Optimism continues to build regarding a potential agreement between the Yankees and free-agent outfielder Brett Gardner. The Yankees are “hopeful” they’ll finalize a contract soon, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that the two sides are “far down the line” in negotiations. With center fielder Aaron Hicks set to miss a large portion of next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and the Yankees having no established in-house replacements, the need for Gardner – the most accomplished CF option in free agency – is obvious. Although he’ll turn 37 years old in 2020, Gardner remains a valuable all-around contributor and a revered clubhouse presence.
Here’s more on New York and a few other AL clubs:
- The Yankees agreed to sign ace Gerrit Cole on Tuesday. Now they’re interested in free-agent catcher Martin Maldonado, who caught Cole 10 times last season in Houston, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. If he goes to the Yankees, Maldonado would presumably replace Austin Romine – who’s a free agent – and serve as a defensively gifted backup to slugging catcher Gary Sanchez.
- Fellow catcher Robinson Chirinos, who was teammates with Maldonado in Houston, has drawn widespread interest on the open market. The Rockies were already just put on the board along with the Rangers, Astros, Tigers, Rays, and Pirates. You can add the Tigers to the still-growing list of teams eyeing Chirinos, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets. It’s no surprise Detroit’s in on Chirinos, as he may be the top catcher left and general manager Al Avila has made it known the team’s serious about finding an upgrade behind the plate.
- Any catcher the Tigers sign will be managed by Ron Gardenhire next season, but his future’s murkier thereafter. Gardenhire doesn’t have a contract for 2021, and it doesn’t sound as if he’ll be signing an extension this winter. The 62-year-old said Wednesday that he won’t discuss a new deal with Avila until after next season, per Jason Beck of MLB.com. It’s possible, though, that the Tigers will choose to go in another direction by then.
- Several teams have shown interest in free-agent outfielder Kole Calhoun, who hit the market when the Angels declined his pricey 2020 option after the season. It turns out the White Sox had been involved in the race, but they’re now out after acquiring fellow outfielder Nomar Mazara from Texas on Wednesday, according to Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. Between Mazara and Eloy Jimenez, Chicago no longer has a need for a starting-caliber corner OFer.
- The Rangers acquired outfield prospect Steele Walker from Chicago in exchange for Mazara. One day into his tenure with the Rangers organization, Walker has garnered almost as many calls from interested teams as Mazara generated, according to general manager Jon Daniels (via Levi Weaver of The Athletic). However, Daniels added the Rangers do not intend to flip the 23-year-old Walker elsewhere.
The Mets need to start making moves and addressing the bullpen
Is Sanchez gonna lose his job?
To Maldonado? No.
Maldonado would catch Cole. Sanchez would catch the other 4 or some sort of a 80-20/70-30 split.
Maldonado would catch his 32 starts, plus 20 more. Gives Sanchez a rest.
Yes, definitely. If they sign Maldonado his 12 homers and .230 batting average will move Sanchez out of the starting spot to the backup role. Or maybe the Yankees will trade him for a spot starter or a 4th backup at first base.
Interesting comment by Jon Daniels… feels like he’s kicking a guy on his way out more so than complimenting a guy on his way in.
Tigers going in another direction means Chris Illitch doing the right thing by selling the team to someone who cares. Also fire Avila before you sell so we can make sure he’s gone too – signed, most Tigers fans
Rebuilds are tough.
I’d guess he’s too young to remember when DD took over the Tigers. Their fans were pleading with him to make a trade. He had to explain that the Tigers didn’t have any players other teams wanted badly enough to give up someone decent for.
Took him years to build up the farm system. Finally he signed Pudge as a FA when they were about ready to be promoted to the roster. Within a few years they started maturing and remained contenders for the next 10 years. Many were acquired in trades and signings recommended by Al Avila.
Avila is about as out of date as another super scout running baseball ops – Mike Rizzo. The guy whose Nationals won the WS this year.
Tigers farm system produced very little under DD minus JV Granderson Porcello. And that’s in well over a decade of work by DD. My first Tiger memory was seeing Darnell Coles hit a walk off HR in Tiger Stadium so I do remember them at least being good up until their playoff exit in 1987. That said Avila has been GM since 2015. How’s that been working out for 4 years. Best two hitting prospects are Paredes and Greene? He’s lost 80-90% of the trades he’s made (JV deal, JD Martinez deal, inability to flip Boyd at his peak value/contract last season, etc). He’s an analog guy in a digital world. There’s a reason DD got waxed in Boston, he left their minor league system in shambles and handed out ridiculous contracts/extensions (Eovaldi being a great example)
Double D and Al Avila are baseball dinosaurs. Anyone living in that world is living so far in the past it isn’t funny. Avila’s has built a trash pile in Detroit since 2015. He gets his pants pulled down by GM’s who actually understand player valuation. Look no further than the deal he swung for Verlander.
Avila has amassed almost nothing in the way of position player prospects. For his sake, he best hope that Manning, Skubal, and Mize are very good starters….. There’s no doubt Avila is going to have to buy a full team of hitters in free agency. I’d wager there isn’t a single player on his ML team who is a future everyday player.
I wasn’t happy when the Tigers signed Gardenhire, but he has done a fantastic job managing this bad news bears crew. He is doing the best he can with a bunch of cast offs, and misfits. Most of these guys wouldn’t make the 40 man roster on almost every other team.
The Tigers have had some pretty decent players come up through their system. Like you said JV, Porcello, Granderson, they also had Eugenio Suarez, Fernando Rodney, Andrew Miller, Omar Infante, Avisail Garcia, Corey Knebel, Chad Green… not great players, but they fill a need.
Suarez is great enough …
Jones, if he hits like did before his injury.
tough…. and unnecessary.
IIIitch will never sell the Tigers
Steele Walker is an absolutely badass name!
Steele Walker, Texas Ranger.
Chuck Norris approved!
A perfect Texas name, too, somehow.
Given that the Rangers got Walker (a top 8 prospect in the Sox farm system) for Mazara, I have to think that the Mariners might be able to get Varsho in a deal with the Dbacks for Haniger.
Haniger wasnt good at all last year. this is laughable. they would be selling extremely low and at best would get a couple of lottery prospects… (prospects from the Dominican league with raw talent)
But…he is cost effective and controllable. Yes he had a slow start but his power numbers were fine and his season was derailed by the worst injury a man can have.
he is also 29. Mazara is only 24
The Diamondbacks had Mitchell Haniger previously. I’d wager they aren’t getting him back.
I’d take Romine or Chirinos. We desperately need catching help.
Maldonado is fun to watch behind the plate. He did so many little things well.
Whos a better backup to have? Romine or Maldonado? Another way to ask this question is: whos the better defender?
I haven’t seen Maldonado much but I like Romine a lot.
Who does Cole want to pitch to is the question
Maybe, but Im sure he wants to pitch to the better defender. He’ll probably make due pitching to a different backup catcher. Its not like Maldonado is anything special
Yankees really need to cut bait with the team mascot Gardner. Dude is a waste of a roster spot
Agree 100%
Miss the way Gardner used to play. Slap hitter, bunting for hits, and stealing bases. Could sure use that at the top of the line up. They need table setters, not a 28hr guy that strikes out in big spots.
Francisco Lindor sure would look nice on top of our lineup, but pretty sure that is dreaming. If the Yankees don’t do anything, Tyler Wade could find a way to emerge as a shortstop option. You just never know how things will play out. The plan today is Gio at 3rd, Gleyber at short, DJ at 2nd and Voit/Ford/Andujar for 1st with Wade or Estrada as the backup infielder. Things change. It will be interesting to see how it goes. Clint Frazier still feels like a square peg in a round hole, but not sure if the Yankees can get prospects for him.
One of the man reason I don’t want Gardner is because he’s GOTTA has has to bat 9th. The Yankees need a table setter DJ should be in the 3 hole. Let Gardner walk away get someone that makes your lineup longer not shorter. 10m for a 9th place hitter who’s gonna bat 230.
I can’t belive anoter years with this guy it just doesn’t end. I dunno what to do with myself. I can’t watch this game for 162 games. I didn’t watch them last year cuz I knew he’d blow is in the PS same ol same ol
Dont watch the games next year either
Gardy didn’t blow it in PS the whole team did on offense. The only two that hit was Torres and DJ. The pitching kept us in all the games. DJ almost sent it to game 7 until Chapman blew it.
Would love the Maldonado pick up
Well, so much for ending the rebuild. The Sox FO is full of chit as usual.
If Det doesn’t keep him, why hire him? Gardenhire made no sense in the first place for a team that’s tanking.
They were 4 years late on him. Cost Detroit a ring
Now I’m confused! One week everyone is saying Yankees need to or have to sign Gardener, the next week, they need to cut ties with him? I’m sure that the Yankees know their options and Gardner is what they need until Hicks comes back from TJ! They have a lineup full of 3-4-5 hitters but not a solid conventional lead off batter. The other option would be trade for Starling Marte and they really aren’t compelled to give up prospects for him. The Indians aren’t motivated to trade Lindor and even if they did, he’s still a 2-3 hole hitter, not your typical pace setting lead off batter. The only conventional #1 hitter that may be available is Merrifield and the Royals want entirely too much for him! It would take something like Frazier, Florian, Andujar and Garcia to start a legit trade scenario. Too much in my opinion for a speed/defense only guy that turns 31 this year. I’m not convinced Lindor would be worth that much of a haul! With that being said, the lead off batter scenario has changed over the past decade or so. Most teams started relying on what used to be 2-3 hole hitters because stolen bases, obp, and walks have not been stressed as much as batters that are pretty much the same throughout the lineup, strike out, pop up, or solid hit outcomes are what you have. Let’s get a little more deeper with the analogy. Most guys today don’t have the same mental toughness of lead off batters of the past. No one has the bat control of Ichiro, speed of Henderson unless they’re fragile as china dolls, patience to work a count and work the pitcher by making solid contact and fouling off pitches to further frustrate the pitcher. It’s not taught that way anymore. Gardner is your typical, gritty, grinder of the modern era that will hit 20-30 hrs at about a .240 clip. Get over it because he will be there.
Agreed about Gardner and a 1 year deal was a good signing. Hicks will miss most of the season and none of the current outfielders are center fielders. As for Lindor, I’d say that package you suggested is way too much. I want to see Frazier get a legit opportunity and let’s see what he can do.