Kuzul

In the 2010 World Series, the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers in five games. 

After the immediate celebration, shortstop Edgar Renteria was named World Series MVP, and rightfully so. Over those five games, Renteria batted .412 with two home runs and six RBI.

It was nice to see Renteria win, as he had missed nearly half of the regular season with various injuries. Rather than retire, he chose to come back for one more year, hopefully with the Giants.

Today, Renteria’s chances of returning to San Francisco are slim-to-none, after he turned down a perfectly fair one-year, $1 million contract, calling it “disrespectful.”

“That offer from the Giants was a lack of respect. A total disrespect,” said Renteria.

“To play for a million dollars, I’d rather stay with my private business and share more time with my family. Thank God I’m well off financially and my money is well invested.”

OK, Edgar. You think you deserve more than $1 million a year? Alright, let’s take a look at your numbers over the past couple of seasons and determine just how much you should earn.

Let’s start with Renteria’s stats from 2010. Overall, they’re very disappointing for a contract year: Only 72 games played, three home runs, and a mere 22 RBI. The batting average is a respectable .276, but sadly it cannot be factored into this equation, as Renteria was not a regular throughout the season. 

This leads to my question: How much is an effective postseason worth?

To get an idea of how much Renteria should get, I think it’s fair that we take a look at previous World Series MVPs and the contracts they received after winning the award, beginning with 2009 World Series MVP Hideki Matsui.

Overall, Matsui’s 2009 regular season was very effective. He batted .274 in 142 games with 28 home runs and 90 RBI, with his World Series was even better: .615 batting average, three home runs and eight RBI. 

How much did he earn that season? $13 million. How much did he earn in 2010 with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim? $6.5 million.

Some of my readers are probably thinking, “Josh, that’s totally unfair! Matsui had a great 2009 and deserves way more than that!”

Well, fans, let me tell you why Hideki Matsui took such a large pay cut. His effective 2009 can be much attributed to him playing in a hitter-friendly stadium, plus he was used primarily as a designated hitter. Thus, his legs were consistently fresh.

On top of that, he had missed much of 2008 due to weak knees and given how his offensive stats aren’t comparable to those of one Big Papi, not many teams were willing to pay him more than $10 million a year just to be a DH. 

Despite a productive 2010 with the Angels, (.274 average, 21 home runs, 84 RBI), Matsui has just taken another pay cut in signing a one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics, worth about $4.25 million.

The case of Matsui is a good reason as to why the Giants would be hesitant to offer Edgar Renteria a bigger contract. An even better example is that of newly retired third baseman Mike Lowell, who received a big contract extension the year after he won the World Series MVP Award and was never as effective again.

In 2007, Lowell simply had an amazing season for the Boston Red Sox. He batted a career-high .324, hit 21 home runs and had another career-high with 120 RBI. He fared even better in the ALCS, batting .333 with one home run and eight RBI as he helped the Red Sox reach the World Series, where the team swept the Colorado Rockies in four games as he garnered MVP honors with a .400 batting average with one home run and four RBI. 

The numbers are modest, but many of his hits were clutch and key in the victories.

After the World Series, Lowell became a free agent. He re-signed with the Red Sox for three years and $37.5 million. The Red Sox proved to overpay him as his offensive stats were effective over those three seasons, but he also had many injury problems. 

During the course of the contract, he had a respectable batting average of .267, but never played more than 119 games in a season. The multitude of injuries he suffered led him to retire at the end of the contract. 

Thus, the Giants should use Lowell’s post-Series performance as a tale of caution in re-signing Renteria.

Now, let’s go back to the man of the hour, Edgar Renteria. He thinks he deserves more than a one-year, $1 million contract because of his performance in the World Series. 

In my opinion, that’s a perfectly fair offer. Over the past few seasons, his effectiveness has dropped off immensely. In 2009, his batting average was a career-low .250 and to add insult to injury, he had the lowest range factor among shortstops.

To put it bluntly, Edgar Renteria’s production over the two years he spent in a San Francisco uniform are not worth the $18.5 million the Giants paid him. Combine that with his gradual decline since 2005 (minus one semi-effective season in 2007 in which he hit .332), he should consider himself lucky that any team wants to offer him a contract at all.

He says that this offseason, other teams have made him offers. OK, then how come we haven’t heard of them? My theory is that no team wants to take a risk on an aging shortstop whose production is very hit or miss, and now it appears he has an attitude problem.

So, Mr. Renteria, you think that the Giants’ offer is disrespectful? Well, this writer thinks that your handling of the situation is disrespectful. 

Considering how much money you have cost the San Francisco Giants so far, including your World Series bonus, you should be grateful that you received a contract offer at all. That all being said, if you love the game as much as you claim, one year for $1 million is perfectly fair. 

If anything, demand a player option for 2012. 

As Brian Cashman said to Derek Jeter at one point, “drink the reality potion,” and maybe then you will see how out of line you are truly being.

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The Yankees have been doing a lot of waiting this offseason. They waited for Cliff Lee to choose his team. They waited for Derek Jeter to accept their offer. Then they stayed put a while too long and lost out on Zach Greinke. Now they await a decision from Andy Pettitte as to whether or not he will pitch in 2011. 

The Yankees starting rotation for 2011 may be in shambles if Pettitte chooses not to return. A few days ago, Brian Cashman said that he would not pressure Pettitte into making a decision quickly. Now there are reports surfacing that Mariano Rivera may be making a phone call to his long-time teammate to see if he can return to the mound in 2011. 

Cashman is optimistic about 2011 when he spoke, saying that he will bring back a 95-win team next year. Andy Pettitte definitely has to be in the equation for the Yankees to win 95 games next year. 

He excelled this year, but got hurt in the second half of the season. He was not as dominant, but he continued to show some consistency as a dominant veteran of the mound. 

The main factor surrounding the decision as to whether he will return will be money. Pettitte has expressed his desire to spend more time with his family in Texas, but the Yankees need him. 

In the past, the Yankees have been known to disrespect some of its aging stars by not offering so much money on the table. It happened to Bernie Williams and Joe Torre later on wrote about his unhappiness afterwards in The Yankee Years. 

Andy Pettitte has been a fan favorite for a long time in the Bronx, and seeing him leave due to financial unhappiness seems like the wrong way to end his story. The Yankees should reach into their pockets and put the right amount of money on the table, because the only perfect ending to Andy Pettitte’s story is one more World Series Championship. With Pettitte on the team, the ending seems possible.

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Reliever Pedro Feliciano is staying put in New York, but he will be sporting a different uniform.

The life-long Met is leaving Queens to bring his talents to the Yankees. 

Feliciano is a 34-year-old lefty who inked an $8 million, two-year contract with an option for a third, to come over to the Bronx. Fans get the reassurance that GM Brian Cashman is doing his job, as this is a huge boost to counterpart Boone Logan in the bullpen.

Other than having a rubber arm (meaning it never tires), Feliciano satisfies a big hole in the Yankee bullpen against lefty hitters, an area the Red Sox loaded up on this offseason.

Over his eight years in the majors, Feliciano has a career ERA of 3.31. He set the Mets franchise record and led the NL for most relief appearances in a season, with 86 games in 2008, 88 games in 2009 and 92 games in 2010.

Last season, Feliciano pitched for 62.2 innings, allowing just one home run and striking out 56 of the 280 batters he faced. He kept lefties hitting just .211, which will make him a difference-maker in the seventh and eighth innings.

Nicknamed “Everyday Pedro,” as in 2010 he pitched back-to-back days 43 times without rest.

Feliciano was described by Mets Today writer Joe Janish as, “a valuable asset to a championship club in need of one final bullpen piece.”

I’ll take that; the Yankees will happily take that; and hopefully 2011 will be that year for Feliciano.

As to how Feliciano will handle playing in the Bronx?

Same lights, different borough…my bet is he will be just fine.

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December 15th is a historical date.  In 1794, the United States Bill of Rights became law.  In 1933, the 21st Amendment went into effect, legalizing alcohol.  Russians landed on Venus in 1970. And now, in the year 2010, Cliff Lee re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The signing will obviously not impact our society in such way as the Bill of Rights or the 21st Amendment once did.  And it is doubtful that December 15th will be named a national holiday.  However, this is still a historic occasion for the City of Philadelphia.

The following is a list of five ways in which the Cliff Lee deal has made a positive impact on the team, the city and the fans.

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Don’t believe what you have read about Bobby Jenks over the last couple of years—the former ChiSox closer has not lost his stuff. Jenks’ troubles in Chicago largely stemmed from a large dose of bad luck and an even larger menu of problems he had with his old boss, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

The righty still has pretty decent stuff, but it says here that his arrival does not necessarily signal an end to RHP Jonathan Papelbon’s tenure in Boston—as was conjectured by Peter Abraham in today’s Boston Globe.

My guess is that the Red Sox will go into arbitration with Pappy, then swallow hard and pay his salary—which will be in excess of eight figures after the arbitration award is made. But I don’t expect them to ship him elsewhere in the interim or to let him walk at the end of the 2011 season, at least not without making a concerted effort to get his name on a long-term deal.

The organization’s recent offer to Mariano Rivera doesn’t mean the team is ready to turn its back on Pappy. The bottom line is the Sox had a chance to add a Hall-of-Fame closer while simultaneously hurting the Yankees, and they would have been foolish not to do so, if at all possible.

But that kind of opportunity rarely presents itself and the team would have been foolish not to explore the possibility…and it doesn’t mean they have washed their hands of Papelbon all together.

Jenks will provide the club with insurance against injury (or continued decline) in the short-run and leverage (in negotiations) in the long-run, as well as a fall back position for 2012 if Papelbon should depart at the end of the 2011 season. Jenks has been promised the opportunity to compete for the closer’s role when and if Papelbon departs. But that doesn’t mean the club will usher Pappy out the door to make room for Jenks.

The front office was never enamored of Papelbon’s proclamations that he would eventually test free agency and seek to establish a record for the highest salary ever paid to a closer, nor were they pleased that he has thwarted their efforts to get his John Hancock on a long-term contract, a la Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.

But Pappy softened his stance last offseason after a rough ’09 and his historic playoff implosion, and it seems likely that he now understands he will never land a record-setting deal in free agency.

While Papelbon’s 2009 numbers appear pretty good (1-1, 1.85), a closer look reveals he struggled throughout the campaign:

His WHIP topped 1.00 (1.147) for the first time since his rookie season.

His OPS-against reached .600 (.600) for the first time since his rookie season.

His overall strike-percentage dipped to a career-low of 65 percent as his walks-per-9-innings-pitched surmounted 3.0 (3.2) for the first time since his rookie season.

His strikeout-to-walk ratio, which had ranged between 5.6 and 9.6 over the previous three years, slipped to a pedestrian 3.17—not exactly the stuff of an elite closer.

And then nearly every one of those numbers got worse in 2010 (with the exception of strike-percentage, which increased just one point, to 66 percent). He finished the year at 5-7, 3.90, with 37 saves (but had eight blown saves). So, does that mean the Red Sox are ready to turn things over to Jenks? Hardly!

Whether the club decides to make a long-term, big-money commitment to Papelbon will largely depend on how he performs in 2011. If he returns to the form he had in 2006-08, then it seems likely the Sox will attempt to get his name on a two- or three-year deal (with the club’s preference for a two-year deal).

As I stated earlier, Jenks numbers from 2010 look pretty bleak on their face: he finished 1-3, with a career-low 27 saves and a 4.44 ERA. He also posted a whopping 1.367 WHIP. The bloated ERA can be explained (in large part) by a .354 BABIP… otherwise, none of his numbers are dramatically different from his career numbers.

He has had a career-long battle with bases on balls (2.9/9 IP), and his career OPS is .642. His strike-percentage has declined each of the last four seasons (68-67-66-65%), but he has never posted a mark of 70 percent or above (which Pappy did in both 2007 and 2008). Jenks’ career strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3.04.

By comparison, Papelbon has better career numbers across the board and, in fact, many of his worst-year numbers are comparable to Jenks’s career AVERAGES—which means that even at his worst Papelbon offers what Jenks has done, on average—throughout his entire career.

THAT is the guy you think Theo and Company want to transition to? It says here the answer to that question is “no,” and that if the answer is “yes” then the Sox front office is operating with flawed logic.

It is my theory that the Red Sox would have moved on to Rivera, for obvious reasons. But lacking that, GM Theo Epstein reverted back into chess-mode—strategizing five moves ahead of everyone else. As a keen strategist, Theo has provided his ballclub with insurance and leverage.

Jenks provides the team with both, and lengthens the bullpen nicely—but he does not provide them with a replacement for Papelbon (at least not if they want to win the World Series in 2011).

I believe the Red Sox will wait to see how Papelbon performs in his contract year. And, as has been the organizational norm under this ownership and management, if he re-gains his form of a few years ago the club will approach him with a multi-year deal at the end of the season—on THEIR terms.

Then it will be up to Pappy whether he wants to stay and compete for a world championship each year, or whether he wants to move on for a bigger contract.

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Carl Crawford, Cliff Lee and Jayson Werth have grabbed all the headlines with their lucrative nine-figure contracts, but many of this off-seasons free agents remain unsigned.

For some players like Adrian Beltre and Rafael Soriano, their big day is a foregone conclusion, but others won’t be so lucky. Whether due to age or declining skills, many players may have to wait until Spring Training to sign a contract, that is, if they can find work.

With that in mind, let’s examine 15 players who could have to wait until March before finding a new home for the season.

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The New York Yankees have to divert whatever attention is left from all the Cliff Lee drama, but there is no denying the painful disappointment still lingers.

Losing Kerry Wood to the Chicago Cubs was unexpected, but the signing of former Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Russell Martin gave the first ray of hope thus far in this offseason.

Why is signing Russell Martin such a positive? For two reasons:

1.   From veteran Jorge Posada to top prospects Austin Romaine and Jesus Montero, as well as current back-up Francisco Cervelli, Yankees have a plethora of uncertain players to fill the catcher position. In 2009, Posada, with 16 seasons and 39 years of age under his belt, had it all catch up to him. Cervelli was a productive hitter at the start of last season, but like Posada couldn’t hold runners on base, throwing out 14 percent of attempted basestealers. That’s only one percent difference from Posada, who never was known for his throwing arm, but who made up for it with his power bat. Martin brings a big upgrade defensively, throwing out potential basestealers at a 31 percent clip for his career, and 39 percent last season. Adding Martin to the mix gives the Yankees necessary breathing room to bring up the two up-and-comers, Romaine and Montero, at an acceptable pace.

2.   Russell provides General Manager Brian Cashman room to dangle Romaine and Montero as trade bait; with the hopes to fill the spot left open by Lee. It is no secret that the Yankees need to attain another starting pitcher to finalize the rotation. Word is that Andy Pettitte is actually going to return in 2011. Pettitte’s return brings reinforcement because the Yankees can afford to wait for the best trade before the season’s July 31st trading deadline. A retired Pettitte would leave another vacant spot that could be Sergio Mitre’s–God-forbid. No matter what, Martin gives the flexibility and Pettitte allows for patience. This could result in a better option down the road, as there are always teams that want to unload by the All-Star Break.

Martin doesn’t come without concern. Even as a two-time All-Star with the Dodgers who ranked atop all NL catchers in 2007, hitting .293 with 87 RBIs and 19 home-runs, there is cause for worry.

Martin’s production declined in 2008, followed by a season-ending hip injury in August of 2009. He does tend to draw a lot of walks at the plate.

Martin seems determined to get back to the hitter he was at 25, making him a young 27, which means Cashman is bringing a baby to the Bronx. Plenty of room to grow considering skipper Joe Girardi and bench coach Tony Pena were both successful catchers during their playing careers.

GM Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner know that many things have to happen before and during the 2011 season to keep the team on top.

Cashman has asked Yankee fans to remain patient, a tall tale to petition for of such an eager group.

I don’t think Yankee fans have a better option. Still, a lot of trust has been earned with the recent 2009 season, and the Yankee fans always believe their team is good to go. That is because the players won’t accept anything else.

In the words of new Yankee catcher Russell Martin:

“Talent doesn’t go away. I know that I can hit. I just want to get back to that consistency.”

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As Christmas approaches, fans of the New York Yankees have been left with nothing but coal in their stockings.  This isn’t by any means meant to be a slight on recently acquired catcher Russell Martin whose signing makes for a decent “stocking stuffer.”  It is the big prize though that has so far eluded the Yankees.

Fans of the Bronx Bombers expected their annual free-agent gift to be delivered in the form of Cliff Lee but were left with Ebenezer Scrooge-like feelings when he opted to return to the Philadelphia Phillies.  Now another Yankee target in Kerry Wood follows suit by making his own homecoming.

Around midnight central time, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal broke the news that Wood was returning to the Chicago Cubs.  Wood, 33, has agreed to a two-year pact with the “North Siders” worth $12 million to once again become their closer.  By returning to Wrigley Field, his career has now come full circle, back to a setting in which he made his debut as a 20 year-old rookie phenom.

Winter hopes haven’t come to fruition for Yankees general manager Cashman who has been left out in the cold all offseason.  The rival Boston Red Sox have already delivered two major presents to their fans in Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, something that Yankee fans are usually accustomed to.  Acquiring Martin and oft-injured starter Mark Prior wasn’t what most imagined would be the Yanks’ biggest captures thus far.

A growing number of Yankee fans have begun to question Cashman who will need to dip into his farm system to acquire not only one but two talented starting pitchers if Andy Pettitte decides to hang up his spikes.  Speculation that the enigmatic Carlos Zambrano is on his radar isn’t encouraging and anything short of landing Felix Hernandez or Zach Greinke will only make disgruntled fans’ voices louder.

The public handling of Derek Jeter’s new deal hasn’t helped Cashman’s standing as even outside the greater New York area, fans nationwide felt he insulted the revered Yankees captain.  His comment during negotiations infuriated many non-biased hardball addicts: “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.”

Treating Jeter like an over-the-hill utility man in contract talks infuriated baseball fans nationwide and even the classy shortstop admitted his distaste for Cashman’s methods.

“I was pretty angry about it, but I let that be known,” Jeter said.  “I was angry about it because I was the one that said I didn’t want to do it, that I wasn’t going to (test the market).  To hear the organization tell me to go shop it when I just told you I wasn’t going to, if I’m going to be honest, I was angry about it.  I never wanted to be a free agent.”

The pressure will surely increase on Cashman if he is unable to acquire a dominant starter, make due with an unpopular trade or force unproven young arms into the Yankees rotation.  Cashman whose job is “to play Santa for the Yankees” has a long list in front of him if he is to assemble a team capable of challenging the Red Sox for the AL East, let alone a squad capable of making the World Series. 

Besides a top-tier starter or two, New York is in need of a new setup man in Wood’s absence.  David Robertson had an awful postseason, as he gave up vital runs that led to their 2010 playoff elimination at the hands of the Texas Rangers.  Joba Chamberlain can’t be trusted either as the formerly standout reliever is now seen as an unpredictable question mark.

Some baseball analysts feel that Nick Swisher should be moved after the free-spirited outfielder had yet another poor postseason.  In his two seasons as a Yankee, Swisher complied pitiful playoff averages of .128 and .176 in 2009 and 2010 respectively.  His erratic defense and lack of range also add credence to the thought that New York would be better off without the right fielder.

Instead of focusing on speedy outfielder Carl Crawford, Cashman turned his full attention to the pursuit of Lee, who behind the scenes made little indication that he wanted to come to the Bronx.  With Brett Gardner as the Yankees’ only consistent base-stealer in their lineup, Crawford would have been a welcome addition.  He would have given the Bombers two speedsters capable of swiping 50 bases apiece.

Along with Gardner and Curtis Granderson, Crawford would have made the Yankees outfield one of the most athletic in all of baseball and a long-term heir to Jeter’s spot in the top of the order.  With Crawford snapped up by the Red Sox, Cashman should still consider dealing Swisher and finding a younger, more athletic outfielder to improve New York’s flexibility in not relying on the long ball.

All of this being said, Cashman is still a very shrewd businessman.  He has stockpiled coveted minor league talents to deal away to reshape the Yankees roster into one that is worthy of returning to the Fall Classic.  It will be interesting to see how he goes about addressing his club’s needs as he definitely has his work cut out for him.

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Let me just start by saying that I do not want to be writing this article. 

Not just because Cliff Lee did not sign with my Rangers, but because of the way it went down.  Throughout the whole process Ranger fans were led to believe Lee might stay in Texas and take (slightly) less money than what the Yankees were offering because he liked his time in Texas.  In the end he takes substantially less money in order to play in a place he likes, and that place is not Texas.  He did not take the money, and he did not pick us.  That sucks.  Now that I am done editorializing, maybe we should move on to the fantasy impact.

Ultimately, is there a significant fantasy impact of Lee going back to Philadelphia?  We are talking about a guy who has posted stud-caliber numbers in four different cities over the past three years.  His ERA was somewhat higher in his stops at hitter’s parks (3.39 in Philly, 3.98 in Texas), but his strikeout rate was consistently around seven to eight K/9, and his walk rate was consistently around one walk per nine innings or lower.  That is not going to change wherever he pitches.  

So we are talking about strikeouts and WHIP remaining relatively similar and a probable uptick in ERA which should be offset by an increased number of wins thanks to a solid Philly lineup.

The point is this: Continue Reading>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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The New York Yankees struck out on Cliff Lee and now their attention turns to not losing one of their own. Andy Pettitte is currently exploring his options as to whether he will return or not. The southpaw put together one of his best seasons last year. 

Brian Cashman has spoken about Pettitte, saying that the Yankees organization will not pressure him to make a decision on his possible return. There is a slight sense of panic in the air if Pettitte chooses not to return. The Yankees do not have a set rotation for opening day. The loss in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes has left behind many questions that the front office appears to be having difficulty answering.

The New York Post quotes Cashman as saying, “He knows if he puts himself in play, we’d love to talk to him. I think the pull of the potential retirement is a little stronger than normal. It’s a very deep and personal decision for him. Andy’s been a great Yankee, and I can’t tell you if he’s going to pitch or not. He has not officially retired. He has not officially decided to play, either.”

Andy Pettitte would most likely take on a third or fourth starter role. The Yankees will most likely have CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes ahead of him. As for AJ Burnett, his status is up in the air after a terrible 2010 season. Ivan Nova seems to be the next option to complete the rotation, but how much confidence is there in him? 

The Yankees need to get their pitching rotation set before moving forward. 

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