Pierre will earn $800k if he makes the team, and can earn an additional $300k in incentives ($50k each time he reaches 200,250, 300, 350, 400 and 450 plate appearances.

Pierre who is known for his speed on the base paths played for the White Sox last season and hit .279. He also had a career low (full season numbers) 27 stolen bases but almost matched his career in rbi’s (55) with 51.

Pierre made $8.5mm in the last year of a five-year deal he signed with the Dodgers back in November of 2006. He was eventually traded to the White Sox prior to the 2010 season.

Pierre will be competing for a backup outfield spot in Spring Training.

Just like Dan Wheeler’s deal with the Indians, the White Sox will not receive compensation for Pierre signing with the Phillies even though he is a Type B free agent because he signed a minor league deal.

Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.

The New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals have also shown interest.

“Everything is great. I really don’t know how to describe it,” Concepcion, 18, said by phone from the Dominican Republic. “All the training and exercise I have done is paying off. I’ve worked so hard to get here. I’m so happy. It’s like a dream come true.”

Image by Scott Marlowe under the Creative Commons License.

“Everything is great. I really don’t know how to describe it,” Concepcion, 18, said by phone from the Dominican Republic. “All the training and exercise I have done is paying off. I’ve worked so hard to get here. I’m so happy. It’s like a dream come true.”

Image by Scott Marlowe under the Creative Commons License.

We are proud to announce that our PRO Rumors Android app version 1.0 is available on the Android Market.  We spent a lot of time on the app’s design and functionality, and we are sure that you’ll love it.  To download the app for an introductory price of $2.99 you can click here.

Here are a few features:

– Push Notifications to get the latest news and rumors for your favorite MLB team

– Pulse-like view of articles – it’s beautiful

– Real-time scoreboard

– Real-time box scores of in-game action

We’re working hard to add more features, so if you have any questions or feature requests, please send an email to support@prorumors.com.  We promise to write you back.

Allan

Frasor earned $3.5mm last season while throwing 60 innings. For each inning Frasor pitched, he earned $58,333 or $61,403 for each strikeout (57 strikeouts).

Frasor had his $3.75mm team option picked up by the White Sox prior to the trade.

In 418.2/3 innings in the big leagues, Frasor has posted a 3.74 era while striking out 446.

Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Commons License Agreement.

Quentin who had a career year in 2008 when he hit .286 with 36 home runs and 100 RBIs, has seen his production slip where he hit .254 with 24 home runs and 77 RBIs. Though even with the numbers he put up last season, Quentin will become the biggest power threat in a power hunger San Diego lineup.

Quentin made $5.05mm last year in arbitration and is under team control for one more season.

Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Commons License Agreement.

Milledge last appeared in the Majors this past season (2 games) as a member of the Chicago White Sox. He spent most of the season in Triple-A where he posted a .295 avg in 505 plate appearances.

Milledge was once a top prospect in the Mets system when he was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2003 draft. Since then, he has been unable to live up to the hype and has tried to latch on with the Nationals, Pirates and the White Sox since being traded from the Mets.

His best season (hit for average) came in 2009 when he hit .291 in 220 plate appearances (64 hits) with the Pirates.

Image taken by MissChatter and used under the Creative Commons License Agreement.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

All of those pitchers are available for trades. Floyd, Danks and Gonzalez would probably cost the Red Sox top prospects, but to land Rodriguez, the team would probably have to eat most of his salary.

Danks went 8-12 with a 4.33 ERA in 170.1 innings and Floyd went 12-13 with a 4.37 ERA in 193.2 innings with the White Sox in 2011. Gonzalez went 16-12 with a 3.12 ERA in 202.0 innings with the A’s in 2011. Rodriguez went 11-11 with a 3.49 ERA in 191.0 innings with the Astros in 2011.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

As recently as September of 2011,  Ramirez indicated that he wanted to return to professional baseball.

Back in April the controversial Ramirez retired after being informed by MLB of an “Issue” regarding the Drug Prevention program. He was looking at a 100 game suspension at the moment because it was his second offense.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

Early in November, we learned that the Marlins were considering the left hander. Buehrle went 13-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 205.1 innings with the White Sox

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

Santos began his career as an infielder in the Blue Jays’ organization, and made his Major League debut as a pitcher in 2010. Last season he went 4-5 with a 3.55 ERA and 30 saves in 63.1 innings with the White Sox.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

–According to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com, the Nationals have recently talked to the representatives for Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, though the level of their interest is not known.

– The Marlins have offered a six-year, $111 million offer to free agent shortstop Jose Reyes. (Enrique Rojas, ESPNLosAngeles.com)

– Manny Ramirez filed for reinstatement and teams including the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics WILL NOT be interested (our apologies). (Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports and Buster Olney of ESPN.)

– The Mets have contacted Francisco Rodriguez.  (Jon Heyman, Sports Illustrated).

– The Reds have offered a managing position to Double-A Pensacola to Jim Riggleman.  He’s likely to accept.  (Jon Heyman, Sports Illustrated)

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

In the book’s preface, the author quotes work done by a Manhattan lawyer named Doug Pappas. Pappas, says that a team with only minimum wage players, both on the Major League roster and the rest of the 40-man, would still probably win 49 out of the 162 games played.

In 2011, the minimum wage for a player on the 25-man roster was $414,500. The minimum wage for a player on the 40-man roster, with at least one day of MLB service time or had been on the 40-man roster for a year was $67,300.

The minimum that a team could spend on their 40-man roster in 2011 was: $11,397,000. That’s $10,387,500 for their 25-man roster and $1,009,500 for the rest of their 40-man roster. If a team could get approximately 49 wins with a $11,397,000 payroll, that means that if you divide the total wins a team got above their 49th win by the total dollars they paid over the minimum, you get the “price” each team paid for each win they got.

After this brief introduction of the “marginal win” formula, I’m going to say what this report is all about. I’m going to analyze the “price” for each win a team got in 2011 so we can determine which teams were the most cost effective. Besides that, I’m going to list the top 5 paid players on each team and give you their performance line, to see how much they actually contributed to their team.

I’ll also list each team’s OBP, runs and SLG totals so we can see for ourselves how related these stats are at the moment of scoring runs and winning games. So get ready to experience a thoughtful analysis of every 2011 Major league team.

The team’s payroll was taken from USA Today and the individuals salaries from About.com.

Image by dherrera_96 Under the Creative Commons License.

– The Chicago White Sox have been trying to move left handed pitcher Matt Thornton since July according to Buster Olney of ESPN. He is owed $12 million over two seasons.

– Olney also points out that the White Sox are “devoted” to the idea of trading John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Carlos Quentin.

– The Colorado Rockies have inquired about catcher Dioner Navarro according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. He would be the team’s backup catcher if they end up signing Ramon Hernandez. Renck adds that if they sign Hernandez they would probably move Chris Iannetta as well.

– Renck says that the Rockies are exploring trades for Ian Stewart. He adds that the Cubs are apparently interested in Stewart although he’s not sure “what degree” of interest they have.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

1. What are the chances Manny Ramirez plays baseball next season?

As time goes on, the chances of Manny returning to any field decreases. He recently had a tryout with a Japanese team in Miami, that did not go well. With Manny, teams have to look and see if his productivity is worth the headaches that also come with Manny. Manny also still has a 100 game suspension that he has to serve prior to being eligible to play. In the end, I think Manny will take his talents to his neighborhood softball league.

2. Who are the oldest active MLB players and are they still producing?

The oldest player that set foot on a diamond this year was Tim Wakefield, at 45 years old. Though he won the award this year, Jamie Moyer is looking to return after sitting out 2011 due to injuries and would have won the award this year as he is 48 years old (49 on Nov 18th). Wakefield who is known for his knuckle ball, posted a 7-8 record with a 5.12 era while earning $3.5mm in the second year of his two-year deal $7mm deal.

The oldest player to ever play in a game goes to Satchel Paige who was 59. In 1965, he signed a one-day contract with the Kansas City Athletics. On September 25, he took the mound against the Boston Red Sox allowing only one hit in three innings (info obtained from wikipedia).

3. Where will Albert Pujols sign?

Because of the limited market as far as only a handful of teams being able to afford a $200mm contract, I think Pujols will end up returning to St. Louis. Stay up to date with all signings with our Free Agent Tracker.

4. What was the worst free agent signing last offseason?

Purely on the past season statistics, Jayson Werth and Adam Dunn immediately pop into mind. If you are looking at only performances, Dunn wins the award. Dunn posted a .159 avg,while hitting 11 home runs while striking out 177 times. Sure some critics will say it was in part because he switched leagues but he just flat out sunk. In 2010 with the Nationals, he hit .260 with 38 home runs. This past season while putting up dismal numbers, he went on to make $12mm, or about $1.1mm per home run he hit as the full time DH for the White Sox.

But if you take into consideration total years and money I would say Jayson Werth at seven years $126mm was the worst signing (Dunn was four-years, $56mm). Werth had a career year in 2009 when he hit .268 with 36 home runs and 99 rbi’s. But that was on a different team where he was not the big stick on the team. He had plenty of protection infront of him and behind him. This past season as the main threat for the Nationals, he hit .232 with only 20 home runs.

By the end of the 2012 season, the jocking for the worst contract during the 2010-2011 offseason  should be over and we will be able to crown Dunn or Werth the winner.

Kilgore says that the Nationals are looking for a veteran starter to go with their young, talented staff. “The pitcher we’re looking for is a good leader type of guy who can throw a lot of innings,” said Rizzo earlier this month after signing Chien-Ming Wang (via Kilgore). “He’s shown he can win in the big leagues and really lead our staff, not by having the best stuff on the staff, but by showing how to be a professional and how to be a winner and how to pitch 200 innings in a season many, many times. That’s the kind of the guy we’re looking for.”

Buerhle was 13-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 205.1 innings throughout 31 starts with the White Sox in 2011.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

Image by dherrera_96 Under the Creative Commons License

-Despite the fact the Dodgers still have resigning Hiroki Kuroda as their top priority, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com is reporting that the Dodgers are exploring other options in the event they are not able to resign him. Gurnick points out that the Dodgers appear most interested in Aaron Harang if they are not able to resign Kuroda, with Chris Capuano and Jeff Francis as other possible candidates to replace Kuroda.

-At least three teams are in on Albert Pujols Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reports. With the Cardinals being one of the teams, the details of the Marlins offer to Pujols have emerged with the deal possibly being for nine-years while under $200mm, with a mystery team still in the race.

-Jim Bowden of ESPN.com notes that 13 teams are showing interest in Mark Buehrle. Those teams are the White Sox, Cubs, Marlins, Twins Rangers, Yankees, Royals, Cardinals, Red Sox and Diamondbacks.

-According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, C.J. Wilson is looking for a six-year $120mm deal. Good luck with that.

The Japanese team apparently did not like the “baggage” associated with Ramirez.  The source added, “no matter how talented Manny might be.”

Back in April the controversial Ramirez retired after being informed by MLB of an “Issue” regarding the Drug Prevention program. He was looking at a 100 game suspension at the time. because it was his second offense.

In September, Ramirez said he was going to play Winter League in the Dominican Republic, but because the Winter League is affiliated with MLB, commissioner Bud Selig considers him ineligible to play.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

Yesterday, we learned that the Yankees are interested in bringing veteran starter Freddy Garcia back, and according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, suggests that the Yankees could take a look at Mark Buehrle and Roy Oswalt.

Both hurlers are free agents, and given the fact that the Yankees won’t probably commit to a five-year deal with C.J. Wilson, they be able to sign at least one of them for less years and money.

“We’ll explore all our opportunities and we’ll explore what the market is on various free agents,” Cashman said. “Obviously our limits are at a higher level than certain other clubs, but we have limits nonetheless.”

Buehrle was 13-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 205.1 innings and 31 starts with the White Sox this season. Oswalt was 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA in 139 innings throughout 23 starts with the Phillies in 2011.

One of the new features we are proud to debut is our “Mail Time with PRO Rumors.” Twice a month (or maybe more), we will answer emails from our readers about any baseball related topic. We will also take questions in both English and Spanish. If you have a question about Winter Ball in Venezuela make sure you drop us a line, as PRO Rumors’ writer Juan has been scouting most of the games.

Send us your questions to Mailbag@prorumors.com

He was just 35 games behind John McGraw for second place all-time for games managed. In 33 years as a Major League manager with the White Sox (8 years), Athletics (10 years) and Cardinals (16 years) he was 2728-2365 with six league pennants and three World Series championships.

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated says that he and Sparky Anderson are the best two managers he has ever seen.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

The Marlins will probably take a look at some of the top-of-the-list free agents like Albert Pujols, C.C. Sabathia (if he decides to opt out of his contract) and Prince Fielder, but as Capozzi points out, they will probably spread out the money to fill all of their voids.

Aramis Ramirez could be a perfect fit at third base for the Marlins, and apparently, he has told friends who play for the Marlins that he would give serious thought to playing in Miami says Capozzi. Former Marlins like Cody Ross and Juan Pierre could also re-sign with the team.

Capozzi also mentions names like Coco Crisp and Grady Sizemore to fill out the Marlins outfield next season. Left hander Mark Buehrle, who pitched for Ozzie Guillen in Chicago, could be a fit for the Marlins rotation.

The Marlins might also consider Livan Hernandez, Jason Marquis, Aaron Harang, Jeff Francis and Bruce Chen according to Capozzi.

Regarding their closer situation, they still don’t know what will happen with Juan Carlos Oviedo (formerly known as Leo Nunez), but Jonathan Papelbon, Heath Bell and Ryan Madson might be a little pricey for them.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.