Tony Plush Still Around!!

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Morgan signs with Brewers, avoiding arbitration
Club continues talks with four unsigned players, including K-Rod

By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com | 01/16/12 4:35 PM EST


MILWAUKEE -- Brewers outfielder Nyjer Morgan will have to disperse $2.35 million among his many alter egos after agreeing Monday on a one-year contract, striking another name from the club's list of arbitration-eligible players.

Four remain, including three with the standard three to six years of Major League service time (starter Shaun Marcum and relievers Kameron Loe and Jose Veras) and one very interesting exception in reliever Francisco Rodriguez, who was a free agent before he surprised the Brewers by accepting their arbitration offer in December. If any of those four players remain unsigned by 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, they will exchange salary proposals with the team and negotiations will continue until the date of an arbitration hearing in February. If the sides remain in disagreement then, they will present a case to a three-member panel of judges, who select one figure or the other.

The same process unfolds every January and February, though the Rodriguez case is an outlier for at least three reasons:

• Service time: Unlike the Brewers' other arbitration-eligible players, whose salaries are set based on comparisons with other players from their relatively narrow service class, Rodriguez can be compared to the whole range of free agents.
• Role: Rodriguez has been a closer for most of his career, with 291 saves including a single-season record of 62 with the Angels in 2008. But the Brewers acquired him from the Mets last July to be their setup man to young closer John Axford, and Rodriguez accepted arbitration knowing he would probably be a setup man again in 2012. Role will surely be a central issue as talks progress with Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras.
• Salary: Typically, teams cannot cut a players' salary by more than 20 percent in arbitration, a point that is usually moot because salaries almost always stay the same or rise. Left-hander Manny Parra, for example, did not throw a big league pitch in 2011 because of back and elbow injuries, yet he will receive the same $1.2 million salary in 2012. But the maximum salary reduction rule does not apply to Rodriguez, who earned an $11.5 million base salary last season, per article 20 of the last Collective Bargaining Agreement. A FOXsports.com reporter polled Major League executives last week, and some estimated that Rodriguez would get about $10 million.

"[Rodriguez] is in another world from our other cases, as far as determining what the proper number is," said Brewers senior director of business operations Teddy Werner, the club's arbitration guru. "There are a slew of comparables. You look at the setup men and closers who have signed in the last couple of years, and that is the universe of players we have been discussing with Scott.
"Obviously, there is a difference of opinion at the moment about where Francisco falls in that group."
The player side will present Rodriguez as a closer. This offseason alone, the list of free-agent signings includes Jonathan Papelbon (four years, $50 million with the Phillies), Heath Bell (three years, $27 million with the Marlins), Joe Nathan (two years, $14.5 million with the Rangers) and Ryan Madson (one year, $8.5 million with the Reds).
But those four players all finished last season as closers, and the Brewers are sure to argue that Rodriguez should fit with the setup men. That would mean a pay cut.

"It's a unique situation," Werner said. "It certainly would make for a great law school hypothetical. Where does this individual fit in the current market, given his role and given his history?"
According to Werner, only two free agents over the past 20 years have accepted arbitration and then gone all the way to a hearing. They are Todd Walker, who won his case against the Padres in February 2007, and Mark Loretta, who lost to the Astros in February 2008.
This year, Rodriguez, Blue Jays infielder Kelly Johnson and Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz were the only free agents to accept arbitration.

The Brewers' other cases should be more straightforward. Werner is handling discussions for the second straight season with agent Rex Gary regarding Marcum, and Brewers director of video scouting and baseball research Karl Mueller is the point man for both Loe and Veras, who are comparable cases.

The Brewers have only been discussing a one-year deal for Marcum, who is on a track to reach free agency after next season.
The club's conversations with Morgan's rep, former Mets infielder Keith Miller of the ACES agency, went smoothly before the sides agreed to a deal on Monday. Comparable outfielders included Andres Torres, David Murphy and Jacoby Ellsbury, each of whom earned between $2.2 million and $2.5 million last season when they had Morgan's level of service.

Morgan's case would have been an interesting one had it gone to a hearing. His side would have had an interesting argument in favor of Morgan's "public appeal," which is one of the criteria in play for arbitration. Morgan became a fan-favorite among Brewers fans last summer after featuring Tony Plush and some of his alter egos in postgame interviews. He also delivered the 10th-inning hit in Game 5 of the National League Division Series that propelled the Brewers to the NL Championship Series. "One of the coolest seasons I've ever had," Morgan said after the Brewers were eliminated. "I never thought I would have fun like this. I just thank [general manager] Doug [Melvin] and [assistant GM] Gord [Ash] for not believing all of the malarkey that was going on out there about me, and understanding that I'm a fun, easygoing player and that I come to play. I'm thankful for the fans, too. They allowed me to be me."

[Kingdom]

Entertainment continues!

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