Late Innings

News item of today: Andre Either signed a 3.1MM deal. Finally the corner outfielders are starting to sign, as in we saw this past weekend with Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel. Will Corey Hart and Ryan Zimmerman come to terms now? I’m not sure. Still we’re starting to see fewer arbitration cases than we did last year. Last year we had eight cases, this year we have three so far (the players winning two of them.) This year with teams locking down their players (notably Ryan Howard), arbitration isn’t as fun this year as it was years in the past. Granted the month is still young…

Also, Edwin Encarnacion agreed to terms on a two-year deal. He’ll make 7.6MM over the next two, leaving one year of arbitration for him (2011) on the table. If Encarnaction goes deep 35 times, as projected by RotoProfessor, then this deal will look good for Walt Jocketty and Co., regardless of how bad Edwin will look in the field.