RINGOLSBY: Wealth of free agents in waiting

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 4, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by Ronald Martinez / Getty Images/2006

Home run king Barry Bonds, who made $19.3 million last year, hasn't had serious discussions with teams about playing this season.

Reality sets in quickly with the start of the new year.

There are 27 players on the free-agent market - Roger Clemens excluded - who made at least $5 million in 2007 who don't have a job yet for 2008.

Home run king Barry Bonds heads the list. Having made $19.3 million with the Giants last year, including incentives, Bonds doesn't even have a serious discussion about employment for 2008.

Oakland seemed a possible destination, the A's and Bonds both seeing it as a chance to jab the Giants, but with Oakland's decision to undergo a major rebuilding project, it doesn't need the distractions that come with Bonds.

If these free agents want to play again, they are going to have to make major lifestyle adjustments, although most of them will be hoping they can rebound in 2008 and create a new market next offseason.

None of the players is a middle infielder. There are, however, a handful of corner infielders - first basemen Shea Hillenbrand ($6.5 million in 2007), Eric Hinske ($5,625,000) and Mike Sweeney ($11 million), and third basemen Pedro Feliz ($5.1 million) and Corey Koskie ($6.25 million).

Outfielders, in addition to Bonds, include Shawn Green ($11.5 million), Luis Gonzalez ($7.35 million), Mike Cameron ($7 million), Kenny Lofton ($6 million) and Reggie Sanders ($5 million). Mike Piazza ($8.5 million) is the only catcher or designated hitter among the 27.

Starting pitchers include rehabilitating Bartolo Colon ($14 million), Freddy Garcia ($10 million), Matt Clement ($9.5 million), Kris Benson ($8 million) and Odalis Perez ($9.25 million) plus healthy but unemployed Jeff Weaver ($8,325,000), Livan Hernandez ($7 million) and Brett Tomko ($5.1 million).

Relievers include Armando Benitez ($7.6 million), Bob Wickman ($6.5 million), Octavio Dotel ($5 million) and Keith Foulke ($5 million).

Overheard

* Right-hander Clement, hoping to return after missing a year because of surgery, appears to be focusing on Cleveland and Pittsburgh. A selling point for him is the proximity to the home he recently built in Butler, Pa.

* Left-hander Francisco Liriano, 24, is rehabbing from the reconstructive left elbow surgery he underwent a year ago, and it appears he will not be ready until midseason.

* Right-hander Jon Lieber has indicated an interest in the Mets, among other teams. Agent Rex Geary said his client enjoyed pitching in New York when he was with the Yankees.

Readers' turn

Bob Sellers asks, "Can you tell what is meant by being eligible for salary arbitration? I realize that it is a form of salary, but why does a player have to become eligible and what distinguishes it from other forms or stages of negotiation? Also, why did the Rockies let Matsui go, seemingly so easily, to the Astros?

Bob, here is the word from the Major League Baseball Players Association Web site concerning salary arbitration: "A player with three or more years of service, but less than six years, may file for salary arbitration. In addition, a player can be classified as a 'Super Two' and be eligible for arbitration with less than three years of service. A player with at least two but less than three years of major league service shall be eligible for salary arbitration if he has accumulated at least 86 days of service during the immediately preceding season and he ranks in the top 17 percent in total service in the class of players who have at least two but less than three years of major league service, however accumulated, but with at least 86 days of service accumulated during the immediately preceding season."

As for Kazuo Matsui, the Rockies were willing to give him a two- year deal, but not three years. Those are the decisions a team has to make when it looks at long-range planning. If Jayson Nix happens not to be ready this year, there is every reason to believe there will be several in- house candidates surface in the next year, including Chris Nelson. So what happens is if you commit, say, $5 million in 2010 to Matsui, that's money that would be better used to try and keep Garrett Atkins or Brad Hawpe or even Matt Holliday.

For responses to other questions or to ask questions of your own, check out the Rockies Inbox at RockyMountainNews. com/sports.

Two cents' worth

In the midst of Curt Schilling's holier-than-thou pronouncements about late-career booms, it would be interesting to have Schilling explain how he turned a lackluster career at the age of 30 into a dominating effort in the next decade.

At 30, having played with a Philadelphia Phillies team that included Lenny Dykstra and Pete Incaviglia, who were listed in the Mitchell Report, Schilling had a career record of 52-52.

Since he turned 30, Schilling is 164-94. What's more, he was 34 before he won 20 games for the first time and has done it three times in the past seven years.

ringolsbyt@RockyMountainNews.com

NUMBERS GAME

8 consecutive seasons of 200 innings or more for free-agent right-hander Livan Hernandez. In fact, in his 10 full major league seasons, the only time the Cuban defector failed to reach 200 was in 1999, when he split the season between Florida and San Francisco and worked 1992/3 innings.

HALL OF FAME LINK

University of Vermont freshman infielder Frank Petroskey has an insight into the Hall of Fame.

His father, Dale, has been president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., since 1999.

HE SAID IT

"You know you are going to pay premiums for starters, middle of the order (hitters). Sometimes the bullpen guys, even though they are important, are not, as far as financially, the key guys that you're looking at, but they end up being key guys as far as the games go."

Bob Melvin, Arizona manager, on rebuilding bullpens every year.

MILE HIGH WATCH

* Coors Field never will be a pitching paradise, but it can be conquered, which was evident from last season.

Not only did the Rockies rank eighth in the National League with a 4.32 ERA, lowest in franchise history, but their 3.86 post-All-Star-break ERA was the lowest in the NL. Atlanta ranked second at 3.93, with the Cubs third at 4.16.

The Rockies rotation ERA of 4.58 was the lowest in franchise history despite using 13 pitchers to start games.

The bullpen had a 3.85 ERA, second best in franchise history. The 1998 bullpen had a 3.65 ERA.

* Shawn Estes, who led the Rockies in victories in 2004, will make a comeback attempt with San Diego in spring training.

* Waiting to see how strong a push the Rockies will make for left-hander Mark Hendrickson, let go by the Dodgers. The Rockies had interest in him when he was with Toronto and Tampa Bay.

* Jose Castillo decided to take the sure thing and signed with Florida instead of being signed to a minor league deal with Colorado, for whom he would have to compete with Jayson Nix and others for the second base job.

The question in Florida is who will play second and third among Castillo and Marlins incumbent second baseman Dan Uggla. Odds are Uggla goes to third. Castillo has the defensive edge on Uggla at second.

* The Rockies' 20 wins in September marked the seventh time in 13 years a major league team has won at least 20 in the final month of the season.

The 1995 Yankees, 2000 Athletics and 2002 Cardinals won 21 in September. The 2007 Rockies, 1999 Orioles, 2000 Giants and 2004 Astros had 20-win Septembers.

The Rockies had a winning record in every month last year except April, a franchise record.

• January 4, 2008

  6:52 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Madwoman writes:

  Your Curt Schilling comments make little sense. Well before turning 30, Schilling put up a 2.35 ERA in a season which included 26 starts. The next year, he went 16-7 and posted a 2.59 ERA in the post-season, including a WS complete game shutout. It seems to me he had left lackluster behind at this point. In the next two years, still prior to his 30th birthday, he was hurt and frequently on the DL. However, when healthy at the start of the 1995 season, he put up a 2.69 ERA in his first nine starts. The supposed post-30 bloom you reference followed surgery to repair his shoulder, after which he was able to pitch to the standards he had shown earlier when healthy.
  As to winning 20 games only after turning 30 -- a more logical explanation than the juicing you imply would be that he was traded to winning teams. He didn't win 20 until he joined the Diamondbacks, and then the Red Sox. You don't have to be doing anything illegal to see your W-L numbers shoot up when you leave the Phillies for a couple of World Championship caliber teams.

• January 5, 2008

  10:40 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  jeichacker writes:

  You Wrote of Curt Schilling:

  At 30, having played with a Philadelphia Phillies team that included Lenny Dykstra and Pete Incaviglia, who were listed in the Mitchell Report...

  Incaviglia was not listed in the Mitchell report. Jason Grimsley mentioned Incaviglia in connection with a separate investigation.

• January 10, 2008

  9:04 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  CharleyWalters writes:

  The info about Liriano is a lie, he is ahead of schedule and should be ready by the time spring training comes. Way to damage your credibility even more Ringolsby. It's a good thing the BBWAA let's you have a HOF vote instead of people like Rob Neyer and Keith Law who actually know what there talking about. Will you print a retraction?

• January 11, 2008

  7:29 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  CSHunt68 writes:

  Yeah, wow. How far off-base could you be about Liriano?! More dependable journalism from the print writers. ... Back to the blogs I go ...

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