Hamels’ Agent: Weaver Contract Not A Parallel
Cole Hamels now owns the second-largest salary in arbitration history ($15MM), and he's not stopping there. Agent John Boggs expects his client to be compensated as an "elite pitcher," and he doesn't consider Jered Weaver's team-friendly five-year, $85MM deal a factor. Explained Boggs to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com:
"I don't think it's a parallel. That contract is great for Jered. I understand it. But he took a different path and left a lot of money on the table. He came up through the Angels system and grew up in their backyard. He's pitching where he grew up. That situation appeals to him. It's a similar situation to when I had Tony Gwynn. Without getting into specifics of what we're looking for, the Weaver situation is unique to Weaver."
Weaver's contract covered his final arbitration year and then four free agent seasons at an average of $17.5MM. Unlike Weaver, Hamels was a Super Two player, and the salary of his final arbitration year has already been determined. Hamels' new contract will probably only cover free agent years. Even if he doesn't reach the $23-24MM range of C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee, I think six years and $120MM is just a starting point for Hamels, who will turn 29 during the 2012-13 offseason.
The Phillies have first dibs. According to Boggs, "When you're this close [to free-agency] you have mixed emotions. But Cole has come through the Phillies organization, and if you asked him his preference, more than likely he'd want to remain with the Phillies. That's how it would be going into the negotiations, but every negotiation is different. Everything depends on our perceived value of what Cole is worth and what their perceived value of him is. That will dictate if a long-term deal gets done. We'll always give the Phillies every opportunity to secure him."
Detail On Gio Gonzalez’s Option Years
The second option on Gio Gonzalez's new contract with the Nationals is a vesting one, MLBTR has learned. If the Nationals exercise their $12MM club option for 2017, an option for '18 at the same salary will vest if Gonzalez pitches 180 innings in '17.
Yesterday, Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com and Nats Insider tweeted the year-by-year salary breakdown of Gonzalez's five-year, $42MM deal. The contract is the largest ever for a starting pitcher with less than three years of service time.
Epstein Compensation In Selig’s Hands
The Red Sox requested in late December that MLB commissioner Bud Selig resolve the Theo Epstein compensation issue, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Cubs were granted permission to speak to Epstein by the Red Sox and hired him as president of baseball operations in October. Since then, the two teams have been unable to determine what compensation the Red Sox should receive for Epstein, since he had a year remaining on his contract.
Back on November 17th, Epstein said talks were "very amicable" and lots of jokes were being made on the topic. At that point, the plan was to re-engage after the Rule 5 draft, which happened on December 8th.
Last Thursday on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan show, Epstein said he and new Red Sox GM Ben Cherington were trying to work it out, but they might need some help to get it done. Epstein explained his stance: "Throughout the history of baseball, there's really only a handful of instances in which there's been any compensation whatsoever for executives." He added that in those cases, "compensation has been pretty reasonable. When Andy MacPhail, who had won two World Series, left on a lateral move from Minnesota to Chicago back in '94, his compensation was the 30th-ranked prospect in the Cubs' system [Hector Trinidad] and a little bit of cash." In Epstein's opinion, "There's no precedent for major, major compensation here." The Red Sox feel that Epstein is more valuable than MacPhail or any manager, according to Wittenmyer, and CEO Larry Lucchino has at various points floated the names of Matt Garza and Brett Jackson.
Falling Arbitration Records
Back in April, I outlined the arbitration records for catchers, other position players, and starting pitchers. As expected, some records will fall in 2012.
Going to arbitration for a fourth time, Mike Napoli is a lock to top Ivan Rodriguez's third-time catcher salary of $6.825MM. Players have to love Super Two status. Napoli's 2012 salary range is $8.3-11.5MM, with a $9.9MM midpoint. We'll see whether long-term extension talks kick back up.
As first reported by MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith, Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury settled at $8.05MM for his second time through arbitration. Ellsbury never had much chance at what I consider the second-time record, Miguel Cabrera's $11.3MM salary from 2007. That salary was folded into a multiyear deal a few months after the agreement, but it remained unchanged.
The third-time position player record could be Prince Fielder's $15.5MM, though that was preceded by a multiyear deal. Limiting it to year-to-year players, Alfonso Soriano's $10MM from 2006 fell with Andre Ethier's new $10.95MM deal, which could be topped again if Napoli or Hunter Pence win an arbitration hearing. Pence's filing figures are $9MM and $11.8MM, with a $10.4MM midpoint. He gets to cash in one more time as an arbitration eligible player in 2013, assuming he doesn't sign an extension with the Phillies.
This year David Price was unable to push past Dontrelle Willis' first-time starting pitcher settlement record of $4.35MM, set in 2006. Some may consider Jered Weaver the record holder at $4.365MM, if an earned $100K award bonus is included. Regardless, Clayton Kershaw crushes them all with his new $6.5-10MM range ($8.25MM midpoint). Should Kershaw win an arbitration hearing or settle at the midpoint, he'll be at the Tim Lincecum pay scale. The midpoint would beat Lincecum's first-time starting pitcher record filing figure of $8MM, which preceded his two-year deal.
The third-time starting pitcher record is Carlos Zambrano's $12.4MM. With a $17-21.5MM spread and $19.25MM midpoint, Lincecum will fly past that, though he's coming off a multiyear deal. Similarly, Cole Hamels settled at $15MM as a fourth-time arbitration player, but his first three years were covered in multiyear deal. In a technical sense, Hamels' salary is second only to Fielder's $15.5MM in terms of arbitration settlements, and Lincecum will easily top both unless he signs a multiyear deal.
Be sure to keep track of all the arbitration settlements, submissions, and midpoints with MLBTR's arbitration tracker.
Quick Hits: White Sox, Guerrero, Gonzalez, Hart
By this time tomorrow, we'll know whether the Rangers were able to work out a deal with Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish. In the meantime, here are tonight's links…
- Dayan Viciedo says he tried to recruit fellow Cubans Yoenis Cespedes and Jorge Soler for the White Sox, tweets Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune. Cespedes appears to be drawing substantial interest from Chicago’s other team.
- The representatives for Vladimir Guerrero and Raul Ibanez contacted the Yankees about their DH opening, Newsday’s Ken Davidoff tweets. The Yankees have also been in touch with the representatives for Carlos Pena, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, though they aren’t inclined to spend big on a DH.
- Mark Zuckerman of NatsInsider.com has the salary breakdown for Gio Gonzalez’s recent five-year, $42MM extension (Twitter link). The Nationals have two $12MM options for 2017 and 2018, Gonzalez’s second and third free agent years.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin said right fielder Corey Hart will be asked if he's willing to play some games at first base, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Mat Gamel is the Brewers’ projected first baseman, since Prince Fielder will almost certainly sign elsewhere.
Orioles Sign Armando Galarraga
The Orioles signed Armando Galarraga to a minor league contract, according to the transactions page at CBS Sports. SFX represents the 30-year-old right-hander.
Galarraga struggled through the 2011 season after an eventful 2010 campaign in which he came within one out of throwing a perfect game for the Tigers. Galarraga, who was traded from Detroit to Arizona last January, posted a 5.91 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 42 2/3 innings for the D'Backs in 2011. He also made five Triple-A starts, allowing 24 earned runs in 23 1/3 innings.
Rangers Notes: Darvish, Fielder, Hamilton
It's been nearly a month since the Rangers won the bidding for Yu Darvish, which means the deadline for a deal is approaching. The Rangers have until 4pm CDT Wednesday to work out a deal with the Japanese right-hander. Here’s the latest from Texas…
- Rangers officials continue downplaying the chances of signing both Darvish and Prince Fielder, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
- Morosi hears that extension talks with Josh Hamilton are on hold at the moment, while the club works on the Darvish deal. Hamilton will earn $13.75MM in 2012 and is set to hit free agency once the season ends.
- Heyman hears that the Rangers are likely to sign Darvish to a contract worth slightly more than the $52MM Daisuke Matsuzaka obtained from the Red Sox.
- The Rangers seem to love the idea of signing Fielder and would become the favorite to land the slugger if the Darvish deal falls through, Heyman writes.
- The Rangers have three unsigned arbitration eligible players: Mike Napoli, Nelson Cruz and Elvis Andrus.
Cespedes: Cubs Are Leading Suitors
Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes says the Cubs are his most serious suitor, according to Dionisio Soldevila of the Associated Press (link via DiarioLibre.com). The free agent outfielder isn’t yet a free agent, but he’s playing Winter Ball in the Dominican Republic and MLB teams continue eyeing him.
"Of all the teams who have come, the Chicago Cubs have been most interested in me," Cespedes said.
Last week Cespedes said the six teams with "more interest" in signing him were the Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, Tigers and Indians. The Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays and Rangers also have some interest in Cespedes, but the Nationals aren’t involved. Marlins president David Samson recently acknowledged that his team intends to make an aggressive run at Cespedes, who is represented by Adam Katz of Wasserman Media Group.
NL West Links: Maybin, Padres, Giants, D’Backs
One year ago today, the Rockies re-signed Jason Giambi to serve as their backup first baseman and primary pinch-hitter. Here's the latest out of the NL West…
- The Padres and Cameron Maybin had tabled contract extension talks for now, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock (on Twitter). Maybin recently changed agents and the two sides haven't made any progress.
- Although they are just about done with their 40-man roster moves, Dan Hayes of the North County Times hears that the Padres have room for one more "protection" starting pitcher (Twitter link).
- Giants executive Bobby Evans told John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle that the team's five starters are in place (Twitter link). Evans also mentioned Gregor Blanco as possible outfield depth.
- The Diamondbacks thought they had a deal in place with Bartolo Colon before he signed with the Athletics, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider req'd). Arizona ended up signing Joe Saunders today.
D’Backs To Sign Joe Saunders
The D'Backs announced that they have agreed to sign free agent Joe Saunders to a one-year deal. Legacy Sports Group represents the left-hander, who was non-tendered by the D'Backs in December. Saunders will obtain $6MM, or $2.7MM less than his projected salary through arbitration. GM Kevin Towers expects Saunders to fit in well on the 2012 club.
“Joe was an integral part of our success last season and will help stabilize the rotation next season,” Towers said in a statement.
Saunders re-joins Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson and Josh Collmenter in a D'Backs rotation that now includes Trevor Cahill. The Red Sox, Orioles, Marlins, Tigers and Rockies were among the teams with some interest in Saunders this offseason.
Saunders, 30, posted a 3.69 ERA with 4.6 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 44.5% ground ball rate in 212 innings this past season. He has averaged 200 innings per season since 2008 without striking out more than five batters per nine innings in any of the past four seasons. The former 12th overall pick had an average fastball velocity of 89.6 mph in 2011.
Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports first tweeted news of the deal and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweeted the terms of the contract.