Headlines

  • Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September
  • Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft
  • 2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results
  • Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear
  • Astros Promote Brice Matthews
  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Extension Candidates: AL Central

By Jeff Todd | March 27, 2020 at 3:51pm CDT

It’s now official: MLB rosters are frozen. We won’t see any players coming and going for some times. And it’s unlikely that any new long-term extensions will be announced. But that doesn’t mean such deals won’t be explored. Some may already have advanced nearly to completion before the global pandemic intervened.

While we may have to wait to learn who the targets are and see what deals get done, there’s a silver lining: more time for rampant speculation! Okay, we’re not going to speculate here; rather, we’ll tick through some interesting possibilities on paper. Remember, we’ve seen an increasing prevalence of deals with less-experienced players (even some without any MLB service) and with new player types (early-career relievers and utilitymen).

In the present MLB environment, value is king and the old forms are fading. We’ve already checked in on the NL East, NL Central, NL West, AL East, and AL West. To round things out, here are some possible extension candidates from the AL Central …

Indians

Francisco Lindor is the big story. Unfortunately, that ship seems to have sailed: he informed the team he’d like to halt talks since the sides weren’t making progress. Unless there’s a change of heart and another attempt during the current pause, Lindor is not going to sign onto a long-term deal (at least, before he has reached his final season of arbitration eligibility later in 2020).

There are a few other interesting candidates. Top hurlers Mike Clevinger and Brad Hand would be of interest, but the Cleveland org may not be able to afford these high-end veterans. Perhaps a few others would be more achievable targets for the cost-efficient Indians. Outfielder Oscar Mercado has only 139 days of service under his belt, meaning he’s two full seasons away from likely Super Two arbitration qualification. Young starters Shane Bieber and Adam Plutko are each in the 1+ service class, so they shouldn’t cost all that much and could convey significant upside.

Royals

There are certainly some interesting questions for the K.C. organization to consider. Slugger Jorge Soler had an eye-popping 2019 … but is he going to keep it going and should the team lock into a player who profiles best as a DH? And how about exciting young shortstop Adalberto Mondesi? There’s no real limit to his ceiling but he had some struggles last year and is still working back from a shoulder injury.

The situation is equally uncertain on the pitching side. Righty Brad Keller has had success through two full MLB seasons but isn’t exactly a top-of-the-rotation arm. You could perhaps make a case for relievers Scott Barlow and Tim Hill, though there doesn’t seem to be a pressing reason to push for a deal with either.

Tigers

The Detroit MLB roster turned in a roundly awful 2019 season. But it still has a few potential targets. The versatile Niko Goodrum could be a part of quite a few rosters around the game, though there’s no particular need to lock into him for the long haul. There are more interesting candidates on the pitching side: starter Matthew Boyd and reliever Joe Jimenez. The former has a whole lot of upside and three more seasons of team control remaining; perhaps the club could take a bit of a gamble. As for Jimenez, 2020 is something of a boom or bust year — rack up a lot of saves and he’ll get a big first-time arbitration payday; stumble and he may not do very well at all. Perhaps he and the club could take share the risk over a longer term.

It’s probably a bit too soon to consider the top of the farm system for deals. But this time next winter, the Tigers could have a host of interesting candidates.

Twins

Both of last winter’s extensions turned out well; the team struck again more recently with Miguel Sano. Perhaps the most obvious remaining candidate is quality young righty Jose Berrios, who is entering his first season of arbitration eligibility. Now that he’s in line for bigger money, it’ll cost more to do a deal. The sides have struck out in previous talks. Byron Buxton is also a 3+ service-class player. There’s likely too much uncertainty in his outlook to structure a deal, but it’s not out of the question.

It’s tempting to stake out a case for a deal with breakout catcher Mitch Garver, but he’s already 29 years of age and still a full season away from arbitration eligibility. Outfielder Eddie Rosario is two seasons from the open market, but that also gives him greater leverage for a higher price tag. Would the Twins really want to commit?

How about a few wild cards? Infielder Luis Arraez should at least be a nice utility player for years to come. There might be upside in an early deal for the plate-discipline magician. And reliever Taylor Rogers is another interesting target. He’s still three seasons from free agency but gets more impressive with each successive campaign. The Twins will owe him a big raise on his $4.45MM salary if he keeps racking up saves; perhaps a deal could suit both sides.

White Sox

The South Siders have already extended a wide swath of their roster. You might wonder whether there are any candidates left. But the team is exceptionally aggressive in this arena and can’t be counted out on exploring deals with just about anyone of interest.

The most obvious candidate at this point is righty Lucas Giolito. We recently broke down his case for an extension. You could perhaps argue for fellow starters Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease, or even injury rehabbers Michael Kopech and Carlos Rodon, but there’s likely too much uncertainty in each of those situations for the sides to see eye to eye. The same is true of outfielder Nomar Mazara.

If you’re looking for a sleeper candidate … how about second baseman Nick Madrigal? The Sox haven’t been shy at all with pre-MLB extensions and the former fourth-overall pick is just about ready for a run at the game’s highest level.

Share 0 Retweet 5 Send via email0

Chicago White Sox Cleveland Guardians Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals MLBTR Originals Minnesota Twins

MLB Rosters Frozen; Conditions Set For Resumption Of Play
Main
Extension Talks Halted During Roster Freeze
View Comments (16)
Post a Comment

16 Comments

  1. dynamite drop in monty

    5 years ago

    You guys check out the new DORKTOWN doc on SBnation about the Mariners ?

    1
    Reply
    • Brett The Wolfman

      5 years ago

      This is a bad comment. This is about AL Central extensions. I forgot Seattle has an organization. When was the last time they were in the playoffs with an actual chance to win the World Series? Don’t come into my division and talk about a team that not one none baseball fan knows. The last one was Maybe Cano but that was a bad signing. My White Sox are set to make an impact. And try to diss the White Sox. 11-1 in the playoffs with a middle of the pack payroll had 4 compete games in a row to kill the Angels and swept the Astros in the World Series to the point that they had to come up with a cheating plan for a team with enough talent to have a chance. Again get the heck out of my thread. Stick to the topic. Well you know what I’m so sorry I forgot that people that don’t know anything about something even after reading the article don’t give there opinion they say something stupid and no one responds. I’m just trying to teach

      2
      Reply
      • hammer_time24

        5 years ago

        Geez, who crapped in your corn flakes?

        Reply
    • cybrpete

      5 years ago

      Seattle has a good NFL team. What’s the name of their MLB team? Does anyone care?

      Reply
  2. The Human Rain Delay

    5 years ago

    I really wonder how many extensions will be given out now considering there is x amount % chance Covid stretches towards next year etc etc…….

    All these things factor in and owners hate giving up cost control if they dont have too especially in a down economy

    Saying all that there might be a small window to gamble on when you might be able to secure said players at a lower dollar amount to give the players some certainty at very uncertain times….. should be interesting

    Reply
    • The Human Rain Delay

      5 years ago

      Well looks like Mlb took care of this 2 hrs after I posted… probably for the best

      Reply
  3. cygnus2112

    5 years ago

    Can’t believe that Hunter Dozier wasn’t mentioned! Oh well…

    Reply
    • Thomas Bliss

      5 years ago

      Hunter is going to be good for years to come. Royals need to keep him and make him their next Alex Gordon.

      Reply
    • jwarden15

      5 years ago

      Royals fan here too. What do you think they should do about Soler? Assuming the season does start after the delay, do you think if he plays well, he should get traded?

      Reply
  4. HalosHeavenJJ

    5 years ago

    As an Angels fan I’ve seen what happens when quality pitching isn’t around. The Royals would be wise to try to extend Keller and buy out a couple of free agent years.

    He put up 2.8 WAR last year and is young enough that a 6 year deal should work for both sides.

    You need pitching every night. Even if he’s a decent 3/4 that’s better than needing to overpay on the free agent market.

    Reply
    • Brett The Wolfman

      5 years ago

      This is a good comment

      Reply
  5. Peart of the game

    5 years ago

    Plutko is not much more than Josh Tomlin 2.0, why on earth would you extend him?!

    Reply
    • layventsky

      5 years ago

      Yeah, that seems silly. Unless he has one or two really great seasons out of nowhere, he probably won’t get much in arbitration or free agency. Bieber, on the other hand, should’ve been extended yesterday. Get on it, Antonetti/Chernoff.

      1
      Reply
  6. Indianfan

    5 years ago

    Not trading Lindor last winter when they should have to get the most for him is going to come back to bite the Indians on the rear end. This guy was never going to re-sign with the Indians and it seems everyone except the Tribe brass has accepted that. Old saying: It’s better trade a player a year too soon than a year too late. This Lindor situation is a classic example of that.

    Reply
    • hockeyjohn

      5 years ago

      Indianfan, wow, the Indians were supposed to know a pandemic would happen. Your comment was ridiculous. Do you know what they were offered for Lindor this past off season? Likely, if they would have traded him, you would be on here complaining that they did not get enough back for him.

      Did the Dodgers make a mistake trading for Mookie Betts? There is a chance, they traded good assets for Mookie and get no games to show for it. No team knew a pandemic was coming.

      Reply
  7. martras

    5 years ago

    The feel I’ve gotten for Berrios is he wants to play for a team as committed to success as he is personally. He works as hard as anybody out there to better himself and it’s seemed like he’s been pretty annoyed the Twins have punted over and over and over again. This year looked like the Twins may have been more willing to make a push, but I think they’ll need to make more than a 1 year effort and they won’t be able to get Berrios on the cheap like they did with Kepler and Polanco.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

    2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

    Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Recent

    Twins Acquire Noah Davis

    Orioles Outright David Bañuelos

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Adolis Garcia Drawing Trade Interest

    Poll: Who Will Win The 2025 Home Run Derby?

    Royals Place Michael Lorenzen On Injured List

    Yankees Claim Rico Garcia

    Blue Jays, Joe Mantiply Agree To Minor League Deal

    Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

    D-backs Have Listened To Offers On Outfield Depth

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version