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AL East Notes: Tejada, Gausman, Matusz, Rays

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Some news from around the AL East…

  • The Blue Jays had interest in Ruben Tejada and “were serious” about adding the infielder before he signed with the Cardinals, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin reports (Twitter link).  With Devon Travis still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and not expected back until May or June, Tejada would’ve provided depth for Toronto’s infield.  Ryan Goins will start at second until Travis is healthy, with Troy Tulowitzki at short, Josh Donaldson at third and Darwin Barney serving as the utility infielder.
  • Two very notable Orioles arms are battling injuries as Opening Day approaches.  Kevin Gausman told reporters (including Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun) that a recent cortisone shot has helped relieve some of the soreness caused by right shoulder tendinitis.  Still, Gausman is going to be very cautious with the injury to avoid causing a problem that would drag into the regular season.  Manager Buck Showalter hinted that Gausman could face a DL stint, but one backdated to March 25 so he’d be eligible to start on April 10.
  • In another piece from Meoli, Brian Matusz will meet with Orioles coaches and trainers today to plan what’s next for the lefty reliever, who’s been sidelined for almost all of Spring Training due to a bad back.  It seems like Matusz will require a DL stint as well, if only to give him time to get loose and make up for his lost time in camp.  The O’s have acquired southpaws Edgar Olmos and Zach Phillips in recent days, indicating that the club is preparing to be without Matusz.
  • The Rays have some roster flexibility since they only need four starters in April, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets.  The Rays have four off-days scheuled between April 3 and April 29.  With an extra roster spot to work with, the Rays could keep an extra first baseman — as noted in my Rays Offseason In Review piece, Tampa has a surplus at first, the outfield and at catcher.  Rosenthal notes that the Rays could address catcher by keeping out-of-options backstops Curt Casali and Rene Rivera while optioning Hank Conger.
  • In other AL East news from earlier today, check out this Blue Jays Notes post.

Blue Jays Notes: Encarnacion, Bautista, Sanchez

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“The external perception is that the Blue Jays are a team ready to win but also a team in transition,” MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince writes in a piece detailing how 2016 stands out as a win-now season for the franchise.  While the Jays have several major players and young stars controlled into 2017 and beyond, this could also be Toronto’s last season with Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, R.A. Dickey, Brett Cecil and (perhaps) even manager John Gibbons if the new front office wants to hire its own dugout boss.  Here’s some more from north of the border…

  • The Jays are “willing to be much more flexible” in talks with Bautista than Encarnacion when it comes to contract length and money, Sportsnet’s Jeff Blair reports.  Encarnacion is rumored to be asking for a five-year deal, though even a four-year pact could be too much for the Jays.  The debate over contract length has reportedly already been a stumbling block in talks between Encarnacion’s camp and the Jays, with the club reportedly offering extensions of only one or two years.  It seems like Toronto will have to be flexible if the team is to keep Bautista, as its reported preference for a deal in the three-year/$75MM range is about half of Bautista’s demands.
  • Paul Kinzer, Encarnacion’s agent, told Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun that his client’s reported demand for a five-year deal is inaccurate.  “We have never put a number on the terms of the length of the contract. We have never discussed a dollar amount,” Kinzer said.
  • There is “no chance” the Jays re-sign both Bautista and Encarnacion, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets, as the club simply can’t put two more large salaries on the books when Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki are also signed to major deals through 2019 and 2020, respectively.  I explored the difficulties Toronto would face in extending both sluggers in a Bautista extension candidate piece last November, and given the reports since, it’s becoming increasingly possible that neither player is wearing a Jays jersey in 2017.
  • Gavin Floyd will make a start in a minor league game today, which could bring more clarity to the still-unsettled fifth starter’s battle between Floyd and Aaron Sanchez.  Gibbons was rather vague in comments to reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) yesterday about whether the Jays were any closer to a decision.  Both starters have pitched very well this spring, adding to the debate as to whether the Blue Jays should go with the veteran reclamation project or the promising but still raw youngster.  Andrew Stoeten of Blue Jays Nation points out that Sanchez still has unanswered questions about whether or not he can retire left-handed hitters after getting hit hard by lefty bats last season, while an NL scout tells Jeff Blair (in the previously-linked piece) that Sanchez has the “best stuff I’ve seen anywhere this spring.  They’re crazy if they put him in the bullpen.”
  • Fangraphs’ August Fagerstrom opines that Sanchez should be in the rotation, arguing that if the Blue Jays put him in the bullpen again, transitioning Sanchez back to a starting role will be more difficult down the road.  Given Sanchez’s top prospect status, “it’s far more important to the organization to know whether Sanchez can stick as a starter than it is to know whether Floyd can stick as a starter….The information on Sanchez is just worth more.”

Astros Release Neal Cotts

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The Astros have released lefty Neal Cotts, the club announced.  Cotts was in camp on a minor league deal that contained an opt-out for March 26 if he wasn’t on Houston’s MLB roster.

The release is something of an unfortunate birthday present for Cotts, who turns 36 today, though he still has over a week to try and catch on with another club prior to Opening Day.  The 10-year veteran posted a 3.41 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 2.64 K/BB rate over 63 1/3 innings with the Brewers and Twins last season, holding left-handed batters to just a .186/.243/.330 slash line.  Cotts has very even lefty/righty splits over his career, though right-handed hit him hard (.867 OPS) in 2015.

Houston also optioned left-hander Kevin Chapman to the minors, so with Chapman and Cotts out of the picture, it’s possible Tony Sipp may be the only southpaw in the Astros bullpen.  As Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets, veteran lefty Wandy Rodriguez still has a chance at the last open spot in the pen, competing with righty Dan Straily.

Twins Release Ryan Sweeney

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The Twins have released outfielder Ryan Sweeney, the team announced.  Sweeney signed a minor league deal in December that would’ve paid him $750K had he made Minnesota’s roster.

Sweeney sat out the 2015 season in order to get healthy from a series of nagging injuries that had plagued his career.  The well-regarded defender was hoping to win a job as a backup outfielder for the Twins, and he’d been hitting well (.294/.400/.412) over 40 Spring Training plate appearances.  The 31-year-old has a .276/.333/.380 slash line over 2338 career PA with the White Sox, A’s, Red Sox and Cubs over nine years in the bigs, most notably as a starter in Oakland in the late aughts.

Bullpen Notes: Ohlendorf, Giles, Luebke

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Here’s the latest on some relief situations from around baseball…

  • Free agent righty Ross Ohlendorf has garnered multiple offers and could sign with a team as early as today, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link).  Ohlendorf might even land a guaranteed Major League deal, Cotillo suggests.  The 33-year-old opted out of his minor league contract with the Royals earlier this week, and the club subsequently released him.  Ohlendorf, an eight-year veteran, threw 19 1/3 innings in relief for Texas last season and put up a 3.72 ERA, 8.84 K/9 and 3.26 BB/9.  It’s worth noting that his average fastball velocity in 2015 was 93.7, a solid increase over his career mean (92.0).
  • The Marlins are one of the teams connected to Ohlendorf, Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com reports.  Miami took a hit to its bullpen with the news that Carter Capps will miss all of 2016 recovering from Tommy John surgery, so it makes sense that the Fish would be looking at relief help.  Jim Benedict, the newly-hired Marlins VP of pitching development, is familiar with Ohlendorf from their shared time in the Pirates organization.
  • The Astros’ trade for Ken Giles surprised many in the industry, ESPN’s Jayson Stark writes, particularly since dealing five young players for a reliever seemed so counter to Jeff Luhnow’s strategy since taking over Houston’s front office.  Three factors seemed to fuel the trade — the Astros’ bullpen meltdown in last year’s ALDS, the trend around the game for a lockdown relief corps for late in games, and Giles’ own unique promise as a long-term star closer.
  • Pirates lefty Cory Luebke has scouts “buzzing,” tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who notes that the 31-year-old is hitting 94mph with his fastball and 87mph with his curve this spring.  Luebke has an out clause in the minor league contract he signed with the Pirates last month, meaning he could be available to sign anywhere soon if he doesn’t win a spot in the Bucs’ bullpen.  Luebke last pitched in the majors in 2012, having since undergone a pair of Tommy John surgeries.  His most extensive action came as a Padre in 2011, when he tossed 139.2 innings of 3.29 ERA ball to accompany an outstanding 9.92 K/9 and 2.84 BB/9.  San Diego then signed the seemingly emerging starter to a four-year, $12MM extension, only for Luebke to fall victim to injuries.  Luebke finally returned to the field last June to throw seven innings at three different minor league levels in the Padres organization, but a flexor strain diagnosis and a subsequent minor forearm surgery brought an end to his season.

Connor Byrne also contributed to this post

Mets Release Buddy Carlyle

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The Mets have released right-hander Buddy Carlyle, ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin reports (Twitter link).  Carlyle told Rubin that he isn’t sure if he wishes to continue his career, though the veteran righty noted he’s healthy in the wake of hip surgery that cut short his 2015 season.

It was an all-around injury-plagued year for Carlyle in 2015, as he also missed time with back and hamstring issues and was limited to just eight innings.  It was a far cry from his first year with New York in 2014, when he posted some very impressive numbers (1.45 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 5.6 K/BB rate) in 31 innings out of the Mets bullpen.  Carlyle signed a new minor league deal to rejoin the Mets in January.

The 38-year-old Carlyle has enjoyed a 20-year pro career that has seen him pitch for 10 different Major League organizations as well as stints in Japan and the Korea Baseball Organization.  Carlyle has appeared in parts of nine MLB seasons since 1999, posting a 5.14 ERA over 292 1/3 innings with the Mets, Yankees, Braves, Dodgers and Padres.

MLBTR Podcast: John Baker Joins From Cubs’ Camp

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Former big league catcher John Baker joins the show to discuss his new role with the Cubs organization. Among the topics covered are the special vibe in camp and the organization’s supremely talented young backstops. Having recently written a piece for MLBTR describing the sense of anticipation as camp approaches, John also discusses what it’s like to be a player battling for a roster spot as camp draws to a close.

Also, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes hops on the line to dig into his first power rankings for the next class of free agents. Tim and host Jeff Todd exchange thoughts on players like Stephen Strasburg, Carlos Gomez, Yoenis Cespedes, and more as the 2016 campaign nears its start.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

NL West Notes: D-Backs, Gray, Grandal, Seager

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Diamondbacks middle infielders Jean Segura, Nick Ahmed, and Chris Owings have all thrived offensively in Spring Training, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. On whether he’d move any of the three for help elsewhere, general manager Dave Stewart told Rosenthal, “Not going to happen. If you make a trade, you’re depleting your depth. One thing we have right now is three major-league middle infielders capable of playing — and in my opinion starting — for a lot of teams at a top level.” Stewart is quite bullish about the D-backs as a whole, saying, “When I look at our team, I don’t have any concerns whatsoever.” Click here to read a newly published, in-depth interview between Stewart and MLBTR contributor Brett Ballantini.

Here’s the latest on some injury situations in the NL West:

  • The Rockies expect righty Jon Gray to require about two weeks before returning to action while he rests his strained abdominal, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports. That doesn’t sound too serious, of course, but Gray expressed frustration that he won’t be able to fine tune in camp before the season starts. It seems likely that he’ll open up on the DL, with Christian Bergman and David Hale being the most obvious fill-in candidates. Of course, that might also open a roster spot for another pitcher to slide into the pen.
  • Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal is dealing with a right forearm issue and, as a result, isn’t allowed to swing a bat or throw a ball, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports. The Dodgers will limit Grandal in workouts until at least Sunday and then try to ease him back in as a designated hitter in minor league camp games, according to manager Dave Roberts. With the season just 10 days away, that would seem to put Grandal’s status for the opener in jeopardy. Grandal downplayed the injury – saying it’s not “major” or worthy of concern – and an MRI on his forearm “showed there was nothing of significant damage,” Roberts said. Still, Roberts didn’t rule out a season-opening stint on the disabled list for the 27-year-old. “I think if you look at his at-bats this spring, he hasn’t had many,” Roberts stated. “To get him back in a major-league game, optimistically Monday, you’re up against the calendar. That’s taking out any other setbacks.” The Dodgers could back-date Grandal’s placement on the DL to Friday and only lose him for the first five games of the year, per Plunkett.
  • Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager looks like a better bet than Grandal to take the field on Opening Day. Seager, who sprained his left knee two weeks ago, took four at-bats in minor league games Thursday and tested his knee on the base paths beforehand. Though Seager didn’t run out of the batter’s box after his four ABs or play defense, he did come away encouraged by how his knee held up in his pregame workout, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. “Everything was fine,” Seager said. “I rounded first, stopped like I did when it buckled the last time, did other little things, no problems so far. No pain, that was nice.” While that’s generally positive news, his presumptive double-play partner, Howie Kendrick, may be another Los Angeles player to keep an eye on; as Gurnick tweets, he was scratched today with calf soreness.

Connor Byrne co-authored this post.

Diamondbacks Seek To Pursue New Ballpark

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Chase Field opened in 1998, the year of the Diamondbacks’ inception, and has long drawn praise from the baseball community. But if the D-backs have it their way, it may not be their home for much longer, as Craig Harris of the Arizona Republic reports.

In a letter to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, President and CEO Derrick Hall argued that there is no reasonable recourse for the club but to “pursue other stadium options.” The problem, from the club’s perspective, is that the Maricopa County Stadium District — the board-controlled entity that owns the park — has failed to honor its alleged obligation to account for upwards of $187MM in maintenance and repair costs through 2027.

Hall puts it in even more dramatic terms in a statement released by the club today. “This spiral is insurmountable,” he said, apparently  referring to the lack of funding for capital improvements, “and will result in a Chase Field that will no longer be a state-of-the-art facility as our agreement requires and may, in fact, become unsuitable for continued use. We cannot risk being put in that position.”

Even if that funding was available, however, the D-Backs say it wouldn’t make sense to use it towards the current, 18-year-old ballpark. Therefore, the team concludes in its letter, a new facility is necessary. While the organization says it strongly prefers to build in Phoenix, it also warns that it willing to “go elsewhere” to find an arrangement to its liking.

Of course, the contract at issue does not permit the team to pursue alternative stadium sites until 2024. While contending that the stadium district has ceded that right by breaching the contract, the club also requests authorization to explore alternatives — a request that has already been denied — under threat of pursuing court action.

Clearly, these maneuvers have set up a political and legal battle over the future home of the franchise. As Harris notes, the city’s hockey and basketball teams are also angling for new public commitments relating to their facilities, so there’s a broader picture at play here.

The Diamondbacks recently locked up a big new TV contract, ultimately dedicating over $200MM of that expected revenue flow to Zack Greinke. But new taxpayer-funded stadiums have long been another popular — yet highly controversial — means of boosting teams’ bottom lines yet further. The Braves’ shocking move out of downtown Atlanta provides a recent model, as Turner Field opened two years before Chase; the D-Backs’ letter calls that decision “economically efficient and responsible.”

Connor Byrne co-authored this post.

Offseason In Review: Pittsburgh Pirates

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This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s Offseason In Review series. The full index of Offseason In Review posts can be found here.

The Pirates’ offseason didn’t feature the kinds of decisive signings or trades that might convince fans the Bucs are ready to follow up on their terrific 98-win 2015 season, but that’s par for the course for an organization whose recent successes have been built more on sly under-the-radar moves than on heavy spending.

Major League Signings

Notable Minor League Signings

Trades And Claims

Extensions

Notable Losses

Needs Addressed

Critiquing a Pirates offseason is intimidating, because you feel like the team is daring you to admit you don’t really know what you’re talking about. Many commentators greeted recent past Pirates offseasons with ambivalence or even derision for being built around seemingly off-brand additions of players like A.J. Burnett, Russell Martin, Francisco Liriano, Mark Melancon and Francisco Cervelli … who then turned out to be core members of excellent teams. Whoops.

So what to make of the Pirates’ past winter, which featured the departures of key players like Burnett, Neil Walker and J.A. Happ and additions of a slew of low-cost replacements like Ryan Vogelsong, Juan Nicasio and John Jaso? Your guess is as good as mine. On the surface, it doesn’t look like the Pirates did nearly enough. But then, that’s how previous offseasons have looked too, and the last several have mostly turned out brilliantly.

The 2016 Bucs will have a new-look infield, with Pedro Alvarez and Walker departing to make room for Jaso and Josh Harrison (who will take over for Walker at second). Alvarez hit 27 home runs in 2015, but the Pirates non-tendered him anyway, a move that was entirely justified — Alvarez struck out frequently and hit for low batting averages, and his defense was inexplicably awful after moving across the diamond to first base. He was unlikely to produce enough value to earn the $8.1MM he was set to make in arbitration, so he had no trade value, and it’s not surprising the Bucs opted to let him depart.

To replace him, they signed Jaso to a cheap two-year deal. Like Alvarez last year, Jaso will be new to first base, but most players’ efforts to move to first from another position go better than Alvarez’s did. Also, as FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan has pointed out, catchers have generally fared well in transitioning to first base — think of Scott Hatteberg, Jason Phillips or Joe Mauer. Jaso doesn’t have nearly the power Alvarez did, but he does have a career .361 on-base percentage that should play well at first, particularly at just $4MM per season. Jaso, a left-handed hitter, needs to be platooned, but the Pirates already had righty first baseman Michael Morse under contract and top prospect Josh Bell in the minors, and their acquisitions of David Freese and Jason Rogers this offseason give them plenty more righty first base depth should Morse falter.

The Bucs then sent Walker to the Mets for Jon Niese. At first glance, this move makes less sense than the Alvarez/Jaso swap did. Walker, unlike Alvarez, is a genuinely good player, a consistent hitter with a broad offensive skill set who will generally produce two to three wins per season. (As a Pittsburgh native, he was a fan favorite to boot.) Niese, meanwhile, is a competent but uninspiring lefty whose strikeout rate dropped to 5.8 batters per nine innings last season. Walker and Niese also have similar salaries, so the Pirates didn’t even really save money in the deal.

Walker, though, was a below-average defender, and was only one year from free agency. Niese, meanwhile, gets ground balls — a skill the Pirates love — and has two options at the end of his contract, potentially allowing the Bucs to keep him for two more years than they could have kept Walker. The Pirates’ acquisitions of starting pitchers have generally gone quite well in recent years, so if pitching coach Ray Searage and company are able to rejuvenate Niese, the Bucs will be able to keep him through 2018 — but also aren’t required to guarantee those seasons if it doesn’t work out.

The long-term plan in Walker’s absence is to use Harrison (who played five positions in 2015) as their regular second baseman and Jung-Ho Kang at third. That plan set them up well defensively, but reduced their depth and wouldn’t work in April, when Kang figured to be battling back from a knee injury he suffered late last season. And so, in a late-breaking move, the Bucs signed Freese to a cheap contract. He’ll man third base until Kang returns, and will likely occupy a variety of roles after that, perhaps eventually displacing Morse as Jaso’s platoon partner. Freese, who’s been an average or better player in five of the last six seasons, was a bargain at $3MM.

The same can’t necessarily be said of some of the Pirates’ other cheap contracts. Sean Rodriguez can, at least theoretically, play seven different positions, but he hits so poorly that his versatility is of limited use. It would have been easy to imagine him signing a minor-league deal this offseason, rather than a $2.5MM Major League contract. Perhaps Rodriguez has value in the clubhouse that isn’t easy for outsiders to see.

Ryan Vogelsong, too, was a questionable use of funds, even though he’ll only make $2MM this season. Vogelsong is 38, has been replacement-level or below in two of the last three seasons, and was demoted to the bullpen last year. He’s in competition for one of the Pirates’ last two rotation jobs, and perhaps with some attention from Searage, he can improve upon his 4.67 ERA last season. Given his age and recent history, however, his upside appears limited.

The Bucs also signed Neftali Feliz for $3.9MM, which seems like a lot to pay a reliever who flamed out badly last season, has persistent control issues and hasn’t had an unambiguously good season (with both good results and good peripherals) since 2010. Feliz is just 27, though, and has good velocity working for him (although he doesn’t throw quite as hard as he did in his first few seasons with the Rangers). He’s also done well in Spring Training thus far, so perhaps he can be a Pirates reclamation project.

USATSI_9148570_154513410_lowresA more interesting cheap pitching deal was that of Juan Nicasio (pictured), who has a good fastball and slider (although not much of a changeup) and whiffed 10.0 batters per nine innings in the Dodgers’ bullpen last year. Given his stuff, age (29), service time (4.084 years, allowing the Pirates to control him for 2017 if they like) and ability to start, $3MM for Nicasio seemed like a reasonable gamble, and there are already signs it could pay off, with Nicasio whiffing 24 batters in 15 shutout innings so far in Spring Training. He’s still in competition for a job in the back of the rotation.

The Pirates also made a number of even less costly depth acquisitions. They got starting pitching prospect Trevor Williams in a lopsided, but minor, deal with the Marlins compensating the Bucs for the Marlins’ hires of Pirates executives Jim Benedict and Marc DelPiano. (In particular, the loss of Benedict, who was widely credited with helping many of the Bucs’ pitchers, could potentially be significant for the organization.) A reliever, Trey Haley, arrived from the Indians on a big-league deal but is likely to begin the season in the minors, where he’ll hone his mid-90s fastball, with the Pirates hoping he can improve his control enough to eventually contribute. There’s still some hope that Cory Luebke (who was signed to a minor league deal) can regain his former promise after a long battle with injuries. And fellow lefty Kyle Lobstein, acquired in a minor trade after the Tigers designated him for assignment, could serve as rotation depth or as a lefty out of the bullpen.

More analysis after the break …

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