Weaver Remains Open To Long-Term Deal
Jered Weaver told Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times that he remains open to extension talks with the Angels, who beat him in arbitration last week. The Halos didn’t make progress on a deal with agent Scott Boras, but the sides could pick up talks after the season.
"From my understanding, it didn't go anywhere," Weaver said. "I'm open to it. I would love to play with the Angels for a long time, and if we can get something done, we will. But I don't want it hanging over my head through the season."
Weaver made $4.625MM last year, when he led the majors in strikeouts. He will earn $7.365MM in 2011, instead of the $8.8MM salary he asked for and won’t hit free agency until after 2012. Arbitration hearings can create or amplify tension between teams and players, but Weaver says he has a “thick skin” and that the Angels weren’t too harsh during the hearing.
"It was kind of fun," Weaver said. "It wasn't like sitting in math class where I wasn't paying attention. It was interesting … You wish you didn't have to do it, but this game has become very business-oriented."
Weaver, 28, posted a 3.01 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 224 1/3 innings last year, making the All-Star team and finishing fifth in Cy Young balloting.
MLBTR At FanGraphs: The 2010-11 Relief Market
I'm writing a series of guest posts at FanGraphs, one of the first places baseball fans go for top analysis and stats. Today, I take a closer look at the burst of multiyear contracts for relievers. Owners were no doubt responsible to a large degree, but I argue that Brandon Lyon deserves at least a little bit of credit for setting his fellow relievers up.
AL East Links: Rays, Bautista, Yankees
The latest from Florida, where pitchers and catchers are reporting to AL East Spring Training camps…
- Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Erik Hahmann of DRaysBay that "starting pitching, position players who can help you on both sides of the ball, and impact talent up the middle" are difficult or impossible for the Rays to obtain on the open market. That's why the Rays expect the upcoming draft to be some of "the most important days in the history of [the Tampa Bay] franchise." Friedman admits that the Rays face different challenges than, say, the Yankees or Red Sox, but expects his club to compete in 2011.
- Jose Bautista, who set a deadline for extension talks with the Blue Jays, told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that he is "still very hopeful” about signing long-term with the Jays. Bautista's arbitration hearing is scheduled for today, so we'll know by tomorrow whether he's going to sign an extension or make $10.5MM or $7.6MM this year.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out that some aging players are crucial to the Yankees' success in 2011.
Sabathia’s Competition
C.C. Sabathia said this morning that he does not intend to opt out of his contract, but stopped short of guaranteeing a return to the Bronx next year. The left-hander can exercise an opt-out clause in his contract and hit free agency after the season if he and his agent see the opportunity for a better deal on the open market.
Sabathia appears to like New York – he has certainly pitched well since donning pinstripes – so there's no guarantee that he opts out. But we can be reasonably sure of one thing: he won't have much competition from free agent starters if he does choose to explore free agency again. Here's a look at some of the other starters who will be available after the coming season:
- Mark Buehrle – Buehrle, who could retire after the season, has logged 200 innings for ten consecutive seasons and has a career ERA of 3.85. He'll draw lots of interest if he has another strong season.
- Yu Darvish - The Japanese right-hander has ace stuff and plans to play in the Majors in 2012.
- C.J. Wilson - Wilson was fantastic last year, but he has started more than six games in a season once. Sabathia has averaged 32 starts for the last decade.
- Edwin Jackson - Jackson hasn't been nearly as consistent as his rotation-mate, Buehrle. He posted a 4.47 ERA last year and is not a top-of-the-rotation starter despite his no-hit stuff.
- Hiroki Kuroda - Kuroda has been effective in three seasons with the Dodgers, but he's five years older than Sabathia and hasn't been as dominant.
- Joel Pineiro – A capable starter, Pineiro is no Sabathia.
- Bounce-back candidates Brandon Webb, Chris Young, Javier Vazquez, Brad Penny and Jeff Francis will hit the open market.
- Adam Wainwright (vesting), Roy Oswalt (mutual), Ryan Dempster (player) and Chris Carpenter (team) could hit free agency after the season, but all have options for 2012.
It would be hard to fault Sabathia for staying put. The Yankees win and $92MM is a lot of money. But Sabathia has averaged a 3.27 ERA, 234 innings, 197 strikeouts and 20 wins in two seasons as a Yankee. Another similar campaign would put Sabathia in position to obtain more guaranteed money, especially considering the shortage of aces likely to be available in free agency.
Rangers Could Explore Alternate Trades For Young
The Rangers discussed a number of potential trades last week as they looked to ship Michael Young and as much of the $48MM they owe him as possible out of Texas for something valuable. GM Jon Daniels hasn't worked out a deal yet, but that doesn't mean he's short on options. ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that the Rangers still have some “potential threads to pull on to make a deal.” It remains possible that the Rangers won’t deal the infielder, however.
Olney suggested over the weekend that the Brewers could acquire Young and make him their starting shortstop. That's one possible alternate destination for Young, who can block trades to 21 clubs. Young drew little or no interest from the Yankees, Phillies, Cardinals, Twins, Mariners, Tigers, Astros and Angels and while the Rockies and Dodgers have had serious discussions about Young, they aren't close to acquiring him.
AL East Links: Guthrie, Bard, Balfour, Rays
Yankees officially announced that they signed Luis Ayala, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Warner Madrigal, Ronnie Belliard and Eric Chavez to minor league deals. Here are some notes on the Yanks and the rest of the AL East…
- Jordan Parraz, who was designated for assignment by the Yankees, cleared waivers, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (Twitter link).
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun asks if you'd extend any of the seven Orioles who were arbitration eligible this offseason.
- If you answered Jeremy Guthrie, think again. The right-hander, who avoided arbitration with the Orioles today, told Jeff Zrebiec of the Sun that the Orioles appear to have ruled out an extension for him, though he wouldn't rule one out himself and doesn't have hard feelings about the team's decision.
- Here's a fun fact from Zrebiec on Twitter: Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has never gone to an arbitration hearing with a player in 25 years of running baseball teams. Pretty astounding.
- Daniel Bard told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that he would like to try starting again and has not discussed an extension with the Red Sox.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post has the latest on some creative discussions between Kevin Towers and the man he worked for last year, Brian Cashman.The Yankees, who considered completing a sign-and-trade with Arizona to acquire Carl Pavano without surrendering a draft pick, discussed a similar deal with the D'Backs about Grant Balfour. The Yankees were moving toward Balfour before they signed his former teammte, Rafael Soriano.
- Justin Ruggiano and Leslie Anderson both cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The Rays designated the players for assignment to create roster space earlier in the week.
Dodgers, Loney Avoid Arbitration
The Dodgers avoided arbitration with James Loney, agreeing to a one-year, $4.875MM deal, according to CAA, the first baseman's agency on Twitter. As MLBTR's Arb Tracker shows, Loney had filed for $5.25MM while the Dodgers offered $4.7MM.
Loney posted a .267/.329/.395 line last year. He doesn't have much power for a first baseman – his career-high in homers is 15 – but the former first rounder has been durable enough to stay on the field for 158 games or more from 2008-10. That consistency, plus Loney's RBI totals (he has 88 or more in each of the past three seasons) no doubt helped him negotiate with the Dodgers.
The sides settled slightly below the midpoint, but Loney will earn more than comparable players Kevin Kouzmanoff, Corey Hart and B.J. Upton did for their second year of arbitration eligibility, as CAA points out. Loney's relatively high salary makes him a non-tender candidate for the 2011-12 offseason, though the Dodgers can retain him through arbitration if they so choose.
Only six arbitration eligible players remain unsigned for 2011. Players and teams have each won one of the two arbitration hearings to take place so far this offseason.
Jose Bautista Sets Deadline For Extension Talks
Albert Pujols isn’t the only prospective free agent who doesn’t want to negotiate an extension once the season starts. The defending American League home run champion has set a deadline for contract talks, too. Jose Bautista, whose arbitration hearing is scheduled for Monday, told Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun that he won’t be open to negotiating a long-term deal with the Blue Jays during the season.
“I won’t be open to it after the hearing,” Bautista said. “After the hearing, I believe we will notify the team that [an extension] is not going to be a possibility, unless it’s in that window they have from the end of the season until the free agency period begins.”
Bautista says he wants to stay with the Blue Jays, but doesn’t like the idea of negotiating a contract once the season begins.
“My desire is to play in Toronto long term but, after the hearing, or during the season, I have come to the conclusion that it’s probably not the best thing for me to be negotiating any type of deal,” he said. “I want to focus on the game and trying to win ballgames."
Bautista asked for $10.5MM in arbitration and the Blue Jays countered with $7.6MM, as MLBTR’s Arb Tracker shows. The sides have not started discussing an extension, as far as Bautista knows. Click here for more on Bautista's arbitration case.
Phillies Sign Cory Sullivan
The Phillies signed Cory Sullivan to a minor league deal, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. The outfielder will be in the Phillies' minor league camp.
Sullivan appeared in 57 games for the Astros in 2010 after Houston signed him last winter. The 31-year-old played all three outfield positions last year, though most of his big league experience comes as a center fielder. Sullivan has never done much at the plate and he struggled more than usual in 2010, hitting just .188/.257/.234 in 71 plate appearances before the Astros cut him loose in June.
Domonic Brown, Ben Francisco, Ross Gload, Raul Ibanez, John Mayberry, Shane Victorino, Brandon Moss and Delwyn Young will also be competing for playing time in the outfield this spring.
Michael Bourn Hires Scott Boras
If you thought the busy portion of Scott Boras' offseason ended when he found deals for Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon, you were mistaken. The agent has recently added Robinson Cano and, according to Stephen Goff of the Houston Examiner, now represents Michael Bourn.
Bourn, 28, led the National League in stolen bases for the second consective season in 2010, winning his second Gold Glove in center field. He hit .265/.341/.346 in 605 plate appearances to go along with 52 steals in 64 attempts.
Bourn will earn $4.4MM in 2011, his second season as an arbitration eligible player. The former SFX client will be eligible for free agency after 2012. Click here for a list of Boras' clients.