No Six Or Seven-Year Deals For Blue Jays
The last time the Blue Jays signed a player to a seven-year deal, it didn’t work nearly as well as expected. Vernon Wells, who agreed to a seven-year, $126MM contract with the club in 2006, now plays in Anaheim and no one on the Blue Jays has anything more than a five-year deal. That’s not about to change, since president Paul Beeston won’t approve six or seven-year deals, according to Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail.
Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols, the offseason’s top free agents and the favorite targets of many would-be GMs in the stands at Rogers Centre, have set themselves up for six, seven or eight-year deals in free agency. Though Adam Lind has posted a sub-.300 on-base percentage in successive seasons, the Blue Jays remain hesitant to spend big on the open market.
“When we look at free agents, we better believe those guys are a clear upgrade over what we have internally,” Alex Anthopoulos told Blair.
The GM acknowledges that the 75-74 Blue Jays have some “pretty glaring” issues to address over the winter. However, the Blue Jays say they’re happier with the talent on the current edition of the team than they were this time last year.
When I examined the market for Pujols and Fielder last week, I suggested they were possible fits in Toronto.
Neukom On Sabathia, Pujols, Beltran
The Giants announced this week that managing partner and CEO Bill Neukom is going to retire at the end of the year, but that hasn't stopped him from weighing in on some of the offseason's free agents. John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle has the latest (all links go to Twitter):
- Neukom says the Giants “loved” C.C. Sabathia when he hit free agency after the 2008 season. ”I honestly believe he had a serious interest in coming with us." The Giants didn’t sign Sabathia since they weren’t prepared to pay "for years beyond which the time we think you’re not worth that amount of money.”
- Sabathia can opt out of his seven-year, $161MM deal this offseason.
- Neukom weighed in on Albert Pujols with openness that MLB executives rarely show when publicly discussing other teams. “Is he worth $30MM per year for ten years?,” Neukom asked. “The Yankees don’t need a first baseman. Nor does Boston. Maybe the Cubs. Maybe the Dodgers. But is there a wealthy team that can afford to do that, say to themselves he will not be worth it for the last three or four years of a ten-year deal but we can absorb that?”
- I examined the market for Pujols and Prince Fielder last week.
- Neukom guesses that agent Scott Boras will ask for a five or six-year deal for Carlos Beltran. The switch-hitting outfielder says he’d consider returning to the Giants if they find a way to add some offense.
NL Central Notes: Berkman, Cards, Myers, Pagnozzi
Some news from the NL Central…
- Lance Berkman could be targeted by the Brewers as a replacement for Prince Fielder, opines Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). I'd suspect that Berkman will get a lot of interest from teams that miss out on Fielder and Albert Pujols this winter.
- Berkman, Rafael Furcal and, of course, Pujols are the biggest question marks for the Cardinals heading into the offseason, writes MLB.com's Matthew Leach, but overall, Leach thinks the 2012 Cards will look much like the 2011 team. Both Leach and Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch indicate that the Cardinals' bullpen is stable, but the team could add another left-handed reliever. Gordon notes that Arthur Rhodes wants to return to St. Louis next year.
- Brett Myers could be trade bait after the season, but MLB.com's Brian McTaggart thinks the Astros could do worse than holding onto Myers to eat innings and provide a veteran presence in the rotation. McTaggart also discusses the Astros' proposed shift to the American League and the Carlos Lee/Brett Wallace first base situation as part of this fan mailbag.
- Chip Bailey of the Houston Chronicle suggests a few areas where the young Astros could look to add veteran parts for next season.
- The Pirates claimed catcher Matt Pagnozzi off waivers from the Rockies yesterday, but Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets that the Bucs originally tried to get Pagnozzi in June before instead acquiring Michael McKenry from Boston. Biertempfel also says the Pirates are looking at Pagnozzi just as a possible backup in 2012, not as a starter (Twitter link).
- With the Brewers so close to the playoffs, Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wonders why Fielder and Francisco Rodriguez chose to discuss their likely departure and displeasure with not closing games, respectively.
- Ben Nicholson-Smith delivered another set of NL Central news items earlier today on MLBTR.
NL Central Notes: Fielder, Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates
The Brewers have a 99.8% chance of going to the postseason and the Cardinals have a 4.5% chance of advancing, according to Baseball Prospectus' playoff odds report. Meanwhile, the Astros, Cubs and Pirates are setting themselves up for top ten picks in next year's draft. Here's the latest from the NL Central…
- Prince Fielder told Colin Fly of the AP that nothing has changed regarding his status with the Brewers (link via the Miami Herald). Fielder told TBS that this is probably his last season with the Brewers, but many people around the game have been saying that for over a year now.
- Casey Coleman has two starts remaining to remind the Cubs what he's capable of heading into 2012, Gordon Wittenmyer writes at the Chicago Sun-Times.
- The Cardinals’ biggest trade of the summer paid off in last night’s win against the Pirates, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. They obtained 24 outs from Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepczynski, the trio of pitchers GM John Mozeliak obtained for Colby Rasmus.
- The Pirates secured another losing season with the loss and Bill Brink of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sums up Pittsburgh's up-and-down year nicely: "They traveled to the same destination for the 19th year in a row, but this season, the Pirates took the scenic route."
NL Central Notes: Astros, Rodriguez, Carpenter
The Pirates lost to the Cardinals today and Pittsburgh clinched a 19th consecutive losing season in the process. Here are today’s NL Central notes…
- The Astros also lost a historic game today. They fell to the Phillies, setting a franchise record with their 98th defeat of the season.
- Chris Carpenter told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he didn't want to pitch anywhere else and hopes to finish his career in St. Louis. The former Cy Young winner realizes he's no Hall of Famer, but says he's proud to have become a fixture for the Cardinals. The Cardinals locked Carpenter up to a two-year, $21MM extension this week.
- Francisco Rodriguez told Scott Miller of CBS Sports.com that he's disappointed that the Brewers haven't provided him with the chance to close games. "I'm not fine," Rodriguez said. "They told me I'd have the opportunity to close some games, and we've had 20-some save opportunities since then and I haven't even had one." It’s worth noting that closer John Axford has converted his last 39 save chances.
- MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes provided the latest Cubs updates this morning and I examined possible suitors for Aramis Ramirez this afternoon.
Cards Lone Team To Embrace September Extensions
Since John Mozeliak became St. Louis’ general manager after the 2007 season, four Major League players have signed extensions during the month of September and all of them have been Cardinals. Kyle Lohse (2008), Ryan Franklin (2009), Trever Miller (2009) and, now, Chris Carpenter all signed multiyear deal with St. Louis during the final month of the regular season.
Teams and players agree to most extensions during the first half of the calendar year, after the free agent frenzy calms down and before the regular season builds much momentum. Many players do agree to extensions during the season, but September is generally a quiet month for the deals. Not so for the Cardinals. Mozeliak told me that he's “just trying to get a head start on the offseason,” which makes sense given what lies ahead.
Albert Pujols, the Cardinals’ franchise player, hits free agency this offseason. The Cards will have to devote much of their attention to the negotiations with Dan Lozano, the agent for the three-time MVP. They’ve answered questions about their 2012 rotation by locking Carpenter up, so their offseason outlook becomes that much simpler.
John McDonald (Blue Jays, 2007), Ryan Dempster (Cubs, 2005), Scott Rolen (Cardinals, 2002) and Vladimir Guerrero (Expos, 1998) are other prominent MLB players who signed September extensions at one point.
Cards Designate Francisco Samuel For Assignment
The Cardinals have designated Francisco Samuel for assignment, reports Brian Walton of FOX Sports Midwest (on Twitter). The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Eduardo Sanchez, who was activated off the 60-day DL.
Samuel, 24, pitched to a 12.17 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 16 walks in 14 innings between three minor league levels this year. He topped out at Double-A after pitching at Triple-A last season. Samuel has battled lat and shoulder troubles this year, hence the low innings total.
Stark On Tigers, Shapiro, Buehrle, Oswalt, Rays
Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark that the current version of the Tigers is significantly different than the team that started the season with a 12-17 mark. Rival executives agree that the Tigers, winners of ten straight, wouldn’t be fun to face in a playoff series at this point. Here’s Stark’s latest:
- People close to Indians president Mark Shapiro tell Stark that the longtime GM would be “intrigued” by the Cubs’ GM job. Shapiro’s associates say he’s happy in Cleveland, but suggest he’d listen if Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts came calling. Shapiro declined comment and there’s no indication that the Cubs have spoken to him.
- A friend of Mark Buehrle's doesn’t believe the left-hander would retire after the season, when he is set to hit free agency. Buehrle would have been open to pitching for the Cardinals, but they have a full rotation set up for 2012, assuming they exercise Adam Wainwright’s options.
- White Sox officials have been saying they need to cut payroll, according to Stark. Like the Cardinals, they have five starters under team control for 2012 even without Buehrle.
- The Phillies aren’t likely to exercise Roy Oswalt’s $16MM option, but other than that the right-hander’s future remains unclear. He is another pitcher who has expressed interest in St. Louis, but it’s not a likely fit given the Cardinals’ depth. Oswalt doesn’t want to pitch in the American League or for a non-contender, according to Stark.
- The Marlins won’t be able to obtain manager Ozzie Guillen from the White Sox unless they’re willing to part with a “big-time player.”
- It appears that the Rays are open to the idea of bringing Johnny Damon back for another season.
- Aaron Rowand wants to play in 2012, though he isn’t likely to return this season. He’ll be looking for the opportunity to pick up regular at bats next year, according to Stark.
Cardinals Extend Chris Carpenter
The Cardinals and ace Chris Carpenter have agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $21MM that will provide the right-hander with additional security and provide the Cardinals with a productive starter for two more seasons.
Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported the move on Sunday and the Cardinals have now announced it.
Carpenter, 36, was in the final guaranteed year of the five-year, $63.5MM deal he signed before the 2007 season. The team held a $15MM club option for his services next year, but Strauss says the option is rolled into a longer structure that saves the team about $4MM in 2012. This extension includes no appearance-based incentives or options either. Late last month, Ben Nicholson-Smith said Carpenter "may well be a luxury on whom GM John Mozeliak is prepared spend," and he certainly has. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes predicted last week that the team would hammer out a new contract at a lower salary in advance of the November option decision.
Now four full years out from Tommy John surgery, Carpenter has pitched to a 3.75 ERA in 206 1/3 innings this season. Although his ground ball rate (45.6%) is the lowest it's ever been since he joined St. Louis, he does boast his highest strikeout rate (7.15 K/9) in five years as well as a strong walk rate (2.18 BB/9). The 2005 Cy Young Award winner's fastball velocity has jumped a tick as well.
Last month we heard that the Cardinals were expected to pick up Adam Wainwright's options for 2012 and 2013, while the right-hander recovers from his own Tommy John surgery. Carpenter's new deal gives Mozeliak one less thing to worry about in a winter that figures to be dominated by negotiations with Albert Pujols.
NL Central Notes: Berkman, Samardzija, Jocketty
Aramis Ramirez, whose solo homer helped the Cubs beat the Reds tonight, will be looking for a multiyear deal this offseason. Here’s the latest from his division, with updates on his current club and the team that first signed him…
- There's no guarantee that Lance Berkman will be back in St. Louis next year, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes (on Twitter). Berkman has leverage, so a new deal is not a "slam dunk."
- For more on the Cardinals’ offseason plans, click here.
- The Cubs have held internal discussions about Jeff Samardzija as a candidate for the starting rotation, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. The Cubs have less rotation depth than they did earlier this year, as Wittenmyer explains. The right-hander has started five MLB games, but all 69 of his 2011 appearances have been in relief.
- Reds GM Walt Jocketty told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com that he doesn't want to discuss his contract, which expires after the 2011 season. "It's not for public consumption,” he said. “It's not worth commenting on it."
- MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes discussed the free agent prospects of Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez earlier today.
- The Pirates have notified their Venezuelan academy that they're going to end their lease and stop participating in the Venezuelan Summer League, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Pittsburgh will field two teams in the Dominican Summer League next year, however.