Pirates Talk: Payroll, Offseason Plans
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the latest on the Pirates, in articles found here and here.
- Kovacevic says the Pirates "do not plan to pursue a starting pitcher through free agency or trade this offseason." The Bucs figure to enter Spring Training next year with four rotation spots decided and many options for the last spot.
- As hot stove junkies, we love when GMs are revealing about offseason plans and payroll space. However, it's often not in the best interest of the team for the GM to disclose that information. With that in mind, Huntington is staying mum on free agent targets and the team's 2010 payroll.
- Pirates president Frank Coonelly admitted next year's payroll will exceed the current $28MM projection, but wouldn't provide more detail. Coonelly added, "This is a relatively weak free-agent class. Nevertheless, there are several players who would be of interest to us if they become free agents." A few weeks ago, Kovacevic suggested Rick Ankiel and John Grabow are possible free agent targets for the Pirates.
- The Pirates fell below their draft and international budgets this year, and Coonelly says that money will roll over to the corresponding budgets in 2010.
- Huntington and manager John Russell are signed through next year. Coonelly expects both to remain with the team beyond 2010.
- In a Pirates 2010 outlook for MLB.com, Jenifer Langosch names Denny Bautista and Tyler Yates as non-tender candidates.
Mets To Be Players For Top Free Agents
Mets GM Omar Minaya and COO Jeff Wilpon spoke to reporters today. Notes from the conference:
- Wilpon described the 2010 payroll as "whatever Omar needs," according to MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone. Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post (Twitter) passes along a Wilpon claim that the team will be major players for top free agents. Mets fans are already dreaming of Matt Holliday and John Lackey.
- More tweeting from Hubbuch – the Mets are prioritizing adding power, and they can't commit to Daniel Murphy as the first baseman. Free agent SLG leaders: Jason Bay, Russell Branyan, Holliday, and Hideki Matsui.
- Hubbuch quotes Minaya saying he's "open to changing the core" of the team. My view: it'd still be a huge surprise to see Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, David Wright, or Carlos Beltran traded.
- SI's Jon Heyman senses the Mets will have a $140-150MM payroll in 2010.
Minaya Interested In Hiring Towers, Ricciardi
Mets GM Omar Minaya has interest in hiring two of his former counterparts, Kevin Towers and J.P. Ricciardi. Joel Sherman of the New York Postsays Minaya contacted the ousted GMs "to express his support…and also to lay the groundwork to speak to both soon about possible jobs in the Mets' organization."
Sherman notes that Minaya is on thin ice, and bringing in his potential replacement is a double-edged sword. Plus, Minaya would have to deal with Towers ribbing him about the Heath Bell trade.
In other Mets news, Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse reported on Twitterthis morning that Minaya fired coaches Sandy Alomar Sr. and Luis Alicea while retaining Howard Johnson and Dan Warthen. Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News has a few more details.
Non-Tender Candidates
December 12th marks baseball's non-tender deadline. That's when teams decide whether to offer a contract to the unsigned players on their 40-man roster. Players not tendered a contract become free agents, so we'll add a good 30 players to the list. It is a chance for certain players to reach free agency without putting in the typical six years of service time. Past non-tenders include David Ortiz, Jayson Werth, Rick Ankiel, Ryan Franklin, David Eckstein, and Chad Durbin. Last year Ty Wigginton, Jonny Gomes, Willy Taveras, and Takashi Saito were among those cut loose. Usually at least a few useful guys are unearthed and a handful sign for more than a million bucks.
Below I've listed non-tender candidates for each team; it's mostly speculative. Feel free to debate or add names in the comments; I may add to the list based on that. A few of these players – Jeff Francoeur, John Maine, Mark Teahen, and Delmon Young – are unlikely, but were included anyway.
Jeremy Accardo
Garrett Atkins
John Bale
Denny Bautista
Jose Bautista
Matt Belisle
Boof Bonser
Bill Bray
Brian Bruney
Taylor Buchholz
John Buck
Dave Bush
Daniel Cabrera
Ryan Church
Neal Cotts
Jack Cust
Randy Flores
Mike Fontenot
Jeff Francoeur
Ryan Garko
Joey Gathright
Chad Gaudin
Jody Gerut
Gabe Gross
Craig Hansen
Aaron Heilman
Jeremy Hermida
Shawn Hill
Conor Jackson
Mike Jacobs
Bobby Jenks
Kelly Johnson
Logan Kensing
Noah Lowry
John Maine
Andy Marte
Seth McClung
Brandon Medders
Corky Miller
Justin Miller
Sergio Mitre
Dioner Navarro
Scott Olsen
Joel Peralta
Scott Proctor
Robb Quinlan
Kelly Shoppach
Tim Redding
Jeremy Reed
Jason Repko
Cory Sullivan
Jack Taschner
Mark Teahen
Marcus Thames
Josh Towers
Matt Treanor
Doug Waechter
Chien-Ming Wang
Tyler Yates
Delmon Young
Crawford Open To Long-Term Deal With Rays
7:02pm: As Topkin notes, the Rays sound interested.
“We are very pleased to hear C.C.’s comments,'' executive vice president Andrew Friedman told the St. Petersburg Times just moments ago. "Consistent with our policy, we do not speak publicly about contract negotiations but obviously we have a tremendous amount of respect for Carl both on and off the field. He has been a big part of our past success and I expect he will be a big part of our future success as well.”
6:47pm: Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reports that Crawford is wary of playing next season without a clear future. He either wants to sign an extension this winter or play out the 2010 season with the Rays and then head to free agency.
"I don't like worrying about it," Crawford said Tuesday, "and you can sit there and say you're not worried about it, but to not know what your future's going to be in the next five or six years or so is definitely … it makes you scared at times. I just hope we can do something. It's uncomfortable worrying about it. I don't like playing cautious."
"You'd be a liar if you say you didn't play cautious when you have to go through contracts and stuff like that. I want to just be able to play baseball, don't worry about nothing else."
4:21pm: Carl Crawford would be open to a long-term extension with the Rays, according to Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune. The first order of business will be the Rays picking up Crawford's $10MM option for next year, which seems like a given. That four-year contract was signed in April of 2005. Now that the Rays are a winning ballclub, Crawford appears willing to forgo his shot at free agency.
Crawford, 28, is hitting .307/.367/.450 in 659 plate appearances this year. He's good for 50+ steals a year, and his speed is a big part of his highly-regarded left field defense.
Back on September 3rd, ESPN's Jayson Stark said the Rays "clearly would like to use the money they saved [from trading Scott Kazmir] to help them hang onto Carlos Pena and/or Crawford, both of whom will be a year away from free agency after this season." The question is, what kind of contract would it take to lock up Crawford? Would $15MM a year be appropriate? Will Crawford aim for the maximum term, or would he prefer a two or three-year extension that allows him to test free agency before his skills decline?
Hermida A Non-Tender Candidate
The Marlins are unlikely to tender a contract to outfielder Jeremy Hermida, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post. Hermida followed up on a lackluster '08 with a .259/.348/.392 line in 491 plate appearances this year. His defense is not well-regarded, though heading into the season John Dewan of the Fielding Bible said Hermida was "dependable, if unspectacular" and has the physical talent to improve.
In 2006, Hermida graced the cover of Baseball America's Prospect Handbook. A few years later, he's a non-tender candidate. If the Marlins cut Hermida loose, he'll be the youngest member of this winter's free agent class at 26 years old (which the exception of Aroldis Chapman). The Fish will presumably attempt to find a trade partner first.
Chad Bradford Leaning Toward Retirement
Sidearmer Chad Bradford is leaning toward retirement, Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times learned. Bradford told Topkin he'll still leave the door open for next year, and probably decide in January. The 35-year-old had elbow surgery in February and back tightness in July, resulting in only 10.3 big league innings this year. Bradford is finishing up a three-year, $10.5MM deal signed with Baltimore before the '06 season. He joined the Rays via a waiver claim last August.
If he's done, Bradford would finish with a 3.26 ERA over 515.6 career innings. He pitched in the playoffs seven different years, allowing just one earned run in 23.3 innings. He'll have earned just under $15MM for his efforts, according to Baseball Reference. Of course, Bradford is best known for being chronicled in Michael Lewis' 2003 book Moneyball.
Discussion: Stephen Drew
Despite Bob Nightengale's suggestion that the Diamondbacks "plan to listen to offers for shortstop Stephen Drew," Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic heard that the idea hasn't been discussed and is very unlikely. Piecoro analyzes the situation anyway, and concludes that trading Drew would just create a new problem for the team.
Drew hit .321/.366/.538 over the season's final three months in 2008, leading some to predict a 2009 breakout. That hasn't happened – Drew's power took a nosedive en route to a .256/.318/.428 line. As Piecoro points out, that's still decent production at shortstop. And some metrics suggest Drew has been a positive defensively this year.
Here's the question: what would be an appropriate trade return for three years of Drew? And who would play shortstop for the D'Backs? Do you agree with Piecoro that keeping Drew is the best course of action?
Dodgers Negotiating Extension With Colletti
2:51pm: SI's Jon Heyman heard from "people close to the situation" that Colletti is very likely to receive at least a three-year deal.
10:16am: The Dodgers are in long-term contract talks with general manager Ned Colletti, according to Bill Shaikin and Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. Colletti's current contract has a mutual option for 2010.
Colletti has been on the job since November of 2005. His work has been a mixed bag. On the positive side of the ledger (reserving judgment on this summer's trades): the original Nomar Garciaparra signing, the signings of Takashi Saito, Hiroki Kuroda, and Orlando Hudson, and the Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez acquisitions. Colletti's second time around with Randy Wolf has worked out extremely well also.
On the negative side: signings of Brett Tomko, Bill Mueller, Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, and Andruw Jones, the Nomar extension, and the waiver claim of Esteban Loaiza. Hindsight is 20/20, but Colletti also traded Edwin Jackson and Carlos Santana, designated Cody Ross for assignment, and non-tendered Jayson Werth during his tenure.
Offseason Outlook: San Diego Padres
Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Padres. Their likely commitments for 2010:
C – Nick Hundley – $404K
C – Eliezer Alfonzo – $400K
1B – Adrian Gonzalez – $4.75MM
2B – David Eckstein – $1MM
SS – Everth Cabrera – $400K
3B – Kevin Kouzmanoff – $432K+
IF – Luis Rodriguez – $675K+
IF – Edgar Gonzalez – $407K
LF – Kyle Blanks – $400K
CF – Tony Gwynn Jr. – $405K
RF – Will Venable – $402K
OF – Chase Headley – $412K
OF – Drew Macias – $401K
SP – Kevin Correia – $750K+
SP – Chris Young – $6.25MM
SP – Mat Latos – $400K
SP – Clayton Richard – $405K
SP – Tim Stauffer – $400K
Other candidates: Aaron Poreda – $400K, Sean Gallagher – $410K, Cesar Ramos – $400K, Wade LeBlanc – $402K, Cesar Carrillo – $400K, Josh Geer – $402K
RP – Heath Bell – $1.255MM+
RP – Luke Gregerson
RP – Mike Adams – $415K
RP – Joe Thatcher – $404K
RP – Greg Burke – $400K
RP – Luis Perdomo – $400K
RP – Edward Mujica – $410K
Other candidates: Adam Russell – $405K, Ryan Webb – $400K
Non-tender candidates: Shawn Hill, Cha Seung Baek, Luis Rodriguez
The Padres have about $21.5MM committed before arbitration raises to Kouzmanoff, Rodriguez, Correia, and Bell. By my estimate those raises will put the team in the $30MM range for 2010. The Padres had an Opening Day payroll of $42.7MM, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts. New Padres CEO Jeff Moorad told MLB.com's Corey Brock in August that he's comfortable with a $70-80MM payroll, "but it's likely that it will take us a couple of years to get back to that level." While Moorad doesn't expect a huge free agent splash, Padres GM Kevin Towers should realistically have at least $15MM available this offseason.
Towers recently suggested to Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune that the Padres could be a .500 team or even a playoff contender next year. The GM added, "I don't know if we need to do a lot this winter."
ESPN's Buster Olney and various Baseball Prospectus writers covered the Padres a few days ago, suggesting the team might add a veteran starter and outfielder despite Towers' comment. The article ponders trading Bell to free up the payroll space needed for bigger-name free agents like Chone Figgins, Randy Wolf, or John Lackey. I like the idea of trading Bell, but the salary relief would just be a side benefit. I'd trade him simply because he may be at peak value and Towers is skilled at building bullpens out of nothing. Problem is, there's a surplus of closers on the market this winter.
Towers has admitted interest in bringing Milton Bradley back, talking with ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. If the Cubs are desperate enough to cover $17MM of the $21MM left on his contract, it'd be as if Towers signed a potential .400 OBP bat to a two-year, $4MM deal. It's a chance worth taking, and it'd leave the Padres with a surplus of outfielders. The Padres are second-to-last in the NL with 3.96 runs scored per game this year, but a Gonzalez-Blanks-Bradley heart of the order could be decent. More silver lining: Headley, Venable, and Kouzmanoff have been offensive assets in the second half.
It'd be nice to have Wolf back, but even the classic San Diego discount might result in a $10MM salary. I'd rather entertain Lackey for $15MM. Either way, a quality veteran addition would push Richard to the fifth starter role and give the team surprisingly strong rotation depth months after trading Jake Peavy.
If Towers truly has a quiet winter and keeps the payroll around $30MM, it'd be a stretch to see the 2010 Padres contending. But with the right free agent strikes and perhaps a shrewd Bell trade, they'd have a chance.