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Mark Buehrle Discusses His Future

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About two years ago we heard that Mark Buehrle may consider retirement when his current contract expires after the 2011 season, something he reiterated that yesterday's SoxFest '11 according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin. The White Sox ace did leave the door open for a return though; allow me to quote…

"If I have a good year, and something happens and there's an opportunity out there to sign, I'm open for it," said Buehrle. "I talked with the wife about playing for a couple more years possibly, so we'll see. It's a long year, so if I decide to retire at the end, I'll retire. If not, I'll sign somewhere."

"If a deal gets done and talks are going on, it's between me and the team. That's where it ends at, and people don't need to know what's going on or the battling back and forth or the numbers involved. I just want to concentrate on playing baseball."

Buehrle will turn 32 towards the end of Spring Training and is still a highly effective starter. He's thrown no fewer than 201 innings in a single season since 2000, and he's pitched to a 3.84 ERA during that ten-year stretch. He'll earn $14MM in 2011 and looks to be the best free agent starter on the market next winter, barring some unexpected option decisions involving other players. 

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Votto, Pujols, Jays, Marmol

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On this date in 2005, Roger Clemens agreed to a one-year deal worth $18MM with the Astros, making him the then-highest paid pitcher in baseball history. The Rocket filed for $22MM in salary arbitration while Houston countered with just $13.5MM. He was coming off a season in which he posted a 2.98 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 214 1/3 innings and won his seventh career Cy Young Award.

Here is this week's batch of links…

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Cubs Get Commitment From Matt Szczur

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THURSDAY: The Cubs announced that they have reached an agreement with Szczur. He will fully commit to baseball and set his pro football career aside. "We look forward to supporting and fostering [Szczur's] continued development as a baseball player,” Cubs GM Jim Hendry said.

TUESDAY: Outfielder Matt Szczur has verbally agreed to a deal worth $1.5MM with the Cubs, tweets Jim Callis of Baseball America. Tony Pauline first reported the deal (on Twitter).

Szczur, 21, was the Cubs' fifth round pick in the 2010 draft. He agreed to a $100K signing bonus at the time and hit .347/.414/.465 in 116 A-ball plate appearances after signing. Szczur then returned to Villanova for his senior football season, and this new contract buys him away from a potential NFL career.

The original contract called for a $500K bonus if Szczur committed to the Cubs in writing before the NFL combine in February, but it's unclear if that money is still in play. Baseball America recently ranked Szczur as Chicago's seventh best prospect, though that was before the Matt Garza trade thinned their system.

Minor League Signings: Bynum, Padilla, Romero

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A few notable minor league signings, courtesy of Baseball America's Matt Eddy…

  • The Cardinals signed infielder Freddie Bynum. The 30-year-old spend last season in Japan, and is a career .234/.275/.379 hitter in 377 plate appearances, mostly with the Orioles and Cubs. He has experience at both middle infield spots and in the outfield.
  • The Marlins signed outfielder Jorge Padilla. The 31-year-old finally made his big league debut in 2009 after a minor league career that started in 1998. He hit .120/.154/.120 in 26 plate appearances with the Nats and has performed well at the Triple-A level (.304/.372/.406).
  • The Marlins also added another outfielder, 27-year-old Alex Romero. He hasn't played in the big leagues since 2009, and is a .239/.279/.339 career hitter in 299 plate appearances, all with the Diamondbacks. Romero can handle all three outfield spots.

J.D. Martin Expected To Be Taken Off 40-Man Roster

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Now that the Jerry Hairston Jr. contract is official, the Nationals are expected to take J.D. Martin off their 40-man roster according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson (on Twitter). The move will create room for their new utility player.

Martin, 28, has made 24 starts for the Nationals over the last two seasons, most of which came in 2009. He's pitched to a respectable 4.32 ERA with 4.9 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 125 innings. Martin has spent most of the last three seasons in Triple-A, posting an excellent 3.21 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 144 innings at the level.

Collins Hopes To Add Another Lefty Reliever

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The Mets added Taylor Tankersley on a minor league contract just a few days ago, but new manager Terry Collins told ESPN New York's Adam Rubin that he'd like to add another lefty reliever before the season. Tankersley would then have competition for the lefty specialist job in Spring Training.

"We're hoping to sign another one," said Collins. "It certainly would make it a little bit better for us if we had another one coming into camp, and I know Sandy [Alderson] is working with a couple of people."

Our Free Agent Tracker shows that players like Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, and Ron Mahay remain unsigned. Oliver Perez does not seem to be a candidate for that or any job with the team, and the out-of-options Pat Misch hasn't had much success against lefties in his career: .289/.337/.467 against. His best shot at making the club might be as a long reliever, says Rubin.

Twins “Very Close” To Deal With Pavano

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The Twins are "very close" to a new deal with Carl Pavano and are just working out the final details according to Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune (on Twitter). "I think we're in the home stretch here," said GM Bill Smith.

We first heard that the two sides were working towards a deal earlier this month, and just four days ago we heard that a decision was expected relatively soon. Previous reports indicated that they were working towards a two-year pact.

Pavano, 35, logged 221 innings in 2010, pitching to a 3.75 ERA with 4.8 K/9 and just 1.02 unintentional walks per nine innings. His 51.2% ground ball rate was the key to his success. Minnesota could slot him right behind Francisco Liriano to form a strong one-two punch in a division where both the Tigers and White Sox have improved quite a bit this offseason.

Quick Hits: Toregas, Montanez, Hargrove, Payrolls

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A few notes from around the league that have nothing to do with players who avoided arbitration or filed salary figures…

  • The Pirates signed catcher Wyatt Toregas to a minor league contract with an invitation Spring Training according to a team press release. The 28-year-old spent the 2010 season in the Indians' farm system, hitting .227/.311/.383 in 148 plate appearances.
  • The Cubs signed outfielder Lou Montanez to a minor league deal according to Baseball America's Matt Eddy (on Twitter). They drafted him third overall back way back in 2000. Montanez hit .223/.257/.323 in 266 plate appearances with the Orioles over the last three seasons.
  • Former Indians manager Mike Hargrove is back with the team as a special advisor, the club announced today.
  • The Marlins project to have an Opening Day payroll around $58MM according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. It will be the franchise's highest payroll since opening the 2005 season at $60.4MM.
  • The Twins, meanwhile, project to have an Opening Day payroll around $105.4MM according to Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune (Twitter links), but he says that a Carl Pavano signing could push that up to $115MM.
  • The Royals are now projected to have a payroll around $40MM after Gil Meche's surprise retirement, tweets Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star. In a separate pair of tweets, Dutton says the team is unlikely to use the payroll savings from Meche's retirement on free agents, but will instead boost their draft and international free agent budgets.

Blue Jays, Angels Exploring Leadoff Options

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The Blue Jays locked up Rajai Davis for the next two seasons earlier today, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that isn't stopping the team from pursuing leadoff-type hitters. Both Scott Podsednik and Johnny Damon are now on Toronto's radar according to Rosenthal's sources.

Podsednik has drawn interest from several teams this winter, including the Reds, Dodgers, and Angels, but the first two clubs solved their outfield problems by signing Fred Lewis and Marcus Thames, respectively. A number of teams have kicked the tires on Damon, most recently the Yankees and Rays. Both players are left-handed bats and have plenty of experience hitting leadoff, Podsednik over 3,300 plate appearances and Damon one shy of 7,200.

Rosenthal mentions that the Angels are also looking for a leadoff type, which is consistent with what we've heard throughout the winter.

Contract Details: Votto, Saito, Thome, Bloomquist

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Updates to a few recently completed contracts…

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