The Players Teams Must Surrender Picks For
The Tigers, Red Sox, White Sox and Nationals have already proven that they're willing to surrender top draft picks to sign top free agents. Victor Martinez, Carl Crawford, Adam Dunn and Jayson Werth all cost draft picks, but they aren't the only ones attached to selections in the 2011 draft.
Teams will also have to surrender draft choices to sign Type A free agents Grant Balfour, Adrian Beltre, Scott Downs, Cliff Lee and Carl Pavano since those players all turned down offers of arbitration. Keep in mind that the Tigers, Red Sox, White Sox and Nationals have already surrendered their top pick, so signing one of the remaining Type A free agents would only cost them a second or third rounder.
A little historical context: last offseason, teams gave up picks to sign Jose Valverde, Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, Mike Gonzalez, John Lackey, Chone Figgins, Marco Scutaro and Billy Wagner.
In the 2008-09 offseason, clubs surrendered draft choices to sign Orlando Cabrera, Juan Cruz, Orlando Hudson, Derek Lowe, Mark Teixeira, Brian Fuentes, C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Raul Ibanez and Francisco Rodriguez.
Red Sox Sign Carl Crawford
The Red Sox are officially the winners of the 2010 Winter Meetings. Boston signed a seven-year, $142MM deal with Carl Crawford, just days after acquiring Adrian Gonzalez. The deal, which is official now that Crawford has passed his physical, includes a partial no-trade clause.
Not only will the move give Boston a tremendous everyday lineup, it will put pressure on a number of the team's rivals. The Rays will face their former outfielder 18 times per season; the Angels lose out on their top offseason target and the Yankees are left with no major free agent to pursue if Cliff Lee ignores their overtures. According to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, the Yankees never made a formal offer to Crawford, while the Angels may have topped out at $108MM.
Crawford will become the first position player without a 20 homer season on his resume to sign a nine-figure contract. His representatives at Legacy Sports negotiated a deal that falls just short of the eight-year, $160MM Dan Duquette signed Manny Ramirez to a decade ago. However, it surpasses the seven-year, $126MM deal Jayson Werth signed this week.
The Red Sox add another outfielder to the roster and another left-handed bat to the lineup. It's likely that Terry Francona will play Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew in the outfield with Mike Cameron and Ryan Kalish as backups. Drew, Kalish, Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz all bat left-handed.
Crawford, 29, batted .307/.356/.495 with 19 homers and 47 stolen bases in 657 plate appearances for the Rays last year. He made his fourth All-Star team and managers and coaches recognized his above-average defense with a Gold Glove.
It's not much compensation for losing a franchise player, but the Rays will get two draft picks next June for losing a Type A free agent after offering arbitration. They pick up a supplementary first rounder plus Boston's 24th overall pick. The Red Sox already obtained the 19th overall pick when the Tigers signed Victor Martinez.
Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe broke the news (on Twitter) and Jon Heyman of SI.com added detail on the partial no-trade clause (Twitter link). Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link) has the yearly numbers: Crawford receives a $6MM signing bonus, $14MM in 2011, $19.5MM in 2012, $20MM in 2013, and then his pay increases by $250K each season before topping out at $21MM in 2017.
Russell Martin Rumors: Friday
Yesterday, we learned that free agent catcher Russell Martin has offers from the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays. He also has a multiyear offer from a mystery team, but Boston may be the favorite to sign the former Dodger. Here are today's rumors:
Odds & Ends: Greinke, Ryan, Jeter, Atkins, Garza
On this date two years ago, the Tigers sent Matt Joyce to the Rays for Edwin Jackson. It's been a busy couple of years for Jackson, who has bounced from Detroit to Arizona to Chicago, twirling a no-hitter along the way. Here are today's links…
- The Royals haven’t approached other clubs about possible Zack Greinke trades, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter).
- ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick explains that teams other than the Red Sox, Rangers, Yankees and Nationals are hunting for bargains, even though it’s “decidedly less sexy” than pursuing the top free agents.
- ESPN.com's Jayson Stark has the breakdown for Derek Jeter's contract.
- There's minimal interest in Brendan Ryan, so the Cardinals may hold onto him for now, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter links).
- Garrett Atkins has drawn interest from Japanese teams, but would like to return to the majors, according to Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports.
- The Rays will listen to offers for Matt Garza and some clubs are looking for alternative trade targets to Zack Greinke, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney. One major league source tells Ed Price of AOL FanHouse that the Rays will certainly trade Garza (Twitter link).
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports lists the Red Sox and Scott Boras among his Winter Meetings winners and the Angels and Rays among the week's losers.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post agrees that the Rays and Angels had a rough week.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com argues that the Dodgers and Kevin Correia are among the year's Winter Meetings winners
- In a separate piece, Sherman explains that the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is back, as the two clubs continue their "endless fight for baseball superiority."
A Look At The Catching Market
Victor Martinez, John Buck, A.J. Pierzynski, Miguel Olivo and Yorvit Torrealba have all agreed to multiyear deals this offseason and the pool of available free agent catchers figures to shrink a little more if Henry Blanco works out a deal with Arizona, Matt Treanor returns to Texas and Russell Martin signs with one of his AL East suitors. Here's a look at which teams could use catching depth and where they might find it:
Teams with potential interest in catching depth:
- Baltimore – The Orioles have Matt Wieters, but could look to upgrade over Jake Fox and Craig Tatum.
- St. Louis – The Cardinals are looking for a backup catcher and they consider Gregg Zaun a fallback option.
- Milwaukee – The Brewers could add a backstop to compete with Jonathan Lucroy, George Kottaras, Mike Rivera and Wil Nieves.
- Los Angeles – A.J. Ellis was a serviceable backup last year, so the Dodgers' need for catching is mild.
- San Diego – The Padres are looking for someone to back up Nick Hundley. Something tells me that Luis Martinez won't still be the only other catcher on the team's 40-man roster this spring.
- Colorado – Now that Olivo's back in Seattle, the Rockies may look to find a new complement to Chris Iannetta.
- Diamondbacks – If their discussions with Blanco fall through, they could be looking for depth.
Catchers on the free agent market:
- Josh Bard
- Gerald Laird
- Bengie Molina
- Gregg Zaun
- Henry Blanco, Russell Martin and Matt Treanor are all free agents, but are reportedly nearing deals.
Potential trade targets:
- The Pirates appear willing to part with Ryan Doumit.
- It wouldn't be shocking to see the Angels trade Jeff Mathis or Mike Napoli.
- The Yankees (Francisco Cervelli) or Red Sox (Jarrod Saltalamacchia) would have surplus catching if they sign Martin.
At least seven teams could be in the market for a backup catcher and there are not that many viable options on the free agent market, so teams with catching depth will likely draw interest in their extra backstops this winter.
Carl Pavano Rumors: Friday
Yesterday, we heard that the Brewers don't aim to offer Carl Pavano a contract longer than two years. The Twins and Nationals are also in on the bidding for Pavano, who's arguably the top free agent starter not named Cliff Lee. Here's the latest, with more updates to follow throughout the day:
- The Nationals are reluctant to offer Pavano a multiyear deal, but they’re still talking to agent Tom O’Connell, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. The right-hander will wait until after the weekend to decide on an offer, according to O’Connell.
Reds Have Preliminary Extension Talks With Cueto
The Reds have locked up two players and discussed a potential extension with a third, but GM Walt Jocketty isn't stopping there. He has had preliminary discussions with Johnny Cueto's representatives about a long-term deal, according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Like teammate Joey Votto, Cueto is arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason. The 24-year-old posted a 3.64 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 185 2/3 innings last year. He has started at least 30 games for three consecutive seasons and has career marks of 7.3 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 4.27 ERA. Over the course of his career, Cueto has induced an equal amount of air and ground outs (40.0% fly ball rate and 40.6% ground ball rate).
If the Reds extend Cueto it wouldn't be surprising to see them commit about $16MM for his three arbitration years, 2011-13. The right-hander is set to hit free agency after the 2013 season.
Ryan Garko To Play In Korea
Ryan Garko has signed to play in Korea, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The six-year MLB veteran hit free agency two months ago after a disappointing 2010 season.
Garko, who turns 30 next month, struggled through 38 plate appearances with the Rangers before they cut him this May. In his last extended stint in the majors, the first baseman batted .268/.344/.421 in 400 plate appearances for the Indians and Giants in 2009.
Orioles Offer Gregg $8-10MM
The two-year deal that the Orioles offered Kevin Gregg is worth between $8-10MM, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Gregg continues to negotiate with the Orioles, who still believe they have a chance at the former Blue Jays closer.
Even though the Orioles agreed to terms with Koji Uehara, they could offer Gregg the closer's job. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail did not commit to Uehara as the team's closer this week.
The Orioles aren't the only team interested in Gregg. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported this week that the Red Sox, Pirates and Nationals have offered the 32-year-old deals and that the Mariners are in the mix for him. The Rockies also appear to be interested in the Type B free agent.
The Blue Jays will obtain a draft pick for losing Gregg, since he and his representatives at Beverly Hills Sports Council turned down Toronto's offer of arbitration. However, teams don't have to forfeit a pick to sign Gregg.
Braves Sign George Sherrill
The Braves signed George Sherrill to a one-year deal worth at least $1.2MM. The agreement, which is official now that Sherrill passed his physical, could be worth as much as $1.4MM if the left-hander reaches certain incentives. Sexton/Landrum/Williams represents Sherrill.
Sherrill, 34 in April, was non-tendered by the Dodgers after a lost 2010 season. He's always been useful and sometimes dominant against lefties in his career. The Braves could be strong on the southpaw relief front, with Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters already in the fold.
ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick first reported the agreement (on Twitter)