Rumblings: Fowler, Jays, Cards, Astros, Rangers, Nathan, Salty
The Blue Jays and free agent outfielder Dexter Fowler are “apart” in talks, per FanRag’s Jon Heyman, who adds that the Cardinals remain a “strong possibility” to land the soon-to-be former Cub (Twitter link). The Giants were also in the running for the 30-year-old as of last week, though it’s unclear if that’s still the case. Fowler is reportedly seeking $18MM per annum on a multiyear deal.
More from around the majors:
- The Astros have been ultra-aggressive in upgrading their roster this offseason, yet team president Reid Ryan indicated Sunday that they’re still missing a major piece. “What we lack is that starter who you pencil in at the top of the rotation that is an automatic W,” Ryan told MLB Network Radio (Twitter link). Houston does have 2015 AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel atop its rotation, though his production took steps backward during a shoulder injury-shortened 2016. Notably, the Astros are in the mix for White Sox ace Chris Sale and the Rays’ starters, including Chris Archer.
- The Rangers have two star-caliber players entering contract years in ace Yu Darvish and catcher Jonathan Lucroy, but the team is unlikely to discuss extensions with either during the winter meetings, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). For now, the reigning AL West champions’ focus is on making outside acquisitions. The Rangers could certainly turn their attention to new deals for Darvish and Lucroy later in the offseason.
- Even though Joe Nathan turned 42 last month, the free agent reliever plans to continue his career and is drawing interest from clubs, tweets Heyman. Nathan, who’s eighth on the all-time saves list (377), returned from 2015 Tommy John surgery to throw a combined 6 1/3 scoreless innings with the Cubs and Giants last season.
- The market for free agent catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia is “moving,” a source told SB Nation’s Chris Castillo, who reports that three teams are chasing the 31-year-old (Twitter link). The switch-hitter batted just .171/.284/.346 in 292 plate appearances with the Tigers in 2016, and both Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner assigned him negative defensive grades.
Royals Open To Offers For Several Key Players
With several established cogs set to hit free agency after next season, the Royals aren’t in position to stand pat this winter, writes FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. It doesn’t appear the team will do that, as it’s willing to listen to potential trade offers for several of its soon-to-be free agents and a couple players who are under control beyond next season, sources told Rosenthal.
First baseman Eric Hosmer is among the prominent Royals who could hit the open market next offseason, though it seems the club will retain the Scott Boras client in hopes of locking him up long term, per Rosenthal. But the expectation is that Kansas City would entertain dealing left-hander Danny Duffy, closer Wade Davis, outfielder Lorenzo Cain, third baseman Mike Moustakas and shortstop Alcides Escobar. The same is true in regards to right-handers Ian Kennedy and Yordano Ventura.
Including Hosmer, those players are due in the neighborhood of $70MM next season – which is potentially problematic for a club that could cut payroll on the heels of spending a franchise-record $135MM in 2016. The Royals’ break-even point is between $115MM and $120MM, sources informed Rosenthal, who notes that current payroll estimates have them around $148MM.
The most expensive member of the above-mentioned group is Kennedy, who’s set to earn $13.5MM in the second season of the five-year, $70MM contract he inked as a free agent last winter. The Royals already tried to move Kennedy prior to last summer’s trade deadline by packaging him with Davis, but they weren’t able to find any takers. While Kennedy, 31, wasn’t amid an overly impressive season at that point, a strong second half helped lead to above-average numbers overall (3.68 ERA, 8.46 K/9, 3.04 BB/9 in 195 2/3 innings). Considering free agency has so few quality options, it’s possible Kennedy could pique starter-needy teams’ interest. There are obvious downsides to acquiring him, however: For one, he has the ability to opt out of his contract after next season. On the other hand, if the homer-prone Kennedy doesn’t pitch well enough in 2017 to take that route, his employer would owe him a significant amount – $49MM – through 2020.
Unlike Kennedy, the Royals won’t have any difficulty shipping out Davis if they’re looking to make a deal. The late-game ace is owed an affordable $10MM next season and should appeal to clubs that lose out on top free agent closers Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon. The Yankees, Giants, Dodgers, Nationals and Marlins are among the potential fits, Rosenthal tweeted Sunday.
As is the case with Davis, a motivated Kansas City probably wouldn’t encounter much trouble moving either Duffy or Ventura – especially considering the aforementioned paucity of high-end free agent starters. The soon-to-be 28-year-old Duffy is fresh off a career-best season, having recorded a 3.56 ERA, 9.32 K/9 and 2.07 BB/9 over 161 2/3 innings from the rotation. Kansas City opened extension talks with him in November, but it’s unknown whether the two sides have made progress in negotiations. Duffy is currently on track to make an estimated $8.2MM via arbitration, per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Thanks to a 2015 extension, the 25-year-old Ventura is controllable through 2021 – including a pair of club options – at a combined $43.25MM. The mercurial Ventura was far from great in 2016 (4.45 ERA, 6.97 K/9 and 3.77 BB/9), but he maintained his high velocity, recorded a 50.2 percent ground-ball rate, and threw at least 180 innings for the second time in three seasons. As of June, the Royals weren’t willing to part with him, though it seems the door is now open.
Cain is coming off a wrist injury and is set to carry the Royals’ third-highest salary in 2017 ($11MM). Teams that miss out on the two best free agent center fielders, Dexter Fowler and Ian Desmond, could certainly look to the 30-year-old Cain as a less costly alternative. He’s arguably superior to both, having accounted for 16.3 fWAR since 2013 thanks to his ability to contribute in the field, at the plate and on the base paths.
NL East Rumors: Mets, Orioles, Chapman, Ross, Coppolella
The Mets offered one of Curtis Granderson or Jay Bruce to the Orioles in exchange for “a high-end reliever,” ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin reports, though talks didn’t go anywhere. Based on that description, one would think the Mets were asking about Brad Brach, Mychal Givens or maybe even ace closer Zach Britton. While the O’s are indeed looking for right field help, it’s understandable why they didn’t accept that offer. Here’s more from around the NL East…
- The Marlins will make a strong push for Aroldis Chapman, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports (Twitter links). Miami is also looking at Kenley Jansen (and is thought to be willing to make him a very big offer), though the team would prefer to keep the 14th overall pick in next year’s draft, whereas Chapman can be signed without draft compensation. The Marlins are open to a number of bullpen options, though they’re prioritizing signing a reliever over trading for relief help.
- Some in the Nationals organization question Joe Ross‘ toughness, MASNsports.com’s Pete Kerzel writes, due to the amount of recovery time Ross needed to return from a shoulder injury last year. Ross was posting strong numbers in the Nats rotation before inflammation in his throwing shoulder sidelined him from July 2 to September 18. Ross also has his supporters in the front office and in general, the Nationals don’t want to trade him, though he is one of several potential trade chips who could be included as part of a package for one of Washington’s multiple high-end trade targets.
- The Braves have been linked to the likes of Chris Sale and Chris Archer in trade rumors, though while GM John Coppolella admits to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “we want to add an ace,” this desire is “a want, not a need. So if a great opportunity comes along, we’ll be ready to strike. But we don’t need to force the issue.” O’Brien speculates that Sale might be the only pitcher the Braves would be willing to give up a package of young players and prospects to land. Atlanta has already bolstered its rotation by adding Jaime Garcia, Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey this winter, and the team is also looking to add another veteran on a minor league deal to compete with Mike Foltynewicz, Josh Collmenter and others for the fifth spot.
- In other division news from earlier today on MLBTR, the Phillies are close to a deal with Joaquin Benoit and we collected more items from Citi Field in an edition of Mets Notes.
Marlins Believed To Be Willing To Offer Five Years/$80MM To Kenley Jansen
The Marlins are perhaps the most surprising team bidding on the offseason’s top free agent closers, though other teams believe Miami is ready to back up its desire for a bullpen upgrade with some serious money. According to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link), rival teams believe the Marlins are willing to offer Kenley Jansen five years and $80MM. Since Jansen rejected the Dodgers’ qualifying offer, signing the closer would also cost Miami their first-round draft pick (14th overall), but the Fish are prepared to lose that pick to bring Jansen into the fold. The Marlins themselves say they’re still discussing the matter.
Jansen was first linked to the Marlins a few weeks ago, with MLBTR’s Steve Adams noting that it was just one offseason ago that the Fish signed a big qualifying offer free agent in the form of Wei-Yin Chen (who was also, interestingly, signed to a five-year, $80MM contract). Miami also had to surrender a draft pick to sign Chen, though it was only a second-rounder, as the team’s first-round pick was protected. It would be a much taller order to surrender the 14th overall selection, which is why perhaps it’s somewhat curious that the Marlins seem to be primarily targeting Jansen over Aroldis Chapman or Mark Melancon, both of whom were dealt last season and thus weren’t subject to the qualifying offer.
While five years and $80MM would be the biggest contract ever signed by a closer (at least until Chapman signs), it is actually a bit less than MLBTR’s projection for Jansen, which was five years and $85MM. Chapman was pegged at five years/$90MM and Melancon for four years/$52MM, though Melancon has reportedly already received four-year offers topping $60MM from the Nationals, Giants and an unknown third team, who could possibly be the Marlins. If Miami is indeed the mystery team, I wonder if the Marlins would perhaps just boost their offer to Melancon (to $65MM? $70MM?) with the logic that it would still be cheaper than what they’re reportedly willing to give up both financially and draft-wise to land Jansen.
Though the Marlins have a larger need in the rotation than in the bullpen, the team’s plan is to double down on its relief strength in order to shorten games and take pressure off its pen. The Fish have already signed Edinson Volquez and they’ve been linked to such other relatively inexpensive starting options as Doug Fister, C.J. Wilson, Travis Wood and Dillon Gee as they look to rebuild the rotation on a budget while saving its big dollars for an ace closer.
Dodgers Shopping Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy
The Dodgers are shopping Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy and others, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (Twitter link). Roster flexibility is one factor in these trade explorations, as Los Angeles currently has 39 players on its 40-man roster. Rich Hill could fill that last open spot, as the Dodgers are reportedly close to a deal to re-sign the veteran lefty, though the team would need more room to make further acquisitions.
Dealing the likes of Kazmir or McCarthy obviously carries more import than simply clearing roster space, as a glimpse at the Dodgers roster reveals several major league and minor league names on the 40-man that could reasonably be designated for assignment. Moving either veteran starter would be significant for the team’s 2017 rotation plans and potentially payroll, though it is quite possible L.A. would have to eat some money to facilitate a trade, especially with McCarthy.
After missing almost all of 2015 and most of 2016 recovering from Tommy John surgery, McCarthy managed 10 games (nine of them starts) for the Dodgers, though he also spent time on the DL with a hip injury. Since signing a four-year, $48MM deal with the Dodgers in December 2014, McCarthy has pitched just 63 innings of 5.29 ERA baseball for the club, and he is still owed $10MM in each of the next two seasons. The starter-thin market this winter could generate some interest in McCarthy’s services if other teams believe he is healthy, though that could be a tall order, given the righty’s lengthy list of injuries both in recent years and throughout his career.
Kazmir also has a pretty checkered injury history and dealt with another DL trip in 2016 due to thoracic spine inflammation. The lefty made just one outing after August 22, as his season was essentially ended by the injury. Kazmir threw 136 1/3 innings in his first season as a Dodger, posting a 4.56 ERA, 2.58 K/BB and 8.8 K/9 and his highest BB/9 and HR/9 totals since 2010. It was probably a combination of these only-decent numbers and his season-ending DL stint that led Kazmir to not opt out of his contract, so he is still owed $32MM over the next two years.
With Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda and Julio Urias penciled into the rotation, Kazmir and McCarthy project to fill the other two spots (with Hill either replacing one altogether or moving one to the bullpen). Alex Wood, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Jose De Leon and Ross Stripling some of the other arms available as potential rotation depth, which is very necessary given the incredible number of pitching injuries the Dodgers faced last year.
Dan Duquette On Trumbo, Machado, Britton
The Orioles have “made a couple offers to” free agent slugger Mark Trumbo, Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette told reporters (including Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun and MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko), though despite ongoing talks, an agreement has yet to be reached. “We’ve had several conversations with Mark Trumbo, but we haven’t been able to cinch a deal with him….We’ve had a dialogue going with them for several weeks,” Duquette said.
Though there was mutual interest in a continued relationship between the two sides prior to the end of the season, there hasn’t been much news about Trumbo and Orioles until now. Duquette said during the GM Meetings that the club was looking to prioritize defense and add a left-handed hitting outfielder, neither of which describe what Trumbo brings to the table. Duquette cited outfield defense again today, though Trumbo could also fill Baltimore’s hole at designated hitter. As I noted in my free agent profile of Trumbo, his value could greatly improve if a team uses him in a first base/DH role rather than as a corner outfielder.
Right field is the specific need for the O’s, as Duquette said Hyun Soo Kim and Joey Rickard could handle left field in a platoon and the team hasn’t put much thought into moving Chris Davis from first base into right. As for other internal options, Duquette also cited youngster Trey Mancini as having the hitting potential to possibly handle regular DH duty.
Trumbo has received some interest from the Rockies this winter, though Colorado would have to give up a hefty draft pick price (the 11th overall selection in next year’s draft) to sign Trumbo, who rejected the Orioles’ qualifying offer. That same QO status is a consideration for the O’s as well as they explore re-signing Trumbo, Duquette noted, as is the changing nature of the qualifying offer system in future years under the new collective bargaining agreement.
Aside from Trumbo, Duquette also discussed such topics as the team’s needs in right field, catcher (either as a starter or platoon partner with Caleb Joseph) and the potential use of the upcoming Rule 5 draft to procure more young talent.
Duquette also denied a rumor about an extension between Manny Machado and the Orioles, saying that the two sides hadn’t had any talks. Most teams wait until after the bulk of the offseason work is complete before entering into extension negotiations, so we might not hear about anything with Machado until Spring Training at the earliest. The superstar third baseman is projected by MLBTR to earn $11.2MM in arbitration next season, and the O’s control Machado through the 2018 campaign. With Machado hitting the open market at age 26, the sky is the limit for the size of a potential extension — Baltimore would likely require something north of a $250MM guarantee.
In a radio appearance with Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link), the executive VP also commented on the attention being drawn by closer Zach Britton. “There’s a lot of interest in Zach Britton. Personally, I like Zach Britton on our club, but there are teams interested,” Duquette said. Britton is also due for a hefty arbitration payday ($11.4MM) in the wake of his excellent 2016 season, and there has been speculation that the O’s could sell high on Britton now given the large demand for relief pitching this offseason. One would think it would take a pretty significant offer to pry Britton out of Baltimore, as Duquette has said both here and in prior interviews that he wants to keep the closer.
Indians Interested In Several FA First Basemen; Jays In On Mitch Moreland
10:48pm: Moreland has “emerged as a real possibility” for the Blue Jays, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports, which could lessen the chances of Edwin Encarnacion returning to Toronto.
9:47am: The Indians remain interested in re-signing free agent first baseman/designated hitter Mike Napoli, per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, who tweets that Chris Carter, Mitch Moreland and Adam Lind are also on the team’s radar.
Napoli was a key member of the American League champions’ offense in 2016, as he hit .239/.335/.465 with 34 home runs in 645 plate appearances. The 35-year-old did that on a palatable $7MM salary, but given the wide interest in him across the majors, a raise is likely. While Napoli is reportedly seeking a three-year deal, the Indians once again want to give him a one-year pact.
As a powerful, high-strikeout, right-handed hitter who provides negative defensive and baserunning value, Carter is quite similar to Napoli. Carter’s also younger (he’ll turn 30 next week) and, on the heels of the Brewers cutting him in lieu of paying him an estimated $8.1MM salary, could come at a cheaper cost than Napoli. Carter’s production last season in Milwaukee was right in line with Napoli’s, as he slashed .222/.321/.499 and amassed a National League-high 41 homers in 644 trips to the plate. He also struck out in 32 percent of PAs and walked at an 11.8 percent clip, while Napoli was at 30.1 and 12.1 in those categories.
Both Moreland and Lind are left-handed hitters, and each was decidedly less impressive than Napoli and Carter in 2016. Moreland, 31, did hit 20-plus home runs for the third straight season (22, to be exact), but the longtime Ranger posted a below-average batting line (.233/.298/.422 in 503 PAs) for the third time in the past four years. The Blue Jays are also in the mix for Moreland’s services, according to Morosi (Twitter link), even though Toronto already has multiple first base/DH types in Kendrys Morales and Justin Smoak.
While Lind had typically been a capable offensive piece entering last season, that wasn’t the case in his only year with the Mariners. Like Moreland, Lind hit the 20-HR mark for the third consecutive season. The 33-year-old nonetheless underwhelmed, though, with a .239/.286/.431 output in 420 PAs.
Adding any of these players would give the Indians the opportunity to continue shifting Carlos Santana between DH and first base in 2017. The seven-year veteran saw more time at DH than first (92 games to 64) last season, which hadn’t happened since 2013.
Nippon-Ham Fighters Planning To Post Shohei Otani After 2017 Season
The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters are planning to post two-way superstar Shohei Otani after the 2017 season, according to a report from Sponichi (Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports has follow-up tweets). Should the team follow through next winter, Otani would immediately become one of the most sought-after members of the 2017-18 free agent class.
Since the Fighters have five remaining years of control over Otani before he was eligible to come to North America as a full free agent, this move comes as quite a surprise. Otani just turned 22 last July and he helped lead the Fighters to the 2016 Japan Series championship after an all-around spectacular season. Not only did Otani post a 1.86 ERA, 11.2 K/9 and 3.87 K/BB rate over 140 innings, he also hit .322/.416/.588 with 22 homers over 382 plate appearances as a designated hitter. In Otani’s four professional seasons, he sandwiched a good year at the plate in 2014 between mediocre hitting performances in 2013 and 2015 before his superstar-level breakout this year.
Otani has long drawn the attention of MLB scouts, and he even considered foregoing Nippon Professional Baseball altogether in order to go to the majors as a teenager before agreeing to accept being drafted by the Fighters. The right-hander has a four-pitch arsenal that includes a fastball that has topped out at 102mph, though he generally throws it in the 95-97mph range. As a hitter, Otani swings from the left side and has displayed tape-measure power.
At the end of the 2017 season, Otani will be 23 and will have played five seasons in NPB, which would’ve made him eligible to sign with any team as an international free agent under the old rules of the collective bargaining agreement. (Though he would’ve been subject to the existing posting rules for Japanese players.) Under the new collective bargaining agreement, international players will only be ineligible from the stricter international bonus pool system if they’ve played six years in a recognized top league (like Cuba’s Serie Nacional) or are older than 25; years old. It isn’t yet clear whether those rules apply to just Cuban players or to all international talents. In any case, the overall stricter international signing policies have created some debate about when and how Otani would be impacted, though Passan tweeted earlier this week that some adjustments could be made to accommodate Otani or other Japanese players.
Assuming some adjustments are indeed made to allow Otani to be posted normally, any MLB team willing to cough up a $20MM posting fee to the Fighters will be eligible to negotiate with Otani. Once he agrees to a (no doubt very sizeable) contract with a North American club, only the team that actually signs Otani would pay that $20MM fee to Nippon-Ham, leaving the Fighters with relatively little financial incentive to be posting their best talent. One would think that Otani has perhaps requested to be posted, hence the early decision by the team.
Twins Sign Ben Paulsen To Minors Contract
The Twins have signed first baseman/outfielder Ben Paulsen to a minor league deal, 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link). The contract contains an invitation to Minnesota’s big league Spring Training camp.
Paulsen was outrighted off of Colorado’s 40-man roster in September and granted free agency after the season. The 29-year-old saw regular action for the Rockies at first base and in left field in 2015, when he hit .277/.326/.462 with 11 homers over 354 plate appearances, but he appeared in just 39 games last season and spent the bulk of 2016 at Triple-A. Of Paulsen’s 517 career PA in the bigs, 458 of them have come against right-handed pitching (he has a .758 career OPS against southpaws) and he has significant home-away splits — an .810 OPS at the batter-friendly Coors Field and a .705 OPS on the road.
With Joe Mauer locked into the Twins’ first base job, Paulsen can provide some left-handed hitting depth, or an alternative to Byung Ho Park (a righty bat) or the switch-hitting Kennys Vargas at DH.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Solarte, Astros, Rays, De La Rosa, A’s
The latest column from FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal explores how the luxury tax threshold’s relatively small annual increases as per the new collective bargaining agreement could lead to teams placing an even greater importance on locking their young talent up to long-term extensions. Rosenthal also shares some hot stove buzz…
- The Padres are “aggressively” shopping Yangervis Solarte. The third baseman has posted solid numbers over the last two seasons, including hitting .286/.341/.467 with 15 homers over 443 plate appearances last year. The 29-year-old Solarte is projected by MLBTR to earn $2.7MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility, and his three years of remaining team control would make him an intriguing trade chip for teams in need of infield help.
- The Astros are continuing to “pay really close attention” to the Rays‘ starting pitchers, according to sources. Houston has made several lineup upgrades (Brian McCann, Josh Reddick and now Carlos Beltran) this offseason but Charlie Morton is the only addition to a rotation that underachieved in 2016. Tampa is widely expected to deal at least one of Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Alex Cobb or Drew Smyly this winter. The Astros are known to have interest in Archer, though he would command the highest price of the lot.
- Jorge De La Rosa is telling teams that he is willing to pitch as a multi-inning reliever. De La Rosa pitched three games in relief last season, his first bullpen outings since 2009. The veteran southpaw posted a 5.51 ERA, 1.71 K/BB rate and 7.3 K/9 over 134 innings for the Rockies in 2016, so between those lackluster numbers and his age (he turns 36 in April), it isn’t surprising that De La Rosa is willing to be flexible to increase his market.
- Dave Kaval’s new role as the Athletics‘ president could potentially lead to some changes in how the A’s do business. With Kaval looking to secure a new ballpark in Oakland and generally trying to change the club’s profile, a “more of the same” deal of a star for prospects (i.e. dealing Sonny Gray) wouldn’t help Kaval’s objectives. That said, Rosenthal writes that “it’s difficult to imagine” the change in management having any impact on how Billy Beane does business.