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Reactions To Jacoby Ellsbury’s $153MM Deal With Yankees

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Tonight, the Yankees agreed to sign Jacoby Ellsbury to a seven-year, $153MM deal with an eighth-year option that could boost the total value of the pact to $169MM.  The mark tops Carl Crawford's hefty deal signed prior to the 2011 season by a healthy $11MM.  Here's a look at the latest reacions and fallout from the blockbuster signing..

  • A source tells Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) that the Yankees not only believe they've got room for Ellsbury and Robinson Cano or Shin-Soo Choo, they still plan on signing at least one starting pitcher as well.
  • According to a major league source, the Red Sox’ offer to Ellsbury was ” a ways off” from the seven-year, $153MM deal that he inked with the Yankees, writes Rob Bradford of WEEI.  Another source suggested Scott Boras had set the bar at seven or eight years early on in the offseason, a level Boston was not comfortable going to for the 30-year-old.
  • John Harper of the New York Daily News (on Twitter) spoke with one agent who likes what the Yankees are doing so far. "Yanks have played it smart with Cano. But $170MM doesn't sound like quite as much when you give Ellsbury $153MM.''
  • One rival exec who spoke with Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter) isn't a big fan of the deal from the Yankees' perspective. "He’s a good player, but he gets hurt a lot. And not enough power for that kind of money, for me. And he's 30."
  • In talking with evaluators, Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger (via Twitter) finds that the consensus is that seven years is a long time, but Ellsbury is one heck of a player when healthy.
  • Passan (on Twitter) crunched the numbers to find that of the $524MM spent on free agents (as of Tuesday night), the Yankees account for $238MM of it, or 45.4%.
  • Tim Britton of the Providence Journal looks at the departure of Ellsbury and what it means for the Red Sox both logically and emotionally.
  • The Yankees, who watched their TV ratings and attendance plummet last year, are back in the business of star power, writes Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Latest On Pierzynski, Saltalamacchia

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As many of the same teams appear to be in on both A.J. Pierzynski and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and several signings having left these two at the top of this year's remaining free agent catching crop, let's look at a few notes on the two backstops:

  • The Twins are no longer pursuing Pierzynski, a major league official told Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link). Minnesota has been heavily rumored to be chasing a veteran backstop after deciding to shift Joe Mauer to first. Recently, we had heard that the Twins were "making progress" on bringing Pierzynski back to Minnesota, but that appears no longer to be the case.
  • Minnesota has also been rumored to be looking at Saltalamacchia, and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that they are still in the mix. The other two front-runners for Salty are the Marlins and Red Sox, according to Jackson.
  • Indeed, Miami recently made an offer to Saltalamacchia, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The terms of the offer are not known. As Rosenthal notes, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com previously reported that the Red Sox offered Saltalamacchia a two-year deal to return to Boston.

American League Non-Tenders

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Major League clubs have until 11pm CT tonight to tender contracts to players for the 2014 season. We'll run down the list of American League non-tenders here. Remember that you can track all of the action using MLBTR's Non-Tender tracker, and we offer a full list of non-tender candidates as well. Also of use will be our Arbitration Eligibles series, which includes Matt Swartz's projected 2014 salaries for all arbitration eligible players.

  • The Orioles announced they've non-tendered outfielder Jason Pridie and minor league starter Eddie Gamboa.
  • The Rays will non-tender reliever Wesley Wright, tweets Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune.
  • The Red Sox announced that they have non-tendered outfielder Ryan Kalish, Mike Salk of WEEI.com tweets.
  • The White Sox will not tender a contract to pitcher Dylan Axelrod, tweets Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune.
  • The Angels will non-tender pitcher Jerome Williams, tweets  Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. The club will also non-tender righty Tommy Hanson and third baseman Chris Nelson, tweets DiGiovanna. J.C. Gutierrez will also be non-tendered, tweets Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com, though that seemed a given since that he had already been designated for assignment.
  • The Indians have non-tendered outfielder Matt Carson, pitcher Tyler Cloyd, and catcher Lou Marson, the club announced.
  • The Rays are non-tendering outfielder Sam Fuld, a source tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Fuld, who will turn 32 in a few weeks, could be a lefty-swinging bench piece for another club, though he slashed only .199/.270/.267 last year in 200 plate appearances for Tampa.
  • GM Brian Cashman says that the Yankees will non-tender infielder Jayson Nix, tweets Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News. The 31-year-old veteran appeared in 87 games for New York last season, putting up a .236/.308/.311 line in 303 plate appearances. The club will also non-tender reliever Matt Daley and infielder David Adams. New York confirmed the moves via press release.
  • The Royals announced that they have non-tendered second baseman Chris Getz. The 30-year-old Getz has tried to hold down Kansas City's keystone spot for several years now but produced just a .246/.299/.314 batting line from 2012-13. Swartz had pegged Getz for a $1.3MM salary in 2014.

Red Sox Non-Tender Andrew Bailey

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The Red Sox have declined to offer arbitration to right-handed reliever Andrew Bailey, the club announced (via a tweet from Mike Salk of WEEI.com). The 29-year-old will now hit the open market. He is represented by Jim Murray of Excel Sports Management.

Last year, Bailey threw 28 2/3 innings for the Sox, notching a 3.77 ERA and posting a strong 12.2 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. His season ended after he suffered a shoulder injury, however, which ultimately required surgery. Bailey was a major part of the deal that sent Josh Reddick to the Athletics before the 2012 season.

We had heard yesterday that Boston would tender a contract to Bailey, but that obviously did not occur. As noted in that post, Bailey is expected to miss a significant portion of 2014, though he says his rehab is progressing well.

Red Sox To Tender Contract To Andrew Bailey

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The Red Sox will tender a contract to Andrew Bailey, a source tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). Sherman surmises the reliever can serve as insurance for the incumbent closer Koji Uehara and/or become a valuable trade chip this summer. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects that Bailey will earn $4.3MM through arbitraton, after earning $4.1MM during an injury-plagued 2013.

Bailey underwent shoulder surgery in July and is expected to miss the first half of the 2014 season making him a non-tender candidate. Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports Bailey has made twice-weekly trips to Boston since the end of the season to work with Red Sox physicians and trainers and will begin his throwing program in January. The 29-year-old, however, refused to put a timetable on his rehab.

"I don't want to say I'm ahead of schedule, but things are going really well," Bailey told MacPherson.

Bailey saved eight games and pitched to a 3.77 ERA, 12.2 K/9, and 3.8 BB/9 in 28 2/3 innings (30 innings) before landing on the disabled list. Since being acquired by Boston two years ago, Bailey has struggled with thumb and shoulder injuries limiting his production to 14 saves in 49 appearances covering 44 innings. In his previous three seasons with Oakland, Bailey was the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star with 75 saves in 157 appearances (174 innings). 

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Rays, Yankees, Orioles

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John Tomase of the Boston Herald looks at the Red Sox’s top three needs this winter.  Aside from finding a replacement for Jacoby Ellsbury and a solution to their catching vacancy, the Red Sox need to make sure they have protection for David Ortiz in the lineup.  If Mike Napoli returns, he could easily fill the No. 4 or No. 5 hole.  If not, it’s possible that Xander Bogaerts could be the man to take over.  More from the AL East..

Cafardo On Samardzija, Price, Kemp, Pierzynski

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The Red Sox won a World Series last year thanks to their daring offseason gameplan.  Will they break away from those habits going forward?  “So far, I don’t think it’s been all that different,” Lucchino told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. “We still value the draft picks enormously and our behavior has shown that we still prefer shorter- to longer-term contracts and a presumption against really long-term contracts. A lot of things we did last year proved to be successful at least in the short term, and I think we’ll behave accordingly going forward.”  Here's more from today's column..

  • Trade talks for Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija have been going on and he could be on the move, but the Cubs’ preference would be to re-sign Samardzija and lock him in beyond 2015 and build their future around him, according to a major league source.  The Cubs will continue to work on both fronts until an extension is reached or an extension proves to be improbable.
  • The Rays, unsurprisingly, have gotten a number of inquiries on David Price.  However, none of them have been strong enough to make Tampa Bay give serious consideration to parting with him.
  • Moving Matt Kemp would require the Dodgers to eat some of the $128MM he's owed over the next six years.  If L.A. knocks that down to $80-90MM, the market is expected to open up.
  • The notion that A.J. Pierzynski is bad for a team is way off-base, according to one longtime teammate who said, “He may rub people the wrong way on other teams, but if he’s your teammate, he’s great. He’s tough, loyal, can call a game, and he can hit. I wish we had him back.”
  • Daniel Bard's control issues have followed him into winter ball.  The Cubs are expected to keep working with Bard, however, as they can give him a longer leash than the Red Sox did.  
  • Most teams, including the Brewers, want Corey Hart on a one-year deal.  However, because there are a number of teams in on him, he might get two.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, O’s, Rays

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Andrew Bailey is a non-tender candidate for the Red Sox after undergoing shoulder surgery, but the reliever tells Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal that he considers himself a member of the team until he hears otherwise. "Until something is on the table, you try not to think about it," Bailey says. "I'd love to be back with Boston." Here's the latest from the AL East:

  • Rich Dubroff of Comcast Sports Net sifts through offseason possibilities for the Orioles, writing that with the Winter Meetings ahead, Baltimore has been more involved in discussions this year than in winters past. Closer Jim Johnson, who's projected to earn $10.8MM in arbitration by MLBTR's Matt Swartz, appears to be a logical trade candidate if the Orioles sign a higher-tier free agent, according to Dubroff.
  • Orioles Executive Vice-President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette says recent acquisition Johnny Monell could compete for the club's backup catcher job or at DH, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets that the O's have four catchers on their 40-man roster after adding Monell.
  • The Rays are likely to turn their attention to their first base job after addressing needs at catcher and in the bullpen, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times says. Trade targets such as Ike Davis of the Mets and Mark Trumbo of the Angels remain available, while players like Justin Morneau or Mark Reynolds could be targets in free agency.
  • Regarding a potential trade of David Price, Topkin writes that the Rays appear to be comfortable listening to what clubs are saying as they go about addressing other offseason issues.

Red Sox Preparing Alternatives To Own Free Agents

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The Red Sox are still waiting for free agents Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Napoli, Stephen Drew and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to decide whether to accept Boston's free agent offers, but they're nearing the point when they might move forward, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. The Red Sox haven't set deadlines for any of their free agents to accept offers, but a source tells Bradford that the Sox are "certainly working on other options, also." The Red Sox told at least one player that they would soon need to make plans to potentially acquire another player to take his place.

Ellsbury, Napoli and Drew all rejected qualifying offers from Boston, and the Red Sox have since made new offers to all three players. Saltalamacchia did not receive a qualifying offer, but the Red Sox did offer him a two-year deal at an annual amount below the $14.1MM qualifying offer figure.

AL East Notes: Cano, Orioles, Drew

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Robinson Cano denied asking the Yankees for a $300MM deal back in the summer, writes Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, but just because Cano didn't utter the words himself does not mean that his representatives did not float that number. That was just the "midseason request," however, Martino explains. Now that the star second baseman has reached the open market, his camp has re-set its asking price and is scheduled to meet with the Bronx brass again on Monday. Here's more from the American League East:

  • The Orioles are quietly waiting for the free agent starting pitching market to fall into place, writes Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun. We've heard before that the club is quite interested in returning Scott Feldman, who was acquired in mid-year from the Cubs, and Encina guesses he'll take two years and $16-18MM to land. In his detailed breakdown of Feldman, MLBTR's Steve Adams projected his value at two years and $17MM, plus a vesting option. Other arms that might draw attention from Baltimore, according to Encina, are Bronson Arroyo and even A.J. Burnett, if he decides to look around the market. 
  • Shortstop Stephen Drew is still a great fit for a Red Sox infield that currently features Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks on the left side, writes John Tomase of the Boston Herald. If Drew can't get a club to give up a pick to sign him to a multi-year deal, Boston could swoop back into the mix and try to land him on another one-year contract, perhaps with an implicit promise not to extend another qualifying offer, Tomase suggests.
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