Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Royals Rumors

Minor Moves: Crisotomo, Sardinha

By | at

The latest minor moves from around MLB…

  • The Royals agreed to sign right-hander Branly Crisotomo for $98.5K, the Dominican Prospect League announced. Crisotomo's fastball generally sits in the 88-92 mph range and he throws a curve and change-up, according to the league press release.
  • The Orioles agreed to sign catcher Dane Sardinha to a minor league deal, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets. The 32-year-old appeared in 15 games for the Phillies last year and also has big league experience with the Tigers and Reds. Sardinha has a .216/.262/.328 line in 11 minor league seasons.

Comparing Cruz, Jones, Gordon In Arbitration

By | at

Arbitration eligible outfielders Nelson Cruz, Adam Jones, and Alex Gordon all remain unsigned.  As outfielders with at least four years of big league service and less than five, their cases are tied together.  Let's take a closer look.

Cruz and Jones submitted near-identical salaries of $7.5MM and $7.4MM, respectively.  The Orioles value Jones less than the Rangers value Cruz, submitting a figure $500K below Cruz's $5.5MM.  It's no coincidence MLB scheduled the players' arbitration hearings for the same day, as that way a win by one can't benefit another.  Should one of the two reach an agreement soon, the salary figure might be kept under wraps until the other's is determined.  Gordon's hearing is scheduled one day earlier, but they're reportedly close to an agreement.  The Cruz-Jones argument can be tailored either way — Cruz has more career power, but Jones is more durable and plays a premium position.

Gordon is valued below Cruz and Jones by all parties, as he submitted $5.45MM and the Royals $4.15MM.  All things considered Gordon had the best platform year, topping Cruz and Jones easily in batting average, on-base percentage, runs, and stolen bases while posting similar home run and RBI totals.  He's further boosted by a Gold Glove, so one separator here has to be the players' career numbers and related previous year earnings.  Though Gordon wins in career OBP, his home run and RBI totals lag well behind the other two players.

Looking at past precedent, how strong are the cases of Cruz, Jones, and Gordon?

  • Cruz wants a $3.85MM raise, while the Rangers are trying for the same $1.85MM one Carlos Quentin received after the 2010 season.  Using Quentin's numbers through 2010, Cruz has better career numbers and a similar platform year.  Ryan Ludwick and Josh Willingham received $1.75MM and $1.65MM raises in similar situations, though Cruz trumps all in career power numbers.  However, Cruz does not have an advantage over where Luke Scott was after 2010, and Scott received a $2.35MM bump.  Scott seems to push the argument in the Rangers' favor, except that Scott spent much of 2010 at designated hitter.  Another point in Cruz's favor, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith mentioned to me, is his fantastic postseason production.
  • Jones wants a $4.15MM increase.  He's short on career home runs compared to his arbitration peers, so maybe his argument will be based on his ability to play center field regularly and a better platform year than B.J. Upton's 2010.
  • Gordon seeks a $4.05MM raise.  Given his batting average, run total, and Gold Glove award, he had the best platform year of his peers.  He also has the worst career power numbers, plus the Royals filed a million bucks higher than the Rangers and Orioles did for their guys.
  • We always hear that arbitration hearings are a crapshoot, and perhaps none of these players will end up going to one.  However, the arguments seem to favor the teams in the cases of Cruz, Jones, and Gordon, who are seeking to top Hunter Pence's $3.5MM raise despite inferior numbers.  Additionally, Matt Swartz's arbitration projections came in below the midpoint for all three players.

Royals, Gordon Nearing One-Year Deal

By | at

The Royals appear to be nearing a one-year deal with arbitration eligible outfielder Alex Gordon, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports. The sides have a hearing scheduled for February 16th and they'll present their respective cases to a panel of arbitrators if they don't reach an agreement first.

An agreement could occur before the end of the week, Dutton writes. GM Dayton Moore has never gone to a hearing with a player since becoming Kansas City's GM. Gordon and agent Casey Close filed for $5.45MM, while the Royals offered $4.15MM, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows. The sides are expected to resume extension talks once they agree on a 2012 salary.

AL Central Links: Indians, Ray, Lewis, Accardo

By | at

Two years ago today, the Twins signed Orlando Hudson to a one-year contract worth $5MM. He hit .268/.338/.372 in 126 games for Minnesota, then signed a two-year, $11.5MM deal with the Padres after the season. Here's the latest from the AL Central…

Minor Moves: Royals, Rowland-Smith, Hessman

By | at

Some minor transactions from around the majors…

  • The Royals signed Cuban outfielder Roman Hernandez Jorrin, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (Twitter link).  Hernandez Jorrin, 22, is a right-handed hitter who escaped from Cuba in November 2010.
  • The Cubs have signed Ryan Rowland-Smith to a minor league deal, tweets ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.  The Australian southpaw compiled a 4.57 ERA and a 1.64 K/BB ratio in 362 2/3 innings with the Mariners from 2007-10.  Rowland-Smith spent last season in the Astros' minor league system, posting a 6.19 ERA in 22 games at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
  • The Astros signed Mike Hessman to a minor league contract, reports Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.  The deal doesn't include an invite to the Astros' big league Spring Training camp.  Hessman has a .694 OPS in 250 career plate appearances with the Mets, Tigers and Braves on the Major League level and also has 335 career minor league homers.  The 33-year-old played for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan last season.
  • The Reds have signed right-hander Wirfin Obispo to a minor league contracts, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).  Signed as an 18-year-old shortstop by the Red Sox in 2002, Obispo was converted to pitching by the Reds in 2004 and put up solid numbers for Cincinnati's Dominican summer league team over the next three seasons.  Obispo has since pitched in Japan, posting a 3.25 ERA, a 7.8 K/9 rate and a 3.22 K/BB ratio in 46 games (28 of them starts) with the Yomiuri Giants and the Nippon Ham Fighters.

AL Central Notes: Cabrera, Floyd, Royals

By | at

The Indians made a trade today, acquiring 2011 International League MVP Russ Canzler from the Rays. It wouldn't be surprising to see Cleveland add another hitter before Opening Day, but their division rivals appear to have completed most of their offseason shopping at this point. Here's the latest from the AL Central…

Extension Candidate: Eric Hosmer

By | at

Icon_13093773This past week was a rough one for the Royals. Not only did they watch the reigning division champs add Prince Fielder, but they also caught a glimpse of what it could take to keep Eric Hosmer in town long-term should he develop into the type of player they think he can become. After giving him $6MM as the third overall pick in 2008, it's clear Kansas City expects great things.

Hosmer, 22, was called up to the big leagues in early-May and went on to finish third in the AL Rookie of the Year. He hit .293/.334/.465 with 19 homers and 11 steals in 128 games. The Royals likely delayed his free agency by a year with the late call-up, but Hosmer is almost certain to qualify as a Super Two after the 2014 season. That means he'll be arbitration-eligible four times rather than the usual three, which can get expensive in a hurry.

For comparison's sake, Hunter Pence hit .289/.340/.488 during the first three years of his career, and parlayed it into $20.8MM during his first three years of arbitration-eligibility as a Super Two. He earned $3.5MM his first year of eligibility, $6.9MM in the second, and recently agreed to $10.4MM for the third. Barring an unexpected non-tender next winter, Pence will earn north of $32MM during his four years of arbitration-eligibility. Surely the Royals would want to avoid a similar payout for Hosmer.

The largest contract ever given to a player with less than one full year of service time is the eight-year, $45MM pact the Brewers bestowed upon Ryan Braun during the 2008 season. I'm sure the Royals would love to lock up Hosmer's next eight years at that price, but it might be unrealistic since he's a Scott Boras client. If there's one thing Boras is good at, it's breaking contract records. Evan Longoria's six-year, $17.5MM deal is the only other contract ever given to a position player with less than one year of service time worth more than $1.5MM annually.

If Kansas City plans to buy out any of Hosmer's free agent years, they're looking at a minimum contract length of seven years. That would cover his six years of team control and just one free agent year. It would also be the longest deal in franchise history by two years, and anything more than $55MM would make it the richest as well (Gil Meche and Mike Sweeney hold the record with matching five-year, $55MM contracts). I'm not suggesting that a deal of that size would be appropriate for Hosmer after one year in the bigs, but like I said, Boras is fond of breaking records. Those are some benchmarks he can target.

The Royals have more pressing issues than extending Hosmer (like extending Alex Gordon), and there's no real rush to get a deal done now. They will pay their first baseman little more than the league minimum over the next two years, so time is on their side. The Fielder contract serves as a harsh reminder though, a reminder that if Hosmer turns into the franchise cornerstone Kansas City hopes he'll be, he might price himself right out of Kansas City. A long-term contract extension could help prevent, or at least delay that.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Many Teams Eyeing Gerardo Concepcion

By | at

Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion has been declared a free agent and is drawing interest from many MLB teams, Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reports. The 18-year-old recently established residency in Mexico and was said to be close to declaring free agency last week.

The Rangers, Yankees, Cubs and White Sox have expressed the most interest in Concepcion, agent Jaime Torres said. The lefty worked out in front of Rangers personnel, including Nolan Ryan, in the Dominican Republic today. The Phillies, Giants, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Royals have also expressed interest.

Concepcion has an offer on the table and will likely sign within two weeks, according to his agent. He defected from Cuba last June while playing in the Netherlands.

AL Central Notes: Eldred, Gordon, Carmona

By | at

It was on this day in 1993 that Tigers legend Charlie Gehringer passed away at the age of 89.  Gehringer spent his entire 19-year career in Detroit, finishing with a .320/.404/.480 career line, the 1937 AL MVP Award, a 1935 World Series championship and induction into the Baseball Hall Of Fame.  Gehringer is still among the Tigers' franchise leaders in virtually every offensive category and is widely regarded as one of the game's greatest second basemen.

Some items from Detroit and elsewhere in the AL Central…

  • The Tigers signed first baseman Brad Eldred to a minor league contract that doesn't include an invitation to the team's Major League Spring Training camp.  Eldred, 31, has an .870 OPS and 227 homers over 10 minor league seasons but has seen just 282 plate appearances in the bigs, his most recent cup of coffee coming with the Rockies in 2010.  Eldred hit .278/.351/.536 for the Giants' Triple-A affiliate last season.
  • The Royals shouldn't wait to sign Alex Gordon to an extension, argues Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star.  Mellinger thinks Michael Cuddyer's three-year, $31.5MM pact with the Rockies could be "the general framework" for a new Gordon deal, and both Gordon and Cuddyer are represented by agent Casey Close.  Mellinger thinks a four-year, $35MM contract would fair to both sides; that's about $5MM higher than what MLBTR's Tim Dierkes guessed a Gordon extension would look like last August.
  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com thinks the Indians should release Roberto Hernandez Heredia (a.k.a. Fausto Carmona) and use the saved salary on an available pitcher like Roy Oswalt, Edwin Jackson or Livan Hernandez.
  • Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated looks at how teams pay much larger median bonuses to 16-year-old Latin American prospects, when a much smaller percentage of those young prospects actually reach the majors.  While players like Carmona have knowingly committed age and identity fraud, Segura argues that "by placing such high premiums on 16-year-olds, teams are fooling themselves."

Quick Hits: Lincecum, Red Sox, Gordon, Francis

By | at

Friday night links..

  • The Giants and the agent for Tim Lincecum have made significant progress since exchanging arbitration figures and both sides are confident that a resolution can be reached before a hearing would be scheduled, writes Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News.
  • The Reds could look to land an infielder via trade, writes MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
  • It appears that talks between the Rockies and Red Sox regarding Marco Scutaro are dormant, but Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes that Boston's possible motivation for a move involving Scutaro would be to free up payroll.  The club has reportedly expressed interest in White Sox starter Gavin Floyd and free agent outfielder Cody Ross, but neither move could be made unless a trade was made to offer budgetary relief according to a source.
  • The Royals and Alex Gordon aren't particularly close on a deal but talks remain cordial and both sides want to get something done, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
  • Left-hander Jeff Francis is starting to attract more interest from teams in the market for a starting pitcher including the Mariners, Reds, Blue Jays, and Mets, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter links)
  • Jesus Montero has dealt with his visa issue and is scheduled to travel from Florida to Seattle today for his Mariners physical, tweets Ken Davidoff of Newsday.
  • Braves GM Frank Wren doesn't believe that his club has a major personnel need, writes Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Wren also believes that this year's bullpen figures to be even deeper that last year's.
  • Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post (via Twitter) is told that the Marlins have no interest in bringing Ivan Rodriguez back.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top