Locking Up Young Stars: Martin, Kendrick, Kotchman, Pedroia, Uggla
Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times takes a look at the spate of recent long-term deals for young stars. Talking to different players and agents, Shaikin found no consensus on whether such contracts are a good idea.
- Some folks (including Shaikin and Pat Gillick, apparently) believe it’s wise for richer clubs to go year-to-year to avoid getting stuck with a bad contract. I’m sure teams have done comprehensive studies on these types of contracts, but my guess is that flops are few are far between. I can only think of a handful (Angel Berroa, Eric Hinske come to mind). As Scott Boras says, teams usually choose players who will succeed.
- Boras advises his clients to go year to year and maximize their total earnings. He suggests young players signing long-term are getting "30 cents on the dollar." Paul Cohen, author of the Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria contracts, preaches security over maximum earnings.
- Ned Colletti revealed that he has twice approached catcher Russell Martin about an extension, and has been denied. Martin will be arbitration-eligible after this season and should add an extra zero to his $500,000 salary, at least.
- Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick would consider a long-term offer, and GM Tony Reagins isn’t opposed to long-term deals for young players.
- First baseman Casey Kotchman is a year-to-year guy. He astutely notes that in most professions employees aren’t even guaranteed one year.
- Jumping over to the Boston Herald – the Red Sox have twice approached Dustin Pedroia about a deal. Pedroia is amenable to the idea.
- It’s not known if the Marlins are planning to buy out Dan Uggla‘s arbitration years, but he seems open to it.
Odds And Ends: Bellhorn, Astros, Scheppers
Like most Saturdays at this time of year, it’s a bit slow. So here are a few links to pass the time.
- The Dodgers have signed veteran IF Mark Bellhorn to a minor league deal. Tony Jackson from Inside the Dodgers says this happened a few weeks ago, but was well under the radar. After some extended spring training, Bellhorn has reported to AA, where he will simply fill a roster spot. He is not expected to help the major league team this year.
- Richard Justice says he wouldn’t change a thing about the surprisingly-good Houston Astros.
- Fresno State ace and potential top-10 pick Tanner Scheppers has gone down with a stress fracture somewhere in his shoulder. Jonathan Mayo suspects he could fall to a big market team in the latter portion of the first round, a la Andrew Brackman last year.
Joe Pawlikowski writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog, and can be reached here.
Dodgers Looking For Emergency Shortstop
The Dodgers placed shortstop Rafael Furcal on the DL today, and MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick says they’re trying to acquire an emergency replacement. Furcal will be eligible to return on May 21st. He’s been perhaps the game’s best hitting shortstop to date.
Perhaps the Rays’ Andy Cannizaro would make sense? The Dodgers have been using Chin-lung Hu at short; despite his lack of offense it may be best to just stick with him.
Odds and Ends: Doue, Furcal, Kuroda
Here are today’s links.
- Dave Cameron notes Nelson Cruz‘s video game numbers in Triple A and suggests he deserves another shot.
- Japanese catcher Hayato Doue was expected to join the Red Sox organization, but visa problems have gotten in the way.
- Buster Olney notes that Rafael Furcal will test free agency if he can’t hammer out an extension with the Dodgers by midseason.
- Shigetoshi Hasegawa denies the notion that he pushed Hiroki Kuroda toward the Dodgers.
- Athletics Nation sees Billy Beane targeting pitcher Tanner Scheppers if he’s available with the 12th pick. Also, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com has an overall look at the ’08 draft class.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Hudson, Turnbow, Laird, Kershaw
Rumorland Ambassador Ken Rosenthal has posted yet another Full Count video. Let’s get sifting:
- Rosenthal thinks Orlando Hudson could be shown the money this offseason if he opts to explore free agency. Hudson most likely won’t be offered market value by the Dbacks. Rosenthal posits the Orioles, Cards, Dodgers, and Mariners as potential buyers.
- 4 unnamed teams are interested in Derrick Turnbow, who is making $3.2MM this year. According to KR, the Brewers would need to throw money in a deal or get a comparable salary in return – as the saying goes, you trade contracts, not players. Turnbow needs a fresh start and middle relief is always in demand; however, a lot of teams have better internal options and could see Turnbow as a project for better or worse.
- Gerald Laird update: Reds, Yankees, and Brewers all passed. But Rosenthal still expects Laird to end up somewhere and notes that whoever gets him has him through 2010.
- The Dodgers are planning on "integrating" Clayton Kershaw soon to throw a limit of 150 IP; however this doesn’t (yet) make Esteban Loaiza expendable as they would alternate the two in the rotation, Kershaw starting twice, and then Loaiza twice, and so on. I say "(yet)" because Rosenthal doesn’t mention that the rotation will get crowded if/when Jason Schmidt returns in early June. I would expect they’ll explore options, but be content using Loaiza out of the bullpen. By the way, Kershaw has a 1.40 ERA with 31 K in 25.2 IP for Double-A Jacksonville.
By Nat Boyle
Juan Pierre Not Happy Being A Bench Player
Juan Pierre, who has been the odd man out in the crowded Dodgers outfield this year, said following the team’s 5-3 victory over the Florida Marlins on Thursday that he still has not accepted his current role with the club as a bench player:
"I don’t see myself as a bench player. I haven’t accepted that. I know if they don’t want me to play out there, that’s their decision. But I don’t see myself as a bench player."
One reporter asked Pierre if he wanted to remain with the Dodgers to which the 30-year old responded:
"I’m not going to answer that one. It is what it is. I’m not going to touch that one."
Pierre is currently behind young outfielders Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, along with offseason acquisition Andruw Jones, in the Dodgers’ depth chart. His deal is guaranteed for four more years including 2008 (at a combined $36.5MM) with a limited no-trade clause.
One difficult aspect of this situation is that Pierre is essentially still the same player he always was offensively. He has never hit for power and his OBP has always been fairly reliant on maintaining a high batting average (a dicey proposition year in and year out). The Dodgers knew what they were getting when they signed him in November 2006. Now Pierre is left to wonder what changed.
Paul Moro is a writer for UmpBump.com and can be reached via e-mail at Paul@UmpBump.com.
Rockies Sign Juan Castro
FRIDAY: The Rockies win the Castro sweepstakes. Ken Rosenthal notes in a sidebar that the silver lining to the Tulo injury could be Barmes getting a chance to build up trade value. Rosenthal doesn’t see the Rox pursuing Brian Roberts for second base help unless they battle their way into contention first.
THURSDAY: Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News has been all over the Juan Castro situation. The 35 year-old shortstop became a free agent today, and four clubs are in pursuit. The Dodgers, Padres, Orioles, and Rockies are all after him. Jackson says the Dodgers and Rockies would want him to do a brief Triple A stint. Troy E. Renck confirms Colorado’s interest.
The Rockies received devastating news today – star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki could be out until July with a torn tendon in his quad. Clint Barmes will assume the starting shortstop position.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Rafael Furcal
Indicators predicting a big year for Rafael Furcal included his impending free agency, a return to health, and a strong Spring Training performance. After 28 games, he sits at .371/.459/.586 (tops among shortstops).
When Furcal first reached free agency after the 2005 season, he was only 28 and was coming off a .284/.348/.429 season. He chose to maximize his yearly salary rather than take a four or five-year deal. The three-year, $39MM contract Furcal signed with the Dodgers allows him to re-enter free agency at age 31.
Furcal is in line for a monster contract even if he can’t maintain his MVP performance. Jimmy Rollins is signed at a well below-market price, so he’s a poor comparable. The high-end comp is Derek Jeter, who gave up nine free agent years for a bit less than $20MM per season. Furcal’s agent, Paul Kinzer, could reasonably ask for $75MM over five years.
Furcal and the Dodgers are open to a midseason extension, according to Ken Rosenthal. That’d make Chin-Lung Hu a valuable trade chip. Back in ’05, the Cubs and Braves competed with the Dodgers for Furcal. The White Sox, Blue Jays, Nationals, and Cardinals could enter the mix next winter if Furcal reaches free agency.
Odds And Ends: Thomas, Jays, Myers, Nomo
Expect another one of these today. There’s lots of little stuff, but not much in the way of substantive rumors.
- The Mariners were one of four teams contacted by Frank Thomas’s agent. The A’s were obviously another. So who were the other two?
- With 24-year-old backstop Robinzon Diaz mashing in AAA, the Jays might look to spin off either Gregg Zaun or Rod Barajas come July.
- 39-year-old southpaw Mike Myers requested and was granted his unconditional release from the Dodgers.
- After DFAing him on Sunday, the Royals have placed Hideo Nomo on release waivers. If unclaimed by noon on Tuesday, he’ll become a free agent.
- Curtis Granderson says his allergies are killing him. I can empathize. Fret not, Curtis. If you’re like me, you’ll be in the clear next week.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski.
Fred Claire Q&A
Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire was kind enough to answer questions for MLBTR readers. Fred enjoyed this; we’ll have to do this again in the future. He wrote a book four years ago; my copy just arrived in the mail. Here we go with the Q&A…
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MLBTR: What is the best way for a college student to break into a MLB front office, in any baseball operations capacity?
Claire: This is one of the most common questions that comes my way and one of the most difficult to answer for a very basic reason—there are so many young people seeking a position in baseball operations and yet this is a very limited field in an industry with 30 MLB teams. If you want to get a good road map take the time to study the career paths of those involved in MLB at the top levels of team management. You will find a variety of paths to key positions and if you look at recent GM hires in Tony Reagins of the Angels and Bill Smith of the Twins you will see young men who started in rather low level positions (Reagins in marketing and Smith at a minor league team) who worked their way to the top by showing their passion for the game, the ability to learn and the ability to communicate. Both are team players who looked at how they could help their organizations and not how they could advance on an individual basis.
I wish I could say there was an specific academic path that led to a position in the game but that isn’t the case. You need a passion for the game and a willingness to start at whatever level that gets you in the door. The one thing I see quite often with college students is that they have an interest in being a general manager, for example, and yet if you examine their resumes you will see that they are majoring in finance or marketing. This educational background is fine but with this background one should be looking for a job with a MLB team in these areas.
If you look at high profile GMs like Theo Epstein of the Red Sox and Brian Cashman of the Yankees you will see that they started out in low level positions but had the chance to show their ability and advance due to their dedication, intelligence and hard work.
I wish I could give better answers here but I will leave you with this—don’t give up on your dreams to work for a Major League team, build a strong educational background and be willing to pay the price for starting at whatever position that provides an opening opportunity.
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MLBTR: Could you tell us about the biggest trade you seriously considered but ultimately did not make?
Claire: I think a “near” trade that comes to mind quickly is a deal in my final year (1998) as the GM of the Dodgers where I felt we were going to be able to acquire Randy Johnson from the Mariners with Hideo Nomo as part of the package. I believe the Seattle front office was willing to do the deal but that Mariner ownership stepped in and stopped the trade in the final stages. I could be wrong because you never know exactly what is happening in the other front office but I had the feeling this deal was a real possibility.
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MLBTR: What is the most lopsided (yet serious) trade offer you ever received?
Claire: There were a lot of discussions with other teams in my years with the Dodgers but you tend to forget (at least I did) the deals that simply made no sense.
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MLBTR: When you were GM, were there any agents who caused you to shy away from their players because of their demands? Put another way, was there a Scott Boras of your time?
Claire: Scott Boras was in business as part of my time with the Dodgers. I did several deals with Scott, including the signing of Darren Dreifort after we drafted Darren. I always found Scott to be very well prepared as he went into any discussion. There are those who criticize Scott but my response would be “Show me any contract involving Scott where Scott’s signature is the only one on the contract.” Scott never did a deal, and can’t do a deal, without having a Major League team sign off on the deal. If you want to deal with Scott you had been be as prepared as he will be.
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MLBTR: What are your feelings on modern statistics? Did you employ any advanced analysis in your time with the Dodgers?
Claire: I find the term “modern statistics” somewhat interesting in that the game on the field hasn’t changed from the most basic standpoint but the way that it is measured and evaluated has changed in a dramatic fashion. I’ve always believed in looking at the best information that is available in making player and team evaluations. During most of my time as the GM of the Dodgers, we employed Craig Wright as a consultant. Craig has been one of the leaders in the field of baseball analytics through the years. I always was a strong believer in on-base percentage through the years even though there are those who seem to believe the statistic was just created as part of “modern statistics.”
Today I’m involved in a baseball venture with Ari Kaplan, a graduate of Caltech (in fact, he has been honored as “Caltech’s Man of the Decade”) and one of the true leaders in the field of technology. You will find a great deal about Ari and has background on the web. I truly believe he has developed the best analytical information that is available to Major League teams and you will be hearing more about this as we move along with our project. Ari and I visited with a number of MLB teams this Spring and basic information on the solutions/programs that Ari has developed can be found at the link: http://www.spraycharts.com/bball.htm.
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MLBTR: If you could have been GM for any other organization, which one would it have been and why?
Claire: There are two teams that come immediately to mind, because they were my favorite teams as a youngster while growing up in a small town in Ohio (Jamestown)—the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox. I think it’s a great opportunity and honor to be the GM of any team in Major League Baseball.
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MLBTR: Who do you consider the best GM in the game today?
Claire: I don’t want to get into ranking the GMs of today but if I had to select one person who I felt has set the right example in the past decade or so it would be Terry Ryan, who stepped down as the Minnesota Twins’ general manager at the end of last season. Terry represents everything you want to have in a GM—passion, dedication, loyalty, intelligence and a true team builder in every way—from the standpoint of his own baseball operations department to the teams he actually has fielded.