2/24/08
Super agent Scott Boras, known throughout the sporting world as a painstaking negotiator of contracts, is beginning to lose his luster. Players and management around Major League Baseball have shown signs over this past off-season of a growing lack of patience for dealing with Boras. He has almost single-handedly driven the baseball market through the roof, especially for pitching. It was Boras who negotiated a guaranteed 7-year, $126 million contract for Giants’ ace Barry Zito, whose fastball doesn’t top 85 mph. He simply was the biggest name left-hander on the market after the 2006 season. It was also Boras who negotiated contracts for the historically underachieving, malingering J.D. Drew with the Dodgers for 5 years/$55 million (with his trademark “opt-out clause,” and subsequently duped Theo Epstein into giving Drew his current 5 year/$70 million with the Red Sox. He negotiated A-Rod’s former record 10 year/$252 million deal with the Rangers, and, thanks again to the opt-out, Rodriguez is cashing in on the Yankees again for the next 10 years to total a minimum of $275 million.
Here’s where it gets interesting. During negotiations between Boras and the Yankees over Rodriguez’s new contract, $275 million was apparently some sort of insult, and Hank Steinbrenner (whose family has a history of not concerning too much over lavish contracts) wisely broke off talks with Boras simply because the $305 million demanded was too much. No matter what anyone says, a 42 year old Rodriguez will have his ticket stamped to the Hall of Fame waiting for him, but that same 42 year old man will not be worth over $30 million annually. When no other club stepped up to meet these demands, A-Rod quickly realized that he could not afford to have Boras souring the big dollar teams like the Yankees, Angels, Cubs, and Mets, just to name a few. A-Rod then took Boras out of the negotiation process and almost immediately found a common ground with Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman on a 10 year deal worth a new record $275 million, plus incentives. Who needs Boras ruining management-player relationships?
Also this offseason, Kenny Rogers fired Boras, who was turning the pitching-rich Tigers away from the 43 year-old lefty. Another Tiger, Gary Sheffield has a pending lawsuit against Boras, and has grown tired of the aggravation. Meanwhile, Kyle Lohse was expected to cash in this winter with a team since he is still only 29 years of age with six full years of major league experience, including some playoff experience in his time with Minnesota in addition to the role he played last year in the Phillies’ miraculous playoff push. Boras fielded offers for his client from the Phillies for Lohse to return for three years, but held out for a fourth year. The Phils then went on to bolster their rotation by adding Brad Lidge to push Brett Myers back into the rotation, as well as adding free agent pitchers Chad Durbin and Kris Benson, and Rule 5 Draft-pick LHP Travis Blackley. The Mets also made a push to acquire Lohse, but dollars and the fourth year were points of discrepancy between GM Omar Minaya’s staff and Boras. They went on to trade for Johan Santana, and with the return of Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey, and Orlando Hernandez, have no room for Lohse. The message here is that teams around the league have grown sick of dealing with Boras, and the fact of the matter is that there are better options to explore than the players whom Boras represents. Without Kenny Rodgers in the Detroit rotation, life would go on with Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson, Travis Miner, and others. Without the career ERA of 4.82 that Kyle Lohse carries, the Mets and Phillies will still be two of the National League’s best, of that we can be certain.
Message to Boras: “You are ruining Major League Baseball’s winter hot-stove each year with your outrageous, unbending contract demands. Year after year, you drive the free agent market for each individual position higher. You tout historically poor performers as the necessary contributors to lead teams into October baseball. Your long-term, high dollar contracts block legitimate young talent from reaching the Major Leagues and leave teams paying for overpriced, injury-plagued, over the hill egos during the final years of seven, eight, and ten year contracts. Tone it down or call it quits lest your detested personality turn more teams off toward your clients.”
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Tribe’s Carmona Ace of the Future
2/15/08
News broke yesterday that talks between the Cleveland Indians and their 27-year-old ace C.C. Sabathia have stalled and might never be resurrected. An offer was reportedly made to and subsequently turned down by Sabathia for four years in addition to the coming 2008 season, for which he is still under contract. The contract was rumored to have been valued at $17-18 million annually, comparable to the extenstion received by Jake Peavy and Carlos Zambrano. The fact that Sabathia turned this contract down is reminiscent of Johan Santana’s rejection of a four year extension worth around $20 million per year. That is not to say that Sabathia will be dealt before the season as he enters his last year before free agency like Santana was to the Mets, but that is to say that in all likelihood, Sabathia will be sporting another uniform this time next spring.
Sabathia is entering his prime years and has established himself as one of the games most valuable starters. He is left-handed with a fastball in that touches the mid to upper 90’s with an excellent slider serving as an out pitch. Another aspect of his game the makes him so valuable is his ability to eat innings. Last year, Sabathia pitched 241 innings in an era where a pitcher who throws 200 is considered a workhorse Many overlook this aspect of the pitcher’s game, but when you think about it, those extra 41 innings saved the Cleveland bullpen about 30-35 separate appearances. This extra rest is something that is extremely important to a group of pitchers who were so outdtanding during the season. To a club making a hard playoff push, it is imperative that the bullpen be rested. He has had an ERA north of 3.60 only twice in the past five seasons and in the other two years, his ERA’s were 4.12 and 4.03 in 2004 and 2005 respectively. Sabathia also pounds the strike zone, notching a career K:BB of almost 3:1 and has almost 100 more career innings to his credit than hits surrendered. Impressive to say the least. Around the time of the winter meetings next December, Sabathia will be courted by upper management from many of the other 30 ball clubs. It will not so much be dollars on the year that will keep Sabathia out of Cleveland, but the number of years of job security. This is because he has the ability to lock up major dollars and years in a mega, Santana or Zito-esque contract that he otherwise not make the next time he enters free agency after say a three or four year contract.
As dominant as Sabathia is, the Indians would be wise to steer clear of long term (3+ years) contracts worth about 20 million dollars annually, especially with the emergence of a young star-studded pitching staff which will inevitably be led by Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook, and future standouts Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers.
In addition to the young starting talent, the Cleveland bullpen pitched phenomenally last season, and they have only added a quality arm for this year in Masahide Kobayashi, whom most Major Leaguers have never faced. The Indian’s bullpen this years figures to also include closer Joe Borowski, Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, Aaron Fultz, Jensen Lewis, Tom Mastny, Edward Mujica. Of those, Betancourt, Perez, Fultz, and Lewis all had ERA’s of 2.92 or better, with Betancourt and Perez holding each of theirs below 2.00.
News broke yesterday that talks between the Cleveland Indians and their 27-year-old ace C.C. Sabathia have stalled and might never be resurrected. An offer was reportedly made to and subsequently turned down by Sabathia for four years in addition to the coming 2008 season, for which he is still under contract. The contract was rumored to have been valued at $17-18 million annually, comparable to the extenstion received by Jake Peavy and Carlos Zambrano. The fact that Sabathia turned this contract down is reminiscent of Johan Santana’s rejection of a four year extension worth around $20 million per year. That is not to say that Sabathia will be dealt before the season as he enters his last year before free agency like Santana was to the Mets, but that is to say that in all likelihood, Sabathia will be sporting another uniform this time next spring.
Sabathia is entering his prime years and has established himself as one of the games most valuable starters. He is left-handed with a fastball in that touches the mid to upper 90’s with an excellent slider serving as an out pitch. Another aspect of his game the makes him so valuable is his ability to eat innings. Last year, Sabathia pitched 241 innings in an era where a pitcher who throws 200 is considered a workhorse Many overlook this aspect of the pitcher’s game, but when you think about it, those extra 41 innings saved the Cleveland bullpen about 30-35 separate appearances. This extra rest is something that is extremely important to a group of pitchers who were so outdtanding during the season. To a club making a hard playoff push, it is imperative that the bullpen be rested. He has had an ERA north of 3.60 only twice in the past five seasons and in the other two years, his ERA’s were 4.12 and 4.03 in 2004 and 2005 respectively. Sabathia also pounds the strike zone, notching a career K:BB of almost 3:1 and has almost 100 more career innings to his credit than hits surrendered. Impressive to say the least. Around the time of the winter meetings next December, Sabathia will be courted by upper management from many of the other 30 ball clubs. It will not so much be dollars on the year that will keep Sabathia out of Cleveland, but the number of years of job security. This is because he has the ability to lock up major dollars and years in a mega, Santana or Zito-esque contract that he otherwise not make the next time he enters free agency after say a three or four year contract.
As dominant as Sabathia is, the Indians would be wise to steer clear of long term (3+ years) contracts worth about 20 million dollars annually, especially with the emergence of a young star-studded pitching staff which will inevitably be led by Fausto Carmona, Jake Westbrook, and future standouts Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers.
In addition to the young starting talent, the Cleveland bullpen pitched phenomenally last season, and they have only added a quality arm for this year in Masahide Kobayashi, whom most Major Leaguers have never faced. The Indian’s bullpen this years figures to also include closer Joe Borowski, Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez, Aaron Fultz, Jensen Lewis, Tom Mastny, Edward Mujica. Of those, Betancourt, Perez, Fultz, and Lewis all had ERA’s of 2.92 or better, with Betancourt and Perez holding each of theirs below 2.00.
Stockpile of Arms With No Big Guns
2/14/08
The Phillies closed a deal to land right hander Kris Benson to a Minor League contract on Thursday. Benson has been rehabbing from surgery on his right shoulder to repair a torn labrum, which forced him to sit out all of the 2007 season. Benson has been courted by the Phils’ brass since he threw before scouts and executives from nine clubs in January near his home in Arizona. Benson, a former first-overall pick in the 1996 draft, provides the Phillies with another pitching option for the back end of their rotation should Adam Eaton’s balky shoulder, or worse his performance of the 2007 season, rear its ugly head again.
Since Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon recorded the final strike of the World Series, Phillies GM Pat Gilick has states repeatedly that the team’s primary focus for the offseason remains on upgrading their pitching. Some can argue that they have done so by using the acquisition of closer Brad Lidge to push Brett Myers back to the starting rotation in addition to adding recent Rule-5 draft picks LHP’s Fabio Castro and Travis Blackley, and the signings of RHP’s J.D. Durbin, Chad Durbin, and now Benson. The fact is that Lidge, 30, has shown the ability to be a lights out closer with a tendency to hit ruts and lose confidence and composure. Sound familiar, Myers fans?
Myers provides a definite upgrade to the top of the rotation simply because he has dominant stuff in his repertoire. His fastball reaches the mid 90’s, which he uses to set up his knee buckling curve for strikeout after strikeout. He also throws a cut fastball which will make him more effective than before against left handers. Beyond him the, the Phillies hope that control artist Kyle Kendrick can repeat his performance of last season when he went far beyond the call of duty coming from Class AA Reading to help save a starting rotation the saw John Lieber, Freddy “the Flop” Garcia, Eaton, and ace Cole Hamels all go down with injuries during the season. Kendrick proved to be a sure thing almost every start, not missing a turn and winning half of his twenty starts while still pulling a remarkable 3.87 ERA having never pitched above Class AA as a 22-year old.
Since the Pat Gilick Era began in Philadelphia prior to the 2006 season, the focus has been on stockpiling arms. However, the club’s most recent activity to gather more starting options has yielded little more than Chad Durbin who is heading to spring training now with his fifth organization at the age of 30. He owns a career ERA of 4.72. Compare that with Adam Eaton’s career ERA of 4.70 and see if you can make a connection. Durbin also owns a K:BB ratio of only 265:193 for his career, far below the favorable 2:1 standard. Also, Durbin has given up 535 hits in just 465.0 career IP. When a pitcher spends eight seasons in the Major Leagues compiling those numbers, he points critics to the fact that he has control problems (note the number of walks), and when he does find the plate, he gets knocked around, giving up a lot of runs (look again at the number of hits and ERA and imagine what the cozy Citizens Bank Park will do to him).
The Phillies dug into the free agent market for a starting pitcher in his early thirties to shore up their pitching staff. This particular pitcher had a career ERA of 4.40 and a history of injury problems. Am I referring to the Phillies’ acquisition of Adam Eaton prior to the 2007 season or to the Benson signing of this offseason? They bear striking similarities to one another. If I told you that Kris Benson’s career ERA when signing with the Phils was 4.34 at the time of his signing, you would know that the pitcher I described above was Adam Eaton. Numbers do not show much of a difference among the trio comprised of Chad (or J.D., for that matter) Durbin, Benson, and Eaton. There has been some excitement surrounding the acquisitions of Durbin and Benson, but if statistical history is any indicator of what is to come, I would urge Phillies fans to be more excited about the acquisitions of Lidge and Blackley, and to look forward to the arrival of up and coming minor league prospects Carlos Carrasco, Josh Outman, Joe Savery, Andrew Carpenter and 20 year old Kyle Drabek in that order, and not to get too excited about the arrivals of Durbin and Benson.
The Phillies closed a deal to land right hander Kris Benson to a Minor League contract on Thursday. Benson has been rehabbing from surgery on his right shoulder to repair a torn labrum, which forced him to sit out all of the 2007 season. Benson has been courted by the Phils’ brass since he threw before scouts and executives from nine clubs in January near his home in Arizona. Benson, a former first-overall pick in the 1996 draft, provides the Phillies with another pitching option for the back end of their rotation should Adam Eaton’s balky shoulder, or worse his performance of the 2007 season, rear its ugly head again.
Since Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon recorded the final strike of the World Series, Phillies GM Pat Gilick has states repeatedly that the team’s primary focus for the offseason remains on upgrading their pitching. Some can argue that they have done so by using the acquisition of closer Brad Lidge to push Brett Myers back to the starting rotation in addition to adding recent Rule-5 draft picks LHP’s Fabio Castro and Travis Blackley, and the signings of RHP’s J.D. Durbin, Chad Durbin, and now Benson. The fact is that Lidge, 30, has shown the ability to be a lights out closer with a tendency to hit ruts and lose confidence and composure. Sound familiar, Myers fans?
Myers provides a definite upgrade to the top of the rotation simply because he has dominant stuff in his repertoire. His fastball reaches the mid 90’s, which he uses to set up his knee buckling curve for strikeout after strikeout. He also throws a cut fastball which will make him more effective than before against left handers. Beyond him the, the Phillies hope that control artist Kyle Kendrick can repeat his performance of last season when he went far beyond the call of duty coming from Class AA Reading to help save a starting rotation the saw John Lieber, Freddy “the Flop” Garcia, Eaton, and ace Cole Hamels all go down with injuries during the season. Kendrick proved to be a sure thing almost every start, not missing a turn and winning half of his twenty starts while still pulling a remarkable 3.87 ERA having never pitched above Class AA as a 22-year old.
Since the Pat Gilick Era began in Philadelphia prior to the 2006 season, the focus has been on stockpiling arms. However, the club’s most recent activity to gather more starting options has yielded little more than Chad Durbin who is heading to spring training now with his fifth organization at the age of 30. He owns a career ERA of 4.72. Compare that with Adam Eaton’s career ERA of 4.70 and see if you can make a connection. Durbin also owns a K:BB ratio of only 265:193 for his career, far below the favorable 2:1 standard. Also, Durbin has given up 535 hits in just 465.0 career IP. When a pitcher spends eight seasons in the Major Leagues compiling those numbers, he points critics to the fact that he has control problems (note the number of walks), and when he does find the plate, he gets knocked around, giving up a lot of runs (look again at the number of hits and ERA and imagine what the cozy Citizens Bank Park will do to him).
The Phillies dug into the free agent market for a starting pitcher in his early thirties to shore up their pitching staff. This particular pitcher had a career ERA of 4.40 and a history of injury problems. Am I referring to the Phillies’ acquisition of Adam Eaton prior to the 2007 season or to the Benson signing of this offseason? They bear striking similarities to one another. If I told you that Kris Benson’s career ERA when signing with the Phils was 4.34 at the time of his signing, you would know that the pitcher I described above was Adam Eaton. Numbers do not show much of a difference among the trio comprised of Chad (or J.D., for that matter) Durbin, Benson, and Eaton. There has been some excitement surrounding the acquisitions of Durbin and Benson, but if statistical history is any indicator of what is to come, I would urge Phillies fans to be more excited about the acquisitions of Lidge and Blackley, and to look forward to the arrival of up and coming minor league prospects Carlos Carrasco, Josh Outman, Joe Savery, Andrew Carpenter and 20 year old Kyle Drabek in that order, and not to get too excited about the arrivals of Durbin and Benson.
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