* Over the last three season, Jorge Posada is the worst catcher at “saving runs” with a mark of -23. (During this time, Yadier Molina was the leader with a mark of +22). * In terms of “net gain” in baserunning, factoring in chances to go first to third, second to home, etc., and the amount of times the player was successful, as well as making outs on the bases, hitting into double plays, and net steals, the Yankees were the 22nd worst team in baseball with a mark of -9. (The best team in baseball here was the Phillies with a mark of +109 and the worst team in baseball was the Royals with a mark of -67.) * Also in terms of “net gain” in baserunning, Robinson Cano was the worst in baseball for second baseman (-23) and Chase Utley was the best (+50). This probably lends towards explaining the Phillies and Yankees overall team totals in this stat. * David Robertson allowed .36 of his inherited baserunners to score in 2009. For a point of comparison, Edwar Ramirez last season posted a mark of .33 here, Brian Burney’s number was .31, Damaso Marte posted a .19 and Phil Hughes’ fashioned a percentage of .06 – yes, point-oh-six. * In 2008, Joe Girardi had runners moving with the pitch 173 times (which was tops in the league). But, in 2009, Girardi had runners moving just 83 times. (What a difference not having Jason Giambi makes, I suppose.) * Nick Swisher had the second worst “BPS per OutZ” in the American League with a mark of .218 in 2009. What’s “BPS per OutZ”? It’s batting average plus slugging percentage on pitches outside of the strikezone. (Hey, Swishalicious, do yourself a favor and only swing at strikes!) * A.J. Burnett had the third “fastest” average fastball in the league at 94.2 MPH last season whereas Andy Pettitte had the third “slowest” average fastball in the league at 89.0 MPH (minimum 162 IP in both cases). * Among all players with at least 98 games played at 2B or SS, Robinson Cano had the 10th worst “2B Pivot %” in the league at .563 and Derek Jeter had the 10th worst “SS Pivot %” at .541 (whereas Dustin Pedroia led 2B at .789 and Yuniesky Betancourt was tops at SS with .735).

The Minnesota Twins and second baseman Orlando Hudson have agreed on a one-year, $5 million contract. The Twins announced the deal late Thursday night. As part of the deal, the Twins agreed not to offer Hudson salary arbitration if he is a Type A free agent next offseason. Thus, a team will be able to sign Hudson without losing a draft pick, making him more attractive on the open market. The contract does not include incentives. Hudson gives the Twins a veteran at the top of the batting order with a .282 career average and four Gold Glove awards. He played in his second All-Star Game last season, his only year with the Los Angeles Dodgers after four with the Toronto Blue Jays and three with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He'll form an all-new double-play tandem for the Twins with shortstop J.J. Hardy, who came in an earlier offseason trade from the Milwaukee Brewers. The 32-year-old Hudson batted .283 with 35 doubles, six triples, nine homers and 62 RBIs in 551 at-bats for the Dodgers last year.

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The Tigers and Justin Verlander have agreed to a five-year deal worth $80MM according to the AP (via NBCSports.com), and it could be made official as soon as tomorrow. The righthander filed for $9.5MM in arbitration, and the team countered with $6.9MM. Verlander, 27 later this month, had reportedly been seeking a sixth guaranteed year, however it appears the team was able to talk him out of it with more guaranteed money. The former second overall pick led the American League in starts, innings, batters faced, strikeouts, and wins in 2009, earning him a third place finish in the Cy Young voting. He also has a no-hitter, a Rookie of the Year Award, and World Series experience to his credit. The deal buys out the Verlander's two remaining arbitration years plus three free agent years for an average annual salary of $16MM, and will take him to age 32. It's worth slightly more than Felix Hernandez's five-year, $78MM deal, which was being used as a comparison. Tim compared the two pitchers just yesterday.

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  Career Stats                                                               
  year team lg level org age g ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi tb bb so sb cs avg obp slg ops
  2005 Jesuit HS    HS    17 24 70 25 26 6 1 5 28 49 10 9 1 0 0.371 0.458 0.700 1.158
  2006 Jesuit HS    HS    18 29 78 39 33 2 1 14 33 89 24 11 6 3 0.423 0.574 1.013 1.587
  2007 Greenville SAL A Bos 19 124 458 69 132 35 3 10 69 203 71 112 2 4 0.288 0.385 0.443 0.828
  2007 Lancaster Cal A Bos 19 10 35 13 12 2 0 1 9 17 11 9 0 0 0.343 0.489 0.486 0.975
 2008 Lancaster Cal A Bos 20 77 306 58 97 19 1 13 50 157 46 64 0 0 0.317 0.408 0.513 0.921
 2008 Portland East AA Bos 20 41 133 27 42 13 0 5 30 70 29 43 1 0 0.316 0.436 0.526 0.962
 2009 Portland EL AA Bos 21 119 447 50 104 23 0 9 51 154 63 114 2 0 0.233 0.328 0.345 0.673

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