2011 Elias Free Agent Compensation

Courtesy of Baseball America, here is the Elias Free Agent Compensation Rankings:

"Players who rank in the top 20 percent of their position group (as determined by a statistical formula laid out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement) are designated as Type A free agents, and those who rate in the 21-40 percent bracket are designated as Type B. In order to receive compensation for a Type A or B free agent, the player's former team must offer him arbitration by the Nov. 23 deadline. The player also must sign a major league contract with his new club.

Type A free agents bring back the signing team's first-round pick and a supplemental first-rounder as compensation, while Type B free agents produce only the sandwich pick. Clubs that finished in the bottom half of the major league standings have their first-rounders protected from compensation, and teams also can't lose a consolation pick for failure to sign a draftee from the previous year. If a team signs multiple Type A free agents, the club that lost the higher-ranking player gets the better choice.

Below are the potential Type A and B compensation free agents by position, listed in order of their statistical ranking."

Potential Type A Compensation Free Agents
Catchers: Victor Martinez (Bos), A.J. Pierzynski (CWS), Ramon Hernandez (Cin), Bengie Molina (Tex).
First Basemen: Paul Konerko (CWS), Adam Dunn (Was), Derrek Lee (Atl)
Second Basemen: None.
Third Basemen: Adrian Beltre (Bos), Miguel Tejada (SD).
Shortstops: Derek Jeter (NYY).
Outfielders: Jayson Werth (Phi), Carl Crawford (TB), Magglio Ordonez (Det), Manny Ramirez (CWS).
Designated Hitters: Vladimir Guerrero (Tex).
Starting Pitchers: Cliff Lee (Tex), Andy Pettitte (NYY), Carl Pavano (Min), Jorge de la Rosa (Col).
Relief Pitchers: Rafael Soriano (TB), Mariano Rivera (NYY), Matt Guerrier (Min), Scott Downs (Tor), Dan Wheeler (TB), Jason Frasor (Tor), Frank Francisco (Tex), Grant Balfour (TB), Arthur Rhodes (Cin).
Potential Type B Compensation Free Agents
Catchers: John Buck (Tor), Miguel Olivo (Tor), Jason Varitek (Bos), Yorvit Torrealba (SD), Gerald Laird (Det), Rod Barajas (LAD).
First Basemen: Lance Berkman (NYY), Carlos Pena (TB), Mike Lowell (Bos), Adam LaRoche (Ari), Aubrey Huff (SF).
Second Basemen: Orlando Hudson (Min), David Eckstein (SD).
Third Basemen: Felipe Lopez (Bos).
Shortstops: Orlando Cabrera (Cin), Juan Uribe (SF).
Outfielders: Brad Hawpe (TB), Scott Podsednik (LAD).
Designated Hitters: Johnny Damon (Det), Hideki Matsui (LAA).
Starting Pitchers: Jon Garland (SD), Javier Vazquez (NYY), Hiroki Kuroda (LAD), Kevin Millwood (Bal), Kevin Correia (SD).
Relief Pitchers: Jon Rauch (Min), Koji Uehara (Bal), Brian Fuentes (Min), Kevin Gregg (Tor), Joaquin Benoit (TB), Pedro Feliciano (NYM), Octavio Dotel (Col), Trevor Hoffman (Mil), Kerry Wood (NYY), Randy Choate (TB), J.J. Putz (CWS), Jesse Crain (Min), Aaron Heilman (Ari), Chad Durbin (Phi), Chad Qualls (TB).

Free Agent Compensation

Baseball America provides a nice breakdown of how free agent compensation works and also a list of type A and B free agents for the 2010 season.

"Starting with the 1980-83 Collective Bargaining Agreement, MLB has determined which free agents require compensation by using Elias Sports Bureau calculations based on two years of performance. Players are sorted into position groups by league: catchers; designated hitters, first basemen and outfielders; second basemen, third basemen and shortstops; starting pitchers; and relief pitchers.

All hitters are graded on plate appearances, batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and RBIs. Fielding percentage and assists also are considered for catchers, and fielding percentage and total chances also matter for second basemen, third basemen and shortstops. The categories for pitchers are starts, innings, wins, winning percentage, ERA and strikeouts for starters; and relief appearances, innings, wins plus saves, ERA, hits per nine innings and strikeout/walk ratio for relievers.

Players who rate in the top 20 percent of their position group are designated as Type A free agents, and those in the 21-40 percent bracket are designated as Type B. To receive compensation for a Type A or B free agent, the player's former club must offer him arbitration.

Type A free agents yield the signing team's first-round choice and a supplemental first-rounder, while Type B free agents produce only the sandwich pick. Clubs that finished in the bottom half of the major league standings have their first-round selections protected from compensation, and consolation picks for failure to sign draftees from the previous year can't change hands either. If a team signs multiple Type A free agents, the club that lost the higher-ranking player gets the better pick.

Below are the potential Type A and B free agents by position, listed in order of Elias ranking. Not all of these players have filed for free agency yet, and some have 2010 options that may be picked up by their current teams."

Potential Type A Free Agents Catchers: Bengie Molina (SF). First Basemen: None. Second Basemen: Orlando Hudson (LAD), Placido Polanco (Det). Third Basemen: Chone Figgins (LAA). Shortstops: Marco Scutaro (Tor), Miguel Tejada (Hou), Orlando Cabrera (Min). Outfielders: Matt Holliday (StL), Jason Bay (Bos), Johnny Damon (NYY), Jermaine Dye (CWS). Starting Pitchers: John Lackey (LAA), Randy Wolf (LAD). Relief Pitchers: Jose Valverde (Hou), Mike Gonzalez (Atl), Rafael Soriano (Atl), Billy Wagner (Bos), LaTroy Hawkins (Hou), Rafael Betancourt (Col), Darren Oliver (LAA), Kevin Gregg (ChC), John Grabow (ChC), Octavio Dotel (CWS).

Potential Type B Free Agents Catchers: Ramon Hernandez (Cin), Jason Varitek (Bos), Ivan Rodriguez (Tex), Jason Kendall (Mil), Rod Barajas (Tor), Yorvit Torrealba (Col), Miguel Olivo (KC), Gregg Zaun (TB). First Basemen: Fernando Tatis (NYM), Carlos Delgado (NYM), Adam LaRoche (Atl), Nick Johnson (Fla). Second Basemen: Felipe Lopez (Mil), Ronnie Belliard (LAD). Third Basemen: Melvin Mora (Bal), Mark DeRosa (StL), Adrian Beltre (Sea), Troy Glaus (StL). Shortstops: None. Outfielders: Marlon Byrd (Tex), Vladimir Guerrero (LAA), Xavier Nady (NYY), Brian Giles (SD), Garret Anderson (Atl), Randy Winn (SF), Mike Cameron (Mil). Starting Pitchers: Rich Harden (ChC), Andy Pettitte (NYY), Vicente Padilla (LAD), Erik Bedard (Sea), Joel Pineiro (StL), Braden Looper (Mil), Jon Garland (LAD), Doug Davis (Ari), Randy Johnson (SF), Jason Marquis (Col), Justin Duchscherer (Oak), Carl Pavano (Min). Relief Pitchers: Scott Eyre (Phi), Brandon Lyon (Det), Kiko Calero (Fla), Guillermo Mota (LAD), Chan Ho Park (Phi), Bob Howry (SF), Joe Beimel (Col), Will Ohman (LAD), Doug Brocail (Hou), David Weathers (Mil), Russ Springer (TB), Fernando Rodney (Det), Brian Shouse (TB).

Elias Free Agent Compensation Rankings

Elias Sports came out with their free agent compensation rankings and here is the listing and a brief explanation from Baseball America:

"Players who rate in the top 20 percent of their position group (catchers; first basemen, outfielders and DHs; second basemen, third basemen and shortstops; starting pitchers; and relief pitchers) are designated as Type A. Players who rank in the 21-40 percent bracket are designated as Type B.

If a Type A or B free agent's former club offers him arbitration, then it will receive compensation if he signs elsewhere. Type A free agents yield the signing team's first-round choice and a supplemental first-rounder, while Type Bs return only the sandwich-rounder. Clubs who finished in the bottom half of the major league standings can't surrender their first-round selection, and compensation picks for failure to sign draftees from the previous year can't change hands either.

With that out of the way, below are the potential Type A and B free agents by position (listed in order of Elias ranking). Not all of these players have filed for free agency yet."

Potential Type A Free Agents Catchers: Jason Varitek (Bos). First Basemen: Mark Teixeira (LAA). Second Basemen: Orlando Hudson (Ari). Shortstops: Orlando Cabrera (CWS), Edgar Renteria (Det). Outfielders: Manny Ramirez (LAD), Raul Ibanez (Sea), Bob Abreu (NYY), Adam Dunn (Ari), Pat Burrell (Phi), Brian Giles (SD). Starting Pitchers: C.C. Sabathia (Mil), A.J. Burnett (Tor), Andy Pettitte (NYY), Mike Mussina (NYY), Ben Sheets (Mil), Oliver Perez (NYM), Derek Lowe (LAD), Jamie Moyer (Phi). Relief Pitchers: Francisco Rodriguez (LAA), Brian Fuentes (Col), Russ Springer (StL), Damaso Marte (NYY), Ryan Dempster (ChC), Juan Cruz (Ari), Kerry Wood (ChC), Trevor Hoffman (SD), Doug Brocail (Hou), Darren Oliver (LAA), Bob Howry (ChC). Potential Type B Free Agents Catchers: Ivan Rodriguez (NYY), Greg Zaun (Tor), Paul LoDuca (Fla). Second Basemen: Jeff Kent (LAD), Juan Uribe (CWS), Mark Loretta (Hou), Mark Grudzielanek (KC). Third Basemen: Casey Blake (LAD), Hank Blalock (Tex). Outfielders: Garret Anderson (LAA), Moises Alou (NYM), Ken Griffey Jr. (CWS), Luis Gonzalez (Fla), Mike Cameron (Mil). Designated Hitters: Milton Bradley (Tex), Frank Thomas (Oak). Starting Pitchers: John Smoltz (Atl), Brad Penny (LAD), Jon Garland (LAA), Randy Wolf (Hou), Paul Byrd (Bos), Greg Maddux (LAD), Braden Looper (StL), Randy Johnson (Ari). Relief Pitchers: Alan Embree (Oak), Brian Shouse (Mil), Jason Isringhausen (StL), Dave Weathers (Cin), Brandon Lyon (Ari), Salomon Torres (Mil), Jeremy Affeldt (Cin), Arthur Rhodes (Fla), Joe Beimel (LAD), LaTroy Hawkins (Hou), Dennys Reyes (Min), Rudy Seanez (Phi), Luis Ayala (NYM), Eric Gagne (Mil).