The Rangers exercised their club option on righty Colby Lewis, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The $3.25MM option was an easy choice over the $250K buyout, as Lewis is clearly worth keeping and he'd have earned more in arbitration.
Lewis, 32, has given the Rangers 401 1/3 innings of 4.06 ball since returning from Japan on a free agent contract. He's added another 50 innings with a 2.34 ERA in the postseason.
The White Sox exercised their $3.75MM club option on reliever Jason Frasor, tweets Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
The Sox have a good collection of relievers under contract for 2012, but exercising the option on Frasor makes sense since he has positive trade value. The 34-year-old Chicago native posted a 3.60 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, and 37% groundball rate in 60 innings for the Blue Jays and White Sox this year.
MLBTR has obtained the official Elias rankings for this offseason. The list below includes all unsigned ranked free agents.
Once the regular season ended, the Elias Sports Bureau took all players over the 2010-11 period, divided them into five groups for each league, and ranked them based on various statistics. Each player was labeled a Type A, B, or none. Those designations and the possible accompanying arbitration offers determine draft pick compensation. If a Type A free agent turns down an arbitration offer and signs a Major League deal elsewhere the losing team gets two draft picks, one of them coming from the new team. If a Type B free agent turns down an arbitration offer and signs a Major League deal elsewhere the losing team gets one draft pick in the supplemental round, and it doesn't come from the new team. Keep in mind that an arbitration offer is necessary for draft pick compensation.
The numbers beside the players' names represent their rankings. If teams sign more than one Type A free agent, one team gets a top compensation pick and other teams lose out. The team losing the highest-ranked free agent obtains the best pick the signing team can offer and other teams fall in line behind the team that loses the top-ranked player.
Type A
Type B
Eddie Bajek reverse-engineered the Elias rankings for MLBTR and was right on every free agent except for Kelly Johnson and Joel Zumaya.
We have our first trade of the 2011-12 offseason! The Indians acquired Derek Lowe from the Braves, tweets John Kreger. The Braves will pay all but $5MM of Lowe's $15MM salary, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Olney says the Braves will receive 23-year-old High-A lefty reliever Chris Jones in return for Lowe. Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein provides a quick scouting report.
Lowe, 38, posted a 5.05 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 0.67 HR/9, and 59% groundball rate in 187 innings this year for Atlanta. Lowe's Braves career ended on a sour note, as his 8.75 September ERA contributed to their collapse. Still, his groundball rate ranked second in all of baseball. Lowe signed a four-year, $60MM deal with the Braves in January of 2009.
With Lowe, Justin Masterson, and Fausto Carmona, the Indians' rotation now has three of MLB's top seven in 2011 groundball rate. Ubaldo Jimenez and Josh Tomlin are also penciled in, with Carlos Carrasco down for Tommy John surgery.
For the Braves, the benefit is $5MM in much-needed salary relief for a pitcher otherwise projected for middle relief on their 2012 club. The Braves and Indians last matched up on a trade in July of 2006, when the Tribe sent reliever Bob Wickman to Atlanta for Max Ramirez.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
The Braves announced today they've exercised their option on first baseman/outfielder Eric Hinske and declined their option on center fielder Nate McLouth.
The Braves chose Hinske's $1.5MM club option over a $100K buyout. The 34-year-old hit .233/.311/.403 in 264 plate appearances this year.
The decision on McLouth was obvious, as the Braves faced a $10.65MM club option and a $1.25MM buyout. The 30-year-old outfielder hit .228/.344/.333 on the season.
The Indians announced today they've exercised their club option on Fausto Carmona and declined their option on Grady Sizemore.
Carmona would have earned more than the $7MM option price as an arbitration eligible player, and the Indians made the expected choice to retain him.
Sizemore spent his entire career with the Indians, peaking in 2008 with a tenth-place finish in the MVP voting. Due to Sizemore's health concerns, the Indians chose a $500K buyout over a $9MM option for 2012. Sizemore has had several surgeries in recent years but expects to be ready for Spring Training, so he'll be appealing on a one-year deal to many teams.
The Pirates announced today they've declined club options on Paul Maholm, Chris Snyder, Ryan Doumit, and Ronny Cedeno.
The decision on Cedeno was the Pirates' one unknown. Though a case could be made that the value of Cedeno's ability to play shortstop exceeded the $2.8MM net price of his option, the Pirates will aim higher than his .249/.297/.339 batting line.
For Maholm, the Pirates chose a $750K buyout over his $9.75MM club option. The lefty told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "The day I was put on the DL, I realized my time in Pittsburgh was done." Prior to that season-ending stint for a shoulder injury, the 29-year-old posted a 3.66 ERA, 5.4 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.61 HR/9, and 49.9% groundball rate in 162 1/3 innings. As one of the ten best starters on the free agent market this winter, he's in line for a multiyear deal.
The Pirates' decisions to pay Snyder a $750K buyout over a $6.75MM option and Doumit a $500K buyout over a $7.25MM option were well-known. Both players have offensive ability, and should be relatively popular on the free agent market. Doumit's defense and durability questions will likely prevent a team from offering a full-time catching job, while Snyder will have to compete for one after missing most of 2011 with a back injury.
The Rockies declined their 2012 option on righty Aaron Cook, tweets Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post. The Rockies will pay Cook a $500K buyout as opposed to the $11MM option. GM Dan O'Dowd says the door is open for Cook to return on a new contract.
With 72 wins, Cook is 14 ahead of Jason Jennings on the team's franchise leaderboard. Cook posted a 6.03 ERA, 4.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 0.84 HR/9, and 55.1% groundball rate in 97 innings this year. He signed his extension after the '07 season. Cook battled shoulder, toe, and finger injuries in the following seasons, his innings totals declining each year.
The Nationals announced today they've exercised Davey Johnson's managerial option for 2012. GM Mike Rizzo said in a statement:
After a series of discussions, it became obvious that the Nationals would be best served if Davey Johnson would continue as manager. Davey’s remarkable connection to the clubhouse and D.C. community during the season’s final three months was well received. His baseball acumen coupled with a proper off-season of planning, including a full regiment of Spring Training, should put our players in a position to succeed in 2012.
Johnson assumed the Nationals' manager job on June 27th, shortly after Jim Riggleman resigned. Johnson, a former infielder, has managed 15 years in the Majors for the Mets, Reds, Orioles, Dodgers, and Nationals. He won the World Series in 1986 and Manager of the Year in '97.
Tony La Russa is retiring after 33 seasons as a manager, and he's going out on top. He told reporters his decision today at a press conference, three days after his Cardinals won the World Series. La Russa captured three World Championships in his career and won Manager of the Year four times. He managed the White Sox, Athletics, and Cardinals in a career that began in 1979. Prior to that, La Russa played six seasons in the Majors as a middle infielder.
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