With Spring Training in full swing and several recent signings taking a few more players off of the free-agent board, much of the offseason picture is finally now in focus. Of course, as MLBTR’s 2017-18 MLB Free Agent Tracker shows, there are still some big names available. Several organizations clearly also have unfinished business, while others may already feel they’ve addressed their needs or maxed out their resources.
Here are some notes on teams’ plans on the day before the calendar flips to March:
- The Nationals are still eyeing improvements, according to a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). In particular, the Washington front office “remain[s] engaged” with the top remaining free agent, starter Jake Arrieta. But it seems that he’s not the sole player of interest, as the organization is said to be “monitor[ing]” the market for possibilities. It is worth noting that several other remaining free agents could fit the Nats rather comfortably on paper, potentially including other starters such as Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb, top reliever Greg Holland, and catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Of course, there’s no real indication whether any of those players are presently seen as options within the Nationals organization.
- Quite the opposite impression is being given by the Angels, as Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group tweets. GM Billy Eppler says that the organization is “not looking to pursue anything” else after a busy winter, though he does note that he’s “open-minded to things that come around.” That certainly sounds more like a willingness to entertain bargain-rate signings than any kind of interest in pushing for another significant addition. The Halos could clearly stand to improve their pitching, though it also may be that the front office prefers to allow existing options to rise or fall before addressing any needs at the trade deadline. At present, the Angels seem to have around $25MM in payroll space before bumping against the luxury line, though the organization is surely also loath to add too much to the future balance sheets.
- It seems the Twins also feel their roster-building work is done, with chief baseball officer Derek Falvey telling reporters including Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link) that there’s a “high likelihood” the team has already compiled its Opening Day unit. Minnesota did make quite a few acquisitions over the winter, including recent moves for Jake Odorizzi and Logan Morrison that added fairly significant salary commitments for the 2018 season. Some have wondered whether another rotation piece would make sense, but that doesn’t seem to be in the plans at present. Minnesota is slated to open with a club-record $116MM+ payroll, though the organization had already been in nine figures to open each of the past three years.
Wasn’t this already posted earlier. Re-Breaking news
there’s a bunch of comments on the recent AL East post that relate to this one. something weird going on with the site?
We had a bizarre issue on the back-end of the site/app, but we’ve sorted it out so it won’t happen again.
But yeah, the basic gist of it is that this post was flukishly converted into the AL East post through an error that has since been fixed. We still had the HTML from this initial post, so we recreated it and adjusted the times accordingly. Hooray technology!
Our apologies for the confusion.
Eloquently put, Steve.
If that’s the case, I’ll just re-state my comment in the other thread.
First time I’m seeing Arrieta linked to the Nats, this whole off-season, with what seems to be fishing because of Boras’ well-documented history of cozy business relationship, with the Lerners.
Sorry, Nightengale. Not buying these Nationals-Arrieta rumors of Nationals “remaining engaged” with Arrieta but “he’s not the sole person of interest”
Angels need to get Holland at the right price, he’s the final piece to their puzzle
I’d like to see them go after either Holland or Lynn, but looking at todays game against Cleveland…. Yeah, Angels need to keep looking. Horrible pitching today.
Lynn would be perfect for them. He’s not an ace but they need an innings eater bulldog in the rotation plus he’s great in the playoffs
I’d like them to add one more piece as well but I thought there were a few bright spots pitching-wise:
Heaney, one of the rotations many big question marks, goes 2 scoreless.
Bedrosian follows with a scoreless inning of his own.
Of the pitchers that got shelled, Parker was making his first appearance in ST and Bard is a 27 year-old Rule 5 pick who hasn’t even been up for a cup of coffee.
Bridwell I have concerns about but I think it’s too early to make much meaning of today’s efforts.
Richards and Ohtani have been good so far after 1 start.
no. not worth a second rounder
agree with that..
I think he is. MLB 2nd rounders are not sure things. Holland can help.
Holland is a terrible idea. Considering his age and the salary expectations, no contract like that can be expected to be a successful investment. Unless his market craters, he’s not signing for 2 years plus an option, and if he does, 20 teams will be bidding. No closer available now is worth 4 guaranteed years. The lost draft pick is insult to injury.
Lynn would make any team better
At this point, I think the nationals gotta make a big move at some point this season. It’s a world series appearance or bust for them. I think Holland could be their best target and then potentially lucroy.
Nationals need to get out of the first round , they have the best rotation in the national league right now, but they can’t get over the hump.
Any time Scott Boras still has an un-signed player, the Nationals are not done with their roster.