Look who the Orioles picked? Bet Santana is Pissed!

Today, as I predicted would happen in a previous post! That the Orioles would and indeed they did forfeit their first round, 17th overall draft pick. But the question then was "Will it be Santana or Jimenez? Well today we got our answer. Ubaldo Jimenez whose been on the free-agent market for wuite some time now has signed with the Orioles for four years and $50 million.

Jimenez
(Getty Images)

The Orioles were really in desperate need of a proven 5th starter. Even after signing Suk-min Yoon, there is no guarantee that he will produce in the majors even with his spotless 24-0 record last season with the Kia Tigers in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO).

The Orioles kind of alienated themselves from AJ Burnett by cancelling contracts and sparking bad blood with former Oakland Athletics' closer Grant Balfour and  OF Tyler Colvin. They lost out on Arroyo to the Diamondbacks who would have been better for them than both Burnett and Jimenez who have draft picks tied to them while Burnett did not. Jimenez went 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA in 32 starts for Cleveland last season. He turned down a $14.1 million qualifying offer from the Indians, so Baltimore would have to forfeit its first-round draft pick to sign him.

As I blogged a few days ago it was time that the O's finally gave in and gave up that draft pick. They were out of options otherwise unless they signed Santana or Jimenez. They ultimately went with Jimenez ... It will be interesting to see where Santana will end up and who still needs a starter and is willing to give up their best draft pick ... my point in this blog was to talk about Jimenez! But I'm kinda off onto topic number #2 ....

Are free-agents who turn down a qualifying offer from their current team really truly free if they have a draft pick attached to their name??

I'd say hello no! But I will get to that in second. I mean yes, the Tanaka signing basically held everything in stasis for the entire month of January which I found disgusting and unfair! Then to be the last pitchers left because you are controlled by a draft pick and no one wants you? To me that means that even if you have played long enough and finally become a free agent but because you couldn't decide you have to feel dragged down. Because while you can blame Tanaka for January, both Ubaldo and Santana should have been signed by now ... I guess Mr. Jimenez has now. 

Ervin Santana
 (Image courtesy of Jaime Squire/Getty Images)

The Orioles needed a closer and a starter and probably would have done better without being overly picky about team physical. I would bet - if I actually had any money - that Grant Balfour has a great year for the Tampa Bay Rays. I don't know too much about Colvin except that he too got screwed by the Orioles over a physical. I personally think that the Orioles need to loosen the reins a bit and chill out or they wouldn't have had to spend $50 million and a first round draft pick to get Jimenez ... if he has a Cy Young year then he may be worth it but who sees that in the stars right now?

The question as of this moment is what teams is desperate for a starter and which teams are brave enough to give up that first round pick?? And how would you feel if you were Santana? Is there anyone in the hunt left for a starter?? Betcha he didnt think that it would be like this come mid February!! Can't wait to find out!!

Salary Arbitration and Hearings in MLB Explained

Kinda ... to the best of my understanding at least. I knew a bit prior to writing this piece for Sports Unbiased, did some research, tried to simplify it a little and well, here's what I came up with ....  you may find it a little bit boring but it's one of those things that people who are into baseball should probably know about more so than just like "oh that guy's a free agent" or "so and so is up for arbitration" ya know? Here's my understanding of the process .....

With Major League Baseball’s arbitration hearings beginning today and running through February 21st, I thought it might be nice for those new to baseball, casual fans and even fanatics like myself to take a little refresher course on what salary arbitration and arbitration hearings are. I mean, we hear them talked about every year but what is really going on?

Charles Rex Arbogast

All this is largely based on free agency so I need to preface this article by saying that free-agency in MLB is different from free-agency in any other sport, in that a player cannot become a free agent without six full years of big league service.

Let’s go over the basics of salary arbitration in MLB. Really, the most complicated part of the process is deciphering who is eligible in the first place, after that things become a lot less complicated.

Read More on Sports Unbiased - your site for all Sports News, Polls and Predictions!

Is Fernando Rodney the Last Hope for the Orioles, Mets? Who Will Win Out?

**IF YOU ARE READING THIS ON YOUR MOBILE & CANNOT SEE IT - TRY SWITCHING TO "VIEW ON WEB" OR "WEB VIEW" & YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE IT!** (Sorry about that)

With pitchers and catchers set to report to Spring Training in just weeks, there are still teams in need of key players and the free agent pool is getting smaller by the day. The Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets have this problem and both need to fill the same key role. They need a late-inning reliever, preferably an experienced closer.

Grant Balfour

The Orioles traded their closer Jim Johnson to Oakland then proceeded to blow off a what seemed like done-deal with former Oakland closer Grant Balfour due to medical concerns about his wrist and knee. The Mets, who have basically ignored their bullpen needs this off-season, seemed to have suddenly remembered that their closer, Bobby Parnell, is coming off of neck surgery and may be a liability in the closer role. With just a group of youngsters to back up Parnell, it seems they need a

Fernando Rodney

plan “B” as well.

For more and to find out how Fernando Rodney fits in this situation go to Sports Unbiased! - Your Site for all Sports, News, Polls and Predictions!

Garza Contract NOT Confirmed by Brewers!

Contrary to all of today's media reports, including my own, Matt Garza has NOT finalized a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. It was reported early Thursday morning that a four-year, $52 million deal had been reached between the two parties, pending a physical. But come afternoon Thursday the Brewers released the following statement, 

Despite media reports, negotiations between the Brewers and Matt Garza are ongoing, but there is no deal yet.

 There is no indication that the lack of a concrete deal has anything to do with Garza medically but the 30-year old pitcher is coming off of two injury plagued seasons.

As of now, Garza is still the most coveted free agent pitcher on the market, since Masahiro Tanaka was signed by the Yankees, followed by Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez and Bronson Arroyo. Jimenez is the most available as both Santana and Arroyo have draft picks tied to them.

With Tanaka Taken, What's in Store for Santana and Company?

The free agent market has been nearly dead since Masahiro Tanaka was posted by the Rakutan Eagles in December. But now that Tanaka has signed a 7-year $155million deal with the New York Yankees there's going to be a lot more action in a short period of time.

The left over major contenders for Tanaka: the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mariners  and even some smaller less-likely contenders like the Toranto Blue Jays or the Chicago White Sox, for example, are going to be scrambling to get the good players who have been waiting to sign with a team. Scarily enough, even with the signing of Tanaka, the Yankees could still be in the mix. With the amount of money they've been spending what's a little more for another starter to help out their aging rotation?

Of those  starting  pitchers who are still free-agents four stand out: Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Garza and Bronson Arroyo. 

• Ervin Santana is a right handed pitcher who played for the Royals last season. He has been one of the most reliable pitchers in baseball with the exception of 2012. He posted a 3.24 ERA in 30 games last season. He has had an ERA below 4.00 in three of the last four years. So his potential to do well is certainly high. His value has been diminished slightly this off season as most interested teams with the exception of the Blue Jays would have to give up a first round draft pick to sign him. The bottom 11 teams in the league have protected first round draft picks so they would only have to give up a second round pick for Santana.

• Ubaldo Jimenez was considered one of the best pitchers in the game until he had some major problems in the end of the 2011 season and most of the next season. Jimenez bounced back in 2013 posting a 3.30 ERA  in 32 starts with the Indians. Even though he made a comeback last season Jimenez could be considered a risk because he has control issues. Last season he walked 80 batters in 182 2/3 innings. He could be a liabilty but he's overall ERA stands well for itself. The right handed Dominican might just be lucky enough to grab a spot on someone's big league roster.

• Matt Garza, well there are a lot of things I would like to say about Matt Garza but I will stick with his stats unfortunately I cannot be biased here. One, the guy can pitch period. Last season with the Rangers he started 24 games and posted a 3.82 ERA. But there are health question regarding the 28 year old right hander. He was injured part of last season and there are always the questions of his temper and erratic behavior. Here is what I was not going to mention this but it should make a difference to the club who signs him. Last year he went on a well documented tirade on Twitter against Oakland's Eric Sogard and his wife Kaycee, making him look, at best, a bit unstable. It was all over a bunt. So regardless of how Garza can pitch he has his downfalls as well.

• Bronson Arroyo could be a catch for any team. He reportedly had a deal with the Twins in the works but it never panned out. So here he is still on the market just a month away from Spring Training. He's one of the most durable pitchers in the league, pitching at least 200 innings in all but one of  the past nine seasons. In 2011 he missed that mark by one inning.  Here's the issue most teams will have with  Arroyo, he is seeking a three year deal at the age of 37 and most clubs won't want to put too much money into that kind of risk. But in reality a lot of  pitchers, including starters, have been pitching into their 40's. It's not exactly a new thing. Yet the age factor can sometimes go a long way when deals are being made.

So now the question remains who is going to end up where?

The MLB, NPB Come To New Posting System Agreement

I never knew the details of the posting system until recently. I just understood that it was an agreement between Major League Baseball (MLB) and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league having to do with players coming to the United States from the NPB. Simplistically,  it is a system for Japanese teams that want to make their players available to MLB teams.

Masahiro Tanaka might be the new agreement's first International free agent! Image courtesy of Getty Images

 To read the remainder of my article on MLB/NPB's "posting system" check out Sports Unbiased the place for all sports news, polls and predictions!!