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Odds & Ends: Matsui, Braves, Bumgarner, Benson

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Sunday night linkage..

Odds & Ends: Anderson, Smoltz, White Sox, Ripken

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Links for Saturday..

Largest Contracts In Team History

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We've already looked at the largest contracts by service time and position, so let's now dig up the largest contracts ever given out by each of the 30 teams. These are in terms of guaranteed money only, but some could end up being even larger because of incentives and option years.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Odds & Ends: Penn, Veras, Beimel, Mientkiewicz

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Links for Friday…

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Strasburg, Collusion, Cain

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On this day ten years ago, Indians' starter Chuck Finley struck out Tom Evans, Royce Clayton, Chad Curtis, and Rafael Palmeiro in the same inning after Curtis reached base on a passed ball. There have been 50 instances in baseball history where a pitcher struck out four men in one inning, but Finley did it three times, the only guy to do it more than once. Scot Shields is the last pitcher to strike out four in one frame, doing it less than a week after Scott Baker accomplished the same feat in June of 2008.

Let's take a look at what's being written around the baseball blogosphere…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Fred Lewis Dealt To Blue Jays

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9:10pm: The trade is official, as per a Blue Jays media release.

8:52pm: The Giants will receive either cash or a player to be named later, tweets Schulman.  He notes that this is also what San Francisco got from Boston in the Kevin Frandsen deal last month.

8:43pm: Schulman tweets that an official announcement is coming soon.  He notes that Lewis has updated his Facebook page to say that he's going to the Jays. 

7:49pm: According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, he is hearing "strong indications from multiple sources" that the Giants are trying to finalize a trade that would send outfielder Fred Lewis to Toronto.  Schulman doesn't know as of yet what San Francisco will get in return.

Andrew Baggarly of The San Jose Mercury News reported on Tuesday that Toronto was "the most likely destination" for Lewis, who had become expendable in San Fran given their glut of outfielders.  Lewis is out of options, and since his minor league rehab stint was up today, the Giants had to either expose him to waivers or work out a trade.  Earlier tonight, Schulman passed on a report from Fresno Grizzlies radio broadcaster Doug Greenwald (via Twitter) that Lewis wasn't in the lineup for the Giants' Triple-A affiliate, leading to speculation that a deal could be forthcoming.

Lewis has a career 4.8 UZR/150 as an outfielder, and that rating jumps to 10.2 as a left fielder (though it plummets well below average in CF and RF, albeit in a much smaller sample size).  Toronto would likely use him primarily as a late-inning defensive replacement in the outfield and a pinch-runner.  Given Lewis' .805 OPS in 838 career plate appearances against right-handed pitching, though, Lewis could also take some playing time away from starting right fielder Jose Bautista, who has just a .225/.316/.364 career line against righties.  

Olney On Cruz, Sanchez, Dye

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Buster Olney's ESPN blog is always a good read; here are a few hot stove nuggets to ponder…

  • Olney reminds us that Nelson Cruz cleared waivers in the spring of '08.  That's always a good time of year to sneak a guy through.  At 26, Cruz had struggled in the Majors in '07 but raked in 187 Triple A plate appearances.  Because he figured things out later in his career, he won't reach arbitration until after this season at age 30.
  • Olney notes that Jonathan Sanchez "seemed to come off the board" as a trade candidate after his July 10th no-hitter last year.  The Giants have Sanchez under team control through 2012.  Matt Cain is under contract through '12, and Tim Lincecum is under team control through '13. 
  • Olney on the Jermaine Dye-racism suggestion: "To suggest that there is a general reluctance, across a 30-team landscape, to sign Dye because he is black is completely absurd."  Talking to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe, Bill Hall asks more nuanced questions.

2011 Contract Issues: San Francisco Giants

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The Giants face one contract option after the season.  Shortstop Edgar Renteria has a $10.5MM club option with a $500K buyout.  Even with a bounceback year, the Giants figure to decline.  The Giants could re-sign Renteria at a lower price, or look at other free agents.

Plenty of the team's patchwork free agent signings will be eligible again: Bengie Molina, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, Todd Wellemeyer, and Guillermo Mota.  The group is earning $12.5MM in 2010. 

Increases to players under contract total about $10MM, for Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Brian Wilson.  Jonathan Sanchez is the key arbitration-eligible player; it'll be his second time.

The Giants increased payroll by almost $14MM this year.  They'd have $8-9MM to play with holding payroll steady, so maybe a smaller increase is in order for 2011.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Baseball Players Looking At Wrong Numbers

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Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News snagged some interesting quotes from Giants catcher Bengie Molina yesterday.  Molina is bitter about the lack of interest he received in free agency:

"If I had trouble finding a job after five of my best years, what am I supposed to expect?  You are supposed to get paid for your numbers. But even if I have another good year, I know I cannot expect anything."

Molina's best offer was one year and $5.5MM from the Mets; he ultimately accepted $1MM less to stay with the Giants.  He was coming off a year in which he posted a .285 OBP and .442 SLG.  That works for a catcher, but it's not much different than what we might expect from Rod Barajas.  I'm sure Molina was focused more on his 20 home runs and 80 RBIs.  For this, we have to blame his agent at SFX.

Jermaine Dye also comes to mind.  His agent, Bob Bry, told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that, "There is compelling evidence that suggests that home runs win games and that the emphasis on defense has reached the level of absurdity when you look at the numbers."  In other words, all 30 teams are wrong about Dye's value, and Bry is right.

Another example: in November of '08, Garret Anderson talked about how he had "a very good season" and that his $11MM option was fair market value.  He was coming off a .293/.325/.433 performance with 15 home runs and 84 RBIs.  Anderson, a Scott Boras client, signed for $2.5MM with the Braves a few months later.  Anderson overestimated his market value by $8.5MM. 

Are these agents failing to value their clients properly?  Are they not explaining how the market has changed in recent years?  Or are they just trying to preserve the players' confidence?

Fred Lewis Decision Coming Soon

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8:16pm: Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter) predicts that Lewis will still be with the Giants this weekend.  Schulman is hearing that there is little or no trade interest in the market for the outfielder.

8:24am: Giants outfielder Fred Lewis will be activated or traded by the weekend, reports Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.  Lewis is in Triple A rehabbing a sore rib cage, but his assignment won't last past Thursday.  Lewis is out of options, so the Giants can't keep him in the minors.

Baggarly notes that the Giants' roster is stocked with six outfielders, implying that a trade is more likely than a call-up.  He says that while the Padres and Athletics have expressed past interest in Lewis, the Blue Jays may be "the most likely destination."  New GM Alex Anthopoulos is familiar with the Giants, already having claimed Brian Bocock and traded for Merkin Valdez in his six months on the job.  Bocock was claimed again by the Phillies.

Lewis, 29, has a .277/.355/.420 career line, with a walk rate over 10%.  He's played all three outfield positions in the Majors, but mostly left field.  Three years ago Baseball America called him "the best all-around athlete in the system," a player with star-level raw skills.  BA questioned his outfield routes, though Lewis' left field defense comes out strong in terms of UZR/150.  Baggarly noted that Lewis has been getting some recent starts in center, so perhaps that's not a lost cause.  Obviously Lewis' bat plays better there if he can hold his own defensively.

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