Pence avoids arbitration; who's left?

The Philadelphia Phillies and outfielder Hunter Pence avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $10.4 million deal.

Last season Pence hit .314 with 22 home runs for both the Phillies and Astros.

With Pence signed, what players are left to sign before a hearing between the club and player? What is this process all about anyways?

If players can't reach an agreement with their club, a hearing will be scheduled, and those usually aren't good for the player.  It's a war of words some say, as teams fight tooth and nail to win the case. Money is at stake, and the owners want to win. Players attend the meetings and hear all sorts of fun stuff.  They listen to their bosses talk everything negative that player did that season, strikeouts, errors, even getting personal at times.

Again, the team has a case why they offered X amount, and they want to win.  On the other hand, players ask for what they think they're worth, and that's why they get to this point.

Here are some of the remaining cases to be settled, with more than a few million in some cases separating the two sides.


The Red Sox David Ortiz: asked for $16.5 million, club offered $12.65 million.

The Indians Asdrubal Cabrera asked for $5.2 million, club offered $3.75 million.

The Rangers Mike Napoli asked for $11.5 million, club offered $8.3 million.

The Rangers Nelson Cruz asked for $7.5 million, club offered $5.5 million.

The Cubs Matt Garza asked for $12.5 million, club offered $7.95 million.

The Dodgers Clayton Kershaw asked for $10 million, club offered $6.5 million.

The Brewers Shaun Marcum asked for $8.7 million, club offered $6.75 million.

Prince Fielder is introduced

Prince Fielder was introduced to the Detroit media today looking a little slimmer than last year.

I can't put a name to it, but he seems to look more like Glen "Big Baby" Davis on second look. Maybe?

Prince will make $214 million over the next nine seasons, and what I love most about his contract is his request for a hotel suite while on the road was accepted by the Tigers.  Wonder how Verlander and Cabrera feel about that?

Marcum proud of his Grand Slam

Ricky Romero's latest tweet revealed this classic photo texted from ex-Jay and current Brewer Shaun Marcum.

Last season, Marcum hit a grand slam off Diamondbacks starter Daniel Hudson.  Before the home run, Marcum was 4-40 lifetime at the plate.

Marcum is also known for allowing the 600th home run to Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Morneau talks concussions

Paul Brothers of theScore.com had a chance to talk with Canadian Justin Morneau about a variety of topics, but one that stood out was his take on concussions in general and in the NHL.



Morneau suffered his second concussion in 13 months, when diving for a ball on August 28th at Target Field. The Twins first baseman dealt with his first concussion after a collision in at second base, taking a knee by Jays shortstop John McDonald to the side of the head.

Morneau in his career is a .281 hitter with 185 home runs in 1,017 games.

Yankees add Pineda, Kuroda

A quiet off season for the New York Yankees changed very quickly Friday night, first making a huge deal with the Seattle Mariners to acquire starting pitcher Michael Pineda, and minutes later, signing ex-Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a 1-year deal worth $10 million.

The Yankees rotation, led by CC Sabathia, will now feature one of the better free agents that was still on the market, Kuroda, and one of the brighter young talents in the American League in Pineda.

The Yankees had to give up talent to receive Pineda, officially trading catcher Jesus Montero and pitcher Hector Noesi to the Mariners for Pineda and pitcher Jose Campos.

Last season, Pineda started 28 games for the Mariners going 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA.  In the 171 innings pitched, he recorded 173 strikeouts and only walked 55 batters.  Pineda did give up 18 long balls, 9 at home and 9 on the road.



Pineda held right handed batters to a .184 average, while limiting left handers to a .237 average.  He has never pitched at Yankee Stadium, only facing New York one time in his short career, tossing 5 innings and allowing 3 runs at Safeco Field.

Montero was called up by the Yankees on September 1st and hit .328 in 61 at-bats.

Signing Kuroda to the free agent deal also gives the Yankees the much needed depth for the starters.  Kuroda, who was looking for more years and more per year, obviously lowering his demands over the past few weeks, signing a deal for $10 million with the chance to compete for a World Series.

Last year Kuroda went 13-16 for the Dodgers with a 3.45 ERA.  He finished the year strong, going 7-3 in the finals two months of the season.

The Yankees rotation now consists of CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, Phil Hughes, Hiroki Kuroda, Michael Pineda, and A.J. Burnett. (in no particular order)  I think they have some depth now!

Advantage Yankees...and oh ya, the Red Sox countered all this by reportedly offering catcher Jason Varitek a minor-league deal.

Prince Fielder still waiting

The best remaining free agent on the market, Prince Fielder, is still without a contract as of today, January 11th.

One would wonder if teams really are waiting for agent Scott Boras to drop his price a little, something that is unrealistic if you were to ever ask that camp.

Most in baseball would have expected Prince to part of an organization by now.  If your wondering about deals this late into the off season, one of the latest signings by a bigger free agent was Carlos Delgado.  Carlos waited until January 26th of 2005 to sign with the Marlins, a 4 year deal worth $52 million.

Other big deals that have come later in January in recent years have been:

Vladimir Guerrero: 5-year / $70 million with the Angels, Jan 11 2004 and Carlos Beltran: 7-year / $119 million with the Mets, Jan 10, 2005.

The countdown is still on for teams to sign Prince, but the chances of the 8-year deal worth $25 M per season doesn't look good.  The Nationals, Rangers , Marlins, Mariners and Brewers still look to possible landing spots.  Milwaukee has been rumoured to be out on bringing Prince back, but if they did offer him a 5-year deal for $100M before he elected for free agency, maybe that deal is still on the table.

Last season, Prince Fielder hit .299 with 38 home runs and 120 RBI.

Vladimir Guerrero to the Jays is a fit

Two Hall of Famers in one picture. Go figure. 

His is a name that hasn't been floated out there very much but Vladimir Guerrero could very well be a member of the Toronto Blue Jays by offseason's end. Haven't heard about it? No kidding. You didn't hear about Sergio Santos either.

You're stunned, I understand. Take a minute to digest what I just said. Where on earth did this Vladdy thing come up? Well, truth be told it hasn't - it's the product of your run of the mill baseball discussion and a "huh" moment. While it almost seems ridiculous that Guerrero is A) still playing and B) would be a target for the Jays, the marriage isn't as unlikely as you may think and I've now talked myself into thinking this could actually happen.

In fact, I've almost fallen in love with the idea. I'm your Michael Lewis and this is my Moneyball. (swoon)

It's no secret that the Jays need an additional big bat to give some added protection to likes of Jose Bautista, Colby Rasmus (who Jon Morosi is convinced is the be all and end all of this season since the Jays didn't win Yu Darvish's negotiating rights) and Brett Lawrie.

You say: But Edwin Encarnacion is our designated hitter!
I say: Exactly.

Make no mistake here, I think EE has a great power stroke. The side camera angle on his swing when he goes yard is absolutely beautiful. That being said, he's not an everyday bat on a team which would like to win a ton of games at some point in time.

Enter Vladimir Guerrero.

I'll start with the baseball intangibles because those translate into wins and losses. On that note, I'll start with the negatives of Vladdy - he's old, he's an injury risk and he couldn't hold a candle to the Vlad of a decade ago.

Now that we're past that we can continue here.

Guerrero had a tough year in 2011 which can be largely chalked up to the fact that he played for the Baltimore Orioles who are inept in every way and the fact he's getting older. We have seen in the past, however, that a (VERY) hitter friendly home ballpark and a talented lineup can do wonders for someone at the end of their rope. Guerrero is looking for one last kick at the can to further cement his place in history, and what better place to do it than Toronto - in the country it all began, no less (more on that in a moment).

As of right now using the Bill James projections as a guide, Guerrero could walk on to the Jays and take the DH job with ease. Assuming Encarnacion is the man slated for the job right now, Guerrero is projected to top Encarnacion in both weighted runs created (68 vs. 55) and weighted runs above average (11.5 vs. 9.6) - both key metrics in determining a player's offensive value. In other words, Guerrero is expected to generate more offensive production than Encarnacion regardless of who he's playing for. Last time Guerrero played for a competent team in an offensively inclined ballpark - Texas, 2010 - he posted an OPS of .841 (despite having the second lowest batting average on balls in play of his career) with a wRC of 94 and wRAA of 20.2 - both solid numbers for a player well past his prime.

While I'm not saying that Guerrero is a lock to post those numbers again, I am saying that he should be given a long, hard look by Blue Jays brass given that he would be an immediate upgrade over Encarnacion. Moreover, Guerrero's OPS at Skydome over the past three seasons is the highest of any ballpark in which he has had more than 25 at-bats (1.020) - the next closest being Yankee Stadium where the Jays play once or twice I think - and even higher than that of The Ballpark in Arlington where he experienced a career resurgence. In other words, Vlad loves hitting at the Dome. The proof is in the pudding with his career OPS in Toronto at 1.011 through over 200 plate appearances.

I think it's fair to say at this point that the combination of his career stats and 2012 projections make this a risk worth taking. Internally however, it has always been clear that the Jays will only go in on players at a value they feel is fair. At this point in his career, Guerrero can only demand ageing DH money which is hardly a financial burden for this team to handle - we're not talking Prince Fielder earning $250 million over 12 seasons. In 2010 during his renaissance Guerrero was paid $5.5 million by the Rangers before taking a raise of $1.1 million from an Orioles team desperate for anyone to come play for them. Realistically, the Jays could offer Guerrero a one year deal at $6 million and get him to come play as their everyday DH. When you consider that Juan Rivera was hauling in $5.25 million, doesn't that seem like a risk worth taking?

Let's not forget there is a personal connection between management and Guerrero as well. Alex Anthopoulos joined the Expos organization in 2000 when Guerrero's star was just beginning to rise in baseball. As essentially a volunteer player assistant, Anthopoulos would have been around Guerrero constantly, no doubt sorting the masses of fan mail I can only imagine he got each week. At the end of the day, if Guerrero is looking for a job as this offseason drags on it only makes sense that the guy who was once a personal assistant to Guerrero would be willing to give him a shot in a low risk, high reward type of move.

Make no mistake about it, Vladimir Guerrero could be a member of the Jays in 2012 and that would be a very good thing for the team and its fans. The fact you haven't heard anything just makes it more likely.

Why the Jays should stay away from Gio Gonzalez

It happened. They missed the boat on the name everyone was hoping for. Yu Darvish is now left to negotiate a deal with the Texas Rangers while the Toronto Blue Jays are left to piece together the back end of a rotation which currently features Henderson Alvarez, Dustin McGowan and Brett Cecil among other contenders.

Is this the end of the world? Absolutely not. Each pitching option the Jays currently have certainly have the arsenal to put together a decent season. Is that the makings of a World Series calibre rotation? No way.

Toronto is officially back to the drawing board and looking at the pitching options available to them via trade or free agency. Common names that have popped up include the likes of Matt Garza and Gio Gonzalez among others. After narrowly missing out on a Mat Latos trade with San Diego, it's clear that the Jays are well aware of their pitching deficiencies. Relying on the development of youth has been a key point of the last two seasons and it has resulted in 166 wins in 324 games. While the team can't abandon the development of its youth, the focus of talent development is gradually shifting from turning prospects into major leaguers to turning major leaguers into winners. With the window of Jose Bautista as best player in baseball getting narrower each day, the impetus on the Bluebirds to put together the makings of a winner is growing.

With that in mind a key point needs to be imparted on Jays fans who have been tempted by the lore of Gonzalez - he's not worth what the Athletics are asking for. When you consider that the package they requested from the Florida Miami Marlins began with the likes of Mike Stanton and/or Logan Morrison, it's hard to imagine what the Jays could possibly surrender to meet the demands of Billy Beane and his staff. It has been said that Beane is looking for a deal similar to the return he got from Arizona when he dealt Dan Haren. This is a nice thought out of Oakland, but Gio Gonzalez is no Dan Haren and any package comparable to the Haren deal would be highway robbery. The only way I would be willing to see the Jays give up a Dan Haren package in 2011-12 is if they received the actual Dan Haren in return. You can bet with a reloaded Angels squad and finite amount of time to spend this much money, Haren is not on the block.

The lure of Gonzalez has been the flash he adds from the left side of the mound. Gonzalez has averaged an above league average K/9 inning ratio his entire career while keeping his WHIP roughly on par with his peers. Where things get alarming is his K/BB ratio which is roughly 2.0. In fact, since becoming a starter in the A's rotation, nobody has walked more batters per nine innings.

Sure, it's easy to take a look at the strikeout numbers and realize the raw talent Gonzalez has, that much is evident. However it's hard to project Gonzalez's numbers against AL East opponents in AL East ballparks. Keep in mind that this is a division loaded with - generally speaking - the best hitting lineups in all of baseball, not to mention that, according to ESPN's Park Factor ratings, every AL Easy ballpark with the exception of Tropicana Field in Tampa is more friendly to offence than Oakland, where Gonzalez has been plying his trade. Skydome (don't ever call it Rogers Centre) ranks fourth in all of baseball, just behind Boston's Fenway Park at three and ahead of Yankee Stadium at six. Baltimore's Camden Yards is in the mix as well at 12.

The fact of the matter is that while Gonzalez could theoretically be an upgrade over Cecil or McGowan, he ultimately is not worth the price it would take to pry him out of Oakland. This could be a package that sends some combination of Travis Snider, Rajai Davis, Adam Lind, etc. with young arms to Oakland, for Gonzalez's services. Does he have the potential to be an ace? Absolutely, but the Jays shouldn't be willing to mortgage that many pieces on the basis of a front-end of the rotation K-rate.

When looking at pitchers who may be more favourable options there are some intriguing options for the Jays. This list includes the likes of John Danks or Gavin Floyd from the White Sox - a team Anthopoulos openly enjoys dealing with in large part due to Kenny Williams' aggressiveness in the market. While neither would be under team control for extended periods of time - Floyd and Danks have expiring contracts - both have posted higher Wins Above Replacement levels (8-Floyd; 7.5-Danks) than Gonzalez (6.7). Williams has been very open about his desire to re-tool the White Sox but hasn't made trade demands that require a Stanton + Morrison (5.5 combined WAR) as a starting point.

In the free agent market, Roy Oswalt is available but hasn't been seriously linked to any suitors thus far. He is turning 35 in August and has dealt with some back issues. That being said, a steady, veteran arm in the rotation at the right price has never been a bad thing. From 2000-2010 Oswalt was second to only Roy Halladay in wins (take that statistic for what you will) and is another pitcher who has posted a higher WAR (7.1) than Gonzalez these past two seasons.

It is obvious through his moves thus far that Anthopoulos has been working under the radar this offseason. None of the moves that have actually come to fruition have been speculated upon. As I mentioned earlier, given the Jays involvement in pursuing Latos, they are clearly looking to upgrade their rotation. While Gonzalez has been talked about in connection with the Jays by several big name sources, it ultimately doesn't fit that the Jays would fork over the type of package Beane is pursuing given the potential return in Gonzalez.

Gio is a fit for the Jays in the sense that he is a controllable asset in his mid 20s with a semi-high ceiling. All told, however, his acquisition doesn't fit the bill of a franchise that is interested in keeping its high ceiling pieces together and especially when you consider the drawbacks which have prevented Gonzalez from reaching that ceiling (control) have not improved with age.

While Travis Snider has struggled at the big league level, it is important to recall that he is only 23 years old and has a lot of growth left as a ball player. Similarly, you can be sure that a package for Gonzalez would require one of Deck McGuire or Chad Jenkins - or a player of equal calibre and ceiling -  heading to Oakland in exchange. Once you start adding the pieces that the Athletics are looking for, the math to acquire Gonzalez just doesn't make sense.

While the Jays may be rumoured to have a stake in the Gio Gonzalez hunt, they ought to stay away. There is much better value to be found elsewhere for a franchise that has pride in finding it.