Rumors for November, 2009
No Gold Glove bonus in any Yankee player's contract?
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s baseball award season and time for bonuses to be paid out. They announced the American League Rawling’s Gold Glove winners today and a few of them made extra scratch for doing what they’re already paid to do. Here’s the run down:
Mark Buehrle: $25,000
Joe Mauer: $25,000
Mark Teixeira: none
Placido Polanco: $25,000
Derek Jeter: none
Evan Longoria: $25,000
Torii Hunter: $100,000
Adam Jones: none
Ichiro Suzuki: $50,000
Jones is young and assuming that his agents at JR Sports do their job correctly, he’ll probably get a Gold Glove award bonus in his 2010 contract. He has a $25,000 All Star selection bonus in his 2009 contract.
I was looking over the Yankee contracts and no current Yankee has a Gold Glove bonus. Maybe it’s Yankee policy to not give out a bonus for something they are expected to do. Or maybe it’s because they are already giving them dump trucks full of cash. Although Alex Rodriguez’s contract does have milestone bonuses based on how many home runs he hits in a Yankee’s uniform and other award bonuses such as most All Star votes, no current Yankee has bonus for their defensive work.
Wednesday is the Senior Circuit’s turn to get their Gold Gloves. MLB.com already predicts Jimmy Rollins, Brandon Philips and Yadier Molina as 2010 winners.
The Yankee effect on Felix Hernandez
Posted by: | CommentsI was reading Joel Sherman’s Hardball regarding Seattle Mariner’s starting pitcher Felix Hernandez. Hernandez was floated around as a potential trade last July, but was never dealt. He’s the Mariner’s property through the 2011 season, so any trade including Hernandez would include top-tier prospects (and many of them). Sherman’s blog indicates that the Mariner’s have no interest in trading Hernandez. In the meantime, you could expect the management of the Mariners trying to persuade Hernandez to sign an early deal by front loading the contract now and giving him the security that anybody would want. C.C. Sabathia signed a contract in 2002 for 4 years, $9.5 million which is a steal compared to what he’s getting today. In Hernandez’s case, he has the Yankee effect to count on.
Using last year’s Yankee shopping spree as a comparison baseline, there would be no reason for Hernandez to sign early. He could easily be worth $200+ million on the open market. I’m sure every budding athlete goes through this dilemma of signing early with the guarantee or wait it out, hopefully avoid injury and strike it big. I wonder if there are insurance plans that you hear many NCAA football players get just prior to them entering the draft. I recall that Willis McGahee signed one before he blew out his knee in the National Championship Game, and Tim Teabow has a contingency plan in case something happens between now and the NFL Draft 2010.
Varitek can only blame Boras for his current contract
Posted by: | CommentsThe Boston Red Sox have exercised their $7.1 million team option for catcher Victor Martinez which indicates that he’ll be their everyday catcher in 2010. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have declined the $5 million team option on team captain Jason Varitek. Varitek holds a $3 million player option that he has to decide within 5 days.
All of this comes one year after Varitek was offered salary arbitration by the Red Sox. The arbitration would have given Varitek a 1 year salary between $10-12 million, but he declined the offer hoping that he would get more. Unfortunately, the market softened and he was forced to take the $5 million for 2009 and the dual option as I indicated earlier. In a sense, he was guaranted a 2 year, $8 million contract, but that’s far less than $10-12 million. You could point your finger at Scott Boras, his agent, for thinking he could get more than arbitration.
Varitek has been a Sox player his entire career, and there’s no indication that he wants to leave. However, he’ll have to take the back seat to Martinez or persuade him to play more first base. The San Francisco Giants are in need of a starting catcher since Bengi Molina is a free agent and their catcher of the future, Buster Posey, won’t be the every day guy until 2011. Will Varitek accept a $4 million one year offer with the Giants to start 80 games?
Rockies listening to offers for RF Brad Hawpe
Posted by: | CommentsColorado Rockies’ right fielder Brad Hawpe is on the trading block according to The Sporting News via The New York Post. Hawpe will make $7.5 million in 2010, and has proven to be somewhat consistent over the last few years with 22-29 home runs per season. He does have the Colorado effect where his numbers will not necessarily transfer to his new home. If he can put up 15-18 home runs and 80+ RBI’s, he’ll be worth the $7.5 million. Like last year’s Matt Holliday, Oakland could make a deal with Colorado and replace their current right fielder Ryan Sweeney and use Hawpe for trade bait come July.
The Yankees are eyeing pitcher John Lackey
Posted by: | CommentsYankees General Manager, Brian Cashman, is done celebrating 2009 and ready to open the wallet for 2010. After making a splash last season with big contracts with C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett, he’s ready to go after Los Angeles Angel’s free agent starting pitcher John Lackey.
According to the New York Daily News, the Yankees are interested in making Lackey apart of their rotation, joining Sabathia, Burnett and possibly Andy Pettite. The fifth spot will be up for grabs between Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. However, Cashman may pass on Lackey this year and make a run for Roy Halladay in 2011.
Los Angeles Dodgers Rumors: Will Ohman's $2.2 million option not picked up
Posted by: | CommentsRelief pitcher Will Ohman’s $2.2 million club option will not be picked up by the Dodgers. Ohman, who filed for free agency on Monday, will receive a $200,000 buyout. Ohman’s 2009 salary was $1.35 million.
General Manager Ned Colletti will have some work to do in retooling the Dodger’s pitching staff for 2010. They have stability with starters Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw and Randy Wolf, along with setup man Ramon Troncoso and closer Jonathan Broxton. However, they will need to recover from underperformers such as Jason Schmidt and Jeff Weaver. Luckily the Manny Ramirez contract is set for 2010 and will not be an off season distraction, but the bitter divorce of the McCourt family may handcuff Colletti in completing big contracts.
Carl Crawford $10 million club option exercised by Rays
Posted by: | CommentsLeft fielder Carl Crawford’s $10 million club option was exercised by the Tampa Bay Rays today. Crawfords skills of speed, and consistent hitting made this an easy choice of the Rays. According to MLB.com, the Rays will need to negotiate a longer term deal with Crawford, otherwise if they do not sign him too a new deal either before the 2010 season or during it, he can become a free agent in the fall of 2010. It would be wise for Tampa Bay to negotiate a lucrative long-term contract with Crawford given the solid core of youngsters such as Evan Longoria and David Price drooling at getting back to the World Series.
The Rays also declined options for 2010 on relief pitcher Brian Shouse and catcher Gregg Zaun. They claimed pitcher Ramon Ramirez off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds. Shouse’s contract called for a $1.9 million salary in 2010 or a $200,000 buyout.
Wakefield signs a 2 year $7 million contract with Red Sox
Posted by: | CommentsMLB.com reports that starting pitcher Tim Wakefield has signed a 2 year contract with the Boston Red Sox effectively keeping the knuckleballer with the club through 2011. Because the Red Sox do not reveal specific contract details, it’s estimated that Wakefield’s salary will include $3.5 million in 2010 and $1.5 million in 2011 with approximately $2 million in incentives.
Randy Winn not returning to Giants in the future
Posted by: | CommentsAndrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports on his blog that the San Francisco Giants will probably not bring back former All Star and right fielder Randy Winn for the 2010 campaign. Winn, who’s already filed for free agency, is looking for an everyday outfield role.
The Giant’s have a large pool of young players who need more experience and with Winn out of the picture, the Giants can develop and experiment with players such as Fred Lewis, Nate Schierholtz, Andres Torres, Eugenio Velez and John Bowker.
Winn is coming off a 3 year $23.25 million contract. He grew up in the Bay Area and went to school at Santa Clara University. With his family and friends here, you would think he would give a hometown discount to stay close to home and play a reserve role. However, his poor right-handed hitting abilities and lack of home run power (2 home runs in 2009) proved be a liability to the Giants and possibly to any future employer. However, he does bring switch hitting capabilities and veteran leadership to any clubhouse, so I see him signing with a club quickly. I see Winn going for one last 3-4 year contract at $3-4 million per season.
Griffey wants one more year in Seattle
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to the Seattle Times (via The Sporting News), Ken Griffey Jr. wants to play one more season with the Mariners. 2 of Griffey’s teammates have already filed for free agency: Adrian Beltre and Mike Sweeney. Look for Russell Branyan, Erik Bedard, Endy Chavez and Miguel Batista to formally announce their free agency soon.
Griffey should expect another 1 year, approximately $2 million contract that is incentive based on roster bonuses (such as being on the roster until the end of the season), escalator bonuses (such as getting x-number of at bats or playing in x-number of games) and attendance bonuses since he’s a big draw for the Seattle faithful.
