The Red Sox just emailed that Jon Lester signed a five-year deal. This was reported a while ago, but the contract was just finialized. Here's the story from the Boston Herald.

Jon Lester signed a one-year deal, along with the rest of the Red Sox young players. There was a story the other day that he agreed to a long-term deal, but that story is not true yet.

There is a report that Jon Lester received a contract extension, but the Red Sox have not confirmed that.

Boston Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester, who overcame cancer to become one of the best pitchers in the American League, has agreed to a five-year, $30 million contract extension with a $13 million team option in 2014, a source close to the team told Yahoo! Sports.

I'm sure everyone is happy for Jon at this point given his battle with cancer. The Red Sox are obviously very sure there won't be a recurrence if they are willing to commit to a long-term deal. They get a fine pitcher for a very good price.

In an effort to get younger and healthier, the Giants eat the last year of Dave Robert's contract:

We just talked to GM Brian Sabean, who said he tried to shop Roberts all winter and spring. The Giants placed him on unconditional release waivers because they want to give younger players such as Eugenio Velez and John Bowker long looks at the fifth outfield spot, and that Velez's chances of making the team as a two-way utility man are enhanced by this move.

It did not help Roberts that he continued to experience knee soreness this spring.

It's a lot of money for nothing, but I'm glad the Giants are going for youth rather than keeping an aging player on the roster just to pay him.

The Phillies released Adam Eaton. Tim Malcolm believes Eaton's failure taught the Phillies a lesson about signing marginal pitchers.

Maury Brown posts a detailed report on this year's arbitration proceedings.

The long awaited Brian Roberts contract extension happened today:

Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts had a $40 million contract extension waiting for him to sign after Friday's workout. Typical of the attitude he brings to the team, he insisted first on running sprints in the outfield. Everything else could wait.

With his cardio exercises done, Roberts scribbled his name on a new four-year deal, which begins in 2010. He already was due $8 million this year and would have been eligible for free agency after the World Series. His new deal calls for salaries of $10 million annually through 2013.

Roberts posted outstanding OBAs in three of the last four years. At that price and his age, it seems like a good contract. It's probably a good thing the Orioles waited a year to extend his deal; it probably would have cost them more last season.

The price to is low enough that if Baltimore wants to trade him, his contract won't prevent that.

Maury Brown sums up the statistics for the 2009 arbitration season.

The Nationals avoid arbitration with Ryan Zimmerman, signing him to a one-year, $3.25 million contract. Fire Jim Bowden, however, wonders why the Nationals failed to lock up their third baseman for four years:

Zimmerman is coming off an injury-riddled season that must have put some doubt in his mind (if witnessing the career-fizzling injures of friends Nick Johnson, John Patterson, Shawn Hill, and Chad Cordero didn't) about his ability to avoid injury for the next three years and score a big pay day in free agency. And in a down economy, everyone's getting less than they expect.

In that environment, the team had every opportunity to walk in and blow Zimmerman away with a deal that a year ago might have been considered a modest opening bid.

After watching Odalis Perez settle for a minor-league deal and Bobby Abreu sign for half of Eric Gagne's 2008 contract, I'm done trying to predict contract numbers in the current environment. But barring injury, it's hard to imagine that Zimmerman will ever be cheaper than he would have been now. Of course, that might have made Zim reluctant to do a long-term deal now too--he's gotta be thinking that if he can just go out there and do what he did when he was 21 years old (and maybe wait for the economy to settle down a little), he could dramatically improve his negotiating posture.

Still, if the team offered him a deal that would have seemed close to fair, even if Zimmerman had been healthy and the economy hadn't cratered, then surely he would have signed. There are no guarantees, and Zim is one ACL tear away from missing his last chance to set himself and his family up for life.

Zimmerman's had a disappointing career so far. His OPS+ dropped each year since his rookie season, and it wasn't that high to begin with. He's in the part of his career where he should be improving, and that hasn't happened yet. I don't blame the Nationals for going one more year. Maybe he breaks out in 2009. If he doesn't, however, he's a good but not great player, and a modest long term contract would be more appropriate.

The Indians designated Andy Marte for assignment:

This completes a pretty dramatic fall from grace for Marte, who was once considered one of the premier prospects in the game. From a performance standpoint, his track record in the minors was terrific. He showed power early on (slugging .492 as an 18-year-old in the South Atlantic League), added patience (a .372 OBP in a terrible-for-hitters park at 19 in the Carolina League), and hit well in the upper minors (.269/.364/.525 as a 20-year-old in Double-A, .275/.372/.506 as a 21-year-old in Triple-A).

However, after his 2005 season put him on the cusp of the majors, the Braves traded him to Boston (who subsequently sent him to Cleveland), and his career completely stalled. He didn't hit in Cleveland or in Buffalo, and has continued to struggle ever since. In 561 major league plate appearances over the last four years, he's hit just .211/.265/.337, racking up a terrible -3.68 WPA/LI in essentially one season's worth of playing time.

Terry Pluto talked about Marte's problems last July, noting he has a long swing.

The Braves and Jeff Francoeur agreed to a $3.375 million dollar contract, avoiding arbitration. I believe that only leaves Ryan Zimmerman facing a hearing.

The Rays and Wily Aybar agree to a two year deal. Tampa Bay buys half his arbitration years with this money.

I wonder why they didn't go for a four year deal. True, Aybar is likely to be a backup, so why waste that kind of money on a bench player? Even with an off year in 2008, Wily's career OBA is good. Some other team might find him attractive, and more so with his cost locked in for a few more years.

Josh Willingham and the Nationals settle on a $2.95 million contract for 2009. That leaves only Ryan Zimmerman facing a hearing for the Nationals.

Looking through the list on Cots, it looks like just Francoeur and Aybar, in addition to Zimmerman, are facing hearings. Dioner Navarro lost his case, although the site hasn't recorded it yet. Did I miss anyone?

The Atlanta Braves avoid arbitration with Kelly Johnson. Might we set a record for fewest hearings in a year?

Teams and players continue to settle as Connor Jackson and the Diamondbacks split the difference and agree to a $3.05 million dollar contract for 2009.

The Brewers clear their arbitration slate, signing Corey Hart to a $3.25 million contract.

Last season was a big disappointment for Hart after a great 2007. He was building toward a good career peak, but his OBA fell to .300, not what your want from an offensive outfielder. He doesn't walk that much to being with, so when his batting average falls, he becomes a drag on the offense. He only walked six times in the last two months of 2008.

The Dodgers and Andre Ethier settled their arbitration positions just before heading into the hearing:

Ethier batted .305 with 20 homers and 77 RBI last year. He had asked for $3.75 million when exchanging proposed arbitration figures and the team had offered $2.65 million.

The 26-year-old outfielder can earn $100,000 in performance bonuses -- $25,000 for 596 plate appearances, his total last year; $25,000 for 625 and $50,000 for 650.

Ethier said both sides were in the same room waiting to begin the hearing when the deal was struck.

Ethier walks away with $3.1 million, a little below the mid point without incentives.

The Pirates sign Nate McLouth to a three-year contract, buying up his arbitration years. Without knowing the money, it's likely a very good deal. Nate is just reaching his peak, and the last two years showed improvement in both his ability to get on base and hit for power. The Pirates lock up a good player with cost certainty.

Update: McLouth gets almost $16 million for the three years.

It was a magic day for Ervin Santana as he signed a four-year, $30 million contract with the Angels. That clears the Angels arbitration slate.

It's a great deal for Anaheim. If Ervin repeats his 2008 season, the Angels get that production cheap. If Santana reverts to pitching poorly on the road, then the money's just about right. It's a win for both sides, as neither needs to worry about arbitration again.

The Angels avoid arbitration with Maicer Izturis, leaving just Ervin Santana's hearing looming.

The Angels and infielder Maicer Izturis split their differences, the club announcing Wednesday it had signed last season's opening-day shortstop to a one-year contract worth $1.6 million.

Izturis, 28, who batted .269 in 79 games before missing the last six weeks after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb, was seeking $1.89 million. The Angels' arbitration offer was $1.4 million.

That's not quite splitting the difference, but here are incentives in the contract that would put Maicer over the mid-point if met.

Update: Darren Oliver also avoided arbitration.

The Florida Marlins payroll is going to be a bit bigger than hoped as Dan Uggla wins his arbitration hearing.

Independent arbitrators sided with the All-Star second baseman, awarding him the $5.35 million contract he requested. The Marlins offered to pay Uggla $4.4 million this season.

The Marlins part with a bit more of their revenue sharing money, but in return they get one of the best offensive middle infields in the league.

The Cardinals agreed to a deal with Rick Ankiel, just before they went into the hearing.

"We are excited to get this deal done and put the process behind us," general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement. "Everyone felt that this agreement was fair to both parties and we can now look forward to another strong season of play from Rick."

The Cardinals have one arbitration case remaining with outfielder Ryan Ludwick due for a hearing on Feb. 17. Ludwick is seeking $4.25 million while the Cardinals have offered $2.8 million.

That's a huge difference, and I can see where that one may go to a hearing. My sense is that the Cardinals have a better handle on Ludwick's value than Ryan does.

The Rays win the arbitration case with Dioner Navarro, but without causing any rancor:

"Navi wants to thank the Rays organization for making this a fair debate and for handling the hearing with class," agent Kendall Almerico said. "He is very excited to report to spring training and help the team get back to the World Series."

Arbitration hearings have the potential to cause hard feelings as teams sometimes downgrade their players, and Almerico suggested there could be ramifications if the Rays didn't treat Navarro "respectfully" as they argued for their $2.1 million offer instead of his $2.5 million request.

Executive vice president Andrew Friedman said the Rays -- now 4-0 in hearings -- were glad to have the "never ideal" process behind them.

Good. Navarro seems to understand the proper place of these hearings, and is happy to walk away with a big pay increase.

The Kansas City Royals settle with Mark Teahen for way above the midpoint:

Teahen earned $2,337,500 last year and asked for $3.85 million in arbitration when he exchanged proposed salaries with the Royals last month. The team offered $2.75 million.

He gets $3.575 million from the Royals. Mark's a below average player. It seems to me unlikely that the Royals had much of a chance of losing that case. Maybe, as they are talking about moving Mark to second base, they thought the transition would go better if they made a generous settlement.

ESPN reports that Andruw Jones will sign a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. He's certainly fallen a long way fast. I suppose as a hitter, Texas offers a great park for reviving an offensive career.

Phillies Nation reports Ryan Howard signs a three-year, $54 million deal. So he'll make his $18 million a year, and the Phillies won't need to worry about arbitration with him again.

Assuming that arbitration adjusts slower than the free agency market, this should be a good deal for the Phillies. If they wound up in arbitration with Howard every year, they'd probably pay more than this total. However, it's a lot of money in a down economy. Given what Teixeira received from the Yankees, however, it seems about right. Ryan's OPS+ over the last three years are 167, 144, 124. Teixeira comes in at 126, 150 and 151. They're the same age, and Teixeira is moving in a better direction, plus is a better defensive player.

Of course, Howard is clutch, so his other short comings don't really matter. :-)

JP Ricciardi keeps his record of never taking a player to arbitration by settling with pitcher Shawn Camp for $750,000. That clears the Blue Jays slate.

Shawn Hill wins his arbitration case with the Nationals, getting a $775,000 salary for 2009. He's also feeling healthy:

"Just like any other pitcher that we would have. Ready to go. No restrictions at this point," said Hill, whose career has been marked by plenty of promise and plenty of injuries. "Just trying to get tuned up."

When healthy, Hill does a good job of limiting the opposition's walks and home runs. He now needs to figure out how to limit their overall hits.

The Orioles sign George Sherrill and avoid arbitration for the third year in a row.

Update: The Mets do the same by signing Pedro Feliciano.

The Tigers sign Justin Verlander to a one-year deal, clearing their arbitration slate. Verlander's new contract supercedes his old deal. He would be in the last year of a five-year contract, but was allowed to opt out of the deal if he became arbitration eligible. That's a nice contract for the Tigers to have given the youngster. Justin would have gotten the upside if he stays healthy, and guaranteed money if he got hurt.

The Brewers and Rickie Weeks agree to a new deal just above the mid-point of their arbitration numbers. That leaves the Brewers just Corey Hart facing an arbitration hearing.

When I started reading Bill James back in the 1980s, Bill would take about batting average as a percentage of a player's offensive value. If batting average represented a high percentage of a player's value, he didn't draw many walks nor hit much for power. Weeks, on the other hand, has a very high percentage of his value in his OBA, due to his high number of walks, and very little power.

While we like to think all OBA is created the same, it's not. I'd much rather sign a player with a .300 BA and a .352 OBA than Weeks who comes in at .245/.352. There's a lot to be said for not making outs, but without power, Weeks does very little to advance runners in front of him.

Cots Baseball Contracts has the list of arbitration eligible players.

The Texas Rangers sign Marlon Byrd, and clear their arbitration docket.

The Yankees reach a contract agreement with Brian Bruney. He's the last of the outstanding contracts, and New York won't need to deal with the arbitrator this season.

The Twins buy out the last two years of Jason Kubel's arbitration and are down to one arbitration case.

The Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to a three-year contract extension with Paul Maholm. There's no word on the money yet, and the Pirates hold an option for a fourth year. This buys out Paul's three years of arbitration, always a good move for a club, and possibly his first year of free-agency. Paul does a good job of limiting walks and home runs, and is coming off the best season of his career.

Zack Greinke signs a four-year contract.

Correction: Fixed the spelling. That's what I get for trying to blog from my phone.

Update: Here are the numbers on Greinke:

Under the contract, Greinke will receive a total of $38 million: $3.75 million in 2009, $7.25 million in 2010, and $13.5 million each year in 2011-12.

It's a very nice turnaround for someone who looked like he was going to be out of baseball a few years ago. It's also, however, the kind of contract that makes the pitcher very tradable.

The Oakland Athletics avoid arbitration buy agreeing to a one-year deal with Justin Duchscherer.

A two-time All-Star, sidelined by a strained right hip late in the season that later required arthroscopic surgery, went 10-8 with a 2.54 ERA in 22 starts for Oakland last season -- his first year as a full-time starter after spending most of his career as a setup man. He also had hip surgery in July 2007.

Healthy, Dustin shows great control, walking just one batter every four innings. His health will be a key to the success of the A's pitching staff this season.

The Brewers, having not spent money on CC Sabathia, ink Prince Fielder to a two-year deal. He'll earn $18 million with the contract:

Fielder, eligible for arbitration for the first time in his career, asked for $8 million earlier this week, and the team countered with $6 million. Over the past three seasons, Fielder has hit .278 with 112 homers and 302 RBIs.

Given that arbitration salaries are growing fast despite the downturn in free agent money, this was a smart deal. Prince is entering the prime of his career, and he already has a 50 home run season. He could easily win his case this year and then look for a Ryan Howard like increase for 2010. This will keep that from happening. The Brewers could save anywhere from $2 million to $6 million with the deal versus going to arbitration two years in a row.

No details yet, but Jayson Werth signed a multi-year deal with the Phillies. Werth is a solid player who gave the Phillies two excellent seasons. It's nice to see his success rewarded. He is a bit older, however, so I hope it's not too long term a contract.

The Red Sox sign Jonathan Papelbon to a $6.25 million deal. The raise is $5.5 million for one of the games premier closers. Along with a Javier Lopez signing, Theo Epstein keeps his streak alive of not going to an arbitration hearing.

Even Melky Cabrera got a nice raise.

Ryan Howard is asking for quite a raise:

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard asked for $18 million in salary arbitration Tuesday, the third-highest figure submitted since the process began in 1974.

Philadelphia offered $14 million to the 2006 NL MVP, a raise of $4 million. Howard hit 48 homers and had 146 RBIs last year, helping the Phillies win their first World Series title since 1980.

That's quite a request after a 60 point drop in OBA. The Phillies are willing to give him a $4 million raise after a down year. Imagine what he'd be getting if he played better than in 2007!

Prince Fielder, with a better year batting, is only asking for $8 million. Prince needs to dream a little bigger.

With such a large difference between Howard's figure and the Phillies, my guess is that it goes to a hearing again. Unlike last year, the Phillies have a good case for the lower number. They're offering Howard Albert Pujols numbers for less production, both at the bat and in the field than Pujols.

The Pirates settle with Adam LaRoche, signing him for $7 million in his final year of arbitration. Could that be his top salary? Teams are talking about offering Adam Dunn $5 million a year, and Dunn is a better hitter. LaRoche is not a defensive wizard either. I have to believe this signing either helps Dunn's case this year, or really hurts LaRoche going into free agency.

Correction: Fixed the second link.

The Tampa Bay Rays sign Jason Bartlett to a $1,981,250, one-year contract. I'm curious as to how they settled on such an odd number. If Tampa didn't want to pay him $2 million, why not $1,999,999? Come on, Rays, cough up the extra $18,750!

Here's a consice summary of the players who avoided arbitration Monday. That leaves 77 players still on the track for a hearing.

Todd Wellemyer gets a nice contract for one year of good starting pitching:

Pitcher Todd Wellemeyer agreed Monday to a $4.05 million, one-year contract with St. Louis Cardinals, who also struck an $825,000 deal with outfielder Chris Duncan.

It seems like lots of players and teams are on the same wavelength as to salary this season.

Another arbitration eligible closer agrees to a contract:

The Atlanta Braves avoided arbitration with relief pitcher Mike Gonzalez on Monday, agreeing on a one-year, $3.45 million contract.

Mike only pitched half a season in 2008 but is likely to serve as the Braves closer in 2009. It's been a great day for closers getting contracts.

Update: It's even a good day for setup men as the Phillies reach a three-year deal with Ryan Madson.

Reliever Ryan Madson and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided arbitration by reaching a preliminary agreement on a $12 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations said Monday.

Madson keeps his walks low and posted a 3.05 ERA in consecutive seasons.

Update: Kevin Gregg also receives a very nice contract, $4.2 million. Gregg doesn't have the best control, but batters find him difficult to hit.

It's a very good day for players avoiding arbitration, as Bobby Jenks receives a $5.6 million contract from the White Sox. It also shows where service time gets a player. Jenks has been much more successful than Street over the last two seasons, but with Street in his second year of arbitration, Jenks is only getting $1.1 million more.

Nick Markaksis gets his big payday from the Orioles:

The Balimore Sun, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday that the Orioles and outfielder Nick Markakis agreed to a six-year, $66 million extension, pending a physical.

That's his three years of arbitration and three years of free agency. Markakis first three years show a nice rise in skills; better batting average, OBA and slugging percentage. He'll be 25 in 2009, so the Orioles get his prime at a very nice price. This is a very good deal for Baltimore.

The Rockies avoid arbitration with Huston Street, signing him to a $4.5 million dollar contract.

With the money players are making in arbitration now, I wonder if pre-free-agency long term contracts are looking as desirable. Take this Street deal. After taxes, dues and agent fees he'll take home around $2 million. If he sticks that in something relatively safe, he can probably make about $100,000 a year off it. So if he never works in baseball after this year, he would have a very tidy yearly income. Street certainly isn't a superstar closer. If he's making this kind of money now, imagine what he'll make if he saves 40 games for the Rockies this season.

I used to think long term deals were win-win for players and teams. As salaries grow, however, I'm starting to believe players are better off with one-year deals until they get to free agency.

The Mariners avoid arbitration with Felix Hernandez this year by signing him to a $3.8 million contract.

The Mariners and the right-hander have explored multiyear deals over the last two offseasons, but without success. Hernandez can't become a free agent until after the 2011 season.

Is Hernandez iffy enough that one-year contracts might be the smart way to go? He's had flashes of brilliance, and he's still very young. Of course, if he puts it all together this season and pitches like a Cy Young winner, it's going to cost the Mariners a lot of money to keep him around.

Felix must be very confident of his future to refuse a long-term deal at this point. If he believes he'll stay healthy, then staying on one-year deals will make him more money, as he'll hit free agency early in his professional career. Only time will tell if the Mariners are being too wary or Hernandez is being too confident.

Via BBTF, the Phillies buy out Cole Hamels arbitration years:

Hamels will receive $4.35 million in 2009, $6.65 million in 2010 and $9.5 million in 2011. Though a long-term contract, this deal buys out none of Hamels' free-agent seasons. But it does allow the Phillies to avoid salary arbitration with their ace at a time when they are still facing cases with Ryan Madson, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth and - most notably - Ryan Howard, who could earn $15 million or more in the process.

Hamels, 25, went 14-10 for the World Series winners last year, and then excelled in the playoffs by going 4-0 in five starts with a 1.80 ERA. He was the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series.

Wow. Hamels gave up a lot; I would expect he'd make at least $8 million in arbitration this year. I guess it's worth it to be able to become a free agent at a young age.

Update: I hand't realized Hamels was a super-two. He'll have one more year of arbitration after this deal expires. I suspect if he's still pitching well, that will give Philaldelphia a good reason to sign him to a long term contract.

The Phillies avoided arbitration with Greg Dobbs for two years, signing him to a two-year, $2.5 million contract. It just goes to show that the ability to hang around in the majors for three years can lead to security for life. Dobbs is a decent utility player, and he's going to make millions of dollars in his career.

The Boston Red Sox lock up Kevin Youkilis four for years:

The Sox and Kevin Youkilis [stats] have a four-year extension in place that will become official when Youkilis passes his physical tomorrow, an industry source confirmed. The deal will be worth at least $41.25 million, with a $1 million signing bonus, and salaries of $6 million in 2009, $9 million in 2010, and $12 million each in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

The Sox also hold an option for 2013 -- thought to be worth approximately $14 million -- with a buyout of $ 1.25 million.

It's a good signing. They buy out his arbitration years and his first year of free agency. As an older player, there's not reason to go beyond that. We'll be hearing Pedroia to Youkilis for a four more years at least.

Jose Valverde and the Houston Astros avoid arbitration with an $8 million contract.

Valverde, 30, who will be a free agent at the end of this season, led the National League in saves for a second year in a row with a club record-tying 44 in 2008. He was 6-3 with a 3.38 ERA in a career-high 74 appearances.

Jose provided a great example in 2008 of the danger of small sample sizes. He got off to a terrible start with Houston after coming over from the Diamondbacks. I remember being interviewed on a talk radio station in Houston, and the Astros fans wanted him gone. He turned his season around just fine, giving up just six home runs the rest of the way after allowing four in his first two weeks. Now he gets a nice payday for his efforts.

The Red Sox picked up another pitcher recovering from an injury, agreeing to a contract with Takashi Saito. YFSF sees this as a reflection of Boston's medical staff:

But I think one of the statements Theo is making with this signing and the others is that he has a lot of faith in the team's medical staff, which is one of the better ones in baseball per BP's Will Carroll. If there's a drawback to the recent flurry of depth signings Boston has made, I don't see it.

The other day I actually got in an argument with a friend over the Yankees and Red Sox moves this winter (we almost always agree on baseball). He liked Boston's moves more because, in his words, they were artful. The Yankees were just throwing money at their problems. I disagreed with the term artful.

There may be no drawback to Boston's signings, but have they really improved the team? Yes, they picked up Ramon Ramirez to help in the bullpen, but that's about it. If Josh Bard ends up the starter at catcher, there's a bit of an improvement there. This, however, isn't a much better team than last season, a year in which they didn't finish in first place nor make the World Series.

The moves they are making strike me as answering the question, "What can we do with the money we didn't spend on Teixeira?" They've decided to go for injured players, who may or may not pay off. Now, if one of them plays well during 2009, the investment in all four will be worth it. However, there's no guarantee that any of them will be decent.

Artful to me is improving the team through smart trades (Beckett, Schilling) or smart free agent signings (Ortiz). Just picking up a bevy of recovering pitchers doesn't do much for me. At this point, the Yankees have a much higher probability of being a better team. And while it's nice to see a team win without spending lots of money, they don't get extra wins for low spending.

Kevin Youkilis's agent says Kevin will reach a one-year agreement with the Red Sox.

Youkilis now will decide between arbitration and signing a one-year contract. He has slightly more than four years of major league service, meaning he will be under the Red Sox' control and not eligible for free agency until after the 2010 season. He is eligible for arbitration until then, and he and the Red Sox can try again next season to strike a long-term deal.

Last offseason, Youkilis avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $3 million contract. It seemed possible the Red Sox would sign him to a longer deal this offseason, especially after second baseman Dustin Pedroia, the 2008 American League Most Valuable Player, signed a six-year contract worth $40.5 million last month.

Kevin's seasonal age will be 30 in 2009, meaning he's entering the decline phase of his career. On top of that:

The Red Sox have another long-term option at first base in highly regarded minor league first baseman Lars Anderson. Though Anderson likely will not be ready for the majors for at least two seasons, the Sox feel he eventually may be an elite player.

I think the article may be underestimating Anderson's readiness. He tore up high A ball last season and did even better in a short stay at AA. If he rises fast this year and hitting well at AAA in August, I suspect he'll be a major leaguer by the end of the year.

AZ Snakepit likes the contract extension offered to Chris Snyder:

Personally I think this is a great deal. We get maybe the league best defensive catcher at 5 mill per. I think he also lowers our team ERA quite a bit, if that is even possible. Sure his offensive production is the best but he should quite a lot of power splitting time and has potential for 25 homers playing all the time.

This could mean the end to Miguel Montero though, who we've been shopping anyways. I love Miggy but I say we dump him if the price is right (i.e. one of Boston's many great young arms.) Maybe, if were lucky, we can throw that blonde-headed stepchild in left field in.... ;)

The Nationals lose out on the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes, but do pick up five players off the scrap heap. They even corner the all-important Gustavo market!

Chien-Mig wang and the Yankees avoid arbitration with a $5 million, one-year deal.

His agreement raises the Yankees' payroll to about $164 million for 15 players for next year. That includes pitcher Andrew Brackman and infielder Juan Miranda, who don't figure to be on the major league roster.

Peter Abraham spoke with the righty's agent:

"This time we were not that far apart from the Yankees and both sides made a committed effort to get it done," Chang said. "It's a deal that is respectful of what Wang has done. He was happy about it."

Wang will return to the United States in about three weeks to start working with a trainer in Arizona. His right foot, Chang said, is completely healed. But to play it safe, Wang is doing his conditioning work on a bike instead of running.

I'm a bit surprised the Yankees didn't try to work a longer term deal. A one year deal does make some sense, since they'll want to see how well he recovered from his injury.

The Pirates sign Ryan Doumit to a three-year deal, covering his arbitration year and giving themselves an option for his free agency period. I always like these deals since they take a good player and eliminate arbitration inflation and the general cost of going to arbitration.

The Red Sox non-tendered Kevin Cash, meaning their top two catchers from 2008 are both free agents.

Matthew Carruth figures the Red Sox are paying Dustin Pedroia for about 2.6 wins per year. He's more likely to produce 4 or 5 per season, so by another measure, the Red Sox made a great deal. (Although he doesn't state it in the post, I assume he's talking marginal wins.)

The Red Sox took Dustin Pedroia out of future arbitration and free agency today:

It's being reported that Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has signed a six-year deal worth $40.5 million.

That's three years of arbitration plus two years of free agency. On top of that, the Red Sox have an $11 million option for 2015, potentially making this a seven-year deal. They've locked up an MVP through his prime at a very low cost. Pedroia hasn't even peaked yet. A great deal for Boston.

Peter Abraham examines why the hot stove is so cold. Unlike last year, we don't have the drama of the A-Rod opt-out upstaging the World Series to keep us entertained until the winter meetings start.

The Pirates signed the two Indian pitchers who won a reality show:

"The Pirates are committed to creatively adding talent to our organization," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said Monday. "By adding these two young men, the Pirates are pleased to not only add two prospects to our system but also hope to open a pathway to an untapped market. We are intrigued by Patel's arm strength and Singh's frame and potential."

Neither pitcher has taken the mound in a game situation, no doubt a first for a Pirates prospect. They have pitched in scrimmages against junior college competition.

Wow. The Pirates really have nothing to lose, and this will give them some much needed publicity. I did not see how much money the young men received, but their lives have certainly been turned upside down. I like the way they are learning English:

Patel and Singh are learning English, most of which they have picked up from watching ESPN's Baseball Tonight and by taking online classes.

That reminds me of the two brothers in Better Off Dead who learned English by watching Howard Cosell. I hope these two young men don't end up sounding like John Kruk. :-)

South Side Sox reviews the White Sox deal for Dayan Viciedo.

Paul DePodesta explains why it's not always the best idea to protect a player by putting him on the 40-man roster:

When weighing the risk of a player getting taken, it can be counterintuitive. It would seem logical that the best way to protect a player would be to put him on the 40-man roster. That is often, but not always, the case. Sometimes, for players who are borderline roster considerations, you may be safer by leaving him OFF the 40-man. The reason is that if he's taken in the Rule V, he has to stay in the Majors or else be offered back. However, if for some reason (add a free agent, add someone through trade, need someone during the season due to injury) you need to add a player to the 40-man at a later date, you may be forced to outright someone to make room. When you outright a first year roster player, he still has all of his minor league options, so teams can claim him and send him right into their minor league system. In short, it's much easier to lose a player trying to remove him from the 40-man than it is to lose him via the Rule V draft.

It appears the Yankees signed Damaso Marte to a three-year deal worth a total of $12 million. In his brief stint with the Yankees in 2008, Marte's walks were way above his career average, which is very good, but his strikeouts and homers were fine. I'll take the walks as a fluke right now and call this a good signing at a good price.

The Padres pick up the option on Brian Giles. Paul DePodesta explains why.

The Milwaukee Brewers bring back Mike Cameron, exercising their $10 million option. This disappoints Bleeding Blue and Teal, who hoped Mike might return to the Mariners as a free agent. The Mariners don't really need aging, declining veterans on their team, in my opinion. I'd rather see them give a chance to some 22 year old earning the MLB minimum. At least he'll have a chance to get better.

The Boston Globe points out that the Red Sox may wind up paying Jonathan Papelbon and Kevin Youkilis big money in arbitration. Kevin, especially, is going to get a huge raise due to Ryan Howard. Both are in their second year of arbitration. Ryan is one year younger in seasonal age, although both were born in 1979. Both are first basemen who can hit. Howard won a $10 million award last winter, and his salary is not going down. This year, Kevin's agent can argue that Youkilis had a better year than Howard. Yes, Howard hit more home runs and drove in more runs, but Kevin did about everything else better. He's ahead of Ryan in both win shares and VORP (subscription required for VORP).

Career wise, Howard posts better numbers, due to his power. Based on 2008, however, Youkilis's agent can make a very good case for Kevin deserving Howard like money. My guess is that Kevin will more than double his 2008 $3 milllion salary, and probably even triple it.

The Mets exercised their option on Carlos Delgado. He'll cost them $12 million this year since the option didn't vest. He'll be 37 in 2009. He bounced back from a sub-par 2007 season, but it took him until Randolph's firing to get going in 2008. If he plays well in 2009, it's a steal of a contract.

6-4-2 Lists a number of Angels transactions. To the surprise of no one, LAnaheim picked up Vlad Guerrero's option, but bought out Garret Anderson's. At this point, I thought Anderson would finish his career with the Angels.

The Mets picked up the option on Carlos Delgado for 2009. Since his option didn't vest, the Mets will pay him $12 million next season. That's only bad if Delgado hits like he did before Randolph was fired. If he hits 38 home runs again it's a steal.

The Detroit Tigers signed Freddy Garcia to a minor league deal.

The Mariners dropped Jose Vidro and called up Wladimir Balentien. Vidro's OBA fell off 100 points from last year to a miserable .274. Wlad is slugging .584 at AAA.

The Arizona Diamondbacks tear up Dan Haren's contract and sign him through 2012 with an option for 2013:

The contract, which nullifies Haren's previous deal, is worth $41.25 million over the next four seasons and includes a $15.5 million option for 2013 with a $3.5 million buyout.

Haren will be paid $7.5 million in 2009, $8.25 million in '10, $12.75 million in '11 and $12.75 million in '12.

Given his Cy Young type season, it's still cheap. Great move by the Diamondbacks

The Minnesota Twins brought up Francisco Liriano today:

To make room for Liriano and Ruiz on the roster, Minnesota designated pitcher Livan Hernandez and outfielder Craig Monroe for release or assignment.

It's about time.

Despite denials by Barry Bonds's agent, MLBnewsonline.com is standing by their story that the Yankees are working on a deal for Barry Bonds:

MLBnewsonline.com publishes news and other confirmed facts, but also is a conduit for ephemeral rumors which may or may not pass the traditional authentication test that might be imposed by mainstream media. At this time, the Bronx Bomber's source has not backed away from his assertion, and until such time as that occurs we have no reason to retract it, even though it has created a good deal of healthy skepticism.

So we'll wait and see.

The Yankees reach an agreement with Richie Sexson, not Barry Bonds. The Yankees plan on using Sexson exclusively against lefties. His line against southpaws this year is .344/.423/.623. I guess this doesn't rule out signing Bonds, the two could platoon at DH.

MLB Rumors runs an anonymously sourced story that Bonds is about to sign with the Yankees. I don't know about this. With Posada still not throwing well, the Yankees need him to DH somewhat. Would they stick Barry in leftfield?

Stay tuned.

The Seattle Mariner released Richie Sexson today. Sexson was in the last year of a four year contract that pays him $14 million this year. The Mariners are on the hook for the rest of that money.

Sexson's strength as a hitter was power.

Richie Sexson

Stat	Through 2006	2007-2008
Batting Average	.269	.210
On-Base Average	.350	.303
Slugging Pct.	.526	.392

He went from a good power hitting first baseman to someone who would barely survive as a middle infielder. So was the contract a mistake by the Mariners? I don't think so. His first two years in Seattle were pretty much what they should have expected. He was 30 when the Mariners signed him, so they should have expected a decline. In fact, from 2005 to 2006, he did go down, but at a rate expected for someone on the downside of the peak hump. If he continued to fail at about a 10% rate, the Mariners would have received four decent to good years and then look for someone else. But as sometimes happens to 32 year olds, the end came suddenly. Seattle gave him every opportunity to find his stroke, but it never came back.

Maybe there's a hitting coach out there that can see a flaw in Richie's swing. If so, a team can sign him cheap and take the risk. More than likely, however, Richie's career is over.

Brad Lidge comes off the roll of potential free agents as the Phillies sign him to a three-year, $37.5 million contract. Lidge already equaled his save total from last season without blowing a save.

Is it a good deal? For two years in Houston he was lights out. He blew just eight saves in 2004-2005, posting an ERA around two. Over the next two seasons, however, he blew 14 saves and saw his ERA go way up, mostly due to more home runs allowed. Through it all, however, he maintained his superior strikeout rate, and this season cut down on his walks as well. Most impressively, he's yet to allow a home run, despite playing half his games in Philadelphia. If he keeps pitching like the 2004-2005 Lidge, this will be a very good deal by the Phillies. It's also a good business move to reward success.

Paul DePosdesta is downright giddy in describing the Padres' international signings:

Before noon eastern time, the Padres had locked up five of the top international prospects from around the globe for a total of nearly $5,000,000. Those commas are in the proper places.

Let's allow that to sink in for a second...

Feels good, doesn't it?

He goes on to describe the abilities of these young men in detail, giving Padres fans something to look forward to in five years.

The Oakland Athletics signed a prize Dominican pitcher due to their success developing pitchers:

Dominican prospect Michael Inoa has agreed to a minor league contract and a $4.25 million signing bonus with the Oakland Athletics, said the 16-year-old from Santo Domingo.

Inoa and his parents turned down more lucrative offers from the Cincinnati Reds and the Texas Rangers due to Oakland's positive results developing young pitchers. The Reds offered a $5 million signing bonus and a major league contract, while the Rangers offered $5.2 million, according to Inoa.

"After careful thought, my parents and I decided that Oakland has a better pitcher development program, and that will be more important for my career in the long haul," said Inoa, who became eligible to sign with any major league ballclub on Tuesday at the strike of midnight.

At sixteen, he's already 6' 7" and 210 pounds. He's going to be a monster on the mound. It's good to see he's thinking about his future income. If he turns into a good pitcher with the Athletics, he knows he'll get a chance to sign a Barry Zito like contract at some point. His determination that Oakland gives him the best chance of that allowed Beane to get him below market. It's all about process, even in signing free agents.

It appears Sidney Ponson's attitude lost him a pretty good gig with the Texas Rangers:

Citing a lack of respect for teammates and the club, the Rangers suddenly severed ties with No. 3 starter Sidney Ponson on Friday.

General manager Jon Daniels declined to reveal specific reasons for the decision to designate Ponson for assignment to make room for Vicente Padilla, who was activated from the bereavement list. The Rangers have 10 days to release or trade Ponson.

"He had disrespectful and adverse reactions to situations that were unbecoming of a teammate," Daniels said. "We want guys who want to be here. We're trying to put together a team here, and based on some comments and reactions, he didn't want to be part of that. That's not something we're going to tolerate."

His last three starts were not very good. It's much easier to tolerate a bad attitude when a player is pitching well. Still, given that a team that could use pitching couldn't stand him, I wonder if he'll get a job again.

Hat tip, AOL Fanhouse.

The Royals lock up Joakim Soria for three years with options for three more:

The Royals and Soria reached agreement Saturday on a six-year contract agreement that runs through 2014. The deal is believed to include $8 million in guaranteed money over the next three seasons with club options for 2012-2014 that could boost the total value to $32 million.

It's safe to say Soria should be in a celebratory mood today when he turns 24.

The deal was announced Saturday during the Royals' game against the Florida Marlins at Dolphin Stadium. It is the club's first multiyear contract with a non-free agent since Dayton Moore became general manager on May 30, 2006.

"You evaluate a couple of different things," Moore said. "Obviously, there's the ability. What they've done and what you project them to do.

"In these types of deals, you look at the type of person they are -- their work ethic and the type of teammates they are. You look at all of those factors and we felt very good about signing him for the long term."

I've heard announcers compare Soria to Mariano Rivera. Soria has been pretty unhittable so far. Batters are hitting just .168 against him with a .227 OBA and a .244 Slugging Percentage. That's a .471 OPS! Given that he's striking out over one an inning and allowing a walk every four innings, this seems like a pretty good investment.

Hat tip, BBTF.

The Marlins finalized Hanley Ramirez's contract today at the site of their future stadium. Larry Beinfest linked the two:

"I think [the stadium] is definitely a big part of it," Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest said. "We've had a lot of good young players here. Whether it's Derrek Lee or Dontrelle Willis, several players were probably worthy of multiyear consideration. But there wasn't a stadium on the horizon. Now there is."

The Brewers join the league of clubs locking up their young players long term, signing Ryan Braun to an eight-year contract.

The Milwaukee Brewers signed Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun to an eight-year, $45 million contract.

The contract includes this season and a seven-year extension, meaning Braun will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2015 season, general manager Doug Melvin announced Thursday.

At some point, there won't be any free agents or arbitration eligible players good enough to drive up prices. I starting to wonder if this will change the way the union looks at the current free agent structure. This has a real chance of actually driving down prices. If Ryan Braun is playing for $6 million a year, why should you give a free agent $20 million. Braun's a better player! It's only taken 30 years, but it appears the owners finally figured out how to use the system to their advantage.

Jim Edmonds signed with the Cubs Wednesday:

"Hopefully Jimmy still has something left and it was just a bad start," general manager Jim Hendry said.

Sure, three straight years of declining numbers are meaningless. Felix Pie joins the list of Cubs centerfield prospects that can't hit and get sent back to the minors.

Baseball Digest Daily writes:

The Tampa Bay Rays and pitcher Scott Kazmir have agreed on a four-year contract extension.

The first three years of the agreement covering 2009, 2010 and 2011 are guaranteed with the team holding an option for the 2012 season. The contract guarantees Kazmir $28.5 million and has a maximum value of approximately $39.5 million.

More on this during the radio show.

It seems Cubs fans aren't too happy with the likely signing of Jim Edmonds. I wonder how they would feel if he could actually contribute?

The Marlins are finally spending some money:

According to a club source, the team has been negotiating with budding star Hanley Ramirez for some time. He will reportedly sign a six-year, $70 million deal in the coming days.

When asked recently about his relatively low salary, Ramirez said, ''next year.'' Ramirez, who is making $439,000 this season, also has expressed interest in staying with the team long term after being the National League's Rookie of the Year in 2006.

They should have done this with Cabrera, too. However, this doesn't make it less likely they'll trade Hanley. He'll be a worth every prospect for some team at that price. We'll see if he insists on a no-trade clause.

The Padres sent Jim Edmonds packing today. The Tranaction Guy reflects on the release:

Releasing veterans and eating their salaries- it's what all the cool GM's are doing these days.

There are obvious signs of decline in Edmonds' game, but this does come off as somewhat hasty. Rather than eating $6M and replacing him with a Gerut/Scott Hairston platoon, the Padres probably should have given Edmonds a little more time to see if he had anything left to give. If not, at least you attempted to get maximum value out of the investment, and if Edmonds did happen to show some glimmer of his former self, perhaps San Diego could have gotten a warm body and some percentage of his salary paid off by another team.

I fault the Padres for trading for his big contract in the first place. Did they think a three-year decline in OBA and slugging for a player in his late 30s wasn't real? I know they were desperate for outfielders, but I can't believe they wouldn't be better off with whoever is at AAA.

Correction: The Padres traded for Edmonds, they didn't sign him.

The Indians will DFA Jason Michaels Tuesday. Ben Francisco joins the major league team. There's audio of Shapiro discussing the move at the link. He likes the upside of the younger player.

The Milwaukee Brewers designated Derrick Turnbow for assignment. While Turnbow maintained his high strikeout rate since his stellar 2005 season, his walk rate kept creeping up. This season, it went through the roof as he walked 13 in 6 1/3 innings.

I wonder if a good pitching coach can work with Turnbow? He struck out 84 in 68 innings last season. If someone can find what's causing the control problem, he could be turned back into a very useful pitcher cheaply.

Chad Moeller cleared waivers and is back with the Yankees. Peter Abraham sums up the team's catching situation well:

How has it come to this for the Yankees? People are thrilled Chad Moeller is back. This is a guy who was cut in spring training by the Nationals because they liked Wil Nieves better. A team with a $209 million payroll praying that nobody claims Chad Moeller. Amazing.

The Mariners signed Kenji Johjima to a three-year contract extension despite having a hot prospect in the minor leagues:

That was the word put out by Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi in announcing the extension, which The Associated Press reports is worth $24 million and runs through the 2011 season. Johjima, who is 31 and was hitting just .200 with a dismal .514 on-base-plus-slugging percentage heading into Friday, will remain the No. 1 catcher for the foreseeable future.

But Bavasi sees Clement getting time behind the plate as well.

"I would guess that at some point along the way, because of Jeff's bat -- and assuming Kenji plays the way he can -- Jeff's going to get exposed to another position at some point," Bavasi said. "But we have not given up on him as a catcher. A left-handed hitting catcher with power, those are real tough to find. So, this doesn't change Jeff's track to the big leagues much at all. Because his track to the big leagues is with his bat more than his glove anyway."

Of course, if Johjima plays well, $8 million a year for a good catcher is a reasonable price tag, and the Mariners might be able to move him at some point.

Frank Thomas signed with the Athletics today. Eric Chavez won't be rejoining the team any time soon:

Oakland will be on the hook only for about $337,000 -- a prorated share of the $390,000 minimum -- so this move was a bargain for general manager Billy Beane and a club looking to boost its power numbers.

To clear roster room, the A's placed outfielder Travis Buck on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 19 with shin splints and transferred six-time Gold Glove third baseman Eric Chavez to the 60-day disabled list.

I'm starting to wonder if the A's will ever get anything productive out of Chavez again.

The Oakland Athletics picked up Rajai Davis from the San Francisco Giants.

Davis, designated for assignment three days earlier by the Giants, will join the team today. Good in the field and fast, Davis is likely to be used as a late-innings defensive player and pinch runner.

"He's dynamic in terms of his speed and baserunning," assistant general manager David Forst said. "That's something that's nice to have and it's not easy to find."

Not mentioned is that he put up a pretty good OBA in 2007. I'm not surprised the Athletics took this players, I'm surprised that teams ahead of the A's in waiver order didn't.

There are reports that Frank Thomas is about to sign with the Oakland Athletics, but nothing official yet.

I'd rather sign Barry Bonds, but the Big Hurt is the next best thing.

Wow! The Blue Jays released Frank Thomas.

When told of his benching yesterday, the Big Hurt said it was an attempt by the club to limit his at bats in order to make sure he didn't get the 304 plate appearances required to guarantee his $10-million option for next season.

The vesting option was part of the $18.12-million, two-year deal he signed with the Blue Jays in November 2006.

On Saturday, general manager J.P. Ricciardi denied that Thomas' contract factored into the decision to bench the 19-year veteran.

"I think the decision is the manager's based on what he thinks is best for the team," said Ricciardi. "As a team we're struggling offensively and I just think Gibby is trying to spark our offence a little bit.

"A lot of guys are struggling, I don't think (Thomas) is alone. I think at this point you try and do what you can do to help the club and Gibby's trying to put our best possible lineup on the field."

There has to be a lot more to this story than a slow start. Anything can happen in 100 PA, and Frank was only around 70. As I mentioned earlier, his walk total indicates he hasn't lost his batting eye, and his strikeout rate is at the high end of his various seasonal rates, but not out of the ordinary. I'm guessing there was some descension someplace, and Frank got the boot. I would think some team could add a pretty good hitter to their mix right now.

Thanks to Baseball Digest Daily for the heads up.

The Rays sign Longoria to a six year contract with a one year option, then a two year option.

The salaries for the first six years of the agreement are guaranteed with the team holding a one-year option for 2014 season and a subsequent two-year option for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The contract guarantees $17.5 million. If the Rays exercise both options, Longoria would earn more than $44 million over the life of the nine-year agreement.

Longoria is set for life, and the Rays won't lose him until after his peak. On top of that, there's no need to worry about arbitration. A great deal for Tampa Bay.

It looks like keeping Evan Longoria down was a waste of time because the Rays are about to sign him to a long-term contract:

The details of the contract are not yet known, but it is believed that the deal will be for six years in the $17 million range with option scenarios that will enable the Rays to buy out two years of Longoria's free agency.

The contract, to be announced at 1 p.m. ET, also is expected to include escalators that will enable Longoria to add to his guaranteed money if he develops into a major star.

Longoria, the third overall pick in the 2006 draft, has batted .300 with one home run and three RBIs. The Rays are treating him almost like a high NFL or NBA draft pick, paying him before he is an accomplished player.

I'm surprised by this. I would have thought the Rays would let him play for a year to see that he really can perform in the majors. However, I think it's a great deal. Seventeen million over six years is pocket change to clubs today. More and more teams are understanding they can control costs with quality players by signing them young. Another reason to like the future of this franchise.

There's word out of Milwaukee the Brewers signed Jeff Weaver. Is David Bush's ERA too low for them?

The Tampa Bay Rays are about to call up Evan Longoria, giving him just enough time in the minors to prevent him from becoming a free agent until after his seventh season. He'll be a super-two, going to arbitration four years, but we now know the Rays were more interested in controlling him for an extra year than paying the arbitration bill.

The Indians are about to sign Fausto Carmona to a contact that could be good for seven years:

A person familiar with the negotiations says Carmona's deal will be announced later in the day. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract has not been finalized.

The deal runs through 2011 and includes club options from 2012-2014.

The 24-year-old Carmona went 19-7 with a 3.06 ERA and emerged as one of the AL's top starters in 2007, one season after he went 1-10.

His signing gives the Indians protection in case they are unable to re-sign C.C. Sabathia, the defending Cy Young Award winner, who is eligible for free agency following this season.

I doubt that last sentence is really the reason. When the Indians recognize a good, young talent, they lock him up long term. That's been their M.O. since the early 1990s. It's what they did with Sabathia back in 2002 when they signed him to a four year deal, then picked up his option and extended him two more years.

Of course, the way C.C. started the season, the Indians may be happy to let him go via free agency.

Peter Abraham details the misinformation coming from the Yankees before the game tonight, including non-injuries to Ensberg and Kennedy. Kennedy did not start tonight because the weather is awful in KC and the Yankees didn't want him to start the game and then get rained out.

The Ensberg MRI is priceless.

Jack Magruder reports that the Diamondbacks are about to extend Chris Young for five years:

With opening day festivities today, the D-Backs are expected to announce the deal Tuesday.

Young's contract, which buys out all his arbitration years and includes a team option on a year of free agency, is near the six-year, $31 million extension signed by Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitski on Jan. 23, according to a league source.

Tulowitzki's contract is a record for a player with one-plus years of major league service time.

Young, 24, is tied for the major league lead with three home runs after becoming the first rookie in league history with 30 home runs and 25 stolen bases last season, when he had 32 homers and 27 steals.

Locking up young players through their arbitration years is very popular this season. It's a great, cost controlling move, especially if teams expect baseball's revenues to keep growing.

The Blue Jays signed Alex Rios and Aaron Hill to long term deals Friday, locking them up to deals through 2014 and 2011 respectively. The money seems about right, too. Rios is good but not great. Ten million a year works, especially when he's a couple of years away from free agency, and he'll be declining by the end of the contract. Richard Griffin likes that the Blue Jays set their big contracts to expire in two sets:

The club is simplifying things. Now there are two different plateau years in which to rethink the roster and rebuild the payroll if they need new direction. The first key year is after 2010, when the contracts of Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, B.J. Ryan, Scott Rolen and Scott Downs are set to expire.

Now, a second key season is 2014, when the contracts of Vernon Wells and now Rios and Hill come due. Instead of having long-term deals expire all over the calendar juggling budgets, the strategy for future young stars - for example, Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum - is that they can now be inked to deals that expire in 2014.

I don't know if this is really simpler. It seems to me it's tougher to deal with big turnover like that; it almost forces a team into a rebuilding mode. Of course, if the Blue Jays develop players capable of taking over at that point, they'll look really smart and be able to bring in a great free agent to complete the team.

The Orioles released Gibbons and the Mets put a number of players on the DL, including Orlando Hernandez.

The Tigers and Miguel Cabrera made his new contract official today:

Cabrera's agent, Fernando Cuza, confirmed the contract is worth $153.2 million, which includes the one-year contract Cabrera had agreed to previously.

Asked his long-term career goals, Cabrera said, "The World Series."

I asked J.C. Bradbury and Mitchel Litchman in an email to clarify their positions on Cabrera's salary, and Mitchel now says he made a mistake in his calculations:

I think I screwed up in my post. When I looked at my database, I looked at the column for dollar value and not RAA (runs above average). His dollar value was 19 (million) in my chart and I thought I was looking at +19 runs above average.

So he is indeed worth 4-5 WAR, which is worth around 21.5 mil per season, based on 4.5mm per marginal win (plus minimum salary of .38mm).

An honest mistake. It's a very good deal for the Tigers.

The Chicago Cubs acquired Reed Johnson today. I wonder if they're concerned about Pie?

J.C. Bradbury at sabernomics.com loves the Miguel Cabrera deal:

As hard as this is to believe, given the contract size, this is an amazing deal for Dave Dombrowski and the Detroit Tigers. I have Cabrera valued at $268 million over this time period, and this accounts for his first two years of the deal being restrained by arbitration.

In the comments to this post, Mitchel Lichtman disagrees:

Just because that is what he MIGHT get, does not mean he is WORTH that. Whether a signing was good or bad should be based on what a player is worth, NOT what he is perceived as being worth by other teams. If a player is overrated, based on what he would likely get as a FA, and a team signs him for that, or even less, then it just means that that team overrated the player also - and consequently it was NOT a good deal.

Cabrera is overrated because of his poor defense (even though, unlike a player like Jeter, it is well-known that his defense is poor), and the fact that he plays a slightly below neutral (to the left in the spectrum) defensive position, and for other unknown (to me) reasons. His WAR value is 3.5 to 4 wins. That ain't worth 20 mil a year. More like 16-18.

For the last two seasons, Baseball Prospectus (subscription required) pegs his WARP1 at 9.6 and 8.2, and his WARP2 at 11.0 and 10.0. The Hardball Times has his Win Shares over bench at 21 and 18, or 7 and 6 wins. For the moment, I'm agreeing with Bradbury on this, although I'd love to see why MGL rates Cabrera so much lower than these other two measures.

You can receive a copy of Bradbury's book, The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed, with a $75 donation to the Baseball Musings Pledge Drive.

Miguel Cabrera's contract is now being reported as a seven-year, $140 million extension beyond the deal he signed for 2008.

Giants Cove looks at the upside and downside of claiming Jose Castillo. One one hand, he "improves our chances of acquiring the number 1 pick in 2009." On the other, he "brings the Giants one step closer to the 1962 mets."

The Detroit Tigers lock in their trade prize for the next eight years.

Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers reached a preliminary agreement Saturday on an eight-year, $153.3 million contract extension, a source close to Cabrera told ESPNdeportes.com on condition of anonymity.

The All-Star third baseman will undergo a physical on Monday to complete the deal, the source said.

Wow. What a great deal. I would bet Miguel would get well over $20 million per year if he went the free agent route next year. We'll see what the final deal looks like Monday.

Hat tip, Bless You Boys.

The St. Louis Cardinals are on the verge of reaching a deal with Adam Wainwright:

For several weeks the Cardinals and Wainwright's representative have been discussing the framework of a multiple-year deal, and they continued to negotiate after the team unilaterally renewed his contract for the 2008 season. The guaranteed part of the new contract is four years and expected to be worth around $15 million, and it will buy out Wainwright's arbitration years, through 2011. The deal has an option that would cover the first two years of his free agency, sources said.

Good for Adam and the Cardinals. Like the Pirates, the Cardinals decided who was the best pitcher on their team right now and locked him in to avoid arbitration. If Carpenter can get healthy, the two will make a nice front of the rotation.

The Red Sox reached an agreement with Jonathan Papelbon, rather than renewing him for the minimum raise:

The Boston Red Sox and closer Jonathan Papelbon agreed Thursday to a $775,000, one-year contract, nearly doubling his salary.

That's the way it should be. Papelbon is a star for the Red Sox, and it's always good to keep your stars happy.

The Baseball Musings pledge drive continues through March. Please consider making a donation.

It looks like the Rockies are about to extend Brad Hawpe.

The National League champion Rockies, locking up another of their homegrown players, are on the verge of signing right fielder Brad Hawpe to a three-year contract worth approximately $17.5 million.

This will replace the contract he signed recently.

The Baseball Musings Pledge drive continues through March. Please consider making a donation.

The Rockies sign another player cheap:

After only a half season as their closer, Manny Corpas agreed Thursday to an $8 million, four-year contract with the Colorado Rockies that could be worth up to $22 million if the team exercises options for 2012 and 2013.

The 25-year-old Panamanian right-hander replaced three-time All-Star Brian Fuentes as Colorado's closer last season. He played an integral role in the club's first World Series berth, where the Rockies lost to the Boston Red Sox.

Manny's strike out rate isn't the highest I've seen from a closer, but he only walks 2.3 batters per nine innings and keeps the ball in the park. If he can keep that up for another four years he'll be well worth the options.

The Rockies sign another player cheap:

After only a half season as their closer, Manny Corpas agreed Thursday to an $8 million, four-year contract with the Colorado Rockies that could be worth up to $22 million if the team exercises options for 2012 and 2013.

The 25-year-old Panamanian right-hander replaced three-time All-Star Brian Fuentes as Colorado's closer last season. He played an integral role in the club's first World Series berth, where the Rockies lost to the Boston Red Sox.

Manny's strike out rate isn't the highest I've seen from a closer, but he only walks 2.3 batters per nine innings and keeps the ball in the park. If he can keep that up for another four years he'll be well worth the options.

Francisco Rodriguez lost his arbitration case with the Angels, but still ties the record for an arbitration away at $10 million. Unlike, Howard, however, Rodriguez faced his last season of arbitration as he moves to free agency next year. K-Rod has alternated great seasons with incredibly great season during his career, and he's due for an incredibly great one in 2008. That should net him a nice deal from some team next year.

Balls, Sticks and Stuff figures out why Ryan Howard won his arbitration case:

But here's where Howard probably won his case: star-power. Consider Subsection 12 of Article IV, Section F, which lays out the admissible in an arbitration hearing [hat tip: One Chair]:

"the quality of the player's contribution to his club during the past season... This includes - but is not limited to - his overall on-field performance, his leadership abilities, and his public appeal..."

Howard is everywhere. He has a major endorsement deals with Subway and Adidas and graces the cover of video games and magazines. And don't forget, locally, the Phillies market the heck out of him too.

It's another reason for great players to be good to the press and good to the community. It could mean an extra $3 million.

Ryan Howard won his arbitration battle:

Ryan Howard has won his salary arbitration hearing against the Phillies, a baseball source told The Inquirer this morning.

He will make $10 million this season.

The Phillies had offered $7 million.

"We'll talk after," Howard said before the team's workout this morning at Bright House Field. "I've got to get dressed now."

Although $7 million was probably a good number to offer Howard, the Phillies did low ball him. My gut is that Howard played well enough over the last two years to at least earn enough as Cabrera when you factor in the increase in MLB revenue. I have no doubt the Phillies would have won if they offered $8 million.

Evan Grant praises the way the Ian Kinsler deal came about:

The negotiations took the entire offseason and there were some hurt feelings on both sides of the negotiations along the way. But in mid-January, Jon Daniels, Thad Levine and Kinsler's lead agent, Jay Franklin, put aside the tension that can build during protracted negotiations and put Kinsler first.

The Rangers probably didn't want to go above $20 million. The Kinsler camp probably wanted a guarantee closer to the $27 million that Brandon Phillips got from Cincinnati for four years. In the end, though, they reached a compromise that represents neither a "win" for the Daniels/Levine or for Franklin. What it does represent is a win for Kinsler and for partnership. Being willing to work as a legitimate partner will help the Rangers in negotiations with free agents more than any recruiting pitches or video presentations.

That's a great point. It's one Major League Baseball and the MLBPA should embrace when dealing with each other. They're partners, not adversaries.

The Astros won their arbitration case against Mark Loretta:

The Houston Astros defeated former All-Star Mark Loretta in salary arbitration Tuesday, improving teams to 5-0 against players this year and clinching the 12th consecutive winning year for management.

I'm a bit surprised at this. With twelve straight seasons in which management has done better, isn't it about time for the players representatives to revisit how they handle arbitration cases? If I'm a player, and I see this record, I'm going to demand my side settle next year. Management clearly has a much better handle on what these players are worth.

The Reds made Brandon Phillips a rich man as they avoid arbitration by signing him to a four-year contract with an option for a fifth season. He'll make $27 million over the first four years:

The 26-year-old infielder had a breakout season last year, when he joined Alfonso Soriano as the only second basemen in major league history to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases.

Agents Sam and Seth Levinson negotiated the deal for Phillips, who wants to stay with the team that gave him a second chance by getting him from Cleveland in a trade. Phillips had asked for $4.2 million in arbitration, and the Reds had offered $2.7 million.

Phillips over his career isn't a great offensive player, but he led second basemen in PMR in 2007. His level of offense for a great defensive second baseman is just fine.

The Mariners and Erik Bedard settled without arbitration, splitting the difference with a $7 million contract.

The two sides are believed to have already started negotiations on a long-term deal. General manager Bill Bavasi, who still has not had a contract go to arbitration since he joined the Mariners in 2004, indicated last week that the team was exploring a multiyear extension for the left-handed ace.

Given the amount of talent the Mariners traded for Bedard, the pitcher needs to be more than a two-year rental.

There have been four arbitration decisions so far, and the owners won all of them. I wasn't that surprised by the Valverde decision. There was a large gap between the two sides, Jose's had a bit of an up and down career. I thought Wang might win, because the two sides are close and you can point to certain pitching skills that Wang does extremely well (keeping the ball in the park). I'm still waiting to see what happens with Ryan Howard. I get the feeling the Phillies offered too little.

The Rockies avoided arbitraton with Garrett Atkins, signing him for about $4.4 million. At the moment, at least, they are not going for a multi-year contract.

The Red Sox agreed to terms with Kevin Youkilis on a $3 million one-year contract. That clears the team's arbitration schedule.

Youkilis had come in far from the number offered by the team. He asked for $3.7 million, while the team offered $2.525 million. Last season the Red Sox ended up renewing his contract at $424,500.

That's decently below the mid-point.

The Giants signed Kevin Correia and won't go to any arbitration hearings this year.

The Royals signed Mark Teahen and Zack Greinke avoiding arbitration for 2008.

The Blue Jays cleared their arbitration table by signing Alex Rios to a $4.8 million contract, well below the midpoint of the submitted numbers:

While the 26-year-old Rios is not eligible for free agency for another three years, Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi has expressed interest in signing him to a multiyear extension. On Jan. 25, Ricciardi said he had held "productive" talks with Rios' agent about a long-term deal.

I'm guessing Rios took the lower figure to pave the way for the multi-year deal. By my count, six teams are free of arbitration cases.

Cubs f/x sums up the latest Cardinals move perfectly.

The Pirates are about to sign Freddy Sanchez to a two-year deal with a vesting option for the third year:

For 2010, there will be a club option that would involve another raise if the Pirates exercise it, a buyout if they do not. But that comes with a large asterisk: If Sanchez performs at a certain level in the first two seasons of the contract -- believed to be based on a reasonable threshold of plate appearances -- a provision in the contract automatically triggers that option.

That year was known to be important to Sanchez, who was set to become a free agent after the 2009 season. This arrangement will allow the Pirates to retain his rights one year beyond that, even as it will offer Sanchez a vehicle to prove his worth independently.

Sanchez will earn about $19 million if the option kicks in. Not bad for a middle infielder who can hit. The problem with Sanchez is his age. His seasonal age for 2008 is 30, meaning the Pirates are just catching the end of the peak of his career. If the decline comes sooner than later, the Pirates are off the hook.

The Tigers lock up Curtis Granderson for at least five seasons. The Tigers buy out all three years of arbitration and his first year of free agency, with an option for the second. Another example of a team locking up a good, young player through the prime of his career. I haven't heard anything about money yet.

Update: ESPN reports the deal at a total value of $30.25 million.

It strikes me that these deals are going to end up distorting the free agent market. By keeping these players until they are starting their decline phases, not only are teams saving money now, they're saving their fellow owners money later. A 32-year-old free agent just isn't (or shouldn't be) worth the save as a 28-year-old with the same skills.

Khalil Greene agreed to a two year deal with the Padres, avoiding arbitration for the rest of his eligibility.

The Indians signed Casey Blake to a one-year contract, keeping their streak of not going to arbitration alive. The last time they went to a hearing was in 1991.

According to USS Mariner, Seattle signed Brad Wilkerson. That probably means the Bedard trade is happening.

Update: Wilkerson gets $3 million for one year. I like Wilkerson and I hope he is healthy and rebounds from his last two down years.

Tyler Kepner reports the Yankees and Robinson Cano reached agreement on a contract. The Yankees buy out his four years of arbitration (he's a super two), and hold options for his first two years of free agency. Robinson is guaranteed $29 million, and the options bring the total to $55 million.

Most teams would rather have cost certainty with young players instead of dealing with the expense and hassle of annual salary arbitration. The Yankees have been an exception, usually preferring to wait until free agency forces them to guarantee long-term contracts.

This contract represents a shift in philosophy and a commitment to Canó, 25, who has hit .314 since his promotion in May 2005. He hit .342 in 2006, and followed it up with 19 home runs, 97 runs batted in and a .306 average in 2007.

In the past, the Yankees felt they could afford to wait to see if the player really deserved a long term contract, because they had the money to spend. This route contains more risk, but is fiscally more responsible. And the Yankees are still fairly protected. They pay $7 million a year for a middle infielder who can hit. If for some reason he's done in that time, the last two seasons, in which the price tag doubles, never kicks in. And if he remains at this level over all six seasons, $9 million a year for that kind of performance is a very good deal.

The Twins lock of the heart of their batting order, signing Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer to long term contracts:

The Twins and Cuddyer have come to an agreement on a 3 year contract worth $24 million. Minnesota has also agreed to terms with first baseman Justin Morneau on a six-year contract (worth a reported $80 million).

I would have let Morneau go year-to-year to see if he could repeat the MVP season and used the money to keep Santana. Although $13 million a year for Morneau is a very good price.

The Rockies and Troy Tulowitzki finalized their six-year deal:

Tulowitzki gets $750,000 in each of the next two seasons, $3.5 million in 2010, $5.5 million in 2011, $8.5 million in 2012 and $10 million in 2013. The Rockies have a $15 million option for 2014 with a $2 million buyout.

You know, if I'm going to get that kind of money, I'd rather get the $5,000,000 a year. I'd probably want to pay the $5 million a year as well. If Troy does get injured, I'd rather pay $5 million for nothing that $10 million.

As rumored last night, the Tampa Bay Rays signed James Shields to a long term contract:

The 26-year-old right-hander, who has less than two full seasons of experience in the majors, agreed Wednesday to a $11.25 million, four-year contract.

Shields' deal includes three team options that could make it worth about $38 million over seven years. Performance bonuses could boost the value to approximately $44 million.

"This signing further signifies our commitment to building and sustaining a championship level team," Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. "We feel like Jamie is the kind of player and person who can help lead us to that goal."

Friedman said Shields' "talent, work ethic and character" were factors in the decision to take the unusual step of negotiating a multiyear deal even though the club's No. 2 starter was two seasons away from becoming arbitration-eligible and five years from free agency.

Note that the Rays only buy out the first two years of arbitration with this contract. The options are big, however, giving Shields incentives to pitch his best during the contract. The Rockies are doing the same with Tulowitzki, reportedly making his option year $15 million, which is a reasonable amount to expect from the free agent market at that point. It's a good way to structure the contracts, with the big pay day only kicking in if the player performs well.

The White Sox completed a two-year deal with Octavio Dotel and a four-year deal with Cuban Alexei Ramirez. I assume the Sox want Alexei to play second base.

I've seen the rumors the last few days, and now the Denver Post reports that a deal between the Rockies and Troy Tulowitzki is near.

In a deal first reported in The Denver Post, the Rockies and Tulowitzki have agreed to the parameters of a six-year, $30 million contract with a club option for a seventh season, the largest given a big leaguer with less than two years' experience.

It mirrors the contract structure given in 2006 to Cleveland Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore, who held the previous salary record at six years, $23.45 million with a club option. A source close to the Tulowitzki negotiations repeated this weekend that a deal "is close."

I love this deal. It pays Troy for his value during his best years. It shields the Rockies from inflation due to arbitration and free agency. If Troy's career path continues as we might expect, he would make more than $30 million in his three years of arbitration. And given the club option, the Rockies locked him up basically through his prime. This is exactly the way clubs should handle their budding stars.

Ryan Howard is looking for $2.6 million more than Miguel Cabrera's $7.4 million record for a first year eligible player. Cabrera posted numbers of .331/.408/.564 in the two years leading up to his hearing. Howard's number the last two years are .292/.409/.623. Howard played in a better ballpark for hitters. We'll see if the arbitrator takes that into account, but my guess is the Phillies $7 million offer is going to be seen to be too low. If they offered $8 million, Philadelphia would have saved themselves $2 million.

Peter Abraham has the arbitration figures for the three Yankees who got that far. Wang and the Yankees are just $600,000 apart, while they differ by $1.3 million on Cano.

The Tigers and Miguel Cabrera avoided arbitration today as they settled on an $11.3 million deal.

The team is of course trying to sign him to a long term deal, and I wouldn't view this as an indication there are any problems on that front. This is a matter of taking care of arbitration business (Dombrowski just doesn't do arbitration). I'd venture a guess that the two sides are still working on a long term extension.

No doubt. Miguel is finding out the Tigers do things differently than the Marlins. They had no problem giving him a $4 million raise, and I'm guessing he'll get a lot more before the season starts.

Matt Holliday avoids arbitration and takes a $23 million, two-year deal from the Rockies.

The Rangers sign Gerald Laird, avoiding arbitration for the 2008 season.

It looks like Scott Kazmir avoided arbitration, signing just before the Devil Rays self-imposed noon deadline. No details right now.

The Twins up Justin Morneau's salary to $7.4 million. Still no long term contract for the first baseman, which I think is the correct way to approach him. If he puts up another year like 2006, then sign him long term, otherwise let him go when he's a free agent. The Twins should be able to develop another first basemen between now and then.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays were confident enough in Carlos Pena's one great season to sign him to a three-year deal for $24 million.

The contract would be one of the largest given by Stuart Sternberg's ownership group, and among the largest in franchise history. It would keep Pena with the team through 2010, avoiding arbitration this season and next and buying out his first year of free agency.

His Marcel prediction looks good, projecting him to a .391 OBA and 33 home runs. If he puts up three years like that, this contract is a steal.

Nearly one quarter of the players who filed for arbitration earlier this week settled by yesterday, avoiding the need for teams to exchange salary figures. That happens today. Ryan Howard should be getting a big raise.

Catfish Stew analyzes the latest and potential moves by the Athletics. Emil Brown is their new outfielder, and Mark Kotsay might get traded to the Braves.

The A's have signed free agent outfielder Emil Brown to a one-year deal to play the Bobby Kielty role of right-handed platoon bat. Danny Putnam was designated for assignment to make room for Brown on the 40-man roster. Which suggests something else: the player the A's will get back for Kotsay is probably on the Braves 40-man roster. Because if the A's were getting a player back for Kotsay who wasn't on the 40-man roster, the A's would probably just wait to finalize the Brown deal after the Kotsay trade goes through, give Kotsay's roster spot to Brown, and not have to risk losing Putnam on waivers.

The only players who are both on the 40-man roster and on John Sickels' top 20 Braves prospect list are #3 Brandon Jones, #5 Joey Devine, and #9 Jair Jurjjens. Any of those sound too good to be true, so it's probably not a top-20 prospect coming back.

Rays Index is not impressed with the Blue Jays signing Shawn Camp.

Can we get the Blue Jays to shorten their name to the Jays, just to be consistent? Maybe we should drop all two-name nicknames, and let Chicago and Boston fight over which team is going to be known as the Socks. :-)

Why do teams bother acquiring players like this? Chris Roberson's seasonal in 2008 will be 28, and his career minor league numbers are less than impressive. The Orioles should have a handful of players like this in their system already.

The Detroit Tigers signed Dontrelle Willis to a three-year deal, buying out his first year of free agency. They get him for a low price of $29 million for the term of the contract, and now control their three young pitchers through 2010. They're also looking to sign Miguel Cabrera to a long term deal.

Exactly the right move. Willis is a bit of a question mark. If he's good for Detroit, it's money well spent. If not, the contract is not a long term burden. I suspect the money and length of contract for Cabrera will be much higher.

Bad Altitude is happy with the return of Torreabla and Herges:

These are great deals -- the Rockies are keeping valuable pieces, but not at rates that will hurt them or at contract lengths that will create dead money to deal with in three or four years' time. Has a franchise's overall apparent health ever swung more from one offseason to the next than Colorado's has from last year to this one? Clearly, everybody -- and particularly me -- was way too down on the club entering last year. A decade of losing will do that to you, but with no other NL team (and particularly the Rockies' immediate competition in the West) having done anything real exciting in free agency thus far, it's not unreasonable to look ahead and see at least a few years of winning baseball for the Rockies and their young, good, cheap core.

That cheap core will allow the Rockies to make a major move when the time is right.

Bad Altitude is happy with the return of Torreabla and Herges:

These are great deals -- the Rockies are keeping valuable pieces, but not at rates that will hurt them or at contract lengths that will create dead money to deal with in three or four years' time. Has a franchise's overall apparent health ever swung more from one offseason to the next than Colorado's has from last year to this one? Clearly, everybody -- and particularly me -- was way too down on the club entering last year. A decade of losing will do that to you, but with no other NL team (and particularly the Rockies' immediate competition in the West) having done anything real exciting in free agency thus far, it's not unreasonable to look ahead and see at least a few years of winning baseball for the Rockies and their young, good, cheap core.

That cheap core will allow the Rockies to make a major move when the time is right.

Greg Maddux signs with the Padres for $10 million. Greg needs eight wins to pass Clemens for 8th place on the all-time list.

The Yankees picked up Bobby Abreu's option for 2008.

"Bobby Abreu possesses a unique skill set and has proven to be a durable and reliable asset to this club," general manager Brian Cashman said. "Consistency has been a hallmark throughout his career."

Exactly right. Bobby's power has fallen off, but he still does a great job getting on base. It will be interesting to see if 2007 proves to be a fluke or the start of his decline. For one year, the Yankees can afford to find out.

Brett Tomko tossed six fine innings last night, shutting out the Giants for six innings. San Francisco managed just four hits as Tomko didn't walk a batter and struck out five as the Padres went on to a 6-0 victory. In eleven innings with San Diego, Tomko's walked one batter while striking out eleven and posting a 1.64 ERA. Both runs he allowed came on solo homers.

Tomko's former team, the Dodgers, are doing well with ex-Padres pitcher David Wells. He's lowered his ERA from 5.54 with San Diego to 3.91 with Los Angeles. Maybe both pitchers just needed a change of scenery. Even though there was no direct deal, the swap of the two hurlers helped both teams.

The Dodgers sign David Wells. 6-4-2 Isn't crazy about the deal, but he does find someone who finds a silver lining.

My take is Wells is a warm body at this point. Given that yesterday's lineup had Luis Gonazalez, Shea Hillenbrand and Ramon Martinez, and given that Wells is an option for them, what happened to the Dodgers farm system? Wasn't this supposed to be a great strength for the team? Where's all the talent?

Via BTF Newblog, Jermane Dye and the White Sox reached an agreement on a two-year contract extension:

The White Sox have reached agreement with right fielder Jermaine Dye on a two-year, $22 million contract extension, FOXSports.com has learned.

The deal will include a mutual option for a third season.
Dye, 33, would be the second potential free agent to remain with the White Sox at a below-market rate, joining left-hander Mark Buerhle, who agreed to a four-year, $56 million extension at the All-Star break.

I'm not sure I agree with the idea that $11 million a year is below-market. Dye is an interesting player in that when he's good he's great, he's just not good that often. His 2000 and 2006 seasons are outstanding, but for his career he has a .337 OBA and a .486 slugging percentage. Better than average? Sure. But he's also 33 right now, so the chance of him repeating his 2000 or 2006 seasons is pretty low. I don't think the White Sox are overpaying, I think the salary is just about right.

Carlos Zambrano became a very rich man today:

Cubs right-hander Carlos Zambrano has agreed to a five-year, $91.5 million contact extension, FOXSports.com has learned.

The deal, which includes a $19.25 million player option for a sixth year, gives Zambrano the highest average salary ever awarded to a pitcher on a multi-year contract.

It also gives him the highest average salary in Cubs history, surpassing left fielder Alfonso Soriano, who signed an eight-year, $136 million, free-agent contract last off-season.

Carlos got off to a rather poor start this season, posting poor strikeout, walk and home run numbers through June 1st, and a correspondingly high ERA. This made the Cubs look like geniuses for not extending him during spring training. But Carlos bounced back, and since that time hits strikeout and home run rates recovered, although his walks remain high.

Still, Zambrano's history is not one of improvement. If you look at his ERA by season, he peaked in 2004 with a 2.75 mark. And while he's been good enough to keep winning since then, that ERA has crept up every year. And it's not just luck as opponents increase their walks drawn and home runs against the pitcher over time.

Of course, pitchers who can reliably keep their ERA under 4.00 are tough to find, and the Cubs just locked one up for at least five seasons. He's better than anyone who signed for big bucks last winter, so it's perfectly reasonable to make him the highest paid pitcher in the majors.

Joe Torre won't be able to misuse Miguel Cairo anymore. The Yankees called up Chamberlain and Giambi:

To make room on the roster, the Yankees optioned right-handed reliever Brian Bruney to Triple-A and designated infielder Miguel Cairo for assignment.

Playing Cairo at first was one of the worst moves Torre made this year. He won't be allowed to do that again.

The View from the Bleachers posts a concise and informative explanation of how the waiver wire works.

The Arizona Diamondbacks extended Eric Byrnes' contract three years, paying him a total of $30 million.

The outfielder is in the midst of a career year, hitting .303 with 17 home runs and 28 stolen bases.

The extension almost certainly means outfielder Carlos Quentin's days in Arizona are numbered. The club was shopping Quentin prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

His power really clicked when he joined the Diamondbacks in 2006. He hit 48 home runs in six previous seasons, 43 in his 1 1/2 years with Arizona. Still, it's tough to see them giving up on Carlos Quentin, especially when he hasn't played that much at the major league level. I wouldn't be surprised in Quentin was as good as Byrnes over the next three years, at a lot lower cost. But Eric is a fan favorite, and this time the fans got what they wanted.

The Houston Astros designated Morgan Ensberg for assignment:

The 31-year-old Ensberg was hitting .232 with eight homers and 31 RBIs in 85 games. That was far off the pace from his All-Star season in 2005, when he hit .283 with 36 homers and 101 RBIs and helped Houston reach its only World Series.

Ensberg was never the same after tearing a tendon in his right shoulder diving for a foul ball on June 9, 2006. He spent a month on the disabled list, then came back in August and finished the season with a career-low .235 average and only 58 RBIs.

Morgan put in four full seasons, and three of them were very good. He did an excellent job of getting on base and hitting for power. I assume the Astros feel the injury is so bad he's never going to recover enough to be productive again. Still, I have to believe some team might try to find away to help Morgan recover. I'd take a chance on a low BA high OBA player any day.

The Braves broadcast just announced that Julio Franco cleared waivers and was signed by Atlanta. Given Thorman's terrible stats, Franco can't be much worse. Thorman at least has power against righties, so Franco will try to get hit against the lefties. The platoon should be an improvement.

The Mariners finialized Ichiro's contract today, although exact terms were not disclosed.

"The one thing we have made clear since spring training was that it was our goal to have Ichiro play his entire career in Seattle, retire as a Mariner and go into the Hall of Fame in our cap,'' Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi said.

"While I don't believe this is Ichiro's final contract, I do think today's signing is a big step in assuring he will spend his entire career here in Seattle," he said. "He is both an offensive force, and a Gold Glove outfielder. It is great news for our organization and our fans that he will be here in Seattle for another five years."

Mike Piazza can hit, but the Athletics haven't activated him:

The A's are still trying to decide whether to send Mike Piazza to Sacramento for a rehab appearance in order to return strictly as a DH, or whether to keep waiting to see if he can rehab as a catcher.

The latter possibility looks remote, especially considering that Piazza's agent, Dan Lozano, has spoken to general manager Billy Beane about the fact that it has been nearly a month and Piazza, who is coming off a severe shoulder injury, still cannot throw adequately enough to catch.

Since the A's signed Piazza strictly as a DH over the winter and he has been ready to hit since mid-June, there's some thought that the union might have grounds for a grievance if Piazza's return is delayed much longer. With roster space tight, it's likely the A's will try to move the future Hall of Famer.

Oakland could have used another bat last night as they only managed five hits and two runs in a 6-2 loss to the Twins. Minnesota's bullpen was nearly perfect, issuing just one walk in three innings while striking out three.

FoxSports.com is reporting that Travis Hafner signed a $57 million four year extension. That's pretty good money for a designated hitter, and five million more than David Ortiz received from the Red Sox for his four year extension. Hafner's having his worst power numbers since he became a full time player, but I guess the Indians think it's just an off year. He's certainly a popular player with the fans.

The Blue Jays released Victor Zambrano. But don't fret, Mets fans, Scott Kazmir isn't having a great season, unless you like a K/9 over 9.0. Imagine what Rick Peterson would be doing with that young man!

Mark Buehrle signed a four year deal with the White Sox today. No details were announced, but I'm sure this post had a lot of influence. :-)

Thanks to Baseball Digest Daily for the heads up.

Update: According to ESPN, the fifth option year if he is traded was included in the contract. Why that was even rejected in the first place is beyond me.

Athletic Supporters looks at the reasons behind the DFA of Milton Bradley and finds them lacking. His conclusion:

Clearly something must have happened on Tuesday or Wednesday that set this entire series of events in motion. Bradley had to have crossed a line that the team felt put them and him in a place of no return. This front office is too smart to have allow this situation to happen otherwise.

This was about Milton being Milton.

The Oakland Athletics designated Milton Bradley for assignment Thursday. That gives the Athletics ten days to trade him, or he becomes a free agent. The Athletics cited the glut of outfielders as the main reason Milton was asked not to pass go, not to collect $200, but other wonder if Bradley's temper got the best of him again:

Though he had some on-field incidents with the Dodgers and a difficult relationship with manager Eric Wedge in Cleveland, Bradley had few troubles in Oakland apart from some give-and-take with the crowd at Fenway Park in a series at Boston last year. Several sources said that Bradley injured his shoulder last year while having a minor tirade in the clubhouse, but Bradley emphatically denied that.

Asked specifically if character issues led to Bradley's departure, Beane said, "Is Milton a fiery, emotional guy? Absolutely. He's not the first guy to be like that in this game and we don't get to the playoffs (last year) without Milton. As far as speculation, you can speculate all you want. I'm not going to contribute to that in any way. We had to manage our roster and it was time to go a different way.''

Well, that's certainly sidestepping the issue on Beane's part. A simple no would have sufficed. What's the old saying? If one person tells you you're drunk, ignore him. If two people tell you, sit down. It's time for Milton to sit down.

The Oakland Athletics locked up their best young player today, signing Nick Swisher through the 2011 season.

Swisher enters tonight's game with Cleveland batting .286 in 27 games with six doubles, a team-high six home runs and 17 RBI. He ranks fifth in the American League in on-base percentage .426), fifth in walks (22) and ninth in slugging percentage (.549).

The A's now have eight players under contract beyond the 2007 season, not including Mark Ellis and Jay Witasick, who have club options for next season. The eight players and the years they are signed through are: Swisher (2011, club option 2012), Eric Chavez (2010, club option 2011), Bobby Crosby (2009), Alan Embree (2008, club option 2009), Rich Harden (2008, club option 2009), Dan Haren (2009, club option 2010), Mark Kotsay (2008), Esteban Loaiza (2008, club option 2009).

The A's avoid arbitration and buy out at least the first year of free agency. With an option for 2012, they might get two. No money's been announced yet.

The Cincinnati Reds sign Ryan Freel to an extension through 2009. No word on the money yet. From the story linked to at Redleg Nation, they're not to thrilled about this signing. Freel is 31, and posts a good OBA. With no power, he's not going to get a ridiculous amount of money, and OBA always is valuable. I'm guessing it's a good deal, since it doesn't go out very far into the future.

The Cleveland Indians made Jake Westbrook a rich man, signing him to an extension through the 2010 season. We don't know the money yet. Jake pitched over 210 innings the last three seasons and is good at two of the three pillars of pitching, low walks and low home runs. Given his low number of strikeouts, however, he's very dependent on his defense.

Carlos Zambrano extended talks with the Cubs on a contract extension. According to 3ManLift, he'll wind up with $85 million for five years, Zito money.

The San Diego Padres agree to a four-year deal with Adrian Gonzalez, with an option for 2011. This means the Padres own the slugging first baseman through the peak of his abilities and his arbitration years. At a bit over $2 million a year, this could end up being a great deal for San Diego.

The Tigers sealed a deal that keeps Carlos Guillen a cat through 2011.

Guillen is making $5 million this season, the last of a $14 million, three-year deal. He gets $12 million in 2008, $10 million in 2009 and $13 million in each of the final two seasons.

"I'd like to finish my career in Detroit," Guillen said. "I am very happy here. Three years ago we lost 119 games, and now we have a good team with a great future."

Guillens' career track is very interesting. He showed no power before arriving in Detroit, but his OBA started spiking in his last year with the Mariners, and it's been high ever since. He's now parlayed that improved play into a very nice piece of change. Given his age and likely decline, and given what others of similar talents are getting, this is a very good deal for the Tigers.

Tigers fans, was there a particular coach that worked with Guillen to improve his power? Was there ever a reason given for Carlos' surge?

The Braves just locked up to a six year deal worth just under $5 million per year. Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus calls it a steal (subscription required).

That was my first and only reaction to the announcement that the Braves had signed catcher Brian McCann to a six-year deal worth $26.8 million. The deal keeps the team out of arbitration with McCann and ties him to the Braves through at least his seventh season in the big leagues, while buying out up to two years of free agency.

McCann is already a star, a left-handed-hitting catcher who is the complete package at the plate: average, power and discipline. He's two years ahead of where Mike Piazza--the most recent comparable--was; at 22, Piazza was a year away from a cup of coffee with the Dodgers.

Of course, McCann is a catcher and the chance of him wearing down before he becomes a free agent is pretty good. So the deal makes Brian a rich man now, and the Braves earn some long term cost control. As regular readers know, I love deals like this. If you have a star, sign him young. You'll save money in the long run as salaries rise, and you avoid the cost of arbitration.

The Orioles extended Brian Roberts' contract through the 2009 season at about $7 million per year. Given that money, all involved seem to agree that 2005 was a fluke season, with 2004 and 2006 closer to Brian's real production.

The Washington Nationals are paying Ryan Zimmerman $400,000 this year, not much over the minimum. They used Hanley Ramirez's contract to set Ryan's:

Bowden says Zimmerman's salary was set just below that of 2006 N-L Rookie of the Year Hanley Ramirez, who received a one-year, 402-thousand-dollar contract from the Florida Marlins.

Zimmerman was the runner up for the award. Maybe Bowden should have set it slightly higher than Ramirez. Then Bowden could have scored brownie points by saying, "We thought you were the ROY, so we're paying you more." At this point in his career, I doubt Zimmerman cares, but given he's likely to be the star of the team for the next few seasons, it' might be a good idea to make him feel as welcome as possible.

The Braves replaced Mike Hampton with Mark Redman. I don't see a lot of upside here. Redman's ERA lat season was high. Some of that was bad luck, but he allows a lot of balls in play, and those end up going for hits a certain amount of the time. The Braves rotation wasn't looking that good before Hampton was hurt, and now it's looking pretty rotten.

Javier Vazquez lands a three-year extension from the Chicago White Sox. He'll receive $34.5 million over that time. Not bad for a pitcher who hasn't had a really good season since 2003. Given the deals that Lilly, Meche and now Vazquez, $10 to $11 million dollars per year seems to be the minimum for an experienced, mediocre pitcher.

Balls, Sticks and Stuff wonders why Phillies fans are so upset about Ryan Howard's contract. Could it be round numbers?

One of the crazy things about this is had the Phillies just added another $100,000 to the contract and made it an even million, it's likely that many of the people screaming bloody murder right now would be relatively satisfied. This just shows you how much logic is being used.

Howard is willing to wait for the price he wants. This contract just gives him the incentive to keep his production high. That's what should concern Phillies fans, not the number of zeros at the end of his salary.

The San Francisco Giants locked up Matt Cain for four and possibly five seasons:

"When you have an opportunity to cement a working relationship with a young man like Matt, you definitely have to investigate it and I think both parties are happy that we were able to work it out," general manager Brian Sabean said in a statement. "Obviously, we all saw his immense talent over the last two years, but we all have to remind ourselves that Matt is only 22 years old and his best years are ahead of him."

Cain led rookies with 13 wins and 179 strikeouts last season, going 13-12 with a 4.15 ERA in 190 2-3 innings, finishing in a tie for fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. Cain, who also led the Giants in victories.

The BIS pitcher projections for 2007 put Cain at 13-10 with a 3.52 ERA. He's projected to walk a lot of batters but strike out even more. If he can find some control, I'd expect that ERA to go even lower. With impressive minor league numbers and his youth, this looks like a very good deal for the Giants.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

The Texas Rangers locked up Michael Young for the next six seasons:

The club and its All-Star shortstop agreed early Thursday morning to a five-year contract extension worth $80 million that will make Young the face of the organization. A source close to the negotiations said a verbal agreement had been reached and only finishing paperwork stood in the way of a formal announcement.

The contract will keep Young, 30, with the Rangers through 2013. The club will pick up its $5 million option for 2008, then guarantee five years at $16 million per season.

A very nice payday for the shortstop. The value of the deal really depends on how well Young ages. He'll be 30 this season (only a year younger than A-Rod), coming off the three best years of his career. As long as he keeps his OBA above .350, he'll be a valuable shortstop.

But what happens when his range starts to deteriorate? He's already middle of the pack. Maybe you move him to third, especially if Blalock continues to disappoint. Part of me likes the move, because it solidifies a position that's tough to fill for a number of years. But part of me thinks that's a lot of money for a player who might have peaked in 2005.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

The Twins signed Jesse Crain to a three-year deal today.

In two-plus seasons with the Twins, Crain is 19-10 and has emerged as one of the team's most reliable arms in the bullpen. The Canadian has served as a setup man on occasion for closer Joe Nathan, and the Twins believe he has the stuff to be a closer someday himself.

I wonder if Minnesota is planning on replacing Joe Nathan at the end of the year. The team holds an option on Nathan for 2008, but no doubt Crain would be a less expensive replacement. I could even see Minnesota picking up Nathan's option, then trading him for prospects. Given Nathan's relatively low salary for 2008, I can see where Ryan could make a really good deal.

The Cubs and Carlos Zambrano avoided arbitration yesterday with the sides agreeing to a one year deal with the idea of working on a longer term contract:

Both sides seemed satisfied with terms of the deal, which wound up about $1 million shy of the midpoint of the numbers they exchanged at arbitration, Zambrano's $15.5 million and the Cubs' $11.025 million. But Zambrano can earn another $2 million in award incentives, including World Series most valuable player and top five in Cy Young Award balloting.

It's an interesting compromise. In guaranteed money, the Cubs are below the midpoint, so it looks like a win for them, but if Zambrano pitches a fantastic season, he earns close to his asking price. The question now turns to the long term deal:

"Like 'Z' said, the goal is [that] this needs to get done before Opening Day because he doesn't want it to become a distraction," Praver said.

But the sides remain far apart. The Cubs are thinking about a deal comparable to the five-year, $73 million deal Roy Oswalt received from Houston last summer. Zambrano has said repeatedly he wants something close to the $18 million per year free-agent left-hander Barry Zito got from San Francisco, which would amount to $90 million for five years.

"It's up to [Hendry]," Zambrano said. "I'm ready to lead this team to a championship and win in this city. The fans deserve us to go to the playoffs and to win for the city of Chicago."

Hendry is convinced Zambrano wants to stay. But if they had gone to arbitration Tuesday, it probably would have been difficult to come to a long-term deal.

"Philosophically, Carlos has made it real clear he wants to be here, first preference and second preference," Hendry said. "Why would I, as a general manager, not want him on the ballclub? That will be our intent."

Maybe they'll split the difference of this contract as well. $82 Million for five years doesn't sound too shabby. Or Carlos can just test the free agent waters and watch the offers flow in.

Here's a good story on why players and teams settle rather than arbitrate, centered around Erik Bedard. Erik didn't want to hear the arguments against him:

"It's always hard," said Bedard, who was warned that the arbitration process can be both contentious and humbling. "Obviously you are not going to take everything seriously. But some things I am sure they would have said, would have stuck forever. That's hard to forget, but we didn't go through that process and I'm happy for it.

And from the Orioles side, they didn't want to upset this particular player:

There was some concern in the front office about the effect a potential arbitration case could have on Bedard's psyche.

"I am of the belief that it is always better to come to an agreement than to arbitrate a case," Orioles vice president Jim Duquette said. "We obviously have a very successful track record when it comes to arbitration, and we're not afraid to go. We will go if we have to. But we certainly don't like to go with our top pitcher from last year. That sends a bad message."

Both Duquette and executive vice president Mike Flanagan believed that one possible factor in Rodrigo Lopez 's 18-loss season was that he might have never fully recovered from experiencing the process.

"As a former player ... I came close to going one time and was not looking forward to it," Flanagan said. "Just the nature of it, players are going to point out good points and we're going to have to acknowledge good points, but also decipher some numbers and whatever way we see it. You just hope that you can avoid it getting there."

Duquette was the Houston Astros' director of player development in 1997, when one of the club's best pitchers, the late Darryl Kile, lost his arbitration case.

"He came back and was ticked off," Duquette recalled. "At the end of the year, because of the fact that they went to arbitration, he [opted] for free agency [after going 19-7]. That's when he signed with Colorado for a million dollars more. [Arbitration] can have long-lasting effects to an organization and a player."

Miguel Cabrera won his arbitration case with the Florida Marlins today, becoming the first player to win this season. He'll get $7.4 million this season. It's the third highest award of all time and the highest for a player in his first eligible season. Tough to argue with the decision. Cabrera is one of the top players in the majors, not just in his class. I can't imagine what he's going to make when he becomes a free agent.

Meanwhile, Erik Bedard settled with the Orioles, agreeing to a $3.4 million dollar contract. The two sides didn't split the difference perfectly. The final amount was closer to Bedard's asking price of $4 million, meaning the Orioles thought there was better than a 50% chance of Erik winning his case.

John Patterson lost his arbitration case with the Washington Nationals. I can't say I'm surprised here. Patterson was asking for $1.85 million and the Nationals offered $1 million less. Patterson is good, but he hardly pitched in 2005. He really overestimated his value. If he comes in at 1.1 million for example, the sides probably end up splitting the difference and he makes more money for the season.

The Twins locked up Joe Mauer today (Sunday) through the opening season of their new stadium:

AL batting champion Joe Mauer and the Minnesota Twins agreed Sunday to a four-year contract worth at least $33 million, avoiding salary arbitration and ensuring one of the team's young stars will be in uniform for the long term.

The team buys out his first year of free agency. In my opinion it's exactly right to give the long term deal to Mauer now and just the one year deal to Morneau. Justin, after all, played extremely well for four months, but the previous eight were nothing to write home about. Mauer's been consistently good throughout his career at a tough defensive position, and that's more than worth the money he earned today. An excellent deal by the Twins. They continue to be one of the best run operations in baseball.

Josh Paul lost his arbitration case to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays today. I can't say I'm surprised. It's tough to believe that a backup catcher with little offensive value is worth over $900,000 a year. My guess is you could replace Paul with a AAA catcher and do just as well.

The Orioles and Corey Patterson split the difference in their arbitration numbers, agreeing on a $4.3 million contract. If you can just stay in the majors long enough, it doesn't matter how well you play. While a second team waits for Patterson to reach his potential, he's racking up service time and making millions. Nice work if you can get it.

The Cincinnati Reds locked up Bronson Arroyo through 2010 with an option for 2011.

Arroyo, who turns 30 later this month, is under contract for $3.8 million in '07 and $3.95 million in '08. He will receive an additional $2 million in 2008, $10 million in '09 and $11 million in '10.

The deal also includes a club option for '11 that would be worth between $11 million and $13 million based on Arroyo's previous innings totals. The Reds will pay a $2 million buyout if they do not pick up the option.

So it looks like the Reds are planning a long term rotation of Harang, Arroyo and Bailey. That's a good foundation. It's interesting that Arroyo gave the Red Sox a home town discount last year, which made him tradable. Looks like that worked out in the long run.

The Pittsburgh Pirates settled with Jose Castillo last night, avoiding an arbitration hearing. He'll earn 1.9 million in 2007. As I said on the podcast last night, Castillo is very lucky he plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Not many organizations would allow an offensive black hole who is not an outstanding fielder garner three years of service so he can cash in on arbitration.

The Diamondbacks cleared their arbitration list with the signing of Eric Byrnes to a one-year contract. That appears to be all the time Eric will get with Arizona:

The Diamondbacks took care of their last remaining arbitration-eligible player on Tuesday by agreeing with Eric Byrnes on a one-year deal, but it continues to look as if the hard-nosed outfielder will be testing the free-agent market after this season.

Byrnes and the Diamondbacks came to terms on $4.575 million deal, but the two sides had limited discussions on a multiyear contract. Though he didn't rule it out, General Manager Josh Byrnes said he didn't expect discussions to pick back up during the season.

The Diamondbacks have right fielder Carlos Quentin and center fielder Chris Young expected to play every day this season and a slew of other young outfielders - Scott Hairston, Carlos Gonzalez and Justin Upton, to name a few - either ready for the majors or climbing the organizational ladder.

It's all good for the Diamondbacks. If Eric plays well in his walk year, Arizona can trade him or get a compensation pick. If he Byrnes season is sub-par, they have young players waiting in the wings. Either way, it looks like Josh will be the only Byrnes left in Arizona come November.

The Cincinnati Reds signed Aaron Harang to a long-term contract, clearing their arbitration list.

Right-hander Aaron Harang agreed to a four-year, $36.5 million deal Tuesday, making him the Cincinnati Reds ' highest-paid pitcher.

The 28-year-old Harang emerged as one of the NL's top starters last season despite pitching in a ballpark that is one of the most homer-friendly in the major leagues. He tied for the league lead with 16 wins and led the NL with 216 strikeouts and six complete games.

The Reds have been working on an extension for Harang, their last player available for salary arbitration. Harang made $2.35 million last season, and asked for $5.5 million in arbitration. The club had countered with a $4.25 million offer in arbitration.

Harang's been outstanding in GAB the last two seasons. He's kept his OBA allowed low in the park so the increased home runs don't kill his ERA. Given the level of salaries handed out this winter, $9 million a year is a bargain.

The Brewers cleared their arbitration calendar today by signing Bill Hall to a four-year, $24 million dollar contract with an option for a fifth season. Last season was a breakout year for Hall as he nearly doubled his career home run total. If he can keep the power numbers at that level, this will turn out to be a very good deal for the Brewers. Even if they fall back to his below .500 average, they'll still have a player with above average OBA and Slugging for a good price. And they've cleared him from the arbitration schedule for good.

Update: Brew Crew Ball is very happy.

The Pirates settled with Freddy Sanchez today, signing the third baseman to a one-year, $2.75 million contract.

Sanchez, 29, is coming off a breakthrough season in which he hit .344 to beat out Florida's Miguel Cabrera for the batting title. He also led the league with 53 doubles and finished with 200 hits to rank third in the NL behind the Cubs' Juan Pierre and Philadelphia's Chase Utley.

Sanchez had asked for $3.1 million in salary arbitration, while the Pirates had countered with an offer of $2.15 million.

When someone doesn't become a regular until he's 28, he's probably not going to last that long in the majors. He'll have to put up a similar year in 2007 to get the big money. Just to get the Pirates on a winning track, I hope he does.

Justin Morneau didn't get a long term contract, but he did get a big raise as he avoids arbitration with the Twins:

Morneau, a 25-year-old first baseman, hit .321 last year with 34 homers and 130 RBIs and won the MVP award by 14 points over New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. Morneau's agreement was at the midpoint between the $5 million he had asked for and the $4 million the Twins had offered to the player who hit more homers than any Twin in a season since 1987.

If, as general manager, I could only keep two of Santana, Mauer and Morneau, I'd probably let Justin go, since first base is the easiest position to replace. Still, this contract just avoids arbitration, it doesn't preclude a longer term deal at a later date.

The Washington Nationals made Austin Kearns a rich man today:

Right fielder Austin Kearns and the Washington Nationals agreed Thursday to a three-year contract that guarantees him $17.5 million, adding a long-term piece to the team's rebuilding effort.

"I don't think there's going to be a better place to be very soon," Kearns said. "I feel comfortable here and I feel good about where it's going."

Injuries caused Kearns career to be less than was expected. Still he's 27, has a good OBA, and if he stayed healthy for a year might put up good numbers. It's tough to base the middle of your order on Austin and Nick Johnson, since you don't know how long they'll last. But this has the chance of being a very cost effective signing for the Nationals.

The Phillies just locked up Chase Utley through the 2013 season, at a very reasonable price:

All-Star second baseman Chase Utley signed an $85 million, seven-year contract extension with the Phillies on Sunday through the 2013 season.

Utley hit .309 last season with 40 doubles, 32 home runs, 102 RBIs and 131 runs. He also had a 35-game hitting streak that tied for the 10th-longest in major league history and longest by a second baseman.

"We view Chase as not only a great second baseman but also one of the top 10-15 players in the game," Philadelphia assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He's a hard-nosed, full-throttle player who exemplifies the spirit of Philadelphia. He is tailor-made for this city and we couldn't be happier to lock him up for years to come."

I love contracts like this. Utley wouldn't be eligible for free agency for a few years, so he gets big money now. And he's old enough that he'd be hitting his declining years when that option became available. With the rise in salaries, $12 million a year is a steal, even for a declining great player. So the Phillies will get Utley's best years at a steal, and his declining years at a reasonable cost (especially if you believe salaries will continue to increase). Sees like both sides come out ahead on the deal.

Update: I wasn't sure before how many years of arbitratrion/free agency Utley was giving up, but it's three years of arbitration and four years of free agency.

The Arizona Diamondbacks signed Doug Davis to a three year deal, terms undisclosed so far. The two sides were over $2 million apart in their arbitration figures.

Update: CBSSportsLine offers more details on the deal. Davis will around the DBacks offer this year, his asking price next year, and a raise in 2009 for about $22 million total.

The Brewers and Chris Capuano split the difference between the bid and the ask.

The Mariners locked up J.J. Putz today for three years:

J.J. Putz cashed in on his breakout debut season as the Seattle Mariners closer, agreeing Wednesday to a $13.1 million, three-year contract.

Putz gets a $1.5 million signing bonus plus base salaries of $2.2 million this season, $3.4 million in 2008 and $5 million in 2009. The Mariners have an $8.6 million option for 2010, with a $1 million buyout.

Putz had 36 saves - the fourth-highest total in a Mariners season - in 2006, his second full season in the major leagues. The hard-throwing, 29-year-old right-hander entered the year as setup man to Eddie Guardado, before Guardado taught Putz how to grip a split-fingered fastball for better movement during spring training.

It took Putz a long time to catch on in the majors, but his big league numbers are even better than his minor league stats, especially in walks and strikeouts. He's not young, but it's not a lot of money for a good pitcher these days. It's less than what Lidge is getting, and right now Putz is the better pitcher.

The Tigers settled with their remaining arbitration eligible players today.

The crisp pace of the club's winter business continued Tuesday, as Detroit announced it had agreed to one-year contracts with its remaining arbitration-eligible players: outfielder Craig Monroe ($4.775 million), left-handed starter Nate Robertson ($3.26 million), infielder Omar Infante ($1.3 million), and right-handed reliever Fernando Rodney ($1.05 million).

John Westhoff, the club's baseball legal counsel, had arrived at work Tuesday - the day on which players and clubs formally exchange contract numbers - anticipating that one or two cases might go to arbitration. By noon, though, he'd reached an agreement with representatives for all four players, thus checking off another task from a melting to-do list.

As so often happened in 2006, matters were settled in an orderly, successful fashion.

"It's such a difference dealing with players and agents this off-season, than when I got here five years ago," Westhoff said. "Back then, it was hard to get an agent to return a call, or to convince a player to truly give Detroit a chance.

"Now, here you are, signing players in a free-agent environment, and locking up your own guys long-term. You even see it with the one-year deals. Guys are excited to be here. They want to play for the manager. They think we can win. All those things have helped me do what I do."

Winning helps clubs in so many ways.

A question for someone who might keep track of these things. Are arbitration cases down? It seems that as time goes on, both management and agents get better at pricing players arbitration values. That means in general, the two sides should be submitting figures that are closer as time goes on. The closer the two numbers, the easier it is to split the difference and just settle without the hearing. Does anyone have stats on this?

The Chicago White Sox signed Joe Crede to a one year deal and will not go to arbitration with any players. Crede's salary nearly doubles. However, I wonder how he would have done in arbitration, especially coming off the best year of his career?

Dontrelle Willis and the Florida Marlins avoided arbitration today:

The Florida Marlins ace agreed Monday to a one-year contract for $6.45 million, a hefty salary for the team with the lowest payroll in the major leagues by far last year.

Which means, of course, they can afford the raise.

The Marlins' payroll of $15 million last year figures to rise considerably if they keep Willis and slugger Miguel Cabrera, who is eligible for arbitration for the first time. Cabrera's pay could climb to the $6 million range after he made $472,000 last year.

If a stadium deal gets worked out, I wonder if they try to sign both these players to long term deals?

The Toronto Blue Jays signed Lyle Overbay to a very reasonable four-year contract yesterday:

Overbay, who made $2.525-million in 2006, will earn $4.2-million in 2007, with $3.8-million being paid out as a signing bonus. He will earn $5.8-million in 2008 and make $7-million in 2009 and 2010.

Lyle would be eligible for free agency after the 2008 season. Overbay isn't the prototypical power first baseman, but he gets on base at a very good clip and hits lots of doubles. This may be one of the sanest contracts issued this winter.

There's a report that Sean Burroughs signed with the Mariners. Could he turn into another Bret Boone for Seattle? Boone was the son of a major leaguer, highly touted as a youngster that managed to have one good year through age 31. The Mariners picked him up for nothing at age 32 and he helped lead them to their 116 win season.

Burroughs put up two decent seasons for the Padres, getting on base at about a .350 clip, but the power they expected never developed. It got so bad for Sean that he was released by the Devil Rays last season. At 26, there's still a chance for him to be productive. A nice, low risk move by Seattle.

Update: Lookout Landing doesn't hold out much hope for Burroughs.

The Yankees signed a Cuban defector as their new first baseman. I like his Cuban stats; he gets on base and hits for power. And if his age proves to be correct (23), he's still developing. Signing this player makes me feel better about a deal that would move Melky Cabrera, although I'd rather see them develop both.

Sam Mellinger in the Kansas City Star discusses the major leagues adopting the posting system:

Williams' wish was made in jest, but former A's owner Charlie Finley effectively posted some of his best players after losing Catfish Hunter to free-agency in 1976.

Finley put his guys up for auction, and was set to sell Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox and Vida Blue to the Yankees. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn invoked the best-interests-of-the-game clause and blocked the sales.

Since then, cash has often been involved in trades, but no big-league team has tried to sell or "post" one of its players. Even if it would be interesting.

"I thought that was a funny quote from Kenny Williams," says Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro. "But I don't spend the energy on things like that. That'd be pretty inefficient on my end."

Kuhn did not have the best interests of the game at heart when he voided Finley's sales. He was just out to screw Finley. One way small market owners kept afloat during the first 100 years of the major leagues was selling their good players. Connie Mack would build a great team, win, then sell off the players because he couldn't afford to pay them once they were great. He'd then use the money to try to build another great team.

But Kuhn put a stop to that, to the detriment of the game. Now, any sale over $1 million dollars must be approved by the commissioner. But, teams like Florida are allowed to destroy their team to rebuild, exactly what Finley tried to do in the mid 1970's. That rule should be gone. Let teams sell players for what they can get on the baseball market. It's a much better form of revenue sharing.

Vernon Wells accepted the Blue Jays offer made earlier in the week.

Here's the structure of the contract:

The extension calls for a $25.5 million signing bonus, payable in three $8.5 million installments each March 1 in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

He will receive a salary of only $500,000 in 2008 and $1.5 million in 2009, but his salary jumps to $12.5 million in 2010 and $23 million in 2011. Wells receives $21 million in each of the final three seasons.

Under the extension, Wells has the right to terminate his agreement after the 2011 season and become eligible for free agency.

He gets a full no-trade clause and could earn bonuses of $250,000 for MVP, $200,000 for World Series MVP, $150,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $100,000 for receiving the most votes in his league in all-star balloting.

Does anyone know if there is a difference between how bonuses and salary are treated in relation to the salary cap or team taxes? It's interesting that the opt out is after the 2011 season, just after his salary goes way up. So the Jays are on the hook for just $69 million (counting his 2007 salary), and if salaries continue to sky rocket, Wells would likely opt out after the 2011 season. So the Jays could end up getting five good years at $14 million per season, and then someone else ends up paying for his declining years at a much higher price. It's a clever contract.

The Devil Rays got caught bending the rules on a waiver transaction:

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays' claim and subsequent trade of left-handed pitcher Bobby Livingston was voided by the commissioner's office Thursday, and Livingston then was awarded to the Cincinnati Reds.

The Devil Rays have the highest waiver-claim priority this offseacon by virtue of their major-league worst 61-101 record, so under ordinary circumstances they will receive any player they claim off outright waivers until the next waiver period starts on the 31st day of the 2007 regular season.

However, because the Devil Rays immediately traded Livingston to the Phillies after claiming him from Seattle on Tuesday, they violated Major League Rule 10(h), which states "no Club shall solicit another Club, directly or indirectly, to claim or not claim a player on waivers ... nor shall a Club otherwise act in concert with any Club or Clubs in the operation of the waiver system."

I guess they should have waited a few days before making the trade. I actually find these rules a bit silly. A draft choice, a waiver claim, may have more value for a team in what they can get for the player chosen, and teams should be able to trade those freely.

The Tigers sign Brandon Inge to a four-year, $24 million contract.

"It's awesome to get this done because Detroit is the only place I wanted to play," Inge told The Associated Press on Friday. "This organization stuck by me through tough times and for them to still believe in me when times are good, it's really gratifying.

"The deal is basically done because the only thing that would hold it up would be a problem with the physical that I took today, but I can't see that there would be any problem with that."

Inge was eligible for arbitration and would have been eligible for free agency after next season.

Brandon developed a decent home run stroke in 2006. However, he is an out machine, which is why he's not getting elephant bucks. He's a good third baseman, however. During the playoffs someone said that Inge made so many errors because he got to a lot of balls. Given that his range was good, that indeed may be the case. So the Tigers own a solid defensive third baseman with some pop for $6 million a year. Not bad in today's market, and I bet Brandon would do a lot better if he opted for free agency next season.

The St. Louis Cardinals made Chris Carpenter a much richer man today.

Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed Monday to a five-year contract that guarantees the 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner about $65 million.

He'll finish his current contract, making $16 million over the next two seasons. After that, he'll bring in about $16 million a year for three years, with a club option for a fourth season. That's sounds like a very good deal for the Cardinals. Over the last three seasons, he's third in the majors in ERA and second in winning percentage among pitchers with 300 IP.

The Colorado Rockies put Jeff Francis in the fold for at least four seasons:

The deal, which has a team option for the 2011 season, will pay Francis $13.25 million.

I like the deal. It's not a lot of money, the Rockies avoid arbitration in the future, and Jeff pitches well at Coors. For his career, his BA, OBA and Slug. allowed are better at home than on the road. Nice move by Colorado to lock up a pitcher who is successful at Coors.

The New York Mets signed Moises Alou to a one year contract with an option for 2008.

The 40-year-old slugger finalized an $8.5 million, one-year contract on Monday with the NL East champions, who also declined their $14 million option on left-hander Tom Glavine and swapped young pitchers with the Florida Marlins in a four-player trade.

Alou's deal includes a $7.5 million club option for 2008 with $1 million buyout. The six-time All-Star, who gets a $7.5 million salary next season, said he turned down two-year offers from other teams to join the Mets.

"The length of my contract doesn't really matter at this point in my career," Alou said. "I wanted to come here because this year -- I wanted to win this year."

This, of course, puts Lastings Milledge in limbo. Rather than spending a lot of time at AAA, I suspect Milledge will get time in the majors replacing Alou when he's down for a month with injuries. Alou is a good hitter, but at his age he can become a bad hitter pretty quickly. The Mets are filling a hole, they're not paying too much, and there's no long term commitment. If Alou can't play and Milledge matures, New York is out just $8 million or so. It might have been more cost effective to work on Lasting's attitude during the off-season and give him a chance to earn the job in 2007, but if he needs a full season at AAA, I can't really argue with the move.

The trade doesn't look like all that much. The two pitchers the Mets received walk a lot of batters. Florida looks like it's trying to improve its bullpen with more mature pitchers who haven't really broken into the