Jensen Lewis Clears Waivers
TUESDAY, 12:14pm: Lewis cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Columbus, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
MONDAY, 9:13am: The Indians placed reliever Jensen Lewis on waivers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Non-roster invitee Jack Hannahan is expected to make the team, so the Indians will need to open up at least one 40-man roster spot.
Lewis, 27 in May, posted a 2.97 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 4.7 BB/9, 0.2 HR/9, and 30.4% groundball rate in 36 1/3 big league innings last year. He has stronger peripherals in Triple-A, where he posted a 2.67 ERA in 30 1/3 frames. Arbitration eligible as a Super Two player after the 2010 season, Lewis signed for $650K. Typically such contracts are not guaranteed, but Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote yesterday that Lewis' is.
Braves Looking To Trade Rodrigo Lopez
The Braves are "looking to make a deal involving Rodrigo Lopez," tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. The news comes as no surprise; MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith highlighted Atlanta's rotation surplus yesterday.
Lopez, 35, posted a 5.00 ERA, 5.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 1.7 HR/9, and 37.6% groundball rate in 200 innings for the Diamondbacks last year before signing a minor league deal with the Braves. He's been pretty good in 13 2/3 spring innings this year. The Braves would likely seek a modest return.
Latest On Rotation Battles
Rotation battles are being decided left and right. Here's the latest.
- Scott Baker will serve as the Twins' fifth starter and Kevin Slowey will work out of the bullpen, tweets Kelsie Smith of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Slowey was highlighted by MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith as a potentially available starter, and the Twins appear willing to listen. With Kyle Gibson on the horizon, can the Twins spare the depth?
- Barry Enright made the Diamondbacks' rotation, reports MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Assuming Joe Saunders makes the cut, that leaves Armando Galarraga and Aaron Heilman duking it out for the right to fill in for Zach Duke. If Heilman sneaks into the rotation, the D'Backs have to decide by March 28th whether they want to pay Galarraga $2.3MM as their long man. If they cut him by then they'd only owe him about $569K.
- Bartolo Colon went six strong innings for the Yankees last night, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports figures this means he'll make the team somehow. Colon and Freddy Garcia have opt-out dates of March 31st and March 29th, respectively. Ivan Nova probably has the fourth starter job, leaving Colon, Garcia, and Sergio Mitre for two spots.
- The Cubs are meeting today and could decide on their fifth starter, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. If Andrew Cashner gets the nod, I can see the Cubs trying to dump Carlos Silva.
Average Free Agent Prices By Position
131 free agents signed Major League deals this offseason, ranging from Scott Olsen at $550K to Carl Crawford at $142MM. The group was guaranteed just over $1.3 billion for 203 contract years, for an average of $6.4MM per year. The average player scored a contract worth $9.93MM. These numbers do not include Ted Lilly, Brandon Inge, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Frank Francisco, Jason Frasor, who were not signed on the open market.
- Right field: $10.975MM per year ($153.65MM over 14 years). This group includes seven players, with Jayson Werth pulling up the numbers.
- Closer: $10MM per year ($40MM over four years). I've included only Mariano Rivera and J.J. Putz here, as the other relievers were not signed as certain closers.
- Left field: $9.775MM per year ($156.4MM over 16 years). This group of ten is greatly skewed by Carl Crawford.
- Third base: $9.4MM per year ($103.45MM over 11 years). Adrian Beltre makes up almost all of this.
- Designated hitter: $9.16MM per year ($128.25MM over 14 years). Adam Dunn and Victor Martinez were compensated abnormally well for players who will mostly be serving at DH.
- Shortstop: $8.19MM per year ($73.75MM over 9 years). Derek Jeter is the headliner.
- Starting pitcher: $7.42MM per year ($229.975MM over 31 years). Cliff Lee leads the group of 22 pitchers I designated as starters. Aside from him, starters were paid $4.2MM per year.
- First base: $7.38MM per year ($110.65MM over 15 years). Paul Konerko leads.
- Second base: $4.84MM per year ($38.75MM over 8 years). Juan Uribe received the biggest deal.
- Right-handed reliever: $3.66MM per year ($146.28MM over 40 years). Rafael Soriano tops the chart.
- Left-handed reliever: $3.06MM per year ($58.05MM over 19 years). Scott Downs got the biggest deal.
- Catcher: $3.04MM per year ($57.675MM over 19 years). John Buck's surprising deal tops the list.
- Center field: $1.14MM per year ($3.425MM over 3 years). Center fielders were tough to come by this winter, as Rick Ankiel, Melky Cabrera, and Tony Gwynn Jr. make up this group.
- Click here to download a spreadsheet with all the data.
Best Arb Eligible Position Players Without Extensions
These days, most of the best arbitration eligible players are signed to multiyear deals. So far this offseason 25 players signed extensions covering at least one arbitration year, with more to come in April. It's rare to see a star player make it all the way to free agency going year-to-year. Many don't even make it to arbitration. With that in mind, let's take a look at the best arbitration eligible position players currently on one-year deals. I've included the agencies from our database.
Schierholtz, Ishikawa On The Bubble For Giants
The Giants have a pair of out of options position players on the bubble in Nate Schierholtz and Travis Ishikawa. According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, "Schierholtz could be the easiest and most likely to be dealt. Perhaps soon."
Schierholtz, a right fielder, is trying to break into an outfield that already features more expensive players such as Cody Ross, Andres Torres, Pat Burrell, Mark DeRosa, and perhaps Aaron Rowand. And don't forget top prospect Brandon Belt, who could force Aubrey Huff to left field or play there himself. Just for good measure, Ishikawa is playing a little outfield this spring.
The 27-year-old Schierholtz has failed to produce in 758 scattered big league plate appearances. He has, at least, shown the ability to hit for average, power, and a strong contact rate in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Going back to the Baseball America 2008 Handbook, Schierholtz "plays a strong right field and has an above-average, accurate arm." He would have been a more interesting player for the Royals to try in right field than Jeff Francoeur, and could make sense for the Phillies currently.
Trading Rowand would alleviate the Giants' outfield logjam slightly, but Baggarly says there's nothing cooking on that front. Rowand is a release candidate in my mind, unless there's a team willing to pick up a couple million bucks of the $24MM owed to him for 2011-12.
Baggarly notes that both Schierholtz and Ishikawa could be on the outs if Belt makes the team. On Friday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the situations of Rowand, Ishikawa, and Schierholtz will not be big factors in the Belt decision. Belt's service time might be a consideration, not that the team would admit that publicly. If the Giants can survive the season's first nine games without Belt, they can delay his free agency by a year.
Quick Hits: Carlos Guillen, Dennys Reyes, Mets
Opening Day is just ten days away! Our latest collection of links:
- As first mentioned on Twitter, MLBTR learned that Tigers infielder Carlos Guillen switched agencies this spring, from Peter Greenberg to Octagon. Our new Agency Database has all the goods.
- Dennys Reyes' opt-out date with the Red Sox is Friday, tweets WEEI's Rob Bradford. The lefty has allowed one run in seven strong innings this spring.
- With the Mets eating $12MM to release Oliver Perez today, ESPN's Adam Rubin looks at the other big contracts the Mets have gobbled up to make a player go away.
- The Tigers and White Sox have better pitching staffs than the Twins, explains Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
- Kirby Arnold of the Everett Herald projects the Mariners' 25-man roster.
Major League Baseball Uniform Player’s Contract
Contracts are an obsession at MLB Trade Rumors, but have you ever seen an actual one? We got our hands on a real Uniform Player's Contract, with the identifying details removed. If you ever wanted to know which other sports a baseball player is banned from playing, how many uniforms the club must furnish, or the maximum amount of life insurance coverage allowed, this is for you. Click here to access the PDF file.
Jimmy Rollins Talks Free Agency
Jimmy Rollins chatted recently with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports about his impending free agency. The 32-year-old shortstop seems at ease entering the first contract year of his career:
"If I do what I’m supposed to do and I’m healthy, I’ll get signed somewhere, if not here. I’m not worried about that part. Just having a healthy season and feeling good, that’s the only thing I’m concerned with."
The Phillies are the only team Rollins has ever known, but it's too early to determine the extent of the gap between his asking price and the commitment the Phillies are willing and able to make. As Rosenthal points out, the Phillies don't have a replacement ready at the top levels of the minors.
Despite Rollins' slipping on-base percentage, his 10.2% walk rate last year was a career-best. He still has good pop for a shortstop, and his defense remains well-regarded. If Rollins stays healthy and his batting average bounces back, he could be in line for a four or five-year deal worth upwards of $15MM a year. The 2012 free agent market potentially features at least four other starting shortstops: Jose Reyes, Rafael Furcal, Alex Gonzalez, and J.J. Hardy. That crop is better than usual, but it's still very difficult to find a quality shortstop.
Latest On Major League Rule 5 Picks
19 players were taken in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 draft in December. Rule 5 picks are often returned to their original teams, as it's challenging to keep these players in the Majors all year. Another option is for the two clubs to work out a trade. The latest on this year's group:
- Pirates took infielder Josh Rodriguez from Indians. The Pirates are seriously considering trying to work out a deal with the Tribe, reported MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch on Saturday. Rodriguez is still in the mix for the Pirates' backup middle infield job, but Langosch says Pedro Ciriaco appears to be the favorite.
- Mariners took reliever Jose Flores from Indians. Flores has yet to pitch above Low-A ball, and his spring stats (five runs, four hits, and four walks in 3 2/3 innings) haven't helped his case. Even in the Mariners' unsettled bullpen it would be tough to keep Flores up all year.
- Diamondbacks took reliever Joe Paterson from Giants. As of March 10th the sidearming southpaw was a leading candidate to make the D'Backs. His spring numbers are strong, and he has Triple-A experience.
- Orioles took reliever Adrian Rosario from Brewers. He's only made two appearances this spring, and one of them resulted in a walk-off home run. As of Friday, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com wrote that Rosario "isn't making the team."
- Royals took starter Nathan Adcock from Pirates. Though he's only struck out three, Adcock is unscored upon in nine innings this spring. He seems to have a good shot at making the team, a dream come true for a guy who was in High-A ball last year.
- Nationals took reliever Elvin Ramirez from Mets. Back on March 13th, Adam Kilgore explained how arm trouble was preventing the Nationals from evaluating Ramirez. Barring an amazing, healthy week Ramirez will be offered back to the Mets.
- Cubs took starter Mason Tobin from Angels; traded to Rangers. With 5 2/3 scoreless innings, Tobin is "in the mix" for a bullpen job according to GM Jon Daniels.
- Astros took pitcher Aneury Rodriguez from Rays and starter Lance Pendleton from Yankees. Neither pitcher won the fifth starter job, but Astros manager Brad Mills says they're both in the running for the bullpen. Both have had control problems this spring.
- Brewers took reliever Pat Egan from Orioles. He's tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings and has Triple-A experience, so he appears to be in the running for a bullpen job.
- Mets took second baseman Brad Emaus from Blue Jays. He's still in the Mets' second base mix with Luis Hernandez and Daniel Murphy. Emaus' spring performance hasn't helped, though the release of Luis Castillo did.
- Padres took reliever George Kontos from Yankees. He was returned on March 14th.
- Twins took starter Scott Diamond from Braves. A trade appeared possible earlier this month. Diamond has allowed one run in six spring innings, though his strikeout and walk numbers aren't pretty.
- Yankees took reliever Robert Fish from Angels; claimed off waivers by Royals. The Royals claimed the hard-throwing lefty six days ago, so clearly they're considering him for their bullpen.
- Rays took reliever Cesar Cabral from Red Sox. The Blue Jays got involved at one point, which requires its own explanation. Cabral remains in the mix for the Rays.
- Phillies took infielder Michael Martinez from Nationals. Castillo affects another Rule 5 pick, as Martinez's chances are hurt by the Phillies' acquisition of the veteran. Even without Castillo, Martinez did not appear to be a frontrunner at second base.
- Nationals took starter Brian Broderick from Cardinals. On Friday Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said Broderick was "forcing the issue" in competing for a long relief job. He's allowed one run in 10 2/3 innings, though he's only struck out four.
- Mets took reliever Pedro Beato from Orioles. The strikeouts aren't there, but Beato still appears likely to make the team.
- Yankees took reliever Daniel Turpen from Red Sox. He was returned to the Red Sox on March 13th.
- So far, only two of the 19 Rule 5 picks have been returned. Expect plenty more this week.