2011 Contract Issues: Washington Nationals
The Nationals face one contractual option after the season. Second baseman Adam Kennedy has a $2MM club option with a $500K buyout. Of course, it's too early to tell if Kennedy can reprise his offensive success of '09 and post a solid defensive season.
Aside from Kennedy, nearly $24MM could be freed up with departing free agents. Adam Dunn ($12MM) and Cristian Guzman ($8MM) make up the bulk. Talks for a Dunn extension have quieted. The Nationals will be free of their commitment to Austin Kearns, who received a $1MM buyout this year.
Increases to players under contract are mild, made up mostly of Ryan Zimmerman's $2.675MM bump. The Nats have several notable arbitration cases after the season. John Lannan goes for the first time, while Sean Burnett and Jesus Flores go for a second. Third-timers include Josh Willingham, Matt Capps, and Scott Olsen. Fourth-timers are interesting too, with Chien-Ming Wang and Brian Bruney in the mix. Recent history says the Nationals won't be shy about going to hearings if necessary.
Assuming Dunn leaves, the Nationals will have money to work with even if they hold payroll steady. It might be another active offseason for Washington.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Orioles, Corey Patterson Agree To Terms
Outfielder Corey Patterson has agreed to terms with the Orioles, reports MASN's Roch Kubatko. He'll report to extended spring training. Patterson, 30, hit .292/.333/.478 in 418 Triple A plate appearances last year.
Patterson joined the Orioles in a January '06 trade with the Cubs, and was fairly useful in two seasons. He reached free agency as a 28-year-old Scott Boras client, but could only find a minor league deal with the Reds. He's since dropped Boras and spent time in the Washington, Milwaukee, and Seattle organizations, most recently opting out of his Mariners contract on March 31st. The O's have an outfield opening given Felix Pie's lat injury.
Odds & Ends: Harper, Mets, Orioles
Links for Tuesday…
- Our condolences to the family and friends of Rockies president Keli McGregor, who the Denver Post says was found dead of natural causes at age 48.
- I joined Jeff & Jeff on KFNS St. Louis today; you can listen to audio here.
- Baseball America's Jim Callis predicts Bryce Harper will receive $10-12MM, setting a record for a drafted hitter.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post feels that Ike Davis should've been with the Mets since the beginning of the season, with Jenrry Mejia starting in the minors.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports asks why Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, and Frank Robinson aren't working for the Orioles.
- We've made some minor changes to the site, with dropdowns for navigation bar items About, Archives, and Feeds By Team.
2011 Contract Issues: New York Mets
The Mets face two contractual options after the season:
- Jose Reyes has an $11MM club option with a $500K buyout. Reyes may be off to a slow start, but it's difficult to see the Mets declining.
- Alex Cora's $2MM for 2011 vests with 80 starts. He probably won't get there, but sometimes there's still a club option if it does not vest.
The Mets could free up Cora's $2MM, plus another $8MM or so for other departing free agents. They aren't big names – only Pedro Feliciano and Kelvim Escobar are earning over $1MM in 2010.
On the other side of the ledger, the Mets' increases to players under contract total $16.5MM. Jason Bay leads with a $9.5MM bump, while David Wright has a $4MM increase.
Expect non-tenders in the arbitration bunch, but the Mets' projected first-time players include Mike Pelfrey, Fernando Nieve, and Manny Acosta. Sean Green goes for the second time, while Jeff Francoeur, John Maine, and Angel Pagan are third-timers.
It appears that the Mets will have to raise payroll by over $10MM in 2011 just to cover raises to their current players. They might need to get back to the $140 millions to have room in the budget for quality additions.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Edinson Volquez Gets 50-Game PED Suspension
Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez has been suspended 50 games for using PEDs, reports SI's Jon Heyman. Volquez is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery; he had the procedure on August 3rd of last year. Even with the 50 games off, Volquez will be able to serve the suspension while on the DL – it begins tomorrow. His service time will not be affected, and he'll still be arbitration-eligible after the season.
Volquez released a statement on the matter, saying he received medication in the Dominican Republic prescribed to help with fertility.
If The White Sox Become Sellers
Over the next few days we'll be taking a look at teams off to rough starts, speculating on who they could make available if they don't right the ship. We're not writing these teams off; they've played less than 10% of the season.
The White Sox are in a rut, already five games back of the Twins in the AL Central. Should they go into sell mode in two or three months, they could save millions and add farm system depth while still fielding a competitive 2011 club. A few trade possibilities:
- Paul Konerko has been with the Sox since before Kenny Williams was in charge, and Williams is the fifth longest-tenured GM in the game. Moving Konerko would relieve part of his $12MM salary, though Williams will need his first baseman's approval. The Sox are unlikely to offer arbitration to Konerko after the season, so the marginal cost of draft picks shouldn't be a consideration.
- Bobby Jenks is up to $7.5MM this year, with one last arbitration raise coming in 2011. He could be dealt if the Sox deem Matt Thornton worthy of closing in '11.
- A.J. Pierzynski should achieve 10-and-5 status in mid-June, at which point the White Sox would need his approval for a trade. The Sox could potentially hand the keys over to Tyler Flowers if they trade Pierzynski.
- Scott Linebrink has looked good in his last three appearances, but it'd be tough to find a taker for a contract that pays him $5MM this year and $5.5MM in '11. Partial salary relief could be possible, given the demand for relievers during the summer.
- J.J. Putz is on a much more agreeable contract, with a $3MM base salary. In his first five appearances he's whiffed ten batters and walked none in 5.3 innings. His velocity is down a tick, but his groundball rate is up. Putz's incentives include another $250K if he reaches 70 games and big rewards beginning at 40 games finished. Given his contract and experience, Putz could be one of the summer's most coveted relievers.
- Five veterans, paid $1.5MM or less, would make good midseason trade bait: Andruw Jones, Freddy Garcia, Mark Kotsay, Omar Vizquel, and Ramon Castro.
First Time Arbitration-Eligibles
More than 80 players project to be eligible for arbitration for the first time after the 2010 season. It's a big step in a player's career; for many, it's the first chance at a million-dollar salary. Let's go around the diamond and look at some notable first-timers:
Catchers
The Athletics' Kurt Suzuki leads the group. He's yet to discuss a long-term extension with the A's, but it seems possible. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Brayan Pena should also be eligible.
First Basemen
This group has three huge names: Kendry Morales, Joey Votto, and Billy Butler. They're candidates for extensions, but either way they're getting big raises in 2011.
Second Basemen
Martin Prado may be on his way to a breakout season. Alberto Callaspo fits here as well, unless you consider him a third baseman.
Shortstops
Some impressive youngsters here: Yunel Escobar, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Brendan Ryan.
Third Basemen
Ian Stewart and Andy LaRoche lead the way, with Stewart a potential Super Two.
Outfielders
Shin-Soo Choo, Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz, Ben Zobrist, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Sweeney, Lastings Milledge – it's a talented group. Choo and Ellsbury are represented by Scott Boras, and thus appear unlikely to sign long-term.
Starting Pitchers
The top names: Jair Jurrjens, Mike Pelfrey, John Lannan, Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Kevin Slowey, and Phil Hughes. These days, most of the best young starters are locked up before reaching arbitration. Brandon Morrow, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Ross Ohlendorf, and Luke Hochevar are more arbitration candidates, with the latter two likely Super Twos.
Relievers
Joba Chamberlain, Jim Johnson, and Chris Perez are the best-known relievers; Perez is a potential Super Two. The group has more solid members in Eric O'Flaherty, Kyle McClellan, Joe Smith, Aaron Laffey, Burke Badenhop, Edward Mujica, Joel Hanrahan, and Darren O'Day.
2011 Contract Issues: Florida Marlins
The Marlins face no contractual options after the season. They'll have four free agents in Jorge Cantu, Wes Helms, Mike Lamb, and Nate Robertson. Letting them go would free up nearly $8MM, most of it representing Cantu's salary.
However, that potential savings will be balanced out by raises to two star players under contract: Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson. Each gets a $4MM bump in 2011.
If the Marlins plan to retain their arbitration-eligible players, payroll must continue to increase. They've got Burke Badenhop and Brett Carroll as first-timers. Leo Nunez, Anibal Sanchez, Ronny Paulino, and Renyel Pinto will go to arbitration for the second time. The big names go for a third time: Dan Uggla, Cody Ross, and Ricky Nolasco. Maybe non-tenders and trades will pare the Marlins' arbitration list, but it includes their closer, setup man, second baseman, right fielder, and two members of the rotation.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Odds & Ends: Bell, Dye, Ortiz, Davis, Strasburg
Links for Monday…
- The MLBTR Forums are rocking with over 3,600 members. Join the discussion today! Just added a prospects section; we've also got areas to discuss trade rumors, free agents, the draft, general baseball, fantasy baseball, and every team.
- Tom Krasovic tweets that the Twins have a scout at tonight's Padres-Giants game, but it's just a routine visit. He adds that Heath Bell remains on Minnesota's radar, but the two sides haven't talked since Spring Training.
- The Giants have no interest in Jermaine Dye, tweets Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle. The reasons are the same as they've been all winter: defense and asking price.
- More changes could be coming to the Dodgers' bullpen, says Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times. Russ Ortiz was designated for assignment yesterday, and Hernandez thinks Ramon Ortiz could be next.
- Talking to MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith, I learned that teams can now safely promote minor leaguers for their MLB debuts with no chance of the player amassing 172 days of service in 2010. By promoting '08 first-rounder Ike Davis today, the Mets ensured that he will be under team control through 2016 instead of 2015. In contrast, the Braves have Jason Heyward through '15.
- On that same topic, agent Scott Boras told MLB.com's Peter Gammons that Stephen Strasburg starting in the minors "had nothing to do with money."
- Joe Posnanski digs into Forbes' team revenue numbers, noting that the Yankees made $173MM more than any other team.
- MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch tells us Hayden Penn has accepted the Pirates' Triple A assignment in lieu of electing free agency.
- In a statement, Cal Ripken said he looks forward to continued talks with the Orioles about a position in the organization.
Nationals Re-Sign Ron Villone
8:26pm: Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post clears things up. He says Villone was re-signed to a minor league and assigned to Extended Spring Training, presumably for conditioning purposes.
3:06pm: The Nationals have apparently retained lefty reliever Ron Villone, based on this tweet from MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Ladson says Villone is "back in the Nats organization, working out in Viera, Florida right now." The Nationals had released Villone in March after three spring appearances. Ladson notes that Villone had a leg injury prior to the release, which probably explains why they were unable to let him go.
Villone, 40, posted a 6.66 K/9 and 4.81 BB/9 in 24.3 innings against lefties last year. Control was a problem in '08 as well, through he had a better strikeout rate. Villone has pitched for a dozen different teams in his 15 seasons.