DODGERS AROUND the MLB Thread

irony, 4 years later...

Yankees Agree To Terms With Andrew Bailey​

By Aaron Steen [February 22 at 11:18pm CST]​

​

11:18pm: Bailey will earn a prorated base salary of $1.975MM if he works his way up to the Major League club, Olney reports. All told, the Major League side of the deal is valued at $2.5MM, and includes a 2015 option and buyout.​

​

8:57pm: The Yankees have agreed to an incentive-laden minor league deal with Andrew Bailey, ESPN's Buster Olney reports. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes was the first to report that the sides were close to a deal (via Twitter).​

​

Bailey, 29, had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder in July, and was not tendered a contract by the Red Sox this offseason. Nevertheless, more than 15 teams had called to check in with the reliever by early December, according to an MLBTR report. If the timetable we reported at that time holds, Bailey will be ready to suit up in pinstripes by mid-May.​

​

A former All-Star closer with the Athletics, Bailey has struggled with injuries since his rookie season, and managed just 44 innings for Boston after he was acquired in a winter 2011 trade. However, he could provide a midseason boost to the Yankees, as his career 2.64 ERA attests to. The club's bullpen is in a state of flux following the retirement of Mariano Rivera, and appears to have few certain options behind closer David Robertson. January's sigining of lefty Matt Thornton is the team's lone major bullpen acquisition in an offseason in which Boone Logan and Joba Chamberlain have been lost to free agency.​

__

 

Angels Sign Trout To One-Year, $1MM Deal
By Steve Adams [February 26 at 12:18pm CST]

While the rumored long-term deal has yet to come to fruition, the Angels and Mike Trout agreed to a record-setting one-year deal, according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times. Trout will earn $1MM in 2014, marking the largest payday in Major League history for a pre-arbitration player. Trout's deal surpasses the $900K guarantee achieved by Ryan Howard in 2007 and Albert Pujols in 2003 (though as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets, Howard's deal was farther north of the then-lower league minimum salary).

The $1MM salary likely makes it easier to extend Trout; as MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reported earlier in the week, once Trout's 2014 salary is agreed to, the Angels can structure a long-term deal to begin in 2015 without fear of incurring luxury tax penalties in 2014. Talks with Trout are rumored to be surrounding a six-year, $150MM extension. That mark would be historic in its own right and would buy out three years of free agency, were it to begin in the 2015 season.

Earlier this morning, our own Zach Links examined how pre-arbitration salaries are determined, noting that several teams use rigid scales that afford only minimal raises to players with 0 to 3 years of Major League service time. As that post explains, performance is often factored into the salaries of pre-arb players, but a raise of this magnitude is virtually unheard of for a player who has yet to hit arbitration.

Angels GM Jerry Dipoto called the deal a "landmark," when speaking to reporters (including Shaikin). Fletcher tweets that Dipoto feels that Trout's performance merited breaking a rule on their 0-to-3 pay scale (referring to years of service time). Indeed, Trout has been arguably the best player in baseball over the past two seasons, slashing an otherworldly .324/.416/.560 with 57 homers, 82 steals, two All-Star bids, two Silver Slugger awards, a Rookie of the Year trophy and a pair of runner-up finishes in the American League MVP voting.

The contract is a notable step up from last year's $510K renewal, which was met with some harsh criticism from agent Craig Landis, fans and the media. This coming season marks Trout's final year before arbitration eligibility, and it's fair to assume that Trout could shatter records in arbitration as well, if the two sides are ultimately unable to agree on a long-term deal.

__

 

yeah, maybe kinsler's perception is a bit off and he's just bitter/jaded
still, may be interesting when the two teams meet ...

Ian Kinsler rips Rangers' GM​

Former Ranger says he hopes team goes 0-162​

By David Brown | Big League Stew -- 2 hours ago​

​

​

(USA TODAY)​

​

​

Ian Kinsler minced no words during an interview with ESPN the Magazine about his trade from the Texas Rangers to the Detroit Tigers. Kinsler has a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas, and it was put there by Jon Daniels, the Rangers general manager, if you take Kinsler's side.​

​

Kinsler called Daniels "a sleazeball" for pushing out Nolan Ryan as team president and said he hopes the Rangers "lose their a** and go 0-162" without him. Kinsler also didn't like that he found out about the Prince Fielder trade well before Daniels got around to telling him personally. If you want raw, emotional honesty from an athlete interview, here ya' go:​

​

During that time, it was well-known throughout the game that there was a power struggle going on between Ryan and Daniels, who had acquired the title of president of baseball operations last March in a front office restructuring that ultimately led to Ryan's departure after the season. Kinsler squarely blames the man who traded him. "Daniels is a sleazeball," he says. "He got in good with the owners and straight pushed Ryan out. He thought all the things he should get credit for, Ryan got credit for. It's just ego. Once we went to the World Series, everybody's ego got huge, except for Nolan's."​

​

Honesty is one thing, but reality might not coexist too well with Kinsler's point of view. Everybody loves Nolan Ryan, but it sure seems like it was his ego that couldn't handle Daniels being the main decision-maker that turned the Rangers into a power.​

​

Taking the totality of the interview into context, Kinsler seems like someone motivated by the tiniest perceived slight. Even when Tigers' GM Dave Dombrowski tried paying him a compliment, Kinsler turned it into an "I'll show him."​

​

Before the 2013 season, Kinsler didn't like when the Rangers asked him to move to first base to make way for top prospect Jurickson Profar. Kinsler refused, and the story implies that Profar hitting poorly as a rookie utility player was viewed partially as Kinsler's fault, and that those events led to the Rangers trading him.​

​

Going back further, Kinsler called the trading of Michael Young a mistake because it left a leadership void in the Rangers clue. Probably true, but Young also is one of Kinsler's best friends, and his departure put responsibility on Kinsler to be a leader — something he admits he wasn't up for. It "bogged" him down and affected his play. Kinsler seems bitter about that (he seems bitter about a lot of things), but rather than accepting responsibility for failing, it's all Daniels' fault.​

​

​

(USA TODAY)​

​

​

If all of this motivates Kinsler into have a better season, good for him. Excessively trashing Jon Daniels makes him look small, though.​

​

David Brown edits Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rdbrown@yahoo-inc.com and follow him on Twitter!​

__