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Jered Weaver

Quick Hits: Weaver, Giants, Dodgers, Walker

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Jered Weaver isn't worried that he might have lost out on a bigger contract when he signed a five-year, $85MM extension with the Angels in 2011, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles times writes. "I don't give a [expletive]," says Weaver. "You can quote me on that." If not for the extension, Weaver would have been a free agent this past offseason, in which Zack Greinke received a $147MM contract from the Dodgers. Here are more notes from around the majors…

  • Giants president Larry Baer is discussing long-term contract extensions with general manager Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Sabean and Bochy are signed through 2014, but, after having won World Series in 2010 and 2012, Baer appears to be planning to keep them in San Francisco much longer, saying their extensions "won't be for one year."
  • The Dodgers have discussed an extension with manager Don Mattingly, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times notes. "I think you might see something come up before the end of the year," says Dodgers chairman Mark Walter. Mattingly is in the last year of a three-year deal. Walter also says that the Dodgers, who already have a $230MM payroll in 2013, still have the financial flexibility to add substantial talent at this year's trade deadline, should the need arise. "I think in terms of who the players are, what we need and what our options are, rather than a total budget," Walter says. An extension for Clayton Kershaw could also be on the horizon.
  • The Pirates and second baseman Neil Walker avoided arbitration with a one-year, $3.3MM deal in late January, but "it could be a matter of when, not if" the two parties reconvene talks on an extension, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Walker will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2016 season, at which point he will be 31 years old.

Angels Notes: Isringhausen, Greinke, Weaver

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The Angels trail the Athletics by two games with one week remaining in the regular season schedule. Here are some notes on the team’s offseason plans from Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com…

  • Reliever Jason Isringhausen estimates that there’s a 70% chance he’ll retire after the season, Gonzalez reports. Isringhausen said he misses his family but added "there's no telling what will happen once I get home." 
  • Right-hander Jered Weaver indicated that he won’t mind if the Angels sign Zack Greinke to a contract that’s larger than his five-year, $85MM deal. "Whatever they have to do to make our team better," Weaver said. Greinke, the top free agent starter available this offseason, figures to obtain a contract worth $100MM-plus.
  • Weaver would have been a free agent this winter if he hadn’t re-signed with the Angels, but he sounds content to have a contract in place. "That's why I got my deal done a year ago," he said.

Quick Hits: Weaver, Komatsu, Sandoval

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On this date last year, Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano no-hit the White Sox. Here are some links for Thursday afternoon, starting with a note on Jered Weaver, who no-hit Liriano's Twins last night…

  • Weaver pitched a no-hitter for his hometown team in front of his fans and family last night and as Scott Miller of CBSSports.com writes, it's for days like yesterday that the right-hander signed a long-term deal with the Angels. Weaver signed a five-year, $85MM contract last summer instead of testing the open market, where he likely would have obtained a larger guarantee. So far this deal seems to be working well for both sides.
  • Outfielder Erik Komatsu expects to learn if he has a new team by tomorrow, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The Cardinals designated the Rule 5 pick for assignment earlier in the week and other MLB teams now have the chance to claim him off of waivers.
  • Pablo Sandoval is expected to miss four to six weeks with a fractured hamate bone, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported (on Twitter). The Giants are calling up Conor Gillaspie for now, and it appears they'll rely on their internal options while Sandoval's out.

Heyman On Pujols, Huntington, C.J. Wilson

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SI's Jon Heyman leads his latest column with a discussion of the Albert Pujols situation, which is due to flare up once the season ends.  Heyman's sources say the Cardinals are "not overly confident" about retaining Pujols.  Heyman hears the Cardinals are not inclined to increase their offer much from nine years and around $210MM, although the SI writer thinks the team could reduce the number of years to boost the average annual value past the $23MM range.  Heyman hears Pujols is "not overly thrilled" that the Cardinals' offer last winter wouldn't place him in the top ten among MLB player salaries, though by my count there are only five players currently averaging $23MM or more as their AAV.

Heyman has plenty more musings on the Pujols topic in the column; here are a few other highlights…

  • The Pirates intend to extend the contract of GM Neal Huntington.  He says the Bucs have waited for the draft and trade deadlines to pass.  Huntington was hired four years ago.
  • "There are some who could see" Rangers ace C.J. Wilson "wanting to go to his native Southern California."  Heyman views the Angels as a threat for Wilson.
  • Heyman says Angels people suggest they would have been willing to resume extension talks with Jered Weaver next year if they hadn't reached a deal by the team's deadline this year.  
  • The Twins are interested in re-signing reliever Joe Nathan, though they won't be picking up his $12MM option.

Quick Hits: Moyer, Beckett, Weaver

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Four years ago today, the Dodgers claimed Esteban Loaiza off waivers from the Athletics, taking on over $8MM and getting very little from the pitcher in return.  I'm sure Billy Beane and Ned Colletti still chuckle about the transaction.  Today's links:

  • Jamie Moyer, 49 in November, will continue his rehab from Tommy John surgery at the Phillies' Spring Training home in Clearwater, Florida.  MLB.com's Todd Zolecki explains that Moyer remains a free agent, but his former team honored his request to use their facilities and expertise.  We all look forward to seeing Moyer's 81 mile per hour heater in the Majors once again, perhaps next year.
  • Josh Beckett is a family man now, the Red Sox righty explained to WEEI's Rob Bradford.  Beckett anticipates a series of one-year deals once his current contract expires after the 2014 season, and plans to disappear without fanfare when it's time to retire.
  • Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times has contract details for Jered Weaver's new deal with the Angels.  The contract has a full no-trade clause, a $1MM signing bonus, and salaries of $14MM for 2012, $16MM each for '13 and '14, $18MM for '15, and $20MM for '16.
  • Baseball America's Jim Callis looks at the 2005 draft for each of the 30 teams, ranking the Red Sox first and the Cubs last.

Quick Hits: Harden, Thome, Weaver, Carroll

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Links for Friday, before Jim Thome makes his return to Cleveland as the Indians host the Royals…

Top Starters Eschew Free Agency

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Boras Corporation client Carlos Gonzalez bucked the agency's trend in January, signing a seven-year, $80MM deal instead of going to free agency as soon as possible.  Publicly, Scott Boras said, "I was very much on board with this decision," though the agent made sure to show CarGo what he was missing.  Since the deal was a record contract for a two-plus player, Boras at least had that feather in his cap.

Angels righty Jered Weaver is not a two-plus player; he has five-plus years of service time and had to get past only the 2012 season before a likely $100MM+ free agent deal.  Instead he signed for five years and $85MM.  One way to look at that is since Weaver could have gotten $13MM in arbitration for '12, he gave up four free agent years for $18MM apiece, without negotiating on the open market.  That is decidedly not the Boras Way.

Talking to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Boras explained, "He knows his value. He had close to 30 illustrations given to him to understand his value.  He knows not becoming a free agent would cost him millions and millions of dollars.  But the necessity to stay home was compelling."  Nightengale estimates a potential $60MM loss for Weaver.  For a 30-year-old ace, $23MM per year over six free agent seasons would have been possible, and $24-25MM over seven may have been within reach depending on various factors.  

Boras acknowledged that with so many top starting pitchers locked up, the free agent demand will be greater and teams will be aggressive.  For the upcoming offseason, that means huge deals for C.C. Sabathia and C.J. Wilson; I think Wilson can reach $100MM.  Guys like Edwin Jackson and Hisashi Iwakuma may be lifted up as well.

Following the 2012 season, Matt Cain, John Danks, Zack Greinke, Cole Hamels, Shaun Marcum, Colby Lewis, and Anibal Sanchez project to be among the top starters available.  But how many of them will be locked up in the next 15 months?  Hamels appears open to a new extension, telling Nightengale, "Teams are being a lot smarter now,  When they have somebody they want to keep, they make sure to get it done. They don't want to let it get to an iffy situation.  The Phillies ought to know me pretty well by now, too, so we'll see what happens."

AL West Notes: Weaver, Mariners, Athletics

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The Angels extended Jered Weaver yesterday and it didn’t take long for some initial reactions to surface. Here are more reactions to the Weaver deal, plus other notes from the Angels’ division…

  • ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that executives around MLB were stunned that Weaver accepted the Angels' five-year, $85MM extension offer. They expected the Scott Boras client to hold out for more or test his value on the open market.
  • Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles examines the Weaver deal and what it means for the Angels and their ace before concluding that "Weaver and the Angels needed each other." 
  • Dave Cameron of FanGraphs shows that Weaver pitches in one of the best environments possible for his skills. Though Weaver probably left money on the table, Cameron says the deal is a good one for Weaver and the Angels.
  • Writing at U.S.S. Mariner, Cameron suggests the Mariners might want to spend their money on a third baseman this winter, even though they already have the disappointing Chone Figgins under contract for 2012. However, there's not much out there aside from Aramis Ramirez, so the Mariners will likely have to decide between so-so secondary options and in-house solutions.
  • The A's demoted catcher Landon Powell to Triple-A Sacramento so that he could get some regular at bats, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • Coco Crisp and Rich Harden were claimed on waivers and pulled back, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. If Oakland puts the players on waivers again, they won't be able to pull them back. The A’s first placed Harden and Crisp on waivers a week ago.

Initial Reactions To Jered Weaver’s Extension

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The unexpected news of Jered Weaver's five-year extension with the Angels elicited a wide range of responses Sunday night. Here are some of the early takes from reporters and pundits:

  • The extension is a win for the Angels, tweets Scott Miller of CBSSports.com, as Weaver would have been in line for a big pay day after 2012.
  • Likewise, Bob Nightengale of USA Today thinks the extension is a "great deal" for the Angels (via Twitter).
  • It's not a steal for the Angels, according to Keith Law of ESPN.com (via Twitter), but he likes the deal for the team.
  • Weaver "took control" in his decision to remain in Anaheim long-term, tweets Lyle Spencer of MLB.com.
  • Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLBTR reminds us that while the contract appears favorable for the Halos, Weaver was still 14 months away from free agency (via Twitter).
  • Weaver could have commanded a nine-figure deal as a free agent, opines Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Olney commends Weaver for spurning the usual tack of Scott Boras clients, which is to go to free agency (via Twitter).
  • The no-trade clause in Weaver's deal is a "good get" by Scott Boras, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post, who notes that teams typically try to avoid them.
  • Weaver's deal sets a ceiling for free-agent-to-be C.J. Wilson, according to Evan P. Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter).
  • Weaver's extension sets a floor for Cole Hamels' contract talks, tweets Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Hamels is a free agent after 2012.
  • Ubaldo Jimenez was seeking a similar deal with the Rockies before being traded to the Indians, according to Renck (Twitter link).

Angels Extend Jered Weaver

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The Angels have signed ace Jered Weaver to a five-year, $85MM contract extension, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). The deal includes a full no-trade clause, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), and various "significant" bonuses for winning the Cy Young and MVP awards and for earning All-Star berths, writes Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.

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Weaver, a Boras Corporation client, as MLBTR's Agency Database shows, was slated to hit free agency after 2012, so this extension buys out his final year of arbitration eligibility and four years of free agency at an average annual salary of $17.5MM. He earns $7.37MM in 2011 after losing an arbitration hearing with the Halos prior to this season. Tim Dierkes explained in May that Weaver could have earned as much as $15MM in 2012 after another round of arbitration.

Weaver's deal is similar in terms to the ones Felix Hernandez signed with the Mariners (five years, $78MM) and Justin Verlander (five years, $80MM) inked with the Tigers prior to the 2010 season, as noted by Heyman (Twitter). The difference, though, is that both Hernandez and Verlander had two remaining years of arbitration eligibility when they signed, whereas Weaver is nearer to free agency with only one remaining. The contract is the largest for a pitcher in Angels history, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).

As Jeff Passan of Yahoo! notes, the projected class of free-agent starters in 2013 is deep, headlined by Cole Hamels, Zack Greinke, Matt Cain, Shaun Marcum, John Danks, Anibal Sanchez and Francisco Liriano (Twitter link). So, perhaps Weaver and his representatives were motivated to get a jump on that market, as Boras Corporation clients typically go to free agency. Buster Olney of ESPN.com thinks Weaver could have fetched a nine-figure contract on the open market after 2012 (Twitter link).

The 28-year-old right-hander, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2004 draft, is in the midst of a career year, posting a 2.10 ERA (178 ERA+), 7.6 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9. He is among the favorites to win the American League Cy Young Award, along with Verlander and CC Sabathia of the Yankees.

The deal will be announced by the club on Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

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