Phillies, Madson Nearing Four-Year Deal
WEDNESDAY, 12:20am: Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and Madson have agreed to a four-year, $44MM deal, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. The contract has been awaiting the approval of Phillies CEO David Montgomery for over a day, however.
Meanwhile, a source close to Madson told CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury Tuesday night that there was no deal and talks were ongoing. Papelbon may still be in the picture.
TUESDAY, 5:07pm: Yahoo's Tim Brown confirms the sides are discussing a deal worth $44MM over four years plus a fifth-year option for $13MM (Twitter links). Nothing is official yet.
4:36pm: The Phillies are closing in on a four-year deal with Ryan Madson, according to Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio (Twitter links). The contract could include a fifth year vesting option for the Scott Boras client. The sides seem to be discussing an annual salary of $11MM or so for Madson, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
Madson, 31, became Philadelphia's full-time closer in 2011, converting 32 saves. He posted a 2.37 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 48.8% ground ball rate in 60 2/3 innings of relief. He's a Type A free agent, but the Phillies won't have to surrender a draft pick to sign their own player. However, they would obtain two picks if the right-hander signs elsewhere after turning down arbitration.
If the deal goes through, it would help other free agent closers, none more so than Jonathan Papelbon. No reliever signed a four-year deal last offseason, although five pitchers signed three-year contracts. In fact, no reliever has signed a four-year deal since Scott Linebrink and Francisco Cordero four years ago. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes predicted last month that Madson had a shot at four years.
Bryan Grosnick examines the fantasy implications of the move at CloserNews.com, the destination for reliever-related fantasy baseball content.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Johnny Damon
Johnny Damon turned 38 over the weekend, but he can still hit. In fact he may be the best available designated hitter of the offseason not named David Ortiz. Now just 277 career hits away from 3,000, Damon’s probably two full seasons away from making history.
He hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 homers and 29 doubles in 582 plate appearances as the Rays' DH in 2011. Relative to the league as a whole, he hit well (110 OPS+), but DHs averaged a better batting line this past season: .265/.340/.429.
It's worth noting Damon has played in at least 140 games every season since 1996. Or, put another way, the last time he appeared in fewer than 140 games, he was 21 years old and Vince Coleman, Mark Gubicza and Juan Samuel were his teammates.
Agent Scott Boras will surely tell teams Damon adds value through leadership in the clubhouse and on the field. Boras told ESPN last offseason that championship caliber players like Damon "can be a force in the locker room and around young players."
Damon hasn’t played the field regularly since 2009, so don’t expect him to play much defense in 2012, his age-38 season. Jim Thome will be wielding a glove next year, so anything’s possible, but Damon will probably DH. Fortunately for him, he’s a Type B free agent and won’t be tied to draft pick compensation.
Recent history suggests Damon will sign a one-year deal late in the offseason. He signed an $8MM contract with the Tigers in February of 2010 and signed a $5.25MM deal with the Rays last January. Budget-permitting, the Rays could be a fit again. If not, the Orioles, Blue Jays, Athletics and Twins may have interest in signing Damon to another modest one-year deal as he approaches 3,000 hits.
Photo courtesy Icon SMI.
Rangers Expressing Early Interest In Pitching
The Rangers are aggressively exploring possible deals for free agent starters and closers, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Texas' front office is considering other options and while pitching remains the' top offseason priority, Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols could tempt GM Jon Daniels, according to Sullivan.
The Rangers have expressed preliminary interest in free agent starters such as Mark Buehrle, Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt. Rangers officials acknowledged interest in Oswalt, who is drawing substantial early attention despite back issues that landed him on the disabled list twice in 2011. C.J. Wilson is a free agent and the Rangers could convert Neftali Feliz to the rotation, so there's lots of uncertainty when it comes to Texas' 2012 pitching staff.
Quick Hits: Yankees, Rodriguez, Ankiel
Links for Tuesday night as CBA talks progress and the Phillies work toward a deal for Ryan Madson…
- Keith Law of ESPN.com previews the free agent market for outfielders. Law likes Carlos Beltran, isn't optimistic about Michael Cuddyer and suggests avoiding Raul Ibanez, Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick.
- Though the Yankees have reached out to many agents, including Mark Buehrle’s representative, GM Brian Cashman says they have yet to make formal offers, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
- Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner outlines his offseason plan for the Mariners, assuming Seattle doesn't trade for Reds first baseman Joey Votto.
- Agent Scott Boras says a lot of teams have inquired on free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
- Rick Ankiel, another free agent Boras client, is still developing as a Major Leaguer, according to the agent. “We have not seen his best years," Boras said. "It’s certainly clear the Nats liked what they saw. It’s just pretty hard to find guys who can play center field, who have that arm strength and who can hit for power.”
Central Notes: Tigers, Cain, Cubs, Barmes
The Tigers signed Jhonny Peralta to a two-year deal on this date in 2010. The shortstop responded with 21 homers and a .299/.345/.478 line in 2011 and the Tigers won their division. Here's the latest from baseball's central divisions, starting in Detroit…
- Jonathan Maurer, the agent for free agent second baseman Jamey Carroll, told Lynn Henning of the Detroit News that the Tigers would be viewed "enthusiastically" should they approach Carroll about a deal. Obtaining a second baseman is one of the Tigers' offseason challenges.
- It doesn’t appear that the Tigers will talk seriously with free agent reliever Joe Nathan, according to Henning.
- Royals GM Dayton Moore told Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star that he’s “got to give” Lorenzo Cain a chance to play. The Royals created space for Cain yesterday, shipping Melky Cabrera to San Francisco for Jonathan Sanchez.
- The Cubs will interview Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. for their managerial opening later this week, according to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. The Red Sox are also interviewing the former catcher.
- Astros GM Ed Wade re-stated his interest in bringing shortstop Clint Barmes back, but he’s not sure the free agent will re-sign in Houston. “I just don't know if it's going to work in our situation," Wade told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Agent Barry Meister expects a “significant market” for Barmes.
NL West Notes: Bloomquist, Giants, Dodgers
The Rockies are interested in Kevin Millwood, Rich Harden and Bruce Chen and the Diamondbacks have signed Chris Jakubauskas. Here are some more news items from the NL West as the offseason continues…
- The Diamondbacks and Willie Bloomquist had a miscommunication over the weekend, but the club hasn’t given up on re-signing the utility player, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter). The sides had dialogue Sunday and Monday, according to Piecoro.
- The Giants are a possibility for Bloomquist, according to Yahoo’s Tim Brown (on Twitter).
- Former MLB commissioner Peter Ueberroth said he’s not currently interested in buying the Dodgers, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times. Ueberroth has led bids for the Dodgers and Angels in the past.
Significant Progress In CBA Talks
Baseball's owners and players made "significant progress" toward a new collective bargaining agreement today, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The current CBA expires in December, but completing a new deal before then would facilitate offseason decisions for teams by providing them with knowledge about the game's structure going forward. An agreement is possible this week, writes ESPN's Jayson Stark.
Earlier today, ESPN.com's Buster Olney reported that the sides are discussing possible alternatives for Type A free agents. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus hears that there’s been some talk of greatly reducing the number of compensatory draft picks in the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations (Twitter link).
Phillies Notes: Cuddyer, Oswalt, Madson
The Phillies are nearing a four-year deal with Ryan Madson. Here are some more notes about the team, starting with a potential teammate for the closer:
- Michael Cuddyer visited the Phillies today, according to Tom Sredenschek of FOX 29 in Philadelphia (on Twitter). The Phillies are said to be pursuing the outfielder seriously.
- The Phillies are still talking to free agent right-hander Roy Oswalt as they complete their deal with Madson, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Many other teams are pursuing Oswalt, who seeks a multiyear deal. Rosenthal reported earlier today that the Nationals plan a major push for Oswalt.
- Cuddyer placed 11th on MLBTR's list of top free agents, while Madson ranked 14th and Oswalt placed 18th.
The Stats MLBTR Readers Need To Know
Baseball is a numbers game and we use lots of stats here at MLBTR. Some of them are easy to understand (Prince Fielder hit 38 homers in 2011) and some of them aren't as simple (he posted a -5.2 UZR/150 last year). So here's a guide to some stats you see here and elsewhere. It's not meant to be comprehensive; there are lots more useful stats than the ones that appear below, but these are some important ones:
- OBP – On-base percentage shows you the percentage of time a player reaches base. The league average now hovers around .325. The NL got on base at a .319 clip this past season and American Leaguers reached at a .322 clip. To compute OBP, add hits, walks, and hit-by-pitches as the times on base, and divide this total by the sum of the player's at-bats, walks, hit-by-pitches, and sacrifice flies.
- SLG – Slugging percentage measures a player's extra base power. To calculate SLG, divide a player's total bases by his at-bats. Power hitters like Fielder and Albert Pujols regularly slug over .500, but league averages were approximately .400 this past season.
- You'll often see us list a player's batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage (always in that order) like this: .280/.340/.450.
- UZR/150 – The defensive metric Ultimate Zone Rating estimates the runs a defender saves or costs his team. UZR/150 shows a player's impact per 150 games played. Check out this two–part explanation for more detail and keep in mind that it's best to look at multiple seasons when evaluating a player's defense with UZR/150.
- K/9 – The number of batters a pitcher strikes out per nine innings pitched. Pitchers struck out 7.1 batters per nine innings in 2011.
- BB/9 – The number of batters a pitcher walks per nine innings pitched. Pitchers walked 3.1 batters per nine innings in 2011.
- HR/9 – The number of home runs a pitcher allows per nine innings. Pitchers allowed 0.94 homers per nine innings in 2011.
- GB % – The percentage of batted balls that are ground balls. The Cardinals led MLB with a 47.7% ground ball rate in 2011, while the Diamondbacks had the lowest ground ball rate in the league: 41.9%.
- SIERA - Skill-Interactive Earned Run Average estimates ERA through walk rate, strikeout rate and ground ball rate, eliminating the effects of park, defense and luck, according to Baseball Prospectus. It's one example of a defense independent pitching stat (DIPS).
Check out Baseball-Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus for lots more stats and check out our transactions glossary and the one at Cot's for explanations of transactions terms. MLBTR first published a version of this post on April 2nd, 2010.
Duquette Links: Quotes, Free Agents, Drafts
The Orioles officially introduced Dan Duquette as their GM today. Let's round up the latest from his press conference, plus more from Charm City…
- "This is right up my alley, turning around a ballclub and building a farm and scouting system," said Duquette to reporters (including MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli) at today's press conference. "This is what I love to do. This is a great opportunity. I'm thankful for it, and I'm ready to go to work."
- “Dan had a real grasp of where we were as an organization,” said manager Buck Showalter to reporters (including CSNBaltimore.com's Rich Dubroff). “He’s always been on everybody’s lists.”
- In an Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney provided some quotes from former Expos and Dodgers GM Kevin Malone, who worked with Duquette in Montreal. "The Orioles made an excellent decision in hiring Dan Duquette," he said. "[He's] a talented, proven and experienced GM that knows how to build winning and successful ML teams and organizations."
- "I don’t know that it’s a terrific use of the club’s resources to go into the free-agent market just to say that I’m out there," said Duquette to The Baltimore Sun's Matt Vensel when asked about possibly signing Prince Fielder or C.J. Wilson.
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier looked back at Duquette's drafts with the Red Sox, the team he ran from 1994-2001. He brought Nomar Garciaparra, Kevin Youkilis, and others into the organization.