Results tagged ‘ Francisco Rodriguez ’
2012 MLB Vesting Options
The following players had options for 2012. Lets see where they stand…
Bobby Abreu - $9 million option vested at 433 plate appearances
Abreu has made 532 appearances. It would have been interesting to see what the Angels could have done next season with Mike Trout somewhere in the outfield, but Vernon Wells, Abreu (who has played 28 games in the outfield), and Torii Hunter (who will be a Free Agent after 2012) will be joined by Peter Bourjos as Angels in the outfield next season.
Adam Wainwright - $9 million in 2012 (if he is top 5 in Cy Young for 2010) and $12 million in 2013 if he doesn’t end 2011 on the Disabled List
Well, Wainwright will be an interesting case. His 2013 option won’t automatically vest due to his Tommy John surgery and recovery, but his 2012 option vested when he was 2nd in the National League Cy Young voting in 2010. Wainwright underwent surgery in February and will be ready for Spring Training. He should have his first bullpen session in the next week. If he comes back as half the pitcher he was before the injury, he’ll be a bargain…when compared to A.J. Burnett.
Aramis Ramirez - $11 million option vests if he wins the MVP in the National League or League Championship Series, OR if he is traded.
Ramirez was close to getting traded at the deadline until he went schizophrenic about his full no-trade clause and flip-flopped like a politician on whether he was willing to leave or force his stay in Chicago. Someone should be able to get the soon-to-be 34-year-old for close to that this offseason. With the weak third base market, he could force an extra year or two on his contract.
Rafael Furcal - $12 million option vests with 600 plate appearances
Furcal wasn’t EVER going to get to 600 plate appearances. He’s injured about as much as Jose Reyes the last couple of seasons. He’s had 726 plate appearances since the beginning of 2010. He “wants” to stay in St. Louis, apparently, but he’ll probably “want” the most money he can get in his last chance for a multi-year deal.
Jon Garland - $8 million option vests with 190 innings pitched.
This looked like a great deal for Garland, who hadn’t thrown fewer than 191 1/3 innings since he became a full-time starter in 2002. All of those innings caught up to him, though, as he needed shoulder surgery in July. He’ll be on the shelf for nearly six months, so another incentive laden contract will be in the 32-year-old’s future this offseason.
Francisco Rodriguez - $17.5 million option vests with 55 games finished.
Ron Roenicke said that he was going to give K-Rod some closing opportunities when the deal with the Mets went down. He has finished one game since the trade. I guess Doug Melvin and Brewers ownership let him know how things were going to go. There was no way in God’s green Earth that the Brewers were going to take a chance like that and pay a “closer” $17.5 million when they have Prince Fielder on the way out the door this winter. Rodriguez has finished 35 games this season and won’t come much closer to that vesting option.
Joakim Soria - $6 million option vests with 55 appearances.
“The Mexicutioner” (quite possibly the coolest nickname EVER) has already made 58 appearances, allowing the Royals to have another year of an elite closer at a discount price. Soria has had a down year when compared to his first four seasons, but his value is still evident. He has an $8 million team option for 2013 and $8.75 million in 2014, each with $750,000 buyouts. It wouldn’t be surprising for him to be dealt by the deadline next year, especially if Aaron Crow stays in the bullpen and becomes closer-worthy.
Contractual Nightmares of Closers…Over
The Mets trade of Francisco Rodriguez happened for two reasons: 1) They aren’t going to contend and they need to cut payroll, and 2) They didn’t want him to finish games to kick in his 2012 option that would pay him $17.5 million. In Milwaukee, K-Rod will be setting up John Axford and his awesome facial hair. K-Rod has been a disappointment for the Mets, going 9-10 with 83 saves and a 3.03 ERA, but you could argue that the Mets .470 winning percentage since his arrival has something to do with the middle of the road numbers. His trade will clear up space for the Mets impending $100 million-plus offer to Jose Reyes, whether he is worth it or not (http://thebaseballhaven.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/why-is-jose-reyes-worth-100-million/), and look for Carlos Beltran, maybe even David Wright to be next on the Mets list of trade prospects.
The closer market has been very interesting since K-Rod signed his 3-year, $37 million deal with the Mets and Francisco Cordero signed his 4-year, $46 million deal with the Reds. There aren’t many closers earning top dollar anymore. Sure, Papelbon ($12 million) and Rivera ($15 million) are getting theirs, but Brian Wilson, Heath Bell, Jose Valverde, and Joel Hanrahan are each earning under $8 million per season, with Hanrahan and his perfect season getting just $1.4 million.
What have teams learned from signing closers? They can give the ball to the hot hand and see what happens, maybe even put a young guy in there and let them learn how to pitch an inning at a time. We don’t see these famous names any longer, even Brad Lidge (who signed a three-year, $37.5 deal with Philadelphia the same off-season as K-Rod signed with the Mets) has faded into an injury-plagued pitcher who may not have a job when he comes back, that is, if he comes back. Ryan Franklin went from an All-Star in 2009 and saving 65 games combined in 2009 and 2010 to being released by St. Louis this season. Look at the dominant closers in baseball:
Neftali Feliz, Texas, 23, making $457,000
Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta, 23, making $419,000
Drew Storen, Washington, 23, making $418,000
John Axford, Milwaukee, 28, making $443,000
Jordan Walden, L.A. Angels, 23, making $414,000
Sergio Santos, Chicago White Sox, 28, making $435,000
Fernando Salas, St. Louis, 26, contract info isn’t available online but it has to be towards the minimum based on his service time.
You have several guys in the $4-8 million range with Bell, Wilson, Gregg, and others, but when nearly 1/4 of the league is getting by with “make-shift” closers, are teams going to pay guys big contracts when they could just put a journeyman or young fireballing-type in there and get by?
K-Rod once said that he wanted to close over 700 games and be better than Mariano Rivera. He will be 30-years-old this winter, and Scott Boras will do all that he can to get him a big payday. When Rafael Soriano couldn’t get a closing job this winter and settled for setting up Mariano Rivera, was that a sign of what was to come for big name closers? If a guy gets paid $17.5 million to finish (be the last pitcher for the last out) 75 games, he makes $233,333 per finished game. Even getting $12.5 million per season pays $166,666 per game. Alex Rodriguez and his $27.5 million per season contract gets paid $169,753 per game. For all of the people who say that A-Rod is overpaid, what do you say about the closers? The highly overpaid day of the closer is gone with K-Rod and Cordero hitting the open market this winter.
