Archives for January 2012

Red Sox Still Interested In Gavin Floyd

By Tim Dierkes | January 18, 2012 at 11:30am CDT

WEDNESDAY, 11:30am: The Red Sox are still showing interest in Floyd, tweets Morosi.

TUESDAY, 9:15am: We haven't heard a ton about righty Gavin Floyd lately, but the White Sox are still listening on the soon-to-be 29-year-old, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. White Sox GM Kenny Williams has traded Carlos Quentin, Sergio Santos, and Jason Frasor this winter, but he's held onto his starting pitching and even extended John Danks.

This winter top young starters Michael Pineda, Mat Latos, Gio Gonzalez, and Trevor Cahill have been traded, but all came with at least four years of team control. Floyd and crosstown hurler Matt Garza are in the next tier along with Jair Jurrjens, with two years of control at higher prices. Two years of Floyd will cost $16.5MM in salary plus prospects. Floyd is capable of 30 starts and a sub-4.00 ERA, so he's still plenty valuable and may represent a more reasonable commitment than a four-year deal for Edwin Jackson. The Yankees figure to be done rotation shopping, but the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Pirates are potential fits in my opinion.

Astros Sign Jack Cust

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 18, 2012 at 11:17am CDT

WEDNESDAY, 11:17am: The Astros announced the non-guaranteed Major League deal, which is worth $600K. They still need to clear a 40-man roster spot for Cust.

TUESDAY, 9:30pm: The Astros have agreed to sign Jack Cust, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. It's a one-year deal with a club option for 2013, Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle tweets. TWC Sports represents the corner outfielder/DH.

Cust, 33, averaged 28 homers and 103 walks with the A's from 2007-09, but his power numbers have since fallen off. If he regains his form in Houston, he could DH for the Astros in 2013, when the team moves to the American League West. Cust, who has a career UZR/150 of -22.4 as an outfielder, figures to pinch hit and play left and right in 2012.

Cust posted a .213/.344/.329 line with three home runs in 270 plate appearances for the Mariners in 2011, when he earned $2.5MM. The Mariners released him in August and the Phillies signed him soon afterwards. There was no reported interest in Cust earlier in the offseason.

Hamels’ Agent: Weaver Contract Not A Parallel

By Tim Dierkes | January 18, 2012 at 9:43am CDT

Cole Hamels now owns the second-largest salary in arbitration history ($15MM), and he's not stopping there. Agent John Boggs expects his client to be compensated as an "elite pitcher," and he doesn't consider Jered Weaver's team-friendly five-year, $85MM deal a factor. Explained Boggs to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com:

"I don't think it's a parallel. That contract is great for Jered. I understand it. But he took a different path and left a lot of money on the table. He came up through the Angels system and grew up in their backyard. He's pitching where he grew up. That situation appeals to him. It's a similar situation to when I had Tony Gwynn. Without getting into specifics of what we're looking for, the Weaver situation is unique to Weaver."

Weaver's contract covered his final arbitration year and then four free agent seasons at an average of $17.5MM. Unlike Weaver, Hamels was a Super Two player, and the salary of his final arbitration year has already been determined. Hamels' new contract will probably only cover free agent years. Even if he doesn't reach the $23-24MM range of C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee, I think six years and $120MM is just a starting point for Hamels, who will turn 29 during the 2012-13 offseason.

The Phillies have first dibs. According to Boggs, "When you're this close [to free-agency] you have mixed emotions. But Cole has come through the Phillies organization, and if you asked him his preference, more than likely he'd want to remain with the Phillies. That's how it would be going into the negotiations, but every negotiation is different. Everything depends on our perceived value of what Cole is worth and what their perceived value of him is. That will dictate if a long-term deal gets done. We'll always give the Phillies every opportunity to secure him."

Detail On Gio Gonzalez’s Option Years

By Tim Dierkes | January 18, 2012 at 9:12am CDT

The second option on Gio Gonzalez's new contract with the Nationals is a vesting one, MLBTR has learned. If the Nationals exercise their $12MM club option for 2017, an option for '18 at the same salary will vest if Gonzalez pitches 180 innings in '17.

Yesterday, Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com and Nats Insider tweeted the year-by-year salary breakdown of Gonzalez's five-year, $42MM deal. The contract is the largest ever for a starting pitcher with less than three years of service time.

Epstein Compensation In Selig’s Hands

By Tim Dierkes | January 18, 2012 at 8:56am CDT

The Red Sox requested in late December that MLB commissioner Bud Selig resolve the Theo Epstein compensation issue, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Cubs were granted permission to speak to Epstein by the Red Sox and hired him as president of baseball operations in October. Since then, the two teams have been unable to determine what compensation the Red Sox should receive for Epstein, since he had a year remaining on his contract.

Back on November 17th, Epstein said talks were "very amicable" and lots of jokes were being made on the topic. At that point, the plan was to re-engage after the Rule 5 draft, which happened on December 8th.

Last Thursday on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan show, Epstein said he and new Red Sox GM Ben Cherington were trying to work it out, but they might need some help to get it done. Epstein explained his stance: "Throughout the history of baseball, there's really only a handful of instances in which there's been any compensation whatsoever for executives." He added that in those cases, "compensation has been pretty reasonable. When Andy MacPhail, who had won two World Series, left on a lateral move from Minnesota to Chicago back in '94, his compensation was the 30th-ranked prospect in the Cubs' system [Hector Trinidad] and a little bit of cash." In Epstein's opinion, "There's no precedent for major, major compensation here." The Red Sox feel that Epstein is more valuable than MacPhail or any manager, according to Wittenmyer, and CEO Larry Lucchino has at various points floated the names of Matt Garza and Brett Jackson.

Falling Arbitration Records

By Tim Dierkes | January 18, 2012 at 8:13am CDT

Back in April, I outlined the arbitration records for catchers, other position players, and starting pitchers. As expected, some records will fall in 2012.

Going to arbitration for a fourth time, Mike Napoli is a lock to top Ivan Rodriguez's third-time catcher salary of $6.825MM. Players have to love Super Two status. Napoli's 2012 salary range is $8.3-11.5MM, with a $9.9MM midpoint. We'll see whether long-term extension talks kick back up.

As first reported by MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith, Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury settled at $8.05MM for his second time through arbitration. Ellsbury never had much chance at what I consider the second-time record, Miguel Cabrera's $11.3MM salary from 2007. That salary was folded into a multiyear deal a few months after the agreement, but it remained unchanged.

The third-time position player record could be Prince Fielder's $15.5MM, though that was preceded by a multiyear deal. Limiting it to year-to-year players, Alfonso Soriano's $10MM from 2006 fell with Andre Ethier's new $10.95MM deal, which could be topped again if Napoli or Hunter Pence win an arbitration hearing. Pence's filing figures are $9MM and $11.8MM, with a $10.4MM midpoint. He gets to cash in one more time as an arbitration eligible player in 2013, assuming he doesn't sign an extension with the Phillies.

This year David Price was unable to push past Dontrelle Willis' first-time starting pitcher settlement record of $4.35MM, set in 2006. Some may consider Jered Weaver the record holder at $4.365MM, if an earned $100K award bonus is included. Regardless, Clayton Kershaw crushes them all with his new $6.5-10MM range ($8.25MM midpoint). Should Kershaw win an arbitration hearing or settle at the midpoint, he'll be at the Tim Lincecum pay scale. The midpoint would beat Lincecum's first-time starting pitcher record filing figure of $8MM, which preceded his two-year deal.

The third-time starting pitcher record is Carlos Zambrano's $12.4MM. With a $17-21.5MM spread and $19.25MM midpoint, Lincecum will fly past that, though he's coming off a multiyear deal. Similarly, Cole Hamels settled at $15MM as a fourth-time arbitration player, but his first three years were covered in multiyear deal. In a technical sense, Hamels' salary is second only to Fielder's $15.5MM in terms of arbitration settlements, and Lincecum will easily top both unless he signs a multiyear deal.

Be sure to keep track of all the arbitration settlements, submissions, and midpoints with MLBTR's arbitration tracker.

Quick Hits: White Sox, Guerrero, Gonzalez, Hart

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 17, 2012 at 11:46pm CDT

By this time tomorrow, we'll know whether the Rangers were able to work out a deal with Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish. In the meantime, here are tonight's links…

Dayan Viciedo says he tried to recruit fellow Cubans Yoenis Cespedes and Jorge Soler for the White Sox, tweets Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune. Cespedes appears to be drawing substantial interest from Chicago’s other team.
The representatives for Vladimir Guerrero and Raul Ibanez contacted the Yankees about their DH opening, Newsday’s Ken Davidoff tweets. The Yankees have also been in touch with the representatives for Carlos Pena, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, though they aren’t inclined to spend big on a DH.
Mark Zuckerman of NatsInsider.com has the salary breakdown for Gio Gonzalez’s recent five-year, $42MM extension (Twitter link). The Nationals have two $12MM options for 2017 and 2018, Gonzalez’s second and third free agent years.
Brewers GM Doug Melvin said right fielder Corey Hart will be asked if he's willing to play some games at first base, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Mat Gamel is the Brewers’ projected first baseman, since Prince Fielder will almost certainly sign elsewhere.

Orioles Sign Armando Galarraga

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 17, 2012 at 11:33pm CDT

The Orioles signed Armando Galarraga to a minor league contract, according to the transactions page at CBS Sports. SFX represents the 30-year-old right-hander.

Galarraga struggled through the 2011 season after an eventful 2010 campaign in which he came within one out of throwing a perfect game for the Tigers. Galarraga, who was traded from Detroit to Arizona last January, posted a 5.91 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 42 2/3 innings for the D'Backs in 2011. He also made five Triple-A starts, allowing 24 earned runs in 23 1/3 innings.

Rangers Notes: Darvish, Fielder, Hamilton

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 17, 2012 at 10:55pm CDT

It's been nearly a month since the Rangers won the bidding for Yu Darvish, which means the deadline for a deal is approaching. The Rangers have until 4pm CDT Wednesday to work out a deal with the Japanese right-hander. Here’s the latest from Texas…

Rangers officials continue downplaying the chances of signing both Darvish and Prince Fielder, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
Morosi hears that extension talks with Josh Hamilton are on hold at the moment, while the club works on the Darvish deal. Hamilton will earn $13.75MM in 2012 and is set to hit free agency once the season ends.
Heyman hears that the Rangers are likely to sign Darvish to a contract worth slightly more than the $52MM Daisuke Matsuzaka obtained from the Red Sox.
The Rangers seem to love the idea of signing Fielder and would become the favorite to land the slugger if the Darvish deal falls through, Heyman writes.
The Rangers have three unsigned arbitration eligible players: Mike Napoli, Nelson Cruz and Elvis Andrus.

Cespedes: Cubs Are Leading Suitors

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 17, 2012 at 9:20pm CDT

Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes says the Cubs are his most serious suitor, according to Dionisio Soldevila of the Associated Press (link via DiarioLibre.com). The free agent outfielder isn’t yet a free agent, but he’s playing Winter Ball in the Dominican Republic and MLB teams continue eyeing him.

"Of all the teams who have come, the Chicago Cubs have been most interested in me," Cespedes said.

Last week Cespedes said the six teams with "more interest" in signing him were the Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, Tigers and Indians. The Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays and Rangers also have some interest in Cespedes, but the Nationals aren’t involved. Marlins president David Samson recently acknowledged that his team intends to make an aggressive run at Cespedes, who is represented by Adam Katz of Wasserman Media Group.

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