Brandon Moss Clears Waivers
Brandon Moss cleared waivers and was optioned to Triple A Indianapolis, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pirates designated the 26-year-old for assignment a week ago, and had to put Moss through waivers since he's out of options, but no team claimed him.
Moss, a corner outfielder who was acquired in the Jason Bay trade, hit .236/.304/.364 last year in 424 plate appearances for the Pirates. He has been a better than average defensive outfielder in the majors, according to UZR.
Nats Content With Right Field Platoon
We've seen them connected to Jermaine Dye and heard that they've discussed trading for various outfielders, but the Nationals are in no rush to add a right fielder, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. The Nationals expect to rely on players in the organization if the Willie Harris–Willy Taveras platoon doesn't work out. Utility player Cristian Guzman, who has been playing in right, and Mike Morse are among the players GM Mike Rizzo could turn to.
The Nationals haven't had any talks with Dye, though the Brewers had interest. Ladson reports that the Nationals would not be willing to offer Dye much money.
Average Opening Day Salary Remains Steady
3:00pm: USA Today, correcting an error in their original report, now say the average player salary this year is $3.27MM, an increase of less than one percent from last year.
9:10am: The players on Opening Day rosters around the majors are making 17% less money this year than they did last year, according to USA Today. On average, players earned $3.2MM last year, but that figure is down to $2.7MM as the new season begins. Players are still earning lots, but their salaries dropped more this year than in any year since 1988, when USA Today started its survey. Let's run down some of the reasons why salaries are dropping:
- The weakened economy has slowed spending down for the past couple offseasons. Braves president John Schuerholz told USA Today that "the economy has affected all of us." When fans spend less, teams bring in less revenue and have less to spend on players.
- As Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd points out in the article, teams are relying on lots of young talent. Players are at their cheapest before they hit free agency, so the emphasis on youth could be lowering salaries.
- Teams are more conscious of defensive stats and people like Bill James believe younger (and therefore cheaper) players tend to play better defense better than aging ones.
- Front offices are becoming more risk-averse and are less likely to hand out multi-year deals to anyone other than elite players.
Red Sox, Beckett Sign Four-Year Extension
The Red Sox signed Josh Beckett to a four-year extension, the team announced today. The deal, which is worth $68MM, pays Beckett a $5MM signing bonus and salaries of $15.75MM from 2011-14. The right-hander also has a clause blocking trades to three teams, two of which he can choose. After the 2011 season, Beckett should have ten and five rights which will allow him to veto any trade.
MLB.com's Ian Browne first reported the deal's value, after ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes suggested it would approach $70MM. Alex Speier of WEEI.com added the yearly breakdown (via Twitter) and Jon Heyman of SI.com explained the deal's no-trade protection (via Twitter).
As Heyman notes (via Twitter), the Red Sox save on luxury tax spending by completing the deal after the season's start. The extension gives the team control of Beckett, John Lackey, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz through 2014, as Speier notes (via Twitter).
Beckett was set to hit free agency after the season, so the contract averages out to $17MM per year for four free agent years. That's slightly less than what Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez got for the free agent years covered under their newly-signed extensions. It's more per year than the $16.5MM Lackey signed for last winter and, unlike Lackey's contract, Beckett's deal doesn't include injury protection for the Red Sox, according to Edes.
Hank Blalock And Joe Crede
Hank Blalock is healthy, hit 25 homers last season and has Scott Boras representing him, but he still couldn't find a major league job after the Rays assigned him to the minors. Blalock figures to contribute to the Rays at some point this season even though this is not the route he wanted to take. But Blalock's trouble finding a job shows that another Scott Boras client doesn't have it easy.
Joe Crede turns 32 in April, which makes him two and a half years older than Blalock. Crede underwent surgery in September because of a herniated disk in his back. He has since recovered and was throwing and hitting a month ago, but teams haven't forgotten the back, shoulder, hand, knee and hamstring injuries Crede struggled with last year.
Crede's bat is comparable to Blalock's at this point. Blalock appeared in more games than Crede, picked up 128 more plate appearances and hit ten more homers, but Crede's rate stats (.225/.289/.414) resemble Blalock's (.234/.277/.459).
Even though Crede is older, more injury-prone and no more productive at the plate, Boras can point to Crede's defense. Every year since 2002, when data became available, UZR has ranked Crede as an above-average defender at third and he has defended particularly well in recent years.
If Blalock can't find a job now, it's unlikely that Crede can. It's hard to imagine Boras and Crede finding a guaranteed contract now, when roster spots are at a premium. But if Crede proves his health in workouts, he could become an attractive mid-season option for risk-taking GMs in search of a cheap third baseman who can play defense and add a little power.
Brewers In “Ongoing” Talks With Fielder
Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that talks with Prince Fielder about a contract extension are "ongoing." Attanasio did not say whether the club had made Fielder an offer and neither did Brewers GM Doug Melvin. But the club owner said deals of this magnitude can take a while.
"When you talk about $100 million type contracts, it's nine figures," Attanasio said. "Those are complex transactions. They don't get done with a quick conversation and a handshake. Everything has to line up to make it work. There's a mutual intent on both sides to try to make it work."
The Brewers discussed an extension with agent Scott Boras last month, but no details emerged about the contract talks. Fielder is under contract for this year, when he'll earn $10.5MM and the Brewers have Fielder under team control in 2011, when the first baseman will earn a raise in his final arbitration year.
Phillies Have Interest In Nelson Figueroa
The Phillies have interest in Nelson Figueroa of the Mets, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. The 35-year-old righty is out of options, and has been outrighted before, so he can choose to become a free agent instead of reporting to the minor leagues if he clears waivers. Figueroa, whose waivers expire Wednesday, pitched for the Phillies in 2001.
The Mets cut Figueroa, but the Phillies could use pitching depth now that Joe Blanton, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge are on the disabled list. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported last week that the Phillies were interested in adding pitching. In 70.1 innings last year, Figueroa posted a 4.09 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 for the Mets.
Reds DFA Miles, Balentien
The Reds have designated Aaron Miles and Wladimir Balentien for assignment, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of CNati.com (Twitter link). We heard on the weekend that the Reds were likely to designate the pair for assignment to create roster space if GM Walt Jocketty didn't find a trade partner.
The Mariners designated Balentien for assignment last summer, before the Reds acquired the outfielder leading up to the trade deadline. The Reds would acquire Miles six months later for Adam Rosales and Willy Taveras in a bad contract swap.
Miles hit .185/.224/.242 in 170 plate appearances for the Cubs last year and followed that up with a .152/.222/.212 performance this spring. It's hard to imagine any team claiming him. Balentien hit a more robust .327/.353/.571 this spring; in 295 plate appearances last year, he hit .234/.305/.385.
Anthopoulos: The Blue Jays Can Spend
Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star that he could have asked ownership to bid $30MM-plus on Aroldis Chapman.
"Paul [Beeston, the team's president] and ownership were fully prepared to endorse it," Anthopoulos said. "I guess my one regret is I wish it was a greater comfort level on our part. We weren't as familiar with the player as we needed to be."
But the next time the Blue Jays are pursuing a player they want, the GM is confident the club will be able to add payroll. He says the team was receptive to one possible deal that would have seen the Jays take on $4-5MM. The GM wants to put a presentable product on the field, even though his club is rebuilding. Anthopoulos acknowledged that fans come out to see the Jays play well, but says he'll only set aside the team's long-term goals to an extent.
"If we sign a certain free agent is it short-term? Do we have to surrender draft picks? Well that doesn't make a whole lot of sense."
The Blue Jays didn't surrender any draft picks this offseason, but they obtained three when Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas signed elsewhere. Anthopoulos says major league free agency is just one place the club looks for talent.
"We're opening minor-league free agency. We're impacting the Rule 5 Draft. We're impacting waiver claims. We're impacting the draft with the amateurs. We're impacting Latin America."
Rangers Extend Scott Feldman Through 2012
The Rangers have extended Scott Feldman through 2012, according to a team press release. The contract, which guarantees Feldman $13.925MM, includes a club option for 2013 and supersedes the $2.425MM deal the sides agreed to in January for the upcoming season.
Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the details (via Twitter): Feldman makes $2.425MM in 2010, $4.4MM in 2011 and $6.5MM in 2012. The Rangers can pick up a $9.2MM option up for 2013 or buy Feldman out for $600K.
Feldman, 27, was entering his first arbitration season, so the deal buys out all three of his arbitration years and gives the Rangers the option of retaining him for his first free agent season.
Feldman gets $13.325MM for his three arbitration years, which is less than Fausto Carmona ($13.75MM), Ian Snell ($14MM) or Ervin Santana (17.8MM) got for the same chunk of their careers. Those three pitchers recently signed extensions covering their arb years, too.