45pm CDT

Here's the latest from Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci….

Though the Angels won their arbitration hearing with Jered Weaver, Verducci thinks the fact that the case went all the way to a hearing is "a bad sign" for Weaver's future with the Halos. It certainly doesn't help refute the purported hard feelings between the Angels and Weaver's agent Scott Boras.
Verducci compares the contracts and basic performance stats of Weaver, Chad Billingsley, Jon Lester and Cole Hamels. Verducci guesses Boston saved at least $15MM by signing Lester to a multiyear deal before the 2009 season.
Just three players (Todd Helton, Raul Ibanez, and Ichiro) aged 36 years old or older managed to play 100 games in the field last season and reach the league average OPS of .728, Verducci writes. This pronounced decline rate for older players is the reason the Cardinals are hesitant to pay Albert Pujols a $30MM annual salary into his late thirties.
The Rangers are still "the best fit" for Michael Young. Verducci points out that Young should still be able to find lots of playing time with Texas, if not necessarily an everyday spot in the lineup. Given how thin the trade market for Young appears to be, Young also may not have a choice but to remain in Texas.

Nick Swisher Changes Agents

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2011 at 6:23pm CDT

Nick Swisher has hired Dan Lozano as his new agent, reports FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). There were reports earlier today that linked Swisher to Scott Boras, but instead it's Lozano who has added the Yankee outfielder to his list of clients, which includes such names as Albert Pujols, Michael Young and Jimmy Rollins. Swisher was formerly represented by Joe Bick.

Swisher has hit exactly 29 homers in each of two seasons as a Yankee, and he hit .288/.359/.511 in 635 plate appearances last year as the Yankees' everyday right fielder. The switch-hitter made his first All-Star team in 2010. Swisher, 30, will earn $9MM this year and the Yankees have the option of exercising a $10.25MM in 2012 or spending $1MM on a buyout.

MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith also contributed to this post

Brewers Again Negotiating Multiyear Deal With Weeks

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2011 at 5:40pm CDT

The Brewers are still trying to sign second baseman Rickie Weeks to a long-term extension, reports Anthony Witrado of The Sporting News. We heard last month that the two sides had set aside the extension talks to focus on Weeks' 2011 contract, but given that Weeks set the start of Spring Training as his deadline for any negotiations about a multiyear pact, the Brewers were no doubt interested in revisiting the topic given that their camp opens next week.

"We'll get a better sense of where we are in the next couple of days," Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin tells Witrado. "We still have a little bit of time. We're always optimistic we can get something done, and we're still engaged in multiyear talks. If we don't (get that done) then we have to focus on this year."

Weeks' arbitration hearing is set for February 17, which Witrado notes is also the same day that the Brewers' pitchers and catchers hold their first spring workout. Weeks filed an arbitration number of $7.2MM, while Milwaukee has a counter-offer worth $4.85MM. This is Weeks' last year of arbitration eligibility and he'll be a free agent after the 2011 campaign.

Milwaukee assistant GM Gord Ash has handled negotiations with Greg Genske, Weeks' agent, and Ash tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he and Genske "are still talking" but gave no further comments. In a separate piece, Haudricourt reports that Ash and Genske have found "it difficult to find a common ground" about Weeks' value given the second baseman's injury history before his breakout 2010 season. A team source tells Haudricourt that the Brewers don't want to lose both Weeks and Prince Fielder to free agency next winter, and an extension for Weeks will be much less expensive than the $200MM contract that Fielder reportedly wants.

AL East Links: Guthrie, Bard, Balfour, Rays

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 11, 2011 at 4:41pm CDT

Yankees officially announced that they signed Luis Ayala, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Warner Madrigal, Ronnie Belliard and Eric Chavez to minor league deals. Here are some notes on the Yanks and the rest of the AL East…

Jordan Parraz, who was designated for assignment by the Yankees, cleared waivers, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (Twitter link).
Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun asks if you'd extend any of the seven Orioles who were arbitration eligible this offseason.
If you answered Jeremy Guthrie, think again. The right-hander, who avoided arbitration with the Orioles today, told Jeff Zrebiec of the Sun that the Orioles appear to have ruled out an extension for him, though he wouldn't rule one out himself and doesn't have hard feelings about the team's decision.
Here's a fun fact from Zrebiec on Twitter: Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has never gone to an arbitration hearing with a player in 25 years of running baseball teams. Pretty astounding.
Daniel Bard told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that he would like to try starting again and has not discussed an extension with the Red Sox.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post has the latest on some creative discussions between Kevin Towers and the man he worked for last year, Brian Cashman.The Yankees, who considered completing a sign-and-trade with Arizona to acquire Carl Pavano without surrendering a draft pick, discussed a similar deal with the D'Backs about Grant Balfour. The Yankees were moving toward Balfour before they signed his former teammte, Rafael Soriano.
Justin Ruggiano and Leslie Anderson both cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The Rays designated the players for assignment to create roster space earlier in the week.

Dodgers, Loney Avoid Arbitration

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 11, 2011 at 3:33pm CDT

The Dodgers avoided arbitration with James Loney, agreeing to a one-year, $4.875MM deal, according to CAA, the first baseman's agency on Twitter. As MLBTR's Arb Tracker shows, Loney had filed for $5.25MM while the Dodgers offered $4.7MM.

Loney posted a .267/.329/.395 line last year. He doesn't have much power for a first baseman – his career-high in homers is 15 – but the former first rounder has been durable enough to stay on the field for 158 games or more from 2008-10. That consistency, plus Loney's RBI totals (he has 88 or more in each of the past three seasons) no doubt helped him negotiate with the Dodgers.

The sides settled slightly below the midpoint, but Loney will earn more than comparable players Kevin Kouzmanoff, Corey Hart and B.J. Upton did for their second year of arbitration eligibility, as CAA points out. Loney's relatively high salary makes him a non-tender candidate for the 2011-12 offseason, though the Dodgers can retain him through arbitration if they so choose.

Only six arbitration eligible players remain unsigned for 2011. Players and teams have each won one of the two arbitration hearings to take place so far this offseason.

Jose Bautista Sets Deadline For Extension Talks

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 11, 2011 at 3:03pm CDT

Albert Pujols isn’t the only prospective free agent who doesn’t want to negotiate an extension once the season starts. The defending American League home run champion has set a deadline for contract talks, too. Jose Bautista, whose arbitration hearing is scheduled for Monday, told Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun that he won’t be open to negotiating a long-term deal with the Blue Jays during the season.

“I won’t be open to it after the hearing,” Bautista said. “After the hearing, I believe we will notify the team that [an extension] is not going to be a possibility, unless it’s in that window they have from the end of the season until the free agency period begins.”

Bautista says he wants to stay with the Blue Jays, but doesn’t like the idea of negotiating a contract once the season begins.

“My desire is to play in Toronto long term but, after the hearing, or during the season, I have come to the conclusion that it’s probably not the best thing for me to be negotiating any type of deal,” he said. “I want to focus on the game and trying to win ballgames."

Bautista asked for $10.5MM in arbitration and the Blue Jays countered with $7.6MM, as MLBTR’s Arb Tracker shows. The sides have not started discussing an extension, as far as Bautista knows. Click here for more on Bautista's arbitration case.

Phillies Sign Cory Sullivan

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 11, 2011 at 2:14pm CDT

The Phillies signed Cory Sullivan to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. The outfielder will be in the Phillies' minor league camp.

Sullivan appeared in 57 games for the Astros in 2010 after Houston signed him last winter. The 31-year-old played all three outfield positions last year, though most of his big league experience comes as a center fielder. Sullivan has never done much at the plate and he struggled more than usual in 2010, hitting just .188/.257/.234 in 71 plate appearances before the Astros cut him loose in June.

Domonic Brown, Ben Francisco, Ross Gload, Raul Ibanez, John Mayberry, Shane Victorino, Brandon Moss and Delwyn Young will also be competing for playing time in the outfield this spring.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Young, Pujols, Mets, Tigers

By Mike Axisa | February 11, 2011 at 12:32pm CDT

On this date ten years ago, Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh was imploded. The former home of the Pirates opened in 1970 and housed World Championship teams in 1971 and 1979. Roberto Clemente picked up his 3,000th hit there, Mike Schmidt hit his 500th homer there, and the last winning Pirates team played there.

Here are this week's links…

Splashing Pumpkins posted a video interview with Cody Ross.
Baltimore Sports and Life spoke to several national writers about the Orioles.
Some Thoughts On Baseball interviewed former Blue Jay Bob File.
Baseball Time In Arlington examines four scenarios that could arise should the Rangers not trade Michael Young.
The Dugout Doctors dug up some potential destinations for Young.
Blogging From The Bleachers compares Alex Rodriguez to Albert Pujols, with an eye towards the latter's upcoming mega-contract.
Meanwhile, both Sports: A Game Of Inches and Prospect Insider looked ahead to Pujols' future.
Red Sox Beacon wrote about a truly regrettable contract given out by the Red Sox.
More Hardball put a positive spin on the upcoming Mets season.
Rising Apple broke down David Wright's swing.
DesigNate Robertson gives Tigers fans ten things to look forward to in 2011.
Through The Fence Baseball wonders if Chipper Jones had a better career than Derek Jeter and Cal Ripken Jr.
MLB Prospect Watch provides a list of each team's minor league invites to Spring Training.
The Hardball Times comes up with a new way to evaluate pitchers for fantasy purposes.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. One email per week, please.

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