Tigers Inquire On Mark Buehrle
The Tigers' rotation hasn't been considered a major concern, with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, and Rick Porcello under team control through at least 2014 and top prospect Jacob Turner waiting in the wings. However, they're one of the many clubs inquiring on free agent lefty Mark Buehrle, reports Lynn Henning of the Detroit News.
The Tigers are familiar with Buehrle, since he made 34 career starts against them as a member of the White Sox. In Henning's opinion, signing him would allow the Tigers to use young pitching as trade bait. The number of reported Buehrle suitors reaches 14 if you include the Tigers, though the White Sox and Cardinals were part of that Jim Bowden tweet and those clubs are not considered likely.
Elsewhere on the free agent front, Henning says the Tigers have been following Yoenis Cespedes for years. Tigers vice president and director of amateur scouting David Chadd admits Cespdes is a "five-tool player." In a more speculative sense, Henning thinks Kelly Johnson and Octavio Dotel may be Tigers targets. The Tigers are known to have spoken with Aramis Ramirez's agent this month.
American League Free Agent Arbitration Offers
10 American League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make, and we'll update them in this post throughout the day in advance of the 11pm central time deadline. For a fantastic customizable chart with all 57 Type A/B free agents and their teams' decisions in real-time, click here.
Updated team decisions:
- The Blue Jays offered arbitration to Frank Francisco (B), Kelly Johnson (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick), Jose Molina (B) and Jon Rauch (B), according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (on Twitter). They declined to offer Shawn Camp (B) arbitration.
- The Red Sox announced that they offered David Ortiz (A) and Dan Wheeler (B) arbitration. They declined to offer Jason Varitek (B) arbitration. Jonathan Papelbon (A) already signed with the Phillies.
- The Yankees offered Freddy Garcia (B) arbitration according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (on Twitter).
- The Royals offered Bruce Chen (B) arbitration, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
- The White Sox announced they've offered arbitration to Mark Buehrle (B) and not Juan Pierre (B).
- The Athletics announced David DeJesus (B) and Josh Willingham (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) were offered arbitration.
- The Rangers announced C.J. Wilson (A) will be offered arbitration. Modified Type B free agent Darren Oliver does not require an offer.
- The Orioles announced they will not offer arbitration to Vladimir Guerrero (B).
- Twins GM Terry Ryan said today on a conference call that he will offer arbitration to Michael Cuddyer (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) and Jason Kubel (B), and noted that no arbitration offer is necessary for modified Type B free agent Matt Capps.
Teams with decisions still due:
- Tigers: Wilson Betemit (B), Magglio Ordonez (B)
National League Free Agent Arbitration Offers
10 National League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make today, and we'll update them in this post in advance of the 11pm central time deadline. For a fantastic customizable chart with all 57 Type A/B free agents and their teams' decisions in real-time, click here.
Updated team decisions:
- The Giants won't offer arbitration to Pat Burrell (B) or Cody Ross (B) according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Carlos Beltran (A) contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
- The Dodgers declined to offer Hiroki Kuroda (B) arbitration, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter). Rod Barajas (B) already signed with the Pirates.
- The Pirates offered arbitration to Derrek Lee (B) while declining to offer Ryan Ludwick (B) and Chris Snyder (B) arbitration. Ryan Doumit (B) already signed with the Twins.
- The Phillies did not offer Roy Oswalt (A) or Brad Lidge (B) arbitration, according to the AP (via ESPN). The team announced that it offered arbitration to Raul Ibanez (B), Ryan Madson (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick), and Jimmy Rollins (A), according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com (via Twitter).
- The Cubs offered arbitration to Carlos Pena (B) and Aramis Ramirez (B) but not to Kerry Wood (B), according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).
- The Cardinals offered Edwin Jackson (B) and Albert Pujols (A) arbitration, but declined to make offers to Rafael Furcal (B) and Arthur Rhodes (B), according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). That leaves Octavio Dotel (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary).
- The Mets offered Jose Reyes (A) arbitration, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (on Twitter).
- The Padres will offer arbitration to Heath Bell (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) and Aaron Harang (B), tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com.
- The Brewers offered Prince Fielder (A) and Francisco Rodriguez (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) arbitration. They declined to offer Yuniesky Betancourt (B) arbitration. Takashi Saito (A), contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
- The Braves did not offer arbitration to Alex Gonzalez (B), according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Teams with automatic decisions only:
- Reds: Francisco Cordero (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary), Ramon Hernandez (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary)
- Astros: Clint Barmes (B, already signed with Pirates)
- Rockies: Mark Ellis (B, already signed with Dodgers)
CBA Reactions
Yesterday, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith broke down ten key aspects of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. More reactions to the changes…
- Pirates president Frank Coonelly commented to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "Is this everything the Pittsburgh Pirates hoped it would be? No. But we don't subscribe to the notion it was aimed at us." Even so, the Pirates' large draft expenditures of the last several years will be curbed in years to come.
- The Nationals helped create the new landscape with draft spending limits, writes Ben Goessling of MASNSports.com.
- Many free agents became more attractive to the Red Sox with the new CBA, writes Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, as they are loathe to surrender draft picks.
- Franchise values are reduced by the draft spending limits, agent Scott Boras tells Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
- Bubba Starling's name came up multiple times during bargaining sessions, writes Yahoo's Jeff Passan, as the union was concerned teams will no longer be able to buy players out of other sports. The Royals lured Starling away from football for $7.5MM this year.
- One GM sees "massive problems" created by the new CBA, telling Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, "Competitive balance is going to get progressively worse."
- There was some shock among GMs at the $2.9MM cap on international signings, writes ESPN's Buster Olney.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says MLB reduced the chances that small-market teams will be able to build long-term winners because it made winning "a lot more about Major League payroll size than anything else."
- Though Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com gives players and owners credit for completing the CBA peacefully, he believes the new regulations surrounding the draft and international amateurs are a minus.
Free Agent Arbitration Offer Tracker
Today's free agent arbitration offer decisions encompass 20 teams and 57 players. To help you monitor who's received an arbitration offer and who hasn't, check out our free agent arbitration offer tracker throughout the day. You can filter by team, free agent type, and whether the player was offered. The deadline is 11pm central time.
Please note that in the tracker I have marked Matt Capps, Francisco Cordero, Octavio Dotel, Ramon Hernandez, and Darren Oliver as having received arbitration offers even though they technically will not. As part of the new CBA, MLB and the players association agreed that these five players will change from Type A to B and the clubs will not have to offer arbitration to receive compensation. For the purposes of the tracker, I consider that an automatic arbitration offer, since compensation will still happen.
Matt Klentak Named Angels Assistant GM
The Angels announced Matt Klentak was hired as an assistant GM, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. ESPN's Keith Law first reported the likely move. Klentak served as director of baseball operations for the Orioles since 2008. Klentak was named one of our top 20 GM candidates in August, and you can read Ben Nicholson-Smith's interview with him here. The Halos hired the first person on our list, Jerry Dipoto, as their new GM in October.
Twins Looking To Acquire A Closer
Glen Perkins doesn't have the experience to pitch the ninth inning for the Twins in 2012, GM Terry Ryan told reporters on the Ryan Doumit conference call today when asked. Ryan says the Twins will look to acquire a closer.
We learned yesterday that the Twins still have interest in Matt Capps as their closer, while Joe Nathan is off the board after signing a two-year deal with the Rangers. As our free agent tracker shows, closers Heath Bell, Jonathan Broxton, Francisco Cordero, Frank Francisco, Ryan Madson, Jon Rauch, and Francisco Rodriguez remain on the market. Andrew Bailey, Brandon League, and Huston Street are trade candidates, and Juan Carlos Oviedo (formerly Leo Nunez) could be non-tendered.
Indians Re-Sign Grady Sizemore
Grady Sizemore will remain with the Indians in 2012, announced the team today. Sizemore receives a $5MM base salary and $4MM in incentives on a one-year deal, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. He has a chance to reach the value of the option the Indians turned down, with the incentives kicking in at 450 plate appearances according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. Sizemore would get $500K for winning the Comeback Player of the Year award, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. A corresponding 40-man roster move is a few days away, according to the team.
The Indians chose a $500K buyout over Sizemore's $9MM option in October, and with at least eight teams showing interest it seemed that he'd play elsewhere for the first time in his big league career. Sizemore, 29, is a risky player given his health issues the last three years. From 2005-08, he was one of the game's best players for the Tribe, garnering MVP votes in each season.
Since 2009 Sizemore has missed time due to injuries to his elbow, abdominal wall, and left knee, the last of which required microfracture surgery in June of 2010. He had surgery for a sports hernia this year, and a right knee injury culminated in an October arthroscopy. He's expected to be ready for Spring Training. Sizemore's agent, Joe Urbon of CAA Sports, says his client will continue to play center field for the Indians.
Sizemore ranked 26th on my top 50 free agents list. With six of the 50 having signed so far, five of the 5,020 entrants in MLBTR's free agent prediction contest have four correct picks.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported Sizemore's likely return to the Indians on Friday, with SI's Jon Heyman declaring it official this morning.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Pirates Sign Jake Fox, Five Others
The Pirates announced six minor league free agent signings: Jake Fox, Brandon Boggs, Kyle Cofield, Jose Diaz, Shairon Martis, and Stefan Welch. Fox, Boggs, and Martis received non-roster invites to spring training. The signings of Fox and Martis were first reported yesterday by Baseball America's Matt Eddy.
Fox, 29, has a line of .237/.288/.425 in 534 plate appearances across parts of four big league seasons with the Cubs, Athletics, and Orioles. He's spent time at catcher and the infield and outfield corners. Fox has some powerful minor league performances on his resume.
Boggs, 28, hit .241/.381/.419 for the Brewers' Triple-A team this year, playing the outfield corners. Most of his big league experience came with the Rangers in 2008. Martis, 24, had 106 1/3 Major League innings in the Nationals' rotation from 2008-09. He spent 2011 with the team's Double-A affiliate, posting a 3.05 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, and 0.6 HR/9 in 133 innings.
Cofield, a 24-year-old minor league reliever, was acquired by the White Sox from the Braves for Scott Linebrink and cash a year ago. Diaz, a 27-year-old minor league reliever, posted a 1.41 ERA and 10.7 K/9 with 22 saves for the Orioles' Double-A club this year. Welch, a 23-year-old first baseman, hit 16 home runs in 514 plate appearances for the Mets' High-A team this year.
Which Free Agents Will Be Offered Arbitration?
As the clock ticks down toward tonight's free agent arbitration offer deadline at 11pm central time, we at MLBTR reminisce about all the good times we had deciphering the Elias ranking system.
Things will be simpler in 2012, as traded players won't be eligible for draft pick compensation, arbitration offers will come much earlier, and there will be only one group of free agents subject to compensation. Instead of players being designated as Type A based on lame statistics chosen by MLB and the players union decades ago, it'll just be a question of whether the former team offers a guaranteed one-year contract with a salary equal to the average salary of the 125-highest paid players from the prior season. That seems to equal $12.4MM at present, but it'll surely rise each year. The bottom line: a team has to be willing to risk a sizeable one-year commitment to have a shot at draft pick compensation. Gone are the days of Scott Downs and Grant Balfour costing or providing a team draft picks. Perhaps more significantly, there's no Type B equivalent. In 2011 alone the Padres, Rays, and Blue Jays gained 10 picks between the first and second rounds as a result of losing middling free agents like Yorvit Torrealba, Brad Hawpe, and Kevin Gregg.
We still have Elias rankings to consider for this offseason, however. We have a good idea of what will happen with the 20 current Type A free agents. Matt Capps, Francisco Cordero, Octavio Dotel, Ramon Hernandez, and Darren Oliver will be treated as Type B players, and don't require arbitration offers for their teams to receive a supplemental draft pick as compensation. This modification is a win for the Twins and Reds, who probably weren't going to offer arbitration to Capps and Cordero. It's also, of course, a win for these players, who don't come with the draft pick cost attached.
Another change helps Type As Heath Bell, Michael Cuddyer, Kelly Johnson, Ryan Madson, Francisco Rodriguez, Josh Willingham, and their teams: these six players will not cost a draft pick for their new teams if they turn down arbitration offers, yet the former teams still receive two picks. All these players are seeking multiyear deals, so all figure to receive and turn down arbitration offers, except for perhaps Rodriguez. I have a feeling Scott Boras clients are a bit less open to handshake agreements to turn down arbitration, as the Rays couldn't pull that off with Carlos Pena last year. With K-Rod earning $11.5MM in 2011, the Brewers still risk him accepting and taking a one-year deal for 2012 at a higher salary if they offer arbitration. Still, if Boras feels there's three years, $30MM, and a closing job out there for Rodriguez, I imagine he'll still advise his client to turn down an arbitration offer.
As MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith noted yesterday, remaining Type A free agents Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, C.J. Wilson, David Ortiz, Roy Oswalt, Jose Reyes, and Jimmy Rollins are still under the old rules, while Takashi Saito and Carlos Beltran contractually cannot be offered arbitration. Of the first seven, the Phillies may choose not to offer arbitration to Oswalt given his salary. I think an arbitration offer for Ortiz from the Red Sox is likely, but less certain than the others.
We also have 32 Type B free agents for whom decisions are due tonight. Those with a good chance of receiving an arbitration offer, in my opinion: Aramis Ramirez, Alex Gonzalez, Mark Buehrle, Jason Kubel, Frank Francisco, Bruce Chen, Edwin Jackson, Kerry Wood, Freddy Garcia, Jose Molina, and Shawn Camp. There will probably be others, with the unpredictable element of players privately agreeing to decline, as we saw with Hawpe, Trevor Hoffman, and Javier Vazquez last year.