2011 Contract Issues: Los Angeles Angels
The Angels face only one option situation for 2011. Closer Brian Fuentes' $9MM option will vest if he finishes 55 games in 2010. The 34-year-old lefty has one of nine vesting options to watch this season. A game finished is given to the last non-starting pitcher of record for each team; Fuentes finished 57 last year despite a mediocre season. The Angels can turn to Fernando Rodney in the ninth inning if Fuentes falters, and Fuentes' agent won't have a case for a grievance.
After the season the Angels will have Hideki Matsui and Scot Shields eligible for free agency. Kendry Morales will enter his first arbitration year. Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, and Jeff Mathis will enter their second; Mike Napoli his third. It should also be noted that Scott Kazmir's salary will increase by $4MM in 2011 and Ervin Santana gets a $2MM bump. Fortunately, the Angels will no longer be paying Justin Speier in 2011.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the information.
Offseason Questions For The NL West
The Offseason In Review series is complete, and now the NL West steps up to the plate for a series of questions.
- Did the Diamondbacks upgrade in going from Max Scherzer to the more expensive Edwin Jackson? Will Brandon Webb supply five strong months and justify his $6.5MM net option price?
- Was it necessary for the Rockies to sign Rafael Betancourt and Huston Street to multiyear deals, since they controlled both for 2009 already? Are the Rockies sending mixed messages at the catcher position, signing Miguel Olivo weeks after extending Chris Iannetta?
- Was the risk of the Dodgers offering Randy Wolf arbitration worth the possible reward of the #36 and #65 picks in the 2010 draft? Can Vicente Padilla fill Wolf's shoes? Did Jamey Carroll's two-year deal represent the best use of $3.85MM?
- Could the Padres have added offense and made a legitimate run at a 2010 pennant? On the flip side, would seriously shopping Adrian Gonzalez during the offseason have maximized the return?
- Did the signings of Mark DeRosa, Freddy Sanchez, Bengie Molina, Juan Uribe, and Aubrey Huff for $34.75MM improve the Giants' offense?
Billy Beane Talks To Athletics Nation
General manager Billy Beane spoke to Tyler Bleszinski of Athletics Nation about a week ago. Check out the interview here and here. A few hot stove-related highlights:
- Beane was told the A's were the runners-up in the Aroldis Chapman bidding. He said "I think we got slightly outbid" by the Reds' six-year, $30.25MM offer to the Cuban lefty.
- Center fielder Coco Crisp, signed to a one-year, $5.5MM deal, was considered "good value relative to the cost." Beane admitted that the A's probably will not be able to afford to re-sign Crisp if he has a healthy season. While there was trade interest in Rajai Davis, Beane is looking for continuity.
- Beane was frank in saying that he expects to "follow the cycle" of the last 10-15 years if the team does not get a new venue. That implies trading Ben Sheets and/or other veterans in July if the team falls out of contention, but conversely making acquisitions if the A's are still in the hunt.
- Brad Pitt met with Beane in preparation for the actor's role in the Moneyball movie. Beane described Pitt as "very down-to-earth."
Discussion: Next Young Position Player To Be Extended
In January, MLBTR's Mike Axisa named Yovani Gallardo, Matt Garza, Jair Jurrjens, and Wandy Rodriguez as candidates to be the next young starting pitcher to be extended. Matt Cain, John Danks, Chad Billingsley, and Brett Anderson were among those mentioned by commenters. We forgot to name Scott Feldman and Nick Blackburn, who actually were extended since Mike's article.
Today let's consider young position players who could soon by locked up. Recent signees include Adam Lind, Mark Reynolds, Denard Span, Andre Ethier, and Matt Kemp.
- Joey Votto, Reds: Votto will be eligible for arbitration for the first time after this season. If the 26-year-old approaches his 2009 production, the Reds will have one of the NL's best hitters on their hands.
- Ben Zobrist, Rays: Zobrist will also be eligible for arbitration for the first time after this season. By measure of WAR, he was the best player in baseball last year. The Rays may be inclined to lock him up if he retains 50% of that value.
- Pablo Sandoval, Giants: He won't be arbitration-eligible until after the 2011 season, so it may make sense to wait.
- Kendry Morales, Angels: Morales is finishing up a six-year free agent contract and will be arbitration-eligible after the season. Like Zobrist, he had a monster '09 and his team will probably wait at least a few months to see more of the same.
- Shin-Soo Choo, Indians: MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince has reported that the Indians would like to sign Choo to a five-year deal with a club option but the Scott Boras client hasn't shown interest as he enters his last pre-arbitration year.
- Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians: Castrovince also mentioned Cabrera as a candidate for an extension. He too will be arbitration-eligible after the season.
- Nelson Cruz, Rangers: Cruz is an interesting case. Though he turns 30 in July, he will be arbitration-eligible for the first time after the season. Given his age, will the Rangers choose the year-to-year route?
- Billy Butler, Royals: Butler told us in November that he's yet to have extension talks with the Royals. Butler, 24 soon, will reach arbitration after the season. Will his power continue to increase in 2010?
- Hunter Pence, Astros: He's been a solid performer for the Astros, but does his .288/.339/.487 career line warrant an extension? 2010 is Pence's first arbitration year, and the Astros will pay him $3.5MM.
- Yunel Escobar, Braves: Though the Braves once pledged not to work with the Wasserman Media Group after the Rafael Furcal drama, I'm guessing that situation won't stop them from discussing an extension with Escobar's agent. The 27-year-old shortstop reaches arbitration after the season.
- Adam Jones, Orioles: Jones fell just short of Super Two arbitration-eligibility for 2010. The Orioles will look for continued growth.
- Stephen Drew, Diamondbacks: Drew will be paid $3.4MM in 2010, his first arbitration year. The D'Backs will have to deal with Boras if they want to sign Drew.
- Kurt Suzuki, Athletics: CSNBayArea's Mychael Urban reported in March that extension talks for Suzuki are already underway. The A's catcher will be arbitration-eligible after the season.
- Carlos Quentin, White Sox: Quentin passed on an offer from the Sox around the time they offered four years and $14MM to John Danks and Gavin Floyd. Quentin signed for $3.2MM for his first arbitration year, and is looking to replicate the health and success of '08.
Offseason Questions For The NL Central
With the offseason and our team-by-team reviews in the books, we're asking questions of each club. Let's try the NL Central.
- Limited by the Milton Bradley situation this offseason, did the Cubs add enough pitching in Carlos Silva and John Grabow?
- Will Reds free agent signings Orlando Cabrera and Ramon Hernandez be upgrades over Paul Janish and Ryan Hanigan? Did the short-term gain of freeing up 2010 payroll justify adding two years to Scott Rolen's contract?
- Will Brandon Lyon and Matt Lindstrom effectively replace LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde at the back end of the Astros' bullpen? Will free agent additions Brett Myers and Pedro Feliz lead the way in a stellar run prevention season, offsetting an apparently weak offense?
- Despite bad pitching contracts on the books, Brewers GM Doug Melvin committed $50MM to four hurlers. Will the Brewers at least cobble together an above-average staff for 2010?
- Should the Pirates have gotten something in return for Matt Capps or held on to him until his value improved? At the price of $4.85MM and Jesse Chavez, did they overpay for a year of Akinori Iwamura?
- Could the Cardinals have re-signed Matt Holliday for significantly less? Will Brad Penny blossom under Dave Duncan and justify a hefty $7.5MM guarantee?
Offseason Questions For The NL East
The offseason is officially over, but we've still got a few questions. Our Offseason In Review series can be found here, and questions for the NL East are below.
- Will the Braves regret not finding a way to keep Javier Vazquez in the 2010 rotation? Will an extra two weeks of Jason Heyward justify free agent eligibility after the 2015 season?
- Having already cut many of their scrap heap relief pickups, will the Marlins' streak of unearthing bullpen diamonds in the rough end? Will bypassing Major League free agency cost the team wins in 2010?
- Could the Phillies have signed Placido Polanco or a comparable player for a significantly smaller commitment? Will they regret trading Cliff Lee for prospects?
- Did the Mets overcommit to Jason Bay, given the lack of comparable offers? Given the team's array of needs, will they rue putting all their eggs in the Bay basket?
- Could the Nationals have matched the production of Jason Marquis and Ivan Rodriguez with smaller commitments to different players? Will they lament letting pitching prospect Marco Estrada go in favor of reliever Tyler Walker?
10 Worst Free Agent Signings Of The Offseason
A few weeks ago we presented MLBTR's 10 Best Free Agent Signings Of The Offseason. It's only fitting that we also name our ten worst before the season begins. Only Major League deals are included, and the players are listed in order of contract amount. Keep in mind that a good player can have a bad contract.
- Matt Holliday, Cardinals: seven years, $120MM. In terms of production, Holliday was the best available free agent. The problem with the contract is that there was not another serious bidder, and Holliday's best alternatives at the time of the signing were in the one-year, $18MM range. At the very least, hardball tactics with Scott Boras might've eliminated the seventh guaranteed year. Cardinals fans might not care now, but will in 2016. The Mets' four-year, $66MM deal with Jason Bay gets an honorable mention in the category of teams bidding against themselves.
- Placido Polanco, Phillies: three years, $18MM. I'd have no beef with a one-year deal in the $5-6MM range, as that'd fit with contracts signed by comparable free agent infielders. The Phillies tacked on two more years for the 34-year-old Polanco, with plan to make him a regular third baseman for the first time since 2002.
- Brandon Lyon, Astros: three years, $15MM. Assuming his shoulder injury is a non-issue, most clubs would be happy to have Lyon working the seventh and eighth innings. But similar to the Phillies and Polanco, the Astros had to have this reliever above all others. The result: the only three-year contract given to a reliever this offseason.
- Jason Marquis, Nationals: two years, $15MM. Marquis takes the ball every fifth day and typically pitches like a #4-5 starter should. I don't see what he offers the 2010 Nationals that Doug Davis and Braden Looper didn't, and those pitchers would take one-year deals at a lower salary. I don't buy the argument that the Nationals needed to overpay to import Marquis. Other pitchers could've provided a similar benefit for much less.
- Mark DeRosa, Giants: two years, $12MM. DeRosa's last contract was a pleasant surprise, but now he's 35 and coming off wrist surgery. He's still useful, but the Giants needed to find an impact bat with their free agent budget.
- Fernando Rodney, Angels: two years, $11MM. Without the 37 saves, Rodney wouldn't have gotten anything near this contract. He's useful, but has lousy control and dealt with shoulder problems the previous two seasons.
- John Grabow, Cubs: two years, $7.5MM. As if Carlos Marmol's control problems weren't bad enough, the Cubs locked up Grabow and his 5.0 BB/9 for two years. Grabow strikes out lefties at a solid clip, but doesn't offer much beyond that.
- Jason Kendall, Royals: two years, $6MM. The main blemish on Dayton Moore's offseason, Kendall received an extra year for no apparent reason. The Nationals did the same with Ivan Rodriguez.
- Coco Crisp, Athletics: one year, $5.25MM. Crisp played just 49 games last year, and eventually needed surgery on both shoulders. Does his projected center field defense justify this kind of guarantee? The A's were in a risky mood this winter, also guaranteeing $10MM to Ben Sheets.
- Alex Cora, Mets: one year, $2MM. Scott Boras makes his third appearance on this list. Despite a lousy season, Cora avoided a pay cut. Instead of signing Cora in November, the Mets could've displayed patience and saved a million bucks.
Brian Anderson Will Try Pitching
After failing to make the team, Brian Anderson told the Royals today that he wants to try pitching, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Anderson signed a $700K Major League deal with the Royals in December. Though Anderson pitched at the University of Arizona, the switch comes as a surprise. Baseball America noted in their '05 Handbook that Anderson threw in the low 90s as a college reliever.
Giants, Rays Sign Cuban Pitchers
The Giants and Rays signed Cuban pitchers Reinier Roibal and Sergio Espinosa, respectively, tweets Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald.
Roibal, a 20-year-old righty throws in the mid-90s according to Cuban Ball Players. Ebro tweets that Espinosa, a 23-year-old southpaw, will be used mostly as a reliever by the Rays.
Brewers Showed Interest In Jermaine Dye
The Brewers made a run at free agent outfielder Jermaine Dye within the last week, report Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, but the talks reached an impasse for unknown reasons.
The FOX writers say the Brewers are unhappy with Corey Hart, and might've tried trading him if they'd signed Dye. Brewers GM Doug Melvin indicated to WSSP 1250 a few days ago that Hart doesn't have right field locked up. Jim Edmonds is in the mix to start Opening Day. Rosenthal and Morosi say Melvin discussed Hart with the Nationals. Hart is under team control for two more years, but his salary climbed to $4.8MM when he won his arbitration hearing in February. The 28-year-old recovered some OBP last year but saw his SLG slip to a career-worst .418.
Hart's glovework has been below-average the last few years in right field, so maybe the Brewers felt that they wouldn't lose much defensively by going with Edmonds and/or Dye. MLBTR tried to help Dye find a job with this post a few days ago.