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New York Notes: Jeter, Berkman, Mets

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The latest from New York includes reaction to Derek Jeter and a reminder that the Yankees could have had one of the NL's hottest hitters last offseason. Here are the details…

  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman said this afternoon on ESPN 1050's "Ruocco and Lundberg" show that Jeter is an above-average MLB shortstop. "He's not the same player he used to be, and how many people are when they start to get older? But I think he's a championship-caliber contributor and an above-average shortstop, and that's more than enough,” Cashman said. Mike Mazzeo has quotes and audio at ESPNNewYork.com.
  • After a strong weekend at the plate, Jeter ranks in the top 15 in OBP, wOBA and WAR among all qualified shortstops. 
  • As Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out, it’s easy to forget that the Yankees declined their 2011 option for Lance Berkman. The switch-hitter has been among the best hitters in baseball this year, but the Yankees couldn’t have known that in the fall. At the time, they had a DH of their own (Jorge Posada) and Berkman’s $15MM option seemed steep, even for the Yankees.
  • Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that interest in a minority share of the Mets is surprisingly strong (Twitter link). Commissioner Bud Selig expressed confidence in the Mets organization and their financial issues yesterday.

Edmonton Capitals Sign Willy Aybar

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The Edmonton Capitals of the independent North American League have signed Willy Aybar, the league announced. The Rays non-tendered the 28-year-old switch-hitter in December and he remained a free agent until today without drawing any reported interest.

The five-year veteran appeared in 100 games for the Rays last season, his third in Tampa. He finished the season with a .230/.309/.344 line through 309 plate appearances as a utility infielder. Aybar has a .258/.341/.399 career line and experience at all four infield positions since breaking in with the Dodgers in 2005.

Regular MLBTR Features

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If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:

  • MLBTR Chats – Come by every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the major leagues.
  • Baseball Blogs Weigh In – Every Friday morning, Mike Axisa directs you to some of the best writing on baseball blogs around the web. Whether it's opinion, stats or something else entirely, you can connect to the best of the blogosphere once a week on MLBTR. If you want to send Mike a post of yours, reach him at: mike@riveraveblues.com.
  • Week In Review – It's amazing how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, we summarize the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
  • MLBTR Originals – We gather all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.

Pirates Want Five Or More Years On McCutchen Deal

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The Pirates are talking to center fielder Andrew McCutchen about an extension, tweets SI's Jon Heyman, and they're insisting on at least a five-year deal.  That's another way of saying they want to buy out at least one free agent year, which comes as no surprise.  As noted in our agency database, McCutchen is represented by Steve Hammond of Aegis Sports Management.

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported eight days ago that the two sides are in talks but no agreement was imminent.  I mentioned at that time that I expect a six-year term, and I feel that McCutchen deserves $52MM or more based on comparable contracts.

Orioles Designate Josh Rupe For Assignment

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The Orioles designated righty Josh Rupe for assignment to open a 25-man roster spot for shortstop J.J. Hardy, according to the team.  Since Hardy was already on the 40-man, the team now has 39 players on that roster.

Rupe, 28, tossed 14 1/3 unimpressive relief innings for the Orioles this year.  He signed a minor league deal with Baltimore in December and made the team out of Spring Training.  He spent last year relieving for the Royals' Triple-A affiliate, posting a 2.92 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 52 1/3 innings.

A third-round pick of the White Sox in '02, Rupe was traded to the Rangers in July of '03 along with Frank Francisco and Anthony Webster for Carl Everett.  He battled elbow problems in his Rangers career and was designated for assignment in April of '09.

2012 Contract Issues: Oakland Athletics

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

Eligible For Free Agency (7)

  • David DeJesus, Mark Ellis, Josh Willingham, Coco Crisp, Hideki Matsui, and Conor Jackson have accounted for 729 plate appearances this year, about 54% of the team's total.  Throw in non-tender candidate Kevin Kouzmanoff and that rises past 60%, so the offense could see huge turnover.  Jackson is getting on base, and Willingham is showing some pop, but so far this large group of position players is failing offensively.  There is plenty of time to turn things around, and players such as Ellis, Crisp, and DeJesus are also valued for their defense.  Still, the team's top outfield prospects are not ready to make an impact in 2012, so offense could again be a problem.
  • Rich Harden is also eligible for free agency.

Contract Options (1)

  • Michael Wuertz: $3.25MM club option with a $250K buyout.  Wuertz missed time with shoulder and hamstring injuries, but he's been sharp in the early going.  The A's will probably pick up his option.

Arbitration Eligible (14)

There might be a few non-tenders here, such as Kouzmanoff, but this is a huge arbitration class for Oakland.  Bailey will not have the 100 career saves that Bobby Jenks and Jonathan Papelbon did, but he could still get $3MM+.  Barton may also be in that range, Braden should stay there, and Gonzalez could reach $4MM.  Sweeney, Breslow, and Ziegler could get close to $2MM each.  McCarthy is tough to predict, and keep in mind that these are just rough estimates in all cases.  Assuming only Kouzmanoff is cut loose I'll put this group in the $25MM range.    

2012 Payroll Obligation

The Athletics' 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot's, is $24.238MM if Wuertz is retained.  Double that number to account for the arbitration eligibles, and the A's are about $17MM below this year's payroll.  Jemile Weeks could take over at second base, but the team would need to figure out third base, DH, and all three outfield spots.  GM Billy Beane will probably have to work the trade market to find affordable, useful players for some of those openings.

Astros Sign Max Ramirez

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The Astros signed catcher Max Ramirez to a minor league deal, according to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.  Carlos Corporan broke a finger last week, further compromising the Astros' catching depth, explained Levine.  Ramirez had been released by the Cubs on Friday.  The 26-year-old had been claimed off waivers by the Cubs from the Red Sox, who claimed him from the Rangers. 

Ramirez hit .286/.373/.381 in 226 plate appearances for the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate last year, picking up another 85 PAs with the big club.  He played 11 games for the Cubs' Triple-A team this year.  Ramirez may still have potential with the bat, but he is considered a below-average defensive catcher.    

Astros Notes: Crane, Pence, Draft

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At 13-22, the Astros currently have the worst record in the National League.  Baseball Prospectus continues to give them a 0.0% chance at the playoffs.  The Astros have scored 4.2 runs per game, which ranks seventh in the league.  However, their bullpen has the NL's worst ERA at 5.40.  The starting pitching has been subpar as well at 4.81, though that ranking is largely due to J.A. Happ (5.75) and the recently-designated Nelson Figueroa (8.28 as a starter).  On to today's notes…

  • Only "a little fine-tuning" remains to complete the sale of the Astros to Jim Crane, reports Bob Allen of ABC 13 out of Houston.  Allen expects the sale price to be around $680MM. 
  • I covered the Astros' 2012 contract issues last week; it will be interesting to see how the new ownership approaches the offseason.  If Hunter Pence reaches 100 RBIs for the first time in his career, will he set a new third-time arbitration record for position players going year by year?  Will the Astros be willing to pay him eight figures? 
  • Astros fans can look forward to the June 6th draft, in which the team picks 11th overall.  Three Baseball America experts did a mock draft as if they were in charge of the teams, and Conor Glassey took Oklahoma high school righty Dylan Bundy for Houston after considering George Springer and Taylor Jungmann.  Prior to the season, prospect gurus such as Keith Law, Kevin Goldstein, and BA all ranked the Astros' farm system 26th or worse among the 30 teams.
  • MLBTR has all kinds of Astros-centric pages to check out: Facebook, Twitter, RSS, and forums.

Arbitration Records: Position Players

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Recently we looked at the arbitration records for starting pitchers and catchers.  Today let's look at the general position player records.

Howard won a hearing against the Phillies in February of '08, as his $10MM submission was chosen over the team's surprisingly low $7MM figure.  Howard had a chance to continue smashing arbitration records, but a year later he signed a three-year extension after submitting $18MM against the team's $14MM. 

Had he gone to arbitration this year, I don't think Joey Votto would have set a new first-time record.  However, he could have come close and then set a second-time record for '12.  Instead, Votto signed a deal paying $38MM for his three arbitration years.  Howard's record might stand for a while – it's been over three years, but he came into that hearing with 129 home runs, 353 RBIs, a Rookie of the Year award, an MVP, and a fifth-place MVP finish.

Cabrera's second-time record isn't much higher than Howard's first-time salary.  Still, only a superstar player can get to that level in his second arbitration year.  Cabrera signed an eight-year deal a couple of months after agreeing at $11.3MM for '08, but that salary remained unchanged.

If you exclude Fielder and Mark Teixeira from the third-year group because they did not go year-to-year, Soriano's $10MM third-time mark seems especially fragile.  The Astros' Hunter Pence, who won a $6.9MM second-year salary in a hearing this year, has a shot at Soriano for '12.  Shin-Soo Choo, a Scott Boras client with a nice first-time salary of $3.975MM, could also keep going year-to-year and exceed $10MM for his third time.

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