Free Agent Market For Center Fielders
The Royals, Braves, Marlins, Nationals, and Padres may be looking for center field help for 2011, but the free agent market is ugly and there are no interesting non-tender candidates. Let's take a look.
Could The Big Names Switch Positions?
Scott Boras is prone to exaggeration, but he touted Jayson Werth's ability to play center field in a September conversation with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Werth played 171 innings in center this year, 62.3 in '09, and 233.3 in '08. It's smart for Boras to position Werth as a center field possibility, given the market.
Carl Crawford has the speed for center but seems unlikely to make the move. He hasn't played 100+ innings in center field since '04.
Probably Not Available
Though Coco Crisp played only 75 games this year for the Athletics, his contract is looking decent because of his performance and the $5.75MM club option for 2011. Though Rajai Davis can play center too, the A's seem very likely to keep Crisp. Crisp is the only free agent who played 600+ innings in center this year. Only Jim Edmonds, who probably won't play center field next year, matched Crisp's offensive production.
Capable Of Playing Center Field
With Edmonds talking about a backup first base role for next year if anything, only Rick Ankiel and Melky Cabrera remain as free agents who logged 300+ center field innings in 2010. Both struggled offensively, though Cabrera was decent in '09.
Tony Gwynn could join the free agent ranks if the Padres non-tender him. He didn't do much with the bat but the speedy 28-year-old did play 701.3 innings in center this year. Non-tender candidates Scott Hairston and Reggie Willits can handle center on a part-time basis.
Corey Patterson has a case for a big league contract this winter. He hit .269/.315/.406 in 340 plate appearances for the Orioles, which would be acceptable for a part-time center fielder. Patterson hasn't played the position in the Majors much in recent years, though he did tally 67 minor league games in '09.
Backups
Gary Matthews Jr., Reed Johnson, Jody Gerut, and Willy Taveras played 300+ innings in center last year. They'll be signing minor league deals most likely. Same goes for DeWayne Wise, a non-tender candidate for Toronto.
Summary
Assuming Crisp is retained by the A's and Werth stays in right field, there are no free agents you'd want playing center field on a regular basis. We'll see later if the trade market offers anything.
Trade Market For Left Fielders
A week ago, we established that the free agent market for left fielders is weak for clubs that can't join the Carl Crawford bidding. The Rays, Tigers, Angels, Braves, Reds, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Padres, and Giants may be looking for help at the position; let's see what the trade market adds to the picture.
Solid Regulars
If the Nationals re-sign Adam Dunn or add another slugger and feel they can spare Josh Willingham, this offseason would be the time to make a deal. Willingham, 32 in February, posted a solid .268/.389/.459 line in 450 plate appearances this year. He's open to playing first base or the outfield corners and could make around $7MM in 2011 before reaching free agency. He has faced injuries recently, however.
The Royals' David DeJesus played little left field this year, but has extensive experience at the position. The team already picked up his $6MM option for '11. His career-best season ended in July with a torn thumb ligament, just before the trade deadline. If the Royals intend to move him, it may make sense to let him demonstrate good health first.
Baltimore's Luke Scott is another name to consider, though he hasn't played 200 innings in left field since '08. Scott had a strong offensive year and is due a raise on a $4.05MM salary, but there's been no indication the Orioles are looking to move him.
Bad Contracts
If you're willing to pick up a bad contract, the trade market for left fielders presents several options: Carlos Lee, Raul Ibanez, Juan Rivera, and Milton Bradley. Lee's deal would be the toughest to stomach, at $37MM over the next two seasons. His normally respectable numbers fell off a cliff this year at age 34. Ibanez, with $11.5MM remaining, is still a useful hitter. The Phillies might need him if Jayson Werth departs, though. Rivera, owed $5.25MM for '11, may be shopped as the Angels look for more athleticism in left field. He hit just .252/.312/.409 on the season. Bradley says he can coexist with new Mariners manager Eric Wedge, but if not it'll be nearly impossible to find a taker even if the Ms assume most of his $12MM salary.
Out Of Favor?
Nolan Reimold and Gerardo Parra disappointed this year for the Orioles and Diamondbacks, respectively. They could be trade candidates.
Non-Tender Candidates
Scott Hairston, Matt Diaz, Conor Jackson, Ryan Langerhans, Fred Lewis, Laynce Nix, Reggie Willits, Travis Buck, and Lastings Milledge are non-tender candidates. Melky Cabrera has already joined the free agent ranks. The non-tender candidates figure to be trade bait prior to the December 2nd deadline, especially borderline cases like Lewis, Diaz, Milledge, Nix, and Willits.
Summary
Willingham, DeJesus, and Scott would greatly improve the market for left fielders if made available. Otherwise you're looking at bad contracts and players hoping to bounce back or establish themselves.
Arbitration Eligibles Series
Players with at least two years and 125 days but less than six years of Major League service time are arbitration eligible. A player usually goes to arbitration three times in his career, though those classified as Super Two go four times.
On December 2nd, each team will decide whether to tender contracts to their arbitration eligible players. Those who are non-tendered become free agents. Players who are tendered contracts are automatically under team control for 2011 at a yet to be determined salary. Many players will reach an agreement before exchanging salary figures, which is formally done in mid-January. Others will exchange figures and meet somewhere in the middle. A handful of players will fail to reach an agreement with the team, resulting in an arbitration hearing in February. In an arbitration hearing, an independent three-person panel hears cases from both sides and picks which of the two salary submissions they find appropriate.
MLBTR's arbitration eligibles series examines all 30 teams; links are below. By our count there are 227 arbitration eligible players. Click here to download an Excel spreadsheet listing all of them. The Blue Jays lead with 14; the Cardinals trail with two. Our speculative non-tender candidate list will come later, but that group should contain around 90 players.
AL East
AL Central
AL West
NL East
NL Central
NL West
- Diamondbacks (8)
- Rockies (5)
- Dodgers (6)
- Padres (8)
- Giants (8)
Arbitration Eligibles: San Francisco Giants
Giants fans aren't thinking about the offseason right now, but let's finish off our arbitration eligibles series.
- First time: Andres Torres
- Second time: Jonathan Sanchez, Ramon Ramirez, Mike Fontenot, Santiago Casilla
- Third time: Cody Ross, Chris Ray
- Fourth time: Javier Lopez
Torres hasn't done much in the postseason, but the 31-year-old's impressive regular season work will get him a contract. His salary will remain low, as he hasn't piled up big career numbers.
Had Ross remained with the Marlins, he probably would have been non-tendered this winter. He's already earning $4.45MM and his power slipped in 487 Marlins plate appearances this year. The Giants snagged Ross as a waiver claim in late August. His performance picked up with his new team, and he even won NLCS MVP. About a week ago, Giants GM Brian Sabean implied that he will tender a contract to Ross.
Ramirez, another midseason pickup, allowed only two earned runs in 27 innings for the Giants despite unimpressive peripherals. He'll likely be retained. Lopez, who came over from the Pirates, actually does have the peripheral stats to support his strong Giants ERA. He's been a postseason force and should be tendered. Ray is a borderline case – he'll remain affordable, but his performance this year was only passable. Yet another acquisition, Fontenot, has been a useful backup infielder even if his '08 slugging percentage appears to have been a fluke. He'll probably stick around.
Casilla represents one of the year's better minor league deals, as he compiled a 1.95 ERA and 9.1 K/9 in 55.3 innings. He's staying. Sanchez is a lock to be tendered, and is in line for a multimillion dollar raise following a 13 win, 205 strikeout breakout campaign. He doesn't have the career numbers to get the $6MM salary other second-time arbitration eligible starters such as Jered Weaver, Matt Garza, John Danks, and Chad Billingsley will make.
It's possible the Giants will tender contracts to all eight of their arbitration eligible players, though contracts for Ray and Fontenot are less certain.
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Free Agent Market For Left Fielders
Left field is traditionally a power position, yet Pat Burrell is the only free agent who hit 20 home runs in 2010. The Rays, Tigers, Angels, Braves, Reds, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Padres, and Giants may be looking for help at the position. Let's break down the free agents.
The Big Name
Carl Crawford's name will be all over this website for the next several months. Here's our stock watch post on him. Crawford is so good that teams I did not name above, such as the Red Sox and Yankees, are expected to at least kick the tires.
Solid Regulars
Burrell put himself back into the "solid regular" conversation by hitting .266/.364/.509 with 18 home runs in 341 plate appearances after signing with the Giants. There could be one other left field 20 home run bat available if the Twins choose Jason Kubel's $350K buyout over his $5.25MM club option, but I think they'll pick up the option.
Aside from Crawford, Jonny Gomes and Scott Podsednik were the only other free agents to log at least 1,000 innings in left field this year. Gomes, who has a $1.75MM club option with a $200K buyout, is a decent source of power. Podsednik's game is all about speed; he has the ability to void the Dodgers' $2MM option.
Looking For DH Jobs
Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon tallied fewer than 600 left field innings between them, and both figure to seek designated hitter work in 2011.
Useful Bench Bats
Andruw Jones, Bill Hall, Marcus Thames, Austin Kearns, and Corey Patterson all played 100+ innings in left this year and had their moments. Thames and Jones were particularly useful offensively. Willie Harris, Jeremy Hermida, Randy Winn, and Reed Johnson will also be vying for utility roles.
Non-Tender Candidates
Scott Hairston, Matt Diaz, Melky Cabrera, Conor Jackson, and Ryan Langerhans are among the left fielders who may be non-tendered on December 2nd. Laynce Nix and Lastings Milledge are candidates as well, but were useful enough to be tendered contracts for 2011. Hairston, Diaz, and Cabrera were quality players in 2009, but they'll have to earn their playing time.
Summary
For teams that don't have $100MM for Crawford, the free agent market for left fielders is weak. Burrell, Gomes, and Podsednik may find regular left field work, while Manny and Damon may still dabble at the position.
Odds & Ends: Mets, Reds, Nationals, Cardinals
Links for Monday, as impending free agent lefties Cliff Lee and Andy Pettitte prepare to duel in New York…
- Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter) doesn't think that Dana Brown, an "[Omar] Minaya disciple", has a good chance of landing the Mets GM job. Brown will reportedly meet with the club on Wednesday.
- RotoAuthority attempts to find the next Carlos Gonzalez for fantasy players.
- Cody Ross is expected to be tendered a contract this winter by the Giants, and he told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, "I'd like to stay for my career." Ross also revealed that he's been pushing former teammate Dan Uggla to sign with the Giants after next season.
- Forget about the Reds signing Carl Crawford, suggests MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. Sheldon sees the Reds attempting to find a more affordable leadoff hitter.
- Patrick Newman of FanGraphs looks at the repertoire of starter Hisashi Iwakuma, who will be posted by the Rakuten Golden Eagles. The righty, 30 in April, excels at limiting home runs. Newman estimates a posting fee in the $10MM range plus a contract of four years and $20MM.
- Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider examines Washington's 2011 payroll commitments and finds that they will have less than $50MM committed. He doesn't know if they'll bump payroll to the $80MM range, but if so they could be big offseason spenders. For MLBTR's look at the Nationals' twelve arbitration eligible players, click here.
- MLB.com's Matthew Leach spoke to Jake Westbrook about the future, shortly before the season ended.
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch outlines the battle for Cardinals 40-man roster spots.
- The Yankees' Jesus Montero is the best hitting prospect left in the minors, writes Baseball America's Jim Callis.
Mets To Interview Dana Brown For GM Opening
The Mets received permission from the Blue Jays to interview special assistant Dana Brown for their GM opening, reports ESPN's Adam Rubin. Rubin says Brown, the first minority candidate, will meet with the Mets Wednesday. Brown, 43, joined the Jays a year ago after serving as the Nationals' scouting director. Brown made that jump as a stepping stone to a GM job, he told Chico Harlan of the Washington Post.
Rubin notes that Sandy Alderson, the reported favorite, will have a second meeting the following day, but it's just the completion of his first-round interview. Second-round interviews should take place next week, according to Rubin.
The Mets were recently denied the chance to talk to Tigers assistant GM Al Avila. So far they've interviewed Allard Baird, Rick Hahn, Josh Byrnes, Logan White, and Alderson.
Cardinals Re-Sign Tony La Russa
The Cardinals announced that manager Tony La Russa signed a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2012, writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 66-year-old has been managing the Cards since 1996 and has led the club to a .543 winning percentage, eight playoff appearances, two pennants, and one World Series ring. La Russa also has another World Series ring earned in 1989 while managing Oakland, and is a four-time winner of the Manager Of The Year award (twice with the A's, and once each with the Cardinals and White Sox).
La Russa is the third-winningest manager in baseball history, with 2638 victories (and 2293 losses) to his name. Should he manage through 2012, he is a virtual lock to pass John McGraw (2763 wins) for second on the all-time wins list.
Arbitration Eligibles: San Diego Padres
The Padres are next in our arbitration eligibles series.
- First time: Chris Denorfia, Tony Gwynn, Edward Mujica, Tim Stauffer
- Second time: Mike Adams
- Third time: Ryan Ludwick, Heath Bell, Scott Hairston
Denorfia, Mujica, Stauffer, Adams, and Bell are highly likely to be tendered contracts. Adams and Bell should get noticeable raises, with the latter in line for a salary in the $7MM range. Bell hopes for a three-year deal, though a trade can't be ruled out given the Padres' strong bullpen. Ludwick disappointed after coming over in a deadline day trade, hitting .211/.301/.330 in 239 Padres PAs. Still, it appears he'll be tendered a contract.
Gwynn and Hairston are non-tender candidates. Gwynn hit .204/.304/.287 in 339 plate appearances, missing time due to wrist surgery. Ludwick staying would increase the chances of Hairston going; last month 69% of you predicted a non-tender for Hairston.