Uncategorized News & Rumors

Five MLBTR writers give 2012 predictions!  Click here to see postseason and award picks from Tim Dierkes, Ben Nicholson-Smith, Mike Axisa, Mark Polishuk, and Steve Adams.  Make your predictions in the comments and we'll check back here in November.

Longtime manager Tony La Russa will join Major League Baseball as a special advisor, ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports (Twitter link). La Russa's deal, which has yet to be announced, will pay him approximately $2.5MM annually.

La Russa announced his retirement soon after leading the Cardinals to the 2011 World Series championship. The former White Sox, Athletics and Cardinals skipper ranks third all-time in wins as a manager. There were rumblings that the 67-year-old might replace Joe Torre, another former player and manager, as MLB's executive VP for baseball operations. Torre ultimately rejoined MLB after pursuing ownership of the Dodgers.

Is your bracket busted?  Try DraftStreet, where you can put together a college basketball team this week and compete against other users for real money.

Right now DraftStreet has a college basketball freeroll for MLB Trade Rumors readers, meaning you can take a shot at a chunk of the $400 prize pool for free, with no strings attached.  Here's how it works.

The March Madness freeroll begins Friday at 7:15pm eastern time, so you have until then to create your team.  You're given a $100K salary cap, and each player is assigned a price by DraftStreet.  Your roster will cover these positions: 3 forwards, 3 guards, and 2 utility players.  You get points based on how your team performs through Friday's games in points, rebounds, and assists.  The teams with the most points get the prize money.  Below is a screenshot of a sample roster: 

If you're interested, sign up and create a roster prior to Friday's games (7:15pm eastern time).  It's quick, easy, fun, and the MLBTR league gives you a free chance to win some of the $400 prize pool.  If you enjoy the competition you can try other leagues for free and earn credits, or deposit real money.

Joe Torre has rejoined Major League Baseball as its executive VP of baseball operations, MLB announced on Twitter. The longtime player and manager had stepped down from his duties at the league office to join a group bidding for the Dodgers.

Joe Garagiola Jr., Kim Ng, and Peter Woodfork had assumed Torre's responsibilities at MLB while Torre was away. MLB said it would search for a replacement, but never found one. Torre joined MLB as executive VP for baseball operations last February.

At any given moment, there are 150 Major League rotation spots, give or take. Injuries and unconventional alignments lead to fluctuations in the number of spots, but we’re essentially dealing with five per team. Each one of those spots is highly coveted, because starters pitch more innings and generally earn more money, whether through arbitration or free agency. 18 of the pitchers in projected rotations around MLB are at least 35 years of age or will turn 35 at some point in 2012. Here’s the complete list, sorted by age:

• Jake Westbrook (35 in September)
• Ryan Vogelsong (35 in July)
• Bruce Chen (35 in June) 
• Roy Halladay (35 in May)
• Ryan Dempster (35 in May)
• Bronson Arroyo (35)
• Freddy Garcia (36 in October)
• Randy Wolf (36 in August)
• Carl Pavano (36)
• Ted Lilly (36)
• Tim Hudson (turns 37 in July) 
• Chris Carpenter (37 in April)
• Livan Hernandez (37)
• Hiroki Kuroda (37)
• Kevin Millwood (38 in December) 
• R.A. Dickey (38 in October)
• Derek Lowe (39 in June)
• Bartolo Colon (39 in May)

Projected rosters via MLBDepthCharts.com.

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The Phillies are looking for a backup catcher, ESPN.com's Buster Olney tweets. The front office would like to improve upon their current internal options if possible.

Brian Schneider projects to back Carlos Ruiz up, and Erik Kratz and Sebastian Valle are also on Philadelphia's 40-man roster. Ivan Rodriguez and Ramon Castro are the only free agent catchers who spent significant time in the Major Leagues in 2011, so the Phillies may look to complete a trade. Royals GM Dayton Moore is also on the lookout for catching depth this spring.

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Some pre-arbitration eligible players have already signed million dollar extensions, but arbitration eligibility represents the first chance at a seven figure deal for most Major Leaguers. Here’s a look at which players could be arbitration eligible after the 2012 season. Keep in mind that some of these players could sign extensions and that others will spend too much time in the minor leagues to qualify for arbitration after the season.  

I'm assuming the super two cutoff will be less than two years and 146 days of service time (this year's cutoff) given the changes in the new collective bargaining agreement. I've included possible super twos below, adding an asterisk (*) for those with more than a year and 110 days of service but less than a year and 146 days. Here's the position-by-position breakdown:

Catchers

Matt Wieters, Alex Avila, Buster Posey and A.J. Ellis will be eligible for arbitration a year from now. Jonathan Lucroy* figures to qualify and Carlos Santana* could be eligible if the cutoff drops considerably. Backups Francisco Cervelli, John Jaso, Taylor Teagarden and Josh Thole* are also on track for eligibility.

First Basemen

Matt LaPorta, Gaby Sanchez and Ike Davis are on track for eligibility following the 2012 season and Justin Smoak* could join them. Sanchez is currently on track for the biggest arb-1 salary from this group, but that could change in 2012.

Second Basemen

Gordon Beckham, Daniel Murphy and Neil Walker figure to be eligible a year from now and Eric Young Jr.* could also qualify. Walker, a projected super two player, has discussed an extension with the Pirates.

Third Basemen

David Freese is all-but certain to qualify following the 2012 season. Chris Johnson* and Danny Valencia* may be eligible, depending on where the super two cutoff falls.

Shortstops

The shortstop class figures to be relatively deep, with regulars such as Alcides Escobar, Reid Brignac, Ian Desmond and Starlin Castro on track for eligibility. Everth Cabrera and Angel Sanchez also figure to qualify.

Outfielders

Everyday players such as Matt Joyce, Drew Stubbs, Brennan Boesch, Jason Heyward, Austin Jackson and Chris Heisey will qualify after the season. Nolan Reimold, Kyle Blanks, Roger Bernadina, Travis Snider, Gerardo Parra, Jason Bourgeois, Chris Coghlan, Shelley Duncan and Julio Borbon won't necessarily play every day, but they are on track for eligibility nonetheless. Michael Saunders*, Michael Brantley*, Tyler Colvin*, Sam Fuld* and Jordan Schafer* could qualify, depending on the cutoff. If Giancarlo Stanton* qualifies, expect him to be among the best-paid first-time eligible players of the 2012-13 offseason.

Starting Pitchers

Ian Kennedy, Tommy Hanson, Derek Holland, Jonathon Niese, Chris Narveson, Mat Latos, Brett Cecil, Bud Norris, Neftali Feliz, Doug Fister, Jhoulys Chacin, Philip Humber and Mike Leake have rotation spots at this point and project as first-time eligible players next offseason. Josh Outman, Tommy Hunter and Brian Matusz have started in the past and will also qualify. Esmil Rogers* and a trio of young stars — Madison Bumgarner*, Stephen Strasburg* and Daniel Hudson* — could qualify depending on where the cutoff falls.

Relievers

Right-handers Mitchell Boggs, David Hernandez, Bobby Parnell, Rich Thompson, Kevin Jepsen, Ryan Webb, John Axford, Cristhian Martinez and Jeff Samardzija should qualify along with left-handers Tony Sipp, Brian Duensing, Jerry Blevins, Antonio Bastardo, Jonny Venters, Marc Rzepczynski and Ross Detwiler. Don't rule out Drew Storen*, Mark Melancon*, Dan Runzler*, Andrew Cashner*, Alexi Ogando* and Henry Rodriguez*. They could also qualify, depending on the placement of the super two cutoff. Extension candidates Axford and Storen have impressive save totals and would be in line for substantial paydays even on one-year deals.

Extensions

Cameron Maybin, Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata*, Wade Davis and Sergio Santos have signed extensions, though they don’t yet have enough service time to qualify for arbitration. This group would likely have been first-time eligible following the 2012 season.

Teams can delay free agency for top prospects by keeping them in the minor leagues for the start of the season and ensuring they obtain less than a full year of service time (172 days) in 2012. The appropriate timing of the player's debut depends on whether he has a 40-man roster spot.

Prospects such as Shelby Miller and Mike Montgomery who aren't on their teams' 40-man rosters must spend less than 172 days in the Major Leagues this year or they'll be on track for an early arrival on the free agent market (post-2017 vs. post-2018). The 2012 season will last 182 days, so prospects not on their team's 40-man roster can safely be called up after April 17th or so (I'm including a couple of buffer days).

Prospects like Bryce Harper with 40-man roster spots must be optioned to the minors for the beginning of the season and spend at least 20 days on optional assignment. These players won't end up a few days short of a full year of service; they'll either spend the full year in the Major Leagues or end up 20-plus days short. As long as 40-man players such as Harper aren't called up before the end of April, they'll be on track for free agency after 2018.

It's always important to keep in mind that 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.

I recently explained the timing of prospects' debuts in this piece.