Reverse Standings
The Astros have a firm hold on the top spot, while the Orioles, Royals, Twins, Mariners, and Cubs are battling for second place. Is this Bizarro World Baseball? No, it's MLBTR's reverse standings!
Currently, fans for about 60% of MLB clubs are thinking about next year. Our reverse standings are the perfect way to follow the action, as teams vie for the for the best draft picks in June of 2012 by losing the most games in 2011. The standings will be updated every morning through the end of the season, and even calculate tiebreakers by looking at last year's standings. You will always be able to find the link under MLBTR Features in the righthand sidebar.
Outrighted: Bruce Billings
The latest players outrighted to Triple-A…
- The Athletics announced they've outrighted righty reliever Bruce Billings to open a 40-man roster spot for reliever Neil Wagner. I first reported Wagner's impending call-up on Twitter on Monday. Billings was the player the A's acquired in the June 30th Mark Ellis deal. The A's also announced that Jerry Blevins cleared waivers and was optioned to Sacramento.
Orioles Designate Hendrickson For Assignment
The Orioles will designate lefty Mark Hendrickson for assignment to open a spot for Troy Patton, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The team has since confirmed the move. Patton had been on the restricted list as he attended a court hearing for an offseason DWI arrest.
Hendrickson, 37, spent most of the season at Triple-A but tossed 11 forgettable innings in the Majors.
Pirates Release Joe Beimel
TODAY: The Pirates have released Beimel, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
AUGUST 23rd: The Pirates announced they've designated lefty reliever Joe Beimel for assignment to open a spot on the active roster for Ross Ohlendorf.
Beimel, 34, has a 5.33 ERA, 6.0 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 2.1 HR/9, and 41.2% groundball rate with 34 hits allowed in 25 1/3 innings this year after surrendering a longball to Ryan Braun last night. Several contenders, including the Yankees and Phillies, are known to be seeking a veteran lefty. Beimel has been decent against left-handed hitters this year, but he's only faced 46 of them.
The Pirates signed Beimel to a minor league deal in January; the southpaw has ties to Pittsburgh. His yearly salary while in the Majors is $1.75MM.
Ryan Zimmerman Talks Next Contract
Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman opened up about his next contract, talking to beat writer Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post on Sunday. Zimmerman, who has repeatedly stated his desire to remain with the Nationals beyond his current contract, expressed confidence that a new deal will get done.
Kilgore lays out the many factors sure to figure into the negotiations. Troy Tulowitzki and Ryan Braun will come up as comparables, which is cool since the three players were drafted so close together in 2005. The new portion of Tulo's contract averages $19MM per year over six free agent years, while Braun received $21MM per year over five. Braun received more per year than Tulowitzki partly because he was closer to free agency, so will Zimmerman receive more than Braun since he's just two seasons away? Zimmerman told Kilgore he's going to need a contract longer than his current five-year pact, and that 29-year-old free agents get seven to ten years. Noted Zimmerman, "You only get one shot to try to get a big deal; if you’re lucky enough to get one shot, that’s the time you have to get it."
Kilgore touches on Zimmerman's injury history, a major factor. Out of six full seasons in the bigs, Zimmerman has missed large chunks of two of them. He had a shoulder injury in 2008, after which he signed his five-year, $45MM contract. This year, he had surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle. The Nationals know better than anyone whether these two injuries were isolated occurrences.
Back in March, Zimmerman remarked that "if you have one year before free agency, you might as well play your year out and see what happens." That feeling hasn't changed much, as he told Kilgore Sunday that while he wouldn't completely rule out an extension with one year left before free agency, when a player gets to that point in his career he wants to make teams compete against each other. If the Nationals want to hammer out an extension with Zimmerman and his agent Brodie Van Wagenen of CAA Sports, they've probably got a year or less to do so, since he's signed through 2013.
Zimmmerman is thinking at least seven years, which would take him through the 2020 season and tie him with Braun and Tulo for the latest any player is currently under contract. Kilgore tosses out an eight-year, $175MM figure if Zimmerman wants to exceed Jayson Werth by $1MM through 2017 and then continue for another four years at $22MM per. Such a contract would be the sixth-largest in baseball history, and he'd be the only player signed through 2021. Zimmerman doesn't think his injury this year affects his contract situation at all, and if Washington matched Kilgore's estimate it'd suggest they feel the same.
Randy Flores Opts Out Of Contract
For the third time this year, lefty reliever Randy Flores has opted out of a minor league contract. This time he opted out of his Brewers' contract after 11 innings, writes MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Flores had previously opted out of contracts with the Padres and Yankees.
Flores, 36, hasn't yet made it back to the Majors this year. At Triple-A he has a 3.05 ERA, 7.6 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 59 innings.
Blue Jays Sign Osuna, Becerra
The Blue Jays announced the signings of seven international free agents: Roberto Osuna, Wuilmer Becerra, Jesus Gonzalez, Manuel Cordova, Alberto Tirado, Jairo Labourt, and Yeyfry Del Rosario.
Osuna, the 16-year-old nephew of Antonio, tossed 19 2/3 innings in the Mexican League this year. The Mexican righty was one of the top July 2nd pitching prospects this year, wrote Baseball America's Ben Badler.
Becerra is a "speedy shortstop who projects as an outfielder," wrote Badler. The 17-year-old comes out of Venezuela.
The bonuses on these seven are not yet known, but the Jays signed Domincan Dawel Lugo for $1.3MM in July. Based on BA's estimates, it's likely Osuna and Becerra received more. The Blue Jays continue to be aggressive in the international market, having signed Adeiny Hechavarria, Adonis Cardona, and others last year.
Be sure to tell your Spanish-speaking friends about MLBTR's sister site, Rumores de Béisbol, where we have human translations of key MLBTR posts as well as the original Hits Latinos series.
Will C.J. Wilson Get $100 Million?
Two years ago, Rangers lefty C.J. Wilson struck me as a quality reliever, but certainly not someone who could eventually score a $100MM contract. Now, with free agency just months away, I'm wondering if that could be his ceiling on the open market.
Wilson switched back to starting in 2010, and he exceeded expectations. Though Wilson led the American League in walks, he also made 33 starts with a 3.35 ERA in the regular season. Sure, his SIERA was 4.19, but the conversion was a success. Had Wilson signed an extension after the 2010 season, giving up three free agent years for around $10-11MM apiece seemed appropriate. The decision to wait paid off for Wilson, as he's taken his game to a new level in 2011. The walks are down significantly, the strikeout rate is up, and he made the All-Star team. Without Cliff Lee around, Wilson is the Rangers' undisputed ace.
Wilson's innings total predictably skyrocketed in 2010, but it didn't lead to any injuries. Including the postseason, he made 37 starts that year for a total of 228 1/3 innings. He averaged almost 17 pitches per inning in 2010 and about 6.2 innings per start. This year he's been more efficient at 16.2 pitches per inning, and he's exceeding 6.6 innings per start.
Why do I think $100MM is possible? Age is not a concern, as he turns 31 in November. He's become a horse, but his overall mileage is low because of the time spent as a reliever. He's succeeded in a tough home park and in the American League. The advanced numbers are strong and he provides the fairly rare combination of strikeouts and groundballs. Here's a look at the recent big pitching contracts signed on the open market:
- Cliff Lee: five years, $120MM ($24MM per year). 32 years old at time of signing.
- John Lackey: five years, $82.5MM ($16.5MM per year). 31 years old.
- C.C. Sabathia: seven years, $161MM, plus opt-out clause ($23MM per year). 28 years old.
- A.J. Burnett: five years, $82.5MM ($16.5MM per year). 32 years old shortly after signing.
It's easy to toss Wilson into the Lackey/Burnett bracket and expect a similar contract. But Lackey had missed a month in each of his previous seasons and had totaled 373 innings. Burnett was coming off a career-best 221 1/3 innings, but had pitched only 301 1/3 over the previous two seasons. Meanwhile Wilson is projecting for perhaps 225 innings this year, for a total exceeding 450 over 2010-11. He doesn't come with the injury concern Lackey and Burnett did.
Also consider that Burnett signed after the '08 season and Lackey after '09, so even if Wilson were comparable to them he'd deserve more based on inflation. I think there's an easy case for $90MM over five years, so it's not crazy to think one team would add a sixth year or take him to the $20MM per year range. This only applies if we're talking about a free agent bidding war – if the Rangers re-sign him prior to open season, it'll be for less. It should be noted that the Yankees and Red Sox figured prominently into all four free agent contracts mentioned above, so their involvement with Wilson will be a huge factor.
We also have to look at what the free agent and trade markets will offer in terms of competition. Sabathia could again be the free agent prize if he opts out, but he'll require a commitment well beyond Wilson that only a few teams could handle. Sabathia could re-sign with the Yankees early on, which might take them out of the Wilson bidding but also leave him as the best available starter, easily above Edwin Jackson or Hisashi Iwakuma. Yu Darvish being posted would shake things up, though some teams might still prefer Wilson. The trade market figures to feature Wandy Rodriguez and perhaps a few surprises, but I'm not sure there's a Zack Greinke, Matt Garza, or Shaun Marcum-caliber pitcher in the mix for this offseason.
Wilson's progression has been amazing – an '08 season that ended with elbow surgery, 14 saves and a 10.3 K/9 relieving in '09, a mid-rotation type in '10, and an ace in '11. Now it's time to see what he's worth.
Will C.J. Wilson get at least $100MM?
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No 78% (5,453)
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Yes 22% (1,548)
Total votes: 7,001
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Arbitration Eligibles: Tampa Bay Rays
We've covered the Orioles, Red Sox, and Yankees; now it's time to look at Rays players who will be arbitration eligible after the season.
- First time: David Price, Jeff Niemann
- Second time: Andy Sonnanstine
- Third time: B.J. Upton, J.P. Howell
- Fourth time: Joel Peralta
Sonnanstine and Howell are potential non-tender candidates, as both have had rough years. Sonnanstine is currently at Triple-A.
Price and Upton will be a relatively expensive pair. Price, an expected Super Two player, comes with a projected $5.9MM salary that would be a first-time starter record if we didn't expect Clayton Kershaw to do even better. Price's days as cheap ace are ending. Upton, a trade candidate, projects in the $7MM range.
Niemann and Peralta are worth retaining as well. Niemann is looking at a first-time salary in the $2.7MM range, while Peralta could come in at a still-affordable $1.8MM.
Quick Hits: Moyer, Beckett, Weaver
Four years ago today, the Dodgers claimed Esteban Loaiza off waivers from the Athletics, taking on over $8MM and getting very little from the pitcher in return. I'm sure Billy Beane and Ned Colletti still chuckle about the transaction. Today's links:
- Jamie Moyer, 49 in November, will continue his rehab from Tommy John surgery at the Phillies' Spring Training home in Clearwater, Florida. MLB.com's Todd Zolecki explains that Moyer remains a free agent, but his former team honored his request to use their facilities and expertise. We all look forward to seeing Moyer's 81 mile per hour heater in the Majors once again, perhaps next year.
- Josh Beckett is a family man now, the Red Sox righty explained to WEEI's Rob Bradford. Beckett anticipates a series of one-year deals once his current contract expires after the 2014 season, and plans to disappear without fanfare when it's time to retire.
- Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times has contract details for Jered Weaver's new deal with the Angels. The contract has a full no-trade clause, a $1MM signing bonus, and salaries of $14MM for 2012, $16MM each for '13 and '14, $18MM for '15, and $20MM for '16.
- Baseball America's Jim Callis looks at the 2005 draft for each of the 30 teams, ranking the Red Sox first and the Cubs last.