The Toronto Blue Jays will sign catcher Russell Martin to a five-year, $82 million deal, reports Peter Gammons, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The Cubs were reportedly favorites to sign Martin as of last night, reported Rosenthal, and a six-year, $64 million deal was going to be the range in which he was going to sign. It looks as if the Blue Jays really wanted to sign Martin, as they offered him a five-year deal worth almost $20 million more than the rumored contract for him. I mentioned to a colleague of mine at the beginning of the offseason that the Blue Jays were going to be a favorite for Martin. Martin, 32 next season, will be receiving a five-year deal, a deal that appears to be a major commitment for Toronto. However, he posted really good numbers for Pittsburgh last season, both offensively and defensively. The three-time All-Star had just concluded a two-year, $15 million deal with the Pirates. Now, Martin will be making an average of $16.4 million per season, and while the Pirates said they would try all they could to make room to accommodate Martin in 2015 and beyond, a five-year, $82 million deal definitely seems to be outside their reach. It is surprising that the Cubs did not go out and sign Martin, but again, for $82 million, it might just be the right non-move for them. Martin is still good--really good, in fact--but it is just hard to know where he will be in five seasons. Martin is the first top free agent to sign this offseason, and now he will head back home to Canada to play for the only Canadian baseball team. Martin was born in Ontario and went to High School in Montreal before being drafted by the Dodgers in the 17th round of the 2002 MLB Draft. On the season, Martin hit .290/.402/.430 with 11 homers and 67 runs batted in over 460 plate appearances. His .832 OPS is definitely a respectable one. Overall, Blue Jays catching hit for a .659 OPS, which ranked 22nd in the majors. Martin's OPS alone would put the Blue Jays second overall in catchers OPS. Behind Martin last year, the Pirates ranked third in the majors in OPS. --Devan F.
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The Miami Marlins have agreed to terms with outfielder Giancarlo Stanton to an extension, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The deal is over thirteen seasons and is worth $325 million, which is the largest contract in North American professional sports history. Stanton's thirteen-year, $325 million contract had been rumored to be close over this past weekend, as we waited for the official deal to be signed. However, the Marlins have not officially announced the contract. Stanton has been their top priority to extend, and now he will be in a Miami uniform perhaps through his age-38 season. That is not a guarantee. Stanton will have a possibility to opt-out following his age-30 season (or shortly thereafter), Heyman reports. The 25-year-old will guaranteed to be under contract for five, possibly six seasons. Following that, however, is still up in the air. If he decides to opt-out, Stanton could set a second contract record, similar to how Alex Rodriguez opted-out of his old deal to get his $275 million deal from the Yankees, which was the record at the time. An announcement of this deal is expected later this week, perhaps Wednesday or Thursday, reports Heyman. It is still possible that a deal is still not signed, but it is finalized and in place, while also guaranteeing that Stanton will be a Marlin for five or six seasons. It also has full no-trade rights. This is the largest contract in Marlins history, tripling Jose Reyes' $103 million deal, and represents a shocker to the team's payroll. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Marlins just had $44.3 million in guaranteed money to their roster at the end of the 2014 season. Stanton, with his $6.5 million salary via the arbitration process, was the largest contract on their team. His new deal alone, on an average annual value basis, would increase their salary by over 50 percent. Stanton and his agents at Wasserman Media Group have struck gold with this deal. Stanton still hasn't even returned to the field following his season-ending hit by pitch from Brewers pitcher Mike Fiers. While that doesn't seem to be an issue in terms of production, this deal appears to be a risk for Miami management, even if it might just be a small one. Regardless, Stanton has been one of the most prolific sluggers in the majors since coming up to the majors in 2010. The Marlins former 2nd round pick in 2007, out of Notre Dame HS in California, hit .288/.395/.555 with 37 homers and 105 runs batted in on the season. He was named to his second All-Star team in five seasons, while finishing runner up to Clayton Kershaw in the MVP award voting. Over his career, Stanton has hit .271/.364/.540 with 154 homers and 399 runs batted in over 634 games. The potential is there, as he is one of the best young players in the majors. And at age 25, Stanton looks to only be improving. Many large contracts are signed after the players already have hit their prime, but Stanton's prime still appears to be coming. The Marlins still have a few young players that might be up for an extension soon. Jose Fernandez and Christian Yelich are two young players that are closing in on their arbitration seasons, which could be turned into extensions. An extension during Fernandez's arbitration process will likely not occur, as his agent, Scott Boras, prefers for his clients to hit free agency. Yelich's extension could come next offseason. --Devan F. The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired right-hander Jeremy Hellickson from the Tampa Bay Rays, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo reported that a deal was close. In return for Hellickson, the Rays will be receiving two prospects, outfielder Justin Williams and shortstop Andrew Velazquez, reports Cotillo here and here. Hellickson will add much-needed starting pitching depth to the Diamondbacks, and while underperformance and a surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow have lowered his stock, the move is a good one for Arizona. Hellickson, 27, was drafted in the 4th round of the 2005 MLB Draft by the Rays. He broke into the major leagues in 2010 at age 23 and won the AL Rookie of the Year award the following season. Hellickson was thought to be the next big thing for the Rays, especially after going 23-21 with a 3.02 ERA and a 126 ERA+ in his first two full seasons in the majors, logging 366 innings. Hellickson didn't have a high strikeout-to-walk ratio -- he averaged 1.84 strikeouts per walk -- but he was able to get the outs he needed and got the job done for Tampa Bay. The former number six overall prospect (as ranked by Baseball America) was starting to blossom with a potential to be an ace. However, over the past two seasons, Hellickson has almost been someone else. He posted a disastrous 5.17 ERA and a 74 ERA+ in 2013 and was never able to get it going this past season, posting a 4.52 ERA and a 82 ERA+ in 63.2 innings pitched, before being shut down due to surgery. Perhaps a change of scenery with Arizona will get Hellickson back to who he was before. In return, the Rays got two very intriguing prospects. They received 18-year-old outfielder Justin Williams, who was the Diamondbacks' 2nd round pick in 2013. Williams hit .351/.403/.467 in 320 plate appearances between Rookie and Single-A ball and has a chance to be pretty good. Williams recorded 102 hits in only 291 at bats (!!!). They also received 2012 7th round pick shortstop Andrew Velazquez, who posted a .290/.367/.428 line in 623 plate appearances in Single-A. Diamondbacks starters posted the fourth-worst ERA in 2014. The acquisition of Hellickson, which is a medium-risk, high-reward deal, will be interesting, but if they can get the old Hellickson, they definitely will have made a solid move as they look to get back to contention. --Devan F. The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed right-handed starter A.J. Burnett to a one-year deal, they announced. Burnett will make $8.5 million with Pittsburgh this season, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. He recently declined a $12.75 million player option from the Phillies, which basically means that he was willing to take a $4.25 million pay-cut to pitch for a contender in the Pirates. Burnett was thought to be mulling over retirement, but the 37-year-old decided to give it one more shot. The North Little Rock, Arkansas native was drafted by the New York Mets in the 8th round of the 1995 MLB Draft out of Central Arkansas Christian High School, but was flipped to the then-Florida Marlins, where he spent the first seven seasons of his big league career. Burnett has since bounced around the major leagues, pitching with Toronto, New York (Yankees), and Pittsburgh before coming to Philadelphia in 2014 on a one-year, $15 million deal with an option for 2015. Burnett led the National League in losses last season, going 8-18 with a 4.59 ERA and a 81 ERA+ in 213.2 innings pitched, the most innings he's worked since 2008. Burnett pitched for the Pirates from 2012 to 2013 and seemed to really enjoy his time there, going 26-21 with a 3.41 ERA and a 107 ERA+ in 393.1 innings, striking out 389 and walking 129. The 3.41 ERA was the lowest ERA in any two-year stretch over Burnett's entire career. It says a lot about Burnett willing to take a pay-cut to go pitch for a winning team, but the need for another starter was there in Pittsburgh. Francisco Liriano and Edinson Volquez may or may not come back to the team, and if they don't, their rotation would include, Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke, Gerrit Cole, Vance Worley, and Burnett. He adds much needed insure to the team. --Devan F. Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw have won the American and National League Most Valuable Player awards, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) announced today.
Trout has captured his first of likely many MVP awards after finishing second to Miguel Cabrera over the past two seasons, even when many thought he was more deserving. This season, with Cabrera missing time due to injury, and Trout continuing to excel, he was the shoe-in to become MVP. He won the award unanimously, the first to do so since Ken Griffey Jr. did in 1997. Trout is the fifth-youngest MVP ever, behind Vida Blue, Johnny Bench, Stan Musial, and Cal Ripken Jr. Three of those other four (Bench, Musial, and Ripken) are currently members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Trout may just be on his way, but at 23-years-old, it is way to early to know. Kershaw was my choice for MVP, but since he was a pitcher, it was between him, Andrew McCutchen, and Giancarlo Stanton. I felt that he deserved the award the most, due to the fact that he was quite frankly more valuable to the Dodgers than the latter two were to the Pirates and Marlins. Kershaw was absolutely dominant for a pitcher, while McCutchen and Stanton were really good, but not dominant. Kershaw barely edged out Stanton, earning just 57 more points. McCutchen was only 29 points behind Stanton. The race was really tight, but in the end, I believe the BBWAA made the best choice. On the season, Trout hit .287/.377/.561 (.939 OPS) with 36 home runs and 111 runs batted in. Trout is a three-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger, 2012 AL Rookie of the Year, and has finished second in the MVP voting in both 2012 and 2013. Trout is easily among the best players in the major leagues and it was only about time he won an MVP award. Trout was worth 7.8 fWAR, which was the lowest of his career (!!!) with a minimum 500 plate appearances. The 26-year-old Kershaw went 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA and a 1.81 FIP in 198.1 innings pitched. Kershaw just recently captured his third Cy Young award in four years, and has led the National League in ERA in each of the past four seasons (WOW). Kershaw tossed six complete games this season and struck out 239 hitters, averaging over one per inning. He was worth 7.2 fWAR, the highest of his career. Congratulations to Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw on winning the MVP awards! --Devan F. |
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