Rumors

  • Ryan Braun Contract Details

    Tom Haudricourt has the details on Ryan Braun's new extension.  It's a tricky one, because it's not yet known whether Braun will be arbitration-eligible after the 2009 season.  It won't be known for sure until November of '09.  If he is arb-eligible at that time he'll make an extra $6MM.

    It's looking like Braun will earn $4.5MM (including a signing bonus) for his three pre-arb years.  Then he'll get $18.5MM for his three arb years (less than 80% of what Hanley Ramirez will get for the same slice of his career).  After that Braun gave up his first two free agent years for $22MM.  That's also significantly less than Ramirez will receive his first two years of free agent eligibility.

  • Hanley Ramirez Contract Details

    Hanley Ramirez's six-year, $70MM deal will be officially announced Saturday.  MLB.com's Joe Frisaro has the details of the contract.

    Basically the deal pays $23.5MM for Ramirez's three arbitration years and $46.5MM for his first three years of free agency.  It's also been confirmed that the deal lacks no-trade provisions.  I know we always label these young-player long-term deals as team-friendly.  But this one takes the cake.  That's not a knock on Ramirez - if I had his talents I'd certainly exchange maximum dollars for immediate security.  How about you?

  • Angels Open To In-Season Talks For K-Rod

    Angels owner Arte Moreno said today that the team is flexible and is willing to negotiate a contract extension with closer Francisco Rodriguez during the season.  K-Rod and his agent were strongly leaning toward putting talks off until after the season after an agreement could not be reached by Opening Day.

    Twins closer Joe Nathan inked a four-year, $47MM deal in March.  The total is the highest ever for a reliever, though Mariano Rivera earns $15MM annually on a three-year pact.  Another comparable is Francisco Cordero's four-year, $46MM deal.  Nathan and Cordero both have fifth-year club options.

    Assuming they hit the open market, the big name closers for the winter of 2008-09 are K-Rod and Brad Lidge.  Will one top the $50MM mark or get five guaranteed years?  Brian Fuentes and Brandon Lyon seem to fit into the second tier of free agent closers.

  • Baseball America Projects The First Round

    Baseball America attempted to project the entire first round of the June amateur draft.  Their top ten:

    1. Rays - Tim Beckham, SS.
    2. Pirates - Pedro Alvarez, 3B.
    3. Royals - Buster Posey, C. 
    4. Orioles - Brian Matusz, LHP.
    5. Giants - Justin Smoak, 1B.
    6. Marlins - Kyle Skipworth, C.
    7. Reds - Aaron Crow, RHP.
    8. White Sox - Gordon Beckham, SS.
    9. Nationals - Yonder Alonso, 1B.
    10. Astros - Shooter Hunt, RHP.

    BA is in agreement with Jonathan Mayo on picks #2, 4, 6, 7, and 8.  Plus we can assume that Mayo wouldn't have chosen Scheppers for Houston had Scheppers' injury been fully realized at the time.

  • Seven Teams Have Monitored Freddy Garcia

    According to ESPN's Buster Olney, at least seven clubs have monitored Freddy Garcia's progress: the Mets, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, and Mariners.  It wouldn't be surprising if even more clubs show up to watch Garcia throw when he is able to audition.  A midseason free agent has major appeal.  The Indians are one additional club rumored to have interest.

    Garcia remains a mystery - we don't know when he'll be ready, how much money he'll want, or how effective he'll be.

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