Headlines

  • Braves To Extend Orlando Arcia
  • Guardians, Trevor Stephan Agree To Four-Year Extension
  • Athletics Trade Cristian Pache To Phillies
  • Pirates, Bryan Reynolds Continue To Discuss Extension; Start Of Regular Season Reportedly Seen As Deadline
  • MLB, MLBPA Reach Tentative Agreement On Minor League CBA
  • Cubs Sign Nico Hoerner To Three-Year Extension
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Make Or Break Year: Matt Capps

By Luke Adams 2 | March 12, 2011 at 7:39pm CDT

The winter of 2011 was a good time to be a reliever in search of a new contract. Beginning with Joaquin Benoit's three-year deal with the Tigers, the offseason saw a total of 17 relievers sign multiyear contracts, according to MLBTR's Free Agent Tracker. Of those 17 deals, ten were worth eight figures.

756100703088_MLB_Mets_at_Nationals While this is great news for next winter's class of free agent relievers, it doesn't necessarily guarantee a massive payday. As our list of potential free agents shows, competition for late-inning relief roles next year should be fierce, with a number of intriguing arms poised to hit the market. Heath Bell, Jonathan Broxton, Francisco Cordero, Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Rafael Soriano, and Jose Valverde are just a few of the pitchers who could be available after 2011.

Matt Capps figures to be among that group of free agent relievers after the season, and his will be one of the more interesting cases to monitor. The right-hander is coming off an exceptional 2010, in which he saved 42 games and recorded a 2.47 ERA between Washington and Minnesota. Capps was rewarded with a $7.15MM salary in his final arbitration season, but another raise next year is no sure thing.

Capps is just a year removed from a 2009 campaign so poor that the Pirates non-tendered him at season's end. After posting career-worst marks in ERA (5.80), BB/9 (2.8), and HR/9 (1.7), Capps righted the ship last season, making 2009 look like an anamoly. However, in what is essentially a contract year, the 27-year-old can't afford to regress again.

Capps' road to a lucrative multiyear deal is also made a little tougher by his probable role with the 2011 Twins. Joe Nathan, returning from Tommy John surgery, has been very effective this spring, and will likely get a chance to reclaim his closer's job as long as he's healthy. We saw plenty of setup men sign sizable contracts this past winter, but another season of 40+ saves would arguably set Capps up for a much bigger payday.

Even in a setup role and up against 2012's intimidating class of free agent relievers, Capps should have no problem earning himself an eight-figure contract if he continues to pitch like he did in 2010. There's not a whole lot of margin for error though. If Capps turns in a season closer to 2009's performance, teams will have no shortage of alternate options for their late-inning needs.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Share 0 Retweet 10 Send via email0

Make Or Break Year Minnesota Twins Matt Capps

Quick Hits: Cabral, Bourn, Greenberg, Aardsma
Main
Red Sox Open To Offers For Matsuzaka, Others?
View Comments (4)

Comments

  1. wickedkevin

    12 years ago

    I feel like Capps will end up being the cheap alternative or set up guy to the likes of Bell, Paps, Broxton, Nathan, etc no matter how good/bad of a year he has.

    Reply
  2. baseballdude

    12 years ago

    i dont think its a make it or break it year for him

    Reply
    • Deviation

      12 years ago

      Everyone seems to have a different definition of what it is to have a make or break year. I think this site has been pretty consistent about what it is to them though, and it makes sense considering that what they track is trades and contracts.

      A make or break year, in the parlance of MLB Trade Rumors, is a year that’s going to have a heavy impact on a player’s next contract. And it’s usually not just because it’s a contract year, but because they’ve had off years recently instead of having a consistent track record.

      Matt Capps is coming up on a contract year, and while he had a good season last year, his previous was bad enough that the Pirates DFA’ed him – which I think is an example of really poor management, myself. They should have been able to get something worthwhile for him.

      Reply
  3. jls9274

    12 years ago

    I feel like even if he struggles as Minnesota’s setup man, someone will overpay for him next year because they’ll figure he needs to be in a closer’s role to succeed.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Braves To Extend Orlando Arcia

    Guardians, Trevor Stephan Agree To Four-Year Extension

    Athletics Trade Cristian Pache To Phillies

    Pirates, Bryan Reynolds Continue To Discuss Extension; Start Of Regular Season Reportedly Seen As Deadline

    MLB, MLBPA Reach Tentative Agreement On Minor League CBA

    Cubs Sign Nico Hoerner To Three-Year Extension

    Daniel Murphy Signs With Long Island Ducks

    Guardians, Andrés Giménez Finalizing Seven-Year, $106.5MM Extension

    Brewers Sign Luke Voit To One-Year Deal

    Guardians Discussing Extensions With Multiple Players

    Cristian Pache Will Not Make Athletics’ Roster; A’s Exploring Trade Scenarios

    Triston McKenzie Shut Down For At Least Two Weeks With Teres Major Strain

    Yankees To Select Anthony Volpe’s Contract

    Cardinals To Select Jordan Walker

    Mets Option Brett Baty, Mark Vientos

    Luke Voit Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With The Brewers

    Mets Sign Dylan Bundy To Minor League Deal

    Reds Acquire Will Benson From Guardians

    Cardinals Sign Miles Mikolas To Two-Year Extension

    Keston Hiura Will Not Make Brewers’ Roster

    Recent

    Braves To Extend Orlando Arcia

    Guardians, Trevor Stephan Agree To Four-Year Extension

    Athletics Trade Cristian Pache To Phillies

    Padres’ Third Base Coach Matt Williams Taking Leave Of Absence After Colon Cancer Diagnosis

    White Sox Notes: Hendriks, Right Field, Colas, Garcia

    Pirates, Bryan Reynolds Continue To Discuss Extension; Start Of Regular Season Reportedly Seen As Deadline

    MLB, MLBPA Reach Tentative Agreement On Minor League CBA

    Padres To Select David Dahl

    Offseason In Review: Colorado Rockies

    Twins Select Willi Castro

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Offseason Outlook Series
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version