Phillies’ Talks With Werth At An Impasse
In the wake of Ryan Howard's megadeal, talks between the Phillies and rightfielder Jayson Werth are at an impasse, reports CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury.
“I’ve had dialogue with [GM] Ruben [Amaro Jr.] since the winter meetings,” said Jeff Borris, Werth's agent. “I don’t want to rule out the possibility of his re-signing with the Phillies, but it would appear right now we’re at an impasse.”
Werth, 31 next month, is being paid $7MM this season as part of the two year, $10MM contract he signed last January, and will be a free agent after the season. He's finally started to live up to the potential that landed him on Baseball America's top 100 prospects list four times from 1999-2003, hitting .278/.378/.499 since joining Philadelphia in 2007.
MLBTR's Luke Adams looked at Werth's situation a little more in-depth earlier today.
Highest Paid Players In 2010
Let's round up what each of the 30 teams are paying their highest paid player this season. This includes any known signing bonus payments, but not money being paid to a player by another team.
- Yankees: Alex Rodriguez, $33MM. That includes a portion of his signing bonus. A-Rod's contract is front-loaded, so his salary goes down as he gets older.
- Blue Jays: Vernon Wells, $21MM. That includes an $8.5MM signing bonus payment he received on March 1st.
- Mets: Johan Santana, $21MM. He could pocket another $1.4MM with award based bonuses.
- Dodgers: Manny Ramirez, $20MM. Hiroki Kuroda is the team's second highest paid player, but he's still $7MM behind Manny.
- Tigers: Miguel Cabrera, $20MM. Magglio Ordonez is only $2MM behind him.
- Astros: Carlos Lee, $19MM. Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman are both making $15MM as well.
- Phillies: Ryan Howard, $19MM. Roy Halladay will join him in the $20MM club next year.
- Giants: Barry Zito, $18.5MM. He could earn another $1.25MM in award bonuses.
- Angels: Torii Hunter, $18.5MM. $500K of that is part of his signing bonus, and he could pocket as much as another $1MM with award based bonuses.
- Cubs: Alfonso Soriano, $18MM. Carlos Zambrano is a mere $125K behind him.
- Red Sox: John Lackey, $18MM. Overtook J.D. Drew ($14MM) as the team's highest paid.
- Rockies: Todd Helton, $16.6MM. I suspect he's been their highest paid player for the last half-decade or so.
- Cardinals: Albert Pujols, $16MM. Matt Holliday's contract calls for a $17MM salary this season, but $2MM of that is deferred, so technically Pujols will make more this season.
- Rangers: Michael Young, $16MM. The second highest paid player on the club is nearly $10MM behind him.
- Braves: Derek Lowe, $15MM. Chipper Jones will earn $13MM, but could push past Lowe if he reaches some games played incentives.
- White Sox: Jake Peavy, $15MM. Mark Buehrle is $1MM behind him.
- Twins: Justin Morneau, $14MM. This only lasts until Joe Mauer's extension kicks in next year.
- Brewers: Jeff Suppan, $12.75MM. Believe it or not, there's another $1.3MM available to him this year in award based bonuses, plus $300K for each time he's traded.
- Reds: Aaron Harang, $12.5MM. Francisco Cordero is just half-a-million behind him.
- Athletics: Eric Chavez, $12MM. Award based bonuses could bump this up another $550K.
- Mariners: Ichiro Suzuki, $12MM. It should be $17MM, but $5MM is being deferred. He's still ahead of everyone else.
- Royals: Jose Guillen & Gil Meche, $12MM. Meche could earn $450K in award bonuses, $50K more than Guillen.
- Nationals: Adam Dunn, $12MM. No one else on the team is in eight-figure territory.
- Indians: Travis Hafner, $11.5MM. Hafner, Jake Westbrook ($11MM), and Kerry Wood ($10.5MM) account for approximately 54% of the team's payroll.
- Rays: Carlos Pena, $10.125MM. Carl Crawford is right behind him at $10MM.
- Orioles: Brian Roberts, $10MM. Kevin Millwood ($12MM) is making more, but the Rangers are on the hook for $3MM of that.
- Diamondbacks: Brandon Webb, $8.5MM. Dan Haren is just $250K behind him.
- Marlins: Dan Uggla, $7.8MM. Nate Robertson is technically the highest paid player on the team at $10MM, but the Tigers are paying all but $400K of that.
- Padres: Chris Young, $6.25MM. No one else on the team is over $5MM.
- Pirates: Paul Maholm, $4.5MM. He'll also receive a portion of his $1.5MM signing bonus.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Astros Outright Yorman Bazardo To Triple-A
SATURDAY, 6:40pm: Footer tweets that Bazardo has accepted the minor league assignment and will remain with the team.
FRIDAY, 1:24pm: The Astros have reinstated righty Yorman Bazardo from the disabled list and outrighted him to Triple-A Round Rock, according to the team's Senior Director of Social Media Alyson Footer (via Twitter). She notes that because he has a prior outright, Bazardo can elect to become a free agent rather than accept the assignment. He has three days to decide.
The 25-year-old Bazardo was on the shelf with a shoulder strain he suffered in Spring Training. He posted a 7.88 ERA with more walks (22) than strikeouts (17) in 32 innings of relief for Houston last season.
Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Orioles, Griffey, Braves
FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal has a new Full Count video up, so let's see what he has for us…
- The Orioles will almost certainly be the first team to fire their manager this season, and both Bob Melvin and Bobby Valentine came up in past internal discussions. Bigger jobs are in store for Valentine, but Buck Showalter might also be a candidate. Rosenthal reminds us that the team doesn't have anyone in-house with prior big league managing experience.
- The Mariners expect Cliff Lee back on Friday and Erik Bedard back in four weeks, but the focus will remain on the offense and Ken Griffey Jr.'s .238/.289/.262 performance. Rosenthal says not to expect anything to happen with him anytime soon; Seattle has five Griffey-centric promotions scheduled for the first half.
- The Braves are a logical landing spot for Adrian Gonzalez, but they're also very high on first base prospect Freddie Freeman. The last time they traded for a first baseman with a year-plus left on his contract, they basically rebuilt the Texas Rangers.
- The Nationals made a run at Jermaine Dye and had more than one conversation with Gary Sheffield's agent, but GM Mike Rizzo said those talks were just to gauge interest. For now, they're happy with the a platoon of Willie Harris and Justin Maxwell because of their defensive abilities, and Rizzo says that will remain a point of emphasis as the team moves forward.
- Rosenthal expects the Nats to get better as the season progresses. They'll be adding Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen, Chien-Ming Wang, Ross Detwiler, and Jordan Zimmermann to their pitching staff at various points this year.
Famous Unsigned Draft Picks
Each year, the 30 clubs will select 50 or so players in June's amateur draft, but they only end up signing around 30 of those players. Some are high schoolers that decide to go to college while others are already in college and return to school in an effort to boost their stock. There's about a million other reasons why a player can go unsigned as well.
As you can imagine, there have been several big time players who didn't sign when they were first drafted. If the Yankees had been able to sign Mark Prior when they selected him as the 43rd overall pick in the 1998 draft, might his career have played out differently?
Here's a list of some other famous players who at one point were drafted but declined to turn pro…
- Daniel Bard: Selected in the 20th round of the 2003 draft by the Yankees.
- Barry Bonds: Selected in the 2nd round of the 1982 draft by the Giants.
- David DeJesus: Selected in the 43rd round of the 1997 draft by the Mets.
- J.D. Drew: Selected by the Giants in the 20th round of the 1994 draft, then second overall by the Phillies in 1997.
- Rich Harden: Selected by the Mariners in the 38th round of the 1999 draft.
- Todd Helton: Selected by the Padres in the 2nd round of the 1992 draft.
- Aaron Hill: Selected by the Angels in the 7th round of the 2000 draft.
- Luke Hochevar: Selected in the 39th round of the 2002 draft and the supplemental first round of the 2005 draft, both times by the Dodgers.
- Randy Johnson: Selected in the 4th round of the 1982 draft by the Braves.
- Matt LaPorta: Selected in the 14th round of both the 2003 and 2006 drafts by the Cubs and Red Sox, respectively.
- Tim Lincecum: Selected in the 48th round of the 2003 draft by the Cubs, then the 42nd round of the 2005 draft by the Indians.
- Brian Matusz: Selected by the Angels in the 4th round of the 2005 draft.
- Mark McGwire: Selected in the 8th round of the 1981 draft by the Expos.
- Jonathan Papelbon: Selected by the A's in the 40th round of the 2002 draft.
- David Price: Selected by the Angels in the 19th round of the 2004 draft.
- Justin Smoak: Selected in the 16th round of the 2005 draft by the A's.
- Mark Teixeira: Selected by the Red Sox in the 9th round of the 1998 draft.
- Chase Utley. Selected in the 2nd round of the 1997 draft by the Dodgers.
- Jason Varitek: Selected in the 23rd round of the 1990 draft by the Astros, and then the 1st round of the 1993 draft by the Twins.
- Barry Zito: Selected by the Mariners in the 59th round of the 1996 draft, and then the Rangers in the 3rd round of the 1998 draft.
There's countless more examples out there, do you know of any others?
Largest Contracts By Average Annual Value
We've already looked at the largest contracts by team, service time, and position, so now let's round up the biggest contracts based on average annual value…
- Alex Rodriguez: $27.5MM (2008-2017)
- Alex Rodriguez: $25.2MM (2001-2007)
- Joe Mauer (2011-2018) & CC Sabathia (2009-2015): $23MM
- Johan Santana: $22.92MM (2008-2013)
- Manny Ramirez (2009-2010) & Mark Teixeira (2009-2016): $22.5MM
- Roger Clemens: $22MM (2006)
- Manny Ramirez (2001-2008) & Roy Halladay (2011-2013): $20MM
- Miguel Cabrera: $19.04MM (2008-2015)
- Derek Jeter: $18.9MM (2001-2010)
- Carlos Zambrano: $18.3MM (2008-2012)
The Yankees paid Clemens the pro-rated portion of a $28MM salary in 2007, but he only collected about $17.6MM since his season started in June.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Garza, Pierzynski, Padres
Eleven years ago today, Fernando Tatis became the first and only player in baseball history to hit two grand slams in one inning. Amazingly, both came off Chan Ho Park, who allowed 11 runs while recording eight outs. Tatis went on to hit .298/.404/.553 with 34 homeruns for the Cardinals that season, easily the best of the big league career.
Here are a handful of links from around the blogosphere…
- Maddon's Mission wonders if the Rays' handling of Matt Garza tells us about their plans for him in the future.
- The Pale Hose Pariah concludes that A.J. Pierzynski is worth a grade-B position player prospect for a couple of grade-C pitching prospects in a trade.
- Pittsburgh Lumber Co. notes that Lastings Milledge has shown improved on-field maturity since joining the Pirates.
- The Friarhood says the Padres recent winning streak puts any trade talks on hold.
- And Counting makes the case for Carlos Zambrano and Alfonso Soriano being underpaid.
- Capitol Avenue Club visualizes the Braves' proverbial five-year plan.
- Around The Basepath thinks an worldwide draft is a great idea.
- Crashburn Alley takes stock of the Phillies' roster.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Royals Release Juan Cruz, DFA Luis Mendoza
The Royals have released Juan Cruz and designated Luis Mendoza for assignment, reports Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star. The moves shake up the team's bullpen and open up roster spots for Brad Thompson and Bruce Chen.
The 31-year-old Cruz has not lived up to expectations since signing a two year, $6MM contract last offseason, posting a 5.50 ERA with a 7.3 K/9 in 55.2 innings for the team. Kansas City still owes him the rest of his $3.25MM salary for this season, plus the $500K buyout for his 2011 option.
Mendoza, 26, was acquired from the Rangers for cash considerations earlier this month. He had allowed 14 baserunners and ten runs in four innings this season. Both Thompson and Chen were signed to minor league deals this offseason and were pitching reasonably well for the Royals' Triple-A affiliate.
Odds & Ends: Zobrist, Pierzynski, Lowe, Padres
Links for Friday…
- Ben Zobrist said signing his extension was a "no-brainer," according to Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com tweets that he doesn't see A.J. Pierzynski as a good fit for the Red Sox because he's not a good thrower. Pierzynski has thrown out just 24% of base stealers in his career. Earlier today we learned that the White Sox were gauging their catcher's value.
- Joel Sherman of The New York Post mentions that while the Oliver Perez signing hasn't worked out for the Mets, their second choice was Derek Lowe, who isn't looking all that hot either.
- The Padres have improved their team by building a speedy club better suited for their ballpark, says Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
- Mike Rutsey of The Toronto Sun says the Blue Jays should replace the struggling Lyle Overbay with Brett Wallace.
- SI.com's Tom Verducci notes the increased diversity that has developed within the game in recent years. In the same piece, he notes that several clubs have increased their scouting of Yu Darvish in case his team decides to post him after the season.
Roman Colon Clears Waivers
WEDNESDAY, 12:42pm: Colon cleared waivers and accepted a Triple A assignment, tweets Dutton.
FRIDAY, 11:20am: The Royals have designated reliever Roman Colon for assignment, tweets Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star. The move frees up a roster spot for righty Josh Rupe, who was summoned from Triple-A.
The 30-year-old Colon appeared in five games this year, allowing five hits and four runs in two innings pitched. He walked two and struck out just one. In 179.1 career innings, he has a 5.12 ERA and just a 5.9 K/9. Colon's minor league stats (3.93 ERA, 6.2 K/9) are a little more encouraging.