Rumors for November, 2010
Jamie Moyer to have surgery – optimistic for a 2011 return
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Veteran left-handed pitcher Jamie Moyer is having surgery on Wednesday and he’s cautiously optimistic that he’ll return for the 2011 season, according to his official Twitter account.
The oldest active Major League player at 47-years-old, Moyer was set to make a few starts in the Dominican Winter League. During one game, he injured himself in his same troubled elbow that plagued him earlier this year. It was thought at the time that his career may be over.
Earlier this month, he said that he didn’t want to be a “comedy act” if he came back to the Major Leagues.
“If I’m going to pitch, I’m going to go somewhere, whether it is here [Philadelphia] or another team, and compete for a job.”
Rangers reach two-year deal with Yorvit Torrealba
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The Texas Rangers have reached a two-year deal with free agent catcher Yorvit Torrealba, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Anthony Andro of the Star Telegram says that the Rangers are paying Torrealba $6.25 million over two-years, with $3 million in 2011 and $3.25 million in 2012.
Torrealba declined his side of the 2011 mutual option with the Padres earlier in November. The mutual one-year option was worth $3.5 million. At the time, he was hoping for a two-year deal. The Padres wanted him back, but MLB.com’s Corey Brock said they “won’t/can’t break the bank to so.”
The catcher had a $4 million mutual option with the Colorado Rockies for 2010, but the team declined their side last winter.
The Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant says Torrealba was announced as the team’s 2011 starting catcher during a conference call. He later adds that he’s not sure if Bengie Molina will retire, but it’s pretty clear that he’s not in the team’s plans for 2011. Matt Treanor is an option to be the team’s backup catcher.
Torrealba, 31, spent the 2010 season with the Padres where he hit .271 with 7 HR and 37 RBI’s in 363 plate appearances in 95 games. He made $750,000 in 2010.
Several teams interested in Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett
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FOXSports Ken Rosenthal says the Tampa Bay Rays are closer to trading shortstop Jason Bartlett than ever before.
Those that have expressed interest include the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates.
The sudden surge of interest in the shortstop occurred because one less infielder is now available – Juan Uribe agreed to a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier today.
Other shortstops that are candidates to be traded or are free agents include Marco Scutaro, J.J. Hardy, Miguel Tejada and Orlando Cabrera.
Astros to discuss multi-year deal with Wandy Rodriguez
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General manger Ed Wade said the Houston Astros and right-handed pitcher Wandy Rodriguez have started to talk about a multi-year deal, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Zachary Levine. Wade was approached by Rodriguez’s representatives during the season, but postponed the serious talks until after the year.
“It makes all the sense in the world to at least consider it,” Wade said of extending Rodriguez, who made $5 million after losing his arbitration case last season.
Rodriguez is under team control through the 2011 season. He went 11-12 with a 3.60 ERA last season.
The team will unlikely lock up arbitration-eligible players such as Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence. The Astros have until December 2 to tender the players along with the others that are arbitration-eligible a contract.
Martin’s future with the Dodgers unclear
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The Dodgers still have three days to tender catcher Russell Martin a contract, but according to Los Angeles Times’ Dylan Hernandez Martin is a candidate to be let go by the Dodgers and made a free agent.
Apparently Martin’s agent, Matt Colleran, said he hasn’t spoken with the Dodgers in about a week. Colleran said that he and the Dodgers have exchanged “general ideas”, but they haven’t presented a formal offer to his client.
Martin earned $5.05 million last season and could earn more than $6 million if he enters an arbitration process. Hernandez says the team “appear weary” of giving Martin a raise. Colleran replied, about the possibility of Martin taking a pay cut that, “If any offer is made to us, I’ll certainly discuss that with Russell.”
The catcher is recovering from a season-ending hip injury and hasn’t produced at All-Star levels in the last couple of years.
San Francisco Giants contact Derek Jeter’s agent
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According to Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Giants have contacted Derek Jeter’s agent, Casey Close. However, a source close to Costa says the Giants are not seriously pursuing the shortstop at the moment. Close also happens to be the agent for Giants’ catcher Buster Posey.
The Giants have been linked to Jeter for some time now. Giant’s GM, Brian Sabean, was the one who drafted the Yankees’ captain when Sabean was with the organization back in 1992.
San Francisco is in need of a shortstop since World Series MVP, Edgar Renteria is a free agent and Juan Uribe is now with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the bigger picture, the Giants are in trouble on that side of the diamond. There’s a lot of uncertainty with third baseman Pablo Sandoval. He’s being threatened with a Minor League demotion if he doesn’t lose weight.
Costa says that Yankees officials are not convinced that Jeter would sign with any team other than the Yankees. The Yankees offered Jeter a three-year, $45 million contract, but Jeter is insisting on an annual salary of $23-25 million. The Yankees are not budging on their offer.
“I’m pretty blown away that it even came to this level,” the person close to Costa, referring to the ugly state of the Yankees’ negotiations with Jeter. “This is a Hall of Famer. This is the face of the franchise. It just usually doesn’t come to this.”
Other teams that could go after Jeter include the St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Angels.
Yankees not budging from three-year, $45 million offer to Jeter
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According a source close to ESPNNewYork.com’s Wallace Matthews and close to the negotiations between the New York Yankees and Derek Jeter, the team will not budge from their original offer of three-years, $45 million and the negotiations will remain at a standstill until Jeter and his agent “drink the reality potion.”
The Yankee captain had reportedly asked for annual salary in the area of $23-25 million, and the Yankees are not to overpay their 36-year-old shortstop. GM Brian Cashman has even encouraged Jeter to shop himself around to see if he can get a better deal.
“We understand his contributions to the franchise and our offer has taken them into account. We’ve encouraged him to test the market and see if there’s something he would prefer other than this. If he can, fine. That’s the way it works.”
Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young become free agents
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According to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Dejan Kovacevic, Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young have cleared outright waivers and become free agents.
2010 Postseason share breakdown – Giants share is $317,631
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A full postseason share for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants is worth $317,631, down from the $350,030 the New York Yankees earned for 2009, according to the Associated Press.
The Texas Rangers’ postseason share is worth $246,280, down from $265,358 from the 2009 runner-up Philadelphia Phillies.
The Giants players awarded 50 full shares, 9.89 partial shares and five cash awards while the Rangers players awarded 44 full shares, eight partial shares and 12 cash awards.
Bengie Molina, who was crucial to the success of both teams, likely received a full share from both the Giants and Rangers.
Here are the rest of the playoff share breakdowns:
| Team | Value of share |
| San Francisco Giants | $317,631 |
| Texas Rangers | $246,280 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | $110,303 |
| New York Yankees | $110,303 |
| Minnesota Twins | $30,883 |
| Atlanta Braves | $29,511 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | $28,142 |
| Cincinnati Reds | $26,910 |
| Chicago White Sox | $10,886 |
| San Diego Padres | $10,119 |
| Oakland Athletics | $9,832 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | $9,679 |
From the Wikipedia:
There is a separate pool for each series – the Division Series, the League Championship Series, and the World Series. The player’s bonus pool is funded with 60% of the gate receipts for the first three games of each Division Series, the first four games of each LCS and the first four games of the World Series; limiting the funding for the pool to these games, the mimimum number in each series, removes incentive to extend the series for merely fiscal sake. The value of the gate is determined by the size of the venues, the amount of high-priced premium seating in the venues, the number of games played in the series and whether or not the games sell out. Ticket prices for each series are set by MLB, not the home teams, so they are relatively uniform across baseball.
The World Series winner gets 35%, the World Series loser gets 24%, both League Championship Series losers get 12%, and the four Division Series losers get 3%. In addition, the four second-place teams that fail to qualify for the postseason receive 1% of the pool.
The player shares are voted upon by the players that were on the team during the entire regular season in a meeting chaired by their union representative. This meeting follows the trade deadline on July 31st. Players who have not been with the team for a full season may be granted a full share, less than a full share or no share as a result of the vote. Non-players, such as trainers, may be granted full or partial shares. The pool of money is split according to the shares determined in the vote. There is no limit to the number of shares that may be granted, but a greater number of shares dilutes the value of each share, and consequently the amount each player is awarded.
Rival GMs convinced that Royals will move Zack Greinke
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In Buster Olney’s blog from this morning, rival general managers of the Kansas City Royals are convinced the team will move Zack Greinke this winter.
It’s likely that the Royals will wait until Cliff Lee signs with a team before they become serious about trading Greinke. It’s likely the losers of the Lee sweepstakes will come hard after Greinke, so it will play to the Royals’ advantage to wait.
Greinke’s current no-trade clause allows him to block trades to 15 teams.
Greinke is signed through the 2012 season, and he leaves little doubt that he’ll sign a new deal if the Royals are not competitive. The 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner will make $13.5 million each season for 2011 and 2012.
