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Royals Notes: Butler, Pitching, Chen, Santana, Phillips

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The Royals were reportedly open to listening to offers for Billy Butler last month and several teams (including the Mariners) are interested in the slugger, but a Royals team official tells Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star that a Butler trade is unlikely.  “Do the math. We’re looking to add offense," the official said.  "If we trade Butler, we’d have to add a lot of offense. It would have to be a series of moves to do that, and that’s hard to do. Plus, there’s just not that much available offense out there.”

Here's some more from Dutton…

  • The Royals are only looking to add one pitcher to their rotation this offseason, at most.  James Shields and Jeremy Guthrie have the first two spots and GM Dayton Moore hopes that the final two spots can be filled by the club's internal depth.  “To say we need to go out and get two guys…if it happens, great. But it’s not a necessity for us. We’d like to get one, but we want to get the right one for the right type of contract," Moore said.
  • While Moore wouldn't mind if young arms like Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy and Kyle Zimmer all won rotation spots, the club prefers a veteran starter.  "We've seen medicals on all of the guys…We're still trying to determine what pitchers out there will give us the least amount of risk," Moore said.  Dutton has cited Josh Johnson, Tim Hudson and Phil Hughes as Royals targets.
  • The Royals are still in contact with Bruce Chen, though they see the left-hander as a swingman more than a solid rotation fixture.
  • It seems as if Ervin Santana has priced himself out of the Royals' range, though Moore didn't close the door on a possible return for the free agent right-hander.  "Erv was a terrific pitcher for us, and we’re going to stay engaged. He’s agreed to stay engaged with us. We’ll see how it works. I hope he gets a great deal.”
  • Manager Ned Yost recently said that he and Moore had mentioned Brandon Phillips' name in discussions, though Dutton hears that such a trade would be unlikely.  Moore said “Second base is not a huge priority for us” earlier this week, and even with the Reds eating part of Phillips' contract, he would be a costly addition for the Royals.

Los Angeles Notes: Kershaw, Payroll, Nolasco, Dipoto

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Clayton Kershaw told Jim Bowden and Casey Stern on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (on Twitter) his contract negotiations with the Dodgers aren't on hold, but they've haven't resumed since the season ended.  Kershaw reportedly turned down a $300MM extension offer from the Dodgers earlier this year due to concerns about the length and size of the deal.  While it has been assumed that Kershaw will extend his deal with the Dodgers, the baseball world will surely be paying attention to what will likely be the largest contract ever issued to a pitcher.

Here's the latest from both Los Angeles teams…

  • "I think, for us, it wouldn't surprise me if we went [through] the winter without a huge move; not that it couldn't happen," Dodgers president Stan Kasten tells MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.  "We are looking more at deepening the organization, to fine-tune it and get into the season and see what we need. Having said that, I'm not ruling anything out. But those people who attach us to every free agent out there are making it up."  With Kasten prioritizing the Dodgers' farm system, Gurnick finds it unlikely that the club would move what few top prospects it has in a trade for David Price.
  • Also from Gurnick, the Dodgers "are kicking the tires" on such free agent pitchers as Ervin Santana, Matt Garza, Hiroki Kuroda, Ubaldo Jimenez, Bartolo Colon and Bronson Arroyo.  Given the big salaries some of these pitchers are demanding, you wonder if L.A. would really make a move to sign any given Kasten's earlier comments, though Kuroda, Colon and Arroyo could be had on less expensive, shorter-term deals.
  • The Angels aren't one of the teams who have made an offer to Ricky Nolasco, MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reports (via Twitter).  Nolasco is reportedly juggling several three- or four-year contracts offers.
  • The rumored discord between Jerry Dipoto and Mike Scioscia could have led to one or both men being fired following the Angels' disappointing season, but Dipoto tells FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi and he and the long-time Halos manager have improved their communication and are on the same page. 
  • From that same piece, Dipoto reiterated that pitching will be the central focus of the Angels' offseason: "Frankly, we’ve been focused on [pitching] for a couple years and it’s eluded us. We plan on putting our resources toward improving those areas. On the field, that’s where our biggest changes are going to come.”
  • The Angels' defense took a sharp decline from 2012 to 2013, and ESPN's David Schoenfeld thinks that the club should hold onto Peter Bourjos as a way of improving their fielding.  Schoenfeld also suggests signing Jhonny Peralta, trading Mark Trumbo and acquiring Felix Doubront from the Red Sox.

MLBTR's Zach Links contributed to this post

Interest In Ricky Nolasco Picking Up

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7:22pm: The Twins haven't made any offers to Nolasco, according to 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson (via Twitter).  The Giants have talked to Sosnick "in passing" about Nolasco but are "not really interested" since they aren't willing to give him four years, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links).

4:34pm: Ricky Nolasco has received multiple three- and four-year offers, agent Matt Sosnick tells Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports also spoke to Sosnick, who told him that Nolasco has two four-year offers (Twitter link) but has had no talks with the Dodgers yet. ESPN's Buster Olney recently reported that Nolasco had at least one offer of three years from a team that showed a willingness to go to four years if necessary.

Passan quotes Sosnick: "I believe the market for multiple-year starting pitching will start to reveal itself more clearly in the next two to three weeks." As Passan points out, that timeline lines up well with next month's Winter Meetings in Orlando. Sosnick declined to get into specifics on the offers, but one league source of Passan's indicated that Nolasco could command somewhere between Edwin Jackson money ($52MM) and Derek Lowe money ($60MM). If the bidding for Nolasco gets to that point, I'd expect Nolasco to take the deal and sign. It seems reasonable to assume that the four-year offers they have in hand have yet to escalate to that level.

Nolasco, who turns 31 in a month, finished the season with a 3.70 ERA, 7.5 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 43 percent ground-ball rate in 199 1/3 innings. That strikeout rate was the highest number he's posted since 2010, and the walk rate is right in line with the excellent marks he's posted throughout his career. As Olney reported, Nolasco's preference is to return to the Dodgers, but he's also drawn interest from the Twins to this point.

Nationals Request Release Waivers On Mauro Gomez

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The Nationals have requested release waivers on first baseman Mauro Gomez, the team announced.  Gomez intends to play in Japan next season and he already has an agreement in place with the Hanshin Tigers.

Gomez, 29, hit .275/.324/.422 in 111 PA with the Red Sox in 2012, his only taste of Major League experience in a decade-long pro career that has been him play in four different organizations' farm systems.  He has a career .278/.333/.488 slash line and 159 homers in 3842 minor league PA, including 29 homers and an .843 OPS posted last season with the Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate.  Toronto designated Gomez for assignment in September and Washington claimed him two days later.

Miguel Cabrera, Andrew McCutchen Win MVP Awards

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Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera and Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen were respectively announced as the American League and National League Most Valuable Players, according to the Baseball Writers Association of America.

This is the second consecutive year that Cabrera has captured the MVP trophy, making it three years in a row that a Detroit player has won the award after Justin Verlander's MVP year in 2011.  While Cabrera's 2013 season lacked the history of his 2012 Triple Crown campaign, he achieved another unique treble by leading the league in every slash line category (.348/.442/.636) and also hitting 44 homers and 137 RBI. 

Cabrera captured 23 of 30 first-place votes from the writers and finished second on the other seven ballots.  Angels outfielder Mike Trout was Cabrera's runner-up for the second straight year, claiming five first-place votes and 19 second-place votes.  Orioles first baseman Chris Davis and Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson each received one first place vote and finished third and fourth overall on the ballot, with Yankees second baseman (and free agent) Robinson Cano finishing fifth.

McCutchen's race to the MVP Award wasn't nearly as close, as he captured a whopping 28 of 30 first-place votes.  McCutchen was an all-around threat, hitting .317/.404/.508 with 21 homers, stealing 27 bases, scoring 97 runs and providing a strong (+8.4 UZR.150) glove in center field — he generated 8.2 WAR according to both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference.  He becomes the first Pirate to win the MVP since Barry Bonds in 1992.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt finished second in the balloting despite not receiving any first-place votes.  Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina received those other two firsts and finished in third place, followed by teammate Matt Carpenter in fourth and Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman in fifth place.

Napoli To Explore Market; Has Offer From Boston

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NOV. 14: The Boston Herald's Jen Royle tweets that Napoli has not received a multiyear offer from Boston, but rather just a one-year offer at a higher salary than the $14.1MM qualifying offer he rejected on Monday. A one-year offer doesn't figure to have much of a chance at enticing Napoli. Earlier this morning it was reported that the Rockies have interest in Napoli.

NOV. 8: Mike Napoli has made it clear that he wants to remain with the Red Sox, but Yahoo's Jeff Passan reports that a return tour is no sure thing. According to Passan, Napoli has received a multiyear offer from Boston but will still shop around and see what other teams are willing to offer (Twitter link).

While Passan doesn't say it, the fact that he already has a multiyear offer and plans to explore the market should wipe out any trace of possibility that Napoli would accept the qualifying offer he received on Monday (not that it was ever likely).

Napoli, who turned 32 on Halloween, is the top free agent first baseman this winter and one of the top power bats on the market. He's mashed at least 20 homers each season since 2008 and has averaged 26 long balls per season dating back to 2010. In his first season with the Red Sox, the former Angel and Ranger batted .259/.360/.482 with 23 homers while playing strong defense at first base.

Health concerns will likely forever be attached to Napoli after last offseason's diagnosis of avascular necrosis (AVN) in each of his hips, but he silenced critics by producing solid numbers in a career-high 578 plate appearances with the Red Sox in 2013. Napoli figures to have a good shot at the original three-year, $39MM contract he agreed to with Boston last season before the AVN diagnosis dropped the guarantee to one year and $5MM (he earned an additional $8MM in incentives). MLBTR's Tim Dierkes projected a three-year, $42MM contract for Napoli in his free agent profile in late September.

Rangers Avoid Arbitration With Adam Rosales

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The Rangers have avoided arbitration with infielder Adam Rosales by agreeing to a one-year, $750K contract, according to Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com (on Twitter). Rosales is represented by agent Steve Hilliard of Octagon.

The 30-year-old Rosales bounced back and forth between the Rangers and A's an unthinkable amount of times. Rosales was designated for assignment by Oakland on July 31, claimed by Texas on Aug. 2, designated for assignment by the Rangers on Aug. 5, claimed by the A's on Aug. 8, designated by Oakland again on Aug. 10 and finally claimed for the last time by the Rangers on Aug. 12.

In 166 plate appearances between Oakland and Texas this season, Rosales batted .190/.259/.327. He appeared at second base, third base, shortstop and left field, and he also posseses more then 200 career innings at first base. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected a salary of $900K from Rosales, who earned $700K in 2013.

Ted Lilly Aiming To Pitch In 2014

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Persistent neck pain limited Ted Lilly to just 23 Major League innings this season, but the left-hander is playing winter ball in Venezuela with an eye toward getting back to the Majors in 2014, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca.

Lilly's agent, Larry O'Brien, told Nicholson-Smith that his client visited a cervical spine specialist and had the nerve endings on the right side of his neck cauterized. "The procedure has given him relief," O'Brien told Nicholson-Smith.

Lilly, 38 in January, is aiming for 35-40 innings this winter. The 15-year veteran totaled just 71 2/3 innings over the final two seasons of his three-year, $33MM contract with the Dodgers. He totaled a 3.74 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 975 innings between the Cubs and Dodgers from 2007-11 — his age 31-35 seasons.

Lilly got off to a strong start in 2012, pitching to a 1.79 ERA through his first seven starts. In his eighth and final start, however, he yielded eight runs in 3 1/3 innings. He missed the remainder of the season with shoulder pain before undergoing surgery on his left labrum in September that year. Lilly returned in 2013 to post a 5.09 ERA in his 23 innings. Lilly has a long history of injuries, as he's only topped 200 innings twice in his career, but signing him would come with little to no risk for a team in need of rotation depth and a veteran presence.

MLB Owners Approve Replay Funding

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2:28pm: Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal reports that once the umpires' and players' unions approve the system, a separate vote to enact the rule changes will take place when the owners meet in January.

The new challenge system will be verbal. Beyond that, if managers walk on the field to protest a call, they will no longer be able to challenge it. Costa quotes Manfred: "What we'd like to have is a trade-off. We no longer spend time arguing, and in return, you have a right to challenge. What we want to avoid is arguing for a while and then you challenge."

According to Manfred, umpires will still be able to initiate replays even after a manager has exhausted his challenges. That is still one of the details to be discussed by umpires.

NOV. 14, 11:05am: : ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that MLB owners have approved funding for replay expansion in 2014. The system will still need to be approved by the players' and umpires' unions, though their approval is fully expected, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

MLB COO Rob Manfred confirmed to reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, that the new replay system will be based on manager challengers (Twitter link). Rosenthal adds that there will be a maximum of two challenges per team, per game, regardless of inning. Davidi also tweets that managers will lose their second challenge if they are incorrect on the first one.

AUG. 15: Major League Baseball is prepared to move forward with a radical expansion of instant replay, but an official announcement will be delayed until November, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

The new replay policy will allow managers to ask for replay reviews in a style that is similar to the NFL's challenge system. Managers will have three challenges — one in the first six innings of the game and two beyond that. Under the new system, which will be phased in starting next season, 89 percent of plays will be deemed reviewable. Should a manager exhaust his three challenges, the umpiring crew can still convene to conduct their own review of a questionable home run.

MLB vice president Joe Torre, former Braves GM John Schuerholz and advisor Tony La Russa presented the proposal to all 30 owners today. Commissioner Bud Selig told Nightengale that the proposal appeared to be widely accepted, and the commissioner called today a "historic" day for the game of baseball. A formal announcement won't occur until after the quarterly owners' meetings on Nov. 13-14.

Olney’s Latest: Nolasco, Twins, Joba, Royals, Peralta, Headley

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Major League Baseball is in a race against the clock to change the rules and eliminate home-plate collisions, writes ESPN's Buster Olney in his latest Insider-only column. MLB GMs were "100 percent" in favor when the issue of a rule-change was raised at the GM Meetings this week, says Olney. As one team lawyer pointed out to Olney, MLB has no choice but to scramble to get something in place for next season: "Everybody has said that there needs to be a change [in the rules], and if somebody gets hurt [in 2014] they could sue and claim that Major League Baseball knew there was a problem and didn’t do anything about it." Here are just a few of the highlights from Olney's highly informative piece:

  • Ricky Nolasco already has a three-year offer in hand, and that same team has indicated that it may be willing to extend the offer to four years. Nolasco's agent, Matt Sosnick, told Olney that his client's preference is still to return to the Dodgers.
  • Teams are racing to make their best offers to pitchers like Tim Hudson and Bronson Arroyo, knowing that those arms might not require the potential four- and five-year deals that Nolasco, Ervin Santana, Matt Garza and Ubaldo Jimenez are targeting.
  • The Twins have made it clear that they're looking to sign two good veteran arms, and in a separate tweet Olney notes that they're being very aggressive on the free agent market. In addition to their interest in Arroyo, it's possible that they're in on Nolasco, says Olney.
  • The Royals have had internal discussions about adding Joba Chamberlain on a one-year deal, and as Olney points out, Kansas City pitching coach Dave Eiland was Chamberlain's pitching coach with the Yankees earlier in his career.
  • The Royals would also like to sign Josh Johnson to a one-year deal in an attempt to recreate the magic of last year's Santana acquisition.
  • Jhonny Peralta is looking for "huge" money, according to Olney's sources. Olney writes that Peralta is seeking "much" more than three years and $45MM. I predicted a three-year, $36MM pact for Peralta in my recent free agent profile of the former Tiger.
  • The Padres haven't had any extension talks with Chase Headley this offseason, and as it stands right now, there are no plans to begin negotiations.

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