Headlines

  • Jake McGee Retires
  • Royals Re-Sign Zack Greinke
  • Orioles To Decline Five-Year Lease Extension At Camden Yards, Seeking Longer-Term Agreement With Maryland Stadium Authority
  • Mariners, Dylan Moore Agree to Three-Year Extension
  • Blue Jays Sign Chad Green
  • Rays Extend Yandy Diaz
  • 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

How Much Will Ortiz, K-Rod, and Kelly Johnson Earn Next Year?

By Tim Dierkes | December 12, 2011 at 11:11am CDT

Free agents David Ortiz, Francisco Rodriguez, and Kelly Johnson accepted their teams' offers of arbitration last week, making them signed players for 2012.  In recent years we've seen the occasional setup-type free agent reliever accept arbitration, but not position player regulars or a closer.  Without much recent precedent, determining the salaries of Ortiz, Rodriguez, and Johnson will be tricky. 

The players have incentive to avoid hearings.  If a deal is agreed upon, the player asks for a Signing Guaranteed Provision, guaranteeing the contract.  A hearing, however, opens up the small chance of the player being released in spring training.  The team would have to prove the player "failed to to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability" during spring training.  The Padres pulled this off with Todd Walker in 2007, but it's rare.  The Red Sox are happy to have Ortiz next year, and the Blue Jays have use for Johnson.  While I imagine the Brewers would like a do-over on offering K-Rod arbitration, I don't think they'll try to release him in spring training and then go toe-to-toe with Scott Boras.

I talked to a team executive, a former agency employee, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz about the salaries Ortiz, Rodriguez, and Johnson might receive.  The details:

  • Estimates ranged from $13-15MM on Ortiz.  He's working from a $12.5MM salary, and his raise will probably be relatively small.  The Red Sox could point to Travis Hafner as a $13MM comparable, while Ortiz's agents at SFX could look to top Adam Dunn's $14MM by virtue of Ortiz's higher batting average.  A two-year deal is possible for Ortiz, but if the Red Sox are at $18MM, Big Papi might as well stop worrying about multiyear security since he can easily get more than $4-5MM in 2013 with a passable 2012.
  • K-Rod should be an interesting case.  On the high end, Boras could argue for Mariano Rivera's $15MM salary.  If they're feeling adventurous, the Brewers could actually try to cut Rodriguez's $11.5MM salary, citing Jonathan Papelbon's $11MM salary for 2012 or Rafael Soriano's $10MM salary.  Rest assured that trying to cut Rodriguez's salary would lead to a hearing, so a settlement closer to Rivera's figure seems possible.
  • Johnson's case might involve bringing in a third baseman such as Miguel Tejada, who signed at $6.5MM for 2011.  Johnson earned $5.85MM in an off-2011, so $7MM is probably his ceiling.  A multiyear deal is possible here.  
Share 0 Retweet 9 Send via email0

Boston Red Sox Milwaukee Brewers Toronto Blue Jays David Ortiz Francisco Rodriguez Kelly Johnson

Rockies Sign Ramon Hernandez
Main
Blue Jays Acquire Ben Francisco
View Comments (0)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Jake McGee Retires

    Royals Re-Sign Zack Greinke

    Orioles To Decline Five-Year Lease Extension At Camden Yards, Seeking Longer-Term Agreement With Maryland Stadium Authority

    Mariners, Dylan Moore Agree to Three-Year Extension

    Blue Jays Sign Chad Green

    Rays Extend Yandy Diaz

    Dexter Fowler Announces Retirement

    Mets Sign Jeff McNeil To Four-Year Extension

    Red Sox, Marlins Swap Matt Barnes For Richard Bleier

    Darren O’Day Announces Retirement

    Braves Extend Manager Brian Snitker Through 2025

    Rays Sign Pete Fairbanks To Extension

    Royals Sign Aroldis Chapman To One-Year Deal

    Athletics Sign Jesús Aguilar

    Orioles Acquire Cole Irvin From A’s

    Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager

    Rays Extend Jeffrey Springs

    Royals, Red Sox Swap Adalberto Mondesi For Josh Taylor

    Red Sox Designate Matt Barnes For Assignment

    Scott Rolen Elected Into Baseball Hall Of Fame

    Recent

    Latest On Yuli Gurriel’s Free Agency

    Dodgers Sign Luke Williams, Yusniel Diaz, Robbie Erlin To Minor League Deals

    Mariners Outright J.B. Bukauskas

    Jake McGee Retires

    Twins’ VP Of Player Personnel Mike Radcliff Passes Away

    Padres Promote Ryan Christenson To Associate Manager

    Diamondbacks Sign Yairo Munoz To Minor League Contract

    Big Hype Prospects: Cowser, Bleday, Alvarez, Outman, Steer

    White Sox Acquire Franklin German, Designate Jason Bilous

    Rangers Sign Bernardo Flores Jr. To Minor League Contract

    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
    • 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