ESPN MLB

Originally Published: June 11, 2003

Gonzalez, Lopez head All-Contract Year Team

How do some players inexplicably become rejuvenated? Announcing the All-Contract Year Team.

Email Print Share

By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com
Archive

It was spring training. A one-time All-Star stepped into the batting cage and started pounding baseballs all over Florida. His general manager eyed him and said, "Boy, is he in great shape. ... Of course, it is his contract year."

Well, golly, you sure do hate to be cynical about ballplayers and the kind of thing that motivates them. But in case you never noticed this, money doesn't just talk here in this modern age of ours. It screams. It roars. It practically sings the Best of Pearl Jam.

APJavy Lopez has re-discovered his swing at the right time.

And it sings especially loud in what we like to refer to as "contract years." When a player's free-agent clock is ticking. When big seasons equal big dollars. When a well-timed revival can even save -- or at least preserve -- a guy's career.

There's a good reason Sparky Anderson once said, "Give me 25 guys on the last year of their contracts and I'll win it all." Because it might be true. And if you were going to assemble a whole team full of guys on the last year of their contracts this season, here's our choice of the guys you'd pick for our first annual All-Contract Year Team:

C -- Javier Lopez: If you could design a model player for an All-Contract Year Team, you'd probably look for a veteran player in the last year of his contract, who suddenly dropped 30 pounds and got in the best shape of his life, then found his swing after years in storage. Well, that's Lopez. He just hit as many home runs in 13 starts as he hit all last year (11). He's almost doubled his slugging percentage (to a Barry-esque .736). And he has almost as many homers (18) as singles (21). He doesn't just make this team -- "he might be the MVP," laughs one scout.

1B -- J.T. Snow: Snow isn't exactly having that classic bust-out free-agent year. In fact, he's hit .230 since April ended. But despite just two homers, Snow's slugging percentage is up 50 points. He's batted .333 with runners on base. You can always count on him to scoop up the manager's kid should that need arise. And he's still the best glove on the planet at first base. After two straight years of under 10 home runs and sub-.400 slugging, Snow needed (and still needs) to prove he's at least some kind of offensive presence. But of the potential first-base free agents, he's one who at least has elevated his employability.

2B -- Todd Walker: Mazeroski, he's not. But Walker's bat continues to make him a guy who will make it onto a few offseason shopping lists at an increasingly offense-oriented position. When he leads off an inning, his on-base percentage is over .400. When he comes up with men in scoring position, he's hitting .333. He's "one of those pieces you need," said one scout, "to pick your club up offensively when your big guys don't."

SS -- Rey Ordonez: Don't laugh. Of all the potential free-agent shortstops, nobody was doing more (before he sprained a knee) to help his marketability than Ordonez. OK, everybody who expected Ordonez to have a higher batting average (.316), slugging percentage (.487) and OPS (.815) than Miguel Tejada (.229, .414, .703) right now, please raise your hand. Right. Thought so. "Just getting out of New York alone helps his value," said one scout.

3B -- Vinny Castilla: After a 2002 season in which Castilla had a .268 on-base percentage and a lower slugging percentage (.348) than Miguel Cairo, "everybody thought Vinny was through," said one scout. Well, guess again. Castilla has as many homers (nine) as Adrian Beltre, Aramis Ramirez and Eric Hinske combined. And he still catches the ball. So if he can keep this up, he can salvage yet one more contract.

LF -- Carl Everett: Granted, he isn't the kind of guy anybody would want to reward with another four-year, $30-million contract. But six months ago, Everett's chances of having a big-league job next year were right up there with Mike Tyson's chances of being knighted. Now, here he is, leading all regular American League outfielders in slugging (.611). And whaddaya know, his career ain't over. "Trouble is," said one NL executive, "if you look at his track record, you know he'll have this year and go right back the other way. You've gotta keep the carrot in front of that guy."

CF -- Kenny Lofton: Two years in a row, Lofton could barely get a job. Now he's the Pirates' MVP. The only NL leadoff man with 200 at-bats and a higher on-base percentage is Rafael Furcal. And the Pirates' have no complaints about his defense or attitude. "A lefthanded-hitting center fielder ought to be able to create a demand for himself somewhere," said one scout. Of course, Lofton has thought that the last two winters, too.

RF -- Raul Mondesi: If he keeps hitting at his current rate, Mondesi would just miss his career high in on-base percentage and slugging, and approach his first 30-homer season since 1999. Which sure is sensational timing on his part, isn't it?

DH -- Juan Gonzalez: Technically, of course, Gonzalez is an outfielder, not a DH. But as one scout puts it, "DH is the perfect position to play him." If Javy Lopez is the MVP of the All-Contract Year Team, Gonzalez ought to be its captain. When healthy and motivated, he's still one of baseball's most dangerous thumpers. But lately, those years of health and motivation have coincided way too regularly with his contract years. "He and Everett, both," said one scout. "Those are two guys you need to keep hungry."

Starting rotation: Kevin Millwood, David Wells, Esteban Loaiza, Sidney Ponson, Corey Lidle.

Millwood makes the list because he's proven he's a real, live No. 1 starter. Wells makes the list because three months ago, the Yankees were debating whether to release him over his book-writing expedition -- and now he's the second-winningest left-hander in the American League. Loaiza has an expensive option for next year ($3.5 million, with clauses that could inflate that) -- but leading the league in wins and ERA figures to keep him gainfully employed. Ponson won seven times all last year -- and now has won seven of his last eight starts. And Lidle, while he has gotten humongous run support, also has two wins at Yankee Stadium and another at Fenway among his eight wins. Which will sound great when negotiating season rolls around.

Bullpen: Tim Worrell, Keith Foulke, Ugueth Urbina, Turk Wendell, Rheal Cormier.

After 10 years as a journeyman and setup man, Worrell magically morphed into a desperately needed closer in San Francisco. Foulke had to prove he could still close after getting dumped by the White Sox -- and has so far. All you need to know about Urbina is that the Red Sox waved goodbye to him last winter and are now trying to trade to get him back. Wendell has a 0.95 ERA after elbow surgery. And Cormier has gone from nearly getting released in April to a guy his manager called "our MVP" in June.

Bench: David Ortiz, Mark Loretta, Rondell White, Jeromy Burnitz, Jose Guillen.

Rumblings and Bud-lings

Last year, after the steroid allegations of Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco, baseball tried to reassure the public that its records weren't tainted by pushing for a drug-testing plan in the new labor deal. But even though Sammy Sosa's corkfest cast another cloud over hitters everywhere, don't expect baseball to install X-ray machines in the on-deck circles -- or do anything special to reassure the public that most bats are clean.

	Selig

"I don't want us to under-react," the commish, Bud Selig, tells Rumblings. "But I don't want us to overreact, either. The fact is, it's a pretty tough thing to police. Other than doing what you said (with those X-ray booths on deck), it's pretty hard to go through everyone's bat. As a practical matter, how do you do that?"

Well, baseball could attempt random bat inspections or certify certain bats as "game bats." But Selig is wary of suggesting that everyone is cheating in an age when, other than the Sosa incident, you hear few complaints about corking or bat tampering.

"The best thing we can do," Selig said, "is impose discipline. If you cheat, you've got to be disciplined in a way that says to everyone, `Don't do this. You ruin yourself. You hurt your team. You hurt your own reputation.' My father always told me the most important thing you have is your own reputation. And now Sammy is finding that out. Look what he's going through."

Yankees trade rumors are everywhere these days. But an official of one club that has been talking to the Yankees thinks all those Ugueth Urbina rumors are being fanned by Texas GM John Hart to inspire the Red Sox to overpay for Urbina.

	Urbina

The Yankees are out there looking for bullpen help, true. But indications are that they haven't had serious talks about any of their current options -- which include Urbina and Armando Benitez, among others.

"They're out there fishing," said one AL executive of the Yankees. "But there's nothing hot. Everyone wants Nick Johnson, and they're not trading Nick Johnson. Of course, if they lose six in a row, EVERYTHING there could change."

Two weeks ago, the Phillies were close to sending scuffling rookie centerfielder Marlon Byrd to the minor leagues to try to get himself straightened out. They had also had some very preliminary conversations with the Pirates about the potential availability of Kenny Lofton.

	Byrd

But hold on. Byrd was 14 for his last 27 through Tuesday. And suddenly, the Phillies have turned down the thermostat on Lofton -- who would never have been more than a short-term, fill-out-the-year stopgap until Byrd got his act together, anyway.

As slow a starter as Byrd has always been, he has also been an All-Star in every minor league he ever played in. He was the MVP of the Eastern League two years ago. And he led the International League in extra-base hits last year. So the Phillies never planned to trash his career based on 100 nervous at-bats.

Players are already starting to grumble about one of baseball's new All-Star innovations -- following the lead of the Pro Bowl by ditching the long-time tradition of players wearing the uniforms of their own teams. The tentative plan is to have the All-Stars wear just the cap, while wearing a special (i.e., marketable) NL or AL uniform. But apparently, there's still some internal debate on whether to go through with that one.

Reinforcement Rumblings

Lowell Latest rumor making the rounds on a potential Mike Lowell-to-the-Cubs deal has the Marlins offering Lowell for Juan Cruz and Bobby Hill. It may not be a coincidence that the Cubs sent Cruz back to Iowa to let him go back to starting. And scouts who saw his last outing were, as always, blown away. "He had a bunch of 97s and 95s on his fastball," said one scout. "He's very aggressive in his delivery. And he changes speeds better than I remembered him doing. The one issue I'd have is his breaking ball against left-handed hitters. But he uses his change so well against left-handers, he can get by." Hill, on the other hand, is far from a scout favorite, because of attitude questions and a defensive approach that one scout said "really turned me off." The Pirates have been making it known that their two right-handers at the back end of the bullpen, Mike Williams and Brian Boehringer, are both going to be available. But they would need to be overwhelmed to deal Scott Sauerbeck, who is one of the best left-handed setup arms around. Clubs that have explored Chuck Finley's availability say Finley is asking for a two-year deal, at $3.5 million to $4 million a year. The Angels, Red Sox, Astros, Mariners, Dodgers, Rockies and Cardinals have all expressed some level of interest. But not at those dollars. And even if Finley signed today, he couldn't be ready to pitch in the big leagues until at least the All-Star break. The Giants are starting to assemble potential deadline-deal scenarios for a veteran starting pitcher to take some heat off all their young starters behind Jason Schmidt and Kirk Rueter.