Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for April 2011

A’s Notes: Gonzalez, Beane, Cahill

By | at

The A's announced their multiyear deal with Trevor Cahill today; here are some related notes and reactions to the deal:

  • Gio Gonzalez told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he wouldn't mind a deal of his own (Twitter link). "It looks like everyone in the rotation is getting a deal. I'm crossing my fingers!" MLBTR's Luke Adams examined the possibility of a Gonzalez deal yesterday.
  • Billy Beane won't discuss which player(s) he's considering for possible extensions, but he told Slusser that extending young players is a template for success for small and mid-market teams (Twitter link).
  • As MLBTR's Tim Dierkes pointed out last month, Daric Barton is another extension candidate.
  • Beane says Cahill has impressed him by learning quickly, according to Slusser. "I've never seen someone make such great strides in such a short amount of time," Beane said (Twitter link).
  • For comparison's sake, I took a look at Brett Anderson's extension, signed a year ago this week.

Brett Anderson’s Extension One Year Later

By | at

Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill were born four weeks apart, went in the same round of the same draft and made their MLB debuts the same week. The similarities extend to their stats, their service time and their place in Oakland's long term plans. 

Anderson

Examine their respective extensions, however, and the parallels aren't as strong. Anderson signed a year ago this week for a guaranteed $12.5MM over four years. If the A's exercise both of their club options, Anderson (pictured) will become a free agent after the 2015 season with $31.4MM in career earnings.

Cahill signed a record deal earlier this afternoon that guarantees him $30.5MM over five years. If the A's exercise both of their club options, Cahill will become a free agent after the 2017 season with $57.5MM in career earnings.

At a glance, it appears that Cahill got a decisively better contract by waiting a year, both in terms of guaranteed money and potential earnings over the course of the deal.

There's another way to look at the extensions, though. Anderson will be a free agent by the 2015-16 offseason at the latest, potentially two years earlier than his rotation-mate. Given the scarcity of top starters on the free agent market, Anderson and his representatives at Legacy Sports Group will be in an enviable position when his contract expires, assuming he pitches well; his age 28 and 29 seasons could be worth $40MM total on the open market. 

If the A's exercise both of their options for both pitchers, Anderson will have to earn $26.1MM for 2016-17 to match Cahill's career earnings, an achievable goal given the asking price for the few top starters who do reach free agency. Cahill won't earn more than $26.5MM for his age 28-29 seasons, a trade-off for the security he obtains with substantial guaranteed salaries in 2014-15.

The 2016-17 seasons seem distant now and injuries or poor performance could limit Anderson's marketability between now and then. There's no question that he doesn't have the same security as Cahill, but in surrendering fewer years of team control, he'll appear on the open market sooner. That could be a good thing for Anderson, since the market is a profitable place to be for elite free agent starters who have yet to turn 30.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

Tim Byrdak Has An App For That

By | at

Let's face it: our constant desire for baseball transaction news is insatiable, but there isn't much logic to it. Whether our favorite team signs a left-handed reliever in December or January will have little effect on the upcoming season.

But a person with a vested interest in offseason signings is, naturally, the player himself. A guaranteed Major League deal as opposed to a simple invitation to Spring Training is the difference between someone asking you to move to a new city with a guaranteed income and asking you to come for a few weeks to play a lottery ticket.

So it should come as no surprise that Mets reliever Tim Byrdak, who has pitched for five Major League teams and numerous minor league outfits, has the MLB Trade Rumors app on his iPhone. Every rumor, whether involving him or one of his lefty specialist brethren, has the potential to completely shake up his life and uproot his family.

"You do everything you can to keep your job, and I felt like I put up pretty strong numbers," Byrdak said as we chatted in front of his locker last week. Byrdak noted that he'd pitched through a sports hernia last year, though his results against lefties (a .644 OPS, 8.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9) hardly suffered as a result.

"I thought we'd have more of an opportunity to secure a big-league job," Byrdak continued. "So you have to keep watching the wire, MLB Trade Rumors, all these sites to see who is going where, who has interest in guys. So it became a pretty valuable tool for me to keep an eye on other lefties that were still on the market, and how that market was developing."

What may seem like a minor post to a reader about a team's interest in a middle reliever is seismic to someone like Byrdak, and he found it hard to avoid getting frustrated by some of the things he read.

"There were a couple [of times]," Byrdak said. "You would hear from a couple of different teams, and you thought you'd be starting the negotiation process. People have asked me, 'How come I don't play for the White Sox' [Byrdak is from nearby Oak Forest, IL], and I tell them, 'Well, you know, they've never offered me a job."

Apparently, the White Sox did express some interest, raising Byrdak's hopes of a homecoming.

"They said last year, they were going to offer me a minor league deal, but we didn't know what they were going to do with [Chris Sale], what they were going to do with [Matt] Thornton – was he going to close for them – and then all of the sudden, out of nowhere, I read on MLB Trade Rumors that they signed Will Ohman to a two-year deal.

"So there were times that you'd be talking to a team, and then you'd read that they had interest in somebody else, and it was kind of a shock."

After three seasons with Houston, Byrdak worked hard not to worry too much about the process all winter. But he acknowledged the difficulty in being unable to tell his family just how their next few months would unfold.

"The whole adversity of it was the wait-and-see," Byrdak explained. "You want to do everything you can to prepare for the season. But it's nice to have, in the back of your mind, knowing where you're going to be. It was different for me and for my family."

Over the course of the offseason, Byrdak had a number of other minor league offers. Ultimately, after waiting for a Major League deal that never came, he signed with the Mets on January 21, and made the team with a strong spring.

"I read somewhere, Chad Durbin said the same thing, that you've got to take what was out there," Byrdak said. "There wasn't a big-league job out there for us to get. I'm a guy who usually is coming into camp – you're in shape – but it's about getting your arm strength, getting everything together without the pressure. It was different this year. You have to compete, put up zeroes as early and often as you can."

Now with a Major League roster spot secured, Byrdak plans to use the 2011 season as proof to the 29 other teams that he deserved more security.

"You want to prove to all of those teams that they were wrong," Byrdak said. "It's a little extra incentive to go out there and have the best year you can."

And if Byrdak excels for the Mets in 2011, that article he seeks – Byrdak Signs Long-Term Deal – could pop right up on MLB Trade Rumors. You may read it and have little reaction. But in the Byrdak household, the response will be huge.

Athletics, Trevor Cahill Agree To Multiyear Deal

By | at

Billy Beane continued an Oakland tradition today, locking up yet another promising young starter. The A's GM agreed to sign Trevor Cahill through his arbitration years and then some with a five-year deal that the team confirmed this afternoon.

The contract, which is worth $30.5MM in guaranteed money, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney, buys out Cahill's last pre-arbitration season, his three arbitration years and at least one free agent year (Twitter link). The A's have two options worth $13MM and $13.5MM for 2016 and 2017, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter).

Cahill's contract is along the lines of the five-year, $30MM deals signed by Ricky Romero, Jon Lester, Yovani Gallardo and, more recently, Clay Buchholz. Cahill's deal, negotiated by agent John Boggs, is a record for pitchers with two to three years of big league service, beating Romero's mark from last summer.

The deal represents a departure from Oakland's earlier pitcher extensions. Beane didn't guarantee more than $12.65MM to Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, Rich Harden, Dan Haren or Brett Anderson when he locked them up to long-term deals (keep in mind that those contracts covered different chunks of the players' careers). 

Cahill, a California native, turned in a 2.97 ERA with 5.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 across 30 starts in 2010. His first two starts have gone well in 2011; he has struck out 15 in 12 2/3 innings, allowing just 7 hits and 4 walks for a 1.42 ERA.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com first reported the agreement.

Tim Dierkes and Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Heyman On Manny, Mets, Yankees, Dodgers

By | at

Jon Heyman of SI.com points out that despite all of his antics, Manny Ramirez earned more than any players other Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. And unlike Jeter and Rodriguez, Ramirez was not a well-rounded player. Here’s Heyman’s latest from around the league:

  • There’s ‘growing suspicion’ that the Mets will look to trade veterans such as Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Francisco Rodriguez if they are not contending midseason. Plus, Mike Pelfrey could find himself on the block.
  • Though the Yankees maintain that Phil Hughes is healthy, it’s troubling for them to see him pitching with reduced velocity. It’s part of the reason they have continued adding starting pitching depth, most recently with Carlos Silva.
  • Dodgers owner Frank McCourt had proposed a deal that would have seen FOX advance him $200MM, but MLB rejected it, according to Heyman. McCourt is losing the support of fellow owners, Heyman reports.

Quick Hits: Buchholz, Duaner Sanchez, Royals

By | at

Links for Monday, as Angels number two prospect Tyler Chatwood prepares for his big league debut against the first place Indians…

  • The Red Sox were non-negotiable on getting two club options on Clay Buchholz's contract, reports Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.  Buchholz explained, "If it was me and I didn’t have a wife and a kid that I had to take care of, it might have been a decision that we would have thought about a little bit more."
  • Teams are locking up their best players earlier and placing increased emphasis on club options, writes Dave Cameron of FanGraphs, and the result may be that "the best players in the game are going to be significantly underpaid during their primes," while the free agent market could become even more inflated.
  • Reliever Duaner Sanchez signed with the Long Island Ducks, the team announced.  Sanchez hasn't pitched in the Majors since May of '09, his career derailed by a July '06 taxi cab accident.  His Ducks teammates include Ruddy Lugo, J.R. House, Lew Ford, and John Rodriguez.
  • Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star writes about how Royals owner David Glass changed his tightfisted ways upon hiring Dayton Moore as GM about five years ago.  Glass won't rule out keeping his talented wave of top prospects together on long-term deals "regardless of who their agent is."
  • Baseball America links: Conor Glassey chatted with potential top draft pick Anthony Rendon, while J.J. Cooper lists the youngest players in every league.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has details on the iPads Carl Crawford's agent Brian Peters distributed as a promotional tool early in the outfielder's free agency.  Though GM Theo Epstein said the iPad didn't change his evaluation of Crawford, he was compelled to return the favor with some Red Sox Beats By Dre headphones.  First Dr. Dre mention in MLBTR history?

Offseason In Review: Houston Astros

By | at

The Astros are next in our Offseason In Review series.

Major League Signings

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Trades and Claims

Notable Losses

Summary

It was a quiet offseason for Astros GM Ed Wade, who added some middle infield pop, extended Wandy Rodriguez, and acquired a few arms via trades and claims.

For about $7MM, Wade revamped his middle infield with Hall and Barmes.  Not many teams considered these players middle infield regulars, which might be a red flag.  Wade is taking an offensive-minded approach to second base and shortstop, and both players have 20 home run ability.  Of course, they both have .300 OBP ability too, so I'm not sure that the lineup will benefit much.  Once again, this appears to be an Astros lineup littered with easy outs.  Barmes, who broke a bone in his hand in March, is in line for a late April debut.

Barmes

I can't complain too much about the Hall and Barmes pickups, as they're not blocking anyone.  Still, the Rockies got the better end of the Barmes-Paulino swap.  Why would the Astros rid themselves of a 27-year-old with a 96 mile per hour fastball and 8.1 career K/9?  Barmes (pictured) was a non-tender candidate for Colorado.

The Astros' barren offense is a shame, because their rotation has the potential to be solid (early returns aside).  Myers and Rodriguez form a strong one-two punch, J.A. Happ and Bud Norris have flashed 4.00 ERA skills, and Jordan Lyles is one of the 50 best prospects in baseball.

Extending Rodriguez was a win for Wade, as Wandy would have been one of the better free agent starters available after the season.  The price was reasonable, though I'm not sure what conditions cause his $13MM option for 2014 to vest.  In the cases of Rodriguez and Brett Myers, the extensions could improve their trade value for certain suitors should Wade look to improve his farm system this summer.

The Astros have a consensus bottom-five farm system, which must be improved if the team is to return to prominence.  Grabbing a couple of arms to try in the Rule 5 draft made sense.  Lindstrom was traded for prospects, though his salary might have been the Astros' motivation in trading him.  I don't mind a non-contender having an unproven bullpen, but I hope Lindstrom's potential $3MM salary didn't force Wade to settle for less in trade. 

The Astros finally committed to a rebuild last summer, trading two of their best-known players in Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman (though neither had much trade value).  This summer Wade will face tougher decisions on whether to move Rodriguez, Myers, Hunter Pence, and Michael Bourn, making the team even worse in the short term for the greater good.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

2012 Contract Issues: Pittsburgh Pirates

By | at

The 2012 Contract Issues series kicks off with a look at the Pirates.

Eligible For Free Agency (1)

  • First baseman Lyle Overbay is the one Pirates player who is eligible for free agency after the season with no strings attached.
  • GM Neal Huntington is also signed through 2011.  Team president Frank Coonelly told Rob Biertempfel in February, "He is under contract for this season and it’s our expectation that Neal will be here for a long time.  He has hot been extended at this point. We’ll continue to evaluate it as we move forward."

Contract Options (5)

  • Chris Snyder: $6.75MM club option with a $750K buyout.  It's difficult to picture Snyder being retained at a $6MM net price.
  • Paul Maholm: $9.75MM club option with a $750K buyout.  Maholm is a prime summer trade candidate, but his option will probably be declined.
  • Ryan Doumit: $7.25MM club option for '12, $8.25MM club option with '13, $500K buyout.  Another trade candidate, Doumit's options figure to be declined.
  • Ronny Cedeno: $3MM club option with a $200K buyout.  Though the price is reasonable, I can see the Pirates declining and trying someone else at shortstop next year.
  • Scott Olsen: $4MM club option with a $100K buyout.  Olsen appears headed to the bullpen once he recovers from a hamstring injury.  This option is unlikely to be exercised.  If it's declined, the Pirates must then decide whether to tender him a contract.

Arbitration Eligible (12)

Not all of these players will make it to arbitration, as some could fail to accrue the necessary service time and others will be non-tendered in December or cut loose beforehand.  Using CAA's Super Two cutoff projection of 2.146 years of service, Andrew McCutchen's first big payday won't come until 2013.

2012 Payroll Obligation

Cot's Baseball Contracts sets the Pirates' 2012 payroll obligation at just $10.625MM, with Kevin Correia accounting for more than a third of that.  You can pencil in another $4MM or so for Hanrahan and Meek.  If the Pirates want to be around $40MM again they should have about $25MM to play with.

Top Starters Unwilling To Go Year-To-Year

By | at

Baseball players, starting pitchers in particular, are a risk-averse bunch.  Given the choice between multiyear security and maximized earnings, they almost always choose the former.  You can't blame starting pitchers for wanting to lock in an eight-figure payday well before free agency, given the risk of a career-altering injury.  Still, I'm surprised that no ace starter has been willing to roll the dice and go year-to-year before hitting free agency in recent memory.

Here's the list of active starters who received Cy Young votes since 2007 and were willing to delay their own free agency with a multiyear contract:

Some were locked up well before free agency, while others signed extensions with just one year to go.  And the above list doesn't include guys like Ricky Romero, Gavin Floyd, Wandy Rodriguez, Johnny Cueto, Scott Baker, James Shields, Ricky Nolasco, and Yovani Gallardo.

Most top starters who didn't sign extensions and reached free agency as early as possible did so because of injuries, Erik Bedard for example.  Zambrano came very close, going to arbitration all three times and signing his five-year extension a few months before free agency.

A few frontline starters remain on the year-to-year path, such as David Price, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Jered Weaver, and Francisco Liriano.  Weaver, a Scott Boras client, seems most likely to be doing so to maximize his earnings.  Nothing wrong with that, and we don't know what the Angels offered, if anything.  Weaver could be a 30-year-old free agent after the 2012 season, with over $20MM in arbitration earnings in his pocket.  John Danks, Matt Garza, Shaun Marcum, C.J. Wilson, and Jeremy Guthrie are also on the year-to-year track currently.

Though they signed multiyear deals, Tim Lincecum and Cole Hamels each left at least one arbitration year uncovered, as well as all free agent years.  They've got the best of both worlds, locking in over $20MM without delaying free agency.  Edwin Jackson isn't at their level, but he's another starter who snagged an eight-figure contract and remained on track for free agency as early as possible.

Free Agent Contracts Gone Sour

By | at

Tons of research goes into any free agent signing, given the amount of money at stake.  Still, one year later many have already gone sour.  A look at some of the regrettable $10MM+ contracts from the 2009-10 offseason…

  • It feels too early to throw John Lackey into this discussion, as he ended up giving the Red Sox 215 decent innings last year.  But he does have a 4.83 ERA over the life of the contract.  The deal was frontloaded, so Lackey will be paid $61MM over 2011-14.
  • If new Mets GM Sandy Alderson could reverse Omar Minaya's Jason Bay contract, I'm sure he would.  Bay is owed $48MM over the 2011-13 seasons, with the possibility of a $17MM club option vesting for 2014.  A concussion ended his '10 season on July 25th, and he began the '11 season on the DL for a strained ribcage.  Bay's Mets line still stands at .259/.347/.402.
  • Chone Figgins' four-year, $36MM deal with the Mariners looked like a mild bargain at the time.  2010 was ugly, marked by an ill-advised position switch, a Don Wakamatsu altercation, and a batting average dip.  Only nine games in this year, Figgins has time to turn the contract around.
  • Randy Wolf provided the Brewers with 215 2/3 innings of 4.17 ball last year, but as with Lackey more was expected.  Wolf's 5.9 K/9 was his worst since '04.  The Brewers are probably glad to have the rotation depth at this point, so maybe the $20.5MM owed to Wolf over 2011-12 doesn't bother them.
  • At $7.25MM this year, Mike Cameron is an expensive fourth outfielder for the Red Sox.  They've got the payroll to tolerate the contract, and Cameron might be used more than most fourth outfielders.
  • Fernando Rodney's two-year, $11MM pact with the Angels was panned at the time.  You can't blame Rodney for this one turning ugly; his 2010 numbers were pretty similar to his '09 contract year.
  • The contracts for Jason Marquis, Mark DeRosa, and Mike Gonzalez also went sour in year one due to injuries.

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

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top