S56 Free Agent Signings and Extensions

 Jack Torrance - contributing reporter    

Let's take a look at some of the offseason signings and extensions made this year. Who made the biggest splash this off-season? Players are listed by overall contract.

• Extensions
• Yohan Nova - Houston (27 - 5/$42.5M)
• Signed a bit early as he was only entering Arb 2, but likely saves money on his demands and still gets 3 years of FA value out of it. .290 average, 25 HR, 20 SB, while somewhat limiting strikeouts offers quite the value for Houston. 
• Grade: A
• Johnnie Daniels - Atlanta (29 - 5/$42 w/ mutual)
• Daniels has either made the All-Star game and/or a Gold Glove the last three seasons; his plus defense in RF paired with 35ish HRs and a .285 average have been great for the Expos in the dominance at the top of the AL East. In any other franchise he'd likely be hitting higher in the lineup but with Crain ahead of him there aren't often people on base for him to knock in. Props to his agent for securing $8.4M per. And with the season he's having, we feel bad for giving this grade. 
• Grade: A-
• Douglas Laxton - New Orleans (29 - 5/$42M)
• This contract should be a no brainer, 100+ R, 35-40 HR, 125 RBI, and a .304 career average. Even better, he has the potential to walk over 100 times a season, while striking out even less. This All-Star and Silver Slugger should see plenty of opportunities with the other players Ploppie locked up. 
• Grade: A+
• Marlon Fowler - Helena (27 - 5/$40M)
• Fowler makes good on his first All-Star appearance last season, and props to Helena on this contract for the simple fact that it decreases $1M each season until the final 5th year where Fowler stands to make just $6M. He's a streaky hitter but should be solid for 20 HR / 20 SB hitter. $8M per feels a bit much for him though. 
• Grade: B-
• Neo Lecuona - Hartford (28 - 5/$39M w/ mutual)
• Early in his career he was a .280, 30+ HR hitter but it seems slipping lower in the lineup he's struggled a bit more, and hitting for less power. A shift out to RF this season should improve the team defensively. If he can get things going again, $8M per isn't a bad deal, though seems a bit high for what he's producing now, even with the shift to RF. 
• Grade: B
• Kyle  Crain - Atlanta (28 - 5/$39m)
• Locking up a guy whose won 3 of the last 4 AL MVPs and might have won all four if he didn't have a season ending injury during S54. 55+ HR, 150+ RBI on an above .300 average; who wouldn't take it and will be well worth the $7.8M he's paid the next 5 seasons. Crain needs to fire his agent for this deal. 
• Grade: A++ 
• Paco Garces - Salt Lake City (27 - 5/$38.9M w/ mutual)
• Seems about your typical extension, $7.75M per for this former All-star who hopes to get back to form playing just his second season in SLC. A career low in power, the difference in a 20 and 30 HR hitter can be huge, especially for one that hits .270 and triple digit strikeouts. 
• Grade: B
• Damaso Ethier - Atlanta (28 - 5/$37.5)
• Ethier has a 3.06 lifetime ERA with a 1.20 WHIP and a 73% win rate; routinely throwing over 200 innings a season. In this day and age of hard to find pitchers, you better believe he got locked up. This is another one of those no brainers. 
• Grade: A+
• Juancito Martin - New Orleans (30 - 4/$37.2M)
• Martin and Quevedo have been a great combo at the top of the NO lineup the last few seasons, Martin offers 25 SB speed, a .300+ average, and 30+ doubles with 20ish HRs. You'll see a common theme with the NO extensions, a lack of 5 year commitments. 
• Grade: B+
• Josh Hunt - New Orleans (28 - 4/$34M)
• One of many NO extensions this off season, but why not get that 5th year from Hunt? Similar to Martin, was this agent driven or a miss on the part of ownership? Hunt has been streaky but offers great defensive value at the hot corner. His 35+ HR power, ability to knock in 100 runs, and steal 30 bases is huge. 
• Grade: B+
• Ossie Crow - Vancouver (29 - 5/$33.9M)
• Crow misses Atlanta without a doubt, but I expect good things out of him going forward, even though nearly $7M a season does feel a little high for a reliever. If he manages a sub 3.00 ERA and below 1.25 WHIP; that's locking down some innings late in the game. 
• Grade: B+
• Wilfredo Martin - Huntington (28 - 5/$32.5 w/ mutual)
• Even though he's struggled the last two seasons to the tune of a 5.29 ERA, Martin is slotted as a SuA this season. Unless he can turn things around we don't like this control for the young Tropics squad. Thankfully before their younger players like Wei-Yin Wan and Louie Weiss start to make top dollar, this contract will be off the books. We'll say, his ratings show he should be a better bullpen pieces, maybe he just hasn't found his groove or being used properly. 
• Grade: B
• Grayson Lowry - Colorado Springs (29 - 5/$27M w/ mutual)
• Lowry brings a lot of power potential to the From My Loins lineup, but with an aging team, we see Lowry being positive trade bait before his contract expires. His average has been everywhere from .248 to .319 over the last 5 seasons but still worth a decent prospect for a team needing a 3B
• Grade: A-
• Albert Doubront - Huntington (28 - 5/$27M)
• He's had recent success the last two seasons, with an ERA below 4, but his career mark is still a 4.28 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. He's slotted into the SuB role this year, but $5.4M per seems a bit extra to pay for that kind of arm who is only seeing 45-60 games a season. 
• Grade: C+
• Javier Quevedo - New Orleans (29 - 3/$25.5M)
• Either the agent played hardball or the owner didn't try very hard on this one. Quevedo who has been a near .300 hitter, offering 30+ doubles and 40+ SBs in a season is the perfect lead-off/#2 hitter with the power bats of NO behind him. But why not lock him up for 5 seasons? At age 29, a 5 year deal would have been perfect as he entered his age 35 season before that speed starts to drop a bit. 
• Grade: C+
• Jeremi Diaz - Huntington (29 - 4/$24M)
• A mid to high 20s HR hitter with a .290 career average and limits strikeouts. Not sure if it's bad base running coaches who are sending him or just Diaz not knowing when to attempt but that's likely the weak part in his game. At $6M per season, that seems right in line with the production he's giving the team on the FA market. 
• Grade: B+
• Olmedo Nunez - Salt Lake City (26 - $23.3M)
• In a crazy backloaded deal, the power hitting catcher looks to continue where he left off last season. I'd expect 40+ HR, 105 RBI, 55 BB, 100 K on a .268 AVG this season. 
• Grade: B+
• Gregorio Cordero - New Orleans (27 - 3/$22.5M)
• This one gets a little interesting as Cordero still had 2 years of Arbitration left, which means this 3 year extension only buys out one year of Free Agency. The positive side, this shores up the core of New Orleans bats for the next few seasons and let them focus on how they will field their pitching staff. 
• Grade: C-
• Chuck Herndon - Atlanta (28 - 4/$20.8M w/ mutual)
• Herndon offers the Expos depth at C/1B/DH between Crain, Villano, and Rodgers; but that's four men for 3 positions; which is why they have all sorts of different platoon combinations. But that's only a problem this season as Rodgers just went through Arb3 and has a chance to walk next season; and while it's debatable if he'll find a better team to paly for, he stands a chance to get every day at bats elsewhere. And at $5.2M per, he puts up 25 HR, .290, and 85 RBI. He may not have the best range, but with that pitch calling; any team would be happy to have him on their roster. 
• Grade: A-
• Eric Mashore - Tokyo (30 - 3/$18.9M w/ mutual)
• Having found himself released by Mexico City just last year after just 1 year in Arbitration, This guy has been all over the place, anywhere from 20-30 HR and a .240-.295 batting average; no wonder it's only a 3 year deal with a mutual. 
• Grade: B
• Tomas Urias - Vancouver (27- 3/$17.4M)
• Not a huge commitment, but only buys out 1 season of Free Agency. If Urias can  stick to the .300+ average he had during S52, 53, & 55 I'd gladly take it, but if he hits .250ish like he did in S54 I'd have more doubts given how many strikeouts the guy has paired with 25ish HRs. Last year he showed some improvement and went off for  31 with 122 RBI. 
• Grade: A-
• Wil Johnston - Vancouver (30 - 3/$17.4M)
• We don't quite think Johnston has a full time gig in Vancouver, but $5.8M per for a guy capable of hitting 30 HR over the course of a full season isn't half bad. Even if it's just off the bench, he offers quite a bit of power late in games. 
• Grade: B
• Tomas Benitez - Helena (27 - 3/$17M)
• When pitching is hard to find, you gotta lock them up and that's just what Helena did, well at least for the next 3 seasons where they could still sign a 5 year extension that sees him hit FA after his age 35. So maybe this is a long term play. His career 4.03 ERA, 1.30 WHIP fall into the - is Helena still rebuiding or going for it mode? Given their recent start, maybe it's time we start seeing their names a lot more. 
• Grade: B
• Benito Posada - Minnesota (27 - 3/$16.8M)
• Another young 30ish home runner with the ability to hit anywhere from .230 to .305 it seems. Streaky hitters that provide power seem to be the North Stars MO. 
• Grade: B
• Vance DeSclafani - Minnesota (30 - 2/$9.2M)
• Acquired back in S51, Minnesota decides to keep VDS for at least another two seasons. His average has been all over the place, but he's consistently hit 30ish HR and driving in 100+ runs; though awful on the base paths. 
• Grade: B
• Norichika Zhou - Pittsburg (30 - 2/$9.2M)
• A catcher who is all bat...that's a DH right? Considering all the trades the Yinzers eventually made; anything longer and this extension doesn't make sense even if they were made before those trades. $4.6M for under 20 HR, a .270ish average, and twice as many K as walks. He'll work as the team starts a rebuild. 
• Grade: C
• Michael Craig - Pittsburg (26 - 2/$6M)
• This contract is shall we say...creative. Craig hadn't even hit arbitration yet so it overpaid him for his first year and might have overpaid for his second year. But now that he's closing in Boston, the new owner will get at least one more year out of him and still has a good chance to extend him. 
• Grade: D

• Free Agent Signings
• Bernie Mendez - Tokyo (31 - 5/$110M w/ mutual & no trade - $10M signing bonus)
• Most everybody assumed he was getting this contract, it was just a matter of where he'd be playing next. But is a max contract right for this RF who is typically a mid-20s HR hitter with a career .270 average? He had a couple of really good seasons with Buffalo and with the plus bats in Tokyo surrounding him, perhaps he gets back to it. That's $40M tied up thru S59 for this Mendez and Omar Gonzales
• Grade: B
• Midre Benavente - Columbus (35 - $62.5M - $10M signing bonus)
• The Corgis elected to cover nearly half his contract this season, and we all know FA pitching is going to cost you in Cobbfather. But I don't see Columbus with the talent on its current roster to warrant such a short term play. But then again, this is truly anyone's division...or no one's division.  The winner will likely end up having a losing record for the season. The positive part, this signing only cost the Corgis a 4th round pick at #140. We'll see just who Benavente is without the pitcher's haven in OKC to help him, but early signs are positive. Just three seasons ago he made 22 starts with a 0.98 WHIP and 1.96 ERA. I'd expect something slightly above his career marks this season and moving forward. 
• Grade: B-
• Ray Aaron - Chicago (29 - 5/$51.5M w/ mutual - $10M signing bonus)
• Chicago is at it again, turning a mid-ling SP into some quality. Aaron owns a lifetime 4.83 ERA and 1.40 WHIP pitching in Boston, but through 5 starts (WARNING: small sample size) has an ERA of 3.45 and WHIP of 1.57. He's gotta get that whip....whip it good....down if he wants the ERA to stick around. But for a back of the rotation arm this isn't awful as long as he doesn't regress to his Boston days. The last year in the contract is $10.3M but has a mutual option on it. 
• Grade: B-
• Edgardo Boscan - Boston (32 - 5/$33.5M w/ mutual)
• After 3 awful starts, Boscan has already been moved to the bullpen in long relief. Seeing how successful Boscan was in New Orleans, perhaps he just needs a few drinks before taking the mound. Or perhaps it's the pitch calling difference that causes Boscan to throw his AA quality pitches at the wrong time. He's much better than the 12.91 ERA and 2.15 WHIP show, but maybe not quite the sub 3.00 era and 1.18 whip he was in NO but closer to the 3.50-4.20 ERA and 1.25-1.30 WHIP he was in Columbus at best. The team likely declines his age 36 season which is valued at $7.5M. 
• Grade: B
• Benji Rodriguez - Helena (31 - 4/$31.5M)
• S55 saw him make his first All-Star appearance and even won the NL Fireman of the Year award with the Canada West team and now he's getting PAID on a front loaded contract with Helena. His early season struggles are just an indicator of the ups and downs most relievers go through. But at nearly $8M per, he's gotta get things turned around and be more consistent. 
• Grade: C+
• Naoto Sakamoto - Santa Fe (29 - 5/$31M)
• What hitter doesn't love calling Santa Fe home? Especially one with the power of Sakamoto who has been an absolute tear early this season. He has limited range behind the plate but decent enough pitch calling. He's been a mid-20s HR hitter but already up to 9 as of the time of this writing having only played 20 games. Surely he doesn't keep up the 73 HR pace...or does he with half his games hit the hitter haven? Nah, but still the perfect signing for this club. It's interesting to note, next year's contract is only $3.5M before it kicks into the backloaded 3/22.5. That's future Pokey's concerns, not current Pokey's. 
• Grade: A-
• Kevin Kashmir - Columbus (33 - 4/$29.2M)
• The new closer in Columbus seems to be pitching well this season but will it continue? A career 4.74 ERA and 1.43 WHIP says otherwise. His makeup might keep his later years being unbearable but we wonder if Columbus was bidding against themselves for this contract.  Either way, he'll likely eat some innings out of the bullpen over 
• Grade: C+
• J.P. Avilan - Tokyo (31 - 4/$26M w/ mutual)
• Never shy to hand out a FA contract, foster covers 2B for the foreseeable future with a player who been rather productive the last two seasons in Pitt compared to his early years. We think his average will come back down below .300, but if he offers up a .280+ with low teen HR and 30-40 SB, he definitely brings some value to the club who has other big bats such as Omar Gonzales, Yangervis Rosa, Bernie Mendez, and Spud Campbell.
• Grade: B+
• Bubba Alexander - New Orleans (32 - 3/$18.9M)
• Being based in New Orleans, its easy for us to be overly critical of this squad, but we think this move was because the current owner wants someone to hit at least .250 in response to last year's SS hitting a career low .199 compared to his .245 the year before. At age 32 Bubba barely covering it at Short, and might be a hard sell by the last year of this contract; needing to move him elsewhere on the diamond. With a few weaker bat, better fielding options in the minors the money might have been better spent on pitching needs. 
• Grade: B-
• Allan Wright - Columbus (31 - 3/$16.5M)
• A defensive minded catcher who still provides some value at the plate. Low 20s HR power, a .255 average on a good year, but nearly 3 times as many K as walks. If he can call a good game for this pitching staff, it's worth it. But we still hate giving up so many free outs. 
• Grade: B-
• Vic Chavez - Minnesota (30 - 2/$8.2M)
• In his first season in quite a few, Chavez received full time at bats for Helena last year with decent success as their DH/C. The early season numbers are good at the plate, but what about behind the plate? The low grade is because we think they could have waited a bit longer and got him for cheaper. Chavez isn't the make or break your lineup type, so why not save a million or two. 
• Grade: C+
• Louie Cubillan - Austin (31 - 2/$5M)
• He's struggled so far this season and recently dropped from the starting LF spot, but entering this season he had been a .250 hitter with low 20s HR power though he'd often strike out 2x-3x more times than he'd walk. Not a great sign if he can't get on base to help the club produce runs. But the cost is cheap and you get what you pay for. 
• Grade: B
• Yoervis Colome - New Orleans  (34 - 1/$3.5M)
• Without a starting spot and two young players on their roster that can cover 1B/RF/LF, this one is questionable but we'll consider the $3.5M injury insurance for NO's main stars who were all extended this season. 
• Grade: B-
• Sammy Figureoa - Montreal (30 - 1/$1.5M)
• This signing received mixed reviews, he's shown some decline as a Shortstop but Montreal is using him as a defensive and rest replacement around the diamond thus far. For the cost, that seems a fantastic add, but the debate is around giving up the #69 pick to sign him. Some scouts say there isn't much but AAAA depth at that pick, other scouts say if he can retain his Type A status into next season, or even if he drops to a Type B; as long as he signs elsewhere then Montreal pays $1.5M for defensive help late in games plus an extra supplementary round pick next year. It's a chance for the rebuilding Montreal club, but one that could pay off. 
• Grade: B+

Good luck this season, we'll see if any of these contracts become future Fat Cats!