Mets Considering Attempt To Void K-Rod’s Contract
Not only did Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez face trouble with the law last week, he tore a ligament in his thumb and will require season-ending surgery. The Mets are now looking into voiding K-Rod's contract, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
The injury does not appear to be baseball-related, something the Mets could point to if they decide to attempt to void the contract and sidestep the $18MM they owe Rodriguez. The MLBPA would presumably object if the Mets do attempt to void the deal. The Mets signed K-Rod to a three-year $37MM deal after he set the single-season saves record in 2008.
A Mets official told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork that "you can make the assumption that the injury resulted from the incident last week." K-Rod has $3MM remaining on his contract this year, so the Mets could focus on that amount if they look to void part of the deal, since the closer will likely be ready for the 2011 season.
Blum, Counsell Clear Waivers
Infielders Geoff Blum and Craig Counsell have cleared waivers, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). The Astros and Brewers can now trade their respective veterans to any team. The Braves and Cardinals both lost third basemen, so Blum and Counsell could draw interest. Blum ($1.5MM, mutual option for 2011) and Counsell ($2.1MM) both make modest salaries, play second third and short and can hit the open market after the season.
Here's MLBTR's complete list of players to clear waivers.
Rockies Sign Peter Tago
The Rockies signed prep right-hander Peter Tago, according to the MLB draft's Twitter page. Tago, selected 47th overall in the supplementary first round, gets a $983K bonus, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. MLB recommends a $740K bonus for Tago's slot, so the Rockies are paying a little more than the commissioner's office would like. Baseball America says Tago is "a near perfect model of a prep right-hander with a huge upside: projectable frame, easy arm action, calm demeanor and electric stuff." The 18-year-old had committed to playing at UCLA.
As Troy Renck of the Denver Post writes, negotiations between the Rockies and first-round selection Kyle Parker will likely continue until the deadline. Colorado has until 11 CDT tonight to reach an agreement with Parker, who plays quarterback for Clemson.
Here's the complete list of first rounders to sign.
Giants To Sign Gary Brown For $1.45MM
8:10pm: Brown gets a $1.45MM bonus, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America (on Twitter).
3:46pm: The Giants agreed to sign first-round pick Gary Brown for about $1.3MM, according to Yahoo's Kendall Rogers (on Twitter). The Giants, who selected the 21-year-old outfielder 24th overall in this year's draft, appear to be paying him close to slot money. Last year, the Angels paid Randal Grichuk slot money ($1.242MM) after drafting him 24th overall. The A's selected Brown in the 12th round of the 2007 draft, but he went on to star at Cal State Fullerton instead of signing.
Now that the Giants have agreed to sign Brown, 15 first-round picks have yet to come to terms with the clubs that drafted them.
Braves Considering Clint Barmes
The Braves are considering Clint Barmes as one potential way of replacing Chipper Jones, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Braves, who lost Chipper to season-ending knee surgery last week, cannot deal for Barmes yet, since the Rockies have yet to place him on waivers. Martin Prado, who should soon return from the disabled list, would play third and Barmes would play second if the Rockies and Braves were to complete a deal.
The Braves have a number of players in the organization who can play third. Troy Glaus will not return to the hot corner, but Prado, Omar Infante, Brooks Conrad and even Eric Hinske are options.
Aramis Ramirez, Pedro Feliz, Wes Helms, Adam Kennedy, Jose Lopez, Brandon Inge, Jhonny Peralta, Ty Wigginton, Edwin Encarnacion, Melvin Mora and Willie Bloomquist are among the infielders who could become targets for Atlanta should GM Frank Wren decide to make a trade. The Braves had not asked the Mariners about Chone Figgins as of last Friday.
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Ricky Romero, Jon Lester & Yovani Gallardo
Technically, the Blue Jays entered uncharted territory today. They committed more money ($30.1MM) to Ricky Romero than any team has ever committed to a pitcher with less than two years of service time. But in reality, the extension is all about precedent.
“It’s all about comparables and comparable deals and what else has been done,” Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said this evening, comparing Romero to Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester and Brewers right-hander Yovani Gallardo.
Both Lester ($30MM) and Gallardo ($30.1MM) signed deals worth virtually the same amount as Romero’s. The three extensions cover the exact same five seasons (one year of pre-arbitration, three arbitration seasons and one free agent season) and all include $13MM team options for the players’ second free agent years. It would be hard to construct three more similar contracts.
And it would be hard to find three more similar pitchers. If you compare Romero to Lester and Gallardo at the time they signed their respective contracts, you notice striking similarities. All three had made between 52 and 59 starts, posted ERAs between 3.57 and 3.94, allowed between 28 and 33 homers and walked between 134 and 141 batters. All three were selected within the first two rounds of the amateur draft and all three were 24 or 25 when they agreed to their respective deals.
There are differences, of course. Gallardo is right-handed and walks and strikes out more batters than the two lefties. Lester and Gallardo missed time early in their careers, whereas Romero has been fully healthy. Anthopoulos realizes the inherent risk of committing tens of millions to a pitcher, but says Romero has the stuff to improve over the course of the deal.
“You always have concerns when you make a commitment,” Anthopoulos said. “What the reaction might be on the part of the player, but we see a guy like Ricky continuing to improve. We think he’s going to be an innings eater, we think he’s going to be a horse [and] we think he’s going to continue to evolve.”
There's no question that Lester and Gallardo have continued evolving since signing their contracts. Lester has improved his strikeout rate since signing his extension two offseasons ago. And Gallardo, who signed his contract this April, leads the National League in strikeout rate and is on pace to post the lowest full-season ERA of his career. The Blue Jays hope and believe Romero will develop, but they won’t be disappointed if he keeps pitching the way he has.
“Even if there wasn’t much improvement or any at all,” Anthopoulos said. “We think what he’s doing right now [is good enough]. He’s had a tremendous year for us.”
The deal is designed to save the Blue Jays money in arbitration and keep Romero in Toronto for what the Jays expect to be his prime years. Even though Romero wasn’t going to hit the open market until four winters from now, the contract is all about market value. If Romero pitches like Gallardo and Lester, the deal will be a win and if he misses extended periods of time with injuries it will be a loss. Until then, it’s neither an overpay nor a discount.
Draft Notes: Solis, Klein, Jenkins, Gumbs
The deadline for signing draft picks is just days away. Teams have until August 16th (next Monday) at 11 CST to sign their picks, and the agreements are starting to trickle in. Here are the details:
- Talks between the Nationals and second-round pick Sammy Solis are "amicable," and MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears from a source that a deal is close to being worked out.
- Baltimore has agreed to terms with third-rounder Dan Klein, tweets Baseball America's Jim Callis. Klein's bonus is worth just under $500K, or as Callis describes it, "second-round money."
- The Cardinals officially announced their contract with Tyrell Jenkins, writes Matthew Leach of MLB.com. It was reported earlier this week that Jenkins and the Cards had agreed to terms that included an above-slot bonus price for the 50th overall pick.
- The Yankees signed second-rounder Angelo Gumbs for $750K, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. The outfielder gets the largest bonus for any player drafted after the supplemental first round this year.
- Here's another above-slot deal for an outfielder: the Padres signed eighth-rounder Jose Dore for $450K, according to Callis.
- Not surprisingly, the Red Sox haven't had substantial talks with Scott Boras about signing Anthony Ranaudo, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Ranaudo pitched well in the Cape Cod League this summer and maintains that he's ready to return to LSU.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo gives the latest updates on unsigned first round picks. Mayo reports indications that the D'Backs have continued talking to Barret Loux, who failed his physical.
- Here's our list of top picks to sign.
Minor League Transactions: Marti, Anderson
Yadel Marti generated some buzz a couple winters ago when he defected from Cuba. It took a while, but the righty signed with a major league organization. Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the details and other transactions from August 2nd-11th:
- The Braves became the third team to release Josh Anderson this season. The Reds and Brewers also released Anderson, who has combined for a .448 OPS for those three organizations.
- The Red Sox released infielder Tug Hulett.
- The Dodgers released former big league pitcher Bobby Livingston. The lefty logged 56.1 innings for the 2007 Reds.
- The A’s signed Yadel Marti from Veracruz of the Mexican League. The 31-year-old pitched for the same team as Luis Heredia, a top pitching prospect who’s drawing interest from the Pirates and Blue Jays, among other clubs.
The Dodgers’ Approach To Matt Kemp
He “was slow to learn to be a professional,” someone who drew the ire of his manager and “infuriate[d] some members of the organization” with his approach. No, we're not talking about Matt Kemp, though similar things have certainly been said about him this season. Various reporters used those words to describe Yunel Escobar before and after the Braves traded him to the Blue Jays last month.
By all accounts Escobar did not fit into Bobby Cox's system. Now, on the other side of the country, Kemp is in a similar situation. Earlier in the week, Joe Torre benched him twice, ostensibly to keep Jay Gibbons in the lineup. That decision probably didn't sit well with Kemp, but it's not what his agent complained to the LA Times about. Dave Stewart, who represents Kemp, suggested that coaches Bob Schaefer and Larry Bowa criticize Kemp unfairly. A trade, Stewart said, might be best for Kemp and the Dodgers.
The Dodgers seem to realize that mid-twenties players who have hit well before will often rebound. Kemp's .777 OPS is less robust than the Dodgers would like and some in the organization have openly questioned his fundamentals, but he still has talent.
Escobar, who was struggling at the plate in Atlanta, has returned to form north of the border if his first 96 trips to the plate are any indication. He has his only three homers of the season as a Blue Jay to go along with a .315/.351/.461 line and strong, sometimes spectacular, defense.
Just last month, Escobar appeared to be “a negative presence within an otherwise harmonious clubhouse,” a malcontent who wasn't playing fundamentally sound baseball or hitting as well as he should. Braves fans and players may be glad to have the steady Alex Gonzalez at short, but the Blue Jays are surely thrilled to have bought low on a young player with star potential. Plus, the criticisms that followed Escobar earlier in the year have quieted down.
Kemp and Escobar are individuals under different sets of circumstances, so the comparison only goes so far. As the Dodgers know, Kemp has both the talent that made him into an elite player and the tendency to make infuriating mistakes.
Half of MLBTR voters say the Dodgers should seriously consider trading Kemp, but GM Ned Colletti has the vote that counts. He told the Times that Dodgers are not about to do anything drastic, and have no intention of dealing their center fielder. Kemp will probably continue to make the occasional mental mistake, as Escobar does, but it seems probable that his play will improve and it looks like that improvement will happen in a Dodgers uniform.