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Pujols, Mozeliak Talk Contract

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Albert Pujols told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he doesn’t want to think about his next contract, though he knows that “things will start to get crazy again” in a matter of weeks when he hits free agency for the first time in his career. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak, who has’t discussed a contract with Pujols since Spring Training, says he still aims to lock the first baseman up to ensure that he spends the rest of his career in St. Louis.

"When we get to October," Mozeliak told Nightengale, "we'll start over and go from there. I can't characterize where we'll begin, but we've waited this long, we might want to see where the market brings."

The Cardinals offered Pujols a nine-year deal worth about $195MM last offseason, Nightengale reports. Earlier today, Jon Heyman of SI.com reported that the Cardinals' nine-year offer would have been worth $210MM and noted that the Cards aren't overly confident about retaining their biggest star. In any case, the offers weren’t enough to entice the 31-year-old Pujols. He and agent Dan Lozano were seeking a ten-year deal in the $230MM range.

There’s a long list of teams that could enter the sweepstakes for Pujols, who leads the National League with 34 homers and has a .293/.366/.549 line this year in his worst MLB season. There are rumblings that the Marlins may look to pursue Pujols or fellow free agent Prince Fielder this offseason before heading into their new stadium, according to Nightengale.

AL West Notes: Delabar, Seager, Trout

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On this date in 1998, Ken Griffey Jr. reached the 50-homer plateau for the second consecutive season. No one in the AL West will reach 50 homers this year – Nelson Cruz of the Rangers leads the division with 28. Here are today's AL West links… 

  • Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times tells the story of right-hander Steve Delabar, who was substitute teaching not long ago and has now joined the Mariners' big league pitching staff. 
  • Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner would like to see the Mariners play Kyle Seager at third on a daily basis. Alex Liddi, another option, appears to need more Triple-A seasoning despite the 30 minor league homers he hit this year. 
  • Mike Trout is Baseball America's minor league player of the year and B.A.’s J.J. Cooper explains that the Angels outfielder stood out as a big league prospect when he was just 16 years old. Click through for old scouting reports on Trout, who’s still just 20.

New York Notes: Cano, Johan, Reyes

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The Yankees are waiting for the playoffs, while the Mets are jockeying for .500.  The latest on New York's teams…

Heyman On Pujols, Huntington, C.J. Wilson

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SI's Jon Heyman leads his latest column with a discussion of the Albert Pujols situation, which is due to flare up once the season ends.  Heyman's sources say the Cardinals are "not overly confident" about retaining Pujols.  Heyman hears the Cardinals are not inclined to increase their offer much from nine years and around $210MM, although the SI writer thinks the team could reduce the number of years to boost the average annual value past the $23MM range.  Heyman hears Pujols is "not overly thrilled" that the Cardinals' offer last winter wouldn't place him in the top ten among MLB player salaries, though by my count there are only five players currently averaging $23MM or more as their AAV.

Heyman has plenty more musings on the Pujols topic in the column; here are a few other highlights…

  • The Pirates intend to extend the contract of GM Neal Huntington.  He says the Bucs have waited for the draft and trade deadlines to pass.  Huntington was hired four years ago.
  • "There are some who could see" Rangers ace C.J. Wilson "wanting to go to his native Southern California."  Heyman views the Angels as a threat for Wilson.
  • Heyman says Angels people suggest they would have been willing to resume extension talks with Jered Weaver next year if they hadn't reached a deal by the team's deadline this year.  
  • The Twins are interested in re-signing reliever Joe Nathan, though they won't be picking up his $12MM option.

Arbitration Eligible Players With Club Options

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Three pitchers have club options for 2012 yet are not named on our free agent list.  The reason?  They'd still be arbitration eligible if the options are declined.  Let's take a look.

  • James Shields, Rays: $7MM club option with a $2MM buyout.  This is a slam dunk, as Shields' arbitration salary would certainly beat the $5MM net price of the option.  Plus, exercising for 2012 allows the Rays to enjoy options for '13 ($7.5MM net) and '14 ($11MM net).  It should be noted that Shields' contract, signed prior to the '08 season, includes $6MM in performance bonuses.
  • Fausto Carmona, Indians: $7MM club option. Carmona signed three months after Shields, and his contract also provides the ultimate in team flexibility with three club options.  Carmona's 2012 option does require pause, but it's worth exercising as well.
  • Colby Lewis, Rangers: $3.25MM club option with a $250K buyout.  Coming from a $3MM salary, Lewis would obviously beat the $3MM net price of the option.  So this one will be picked up as well.

Option Predictions: Starting Pitchers

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Yesterday I made predictions for the 20 position players with contractual options on the horizon.  Today, it's time to tackle the 10 potential free agent starting pitchers with options this offseason.

  • Chris Carpenter, Cardinals: $15MM club option with a $1MM buyout.  There's a good case to be made that Carpenter is worth the $14MM net price of this option on a one-year deal.  He might have value to other teams at that price, but given his 10-and-5 rights I can't see the Cardinals exercising the option and then trading Carpenter.  The righty turns 37 in April, but I think the Cards could hammer out a two-year deal at a lower salary.  If they can't pull that off by early November or don't want to commit due to uncertainty around Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman, then I think the option will be declined.
  • Adam Wainwright, Cardinals: $10MM club option for '12, $12MM for '13.  These options must be decided at the same time, and no one expects Wainwright's February Tommy John surgery to prevent the Cardinals from exercising.
  • Aaron Cook, Rockies: $11MM mutual option with a $500K buyout.  The Rockies will certainly decline their side.
  • Ryan Dempster, Cubs: $14MM player option, no buyout.  The ball is in Dempster's court, and I think he'll exercise assuming a lower salary multiyear deal isn't agreed to first.
  • Zach Duke, Diamondbacks: $5.5MM club option with a $750K buyout.  With Duke moved to the bullpen in July, this will be declined.
  • Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM club option with a $500K buyout.  Shoulder surgery officially ended Garland's season in July, and this will be declined.
  • Aaron Harang, Padres: $5MM mutual option with a $500K buyout.  Harang certainly wants to stay in San Diego, and I'm leaning toward this being one of the rare mutual options that is exercised by both sides.
  • Paul Maholm, Pirates: $9.75MM club option with a $750K buyout.  Maholm's season ended in August with a shoulder strain.  The lefty posted a 3.66 ERA and 4.07 SIERA.  Interest appears mutual in an extension, but even if the shoulder issue is minor I see the Pirates declining this option.
  • Roy Oswalt, Phillies: $16MM mutual option with a $2MM buyout.  A condition of Oswalt's July 2010 trade to the Phillies was that his buyout would not be reduced whether it was the pitcher or the team declining.  Oswalt missed over a month with a back injury this year, and his numbers have been down.  Only Oswalt knows whether and where he'd prefer to pitch next year, but in November I think the Phillies will decline the option.  
  • C.C. Sabathia, Yankees: may opt out of remaining four years, $92MM.  There appears to be little doubt Sabathia will opt out.  The Yankees are still viewed as the favorite to sign him, but we don't know how much work needs to be done to find common ground.

Indians Designate Jerad Head For Assignment

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The Indians announced today that they've designated outfielder Jerad Head for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot for Trevor Crowe, who was activated from the 60-day DL.

Head, 28, made his Major League debut for the Indians on August 28th, playing left field and getting an infield single against Bruce Chen.  Head hit .284/.338/.526 with 24 home runs in 463 Triple-A plate appearances this year, appearing mostly at the outfield corners.  The Indians signed Head six years ago as an undrafted free agent.

Arbitration Eligibles: Minnesota Twins

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The Twins are next in our arbitration eligibles series.

The Twins have a lot of non-tender candidates in this bunch: Mijares, Tolbert, Dumatrait, Slowey, and Repko.  MLBTR's Steve Adams points out that the success of Perkins and the likelihood of moving Brian Duensing to the bullpen could make lefties Mijares and Dumatrait expendable.  Tolbert and Repko are bench players who would cost under $1MM each, but neither has provided any offense.

Momentum for a Slowey trade has been building since at least Spring Training, though his limited 2011 contribution would probably keep his salary at $2.7MM.  With Kyle Gibson going down for Tommy John surgery the Twins might prefer the depth Slowey provides.  So while a non-tender is possible, it's more likely that the Twins trade or keep Slowey.

Perkins and Casilla will be retained, each projected in the $1.5MM range.  Liriano had an off year, plagued with shoulder issues.  He projects for a $5.7MM salary in 2012, and he's too tantalizing a talent to cut loose unless major surgery becomes necessary.

The Twins could end up with Perkins, Casilla, and Liriano on next year's roster for a total of around $8.6MM.  That'd put their total around $74.35MM before accounting for minimum salary players, so if the 2011 Opening Day payroll level is maintained the Twins could have over $30MM to spend in 2012 salaries.

Steve Adams and Matt Swartz contributed to this post.

Padres, Maybin Appear To Have Interest In Extension

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WEDNESDAY: Maybin told Brock yesterday, "They've given me a great opportunity. When the season ends, we can discuss that more."

TUESDAY: The Padres and Cameron Maybin appear to have mutual interest in an extension, Yahoo's Tim Brown reports (Twitter link). Maybin, 24, is enjoying a breakout season with the Padres and now seems to be an offseason extension candidate. MLB.com's Corey Brock hears that some discussions about a possible deal have taken place, though no agreement is remotely close at the moment (Twitter link).

Maybin debuted as a 20-year-old with the 2007 Tigers, but frequent demotions to the minor leagues prevented him from picking up much service time. After this season, Maybin will have two years and 73 days of service time, which puts him on track for arbitration eligibility after the 2012 season and free agency after the 2015 season.

Maybin has been one of San Diego's most productive players since the Padres acquired Maybin from Florida for Edward Mujica and Ryan Webb last November. He has a .275/.332/.400 line in 476 plate appearances and UZR suggests he has been an asset on defense in spacious Petco Park.

Though Padres fans would no doubt like to see GM Jed Hoyer lock Maybin up to a team-friendly deal similar to the one Jose Tabata signed with the Pirates last month, the two outfielders aren't perfect comparables for one another. Tabata, who signed a six-year, $15MM deal, is a year behind Maybin in MLB service. Tabata will earn $11.5MM for his three arbitration years, which could be a point of reference for Maybin and the Padres. Unfortunately for Maybin, arbitration panels would penalize him for his spotty track record and modest career stats without rewarding him for his outfield defense.

Hoyer has signed one Padre to a multi-year deal since becoming GM, as our Transaction Tracker shows. He signed Jason Bartlett to a two-year, $11MM extension last offseason.

Extension Possible For Montero, D’Backs

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Miguel Montero told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he’s open to the possibility of an extension, though he isn’t sure if the Diamondbacks will approach him about a deal. Piecoro hears that it’s “probable” that the D'Backs will discuss the possibility with the catcher this offseason. If they come calling, Montero will listen attentively.

"They're more than welcome to come to me in the off-season," Montero told Piecoro. "Obviously, I want to stay here. My family likes Phoenix, so it's always good to stay here. I like the front-office guys. I like the fans. I like everybody. I would be more than happy to stay here."

Montero earns $3.2MM this year and will be arbitration eligible one last time this offseason before hitting free agency after the 2012 season. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk examined the possibility of an extension for Montero in detail this weekend, suggesting that a three-year deal in the $21MM range could work.

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