Uncategorized News & Rumors

Items out of the AL and NL Central divisions..

• Jed Hoyer of the Cubs, Doug Melvin of the Brewers and Jeff Luhnow of the Astros figure to be among the busiest general managers in baseball as the trade deadline approaches, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) writes.
• Twins general manager Terry Ryan has changed his team's draft philosophies because of Target Field, writes Spencer Fordin of MLB.com.  Minnesota used to look at left-handed pitchers and hitters, but he said that the team's new outdoor facility favors right-handed hitters and outfielders who can cover a lot of ground.
• Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN Radio (via Twitter) supports the Twins' new contract for Ryan Doumit, saying that the club has problems but doesn't mind a $7MM deal for a catcher with pop.

An MLBTR reader now has a shot at $200,000 in cash prizes!  On Wednesday, we had a freeroll with DraftStreet.com where the winner received a free spot in Friday's $109 qualifier league.  Congrats to "thatteamfromcle," who took home first place and now has a shot to win a seat in the Draftstreet Baseball Championship Main event.  He lived up to his username by taking Indians players such as Justin Masterson and Lonnie Chisenhall.

If you missed out, you can still enter Friday's qualifier.  After Friday's qualifier there are only 15 spots left for the main event, which will award $200,000 in cash prizes.  Get on to DraftStreet, start playing, and claim one of those final 15 spots!  DraftStreet is offering MLBTR readers an additional $350 freeroll for Friday night to get your practice in.  Click here to join!

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In all likelihood, the wait is over. Teams can now call prospects up to the MLB level with the expectation that the players will not obtain super two status three winters from now. While there’s no way of predicting where the super two cutoff will fall in 2014, recent history suggests it’s now safe for teams to promote their best young prospects.

If a player gets called up tomorrow and never returns to the minor leagues, he’ll have two years and 110 days of service following the 2014 season (110 days remain in the 2012 championship season). Chances are that won’t be enough to qualify for super two status; the cutoff has been at least two years and 122 days in each of the past six seasons. Next winter, when baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement takes effect, the cutoff is expected to sit in familiar territory: two years and 134 days.

Heavily-hyped prospects such as Matt Wieters, Giancarlo Stanton and Stephen Strasburg were all called up around this time in recent years, and service time appeared to be a factor in each case. Now Shelby Miller, Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs, Danny Hultzen, Mike Montgomery, Manny Banuelos, Brett Jackson, James Paxton and Matt Harvey are among the prospects who could safely be called up to MLB. Even if one of these players were to debut tomorrow, he wouldn't be on track for super two status. Prospects who already have MLB service time, such as Anthony Rizzo and Jacob Turner, are on different timelines, as I detailed this spring.

Players who qualify for super two status go to arbitration four times, instead of the usual three. In many cases, this means the player earns millions more than he otherwise would have.

Service time is just one element of a team's decision-making process. Plus, a substantial proportion of top prospects get optioned to the minor leagues early in their careers. The player's readiness and the team's needs generally trump service time considerations, but there's no denying they're a factor.

3:16pm: Winker obtained a $1MM bonus, Jim Callis of Baseball America reports (on Twitter).

1:57pm: The Reds signed supplementary first round draft pick Jesse Winker, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports (on Twitter). The Reds confirmed the deal, announcing the signings of 11th rounder Nolan Becker and 25th rounder Sean Lucas (Twitter link).

The Reds selected Winker, a high school outfielder, with the 49th overall selection as compensation for losing free agent catcher Ramon Hernandez. MLB recommends a bonus of $1.025MM for the 49th overall selection, according to Baseball America.

As a fan, free agent compensation draft picks can feel like an extra slap in the face from Major League Baseball.

"You're losing one of your key players. But here, take a guy who can't help you for three or four years, and probably won't help you at all." The just-concluded draft included Mike Wacha to the Cardinals for losing Albert Pujols, Clint Coulter to the Brewers for losing Prince Fielder, and Brian Johnson to the Red Sox for losing Jonathan Papelbon. Cold comfort, at least for now.

But the free agent compensation draft pick can be more than just a consolation prize taken home from a game show you didn't win. At its best, those picks can turn into important contributors. The Mets drafted David Wright, for instance, as a compensation pick for losing Mike Hampton via free agency, a loss they'd gladly experience again.

Usually, it works the other way around. In December 1983, Darrell Evans signed with the Detroit Tigers, after eight productive seasons with the San Francisco Giants. His contribution to San Francisco had been immense — consistent power and defense at third base. He was worth 19.8 wins above replacement (WAR) during his time with the Giants.

When he signed with Detroit, San Francisco got the 24th pick in the 1984 draft, (under a much different compensation system) and selected Terry Mulholland. While Mulholland only pitched in fits and starts from the time he debuted in 1986, he got packaged with third baseman Charlie Hayes and pitcher Dennis Cook in a deal that netted the Giants Steve Bedrosian, their closer in the pennant-winning season of 1989. Mulholland, alas, was worth -0.6 WAR to the Giants over three seasons, so the Evans-Mullholland duo checks in at just 19.2 WAR, total.

For my money, the baseball universe is best when a player contributes for a team, then leaves a compensation pick that also turns into a key contributor. It feels like the departing free agent has planted a tree. Let's take a look at the finest twofers baseball teams have received from this rule.

Read more

If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:

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SUNDAY: Clubs will actually be allowed to spend up to $3.2MM, not the announced $2.9MM, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.  According to the CBA, six bonuses up to $50K will not count against the international pool.  If teams push the rule to the limit, they'll get $2.9MM, plus $300K.

SATURDAY, 12:26pm: There will be no international draft for 2013, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). Certain conditions were not met by yesterday's deadline, so the goal is to have a draft in place for 2014.

The new collective bargaining agreement implemented a spending pool for both the draft and international free agent markets. Clubs will be allotted $2.9MM for international players starting July 2nd of this year before shifting to a sliding scale based on winning percentage in the future, though a draft has always seemed to be the long-term goal.

Back in December, union head Michael Weiner said the owners are in favor of international draft "right now."