Rumors for November, 2009
Marlins want to keep Josh Johnson
Posted by: | CommentsFlorida Marlins right hander, Josh Johnson, is trying to secure a long term deal with the Marlins despite the rumors that he’s on the trading block. According to The Sporting News, Johnson and his agent, Matt Sosnick, are trying to secure a 4 year deal however the Marlins are offering 3 years. The 25 year old Johnson had a 15-5 record with a 3.23 ERA in 2009 with the Marlins. He’s eligible for arbitration, and should expect a good raise given his success last season.
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White Sox offered Vizquel $1M 1 year deal
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago White Sox have made a $1M 1 year contract offer to 43-year-old free agent infielder Omar Vizquel. There’s no information about how long the offer will be on the table. Because Vizquel is open to play multiple infield positions, as he did with the Texas Rangers in 2009, his worth to any future suitor increases. With Alexei Ramirez playing in 148 games for the White Sox in 2009, you can Vizquel to spend more time at second or third base.
Rockies want to bring back Contreras
Posted by: | CommentsFree agent pitcher Jose Contreras is considering playing in Japan in 2010. According to The Denver Post, he wants to enroll his teenage son in a Japanese training academy. The Rockies have expressed interest in bringing him back as a relief pitcher next season. Contreras was 6-13 in 23 games started with a 4.92 ERA.
Contreras made $10 million in 2009. He probably won’t be able to fetch that in 2010 and beyond. However, a $3-5 million per year deal is not out of the question.
Rockies are interested in Brian Schneider
Posted by: | CommentsWith the departure of free agent Yorvit Torrealba, the Colorado Rockies have expressed interest in former Met backup catcher and now free agent Brian Schneider according to The Denver Post. Torrealba recently turned down a 2 year $4.5 million offer from the Rockies. The Denver Post speculates that Torrealba may be headed to the San Francisco Giants with the departure of free agent Bengie Molina. Torealba started in the Giant’s system and was with the big league club from 2001-2005. He’ll be a stop-gap until Buster Posey is ready to take the job full-time.
Schneider hit .218 with three home runs and 24 RBIs in 59 games with the Met’s in 2009. He’s he’s an average backup at best. The Rockies other option is Chris Iannetta who started approximately half of the Rockies games last season.
Dissecting the NL Cy Young
Posted by: | CommentsCongratulations to Tim Lincecum for winning his second consecutive NL Cy Young award. It’s nice to see that the voters looked beyond uncontrollable stats such as wins in deciding the top pitcher of the National League. You have to feel for the Cardinal’s Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. The voters overlooked the fact that they had more wins and were on a playoff team. Rather they focused on statistics that the pitcher had more control over such as FIP and VORP. FIP stands for Fielding Independent Pitching and it covers the statistics that a pitcher is responsible for such as walks, strikeouts, hit batters and home runs. VORP is the Value Over Replacement Player. VORP measures the value that the players provides over a replacement or backup player.
Like I did with the Zack Greinke when he won the AL Cy Young Award last week, I want to analyze the salaries of the past 4 winners of the NL Cy Young.
| Year | Player, Team | Bonus | Salary when winning C.Y. | Salary 1 year later | Salary 2 years later | % of salary increase |
| 2009 | Tim Lincecum, Giants | $0 | $650,000 | n/a | n/a | year-to-year contract |
| 2008 | Tim Lincecum, Giants | $0 | $405,000 | $650,000 | n/a | 60% from 08-09 |
| 2007 | Jake Peavy, Padres | $100,000 | $2.5 million | $4.75 million | $6 million | 140% from 07-09 |
| 2006 | Brandon Webb, D-Backs | $0 | $2.5 million | $4.5 million | $5.5 million | 120% from 06-08 |
The American League over the last 4 years had 4 different pitchers that were more established in the league (ie. they had proven their success early on and their agents had negotiated a high contract before they won the award). Cliff Lee would be the exception since he was paid $3.75 million during Cy Young year in 2007, but he was signed to a long-term deal that was back loaded in salary.
The National League has 3 pitchers over the last 4 years that are in the early parts of their career. Lincecum is negotiating year-to-year knowing that he’s arbitration eligible. He should expect a nice raise for the 2010 season with at least a $1-2 million base salary which he’ll sign before Spring Training 2010. Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb had similar contracts when they won their awards and a similar pay raise over the following 2 years. Peavy is now reaping his rewards with the 3 year $52 million contract that is good through 2012. Webb recently had his 2010 team option exercised for $8.5 million despite his injury plagued 2009 season. He’ll have to perform well in 2010 to expect a long-term deal similar to Peavy’s current contract.
The Giant’s have a pitching bargain with Lincecum. He’s easily worth $20 million per season. They need to milk it and make use of it before his discount expires after the 2012 season. You can easily predict that Lincecum will be the most sought after pitcher then with the Yankees and the Red Sox taking dump trucks full of cash and dropping it off at his door when he’s a free agent.
Does the Rookie of the Year award guarantee a future pay raise? Yes!
Posted by: | CommentsWinning the Rookie of the Year award does not translate into a Cooperstown plaque at the end of your career. For every Willie McCovey, Cal Ripken Jr. and Johnny Bench that wins the Rookie of the Year, we also get a fair share of one hit wonders such as Bob Hamelin and Pat Listach. I respect the award and give credit to each winner since they have a tough job. These are usually kids in their late teens or early twenties who have perform on the biggest every day of a lengthy baseball season – one that they are not usually accustomed with. I congratulate Oakland’s Andrew Bailey and Florida’s Chris Coghlan for an outstanding 2009 rookie season.
I want to take a look at a few RoY winners of the past few years and see who managed to parlay their strong rookie campaign with a sizable contract.
| Year | Player, Team | Salary when winning RoY. | Next significant contract | Status |
| 1998 | Ben Grieve, Athletics | $172,000 | 4 year, $13M starting 2000 | Struggled to carry the Rays then out of baseball |
| 2001 | Albert Pujols, Cardinals | $200,000 | 7 year, $100M starting 2004 | Hello Cooperstown? Get the plaque ready! |
| 2003 | Dontrelle Willis, Marlins | $300,000 | 1 year, $4.35M starting 2006 | Hang it up |
| 2005 | Ryan Howard, Phillies | $316,000 | 1 year, $10M starting 2008 (arbitration won) | He has Hall potential if he can reduce the K’s |
Being Rookie of the Year will almost guarantee the winner a future contract that will take care of them for the rest of their life. I struggled to find a player that bombed out of the league immediately. Pat Listach, 1992 AL Rookie of the Year winner for the Milwaukee Brewers, left baseball in 1997 after playing 6 seasons which included a deal that paid him $2.2 million in 1996. Bob Hamelin, 1994 AL Rookie of the Year winner for Kansas City Royals, played in 4 seasons. His largest yearly paycheck was $450,000 in 1998 in his last year of his career with the Brewers. Hopefully Bailey and Coghlan can continue their success, blow their stats out of the water, leverage those stats against arbitration or sign a very lucrative and long-term deal.
Is Zack Greinke being underpaid for his 2009 Cy Young Award?
Posted by: | CommentsKansas City Royals starting pitcher, Zack Greinke, won the 2009 American League Cy Young for his 16-8 record, 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts . The Royals luckily signed Greinke to a long-term deal before the 2009 season at 4 years, $38 million through 2012. He’ll make a $100,000 bonus for winning the Cy Young. Let’s take a look at the past few winners of the American League Cy Young and see how their salaries compare.
| Year | Player, Team | Bonus | Salary when winning C.Y. | Salary 1 year later | Salary 2 years later | % of salary increase |
| 2009 | Zack Greinke, Royals | $100,000 | $3.75M | $7.25M | $13.5M | 360% |
| 2008 | Cliff Lee, Indians | $250,000 | $3.75M | $5.75M | $8.0M | 213% |
| 2007 | C.C. Sabathia,Indians | $250,000 | $8.75M | $11.0M | $14.0M | 160% |
| 2006 | Johan Santana, Twins | $100,000 | $9.0M | $12.0M | $13.25M | 147% |
Santana and Sabathia each signed a new contract 1-2 seasons after winning their Cy Young. They earned an approximate 150% salary increase for the first year of their new contract. Lee’s was already in a 4 year, $15 million deal with an $8 million team option for 2010. His salary increase was already negotiated beforehand. You can expect Lee’s agent to ask at least $14 million for the first year in his next long-term contract to be comparable with Sabathia’s deal. Greinke’s contract was already in place and based on these numbers he’s earning what a top MLB pitcher should be making.
The Oriole's third baseman wishlist
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to Peter Schmuck of the The Baltimore Sun, free agent Dan Uggla could be an option for the Baltimore Orioles at third base. However, he would rate Uggla fourth behind Pedro Feliz, Garrett Atkins and the most expensive option – Adrian Beltre.
