Uncategorized News & Rumors

Free agent deals this offseason have totaled about $400MM so far, according to ESPN's free agent tracker.  The offseason is young – by our count, almost 200 notable free agents remain unsigned.  Before the signings pick up again, let's discuss the best and worst so far.

Worst Signings

• Placido Polanco, Phillies – three years, $18MM.  Where was the demand for a 34-year-old second baseman coming off a .727 OPS?  What other club would've offered even one or two years at $5MM per?
• Brandon Lyon, Astros – three years, $15MM.  Lyon's not a bad pitcher, but this commitment is excessive.  He's not a high strikeout guy, and his '09 control was a career-worst.
• Fernando Rodney, Angels – two years, $11MM.  What would Rodney have gotten without the 37 saves?  I have a reliever, 33 in March, who posted a 4.40 ERA, 7.3 K/9, and 4.9 BB/9.  Can I find a one-year, $2MM offer?
• John Grabow, Cubs – two years, $7.5MM.  The Cubs are tight on payroll, but were quick to commit an above-market contract to a lefty reliever with a 5.0 BB/9 in '09.
• Jason Kendall, Royals, Ivan Rodriguez, Nationals – two years, $6MM.  Kendall is 35, Pudge is 38, and neither topped a .700 OPS in '09.  Gregg Zaun had already signed a reasonable one-year, $2.15MM deal.
• Alex Cora, Mets – one year, $2MM.  Why did his salary hold steady despite a lousy '09?  This contract isn't a franchise-killer, but comparable players could've been had at less than a million bucks.

Best Signings

• Mike Cameron, Red Sox – two years, $15.5MM.  Cameron is getting up there (37 in January), but he seems perenially undervalued as a solid defender with pop.
• Marco Scutaro, Red Sox – two years, $12.5MM.  I saw Scutaro getting three years and $18MM, so this strikes me as a reasonable deal for the best available free agent shortstop.
• Nick Johnson, Yankees – one year, $5.75MM.  Johnson's injury history is acknowledged by the one-year deal.  The Yanks were able to add the best on-base threat on the free agent market for less than $6MM.
• Gregg Zaun, Brewers - one year, $2.15MM.  Worse catchers received two years and $3MM salaries.
• Troy Glaus, Braves – one year, $2MM.  I don't agree with trading Javier Vazquez to free up cash for Glaus and others, but in a vacuum I like the signing.  The risk isn't much; maybe he can supply 25 homers and a solid OBP from first base.
• Matt Capps, Nationals – one year, $3.5MM, J.J. Putz, White Sox – one year, $3MM, Ryota Igarashi, Mets – two years, $3MM, Kelvim Escobar, Mets – one year, $1.125MM.  These are the types of relief deals I respect – one-year commitments, or tiny salaries in Igarashi's case.  Relievers are so volatile, any of these guys could easily outpitch Rodney, Grabow, and Lyon.

The MLBTR Forums are hopping, with over 1,800 users signed up and engaging in baseball discussions and debates.  We've got areas for trade rumors, free agent talk, the draft, fantasy baseball, general baseball, and each of the 30 teams.  Sign up today!

Last week we conducted a survey asking readers to suggest ways to improve MLB Trade Rumors.  After sifting through hundreds of interesting submissions, here are a few thoughts:

• MLBTR does not have links open in new windows automatically.  Currently I prefer to let the user decide – just right-click and open in a new tab or window if you please.
• Auto-linking full player names to a stat website like Baseball-Reference would be helpful.  We're working on it.
• A possible iPhone application – I've gathered ideas on what it would do, and will probably start having this built.
• RSS feeds by team – this wasn't possible when I looked into it a year or so ago, but I will see what can be done.
• Email and/or text message alerts – I like the idea, and will look into both.
• The commenting system – last week we switched over to TypePad Connect after noticing it allows threaded comments, editing, and deleting.  However, it loads more slowly and we lost the numbered pages.  If possible we may install something like Disqus.
• We now have comment moderators in place, so you should see some improvement.  Disqus allows readers to report and rate comments, which is appealing.
• I will try to get back on track with weekly live chats.
• All Twitter links will be identified, either by us saying "Ken Rosenthal tweeted" or adding a "via Twitter" at the end of the sentence.  I should also note that whenever possible, I go back and replace Twitter links with article links by the same journalist.
• Certain posts become frequently-updated behemoths and are difficult to read if you're coming to them for the first time.  We are still going to add updates at the top of posts because that is where you look first.  But once a signing or trade becomes official, we'll rewrite the post as seen here.

We are always trying to make MLB Trade Rumors better.  This year we had developments such as 24-hour Winter Meetings coverage, a Top Stories ticker, a mobile website, and forums.  What improvements would you like to see?  Click here to write in your ideas anonymously.

We're hearing a lot of talk about how next year's free agent class (the 2010-11 group) is much better than this year's class.  Is that true?  Taking our always-updated 2011 free agents list, let's look position-by-position.

• Two big names jump out at catcher: Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez.  As you know, the Twins are aiming to take Mauer off the market with an extension.
• First base is potentially deep – Derrek Lee, Carlos Pena, Adam Dunn, and Paul Konerko are eligible for free agency, and Lance Berkman could join them if his $15MM option is declined.  Albert Pujols makes an appearance, but his option will be exercised at the least.
• No one particularly interesting at second base.
• Derek Jeter is the name to watch among shortstops, but most expect he'll re-sign before reaching free agency. Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins are technically on the list, but both have very team-friendly club options.
• Aramis Ramirez could head the third base group if he declines a $14.6MM player option. Ramirez did take less to re-sign with the Cubs last time around though.
• The outfield corners are interesting, with Carl Crawford, Manny Ramirez, and Jayson Werth.
• Very little going on in center field.
• Heading up the starting pitchers: Josh Beckett, Cliff Lee, Ted Lilly, Javier Vazquez, and Brandon Webb.  This group definitely looks more promising than the current one.
• Always plenty of closers listed, with Mariano Rivera at the top of the class.  Huston Street will also be among those eligible.
• As always, the following year's free agent class looks strong until players start getting extensions.  Roy Halladay just left the 2011 list.  Still, next year's group does look better, led possibly by Mauer, Crawford, Aramis, and a quality crop of frontline starters.

Dozens of players were non-tendered today, and they've been added to our 2010 free agents list.  It's fitting that these players comprise the youngest free agents, since they were cut before tallying six years of service time.  It should be noted that a one-year deal for many of these players can become more, as quite a few would again be arbitration-eligible after the 2010 season.  Let's take a look at the most interesting non-tenders…

• Matt Capps, RP – The decision to let Capps go was a surprise move by the Pirates.  The 26-year-old did fine work closing for the Bucs in 2007 and '08.  His career BB/9 is just 1.7.  His elbow was bruised twice this year, but Capps was otherwise healthy as his hits and home runs allowed ballooned.
• Kelly Johnson, 2B – Dealing with a wrist injury, Johnson hit .224/.303/.389 and lost the starting second base job in Atlanta.  He's an interesting pickup given his offensive success in the two years prior.  Johnson turns 28 in February.
• D.J. Carrasco, SP/RP – It was surprising to see Carrasco's name pop up as a possible non-tender on Friday, but it became a reality today.  The righty, 33 in April, led MLB in relief innings and did solid work with a 3.76 ERA.  Carrasco hopes to start in 2010, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
• Chien-Ming Wang, SP – Wang, 30 in March, had strong years in '06 and '07 as the Yankees' mid-rotation groundball specialist.  He had shoulder surgery in July but hopes to be ready by May 1st.
• Jack Cust, DH/OF – Cust is the AL strikeout leader for three years running, but he's also hit at least 25 home runs and drawn at least 90 walks in each of those seasons.  He'd fit best in a DH role.
• Ryan Garko, 1B – Garko, 29 in January, has some decent years under his belt but struggled after being traded to the Giants this year.  He still handles lefties well.
• Adam Miller, SP – Miller was once the Indians' top prospect, but he's had tendon surgery performed many times on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
• John Buck, C – Buck doesn't seem much worse than the veteran catchers currently snagging two-year offers, and he's only 29.  He's shown flashes of power at times.
• Mike MacDougal, RP – MacDougal became a non-tender candidate when the Nationals acquired Brian Bruney last week.  He saved 20 games this year but walked more than he struck out.
• Jonny Gomes, OF – Gomes, 29, hit .267/.338/.541 in 314 plate appearances for the Reds this year, though he did get to face lefties 35% of the time.  He's had a hard time shaking the platoon bat label due to a .224/.311/.448 career line against righties.
• Garrett Atkins, 1B/3B – He has the name value, but his defense and ability to hit away from Coors are in question.  This year, he didn't hit at Coors either.
• Ryan Church, RF – With a career line of .272/.345/.441 and strong right field defense, Church would at the least make a solid fourth outfielder.
• Jose Arredondo, RP – Armed with a 94 mph fastball, Arredondo posted a 1.62 ERA, 8.1 K/9, and 3.2 BB/9 as a rookie in '08.  He struggled this year and is now scheduled for Tommy John surgery.  He could be signed with an eye on 2011.

Tampa Bay has come to terms with Dioner Navarro on a one-year, $2.1MM agreement, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.  The soon-to-be 26-year-old struggled in 2009, posting a career worst OPS of .583.

Despite his disappointing campaign, do you think Navarro should have pressed ahead and sought out more money in arbitration?

Baseball's non-tender deadline is tomorrow at 11pm CST, and MLBTR will of course have full coverage.  Arbitration-eligible players, who typically have at least three but fewer than six years of big league service time, are sometimes cut loose to become free agents before reaching six years.  That's non-tendering – the player was not tendered a contract by his team.  A team can non-tender a player for various reasons, but primarily it's done because the player is injured or the team believes he wouldn't be worth his salary the following year.  Most arbitration-eligible players tendered contracts get raises, even after subpar seasons.

David Ortiz, Rick Ankiel, Joel Pineiro, Ryan Franklin, David Eckstein, and Jayson Werth are some of the better-known non-tenders of recent years.  A year ago the more interesting names included Ty Wigginton, Joe Nelson, Willy Taveras, Jonny Gomes, and Takashi Saito.

There's talk the free agent market will be flooded with more non-tenders than usual tomorrow, but I'm skeptical.  We came up with about 35 candidates, several of whom will be tendered contracts.  Here are the more interesting names that stand a chance to be non-tendered:

• Kevin Correia, SP - At this point it appears Correia will either be non-tendered or traded, because the Padres do not want to give him a raise on this year's $1.1MM salary.  Correia made 33 starts with a 3.91 ERA, so he'll make decent money on the open market as a mid to back-rotation starter.
• Garrett Atkins, 1B/3B - He has the name value, but his defense and ability to hit away from Coors are in question.  This year, he didn't hit at Coors either.
• D.J. Carrasco, RP - Signed by the White Sox to a minor league deal in January of '08, Carrasco led all of baseball this year with 89.3 relief innings.  His controllable stats weren't all that different from Brandon Lyon's.
• John Buck, C – Buck doesn't seem much worse than the veteran catchers currently entertaining two-year offers, and he's only 29.  He's shown flashes of power at times.
• Jack Cust, DH/OF – Cust is the AL strikeout leader for three years running, but he's also hit at least 25 home runs and drawn at least 90 walks in each of those seasons.  He'd fit best in a DH role.
• Ryan Garko, 1B - Garko, 29 in January, has some decent years under his belt but struggled after being traded to the Giants this year.  He still handles lefties well.
• Chad Gaudin, SP/RP - Gaudin whiffed a batter per inning before being traded to the Yankees this year, though his control is suspect.  He earned $2MM this year.
• Kelly Johnson, 2B – Dealing with a wrist injury, Johnson hit .224/.303/.389 and lost the starting second base job in Atlanta.  He's an interesting pickup given his offensive success in the two years prior.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Braves remain undecided on Johnson, with a tender-and-trade not out of the question.
• Dioner Navarro, C – The Rays have Kelly Shoppach now, so they may prefer not to pay Navarro $2MM+.  Navarro had a decent year in '08 at .295/.349/.407.
• Brian Tallet, SP/RP – The 32-year-old lefty has control issues but had some respectable years out of Toronto's pen prior to making 25 starts this year.  His numbers last year were better than John Grabow's this year.
• Chien-Ming Wang, SP – Wang, 30 in March, had fine years in '06 and '07 as the Yankees' mid-rotation groundball specialist.  He had shoulder surgery in July, so the Yankees will non-tender him rather than pay anything close to this year's $5MM salary.
• Jonny Gomes, OF – Like Correia, Gomes would only be non-tendered out of cheapness.  He hit .267/.338/.541 in 314 plate appearances for the Reds this year, though he did get to face lefties 35% of the time.

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The 2009 Winter Meetings in Indianapolis have drawn to a close.  The volume of hot stove information coming out of this event was staggering, in no small part because of Twitter.  The highlights are below.

Free Agent Signings

• The Reds signed Chris Burke to a minor league deal.
• The Astros signed third baseman Pedro Feliz to a one-year, $4.5MM deal.
• The Astros signed reliever Gary Majewski to a minor league deal worth $650K in the Majors.
• The Mariners re-signed shortstop Josh Wilson to a minor league deal.
• The Astros reached an agreement with reliever Brandon Lyon on a three-year, $15MM deal, netting the Tigers a supplemental draft pick.
• Starter Rich Harden reached an agreement with the Rangers.  Harden will get $6.5MM plus incentives in 2010, and has an $11MM mutual option for '11 with a $1MM buyout.
• The Mariners signed outfielder Corey Patterson to a minor league deal.
• The Brewers reached an agreement with reliever LaTroy Hawkins on a two-year, $7.5MM deal.
• The Pirates signed shortstop Bobby Crosby to a one-year deal worth $1MM with $500K in incentives.
• The Yankees re-signed starter Andy Pettitte to a one-year, $11.75MM deal.
• The Brewers agreed to a three-year, $29.75MM deal with starter Randy Wolf that includes a fourth-year club option.
• The Cardinals signed starter Brad Penny to a one-year deal worth $7.5MM, with another $1.5MM in incentives.
• The Phillies reached an agreement with infielder Ross Gload on a two-year deal.
• The Nationals signed outfielder Jerry Owens to a minor league deal.
• The Tigers signed catcher Robinzon Diaz.
• The Mets signed first baseman Mike Hessman to a minor league deal.
• The Nationals signed catcher Ivan Rodriguez to a two-year, $6MM deal.
• The Red Sox signed pitchers Fabio Castro and Kason Gabbard.
• The Tigers re-signed shortstop Adam Everett to a one-year, $1.55MM deal.
• The Red Sox signed reliever Scott Atchison out of Japan to a one-year deal worth $420K, with two club options.
• The Pirates signed reliever Vinnie Chulk to a minor league deal.

Trades

• The Red Sox and Rangers agreed in principle to a trade that would send Mike Lowell and cash to the Rangers for Max Ramirez.
• Pitcher Boof Bonser was designated for assignment by the Twins on Tuesday and acquired by the Red Sox on Thursday for a player to be named later.
• Reliever Rafael Soriano accepted arbitration Monday night, and the Braves later traded him to the Rays for reliever Jesse Chavez.
• The Rangers traded starter Kevin Millwood and $3MM to the Orioles for reliever Chris Ray and Rule 5 pick Benjamin Snyder.
• The Astros acquired reliever Matt Lindstrom from the Marlins for pitcher Robert Bono, shortstop Luis Bryan, and Rule 5 pick/third baseman Jorge Jimenez.
• The Yankees acquired Curtis Granderson, the D'Backs acquired Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy, and the Tigers acquired Max Scherzer, Daniel Schlereth, Phil Coke, and Austin Jackson in a three-team blockbuster.
• The Nationals acquired reliever Brian Bruney from the Yankees for Rule 5 pick/outfielder Jamie Hoffmann.  
• The Rangers acquired lefty Clay Rapada from the Tigers for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

New Free Agents

• The A's released reliever Santiago Casilla.
• First baseman/DH Mike Jacobs and lefty John Bale were released by the Royals.
• The Padres released pitcher Eulogio De La Cruz.
• The Nationals released reliever Saul Rivera.

Other Stuff

• The Rockies signed Chris Iannetta to a three-year deal worth more than $8MM.
• 17 players were taken in the first round of the Rule 5 draft.
• The Red Sox claimed pitcher Ramon Ramirez off waivers from the Rays.
• Peter Gammons will leave ESPN to work for MLB.com, MLB Network, and NESN. 
• The Braves designated outfielder Ryan Church for assignment.
• The White Sox agreed to a three-year deal with third baseman Mark Teahen, buying out two arbitration years and one free agent year for a total of $14MM.
• Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Soriano, and Carl Pavano accepted arbitration offers, while everyone else declined.
• The Rockies sold Matt Murton's rights to the Hanshin Tigers.
• The Brewers claimed infielder Luis Cruz off waivers from the Pirates.