Cliff Lee Likely Headed To Free Agency
Cliff Lee made his 2010 season debut last night, but at this point his agent appears to be looking ahead to the offseason. ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to Lee's agent Darek Braunecker, who indicated that his client is likely going to test the free agent waters after the season.
"We're five months away from free agency," said Braunecker, "so I think that's the most likely scenario at this point."
"We've not really had any significant discussions with Seattle. I wouldn't anticipate a deal [with the Mariners]."
With Josh Beckett signing an extension with the Red Sox, Lee is inarguably the top starter available on the free agent market next year. Back in March we heard that the lefty was likely to wait until after the season to discuss any kind of long-term deal with Seattle, so this latest news isn't really anything new.
If he repeats his 2008 and 2009 effort this season (2.89 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 1.5 BB/9), Lee would have a good chance of eclipsing the five year, $82.5MM contracts signed by A.J. Burnett and John Lackey in the last two offseasons, but it's unlikely he'll match CC Sabathia's seven year, $161MM pact.
Rockies Designate Rincon For Assignment
12:24pm: Renck tweets that Rincon has in fact been designated for assignment.
12:11pm: The Rockies are calling up righthander Esmil Rogers to start today's game against the Giants, and it appears that reliever Juan Rincon may lose his 40-man roster spot according to The Denver Post's Troy Renck (via Twitter). Rincon's name was not included on the pre-game lineup card.
The 31-year-old Rincon has appeared in just one game for the Rockies this year, giving up one run in one inning of work. Colorado re-signed him to a minor league contract over the winter.
Helping The Mariners Find Some Offense
It's no secret that the Mariners came into the season with a plan for extreme run prevention through pitching and top shelf defense, but through 23 games they've scored the third fewest runs in the American League (82) thanks to a paltry .312 team OBP. The problem was as obvious as can be last night, when the Mariners twice had the bases loaded with less than two outs in extra innings, but scored a total of zero runs.
Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider took a look at the team's offensive plight, noting that the farm system offers a little help and that the arrival of Jack Hannahan and possibly Ramon Vazquez will provide just a marginal improvement for the bench. Seattle's designated hitters are hitting just .186/.263/.198, so Churchill offers up some trade suggests to help that situation. Note that the trade talk is based on his speculation only.
The names are not strangers to this space, including Josh Willingham, Adam Dunn, Luke Scott, and Jorge Cantu. All four would represent a demonstrative offensive upgrade, and by slotting them in at DH the team would maintain their run prevention strategy. Seattle has good but not great trade chips, but they might have the ability to absorb some salary, the best trade chip of all.
The Mariners are just half a game back in the league's most winnable division after the season's first month, so it's hardly time to panic. Though the sooner they can improve the DH position, the better.
Is The Orioles’ Plan Flawed?
Despite last night's walk-off win over the Red Sox, the Orioles boast MLB's worst record at 5-18 and second worst run differential at -43, and they're already set a record low for single game attendance at Camden Yards. Among other issues, Baltimore has struggled to find a solution for the closer's role since Mike Gonzalez hit the disabled list, not that he was much help before the injury.
SI.com's Tom Verducci spoke to a rival team executive who believes the Orioles' model is flawed. "They took good young players and surrounded them with non-tenders, veteran guys who can't play," said the exec. "It's a brutal combination."
Julio Lugo, Garrett Atkins, Cesar Izturis, Miguel Tejada, Will Ohman, and Gonzalez represent that core of of non-tenders and veteran guys who can't play (to use the executives words). However, those players aren't expected to form the core of the next contending Orioles' team.
Baltimore has an enviable group of young players led by Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Nolan Reimold, and Brian Matusz, plus they also have Chris Tillman, Josh Bell, Jake Arrieta, and Zach Britton not too far away in the minors. That's the group expected to help them contend in the future, not the veteran players on one and two year deals.
I respectfully disagree with the rival executive's take on Baltimore's plan. It's certainly not going to yield maximum results this season, but Andy MacPhail can't turn around a team that hasn't had a winning season in more than a decade overnight. He's done a great job of building that young core, and the Orioles are clearly a team looking towards 2011 and 2012. The veterans mentioned above are just filling in the gaps relatively cheaply so they don't have to rush any prospects up from the minors.
MacPhail's plan is better than tricking himself into believing his team is one or two or three veterans away from competing, especially in that division. That logic will only lead to more losing seasons.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Howard, Prince, Konerko
On this date five years ago, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux faced off in the first matchup of 300-game winners since Don Sutton and Steve Carlton in 1987. Maddux's Cubs topped Clemens' Astros by the score of 3-2.
Let's look at what's being written around the blogosphere, with a heavy dose of Ryan Howard contract reactions…
- Crashburn Alley breaks down the massive contract the Phillies gave their first baseman.
- More Hardball comes up with a few reasons to dislike the deal.
- Sports Are Involved… takes a look at the price of greatness.
- Disciples of Uecker examines what Howard's deal means for Prince Fielder.
- The Pale Hose Pariah wonders if the White Sox should look to sign Paul Konerko to an extension.
- 1 Blue Jays Way interviewed Jays' prospect Zach Stewart, part of last summer's Scott Rolen trade.
- The Baseball Opinion reviews the trade that sent Ben Zobrist from the Astros to Tampa Bay.
- Camden Depot looks at the trade value of draft picks, not that MLB allows such things.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Largest Contracts In Draft History
It's been 20 years since the Oakland A's sent shockwaves through baseball by signing high school righthander Todd Van Poppel to a Major League contract worth more than $1.2MM as the 14th overall pick in the 1990 draft. At the time, the going rate for the first overall draft pick was a minor league deal worth $350K or so, but Van Poppel and his agent leveraged his scholarship to the University of Texas into more than three times that amount.
Contracts given to draftees have since ballooned, and now rival the packages given to established big leaguers in terms of total value. Over the next several weeks, we're going to hear a lot about Scott Boras and Bryce Harper and their purported contract demands as he's expected to be the first overall pick. The 17-year-old catcher from Las Vegas is almost guaranteed to sign one of, if not the most lucrative contract in the history of the MLB draft.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the richest contracts ever given to drafted players.
Major League Contracts
- Stephen Strasburg, Nationals (2009, 1st round, 1st pick): Four years, $15.1MM. $7.5MM of that makes up the largest signing bonus in draft history, and his salary is set through the 2012 season.
- Mark Prior, Cubs (2001, 1/2): Five years, $10.5MM. Prior's contract allowed him to void the final two years of the deal and instead file for salary arbitration, which he did in 2006. Instead being paid the $2MM his contract called for that season, Prior earned $3.575MM when the two sides settled before a hearing.
- Mark Teixeira, Rangers (2001, 1/5): Four years, $9.5MM. Teixeira's $4.5MM signing bonus was the largest ever given to a player as part of a big league deal at the time, and it stood as the record until the next player on our list was drafted.
- David Price, Rays (2007, 1/1): Six years, $8.5MM. Price has a clause similar to Prior in his deal, allowing him to void the $1.5MM he's scheduled to make in 2012 and instead file for arbitration. The early guess is that he will indeed go that route.
- Pat Burrell, Phillies (1998, 1/1): Five years, $8MM. Pat the Bat's deal marked the beginning of the big money era for draft picks.
- Dustin Ackley, Mariners (2009, 1/2): Five years, $7.5MM. Ackley can also earn another $2.5MM in salary based on how quickly he reaches the big leagues.
- Rick Porcello, Tigers (2007, 1/27): Four years, $7.285MM. Club options for the 2012 and 2013 seasons could put another $2.88MM in his pocket.
- J.D. Drew, Cardinals (1998, 1/5): Four years, $7MM. Drew famously refused to sign with the Phillies as the second overall pick in the 1997 draft, as he and Boras stuck to their guarantee that he would not sign for less than $10MM.
- Josh Beckett, Marlins (1999, 1/2): Four years, $7MM. Beckett was the first high school player to receive a Major League deal since Alex Rodriguez in 1993, and the first high school pitcher to get one since Van Poppel.
- Eric Munson, Tigers (1999, 1/3): Four years, $6.75MM. The $3.5MM signing bonus was a club record until Porcello showed up.
Porcello joins Beckett as the only other prep player on the list, and oddly enough, both Strasburg and Ackley went undrafted out of high school. Everyone else was drafted multiple times. It's worth noting that the Yankees gave Andrew Brackman a four year, $4.55MM Major League contract as the 30th overall pick in 2007 ($3.35MM signing bonus), but club options and escalator clauses could push the total value of the deal to $13MM, second only to Strasburg's.
Minor League Contracts
- Donavan Tate, Padres (2009, 1/3): $6.25MM
- Buster Posey, Giants (2008, 1/5): $6.2MM
- Tim Beckham, Rays (2008, 1/1): $6.15MM
- Justin Upton, Diamondbacks (2005, 1/1): $6.1MM
- Matt Wieters, Orioles (2007, 1/5): $6MM
- Eric Hosmer, Royals (2008, 1/3): $6MM
- Joe Borchard, White Sox (2000, 1/12): $5.3MM
- Joe Mauer, Twins (2001, 1/1): $5.15MM
- B.J. Upton, Rays (2002, 1/2): $4.6MM
Tate, Beckham, Borchard, Mauer, and both Upton brothers had their bonuses spread out over five years under baseball's provision for two-sport athletes. You can see that Borchard's deal held the record for half a decade before the younger Upton broke it. It's hard to believe that two extremely high profile college players like Wieters and Posey were unable to secure Major League deals out of the draft, but the fringe benefit is that they received all of their money up front.
Thanks to Jim Callis of Baseball America, Keith Law of ESPN, and Cot's Baseball Contracts for providing information used in this post.
Red Sox Call Up Alan Embree
The Red Sox have called up lefty reliever Alan Embree from Triple-A, tweets Scott Lauber of The Boston Herald. Embree would have been able to opt out of his minor league contract on April 30th if he had not been called up by then.
The 40-year-old Embree was originally able to opt out of his deal on April 15th, but he agreed to push it back another two weeks. Embree allowed two runs in 7.1 Triple-A innings, but he held lefties to just one walk in 4.1 innings against them.
Boston will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate Embree's arrival.
D’Backs, Marlins Unlikely To Pursue Juan Cruz
The Diamondbacks don't appear to have interest in bringing back reliever Juan Cruz, tweets MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, while Juan C. Rodriguez of The Sun Sentinel says not to look for the Marlins to have interest either. They'll be getting Brian Sanches back from the disabled list soon, and Florida hopes he can shore up their setup corps.
The Royals released the disappointing Cruz last week as part of a bullpen makeover, eating the $3.25MM he's owed this year plus the $500K buyout for his 2011 option. Any team can sign Cruz for the pro-rated portion of the Major League minimum. The 31-year-old posted a 5.50 ERA with a 7.3 K/9 in 55.2 innings for Kansas City.
Rockies Designate Al Alburquerque For Assignment
The Rockies have designated righthander Al Alburquerque for assignment according to The Denver Post's Troy Renck (via Twitter). The move helps clear roster space for Juan Rincon and Paul Phillips.
Alburquerque, 24 in June, was originally acquired in the Jeff Baker trade last summer. He had been working in relief for Colorado's Double-A affiliate this season, allowing eight runs with a 5/4 K/BB ratio in 4.1 innings. Baseball America ranked Alburquerque as Rockies' 20th best prospect in their Prospect Handbook, noting that he has touched 99 with his fastball in the past.
Ortiz Wants To Play “Two Or Three More Years”
There has been a lot of attention paid to Red Sox slugger David Ortiz lately, mostly because he's off to a slow start for the second straight year. However, Ortiz is focused on future, telling WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that he wants to play "Two or three more years and then I’ll take it to the house.”
Ortiz mentioned that he lost 20 pounds over the winter by changing his diet, though he's still hitting just .160/.236/.320 through his first 55 plate appearances. He started last season slow as well, but rebounded in the second half to finish the year with a respectable .238/.332/.462 batting line with 28 homers.
Big Papi is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, during which he'll earn $12.5MM. The team holds an option for next season at the same salary with no buyout, and it's hard to see them exercising that even if his performance recovers similar to last year.