Quick Hits: Bailey, Burnett, Twins, Samardzija
Even though most of Alex Rodriguez's 2014 salary will be wiped out by his season-long PED suspension, the controversial slugger's contract is still ranked as the worst in baseball by Grantland's Jonah Keri. Of Keri's list of the 15 worst contracts in the sport, the Dodgers have four, the Yankees, Angels and Braves each have two and the Reds, Rangers, Phillies, Blue Jays and White Sox have one each.
Here are some items from around the baseball world…
- The Reds and Homer Bailey are "still talking" about a multiyear contract, GM Walt Jocketty tells MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. "There has not been a lot of progress, but good conversations anyhow," Jocketty said. Bailey's arbitration hearing is scheduled for February 20 and there is a $2.9MM gap ($11.6MM to $8.7MM) between his demands and the Reds' offer for a 2014 contract. This is Bailey's last season under contract with Cincinnati and the two sides are reportedly far apart on a long-term deal. Sheldon suggests that the Reds will be watching the Indians' case with Justin Masterson, as he and Bailey have posted comparable numbers over the last three years and Masterson is also scheduled to be a free agent next offseason.
- The Pirates offered A.J. Burnett a $12MM contract for 2014, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). This obviously fell short of the $16MM Burnett received from the Phillies earlier today.
- The Twins aren't one of the teams interested in Emilio Bonifacio, 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson reports (via Twitter). Bonifacio cleared release waivers and became a free agent earlier today. The Orioles are known to be one of at least nine teams interested in the speedy utilityman.
- Also from Wolfson, a Twins official said that the club "had extensive talks" about Erisbel Arruebarruena but he was judged to be too expensive. The Cuban shortstop agreed to a deal with the Dodgers today that could be worth as much as $25MM.
- The Cubs can afford to be patient in trading Jeff Samardzija, Fangraphs' Jeff Sullivan argues, as teams may be more willing to meet Chicago's large asking price once the free agent pitching market thins out and teams get more desperate once the season begins.
- Right-hander Josh Roenicke is drawing interest from a "handful of teams" and could be signed soon, a source tells MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). Roenicke posted a 4.35 ERA, 6.5 K/9 and 1.25 K/BB rate in 62 relief innings with the Twins in 2013 before being outrighted off Minnesota's roster in November.
- Also from Cotillo, right-hander Blake Hawksworth has retired. Hawksworth posted a 4.07 ERA and 1.85 K/BB over 124 games (eight as a starter) with the Cardinals and Dodgers from 2009-11 before elbow and shoulder injuries derailed his career. Hawksworth has taken a job with the Boras Corporation, his former agency.
- Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill discussed the club's recent signing of Carlos Marmol with Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.
- Luis Ayala chose to sign a minor league deal with the Nationals since they (as the Expos) were the franchise that originally signed him and he still has many friends in the organization, the veteran reliever tells Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Several teams were linked to Ayala this offseason but the bidding came down to the Nats, Tigers and Phillies.
Derek Jeter To Retire After 2014
Legendary Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter announced today on his Facebook page that he will retire after the 2014 season (hat tip to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, whose colleague Mark Feinsand tweets that agent Casey Close has confirmed the retirement). Jeter, who turns 40 in June, re-signed with the Yankees — the only franchise he's ever played for — earlier in the off-season.
The coming season will be Jeter's 20th MLB campaign (though he saw just 51 plate appearances in his first taste of MLB action at age 21). Taken with the sixth overall pick of the 1992 draft, Jeter performed consistently in his rise through the system, and never looked back upon making the Yankees. Since becoming a full-time big leaguer in 1996, Jeter went 17 straight years with at least 542 trips to the dish. Over that stretch, Jeter posted a composite .313/.382/.448 line with 255 home runs and 348 stolen bases. Needless to say, his standard of consistent excellence has been matched by few others.
That run of good health came to an end last year, which Jeter says is a major reason for his decision today. "Last year was a tough one for me," said Jeter. "As I suffered through a bunch of injuries, I realized that some of the things that always came easily to me and were always fun had started to become a struggle."
Indeed, while things always did seem to come easily to the shortstop, he was perhaps better known for his hard work and leadership. The Yanks' emergence from mediocrity and notable run of success aligns quite clearly with his career: the team qualified for the post-season in all but two of Jeter's seasons (2008 and 2013). Over that span, the team won added five World Series victories to New York's tally. And Jeter was even better in the post-season, posting a lifetime .308/.374/.465 triple-slash in a remarkable 734 career post-season plate appearances.
Along the way, of course, Jeter racked up ample amounts of individual hardware, including 13 All-Star appearances, five Silver Sluggers, the 1996 AL Rookie of the Year Award, and the 2000 World Series MVP. Somewhat surprisingly, particularly given his high profile, he never took home an American League MVP nod.
He was also awarded five Gold Glove awards, somewhat more controversially. Proponents of advanced metrics argue that Jeter has actually been rather a poor defensive shortstop: though he makes few errors, neither does he have much range. (Jeter has been worth -147 Defensive Runs Saved and a -67.8 UZR.)
Whatever one thinks of Jeter as a defender, he has unquestionably put up a Hall of Fame-worthy career. That inevitability was likely sealed when he notched his 3,000th hit, but is also supported by the numbers. Jeter has racked up a total of 71.6 rWAR and 73.8 fWAR to date, which places him at 58th and 45th, respectively, on the all-time list of position players. As Dave Cameron of Fangraphs argues, Jeter falls short of only Cal Ripken in total production among full-time shortstops since Honus Wagner retired in 1917. (Though, to be fair, Jeter is quite close to several other shortstops in both fWAR and rWAR, and falls behind several of them according to the latter metric.)
Those wins did not come cheap, however. Once his 2014 earnings are in the bag, Jeter will have earned over $265MM over his career. For sake of comparison, Chipper Jones — who racked up 85.1 rWAR over 1995-2012 — took down nearly $100MM less in his time in the bigs. And Carlos Beltran, who has been worth 67.5 rWAR since 1998, will reach just under $206MM by the time his new contract expires after 2016.
For the Yankees, Jeter's retirement confirms what had been suspected: the team needs a new shortstop for 2015 and beyond. Though Brendan Ryan will remain under contract, he does not profile as a starter on a team that hopes to win championships. At least one team executive told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that he did not know that Jeter planned to retire (Twitter link), so it is at least conceivable that today's announcement could have some impact on whether New York looks to make any more moves before embarking on the 2014 season.
Roy Oswalt Retires
Veteran right-hander and three-time All-Star Roy Oswalt has decided to retire, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (on Twitter). Though he's retiring from playing the game, it looks as if Oswalt will join the business side of baseball, as Olney also adds that he will begin working with former agent Bob Garber.
That Oswalt, 36, made "only" three All-Star teams is somewhat surprising (to this writer at least), given his run of dominance in the early 2000s. In 2001, Oswalt finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, fifth in the Cy Young vote and 22nd in the MVP vote on the strength of a 2.73 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 141 2/3 innings (unfortunately for Oswalt, that was also Albert Pujols' rookie year).
Over the next 10 seasons with the Astros, Oswalt turned in a 3.24 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. He was flipped to the Phillies in 2010 in exchange for Anthony Gose, J.A. Happ and Jonathan Villar (Gose and Happ have since been traded by Houston — both are Blue Jays — while Villar should be their shortstop in 2014). Oswalt was rock-solid in his two seasons with the Phillies when healthy (2.96 ERA in 221 2/3 innings) and helped to compose one of the most intimidating rotation quartets in recent history alongside Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels.
However, injuries began to pile up quickly for Oswalt, as his already troublesome back worsened and was joined by elbow and hamstring injuries over the next several seasons. Oswalt inked midseason deals with the Rangers and Rockies in 2012 and 2013, respectively, but pitched ineffectively in those hitter-friendly environments and didn't top 60 innings with either club.
Oswalt will retire with a lifetime 163-102 record to go with an outstanding 3.36 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. His 127 ERA+ indicates that even with his struggles in 2012-13, his work, on the whole, was 27 percent better than a league-average starter throughout his career. Though he never took home Cy Young honors, Oswalt had five finishes in the Top 5 and also had a sixth-place finish to his credit as well.
Baseball-Reference pegs Oswalt's career at 49.9 wins above replacement, and Fangraphs' valuation is a near-mirror image at 49.7 WAR. Oswalt earned roughly $97MM in his playing career, according to B-Ref. Looking beyond Major League Baseball, Oswalt twice represented the United States on a global scale, winning a Gold Medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics and also pitching for Team USA in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
MLBTR wishes him well in his new career path and congratulates Oswalt on an excellent Major League career.
Central Links: Stetter, Bonifacio, Ryan, Harden
Former Brewers reliever Mitch Stetter announced on Twitter last night that he has retired from baseball and accepted a coaching job with the Royals. Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish tweets that Stetter will be the Double-A bullpen coach. Stetter, 33, hasn't appeared in the bigs since 2011 after his career was cut short by hip surgery and a back injury. From 2009-11 with the Brew Crew, Stetter posted a 3.46 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9 in 75 1/3 innings. While his command was clearly lacking, the southpaw held opposing lefties to just a .194/.310/.335 slash line in his career. Best of luck in your coaching career, Mitch.
Elsewhere in baseball's Central divisions…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Royals will only be on the hook for about $575K of Emilio Bonifacio's salary if he clears release waivers tomorrow at 2pm ET and becomes a free agent. While a claim is unlikely, a number of teams are interested in Bonifacio, he adds in a second tweet.
- Cotillo tweets that as many as nine teams have interest in Bonifacio. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets that the Orioles are one of those teams, pointing out that Bonifacio has long been a favorite of manager Buck Showalter. Besides that, the Orioles lack a clear starter at Bonifacio's best position — second base. However, Kubatko also tweets that Baltimore isn't interested in him at his $3.5MM salary, so a waiver claim isn't likely.
- Twins GM Terry Ryan, who announced yesterday that he has cancer, is among the game's most respected general managers, writes Phil Rogers of MLB.com. Rogers recalls that Ryan displayed the ultimate selflessness a GM could show back in 2001 when, with the Twins facing contraction, Ryan turned down a chance to run the Blue Jays to stay with his club.
- Right-hander Rich Harden wants to pitch in 2014 but won't sign anywhere until he's further along in his throwing, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. The Twins wouldn't rule out a return for Harden, even though the former ace never pitched for one of Minnesota's affiliates after signing a minor league deal with the club last offseason.
Dan Wheeler, Joel Zumaya To Retire
Relievers Dan Wheeler and Joel Zumaya have officially retired from the game, reports Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com (Twitter links). The pair of 6'3" righties each saw their share of success at the MLB level.
Wheeler, 36, had far the lengthier career of the two. Over 13 big league seasons, Wheeler posted a cumulative 3.98 ERA over 640 2/3 innings, most all of them in relief. He was a sturdy presence in the pen for the Rays and Astros over much of the first decade of the 21st century, and also had stints with the Mets, Red Sox, and Indians. He ended his MLB career with a disappointing run in Cleveland in 2012, and likewise struggled last year with the Royals' Triple-A affiliate.
Zumaya, who just turned 29 in November, showed flashes of excellence in his short career. Over five seasons with the Tigers, the fireballer posted a 3.05 ERA in 209 2/3 innings pitched. (Somewhat oddly, he notched exactly one save in each of those campaigns.) His lifetime rate stats stand at 9.0 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9. Zumaya's best season was his first: in 83 1/3 innings in 2006, he allowed just 1.94 earned runs per nine innings. A series of elbow surgeries led to an untimely end to Zumaya's playing days.
Ryan Spilborghs To Retire
Longtime Rockies outfielder Ryan Spilborghs will retire, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post (via Twitter). The 34-year-old, who will join ROOT Sports as an analyst, wrote about his decision in a blog post.
Spilborghs spent time at all three outfield positions during parts of seven seasons in Colorado, playing an important reserve role in the club's 2007 and 2009 playoff runs. His career line stands at a sturdy .272/.345/.423 in 1,769 trips to the plate. In his best season at the plate, 2008, Spilborghs slashed .313/.407/.468 in 275 plate appearances.
After spending 2012 in the upper minors, Spilborghs headed to Japan last season. He saw 246 plate appearances for the Saitama Seibu Lions, slashing a disappointing .210/.283/.305.
Michael Young To Retire
Seven-time All-Star Michael Young will retire rather than sign with a new team this offseason, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 37-year-old Young had three "good offers," according to Rosenthal, including one from the Dodgers — the last team he played for in his Major League career. Ultimately, Young chose to spend time with his family rather than pursue a 15th Major League season.
Young split the 2013 season between the Phillies and Dodgers after being sent to Philadelphia by the Rangers in an offseason trade last year. That marked the only season of his illustrious career in which he did not don a Texas Rangers uniform. Though his production waned in his final two big league seasons, Young still posted a .249/.335/.395 batting line in 2013, which was slightly above average, as evidenced by his 102 OPS+ and 102 wRC+.
Young will retire with a career batting average of exactly .300 to go along with a .346 on-base percentage and .441 slugging percentage. He mashed 185 homers in his career, scored 1137 runs, drove in 1030 runs and swiped 90 bags in 120 tries. He has more than 3800 career innings at shortstop, second base and third base and also added 884 innings at first base as well. In addition to his versatility, Young brought nearly unparalleled durability to the table. From 2002-13, Young averaged 155 games per season, and though he missed nearly 30 games in 2009, he never landed on the disabled list.
The Rangers got their hands on Young in one of the more lopsided trades of the past 15 years, as they sent Esteban Loaiza to the Blue Jays to land him in a three-player deal. Loaiza went on to post a 4.96 ERA for Toronto over the next two-and-a-half seasons, while Young became a fixture in the Rangers lineup for more than a decade.
In addition to his seven All-Star selections, Young garnered American League MVP votes in five seasons, finishing as high as eighth on two different occasions. Young earned just under $91MM over the course of his career, according to Baseball-Reference. MLBTR wishes him the best of luck and happiness in his post-baseball life.
Lance Berkman To Retire
Lance Berkman has confirmed that his playing career is over and that he will retire, reports MLB.com's Richard Justice (Twitter links). The 37-year-old had been expected to hang up his spikes.
Berkman has seen action in fifteen MLB seasons, posting an outstanding .943 OPS over his 7,814 big league plate appearances. He stands at 47th all-time with a 144 wRC+, nestled amongst a group of Hall-of-Fame caliber players. The switch-hitter swung well from the right side, but was devastating from the left. Over his career, Berkman put up a .304/.420/.575 triple-slash against righties, including 316 of his 366 total home runs.
Berkman ended his career with a disappointing 2013 run with the Rangers. He got on base at a .340 clip, but struggled to a career-low .359 slugging percentage over his 294 plate appearances. Hampered by injuries, including hip and knee issues, Berkman can retire comfortable in the knowledge that he was still an excellent player in his last full season of work. In 2011 with the Cardinals, Berkman was good for a .301/.412/.547 triple-slash with 31 home runs while still playing the outfield on a daily basis.
Berkman did most of his damage, of course, for an Astros team that was among the best in baseball during much of his peak. In the aggregate, Baseball-Reference pegs Berkman's career value at 52.8 WAR, while Fangraphs puts it at 55.8 WAR. The Big Puma earned a total of just over $124MM during his time in the bigs.