Brewers Owner Will Try For Prince
"We'll be in the game" for free agent first baseman Prince Fielder, Brewers owner Mark Attansio told reporters last night (including Steve Haywood of ESPN 540) after his team was eliminated from the playoffs. Attanasio said, "We'd love to bring the big guy back," but noted that he'd like to have some distance from the season so that emotions are not an issue.
Fielder received an ovation from Brewers fans last night, as many believed his eighth inning at-bat was his last for the team that drafted him almost a decade ago. Fielder deflected questions about whether he'll be back next year, and seemed annoyed when pressed. In September, he admitted 2011 was "probably the last year" he'd be with Milwaukee.
Agent Scott Boras could begin by attempting to top his own record contract for a first baseman, the eight year, $180MM deal Mark Teixeira signed with the Yankees three years ago. Boras drew that comparison publicly in July of 2010. Boras could also make a case to beat the $184MM given to Joe Mauer in March of 2010, especially since Prince has been so durable, tweets Peter Gammons. However, there are some who see Fielder around Adrian Gonzalez's seven year, $154MM deal, reported SI's Jon Heyman. Mauer helps Boras, and Gonzalez hurts him, but neither is a great comparable since they weren't signed on the open market.
I'd be very surprised to see the Brewers re-sign Fielder within the exclusive negotation period. I think if he hits the open market and finds the bids disappointing, then a window opens for the Brewers. Boras has occasionally fallen well short of the early buzz for certain free agent clients. Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon come to mind from recent years. After the '08 season, a four-year, $100MM figure was floated for Manny, but the Dodgers held the line and got him for two years and $45MM. The Yankees and Red Sox are likely to sit out the Fielder sweepstakes, and Prince is not a great fit for the Nationals. The remaining potential suitors are not known for record-breaking contracts, with the possible exception of the Cubs.
Arbitration Eligibles: Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers came up short last night, and now one of the many concerns for GM Doug Melvin will be the status of his nine arbitration eligible players.
- First time: Casey McGehee, Nyjer Morgan, George Kottaras, Mitch Stetter
- Second time: Kameron Loe, Manny Parra, Josh Wilson
- Third time: Shaun Marcum, Carlos Gomez
Kottaras, Stetter, Wilson, and Parra appear to be non-tender candidates. Parra missed all of 2011, eventually needing elbow surgery, and he'd be owed a minimum of $960K if tendered a contract. The other three are in the $700-800K range, so a case could be made for keeping them. Kottaras was viewed as expendable by the Brewers when they outrighted him in April, though he ended up being useful in limited duty. Stetter missed most of the season with a hip injury, while Wilson didn't do anything noteworthy.
We can't rule out the possibility of a McGehee non-tender, but a trade seems more likely. The 29-year-old third baseman had a lost 2011 season, but he hit .291/.346/.477 over 1,064 plate appearances the previous two years. At a projected $3.1MM, some team will want to give him a shot.
Marcum is the team's most expensive arbitration eligible player at a projected $6.8MM. Peers such as Matt Garza, Jeremy Guthrie, John Danks, and Joe Saunders project in the $8-9MM range, so we'll have to see if they lift Marcum up a bit. Loe ($2.8MM), Morgan ($1.9MM), and Gomez ($1.8MM) should also be tendered contracts. Gomez had a rough year, missing time with a broken clavicle, but at $1.8MM his defense should make him worth retaining.
Including buyouts for Yuniesky Betancourt and Francisco Rodriguez, the Brewers have about $58.58MM in contractual commitments for 2012. If they retain McGehee, Morgan, Loe, Marcum, and Gomez, that'd add $16.4MM for a total of about $75MM. Assuming a steady payroll, that'd leave less than $9MM in 2012 flexibility before accounting for minimum salary players. McGehee's salary could be shedded, but without a payroll increase the Brewers do not have much room to spend this winter.
Central Notes: Tigers, Astros, Cubs, Wolf
The Tigers' elimination from the postseason should lead to a handful of postmortems over the next few days, and we've got one in this batch of links …
- The Tigers are set with nearly all of their core players under team control, writes Jason Beck of MLB.com, but they'll have to address their need for some complementary players. In particular, Detroit will have to look at shoring up second base, third base and right-handed relief. Beck also wonders whether the Tigers will consider signing shortstop Jose Reyes and moving Jhonny Peralta over to the hot corner.
- Despite recent reports that Jim Crane will be approved as next Astros owner in November, Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle is "still not sure that's going to happen." MLB, extremely conscious of its image and the the images of its teams and owners, appears uncomfortable with aspects of Crane's background, according to Justice, including past allegations of discrimination, enumerated here in a Forbes.com report.
- Although compensation negotiations between the Cubs and Red Sox are reportedly becoming contentious, Alex Speier of WEEI.com opines that the deal is virtually inevitable, because too many interested parties want it to go through.
- Brewers lefty Randy Wolf has resurrected his career the past few seasons after missing a sizable chunk of his prime years to injury, writes Stephen Goff of the Houston Examiner. Wolf parlayed his brief stint with the Astros in 2008 into a one-year deal with the Dodgers and then a three-year pact with the Brewers. Houston GM Ed Wade wanted to re-sign Wolf after 2008, explains Goff, but felt he didn't have the payroll flexibility.
Managers And GMs Entering Their Contract Year
As Jim Riggleman would tell you, everyone in baseball wants more job security. Here is a list of managers and general managers whose contracts expire after 2012, featuring both extension candidates and those on the hot seat this winter. (Thanks to the always-invaluable Cot's Baseball Contracts for many of the details.)
White Sox: Kenny Williams has a rolling contract that automatically extends itself every year. Should Williams be fired, the Sox will owe him one year's worth of severance pay. With Ozzie Guillen now managing the Marlins, the spotlight will be directly on Williams to get the White Sox back on track following their rough 2011 season. Williams has already made one roll of the dice by hiring first-time manager Robin Ventura. White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Williams have a strong relationship, but if the team struggles again in 2012, the Sox could blow things up and rebuild under a new general manager.
Tigers: Jim Leyland entered this season as a lame duck and signed just a one-year contract extension from Detroit in August. This relative lack of security is how Leyland prefers it, however, since he isn't sure how much longer he'll continue to manage. Given the Tigers' success, one would think they'll let Leyland go year-to-year for as long as he feels up to the job.
Royals: Ned Yost is entering the last year of his contract and I would guess that he'll receive another. While the Royals don't expect any on-field success right now, the onus is on Yost to ensure that Kansas City's wealth of young prospects continue to develop. Yost will return as K.C.'s manager in 2013 unless the Royals heavily regress from their 71-91 record of last year, or (even worse) the likes of Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Danny Duffy hit a snag in their Major League seasoning.
Rockies: Colorado's disappointing 2011 campaign puts the pressure on manager Jim Tracy, who is entering the final year of his original three-year pact with the team. GM Dan O'Dowd recently told Troy Renck of the Denver Post that he doesn't foresee any problems with Tracy working as a lame duck. "Jim is signed through next year and we'd love to have him be manager here for much longer than that," O'Dowd said.
Reds: Dusty Baker signed a two-year extension with the Reds last October. If Cincinnati takes the unlikely step of trading Joey Votto and starting a mini-rebuilding phase, Baker may not want to stick around while the club builds itself back into a contender. A Votto deal is a long shot (at least in the short term), however, so barring a poor season for the Reds in 2012, the team will probably pursue another extension with Baker next winter.
Rays: Because Andrew Friedman works without an official contract, his name was already linked to the GM's openings with the Cubs and Astros earlier this year. Friedman has said he enjoys the challenge of working in Tampa Bay and it would be odd for him to walk away given that the Rays are contenders now and for the foreseeable future given their deep minor league system. Manager Joe Maddon is similarly very likely to stay, even though his three-year contract runs out after next season. Tampa Bay's shaky financial situation makes Maddon's status a very minor question mark, but one would think the Rays will do everything in their power to keep Maddon, especially since owner Stu Sternberg said he expects Maddon to manage the team beyond 2012.
Rangers: Ron Washington signed a two-year extension through 2012 in the wake of the Rangers' AL pennant last season. With Texas on the verge of another World Series appearance, Washington looks to be in line for another new deal.
Indians: GM Chris Antonetti's original five-year contract is up after 2012 and the Indians' progress would indicate that the club will pursue an extension. The Tribe picked up Manny Acta's 2013 option last month.
Giants: Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy both had their options for 2012 picked up last February, an expected move given San Francisco's 2010 World Series title. That championship also probably ensures both men will receive extensions at some point over the next year since incoming team CEO Laurence Baer has stated that he wants Sabean and Bochy to stay. Unless the Giants have a disastrous 2012 campaign, expect Sabean and Bochy to be in San Francisco for years to come.
Dodgers: Ned Colletti can either activate an out clause in his contract after 2012, or 2012 is actually the last year on his deal. Either way, the general manager will likely be pursued by the club to sign an extension given how competitive the Dodgers were this season in the wake of the ongoing ownership mess. Of course, Colletti could choose to leave given the uncertainty with the McCourts. Chicago native Colletti drew some attention from the Cubs last summer, before the Theo Epstein hiring.
Diamondbacks: 2012 is the last guaranteed year for both Kevin Towers and Kirk Gibson, though Towers had club options for 2013-14 and 2015-16, and Gibson has a club option for 2013. Neither man is going anywhere in the wake of Arizona's surprise run to the NL West crown.
Cubs: Mike Quade is signed through 2012 with a club option for 2013. Rumors are already swirling that Ryne Sandberg could be hired as the Cubs' new manager once Theo Epstein takes over, so Quade could be out of a job once the Epstein era officially begins in Chicago.
Cardinals: Tony La Russa and the Cards have a mutual option for 2012 and the latest indication is that La Russa wishes to return for another season. The manager could have a change of heart should Albert Pujols leave for free agency, though La Russa's return could provide some incentive for Pujols to also stay in St. Louis. It's also worth noting that La Russa is just 35 wins behind John McGraw for second place on the list of all-time regular season managerial wins.
Brewers: Doug Melvin's contract expires after 2012 and given Milwaukee's success this season, he seems like a sure bet to receive an extension. It will be interesting to see how long a Melvin extension would run; ownership may not want to commit to Melvin for more than three years just to see how he operates in a post-Prince Fielder environment in Milwaukee. Ron Roenicke is also technically out of contract after next year, but the Brewers hold a club option on the manager for 2013 that is very likely to be exercised. A new multiyear deal for Roenicke is also not out of the question.
Astros: General manager Ed Wade's deal is up after 2012 but his tenure in Houston could finish early once the sale of the team to Jim Crane is finalized. A new GM could also spell the end of Brad Mills as the manager, who is contracted through 2012 with a club option for 2013. While Mills did lead the Astros to the worst record (56-106) in franchise history last season, he didn't have much talent to work with on the Houston roster.
Heyman On Pujols, Fielder, Mets, White Sox
Albert Pujols' impressive postseason performance has increased his free agent stock, Jon Heyman writes at SI.com. Some say the Cardinals won't improve their offer from nine-years and a bit more than $200MM, but their postseason success may help their chances of re-signing the three-time MVP. Here are the details and more of Heyman's notes from around the league:
- MLB executives tell Heyman that they expect Pujols to sign for more than Prince Fielder despite Fielder's youth (he's four years younger than Pujols).
- Heyman's sources generally expect Pujols to stay in St. Louis, but predicting Fielder's next team is much more difficult.
- Some of Heyman's sources expect Fielder to sign a deal similar to Adrian Gonzalez's seven-year, $154MM extension. I don't think it's a great comp, since Gonzalez didn't sign his deal on the open market.
- Heyman reports (on Twitter) that the Mets have hired former A's manager Bob Geren as their bench coach. Interestingly, the A's hired manager Bob Melvin after a stint with the Mets.
- The White Sox didn't seriously consider anyone other than Robin Ventura once they decided they wanted the former third baseman to be their next manager.
- Francisco Rodriguez told Heyman that he'd like a three-year deal.
- The Pirates are looking for starting pitching. It appears that they'll decline Paul Maholm's option for 2012.
Quick Hits: Votto, Anderson, Red Sox, Dodgers
Links for Sunday evening as the Brewers have jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Cardinals in the NLCS..
- The Reds need to ask themselves if they believe that they can pay Joey Votto a market-value contract after 2013, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com. If the Reds don't believe that they can pay him, Olney writes that history says that they should move him between now and July 31, 2012.
- The Red Sox could use Lars Anderson as a trade chip this offseason, writes Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal. The 24-year-old first baseman is stuck behind Adrian Gonzalez and MacPherson identifies several teams who would be interested in the youngster. Anderson was nearly shipped to the Athletics in a deal for Rich Harden in July.
- Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times doesn't expect to see the Dodgers make many changes this winter. If Ned Colletti & Co. don't sign a bopper in free agency, that leaves trading for a big bat and the club doesn't have much to offer in return.
- Tigers closer Jose Valverde represents yet another ex-Astros player achieving success elsewhere, writes Stephen Goff of Examiner.com.
- Brewers right-hander Shaun Marcum sees a bright future for his former teammate, Cardinals lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski. Marcum, who will start Game 2 of the NLCS on Monday, played with Rzepczynski in Toronto.
Quick Hits: Payrolls, Jay, Wilson, Epstein
Here are some links to check out before the NLCS kicks off later this afternoon..
- Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel points out that the somewhat low payrolls of the remaining playoff teams are examples of the importance of drafting, scouting, and player development. The Tigers have the largest payroll (10th), while the Cardinals (11th), Rangers (13th), and Brewers (17th) round out the pack. It's also worth noting that the Diamondbacks rank 25th and the Rays were 29th.
- The progress of center fielder Jon Jay allowed the Cardinals to trade Colby Rasmus at the deadline, GM John Mozeliak told Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, and Octavio Dotel have been key parts of the team's drive to the NLCS.
- Some people think that C.J. Wilson has keen interest as a free agent in New York, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated. He adds that the Yankees are probably the early favorite to sign him.
- A Lakeview, Illinois resident is "99.9 percent sure" that he saw Red Sox GM Theo Epstein at a Starbucks in Lincoln Park, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Boston ownership has yet to acknowledge a report that the Cubs have asked for permission to talk to Epstein.
- The Angels continued their front-office purge by not renewing the contract of player development director Abe Flores, a major league source told Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. Flores spent four seasons as the team's player development director after spending the previous six as the team's manager of baseball operations.
- No matter what kind of career pitcher Pedro Strop has, the trade for left-hander Mike Gonzalez at the August deadline was worth it for the Rangers, writes Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com.
Braun: Team More Likely To Sign Reyes Than Fielder
Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun believes that the club is more likely to land Jose Reyes in free agency than re-sign Prince Fielder, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Braun assumes that Fielder will likely command upwards of $150MM this winter whereas Reyes can be had for around $120MM. The four-time All-Star was quick to admit that he's a huge fan of Reyes.
"[Reyes] is dynamic, man — he is one of the most exciting players in the game," the 27-year-old said. "He plays with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion and I enjoy watching him play. He's one of my favorite players to watch. Whenever their games are on, I love watching him, man. He always plays the game the right way. He always plays hard. He runs everything out."
The Brewers can easily make room at shortstop this winter as they hold a $6MM club option on Yuniesky Betancourt's deal with a $2MM buyout.
Quick Hits: Prince, Wilken, Blue Jays
A few late-night items of note as a thriller in the Bronx reaches its climax …
- Baltimore Sports and Life polled 17 analysts about the Orioles' odds of signing impending free agent Prince Fielder. Interestingly, opinions vary wildly about whether the O's should even pursue Prince, not to mention what kind of financial commitment it might take to procure his services.
- Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken will be watching a pair of his notable draft selections when Phillies co-ace Roy Halladay squares off against his Cardinals counterpart, Chris Carpenter, in Friday's NLDS Game 5, writes Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. Wilken tabbed both of those pitchers when he was scouting director in Toronto, and he provides some cool insight into how each hurler was regarded before they became household names.
- Andrew Stoeten of Drunk Jays Fans breaks down Toronto's outfield, replete with sound, humorous analysis and a spelling of "center" that looks odd to those of us in the States. Be sure to check it out.
How The NL Playoff Starters Were Acquired
Earlier this afternoon, we examined how the American League playoff teams assembled their postseason rotations. Now, let's hop over to the National League. Once again, in the event of series sweeps, postponements, or managerial changes of heart, this list could undergo some changes, but these are currently the probable starters for the NLDS.
Brewers
Yovani Gallardo: Selected in the 2004 draft (2nd round).
Zack Greinke: Acquired from the Royals in December 2010.
Shaun Marcum: Acquired from the Blue Jays in December 2010.
Randy Wolf: Signed for three years, $29.75MM in December 2009.
Last winter, the Brewers went all-in when they traded for Marcum and Greinke in the span of two weeks. So far, the decision has paid off, as the two former AL starters are lined up to pitch Games 2 and 3 of the Division Series against the Diamondbacks.
Diamondbacks
Ian Kennedy: Acquired from the Yankees in December 2009.
Daniel Hudson: Acquired from the White Sox in July 2010.
Josh Collmenter: Selected in the 2007 draft (15th round).
Joe Saunders: Acquired from the Angels in July 2010.
The D'Backs were practically in fire sale mode when they moved Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson last summer. Now, just one season later, two pitchers they acquired in those deals could start for the Snakes in the postseason. Interestingly, Arizona is the only NL playoff team whose rotation doesn't include a starter acquired from the Blue Jays.
Phillies
Roy Halladay: Acquired from the Blue Jays and extended for three years, $60MM in December 2009.
Cliff Lee: Signed for five years, $120MM in December 2010.
Cole Hamels: Selected in the 2002 draft (1st round, 17th overall).
Roy Oswalt: Acquired from Astros in July 2010.
The Phillies have made a handful of blockbuster moves over the last two years to ensure they have the starting pitching edge over the rest of the league heading into this postseason. But Hamels and fifth man Vance Worley (3.01 ERA in 131 2/3 IP) prove the Phils are skilled at developing their own starters too.
Cardinals
Kyle Lohse: Originally signed in March 2008. Extended for four years, $41MM in September 2008.
Chris Carpenter: Originally signed in December 2003. Extended for five years, $63MM in December 2006.
Jaime Garcia: Selected in the 2005 draft (22nd round).
Edwin Jackson: Acquired from the Blue Jays in July 2011.
When they traded Colby Rasmus for Jackson, Corey Patterson, and a pair of relievers this July, GM John Mozeliak and the Cardinals were widely panned, but it's hard to argue the move didn't help the team win the Wild Card race. Still, without Adam Wainwright, and unable to optimally line up their rotation, the Cards head into the NLDS as significant underdogs against the Phils' big four.