Assistant general manager Gord Ash said all talks he has had with Weeks'
agent, Greg Genske, have been for multi-year deals Ash said he and Genske
hadn't talked about a one-year deal despite the looming arbitration deadline.
"We've focused exclusively on a multi-year deal," said Ash. "We've never
discussed a one-year deal. I'm not concerned about it. One way or the other,
it will get resolved."
Ash said he had a "brief conversation" with Genske over the weekend but had
no feeling that a deal was near.
"I really can't tell you," said Ash. "I haven't gotten any feedback from him
since then. We've exchanged proposals over the past few weeks."
One of the difficulties in reaching a deal with Weeks is that there are no
real comparables because he had injury-plagued seasons until 2010, when he
finally stayed healthy and had a nice year (29 HRs, 83 RBI, 112 runs scored).
Weeks made $2.75 million last season and is eligible for arbitration for the
last time prior to free agency.
Second baseman Dan Uggla, in his final year of arbitration, signed a
five-year, $62 million deal recently with Atlanta but Ash said he isn't a
true comparable to Weeks because Uggla has been a prolific home run hitter
for five years. Uggla has totaled 154 homers with 465 RBI and a .837 OPS over
those five years.
"Until I looked at it, I didn't really have a true appreciation of what Uggla
has done," said Ash. "His numbers have a historic significance for a second
baseman. We love Rickie but he's not in that elite class yet. Not many second
basemen ever have done what Uggla has done."
Of course, that won't stop Genske from using Uggla as a comparable in
negotiations.
General manager Doug Melvin, who is handling the Fielder negotiations, has
taken the opposite tact with agent Scott Boras, discussing only a one-year
deal in Fielder's last year of arbitration. Melvin tried last year to work
out a multi-year deal but got nowhere with Boras.
Asked if he'd ever try again to talk multi-year with Boras, Melvin said, "I
don't want to comment on that. We're focusing on one year now."
Melvin met with Boras over the weekend in Los Angeles while attending a
professional scouts dinner. I asked Melvin is there was any chance of
reaching a deal with Fielder, who made $10.5 million last year, before
figures are exchanged Tuesday and he said, "I don't think so but you never
know."