Yardbarker: Adam Melhuse

Odds And Ends: Wagner, Peavy, Melhuse

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:54:45 -0500

Some links for Wednesday morning... Billy Wagner says he could be pitching in the majors within 30 days, according to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News. If he returns in mid-July, the Mets would have time to evaluate Wagner before deciding whether to acquire more arms via trade. The Royals signed ten of their draft picks, according to MLB.com's Rustin Dodd. Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post reports that Evan Longoria never wonders what it would be like to play for the...

A Saturday afternoon game

Sat, 09 May 2009 19:23:59 -0500

No idea why the Pirates and Mets are playing at 1:10 today, but they are and that means I can't watch them. Paul Maholm looks to make some headway after his last good start was wasted against the Brewers and he'll go against John Maine, who's off to a pretty rough start this year. Both today and tomorrow are pretty favorable pitching matchups for us, so hopefully we can steal a win here. A few quick notes from the Trib: Adam Melhuse was signed and sent to AAA to provide some depth...

Yankees Bust the Bank While Other Clubs Play it Cool in Free Agency

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 03:01:12 -0500

Why is former free agent Mark Teixeira smiling? Simple. His contract with the Yankees is worth more than what severalof the top spending clubs in MLB have spent this off-season, combined. An interesting bit of data surfaced by ESPN researcher Mark Simon via Buster Olney?s blog on Friday regarding the pace of free agent contracts this off-season (read Long-term contracts down significantly). As the title suggests, ?Contracts of three-plus years are down significantly from two years ago.? Simon has some interesting figures (highly suggest reading) that got me to looking into the numbers further. Remember, the free agency cycle is far from complete, but there are some trends that show that going the ?Yankee way? is no longer in vogue. Be it the economy or a change in philosophy, it?s a different world this year. As of 2/14/09 a total of 156 contracts have been reached with 217 players that filed for free agency in the 2008-09 off-season. Of those, 63 of them are minor league deals accounting for 29 percent of the total to date. Compare that to last year?s free agency class which had a total of 59 minor league contracts to the 190 players that filed, or 31 percent. And remember, we?re just hitting spring training. There?s certain to be more deals reached moving forward. Those figures from this year and last remain closely matched, but when looking at 2006-2007 free agency class, the figures change dramatically. As Simon reported of long-term deals dropping since that period, so has the percentage of minor league deals reached. Of the 210 FA players two years ago, only 43 of them reached minor league contracts, or 20 percent of the total. Other findings... Every club has dipped into the FA pool, just some more than others. As noted by Simon of ESPN, the Yankees have busted the bank doling out $441 million in contracts to five players (Burnett, Marte, Pettitte, Sabathia, and Teixeira). They also have netted three minor league deals (Angel Berroa, Kevin Cash, and Jason Johnson). That $441 million accounts for 40.84 percent of the total $1,079,857,500 spent by all 30 clubs this year. But, here?s what?s truly amazing about the Yankees free agent spending: with the amount spent on Mark Teixeira?s contract alone ($180 million) you could take all that the Braves ($86.8 million) and Mets ($77.25 million) have spent, throw in the D-Backs ($12.05 million), Padres ($2.35 million), and White Sox ($1 million) and still have $550,000 left over. Take that in? The Braves and Mets rank 3 and 4 in total spending this off-season behind the Yankees and Cubs.Some clubs have yet to spend one red sent on major league contracts. The Rangers have 6 minor league deals, but no major league contracts (Brendan Donnelly, Eddie Guardado, Jason Jennings, Doug Mathis, Adam Melhuse, and Omar Vizquel), while the Blue Jays have exactly one FA transaction this off-season, the minor league deal with first baseman Kevin Millar. And, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Look for more details shortly when I do a guest column on MLBTradeRumors.com Here is a ranking of how each of the 30 clubs have spent in free agency as of 2/14/09, including the number of contracts (major and minor league): ML Contracts Minor Lg. Contracts Club Club Total % of All Total Spending 5 3 Yankees $441,000,000 40.84% 5 2 Cubs $88,425,000 8.19% 4 0 Braves $86,800,000 8.04% 4 5 Mets $77,250,000 7.15% 6 3 Dodgers $57,100,000 5.29% 3 2 Phillies $47,000,000 4.35% 4 0 Angels $38,905,000 3.60% 4 2 Giants $37,250,000 3.45% 5 5 Orioles $24,000,000 2.22% 2 5 Nationals $22,600,000 2.09% 3 1 Indians $22,000,000 2.04% 6 3 Reds $20,552,500 1.90% 6 1 Red Sox $19,000,000 1.76% 4 0 Rays $18,975,000 1.76% 4 2 Royals $15,350,000 1.42% 4 0 D-Backs $12,050,000 1.12% 2 0 Athletics $8,550,000 0.79% 1 0 Twins $8,500,000 0.79% 4 2 Brewers $8,350,000 0.77% 4 4 Astros $6,250,000 0.58% 2 2 Pirates $5,500,000 0.51% 2 1 Tigers $5,250,000 0.49% 3 3 Padres $2,350,000 0.22% 1 7 Rockies $2,250,000 0.21% 2 0 Cardinals $1,450,000 0.13% 1 3 Mariners $1,400,000 0.13% 1 0 White Sox $1,000,000 0.09% 1 0 Marlins $750,000 0.07% 0 6 Rangers $0 0.00% 0 1 Blue Jays $0 0.00% Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.Don't forget to register and log in on The Biz of Baseball site to get updates via your in-box, and see information only logged in members can see.Subscribe to The Biz of Baseball

Colorado Rockies Off Season Report

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:17:22 -0500

Season Wrap Up

Like most of the NL West, the Rockies had a disappointing 2008 season going 74 and 88 after being in the World Series the previous October. On top of that, they lost second year SS Troy Tulowitzki to injury for a big part of the year, missing 61 games and 1B Todd Helton missed half the season. Unfortunately for Rox fans, 2009 doesn’t look much better after trading away All Star LF Matt Holliday to Oakland.

Holes to Fill

The bat of Holliday will need to be filled and it may not happen from any one player unless they sign Manny Ramirez and that hasn’t even been mentioned in the rumor mills as far as I can tell. They will also need to fill a hole in the OF after the signing of Taveras by the Reds. Both the infield and the bullpen look to be in better shape after the trade and a few new aquisitions.

Free Agents

The Rox have 8 players in free agency this off season. They are: RP Brian Fuentes (33, type A Free Agent) has just signed with the Los Angelas Angels of Anaheim for 2 years at $17,5K; RP Matt Herges (38); SP Livan Hernandez (33); 2B Jon Herrera (24); C Adam Melhuse (36); CF Scott Podsednik (32); RP Glendon Rusch (34); CF Willy Taveras (26) signed with Cincinnati for 2 years at $6,250K. Of those remaining unsigned, they should try to retain Herges, Melhuse and Podsednik. The rest they can afford to let go.

The Outlook

If healthy, they should have no problem improving upon their 74 wins last year, but they will probably fall short of the playoffs once again without the bat of a player like Holliday even with an improved bullpen from a year ago. The rotation could still use help, but it isn’t terrible either. I’m just not sure that it’s Coors field proof. It will probably take them 3/4 years before they recover from loosing Holliday and become a post-season threat once again.

Off Season Moves Made So Far
The Rox acquired RHP Huston Street, LHP Greg Smith and OF Carlos Gonzalez from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for OF Matt Holliday in November. Not enough if you ask me. Then in December, they signed LHP Alan Embree to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2010, re-signed INF Jonathan Herrera to a Minor League contract and invited him to Spring Training after previously non-tendering him earlier in the month.

Please Keep Martin Behind The Plate

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:30:12 -0500

I've recently noticed some rumblings from the fans and the media about moving Russell Martin to third base permanently in the near future, and I can't help but question the sanity of those people. For example, Peter Gammons notes that some people in the Dodgers' organization might be open to moving Martin. "Russell Martin may have slid backward, and had his attention to the defensive preparation called into question, but he remains a tremendous talent who wants to play every ...

Boo Byrds: Rangers Drop Fifth Straight In Homestand Finale

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:45:01 -0500

The Texas Rangers' rapidly sinking 2008 campaign reaches a crossroads.

Millwood, Gabbard Fuel Rangers Doubleheader Sweep

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:47:53 -0500

For the first time in over 18 months, the Texas Rangers have managed to surpass the .500 barrier.

Gabbard, Rangers Fall Short In 7-6 Loss To Cubs

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:55:58 -0500

The continued struggles of southpaw Kason Gabbard; the Rangers finalize a minor league contract with native Texan John Patterson.

Rangers Quote Of The Week: 3/16 Plus Edition

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:39:59 -0500

Why Texas Rangers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia finds himself in a precarious position with just two weeks left remaining until Opening Day.

Rangers Quote Of The Week: 2/17 Edition

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 13:06:06 -0500

Why catcher Gerald Laird fails to inspire much confidence among the die-hard fanbase of the Texas Rangers.

Saturday Morning Rangers Notes

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:58:05 -0500

Second baseman Ian Kinsler and the Texas Rangers continue to discuss a long-term contract extension, an update on the Rangers' muddled catching situation, and various other odds and ends from Surprise.