|
 MLB Winter Meeting Coverage
Some things in life are just more complicated than they need to be. Did you ever wonder how MLB calculates free agency compensation? They do it by classifying players into groups. In almost every news story that is coming out of the MLB Winter meetings in Indianapolis this week you hear that a player is a ‘Type A' free agent, or ‘Type B free agent.' Ever wonder what that means?
It's based on the annual Elias Sports Bureau MLB player rankings.
I know what you are thinking, aren't Elias those guys who come up with those crazy stats like, "Joe Smith was the first person to hit a HR after having Eggs Benedict for breakfast, Turkey on Rye w/ Mustard for lunch and only a Yogurt for dinner since Peter Whatshisname in 1908?"
Yes, those are the guys, but they are also an integral part of the free agent compensation process.
Elias classifies Free Agents by Type 'A', Type 'B' or not at all. The compensation awarded to the club that looses a player applies to free agents offered arbitration by their former club by the Dec. 1 deadline or to those who sign before then.
If a team signs a Type ‘A' free agent, its first-round pick goes to the former team -- unless that pick is in the top 15, in which case a second-round pick goes to the former team. The former team also gets an extra pick between the first and second rounds.
If a team loses a Type ‘B' free agent, it gets an extra "sandwich" pick.
The types are calculated based on statistics over the 2008-09 seasons.
Elias determines the which 'Type' (‘A', 'B', or neither) each MLB player is, and not just free agents. They are put in 1 of 5 groups depending which position they appeared in the most games at over the 2 seasons.
Group 1: first basemen, outfielders, and designated hitters
Group 2: second basemen, third basemen, and shortstops
Group 3: catchers
Group 4: starters
Group 5: relievers
Stat categories used in the composition of each of the five position groups are the following:
1B/OF/DH: PA, AVG, OBP, HR, RBI
2B/3B/SS: PA, AVG, OBP, HR, RBI, Fielding percentage, Total chances at designated position
C: PA, AVG, OBP, HR, RBI, Fielding percentage, Assists
SP: Total games (total starts + 0.5 * total relief appearances), IP, Wins, W-L Percentage, ERA, Strikeouts
RP: Total games (total relief appearances + 2 * total starts), IP (weighted slightly less than other categories), Wins + Saves, IP/H ratio, K/BB, ERA
Type 'A' - Top 20 percent in their positional group.
Type 'B' - Top 21-40 percent in their positional group.
No Compensation - 41-100 percent in their positional group.
The Top 15 picks in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft are protected. If any of the top 15 teams sign a Type 'A' MLB Free Agent, they would only lose their 2nd round pick.
This year's annual Elias rankings have been out for a while now, determining which free agents could result in draft-pick compensation for their former teams. Here are the guys to watch, this year's free agents along with the player's age and free agency status (if compensation is due) as of today, December 8, 2009. (This list has been updated and doesn't not include those who were free agents that have signed) My apologies if I missed someone.... My mind is on football....
Catchers
Eliezer Alfonzo (31)
Brad Ausmus (41)
Paul Bako (38)
Rod Barajas (34) - Type B, offered arb
Josh Bard (32)
Michael Barrett (33)
Ramon Castro (34)
Robinzon Diaz (26)
Toby Hall (34)
Jason Kendall (36) - Type B, not offered arb
Bengie Molina (35) - Type A, not offered arb
Jose Molina (35)
Miguel Olivo (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Mike Redmond (39)
Yorvit Torrealba (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Matt Treanor (34)
Javier Valentin (34)
First basemen
Rich Aurilia (38)
Jeff Bailey (31)
Hank Blalock (29)
Russell Branyan (34)
Miguel Cairo (36)
Frank Catalanotto (36)
Tony Clark (38)
Carlos Delgado (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Nomar Garciaparra (36)
Ross Gload (34)
Eric Hinske (32)
Nick Johnson (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Adam LaRoche (30) - Type B, not offered arb
Doug Mientkiewicz (36)
Kevin Millar (38)
Fernando Tatis (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Chad Tracy (30)
Daryle Ward (35)
Dmitri Young (36)
Second basemen
Ronnie Belliard (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Jamey Carroll (36)
Craig Counsell (39)
Mark DeRosa (35) - Type B, offered arb
Nick Green (31)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (34)
Orlando Hudson (32) - Type A, not offered arb
Adam Kennedy (34)
Felipe Lopez (30) - Type B, not offered arb
Mark Loretta (38)
Pablo Ozuna (35)
Juan Uribe (31)
Shortstops
Eric Bruntlett (32)
Orlando Cabrera (35) - Type A, can't be offered arb
Craig Counsell (39)
Bobby Crosby (30)
Chris Gomez (39)
Nick Green (31)
Khalil Greene (30)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (34)
Miguel Tejada (36) - Type A, not offered arb
Third basemen
Rich Aurilia (38)
Brian Barden (29)
Adrian Beltre (31) - Type B, offered arb
Aaron Boone (37)
Craig Counsell (39)
Joe Crede (32)
Bobby Crosby (30)
Mark DeRosa (35) - Type B, offered arb
Pedro Feliz (35)
Chone Figgins (32) - Type A, offered arb
Nomar Garciaparra (36)
Troy Glaus (33) - Type B, not offered arb
Adam Kennedy (34)
Mark Loretta (38)
Melvin Mora (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Pablo Ozuna (35)
Robb Quinlan (33)
Miguel Tejada (36) - Type A, not offered arb
Juan Uribe (31)
Left fielders
Garret Anderson (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Marlon Anderson (36)
Jason Bay (31) - Type A, offered arb
Emil Brown (35)
Marlon Byrd (32) - Type B, offered arb
Johnny Damon (36) - Type A, not offered arb
David Dellucci (36)
Cliff Floyd (37)
Joey Gathright (28)
Matt Holliday (30) - Type A, offered arb
Reed Johnson (33)
Laynce Nix (29)
Greg Norton (37)
Wily Mo Pena (28)
Dave Roberts (38)
Gary Sheffield (41)
Fernando Tatis (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Marcus Thames (33)
Randy Winn (36) - Type B, not offered arb
Center fielders
Rick Ankiel (30)
Rocco Baldelli (28)
Marlon Byrd (32) - Type B, offered arb
Mike Cameron (37) - Type B, not offered arb
Endy Chavez (32)
Coco Crisp (30)
Darin Erstad (36)
Jeff Fiorentino (27)
Ryan Freel (34)
Joey Gathright (28)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (34)
Reed Johnson (33)
Corey Patterson (30)
Scott Podsednik (34)
Right fielders
Jermaine Dye (36) - Type A, not offered arb
Brian Giles (39) - Type B, not offered arb
Vladimir Guerrero (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Joey Gathright (28)
Eric Hinske (32)
Geoff Jenkins (35)
Austin Kearns (30)
Jason Michaels (34)
Xavier Nady (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Randy Winn (36) - Type B, not offered arb
Designated hitters
Hank Blalock (29)
Jason Giambi (39)
Vladimir Guerrero (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Aubrey Huff (33)
Hideki Matsui (36)
Gary Sheffield (41)
Matt Stairs (42)
Mike Sweeney (36)
Jim Thome (39)
Starting pitchers
Brandon Backe (32)
Cha Seung Baek (30)
Miguel Batista (39)
Erik Bedard (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Kris Benson (34)
Paul Byrd (39)
Daniel Cabrera (29)
Aroldis Chapman (22)
Bartolo Colon (37)
Jose Contreras (38)
Doug Davis (34) - Type B, not offered arb
Lenny DiNardo (30)
Justin Duchscherer (32) - Type B, offered arb
Adam Eaton (32)
Shawn Estes (37)
Josh Fogg (33)
Jon Garland (30) - Type B, not offered arb
Tom Glavine (44)
Mike Hampton (37)
Rich Harden (28) - Type B, not offered arb
Mark Hendrickson (36)
Livan Hernandez (35)
Rich Hill (30)
Shawn Hill (29)
Jason Jennings (31)
Jason Johnson (36)
Randy Johnson (46) - Type B, not offered arb
John Lackey (31) - Type A, offered arb
Braden Looper (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Rodrigo Lopez (34)
Noah Lowry (29)
Jason Marquis (31) - Type B, offered arb
Pedro Martinez (38)
Eric Milton (34)
Mark Mulder (32)
Brett Myers (29)
Vicente Padilla (32) - Type B, not offered arb
Odalis Perez (33)
Andy Pettitte (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Joel Pineiro (31) - Type B, offered arb
Sidney Ponson (33)
Mark Prior (28)
Horacio Ramirez (30)
Jason Schmidt (37)
Ben Sheets (31)
John Smoltz (43)
Brett Tomko (37)
Jarrod Washburn (35)
Todd Wellemeyer (31)
Kip Wells (33)
Randy Wolf (33) - Type A, not offered arb
Closers
Mike Gonzalez (32) - Type A, offered arb
Kevin Gregg (32) - Type A, not offered arb
Fernando Rodney (33) - Type B, offered arb
Jose Valverde (32) - Type A, offered arb
Right-handed relievers
Luis Ayala (32)
Danys Baez (32)
Joaquin Benoit (32)
Chad Bradford (35)
Doug Brocail (43) - Type B, not offered arb
Kiko Calero (35) - Type B, not offered arb
Chad Cordero (28)
Elmer Dessens (38)
R.A. Dickey (35)
Brendan Donnelly (38)
Octavio Dotel (36) - Type A, not offered arb
Kelvim Escobar (33)
Eric Gagne (34)
Geoff Geary (33)
Dan Giese (33)
Edgar Gonzalez (27)
Tom Gordon (42)
LaTroy Hawkins (37) - Type A, not offered arb
Matt Herges (40)
Bob Howry (36) - Type B, not offered arb
Jason Isringhausen (37)
Jorge Julio (31)
Shane Loux (30)
Brandon Lyon (30) - Type B, offered arb
Gary Majewski (30)
Guillermo Mota (36) - Type B, not offered arb
Joe Nelson (35)
Chan Ho Park (37) - Type B, not offered arb
Tomo Ohka (34)
Tony Pena Jr. (29)
Joel Peralta (34)
Troy Percival (40)
J.J. Putz (33)
Juan Rincon (31)
Saul Rivera (32)
Duaner Sanchez (30)
Rudy Seanez (41)
Justin Speier (36)
Russ Springer (41) - Type B, not offered arb
Julian Tavarez (37)
Luis Vizcaino (35)
Tyler Walker (34)
David Weathers (40) - Type B, not offered arb
Jeff Weaver (33)
Jamey Wright (35)
Tyler Yates (32)
Left-handed relievers
Joe Beimel (32) - Type B, not offered arb
Bruce Chen (33)
Alan Embree (40)
Scott Eyre (38) - Type B, not offered arb
Casey Fossum (32)
Eddie Guardado (39)
Mark Hendrickson (36)
Ron Mahay (39)
Will Ohman (31) - Type B, not offered arb
Darren Oliver (39) - Type A, not offered arb
Horacio Ramirez (30)
Glendon Rusch (35)
Scott Schoeneweis (36)
Brian Shouse (41) - Type B, offered arb
Ken Takahashi (41)
Jack Taschner (32)
Ron Villone (40)
Jamie Walker (38)
I'm not sure if I succeeded in helping anyone understand the Free Agent Compensation process of if I just confused everyone more. Let me know. - Keith A. Baker
Keith is a sports agent in Stamford, Connecticut. His goal is to offer a unique insight to the world of sports. Comments in his columns are for entertainment purposes only and do not reflect the views and opinions of his firm or his client.
If you haven't voted in our poll on the site yet please do so. We are trying to get a feel for how our readers are looking at the game of MLB so we can write about things they want to hear. The poll question is, "Do you think that MLB should have a salary cap or something similar?" - Please vote.
Have a Fantasy Football or Rotisserie baseball question? Want to know who to pick up, who to activate and who the hot prospects are? Ask Dr. Roto. Let Dr. Roto guide your team to a league championship.
 
 |
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 