The Royals and outfielder Jorge Soler avoided arbitration Friday, agreeing to a $7.3MM salary for 2020. That doesn’t preclude the club from signing Soler to a contract extension, though, and general manager Dayton Moore suggested there’s interest in locking up the soon-to-be 28-year-old slugger for the foreseeable future (via Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com). “Just because we exchange numbers doesn’t mean we can’t eventually do a multiyear deal,” Moore told Flanagan. “There’s no deadline on that.” Moore added that new owner John Sherman “has been extremely supportive in our vision to sign our young players to long-term deals.” Soler, a much-ballyhooed prospect when he signed with the Cubs out of Cuba in 2012, truly came into his own last season during a 48-home run campaign. And the Royals have Soler’s rights through 2021, so there’s still plenty of time for the two sides to work out a long-term arrangement. MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored a potential extension for Soler back in September.
Here’s more from around the majors…
- The Pirates have shown “at least modest interest in the third-base market,” Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. It seems adding a stopgap to help serve as a bridge to the Ke’Bryan Hayes era is possible. Speculatively, the likes of Brock Holt (a former Pirate whom new general manager Ben Cherington knows from Boston), Todd Frazier, Matt Duffy and Logan Forsythe are among the types who could interest Pittsburgh. But at least a couple of those players were no better in 2019 than incumbent starter Colin Moran, who was merely a replacement-level player across 503 plate appearances.
- Right-hander Jimmy Nelson inked a one-year, $1.25MM contract with the Dodgers earlier in the week, but they had competition from Seattle. Nelson was someone the Mariners targeted, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. He fit the profile of the low-risk, potentially high-reward type of starter the rebuilding Mariners seem to be seeking this offseason. They already landed Kendall Graveman several weeks ago, and have since shown interest in old friend Taijuan Walker. Johns highlights more possible options for the M’s in his piece.
- Cardinals outfielder/infielder Rangel Ravelo drew interest from a Korea Baseball Organization club earlier this offseason, but he’s staying put, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. The 27-year-old Ravelo debuted in the majors last season, though he only collected 43 plate appearances and batted an unimposing .205/.256/.410. Nevertheless, the Cardinals are bullish enough on Ravelo that he has a legitimate chance to crack their 26-man roster this year, Goold suggests.
I didn’t think the Pirates were signing any free agents.
Bucs need to sign Frazier. Moran hit righties at a .278/.329/.434 clip, and Osuna hit them at a .284/.328/.521 line, so Fraizer would be a great platoon partner. Plus, he’d be a huge upgrade defensively over at third base.
But at this point in his career would Frazier want to sign with the Pirates ?
By mid season Hayes will be up and Frazier will be on the outside looking in and it will effect his contract for next year. At this point in his career he has to be smart. If I was him I would think Minnesota would be my preferred spot if Donaldson doesn’t sign there. He won’t be needed to do to much in that lineup. In Pittsburgh he would more than likely have to hit in the middle of the lineup. At this point in his career he can’t do that.
If the money is right and should he sign with the Buccos. They would flip him to a contender in that scenario, if he has anything left… And would prob increase his chance of a ws ring then flat out just signing with Minnesota.
If the money is right and should he sign with the Buccos. They would flip him to a contender in that scenario, if he has anything left… And would prob increase his chance of a ws ring then flat out just signing with Minnesota.
If the money is right and should he sign with the Buccos. They would flip him to a contender in that scenario, if he has anything left… And would prob increase his chance of a ws ring then flat out just signing with Minnesota.
I agree. Frazier waits till Donaldson signs.
Hayes isnt ready. his bat hasnt come around like hoped. frazier checks all the marks, but convincing him ti sign a 2/3 year deal is another thing.
if hayes does come around…. its not like fraziers value goes away.
Signing with a team like the Pirates almost guarantees he’ll be on a contending team by the end of the regular season.
Hayes bat will come around. He struggled in the first half, but batted .292/.337/.435 in the second half of 2019.
it might, the first half wasnt good at all. if he keeps it up see him in july… either way Todd at worst is trade bait.
If the Twins miss out on JD they will go w/ Sano at 3B.
agreed
Ravelo isn’t cracking anything. He should’ve gone to the KBO.
He’s by all accounts a professional but no way he deserves an extra spot on the 26 man unless were ravaged by injury.
Ravelo is a ballplayer. Hard to say what adjustments he makes. He is blocked twice over at firstbase but could produce like Jmart if given enough at bats in the outfield.
He’s their Jose Martinez substitution.
Sounds about right. Ravelo can’t play defense. Isn’t that good. He’s cheap because he’s not an overpaid Cardinal veteran. Of course he makes the team.
Maybe his lifelong dream is to play in MLB. Not many from the Americas grow up with a dream of playing in the KBO…
Royals should wait a year to extend Soler. Need to make sure he’s consistent.
Nah, you should trade him to the White Sox.
The Royals pick the cubs pocket with that Soler deal. One of the most lopsided trades of all time.
I love how you say that and think it’s actually true
What do the cubs have for Soler now? Case closed
They have an OFer who can play more than half a season. that’s what they have.
How’s the Gonzalez for O’Neill trade looking? How does the Oscar Mercado for “who” trade look?
wrong team, but yea cardinals look bad on those.
No it’s not one of the most lopsided trades of all time. There was no place on the Cubs roster for a questionable RFer who couldn’t stay healthy when he had to play the field. And the return the Cubs got for him contributed to the team in the year he was there. If the NL had a DH, maybe…but the Cubs got a much-needed closer for a guy that had no permanent place on the field.
I’m sure you think the Chapman-Torres trade was one of the most lopsided of all time too.
Well what do the cubs got now for Chapman? And don’t tell me one stinkin World Series in a 110 years. They have exactly zero so yes pretty lopsided also.
Don’t waste your time arguing with coolaid drinking cubs fan about Theo’s dumb rentals. They’re expectations are so low, multiple championships don’t matter. One every 114 years is good enough for them.
Soler for Davis is far from one of the most lopsided trades of all time, at least right now. I can name 20 trades right now that are more lopsided than that one.
Really? Hmmmm wonder what soler did before last season?
It’s really not even close to being ‘one of the most lopsided trades ever’ I mean for one thing the cubs got a dominant closer in the deal (albeit they let him walk after just one year) but on top of that Soler went on to do basically nothing for the next 2 seasons so granted now he seems to have finally started living up to his potential — it’s basically the same thing as a team trading a younger prospect for an established player (in this case a closer) and sometimes the ‘prospect’ pans out and sometimes they don’t. If Soler can actually build off of his excellent season last year then sure — in the long run the deal looks great for the Royals. But all in all its played out like a pretty typical trade — not exactly a ‘lopsided’ steal by any means.
Soler “did nothing for two years”? Soler missed time due to injuries, so lets dispell the lazy myth now. The kid could always hit the cover off a baseball, and made peanuts doing it. Under Epstein, the cvbs never get longterm value out of trades, and it’s biting them in the proverbial backside now. Soler led the AL in HRs last year, and the cvbs gave him up for a rental. Let that sink in.
Soler has missed time (significant time at that) due to injuries EVERY SINGLE SEASON of his career up until last season. That is exactly why it is not even close to one of the most lopsided trades in history.
Soler has been in the league since 2014 and his season high in games played prior to last year was 101.
Ed Sprague available? one year , one all star season. re capture the magic….
And only 52 years old!!
I like Brock Holt, but the Pirates need a 3B who hits lefties well. Frazier and Forsythe make sense.
brock would make up the difference on defense and likely give about same value at the plate… but yeah… frazier still my top target.
Signing Holt seems kind of redunant with Adam Frazier already on the roster.
With their 2020 payroll at 80 million or so, how do the Mariners get outbid at 1.25 million for Jimmy Nelson?????? What a joke this franchise has turned into!!
Couldnt agree more
I think the Pirates should give Osuna the everyday 3B job. He looks better and better at the plate when he’s getting regular ABs. Colin Moran should be nothing more than a LH bat off the bench. He’s a poor fielder no matter where he plays. Let Osuna play until Hayes shows signs of life.
If the Mariners are targeting a low risk high reward starting pitcher then they should have went after Gerrit Cole or Zach Wheeler. That’s low risk/high reward
The Cubbies are paying Darvish, Lester, Chatwood, Kimbrel and Heyward 92 million in 2020….. I LOVE that!!!
lol
Its truly sad the mariners wont sign any one who could possibly help them be better. The fans have suffered year after year
It’s kind of strange that Ravelo has only received 49 ABs total in the majors thus far in his career. He’s been quite effective for quite some time now in the minors hitting close to or above .300 at AAA since 2014. Granted he hasn’t shown all that much pop or really any SB ability but still it seems odd for a guy to have been so consistently effective throughout his minor league career and just get one shot so far last year.
Lots of guys are all stars in AAA who can’t make the adjustment to MLB