Uncategorized News & Rumors

MLBTR is introducing a database that sorts transactions by player, date, team, transaction type, GM, agency and more. Here are some guidelines to the transaction tracker:

Features & Tips

• Hover over the leftmost column for more detailed info on a transaction, such as who a player was traded for and a link to the MLBTR post on the deal.
• You can link to results or share them on Facebook and Twitter by clicking on the “Link Results” button once you complete a search. 
• You can search for transactions between teams or GMs with this database.
• We highly recommend searching for different contracts. For example, if you want to know how many teams handed out two-year extensions worth at least $10MM and no more than $12MM between 2008 and 2010, this is the tool for you.
• Some searches yield hundreds of transactions and they don’t all show up at once. Click “Load More Transactions” at the bottom of the page to ensure you’re seeing complete results.
• Click on the columns to sort according to different categories.

What The Database Can And Cannot Do

• We have made every effort to add as much data as possible, but the database does have limitations.
• We have extensive trade, signing, release and waiver claim data that dates back to 1900 thanks to the help of Sean Forman and Baseball-Reference.com. We don't have complete data for that entire period, though.
• We have GM data from 1980 on, thanks to Baseball America’s fantastic executive database.
• Signings before 2006 do not all have dollar figures attached.
• We have non-tender data from 2007 on.
• Extension data for non-current players is incomplete.
• International signing data is incomplete.
• Agent data is incomplete.

Feedback

• Send questions or corrections to mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Acknowledgements

• Many thanks to Mike Melusky, Cale Cox, Daniel Lowenstein and Tony Bennett. Without their considerable skill and hard work, Tim Dierkes and I would not have come close to completing this database.

Option decisions have been rolling in lately, and with the World Series set to end this week we can expect plenty more.  The deadline is typically three days after the Series.  Mutual options are usually not picked up by both sides; Miguel Olivo, Yorvit Torrealba, Russell Branyan, Adam LaRoche, Orlando Cabrera, Scott Podsednik, Vladimir Guerrero, Erik Bedard, Doug Davis, Jon Garland, Rich Harden, Octavio Dotel, and Trevor Hoffman will hit the market if theirs are declined.  Let's discuss the remaining club and player options:

• Gregg Zaun, Brewers: $2.25MM club option with a $250K buyout.  This is likely to be declined.
• Mark Ellis, Athletics: $6MM club option with a $500K buyout.  This is expected to be exercised.
• Bill Hall, Red Sox: $9.25MM club option with a $500K buyout.  Even after a decent year, this is too much to pick up.
• Omar Infante, Braves: $2.5MM club option with a $250K buyout.  An easy choice to exercise.
• Adam Kennedy, Nationals: $2MM club option with a $500K buyout.  This is unlikely to be picked up. 
• Alex Gonzalez, Braves: $2.5MM club option.  Pretty much a lock to be exercised.
• Jhonny Peralta, Tigers: $7MM club option with a $250K buyout.  This should be declined, but the sides are expected to work out a two-year deal.
• Edgar Renteria, Giants: $10.5MM club option with a $500K buyout.  World Series heroics aside, this is a lock to be declined.  Renteria has considered retirement after the season.
• Jose Reyes, Mets: $11MM club option with a $500K buyout.  The Mets will pick this up if new GM Sandy Alderson fails to work out a multiyear extension with Reyes.
• Adrian Beltre, Red Sox: $10MM player option with a $1MM buyout.  This is a lock to be declined.
• Eric Chavez, Athletics: $12.5MM club option with a $3MM buyout.  Certain to be declined.
• Aramis Ramirez, Cubs: $14.6MM player option.  He's likely to pick up the option after an off-year.
• Jonny Gomes, Reds: $1.75MM club option with a $200K buyout.  Walt Jocketty says he'll probably pick this up; if not Gomes' contract calls for his release (he'd otherwise be arbitration eligible).
• Coco Crisp, Athletics: $5.75MM club option with a $575K buyout.  This is expected to be exercised.
• David Ortiz, Red Sox: $12.5MM club option with no buyout.  Though Ortiz wants multiple years, the Sox are assumed to be considering this.
• Bronson Arroyo, Reds: $13MM club option with a $2MM buyout.  Given Arroyo's 436 innings over the last two years, it's assumed this option jumped up to $13MM.  The Reds would like to do a multiyear deal at a reduced salary, but Jocketty has committed to picking up Arroyo's option if not.  This will limit the team's financial flexibility.
• Jeff Francis, Rockies: $7MM club option.  The Rockies will decline, but interest is mutual on a new deal.
• Aaron Harang, Reds: $12.75MM club option with a $2MM buyout.  This is a lock to be declined.
• Kevin Gregg, Blue Jays: $4.5MM club option for '11, $8.75MM for '11-'12, $750K buyout.  The Jays will probably exercise one of the two.
• Kyle Farnsworth, Braves: $5.25MM club option with a $500K buyout.  The Braves figure to decline this.
• Dan Wheeler, Rays: $4MM club option with a $1MM buyout.  The Rays will probably decline this option, despite bullpen uncertainty.
• Mark Hendrickson, Orioles: $1.2MM club option with a $200K buyout.  This is expected to be declined, but the O's could try to re-sign Hendrickson for less.

Would you like to join the MLB Trade Rumors team? We are considering adding a writer. The position pays on an hourly basis. The criteria:

• Knowledge of all 30 baseball teams, no discernible bias. Knowledge of hot stove concepts like arbitration and free agent compensation.
• Writing experience is necessary and online writing experience is preferred.
• Attention to detail – absolutely no spelling errors, especially for player and journalist names.  Ability to follow the MLBTR style and tone.
• Ability to analyze articles and craft intelligent, well-written posts summing up the news in a few paragraphs.  We need the best of both worlds: quick writing with thoughtful analysis.  You must be able to add value to breaking news with your own insight, numbers, or links to other relevant articles.
• Ability to use an RSS feed reader such as Google Reader.  Ability to use Twitter.  Both of these are crucial.
• Strong evening availability – typically 5-10pm CDT shifts.  
• If you're interested, email mlbtrhelp@gmail.com and take a couple paragraphs to explain how you stand out. Hundreds will likely apply, so we cannot respond to most applications.

20 players signed free agent deals worth at least $10MM last offseason.  How'd those work out?

• Matt Holliday, Cardinals: seven years, $120MM.  Holliday lived up to expectations in year one.
• John Lackey, Red Sox: five years, $82.5MM.  The Red Sox would probably undo this contract given the chance.  Lackey shook off the health problems of 2008-09 by tossing 215 innings, but his performance dropped off in most aspects.
• Jason Bay, Mets: four years, $66MM.  Bay's numbers fell off a cliff, and then a concussion ended his season on July 25th.  The Mets would undo this contract if they could.
• Chone Figgins, Mariners: four years, $36MM.  Figgins' walk rate and batting average fell as the Ms moved him from leading off and playing third base to batting second and playing second base.  There was also a July dugout altercation with manager Don Wakamatsu.  The Mariners would undo this deal.
• Aroldis Chapman, Reds: six years, $30.25MM.  No regrets here, as Chapman dominated in 13.3 relief innings for the Reds and electrified fans with the fastest pitch ever recorded.  Other teams are wishing they'd outbid the Reds.
• Randy Wolf, Brewers: three years, $29.75MM.  Like Lackey, Wolf provided innings but at reduced effectiveness.  I'm guessing the Brewers are disappointed.
• Placido Polanco, Phillies: three years, $18MM.  I imagine the Phillies are satisifed with this deal, as Polanco hit .298/.339/.386 while playing solid defense at third base.
• Joel Pineiro, Angels: two years, $16MM.  He missed two months with an oblique strain, but the Halos are probably still happy given his 3.84 ERA in 152.3 innings.
• Mike Cameron, Red Sox: two years, $15.5MM.  He played in only 48 games due to an abdominal strain that resulted in August surgery.  The team probably regrets the contract.
• Marlon Byrd, Cubs: three years, $15MM.  Byrd hit .293/.346/.429 in his Cubs debut and played capable defense; the Cubs are likely fine with his contract.
• Brandon Lyon, Astros: three years, $15MM.  He tossed 78 innings of 3.12 ball, picking up 20 saves when Matt Lindstrom got hurt.  The contract was panned at the time, but the Astros got what they hoped for.
• Jason Marquis, Nationals: two years, $15MM.  I thought Marquis would be mediocre, not hurt.  A surprising elbow injury limited him to 13 starts and has the Nats regretting the deal.
• Jose Valverde, Tigers: two years, $14MM.  He had some elbow woes in September but generally met the team's expectations.
• Marco Scutaro, Red Sox: two years, $12.5MM.  He stayed healthy and did a decent job on offense and defense, so the Sox are probably OK with the contract.
• Mark DeRosa, Giants: two years, $12MM.  Wrist surgery limited him to 26 games, so the Giants would prefer a mulligan.
• Mike Gonzalez, Orioles: two years, $12MM.  The lefty finished strong, but shoulder pain limited Gonzalez to 24.6 innings.  The Orioles would like to have this one back.
• Andy Pettitte, Yankees: one year, $11.75MM.  A groin injury limited Pettitte to 129 innings, but a 3.28 ERA made it worthwhile.
• Fernando Rodney, Angels: two years, $11MM.  It was an unimpressive campaign, though not an unpredictable one given his '09 stats.  The Angels would probably undo this deal.
• Adrian Beltre, Red Sox: one year, $10MM.  Beltre had an MVP-type season and was a huge bargain for Boston.
• Ben Sheets, Athletics: one year, $10MM.  Elbow problems limited Sheets to 119.3 innings of 4.53 ball.  The deal was regrettable.
• There you have it: over half a billion bucks and 57 contract years given to the 20 most expensive free agents last winter.  By my estimate, teams regret half of these deals.

Baseball fans obsess about free agent and trade rumors when the offseason approaches, trying to get the first word on who their favorite team might acquire.  MLBTradeRumors.com is the #1 destination on the Internet to find this information.

Though certainly not limited to this demographic, the most common MLBTR reader is an 18-34 year-old male.  If you're looking to reach this crowd, MLB Trade Rumors is the perfect place to advertise.  Since there is no ad agency acting as a middle man, MLBTR is able to keep rates low compared to other major sports websites.  If you are interested in advertising and would like to learn more, please contact mlbtradvertising@gmail.com.

With the 2010-2011 offseason drawing closer, we're going to start hearing more and more about how much each team is able to spend on their 2011 roster. Some are obviously able to spend more than others, but every team will be impacted by how much money they already have tied up in existing contracts.  

Below is a list of the guaranteed money that each team is responsible for next season. Players in their pre-arbitration or arbitration-eligible seasons do not count since they can simply be non-tendered. Buyouts are included, however, as is money owed to former players (like the Dodgers and Juan Pierre) as well as money received from other teams for current players (like the Cubs and Carlos Silva).

Obviously this data is unofficial, but it's a fine ballpark number to reference.

• Angels, $93.667MM: Torii Hunter, Scott Kazmir, and Dan Haren are the big obligations here.
• Astros, $41.25MM: Almost half belongs to Carlos Lee.
• Athletics, $11.48MM: Eric Chavez's $3MM buyout is the biggest commitment.
• Blue Jays, $43.243MM: Lots and lots of Vernon Wells here.
• Braves, $61.867MM: Derek Lowe, Chipper Jones, and Tim Hudson are the biggest obligations.
• Brewers, $32.371MM: Mostly Randy Wolf.
• Cardinals, $81.089MM: Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Chris Carpenter, and Kyle Lohse make up most of this.
• Cubs, $87.925MM: This will go up if/when Aramis Ramirez exercises his $14.6MM player option.
• Diamondbacks, $19.991MM: Chris Young and Mark Reynolds make up more than half of this.
• Dodgers, $61.833MM: This includes Ted Lilly's new deal.
• Giants, $76.933MM: A big chunk of this is going to Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.
• Indians, $27.455MM: It's all for Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, and Fausto Carmona.
• Mariners, $69.596MM: Ichiro Suzuki is the big hit.
• Marlins, $19.75MM: Almost entirely Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson.
• Mets, $108.763MM: Both Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran are over $20MM.
• Nationals, $29.150MM: Ryan Zimmerman and Jason Marquis are the big earners.
• Orioles, $28.7MM: Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis make up the majority of this.
• Padres, $1.1MM: Just amazing. All of that money is tied up in buyouts for Jon Garland and Yorvit Torrealba, so they technically have no one under contract for next season.
• Phillies, $143.728MM: They owe six players eight-figure salaries next season.
• Pirates, $16.75MM: Ryan Doumit and Paul Maholm are the big commitments.
• Rangers, $32.1MM: Just about half goes to Michael Young.
• Rays, $17.674MM: Ben Zobrist and James Shields make up basically half of this.
• Reds, $42.733MM: Francisco Cordero, Brandon Phillips, and Scott Rolen are making the big bucks.
• Red Sox, $100.506MM: John Lackey, J.D. Drew, and Josh Beckett are almost half of this.
• Rockies, $50.841: Lots of Aaron Cook and Todd Helton in here.
• Royals, $45.53MM: Zack Greinke and Gil Meche will get most of this.
• Tigers, $61.025MM: This is less than half of their 2010 commitments.
• Twins, $72.35MM: Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan, and Michael Cuddyer account for almost all of that.
• White Sox, $75.425MM: Most of this goes to Jake Peavy, Alexis Rios, and Mark Buehrle. 
• Yankees, $144.612MM: Just wait until they re-sign Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. 

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the information used in this post.

If you'd like to filter MLBTR's information by team or limit it to transactions only, we've got you covered.

In the navigation bar, check out the Feeds By Team dropdown.  Clicking on the name of a team returns all the posts that reference that club.  For example, this page displays only posts with Braves-related rumors.  The newest will always be on top. 

Next to the word "Braves" you'll see an RSS button and a Twitter button.  The RSS button leads here, to the URL you'd put into your RSS reader to receive only our Braves rumors.  The Twitter button takes you to @mlbtrbraves, which shows all posts involving the team.  The MLBTR team Twitter pages are also a place to quickly receive info from team press releases, even if that info is not used on the main site.

If you'd prefer to monitor only actual transactions, we've got several options.  Our Transactions page shows only posts marked as transactions, such as signings, trades, DFAs, and releases.  You can also get this same info on Twitter and RSS.

An explanation of the many ways to enjoy MLB Trade Rumors:

• If the main site doesn't load perfectly on your cell phone, try the more mobile-friendly mlbtraderumors.mobi.  It's a simple page that shows you just the headlines and lets you click through to what you want to read.
• If you want only the hard news in the form of transactions, our transactions page is the ticket.  You can also get only the transactions via Twitter or RSS. 
• To return to the main page at any time, just click on the title or the Home button on the navigation bar below the title. 
• The navigation bar will cover many of your needs.  Use the About dropdown to learn about this site or any of its writers. 
• The Contact button takes you to a page where you can write an email message to the MLBTR writers.  If you have a link to a rumor we've missed, please send it in through the Contact page!  Also use the Contact page to inquire about advertising on MLBTR.
• The Archives dropdown shows you 15 months worth.  If you need to go back further, click on Site Map at the very bottom of the page.  Site Map also lists out every MLBTR post category, including players, teams, and features.
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• The Forums button takes you here, to a message board community of MLBTR readers with over 5,500 members.  You can discuss any baseball-related topic on the Forums, and start your own thread too.
• Feeds By Team is a very useful dropdown.  Hover over it to see all 30 teams.  Click on the team name to bring up a page of every post containing information about that team, with the latest on top.  These are the same pages you'll find if you go to the Rumors By Team section on the sidebar and select A's Rumors, Angels Rumors, etc.  Also under the Feeds By Team dropdown, you'll find RSS and Twitter buttons.  Those links allow you to follow a single team's rumors via RSS or Twitter.  Did you know we have a separate Twitter account for each of the 30 teams?  For example you can follow @mlbtrtigers, where you would get the latest Tigers updates.
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• On to the sidebar.  It begins with a list of our Top Stories, which our writers update any time major hard news occurs.  Go here for a quick update on the most important stories.  Below that is the site's Search Box, where you can type in any player's name and get the latest on him. 
• MLBTR Features has all kinds of goodies, including our free agent lists, 2011 draft order, list of Scott Boras clients, 2009-10 Elias Rankings and GM-related stuff.  Many of the MLBTR Features are constantly updated by our writers, so be assured that our free agent lists are always fresh.  The Elias Rankings have been reverse-engineered for MLBTR by Eddie Bajek, and you won't find that info anywhere else. 
• Below Features you've got headlines for all the Recent Posts, in case you'd rather not scroll to see all the headlines.  Then there's a box for our Mailing List, where you can sign up to receive a daily email containing MLBTR's posts.  Use this option if you don't need the news as soon as possible.
• Next we have Featured Posts, where you'll find original work from MLBTR writers we consider noteworthy.  For example, read about how teams go about making trades.

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:

• MLBTR Chats – Come by every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the major leagues.
• Baseball Blogs Weigh In – Every Friday morning, Mike Axisa directs you to some of the best writing on baseball blogs around the web. Whether it's opinion, stats or something else entirely, you can connect to the best of the blogosphere once a week on MLBTR. If you want to send Mike a post of yours, reach him at: mike@riveraveblues.com.
• Week In Review – It's amazing how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, we summarize the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
• MLBTR Originals – We gather all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.

Thanks to the average fastball velocity data available at FanGraphs, we can make all kinds of fun lists.  Today we'll compile the hardest-throwing free agent relievers (minimum 20 innings in 2010).

1.  Kyle Farnsworth – 94.9
2.  Jesse Crain – 94.8
3.  Kerry Wood – 94.4
4.  J.J. Putz – 94.0
5.  Jose Contreras – 94.0
6.  Joaquin Benoit – 94.0
7.  Guillermo Mota – 93.9
8.  Frank Francisco – 93.4
9.  Rafael Soriano – 92.9
10.  Jason Frasor – 92.8

Bobby Jenks gets an honorable mention, as he'll top the list at 95.0 if he's non-tendered.  The White Sox had a ridiculously hard-throwing bullpen this year; Matt Thornton is at 96.1 but we assume his option will be picked up.  Also of note: the Cardinals' Mike MacDougal (94.7) just missed our innings cutoff.