Olney’s Latest: Hernandez, Mets, Orioles, GM’s, Harper
In today's blog post at ESPN.com, Buster Olney writes about Miguel Tejada's trip to Haiti, plus what other agents have privately speculated about what a fair deal for Felix Hernandez (six years and $110 million) would be.
Here's the rest of Olney's rumors…
- Mets' GM Omar Minaya was never given a budget this offseason. The front office is making recommendations to COO Jeff Wilpon on a case-by-case basis without knowing if they're approaching a payroll limit. It's easy to see how that could become a problem.
- The Orioles continue to look for a corner infielder, preferably a third baseman so that Garrett Atkins could man first. Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun notes that Andy MacPhail has had talks with the agents for Joe Crede and Tejada.
- Last week's GM meeting went so well that it ended up lasting five hours longer than originally scheduled. They discussed changes to the draft among other things, but Olney notes that some executes are concerned that a slotting system may lead to a situation where having the first overall pick is viewed as a bad thing because of the bonus required to sign the player. Allowing teams to trade picks would solve that.
- Some scouts question how Bryce Harper's size will impact his game going forward. Harper, the projected top pick for the 2010 Draft, is already 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds at age-17. "You worry that if he gets too big, his swing just won't be quick enough when he starts facing guys who throw harder," said one evaluator.
Phillies Sign Brandon Duckworth
The Phillies have signed righty Brandon Duckworth to a minor league contract, reports Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The deal does not include an invitation to Spring Training, which means the soon to be 34-year-old would likely just provide depth at the Triple-A level.
Duckworth has spent the last three seasons in the Royals' organization, mostly in Triple-A. He last appeared in the majors in 2008, and owns a 5.28 ERA in 511 innings pitched. During the last three years in the minors, Duckworth has posted a 4.98 ERA. Philadelphia originally signed him as an undrafted free agent back in 1997, and he spent six years in their system before moving on to Houston as part of the Billy Wagner trade.
Pirates Sign Brendan Donnelly
The Pirates officially signed Brendan Donnelly to a one-year deal with a base salary of $1.35MM today. The deal could be worth $3MM total if Donnelly reaches certain performance bonuses.
The 38-year-old had a strong run with Florida last year. He allowed 22 hits and 9 walks in 25.1 innings, striking out 25 for an ERA of 1.78. Before joining the Marlins, Donnelly posted a 1.75 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 24 appearances with Houston's Triple A affiliate.
As Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette points out, the Pirates are taking on some risk here. Last season was Donnelly's first meaningful time in the majors since his 2007 Tommy John surgery.
This week the Pirates reached an agreement with D.J. Carrasco on a minor league deal. They're also on the verge of landing Octavio Dotel, though the sides have yet to agree to terms.
Kovacevic reported that the Pirates were close to signing a mystery reliever before figuring out that it was Donnelly. Kovacevic and ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick added the contract details.
Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.
Players To Avoid Arbitration: Saturday
We'll recap all of the players who agree to deals to avoid arbitration throughout the day here. Be sure to check back in, there's bound to be plenty of updates. Here's yesterday's list.
- The White Sox avoided arbitration with both Bobby Jenks and Carlos Quentin, signing both to one-year deals. Jenks will earn $7.5MM in 2010, while Quentin will receive $3.2MM after earning just $550K in 2009.
- The Giants and reliever Brandon Medders avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $820K deal, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
- MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports that the Reds and Nick Masset have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a two-year deal. Masset is set to earn $1.035MM this season and $1.545 next season, according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Odds & Ends: Draft, Kouzmanoff, Lincecum, Street
A few Saturday links…
- Via Twitter, Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun spoke to a scouting director who indicated that a committee was forming to work on instituting a world-wide draft and slotting system. "This time it has a chance," said the scouting director.
- Athletics Nation gives A's fans four reasons why they should approve of the Kevin Kouzmanoff–Scott Hairston swap.
- MLB.com's Doug Miller says that whispers of a $20MM arbitration award for Tim Lincecum have "echoed loudly throughout baseball." Obviously, that would be an unprecedented award and break every arbitration record known to man, but it would also make Lincecum the third highest paid pitcher in baseball next season, behind C.C. Sabathia and Johan Santana.
- In a mailbag piece at MLB.com, Thomas Harding says that Huston Street could be a trade candidate if the Rockies drop out of the race and are unable to sign him to an extension. Colorado offered Street a three-year deal earlier this offseason.
- The 30-day exclusive negotiating window between the Hicks Sports Group and the Chuck Greenberg/Nolan Ryan group expired yesterday without the Rangers being sold. Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball has the joint statement released by the two parties, which indicates that they are on the verge of an agreement.
- Tommy Rancel at DRays Bay estimates some arbitration values for Tampa's four remaining arb-eligible players.
Discussion: Next Young Pitcher To Be Extended
One of the game's best young pitchers signed a contract extension yesterday that will take him to his 30th birthday, as the Marlins finally locked up Josh Johnson to a four-year deal worth $39MM. The extension mirrors the deal Kansas City gave Zack Greinke before last season, and is just the latest example of a club willing to assume the risk of a breakdown in exchange for cost certainty.
Paul Maholm, Scott Baker, Ubaldo Jimenez, Adam Wainwright, Matt Cain, Jon Lester, and James Shields are other young arms who have sacrificed the superior earning power of the arbitration process for financial security in recent years. Who do the readers of MLBTR think the next young pitcher to agree to an extension could be?
Leaving aside the big names like Tim Lincecum, Justin Verlander, and Felix Hernandez, here's a few pitchers who already have, or will soon enter into their arbitration years…
- Yovani Gallardo – the Brewers' young ace struck out 204 batters and allowed just 150 hits in 185.2 innings last season, and will be arb eligible following the 2010 season.
- Matt Garza – one of Tampa's many young power arms, Garza has struck out 7.3 batters per nine innings in his career, and has made 62 starts over the last two years. He's arb eligible as a Super Two this offseason.
- Jair Jurrjens – perhaps the best pitcher no one talks about, Jurrjens led the NL in starts last year and owns a 3.21 career ERA. He'll be up for arbitration after the 2010 season.
- Wandy Rodriguez – his breakthrough season last year included a 3.06 K/BB ratio and 193 strikeouts in 205.2 innings. Wandy is arb eligible for the second time this offseason after earning $2.6MM in 2009.
Mets Avoid Arbitration With John Maine
The Mets have avoided arbitration with righty John Maine, reports MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. The AP (via SI.com) says that Maine will receive a $3.3MM base salary in 2010, with an extra $225K in performance bonuses (hat tip to MetsBlog.com)
Maine, 28, earned $2.6MM in 2009, though he only managed to make 15 starts because of a shoulder issue. He's posted a 4.01 ERA in four seasons in Queens after coming over from Baltimore in trade for Kris Benson following the 2006 season.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Rolen, Sweeney, Twins
On this date in 1990, the Tigers signed free agent Cecil Fielder after he hit 38 homers as a member of the Hanshin Tigers the year before. Fielder went on to lead the league with 130 HR and 389 RBI over the next three years, landing a five-year, $36MM contract that made him the then-second-highest paid player in baseball history behind Barry Bonds. Believe it or not, Prince is already more than halfway to his father's career total of 319 homers despite having fewer than half as many plate appearances.
Let's see what's being written around the baseball blogosphere…
- The Phrontiersman goes back in time to see how things would have played out for the Phillies if Scott Rolen signed a contract extension and was never traded away.
- DRays Bay wonders if Matt Sweeney could take over first base for the Rays if Carlos Pena leaves as a free agent after 2010. Sweeney was acquired in the Scott Kazmir trade.
- Fack Youk compares Vladimir Guerrero to Hideki Matsui to Nick Johnson, the three biggest DH signings of the offseason.
- Lookout Landing says the Mariners did just fine to acquire Casey Kotchman, even though Adam LaRoche agreed to a relatively cheap deal yesterday.
- Meanwhile, Jorge Says No! thinks the Mets may have made a mistake by not signing LaRoche.
- Nick's Twins Blog wonders if Michael Cuddyer or Joe Nathan could be expendable as Minnesota's estimated payroll will approach nine-figures in 2011.
- AdamAdkins.net thinks the Tigers will regret signing Jose Valverde.
- Pinstripes Published takes a look at the market for Johnny Damon, or lack thereof.
- TurnTwo looks at all the movement going on with the Giants' defensive alignment.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Rangers Sign Vladimir Guerrero
The Rangers officially signed Vladimir Guerrero to a one year, $5MM deal with a mutual option for 2011 today. Earlier in the week SI.com's Jon Heyman reported that the two sides were in "serious talks" about a deal worth $5MM with incentives. MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan first reported the agreement and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News added the specifics, noting that Vlad can earn more by reaching certain incentives.
Guerrero, 35 in February, is a career .321/.386/.568 hitter, though he's tailed off in recent years and had the least productive full season of his career in 2009. Vlad has hit .394/.471/.705 in over 220 plate appearances at the Ballpark in Arlington, though it'd be dangerous to make assumptions based on that sample.
Vlad, who only played in the outfield twice last year, was a defensive liability in each of the three seasons preceding 2009, so he'll serve as the club's primary designated hitter.
Ben Nicholson-Smith and Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
Yankees In “Serious Talks” With Hairston
The Yankees are in serious talks with free agent utility man Jerry Hairston Jr., according to a tweet by ESPN's Chris Singleton. New York has "serious interest" in Hairston, and would use him to spell Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, as well as possibility platoon in left.
Last night we heard that there were five teams interested in Hairston, who's hit .281/.343/.432 in 730 plate appearances over the last two seasons while playing six positions. He finished the year as a World Champion with the Yanks.