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Could The Brewers Look To Extend Weeks Next?

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Now that ace Yovani Gallardo is locked up for the next five years, Brewers' GM Doug Melvin can begin to focus on getting another one of his good young players signed long-term. MLB.com's Adam McCalvy notes that while Prince Fielder remains the priority, it might also make sense for the team to explore locking up second baseman Rickie Weeks.

"If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't," Weeks said. "You don't want to leave too much on the table, but then there's security."

Weeks wouldn't confirm if his representatives and the team have discussed a deal. The 27-year-old is productive when he's on the field, hitting .272/.340/.517 in 162 plate appearances last year before a torn tendon sheath in his wrist ended his season in May. Weeks will earn $2.75MM this year, and has one more year of arbitration eligibility remaining.

Melvin, meanwhile, wouldn't discuss negotiations with Fielder, if there are any.

2010 Contract Issues: Milwaukee Brewers

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The Brewers' option situations after the season:

  • Jeff Suppan has a $12.75MM club option with a $2MM buyout.  This is a lock to be declined.
  • Trevor Hoffman has a $7MM mutual option with a $500K buyout, though both numbers increase based on games finished.  This might be a rare case where both sides exercise a mutual option.
  • David Riske has a $4.75MM club option with a $250K buyout.  He's still recovering from Tommy John surgery; this will be declined.
  • Doug Davis has a $6.5MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout.
  • Gregg Zaun faces a $2.25MM club option with a $250K buyout; this could be exercised.

Eligible for free agency: Dave Bush, Craig Counsell, Jody Gerut, Claudio Vargas, and Jim Edmonds.  That's about $10MM more freed up, plus Bill Hall's $7.15MM and a couple of buyouts will be off the books.  Increases to players under contract total $7MM.  That's not bad, considering Ryan Braun and Yovani Gallardo will enter what would've been their first arbitration years.

Manny Parra and Joe Inglett project to be eligible for arbitration for the first time.  Carlos Gomez and Carlos Villanueva are second-year guys.  The big names are third-year arbitration players: Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, and Todd Coffey.  Hart stands a good chance of being non-tendered, while Fielder could approach $20MM if he's not signed long-term.

Largest Contracts By Service Time

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When Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo signed his five year, $30.1MM extension earlier today, it marked the largest contract ever signed by a pitcher with less than three years of service time.

Let's look at the richest contracts by service time, in terms of guaranteed money…

Less Than One Year
Position Player: Ryan Braun. Eight years, $45MM
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Four years, $9.5MM.

One To Two Years
Position Player: Chris Young. Five years, $28MM.
Pitcher: Fausto Carmona. Four years, $15MM.

Two To Three Years
Position Player: Hanley Ramirez. Six years, $70MM.
Pitcher: Yovani Gallardo.  Five years, $30.1MM.

Three To Four Years
Position Player: Albert Pujols. Seven years, $100MM. 
Pitcher: Scott Kazmir. Three years, $28.5MM.

Four To Five Years
Position Player: Miguel Cabrera. Eight years, $152.3MM.
Pitcher: Justin Verlander. Five years, $80MM.

Five To Six Years
Position Player: Derek Jeter. Ten years, $189MM.
Pitcher: Jake Peavy. Three years, $52MM. 

Six-plus Years
Position Player: Alex Rodriguez. Ten years, $275MM.
Pitcher: C.C. Sabathia. Seven years, $171MM.

Some thoughts…

  • The most regrettable deals were signed very early in the player's career, Young and Carmona. Might be a lesson in using up those pre-arbitration years before taking the plunge.
  • The largest contract signed by a position player with less than one year of service time after Braun's deal is Evan Longoria's, which will pay him just $17.5MM over six years. Is Braun overpaid, or is Longoria underpaid? I think the answer is clear.
  • Sabathia's four year, $9.5MM deal nearly tripled Roy Halladay's three year, $3.7MM deal with Toronto, which was the previous record for a pitcher with less an a year of service time.
  • One only of the above contracts has expired.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Brewers, Gallardo Agree To Five-Year Extension

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The Brewers agreed to a five-year, $30.1MM extension with pitcher Yovani Gallardo today.  The deal buys out all three arbitration seasons and one free agent year, and has a $13MM club option on another.  SI's Jon Heyman tweets that Gallardo can void the club option by obtaining points based on Cy Young voting, while MLB.com's Adam McCalvy gives no-trade clause details.  The contract is a bit loaded toward the front, with the free agent year costing only $11.25MM.  MLBTR named Gallardo as an extension candidate in January and predicted the contract amount once the agreement was reached this morning.  Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel first reported the agreement, with the AP adding contract details.

Gallardo is an interesting case, as he had two years and 108 days of service time heading into the season but only 320 innings under his belt due to a torn ACL that caused him to miss most of '08.  He would've been arbitration-eligible for the first time after this season.  Coming into the season Gallardo had 22 wins, 325 strikeouts, and a 3.57 career ERA.  McCalvy deduced that Jon Lester was the comparable used, as Gallardo's new deal mirrors that contract and exceeds it by $100K.  Gallardo now appears to own the biggest contract signed by a pitcher with less than three years service time.

Offseason Questions For The NL Central

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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.

Brewers In “Ongoing” Talks With Fielder

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Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that talks with Prince Fielder about a contract extension are "ongoing." Attanasio did not say whether the club had made Fielder an offer and neither did Brewers GM Doug Melvin. But the club owner said deals of this magnitude can take a while.

"When you talk about $100 million type contracts, it's nine figures," Attanasio said. "Those are complex transactions. They don't get done with a quick conversation and a handshake. Everything has to line up to make it work. There's a mutual intent on both sides to try to make it work." 

The Brewers discussed an extension with agent Scott Boras last month, but no details emerged about the contract talks. Fielder is under contract for this year, when he'll earn $10.5MM and the Brewers have Fielder under team control in 2011, when the first baseman will earn a raise in his final arbitration year. 

Odds & Ends: Rule 5, Jones, Hechevarria, Brewers

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Links for Easter Sunday…

Nationals Have Discussed Trade For Right Fielder

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In the wake of losing an everyday outfielder when they released Elijah Dukes, the Nationals have had discussions with several teams about a trade for a right fielder according to MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling. Among the targets: Corey Hart, Kosuke Fukudome, and B.J. Upton.

Goessling says that none of those trade talks have been particularly substantive, but it's clear the Nats aren't necessarily looking for a cheap solution. The two sides weren't able to find a common ground for Hart, and the Nats came away with the impression that the Rays won't move the elder Upton brother unless they fall out of the AL East race this summer. Fukudome still has two years and $26.5MM left on his deal, so he's unlikely to be moved unless the Cubs eat a large portion of that commitment.

Washington feels right field is a thin position around the league, so for now they'll try to get by with a combination of Willie Harris and Willy Taveras. They'll have to hope their defensive skills make up for their collective lack of offense. 

Odds & Ends: Posey, Jamey Wright, Lugo, Hart

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Let's take a look at a few more assorted Friday links….

Latin Links: Martinez, Maya, Ramirez, Escobar

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A rumor by any other name smells just as sweet. Links are in Spanish…

  • Pedro Martinez has largely been linked in rumors to National League teams this winter, but Vladimir Guerrero thought recently his former Expo teammate might join him in Arlington. "Early in March, when I reported to Texas' spring training, I heard a fair amount about the possibility that Pedro was going to sign here, but it didn't happen," Guerrero told Juan Mercado at the Dominican paper El Dia. Martinez showed last year he wasn't afraid to pitch the stretch run in a hitter's park, as National League batters actually fared significantly better against Martinez on the road (.322/.362/.517 in 20 IP) than at Citizens Bank Ball Park (.225/.274/.701 in 24 IP) during his two months with the Phillies.
  • The flurry of activity this offseason in regard to Cuban prospects is likely "the tip of the iceberg," Rangers scout Juan Alvarez tells the Nuevo Herald's Jorge Ebro. The latest signings from the island, of pitchers Reinier Roibal by the Giants and Sergio Espinosa by the Rays, were relatively low on fanfare, but Ebro quotes a source saying interest is quickly heating up for 27-year-old Cuban right-hander Yuniesky Maya. Maya has been linked this winter primarily to the Red Sox, who reportedly view him as a starter.
  • In an interview with the Venezuelan paper El Tiempo, Max Ramirez clarifies recent reports that he is focusing on first base as his quickest route to the Rangers' major league roster. While he admits to taking some grounders, "They still consider me as a catcher and I think that's where I have more opportunities now," Ramirez says. Earlier this week the 25-year-old's name popped up once again as a possible trade chip for Mike Lowell, but that window likely closed for the time being when the Rangers claimed Ryan Garko off waivers yesterday. Nevertheless, as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Gil LeBreton recently noted, Ramirez is the odd man out at any position in Texas, especially after the team acquired catcher Matt Treanor from the Brewers.
  • Kelvim Escobar is throwing again and will stay in extended spring training for the Mets, but the team isn't counting on having him in the bullpen any time soon. A day before his previously stated April 1 deadline to decide whether to sit out 2010, Escobar told Lider en Deportes' Carlos Valmore Rodriguez that neither he nor the team are throwing up their hands on his one year, $1.25MM contract. Escobar says of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel, "They always tell me not to worry, they don't want me in April or May, because that's not when you win the World Series. (They tell me) they need me for a long time, to take my time and not rush myself, to be patient about things."
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