NL Central Notes: Lester, McCarthy, Cozart, Reds
The trust that Jon Lester has in Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer from their days together in Boston is singled out by Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan as the key reason why the lefty chose Wrigley Field as his next home. Here’s some news from around the NL Central…
- The Pirates were one of the finalists for Brandon McCarthy, MLB.com’s Tom Singer writes. The Bucs weren’t known to be connected to McCarthy in the offseason rumor mill, though they fit as a logical contender for his services. Even with Francisco Liriano and A.J. Burnett signed, Singer thinks the Pirates could still look to add starting pitching, such as re-signing Edinson Volquez.
- Other teams feel that the Reds will look to trade Zack Cozart now that they’ve acquired Eugenio Suarez, ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports (Twitter link).
- With Mat Latos and Alfredo Simon respectively traded to the Marlins and Tigers, Reds GM Walt Jocketty told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) that the team can start to explore other upgrades now that they’ve addressed their payroll concerns. “We’re in a better position to start looking at some other possibilities to improve our club — the hitter we’re looking for and some bullpen depth,” Jocketty said. “We’re close to where we need to be, [payroll-wise]. Now we can concentrate on filling some of the needs.”
- In an Insider-only post, ESPN’s Keith Law looks at the Reds‘ two pitching trades and feels the team got more from Detroit than they did from Miami. Law thinks Suarez is an improvement over Cozart and Jonathon Crawford could potentially be the Reds’ closer of the future.
- Kyle Lohse and Yovani Gallardo are two of several prominent Brewers entering the last year of their contracts, and MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy opines that the Crew could explore trading the two starters if they think Mike Fiers or Jimmy Nelson can be viable rotation options.
Red Sox Sign Justin Masterson
The Red Sox made another addition to their rotation by signing right-hander Justin Masterson to a one-year contract. Masterson will earn a $9.5MM base salary, plus he can earn another $2.5MM in total incentives by reaching certain innings thresholds. He’ll earn another $500K if he hits 185 innings, and then another $500K for every five innings after that, up to 205 innings.
Masterson, 29, fell off significantly last year after a three-year run in which he averaged 205 frames and a 3.86 ERA (that included outstanding campaigns in 2011 and 2013 sandwiched around a dud in 2012). In 2014, he scuffled to a 5.88 ERA in 128 2/3 innings last year, striking out 8.1 and walking 4.8 batters per nine while dealing with a variety of shoulder, knee, and back issues. Masterson lost nearly three ticks on his average fastball velocity last year, though he managed to carry a typically stellar 58.2% groundball rate.
In the aggregate, Masterson presents a classic buy-low opportunity after entering 2014 as a significant extension candidate or future free agent target. He will look to regain his form with the organization that drafted and developed him.
ESPN.com’s Buster Olney was the first to report an agreement between Masterson and the Red Sox. WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford reported the contract length and value while Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports had the breakdown of Masterson’s incentives.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Padres Links: Black, Corner Infield, Kemp
Now that the Winter Meetings have come to a close, the Padres are once again the only team dominating the headlines in San Diego. Here’s the latest from the Friars…
- Bud Black told reporters (including MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom) that he hasn’t spoken to A.J. Preller about a contract extension, but the manager isn’t worried about heading into the last year of his current deal. “I’m comfortable with this. I’m comfortable managing,” Black said. “I think those of us in this game realize at certain points contracts will be worked out if they’re going to get worked out. I think we’ve seen over the years a lot of managers go into the last year, head coaches go into the last year of a contract and everything is fine.”
- The Padres’ next step towards improving their lineup is to acquire a corner infield bat, MLB.com’s Corey Brock writes. The Padres talked to several other teams about potential 1B/3B targets, so Brock figures San Diego will probably go the trade route to find its corner infielder.
- Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron isn’t a fan of the Padres’ trade for Matt Kemp, arguing that it was an overly risky move for the team given Kemp’s large salary and limited defensive value. Cameron sees some similarities between this deal and the Angels’ ill-fated 2011 trade with the Blue Jays for Vernon Wells.
- From earlier today, the Padres didn’t reach an agreement with Korean lefty Kwang-Hyun Kim by the 4pm CT deadline.
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Miley, Cashman, Bruce
Even with Justin Masterson, Rick Porcello and (eventually) Wade Miley now in the fold, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington didn’t close the door on the possibility of more pitching moves. “I think we’re going to keep working and see what comes to us. Our hope was to really strengthen our rotation, our position with the rotation, this week, or at some point soon. Hopefully we’ll be able to do that,” Cherington told reporters, including WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. The GM said he thinks teams can get by without having a frontline ace atop their rotation, though also pointed out his roster has “a lot of younger pitching that we think in time, some of them have a chance to develop into that type of guy.”
Here’s some more from around the AL East…
- The Miley trade hasn’t yet been finalized since the Red Sox and Diamondbacks are “still squabbling about the extra player,” Arizona GM Dave Stewart tells reporters, including MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. The player in question is a prospect Boston will be sending to the D’Backs along with Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster.
- The Yankees talked to the D’Backs and Tigers about Miley and Porcello, Brian Cashman told reporters (including George A. King III of the New York Post). “Did I call Arizona? Yes. Did I call Detroit? Yes. I didn’t have [Yoenis] Cespedes to send to Detroit. We are waiting for something we are comfortable with,” Cashman said. The GM said he “threw a lot of different ideas a lot of different ways” during a quiet Winter Meetings for the Yankees and he’ll “keep conversations alive” throughout the offseason.
- The Orioles “kicked the tires” on Reds outfielder Jay Bruce but couldn’t match up on a trade with Cincinnati, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. In the wake of Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis signing elsewhere, the O’s have a definite need for corner outfield help.
- Scott Boras told reporters (including Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi) that the Blue Jays were one of the teams who had expressed interest in Japanese middle infielder Takashi Toritani. This would be a rare case of a Boras client signing with Toronto, a disconnect that the agent attributes to the club’s policy against contracts longer than five years. “They’re the only team that has said that limitation is five years. When you do that, you are cutting yourself off from a pool of talent that makes it very, very difficult to compete, particularly in the AL East,” Boras said. (It should be noted that the Jays’ five-year policy probably isn’t applicable in Toritani’s case, as the 33-year-old infielder is very unlikely to receive that long a contract from any team.)
Minor Moves: Villarreal, Noonan, Rangers
Here are today’s minor transactions, with the newest moves at the top of the post…
- The Twins have signed right-hander Brayan Villarreal to a split contract, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reports (via Twitter). The deal contains an invitation to Minnesota’s Spring Training camp and Villarreal will earn $522K if he stays on the Twins’ Major League roster. Villarreal last pitched in the majors in 2013 and spent last season with the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate.
- The Yankees signed infielder Nick Noonan to a minor league deal, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reports (Twitter link). Noonan, taken 32nd overall by the Giants in the 2007 draft, has a .262/.316/.368 slash line over 3322 career PA in the minors, all in San Francisco’s farm system. He appeared in 62 games with the Giants in 2013.
- The Rangers signed outfielder Antoan Richardson and right-handers Anthony Bass and Ross Wolf to minor league deals with Spring Training invitations, the team announced (hat tip to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
- The Marlins are likely to sign free agent infielder Scott Sizemore, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Sizemore signed a minor league deal with the Yankees last winter and played in six games for the club before being released and re-signed over the summer. Due in part to a pair of major knee injuries, Sizemore has only appeared in eight Major League games over the last three seasons.
- The Brewers have released outfielder Jeremy Hermida so he can pursue an opportunity to play in Japan, the team announced. Hermida just signed a new minor league contract with Milwaukee in November. The former 11th overall pick (in the 2002 draft) and top prospect last played in the majors in 2012 as a member of the Padres.
Astros Notes: Drew, Boras, Scherzer, Cubs
Here’s the latest on the Astros from Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle…
- The Astros met with agent Scott Boras to discuss shortstop Stephen Drew and relief pitching, says a source familiar with the conversation. Boras confirmed the meeting took place without naming any particular names, saying “We’ve had meetings and talked and we have bullpen guys and the infield and outfield guys, so we’ve had some general conversations. They’re kind of in a fluid state on their position players, but…we have some guys that may be some fits there.” This is just my speculation, but it’s possible Houston could’ve been looking into Rafael Soriano or Francisco Rodriguez, Boras’ two most high-profile bullpen clients.
- Boras said that Takashi Toritani is drawing interest from MLB teams mostly as a second baseman rather than his natural shortstop position. As Drellich notes, this would seem to eliminate the Astros from contention since Jose Altuve is already entrenched at second.
- Unsurprisingly, Drellich’s source said that the Astros’ chat with Boras didn’t involve Max Scherzer.
- The Cubs showed some interest in Jason Castro earlier this offseason, prior to Chicago’s acquisition of Miguel Montero from the Diamondbacks.
Padres Don’t Reach Agreement With Kwang-Hyun Kim
The Padres and left-hander Kwang-Hyun Kim were unable to reach agreement on a contract by today’s deadline of 4pm CT, according to a tweet from the Global Sporting Information firm. The Padres will be refunded the $2MM they posted to win the right to negotiate with Kim, and the lefty will return to SK Wyverns, his Korean Baseball Organization team. Kim is eligible to be posted again next offseason.
Under the MLB/KBO posting rules, San Diego had 30 days to work out a deal with Kim after the team posted the highest bid. It seemed as if progress was being made as recently as yesterday, as Padres GM A.J. Preller said he met with Melvin Roman (Kim’s agent) and the left-hander had already taken a physical. The two sides “just couldn’t agree on [a] contract dollar amount,” Preller told Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).
NL West Notes: Kemp, Kim, Giants, Arruebarrena
Before dealing Matt Kemp to one division rival, they were in deep talks with another about a deal, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). The Diamondbacks rejected L.A.’s request for center fielder A.J. Pollock but was willing to ship top pitching prospect Archie Bradley to add Kemp. Of course, we do not know the details of those discussions, including especially the amount of Kemp’s salary that would have been covered.
Here’s the latest from the National League West:
- The Padres are unlikely as things stand to reach agreement with Kwang-hyun Kim before today’s deadline, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. With a 2pm PST expiration, we could learn more on that situation soon.
- The Giants intend to add a starter sooner rather than later and do not intend to participate in a drawn-out bidding process, AGM Bobby Evans told reporters including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link).
- In addition to checking in with Asdrubal Cabrera, the Giants have inquired with Jed Lowrie about his interest in spending time at second or third, also per Evans. (Via Shea, on Twitter.) Lowrie apparently indicated that would be a possibility. The team could theoretically add a player at second and move Joe Panik to third, Evans also told the scribes, per MLB.com’s Chris Haft (via Twitter).
- The Dodgers will be open to moving shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena after the Jimmy Rollins deal is finalized, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. The 24-year-old is owed $16MM over the next four years.
Mariners Notes: Melky, Viciedo, Rios, Upton, Desmond, Smith
Here’s the latest on the Mariners heading out of the Winter Meetings, courtesy of Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune:
- The Mariners and Melky Cabrera seem to have staked out their positions, with Cabrera after five years and upwards of $60MM and the M’s not willing to go past three and around $42MM.
- Seattle is increasingly looking at other possibilities, though the idea of a Dayan Viciedo trade was downplayed by Dutton’s sources. The team does have interest in Alex Rios, though he seems to be waiting out other market moves.
- The M’s still have interest in Justin Upton, but do not want to meet the Braves’ asking price. Meanwhile, the team is “cool” at present to the idea of dealing for Ian Desmond.
- One alternative trade candidate is Seth Smith of the Padres, though Dutton notes that he would not be optimal since he swings from the left side.
Latest On Asdrubal Cabrera
3:34pm: Giants GM Bobby Evans threw some cold water on the idea of Cabrera playing the hot corner in San Francisco in a session with reporters. He said that Cabrera prefers to play up the middle — whether at second or short — and that there is not a fit right now, though the door remains open. (Via Alex Pavlovic of the Mercury News, on Twitter.)
1:27pm: The Giants are weighing the addition of Asdrubal Cabrera to play third base, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. He has received plenty of interest, per Heyman, though mostly at second or third rather than shortstop.
MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes recently noted on Twitter that the Royals have interest in Cabrera, in the event that Omar Infante is dealt. The Yankees and Dodgers also had some interest in Cabrera, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets, though it would appear that those teams’ recent moves probably reduce the likelihood of a match.
Cabrera has seen a decent bit of action at second in his career, though he has only appeared at third in one big league game. He brings a roughly league average bat, though teams can perhaps hope for a return to his ceiling as he is still only 29 years of age.