Kotchman hit a .306 avg in 563 plate appearances for the Rays last season on a minor league deal that paid him $750k.

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

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

Image by kthypryn under the Creative Commons License.

Last season, Pena posted a .225 avg for the Cubs but hit 28 home runs in 606 plate appearances while earning $10mm on a one-year deal.

Pena’s return to Tampa is a sort of a home coming, as he spent 2007-10 in Tampa where he averaged 36 home runs and a .238 avg.

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

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

Rodney who had a year to forget, posted a 4.50 ERA with 28 BB and 26 strikeouts. Yes you saw that right, he gave up more walks than strikeouts. Rodney who made $5.5mm last season hasn’t seen a sub 4 ERA since 2006 when he posted a 3.52 ERA.

Angel fans will be happy that Rodney is not returning as the Angels gave Rodney $11mm over two-years and in return he posted a mediocre 4.37 ERA.

In comparison, the Angels gave Scott Downs less money, $5mm, last season and he went on to post a 1.34 ERA.

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

– The Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets are looking at Ryan Theriot. (Twitter)

– The Seattle Mariners have interest in Kevin Millwood. (Twitter)

Image by terren in Virginia under the Creative Commons License.

Rosenthal says that the team’s financial flexibility isn’t as “significant” as everybody expected, and that’s why they are exploring “more cost-effective moves” like trading for pitchers such as Matt Garza, Gio Gonzalez and Wade Davis.

With Fielder on his way to commanding at least a $150 million contract, and Darvish about $100 million including the posting fee and his contract, the Rangers have cheaper options by trading for any of the above named pitchers.

Garza was 10-10 with a 3.32 ERA in 198 innings with the Cubs in 2011.

Gonzalez went 16-12 with a 3.12 ERA in 202.0 innings with the A’s in 2011 and Davis went 11-10 with a 4.45 ERA in 184 innings with the Rays in 2011.

Image by imagesbyferg under the Creative Commons License.

Image by Joel Dinda 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.

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times adds that the teams holds options for 2017, 2018 and 2019, and the total value of Moore’s contracto could be $39.78 million over eight years.

Moore made his Major League debut this season with the Rays. In 9.1 innings, three games, one start, Moore was 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA and 15 strikeouts.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports add that the Yankees, Blue Jays and Texas Rangers are expected to bid on the right-handed pitcher.

Darvish,25 has never posted an ERA above 2.00 in Japan. It is possible that other clubs will become involved in the bidding process for the Darvish who is viewed as another option for clubs who lost out on Mark Buhrle or C.J. Wilson.

For those wondering, MLB clubs have four days to bid on Darvish, then four days for Nippon-Ham Fighters to select a bid then thirty-days to work out a contract with the club with the winning bid.

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

Image by kthypryn 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.

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The 36-year old also has a lot of experience catching in the AL East. In 2011, Molina hit .281/.342/.415 with 3 HR’s and 15 RBI’s in 171 AB’s for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

“John gives us a left-handed-hitting catcher with some big league time who is still young,” Mariners’ GM Jack Zduriencik said. “His left-handed bat will be a nice compliment to our right-handed hitting group. He’s a tough kid with post-season experience and should be a nice fit with us.”

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

Ayala pitched for the Yankees in 2011 after signing a Minor League deal in February 2011.  He went 2-2 in 52 appearances and was signed to a $650,000 contract in 2011.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

The veteran backup catcher made only $1.2 million last season and according to Smith, that would fit perfectly with the Rays’ price tag. He also has a lot of experience catching in the AL East, and fits perfectly with the “kind of catching platoon the Rays desire,” says Smith.

Molina, 36, hit .281/.342/.415 with 3 HR’s and 15 RBI’s in 171 AB’s for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

The Rays currently have four other catchers on their 40-man roster, so it’s likely that one of the following could be dropped to add Molina to the team: John Jaso, Jose Lobaton, Robinson Chirinos, and Nevin Ashley.

Image by Mike Durkin under the Creative Commons License.

The 35-year-old returned to the San Francisco Bay Area after a long career to help the Giants win their first West Coast World Series title.  The number one overall draft pick by the Philadelphia Phillies grew up in the South Bay Area and went to Bellarmine College Preparatory School in the late 1990’s before starting his professional career.

Image by Tom Thai under the Creative Commons License.

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.

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

– Carlos Beltran: Shea believes that his “tender knees” will keep him away from center field, and believes he could go to the American League so he can be a designated hitter. The chances of him returning to San Francisco are 50/50 according to Shea and he suggests the Indians as another possible destination for him. The Mariners could be a long shot for the switch hitting outfielder.

– Josh Willingham: He had a productive season in Oakland this year, but according to Shea the A’s “might not want to pay what he’ll get elsewhere.” He adds that Willingham could provide a “complementary pop” from the right side of the plate. The chances of him returning to the A’s according to Shea are low, and adds that he could sign with the White Sox. He views the Reds as a long shot.

– Michael Cuddyer: As an utility man, the Giants could pursue him as their next left fielder says Shea. His chances of returning to the Twins are 50/50 and he adds that another good fit for him could be the Rockies. The Red Sox are considered a long shot.

– David Ortiz: He wanted a two-year deal with the Red Sox, but they never talked to him about that possibility and according to Shea his comments about the team’s recent drama won’t help his case to return with the team. He says that the Blue Jays could be a good fit for him and views the Rays as a long shot.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.

I decided to talk about this specific tournament, well because I played in it last year and I’m 22 days away from going to Florida to play in it again.

Now, this specific tournament is played only once a year in Florida. Last year the tournament was held in the Cardinals’ Spring Training Complex, the Mets’ Spring Training Complex, the Marlins’ Spring Training Complex and the old DODGERTOWN.

The tournament is organized in age groups. +18, +25, +35, +45, +52 and some groups have the option to play with wood or aluminum bats. Besides that, the +25 group age has two divisions, one accepts ex-pros and the other one doesn’t.

The fun part of this tournament, besides the obvious part of playing baseball, is the fact that you get to play against teams from different countries. In 2010 we played against our arch-rivals in Venezuela, three teams from the U.S.A and one from the Dominican Republic.

Last year, was not only my first time there, but the first time my team, as a team, played in the tournament. Some of our players played before with other teams. Unfortunately we didn’t do as we expected. We won the first game against our arch-rivals, but the next day we took two huge blows.

First we lost in 12 innings against the Dominican Republic team 3-2, one of the greatest games I’ve had the pleasure of playing in. Then we suffered an 8-5 defeat against a team from Cleveland (I lost that one pitching 5 innings and allowing 4 runs, 3 earned). The next day we had to play against the undefeated team of our group and lost 6-4 eliminating us from contention.

For this edition, we decided to recruit some new weapons to add to our pitching staff. First Victor Prieto, who played with the Marlins and Red Sox from 2002 to 2005 between Rookie and Single-A. His best season was in 2002 when he was 4-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 31.1 innings for the Gulf Coast Marlins.

We also recruited Luis Torres who played with the Nationals from 1999 to 2003 and had a career record of 28-32 with a 4.35 ERA in 457.1 innings throughout 110 games, 68 starts between Rookie, Single-A and Double-A levels. Juan Carlos Ugas who recorded a 5.30 ERA in 100.2 innings for the Dodgers Single-A team between 1999 and 2000.

And last, but not least, Juan Carlos Ovalles who played for the Diamondbacks, Mariners, White Sox and Nationals from 1999 to 2006. He played in an  independent league from 2006 to 2009 there too. His career record, including his years in independent league was 44-44 with a 4.27 ERA in 609.1 innings throughout 340 games, 35 starts between Rookie, Single-A and Double-A levels.

Hopefully these new acquisitions, with the rest of our pitching staff will help us contend in the tournament this year, and hopefully win it all.

Here’s a video of the last out in the 2008 Fall Classic’s Final. The UNDEFEATED champions that year were our Venezuelans arch-rivals “San Luis Venezuela.”

For more information about the tournament go to the MSBL website, and don’t forget to root for my (Juan Dominguez, @JuanchoXIII) team, “Cachicamos de Venezuela.” BTW. “Cachicamos” mean Armadillos.

The picture is our last year’s team. In case you are wondering I’m the fifth from right to left in the standing row.