2012 Contract Issues: St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series, and their offseason should have plenty of intrigue. Here's what the team faces after the 2011 season:
Eligible For Free Agency (8)
- Earlier this month, three GMs who spoke to SI's Jon Heyman predicted Albert Pujols would re-sign with the Cardinals after the season. The situation seems to have gone dormant since Spring Training, but not in a discouraging way. Perhaps coincidentally, Pujols is having the worst season of his career. It's only about a quarter over, but should the slugger fail to reach the .400 OBP and .600 SLG for which he's typically been considered a lock, that would have to affect the price tag and make the Cardinals' offer (north of $200MM over nine years) more palatable. Still, it's hard to picture Pujols not requiring a salary in the $24-26MM range.
- Lance Berkman has proven last year's power outage to be a fluke; he's leading the NL with a .694 SLG. He's close to the top in home runs, RBI, and OBP as well. Should Berkman's health and amazing offense continue, maybe he'll have his eye on Paul Konerko's three-year, $37.5MM contract, which was similarly signed by a mid-30s player coming off a huge year. I imagine he'll have to let the Cardinals resolve the Pujols situation first, if he's aiming to return.
- Ryan Franklin seems headed for a minor league deal, as he's lost his closing job and has been battered in his first 13 2/3 innings.
- The sample is tiny, but Trever Miller hasn't handled lefties well this year. Miguel Batista is another Cardinals veteran reliever whose ERA is much better than his peripheral statistics.
- Gerald Laird, Nick Punto, and Brian Tallet are also eligible for free agency.
Contract Options (3)
- Chris Carpenter: $15MM club option with a $1MM buyout. Though Carpenter's ERA is 4.95, his supporting stats are similar to last year's. The Cardinals will have to decide on him before Pujols, most likely. If Carpenter is healthy the Cards probably have to pick this up, knowing that they could at least trade the 36-year-old if need be.
- Adam Wainwright: $9MM club option for 2012, $12MM club option for '13, must be either voided or exercised at the same time. In his conversation with Heyman earlier this month, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak seemed to imply the team is planning to exercise Wainwright's options. Barring any major setbacks it's an easy call.
- Yadier Molina: $7MM club option with a $750K buyout. This option seems likely to be exercised.
Arbitration Eligible (6)
- First time: Colby Rasmus, Jaime Garcia, Jason Motte
- Second time: Kyle McClellan
- Third time: Ryan Theriot, Skip Schumaker
The Cardinals have several notable arbitration cases, starting with Rasmus and Garcia. Rasmus' career numbers should keep him at $3.5MM or less. Garcia's numbers are limited by missing the '09 season, but he's having a fantastic year and should jump past $3MM (more on that from MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith this week). Theriot and Schumaker are not locks to be tendered, but we'll see how the rest of the season plays out for them. If everyone is retained I'm estimating around $18MM for the team's arbitration eligibles.
2012 Payroll Obligation
The Cardinals' 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot's, is $47.538MM not including the buyouts for Carpenter and Molina. If the three options are picked up they'll be at $78.538MM, and the arbitration eligible group could bring commitments up to $97MM. If payroll remains steady at $109MM, there's only about $12MM to work with before accounting for minimum salary players. I'm sure the Cardinals have already worked out ways to fit in a salary exceeding $20MM for Pujols, whether by backloading, raising payroll, or not retaining Carpenter, Theriot, and Schumaker. But if Pujols is re-signed it's hard to see where an eight-figure salary for Berkman fits in or how the Cardinals will have any significant money for other improvements.
Quick Hits: Vazquez, Mets, Brewers, Rays, O’s
Here are some items of note for Sunday. On this day in 1941, 70 years ago, Joe DiMaggio began his Major League-record 56-game hitting streak, a mark that still stands today and has been largely unchallenged, as Jayson Stark of ESPN.com writes.
- It doesn't sound like the Marlins are ready to give up on Javier Vazquez, writes Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post. The Fish are paying Vazquez $7MM this year, but he allowed six runs in four innings today to raise his season ERA to 7.55.
- The New York Post's Brad Hamilton reminds us that on July 1, the Mets will begin paying Bobby Bonilla $1.2MM each year for the next 25 years. New York struck that deal in 1999 to avoid paying the $5.9MM remaining on his contract when they released him.
- MLB.com's Adam McCalvy writes that despite the offensive woes of Carlos Gomez and Yuniesky Betancourt, the Brewers are sticking with them for the time being.
- Operating on a tight budget has its advantages for teams like the Rays, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Without extra cash to commit to pricey free agents, clubs like Tampa are rarely encumbered by poorly producing, highly compensated veterans, Sherman explains.
- Meanwhile, the Orioles would like to emulate the Rays' formula for success, writes Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com.
- Should the Yankees come to part ways with Jorge Posada in the wake of Saturday's incident, they could use the DH spot to rest veterans like Alex Rodriguez, or they could pursue a new DH like Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (subcription needed). Beltran is off to a great start with the Mets this season and could draw interest on the trade market, although Matt Klaassen of FanGraphs recently speculated that Beltran wouldn't yield much more than salary relief for the Mets.
- Pete Rose is still seeking a second chance to manage, and he thinks it's hypocritical that players and coaches who have used PEDs, abused alcohol and been involved in domestic-violence incidents remain in the game, according to an Associated Press report (via ESPN.com).
MLBTR Originals: 5/8/11 – 5/15/11
Let's recap all of the original content we provided here at MLBTR over the last seven days…
- Tim Dierkes listed some potentially available relievers as well as players that could be on the market if the Twins decide to become sellers. He also published a list of 2012 free agents, arbitration records for position players, and each agency's contract haul from this winter.
- Ben Nicholson-Smith spoke to Brandon Inge about his tenure with the Tigers, as well as Alex Avila and GM Dave Dombrowski about the team's catching depth. He also looked back at all of the relievers the Rays lost this past offseason.
- Steve Adams looked back at Jose Bautista's contract extension just three months after it was signed. Bautista was also the focus of Howard Megdal's latest Jack Of All Trades post.
- Mark Polishuk evaluated the Twins' rebuilt bullpen while Ben did the same for the Padres, Rays, and Diamondbacks. Dan Mennella looked at Heath Bell as a trade candidate and I went back and re-lived the first Mike Piazza trade.
- The 2012 Contract Issues series continued with the Rockies, Athletics, Phillies, and Royals.
- This week's poll question asked about Milton Bradley's future.
- I dug up the best the blogosphere had to offer in Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
- This week's chat transcript can be found here.
- Here's a list of MLBTR's regular features.
- We're looking for help with @closernews.
Jorge Posada Links: Sunday
The news of Jorge Posada's apparent rift with the Yankees continues to be a hot topic today following Saturday's incident, which may have rendered the veteran catcher/DH in breach of contract. It remains to be seen whether Posada will be back in the lineup today or whether the Yanks will take action against him, but in the meanwhile, here's the latest info and reactions.
- The Yankees announced that they have accepted Posada's apology and consider the matter closed. He will not be disciplined.
- Posada has apologized to Girardi and said he "had a bad day," tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. In a separate tweet, Hoch reports that Posada will also speak to Cashman, and quotes the catcher as saying he "learned from this."
- Joel Sherman spoke to union officials who dispute any statute or precedent that the Yankees can dock Posada two days of pay, and are "vehement" that there's no basis for placing him on the restricted list or voiding his contract even if Posada asks for another day off (Twitter links).
- As of now, the only thing that's clear about what caused the stir is Posada asked out of Saturday's lineup when he discovered he was batting ninth, write Joel Sherman, George A. King III and Brian Costello of the New York Post.
- The Yanks have no intention of retaining Posada beyond this season, and that has been their plan since Spring Training, according to Sherman (via Twitter).
- The Yankees considered suspending Posada, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com.
- Posada's and the Yankees' pride have made the situation unnecessarily messy, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. Also in that piece, you can watch the clip from FOX's broadcast on Saturday night in which Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Rosenthal that Posada asked out of the lineup.
- The only thing saving Posada's job is his longstanding relationship with the Yankees, writes Olney (Insider subscription needed). Were he any other player, he'd probably be gone.
- It's long been known that Posada and Yankees manager Joe Girardi have a strained relationship, but it's now apparent that Cashman and Posada don't get along, either, writes Sherman.
- The Posada situation speaks to a larger dilemma for the Yankees, who are having to deal with stars during their decline phases, according to Sherman.
- Posada acted uncharacteristically unprofessional, and the only way he can rectify the situation is if he admits he made a mistake, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- Girardi failed at one of his goals: minimizing distractions and negativity, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com.
- Posada's explanation that he received treatment for an ailing back doesn't add up for Heyman (via Twitter).
- Peter Gammons relays a bit of wisdom from a former GM about the risky nature of rostering declining stars (via Twitter).
- Posada should ask for forgiveness for one mistake in what has been an otherwise exemplary career, tweets Sherman.
- The only resolution for the situation is if Posada begins hitting immediately, tweets Olney.
Randy Flores Opts Out Of Contract
Randy Flores has opted out of his minor league contract with the Padres according to Sarah Trotto of The Arizona Star Daily (on Twitter). The lefty reliever had a clause in his contract that allowed him to do so if he was not added to the Major League roster by Sunday.
Flores, 36, struck out 19 and walked six in 18 2/3 innings with San Diego's Triple-A affiliate this year. Left-handed batters had eight hits and two walks against him in 11 1/3 innings. Flores is left-handed and breathing, so there's likely to be a market for his services. He's held same-side batters to a .275/.345/.435 batting line in a big league career that has spanned eight seasons and four different teams.
Twins Designate Steve Holm For Assignment
The Twins designated catcher Steve Holm for assignment in order to add lefty Phil Dumatrait to the 40-man roster according to a team press release. Dumatrait was recalled along with Anthony Swarzak, while Jose Mijares hit the DL and Jim Hoey was optioned to Triple-A Rochester.
Holm, 31, had just two hits in 18 plate appearances with the Twins this season. He was recalled after Joe Mauer hit the disabled list, and produced a .231/.400/.269 batting line with Minnesota's Triple-A affiliate this year. MLBTR's Mark Polishuk took a look at Minnesota's bullpen woes last week.
Three Months Later: Bautista’s Extension
Perhaps no player has exploded from relative obscurity into superstardom like Jose Bautista has over the past year. It's been just under three months since the Blue Jays took a bold step by locking up last year's home run champ for five years and $65MM, but it certainly looks like it's going to pay off.
At the time, MLBTR readers agreed decisively that the contract was too great a risk: 72.42% of the 12,535 polled said they wouldn't have offered Bautista a deal of that magnitude.
Yet here we are three months later, and Bautista has hit his 14th, 15th, and 16th home runs of the season in just his 32nd game played. Entering play today, Fangraphs rated Bautista's value at a whopping 3.5 wins above replacement, primarily thanks to his video game-esque line of .358/.517/.798 (and that's prior to belting three more homers today). Over his past 192 games, he's hit .276/.402/.646., good enough for Dave Cameron of Fangraphs to question whether or not Bautista is the American League's best hitter.
Had Bautista reached free agency following this season, as he was projected to, he could have conceivably tried to exceed the seven-year contracts signed by Jayson Werth ($126MM) and Carl Crawford ($142MM) this past offseason. After all, he and agent Bean Stringfellow could point out that Werth only had three strong seasons prior to inking his deal. Bautista also doesn't have Werth's injury history, and offers the versatility of appearing at third base or in the outfield. And, assuming a 50 HR campaign for Bautista this year, they could argue that he hit as many homers from 2010-11 as Crawford had in his whole career when he signed his contract. At the bare minimum, he'd have commanded $20MM or more per season for five years or more.
Bautista's annual salary of $14MM from 2012 on is less than that of fellow outfielders Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells, Jason Bay, and Alfonso Soriano (to name a few). The total value of his deal exceeds Aaron Rowand's contract by just $4MM over the same number of guaranteed years.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but to this point, it looks like credit has to be given to Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos and his staff for not only assessing that Bautista's 2010 was real and locking him up at a tremendous discount, but also moving Vernon Wells and his contract in order to free up payroll and make such an extension more feasible. Whether or not he's already the AL's best hitter, owning Bautista at such a discount will be a huge factor in the coming years as Toronto continues its quest to take their first AL East title since 1993.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Week In Review: 5/8/11 – 5/14/11
A look back at the week that was here at MLBTR …
- The Red Sox mulled alternatives to the struggling catching duo of Jason Varitek and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, although nothing is imminent.
- The Nationals acquired speedy outfielder Gregor Blanco from the Royals for a player to be named, although Washington's outfield picture remains muddled. The Nats also designated reliever Brian Broderick for assignment.
- The Mariners designated outfielder Ryan Langerhans for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Mike Wilson. The M's also DFA'd the perpetually embattled Milton Bradley, and the Padres aren't interested in bringing back Bradley.
- Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has a new agent in Dan Lozano.
- The Yankees said they won't discuss CC Sabathia's opt-out clause during the season.
- The Astros' sale to Jim Crane is nearly complete. Houston also designated right-hander Nelson Figueroa for assignment and signed catcher Max Ramirez to a minor league deal. Figueroa accepted his assignment to Triple-A Round Rock.
- The Pirates continued extension negotiations with star center fielder Andrew McCutchen. The Bucs also released lefty Scott Olsen.
- The Orioles designated righty Josh Rupe for assignment.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson said it's unlikely that he'd trade Jose Reyes this season and then try to re-sign the shortstop in the offseason. Meanwhile, Reyes trade rumors persisted. As well, Carlos Beltran has been playing well, and whispers about his trade value kicked up.
- The Athletics' young starters are basically untouchable, we learned.
- Willy Aybar signed with the Edmonton Capitals of the independent North American League. Likewise, Pedro Feliz signed with the Camden RiverSharks of the Atlantic League, an independent league.
- Frank McCourt continued his legal action against MLB following the league taking control of the Dodgers.
- The White Sox designated righty Jeff Gray for assignment. Gray was then claimed by the Mariners.
- The Blue Jays released outfielder Scott Podsednik.
- MLB and the MLBPA made progress in talks regarding a new collective bargaining agreement.
- Angels first baseman Kendry Morales was lost for the season to ankle surgery.
- The D'Backs said they're open to acquiring pitching and moving their reserves. Arizona also released lefty Ron Mahay.
- The Yankees designated right-hander Jess Todd for assignment.
- Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer continued to impress upon being called up to the bigs, but his agent, Scott Boras, said he's not much interested in discussing a long-term deal with Kansas City.
- Draft news and a few mocks were published as we draw closer to June.
- Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart, demoted again to Triple-A, discussed a potential trade from the Colorado organization.
- The Cubs outrighted righty Thomas Diamond from their 40-man roster.
This Date In Transactions History: Mike Piazza
With the amateur draft coming up in just over three weeks, we've spent most of our time here at MLBTR covering the first round. Quality players come from every round though, and there's perhaps no more famous example of a late-round pick turning into gold than Mike Piazza. The Dodgers selected him in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft as a favor to Tommy Lasorda, who was a friend of the Piazza family and godfather to Mike's brother Tommy.
Piazza moved from first base to catcher in the minor leagues at Lasorda's behest, and he hit his way to the big leagues less than four years later. After a brief cup of coffee in 1992, Piazza opened the 1993 season as the Dodgers' starting catcher, and hit a robust .318/.370/.561 with 35 homers as a 24-year-old. He won the Rookie of the Year award unanimously, and finished ninth in the MVP voting.
Over the next four seasons, Piazza hit .342/.409/.590 with an average of 33 homers per year, being named to the All-Star team and winning the Silver Slugger Award each year. He never finished lower than sixth in the MVP voting during that time, finishing as the runner up in 1996 (Ken Caminiti) and 1997 (Larry Walker). Piazza was a star of the first order, but contractual issues began to surface.
Scheduled to become a free agent after the 1998 season, talks about a contract extension between Piazza and the Dodgers went nowhere. Furthermore, Peter O'Malley and Terry Seidler were in the process of selling the team to FOX. Afraid that they were going to lose their star to free agency and not have anything to show for it, Los Angeles took a drastic step.
Thirteen years ago today, the Marlins and Dodgers pulled off a seven-player swap that sent Piazza and Todd Zeile to Florida in exchange for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios. To say the trade wasn't well-received in Southern California would be an understatement.
Piazza's time with the Marlins as short lived, very short lived in fact. He had five hits in five games with them before being traded to the Mets for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and Geoff Goetz. Piazza spent parts of eight years with the Mets before moving to the Padres and Athletics late in his career. He retired as a .308/.377/.545 career hitter with 427 home runs to his credit, unquestionably the best hitting catcher in baseball history (min. 1,000 games caught).
We see players traded right before reached free agency every season, but it's not often a player of Piazza's caliber is involved, and he was traded twice in one week.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Quick Hits: Dodgers, Cardinals, Inglett, Broderick
Saturday evening linkage…
- Frank McCourt told Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times that the Dodgers' roster would look the same even if the team didn't have financial problems. He was also vague about future payroll plans if the multi-billion dollar deal with FOX were to be approved (Twitter link).
- B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com points out that the Cardinals will have to make room for Brian Tallet when the lefty comes off the disabled list next week (Twitter links). He doesn't think they'll cut ties with the struggling Ryan Franklin, but he says it's "debatable."
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports that Joe Inglett has accepted his outright assignment and will join the Astros' Triple-A affiliate (on Twitter). Inglett could have elected free agency after clearing waivers earlier in the week.
- Nationals GM Mike Rizzo believes that pitcher Brian Broderick has a bright future in the big leagues, despite being DFA'd by the club earlier today, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
- Manager Dusty Baker is curious to see if the newly activated Jose Arredondo can provide the Reds with the kind of pitching they expected upon signing him.
- Dave Gershman of Beyond The Box Score examined the market for Padres pitcher Dustin Moseley.