MLBTR offers its best wishes to former Dodgers GM Fred Claire, who is battling skin cancer that developed on his lip after a life in the sun at baseball diamonds. He spoke with JP Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group about his challenge and many fortunes in life, and it’s well worth a read. Claire has generously discussed his lengthy tenure with the Dodgers previously with MLBTR’s Zach Links. MLBTR wishes him our very best.
Here are a few notes from the western divisions:
- Current Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently addressed the team’s 2016 campaign, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reported. Los Angeles faces decisions on several positions heading into the offseason with a variety of notable free agents, including closer Kenley Jansen, third baseman Justin Turner, starter Rich Hill, and infielder Chase Utley. “We have a lot of talented players who are free agents, and I expect we’ll have ongoing dialogue with every one of them,” said Friedman. “There are so many ways the off-season could play out. It’s so hard to try to corral it at this point.”
- Power-hitting Rangers prospect Joey Gallo suffered a hamstring injury in his third game of action in the Venezuelan Winter League, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. He may need to head back stateside to have the muscle assessed, and it seems that it could well interrupt his time with the Navegantes del Magallanes. There’s no reason to think it’ll impact Gallo’s availability in the spring, certainly, but the hope had been that he would use the winter ball stint to develop at the plate while also providing the team an opportunity to assess his readiness to play a larger role at the major league level in 2017.
- This offseason is a critical one for Mariners righty Felix Hernandez, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes. Once one of the game’s most dominating pitchers, the 30-year-old has exhibited a variety of worrying signs of late. By virtually any measure, Hernandez faded last year; though his 3.82 ERA was still plenty useful, earned-run estimators viewed 2016 as his worst season as a professional. Now, says Divish, King Felix will need to figure out a way to succeed despite waning velocity and wavering command. With $79MM owed to Hernandez over the next three years, Seattle has plenty riding on his ability to return to something approaching his prior form.
- The Mariners face a decision on catcher Tyler Marlette, who could be a Rule 5 draft candidate if he’s not added to the team’s 40-man roster, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. Marlette, 23, is hitting well in the Arizona Fall League, continuing to make a case for the team to trust him with a valuable roster placement. He performed well at the High-A level, too, slashing .273/.335/.472 over 358 plate appearances before earning a promotion to Double-A. As Baseball America’s staff explains, Marlette needs his bat to carry him, as he’s considered a marginal defender.
We may not sign any of them, but so long as the dialog is going on, we are doing our job.
Tyler Marlette? No way… Not worth a 40 man spot. The only guys I see as Rule 5 risks based on what information is available to me are DJ Peterson and Paul Fry.
I was trying to figure out why DJ Peterson was Rule 5 eligible and his brother Dustin Peterson wasn’t, then I remember that Dustin is significantly younger than him (despite them both playing at the same time in AA last year for part of the season). I do agree with you that DJ Peterson should be protected.
I think the M’s should of traded felix when they had the chance
He’s a hard guy to trade. Seattle can’t give up an icon for nothing, and he’s too expensive (and into a decline) to have much value. Seattle needs to get lucky–a contending team with a lot of money who has a significant hole in their rotation but doesn’t need an ace.
Won’t happen, too beloved in Seattle. He was getting complacent in his so called off season workouts. I think this season was a wake up call.
Fangraphs has Turner with a 5.4 WAR this year, and Jansen might be the best closer in baseball, the Dodgers need to make them both a above market offer.
If the Dodgers are planning on only signing one high priced reliever, they would be better off signing Chapman and collecting the draft pick for letting Jansen walk. They’re basically the same player at the same age, so might as well get the high draft pick if you’re going to sign one.
Who says the pick would be high?
A comp pick, by any measure is a very high pick. Sure it’s not in the first round but a 30-ish pick in the draft along with the higher spending pool is incredibly valuable and even more so for an organization that develops players extremely well.
You are apparently forgetting that the Dodgers had a deal in place for Chapman last season. They could have added him at a fire sale price, but walked away when his domestic violence issues came to light. Even if you ignore his history and the Dodgers apparent objections to it, Jansen is still the better player.
Agreed