Pirates pursue free-agent veteran Loretta

From Pavement to the basement…

The Pirates are trying to acquire a longtime nemesis.

General manager Neal Huntington has had two conversations aimed at acquiring free-agent infielder Mark Loretta, agent Bob Garber confirmed yesterday, and the parties plan to communicate further.

Loretta, 37, batted .280 with four home runs and 38 RBIs in 261 at-bats last season for Houston. He is a career .297 hitter in 14 seasons, including a starting berth in the 2006 All-Star Game at PNC Park, and is capable of playing any infield position, including shortstop. One highlight among those numbers is a .328 career average against the Pirates, one of the highest of any individual opponent since 1960, as well as a career-high 47 RBIs.

ESPN reported that the Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers also are interested.

Reds’ Dusty Baker wants to manage Kerry Wood again

As 3B turned fashion designer, Coco Laboy Chanel, once warned..."Jump out the nearest window if you are the object of managerial passion! Flee it if you feel it!”

The Cubs decided to pass on offering Wood a multiyear deal to retain his services, so Baker says he plans to give Wood a call to check on his possible interest in signing with Cincinnati.

“We have a closer already in [ Francisco] Cordero, who we have under contract for a few more years,” Baker said Monday. “But somebody can use Kerry Wood. I am going to call him. I like Kerry Wood as a person, not just as a ballplayer, but as a person. I will give him a call and see what’s up.”

Baker managed the Cubs when the oft-injured Wood provided glimpses of his potential as a hard-throwing starter before trying to reduce the strain on his arm and shoulder by pitching out of the bullpen as a setup man before becoming a closer.

Baker plans to consult with Reds general manager Walt Jocketty as the annual winter meetings commence next week in Las Vegas.

“We will probably address that while we are down there. It depends on a lot of stuff,” Baker said. “I have to talk to Kerry first. He did a pretty good job for the Cubs.”

Projecting C.C. Sabathia: The $140 Million Question

Sabathia is none of these things. Unlike Brown, he’s not almost 35. Unlike Hampton, his success does not come from the parks he’s called home. Unlike Zito, he doesn’t have rising walk rates and dropping strikeout rates and his best season was last year, not five seasons ago.

He doesn’t have control problems. He doesn’t have obviously problematic mechanics. He doesn’t just “get by” with a decent fastball and a whole lot of junk. By all accounts, he’s not a self-absorbed jerk, or a hot-head, or a primadonna, or a clubhouse cancer, or anything of that ilk. He doesn’t appear to wilt in the heat of a pennant race or the playoffs. In short, there’s really nothing wrong with him, except…

His size. Unlike Neyer’s assessment, though, this is not the elephant in the room nobody talks about. For one thing, everybody’s talking about it, and for another, can’t we come up with a less loaded analogy than that for a fat guy? “Sabathia’s weight is the gauche, pink drapes in the room everyone’s ignoring!” Nah, now we’re upsetting a different demographic. Sorry, fat guys.

CBS: Miller: Rice should make Hall in final at-bat; Rickey in first

I’ve always voted for Rice because, for me, he passes perhaps the most important criteria for Cooperstown: Did he dominate his era? That answer is a resounding “yes.” Based on the fact that he not only was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1978, but finished in the top five of the MVP voting five other times (and was an eight-time All Star).

...Of the new guys on the list, Rickey Henderson is a no-brainer. The prediction here is that, after Henderson, it will be sparse.

As for my ballot, I’ve already spilled the beans on Rice. As for the rest of it ... I’ll be spending much of this month scouring Baseball-Reference.com, Total Baseball, some Bill James books and anything else that may be helpful.

Which has helped him to vote for Jack Morris for 4-straight years...and counting.

Mass Live: Interview: Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News

This is the MVP story that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends…

Grant:...I’ve long known about the passion of Red Sox fans, but feel I’ve got a much clearer understanding at this point. Not saying that’s good or bad. But I do have a better understanding and appreciation of it. There were a couple of things, however, that bothered me. Most of it stemmed from the WEEI interview. The station called me and asked me if I’d jump on for a couple of minutes with their hosts. I started to try and explain that there was no anti-Red Sox bias, evidenced by my vote of Youkilis, and that obviously my opinion was way out of line with those of my colleagues. The hosts cut me off to start ripping me halfway through my explanation and things deteriorated from there. Accepting culpability, I guess, would not have made good radio.

I later heard the hosts question Terry Francona about my integrity and heard Tito disagree with my vote but suggest that I am a conscientious reporter. What disappoints me most was that on a day when the whole thing should have been about Pedroia winning, there was this whole mini-furor over a vote that ultimately didn’t have any impact on the outcome. I called Tito to say I’m sorry he had to answer questions about me. I’ve sent Dustin an email to also apologize if this “incident” took any shine off a very special day for him. That’s my sole regret in this whole process.

Do I wish folks could disagree without resorting to name-calling? You bet. But what reaffirmed my faith in the general goodness of fans was that almost every time I sent a response to somebody, I got back a note that said while they disagreed with me, they appreciated my responding. Let’s move on to something a little more pleasant, shall we?

Bob Timmermann:The evolution of the cheap save record (CORRECTED)

The +14 barrier was finally shattered, in an event as momentous as Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier, when Ramon Hernandez of the Cubs got a save in a 23-6 win over the Padres at Wrigley Field on May 17, 1977. The record was now +17.

Hernandez’s mark would not be match for nearly nine years. Mickey Mahler of Texas got a save in a 19-2 win by the Rangers over the Indians at Cleveland on May 12, 1986.

Stan Belinda upped the ante on September 4, 1999 while pitching for the Reds. He pitched the last three innings of Cincinnati’s 22-3 win at Philadelphia. Actually, Ed Vosberg had a +19 save first on April 19, 1996 pitching for Texas against Baltimore in a 26-7 game.

And that brings us to yesterday, August 22, 2007 in the first game of a doubleheader when Wes Littleton of the Rangers did a Bob Beamon on the record, with his +27 run save in the Rangers already mythic 30-3 win over the Orioles.

So to sum up, the record went from:

+1 - Bill Singer

+4 - Chuck Hartenstein

+9 - Wayne Granger

+10 - Bob Locker

+14 - Clay Carroll, Jim Ray, Paul Linblad, Jim Colborn, Dennis Leonard

+17 - Ramon Hernandez, Mickey Mahler

+19 - Ed Vosberg, Stan Belinda

+27 - Wes Littleton

The record has been held or shared by three Reds pitchers and three four Rangers pitchers.

Dodgers offer arbitration to Manny, Lowe, and Blake

Some good news for all of you...we will announce very shortly that we are offering arbitration to Manny, Derek Lowe and Casey Blake. What this means is that if they accept, we will have them back for 2009 and if they decline and choose to sign elsewhere, we will get compensation in the form of draft picks.

Rob Neyer: Numbers don’t add up for Meche

I will happily admit that I’ve been wrong about Gil Meche’s performance. After never throwing more than 186 innings in six seasons with the Mariners, he has topped 200 innings in both seasons with the Royals, posting sub-4.00 ERAs in both years. I was not, however, wrong about Meche’s contract, which was not a good one for the Royals.

Why not? Because big contracts don’t make sense for losing teams. In Meche’s two seasons the Royals have finished 69-93 and 75-87, with a .500 record still just a fantasy. Now, the argument that has been made is that while Meche might not push the Royals into contention all by himself, signing him “showed the Royals are serious” and would thus attract both fans and free agents.

Fans? The Royals finished last in attendance this year, next-to-last the year before. Free agents? The only notable free agent they’ve signed since Meche came aboard is Jose Guillen (about whom the less said, the better).

Keith Law:  Red Sox did well by signing Tazawa

Junichi Tazawa has now reportedly signed a term sheet with Boston, meaning that as long as he passes a physical he’ll be a member of the Red Sox. Tazawa apparently turned down more money—perhaps significantly more, depending on where Boston’s final offer landed between $3 million and $6 million—from other clubs, signing with the team that had been scouting him as early as last year.

Signing Tazawa was a no-brainer for the Red Sox. If he was an American college player eligible for next June’s draft, at worst he’d be taken in the top two rounds, and I think it’s likely he’d go in the back half or third of the first round. Boston has to burn a spot on its 40-man roster on him, but they had two spots open already and have at least two or three players they could outright if they need the room.

Keith Law is still free from ESPN Insider, but for how long…

No arbitration for Pettitte, Abreu

The Yankees will not offer arbitration to free agents Andy Pettitte and Bobby Abreu, SI.com has learned. The Yankees did not want to chance taking either player to arbitration since both players made $16 million in 2008 and stood to make even more than that in arbitration. Both players can still re-sign with the Yankees though only Pettitte appears to have a good chance to do so.

This is not a surprise. Neither player was likely to get nearly as much on the free agent market as they would have in arbitration.

Bill Plaschke: Dodgers owners need a huge reality check

“If you bring somebody in to play and pay them, pick a number, $30 million, does that seem a little weird to you?” she said. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. We’re really trying to see it through the eyes of our fans. We’re really trying to understand, would they rather have the 50 fields?”

Then, later in the conversation, she acted as if the Dodgers couldn’t afford to pay the big free-agent contracts that are always guaranteed.

“I think, oddly enough, if things weren’t guaranteed, then maybe we could pay for it,” she said.

Finally, she finished her Leno-worthy monologue by implying that high salaries were bad for the neighborhood.

“Whatever money they are guaranteed could be money that we could otherwise have given to the community,” she said.

Reaction? Where do I start?

No, No, No, No.

No, $30 million is not weird, it’s the price of competitive baseball.

No, fans should never be forced to choose between a charity and a championship, that’s absurd, is this a baseball team or a telethon? The fans want their money to go to one field only, the one occupied by the Dodgers, anything else is unethical and even immoral.

No, guaranteed contracts are not the deal of the devil, they are common baseball business.

No, fans should not have to worry that signing CC Sabathia means some poor child doesn’t eat that night, that’s beyond belief. Who runs this team, Charles Dickens?

Won’t anyone think of the children!?!?!

Red Reporter: Slyde: Top 25 Non-MVP seasons by Reds players

Woo-eee...somebody should start a blog on Friggin’ Joe Morgan.

2. Joe Morgan - 1973 - 22 WSAB - 26 HR, 82 RBI, 67/15 SB/CS - .290/.406/.493, 154 OPS+ - 4th MVP

3. Joe Morgan - 1972 - 21 WSAB - 16 HR, 73 RBI, 58/17 SB/CS - .292/.417/.435, 149 OPS+ - 4th in MVP

4. Joe Morgan - 1974 - 21 WSAB - 22 HR, 67 RBI, 58/12 SB/CS - .293/.427/.494, 159 OPS+ - 8th in MVP

We all know about Morgan’s back-to-back MVP seasons in 1975-1976, but did you realize that he led the NL in WSAB in each season from 1972 to 1976?  Morgan lost the MVP to teammates in 1972 (Bench) and 1973 (Rose), and then finished 8th in 1974 despite the Reds winning 98 games (though they did finish 2nd to the Dodgers).  I think of all of the players from the Big Red Machine, he’s the one that I wish I had gotten to see in person.

MLB: Noble: Cone looks to win over Hall of Fame voters

Hey voters! You’re all big babies. You’re not invited to showtime anymore!

Not the most accomplished pitcher of his time, Cone nonetheless developed a reputation for Bob Gibson resolve and the stamina of a marathoner that set him apart from most of those with totals greater than his. How his achievements, image as a Hessian and five World Series rings will resonate with those casting Hall of Fame ballots is yet to be determined. Cone is among 10 players new to the ballot this year. But he appears to be a candidate who will elicit support out of respect and not only for his statistical achievement.

Gaining the minimum support for election—inclusion on 75 percent of the ballots distributed to more than 575 members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America—appears to be a long shot for Cone…

Report: Hampton, Astros agree to deal

Doubletree resorts to Hampton in!

Mike Hampton reportedly is returning to the Houston Astros.

Hampton and the Astros reached agreement Monday on a contract pending the free-agent pitcher passing a physical, KRIV-TV in Houston reported on its Web site. Terms were not available.

Astros GM Ed Wade declined to comment.

Hampton pitched for the Astros from 1994-99, with his best season coming in 1999, when he was 22-4 with a 2.90 ERA.

Hampton has spent the past four seasons with the Atlanta Braves but did not pitch in 2006 and ‘07 because of injuries. In 2008, he was 3-4 with a 4.85 ERA after missing the first four months of the season because of injury.

ESPN: Klapisch: Mets didn’t get their money’s worth with Pedro

Pedro the Lionized: The Fleecing?

It was four years ago that Pedro Martinez was lured to New York by the Mets, a $53 million check stuffed in his pocket. Pedro wasn’t just a free-agent prize; to the Mets he was The One.

Now, 32 wins and no world championships later, it’s fair to ask: Was Pedro really worth the money? Not if the Mets are honest with themselves. Despite the projected success, Martinez broke down just as the Red Sox predicted after 2005 and was unable to deliver a single pennant, let alone a Series ring.

...By the time his contract with the Mets was coming to an end, Martinez couldn’t win the big games anymore. He spent so much effort nibbling corners, changing speeds, it was almost painful to watch him pitch. It seemed like the future Hall of Famer couldn’t even get out of the first inning, as the NL batted .375 against him in the opening frame.

All this while the Mets lost Game 7 of the 2006 league championship series against the Cardinals, then blew first-place September leads in both 2007 and ‘08. You couldn’t blame the Wilpons for revisiting Pedro’s $53 million contract and asking themselves: Where did the money go?

David Schoenfield: Are Boras clients worth the money?

When Oakland A’s pitcher Barry Zito hit the free-agent market following the 2006 season, his agent, Scott Boras, proclaimed Zito, then 28, would become baseball’s best left-handed starter since Steve Carlton.

He even produced a glossy, 74-page portfolio to show this possibility.

“He will be baseball’s next great ace,” Boras told USA Today. “Barry could be one of the best left-handed pitchers of all time. Players like this are Maddux-esque.”

The San Francisco Giants apparently agreed. They signed Zito to a $126 million contract.

In 2007, Zito went 11-13 with a 4.53 ERA.

In 2008, Zito went 10-17 with a 5.15 ERA.

Maybe Boras meant Mike Maddux, not Greg Maddux.

As always, Boras is a major player in the free-agent market. He represents Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez, along with Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez and Jason Varitek, among others.

Zito’s contract has certainly proved disastrous for the Giants, but it’s just one Boras megadeal. Do teams get their money’s worth with Boras clients? We checked other big Boras signings and rated them on our Scott Boras scale: Five Boras heads mean the teams got a great deal; one Boras head means they got fleeced.

The Baseball Talmud: Megdal: Quiet Year in Jewish Free Agency

The latest study from Megdal…

So as many of you know, the biggest prizes in this year’s free agency sweepstakes aren’t Jewish. (No, despite his size, CC Sabathia didn’t have a Jewish mother urging him to eat.) But there are two major league Jewish free agents to watch with the Winter Meetings around the corner.

The first is Brad Ausmus, the veteran catcher, who has indicated that he doesn’t want to return for a 17th season if he isn’t on the west coast. That works for the San Diego Padres, who, according to the USA Today, are interested in Ausmus as a backup to Nick Hundley.

Ausmus hasn’t been a prolific offensive player, in the sense that Sarah Palin hasn’t been a whiz on foreign geography or turkey-killing optics. His OPS+ numbers since 2001: 57, 74, 55, 63, 80, 54, 68, 60. Even his raw totals aren’t greatly inflated by Houston’s home park: just .218/.303/.296 in 2008. But in San Diego? I shudder to think what those numbers would look like in 2009. Still, Ausmus is a terrific interview, and his grandfather was a rabbi. Let’s hope he catches on.

MLB: Bauman: Familiar trio deserve Hall admission

Da-Da---DA-DA! We have our first official partial HOF ballot! (As usual send any/all HOF ballot articles in to the home office...)

I have persistently voted for Rice, Dawson and Blyleven, and I will again. This is always, in the end—even with all of the data on either side of any given argument—a subjective judgment. There are essentially at least two tiers of Hall of Famers; those who are no-doubters, first-ballot picks, the greatest of the great, and then there are those players whose overall worth is widely acknowledged, but whose worthiness for this honor can be debated. By definition, by receiving substantial support for many years, but never winning this election, these three players are in that second category.

...This annual vote represents another opportunity for the voters to revisit their choices and renew the attendant debates. The fact that these debates go on is a tribute to the standards for baseball’s Hall of Fame, and the importance of what this process signifies.

MLB: Jay Bell’s determination leads to Hall of Fame ballot

Szymborski is now writing under the name Gilbert? How’d he manage that?

Jay Bell never thought he would play 18 seasons in the big leagues.

“I made the Indians out of Spring Training in 1988 and I finished with a career high to that point of .218,” Bell said. “I remember thinking at that point that I didn’t know if I was going to be a good Major League player, but potentially I could be a good coach.”

Instead, he finds himself on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time.

..."I really believe the reason that I have my name on the ballot is because I was a good support player,” the ever-modest Bell said. “I wasn’t ‘the guy.’ I was thrust in that position a couple of times in my career, but I was at my best when I had great players around me. I’m in the position I’m in today because of those guys and what they did for me.”

MLB: Jim Rice hopes final try equals immortality

Let’s hear it for Lee Ving’s favorite ballplayer...one more time!

Down to his 15th and final at-bat for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Jim Rice hopes the vote will at last swing him right into Cooperstown, N.Y.

A year ago, Rice, the slugger who played his entire career (1974-89) with the Boston Red Sox, came agonizingly close to gaining enshrinement. A player needs to be named on 75 percent of the ballots by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

By being named on 392 ballots, Rice finished at 72.2 percent, leaving him 16 votes shy. If history is any indication, Rice could well make up the difference this time. No player has ever received as high a percentage as Rice did last year without eventually becoming a Hall of Famer.

The wrinkle with Rice, however, is that this is the last year that he is eligible to make it to the Hall of Fame by traditional means.

Should the right-handed-hitting masher fall short again, Rice’s only possible entry going forward would be the Veterans Committee ballot.

Peter Gammons checks in with Fire Brand

Evan interviews long time Floyd Dakil fan, Peter Gammons.

What can Dustin Pedroia possibly do next to top what he’s done in his first two seasons?

I’m not sure Pedroia can top his offensive stats, but he will continue to improve every minute phase of his game. I do think if they get more power behind him, he will concentrate more on pitch selection. I talked to friends at Athletes Performance Institute in Tempe that say he’s more obsessed than ever. I want to see some of those marathon ping pong matches between Pedroia and Brian Roberts, whose tennis/eye/hand coordination skills and off every chart.

How do you feel blogs, both as a tool for grassroots media like MVN, as a part of mainstream media like Extra Bases, or as an athlete’s direct to fan communication device have changed the media landscape? Do you think media is better now in total because of it, less collectively informed (given Bob Costas’ arguments), or just different? How do you think media and coverage of the game will continue to evolve?

The media world has dramatically changed, and I feel the blogs are part of our landscape. Are there instances when there is little accountability? Yes. Do I think we need reporters who understand players as people? Yes. Do I agree with everything? No. Look, I always read every word that Sean McAdam writes, because he is a giant. But the fact remains that if you line up the seriousness of good bloggers vs. the angry white minority shock jocks on radio--not Michael Holley, for instance, but those whose worlds exist to spread agenda--are superior to listening to talk radio. My car has Sirius, so I listen to Rivals Radio (I love college football), Little Stephen’s underground and the BB King blues station.

Scout: Walton: Marty Marion at 91: Still Waiting for the Hall

And so are all the INRange Telepharmacy Fulfillment System toting members of SABR!

Simply put, Marty Marion deserves to be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2009. It has been a long time coming for the shortstop, now 91 years of age as of Monday, December 1, but sadly, he is assured of missing out once again this year.

...For whatever reason, being a defensive stalwart seems to have closed off the most important career recognition possible – selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 1970, Marion received approval from 40% of the writers, his high-water mark in 11 different regular votes held from 1960 through 1973. Once he fell off the regular ballot, Marion often continued to be singled out as one of the primary candidates under consideration by the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee.

Yet, the anticipated call never came.

...It is past time for the Veterans Committee to send Marion to Cooperstown where he rightly belongs alongside The Man, Billy the Kid and his old double-play partner Red, but alas, again in 2009 it just isn’t going to happen.

Korea Times: Prelim Roster for WBC Unveiled

Manager Kim In-sik, who led South Korea to the semifinals in the inaugural contest in 2006 after beating the big leaguer-studded United States and eventual champion Japan, selected 45 players including seven playing overseas _ Park Chan-ho, Lee Seung-yeop, Lim Chang-yong, Lee Hye-chun, Choo Shin-soo, Baek Cha-seung and Lee Byung-kyu.

Free agent Kim Byung-hyun, who did not pitch in the 2008 season, was also included.

``Lee Seung-yeop said he would not play at the WBC to focus on his next season in Japan, but the technical committee have included him just in case he changes his mind,’’ Kim said.

Remember kids, in Asia, the last name comes first.

Donovan: Cot’s is one-stop shopping for baseball contract info

And so, back in 2005, Cot’s Baseball Contracts was officially hatched. Cot’s has become, in the ensuing three years, nothing less than the unofficial clearinghouse for MLB contracts, a finely detailed listing of every current big-league deal, from Alex Rodriguez’s $275 million monster with the Yankees (Did you know that the Rangers are still shelling out millions in deferred payments?) to Barry Zito’s $126 million heist from the Giants (which includes a clause that guarantees him hotel suites on road trips).

Want to see who’s a free agent this winter and what kind of contracts they’ve signed recently? Cot’s has it, from Rich Aurilia to Greg Zaun. The highest-paid player on the Twins? Cot’s has that, too. (Justin Morneau has an $80 million deal, but Joe Nathan is going to get paid a team-high $11.25 million in 2009.) The blog has become a regular reference point for worked-up fans, needy members of the media and even big-league front-office types, at least one of whom has told Euston that he’d rather stop by Cot’s than take the time to fire up Major League Baseball’s internal site.

“I was worried, at the beginning, for a couple of reasons. I wasn’t sure that Major League Baseball would be real happy about it,” Euston says. “But once I began hearing from people in the game and working with the clubs, everyone has been very positive. More than a few have told me they have [the site] bookmarked, which I think is very funny.”

Always nice to see a non-MSM site get props from the MSM.

BBTiA: Blake Beavan Interview

Q: Are you cocky, confident, or a combination of the two?

Beavan: Every professional athlete is cocky in his or her own way. That’s what makes you good. Whether it’s cocky as far as showing people in body language, or the quiet cocky, I think everybody is some sort of cocky. I’d say I’m more confident than anything. Back in high school I’d tell you that I was definitely cocky, but now I’ve been through a year and a half of professional baseball, with instructs and stuff, and it brings you back down to earth and humbles you and makes you realize that you aren’t the only good athlete out there—that you are going to have to work just as hard, if not double the effort of the other guys, if you want to be on that stage.

McNary: George Steinbrenner a Hall of Famer? Puh-lease!

“This is such a joke and makes a mochary or the sport!”

Now, the Hall of Fame. Cooperstown is a special place to baseball fans. Only the best of the best belong there, and even some of those (Pete Rose) don’t get in for various reasons. The case for Steinbrenner would include six World’s Championships, and turning a $10 million investment into a billion-dollar empire.

The case against includes Steinbrenner making a mockery of baseball budgets, a mockery of loyalty to the people he hired, and a mockery of the beauty and fairness of farm systems.

Recognizing that some will view this as a non sequitur, the fact that such baseball stars as Andre Dawson, Ron Santo, Graig Nettles, Bert Blyleven and Double Duty Radcliffe are not in the Hall of Fame, makes the notion of Steinbrenner one day having his bust next to those of Ruth, Gehrig, Mays and Aaron absurd.

A Hall of Fame self-promoting businessman?  Yes!

A baseball Hall of Famer? Puh-lease!

Primer Dugout 12-1-08

Happy Birthday to Walter Alston.

FanGraphs: Seidman: Valuing Meche

Meche, with a 4.18 FIP in 199 innings, would be responsible for 92 runs. Conveniently enough, this cancels out with the 92 runs surrendered by the replacement starter, meaning Meche’s value above replacement level is +25 runs. Converted to wins, Meche would be worth 2.5 wins.

Last year, the average dollar figure per win was around 4.5-4.75 million dollars. With inflation, I’ll call this year’s amount a firm 5 million per win. 2.5 wins multiplied by 5 million dollars per win amounts to 12.5 million dollars. That is, if Meche were a free agent right now and signed a 1-yr deal, 12.5 million dollars would be an appropriate fee. For multi-year deals, we usually factor in a 10% discount rate, since players tend to sacrifice a bit of their monetary value for some security. With that in mind, a 3-yr deal for Meche would come out to 33.75 million dollars. A 5-yr deal would be valued at 56.25 million dollars.

Meche may not have seemed worth the money back in 2006, but as of right now, his average annual value would be somewhere around 11.25 million dollars, just slightly above the 11 mil in his actual contract.

And, uhh Barnald...it’s Herman “Hesh” Rabkin not Meche. Nice try.

TSN: Justice: Yanks sure could use their other closer in Sabathia derby

It’s about time Jack Aker got some credit!

Maybe Joe Torre could have closed the deal with CC Sabathia. After all, he has a great reputation with players.

Perhaps he could have convinced Sabathia that pitching for the Yankees would be a wonderful experience. If Torre could change Mike Mussina’s mind about the Yankees, he might be able to change Sabathia’s.

...Now, as the Yankees nervously await an answer from Sabathia, as they debate whether to throw still more money at him, it’s one of those times where Hank Steinbrenner’s decision to show Torre the door looks more foolish than ever.

The Yankees have millions to throw at free agents this winter, but so far no player has jumped at the money. There’s a sense among some agents that a lot of players don’t want to play for the Yankees.

That gossip could be a bargaining tool, or it could reflect how much less appealing the Yankees have become in the post-Torre era.

NPB: Darvish Signs for 2009

That’s a lot of ￥u’s.

Yu Darvish has renewed his contract for ￥270m ($2.7m), a ￥70m ($700k) increase over 2008. Although Darvish was expected to hit the ￥300m ($3m) mark, he still set a record high for 5th-year players. “The didn’t win and I didn’t earn any personal titles,” explained Darvish.

NPB players are under team control for a minimum of eight years, and pre-free agent players sign get multi-year contracts (not that I’ve heard of anyway). So each offseason players and teams negotiate salaries for the upcoming season. It’s a little like the arbitration process in MLB, but players’ salaries will decrease after a bad year, and there’s never a third party mediator involved. Players who hold out sometimes pay their own way to spring training.