2012 Contract Issues: San Francisco Giants
The Giants are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series. Here's what the team faces after the 2011 season:
Eligible For Free Agency (6)
- Veteran position players Miguel Tejada, Cody Ross, Mark DeRosa, and Pat Burrell will be eligible for free agency after the season. Tejada, Ross, and DeRosa are making $6MM+ this year, and it probably won't make sense to keep them around at similar salaries.
- Relievers Javier Lopez and Guillermo Mota are both off to good starts in the early going.
Contract Options (1)
- Jeremy Affeldt: $5MM club option with a $500K buyout. I'm not sure this is a good investment given Affeldt's control issues. I'm leaning toward this being declined right now.
Arbitration Eligible (11)
- First time: Pablo Sandoval, Sergio Romo, Nate Schierholtz, Eli Whiteside
- Second time: Andres Torres, Santiago Casilla, Ryan Vogelsong
- Third time: Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez, Ramon Ramirez, Mike Fontenot
Lincecum is the arbitration case everyone will be watching. He was aiming for a first-time record before settling on a two-year deal in February of last year. Lincecum is in a class by himself and could seek close to $20MM for 2012. The Giants could try for another multiyear extension instead of working to prevent their ace from shattering arbitration records for his '12 and '13 salaries.
Sandoval and Sanchez deserve consideration for extensions as well. Otherwise, I could see the pair earning around $12MM in total for '12. Torres, Romo, and Ramirez would also make sense to retain at the least. It's a very rough estimate, but the Giants' arbitration eligibles could get around $40MM for next year.
2012 Payroll Obligation
The Giants' 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot's, is $72.933MM including Affeldt's buyout. Arbitration eligible players could put them in the $113MM range, $5MM shy of this year's $118MM payroll. It's difficult to see the Giants taking payroll much higher, so barring trades or money-saving extensions GM Brian Sabean will have to go cheap at shortstop and in the outfield.
Giants Make Nate Schierholtz Available
The Giants are letting teams know outfielder Nate Schierholtz is available, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. Andres Torres might come off the DL soon after recovering from a sore Achilles tendon, perhaps leaving the out of options Schierholtz without a spot.
In Schierholtz, Pat Burrell, Darren Ford, Cody Ross, and Aaron Rowand, the Giants currently have five outfielders on the active roster. The Giants could retain Schierholtz by just sending down Darren Ford, who was recalled when Torres went on the DL.
There's also the question of whether Rowand has more value to the Giants than Schierholtz. The 33-year-old Rowand is off to a tolerable start in 69 plate appearances after his ugly 2010, and is owed $22.3MM through the 2012 season. Schierholtz has only 31 plate appearances, and has not produced.
Schierholtz, 27, was known to be on the bubble in March, but the Giants ended up outrighting Travis Ishikawa instead. Schierholtz appears to have defensive value, and has shown promise offensively at Triple-A.
Brian Bannister Leaves Yomiuri Giants
Pitcher Brian Bannister left the Yomiuri Giants on March 15th in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, reported Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times on April 10th. Unlike most foreign players, Bannister left without permission and had to be placed on the restricted list. Coskrey said that placement on the list prevents Bannister from playing for any team – "in or outside of Japan" – until the situation is resolved.
An AP story on this topic surfaced today, in which Bannister reportedly told Japanese officials he has no plans to play in Japan or the U.S.
Bannister, 30, elected free agency after being outrighted by the Royals in November following a 6.34 ERA campaign. He went on to sign a $1.8MM deal with the Giants, but never pitched for them.
Gabe Gross Retires
Gabe Gross has decided to retire, reports Jon Johnson of The Enterprise Ledger. Said Gross:
"I just felt like my heart wasn’t into it. This and quitting football are the two hardest decisions I’ve ever made."
Gross signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in February, and after a March release he was ready to hang up his cleats. But then he took the Marlins up on an offer last week. When his Sunday physical was delayed, he thought about it for an extra day and decided to retire to spend time with his wife and two kids.
The 31-year-old finishes his career having earned approximately $5MM, including his signing bonus as the 15th overall pick out of Auburn by the Blue Jays in 2001. He posted a .239/.330/.385 line in seven seasons for the Jays, Brewers, Rays, and Athletics. Gross was involved in the 2005 deal in which the Jays also sent Dave Bush to the Brewers for Lyle Overbay.
Draft Notes: Bradley, Bauer, Wong, Springer
We're 41 days away from the amateur draft! The Pirates, Mariners, Diamondbacks, Orioles, and Royals will lead off with the first five picks. Click here to see the entire draft order. Several of the links below require subscriptions, which we heartily recommend purchasing. Today's notes:
- ESPN's Keith Law hears that South Carolina outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. has a torn ligament in his wrist and could miss the rest of the spring (Twitter link). Bradley was expected to be a first round pick before the injury.
- Baseball America's John Manuel, Jim Callis, and Conor Glassey make picks for the first round – not projections, but their own preferences.
- UCLA righty Trevor Bauer is a top five candidate, writes Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, but there are concerns over his workload. Talking to ESPN's Jason A. Churchill, one assistant GM admitted he's worried about Bauer's pitch counts. He's averaged 124.5 pitches per start, according to Churchill.
- In a draft heavy on pitching, Goldstein says second baseman Kolten Wong out of Hawaii "is now getting late first round consideration."
- Connecticut outfielder George Springer has bounced back lately, perhaps enough to put him within the first ten picks, says Churchill. For more on Springer, check out Ben Nicholson-Smith's interview. Ben's other prospective draft pick interviews include Sonny Gray, Matt Purke, Danny Hultzen, and the elusive Gerrit Cole.
- Current buzz from Churchill still has Rice's Anthony Rendon going to the Mariners at #2 overall.
Quick Hits: Bautista, Jeter, Clevlen, Astros
Ten years ago today, the Rockies signed an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic named Ubaldo Jimenez. Now the 27-year-old ace boasts a 3.59 career ERA and 669 strikeouts in 744 innings. Today's links:
- Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays is in the mix as the best hitter in the American League, writes Dave Cameron of FanGraphs. If that's true, his five-year, $65MM contract will turn out to be a significant bargain.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman to Derek Jeter in a November 30th meeting: "You said all you wanted was what was fair. How much higher do we have to be than the highest offer for it to be fair?" That's from Ian O'Connor's source; the ESPNNewYork.com writer has a new book out next month on Jeter.
- The Wichita Wingnuts signed former big league outfielder Brent Clevlen, announced the team. The independent league club is partially owned by a former teammate of Clevlen's, Nate Robertson.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart looks at the potential roster moves the Astros could make when Clint Barmes is activated off the disabled list, possibly as soon as this coming weekend.
Pirates Notes: Clement, Wood, Sanchez
If they continue at their current pace, the Pirates will win 69 games this year, a level they haven't reached since 2004. That year, Oliver Perez posted a 2.98 ERA with 239 strikeouts, Jason Bay slugged .550, and Jose Mesa saved 43 games. Today's Bucs links:
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports has a feature on the Jeff Clement, one of few draft picks among the first dozen in 2005 who has yet to become at least a big league regular. The Mariners nearly chose Troy Tulowitzki third overall instead of Clement, but GM Bill Bavasi apparently drafted for need. Clement's agent Brodie Van Wagenen believes his client didn't get a legitimate opportunity with the Mariners. Clement is trying to move forward as a first baseman for the Pirates, once he recovers from knee surgery.
- Regarding recent low-risk pickup Brandon Wood, GM Neal Huntington told Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Our scouts still see the authority off the bat, they still see the raw power, they still see the impact. Obviously the guy with this kind of pedigree, sometimes a change of scenery helps these guys. Our due diligence we did said it's a good person, it's a hard worker who needed a change of scenery." Wood's Pirates debut will come tonight at third base, batting sixth against John Lannan and the Nationals.
- Freddy Sanchez took his '09 trade from the Pirates to the Giants hard, he told Brink's colleague Dejan Kovacevic. It didn't help that he wasn't able to contribute much to his new team due to knee and shoulder injuries.
- Be sure to check out MLBTR's Pirates Facebook and Twitter pages and RSS feed. For my look at the team's 2012 contract issues, click here.
MLB Appoints Tom Schieffer As Dodgers Trustee
Former Rangers president Tom Schieffer is expected to be appointed as MLB's Dodgers trustee today, reports Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times. You can read Bud Selig's statement here. Shaikin notes that the 63-year-old Schieffer served as Rangers president from 1991-99, during which time the club was owned by George W. Bush's ownership group for the most part.
After his time with the Rangers, Schieffer served as an ambassador to Australia and Japan under the Bush administration. More recently, Schieffer ran for governor of Texas as a member of the Democratic party.
Rosenthal On Fielder, Putz, Reyes
The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
- Rosenthal discussed Prince Fielder in his Full Count video on Saturday and has a bit more today. The FOX writer spoke to agent Scott Boras, who talked up Fielder's "flexibility, dexterity, and athleticism," noting that his small strike zone gives him an advantage. You have to think Boras will set the bar at seven years and be aiming for eight, so he'll need to be able to convince NL teams that Fielder will hold up through his early 30s.
- The White Sox made a two-year offer to J.J. Putz early in the winter meetings, but it wasn't close to the $10MM the Diamondbacks offered.
- The Twins "probably won’t be a factor in the Jose Reyes sweepstakes" due to the shortstop's $11MM salary, in the opinion of Rosenthal. My take: if Reyes is dealt on deadline day he'll have $5.4MM remaining, and I'd be surprised if the Twins couldn't find a way to fit that in if money was the only holdup.
- Stan Kasten "will step on toes," says one exec who thinks he'd be an excellent choice as the Dodgers' trustee. On Wednesday, Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement, "I will announce the name of my representative in the next several days."
2012 Contract Issues: Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays are next in our 2012 Contract Issues series. Here's what the team faces after the 2011 season:
Eligible For Free Agency (4)
- The Rays might be able to extract a draft pick for Johnny Damon, if he's a Type B and he agrees to decline an arbitration offer.
- Felipe Lopez, Juan Cruz, and Casey Kotchman are also eligible for free agency.
Contract Options (3)
- James Shields: $7MM club option with a $2MM buyout. Otherwise arbitration eligible. This seems like it will be an easy choice to exercise. Shields is under control through 2014, and if he becomes available this summer or winter the Rays could get a nice bounty. We're getting ahead of ourselves, though – the team is only three games back in the AL East.
- Kelly Shoppach: $3.2MM club option with a $300K buyout. Shoppach hasn't done much hitting in his Rays career, so this is a tough call. One factor to consider is the progress of catching prospect Robinson Chirinos.
- Kyle Farnsworth: $3.3MM club option with a $650K buyout. He's gotten the job done so far, and this option will merit consideration.
Arbitration Eligible (7)
- First time: David Price, Jeff Niemann
- Second time: Dan Johnson, Andy Sonnanstine
- Third time: B.J. Upton, J.P. Howell, Joel Peralta
Price is primed for a record-setting salary for a first-time arbitration eligible starting pitcher, say around $5.5MM. Niemann could get $3MM, though the Rays could trade him as early as this summer even if they are contending. Upton's price will be held down by his unspectacular offense, but he could get $7MM or more and is also a trade candidate. There is some uncertainty with the other pitchers but for the sake of argument if everyone besides Johnson is retained the total bill could be around $21MM.
2012 Payroll Obligation
The Rays' 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot's, is $13MM excluding buyouts. However we could tack on as much as $35MM if the three options are exercised and the arbitration eligibles are retained. That'd have the club $6MM over this year's payroll, which was reduced drastically from years prior. There are many moving parts here, and given their current big league talent and highly-regarded farm system, the Rays should find a way to compete next year even if payroll stays under $50MM. That is no small feat.