Sources close to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com are saying that Roy Oswalt has elected to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals. The terms of the deal are unknown at this time.
Oswalt had received heavy interest from the Red Sox and Tigers, with the Tigers supposedly offering the right hander a one-year $10mm deal today that he turned down.
In 2011, Oswalt went 9-10 while posting a 3.69 era in 139 innings with the Phillies. He did average a career low with 6.0 strike outs per 9 innings and is coming off a series of injuries. Oswalt earned $16mm last season and made $1,777,777.78 for every win or $172,043,01 for every strikeout.
Image taken by Matthew Straubmuller and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.
The San Francisco Giants and pitcher Tim Lincecum have agreed to a two-year, $40.5 million contract extension which avoids an arbitration hearing for both sides, Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Lincecum will earn $18MM in 2012 and $22MM in 2013 to go along with a $500K signing bonus. The deal also includes a limited no-trade clause that allows Lincecum to block a trade to a certain number of teams.
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The Philadelphia Phillies have signed slugger Juan Pierre to a minor league deal which includes an invite to Spring Training, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports.
Pierre who is known for his speed on the base paths played for the White Sox last season and hit .279. He also had a career low (full season numbers) 27 stolen bases but almost matched his career in rbi’s (55) with 51.
Pierre made $8.5mm in the last year of a five-year deal he signed with the Dodgers back in November of 2006. He was eventually traded to the White Sox prior to the 2010 season.
Pierre will be competing for a backup outfield spot in Spring Training.
Just like Dan Wheeler’s deal with the Indians, the White Sox will not receive compensation for Pierre signing with the Phillies even though he is a Type B free agent because he signed a minor league deal.
Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.
The San Francisco Giants have signed Ryan Theriot to a one year $1.25mm deal, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports. Theriot can also earn an additional $750k in incentives.
Theriot who played second and shortstop for the Cardinals last season, was acquired from the Dodgers in December 2010.
Last season he hit .271 in 442 at-bats and earned $3.3mm. That means Theriot earned $27.5k for every hit or $25k for every game he appeared in.
Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.
The Houston Astros announced that they have signed Zach Duke to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.
Last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Duke went 3-4 with a 4.93 era while averaging 3.8 k/9, his worst since 2007 with the Pirates(3.4 k/9).
The Diamondbacks acquired Duke from the Pirates in November of 2010.
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The next financial efficiency report we will dive into is the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks finished the regular season with a 94-68 record, eight games ahead of the Giants for the NL West title (their first playoff appearance since 2007). The Diamondbacks then took on the Brewers in the NLDS, and after being down 0-2 in the first two games they forced a decisive fifth game where they lost 3-2 against them.
Arizona overcame a horrible 2010 season where they went 65-97, good enough for last place.The Diamondbacks’ payroll was the sixth lowest in baseball at $53,639,833 million. With that payroll, they won 94 games, or 45 games above the 49 game line. That means they spent $1,191,996.29 for every win over 49.
Their top five paid players were:
– Kelly Johnson ($5,850,000): Johnson hit .209/.287/.412 with 18 HR’s, 49 RBI’s, 59 runs scored and a .699 OPS in 114 games with the Diamondbacks in 2011. He was traded to the Blue Jays late in August. If we presume that the D’backs paid Johnson for the entire season, it means that he earned $65,000 for every hit he got (90) with them, $325,000 for every home run he hit and $99,152.54 for every run he scored. He also earned $119,387.76 for every run he batted in and $42,700.73 for every time he got on base.
– Joe Saunders ($5,500,000): Saunders went 12-13 with a 3.69 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 212.0 innings throughout 33 starts in 2011. He earned $458,333.33 for every won game, $50,925.93 for every batter he struck out, $25,943.40 for every inning pitched and $166,666.66 for every game he started.
– Chris Young ($5,200,000): Young hit .236/.331/.420 with 20 HR’s, 71 RBI’s, 89 runs and a .751 OPS. Young earned $260,000 for every home run he hit, $38,805.97 for every hit, $73,239.44 for every run he batted in, $58,426.97 for every run scored and $23,853.21 for every time he got on base.
– Stephen Drew ($4,650,000): Drew hit .252/.317/.369 with 5 HR’s, 45 RBI’s, 44 runs and a .713 OPS in only 321 AB’s. Drew earned $930,000 for every home run he hit, $57,407.41 for every hit, $103,333.33 for every run batted in, $105,681.82 for every run scored or $41,517.86 for every time he got on base.
– Justin Upton ($4,458,333): Upton hit .289/.369/.529 with 31 HR’s, 88 RBI’s, 105 runs and a .898 OPS in 592 AB’s. Upton earned $143,817.19 for every home run he hit. $26,072.12 for every hit he got, $50,662.86 for every run batted in, $42,460.31 for every run scored or $17,904.95 for every time he got on base.
The Diamondbacks had a collective OBP of .322, a collective SLG of.413 and an OPS of .736. Throughout the season they scored 731 runs, or about $73,378.70 for every run they scored as a team. They ranked third in slugging, fourth in OPS and seventh in on-base percentage as an overall team in the National League.
I believe this team had a pretty solid season taking into account their payroll. Even with a limited Drew, they still managed to outperform the rest of the NL West. They even outperformed their Pythagorean record, 88-74 against 94-68. The Pythagorean record is calculated with the runs scored and runs allowed and gives you an estimate of wins a team’s is slated to get.
Their three best offensive players (OBP-wise) were Upton, Gerardo Parra and Miguel Montero, in that exact same order. The last two are not among the top-five players, Montero made $3,200,000 and Parra only $426,000, and Parra will now be the team’s fourth outfielder. On the 25-man roster only 15 players earned more than $1 million, and their two aces Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson weren’t among them.
If this group of young players can stay healthy and perform the way they did in 2011 this team is going to be tough to beat for years to come. The Diamondbacks will have to evaluate which players to lock-up to long-term deals, which of them will get traded for good young prospects and which of them will become free agents and sign with another team as many of them will hit free agency around the same time.
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The San Francisco Giants have signed reliever Clay Hensley to a one-year deal, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Hensley will make a base salary of $750k with a possible $300k in incentives, but the deal is not guaranteed. This means that Hensley will have to earn a spot in the bullpen out of Spring Training.
Last year with the Marlins, Hensley posted a 5.19 era and 6.1 k/9 in 67 2/3 innings. Hensley also made $1.4mm last season.
Image taken by SD Dirk and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.
The Cleveland Indians have signed reliever Dan Wheeler to a minor-league deal, Alex Speier of WEEI.com reports.
Wheeler posted a 4.38 era and averaged 7 strikeouts per nine innings in 49 1/3 innings for Boston last season.
Wheeler made $3mm last season and became a free agent when Boston declined his $3mm team option for 2012.
Speier also notes that the Red Sox will not receive compensation for Wheeler signing with the Indians even though he is a type B free agent because he signed a minor league deal.
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Left-handed pitcher and Cuban native, Gerardo Conception, is close to signing with a Major League team, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeports.com reports. It was reported earlier this week by Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com that the 18-year–old free agent worked out in front of the Texas Rangers.
The New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals have also shown interest.
“Everything is great. I really don’t know how to describe it,” Concepcion, 18, said by phone from the Dominican Republic. “All the training and exercise I have done is paying off. I’ve worked so hard to get here. I’m so happy. It’s like a dream come true.”
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The Washington Nationals have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with right-handed pitcher Brad Lidge, the team announced via Twitter. Lidge will make $1mm next season plus incentives.
Lidge who suffered from a rotator cuff injury was limited to only 25 games last season and posted a 1.41 era for the Phillies.
Image by Rob Pongsajapan under the Creative Commons License.
