Archives for January 2013

If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:

• MLBTR Chats - Join me every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the Major Leagues.
• Baseball Blogs Weigh In - Every Friday morning, Mike Axisa directs you to some of the best writing on baseball blogs around the web. Whether it's opinion, stats or something else entirely, you can connect to the best of the blogosphere once a week on MLBTR. If you want to send Mike a post of yours, reach him at: mike@riveraveblues.com.
• Week In Review - It's remarkable how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, Daniel Seco summarizes the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
• MLBTR Originals - Edward Creech gathers all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.

It’s possible to group players in any number of ways — age, position and contract status to name a few. Like every player, Rafael Soriano falls into a number of categories. In the past month or so, he has often been grouped along with Michael Bourn and Kyle Lohse, since all three Scott Boras clients declined qualifying offers earlier in the winter. They're now the only three free agents linked to draft pick compensation.

While that’s a useful way of viewing Soriano, looking at him through another prism provides additional context. At a basic level, he’s a right-handed reliever. And, as MLBTR’s Free Agent Tracker shows, there’s an abundance of right-handed relief available in free agency, even as Spring Training draws closer. Admittedly Soriano just had a tremendous season, and he’s the top reliever available. Boras will surely remind general managers and owners of those facts in the coming weeks.

That said, the market for right-handed relievers doesn’t seem robust at this stage in the winter. There are lots of options out there and, seemingly, few teams looking to spend aggressively on them. That dynamic impacts everyone, Soriano included. Here’s a look at the latest rumors surrounding some of the second-tier right-handed relievers available. I’ve added the latest rumors when possible, though some of these players have had a quiet few months…

• Jose Valverde – There’s been little reported interest in Valverde, who won’t be back in Detroit. His playoff struggles appear to have compromised his leverage.
• Brian Wilson – Many teams have expressed interest in Wilson. He’s now rehabbing and is closer to throwing off a mound.
• Kyle Farnsworth – It’s been a quiet offseason for Farnsworth rumors, but he has been linked to the Rays and Brewers.
• Francisco Rodriguez – There’s been no reported interest in the free agent reliever this offseason.
• Jon Rauch – Only the Brewers have been linked to Rauch this winter.
• Brandon Lyon – There’s been no reported interest in the Meister Sports Management client.
• Matt Capps – The Twins declined a 2013 option for Capps, and since then it’s been quiet.
• Chad Durbin – The 35-year-old has drawn interest from teams including the Braves this offseason.
• Mark Lowe -  The Dodgers, Giants, Brewers, Angels, and Rays inquired on Lowe, who’s younger than most free agents at 29 years old.

While some or all of these players could be drawing interest that hasn’t been reported, the market seems quiet. In this context, ACES, the agency that brought Brandon League and the Dodgers together early in the offseason, has additional reason to be quite pleased with its three-year, $22.5MM deal.