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Archives for October 2011

Royals Exercise Joakim Soria’s 2012 Option

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The Royals announced that they exercised their 2012 option for closer Joakim Soria. Soria will earn a $6MM salary, rather than a $750K buyout. Soria would not have been eligible for free agency if the Royals had declined the option. Instead, Kansas City would have gone to arbitration with Soria and he would have obtained a salary in excess of $6MM. “This decision was more of a formality,” Royals GM Dayton Moore said. 

Soria, 27, posted a 4.03 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 60 1/3 innings in 2011. It was an up-and-down campaign for the 27-year-old, who lost his closing job after a rough stretch in late May.

Reds Exercise Phillips’ Option, Decline Cordero’s

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The Reds announced that they exercised Brandon Phillips' 2012 option and declined their option for Francisco Cordero (Twitter link). The Reds will pay Cordero a $1MM buyout instead of a $12MM salary and they'll pay Phillips a $12MM salary instead of a $1MM buyout.

Phillips, 30, hit .300/.353/.457 with 18 homers in 674 plate appearances for Cincinnati in 2011. He has made his desire for an extension clear, stating in September that it would feel like “a slap in my face” if the Reds pick up the option without talking long-term deal. But if the sides do discuss an extension, don't expect a hometown discount "There’s no homeboy hookup. That ain’t going to work," Phillips said.

The Reds discussed an extension for Cordero, a Type A free agent, toward the end of the regular season. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes explained in his recent offseason outlook article that the Reds "can't afford to commit $5MM a year for two more seasons of Cordero."

Padres Notes: Byrnes, Bell, Hoyer, McLeod

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The Padres officially named Josh Byrnes their general manager today, so the two-year-long Jed Hoyer era is over in San Diego. Here's the latest on the Padres as they prepare for their first offseason under Byrnes…

  • Byrnes says San Diego will likely offer Heath Bell arbitration, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (on Twitter). Bell is a Type A free agent, as MLBTR learned earlier today. If he declines arbitration to sign elsewhere, the Padres will obtain two draft picks in 2012. However, Bell has indicated that he will accept.
  • Padres CEO Jeff Moorad explained in a statement that he holds Byrnes' predecessor in high esteem. “Thanks to Jed Hoyer’s leadership, we are in a far better position to win consistently in the future than we were two years ago." The Padres played to a 161-163 record in two seasons under Hoyer, though that's just one imperfect measurement of his contribution to the team.
  • Jason McLeod, who left the Padres for the Cubs along with Hoyer, told Tom Krasovic of Inside the Padres that leaving San Diego is bittersweet in a Q&A about his time with the team.
  • The Cubs offered Hoyer a five-year contract, which the Padres declined to match, according to Krasovic.

Padres Decline Options On Harang, Hawpe, Qualls

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The Padres announced today they've declined their options on Aaron Harang, Brad Hawpe, and Chad Qualls.

Only Harang was slightly in question; he had a $5MM mutual option with a $500K buyout.  The 33-year-old San Diego native posted a 3.64 ERA, 6.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, and 40.6% groundball rate in 170 2/3 innings.  His SIERA suggests a 4.25 ERA would have been deserved.

Hawpe, 32, had a $6MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout.  His season ended early due to elbow surgery.  Qualls, 33, had a $6MM club option with a $1.05MM buyout.

Red Sox Decline Options On Wheeler, Atchison

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The Red Sox declined their club options on relievers Dan Wheeler and Scott Atchison, announced the team.  Atchison remains on the team's 40-man roster.

Wheeler, a Type B free agent, had no buyout on his contract.  The 33-year-old posted a 4.38 ERA, 7.1 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, 1.28 HR/9, and 32% groundball rate in 49 1/3 innings for the Red Sox.  He missed time due to calf and forearm injuries.

David Aardsma Elects Free Agency

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Reliever David Aardsma has cleared waivers and elected free agency, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  Aardsma was certain to be non-tendered after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July, so this move lets him reach free agency earlier.  The 29-year-old saved 69 games for Seattle from 2009-10 and makes for an interesting signing if he's option to a club option for 2013.

Aardsma told MLB.com's Greg Johns, "I loved my time in Seattle.  I love the fans and thank Jack Zduriencik for giving me opportunity to have a job and become a closer. I want to thank all the fans in Seattle for their support. It’s not fun, but it’s part of the job and this is going to be next step. It doesn’t mean I won’t be back.  This is one of those things we all knew was coming because of the situation. It doesn’t close anydoors, it just opens more."

Rangers Exercise Option On Colby Lewis

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The Rangers exercised their club option on righty Colby Lewis, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  The $3.25MM option was an easy choice over the $250K buyout, as Lewis is clearly worth keeping and he'd have earned more in arbitration.

Lewis, 32, has given the Rangers 401 1/3 innings of 4.06 ball since returning from Japan on a free agent contract.  He's added another 50 innings with a 2.34 ERA in the postseason.    

White Sox Exercise Option On Jason Frasor

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The White Sox exercised their $3.75MM club option on reliever Jason Frasor, tweets Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.

The Sox have a good collection of relievers under contract for 2012, but exercising the option on Frasor makes sense since he has positive trade value.  The 34-year-old Chicago native posted a 3.60 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, and 37% groundball rate in 60 innings for the Blue Jays and White Sox this year.

Official Elias Rankings

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MLBTR has obtained the official Elias rankings for this offseason. The list below includes all unsigned ranked free agents.

Once the regular season ended, the Elias Sports Bureau took all players over the 2010-11 period, divided them into five groups for each league, and ranked them based on various statistics.  Each player was labeled a Type A, B, or none.  Those designations and the possible accompanying arbitration offers determine draft pick compensation.  If a Type A free agent turns down an arbitration offer and signs a Major League deal elsewhere the losing team gets two draft picks, one of them coming from the new team.  If a Type B free agent turns down an arbitration offer and signs a Major League deal elsewhere the losing team gets one draft pick in the supplemental round, and it doesn't come from the new team.  Keep in mind that an arbitration offer is necessary for draft pick compensation.

The numbers beside the players' names represent their rankings. If teams sign more than one Type A free agent, one team gets a top compensation pick and other teams lose out. The team losing the highest-ranked free agent obtains the best pick the signing team can offer and other teams fall in line behind the team that loses the top-ranked player.

Type A

  • Albert Pujols, Cardinals – 95.200
  • Prince Fielder, Brewers – 91.200
  • C.J. Wilson, Rangers – 90.988
  • David Ortiz, Red Sox – 86.000
  • Ryan Madson, Phillies – 82.948
  • Heath Bell, Padres – 81.437
  • Carlos Beltran, Giants – 80.879 (cannot be offered arbitration)
  • Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox – 80.292
  • Ramon Hernandez, Reds – 78.947
  • Roy Oswalt, Phillies – 78.350
  • Michael Cuddyer, Twins – 77.671
  • Josh Willingham, Athletics – 77.534
  • Kelly Johnson, Blue Jays – 74.725
  • Matt Capps, Twins – 73.788
  • Darren Oliver, Rangers – 72.880
  • Jose Reyes, Mets – 77.249
  • Jimmy Rollins, Phillies – 76.720
  • Francisco Rodriguez, Brewers – 75.671
  • Octavio Dotel, Cardinals – 70.922
  • Takashi Saito, Brewers – 69.627
  • Francisco Cordero, Reds – 68.486

Type B

  • Aramis Ramirez, Cubs – 71.978
  • Mark Ellis, Rockies – 71.429
  • Rod Barajas, Dodgers – 70.489
  • Vladimir Guerrero, Orioles – 70.000
  • Alex Gonzalez, Braves – 69.312
  • Mark Buehrle, White Sox – 68.508
  • Jason Kubel, Twins – 68.219
  • Frank Francisco, Blue Jays – 68.211
  • Raul Ibanez, Phillies – 68.022
  • Ryan Doumit, Pirates – 67.857
  • Bruce Chen, Royals – 67.248
  • Hiroki Kuroda, Dodgers – 66.422
  • Chris Snyder, Pirates – 65.414
  • Brad Lidge, Phillies – 64.477
  • David DeJesus, Athletics – 64.384
  • Derrek Lee, Pirates – 64.000
  • Magglio Ordonez, Tigers – 63.288
  • Edwin Jackson, Cardinals – 63.154
  • Ryan Ludwick, Pirates – 62.637
  • Aaron Hill, Diamondbacks – 62.500
  • Yuniesky Betancourt, Brewers – 61.905
  • Kerry Wood, Cubs – 61.764
  • Freddy Garcia, Yankees – 61.240
  • Juan Pierre, White Sox – 61.233
  • Jon Rauch, Blue Jays – 61.083
  • Dan Wheeler, Red Sox – 60.905
  • Cody Ross, Giants – 60.879
  • Aaron Harang, Padres – 60.294
  • Wilson Betemit, Tigers – 59.740
  • Jose Molina, Blue Jays – 59.586
  • Carlos Pena, Cubs – 59.200
  • Pat Burrell, Giants – 59.121
  • Arthur Rhodes, Cardinals – 59.019
  • Shawn Camp, Blue Jays – 57.680
  • Jason Varitek, Red Sox – 57.143
  • Rafael Furcal, Cardinals – 56.085
  • Clint Barmes, Astros – 55.556

Eddie Bajek reverse-engineered the Elias rankings for MLBTR and was right on every free agent except for Kelly Johnson and Joel Zumaya.

Indians Acquire Derek Lowe

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We have our first trade of the 2011-12 offseason!  The Indians acquired Derek Lowe from the Braves, tweets John Kreger.  The Braves will pay all but $5MM of Lowe's $15MM salary, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  Olney says the Braves will receive 23-year-old High-A lefty reliever Chris Jones in return for Lowe.  Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein provides a quick scouting report.

Lowe

Lowe, 38, posted a 5.05 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 0.67 HR/9, and 59% groundball rate in 187 innings this year for Atlanta.  Lowe's Braves career ended on a sour note, as his 8.75 September ERA contributed to their collapse.  Still, his groundball rate ranked second in all of baseball.  Lowe signed a four-year, $60MM deal with the Braves in January of 2009.  

With Lowe, Justin Masterson, and Fausto Carmona, the Indians' rotation now has three of MLB's top seven in 2011 groundball rate.  Ubaldo Jimenez and Josh Tomlin are also penciled in, with Carlos Carrasco down for Tommy John surgery.

For the Braves, the benefit is $5MM in much-needed salary relief for a pitcher otherwise projected for middle relief on their 2012 club.  The Braves and Indians last matched up on a trade in July of 2006, when the Tribe sent reliever Bob Wickman to Atlanta for Max Ramirez.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

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