Orioles, Tommy Hunter Avoid Arbitration
The Orioles announced that they've avoided arbitration with right-hander Tommy Hunter (Twitter link). The sides agreed to a one-year contract worth $1.82MM, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter).
Hunter, 26, had been arbitration eligible for the first time. The Moye Sports Associates client posted a 5.45 ERA in 133 2/3 innings as a starter and reliever for Baltimore in 2012. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz correctly ancipated that Hunter's salary would fall in the $1.8MM range.
Baltimore has seven remaining arb eligible players, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows: Chris Davis, Jason Hammel, Jim Johnson, Brian Matusz, Darren O'Day, Troy Patton and Matt Wieters. The Orioles are nearing a deal with Matusz.
Extension Candidates: Milone & Parker
The Oakland Athletics have made a habit of extending pre-arbitration eligible starting pitching in the last decade or so. General manager Billy Beane has negotiated multiyear deals with many players, from Tim Hudson and Barry Zito ten-plus years ago, to Rich Harden and Dan Haren midway through the last decade, to current A's starter Brett Anderson.
Here’s the template Beane has used most often: offer a promising, young starter a four-year contract covering his remaining pre-arbitration years and some arbitration years. The deals, typically valued in the $9-13MM range, tend to include club options for future arbitration and/or free agent seasons. The A’s take on the risk that the starters won’t be able to replicate their early-career successes in exchange for potentially discounted arbitration seasons and extended control of the players. Meanwhile, the players get substantial security in exchange for capping their earning potential for a period of four-plus seasons.
Should the A’s look to replicate past deals again this winter, the agents for Tommy Milone (pictured) and Jarrod Parker could soon be getting calls from Beane. Both starters were acquired in trades last offseason and both spent a full season at the MLB level for the first time in 2012, succeeding in prominent roles for the eventual AL West winners.
Milone, a Praver/Shapiro client, pitched to a 3.74 ERA in 190 innings with Oakland in 2012. The 25-year-old left-hander struck out 6.5 batters per nine innings while walking 1.7 per nine and posting a 38.1% ground ball rate.
Parker, a 24-year-old Reynolds Sports Management client, posted a 3.47 ERA in 181 1/3 innings. A much harder thrower than Milone, Parker generated a few more strikeouts (6.9 K/9) and many more ground balls (44.3% ground ball rate) while allowing more walks (3.1 BB/9).
Opposing hitters would tell you that the right-handed Parker is a different type of pitcher than Milone, and the two took markedly different paths on their way to the Oakland’s rotation. Still, they’re on track to be comparables in arbitration given their service time and basic statistics. In the context of extension talks that matters a great deal. Both pitchers are on track for arbitration eligibility after the 2014 season and free agency after the 2017 season.
As MLBTR's Extension Tracker shows, there's considerable precedent for contract extensions of four years or more for starting pitchers with between one and two years of MLB service. Anderson, Cory Luebke and Wade Davis all obtained $12-12.6MM for four-year deals that included multiple club options. Both A’s starters have more innings pitched than Luebke did at the time of his deal and better ERAs than Davis did at the time of his deal. Furthermore, both Milone and Parker have more innings and a better ERA than Anderson did at the time of his deal. It appears that Milone and Parker could obtain four-year deals worth more than $12.6MM, especially when taking inflation into account. In my view $14MM would be a more reasonable target for four guaranteed years.
To this point in the offseason, there haven’t been any rumors about the pair of A’s starters. But January, February and March tend to be active months for contract extensions, and Beane has shown repeated interest in extending successful young starters on multiyear deals. It won’t be surprising if the club discusses similar contracts with Milone and/or Parker in the coming months.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Padres, Pirates, Rangers Interested In Shaun Marcum
Shaun Marcum is drawing interest from the Padres, Pirates and Rangers, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports. Turner Gary Sports represents the free agent right-hander.
Marcum pitched for the Brewers this past season, posting a 3.70 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 35.4% ground ball rate in 124 innings over the course of 21 starts. The 31-year-old missed approximately two months due to elbow tightness in 2012 and his average fastball velocity remained well below 90 mph at 86.5 mph. Marcum, who joined the Brewers in a trade with Toronto following the 2010 season, has a career ERA of 3.76 with 7.3 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 38.7% ground ball rate in seven MLB seasons.
Marcum ranked 19th on MLBTR’s list of top 50 free agents entering the offseason. He has also been linked to the Indians, Mets, Twins and Royals at various points this winter. Marcum, who’s not linked to draft pick compensation, probably won’t re-sign with the Brewers.
Latest On Red Sox, Mike Napoli
9:29pm: ESPN's Jim Bowden says (on Twitter) the Red Sox would like to shorten the deal to just one year. GM Ben Cherington told Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe that negotiations continue with Napoli (Twitter link).
4:41pm: The three-year, $39MM agreement between Mike Napoli and the Red Sox has yet to be announced, and before the Red Sox sign off on a contract, they want to restructure the deal to include protective language, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. The Red Sox still seem hopeful that they’ll be able to reach an agreement with the catcher/first baseman, according to reports earlier in the week.
The Red Sox want to add protective language to the deal because they found an issue with one of Napoli’s hips, Rosenthal reports. The Red Sox have included protective language in past deals for players such as J.D. Drew. Before Drew signed his deal, Detroit signed Ivan Rodriguez to a free agent contract that allowed the Tigers to buy the catcher out if he spent a certain amount of time on the disabled list for designated reasons.
Another team has expressed interest in Napoli. However, Rosenthal says no team has made a serious effort to sign him.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
Justin Upton Rumors: Friday
Justin Upton invoked his no-trade clause to reject a proposed deal to the Mariners, one of four teams on his no-trade list. The trade would have sent four players to Arizona: Nick Franklin, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor and Taijuan Walker. Instead, Upton remains on the Diamondbacks’ roster and the rumors continue. Here’s the latest on the 25-year-old, who can also block trades to the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Cubs…
- The Mets are again interested in trading for Upton, reports Marc Carig of Newsday (on Twitter). He says it's a longshot they'll surrender the prospects required to made a deal.
Earlier Updates:
- Unless Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers lowers the asking price for Upton, the Braves seem willing to proceed with players already in the organization, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution writes. The Diamondbacks wanted a package centered around shortstop Andrelton Simmons earlier in the offseason, but the Braves won’t trade the defensive whiz and Arizona has since acquired shortstop Didi Gregorius from Cincinnati.
- Former MLB player Harold Reynolds said on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show that Upton repeatedly told the Diamondbacks he would not approve a deal to the Mariners (via Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports on Twitter). Rosenthal notes that Reynolds is the younger brother of Larry Reynolds, Upton’s agent.
- Upton was never going to the Mariners, so talks were a “waste of time” in the view of USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link).
- The Rangers appear to be moving on from Upton.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
Blue Jays Sign Henry Blanco
The Blue Jays announced that they signed catcher Henry Blanco to a non-guaranteed deal for the 2013 season. The 41-year-old Elite Sports Group client would earn $750K at the MLB level.
Blanco appeared in 21 games this past season, posting a .188/.224/.281 batting line in 67 plate appearances for the Diamondbacks. He also spent time on the disabled list with a sprained thumb. Arizona declined its 2013 option on Blanco after the season.
Boras Talks Bourn, Soriano, Lohse
Though many have expressed doubts that Michael Bourn, Rafael Soriano and Kyle Lohse will find lucrative free agent contracts, their agent suggests all three players will be just fine. Scott Boras, who represents each of the top three remaining free agents, told ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick that Bourn, Soriano and Lohse will do well, even if they remain unsigned as Spring Training approaches.
“People call me all the time and say, 'Man, your players aren't signed yet,'” Boras said. “Well, it doesn't really matter what time dinner is when you're the steak.”
All three players are linked to draft pick compensation after turning down qualifying offers at the beginning of the offseason (they're actually the only three free agents still linked to draft pick compensation). The Rangers have done legwork on Bourn, according to Crasnick, who notes that the Braves haven’t ruled out a reunion with the center fielder. Bourn could appeal to the Mariners, and Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik told Crasnick that he continues seeking bats.
"We have had a lot of dialogue regarding offense, but we would be open to anything," Zduriencik said.
Boras denied reports that he circled back to ask the Yankees about their interest in a one-year deal with Soriano. The Tigers continue expressing confidence in internal relief options such as Bruce Rondon, though they’re viewed as a possible suitor for Soriano along with the Blue Jays. However, Toronto would likely be reluctant to surrender a draft pick to sign the closer.
As for Lohse, the Rockies and Mets want starters, but prefer affordable options. Some view the Angels and Rangers as potential suitors for the right-hander, though their interest level remains unclear. While the Brewers could use pitching, GM Doug Melvin said he’s decided “this is the year we're probably going to go with some of our younger guys."
Cardinals Notes: Kyle Lohse, Nick Punto
The Cardinals might not be making many headlines in relation to some of their more active National League rivals, but they could make another move or two and they do have five unresolved arbitration cases. Mitchell Boggs, David Freese, Jason Motte, Edward Mujica and Marc Rzepczynski are all arb eligible this offseason, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows. Here's the latest on the Cardinals…
- Cardinals GM John Mozeliak repeated that the chances of Kyle Lohse re-signing in St. Louis are slim, Tim McKernan of InsideSTL.com reports (on Twitter). The GM said it doesn't make much sense for the Cardinals to sign the free agent right-hander, but noted that he didn't want to close doors.
- There’s a 50-50 chance the Cardinals add to their big league roster before Spring Training, a team source told Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter links). The Cardinals are re-focusing on the free agent market, and there’s support within the organization for a Nick Punto type, according to Strauss. Punto, a switch-hitter capable of playing multiple positions, is under contract with the Dodgers. The former Cardinal will earn $1.5MM in 2013.
Mets Targeting Prominent Outfielders
The Mets like Scott Hairston, but view the free agent as a fallback option in case they can’t obtain a bigger name outfielder, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter links). The Mets would be happy to re-engage the Diamondbacks about Justin Upton, according to Heyman. However, they found Arizona’s asking price on Upton to be high earlier in the offseason.
We now have a precise sense of the Diamondbacks’ asking price for Upton. It appears that GM Kevin Towers agreed to a deal that would have sent Upton to Seattle for Nick Franklin, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor and Taijuan Walker. However, Upton invoked his no-trade protection and blocked the deal (latest details here).
The Mets' outfield currently includes Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda, Mike Baxter, Jordany Valdespin, Andrew Brown and Collin Cowgill. GM Sandy Alderson has been eyeing outfielders all winter, but has yet to acquire an established player.
Michael Morse Rumors: Friday
Minutes after news broke that Adam LaRoche had agreed to return to the Nationals on a two-year deal, the speculation about trades involving Michael Morse began. Morse, a free agent next offseason, offers right-handed power at a time that it’s very much in demand. The Nationals don’t have an everyday role for him after signing LaRoche, but many other teams are interested. Here’s the latest on Morse, starting in the American League East…
- The Yankees called the Nationals about Morse after Washington signed LaRoche, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports (on Twitter). The sides will eventually discuss a deal, but the Nationals weren’t ready to talk trades when the Yankees first called.
- The Red Sox are one of the teams in contact with the Nationals about Morse, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. Rosenthal suggests Morse could be an alternative to Mike Napoli at first base in Boston. However, the Red Sox would need to part with young talent and possibly a left-handed reliever to obtain Morse.
- The Rays have also been linked to Morse, who's drawing interest from several teams.