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Quick Hits: Rangers, Posey, Dodgers

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Here are a few more notes from around baseball:

  • Former Rangers hurler C.J. Wilson discussed the "communication issues" with the Texas front office that, he says, led him and other free agents to leave the club, reports Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com. "When you're a free agent and the team that you're with tells you that they don't think you're that good or whatever, it doesn't give you any incentive to sign back," said Wilson. "They've played the whole wait-and-see card. It didn't really work with [Josh] Hamilton and it didn't work with me, either."  A glance at MLBTR's Extension Tracker shows that Texas has been willing to pay its own in some circumstances, giving large extensions to players like Matt Harrison, Ian Kinsler, and Derek Holland.
  • The Giants entered their huge extension with backstop Buster Posey knowing that there is a good chance he will have to change positions, writes ESPN's Buster Olney. Posey, a former shortstop, could be moved to third or first in as few as two years, notes Olney. In the meantime, the club can let the situation evolve and see what happens with talented younger players like Brandon Belt and Pablo Sandoval. For his part, Posey says he would be willing to change positions if "it's something that'll help the team," but that his "passion is being behind the plate,"tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • There are a dozen big league skippers on the hot seat this season, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Don Mattingly of the Dodgers, Mike Scioscia of the Angels, and Terry Collins of the Mets all made Rosenthal's list.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

NL Central Notes: Lohse, Brewers, Wainwright, Willis

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After recapping the Pirates' offseason, let's take a look at the rest of the NL Central..

  • The Collective Bargaining Agreement meant that Kyle Lohse had to wait longer than expected to sign this winter, but he can be a real game changer in the NL Central for the Brewers, writes Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports.  The veteran will pitch alongside Yovani Gallardo and Marco Estrada in front of the National League's best offense in 2012.
  • Fresh off of signing a five-year, $97.5MM contract extension, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright says that he is ready to be the club's undisputed ace, writes MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.  Aside from being an impact player on the mound, Wainwright is also looked up to by the other hurlers on the team.
  • The Cubs did some spring cleaning today and made some minor league cuts, including 2010 first-rounder Hayden Simpson and Dontrelle Willis, according to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).

Offseason In Review: Pittsburgh Pirates

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The Pirates were far from the most active team in baseball this winter, but they did make a few significant moves.

Major League Signings

Notable Minor League Signings

Trades and Claims

Notable Losses

Needs Addressed

Last season, Rod Barajas started 98 games behind the plate for the Pirates, hitting .206/.283/.343 and posting his worst OPS in nearly a decade.  His defensive play wasn't particularly strong either and one has to assume that Pittsburgh didn't spend too much time deliberating over his $3.5MM option for 2013.  Instead, the Bucs got a significant upgrade behind the plate in Russell Martin.  Martin's two-year, $17MM deal is the largest free agent contract signed during GM Neal Huntington's tenure in Pittsburgh and the Pirates expect to get their money's worth out of the three-time All-Star.  Two years ago, the Dodgers non-tendered Martin after an underwhelming couple of years and replaced him with the cheaper Barajas.  Since then, the 30-year-old has gotten back on track with the Yankees, posting a .224/.317/.405 slash line with 39 homers across two seasons.

Martin

It took a while to get everything hammered out but the Pirates ultimately inked Francisco Liriano to help fortify the rotation.  The two sides originally agreed to a two-year deal in mid-December, but the Pirates backed out after Liriano broke his non-pitching arm at his home in the Dominican Republic.  Everything finally got wrapped up in February, with language in the new deal that protects the team in case Liriano's arm puts him on the DL again.  

The Pirates are highly unlikely to get the 2006 version of the left-hander, but they'll be doing cartwheels if Liriano can give them something in the neighborhood of his 2010 campaign.  Liriano posted a 3.62 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in that season, but it's the only year out of the last four that he's had a sub-5.00 ERA.  Thanks to the arm injury, Liriano's season won't get underway until May.

The club's other needs were taken care of with more affordable contracts.  The Pirates signed Jonathan Sanchez to a minor league deal in February and he's now penciled in as the club's No. 4 starter due to Gerrit Cole being in Triple-A, Liriano's aforementioned injury, and Jeff Karstens' shoulder issues.  Huntington also added some name players on non-guaranteed deals, including Brandon Inge, who will break camp with the club.  Inge, 36 in May, can provide support off the bench for Pedro Alvarez at third and overall infield depth.

Questions Remaining

If all of the Pirates starters were healthy, they'd be entering the 2013 season with a rotation of A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez, James McDonald, Karstens, and Liriano.  However, the back of the rotation will instead feature Sanchez (8.07 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 7.4 BB/9 in 2012) and Kyle McPherson/Jeff Locke in the No. 5 spot.  Burnett and Rodriguez are both solid, but the rest of the rotation will be chock full of question marks until the summer when they're back at full strength.  They could use some reinforcements to help tide them over and they're keeping a close eye on the Dodgers' Chris Capuano as the season nears.

The PIrates were a lackluster defensive team in 2012 and were ranked in the lower-third of the majors.  Substituting Barajas' arm with Martin's (24% of runners caught stealing vs. 6%) should help keep everyone honest but they'll need more improvement than that to make signficant strides.

Deal of Note

The Pirates have a great deal of confidence in Jason Grilli so it only made sense for them to flip Joel Hanrahan to the Red Sox in December.  The swap allowed Pittsburgh to deal from an area of strength and add first baseman/outfielder Jerry Sands, infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr., reliever Mark Melancon, and right-hander Stolmy Pimentel to the organization.  Sands, who was a prized prospect in the Dodgers system before being shipped to Boston in the blockbuster deal, has impressive power and the PIrates obviously believe that the 25-year-old has a high ceiling.

Over the last two years with the PIrates, Grilli has looked like a brand new pitcher, posting a 2.76 ERA with 12.5 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9.  The 36-year-old was one of the better available relievers this winter and figures to slot in nicely as the Bucs' closer.  Unlike other closing options, Grilli didn't require a three-year pact and his two-year, $6.75MM deal amounts to less than Hanrahan will earn in 2013 alone.  However, it's worth noting that Grilli has limited experience in the role, finishing just 15 games across the last two seasons.  

Overview

The Pirates certainly have promise for the future with the likes of Cole, Jameson Taillon, Alen Hanson, Gregory Polanco, and Luis Heredia in the fold.  However, the 2013 Bucs don't appear to be world beaters.  However, they do have the talent to win 82 games and snap their 20 year losing streak.  After all, they came just three games shy of hitting that mark even after their late season collapse in 2012.

Manager Clint Hurdle believes that his club has improved across the board, even if most of that improvement comes in the way of the younger players having another year of experience under their belt.  It's hard to see the Pirates finding their way into the playoffs, but they can certainly crack the .500 mark.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Diamondbacks Extend Paul Goldschmidt

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The Diamondbacks have confirmed the extension of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt via a team press release.  The five-year, $32MM extension was but the third-largest agreed to yesterday, as it was eclipsed later in the day by the massive extensions for Buster Posey and Justin Verlander.  Goldschmidt is now under contract with the Diamondbacks through 2018.  The SFX client's deal includes a team option for 2019 that could be worth $14.5MM and boost the overall value of the pact to $46.5MM.  

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Goldschmidt wasn't scheduled for arbitration eligibility until after the '14 season and wouldn't have been able to hit free agency until after the 2017 season.  The deal buys out Goldschmidt's pre-arbitration years, arbitration years, and at least one of his free agency years.  The long-term deal comes as something of a surprise since we recently heard that the first baseman rebuffed Kevin Towers' attempt to start talks.

The 25-year-old has been impressive thus far in his young career, hitting .286/.359/.490 in 2012 with 20 homers and 18 stolen bases in 21 attempts across the last two seasons.  Goldschmidt's case is a unique one because as MLBTR's Extension Tracker shows, no first basemen have signed long-term deals with between one and two years of service time.  However, several hitters have done so, including Goldschmidt's former teammate Chris Young.

This marks the fifth extension issued by Towers and the D'Backs this offseason.  Before this, Arizona worked out deals with Aaron Hill (three years, $35MM), Martin Prado (four years, $40MM), Cliff Pennington (two years, $5MM), and J.J. Putz (one year, $7MM).

Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (on Twitter) first reported the agreement.  Terms were provided by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links).  Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweeted additional contract details.  Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Quick Hits: Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs

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Let's take a quick trip around four of baseball's five most valuable franchises, according to Forbes:

  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. discussed the team's offseason strategy and looked ahead to the new season in a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News. When asked about the decision to add yet more older players to his club, Amaro said that "age is a factor," but not the only factor. "I've said this before and [Yankees GM] Brian Cashman has said this before," said Amaro. "I don't worry so much about age as I do about production." Amaro did note that the team figures to get younger in the outfield with Ben Revere and Domonic Brown expected to occupy two starting spots.
  • Meanwhile, the club has announced its Opening Day roster, which includes outfielder Ender Inciarte, according to a team tweet. As MLBTR previously noted, the 22-year-old Rule 5 draftee has yet to appear above High-A ball. Inciarte will remain Phillies property so long as he sticks on the club's 25-man roster (or is placed on the DL) for the duration of the season. Click here for an explanation of the Rule 5 Draft. Todd Zolecki of MLB.com tweets that he expects Inciarte to be returned to the Diamondbacks when Delmon Young is ready to join the club.
  • Turning to Cashman's Yankees, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman pulled no punches when reviewing the club's offseason, writing that "no one had a worse spring training than baseball's most storied team, maybe ever." Heyman further reports that, in spite of their public proclamations and massive payroll, the Yanks' brass is very concerned internally about the club's prospects for 2013. Likewise, ESPN's Jim Bowden predicted that New York would finish last in the AL East, writing that the club could sport a losing record for the first time since 1992.
  • Meanwhile, first baseman Lyle Overbay has made the Yankees Opening Day roster, Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger reported on Twitter. The 36-year-old was inked shortly after being released by the Red Sox. MLB.com's Bryan Hoch previously reported that Overbay signed what Cashman described as "a three-day, NBA-style contract" to allow the club to get "a quick peek" at the veteran. As McCullough wrote, Cashman has described his recent scramble to add players by evoking the famous Emma Lazarus line featured on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to break [sic] free."
  • While nothing is yet official, Red Sox prospect Jackie Bradley Jr. is heading with the club to New York, where the team opens against the Yankees on Monday, tweets Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. The club will need to clear a 40-man roster spot before it can select the contract of the young outfielder, notes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (on Twitter). 
  • The Cubs' front office is working hard to make final additions to the roster, writes Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune (must register to access article). After adding players like Luis Valbuena and Shawn Camp around this time last year, Rogers says, the club could be active on the waiver wire.

Tigers Extend Justin Verlander

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Justin Verlander is extremely competitive, and he bested every pitcher in baseball today with his new contract extension.  His five-year, $140MM extension with the Tigers has a $28MM average annual value and will keep him in Detroit through the 2019 season.  The deal also includes a vesting option for 2020 worth $22MM.  Verlander's AAV is the highest ever for a pitcher, unless you count Roger Clemens' pro-rated 2007 salary.  Verlander's new contract could be called a seven-year, $180MM deal, since this contract technically replaced the two years and $40MM Verlander was owed for 2013-14 without an increase.  In that sense, it tops Felix Hernandez's seven-year, $175MM contract from last month (Felix received $135.5MM in new money, so Verlander wins that comparison as well).

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The option for 2020 will vest if the hurler finishes top five in the 2019 Cy Young voting and includes a no-trade clause, though he was three seasons away from obtaining ten-and-five rights anyway.  Predictably, the deal also includes performance bonuses for winning MVP and Cy Young awards.

“Justin is one of the premier pitchers in baseball and we are thrilled to keep him in a Tigers uniform for many years to come,” Tigers General Manager David Dombrowski said via press release. “Justin has been a Tiger for his entire career and he is on pace to be one of the greatest pitchers in this illustrious franchise’s history.”

Verlander said recently that he would not engage in contract talks once the season got underway.  With little talk of progress between the two sides in recent weeks, it didn't seem likely that a deal would be worked out in time.  With Verlander's new pact and deals for Prince Fielder, Anibal Sanchez, and Miguel Cabrera, the Tigers now have north of $90MM committed to four players for 2015.  

Verlander's last extension was also of the five-year variety and was worth $80MM across the 2010-2014 seasons.  The Tigers haven't done much in the way of extensions since then, as MLBTR's Extension Tracker shows.  Ryan Raburn's two-year deal prior to the 2011 season was Dombrowski's last.

Even though Verlander bested Hernandez's deal by $5MM, he may not stay atop the mountain for long. His deal likely boosts the value of a deal for Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who is also scheduled for free agency following the 2014 season.  Here are MLBTR, we don't consider Verlander's contract anywhere close to $200MM — we prefer to look only at new, guaranteed money.  In that sense, C.C. Sabathia's seven-year, $161MM contract signed in December 2008 is still the largest ever given to a pitcher.

Buster Olney of ESPN.com (on Twitter) reported the terms of the deal.  Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter) had other details of the contract.  Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.

Giants Extend Buster Posey

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Buster Posey said that he wanted to be a Giant for life, and he got his wish with a record-breaking deal that can keep him in San Francisco through his age 36 season.  The Giants signed the star catcher to an eight-year, $159MM extension that will get underway after the 2013 season.  In total, the new deal will pay the CAA client $167MM over nine years with a $22MM option for 2022, since it overwrites his previously agreed-upon 2013 salary.  

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The 26-year-old gets a $7MM signing bonus as part of the deal and will receive a $3MM buyout if his option year is not triggered. The hefty contract extension also provides the catcher with a full no-trade clause.  The breakdown has Posey earning $3MM in 2013, $10.5MM in 2014, $16.5MM in '15, $20MM in '16, and $21.4MM per season from 2017-2021.

In his young MLB career, Posey has won the Rookie of the Year award, two World Series titles, and the 2012 National League MVP award.  Across four seasons, Posey owns a .314/.380/.503 batting line and is coming off of a season where he belted a career high 24 homers.  

Posey's contract covers his three remaining years of arbitration and five years of free agency, plus an option that could take care of a sixth free agency year.  Before this contract, no catcher had earned more than Mike Napoli's $20.8MM for his arbitration years, and Posey nearly triples that.  His $57MM arbitration total is third-highest all-time, behind Ryan Howard and Tim Lincecum.  Posey's contract is the largest deal ever given to a catcher and second in dollars to Joe Mauer's eight-year, $184MM deal with the Twins.  The contract also marks a record guarantee for a player with fewer than four years of service time.  The previous holder of that distinction was Todd Helton, who had an eleven-year deal worth $151.45MM.

The Giants' deal with Posey represents their second consecutive year with a major contract extension completed just prior to Opening Day.  Last year, right-hander Matt Cain - also represented by CAA's Jeff Berry – cashed in with a five-year, $112.5MM pact.  For Berry, this deal is just the latest on a resume full of lucrative extensions.  As MLBTR's Extension Tracker shows, he has recently ironed out deals for clients Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, and John Danks.

Terms of the deal were provided by Buster Olney of ESPN.com (on Twitter) while Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com tweeted the value of the option year.  John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter), Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter), and the AP reported other details of the agreement.  Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Bradley, Cashman, O’s

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This spring, Jackie Bradley Jr. has shown that he absolutely belongs on the Red Sox's big league roster, but he may not break camp with the club for Opening Day because of service time considerations.  It's a system that agent Scott Boras believes is deeply flawed, writes Rob Bradford of WEEI.com.  "Certainly one of the problems in baseball is that the fans are owed the best performance. But for strategic and economic reasons the clubs place themselves in the position where they're making decisions based on the economic structure and not on the performance," Boras said. "Every team does this. I don't think it's good for baseball."  Here's more from the AL East..

  • Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe (on Twitter) thinks that the Red Sox are either trying to make sure that he stays healthy and/or looking to trade someone off of the 40-man roster to clear a spot for him.
  • When asked if there were any attractive outside options available, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman responded, "We’ll see. You don’t have to be attractive right now," tweets Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger.
  • The Orioles released Adam Greenberg from their minor league system, tweets Steve Melewski of MASNsports.  Greenberg, who was hit in the head with a pitch when he debuted with the Cubs in 2005, inked a one-day deal with the Marlins last year.

Minor Moves: Evans, Proctor, Demel

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.

  • The Diamondbacks signed utility man Nick Evans, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter).  Evans, who last appeared at the MLB level with the Mets in 2011, was cut loose by the Dodgers earlier this month.
  • The Orioles have acquired pitcher Scott Proctor from the Giants for cash, Andrew Baggarly of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area reports (via Twitter). Proctor will pitch for Triple-A Norfolk. Proctor last appeared in the big leagues in 2011, when he played for the Yankees and Braves. He pitched in Korea in 2012.
  • The Yankees have outrighted reliever Sam Demel to Triple-A Scranton, the team’s PR department reports (on Twitter). The team claimed Demel from the Astros earlier this week. The team also added Jayson Nix and Ben Francisco to its 40-man roster, the team notes (on Twitter) and, as MLBTR noted earlier today, designated reliever David Aardsma for assignment. Demel, 27, spent most of 2012 at Triple-A Reno in the Diamondbacks system, posting a 4.07 ERA in 66 1/3 innings with 10.2 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. He has pitched 63 2/3 major-league innings in his career, all with the Diamondbacks.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Buehrle, Yankees, Rangers

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On this date in 2001, Todd Helton signed a nine-year, $141.5MM contract extension with the Rockies, making him the highest-paid player in franchise history.  The first baseman certainly helped his case in his walk year, posting a .372/.463/.698 slash line with 42 homers.  Twelve years later, the 39-year-old sounds pretty sure that this will be his final season.  Here's this week's look around the blogosphere..

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.  

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