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Burrell Enters Contract Year

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All sorts of players are entering contract years, and it’s become a popular Spring Training topic.  Pat Burrell mentioned over a month ago that he’d love to re-sign with the Phillies.  Todd Zolecki chronicles Burrell’s trials and tribulations over nine years playing for the Phils.  He’s set to earn $14MM this year, finishing up the extension Ed Wade engineered.

Other major power threats in Burrell’s free agent class: Mark Teixeira, Adam Dunn, and perhaps Manny Ramirez.  Dunn, by the way, hasn’t had any extension talks with the Reds.

Odds and Ends: Kelly Johnson, Nathan, Crede

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Time for some early Monday odds and ends.

  • Remember how White Sox GM Ron Schueler embarrassed Cubs GM Ed Lynch in 1998 by acquiring Jon Garland for Matt Karchner?  Rany Jazayerli sees a parallel to that heist with the Royals’ acquisition of Daniel Cortes as part of the July ’06 Mike MacDougal trade.
  • Mike Berardino’s blog continues to entertain; this time with a Dan Miceli story.  Ah, knife fights with siblings.  Who among us can say they haven’t had one or two?
  • Buster Olney learned from Braves GM Frank Wren that Kelly Johnson has been the team’s most asked-for player in trade talks this winter.
  • The look on Kyle Kendrick’s face is priceless.
  • Extension talks with the Twins and Joe Nathan have gone dormant.  Nathan still thinks the gap can be bridged but wants it done before the season begins.
  • Andy Marte and Shin-Soo Choo are both out of options; when Choo comes back from elbow surgery a month into the season one of them could be traded.
  • Henry Schulman says the White Sox may accept prospects from the Giants for Joe Crede.
  • Derek Lowe is entering his walk year, and he hasn’t had any extension talks with the Dodgers yet.

Odds and Ends: Perez, Jones, Howard, Burnett

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Let’s round up today’s linkage.

  • No more long-term discussions with Oliver Perez and the Mets.
  • Andruw Jones already wants to talk extension with the Dodgers.
  • The Cardinals are not likely to make anymore acquisitions.  In my view the team has question marks in right field, the middle infield, and the rotation.  Here’s a look at their MLB.com depth chart.  By the way, could Ryan Franklin be a league average starter?  They could try it if the current options don’t pan out.
  • Jim Salisbury thinks the Ryan Howard contract situation is a nonstory.  I think this is partially because (and I hope this doesn’t sound condescending) most fans do not understand the arbitration process.  Anyway Salisbury’s source says the Phillies would match Chase Utley’s seven-year, $85MM deal and might approach $100MM.  He says Howard may want "significantly more."
  • Ivan Rodriguez would like to play beyond the 2008 season and retire a Tiger.  If the Tigers can’t find a taker for Brandon Inge this year, he could be their starting catcher in ’09.
  • Carl Pavano doesn’t seem too popular in the Yankees’ clubhouse.
  • J.P. Ricciardi does not plan to do an extension during the season with A.J. Burnett.  I think Burnett will stay healthy enough to top the two years, $24MM he could get if he does not opt out.

Rumor Royalty: Todd Zolecki (Phillies)

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Todd Zolecki is our Rumor Royalty recipient for the Phillies.  Todd covers the team for the Philadelphia Inquirer and also keeps a blog, the soon-to-be-renamed Zo Zone.

Todd has kindly agreed to answer a handful of reader questions for the series.  Please leave your Phillies hot stove queries in the comments and I’ll choose the best three or four. 

Odds and Ends: Helms, Bako, Crisp

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I am going to toss today’s non-Santana odds and ends into this post.

  • Paul Hagen runs through some possibilities for the likely-to-be-traded Wes Helms: Marlins, Rays, Twins, Giants, and A’s.  Any teams you’d like to add to his speculation?
  • The Pirates have moved on from Johnny Estrada to Paul Bako.  He’d battle to back up Ronny Paulino.
  • OK this is Santana-related.  Gordon Edes says the Red Sox will listen to offers for Coco Crisp, but are fine with keeping him around as perhaps the game’s best fourth outfielder.  See any good fits for Crisp?

Stark: Howard Not Likely To Accept Deal Similar To Pujols

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In a recent blog post, Jayson Stark notes that everybody should be paying close attention to the Ryan Howard arbitration case and speculates that Howard and the Phillies are much farther apart that the $3MM difference in their arbitration numbers. In fact, the distance between the two sides can be measured as the difference between Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez.

Stark says:

The Phillies renewed Howard at $900,000 last year–precisely the same amount Pujols got from the Cardinals the year before he was eligible for arbitration. Next up, the Phillies will no doubt offer Howard a long-term deal that mirrors the seven-year, $100 million contract Pujols signed with the Cardinals in his first year of arbitration eligibility.

That might sound reasonable from afar. But there is no chance –zero–that the reaction to that offer…is going to sound anything like: Where do we sign?

A-Rod is more what this particular family has in mind.

The $7MM arbitration figure offered by the Phillies is the same amount Pujols made in the first year of his contract extension (his first arbitration-eligible season). The biggest argument against the Pujols comparison is that the Cardinals signed their young record-breaking slugger to a 7-year, $100MM contract in 2004, and there has been an explosion in baseball revenue in the last four years. The Phillies would argue that Howard’s numbers, while historic, are not equal to what Pujols accomplished in his first three seasons. The Phillies appear to be trying to balance performance against inflation.

Stark does not go so far as to say that Howard is seeking $250MM, but does speculate that it would take seven years and at least $150MM. If Stark is right, and the two sides cannot work out an agreement prior to the arbitration hearing, this could get ugly.

By Cork Gaines

Odds and Ends: Closers, Benson, Reed Johnson

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Some random links for the day…

  • I have created a Fantasy Baseball Closers page at RotoAuthority.  With the help of readers it will be constantly updated with current closers and the pecking order of each team.
  • Kris Benson will throw for teams again, probably a week from now.  The Phillies will again be in attendance.  Benson may only get a minor league deal this time around.  I remember when he set the standard with his three-year, $21MM deal.  Also, the Phils could look to move Wes Helms or Greg Dobbs now that they’ve signed Pedro Feliz.
  • The Red Sox had their eye on Reed Johnson, perhaps thinking he would be non-tendered.  He wasn’t, and Joe McDonald says Bobby Kielty and Eric Hinske will probably sign elsewhere as well.  That leaves Brandon Moss for the bench job, unless the Sox sign Tony Clark, Sean Casey, or Brad Wilkerson.

Pedro Feliz Signs With Phillies

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UPDATE, 1-28-08 at 8:47pm: Feliz gets a guaranteed $8.5MM over two years.  With a third year option and incentives, the deal could reach $15MM over three.  Feliz left the Giants with some bad blood, turning down what may have been a better offer.  We all know Feliz has his flaws, but he is what he is.  I agree that the Phils improved themselves here, and I’m not sure if I saw a better alternative.

FROM 1-28-08 at 3:06pm:

According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Phillies have signed third baseman Pedro Feliz to a two-year deal (pending a physical).

Feliz, 33 in April, has a career line of .252/.288/.433.  The average NL third baseman hit .280/.348/.456 in ’07, so Feliz is definitely subpar offensively.  On the flip side, the Fielding Bible’s panel of experts ranked him the best defensive third baseman in baseball for 2007.  Sum it up and you have a player worth roughly three wins above replacement, an improvement over what the Phillies had.  Kyle Kendrick may be most appreciative of Feliz’s defense, as he is the staff’s lead groundballer.

Feliz was a Type B free agent, so the Giants get a sandwich pick for their loss.

Ryan Howard and Arbitration Comparables

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ESPN’s Keith Law has some good info up on his personal blog. I have always wondered about this stuff.  In the post, Law discusses how little sense it makes for the Phillies to pay Ryan Howard more than his service time calls for.  But also in the comments Law explains which players Howard’s agent can compare him to for an arbitration hearing. 

Law says:

For comparison purposes, a player may be compared to players in the same “service class” in the current year or in prior years, and third- and fourth-time eligibles may be compared to free agents who have signed in the current year or in prior years. Single-year salaries are more powerful comparisons than multi-year deals, since the individual salaries within a multi-year deal may be skewed due to bonuses, backloading, or other factors.

Law notes that Howard’s comp could be Miguel Cabrera, who made $7.4MM last year.  Howard logically deserves more than that based on a stat comparison, making the Phillies’ $7MM submission seem low.

Odds and Ends: Howard, Aardsma, Odalis

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Here we go, another random collection of links.

  • The Red Sox inked a couple of former closers to minor league deals: Dan Kolb and Dan Miceli.  No need to run out and pick them up for your fantasy team.  I think Papelbon is secure.
  • Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox are hunting for a lefty bench bat.  Tony Clark emailed him to say he’d love a return to Boston, but Cafardo says he’s not on the top of the list.  Clark hit .207/.265/.291 for the ’02 Sox.
  • A few comments from Pat Gillick on the Ryan Howard situation.  He says the Phillies are "open to anything."  Gillick also claimed arbitration hearings really aren’t all that contentious.  I guess that could be true, I’ve never been in the room for one.
  • The official acquisition of Octavio Dotel meant the White Sox DFA’d David Aardsma.  Aardsma, 26, has whiffed about a batter per inning over his last two seasons.  He has to have a little bit of trade value.
  • Impacto Deportivo says the Mets will meet with Odalis Perez.  Two left-handed O. Perez’s might confuse opponents, giving the Mets an advantage.  Really though it’s a good idea for Omar to stockpile some arms even if Odalis doesn’t have much left.  One thing’s for sure, he won’t be earning $7.75MM again.  (Hat tip to MetsBlog).
  • Looking for an MLBTR reader forum?  I offer you our Facebook discussion board.
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