In this week’s edition of his Inside Baseball column, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports begins by looking at the contentious courtroom showdown that stands between Alex Rodriguez and as much as $30MM worth of home run milestone bonuses. As Heyman notes, people on all sides of the case have reasons to dislike A-Rod. Rodriguez filed a lawsuit (that was eventually dropped) against the MLBPA, and he parted ways with agent Scott Boras more than six years ago. The Yankees’ reasons for resenting Rodriguez are obvious, as are those of the league, with whom Rodriguez battled to reduce a 212-game suspension to a still-significant 162 game ban. Heyman looks at the arguments that can be made by both sides as well as the potential fallout once the situation is finally resolved.
Some highlights from the latest edition of Heyman’s newest weekly column…
- Though the Red Sox aren’t blinking when it comes to trade talks with the Phillies regarding Cole Hamels, one rival GM considers Boston the favorite. The Phillies quite like center field prospect Manuel Margot, and Boston does have other nice pieces. Heyman notes that one scout actually expressed concern to him about Mookie Betts’ ability to hit the ball on the outer half of the plate, but the Sox remain steadfast in their refusal to part ways with Betts.
- The Cubs aren’t concerned with a potential grievance being filed against them on behalf of Kris Bryant. Rather, their main concern is trying to find a way to extend him beyond his current allotment of team control. Heyman hears that Cubs are already considering trying to make him a Cub for life, though he also notes that it’s a bit early for those discussions.
- White Sox skipper Robin Ventura signed an extension of an unreported length prior to the 2014 season, and Heyman now hears that Ventura is under contract through the 2016 season. The contract length is said to be of little importance to ChiSox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who loves Ventura.
- The Royals plan to try to do “whatever they can” to retain Alex Gordon beyond the 2015 season. The 32-year-old Gordon’s $12.5MM player option has increased to $13.25MM based on performance escalators, per Heyman. While Gordon has implied that he will exercise the option in the past, it’s exceptionally difficult to envision him merely picking up the option rather than trying for a highly lucrative multi-year deal. The Royals never felt they had a great shot at retaining James Shields, but their hope with Gordon is that the career Royal and Nebraska native might be easier to retain. Heyman adds that while the club is interested in trying to extend Salvador Perez beyond the 2019 season, those talks aren’t likely to come until after the season.
- Juan Uribe is off to a decent start with the Dodgers, but the hot play of Alex Guerrero and the addition of Hector Olivera in Spring Training could eventually lead to Uribe becoming available on the trade market. Uribe’s at hasn’t lined up with his previous seasons to this point, but he’s hit a perhaps surprisingly strong .293/.333/.435 dating back to Opening Day 2013.
- Rival executives are anxiously anticipating a Brewers fire sale following the club’s awful 5-17 start to the season, Heyman hears. One exec listed Carlos Gomez, Khris Davis, Jean Segura, Gerardo Parra, Kyle Lohse and Francisco Rodriguez as players who will draw interest, noting that Jonathan Lucroy is probably untouchable, while Matt Garza and Ryan Braun are somewhat overpriced.
- The Mets were trying for a three-year extension that contained a club option and would’ve guaranteed Lucas Duda a bit shy of $30MM. I’d imagine that with Duda could end up the beneficiary in that scenario, particularly if he can sustain the increase in his walk rate and the more notable decrease in his strikeout rate.
- Multiple Yankees people have shot down the notion that the team would pursue Hamels when asked by Heyman. One replied that the team is “not looking” at Hamels, while another wondered if Hamels is still a legitimate ace or more of just a big name.
I’m not too worried about Betts. So far he has done quite well and when his BABIP increases to normal measures (it should be quite high for him given his speed), so will his stat line. I’m not sure he will every develop significant opposite field power, but as long as he can hit the ball the other way and go with the pitch, he will be fine.
And that one scout probably works for the Phillies. I hear that Swihart kid has some huge issues at the plate too, I think they should sell high on him as well…
He’s hitting 338 as a catcher in triple A?
sarcasm, he’s saying it with a wink
He didn’t do it in AA so there goes the proven track record.
Jackie Bradley hit .300 in triple A too.
JBJ had speed too. How was his BABIP?
JBJ isn’t really a base stealer. And his BABIP was around .280 which was almost .100 points higher than his .AVG. Also, his hit tool is inferior to Betts’.
Bradley is also just 23 and plays elite defense. Giving up on him as a bust is a bit premature. And the average player BABIP is around .300. So either Bradley, Jr. was hitting into a bit of bad luck or he hit too many fly balls. I haven’t looked it up but that data is easily available.
He strikes out too much too. Great points though!
The strikeout rate is certainly worrisome, but obviously it was just an awful offensive year all around.
I missed where base stealing had anything to do with BABIP. What metric measures “hit tool”? I didn’t know one players was stronger than the others.
It is called scouting, you know…. The guys that get paid to do it. Betts has a superior hit tool to JBJ. As well, speed has a lot to do with BABIP. If a player has speed to get infield hits, their BABIP should be higher than an average runner. Betts is a better runner than JBJ.
Sorry, you stated it like it was a fact, not an opinion. Scouting is an opinion. I know both Betts and JBJ are fast. Do you know who is faster?
Betts has much better first-step quickness, and overall speed. He has stolen a lot more bases in his career than Bradley.
Base stealing is a skill, which is aided by speed. Some players with speed never get great at it, and some players with less than stellar speed are quite good at it.
Here’s a fun fact; Adam Dunn once stole 19 bases in a season!
Did it help his BABIP?
Huh? Stolen bases have nothing to do with BABIP; speed down the line does, or at least it can. I just thought it was interesting to note that a guy viewed as a big slow lumbering slugger once stole 19 bases in a season.
you’d have to read the whole discussion. :)
His line drive rate is very good; his Babip, as you note, is low. Usually those things normalize in the course of a season. A high line-drive/hard-hit ball rate usually goes hand-in-hand with good results. It’s been just 23 games.
Uribe could become available for trade, but not soon. Last we heard Olivera was still in the DR waiting on a visa, and with the absence of Crawford and Puig, Guerrero is probably going to be playing a good amount of LF.
Best part about Duda’s success is that the 11th overall pick two years ago, Dom Smith, can be used to bring in a SS.
I’ve been saying that the Yankees aren’t the best suitor for Hamels for a bit now, Tanaka questions or not. While they’re starting to have some top level prospective talent, it’s not in abundance yet, and they’re better off going for a second tier trade this season or opening their wallets a bit in FA, where there’s going to be a ton of options in multiple tiers. I still see teams like the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs as more ideal fits.
Jean Segura and Milwaukee’s comp pick to LA for 2B Darnell Sweeney, LF Scott Schebler, SP/RP Carlos Frias & LHP Daniel Coulombe. Not enough for Milwaukee?
I honestly don’t think it’s even close. The Brewers have no reason to trade Segura. He’s young, under control and a rising star with average glove and above average bat. Grant Holmes and Zach Lee without the comp pick from Milwaukee would be close. It will take a kings ransom.
As a Dodger fan I’d do Holmes and Lee for Segura and a Comp pick in a heartbeat but I thought Milwaukee would prefer depth and ML ready guys.
I kind of feel bad for Betts. I’m sure he’ll end up being an above average hitter but he’s completely lost in CF and should be playing 2B, where he would be much, much more valuable.
Lost in CF? Considering how little he’s actually played out there he is doing great. He obviously still has work to do but he’s far from lost
He’s actually been well above-average in center field. He’ll be fine
So after 13 games in MLB and 0 HR’s at this point, the Cubs are wanting to make Kris Bryant a “Cub for Life?” And people wonder why they’re paying $7.50 for a beer at Wrigley???
I would be thrilled to only pay $7.50 a beer at an MLB stadium. Pretty sure the triple a teams around me charge about that much.
Tremendous sample size; 13 games. Bryant is going to be awesome. A rookie with his walk rate is almost unprecedented.