Andre Ethier and a contract extension with new Dodgers' ownership

Andre Ethier: $15 million man?

On this glorious day when the sale of the Dodgers is official, there is scuttlebutt the ownership is looking to hash out a contract extension with Andre Ethier.

Bill Shaikin, L.A. Times:

"Colletti met w Ethier's agent Fri at Dodger Stadium. No deal imminent, but that could be first order of business for new #Dodgers owners."

Jon Heyman, CBS Sports:

"doesnt sound like anythings close with ethier. but with new group in place, chances for deal improve drastically. #dodgers"

I wrote in June the Dodgers needed to trade Ethier, but I am coming around on the Dodgers giving him an extension. BUT, it needs to be under ideal terms and after more than just a month of good ball.

This is Ethier's stat line through 23 games: .276/.330/.540, five home runs, 24 RBI, six doubles. Those are pretty solid numbers, even if the batting average and on-base percentage are lower than his career averages (.291/.363).

At this time last year, Ethier was absolutely tearing the cover off the ball: .382/.450/.539, two home runs, 13 RBI and eight doubles. We all know what happened the rest of the way (.271/.350/.394 in 112 games).

I'm not saying Ethier is going to regress like that, but I want to see him play at a high level for more than a month before the Dodgers think about extending him. Even though the free agent market is thin in terms of hitters this winter, it wouldn't make any sense to overpay for Ethier.

His power appears to be back and he is hitting left-handed pitching better (.273/.351/.485), which is fantastic. But we have to remember this is a small sample size. Let's see where he is in another month.

So, what kind of deal should he get? That remains to be seen.

He's never been an elite player and he likely never will, so don't worry about Matt Holliday or Jayson Werth money (I recognize they aren't elite players -- although Holliday is good -- but they're getting paid as such).

Ethier is making $10.95 million this season, which is his last under team control. Some Similar Batter scores (according to Baseball-Reference) include Hunter Pence, Brad Hawpe and Corey Hart. Pence and Hart are pretty good comparisons. Hawpe made his living off Coors Field, so I'm not counting him.

Pence, still under team control for one more season, is making $10.4 million this year. There's not telling what he'd get on the open market at this point.

Hart signed a 3-year extension with the Brewers in August 2010. He's making $9 million this season and $10 million the next.

So, where does Ethier fall in here? Well, we have to factor in the fact he just turned 30 and is coming off knee surgery. So far, the knee looks great. But the Dodgers shouldn't give him an extension longer than four guaranteed years.

Here's what I'm thinking (and this is as much as I'd be willing to go, personally):

4 years, $60 million with two options years
2013: $12M, 2014: $13M, 2015: $15M, 2016: $16M, 2017: $16M (option with $2M buyout), 2018: $16M (option with $2M buyout)

The Dodgers would also have to include the usual bonuses for All-Star appearances, Silver Slugger awards and other postseason hardware.

Stan Kasten, the Dodgers' new president, has never been one to dole out huge amounts of money for free agents or his team's own pending free agents, so I'm confident a deal such as this could be worked out between the two.

Contrary to popular (my?) belief, maybe Ethier actually wants to stay in Los Angeles. At this point it could be mutually beneficial.

Matt Kemp wants Ethier to be extended. If Matt Kemp wants it, the Dodgers should make it happen -- on their terms.

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As mentioned above, the new ownership group is officially in and Frank McCourt is official out. Mark Walter, Kasten and Magic Johhnson take over. It's a great day for Dodger fans.

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Here's my latest piece at Chad Moriyama with an excerpt. It's about the resurgence of Ethan Martin and if he can keep it up.

"There has been no harsher critic of Ethan Martin than myself.

While I once rated him as the Dodgers second-best prospect, he has since fallen flat on his face and my rankings have reflected that. This season, however, he’s showing signs of putting it all together for the first time as a professional baseball player."

Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Dodgers' owner

The short list of people affiliated with the Dodgers' organization who are recognizable by one name just grew by one.

There's Vin, Tommy, Jackie, Sandy and now Magic.

The ownership group led by Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten was chosen tonight as the winners of the auction. Initial reports put the sale at $2.15 billion, or 2,150 million dollars.

Ken Gurnick was the first to report the news.

The only blemish in this deal is the parking lots are not included.

"Current owner Frank McCourt and certain affiliates of the purchasers will also be forming a joint venture, which will acquire the Chavez Ravine property for an additional $150 million."

Now, that's not to say the group only needed to kick in an extra $150 million to get the lots. I'm sure if that were the case, it would have been done. However, it's not the end of the world. It sucks McCourt is still involved, but it's a minor part, which is better than him keeping the team completely.

Update (March 27, 9:44 p.m.): From Bill Shaikin:

"Parking lots will be controlled by Magic's group."

Outstanding.

Mark Walter will be the controlling owner. The bankruptcy court must still approve the sale on April 13.

This is a fantastic day for Dodger fans. This has been a long time coming. With Johnson, there is the tie to Los Angeles -- something that's been missing since the O'Malley days. Stan Kasten, one of those behind the great Braves' runs of the 1990s and part of the rebuilding Washington Nationals, might be the most underrated part of this deal.

Some, myself included, were expecting the Steve Cohen/Patrick Soon-Shiong group to have the largest bid. We were hoping McCourt would do the "right" thing and choose the Johnson group, even if the money wasn't as high. Well, apparently that wasn't an issue.

But back to Magic. The guy is one of the most popular athletes in Los Angeles sports history. The importance of that cannot be understated. This is akin to Kobe Bryant buying the Lakers in 15 years, but it's probably not even on that level. In the end, there couldn't have been a better person to be the face of this franchise.

Johnson's experience as part owner of the Lakers will help him when it comes to being part owner of the Dodgers. Here's a statement from Johnson:

"I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise and intend to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section in our wonderful community of Los Angeles."

Now, things aren't suddenly going to change. Ned Colletti still needs to go and the Dodgers need to commit to the draft and international scouting. I had been holding off writing my season prediction post until seeing who was going to be the new owner. I'm not going to give everything away, but the postseason might not be that far out of reach.

This is a great day, folks. Revel in it. Things are looking up.

Go Blue!

Photo credit: Rafael Amado Deras on Flickr (Johnson)

Breaking down FanGraphs' Top 15 Dodgers' prospect list

Marc Hulet of FanGraphs today published his Top 15 Dodgers' prospects list, and the first eight are pretty standard, but there are a few inclusions I don't agree with.

Here's this list:

1. Zach Lee
2. Nathan Eovaldi
3. Chris Reed
4. Allen Webster
5. Garrett Gould
6. Chris Withrow
7. Alfredo Silverio
8. Joc Pederson
9. Tim Federowicz
10. Josh Lindblom
11. Alex Santana
12. Shawn Tolleson
13. James Baldwin
14. Ivan De Jesus
15. Aaron Miller

The top two are good in my book, but I have a hard time seeing Reed ranked ahead of Webster -- but to each his own. And admittedly, I may have ranked Reed a tad low in my Top 50 (No. 19), but there's no going back on it now.

Gould, Withrow, Silverio and Pederson are all solid in the 5-8 slots, but then we get to Federowicz at No. 9.

I still don't get the appeal of this guy. Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus ranked him as the Dodgers' 13th-best prospect earlier this week, but Baseball America has Federowicz ranked No. 10. Everything I've read and seen doesn't lead me to believe Federowicz is a Top-15 prospect in the Dodgers' system. Yes, the system is weak (ranked No. 23 by BA and No. 27 by Top Prospect Alert), but an all-glove, no-bat catcher doesn't exactly scream "top prospect" to me.

But that's not even the most curious inclusion on this list. Santana -- toolsy and young as he may be -- is not anywhere near the Top 20, let alone the Top 10, Dodger prospects. The kid is raw and needs a couple years to get to this level.

I like DeJesus, but he's no longer a Top 20-25 prospect in this system. He's likely going to start in Triple-A and doesn't have much of a chance with the Dodgers.

Hulet wrote this, which is a head-scratcher:

"De Jesus hit .328 recently in the Puerto Rico Winter League and has nothing left to prove in the minors. He should be a solid big league starter at second base."

If that was truly the case, methinks Hulet would have ranked DeJesus ahead of guys like Santana, Lindblom and Federowicz. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening.

Miller at No. 15 is pushing it, but he's been held back by injuries. Still, I don't see him as more than a reliever at this point. His 2012 will be telling for his future.

Other news and notes:

Brandon Lennox of True Blue L.A. is down to the Top 70 Dodger prospects in his countdown. His 80-71 rankings include Matt Kirkland, Jeffrey Hunt and Greg Wilborn.

Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. writes about the possibility of former Dodger executive Derrick Hall, Diamondbacks' president and CEO, returning to the Dodgers after the team is sold.

Stephen quoted Yahoo Sports' Steve Henson's article on Hall:

"It’s why several of the groups seeking to purchase the Dodgers have contacted Hall to become the CEO should their bid win."

However, John Gambadoro of 620 KTAR-AM in Phoenix, tweeted otherwise.

"Derrick Hall would not be interested in President job of the Dodgers. Yahoo sports speculated he would be a candidate for potential owners"

Stephen points out the Dodgers haven't had an "official" team president since Dennis Mannion was relieved of his duties in October 2010.

Jim Bowden of ESPN LA speculates that Stan Kroenke is the front-runner to win the bidding for the Dodgers, citing the ability to move the Rams back to Los Angeles. However, it'd mean Frank McCourt would still be in the picture, which immediately turns me off.

Number of prospective Dodgers' owners down to eight

It isn't often that $1 billion isn't enough money, but that was exactly the case for a lot of prospective Dodger bidders on Friday.

Two of the biggest names -- Mark Cuban and Dennis Gilbert -- were informed their initial bids did not get them to the second round.

Gilbert getting ousted is not too shocking, as Frank McCourt gets to make the final decision and Gilbert is buddy-buddy with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig (not exactly McCourt's favorite person right now).

Cuban has stood firm on the amount of money he'd spend on the Dodgers -- or any baseball team, for that matter. Cuban told this to the Los Angeles Times in November:

"'I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth.'"

Besides, he's only (using this loosely) worth upward of $2.3 billion, so it would have been really surprising to see him put up more than half his net worth to buy the Dodgers. But he's a smart man and I'm sure he could have found a way to make it work.

Cuban's been weary of buying the Dodgers for too much since November, so it's not that surprising he's out after the first round.

I know when the Dodgers first went on the market, a lot of folks wanted Cuban to end up owning the team. He's proven with the Dallas Mavericks that he'll spend the money to win. But this could be a good thing for everyone involved.

The Orel Hershiser-Steve Garvey group is also out of the bidding.

The confirmed remaining bidders are:

• Steve Cohen
• Stanley Gold/Roy Disney
• Leo Hindery/Marc Utay
• Magic Johnson/Stan Kasten
• Stan Kroenke
• Josh Macciello
• Peter O'Malley
• Joe Torre/Rick Caruso

Macciello confirmed, on his Twitter account, that he's still in it -- at least, one could deduce that from this:

"love That Pearl Jam song 'I'm still alive'"

So there you have it. The Johnson-Kasten group remains my favorite and is probably the favorite overall.

Man, April 6 cannot get here soon enough.

At least 10 billionaires submit inital bids to buy the Dodgers

Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times has the first story on at least 10 billionaires who submit opening bids to buy the Dodgers today.

The names revealed include Magic Johnson (and Stan Kasten), Mark Cuban, Joe Torre (and Rick Caruso), Steven Cohen, Peter O'Malley, Stanley Gold (and Disney) and Dennis Gilbert.

Two new bidders came to the forefront today: St. Louis Rams' owner Stan Kroenke, who is decided whether to place a bid, and New York investors Leo Hindery and Marc Utay, who attempted to buy the Chicago Cubs two years ago.

Kroenke recently purchased the Rams and there is speculation he might attempt to move the team back to Los Angeles after the 2014 season.

Update (9:11 p.m., Jan. 23): Molly Knight of ESPN the Magazine confirmed the group led by Orel Hershiser and Steve Garvey also submitted a bid today.

She also wonders about a man worth more than $7 billion -- Los Angeles' Patrick Soon-Shiong. He bought Johnson's minority stake with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010.

Today's deadline was a soft one and, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN LA tweeted last night, the bids can change and the bidders have no obligation to follow through on the bids.

The sale price is expected to be upward of $1.5 billion.

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Jared Massey of L.A. Dodger Report has a look at Angelo Songco, who was No. 13 on his Top 20 Dodgers' prospect list.

Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness just wants a team to sign Prince Fielder, even if it isn't the Dodgers.

Brandon Lennox of True Blue L.A. has finished the first half of his 200-prospect countdown.

Dodgers' news from around the Web

Other than the Dodgers being $573 million in debt, there isn't much going on right now. So, I'll link to some posts from other Dodger blogs.

But first, chew on this from the L.A. Times' Bill Shaikin:

"McCourt owes $573m in team debt, $131m to ex-wife, up to $200m on tax liability. That's up to $904m, with any Stow liability TBD. #dodgers"

Frank McCourt is nearly $1 billion in debt. That's mind-blowing. After the sale, which Bob Nightengale of USA Today predicts will be $1.73 billion, McCourt could still live comfortably for 25 lifetimes, despite debt. Insane and unfair.

Around the Web

Evan Bladh of Opinion of Kingman's Performance has a great post about my all-time favorite Dodger, Mike Piazza. He recalls when Piazza was traded to the Marlins and when he returned to Los Angeles for the first time as a Met in 1998. There is absolutely no way the Dodgers should have traded Piazza.

Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness reminds us all of the glorious fact that McCourt has 100 days (hopefully less) as the Dodgers' owner.

Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts, inspired by Bladh's Piazza post, looks at every other team's Dodger MVP.

Jared Massey of L.A. Dodger Report announced he's moving over to Scout.com to be a Dodger contributor there. Best of luck to you, Jared!

Scott Andes at Lasorda's Lair wonders if the Dodgers should bat A.J. Ellis at leadoff. The answer to this question is absolutely not, but it's an interesting question to ponder. If anything, he could bat in the 2-hole, but his lack of speed would really hurt him there. He'll likely bat seventh or eighth the entire season.

Joe Torre, Time Warner interested in buying Dodgers

Former Dodger and Yankee manager Joe Torre, who signed on as MLB Vice President of Operations less than one year ago, resigned from said position earlier today. He's joining real estate developer Rick Caruso in a bid to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Wow. This is really unexpected and a little curious.

First, who knew Torre even had aspirations of buying a Major League team, let alone a team set to sell for somewhere in the area of $1 to $1.5 billion? He obviously doesn't have that much money, just as Magic Johnson doesn't.

But why would Torre resign from his job for such an uncertain future? There's no guarantee the Torre/Caruso group will outbid the likes of Magic and Stan Kanter, Dennis Gilbert, Mark Cuban or the group led by Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser -- all of whom have received bid books. Billionaire Steve Cohen has also thrown his hat into the proverbial ring.

It's curious. What does Torre do if he and Caruso don't win the bid? I obviously don't have an inner working of Torre's mind, but it seems a little foolish to give up a gig such as VP of Baseball Operations for a chance to spend a billion bucks on a baseball team. I know he couldn't very well stay in the position and bid on the team (conflict of interest), but it still makes you go "hmm."

Mike Petriello chimed in with his thoughts on the situation.

And now comes word Time Warner is interested in buying the Dodgers, as opposed to paying the potential $4 billion price tag for the TV rights to the team.

It's a smart business move on Time Warner's part, but the whole thing sounds horrible. It has a real chance to be the News Corp ownership (FOX) all over again -- and we all know how that ended (traded Mike Piazza, sold to McCourt). I'm not saying they'd come in and trade Clayton Kershaw, but the organization needs a face to lead this franchise, not a company. The media conglomerate should stick to what it knows best -- television.

Chad Moriyama has a quick blurb on his thoughts regarding Time Warner.

With the opening bids pushed back to Jan. 23, it's anyone's guess who's going to end up owning the team. There is no frontrunner right now. Obviously, fans want Cuban for his passion, desire and seemingly limitless bank account. Gilbert is also an attractive option. Kanter has the front office experience (most recently with Washington, but he was with the Braves' in their historic mid-1900s run) and Magic has the name recognition to re-energize the fanbase. I'm not so sure the Torre-Caruso duo have as much potential as the others.

It's going to be an interesting few months until this thing is finally settled.

Report: McCourt agrees to sell Dodgers, plus more news

Bill Shakin of the L.A. Times tweeted just minutes ago Frank McCourt agreeed to sell the Dodgers.

"McCourt agrees to sell #Dodgers. Team to be auctioned in bankruptcy court. More soon at http://latimes.com/sports."

So, that's a bit of good news. This, coupled with the report Mark Cuban was interested in purchasing the Dodgers is a good sign. However, I wouldn't get too excited about Cuban just yet. There's still that whole Bud Selig hurdle.

The best thing right now is to hope for a quick sale. The sale will probably impact the Dodgers' ability to land free agents, but the sooner McCourt is gone, the better.

Thank you, Buddha.

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The Dodgers are on the verge of re-signing OF/1B Juan Rivera to a 1-year deal with an option for 2013.

I just checked my notes for my "2012 plan" post and saw I had Rivera coming back for on a $4 million, 1-year deal. After seeing the reaction on Twitter, I'm not sure that was the "smart" prediction, but it was right.

I don't mind him coming back. He was decent for the Dodgers and should be a nice platoon partner for Andre Ethier and/or James Loney -- if one or both return.

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Congratulations to Ethier, Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp for winning 2011 National League Gold Glove awards.

Kershaw was definitely deserving. Kemp, I can see winning. And despite positive advanced defensive metrics, there's no way Ethier should have won. But, here we are.

What sucks is Loney not winning (Joey Votto). I've long since praised Loney's defense. Perhaps next year.