The Elias Sports Bureau recently compiled its 2007-08 player rankings, which are used to determine which players qualify as Type A and Type B free agents.

A Twins official confirmed that reliever Dennys Reyes qualified as a Type B free agent. This means, if the Twins offer him salary arbitration, and he leaves via free agency, the Twins will receive a supplemental round draft pick in the 2009 June amateur draft.

Last year, Torii Hunter was a Type A free agent, so the Twins received the Angels’ first-round pick (No. 27 overall) and a supplemental round pick (No. 31 overall). They used those picks, respectively, to take University of Miami pitcher Carlos Gutierrez and Tulane pitcher Shooter Hunt.

It’s interesting viewing the entire Elias rankings. The two-year platform is important. The reason Carlos Silva didn’t qualify as even a Type B free agent last year is he had such a poor 2006 season before rebounding in 2007.

The best links I could find came from the New York Post, which got the information from the Associated Press. Check out the full AL rankings here, and the NL rankings here. Some notables from the lists:

(*) Joe Mauer (not a free agent, of course) was not only a Type A, but also received the top ranking among AL catchers at 89.401.

(*) Reyes was the lowest qualifier among Type B AL relief pitchers, at 57.480.

(*) Other pending Twins free agents, Nick Punto, Adam Everett and Eddie Guardado did not qualify as Type B’s.

(*) Joe Nathan qualified as the top AL reliever, at 92.845, meaning he would have been a solid Type A free agent had the Twins not locked him up with a four-year deal in spring training.

(*) Matt Guerrier (not a free agent, so won’t factor into compensation) also qualified as a Type A, at 71.003. Again, it speaks to the importance of the two-year platform. Guerrier was terrific in 2007 and the first part of last season before struggling in the second half. That two-year platform will help him get a nice raise in arbitration after making $950,000 last year.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.