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Red Sox, Dodgers In “Advanced” Talks On Mookie Betts

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8:05pm: A third team could be involved in talks, tweets Rosenthal, though the basic framework of the deal being discussed still includes Price and Betts going to L.A. and Verdugo going to Boston.

8:03pm: The current proposal would send both Betts and Price to Los Angeles, tweets Speier. The two sides are reviewing medicals on all of the potentially involved players. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that young outfielder Alex Verdugo would be the centerpiece going to Boston, as has been previously rumored.

7:58pm: Trade talks centering around Red Sox star right fielder Mookie Betts have once again heated up, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network, who calls the Dodgers the favorite to land him. The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier adds that Boston and Los Angeles are in “advanced” talks and that it’s possible a deal will come together tonight. The Padres aren’t completely out of the mix just yet, per Heyman.

The Betts trade saga has dominated headlines for the past week, with the Red Sox soliciting offers on the 2018 AL MVP from both the Dodgers and Padres. Both teams have obvious motivations to add Betts to the fold, but the Dodgers are already a clear postseason contender with deeper pockets and a generally strong mix of MLB-ready talent and high-end prospects. Previous reports have indicated that the Red Sox are hoping to attach part of David Price’s contract in a deal with the Dodgers, though it’s not clear whether the current permutations of talks include the former Cy Young winner, who is owed $96MM over the next three years.

Betts, 27, agreed to a record-setting $27MM salary in his final trip through the arbitration process earlier this winter. He’s been outspoken and candid about his desire to test free agency rather than sign an extension, so he has to be viewed purely as a one-year rental for any club that acquires him. By trading him, the Red Sox would drop their projected luxury tax commitments to about $212MM — just $4MM over the $208MM threshold. If they’re successfully able to unload a portion of Price’s deal, new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom will have successfully dipped below the luxury tax line. That’s been a clear goal for Boston ownership all winter, despite chairman John Henry’s dubious claims that the team is more focused on competitiveness than on resetting their luxury penalty level.

Cubs Have Shown Interest In Jason Kipnis

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The Cubs have been in contact with free-agent second baseman Jason Kipnis, tweets MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. The Chicago organization was also tied to Scooter Gennet recently, and Bastian notes that they’re considering left-handed options at second base to pair with right-handed-hitting options like Nico Hoerner and David Bote.

Kipnis has spent his entire career to date in the Indians organization. But while he was once a star-caliber second baseman whom Cleveland rewarded with a $52.5MM extension, the former second-round pick has seen his stock tumble in recent seasons. Kipnis was brilliant both in 2013 and 2015, making a pair of All-Star teams and garnering MVP votes in each of those seasons. On the whole, from the time he debuted through the completion of the 2016 season, he batted a combined .272/.345/.423 while averaging 17 homers, 38 doubles and 25 steals per 162 games played.

Since 2017, though, Kipnis’ bat has wilted. In the past three years he’s combined for a .236/.305/.403 slash (86 OPS+) in 1485 plate appearances. That downturn prompted the Indians to pay a $2.5MM buyout on what once looked to be a reasonable $16.5MM club option for the 2021 season, sending Kipnis out into the open market for the first time.

It’s been largely silent on Kipnis all winter, as teams in need of second base help have had a deep pool of both free agents and trade options from which to draw. Regardless of how many teams to which he’s spoken, one would imagine that the Cubs are a highly appealing option for Kipnis, a Chicago-area native who attended high school at Glenbrook North — just 19 miles from Wrigley Field.

Braves, Yonder Alonso Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Braves have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent first baseman Yonder Alonso, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Presumably, the MVP Sports client will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.

Alonso, 33 in April, scuffled through perhaps the worst season of his MLB career in 2019, slashing just .199/.296/.346 with 10 homers and 13 doubles through 335 plate appearances between the White Sox and the Rockies. Prior to that, he hit a combined .257/.340/.458 with 51 homers in 1095 plate appearances between Oakland, Seattle and Cleveland.

The Braves, of course, don’t have an immediate opening for Alonso, given the presence of Freddie Freeman and the absence of a designated hitter in the National League. However, if he’s able to return to form, Alonso would make a formidable bench bat and a quality Plan B in the event of a Freeman injury. It’s also possible that he’ll simply look to get at-bats with the Atlanta organization this spring in hopes of garnering attention from another club with a more acute need for a player of his skill set. That’s relatively common practice for this type of veteran in Spring Training.

Steve Cohen Reportedly Ending Negotiations To Buy Mets

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New York billionaire Steve Cohen “has decided to walk away” from his bid to buy an 80 percent share of the Mets from the Wilpon family, Thornton McEnery of the New York Post reports. Rumors of the deal falling through surfaced earlier today on Barstool Radio (Twitter link), and McEnery now reports that Cohen is “deeply unhappy” with the Wilpons’ attempt to make late changes to their agreement.

The Mets have yet to comment directly on the matter, although ownership did release the following statement in response to today’s rumors:

The parties are subject to confidentiality obligations, including a mutual non-disclosure agreement, and therefore cannot comment.

It was reported back in early December that Cohen, already a minority owner, was in talks with Fred Wilpon about a five-year sale plan that would see Cohen assume an 80 percent share of the team beginning with the 2025 season. The proposed arrangement would’ve seen Fred Wilpon remain the Mets’ control person and CEO for the next five years, with his son, Jeff Wilpon, staying on board as the COO for that same period of time. Although that’s a ways into the future, the very notion of a sale brought about hope for a Mets fan base that has long been infuriated with one of the game’s most widely criticized ownership groups. Now, it seems as though the status quo will be maintained indefinitely.

There’s no formal word yet that the deal has been laid to rest, but Joe Pantorno of amNewYork Metro writes that an official announcement could come later this week. If the deal does indeed crash and burn, it’ll be just the latest step in yet another drama-filled Mets offseason.

The Mets fired manager Mickey Callaway after the season ended and dragged out the interview/hiring process longer than nearly any other club, ultimately hiring Carlos Beltran to replace him. However, when Beltran was named in commissioner Rob Manfred’s report on the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, the Mets took their time deliberating before eventually announcing a “mutual” decision to part ways with Beltran before he even managed a game. Quality control coach Luis Rojas was then named Beltran’s replacement. Beyond the sale that wasn’t to be and the hiring of two managers in a single offseason, the Mets also restructured the final year of Yoenis Cespedes’ $110MM contract after he was injured in what was reported to be an incident involving a wild boar on his ranch.

Mariners Extend Marco Gonzales

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February 4: Gonzales will receive a $1MM signing bonus and be paid salaries of $5MM in 2021, $5.5MM in 2022, $6.5MM in 2023 and $12MM in 2024, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. There’s no buyout on the $15MM option for the 2025 season.

February 3: The Mariners have announced a contract extension with southpaw Marco Gonzales. He’s now guaranteed $30MM from 2021 through 2024, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. The deal includes a $15MM club option for another campaign, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).

Though it has been a fairly quiet winter for the Seattle organization, the club has now managed to strike two notable long-term deals. The other was a surprising pre-debut pact with first base prospect Evan White.

Gonzales, who was already under contract for the 2020 season, had been on track to qualify for arbitration next winter. He’d have reached the open market at the end of the 2023 campaign. Instead, the M’s have now secured his services for one would-be free agent campaign while picking up an option for another.

As he’s now closing in on his 28th birthday, Gonzales will now be under team control through his age-33 campaign. Given the costs involved, it was a pretty easy bet for the team to make. And it’s equally understandable that the CAA Sports client was interested in locking in earnings at this stage of his career.

Gonzales has been quite effective since coming over from the Cardinals in a mid-2017 trade. Over the past two seasons, he has carried a 3.99 ERA over 369 2/3 innings with 7.1 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. While there’s nothing especially about his stuff or his peripherals, Gonzales has successfully tamped down on the long ball and studiously avoided hard contact.

It’s certainly not the typical profile of an extension target. Gonzales sits in the 90 mph range with his fastballs and managed only a 7.9% swinging-strike rate last year. Neither is he a groundball monster. But he was able to keep hitters off balance by utilizing five pitches with equivalent frequency — none less than 15.9% of the time and none more than 24.1%.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rangers Sign Greg Bird To Minor League Deal

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4:10pm: Texas has announced the deal.

2:26pm: The Rangers have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent first baseman Greg Bird, per George A. King III of the New York Post (Twitter link). He’ll be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.

Now 27 years old, Bird once looked to be a possible long-term answer for the Yankees at first base. His debut in 2015 produced a .261/.343/.529 slash and 11 homers in 178 plate appearances for the then-22-year-old, but his career has been ravaged by injuries since that time. Since that scintillating debut, Bird has suffered a torn labrum, undergone ankle surgery and missed significant time due to a tear in his plantar fascia. As a result, over the past four seasons, he’s been limited to a .194/.287/.388 slash in just 522 plate appearances.

That said, the Rangers’ own first base situation is hardly inspiring. They have a former top prospect of their own, Ronald Guzman, who has yet to deliver on his own potential. Joey Gallo has experience at the position but is being entrusted with outfield duties for the foreseeable future. Non-roster players like Sam Travis and Matt Duffy could also factor into the mix, as could infielder/outfielder Danny Santana, depending on what (if any) additional outfield moves the Rangers make between now and Opening Day.

Despite his lack of time on the field, Bird has racked up more than four years of Major League service time — much of it coming on the injured list. If he’s able to crack the Rangers’ roster and prove to be a serviceable option in 2020, he’d remain controllable through the 2021 season as an arbitration-eligible player.

Astros Have Made Offer To Hunter Pence

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The Astros have made an offer to free-agent outfielder/designated hitter Hunter Pence, FOX 26’s Mark Berman reports (via Twitter). Pence said recently that he intends to continue playing in 2020 and has spoken to multiple clubs about a deal. The Giants are another rumored suitor for the affable 36-year-old.

Pence, 37 in April, was a finalist for American League Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2019 after he posted an outstanding .297/.358/.552 batting line with 18 home runs, 17 doubles, a triple and even six steals in 316 plate appearances with his hometown Rangers. Groin and back injuries limited him to about a half season’s worth of games, but Pence was unequivocally excellent when healthy enough to step into the Texas lineup.

Latching on with the Rangers would represent a different kind of homecoming for Pence, who was Houston’s second-round pick back in 2004 and spent the first seven-plus seasons of his professional career with the ’Stros. Pence made his MLB debut with Houston back in 2007 and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki (when Houston was still an NL club). He’s gone on to appear in four All-Star Games (including 2019) and win a pair of World Series titles as a member of the Giants.

Pence would surely be utilized in a part-time role in Houston, given the stacked nature of their lineup. But his right-handed bat would pair well with lefty-swinging outfield/DH options like Josh Reddick, Kyle Tucker, Michael Brantley and Yordan Alvarez. He’d provide some insurance against an injury to any of the club’s outfield starters and, of course, bring one of the game’s most unique and respected personalities to the Houston clubhouse on the heels of a tumultuous offseason.

Houston already projects to be in the second bracket of luxury tax penalization, so adding Pence would mean paying a 32 percent overage fee on any money guaranteed to him. But, as a soon-to-be 37-year-old coming off an injury-plagued season and looking at a part-time role in 2020, Pence shouldn’t come with a particularly burdensome price tag in the first place.

Athletics To Sign Donnie Hart

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The Athletics have a minor-league deal with lefty Donnie Hart, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link). It includes an invitation to the MLB side of camp.

Hart, 29, has bounced around the league a bit since wrapping up a three-year stint with the Orioles. He has 89 innings of 3.13 ERA ball under his belt in the majors, but clubs obviously aren’t believers in his ability to sustain that kind of productivity.

Though he has never been much of a strikeout pitcher, Hart has drawn a healthy number of groundballs (54.1%) in the big leagues and upper minors alike. The soft-tossing southpaw also has traditionally avoided too much damage at the hands of home runs, which is a nice feature in this era.

Details On Reds’ Pursuit Of Marcell Ozuna

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It’s mostly of historical interest at this point, but the Reds’ pursuit of Marcell Ozuna was perhaps more spirited than was known at the time. The Cincinnati club offered him a three-year, $50MM contract, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).

Though it is somewhat unusual for a player to turn down a similar annual salary over a longer term for one on a shorter term, that’s just what Ozuna did. He picked the Braves’ offer of one year and $18MM. Whether the Reds also would’ve considered a single-season arrangement isn’t clear.

For Ozuna, this was a calculated gamble — not unlike the one he took when he spurned the Marlins’ interest in an extension way back when. He’s still just 29 years of age and has shown rather an impressive offensive ceiling (143 wRC+ in 2017).

If Ozuna can turn in another campaign along those lines, he might well earn a much larger contract. Even if not, another solid effort could allow him to take down something close to or even in excess of what the Reds would’ve paid him. At the same time, there’s always risk — especially for a corner outfielder who has endured some shoulder problems and sagging numbers of late.

This bit of information is obviously also interesting because of its impact on the rest of the market. The Reds went on to strike a multi-year pact with Nick Castellanos, promising him $64MM over four seasons in a deal that he can opt out of after either of the first two campaigns.

It’s still a bit unclear how the market interplay between these players unfolded, but it was obviously a major factor. Notably, the Castellanos deal is far more desirable from the player’s perspective than that obtained by Ozuna from the Braves. After all, the former’s contract conveys both the upside of a possible return to the open market as well as long-term security. Unless Ozuna had another reason to prefer Atlanta, it stands to reason that his offer from the Reds did not include such generous opt-out opportunities.

Signing Ozuna cost a draft pick, it’s worth noting, since he turned down a qualifying offer from the Cardinals. He’s also no longer eligible to receive one in the future. The Reds might’ve been more comfortable with the structure they gave Castellanos since he did not cost a pick up front and remains eligible to receive a QO if he opts out (thus carrying the possibility of eventual draft compensation to the team).

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