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Only One Extension For Catchers This Offseason

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Extension season might not be over yet, but if recent history is any indication, we've seen most or all of this spring's extensions. You have to go back to 2008 to find an extension completed in May or June, so there's a chance that Ryan Braun's deal will be the last one of its kind for a few months.

If that's the case, 37 players will have signed extensions since the beginning of the 2010-11 offseason. Exactly one of those players, Ryan Hanigan of the Reds, is a catcher. It's noteworthy, if not downright surprising, that no starting catchers signed extensions when you consider that dependable catching is hard to come by and that teams spent aggressively last winter.

Unlike the 2009-10 offseason, when the Twins extended Joe Mauer, no backstop was an obvious candidate for an extension. Mike Napoli is getting expensive and he doesn't have a reputation as a good defender. Matt Wieters hit just .249/.319/.377 last year, so it's understandable that the Orioles didn't commit to him on a mutliyear deal. And it would have made little sense for the Indians to extend Carlos Santana, who had an operation to repair a damaged knee ligament (his LCL) last August.

Buster Posey was an extension candidate, but there's no rush for the Giants to extend him, since he's under team control through 2016. Perhaps the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year will be in line for a long-term deal after 2011 if he repeats his breakout rookie performance.

Geovany Soto would have been a more traditional candidate for an extension. He hit .280/.393/.497 with 17 homers last year and was arbitration eligible for the first time in his career after the season. Soto is young enough for the Cubs to want him to keep him around (28) and close enough to free agency that they might be thinking about securing his services for an extra season or two (Soto is eligible for free agency after 2013). They didn't agree to terms on a long-term contract and instead signed a one-year, $3MM deal.

Given the circumstances surrounding each extension candidate, it's easier to see why Hanigan was the only backstop to sign long-term. Next year, however, more catchers, including some of the ones above, could sign extensions. Elite catchers don't hit free agency often, so the teams that develop catching may choose to keep it in place long-term by offering promising catchers extensions.

Ryan Howard’s Extension One Year Later

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Ryan Howard's five-year, $125MM extension doesn't kick in until 2012, but it has been exactly one year since the Phillies signed their slugging first baseman long-term. A year ago this time, the reaction to GM Ruben Amaro Jr. was critical. Why, analysts asked, would the Phillies commit nine figures for Howard's age 32-36 seasons when he doesn't play a premium position and figures to be well into his decline phase by 2016, the last guaranteed year of the contract?

The Phillies had their reasons for making the deal; Howard had reached 45 homers for the fourth consecutive season in 2009, further establishing himself as one of the premier power hitters in the game. Yet Rob Neyer, Keith Law, Dave Cameron, Ken Rosenthal and others argued that Howard's power didn't necessarily justify a five-year deal worth $25MM per season.

Since finalizing the contract, Howard has hit .278/.357/.508 with 31 homers, 111 RBI, 24 doubles and 5 triples. The 31-year-old made the All-Star team in 2010 and cracked the top ten in the NL MVP balloting, though he posted a career-low slugging percentage and hit fewer home runs than usual. Though his numbers are good, they aren't what we're used to seeing from Howard and the Phillies may have been counting on more (he has just 2.4 total wins above replacement since the beginning of 2010).

Howard remains an above-average first baseman, a key player for a perennial contender that currently has the best record in the game. But he's older and less productive than Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, the two premier position players who will hit free agency after 2011. If Howard had not signed his extension, he would have hit the open market this offseason as the third-most appealing player at his position.

His career numbers would have generated lots of interest, especially if he continues producing in 2011, and there's no doubt that he would have been in line for an impressive free agent contract. $25MM per year, however, would likely have been out of reach for Howard. We won't know for another five years whether the initial reaction to the deal was fair, but at this point it appears that the analysts were right: Howard and agent Casey Close are looking smart for signing the $125MM contract a year ago.

Stark On Millwood, Nationals, Fuld

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ESPN.com's Jayson Stark breaks down the possible implications of expanded playoffs before providing some rumblings from around the league. Here they are:

  • Even though Kevin Millwood has won both of his minor league starts and posted a 1.29 ERA, scouts say he doesn’t look very good. Millwood, whose fastball is averaging 85 mph, can opt out of his contact with the Yankees this Sunday.
  • Rival teams are eyeing the Nationals’ catching depth, but they’re finding that after missing two seasons with labrum surgery, Jesus Flores isn’t ready.
  • Sam Fuld has become an important piece for the Rays, but the Cubs expected to move him last offseason, according to Stark. Fuld had a history of getting injured, was behind Kosuke Fukudome and Tyler Colvin on the depth chart and was out of options and when the Cubs sent him to the Rays.

Quick Hits: Schieffer, Ranaudo, Cust

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Lance Berkman's return to Houston is a popular topic today, with the best takes I've found coming from Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Astros senior director of digital media Alyson Footer.  On to today's links:

Pirates Claim Xavier Paul

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The Pirates claimed outfielder Xavier Paul off waivers from the Dodgers, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Paul had been designated for assignment on April 18th to make room for Jerry Sands.  The Pirates announced they transferred Scott Olsen to the 60-day DL to open up a 40-man roster spot for Paul.  They'll make a 25-man roster move once Paul reports to Pittsburgh. 

Paul, 26, hit .325/.384/.579 in 250 Triple-A plate appearances last year, playing all three outfield positions in his third stint at the level.  The success did not carry over to the big leagues.  Paul last cracked a Baseball America handbook prior to the 2010 season, at which point he was rated a couple of spots ahead of Sands at 23rd among Dodgers prospects.  BA praised Paul's raw talent, but said he doesn't have enough power to compensate for his strikeouts.  He's a good defender with plus speed.

Paul is the ninth player Pirates GM Neal Huntington has claimed off waivers since the beginning of 2010, according to MLBTR's Transaction Tracker.

Arbitration Records: Starting Pitchers

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Several arbitration records could fall in 2012.  Here's my best attempt at finding the current records for starting pitchers who went year-to-year.

  • First time: Dontrelle Willis – $4.35MM (2006).  If you count the $100K in award bonuses Jered Weaver earned last year, he's the record holder at $4.365MM.
  • Second time: Jered Weaver – $7.37MM (2011).  Weaver's agent Scott Boras actually aimed to push this bar up to $8.8MM, but he lost an arbitration hearing to the Angels.  There does not appear to be a challenger to this record in the upcoming offseason.
  • Third time: Carlos Zambrano – $12.4MM (2007).  Z's $5.9MM raise had precedent: the $6MM raises Kevin Millwood and Chan Ho Park received early in the decade.

Whatever you consider the first-time record, it'll probably fall unless Clayton Kershaw and David Price sign multiyear extensions.  If those two aces have their first-time salaries determined in the arbitration process, they'll probably both reach $5MM.

Weaver, who already has six wins and 49 strikeouts on the season, has a good chance of topping Zambrano's $5.9MM raise and setting a new standard for elite pitchers going to arbitration for a third time.  Based on projections, Weaver should be well ahead of where Zambrano was before his third arbitration year in everything aside from ERA (in which they could be almost dead even).  Boras could have a good case for a $7-8MM raise, taking Weaver to a $15MM salary in his final year before free agency.

Side note: if Weaver's salary gets to such dizzying heights, the rising tide will lift those below him like John Danks and Matt Garza.  If Weaver gets to $15MM before Danks' salary is determined, Danks' agent can use that to his client's benefit.

We haven't yet mentioned Tim Lincecum, who would have eclipsed Willis' record had he not signed a two-year deal.  Lincecum is untouchable, and if his 2012 salary is determined by the arbitration process it will easily top Weaver's and be an arbitration record for all non-free agent players, not just pitchers. 

2012 Contract Issues: San Francisco Giants

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The Giants are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series.  Here's what the team faces after the 2011 season:

Eligible For Free Agency (6)

  • Veteran position players Miguel Tejada, Cody Ross, Mark DeRosa, and Pat Burrell will be eligible for free agency after the season.  Tejada, Ross, and DeRosa are making $6MM+ this year, and it probably won't make sense to keep them around at similar salaries.
  • Relievers Javier Lopez and Guillermo Mota are both off to good starts in the early going.

Contract Options (1)

  • Jeremy Affeldt: $5MM club option with a $500K buyout.  I'm not sure this is a good investment given Affeldt's control issues.  I'm leaning toward this being declined right now.

Arbitration Eligible (11)

Lincecum is the arbitration case everyone will be watching.  He was aiming for a first-time record before settling on a two-year deal in February of last year.  Lincecum is in a class by himself and could seek close to $20MM for 2012.  The Giants could try for another multiyear extension instead of working to prevent their ace from shattering arbitration records for his '12 and '13 salaries.

Sandoval and Sanchez deserve consideration for extensions as well.  Otherwise, I could see the pair earning around $12MM in total for '12.  Torres, Romo, and Ramirez would also make sense to retain at the least.  It's a very rough estimate, but the Giants' arbitration eligibles could get around $40MM for next year.

2012 Payroll Obligation

The Giants' 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot's, is $72.933MM including Affeldt's buyout.  Arbitration eligible players could put them in the $113MM range, $5MM shy of this year's $118MM payroll.  It's difficult to see the Giants taking payroll much higher, so barring trades or money-saving extensions GM Brian Sabean will have to go cheap at shortstop and in the outfield.

Giants Make Nate Schierholtz Available

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The Giants are letting teams know outfielder Nate Schierholtz is available, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.  Andres Torres might come off the DL soon after recovering from a sore Achilles tendon, perhaps leaving the out of options Schierholtz without a spot.

In Schierholtz, Pat Burrell, Darren Ford, Cody Ross, and Aaron Rowand, the Giants currently have five outfielders on the active roster.  The Giants could retain Schierholtz by just sending down Darren Ford, who was recalled when Torres went on the DL.

There's also the question of whether Rowand has more value to the Giants than Schierholtz.  The 33-year-old Rowand is off to a tolerable start in 69 plate appearances after his ugly 2010, and is owed $22.3MM through the 2012 season.  Schierholtz has only 31 plate appearances, and has not produced.

Schierholtz, 27, was known to be on the bubble in March, but the Giants ended up outrighting Travis Ishikawa instead.  Schierholtz appears to have defensive value, and has shown promise offensively at Triple-A.

Brian Bannister Leaves Yomiuri Giants

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Pitcher Brian Bannister left the Yomiuri Giants on March 15th in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, reported Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times on April 10th.  Unlike most foreign players, Bannister left without permission and had to be placed on the restricted list.  Coskrey said that placement on the list prevents Bannister from playing for any team – "in or outside of Japan" – until the situation is resolved.

An AP story on this topic surfaced today, in which Bannister reportedly told Japanese officials he has no plans to play in Japan or the U.S.

Bannister, 30, elected free agency after being outrighted by the Royals in November following a 6.34 ERA campaign.  He went on to sign a $1.8MM deal with the Giants, but never pitched for them.

Gabe Gross Retires

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Gabe Gross has decided to retire, reports Jon Johnson of The Enterprise Ledger.  Said Gross:

"I just felt like my heart wasn’t into it.  This and quitting football are the two hardest decisions I’ve ever made."     

Gross signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in February, and after a March release he was ready to hang up his cleats.  But then he took the Marlins up on an offer last week.  When his Sunday physical was delayed, he thought about it for an extra day and decided to retire to spend time with his wife and two kids.

The 31-year-old finishes his career having earned approximately $5MM, including his signing bonus as the 15th overall pick out of Auburn by the Blue Jays in 2001.  He posted a .239/.330/.385 line in seven seasons for the Jays, Brewers, Rays, and Athletics.  Gross was involved in the 2005 deal in which the Jays also sent Dave Bush to the Brewers for Lyle Overbay.

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