Down the Stretch: Alicea Signing Leads FA Market

[RonCo]

Julio Alicea created a wave that ran through the BBA world by signing an option-laden deal that spans as many as five seasons and will pay him as much as $120M. That’s if you believe in those last two options (at $30m each), which, let’s admit, even Julio Alicea’s mother wouldn’t pick up. Alicea will be 35 at the time, right? Not going to happen.

So, really, what we’ve got is a three season deal for $60m (technically $66m with the team option buy-out clause), front loaded in ways that help the player and the team. Alicea will receive $30m and $15 in his first two seasons, then have an option for $15 in the third—ultimately, your classic three-year, $20m/per kind of AAV, which is pricey, but not unreasonable for a contending team to pay in this environment.

It’s also not out of line with Boise GM Joe Lederer’s practice of buying high on pitching—a sentence you are free to interpret in any way you want.

Regardless, Alicea’s deal paced the middle zones of Free Agency this year, but as usual for this age of the Brewster, we’ve seen several exciting signings—not the least was Brooklyn snaring Rockville’s All-Star catcher Francisco Flores on a front-loaded, but player friendly $95m deal that will run six seasons, assuming Flores executes his option in year six. At 27 years of age, Flores represents a newer class of free agents—kids who hit the market as they enter their peak. Flores had opted out of a deal that would have made him $11m for each of the next three seasons with Rockville (and left him looking for work as a 30-year-old). Nw he’ll average $16m a season, and pocket an additional million any time he makes the All-Star team, which he’s done four times so far. Not bad spending change if you can get it.

Bottom line, Brooklyn fans have to be pleased at the way Robins are rounding into shape.

Then there’s Charlotte (whose GM has been writing checks like they’re so much candy this off season) nabbing outfielder Carlos Gonzalez for two years at $18m. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know there’s a third option year on there, but it’s not going to happen. Cargo looks like he’s got miles left in the tank, but he’s 37 years old and the option vests at 650 PA. Regardless, it seems like a natural deal for the two parties. Cargo gets a ride with what could be an up-and-coming team, the club gets one of the more personable players in the league, who really ought to draw some fans.

The Atlantic division should be interesting this year, that’s for sure.

In the Heartland, 31-year-old Yancy Cravat signed one of the more interesting contracts in the off-season, with Louisville, naturally—who is lead by Stephen Shaw, a guy who seems to take great joy in twisting contracts to all sorts of macabre shapes. In this case, Cravat agreed toa $5m price tag in year one, with a mutual option at $9m in year two. While I could see that being executed, the chance that year three at $14m happens is squat…which is probably fair in the end. Cravat still has that sweet power from the left side of the plate, and a glove as sharp as a diamond, but otherwise his bat has been a bit pedestrian. $5m in year one is probably a bit of an under-pay, and $9m in year two is a bit of an over-pay. Maybe it will all wash out?

Twin Cities brought a pair of their past names back, Josh Brown getting about $16.3m for three seasons in another interesting structure. The deal is gently front loaded, and includes a player option in year two, and an achievable vesting option in year three. Assuming the pair continues to like each other, I could see Brown playing this one out. He’s a solid little pitcher with a nice price tag. But the big news for River Monster fans is that Scott Piccoli broke down and brought the legendary Mark Wareham back, giving him $30m for two seasons, and a player/vesting option for a third at $12.6.

Wareham opted out of a $12m deal with Chicago earlier, so this represents another good decision for the player, especially when you add in the fact that Wareham has ties in Minnesota, and anytime you can get out of Chicago needs to be considered a benefit in itself.

Regardless, I’ll admit I’ve often scratched my head at the idea Wareham is worth that kind of money, and just as often he’s proven me wrong. The guy’s been to the All-Star game six times and won four Pucketts. What the hell do I know? At 33, we’ll see if he has enough juice to keep playing shortstop.

Then we get to Nashville, who added swingman Freddy Delgado on a "prove it" kind of a deal that will pay him $6m in 2042, and has a pair of right-priced team options if Delgado does actually prove anything. Seems like a good idea at the time, anyway.


A FEW NAMES REMAIN

As we come to the tape, it’s of note that a few veteran players remain unsigned, perhaps the most intriguing are Yellow Springs’s George Robertson and Long Beach’s Miguel Suarez. I say that because of the unsigned, they are both representative of the younger players: 27 years old. At issue, though, is that both are LHB who have always platooned. Yes, they have platooned well, but still that is a position without a lot of scarcity. It probably hasn’t helped that Robertson has priced himself on the higher side through much of the off-season, and Suarez isn’t known as the greatest clubhouse guy.

These are interesting talents to see so available, as it strongly suggests what the talent level is around the league. My guess is that one of these guys might get signed, and the other will be busking for a job. We’ll see.

In a similar vein, one expects Frank Mahaffey to catch on somewhere. He’s only 30 years old and can still drop more than 2 WAR in the right situation. At question, though, is how many slots are left for left-handed out fielders, especially ones who have been the head case that Mahaffey has been throughout his career. He wants $10m. Perhaps someone will give it to him. Also interesting is 33 year-old power hitter Fernando Cruz. He wants’ $20m, and to be honest he might be worth it. I look for him to sign somewhere soon, likely on a 1-year deal.

Others available include aging stars who might still have something left, but are facing decisions of where to go with their life as the game has gotten younger. Guys like 35-year-old Reece Wareham and William Moreland. Jorge Rodriguez, at 37, is still one of the better leadoff hitters in the league, but he can’t field, and how many teams need a guy like that--or at least want to pay for one? He may be looking at the Middle East, or considering going into coaching. The game may also be telling Chris Limon that he’s done at age 35. And Rupert Grant at 39.

At 34, Albert Gaona probably screwed the pooch when he opted out of his deal with Charlotte. He wants $8.5m, but I don’t think he’s going to find an insurance sales company willing to give him that—which sounds odd, seeing that he hit 34 homers last year. But, yeah, 34-year-od RHB 1B in this league may not be worth what they once were.

At 36, Jon Mick remains unsigned. Look for him back in Portland soon, though.

Thirty-one year old Carlos Camacho is also unsigned, but probably for another reason. I think his agent’s basic plan is to wait until the end of the process and determine which teams are so desperate they are tilling to stress their clubhouse out.

Those are the parameters at play right now as teams are in the middle of Spring Training. As always, it’s going to be fun to see what happens.

[HoosierVic]

We'll let the Chicago insult pass. We're bigger than that, and the idea that Yellow Snow would insult anyone is just ... precious. But about Wareham - it's awfully hard to pass up that OBP and the fan interest boost he brings. That said, he was a liability in the field for us last season, and I think he hurt our bullpen especially (which are largely groundball and extreme groundball guys). If you can deal with that, however, it's easy to understand his appeal.

[RonCo]

Chicago: At Least We're Not Loserville!

[jiminyhopkins]

I will burn my team to the ground before I give any player $30 mil in any season for any reason.

[7teen]

Has a player ever been a 31st round draft pick in an expansion draft then 2 years later cashed in on a huge pay day like Julio Alicea!?!? I’m just glad Portland got some usable parts in that trade with Edmonton.

And yes, Mick will be back in Portland if he’ll lower his demands! He’s still asking $9.5 million.

[crobillard]

Has a player ever been a 31st round draft pick in an expansion draft then 2 years later cashed in on a huge pay day like Julio Alicea!?!? I’m just glad Portland got some usable parts in that trade with Edmonton.

And yes, Mick will be back in Portland if he’ll lower his demands! He’s still asking $9.5 million.

I remember when you were doing that sell off, Alicea wasn’t even one of the pieces I seriously wanted. I had no idea he would be as good as he was for me. I looked at his years in Seattle and thought maybeeee, but that’s as far as it got. He deserves his payday. I hope he sucks.

[jiminyhopkins]

I will burn my team to the ground before I give any player $30 mil in any season for any reason.

If anyone had any doubts as to what I mean, please see this helpful post!

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