Quick Hits: Pirates, Cubs, Werth, Byrdak
The Cardinals won and the Braves lost, so only 2.5 games separate the two clubs in the National League Wild Card race. Here's the latest news from around MLB…
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington didn't say whether he intends to offer arbitration to Ross Ohlendorf this offseason, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Ohlendorf would earn a raise from his current $2.025MM salary if the Pirates tender him a contract this winter.
- The Cubs told scouting director Tim Wilken that he'll be back in 2012, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. There had been some rumblings that Wilken would receive a four-year extension like the one director of player personnel Oneri Fleita obtained, but Wilken will return on a one-year deal.
- Giants officials acknowledged to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that it will be hard to bring back both Jeremy Affeldt ($5MM option) and Javier Lopez (free agent) next year. The two left-handers could hit free agency this offseason.
- Jayson Werth told Bill Ladson of MLB.com that he still believes that the Nationals are headed for success. The outfielder hasn't lived up to his $126MM contract so far, but he says he has found his swing and regained his composure.
- Mike Mosa, the agent for Tim Byrdak, told MLBTR's Tim Dierkes that Byrdak's decision to sign an extension with the Mets had to do with the team's willingness to include an opt-out in his deal for 2011 (Twitter link).
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs explains that serious analysts don't believe "that awards voting should be done according to an ordinal ranking" of the wins above replacement statistic. WAR is a tool that guides baseball fans, not an absolute statement about value or ability.
- In this week's edition of Ask BA, Jim Callis of Baseball America explains that he doubts we'll ever see an international draft because of all the logistics that would be involved. Commissioner Bud Selig has long supported a worldwide draft, which will come up during this round of collective bargaining.
Giants Notes: Burrell, Ross, Sanchez, Whiteside
The 2011 Giants closely resembled last year’s World Championship team, but change lies ahead for San Francisco. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle explains that health considerations and the rising cost of arbitration eligible players will shape next year’s Giants team. Here are some highlights from Schulman's piece:
- Pat Burrell could again sign a one-year deal when he hits free agency after the season (he earns $1MM this year), but he may have to retire because of a foot injury. Burrell says he’ll play as long as he’s healthy enough to take the field.
- Schulman says it’s hard to imagine the Giants offering Cody Ross a raise from $6.3MM or agreeing to a multiyear deal when the outfielder hits free agency.
- Mark DeRosa is hoping to sign closer to Atlanta, where he makes his home, and realizes he may be in line for a minor league deal.
- The Giants will probably decline Jeremy Affeldt’s $5MM option for 2012, but they’ll “almost certainly” pursue him in free agency, according to Schulman.
- Jonathan Sanchez and Andres Torres are non-tender candidates. When MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes identified Sanchez and Torres as non-tender candidates last month, he pointed out that Sanchez’s salary would rise over $6MM (he now earns $4.8MM) through arbitration.
- Eli Whiteside is another non-tender candidate, Schulman writes.
- Jeff Keppinger, who’s arbitration eligible, will likely return in 2012 and it’s hard to imagine the Giants cutting Nate Schierholtz after seeing him progress in 2011.
- The Giants may not have room on the roster for both Mike Fontenot and Emmanuel Burriss.
Giants, Cain Agree To Three-Year Extension
The Giants and Matt Cain have agreed to a three-year contract extension, writes Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News. The deal, which will cover Cain through the 2012 season, buys out one year of the hurler's free agency. On Friday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle speculated (via Twitter) that the Giants could be close to an extension with the 25-year-old.
Baggarly tweets that Cain will still make $4.5MM in 2010, $8MM in 2011, and $15MM in 2012. The new agreement voids Cain's old contract, in which he would have earned $4.25MM in 2010 with a $6.25MM club option for the following year. The old contract also included escalators based on innings pitched and games started that could have tacked another $1.9MM onto the 2011 option.
The extensions for Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson have also been made official. Affeldt agreed to a two-year, $9.5MM pact while Wilson will earn $15MM over the next two seasons.
Giants Agree To Extension With Jeremy Affeldt
Bob Nightengale of USA Today is reporting that the Giants and reliever Jeremy Affeldt have agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $9.5MM. Nightengale tweets that the deal should be announced tomorrow.
Affeldt was due to earn $4MM from San Francisco this season, which would have been the final year of the two-year, $8MM pact he signed after the 2008 season. Under the new contract, Affeldt will make a guaranteed $4.5MM in both 2010 and 2011. For the 2011 season, the Giants can either pick up an option on Affeldt that would pay the left-hander $5MM for the year, or the club can buy him out for $500K.
The 30-year-old enjoyed the best season of his eight-year career in 2009. He posted a career-low 1.73 ERA in 74 appearances with San Francisco, and tied Minnesota's Matt Guerrier for the major league lead in holds with 33.
Rosenthal On Sheets, Cruz, Cabrera, Reyes
The latest from Ken Rosenthal…
- Rosenthal recommends the Yankees sign Ben Sheets and Juan Cruz, partially because they’d pay less of a cost in draft picks than any other team. One exec predicted Sheets would require a $6-8MM base with the potential to earn at least $14MM, and possibly a "lucrative club option." Despite Rosenthal’s recommendation, the Yanks remain focused on Andy Pettitte (who is not weighing an offer from the Astros).
- Industry sources tell Rosenthal that the Red Sox have kept their payroll flexible in case mid and low-revenue teams need to dump contracts.
- The A’s probably cannot afford both Nick Johnson and Orlando Cabrera, so they’ll wait to see what happens with Cabrera before pursuing the trade with Washington.
- Prince Fielder filed for $8MM against the Brewers’ $6MM; Rosenthal indicates the team feared he’d file higher.
- One chatter mentioned yesterday that Cory Sullivan and Jeremy Reed are the exact same player; one GM said the same to Rosenthal.
- Dennys Reyes has backed off his demand for Jeremy Affeldt money (two years, $8MM). Affeldt seemed like a bargain at the time.
- Expected to be in attendance at Kris Benson‘s upcoming throwing session: the Dodgers, Rangers, Padres, Rockies, and D’Backs. Looks like an NL West affair.
Twins To Avoid Type A Free Agents?
A note from Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
I’ve been told it’s highly doubtful the Twins will sign a Type A free agent, which would cost them their first-round draft pick next June, though they have checked into some of the Type A relievers and are in a “Never say never” mode.
The Twins own the #23 pick in next year’s draft. Players such as Orlando Cabrera, Doug Brocail, Juan Cruz, Darren Oliver, and Russ Springer would presumably cost them that pick.
Christensen also notes that the Twins had strong interest in Jeremy Affeldt and scouted Dayan Viciedo.
Odds and Ends: Wade, Crisp, Holliday
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- Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald wonders if Kerry Wood might accept an offer of arbitration from the Cubs.
- Hal Steinbrenner officially took over control of the Yankees from George.
- Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire takes a look at Jeremy Affeldt‘s motivations in signing early with the Giants.
- Check out recent fan chats with Astros GM Ed Wade and agent Scott Boras. Wade still hopes to sign Randy Wolf and Doug Brocail and doesn’t seem keen on trading Jose Valverde. Some fans didn’t seem to realize that just holding payroll steady will pose problems for the Astros.
- Joe Posnanski discusses the Royals’ acquisition of Coco Crisp.
- Nick Cafardo wonders if the Crisp trade sets up other moves for the Red Sox. They’ll explore signing Rocco Baldelli, according to Amalie Benjamin.
- Sox Machine reflects on Nick Swisher‘s time with the White Sox.
- A’s owner Lew Wolff would prefer to keep Matt Holliday all year.
- Tom Haudricourt wonders if the Brewers will pursue David DeJesus if they trade Mike Cameron.
- MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone lists which teams have been connected to the top free agent starting pitchers.
- Chad Finn wonders if the Red Sox are considering trading David Ortiz.
- Alan Schwarz has a nice article on Junichi Tazawa.
Crisp Almost A Red, Says Jocketty
Reds GM Walt Jocketty says that his team nearly settled on a deal for Coco Crisp, according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We were close," Jocketty said, although specific pieces aren’t mentioned in the article. It’d be interesting to know what the Reds were offering considering the Red Sox received pitching help in exchange for Crisp.
The same article lists upgrading the bullpen as a focus of the Reds’ offseason plans. Jocketty has been in touch with the agents of David Weathers and Mike Lincoln, but doesn’t expect to sign anyone soon.
Jocketty also talks about being surprised by how quickly reliever Jeremy Affeldt signed a deal. However, the article also points out that Affeldt wasn’t signed until January 23rd this past offseason.
Affeldt Signing Reactions
Giants GM Brian Sabean kicked off the free agent proceedings yesterday by signing southpaw Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year, $8MM deal. Reactions:
- ESPN’s Keith Law likes the move. Affeldt has good stuff, it’s a short-term deal, and it doesn’t cost the Giants a draft pick. Affeldt definitely could’ve gotten more money elsewhere.
- El Lefty Malo says "this was about as good a cost/benefit move the Giants could make for a free agent reliever."
- Affeldt says signing was a no-brainer for him after the Giants came in and met the dollars he was looking for. Henry Schulman’s San Francisco Chronicle article implies Affeldt could get a shot at starting at some point during the deal.
Giants Sign Jeremy Affeldt
2:39pm: MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon says it’s a two-year, $8MM deal for Affeldt. Nice signing! Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Giants are not done looking for relievers, though Chris Haft figures Joe Beimel is out on account of his left handedness.
1:46pm: According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, the Giants signed lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year deal. He was a Type B free agent, so the Reds will receive a sandwich pick for him in the June draft.
I’m surprised Affeldt didn’t pursue a closing job; ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him as the second best reliever on the market (ahead of Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes). Affeldt seemingly overplayed his hand as a free agent last offseason, so maybe that was a factor.