Archives for February 2011

Jody Gerut Retires

By Mike Axisa | February 27, 2011 at 10:45am CDT

Mariners outfielder Jody Gerut announced his retirement today, saying that he was no longer into the game mentally and couldn't give it his all according to MyNorthwest.com's Shannon Drayer. "I didn't want to be a player that plays for only his paycheck," said Gerut according to MLB.com's Greg Johns (Twitter links).

Gerut, 33, originally broke in with the Indians back in 2003 after being a second round pick of the Rockies in 1998. He hit .279/.336/.494 with 22 homers and 33 doubles in 525 plate appearances as a rookie, but followed it up with a disappointing .252/.334/.405 season in 2004. Gerut bounced from the Indians to the Cubs to the Pirates before being out of the game completely in 2006 and 2007.

After signing a minor league contract with the Padres in 2008, Gerut resurfaced with a .296/.351/.494 season. He also spent time with the Brewers and is a career .262/.325/.433 hitter with 59 homers in just under 2,000 plate appearances. Gerut hit for the cycle last May, and he also hit the first homerun in CitiField history (as the game's first batter). Baseball-Reference.com has his career earnings at just over $5.1MM.

Cafardo’s Latest: Peavy, Gonzalez, Molina, Beltre

By Mike Axisa | February 27, 2011 at 9:18am CDT

In today's notes column for The Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo writes about the Orioles' rebuilding process, which included renovations to the team's Spring Training and minor league facilities. "There was no magic formula," said president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail. "We're not doing anything that hasn't been done before. The Orioles I grew up with did it with scouting and player development, and we're doing it the same way now."

Here are the rest of Cafardo's rumors…

Both Yankees and Red Sox executives spoke out against revenue sharing last week, but no one wants a salary cap and the player's union won't allow one anyway.
The early signs are good for Jake Peavy, who is coming back from a detached lat muscle. One scout called Peavy "trade bait for sure" if he's healthy and the White Sox slip out of contention. "Though teams may come after Mark [Buehrle] first."
John Boggs, agent for Adrian Gonzalez, has not talked to the Red Sox about an extension since December, though something may be set up soon. Boggs will not be in Florida until the third week of March.
The Brewers don't want to bring in someone like Bengie Molina in the wake of Jonathan Lucroy's broken finger because they know their young backstop will be back in a few weeks.
When the Red Sox drew the line at four years and $52MM for Adrian Beltre, one of their fears was his potential to get hurt given his all-out approach. Beltre suffered a calf strain recently and may be out for up to a month.

Mozeliak: No Plans To Defer Part Of Holliday’s Deal

By Mike Axisa | February 27, 2011 at 8:29am CDT

A few days before the Albert Pujols deadline came and went without a long-term agreement, Matt Holliday said (in an ESPN Radio interview) that he would consider deferring part of his contract if it helped the Cardinals sign their superstar first baseman. GM John Mozeliak told SI.com's Jon Heyman that the team has no plans to accept Holliday's offer, and that it was "not game altering." (Twitter link)

Part of Holliday's seven year, $120MM contract is already deferred, to the tune of $2MM annually without interest. That money will be paid out from 2020 through 2029. Holliday did say in the interview that a scenario in which he deferred money to allow the team to sign Pujols was "very hypothetical," and that he had not been approached by the club about doing so.

Quick Hits: Royals, Astros, Lee, Reyes, Young, Prior

By Mike Axisa | February 26, 2011 at 10:22pm CDT

Real live baseball was played in Florida and Arizona today, even though it was nothing more than a handful of exhibition games. That's better than nothing in my book. Here's some links for Saturday…

Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star breaks down the Royals' roster issues, explaining why some of their top prospects won't break camp with the team even though they may be MLB ready.
Examiner.com's Stephen Goff hears that the Astros are looking at UConn RHP Matt Barnes, Kentucky RHP Alex Meyer, Hawaii 2B Kolten Wong, and Indiana OF Alex Dickerson for their first round pick in this summer's draft, #11 overall (all Twitter links).
Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter) spoke to a scout who believes that the three prospects the Phillies received for Cliff Lee may never be heard from again. The club recieved J.C. Ramirez, Phillippe Aumont, and Tyson Gillies in the trade that sent Lee to the M's.
The Athletics' bullpen has improved a great deal this winter, writes Jeff Fletcher of AOL Fanhouse.
More on Dennys Reyes from Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, who writes that Reyes' deal with the Phillies fell through when the two sides could not agree on "two clauses" in the proposed contract.
Dennys Reyes can opt out of his minor league contract with the Red Sox on March 26th, reports WEEI.com's Rob Bradford (on Twitter). Reyes is competing with fellow lefties Andrew Miller, Rich Hill, and Randy Williams for a spot in Boston's bullpen.
In today's blog post at ESPN (Insider req'd), Buster Olney says that Michael Young is no longer talking about his trade demand, "but he seemingly hasn't taken it off the table, either." It appears that Young was bothered by the team's pursuit of Jim Thome and acquisition of Mike Napoli after he agreed to a DH/utility role.
Joel Sherman of The New York Post updates everyone on Mark Prior, who he believes was on the path to becoming baseball's first $150MM pitcher. Prior is in camp with the Yankees on a minor league pact and knows he'll have to prove himself against Triple-A competition before returning to the big leagues. "It is not the career path I envisioned, but it is the career path I am on," said Prior. "So be it. No regrets."
Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times looks at the Dodgers' economical approach to left-field. Marcus Thames and Jay Gibbons are expected to platoon at the position, and are guaranteed just $1.4MM combined in 2011. Tony Gwynn Jr., Gabe Kapler, and the out-of-options Xavier Paul also figure into that mix.

Contract Extensions Gone Wrong

By Mike Axisa | February 26, 2011 at 9:14pm CDT

With young players becoming more and more prominent throughout the game, teams have begun seeking cost certainty in the form of contract extensions that buy out arbitration and (in some cases) free agent years. Everyone knows about Evan Longoria's sweetheart deal and the tens of millions of dollars the Cardinals saved with Albert Pujols and Boston's bargain contract with Jon Lester, but these contracts don't always work out.

Whether it be injuries, poor performance, or a combination of both, every once in a while one of these deals will turn into a dud. Using our Transactions Tracker, let's look back at some extensions that didn't go as planned…

Fernando Tatis (four years, $14MM) – The Cardinals signed Tatis to said deal after his breakout .298/.404/.553, 34 HR, 21 SB season in 1999. It bought out his last pre-arb year and all three arb years, but he hit just .234/.330/.399 in close to 1,200 PA during the life of the deal. St. Louis traded him to Montreal after the 2000 season.
Randy Wolf (four years, $22.25MM) – The Phillies bought out all of Wolf's arb years and one year of free agency before the 2003 season, but he gave them just 473 1/3 innings with a 4.43 ERA. He battled elbow trouble and eventually had Tommy John surgery during the contract.
Kerry Wood (three years, $32.5MM) – Wood surrendered his last arb year and two free agent years in this contract, but triceps, shoulder, and knee injuries limited him to just 226 innings (3.90 ERA) during the life of the deal, and most of those innings came in 2004.
Travis Hafner (four years, $57MM) – Signed the year after his .308/.439/.659, 42 HR season in 2006, Pronk gave up his last year of arb-eligibility and three free agent years. He's battled shoulder issues and hit just .259/.353/.430 since signing.
Jay Gibbons (four years, $21.1MM) – The Orioles bought out Gibbons' last two years of arb and two free agents years after he hit .277/.317/.516 with 26 homers in 2005. He hit just .256/.311/.409 in 179 games during the life of the contract, dealing with knee, groin, and shoulder issues. Baltimore released him just two years into the deal.
Jeremy Bonderman (four years, $38MM) – Coming off a strong 2006 season (214 IP, 4.08 ERA), Bonderman signed away his last two arb years and two free agent years. Shoulder injuries hit the next year, and Bonderman pitched to a 5.19 ERA in just 427 IP during the contract.
Ian Snell (three years, $8.6MM) – The Pirates secured Snell's three arb years after he posted a 3.76 ERA in 208 IP in 2007, though he's yet to repeat that performance. Snell pitched to a 5.31 ERA in 355 2/3 innings since, and was traded to the Mariners a year after signing the contract.

These are just a select few, but the list goes on and on. The players are trading a shot at a bigger payday for financial security while the team trades risk for cost certainty, but in the end the players are still getting their millions while the clubs could be left with nothing to show for their investment.

Top 100 Prospects Drafted With Compensation Picks

By Mike Axisa | February 26, 2011 at 7:25pm CDT

Every offseason, high draft picks change hands as players move between teams as free agents. Players such as Adam Wainwright, David Wright, Nick Swisher, Joe Blanton, Adam Jones, Gio Gonzalez, and Huston Street were drafted with picks originally acquired through free agent compensation.

Let's look through Baseball America's recently released list of the top 100 prospects in baseball and see which of the game's top young players were drafted with picks acquired for losing a free agent…

Mike Trout, Angels (#2) – Yankees first round pick (2009) for Mark Teixeira
Mike Montgomery, Royals (#19) – supplemental first round pick (2008) for David Riske
Kyle Drabek, Blue Jays (#29) – Mets first round pick (2006) for Billy Wagner (originally drafted by the Phillies, part of the Roy Halladay trade)
Travis d'Arnaud, Blue Jays (#36) – supplemental first round pick (2007) for David Dellucci (originally drafted by the Phillies, part of Halladay trade)
Jordan Lyles, Astros (#42) – supplemental first round pick (2008) for Trever Miller
Nick Franklin, Mariners (#53) – Phillies first round pick (2009) for Raul Ibanez
Anthony Ranaudo, Red Sox (#67) – supplemental first round pick (2010) for Jason Bay
Jake Odorizzi, Royals (#69) – supplemental first round pick (2008) for Francisco Cordero (originally drafted by the Brewers, part of the Zack Greinke trade)
Tyler Skaggs, D'backs (#82) – supplemental first round pick (2009) for Teixeira (originally drafted by the Angels, part of the Dan Haren trade)
Tanner Scheppers, Rangers (#94) – supplemental first round pick (2009) for Milton Bradley
Matt Davidson, D'Backs (#99) – supplemental first round pick (2009) for Orlando Hudson

That's 11 of the game's 100 best prospects coming from compensation picks, including two of the top 20. A total of nine first and second round picks changed hands this year, and 26 supplmental first round picks were created. It's very possible the free agent compensation will be overhauled (or scrapped all together) when the next Collective Bargain Agreement is put into action, and although the players will get drafted anyway, the clubs losing top players could end up empty handed in the future.

Baseball-Reference.com's draft tool was used in for this post.

Mets Received Loan From MLB

By Dan Mennella | February 26, 2011 at 5:51pm CDT

SATURDAY, 5:51pm: Union head Michael Weiner told Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York that despite the team's financial trouble, he's confident the Mets will pay their players on time.

"I rely upon both the assurances we received from the commissioner's office as well as the documents that we are entitled to under the basic agreement," said Weiner. "What I said when I was in [Mets camp] was that I have every confidence that all the obligations to players under the basic agreement in their contracts will be met, and I still have every confidence that that's going to be the case."

The player's union was aware the commissioner's office was giving the Mets a loan since the Collective Bargaining Agreement entitles them to such financial information.

FRIDAY, 5:49pm: The Mets, dealing with a cash shortage, received $25MM from Major League Baseball in November, according to Michael S. Schmidt and David Waldstein of the New York Times.

MLB typically extends its 30 clubs a credit of $75MM, according to the report, which the Mets have already exhausted in addition to the $400MM debt they have on the team. To boot, more financial damage looms for the Mets, as they face a $1 billion lawsuit by Irving Picard, the trustee of the victims of the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme.

The Mets issued a statement, confirming the report and offering no further comment, per Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter links):

We said in October that we expect to have a short-term liquidity issue. To address this, we did receive a loan from Major League Baseball in November. Beyond that, we will not discuss the matter any further.

The loan is expected to be paid back "relatively quickly," according to Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal.

It is speculated in the Times report that Selig's assistance to offer financial aid to a big-market franchise, on the hook for about $140MM in player salary this year, might anger other owners. As well, it signals that the Mets are in dire financial straits, according to sports-industry consultant Marc Ganis, because the league is typically a "lender of last resort."

In January, the Wilpons announced that they are looking to sell a minority stake — perhaps 20 or 25 percent — in the team, and so far, that search has generated only "modest interest," according to the Times, with fewer than 12 investors applying to investigate the team's finances.

Aside from the Madoff mess, the Mets were wise to be stingy with their cash this offseason, writes Ed Price of FanHouse.com, because there wasn't a big-ticket free agent who could have put them over the top. And with a lot of money coming off the books after this season, the franchise will have flexibility moving forward — even if it doesn't spend $150MM per year on payroll — because teams can compete with any payroll so long as they spend wisely.

Nationals Could Deal A Catcher

By Zachary Links | February 26, 2011 at 4:13pm CDT

The Nationals are loaded with quality catchers and most likely will trade one of them for pitching, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com. With Ivan Rodriguez, Jesus Flores, Wilson Ramos, and Derek Norris in the fold, Ladson writes that one of the backstops could be moved prior to Opening Day.

Now fully recovered from right shoulder surgery, the leading candidate to be traded could be Flores, who has been seen throwing the ball hard to second and third base. The injury cost the 26-year-old most of the 2010 season as he appeared in just 26 games.

The veteran Rodriguez will be the club's starting catcher to start the year while Ramos is being groomed as his heir apparent. Norris, 22, will probably start the season in the minors and is said to already possess a big league bat.

Yankees Keeping Eye On Liriano

By Zachary Links | February 26, 2011 at 2:33pm CDT

The Yankees are keeping a close eye on Twins starter Francisco Liriano, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Meanwhile, the Twins are keeping tabs on Yankees prospects.

Earlier this month it was reported that the Twins were open to dealing the left-hander. The two sides briefly chatted about a multiyear deal but the talks went nowhere as Liriano was after a three-year, $39MM extension when the sides discussed a deal. While it appears that the talks did take place, the hurler did not believe that they were ever "serious."

Recently, Twins Assistant GM Rob Antony said that the rumors of the club being willing to move Liriano had no truth to them. The 27-year-old holds a great deal of value, however, and is due just $4.3MM in 2011.

Weiner Cautiously Optimistic About New CBA

By Mike Axisa | February 26, 2011 at 12:19pm CDT

Michael Weiner, head of the player's union, spoke to reporters about the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement while at Yankees camp this morning. Let's recap…

Weiner is cautiously optimistic about getting a new CBA in place the end of the calendar year, says Mark Feinsand of The New York Daily News (on Twitter).
As Sam Borden of The Journal News reports, the union head is ready for anything though: "Just this week I've seen a general manager talking about a salary cap and I've seen a national baseball writer talking about rumblings of contraction," said Weiner. "Are we optimistic in a sense? Yes. But do we take anything for granted? Absolutely not."
Weiner also said he believes there won't be one hot-button topic that dominates negotiations, tweets Feinsand. A salary cap (1994) and PED testing (2002) were two hot-button issues in years passed.

The draft figures to be a popular topic this time around, with trading picks, hard slotting, and even a worldwide draft being speculated on over the last few months. The current CBA expires on December 11th of this year, and it's worth noting that the two sides agreed to that deal more than a month before the previous one was set to expire.

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