Quick Hits: Balfour, Wells, Pirates, Penny
The Astros signed Wandy Rodriguez as an amateur free agent 12 years ago today. The lefty, who turns 32 next week, is an extension candidate this winter. Here are today's links…
- Stop by at 2pm CDT for this week's chat.
- In his latest blog post for ESPN, Buster Olney suggests that Grant Balfour could return to Tampa on a one-year deal if the Rays assure him that they won't offer arbitration again if he's a Type A free agent after 2011. Teams other than the Rays have to give up a top pick to sign the reliever this offseason and it isn't helping his market value.
- Vernon Wells explains to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star that he's a different person and teammate than he was a few years ago, when he first signed his $126MM extension. He also admits that he may not be a $100MM player. "Everybody would say I’m not worth the money and I would totally agree that I’m not worth that contract" Wells said.
- The Pirates are still looking for pitching, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
- Some within the Cardinals organization liked the idea of bringing Brad Penny back to compete with Kyle Lohse for the final rotation spot, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). The Cards weren't willing to match the Tigers' $3MM guarantee, though.
Revisiting NL Free Agent Arbitration Decisions
On Monday, we examined this year's AL free agent arbitration decisions. Today, let's shift our focus to the Senior Circuit and revisit the 12 National Leaguers who declined their teams' offers of arbitration in November.
Players who decline arbitration forfeit the chance to settle on one-year deals with their former clubs through the arbitration process. Frank Francisco and Jason Frasor chose their teams' offers over free agency and will now work toward deals with the Rangers and Blue Jays, respectively.
Players who accept arbitration don't get guaranteed raises, but those who go through the arbitration process rarely take significant pay cuts. The chart below shows players' 2010 salaries and whether the player signed a new deal or remains on the open market.
Tigers To Sign Brad Penny
The Tigers have officially agreed to sign Brad Penny to a one-year, $3MM deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link). ESPN.com's Buster Olney, who first reported the agreement, says the deal includes up to $3MM in incentives for the Legacy Sports client (Twitter link).
Penny will compete with Armando Galarraga at the back of a Tigers rotation that's led by Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Phil Coke. After starting the 2010 season with nine strong starts, Penny missed four months with a right shoulder strain. The 32-year-old's season line includes a 3.23 ERA with 5.7 K/9, 1.5 BB/9 and a career high 52.8% ground ball rate.
Penny has spent nearly his entire career in the National League and his one stint in the American League went poorly. The Red Sox signed him before the 2009 season and he posted a 5.61 ERA in 131 2/3 innings for Boston. As MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows, this isn't the first time Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski has acquired Penny. He obtained him for the Marlins from the Diamondbacks in 1999.
Click here to read about the fallout from the deal.
Olney and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported that Penny was nearing a deal with the Tigers after the right-hander hinted at one on his Twitter account.
Poll: Will Andruw Jones Sign With The Yankees?
Yesterday we learned that the Yankees have strong interest in free agent outfielder Andruw Jones. GM Brian Cashman is in search of a backup outfielder who hits right-handed and Jones is one of the better options available at this point in the offseason.
For Now, Mets Won’t Cut Castillo
While the Mets have internally discussed releasing second baseman Luis Castillo, they still plan to bring the veteran to camp, tweets Jon Heyman of SI. However, the club is at the 40-man limit and as they continue to look into acquiring more pieces, such as a left-handed reliever, they could sever ties with the second baseman.
Castillo's lack of versatility makes it difficult for the Mets to keep him. Mets GM Sandy Alderson has shopped Castillo around but after posting a .235/.337/.267 slash line in 2010, it's been difficult to find a taker. Alderson recently conceded to ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin that if he stays with the team, it'll have to be as the primary second baseman.
“If he’s going to be on the club, it probably will have to be as the regular second baseman, or somebody who plays quite a bit of the time at second base. He just doesn’t give us enough coverage other places to play a utility role…And I think that’s probably his best and maybe only role — regular duty at second base,” the GM explained.
The three-time All-Star is set to make $6MM in the final year of a four-year, $25MM deal.
Quick Hits: Rockies, Kouzmanoff, Kennedy
Links for Tuesday night..
- Steve Foster of Inside The Rockies takes a look into his crystal ball and predicts what the Rockies might look like in 2017.
- Carlos Gonzalez never wanted to leave Colorado, writes Jim Armstrong of The Denver Post.
- The talk of Adrian Beltre coming to the Athletics made third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff a little uneasy, writes Jane Lee of MLB.com.
- Adam Kennedy is happy to be back in the AL West, writes MLB.com's Greg Johns. Kennedy inked a minor league deal with the Mariners yesterday.
Mets Notes: Dickey, Capuano, Young, Reyes
Mets GM Sandy Alderson spoke with ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin yesterday to address a number of questions concerning the club. Here are some highlights..
- The Mets are scheduled to exchange arbitration figures with Angel Pagan, Mike Pelfrey, and R.A. Dickey next Tuesday. Alderson wants to maintain financial flexibility going forward but still won't rule out giving multiyear deals to any of the aforementioned arb-eligible players.
- The Chris Capuano signing does not preclude the Mets from getting another starting pitcher. In fact, Alderson says that he would like to sign another starter for a deal similar to Capuano's. The left-hander is set to make a base salary of $1.5MM but could earn more than $4.5MM through incentives in 2011.
- Rubin asks about reports in recent weeks that say the Mets have made offers to free agent pitchers Chris Young and Jeff Francis. Alderson says that the club has talked with agents for other pitchers before and after the Capuano signing but wouldn't characterize anything as being "beyond the discussion stage."
- Alderson seems open to the idea of talking about an extension with Jose Reyes during the season. The recently-crowned GM says that he doesn't have a firm policy when it comes to in-season negotiations. Earlier this month, Alderson said that he wouldn't talk about a new deal with Reyes during Spring Training.
- No surprise here, but the Mets are looking for out-of-house options when it comes to left-handed relief. Alderson summed it all up by saying that the club is looking for starting pitching, a lefty reliever, and fourth and fifth outfielder possibilities, in that order of priority.
- There's likely a position available for Omar Minaya if the former GM wants to pursue it.
Trevor Hoffman Retires
All-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman told MLB.com's Barry Bloom that he is retiring. Hoffman walks away with 601 career saves, a 2.87 ERA and 1133 strikeouts in 1089 1/3 innings for the Marlins, Padres and Brewers. After 18 seasons in the big leagues, he says he's ready to call it a career.
"It's time to retire. It's time to move on," Hoffman told Bloom. "This is more of a self-evaluation. I expect to pitch at a certain level and I had to be honest with myself that I wasn't certain I could maintain that anymore."
It seemed possible that the Padres or D'Backs could sign Hoffman to play and he did draw some interest this offseason, but the 43-year-old is moving to a different side of the game. He will return to the Padres in a front office role.
The seven time All-Star agreed to decline the Brewers' offer of arbitration after the season. If he had signed a major league deal with another team, Milwaukee would have obtained a supplementary first round pick in this year's draft.
Phillies Notes: Blanton, Durbin, Manuel
Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki that right field, the bullpen and the bench are areas his team could potentially improve upon before the season starts. “I'm looking forward to seeing some competition in all three of those areas," Amaro said. Here are more Phillies-related notes from Zolecki:
- The Phillies don’t have to clear payroll, but they could explore deals that create flexibility for later on in the season. The team is still open to moving Joe Blanton, who will earn a total of $17MM in 2011-12. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes recently listed some potential destinations for the right-hander.
- Philadelphia hasn’t ruled out a reunion with Chad Durbin. The sides exchanged offers last week.
- The Phils would “obviously” like to extend their relationship with manager Charlie Manuel, Amaro said. Manuel is in the final year of his contract, but the sides won’t necessarily reach an agreement before the regular season begins. For a comprehensive look at 'lame duck' managers and GMs, check out this piece by MLBTR's Mark Polishuk.
Fallout From The Brad Penny Deal
There are still over 100 free agents out there, but the Tigers could pass on all of them now that they've added another arm to their rotation. GM Dave Dombrowski agreed to sign Brad Penny to a one-year deal worth $3MM plus incentives, capping a busy offseason.
Penny's agreement with the Detroit means Jeremy Bonderman loses a suitor. The longtime Tiger won't return to the Motor City, but Bonderman can take solace in the fact that Penny signed a deal worth $3MM plus incentives after missing the final four months of the season. Like Penny, Bonderman, Jeff Francis, Chris Young and Justin Duchscherer have dealt with injuries in the past couple seasons, but they're drawing legitimate interest nonetheless.
The deal also impacts Armando Galarraga, who will now have to overcome serious competition to win the fifth starter's job. Before the Spring Training battle begins, Galarraga and the Tigers will determine the right-hander's 2011 salary; he's arbitration eligible for the first time.
I wonder if Jonathan Sanchez's name could come up as a comparable pitcher. Sanchez, who's one year ahead of Galarraga in terms of service time, had similar career numbers last offseason (4.81 ERA, 429 K, 214 BB in 413 1/3 innings) to the ones Galarraga has now (4.49 ERA, 301 K, 186 BB in 475 1/3 innings). The Giants paid Sanchez $2.1MM for the 2010 season. Interestingly, both pitchers even approached pitching perfection in their final pre-arbitration seasons – Sanchez with a no-hitter and Galarraga with a near-perfect game.
Penny's deal sends the Tigers' offseason spending over the $100MM mark, as MLBTR's Free Agent Tracker shows. The team has now committed $102.25MM to Victor Martinez, Joaquin Benoit, Brandon Inge, Jhonny Peralta, Magglio Ordonez and Penny.
Tigers catchers will have to handle some of the hardest throwers in the game in 2011. Dombrowski has added Penny (94.1 mph fastball in 2010) and Benoit (94 mph) to a staff that already included Justin Verlander (95.4 mph), Ryan Perry (95.4 mph), Jose Valverde (95.2 mph) and Max Scherzer (93.2 mph).
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.