Mets, Cespedes Discussing Three-Year Deal With Opt-Out Clause
While the Nationals are said to have made a five-year contract offer to Yoenis Cespedes, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that the Mets are now discussing a three-year contract which would include an opt-out provision after the first year of the deal (Twitter link). Olney also tweets that the expectation among some involved in the discussions is that Cespedes will make a decision within 24 to 48 hours.
A three-year deal with an opt-out next winter would represent somewhat of a compromise between the two sides, as the Mets have long been said to have interest in Cespedes, but only on a short-term deal. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal wrote last night that Cespedes prefers to return to New York, although the team’s previously reported maximum contract length of three years was well shy of the division-rival Nationals’ reported five-year pact. Adding an opt-out provision to the three-year scenario for the Mets, however, would allow Cespedes the opportunity to test the open market again next winter while giving him some financial security should things head south in 2016 (either due to injury or poor performance). A three-year deal with an opt-out after 2016 would, in some ways, be a modernized form of the traditional one-year “pillow contract” — a concept I explored two weeks ago in the MLBTR Newsletter and discussed at length on last week’s MLBTR Podcast with Jeff Todd.
Specific parameters on the three-year/opt-out scenario being discussed have yet to be reported (perhaps because they’re not yet set in stone), but rejecting a five-year offer worth around $100MM (and possibly a bit more) would certainly be a risky play for Cespedes, who is already coming off a career year in which he batted .291/.328/.542 with 35 home runs. Next winter, he’d be entering his age-31 season, which could potentially limit a team’s willingness to commit to him on a long-term deal, as they’d be receiving less of his prime than they would by signing him this offseason. Cespedes and his representatives have to assume that he would be subject to a qualifying offer next offseason as well — another potentially detrimental component with which he did not have to contend this offseason. Then again, next winter’s free-agent class is considerably worse than the crop of free agents we saw in 2015-16, and if Cespedes approaches his 2015 numbers, he’d be one of the top two or three free agents available.
Suffice it to say, Cespedes and his agents have a number of factors to consider when determining which scenario is in his best interest. It also remains possible, albeit perhaps unlikely, that a dark-horse team will emerge and give Cespedes a stronger offer than the one he’s currently received from the Nationals. The Orioles were previously said to have interest in Cespedes on a five-year deal, although that was prior to the team’s signing of Chris Davis. The White Sox and Braves have both been connected to Cespedes as well, albeit on shorter-term deals (which, presumably, did not include opt-out clauses such as the one the Mets are now said to be considering).
Wilin Rosario Signs With KBO’s Hanwha Eagles
Free-agent catcher/first baseman Wilin Rosario has signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization, tweets Jee-ho Yoo of Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. The Team One Management client will earn $1.3MM with the Eagles, per Yoo, who notes in a full column that the Eagles have announced the signing. Rosario’s winter league team had previously tweeted that he was expected to sign with a Korean team, though no details as to which team were included at the time.
Rosario, who will turn 27 late next month, saw a significantly reduced role with Colorado in his final year with the team. After belting 49 home runs across his first two full seasons in the league, questions about his glove seemingly cut his role with the Rockies. Rosario batted .277/.311/.484 from 2012-14, but he saw just 242 plate appearances in Colorado last season, nearly all of which came at first base. Rosario caught only two games last year due to perceived defensive deficiencies. While Rosario has thrown out a solid 28 percent of attempted base-stealers against him in his Major League career, he caught just 16 percent in 2014 and rated near the bottom of the league in terms of pitch-framing metrics in 2013 and 2014.
Defensive question marks notwithstanding, it’s still somewhat surprising to see Rosario’s bat land overseas. As a hitter with plenty of pop in his bat and in the midst of his prime-aged years, however, it’s easy enough to envision Rosario thriving in the hitter-friendly KBO. He’ll join former Rockies teammate and fellow Dominican Republic native Esmil Rogers on the Eagles’ roster in Korea.
Free Agent Notes: Gallardo, Indians, Nationals, Webb, Fister, Bell
As the Rockies search for upgrades to their rotation and bullpen, the team is now considering a run at right-hander Yovani Gallardo, tweets Jon Heyman. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that the two sides haven’t had any extensive discussions yet but are expected to meet in the near future. Asked about the reports linking his team to Gallardo, Rockies GM Jeff Bridich downplayed the interest on MLB Network Radio (Twitter link), saying: “I’m not sure where that came from. It’s no different than checking in on just about everybody.” Many expect the Rockies to address their rotation, although the common belief is that they’ll do so by trading from their outfield surplus. There’s enough uncertainty in the current rotation that Colorado could do both, though, and it’s worth noting that the team’s first-round pick is protected by virtue of its finish in the 2016 standings. Then again, convincing any free-agent pitcher to spend a considerable amount of time calling Coors Field his home park is a difficult task.
A few more odds and ends pertaining to the remaining free agent market…
- The Indians are still open to adding a free agent at the right price, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Both Juan Uribe and David Freese are potential fits, but there’s no momentum toward a deal at this time. Cleveland could certainly use a bat at either third base or in the outfield though, as Jeff Todd and I discussed on today’s MLBTR Podcast. (Specifically, Austin Jackson strikes me as a nice speculative fit for Cleveland.)
- Regardless of what happens with Yoenis Cespedes, the Nationals do not appear to be done trying for improvements, as Heyman tweets that the club is still looking to add to the bullpen. Moving Drew Storen for Ben Revere obviously lessened the team’s relief depth, and it’s not hard to see the rationale for continuing to stockpile (if not also to add another late-inning arm).
- The Rays are among the teams with interest in righty Ryan Webb, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Webb, who’ll soon turn 30, had an odd transactional year as the Orioles and Dodgers used his contract to facilitate other moves. But he ended up putting up 50 2/3 solid frames for the Indians, working to a 3.20 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 to go with an excellent 59.2% groundball rate, and he’s generally been quite a solid reliever over his seven-year career.
- While there’s some merit to the idea of Doug Fister as a Yankees target, the club does not appear inclined to go past one year on a deal, Jack Curry of the YES Network tweets. Notably, too, owner Hal Steinbrenner told Jon Heyman yesterday (Twitter link) that he doesn’t see much room to add even this year: “I’m not comfortable with the payroll being too much higher than it is now.”
- Cuban outfielder Alexei Bell has established residency in Mexico and is applying tomorrow for free agency, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports on Twitter. It’s not yet clear what kind of market the veteran will find for his services, but he is obviously leaving his home island in hopes of making an impact at the major league level.
Nationals Make Five-Year Offer To Yoenis Cespedes; Mets Won’t Go Beyond Three
10:23pm: Rosenthal says that Cespedes prefers to stay with the Mets, who are scheduled to speak with his representatives tomorrow, but is wrestling with the fact that the team is refusing even to begin negotiating dollars until Cespedes agrees to their three-year concept. It’s also still possible that other teams are participating in talks on Cespedes, says Rosenthal, though certainly all the recent public reporting has painted the picture of a two-horse race.
Given that New York is set to meet again with Cespedes’s agents, it certainly seems that the organization still has a chance to bring back their three-month star.
4:08pm: The Nationals are indeed offering five years, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports notes (Twitter links). Meanwhile, the Mets are standing at three years. It remains unclear to what extent any other clubs are still involved in the bidding, Rosenthal adds.
The Mets have no interest in moving past three years, say Newsday’s Marc Carig and David Lennon, and the team has not actually even reached the point of making a formal offer.
1:25pm: The Nationals are “pressing” to complete a deal with outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, reports Jon Heyman (links to Twitter). The Nats are believed to be willing to offer about $100MM over a five-year term (“maybe a bit more,” Heyman adds) with some deferrals — a tactic they used in structuring Max Scherzer‘s seven-year deal last winter. Heyman characterizes the talks between the two sides as serious.
Cespedes is an imperfect fit for the Nationals, who already have a crowded outfield scene (as Jeff Todd and I discussed at greater length on today’s MLBTR Podcast). Washington currently has Jayson Werth in left field, NL MVP Bryce Harper in right field and Ben Revere and Michael A. Taylor as options in center field. However, the Nationals have shown in the past that they’re willing to add talent even without a clear fit, as was evidenced by last year’s signing of Scherzer despite an already excellent rotation. Even this offseason, the Nats have pursued Jason Heyward and Justin Upton, and they signed both Daniel Murphy and Stephen Drew even though one could argue that the team already had sufficient middle infield depth.
Ultimately, Cespedes is the type of player that would serve as an upgrade to any roster in the Majors, and Washington may feel that his current market is at a point where they can’t pass on adding a player of this caliber to its roster. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that the Nats had made an offer to Cespedes last night, though he noted at the time that the offer was short of the contract that Upton landed with the Tigers.
Minor MLB Transactions: 1-21-16
Here are today’s minor signings and outrights from around the league…
- The Giants and veteran catcher George Kottaras are in agreement on a minor league deal with an invite to Major League Spring Training, reports Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The 32-year-old has a history of hitting for power and drawing walks, as evidenced by his lifetime .215/.326/.411 hitter in the Majors. However, he also strikes out at nearly a 24 percent clip and struggles to throw out runners. He’ll be a depth piece in San Francisco, where Buster Posey and Andrew Susac are ahead of him on the depth chart.
- Fellow catcher Dan Butler is returning to the Red Sox organization on a minor league deal with a big league Spring Training invite, Heyman also tweets. Boston traded Butler to the Nationals just over one year ago, but he was released at season’s end after hitting .227/.316/.316 at Triple-A Syracuse. Butler received a brief promotion with the 2014 BoSox but has spent much of his career at Triple-A, where he’s a career .242/.325/.386 hitter in 1064 plate appearances.
- The Marlins announced that they’ve outrighted first baseman/left fielder Tommy Medica to Triple-A New Orleans. Medica, 27, was designated for assignment earlier this month after being passed up on the depth chart by free-agent signee Chris Johnson. He batted .246/.308/.417 for the 2013-14 Padres but spent the 2015 season at New Orleans, where he hit .259/.314/.364 in 363 trips to the plate.
- The D-backs announced that they have outrighted hard-throwing right-hander Matt Stites to Triple-A Reno following last week’s DFA. Stites, 25, was the key piece that the D-backs received in their 2013 trade that sent Ian Kennedy to San Diego, but he’s struggled with his control in both the Majors and minors. He’ll hope for better results in what will be his third stint at Triple-A. (The first two, it should be noted, have been rather brief in nature.)
Brewers, Angels, Rangers, Cubs Among Possible Austin Jackson Suitors
The Brewers, Angels, and Rangers are among the teams that have at least some level of interest in outfielder Austin Jackson, according to a report from ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Meanwhile, he adds, the Cubs could conceivably bring Jackson back “for the right price.”
We haven’t heard much at all on the market for Jackson, who has endured a tough run of late but remains an intriguing player as he nears his 29th birthday. He’s queued up behind Dexter Fowler among center fielders, and Fowler could well be waiting to see what happens with Yoenis Cespedes before he commits to a contract.
But Jackson is a notable free agent in his own right. He entered the offseason placing 35th on the top-fifty list of MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes, landing with a one-year, $12MM prediction. As Dierkes noted at the time, it has always been unclear whether Jackson would land with some kind of multi-year arrangement or instead take a one-year pillow deal in hopes of finding a bigger contract next winter.
At his best, Jackson has delivered pop and speed to go with a quality glove in center — rather a difficult mix to find. Indeed, he tallied over 15 rWAR in his first three years in the league. Things have trended downward since, as Jackson owns a cumulative .269/.319/.382 batting line since the start of 2013.
While teams probably won’t be expecting a return to his established ceiling, even the diminished Jackson looks to be a useful performer. He’s still a capable center fielder with near a league-average bat, and has traditionally performed about as well against both left-handed and right-handed pitching. And it isn’t difficult to see the reasoning behind the interest from the clubs that appear in Crasnick’s report.
As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained in today’s podcast (around the 21:00 mark), in fact, Jackson looks like a nice fit with Texas since he could fill in all across the outfield. Los Angeles has long been seeking a solution in left field, while the Brewers’ could certainly stand to add a solid veteran in center — potentially with the hope of flipping him at the deadline or extending a qualifying offer after the season. And Chicago obviously was interested enough to add Jackson late last year. He’d possibly add an up-the-middle option to the Cubs’ outfield mix, especially if the team were to strike a trade involving Jorge Soler.
Angels Avoid Arbitration With Garrett Richards
The Angels have struck a deal to avoid arbitration with righty Garrett Richards, Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com reports on Twitter. He’ll earn $6.425MM in the agreement, per the report.
Richards had filed at $7.1MM, with the team countering at $5.3MM. He’ll obviously land slightly to the high side of the mid-point, although it’s worth noting that MLBTR had projected an even higher $6.8MM salary for the second of his four trips through arbitration.
The 27-year-old set himself up nicely with a well-timed 2014 breakout in which he posted 168 2/3 frames of 2.61 ERA ball. Though he took a step back last year in terms of both results and peripherals, Richards did significantly enhance his earnings by upping his output to a fairly robust 207 1/3 innings.
Orioles Re-Sign Chris Davis
It took a team record, as expected, but the Orioles have officially re-signed Chris Davis to a seven-year deal. The Scott Boras client will reportedly receive $161MM over that span, though there’s more to it than adding up the annual salaries.
Davis will receive $17MM per season over the life of the contract. He will then receive $3.5MM a year from 2023 through 2032, then $1.4MM a year from 2033 through 2037. And there will be no interest on that $42MM total in deferred money.
The length of the deferrals in Davis’ contract is unusual, calling to mind the Mets’ 25 years in deferred payments to former star Bobby Bonilla. Obviously, though, their effect is that they reduce the present-day value of Davis’ contract, even though he will, in fact, receive a total of $161MM.
There’s other value in the deal for Davis, though. He doesn’t gain an opt-out opportunity, but will pick up a partial no-trade clause. And as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale notes (via Twitter), Davis could also receive a large tax break on the deferred $42MM since Texas is one of seven states without an income tax. (Of course, it’s impossible to predict if that will persist through 2037 or even if Davis will continue living in Texas.)
The deal represents a huge investment for the Orioles — as CSNmidatlantic.com’s Rich Dubroff notes, it’s almost twice as large as the team’s largest previous commitment to a single player (Adam Jones‘ current $85.5MM contract). It’s also the fourth-largest contract handed out this offseason, behind those of David Price, Zack Greinke and Jason Heyward. As Rosenthal notes, the $23MM average annual value of Davis’ deal matches Heyward’s, although Heyward received an extra guaranteed year and an opt-out.
Out of context, that Davis would receive such a lucrative deal is perhaps not so surprising. In November, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ranked Davis the fifth best free agent available this offseason, behind those three players and Justin Upton, who remains unsigned. But the Orioles had previously reportedly offered Davis a $150MM deal, and there had been few or no indicators that other teams were serious suitors for Davis. Late this week, it emerged that the Orioles had offered another top free agent bat, Yoenis Cespedes, a five-year deal worth around $90MM. That offer might have helped motivate Davis’ camp to hammer out a deal with the O’s, and given the circumstances, perhaps it’s a bit surprising Davis was able to get significantly more than the team had reportedly previously offered.
In agreeing to terms with Davis, the Orioles will, of course, be retaining one of the game’s most prolific power hitters, and one who, at age 29, could have many productive seasons left. Davis has led the AL in home runs in two of the last three seasons, and his 126 homers over those three years are a tremendous total in an era largely dominated by pitchers. Davis does have his drawbacks as a hitter, and those will be worth watching as his contract progresses — he’s always struck out frequently, but in 2015 he topped himself by whiffing 208 times (although he did actually reduce his strikeout rate from 33.0% in 2014 to 31%). He has generally been able to keep his batting averages at reasonable levels despite his very high whiff rates, mostly because he hits nearly everything hard — his hard contact percentage last year was fourth among MLB hitters, behind only J.D. Martinez, David Ortiz and Matt Kemp. But some big sluggers with high strikeout rates have struggled as they’ve aged, with Ryan Howard as a prime example. Davis’ new contract will carry him through his age-36 season, the same age Howard is now.
Davis is a better and more versatile defender than Howard was, though, insuring him somewhat against a precipitous decline. (In addition to his work at first base, Davis fared reasonably well in 30 games in right field last season, and he’s played a bit of third in the recent past.) And for the time being, Davis is a tremendously valuable part of the Orioles’ lineup. The O’s were -34 runs last season in FanGraphs’ Offensive Runs Above Average statistic; that total would have been scarily low were it not for Davis and Manny Machado, who combined for about 65 runs above average between them. Davis ranked first on the Orioles in home runs, RBI, walk rate, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
Davis’ deal makes Upton and Cespedes the clear best hitters remaining on the free agent market, and could help clear the way for Upton and Cespedes to find deals of their own. A report from earlier this week had indicated that the impasse between Davis and the Orioles was stunting the development of the rest of the top of the market for power bats.
At the beginning of the offseason, Davis rejected the Orioles’ qualifying offer. Because they re-signed him, they will not receive a draft pick as compensation.
Jon Heyman reported the agreement, as well as its length and total guarantee (Twitter links). ESPN’s Buster Olney detailed the deferrals (on Twitter) that FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal first reported (Twitter links). Rosenthal (in a tweet) and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter) added other details.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Orioles Designate Joey Terdoslavich
The Orioles have designated infielder Joey Terdoslavich, the club announced. His roster spot goes to slugger Chris Davis, who just officially inked a seven-year contract with Baltimore.
Terdoslavich was claimed only about two weeks ago from the Braves. The 27-year-old has put up a .264/.337/.423 slash in extensive Triple-A action, but hasn’t earned much of a shot in the majors. Part of the issue is that he’s not played at third base for quite a while, and his bat will have to do a lot of work for him to make sense in the majors as a first baseman or corner outfielder.
White Sox Re-Sign Matt Albers
The White Sox have officially brought back free-agent righty Matt Albers, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (links to Twitter). Per the report, the SSG Baseball client will earn $2MM in 2016. The deal also includes a $3MM club option with a $250K buyout.
Albers, 32, has dealt with injuries at times in recent years — most notably, a lengthy struggle with shoulder issues that cost him most of 2014. And a freak broken finger also landed him on the DL last year.
But the most recent work on his record is quite impressive. He threw 37 1/3 innings of 1.21 ERA pitching last year for Chicago, with only 6.8 K/9 but a strong 2.2 BB/9 and 58.6% groundball rate to back his efforts. Truth be told, Albers has put up outstanding run-prevention numbers dating back to the start of the 2012 campaign. He’s posted a sterling 2.32 ERA over his 170 2/3 frames since that time.
While metrics don’t quite support that level of production, SIERA has viewed him as a mid-3.00 ERA performer or better for quite some time. Though his velocity dipped rather sharply last year, Albers tells MLB.com’s Scott Merkin that changes to his change-up helped him to end the year with 22 1/3 scoreless innings despite the lack of his typical ~93 mph heat.
Certainly, Chicago can make out on this signing even if Albers takes a fairly significant step back in terms of results. He’ll join a seemingly well-stocked pen that will be needed to ease the burden on a rotation that has some question marks at the back end.