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Orioles Rumors: Trumbo, Carter, Alvarez, Gausman, Outfielders

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The latest on the Orioles, courtesy of Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com:

  • At last check, Baltimore and free agent outfielder/first baseman Mark Trumbo had agreed to a four-year framework, but the sides remained far apart on the slugger’s worth. Despite that, the Orioles likely have the best offer on the table for Trumbo, according to Kubatko. If they’re unable to re-sign Trumbo, the O’s could bring back free agent designated hitter Pedro Alvarez, but he’ll probably end up elsewhere if Trumbo returns to Baltimore. And contrary to an earlier report, the Orioles are not in on free agent first baseman/DH Chris Carter, per Kubatko.
  • While the Rockies could trade one of their outfielders this offseason, they’re unlikely to reach a deal with the Orioles. No matter which Rockie the Orioles have shown interest in, Colorado has consistently pressed for right-hander Kevin Gausman in trade talks. The Orioles aren’t going to move Gausman, though, as he’s arguably their top starter and has four years of club control remaining. Gausman, 25, led all Orioles starters in innings pitched (179 2/3), ERA (3.61) and K/BB ratio (3.7) last season.
  • The Orioles are in the lead for free agent catcher Welington Castillo’s services, writes Kubatko. Baltimore is willing to give a two-year deal to Castillo, who has been seeking a three-year pact since the Diamondbacks non-tendered him Dec. 2.
  • Moving to the outfield, the O’s haven’t closed the door on re-signing free agent Michael Bourn. The club acquired the fleet-footed Bourn from the Diamondbacks at the end of August, and he then proceeded to hit .283/.358/.435 with two home runs and a pair of steals over 55 plate appearances. Meanwhile, the Orioles haven’t discussed a contract extension with fellow outfielder Hyun Soo Kim, who’s entering the final season of the two-year, $7MM deal he signed as a free agent from Korea last winter. The lefty-swinging Kim accrued 346 PAs – 323 against righties – as a major league rookie in 2016 and held his own with a .302/.382/.420 line.

MLBTR Originals

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MLBTR’s original content from Winter Meetings week:

  • In a fascinating discussion between a former major league reliever and a current one, MLBTR contributor Burke Badenhop spoke with Tyler Thornburg after the Brewers traded him to the Red Sox on Tuesday. Badenhop, who also pitched for those two teams, was teammates with Thornburg in Milwaukee in 2013.
  • With Aroldis Chapman and Mark Melancon off the board, Jason Martinez broke down the remaining free agent closers and those who could be on the trading block. He also highlighted which teams could still be in the market for a ninth-inning solution.
  • Charlie Wilmoth polled readers on which big-money free agent signing that happened during the meetings will work out the best. The choices: Chapman (Yankees; five years, $86MM), Dexter Fowler (Cardinals; five years, $82.5MM), Ian Desmond (Rockies; five years, $70MM) and Melancon (Giants; four years, $62MM).

Quick Hits: Otani, Red Sox, Brewers, Phillies

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The new collective bargaining agreement will significantly damage Japanese superstar Shohei Otani’s earning power if the 22-year-old immigrates to the majors before he turns 25, but that might not prevent him from coming to the big leagues prior to 2019. Hideki Kuriyama, Otani’s manager with the Nippon-Ham Fighters, said Thursday that he expects the right-handed ace/left-handed hitter to head to the majors next offseason (Twitter link via Jim Allen of Kyodo News). Otani will have to take a minor league deal if he signs with a major league team before he turns 25. That means he’d need to accrue six years of service time before becoming a major league free agent and having a real chance to cash in via the open market. As of last weekend, the Fighters were planning on posting Otani a year from now.

A couple more notes from around baseball:

  • The Red Sox and Brewers set the wheels in motion for Tuesday’s Travis Shaw/Tyler Thornburg trade at the general managers meetings in early November, writes Alex Speier of the Boston Globe in a highly detailed piece that’s worth a full read. Milwaukee GM David Stearns told Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski that the Brewers would want Shaw and more in return. “’I said, ‘Well, it would be something we’d be interested in talking about,'” Dombrowski recalled. Talks went dormant as the two sides awaited a new CBA, which Major League Baseball and the players’ union reached Nov. 30. Then, less than a week later at the winter meetings, the Red Sox agreed to send Shaw and two minor leaguers – shortstop Mauricio Dubon and right-hander Josh Pennington – to the Brewers for Thornburg.
  • The rebuilding Phillies might have another lean year or two ahead, but GM Matt Klentak expects their ever-growing core of young talent and the franchise’s spending ability to form a lethal mix soon. “One of the advantages that we have as a big market club is that we’ve been able to take advantage of the past couple of years to trade some key assets to get younger,” Klentak told Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice. “Another huge advantage we have is that we have a very dedicated ownership that we know will spend when the time is right.” That time might be two winters away, when free agency could feature such superstars as Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Clayton Kershaw and Josh Donaldson.

Angels Acquire Danny Espinosa

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The Nationals have traded middle infielder Danny Espinosa to the Angels for minor league right-handers Austin Adams and Kyle McGowin, per an announcement from Washington.

[RELATED: Updated Nationals & Angels Depth Charts]

The Nats’ decision to move on from Espinosa came shortly after Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reported the 29-year-old’s displeasure with the club’s acquisition of outfielder Adam Eaton. In trading a haul to the White Sox for Eaton, the Nationals picked up a player who should be their long-term answer in center field, thereby sending Trea Turner to shortstop. With Daniel Murphy entrenched at second base, Espinosa would have had to take on a bench role in 2017 had Washington kept him.

Danny Espinosa

Now on his way out of D.C., Espinosa will head back to his native California and join an Angels team that, prior to Saturday, was in dire need of a second baseman to pair with shortstop Andrelton Simmons. Before settling on Espinosa, the Angels made recent inquiries to the Padres, Cardinals and Phillies about their second base options. Espinosa will also reunite with a former teammate in third baseman Yunel Escobar, whom the Nationals traded to the Angels exactly one year ago.

A lifetime .226/.302/.388 hitter in 2,972 plate appearances, Espinosa is fresh off a season in which he slashed .209/.306/.378 with a career-best 24 home runs in 601 PAs. The majority of the switch-hitting Espinosa’s offensive success has come versus left-handed pitchers, against whom he has posted a .257/.327/.454 career line in 736 trips to the plate. But he has provided most of his value via the field, having amassed 25 Defensive Runs Saved and an Ultimate Zone Rating of 27.0 in 4,400-plus innings as a second baseman. With Espinosa and Simmons, one of the majors’ foremost defenders, the Angels should have an enviable double-play combination for at least next season. Espinosa will make an estimated $5.3MM through arbitration in 2017, his final year under team control.

Of the two pitchers the Halos sent to the Nationals, McGowin is the more notable. The 25-year-old ranked as the Angels’ 20th-best prospect, per MLBpipeline.com, which credits the 2013 fifth-round pick for his three-pitch mix and suggests that he has back-end starter upside. The 25-year-old hasn’t generated great results during his minor league career, though, and just finished a season in which he recorded a 6.11 ERA, 7.58 K/9 and 3.58 BB/9 over 116 1/3 innings in his first taste of Triple-A action.

Adams, also 25 (and not to be confused with the Indians righty), was impressive in relief for the Angels’ Double-A affiliate in Arkansas in 2016. Although he issued too many walks (5.28 per nine), the 2012 eighth-round pick offset that somewhat with a sky-high K/9 (13.28). All told, he registered a 3.05 ERA across 41 1/3 frames. In assessing Adams in 2015, former FanGraphs prospect analyst Kiley McDaniel complimented his above-average fastball and plus slider, though he also noted Adams’ lack of control.

Josh Norris of Baseball America was the first to report the trade and the two-prospect return (Twitter links). Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL Notes: McCutchen, Eaton, Diamondbacks, Ziegler

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Andrew McCutchen has indicated in the past that he’d like to spend his entire career with the Pirates. Even after the Bucs nearly traded McCutchen to Washington at the winter meetings, the five-time All-Star center fielder hasn’t done a 180. “That hasn’t changed just because of my name being in trade (talks),” McCutchen said regarding his desire to stay a Pirate for good (via Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review). McCutchen did admit it bothered him that the Pirates placed him on the block, though he doesn’t harbor any ill feelings toward general manager Neal Huntington. “We had a really good conversation and we ended it on good terms,” the 30-year-old said. “I do understand he has a job (to do). I don’t understand what he has to do. I can’t empathize with that, just like he can’t empathize with what I could be going through, the challenges I face.” While it appears McCutchen will remain a Pirate in 2017, his penultimate year of team control, the one-time National League MVP revealed that Huntington hasn’t given him “any assurances” on his future.

Here’s more from the NL:

  • Outfielder Adam Eaton has been a well above-average offensive producer in each of his three full major league seasons, but the newest member of the Nationals hasn’t been as consistently productive in the grass. Eaton was among the majors’ best defenders as a right fielder last season, but that came after he logged mixed results in 2014 and 2015 in center – where he’s likely to line up as a Nat. Speaking Saturday to reporters, including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com, Eaton called his 2015 output in center “very poor,” though he expressed confidence about his general defensive ability. “I don’t like to harp on the negative, either. So I think that I’m definitely the ‘14 player,” he said. “If I’m in right, hopefully I’m the ‘16 player. And when I’m in center, hopefully I’m the ‘14 (player). I think I’m very capable of playing all three (outfield positions).” Eaton finished 2014 with 11 Defensive Runs Saved and plummeted to minus-14 the next season.
  • The reliever-needy Diamondbacks have checked in with free agent and longtime D-back Brad Ziegler about a reunion, but a deal is unlikely because the 37-year-old has received far more lucrative offers than the $2.75MM the club gave Fernando Rodney, according to FanRag’s Jack Magruder. In the wake of picking up Rodney, new GM Mike Hazen told Magruder that he’s “very comfortable with the group we have right now.” Only five teams amassed fewer wins than the Diamondbacks’ 69 in 2016, but the team has “a lot of talent,” Hazen said.
  • The Pirates, Rockies and Dodgers look like logical landing spots if the White Sox trade highly effective, eminently affordable left-hander Jose Quintana, opines David Schoenfield of ESPN.com. Pittsburgh would likely have to part with at least one top-caliber prospect from the trio of right-hander Tyler Glasnow, outfielder Austin Meadows and first baseman Josh Bell to acquire Quintana, writes Schoenfield. The Rockies could center an offer on young shortstop Brendan Rodgers, suggests Schoenfield, who adds that the Dodgers might be able to secure Quintana with righty Jose De Leon and outfielder Alex Verdugo headlining a package.

Danny Espinosa Unhappy With Nationals

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On the heels of the Nationals’ acquisition of center fielder Adam Eaton, shortstop Danny Espinosa skipped the team’s annual Winterfest this weekend because he’s unhappy with his likely relegation to a bench role, a source told Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. With Eaton in the field, 2016 center fielder Trea Turner is set to take over at short next year, leaving Espinosa without an everyday spot.

The Nats do value Espinosa, evidenced by their unwillingness to non-tender him, but general manager Mike Rizzo didn’t rule out trading the 29-year-old even before the club landed Eaton.

“I could see him as utility player. I could see him as a player you could utilize in a trade context to get another piece that you need,” Rizzo said last month.

If Washington does shop Espinosa, it shouldn’t have difficulty finding a taker, tweets Chelsea Janes of the Post. Espinosa is reasonably priced – he’s due an estimated $5.3MM in his final arbitration year – and has combined for 4.0 fWAR since 2015. The switch-hitter batted a modest .209/.306/.378 in 601 plate appearances last season, but he did club a career-high 24 home runs.

While right-handed pitchers have confounded Espinosa, who has slashed just .216/.294/.367 in 1,967 career PAs against them, he has been useful versus southpaws with a .257/.327/.454 line in 736 trips to the plate. Most of Espinosa’s value, though, has come in the middle infield, where he has totaled 35 Defensive Runs Saved and a 31.9 Ultimate Zone Rating.

By moving Espinosa, the Nats would likely turn to the 24-year-old Wilmer Difo as their primary reserve behind Turner and second baseman Daniel Murphy. They also haven’t closed the door on re-signing free agent Stephen Drew, as FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweeted earlier this week.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Sale, Eaton, Chapman, Hill, Sox, Yanks, Astros

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This week in baseball blogs…

Please send submissions to ZachBBWI @gmail.com.

Cafardo’s Latest: Ortiz, Buchholz, Pomeranz, Papelbon, Haren, Preller

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Here’s the latest from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

  • The Red Sox are in reasonable position to welcome David Ortiz back to the fold if he chooses to delay retirement. Cafardo points out that there could be many factors getting in the way of an Ortiz return, like the fact that Ortiz retired in the first place, or that his return would have luxury tax ramifications for the club. But the team has avoided substantial commitments to players who might get in his way, and even Mitch Moreland, recently added on a one-year deal, might be more of a replacement for Travis Shaw’s work at first base than Ortiz’s at DH. And Ortiz, of course, recently penned a provocative Instgram post expressing excitement at the Red Sox’ acquisition of Chris Sale.
  • The Red Sox would prefer to trade Clay Buchholz, but they would generate more interest from other teams if they were to make Drew Pomeranz available instead, Cafardo writes. Buchholz is set to make $13.5MM next year, while Pomeranz will make about $4.7MM, as MLBTR projected. (I’d add that Pomeranz is also controllable through 2018, while Buchholz is not.) The medicals on both pitchers “probably aren’t that great,” a rival executive says. Buchholz missed time in 2015 with an elbow injury, and Pomeranz had a forearm issue last year.
  • It doesn’t sound like Jonathan Papelbon will pick a new team anytime soon. According to his agent, Seth Levinson, Papelbon is dealing with a family matter, and wants to be dedicated to that issue until it’s resolved. “We hope that people can respect his privacy during this time,” Levinson says.
  • The Diamondbacks recently added retired righty Dan Haren as a “pitching strategist,” but D’backs manager Torey Lovullo says not to expect Haren to be in the public eye. “I think he’s going to be somebody behind the scenes, and that’s by his choice,” Lovullo says. “He wants to just remain behind the scenes and help our pitchers be successful. I think he has an attachment to Arizona. … So I think there’s a good starting point for him to come in and come up with a game plan as to how to reach some of these guys and how to help them as quickly as possible.”
  • Rival front offices have been careful in making trades with Padres GM A.J. Preller, who recently served a 30-day suspension over a failure to disclose medical information. “I think it’s just human nature to keep your eyes open when dealing with him at least for a while,” says one executive.

Poll: Which Big Winter Meetings Signing Was The Best?

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The Winter Meetings saw a pair of high-profile trades, but also four free agent signings in excess of $60MM. Of the four teams to open their checkbooks, which made the best move?

Aroldis Chapman, five years, $86MM, Yankees. The Yankees brought back their former closer to rejoin Dellin Betances to form perhaps the best setup/closer tandems in baseball. There’s no questioning Chapman’s dominance, and a lefty with three-digit heat and a 15.5 K/9 is a unique asset indeed. But the Yankees also gave Chapman an opt-out after three years, one that presumably won’t require him to forgo his $11MM signing bonus. And they gave him a no-trade clause through the first three seasons as well, plus a limited no-trade through the last two. As Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues pointed out after the deal, it’s possible the opt-out will arrive just as the Yankees have assembled their best team in years. Then there’s also Chapman’s troubling personal history.

Dexter Fowler, five years, $82.5MM, Cardinals. The Cardinals filled their center field vacancy with Fowler, who batted .276/.393/.447 last season with the Cubs. In so doing, the Cardinals also avoided a trade market that’s been ugly for buyers, as the Nationals’ trade for Adam Eaton perhaps demonstrated. The Cards are buying Fowler’s age-31 through -35 seasons, years in which an athletic player might well remain productive. They did give up the 19th overall pick in the draft with the signing, though, and even the Cardinals have characterized the dollar figure required to land Fowler as “over the top.”

Ian Desmond, five years, $70MM, Rockies. In what was surely the most surprising of the four signings, the Rockies landed a veteran leader who reinvented himself as an outfielder in an excellent comeback season in Texas. Desmond’s defensive flexibility will give the Rockies options as they build their team for the years ahead, and his 20-homer offense should benefit from Coors Field. The Rockies did, however, give up the first protected pick of the draft — No. 11 overall — to make the signing, costing the team eight-figure value not already included in the contract. And the team didn’t look like a contender in 2016 and might or might not be one in 2017, raising questions about whether now was the right time for them to pursue this kind of veteran talent.

Mark Melancon, four years, $62MM, Giants. The Giants were expected to pursue a closer, and they dodged higher-dollar targets like Chapman or Kenley Jansen (and the loss of a draft pick Jansen would require) to sign the 31-year-old Melancon. Melancon’s results in the last four seasons are indisputably terrific — the highest ERA he’s had in that time has been 2.23. He also has terrific control (with a 1.5 BB/9 last season) and routinely posts great ground-ball numbers (54.2% last year). He doesn’t have a typical profile for a dominant closer, however, with only modest velocity (91.8 MPH average fastball velocity last year, down about a mile from 2013) and a strikeout rate that’s only a bit more than half of Chapman’s. Long-term reliever contracts have historically been dicey propositions, and it remains to be seen if Melancon can dodge the trends. Melancon’s deal also contains considerable value not included in the $62MM total in the form of a no-trade clause and an opt-out after the first two years.

What do you think? Which team’s new contract is the best of the four?

Central Notes: Burton, Moncada, Brewers

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Former Twins and Reds reliever Jared Burton is attempting a comeback, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune tweets. Burton last pitched in the Majors in 2014 and pitched 16 innings in the minors in 2015 before being suspended for 50 games to start the 2016 season after testing positive for the second time for a drug of abuse. He’s now 35. The righty has pitched parts of eight seasons in the big leagues, with a 3.44 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. Here’s more from the Central divisions.

  • Both the White Sox and Red Sox organizations believe new top prospect Yoan Moncada can be an impact player, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune writes. He’ll still have work to do, however, as his first taste of big-league action late last year (during which he struck out 12 times in 20 plate appearances) showed. “They were coming down, finishing him off underneath the hands down and in,” says White Sox manager Rick Renteria. “He’s a 21-year-old man who has not seen that type of bite coming from pitchers, and it’s probably changing the lane in which he’s looking for that particular type of slider, where he has to get it out and away.” Kane also reports that after learning the White Sox had acquired Moncada, Jose Abreu sent Moncada a congratulatory text message. The two played together in Cuba with Cienfuegos in 2012, when Moncada was 17.
  • The Brewers lost Miguel Diaz as the top overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday, as Minnesota selected Diaz and then traded him to San Diego. Diaz appeared to be a good prospect, but GM David Stearns says the organization left him unprotected because of his lack of experience, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes. The 22-year-old Diaz had elbow surgery in 2015 and only pitched his first full minor-league season in 2016, when he posted a 3.71 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 94 2/3 innings for Class A Wisconsin. “He’s never pitched above the Midwest League. It’s very unusual for guys to be able to make that jump,” says Stearns. “We have to be prepared for that but it would be the exception to the norm if someone is able to make that jump successfully and contribute at the Major League level.” Of course, a Rule 5 pick doesn’t have to succeed for his original team to lose him. Before Stearns joined the Brewers organization, the team selected Wei-Chung Wang, a pitcher who had even less minor-league experience than Diaz now does, in the 2013 Rule 5 Draft. Wang pitched poorly in the Majors in 2014 and hasn’t yet returned to the big leagues, but the Brewers did manage to keep him.

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