The latest on some notable names on the open market…
- A “perfect storm” of both a qualifying offer and the uncertainty around the new collective bargaining agreement has led to Edwin Encarnacion’s extended stay on the open market, agent Paul Kinzer tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post. When asked if Encarnacion could pursue a contract like Yoenis Cespedes’ deal with the Mets last winter (a big first-year salary but with the ability to opt out after the first season), Kinzer said “that can happen with a team not picking with a premium draft pick,” i.e. a team with a protected top-10 draft pick. Most of the teams with protected picks are either rebuilding or have entrenched first basemen, though the Athletics have reportedly offered Encarnacion a contract. The Rays also stand out to me as possible candidates for a creative deal. The Rockies already gave up their first-rounder to sign Ian Desmond, and thus would “only” be surrendering a second-rounder if they were to land Encarnacion. Kinzer further discussed Encarnacion’s market in other interviews yesterday.
- With Encarnacion’s market somewhat in flux, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal wonders if some teams could end up kicking themselves for not making a push to land the slugger while he may be available at a lesser-than-expected price. Teams that are still looking for value in a rather busy first base market could find themselves saving money but missing out on an established star who could help a club win the World Series.
- The market for first baseman Chris Carter seems to be held up by Encarnacion’s status, Carter’s agent Dave Stewart tells ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). “We’ve had calls from multiple teams, but no real commitment,” says Stewart, who has returned to his agency work after losing his seat as the Diamondbacks GM. The Encarnacion-driven delay has probably also impacted other free-agent sluggers, though it may have particularly concerned Cater, who is also a right-handed hitter limited to first base and DH duties. Carter hit the open market when the Brewers non-tendered him, both in spite of and because of his 41 long balls in 2016 — which drove his expected arbitration price tag to upwards of $8MM.
- Half a dozen teams are currently pursuing veteran righty Trevor Cahill, Crasnick adds (Twitter links). Three of those organizations (none of which are named) view the 28-year-old as a potential rotation option, which is said to be his preference. Though he hasn’t seen regular work as a starter since 2014, Cahill has taken the hill to open a big league game 174 times and performed well as a member of the Cubs bullpen following his mid-2015 acquisition. Over 82 2/3 IP across 61 appearances with Chicago, Cahill put up a 2.61 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. Though he continues to pile up strong groundball numbers, he is prone to allowing home runs when opposing hitters put the ball in the air.
Re: Encarnacion – Is there anything that would prohibit a sign & trade deal? i.e. a team with a protected pick signs him, immediately flips him to a contender, and gets a little reward for their efforts?
They can’t do that. Teams have to wait until at least June to trade a player that declined a QO. I think.
Has nothing to do with the QO, you just can’t sign and flip a player period until June 15
I think you can deal someone without a QO attached before that date. The player just needs to approve it.
No, no free agent can be traded before June 15th. This has been around before QO ever existed.
It’s the same with or without the QO.
They can be traded if they approve it.
Correct, if they approve it they can. But the rule generally is the same across the board, QO or not.
You can’t trade a player who signs until June 15, so yes there is something that prohibits it.
Pretty sure you can trade them before June 15, but you need the players written permission to do so.
That’s being under the assumption the MLB would approve the trade. Understanding it is a complete middle finger to the league and direct loophole. And if teams aren’t 100% sure seems like it could backfire badly.
I think a problem would be the physical for the team that would be trading for him. If they find something in the physical that they don’t like, the original signing team could be stuck with him.
Come on Os step up to the plate and sign him to 4 year contract. Trade him two years down to free room for machado
I believe there is a clause in the CBA that would allow the league to prohibit the trade as it is trying to circumvent the QO process. The league has the right to do whatever they want if a team is trying to use a loophole.
All transactions have to be cleared by the Commissioner’s office. You can bet that if teams tried something like this it would never get approved and the signing team would be stuck with a contract they didn’t want.
MLB doesn’t allow sign and trade deals unless the player approves it, and that would open a whole other can of worms.
My guesses at the 3 organizations that view Cahill as a starter – Padres, Angels, Marlins
Any other possibilities?
White Sox possibly? If they deal Q (or another starter) that is.
This is a classic Jon Daniels acquisition as well.
Seems a little like a DiPoto backend Mariners type of deal. Could be many teams…someone mentioned Jon Daniels too.
How about his 1st team, the A’s?
Cahill suitors as a starter are probably 6 of the 10 teams who are drafting in top of next year’s draft. Or in other terms, the teams who stunk that could afford to experiment with moving him back into a rotation. Padres, Reds, Angels, Brewers, Braves, Twins, maybe back to Oakland?
He is from San Diego so maybe he takes a hometown discount in exchange for being able to pitch in a big league rotation every 5th day.
I would be happy to see Cahill have success reverting back to the rotation, but he was quite impressive during his bullpen stint with CHC over the past year & a half.
Step up oriole’s sign him to 4 year contract. Keep him for two years and trade him 2 years down the road to free room to sign machado. Make another playoff run. Then trade for a lefty outdfielder like Bruce. Think about a jones Bruce machado encarnacion Davis schoop
Pretty sure teams don’t want to sign EE to a four year deal, not because of how much they would pay him the first two years, but how much they would have to pay him for 2019 and 2020. Trading him away probably isn’t going to net the O’s anything at the point – instead they will have to eat a fair amount of the salary or trade away valuable players
If he plays in a park like Camden he would lead the the league in rbis for sure and probably homeruns. Somebody that hit 42 home runs and probably will hit more in Camden will have plenty of value
teams aren’t stupid anymore (for the most part). They understand that certain parks help hitters in various ways. If you can figure out that he’s gonna do really well in camden, they can also realize that he’s doing really well because camden.
You’d like to think that the Braves could throw a few million at Carter and Stewart. That’s the least they owe Stewart for that Shelby Miller trade lol
The CBA and QO influences on Encarnarcion have been heavily overstated. The guts of the issue is simple – he’s a right handed, no glove, all-bat hitter in a market saturated with them. Add into that, he’s one of the older options, and showing no real desire to take a short term deal. That’s killing his market – the rest is window dressing.
Agreed. The “perfect storms” is just a way of the agent covering his “oops”. Everybody knew he was going to get tagged with the QO. Everybody knew the CBA as ending and changes were coming. This wasn’t a surprise.
Totally agree. It’s a massive game of musical chairs right now. Too many similar players, without enough teams. The A’s are going to be losing a ton of their revenue share due to the new CBA, so they would be really taking a big leap to go after him. If the Rangers sin him long term, then they are essentially saying this will be the last year for Darvish and probably their new All-Star caliber catcher. Indians seem likely, but they could have Napoli at a fraction of the cost. EE is a better player than Napoli, but Napoli’s clubhouse leadership can’t be overlooked. Houston maybe, but do they really need EE? To your point, it’s a perfect storm.
Eddies got a solid glove at first, don’t cut this man short for his defense, it was outstanding!
Encarnacion was actually exactly league average at first base the last two seasons. He neither cost his team nor saved his team a single run.
Maybe not a huge deal, but if I were Stewart I wouldn’t come out and bluntly say that Carter doesn’t have a single commitment yet
Stewart has been so smart with baseball operations before this I’m surprised (not)
The more I think about this Toronto / EE situation, the more I think the Jays should just sign him and sort it out later. I know there is too many players for too few spots in that scenario, but does that really matter for 60-75% of the season? Worst case is come the deadline you have an asset to move. EE turned down (allegedly) 80 million for 4 years. I bet he would pounce on 60-66 million for 3 years now like a fat kid on a candy bar. When you can never have too many assets, I think I’d make the leap as the front office in Toronto. I know…. easy for me to say when it isn’t my money and/or my butt isn’t on the line. Just my thought.
I’m not sure how the opt out helps Encarnacion. He’d be opting out to try to secure a big deal heading into his age 35 season. If he’s having a hard time landing a 4+ year deal now, I’m not sure how it’ll become any easier when he’s a year older. And it’s not like the market next year is any better for him when guys like Bruce, J.D Martinez, Granderson, Frazier and CarGo could all be on market as far as sluggers go along with Duda, Hosmer and Carlos Santana for teams looking strictly at first base/DH options.
Cahill was done wrong by the Cubs he help them way more than they helped him I’m a Die hard cub fan since 69 and Maddon did his above average Bullpen like a bunch of losers.– they where pretty good . Hope Cahill get his shot Jason Hammel also- thanks you two.