SB Nation User Blog: glamboomer

Something for Nothing: A Brief History of FA Compensation Picks.

glamboomer — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:09:59 -0000

As we near the trading deadline, there has been & will be a lot of discussion of "rental" players & free agents-to-be & draft compensation picks for departed free agents (see Sabathia, C.C.).. Type A & Type B free agents will be bandied about with much fanfare & it can all be pretty confusing to figure out. Should a team (like the Brewers) consider taking on a "rental" player for the stretch run? Should the Cardinals go after (insert middle reliever name) who might be a free agent after this year? How do compensation picks work?

First of all, per MLB.com, here's what qualifies as "Type A" & "Type B" free agents:

"The former Club of a Player who became a free agent and ranks as a Type A or B Player shall be entitled to receive compensation in the form of a draft choice in the First-Year Player Draft succeeding the Player's election of free agency.

A Type A or B shall be a Player who became a free agent and ranks as a Type A or B Player under the statistical system of ranking Players set forth by the Elias Sports Bureau, using statistics based on a two-year average for each respective position group. Type A and Type B players necessitate that the Player's former Club receive a sandwich pick in between rounds one and two. Additional picks in the second, third and fourth rounds are exchanged from one club to another for the losses of Type A free agents.

Type A Players now rank in the upper 20% of his respective position group by the Basic Agreement, instead of the upper 30% as was stipulated in the previous collective bargaining agreement.

Type B Players now rank in the upper 40%, but not in the upper 20%, of his respective position group. Under the previous collective bargaining agreement, Type B Players ranked in the upper 50% not in the upper 30%. Before the most recent collective bargaining agreement took effect for the 2007 season, a Club would receive compensation for losing a Type C free agent. Under the new Basic Agreement, Type C free agents no longer call for a draft pick as compensation."

Now that we have that clear, I thought it would be interesting to look at free agent signings as if they were trades with the team losing the free agent having gained compensation picks for the departed player. This list isn't all inclusive; there were omissions based on how inconsequential the deal turned out for both teams. I did include all Cardinals matters as well as some of the big free agent signings since 2000.

Here goes!

2000
•    Diamondbacks – RHP Russ Springer (2 years / $3.4 M) / Braves – RHP Adam Wainwright (29th) & INF Aaron Herr (40th supp.)
•    Mariners – LHP Arthur Rhodes (4 years / $13.5 M) / Orioles – RHP Tripper Johnson (32nd supp.)
•    Expos – LHP Graeme Lloyd (3 years / $9 M) / Blue Jays – RHP Dustin McGowan (33rd supp.) & RHP Peter Bauer (45th)
•    Brewers – INF Jose Hernandez (3 years / $10M) / Braves – SS Kelly Johnson (38th supp.) & RHP Bubba Nelson (51st)

2001
•    Red Sox – LF Manny Ramirez (8 years / $168M) / Indians – RHP Daniel Denham (17th) & RHP J.D. Martin (35th)
•    Rockies – LHP Mike Hampton (8 years / $121M) / Mets – RHP Aaron Heilman (18th) & 3B David Wright (38th)
•    Rangers – RHP Mark Petkovsek (1 year / $5.7M) / Angels – C Jeff Mathis (33rd)
•    Mets – RHP Kevin Appier (4 years / $42 M) / A’s – RHP Jeremy Bonderman (26th) & LHP John Rheinecker (37th supp.)
•    Rangers – SS Alex Rodriguez (10 years / $252M) / Mariners – SS Michael Garciaparra (36th supp.) & C Rene Rivera

2002
•    Red Sox – CF Johnny Damon (4 years / $31M) / A’s – OF Nick Swisher (16th) & 3B Mark Teahen (39th supp.)
•    Yankees – 1B Jason Giambi (7 years / $120M) / A’s – RHP Joe Blanton (24th) & C Jeremy Brown (35th supp.)
•    Cardinals – RHP Jason Isringhausen (4 years / $27M) / A’s – RHP Ben Frtiz (30th) & RHP Stephen Obenchain (37th supp.)
•    Cardinals – 1B Tino Martinez (3 years / $21M) / Yankees – RHP Brandon Weeden (71st)

2003
•    Cubs – LHP Mike Remlinger (3 years / $11M) / Braves – C Jarrod Saltalamacchia (36th supp.) & LHP Jo-Jo Reyes (43rd)
•    Phillies – 1B Jim Thome (6 years / $85M) / Indians – OF Bradley Snyder (16th) & RHP Adam Miller (31st supp.)
•    Astros – 2B Jeff Kent (2 years / $18.2M) / Giants – RHP David Aardsma (22nd) & RHP Roger Whitaker (34th supp.)
•    Mariners – 1B Greg Colbrunn (1 years / $750K) / Diamondbacks – 1B Conor Jackson (19th)

2004
•    Mariners – LHP Eddie Guardado (3 years / $12M) / Twins – LHP Glen Perkins (22nd) & RHP Matthew Fox (35th supp.)
•    Astros – LHP Andy Pettitte (3 years / $31.5M) / Yankees – RHP Phillip Hughes (23rd) & C Jonathan Poterson (37th supp.)
•    Yankees – RHP Paul Quantrill (2 years / $6.4M) / Dodgers – 2B Blake DeWitt (28th) & RHP Justin Orenduff (33rd supp.)
•    Braves – RHP John Thomson (2 years / $7M) / Rangers – RHP Eric Hurley (30th)
•    Yankees – RHP Tom Gordon (2 years / $7.25M) / White Sox – LHP Gio Gonzalez (38th supp.) & LHP Ray Liotta (69th)
•    Mariners – LF Raul Ibanez (3 years / $13.25M) / Royals – LHP J.P. Howell (31st supp.) & RHP Erik Cordier (63rd)
•    Orioles – SS Miguel Tejada (6 years / $72M) / A’s – RHP Huston Street (40th supp.) & RHP Michael Rogers (49th)

2005
•    Giants – RHP Armando Benitez (3 years / $21M) / Marlins – LHP Aaron Thompson (22nd) & RHP Ryan Tucker (34th supp.)
•    Angels – SS Orlando Cabrera (4 years / $32M) / Red Sox – CF Jacoby Ellsbury (23rd) & SS Jed Lowrie (45th supp.)
•    Dodgers – RHP Derek Lowe (4 years / $36M) / Red Sox – RHP Craig Hansen (26th) & RHP Michael Bowden (47th supp.)
•    Red Sox – SS Edgar Renteria (4 years / $40M) / Cardinals – CF Colby Rasmus & Mark McCormick (25th) & RHP (43rd supp.)
•    Yankees – RHP Carl Pavano (4 years / $40M) / Marlins – RHP Jacob Marceaux (30th) & LHP Sean West (44th supp.)
•    Brewers – C Damian Miller (2 years / $6.75M) / A’s – OF Travis Buck (36th supp.) & RHP Thomas Italiano (53rd)
•    Mets – RHP Pedro Martinez (4 years / $53 M) / Red Sox – RHP Clay Buchholz (42nd supp.) & C Jonathan Egan (57th)
•    Mariners – 3B Adrian Beltre (5 years / $64M) / Dodgers – RHP Luke Hochevar (40th supp. DNS) & SS Ivan DeJesus (51st)
•    Giants – C Mike Matheny (3 years / $10.5M) / Cardinals – RHP Tyler Herron (46th supp.) & RHP Josh Wilson (70th)

2006
•    Phillies – RHP Tom Gordon (3 years / $18M) / Yankees – RHP Ian Kennedy (21st) & RHP Joba Chamberlain (41st)
•    Mets – LHP Billy Wagner (4 years / $43M) / Phillies – RHP Kyle Drabek (18th) & SS Adrian Cardenas (37th supp.)
•    Blue Jays – RHP A.J. Burnett (5 years / $55M) / Marlins – 2B Chris Coghlan (36th supp.)
•    Giants – RHP Matt Morris (3 years / $27M) / Cardinals – RHP Chris Perez (41st supp.) & LHP Brad Furnish (54th)
•    Phillies – IF Abraham Nunez (2 years / $3.35M) / Cardinals – 1B Mark Hamilton (76th supp.)

2007
•    Astros – LF Carlos Lee (6 years / $100M) / Rangers – RHP Blake Beavan (17th) & OF Julio Borbon (35th supp.)
•    Dodgers – RHP Jason Schmidt (3 years / $47M) / Giants – RHP Tim Alderson (23rd) & C Jackson Williams (43rd supp.)
•    Angels – OF Gary Matthews Jr. (5 years / $50M) / Rangers – RHP Michael Main (24th) & RHP Neil Ramirez (44th supp.)
•    Cubs – LF Alfonso Soriano (8 years / $136 M) / Nationals – LHP Josh Smoker (31st supp.) & RHP Jordan Zimmerman (67th)
•    Giants – IF Rich Aurilia (2 years / $8M) / Reds – INF Todd Frazier (34th supp.)
•    Brewers – RHP Jeff Suppan (4 years / $42 M) / Cardinals – RHP Clayton Mortensen (36th supp.) & RHP David Kopp (71st)
•    Angels – RHP Justin Speier (4 years / $18M) / Blue Jays – LHP Brett Cecil (38th supp.) & OF Eric Eiland (88th)
•    Astros – RHP Woody Williams (2 years / $12.5M) / Padres – OF Kellen Kulbacki (40th supp.) & 2B Eric Sogard (81st)
•    Giants – LHP Barry Zito (7 years / $126M) / A’s – 1B Sean Doolittle (41st supp.) & OF Greg Desme (74th)
•    Indians – RHP Roberto Hernandez (1 year / $3.3M) / Mets – RHP Eddie Kunz (42nd supp.) & RHP Scott Moviel (77th)
•    Mariners – RF Jose Guillen (1 year / $5.5M) / Nationals – OF Michael Burgess (49th supp.)
•    Cubs – LHP Ted Lilly (4 years / $40M) / Blue Jays – RHP Trystan Magnuson (56th supp.)
•    Cardinals – 2B Adam Kennedy (3 years / $10M) / Angels – RHP Jonathan Bachanov (58th supp.)
•    Blue Jays – DH Frank Thomas (2 years / $18M) / A’s – OF Corey Brown (59th supp.)

Regardless of whether you can come to a conclusive judgement about the value of losing a free agent for compensation picks, there are some really good stories in there. Would you have made some of these "trades"?

Links from: baseball musings , baseball-reference , milb.com , cot's contracts

Boomer.

Remembering Jose DeLeon - a Cardinal Anomoly.

glamboomer — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:15:26 -0000

My friends / co-workers were just playing a baseball trivia guessing game thing that we do all the time & the question I posed was:
"Who led the National League in strikeouts in 1989?"

The answer, of course, is our own Jose DeLeon with 201 K's!
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/SO_p_leagues.shtml
If you look closely, he's the last Cardinal pitcher to lead the league in strikeouts & was the first one since Gibby in '68 to do so..

I remember how much I liked DeLeon at the time; how he had that deliberate, low-leg lift and slinged the ball towards home plate, definately a Latin thing. If I recall correctly, he had a low-mid 90's tailing fastball & a killer forkball, as well as a lollipop curve & a slider that would flatten out sometimes to obviously bad results..

In digging a little deeper, I found out DeLeon's line while with the Redbirds over 4 3/4 years:
43 W / 57 L / 3.59 ERA / 7.5 K per 9 / 3.5 BB per 9 / .65 HR per 9 / 7.63 H per 9 / 1.24 WHIP
(Geez.. here's the link...)
http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/PitcherInfo.py?StartDate=07%2F23%2F1983&EndDate=09%2F18%2 F1995&GameType=all&PlayedFor=28&PlayedVs=0&Park=0&PlayerID=100684

Looking at his peripherals, he looks like exactly the sort of pitcher that the Cardinals never ever have, which might explain why he stands out so much in my memory. He struck guys out; he didn't give up many hits & he didn't give up many home runs, while also walking maybe a few too many guys.. Sort of the anti-Tewksbury, if you will.. More like a Kelvim Escobar guy...

Whitey pulled off the trade to get him, sending Lance Johnson & Rick Horton to the White Sox before the '88 pennant defense..

Another oddity about DeLeon was that he was a Latin starting pitcher for the Cardinals, something that we haven't really had around these parts for a long time, if memory serves me correctly. Other than Andujar, can you remember the last good Latin stater we had? I can't.. The only thing I remember is Jose Jimenez's no-hitter..

I guess this diary is a comment on a few things:

Just how bad / non-existant our Latin programs were in the 80's / 90's..

How the Cardinals have failed to really produce anyone like DeLeon, other than Ankiel.. And we didn't even produce DeLeon!

Pitchers like DeLeon haven't really been targeted by the Cardinals in free agency or through trades for some reason... We seem to have had a policy of "pitching to contact" since Steve Carlton was let go 35 years ago...

I don't know. I just saw his name & all sorts of good memories came back to me...
Share some good Jose memories if you want or tell me that my glasses are certainly too rose-covered..

http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/deleojo01.shtml

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/deleojo01.php

Boomer.

Sig Mejdal (Cards stats guy) on MLB.TV

glamboomer — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 05:52:23 -0000

Here's the link:
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/player/mp_tpl.jsp?w=mms%3A//a1503.v108692.c10869.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/15 03/10869/v0001/mlb.download.akamai.com/10869/2007/open/features/inside_the_game/itg_stats_400.wmv&am p;pid=gen_video&vid=7759&cid=mlb&v=2&mType=w&urlstr=&mUrl=&type=v_free&a mp;_mp=1

Interesting stuff from the senior "numbers" guy with the Redbirds.

Plus, look at that World Series ring.

Boomer.

Who do you want to be the new Cardinals GM?

glamboomer — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 21:50:24 -0000

Found this article today where DeWitt kind-of gives some hints as to what he's looking for:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/5629776255CD3C068625736B001259D0 ?OpenDocument

So, we have "10 or fewer candidates with emphasis on 30-40 somethings with experience in player developement."

The article throws out a few names:
Mozeliak - current interim GM
Antonetti - Cleveland Asst. GM
Woodfork - Arizona Asst. GM
DePodesta - Ex-Dodger / current San Diego front office
White - Dodgers Asst. GM

All of these guys seem like worthy candidates to me, although I find it hard to believe DeWitt would hire one of Jocketty's old boys for the job. What do you all think?

IMPORTANT NOTE: I intentionally left out "new manager" for obvious reasons.

Boomer.

Poll

Who do you like?

White?

17 votes

Someone else?

14 votes

Mozeliak?

32 votes

Antonetti?

31 votes

Woodfork?

12 votes

DePodesta?

29 votes

135 votes | Poll has closed

No more dreaming of Eric Byrnes?

glamboomer — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:42:58 -0000

Found this on mlb.com today:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070807&content_id=2134769&vkey=news_mlb&fext=. jsp&c_id=mlb

May or may not happen, but I've seen Byrnes's name on a few free agent wishlists around here.

3 yr /30 M. Considering it would have taken more than that for him to sign elsewhere, do you Byrnes supporters think the Cardinals would have gone higher, like say 4 / 40 M?

Thoughts?
Boomer.

Reyes to the Phillies?

glamboomer — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 01:15:53 -0000

I didn't check the game thread & I've been having fun at my daughter's 4th birthday party, but saw this nugget here from Cardinal Diaspora & thought maybe it deserved a diary all it's own over here..

http://www.cardinalsdiaspora.com/?p=1782
and here...

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/07/phillies-scout-.html

Reyes for Bourn? What do you guys think?
Here's a link to Bourn's minor league stats:

http://thebaseballcube.com/players/B/Michael-Bourn.shtml

Looks like he gets on base & runs a little bit. Is that enough for our most colorful twirler?

Boomer.

Chris Duncan's last 162 games...

glamboomer — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 04:11:52 -0000

162 games played since being called up for good on May 21, 2006. Here's his line...

512 AB / .291 / .371 / .570
150 H / 38 HR / 100 R / 90 RBI
65 BB / 137 KO / 7 GIDP

In that time span, Duncan ranks 12th in MLB in slugging percentage, ahead of Hafner, Holliday, Vlad, Soriano, Utley & Berkman to name a few...

At this point, he seems to be our own Adam Dunn, what with the monsterous bodies, the adventures in LF & the massive HR/Flyball ratio (21.9% this year; 5th in MLB).. Dunc strikes out a little less, but doesn't walk as much & hits for a higher average than Dunn, but I think the comparison holds a bit of water & if Chris Duncan = Adam Dunn, I'm really pleased...

I guess the reason I'm posting this is to see if you all think that Chris Duncan is a "core" guy, & by that, I mean do you all think that this 162 game sample is what Chris Duncan really is?.

I know I thought last year had "fluke" written all over it, but after watching him this year, I'm not so sure about that at all..
His line drive rate is down from last year (21.1% to 16.7%), as is his prodigious HR rate (29.3% to 21.9%), but he's getting much bigger hits this year (.183 RISP in 2006; .346 RISP this year) & doesn't seem to be as clueless on the breaking stuff as he was late last year.

Is he getting better? How much better can he get?
What do you think?
(stats courtesy of Baseball Musings & Hardball Times, so you all don't think I'm makin' these up...)

http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/CompareInfo.py?StartDate=05%2F21%2F2006&EndDate=07%2F08%2 F2007&GameType=all&PlayedFor=0&PlayedVs=0&Park=0&SortField=CASE+WHEN+AtBats+%3E0 +THEN+%28Hits%2BDoubles%2B2.0*Triples%2B3.0*HomeRuns%29%2FAtBats+ELSE+0.0+END&SortDir=desc&M inPA=502&MinG=0&MinGS=0&MinAB=0&MinR=0&MinH=0&MinDB=0&MinTP=0&MinHR= 0&MinRBI=0&MinBB=0&MinIBB=0&MinHP=0&MinK=0&MinSB=0&MinCS=0&MinSH=0&a mp;MinSF=0&MinGDP=0&MinCI=0

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/stats/players/index.php?playerId=2722&firstName=Chris%20E& lastName=Duncan

http://www.hardballtimes.com/thtstats/main/index.php?view=batting&linesToDisplay=50&orderBy= hrPerF&direction=DESC&qual_filter=1&season_filter%5B%5D=2007&league_filter%5B%5D=2&a mp;pos_filter%5B%5D=All&Submit=Submit
Boomer.

Bonds nearly kills someone during BP!

glamboomer — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 05:36:42 -0000

Went to the game today & took in batting practice from my view in the Redbird Roost luxury suite (natch!)
Ever the fashion contrarian, Bonds steps into the cage wearing a grey t-shirt instead of the usual BP jerseys that the other Giants had on.
Well, he starts whacking baseballs into the seats & on one such swing, blasts one towards the walkway in right-center field, just beneath the scoreboard....
Meanwhile, a poor unsuspecting lady in a white shirt is leisurely strolling on the walkway, when...
BAM!! The ball smashes right into her, knocking her over as if she had been on the receiving end of a sniper rifle. People from the section out there (just above the patio seats in CF, just so we're clear here..) start rushing up to see if she's ok. After a few more swings, Bonds steps out of the cage & fixes his gaze out there, even wandering a few steps toward the mound to get a more definitive idea of the wrath he had brought down on some poor Cardinal fan....
Anybody else notice this? Wow.
Oh yeah. And Omar Vizquel sucks at BP... Remember when Bart traded Milhouse a torn Omar Vizquel card for a Carl Yastrzemski? Classic..

Cardinals close to signing Percival???

glamboomer — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:15:39 -0000

Here's the link from Rosenthal, who's just about the best in the business nowadays...
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6901918

What do you all think Walter is doing with this move? The bullpen's been really good so far.. Could Franklin be moved? Looper? Could the trade of a starter be far off?
Should be interesting whatever happens. Depth is always good with pitchers, especially with trade time looming...
Maybe Dunc thinks he can teach Troy the 2-seamer & Tony will put him in the rotation...

DeWitt responds to S.I.'s Heyman

glamboomer — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:34:40 -0000

Apparently, Bill DeWitt doesn't like to be second-guessed in the national media...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_heyman/06/05/scoop.tuesday/index.html

Nothing really new here, other than Heyman's surprise at being taken to task by the Cardinals owner..
What do you all think?
I suspect that, as with most things, the answers lay somewhere in the middle....