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Looking At The Blue Jays’ Future Salary Obligations

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A case can be made that Friday's Vernon Wells trade was the most significant move of the offseason. The Angels took on his entire contract, freeing up a ton of present and future payroll for the Blue Jays. Wells is scheduled to make $23MM in 2011 and then another $21MM each season from 2012-2014, and it's fairly obvious how shedding that much of an obligation will allow GM Alex Anthopoulos to improve his team.

Now that Wells is off the books, let's use Cot's Baseball Contracts to see what the Jays are on the hook for over the next few seasons. This is guaranteed money only, so arbitration and pre-arbitration contracts are not included. Same with option years, only the buyouts are counted since that's the only portion of the contract that is guaranteed.

Aaron Hill's contract contains club options for 2012 ($8MM), 2013 ($8MM), and 2014 ($10MM) with no buyouts, though the 2014 option goes away if the team does not exercise all three before this upcoming season. Either way, it seems like a safe bet that at least the 2012 option will be picked up, increasing that season's total obligation to a still modest $25.4MM. 

Toronto holds seven of the first 80 picks in next June's draft, including the Angels' second rounder for Scott Downs, and Anthopoulos has emphasized that method of talent acquisition since taking over. A portion of the Wells savings could be spent there. The club is also set up well for a run at either Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder next offseason, should they choose to go that route. 

It was just 18 months ago that the Blue Jays owed over $160MM to Wells and Alex Rios, yet today they owe the pair nothing. Those savings can go a long way towards building the next playoff team in Toronto.

MLBTR Originals: 1/16/11 – 1/23/11

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As the sports world turns its attention to football for the evening, let's recap the original content we posted over the last week…

Billy Butler Agrees To Extension With Royals

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SUNDAY, 9:31am: Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star has the financial details of the deal (Twitter link). Butler will earn $3MM in 2011, and $8MM per year from 2012 to 2014. The contract also includes a $2MM signing bonus and a $12.5MM club option for 2015, with a $1MM buyout.

SATURDAY, 8:03pm: The Royals have confirmed the agreement in a press release. It's a four-year contract with a fifth year option for 2015.

10:11am: Billy Butler told MLB.com's Dick Kaegel that he and the Royals have agreed to a four-year, $30MM contract extension. The deal buys out all three of his arbitration-eligible years plus one year of free agency. Butler is represented by Greg Genske of Legacy Sports.

MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows that Butler filed for $4.3MM in arbitration earlier this week while the Royals countered with $3.4MM. Kansas City recently picked up an extra $12.4MM when Gil Meche unexpectedly retired.

Butler, 25 in April, has hit .309/.375/.480 with 36 homers over the last two seasons. Just 28 players boast an OPS that high during that time (min. 1,000 PA), but Evan Longoria, Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Zimmerman, Troy Tulowitzki, and Butler are the only ones to do so at age 25 or younger. Clearly, the Royals' first baseman has emerged as one of the game's most dangerous young hitters.

Kansas City owns the game's best farm system, and they've now ensured that their best position player at the Major League level will be around when some of those highly touted prospects start to arrive. MLBTR's readers discussed Butler's future with the Royals after the team traded Zack Greinke to the Brewers last month.

Quick Hits: Vlad, White Sox, Rockies, Reds

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Links for Saturday…

  • SI.com's Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter) that the Orioles and Vladimir Guerrero haven't talked in two weeks. Team president Andy MacPhail shot down a report indicating that the two sides were close to a deal earlier today.
  • White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf told Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago that it was a tough decision to add payroll this offseason. "Last year we weren't as good as we thought we could be," said Reinsdorf. "Our attendance was down … I just decided two days before the Adam Dunn signing, 'Let's go for it.' If we spend the money, the attendance will pick up." 
  • Steve Foster of Inside the Rockies notes that the Rockies now have four of their five starting pitchers under contract for 2012 following Jason Hammel's two-year pact, so he looks at possible candidates for that fifth spot.
  • The Cincinnati Enquirer lists the ten most lopsided trades in Reds' history with a little twist: it's the trades that did not work out for Cincy.
  • SI.com's Melissa Segura tweets that the Astros have signed Jose Carlos Thompson for approximately $250K. The second baseman hit .440/.484/.729 at Western Oklahoma State, and is said to be a close friend of Aroldis Chapman's. I'm not sure if that last part has any tangible benefit though.
  • Steve Dilbeck of The Los Angeles Times estimates that the Dodgers are on the hook for almost $94.5MM in payroll next season, plus another $16.3MM in deferred payments.
  • Alex Speier of WEEI.com explains why the Vernon Wells' trade makes the Carl Crawford signing look even better for the Red Sox.
  • Josh Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle says the moves the Athletics' made this offseason make them a serious contender for the AL West crown.
  • The AP (via The Boston Herald) provides a comprehensive list of each team's free agent signings this winter. Of course, you could always use our Transaction Tracker for that and a whole lot more.

January 21st: Contract Extension Day

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Two multiyear contracts were given out today (to Billy Butler and Jason Hammel), but they came a day late compared to recent history. Yesterday was the first time in five years that at least one long-term contract extension was not agreed to or finalized on January 21st, and we're not talking about a bunch of two-year deals either. Let's recap the last four years' worth of action…

  • 2010: Felix Hernandez officially signed his five-year, $78MM deal. King Felix took home the AL Cy Young Award last season after posting a 2.27 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in a league leading 249 2/3 innings.
  • 2010: Josh Johnson officially signed his four-year, $38MM contract as well. He contended for the NL Cy Young Award, pitching to a 2.30 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 183 2/3 innings.
  • 2010: Joe Blanton agreed to a three-year, $24MM deal. He pitched to a 4.82 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 175 2/3 innings last season while battling an oblique strain. The Phillies are rumored to be looking to move Blanton and his salary, though GM Ruben Amaro Jr. recently said otherwise.
  • 2009: Nick Markakis passed his physical, making his six-year, $66MM deal official. After a .306/.406/.491 season in 2008, Markakis has slipped down to .295/.358/.445 in the two years since.
  • 2009: Jayson Werth agreed to a two-year, $10MM deal with the Phillies. The deal bought out his last two years of arbitration-eligibility, and he hit .282/.380/.519 with 63 homers over the life of the contract. Werth landed a much more handsome payday this offseason.
  • 2008: Yadier Molina agreed to a four-year, $15.5MM deal with a fifth year option. He's hit .286/.348/.372 in the three years since signing the contract, throwing out 42% of attempted base stealers and winning three Gold Gloves as well.
  • 2007: Chase Utley agreed to a seven-year, $85MM deal. The second baseman has lived up to his end of the bargain, hitting .296/.393/.518 with 102 homers and the highest UZR among players at his position in the four years since. The Phillies have won a World Series and been to another in that time, so there's no complaints from that end either.

There have been a total of 19 contract extensions handed out this winter, as MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows. The most notable recipients include Butler, Dan Uggla, Joey Votto, Carlos Gonzalez, Ricky Nolasco, Jay Bruce, and Troy Tulowitzki. Players like Josh Hamilton, Jose Bautista, Edinson Volquez, and Carlos Marmol could be in line to receive one between now and the start of the season as well.

Armando Galarraga Rumors: Saturday

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5:20pm: Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks are making a strong push for Galarraga and the two sides are exchanging names. He says that Single-A right-hander Kevin Eichhorn has been discussed, and it appears as though the D'Backs could take on Galarraga's salary in full.

Eichhorn, 21 next month, was Arizona's third round pick in 2008. Baseball America rated him as the team's 18th-best prospect in the 2010 edition of their Prospect Handbook, noting that he sits 87-91 with his fastball and already has a "solid three-pitch mix." In 86 1/3 innings last season, Eichhorn posted a 5.00 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9.

3:18pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson says that the Nationals are not interested in Galarraga because they do not consider him an upgrade over what they currently have in their rotation (Twitter link).

2:48pm: Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that the Pirates have some interest in Galarraga, however a trusted source tells him that they don't see it happening (Twitter links).

2:21pm: Beck has some more from Dombrowski: "We're making some progress on some trade talks at this point," said the GM. "Not quite sufficient to make any announcements, but I would think by the middle of next week we would be in a position where we would make a deal."

Meanwhile, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer says not to expect the Indians to get involved (Twitter link). Galarraga's $2.3MM salary is too rich for the Tribe. 

11:43am: Talks with clubs about a trade involving Armando Galarraga are progressing, tweets MLB.com's Jason Beck. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is quoted as saying a deal "is likely." 

Galarraga was designated for assignment earlier this week after the team's one-year contract with Brad Penny was made official. Dombrowski said he was "confident" that a market would develop for the right-hander, who posted a 4.49 ERA with 4.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 144 1/3 innings last season. He, of course, is most famous for his near perfect game last summer.

The 29-year-old Galarraga avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $2.3MM just a day before being DFA'd. A number of clubs are still looking for rotation help, including the Yankees, Orioles, Indians, and Nationals, though their levels of interest in Galarraga is unknown. 

Mike Sweeney Wants To Play In 2011

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Mike Sweeney has been telling former teammates that he would like to play in 2011, but only if he can find a contending team willing to give him a Major League contract according to ESPN's Jayson Stark (Insider req'd). The Phillies told Sweeney that they would have interest in bringing him back on a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

The 37-year-old Sweeney hit .231/.310/.385 in a reserve role for the Phillies after coming over from the Mariners in a midseason trade. He finally got his first taste of postseason play in 2010, the 15th full season of a career that features a .297/.366/.486 batting line. 

Stark speculates that the Padres could have interest in Sweeney as a bat off the bench and possible platoon partner for Brad Hawpe at first. 

Rangers Still Seek A Veteran Hitter

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The Rangers pursued both Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez before they signed with the Twins and Rays, respectively, but that doesn't mean Texas has stopped looking for a bat. GM Jon Daniels told Anthony Andro of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he's still trying to add a veteran hitter to his lineup.

"If we can still look to improve we will," said Daniels. "One of the things we have looked at recently — it's no secret we were in on Thome — would be a veteran hitter to complement the rest of the lineup. How does that guy fit exactly? It's one of those things you might not be able to perfectly define in January."

Daniels declined to go into specifics about whether the team preferred a full-time player or a bench piece, though he did say that he doesn't believe Vladimir Guerrero is a fit because he still views himself as an everyday player. Playing time could be tough to come by since Michael Young will get most of the at-bat as DH, and Daniels said he has confidence in Mitch Moreland as the team's everyday first baseman.

Our Free Agent Tracker shows that players like Russell Branyan, Nick Johnson, Andy LaRoche, and Lastings Milledge remain unsigned.

Rockies, Jason Hammel Agree To Two-Year Deal

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3:51pm: Troy Renck of The Denver Post reports that Hammel will earn $3MM in 2011 and $4.75MM in 2012. 

11:42am: The Rockies and Jason Hammel have agreed to a two-year deal according to the team (on Twitter). The deal buys out Hammel's next two years of arbitration-eligibility, though he will still be eligible for arbitration in 2013 as a Super Two. He is represented by Octagon.

MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows that Hammel filed for $3.7MM in arbitration earlier this week while the team countered with $3.1MM. He earned $1.9MM in 2010. Colorado has already signed Matt Lindstrom, Carlos Gonzalez, and Troy Tulowitzki to multiyear contract extensions this offseason.

Hammel, 28, was acquired from the Rays for minor leaguer Aneury Rodriguez before the 2009 season. In his two years with the Rockies, he's pitched to a 4.57 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 354 1/3 innings, though he battled a groin strain and arm fatigue in 2010. His 46.4% ground ball rate over the last two years ranks 35th among the 78 pitchers with at least 350 innings.

Rays, Jays & Angels Links: Manny, Damon, Wells

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Unsurprisingly, there is still plenty of chatter going on about yesterday's Vernon Wells trade as well as the Rays' agreement of terms with both Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon. Let's round up the latest…

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears from his sources that the Rays would not have taken one player without the other. It was either both Manny and Damon, or neither.
  • Rosenthal wonders if Ramirez will be happy making just $2MM, and if the Blue Jays would have caved and sent even $20MM to the Angels in the Wells trade had they been asked to do so (Twitter link).
  • The acquisition pushes the Angels' 2011 payroll up to about $145MM according to Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times. He also notes that the team has about $29MM coming off the books after the season in the form of Fernando Rodney, Scott Kazmir, and Gary Matthews Jr.
  • One long-time talent evaluator told ESPN's Buster Olney that the Blue Jays would have had to eat "at least $30 million" for the trade to make sense for the Angels (Insider req'd).

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