This year’s free-agent class is fairly weak overall. This is true of the available outfielders as well. There is a lot of good talent at the top of the class, but from there, it declines fairly quickly.
With many teams looking to fill a hole in their outfield, you can expect a few bidding wars to occur over some of these players.
The 2010 season for the New York Mets didn’t end the way anyone wanted, least of all the fans. We suffered through another season of disappointment, highlighted by season ending injuries to Jason Bay and Johan Santana. There were some bright spots in the Mets’ season. The emergence of Ike Davis and Josh Thole showed the Mets’ minor league system isn’t as weak as previously thought. R.A. Dickey gave Mets fans something to cheer about down the stretch and David Wright had a great bounce-back season after a disappointing 2009.
Now that it’s all over and the Mets have started to make some right movies, i.e. Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel were shown the door, let’s look ahead at some free agents available for 2011 that could boost the Mets’ chances of a successful season next year.
The Minnesota Twins once again will be watching the fall classic at home. The good news is that they bought new 3D TV’s.
So they have that going for them.
But just because they are done for 2010 doesn’t mean it’s time to be sitting around. There are many decisions to be made in the coming months. The Twins must decide on who to keep from their own crop of free agents, who they can target from other teams and possible trades they may be able to swing.
In 2010, the Minnesota Twins payroll eclipsed $100 million for the first time. They were in the top five teams in attendance (thank you Target Field), and had the second highest TV ratings in baseball, trailing only the St. Louis Cardinals.
It may seem odd, then, that we are going to have to slash some payroll, but it’s true.
The most obvious area the Twins need to cut is in the bullpen. They have two closers in Joe Nathan and Matt Capps making a combined $20 million dollars if Capps goes into arbitration. Brian Fuentes made $9 million last season and is in free agency, While Jon Rauch made $2.9 million and is a free agent.
I think Capps will be around to start 2011, but will be traded once Nathan can prove he is back.
Fuentes will be gone. Too pricey, and he wants to close in a bullpen full of closers. Additionally, Fuentes is a type B free agent, so the Twins could get a compensatory pick after the first round for him.
Rauch is gone too I believe. Again, another type B free Agent.
The biggest decision is on who to keep between relievers Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier. Crain is a type B free agent, which could lead to more interest from other teams on him. Guerrier somehow is a type A free agent, and I have a tough time believing a team would give up a first-round pick to the Twins to sign him.
So I think Crain may be gone (with yet another sandwich pick in first round) and Guerrier is back. Anthony Slama and Carlos Gutierrez will need to step up and be big contributors for the Twins next year.
Other decisions on the team need to be made on Carl Pavano and Orlando Hudson. Orlando Hudson is most definitely gone in my opinion. Alexi Casilla is sitting in waiting. Hudson also had the fortune of being labeled a type B free agent, so once again the Twins could receive another draft pick. (If you are counting, that is already four extra picks for the Twins).
Carl Pavano may be the most sought after pitcher in free agency this year (this is not including Cliff Lee, which is partially due to lack of team who can afford him). He will be a type A free agent, which could net the Twins two more first-round picks if he leaves.
Pavano will be pricey to re-sign. Probably somewhere in the $10 million-a-year range. This wouldn’t be too bad, except Pavano is going to want three or four years, which I don’t believe the Twins will be willing to risk. Mustache or no, I believe Pavano is gone too.
J.J. Hardy, Delmon Young and Francisco Liriano are all due raises through arbitration next season.
Liriano is definitely coming back. I expect the Twins to try and lock him up for up to three years this offseason.
Delmon Young will probably be on the roster next spring with a good raise (unless he is traded…more on that soon). J.J. Hardy had a rough year with injuries, and it showed on the field. For up to $7 million dollars next year, Hardy is not a viable option at this price. I would expect the Twins to either trade him, or non-tender him, making him a free agent.
Possible trades could get exceptionally interesting. The talk around the web is of a possible Zack Greinke trade. He is locked up for the next two years at $13 million a year, which is a relative bargain for an ace.
The Twins could be possible trade partners here. I would look for them to offer a package of Delmon Young, Kevin Slowey and possibly Aaron Hicks or Kyle Gibson. I would do it if Hicks were not included. Hicks will be our starting right-fielder starting in 2012 and hopefully for many years after.
To lose him would not be worth it, unless Greinke pitched the Twins to a World Series title over the next two years, which I don’t believe he could. I think Young will be back and possibly traded next offseason, so the Twins can set their new outfield of Revere (in left), Span (in center) and Hicks (in right).
The Twins are among the best organizations in baseball in getting value for their dollar. I expect them to lose almost all these free agents in the coming months, and yet still compete in the American League.
Minnesota is one of the best teams in the league in scouting and development, so an extra three or four first-round draft picks could pay major dividends for years to come.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
With the 2010 regular season behind us, and all the normal MLB trade rumors completed, why not take the opportunity to discuss who will be headlining the Trade Rumor department in 2011?
The free agency market next year is rather large, and there are a number of players that could be mentioned here, so I will simply take a look at who I believe will be some big names taking center stage.
I’ll try to look at each position, and throw in a wildcard player that could be the next diamond in the rough.
Times are tough in Cleveland, Ohio nowadays. The local economy, seemingly on the rebound everywhere else, continues to stagnate near the bottom of the national conscience.
It is the middle of October, and the Indians are left at home watching playoff baseball for the third straight season. The Browns, with their third string rookie quarterback, lost to the Steelers, again—only by 18 points this time.
Still, all of this pales in comparison to the Cleveland’s iconic son embarrassing the city on national TV before turning his back and joining his cohorts in Miami.
The pulse of the city’s faithful may be at an all-time low, and that’s before baseball’s ultimate free spending team kicks a downtrodden organization, once again.
C.C. Sabathia is the last homegrown superstar talent the Indians organization has drafted and developed. Fans patiently waited for him to blossom from a green 20-year-old to a legitimate frontline starting pitcher.
Stardom has a price that a handful of teams can pay—including the Indians. Unfortunately, Sabathia pitched himself in another stratosphere—a place reserved for the elite money making machines.
Former GM Mark Shapiro, in a highly unpopular, but completely reasonable move, traded the big lefty to a contending team for a plethora of promising players.
Enter. Cliff Lee.
Lee was obtained in another highly unpopular, yet, extraordinarily rewarding trade. In hopes of accelerating the last rebuilding effort Shapiro traded Bartolo Colon, another former ace, for Lee, Brandon Phillips, and Grady Sizemore.
In another universe, perhaps, a more favorable place for underdogs and small market baseball teams, the pairing of Sabathia and Lee would have rewarded an organization bereft of a World Series title.
Welcome to Cleveland, the unforgiving cosmos.
During the magical, if unsustainable, playoff run in 2007 Lee looked less like a major league hurler and more like a smile on Albert Belle’s face. Something just didn’t seem right. The formerly consistent league average pitcher morphed into a present day version of Steve Blass.
Lee struggled through injuries and ailments including a right abdominal strain and a bad case of gopheritis. He was eventually replaced by Fausto Carmona—another burgeoning ace—and left off the postseason roster all together.
Then, by some magical touch Lee started pitching and he continued to pitch. Past stardom, past superstardom. Now he has settled somewhere in between Sabathia and Sandy Koufax. Somewhere past the allowable limits of Paul Dolan’s purse strings.
Enter the New York Yankees.
The New York Yankees threw gobs of money towards Sabathia, and he accepted without hesitation. This offseason following another year, including continued dominance in the postseason, the Yankees will pursue, and more likely than not, sign Lee.
The combined contracts of both lefties will settle in $40-45 million range—approximately 70 percent of Cleveland’s 2010 payroll.
Next season’s Yankees will once again challenge for a World Series title, only this time 40 percent of their rotation will consist of former Cy Young Award winning Indians—and 100 percent of the Cleveland fans’ lost hope.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
The New York Yankees have advanced to the ALCS this year and made themselves known as a team that can win year in and year out. The Yankees could wrap up the season with another World Series win or a loss to whomever they have to play in the ALCS.
Either way, the Yankees already have the reputation of going hard in the offseason for some of the top of the line players on the market. This year the focus may be on pitching. That is where Cliff Lee’s name comes in. But here is a scenario; What if the Yankees wiff on Lee?
Here are the next best
While the playoffs are now on the front burner, in the back of every baseball fan’s mind, or the front if your team has been eliminated from contention, is what moves the team will make this offseason.
Free agency is always a hot bed for debate, and every year there will be a fair share of diamonds in the rough as well as big time busts. Often times, contracts are a sign of the free agent class as a whole and not necessarily what the player is worth. Once the top tier guys start to get signed, teams that missed out often overpay for second tier guys, and so on.
So here are 10 players that I think have set themselves up to earn a big payday this off seasons, thanks to big seasons in 2010, or simply for lack of better options at their position, but will fall short of expectations not live up to their contract.
The Padres have quite a bit on their minds right now as they are making a playoff push into the postseason. But it seems like Adrian Gonzalez wants to bring more attention to the team as he announces that he wouldn’t mind listening to what the Cubs have to offer when he becomes a free agent after 2011.
Gonzalez noted to the Chicago Sun Times the upside and positives in Chicago right now, that wouldn’t make it a bad place to play. Maybe the thought that they have not won a World Series in over 100 years skipped his mind.
The Cubs are going to have to flash the big bucks in order to reel him out of San Diego. But the market for the power hitting first-baseman will always include big- name teams like the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox front office were rumored to have made several attempts at trading for the slugger in the past.
The Red Sox have to be the front runners for Adrian Gonzalez’s services after the 2011 season. They have the money and interest, the offer will be on the table for Gonzalez. It’s deal or no deal for them.
The Padres pulled him off the trading block when they were at the top of the National League West standings. If Gonzales is already on a contending team and things keep going upward in San Diego, why wouldn’the want to stay?
The Padres’ first-baseman started to sound like he was ready to leave town as he noted how great the ballpark in the Windy City would be for him and how his wife loves Chicago’s shopping.
Hey, baseball wives have a lot of say in the destination that their husbands choose during free agency. Leigh Teixeira had her husband choose the Yankees in the eleventh hour, and one year later he has a championship ring.
If that’s the case with Mrs. Gonzalez and the Cubs finally win big, she could be put into the Cubs Hall of Fame in an instant.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Let me begin by saying that I am a fan of Ben Zobrist. He is a switch-hitter who can play a multitude of positions and he has a great attitude. Overall, Zobrist is a solid baseball player and a great person. However, that does not mean the Rays should have given him a three-year contract extension worth up to $30 million.
Sure, the Rays have team options for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In other words, the Rays are only liable for $18 million if they decide to part ways in the future. It almost sounds like an NFL contract with the guaranteed dollars. This still is a large amount of money to put forth for a small-market team who is trying to retain upcoming free agents Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena.
The Rays would have been better off if they had first locked up Crawford to a long-term deal, and then decide on whether they could afford Zobrist as well. In this case, they clearly had their priorities reversed. It is unlikely the Rays would have been able to sign both Pena and Crawford, but the signing of Zobrist may prevent both of them from remaining in Rays uniforms.
Honestly, I would not lose much sleep if Pena left. Pena is a great clubhouse guy and defensive first baseman, but he is currently hitting .203 and will only depreciate at 32 years of age. He has peaked. Dan Johnson may not be able to replace him in terms of defense, but he will surely be able to replace Pena’s power.
The loss of Crawford will be devastating to this franchise. Yes, Desmond Jennings is a similar player, but he can not duplicate Crawford’s accomplishments. He is a four-time all-star, legitimate MVP candidate, and has been a Ray since the team’s inception. He is a Rays icon.
Crawford is currently having his best year yet as he has the highest slugging percentage of his career along with his usual .300 average, 15 home runs, and nearly 50 stolen bases.
The signing of Zobrist, who had a career year last season, may lead Crawford to sign with a large market team such as the Yankees or Red Sox. Zobrist’s numbers are average at best. Although he has 23 steals, he is batting a sub-par .247 with a measly 10 home runs.
Baseball is not all about statistics, but when you add Zobrist’s numbers, defensive flexibility, and leadership together, it still does not add up to $30 million with $18 million guaranteed.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
The Texas Rangers have signed yet another hard throwing arm for their pitching staff. Well, at least when he was first called up he had great start to his career with that arm before it fell apart. Mark Prior has reportedly signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers, according to Fort Worth Star Telegram’s Jeff Wilson.
He states that the deal will not just run through 2010, but could be intact for the long-term on his Twitter page.
The Rangers have added yet another fragile arm to their staff as Prior has been cursed with injuries. They signed Rich Harden, who is always injury prone, this past offseason. Cliff Lee has been very hard working these last few years and he doesn’t exactly look like the type of pitcher that can take a ton of work in such a short amount of time.
Prior has come back to the public spotlight as his name was being thrown around when Stephen Strasburg was shut down for the next year. Prior has unofficially been donned as the dictionary definition of blowing a young arm.
When Prior came up to the Major Leagues, he was one of the most hyped up prospects in recent baseball history. The Cubs and their fans could not wait to have him on the team and called him up quickly. He pitched like an ace, but injuries would quickly catch up to him.
Some of the injuries have been odd including the most recent one where he was shut down for a few weeks due to getting hit during batting practice. But, he could have put those injuries behind him recently as he has been pitching well in the Independent League.
The last time Prior was seen in the Major Leagues, he was with the Chicago Cubs and went 1-6 with a 7.21 ERA. Kerry Wood was like Mark Prior’s twin when with the Cubs. Both were injury prone most of the time, but threw very hard.
Kerry Wood has found success with the New York Yankees in 2010. Mark Prior still has that chance for success, as he is only 29 and could turn things around.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com