Inside Baseball

Squeeze Play  

The lack of interest in Ivan Rodriguez is due to more than a sluggish market

By Tom Verducci

The book business calls them remainders, those unwanted volumes you see in the bargain bin. One month before spring training camps open, baseball is loaded with more remainders than at any time in recent memory. At week's end more than 70 established big leaguers still didn't have a job, including a 10-time All-Star and six of the 11 outfielders who played in the World Series three months ago.

Rodriguez, a 10-time All-Star, has elicited more questions than offers. Ronald Martinez/Allsport

Owners and G.M.'s have cited the luxury-tax system and a downturn in the economy to explain the slowdown in spending. Contracts of more than three years are nearly extinct. Agents have whispered suspicions of collusion. "It's not collusion," one G.M. scoffed. "It's reality -- or sobriety is more like it."

The market is clogged with middling, indistinguishable starting pitchers who in past years could count on millions of dollars. (Consider Dave Mlicki, a back-of-the-rotation pitcher who earned $6.2 million last year, when he won four games; last Friday he took a deal with the Brewers that guarantees him $750,000.) Likewise, World Series outfielders Reggie Sanders, Kenny Lofton, Shawon Dunston, Tom Goodwin, Alex Ochoa and Orlando Palmeiro haven't been in demand. The Blue Jays cut outfielder Jose Cruz Jr. rather than pay him about $5 million in arbitration; they spent the money on three players: outfielder Frank Catalanotto, infielder Mike Bordick and pitcher Tanyon Sturtze.

The best player caught in the downturn is 31-year-old catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who has made 10 All-Star teams, won 10 Gold Gloves and hit .300 in each of the last eight seasons. But each of his past three seasons was shortened by injury, including a herniated disk in 2002.

Only two years ago Todd Hundley also hit the market as a 31-year-old catcher coming off three injury-marred seasons. Hundley scored a four-year, $23.5 million contract from the Cubs. Rodriguez, a vastly superior catcher and hitter who just completed a five-year, $42 million contract with the Rangers, can't attract that kind of money. The Orioles reportedly offered him $18 million over three years, and the Brewers and the Cubs have shown some interest. Jeff Moorad, Rodriguez's agent, was so exasperated that he said last month he was pursuing opportunities for his client in Japan, an unlikely career move for a player with Hall of Fame aspirations.

Lukewarm interest in Rodriguez is due to more than the slow market, according to one American League scout. "Pitchers hate throwing to him," the scout says. "The word's gotten around that he doesn't sit in on pitchers' meetings, he likes to call [fastballs] with runners on, and his skills are declining. A lot of balls get through him. You can put up with those things when a guy hits .310 with power, but now you don't know for sure if he'll do that."

All-Remainder Team The best of the unsigned free agents
Pos.	Player, Age	2002 Team	2002 Salary
C	Ivan Rodriguez, 31	Rangers	$9.6 million
Must reconsider asking price of at least $10 million a year
1B	Tony Clark, 30	Red Sox	$5 million
Stock plummeted after .207, three-home-run season
2B	Keith Lockhart, 38	Braves	$600,000
Six-year run as Atlanta utilityman came to an end
SS	Jose Hernandez, 33	Brewers	$3.3 million
Sign of the times: from All-Star to All-Remainder in six months
3B	Tyler Houston, 32	Dodgers	$1.63 million
Platoon player has some pop (18 homers in 2000)
LF	Ray Lankford, 35	Padres	$8.1 million
Hit .224 in final season of five-year, $34 million megadeal
CF	Jose Cruz Jr., 28	Blue Jays	$3.95 million
Cut after .245 season in which ankle injury cost him 33 games
RF	Reggie Sanders, 35	Giants	$1.75 million
Looking for sixth team in six years despite 85 RBIs in 2002
RHP	James Baldwin, 31	Mariners	$1.25 million
Injury-prone starter won only seven games last year
LHP	Kenny Rogers, 38	Rangers	$7.5 million
Likely to take pay cut despite going 13-8 with 3.84 ERA
RP	Roberto Hernandez, 38	Royals	$6 million
League hit .300 against fading closer, who blew seven saves

Issue date: January 20, 2003

 

Related information

Stories

Dr. Z's Forecast Inside College Basketball: Fearless Freshman Inside College Football: From a Leak to a Flood? Inside the NBA: Every Man For Himself Scorecard: They're Only Human The Magazine: Current Issue and Archives

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video