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Extension Candidate: Robinson Cano

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Two of the game's best second basemen have agreed to contract extensions in the past 24 hours. Ian Kinsler took five years and $75MM from the Rangers while Brandon Phillips took six years and $72.5MM from the Reds, setting the market for elite players at the position. The Yankees and Robinson Cano were surely paying attention.

Uspw_6106016Cano, 29, will become a free agent after the Yankees exercise his no-brainer $15MM option for 2013. Kinsler – who is only five months older than Cano – was in a similar situation before signing his extension, with the Rangers holding a $10MM club option for 2013. The two are very different players – Cano hits for a much higher average while Kinsler offers some more power and speed – but they rate similarly in wins above replacement, or WAR. Since the start of 2009, Cano has compiled 16.3 WAR while Kinsler is at 15.8 WAR according to FanGraphs.

The two players may be similar, but Cano's credentials give him a better shot at a huge contract. He's a three-time All-Star, has twice finished in the top six of the MVP voting, was the Rookie of the Year Award runner-up in 2005, and has played in at least 159 games in each of the last five seasons. Kinsler is a two-time All-Star, has zero top-ten finishes in the MVP voting, and made at least one trip to the DL in five of his six big league seasons. Cano also has gaudier RBI totals, and that stuff pays.

Kinsler's extension contains the largest average annual value ($14MM) ever given a second baseman, though that will change when Cano's option is exercised. I'm sure the Yankees would love to give their second baseman the same five-year, $75MM contract Kinsler received, but that would represent a pay cut for Cano based on his salary for next season. Cano hired Scott Boras last February, and a player usually doesn't hire the super-agent so close to free agency unless he's looking for a monster payday.

Fair or not, the Yankees are going to have to give their second baseman a contract larger than what Kinsler and Phillips received if they intend to keep him beyond next season. Cano is primed for a six or seven-year guarantee with an annual salary somewhere in the $15-20MM range. If he takes a step forward and wins an MVP award this year or next, he could command even more on the open market. The Yankees insist on not negotiating new contracts until the current one expires, but they broke that policy once for Cano and it would not be surprising if they did it again.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

White Sox Acquire Jose Castro

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Let's keep track of the day's minor moves right here…

  • The White Sox have acquired infielder Jose Castro from the Reds according to Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). He was assigned to Triple-A Charlotte. Castro, 25, hit .306/.343/.354 in 318 plate appearances in Cincinnati's minor league system last year. He's a .262/.307/.314 career hitter in the minors and has never played in the big leagues.

Brewers, Zack Greinke Suspend Extension Talks

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The Brewers and Zack Greinke have agreed to suspend contract extension talks, GM Doug Melvin told reporters (including MLB.com's Adam McCalvy) this afternoon. Melvin said the two sides could re-start talks at a later date, but nothing is scheduled at the moment.

Greinke, 28, recently hired agent Casey Close and the two sides were talking as recently as last week. The right-hander is scheduled to become a free agent after the season, and it's been speculated that Matt Cain's new five-year, $112.5MM extension with the Giants could serve as framework for a deal. Greinke will earn $13.5MM this summer and figures to be the best righty on the open market next winter.

Indians Extend Carlos Santana

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The Indians announced that they have agreed to a five-year extension with switch-hitting catcher Carlos Santana. The deal, which includes a club option for 2017, is worth $21MM in guaranteed money. Santana is represented by Andy Mota of the Wasserman Media Group.

The contract covers the 2012-16 seasons: Santana's final two pre-arbitration seasons and his three arbitration seasons. If exercised, the club option would keep Santana in Cleveland for his first free agent season.

Cleveland acquired the switch-hitting Santana from the Dodgers for Casey Blake at the 2008 trade deadline. The 26-year-old went on to blossom into one of the game's best catching prospects, twice ranking in the top-30 of Baseball America's annual top 100 prospects list. Santana has hit .244/.364/.464 in roughly a year and a half as a big leaguer, and last season he hit .239/.351/.457 with 27 homers while splitting time behind the plate and at first base.

Santana was called up in early-June of 2010 and appeared likely to fall short of qualifying as a Super Two after the season. The Indians controlled him through 2016 before the extension. Not too many catchers with 1-2 years of service time have signed multi-year deals recently, as Jonathan Lucroy (four years and $11MM) represents the only notable example. 

The Indians signed Asdrubal Cabrera to a two-year deal recently, buying out one free agent year. Chances are they will explore an extension with Justin Masterson at some point as well. 

MLB.com's Jordan Bastian first reported the extension and Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweeted the financial terms of the deal. Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Make Or Break Year: Mike Pelfrey

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The Mets slashed more than $25MM off their Opening Day payroll from last season, but one player they held onto was Mike Pelfrey. The club's Opening Day starter a year ago was a non-tender candidate this past offseason, and now he has to show that they make the right decision by keeping him around for another year.

Uspw_5202756Pelfrey, 28, has yet to live up to the expectations of being the ninth overall pick in the 2005 draft. He has made at least 31 starts and thrown at least 180 innings in each of the last four seasons, but he's pitched to a 4.27 ERA during that time. Pelfrey's career strikeout (5.1 K/9), walk (3.2 BB/9), and ground ball (48.5%) rates leave an awful lot to be desired, especially for a pitcher making $5.675MM in his second year of arbitration-eligibility.

The Mets were reportedly open to trading Pelfrey last month, and at one point they were even said to be considering releasing him. That didn't happen, and instead the 6-foot-7 right-hander will make his season debut tonight. If the club was thinking about trading him in Spring Training, there's a pretty good chance they're hoping he performs well early in the season so they could flip him for a decent return at midseason. Quality starting pitching is always in high demand at the trade deadline.

At the same time, there's also the chance that Pelfrey does not improve his performance and boost his trade value. Another season like last year (4.74 ERA in 193 2/3 innings) or 2009 (5.03 ERA in 184 1/3 innings) likely means that the Mets are stuck with him, at least until the non-tender deadline in December. At that point he would be a free agent coming off three disappointing seasons in the last four years. A good year could mean a trade to a contender and a hefty salary in 2013, but another typical Pelfrey season means something much less lucrative.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

West Links: Lincecum, Giants, Rangers, Moyer, Angels

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Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics is the current MLB home run leader with … two. He hit this mammoth shot against Jason Vargas and the Mariners last night. Here's the latest from baseball's two West divisions…

  • The Giants’ ability to hold on to Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner down the line depends largely on having prospects work out as low-cost, high-impact players, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels expressed some concern about his team's bench when speaking to Calvin Watkins of ESPN Dallas yesterday. "Listen, no club is flawless," he said, "and not to suggest that's our only one, [but] we got some guys on the bench that have some ability … if it's something we need to address we've shown in the past we will."
  • Jamie Moyer will start for the Rockies today, but GM Dan O'Dowd told Troy Renck of The Denver Post that having the 49-year-old left-hander on the roster is about more than on-field production. "He brings a set of intangibles that will really benefit our club and our pitching staff. He loves to share information," said the GM.
  • The Angels could make the playoffs without Albert Pujols, says Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. He says the club has enough talent "that even a slow start by their superstar won’t doom them."

Outrighted To Triple-A: Luis Valbuena

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Let's keep track of the day's outright assignments right here…

  • The Cubs have outrighted Luis Valbuena to Triple-A, the team announced. Chicago claimed the 26-year-old infielder off waivers from the Blue Jays earlier this week. Valbuena hit .302/.372/.476 with 17 homers in 472 plate appearances for the Indians' Triple-A affiliate last year.

Mets Extend Jon Niese

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The Mets have officially signed left-hander Jonathon Niese to a five-year extension with two club options, the team announced. The deal is worth $25.5MM, and the two options could push the total value to $46MM. Niese is an O'Connell Sports Management client.

The deal cover Niese's final pre-arbitration season, his three arbitration seasons and at least one season of free agency. He will earn $1.02MM this year, $3MM next year, $5MM in 2014, $7MM in 2015, and $9MM in 2016. The pair of club options offers the Mets the opportunity to keep Niese in New York for two additional free agent years.

Niese, 25, has a 4.39 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 370 2/3 career innings. He posted career-best strikeout (7.9 K/9) and walk (2.5 BB/9) rates during a promising 2011 campaign, but didn't pitch after enduring an intercostal strain on August 23rd.

This extension represents the biggest contract the Mets have agreed to under GM Sandy Alderson. It resembles deals signed by starters Derek Holland, Clay Buchholz and Trevor Cahill. However, Niese obtains less guaranteed money than Buchholzand Cahill, who had considerably lower career ERAs when they signed.

ESPN New York's Adam Rubin first reported that the two sides agree to the deal and later added details (on Twitter). Newday's David Lennon provided the annual breakdown (on Twitter). Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Poll: Baseball’s Most Improved Team

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This past offseason was a historic one, at least in terms of the contracts signed. We saw two players change teams thanks to $200MM+ contracts and a total of eight deals worth $100MM+ handed out. A number of young pitchers changed addresses in blockbuster trades, and the new collective bargaining agreement drastically changed free agent compensation and the amateur talent markets.

Now that all 30 clubs have officially opened their season, let’s take a second to look back at the offseason to see which teams helped themselves the most. Our various trackers – Transactions, Free Agents, Extensions, Arbitration — are at your disposable with all sorts of filters to help narrow your search.

Which team improved the most this offseason?
Angels 29.14% (3,748 votes)
Marlins 15.19% (1,953 votes)
Another team not listed 14.26% (1,834 votes)
Nationals 11.11% (1,429 votes)
Reds 8.13% (1,045 votes)
Tigers 7.41% (953 votes)
Cardinals 3.96% (509 votes)
Yankees 3.05% (392 votes)
Rangers 1.47% (189 votes)
Phillies 1.46% (188 votes)
Diamondbacks 1.39% (179 votes)
Brewers 1.30% (167 votes)
Rays 1.29% (166 votes)
Red Sox 0.85% (109 votes)
Total Votes: 12,861

Lucchino: Red Sox Willing To Add Payroll

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The Red Sox opened the season with the third largest payroll in baseball according to USA Today, but they are open to going to even higher under the right circumstances. Team president Larry Lucchino told Jim Duquette and Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio that they're willing to add payroll to improve the pitching staff even if it takes them over the luxury tax threshold.

"I don’t think there’s any question about that," said Lucchino. "We’ve been above the threshold the last couple of years … Our goal is to field a team with more homegrown players, fewer free agents, and to have a more manageable payroll down the road. But if you’re asking about this year, we understand that each year has to be taken on its own and this year our payroll is going to be, I’d hate to make a guess, but it’ll be well over the $178 million dollar threshold."

Boston opened the season with a payroll just north of $173MM, but that number only includes the 25-man active roster and players on the disabled list. The full 40-man roster and player benefits are counted towards the luxury tax.

"It’s important to us to get under the threshold when we can, depending on when the circumstances will allow us to do so," added Lucchino. “Ultimately we’d love to field the team we need to field with fewer dollars, if that’s possible at the major league level. We’re always going to invest a tremendous amount of money into scouting and player development because that’s the secret."

The Yankees have also spoken about getting under the luxury tax threshold in the coming years, a move that would reset their luxury tax rate and qualify them to receive a rebate of a portion of their revenue sharing payments. The Red Sox would receive the same benefits by getting under the threshold.

The obvious target for pitching help would be Roy Oswalt, who remains a free agent. The Red Sox could also absorb money in a trade once the market begins to develop in a few weeks. An impending free agent like Jeremy Guthrie or Ryan Dempster could become a target, but that is just my speculation.

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